Ashtabula County, Ohio - Chapter 21: Geneva Township, 1924

ORGANIZED IN 1816 - FIRST WHITE MAN - GENEVA VILLAGE ORGANIZED - FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE - STREAMS - INDUSTRIES - HISTORIC SPOT - PLATT E. SPENCER - FIRST SHOT OF CIVIL WAR.

In the year 1816, on March 22, the records of the county commissioners bear the following entry: 'Resolved, that all that part of Harpersfield Township north of the north line of No. 11, in the fifth range, to the lake, be set off from that township and erected 'as a separate township, to be known by the name of Geneva, and that the first township election be held at the dwelling house of Loren Cowles, on the first Monday of April next." That was the inception of the town of Geneva, third in size and importance, commercially, in the county of Ashtabula. Prior to this enactment Geneva had, together with Trumbull and Hartsgrove, been a part of the township of Harpersfield.

Theobalt Bartholomew is believed to have been the first white man who cast his lot as a permanent resident of the territory now constituting Geneva. He came from New York state in 1805 and selected as his future home a location near the bank of Cowles Creek, on the South Ridge road, where he spent the remainder of his days, which amounted to many years, during which he took prominent and influential part in the growth and progress of the new land.

Bartholomew's first neighbor was one Elisha Wiard, who located near the first settler. Following him, within a few years, came James Morrison, Sr., and Levi Gaylord, successively, who also located their homes on the South Ridge road, and it looked, for some years, as if that immediate locality was to become eventually the center of population of that section. Gaylord, who was known by the prefix "Major", early became active in local politics and held some of the desirable county offices and was also representative for this district in the State Legislature for one term.

Among the early settlers were the families of John and Robert Lambert and Benjamin Custin, who located in this vicinity in 1807, but remained only a couple of years and then moved on to Harpersfield. Elezear Davis, Dr. Nathan B. Johnson and Noah Cowles were among those who colonized the South Ridge prior to 1808. During the few years subsequent to that date, the settlement was augmented by the addition of the families of Squire B. French, John Ketcham, John, Benjamin and Jacob Bartholomew, Rev. Jonathan Leslie, Samuel Quinton, Abisha Lawton, and Truman Waykins.

By this time the attractions of the North Ridge road had been noted by a few families who had settled thereon. They included those headed by Samuel Thompson, Norman Webster and Harvey S. Spencer.

Still another section, the shore of the lake, was also being colonized by several settlers, including families of Barzillia N. Spencer, John Austin, James M. Morse, Jacob Hall and Strowbridge Morrison.

On June 6, 1866, the county commissioners passed favorably on a petition signed by residents of Geneva Township praying for incorporation proceedings, but it was not until the following spring that organization was effected. On March 2, 1867, an election was held, which resulted in making Dennis Thorp the first mayor of Geneva village. W. E. Proctor was elected '"'recorder'', and Anson Smith, Salmon Seymour, Benoni Webb, Charles Talcott and Nelson Brigham constituted the first council.

The first schoolhouse was erected in 1807 or '08. The educational advantages of Geneva were about on a par with those of other villages up to 1868, when the need for more room became pressing and the board of education asked for a special tax levy to raise the necessary money to erect a building suitable to the needs, not only for that time, but for many years to come. This action resulted in the erection of a school building that, in size and appointments, was second to none in the county. The building was of brick, 75 feet long by 40 feet in width, and four stories high. Two creeks of respectable volume, and Lake Erie, constitute the waterways of Geneva village and township. Cowles Creek, named for Noah Cowles, who was the first white settler that chose a location upon its bank, passes through the village and winds its way to Lake Erie, emptying its waters into the lake at a point known as Chestnut Grove, once a popular resort in summer time, but which gradually lost its attraction for the public after the establishment of "Geneva-on-the-Lake'", a half mile east, where nature's claim for favor was supplanted by modern methods of entertainment. Chestnut Grove, for the past few years, has been popular only as a camping ground, and numerous cottages have been erected for individual families who occupy them in the summer time.

The grove and surroundings are still beautiful. Before running into the lake, the creek spreads itself over several acres, forming a miniature lake, which affords good boating and abounds in fish. It is only occasionally that the water is sufficiently high to cut away a channel through the beach, which is usually quite wide at this point.

