It was while he was on a land expedition in 1780 to check out his land in Harpersfield, New York, that Alexander Harper was captured by Indians and Tories and taken to Canada as a prisoner.
His poor wife had no idea he had been taken prisoner. She continued to take care of the house, land and children near Fort Schoharie, New York, knowing it would be a long time to make it to Ohio and back. During that time, she sought refuge at the fort with others and survived to see her husband return three years later in 1783 after the Peace Treaty had been signed with the British.
In 1797, Alexander and Joseph Harper, William McFarland, Aaron Wheeler and Roswell Hotchkiss formed a company to purchase land in what was known as “the far west.”
In June of that same year, the men established a contract with Oliver Phelps and Gideon Granger of the Connecticut Land Company for six townships of land in what was then called New Connecticut in the Northwestern Territory. Those who had left Harpersfield, New York, were given ownership of the area to become Harpersfield, Ohio.
The following year on March 7, 1798, after the spring thaw and when peace seemed to be ruling, the Harper family with six children in tow gathered all their belongings and said their goodbyes and headed to what they thought was the promised land of Ohio and called “the far west.”
Starting this new life with them was Alexander’s sister and her husband, William McFarland, Aaron Wheeler, son in law, married to his daughter, Mary, his brother, Joseph Harper and Roswell Hotchkiss with their families. There were 25 in the group.
We can only imagine the hardships of that trip. Snow was still on the ground and as they pulled their loaded sleighs through uncharted, unmarked land, they had to stop at Rome, Oneida County, New York, because they could not go further. They remained there until the first of May. Perhaps they stayed at Fort Stanwix, a Revolutionary War outpost.
The party at that time then loaded on to boats and were taken to Oswego where they boarded a larger boat.
After four months of delays and stops, they landed at the mouth of Cunningham Creek, near today’s Unionville on June 28, 1798. What excitement must have bounded throughout the group, especially the children, as their feet touched solid new ground!
The cattle had been sent ahead through the dense forest and were brought alongside the lakeshore to the mouth of the creek. What a beach party it was as men, women, children and animals spent the night on the beach.
Alexander Harper was the oldest in the group being 55 years old. He started out for the four miles to their new home walking along the boundary line of the township from the lake. He took with him all the females in the group, including his wife, Elizabeth, two of his daughters, twelve and fourteen, Mrs. Gregory and her two daughters and his sister, Mrs., McFarland and girl she had taken in.
They carried provisions and even small pieces of furniture and walked through a dense, dark forest following the one ahead of them, trusting Alexander Harper to know the right way to go.
The party behind them of men were carrying the heavier items on sleds and chopping down a path for them to get through. When the first group got within a half a mile of today’s Unionville, a storm was ready to hit which would bring great relief to them all. They built a fire, cut down a chestnut tree, stripped the bark, stretched it over forked poles and all got under before the storm hit.
When the men reached them, they enlarged the shelter and had to call it home for the next three weeks. They cut down more trees and actually started a garden. By the fourth of July, they planted beans corn, and potatoes and began to build each family a log cabin. At this point, the families separated and chose their spot for their new home.
Alexander Harper chose the spot he first pitched his tent. His brother-in-law and sister, the McFarlands, chose a piece of land a half mile from Unionville. The Episcopal Church would be built on that spot. Ezra Gregory chose a spot near the river where later the Clyde Furnace would be built.
The hardships of such primitive existence paid a toll on the group, especially the men. First, one of Harper’s hired men came down with malaria. Then Alexander came down with the fever. They had no access to medical care or medicine. Colonel Alexander Harper would die on Sept. 10, 1798, only two months after arriving at the “promised land.” With no coffin to bury him in, the men dug out the trunk of a tree and made a lid out of a wood slab.
Young 23-year-old son, James A. Harper, would write 18 days after his father’s death, seeking wisdom on settling the estate and talking about his grief to a brother-in-law. He writes, “send directions how we shall conduct our business concerning the settlement of the Estate as we are left in a wilderness without Law…” He concludes with… “have pity on me O Ye my Friends for the hand of the Lord hath touched me with the language Of Job and surely may be applied to us.”
The group was devastated and overwhelmed with grief and doubt. Elizabeth, now a widow, stood firm in her resolve to carry on and carry on well for the sake of the group and for the love of her husband and family.
Friends in Pennsylvania offered her a place to stay for the winter for herself and her children but she refused and put the welfare of the little community ahead of her needs and stayed to help led them forward.
They were desperate for provisions and after the ship wrecked bringing supplies purchased by two of her sons including John Harper, the situation became dire. The sons discovered the shipwreck upon their return from making the purchase. The flour was frozen in the ice and they wait until the ice was harden to put their sleds onto it and remove the flour to take home to those waiting so desperately for it.
Next week, you will read how the little group survived and the miracles preformed for them as they prayed for God’s help and He heard them.
You can read more about this story in detail in the files of the Jefferson Historical Society.
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