The history is very thorough (although at times a little cumbersome) and focuses much on the story of the Connecticut Western Reserve, which included the land that ultimately became Lorain.
It’s strange to read how what is now Lorain was at one time part of Trumbull County, and later, part of Geauga County. Both of those counties seem so far away today.
I should probably point out that many of the “facts” in this history of Lorain – such as the identity of the first settler – are debatable among historians.
But there’s also information that’s quite interesting and hard to find. This would include the last half of Chapter II, which deals with the arrival of the first pioneer families in the area, and reveals where their cabins were located.
All in all, the history is a nice reference from a 1924 perspective.
Next: More Lorain Jubilee fun
Dan,
ReplyDeleteWhen I was researching my current house in Grafton, I did a lot of time searching for old maps.
https://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/map/map.html#OH
I found this pretty interesting and bookmarked it.
That's a great resource – thanks for sharing it. The website link really shows in a very graphic way how rapidly the county borders were changing back then in the early days, and how an area (like Lorain) was temporarily part of so many different counties.
ReplyDeleteInteresting reading. The Indian captivity narrative of James Smith mentioned in the article was reprinted under the title "Scoouwa" (the name given him after he was adopted into the tribe) by the Ohio Historical Society in the 1970s. He spent about four years with the Indians(1755 to 1759) and his travels and observations during this time make very interesting reading. A picture of Ohio before settlement by white men.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info, Rick. The book sounds interesting; I just ordered it!
ReplyDeleteTheresa