Indian Creek courses through the northeastern corner of the township and empties into the lake about two miles east of the mouth of Cowles Creek. The stream is said to have obtained its name through a tragedy of early days. When the early settlers of the white race came, they soon formed the acquaintance of a young Indian whom they knew as "Little John', who was a favorite among his own people and soon gained the esteem and confidence of the strangers. This young buck was killed by a falling tree and his body was buried beside the creek, near its mouth.

the same as that at Cowles Creek. There is a wide valley between eminences on the east and the west, and the flow of water is ordinarily of so little volume that it enters the lake through the sand. In the middle years of the last century this beach was the site of a shipyard of no mean proportions, and several of the vessels of that day were built there and launched direct from the beach. The boats of that period were small, compared with the big fellows of today, but their importance to commercial trade was just as vital, proportionately. They were not of deep draught, because there was not much water in the general run of harbors in their line of trade, and as it was, they frequently grounded at entrance to harbors, where bars almost invariably formed.

Because of this light draught, it was usually a very easy s maeteas to extend the ways from which they were launched far enough into the water from the beach to enable the boat to slide into water deep enough to float her. On one occasion, the result of a launching went far wide of calculations and, had a storm arisen before things were straightened out, the work of months would have been for naught. The late Capt. Perry White, of Ashtabula, built a number of vessels at this point, among them being the large scow Vampire, which was completed and ready for the water in the summer of 1867. She was the largest boat that had been built at that place, and her launching had been heralded along the shore and over the land, and the result was that a large crowd, including many from Ashtabula, the home port of the new boat, assembled to witness the launching. At the appointed time the blocks were knocked out and the rope cut, and the vessel glided smoothly down the ways, exactly in accordance with calculations, but when she had reached the ends thereof, instead of riding majestically and gracefully on the bosom of the lake, she dropped off onto the bottom, the water being too shallow to float her. It took many hours of shoveling and jacking to put the boat afloat, after which she was towed to Ashtabula Harbor to receive her final fitting-out. That was among the last of the vessels built at the mouth of Indian Creek.

Creek. This route has been more talked of than any other and it may be that this modest brook is destined to cut a big figure in the future commercial activities of this section. The aim of the promoters is to transport ore, coal and other freight to and from the Pittsburgh district on barges that may navigate all the way from points on the Great Lakes, to any destination on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. This Indian Creek route is strongly favored, but a big deterring element is the prospective necessity of constructing a harbor, which would entail an enormous expenditure of money.

Geneva has maintained its place as the third city in size in the county, but it has always been at a disadvantage in its commercial importance, as compared with its two larger neighbors, Ashtabula and Conneaut, because it had no harbor to boost it, and consequently no railroad to the south. In its natural attractiveness it is the equal of any municipality within many miles. The lake front of Geneva Township is wonderfully attractive, with its wide beaches, to which there is easy access, as the elevations adjacent to the lake are not so great, by far, as are found farther east. These natural advantages had much to do with the success of its summer resort, Geneva-on-the-Lake, which was started a few years ago as a very modest camping ground for local people and gradually became known to city folk, who began coming for week ends, then for weeks, and finally, in gradually increasing numbers, the place assumed the airs and manners of a great summer resort, and now each year sees there a summer colony of several thousands of residents of Cleveland, Youngstown and Pittsburgh, as well as of smaller places.

Ohio Route No. 2, the most popular cross-country highway of the north, is the Main street of Geneva, and tourists are struck with the beautiful trees and homes and general surroundings of the town as they pass through.

For many years a conspicuous figure in the center of the public square was a large monument erected'in 1879 to the memory of the soldiers and sailors of the Civil War. It was surrounded by a lawn, which was sur- - rounded by an iron fence, and the demand for more room, following the development of the automobile, made it necessary to remove the monument, and it was set up in the yard of the high school.

What is known as North Geneva, about a mile north of the present center, was at one time the principal four corners of the township, but a new center of activity followed the coming of the railroad in the early fifties.

In 1880 hopes of the townspeople were raised because of a project being set afloat looking to the construction of a railroad from Geneva down the fifth range to the coal fields, with a branch to Austinburg, to connect with the P., Y. & A., but it "died-a-bornin' ".

