The First Settlers of  Ashtabula

by

Darrell E. Hamilton

The first settler to arrive in the original Ashtabula Township, (Ashtabula City,   Ashtabula Township,

Kingsville,  Plymouth and Sheffield Townships) arrived in what now is Ashtabula City about he beginning

of June, 1801. Most likely he came from Connecticut but  my research has found that he could have came

from some where in the South by the way of  Pennsylvania. Never the less he came  alone  and  settled at

at  the  Harbor  on the west side near the river. His name was Thomas Hamilton.

After pitching his tent, he proceeded with the  preparations for the  erection  of a log cabin.  After the

trees were cut and the logs prepared to put into place for his  new home,  Hamilton  was faced with a real

dilemma. How was he going to assemble his new home?

The logs were much  too  heavy  for  one man  to handle. However, luck, good  fortune,  God or  what-

ever you  want  to call it smiled down on Mr. Hamilton.

Unlike  Thomas Hamilton, most early settlers usually traveled in groups of families. Sometimes three

or  four families would travel together to a new settlement. Often these families who traveled to the

Connecticut Western Reserve traveled by boat. As fate might have it, a group of  settlers stopped near the

mouth  of   the Ashtabula  River. Hamilton  offered  the settlers  the  hospitality of  his meager surrounding.

In return for his hospitality, the men helped Hamilton erect his new home.

Thomas Hamilton spent  almost  two  years  in his new home among  the  virgin  forest  of  Ashtabula.

He  hunted  and  probably planted a garden as  most early settlers  brought  seed  with  them. The nearest

settlement to him was  Austinburg  about  ten miles away. He rarely ever saw another  human being and

and loneliness to a young  man sometimes is too much to bear. After Thomas Hamilton moved on.

In the spring of 1803, right about the time Thomas Hamilton left the area, the first permanent settler

arrived in  Ashtabula.  George Beckwith and his family were originally  from Connecticut but did not arrive

in  Ashtabula  from Connecticut. George Beckwith was one of the first settlers in Austinburg in 1799. After

spending about four years in Austinburg, Beckwith decided to move close to the lake. Chances are that  he

and his family took up residence in the Thomas   Hamilton  cabin  or  at  least incorporated a  part  of  the

Hamilton cabin into theirs. The settlers of  Austinburg  along with George  Beckwith's  brother,  Samuel

Beckwith,  helped  the  Beckwiths build and/or  move to their new home. The George Beckwith cabin was

was  located  just south of  Bridge  Street  and was occupied by George, his wife and two very young

daughters.

In January 1804, George needed to go to Austinburg for supplies. On his way back home he encountered

a blizzard. George was unable to see where he was going but knew he had to keep gong to keep warm. Unable

to see, George walked around a tree until he had worn a trench around the tree.  Becoming  tired, he  sat

down and probably fell asleep  and  froze to  death.  He was found about 250  yards south of  what now is

Bunker Hill Rd.  near  the Saybrook-Ashtabula line. Thus, George Beckwith became the first settler to die

in what now is now Ashtabula City.

A miscarriage of  justice has been done by some local historians in the past. Some historians have

credited a later  settler as  being he first the first permanent settler in  Ashtabula. What was forgotten or

ignored was the fact Mrs. George Beckwith remained in hat log cabin for several years. At the time of her

husband's death, Mrs.  Beckwith   was  a  very  young  woman  with two very  young daughters to support

in the wilderness all by herself. Over a hundred years ago, a local historian who had known Granny Beckwith

as she was called later in her life, wrote the following:

"She was a woman of great energy and character. She

deserves to be numbered as a benefactress of her day.

endured great hardships in her lone condition, but she

is said to have found means to assist others."

Settlers from the east would come with great loaded wagons but would  be  stopped at the  river's edge

because of the depth of  the water. Mrs. Beckwith would know by the depth of the water in the stream whether

or  not  it was fordable at the crossing place, some three-fourths of  a mile  below her dwelling. She would row

down to them in her canoe and offer her assistance. Her method was first to ferry the family across the river

in her canoe; then she'd direct the men to bind  their  load on  strongly; to tie a rope to the end of the wagon

giving her the other end of the rope to carry in her  Canoe o the opposite shore. Then the oxen having  been

loosened  from he wagon,  would  be  driven  into  the  stream  to  swim over  to the other  side.  Mrs. Beckwith

would then have the wagon rolled into the  stream,  hitch  the team  to the  rope  and  then  have  the oxen draw

the wagon through the water to the western shore.

Once the travelers were across the other side, they would gladly  pay  Mrs. Beckwith  for her help which

was much deserved and needed by Mrs. Beckwith and her two daughters.

Samuel Beckwith, brother of  George Beckwith, seeing the hardships of his  brother's  wife,  moved  with

his  family  to  Ashtabula from  Austinburg   and   settled  on the  opposite side  of  the river. However, Samuel

Beckwith himself  would meet an untimely death n October of 1813.

Mrs.  Beckwith remained  in  Ashtabula for many  years before moving to Sheffield  Township. She died at

he  age  of  ninety, a pauper at the infirmary in Kingsville.