Geneva has always prospered in a manufacturing way and was one of the early towns to get into the automobile manufacturing game, but the "Geneva" never hit the popular fancy, and its make was soon discontinued. Bicycles were successfully manufactured there during the years of popularity of that mode of travel.

J. N. Tarbox almost gave Geneva a sewing machine plant, in 1880. He hit the town from no one knew where and proceeded to organize a stock company to manufacture a new style of machine of his own invention. The company was formed, a building was constructed and the machinery installed. Then, one day, the promoter went to Cleveland to purchase some needed castings and never came back.

One of Geneva's attractive spots in summer is Crowell Park, a 14-acre wooded portion of the late Dwight Crowell's estate, east of town, that he presented to the village in 1901.

Geneva boasts the only "Armory" building in the county. It was built in the days when the town had a crack militia company, for their home, and has since been used for all sorts of public meetings, and the large auditorium serves as a dancing floor and theatre.

The town receives its water from Grand River, three miles south. The system was installed in 1901-2, after the business portion of the village had been nearly wiped out by a fire that called engine companies from Cleveland and Ashtabula. The devastated area was quickly rebuilt.

Historic Spot on Lake Front. - (By Ed E. Large.) The old Fitch and Spencer homesteads, on the bank of the lake, between Geneva-on-the-Lake and Chestnut Grove, are among the historic spots of Geneva. They figured conspicuously on the earliest activities of the township commercially, and, after many years of quietude, there is every indication that these lands will again cut a prominent figure in the active life of the township, as they are most favorably located in the desirable properties scheduled for lake front development in the near future years.

On July 3, 1914, the Ashtabula Chamber of Commerce held a big dinner in the old Fitch home. On that occasion there was an eminent speaker, and a large number of the members were in attendance. The surroundings were so entrancing, however, that it was hard work to sit still and listen to some one talk, when Nature was calling so insistently on her visitors to come out into the open and commune with her.

Thus enticed, the writer slipped out, and finding the owner of the premises sitting on a bench on the bank of the lake, he engaged him in conversation and soon obtained some wonderfully interesting information regarding the early history of that particular property.

The house at which this hundred men partook of the feast was one of the historic buildings of this section. It was erected over a hundred years ago, and at a time when there was great activity just at that point. In front of it there was constructed a pier and dockage, which was known as "Fitch's Landing'', and this little mooring place for vessels cut a big figure in the commercial activity and prosperity of Geneva and Ashtabula at that time.

projected work of clearing away the forest of whitewood and white oak that there bordered the lake front and convert it to commercial needs. The whitewood was made into lumber, which was loaded on small craft and transported to Ashtabula, where it was transferred to larger vessels and shipped to eastern markets. Buffalo was the principal receiving port for this product. The white oak became staves and they were reshipped from Ashtabula in like manner, but most of them went to England, to be made into whisky barrels.

Thomas Fitch, for whom the landing was made, was the first individual owner of several hundred acres bordering the lake on the Geneva shore, and at a point 2,000 feet south of where the house now stands he first constructed a cabin, which he occupied for several years.

Adjoining the Fitch property line on the east, Harvey Spencer, a brother of the renowned Platt R. Spencer, the famous penman, purchased land and established his home. These men were associated with the business of the Connecticut Land Company, which at that time was conducting the largest lumber industry on the Great Lakes. Fitch handled the whitewood lumber, and Spencer the white oak staves.

Hubbard & Parsons, of Ashtabula, were interested in the lumber business and the financial end was handled entirely by the Farmers National Bank, of Ashtabula. In this connection, a little anecdote is related which illustrates the crude business methods of that period. Mr. Spencer had immediate need for some money, but not time to go to the city for it. So he wrote on a barrel stave an order to the Farmers Bank to pay to the bearer $100, and his son, Cullen, then but a lad, started, barefooted, through the forest, and deposited the stave at the bank in Ashtabula, receiving in return the cash. That stave-check was kept in the bank for many years as a curiosity.

Fifty-five years ago Spencer & Pratt opened Sturgeon Point (now Geneva-on-the Lake) as a public picnic ground, the opening day being on July 4, when an immense crowd gathered from miles around. From that day the place grew in popularity as a picnic ground. It was not long until the owners erected a dance hall on the bank. This was followed by other amusement enterprises and people began coming there and camping in tents. The demand for accommodations next brought about the construction of several cottages. The first family to open a home for summer boarders was that of W. E. Spencer, in the place known of late years as the "Rose Cottage". To L. C. Spencer, who was proprietor of the dancing pavilion, more than to any other man, is due the credit for the increasing popularity which eventually made that resort the largest and most popular summer resort between Cleveland and Buffalo.

His Own Schoolhouse. - Probably the most famous man that ever lived in Geneva was Platt R. Spencer, the originator of the Spencerian system of penmanship, which has always been the acknowledged standard of writing all over the country.

Mr. Spencer was a resident and influential citizen of Geneva for many years prior to his death. He lived in East Ashtabula prior to 1831, when he moved to Geneva. In after years he became affectionately known to all the residents as "Father" Spencer. Although he had no school advantages, when young, he was a natural orator. At the age of 14 'years the made the Fourth of July speech at a celebration in Kingsville. He became noted for his oratorical powers and became a lecturer as well as an educator. He also wrote many poems. One of his daughters became known as the best penwoman in the States.

He was revered by all who knew him, and in his memory there was erected, a few years ago, on West Main street, in Geneva, the Spencer Memorial Library. It was erected by popular subscription and stands a splendid monument to the memory of a remarkable personage.

Mr. Spencer had not only his own method of chirography, but he also had his own schoolhouse and steel pens and ink. A communication from Geneva in 1861 says: "Prof. P. R. Spencer, the world's writing master, has returned to his old home in Geneva, and on his farm built a schoolhouse - a log seminary - where he gives daily lessons in his wonderful art to all who desire to become systematic pen men and women, at his customary low price of $5 a month. Mr. S. is the proprietor of a new steel pen, manufactured according to his directions by Gillot, the great English penmaker. Of course, it is different from any other pen yet made, and with such judgment in his favor, it must be pronounced the best. He is also the inventor of the Spencerian ink - a jet-black, of free flow, and unlike most black ink, will not corrode steel pens. It must become the favorite writing fluid."

Ohio Light Artillery Battery. The Geneva detachment was known as Company F. When President Lincoln called for 75,000 troops for three months' service, in April, 1861, Company F received orders to report at Battery headquarters in Cleveland. They joined the balance of the regiment and all went to Marietta, where they went into camp. Three weeks: later they crossed over into West Virginia at Parkersburg, where they had to rebuild the B. & O. Railroad bridge, and from thence they proceeded to Webster, and from there they marched a distance of 30 miles, during one night, to Philipi, where they met their first skirmish, in which they routed a rebel camp. It was at Philipi that the Geneva boys gained everlasting fame, as it is a matter of verified history that their gun fired the the first shot of the war, after Fort Sumpter. This gun was hauled by three teams. In a subsequent fight at Carrack's Ford, Company F killed and captured the body of General Garnet, which was later turned over to the enemy under a flag of truce. In this engagement a gun was also captured, which was given a place near the Soldier's Monument in the public square in Cleveland.

After four months' service, instead of three, the regiment was ordered back to Columbus to be mustered out, and then it was discovered that it' must first go through the formality of being mustered in, as that ceremonial had not been performed before they started out, owing to a lack of time.

Immediately upon the return home of Company F, Captain Kinney reorganized a battery of six guns, for three years' service, known as Battery C, First Ohio Artillery. This battery was made up mostly from Ashtabula and Lake Counties, and reported at Camp Dennison, Cincinnati, and was mustered in on Sept. 9, 1861. One of the notable fights in which the Ashtabula County volunteers participated was at Mills Springs, known also as Logan's Crossroads. Here the Geneva battery played a conspicuous part. They were at Pittsburg Landing in time to help save the remaining forces of General Grant's army, after its defeat at that point. Then came a 30-day siege in the march to Corinth. They participated in the battle of Perrysville, and from there went to Lookout Mountain and Chicamauga, and thence on ''to the sea" with Sherman.