Tracing our Roots: First Settlers of Saybrook Township

Before Saybrook was so named, it was also called Mathertown and Wrightsburg, named after the men who died before they could claim their rightful title. In 1810, when the area was still called Wrightsburg, a widow, Deborah (Dewey) Webster, and her 15-year-old son, George, left their home in Courtright, New York, looking for a better life and a brighter future.
It is hard to believe the risks early pioneers took. Not knowing exactly where they were going, the mother and teenage boy started out their adventure into the wilderness with one team of horses and one team of oxen pulling a flat wagon with all their possessions to their name inside. Not only did they not know exactly where they were going, they did not have a map or directions. Passing through Cooperstown, Utica and Buffalo, they asked for information and learned that there was no settlement west until they reached Cattaraugus, New York.
Folks, today we have maps, GPS, road signs, tourist information centers, rest stops and even books on where we are going. I am impressed by the daring of these early settlers without any of these advantages. They were given instructions by the folks they passed to stick close to the beach of Lake Erie as much as possible for eight miles.
At that point, they would reach a “marked road” that would take them through the woods. George Webster and his mother did as they were instructed, but it was dark when they reached that point. They turned in toward the woods where they thought there was a road, but the farther they went, the denser the forest and the greater the cries of the wild animals.
They decided to take a break and make camp, but at dawn, they were up and ready for the challenge of the day. They had no choice but to continue. About mid morning they must have cried and shouted as a log cabin came into view. The settler, a Mr. Cummings, gave them some bad news. They had come in the wrong direction!
The kind settler took pity on them and offered to be their guide back to where they had made the wrong turn, which he did. In three days’ time, Ashtabula Creek came into view. Not knowing how deep the creek was, the Websters stood on the bank of the creek and were surprised when a woman in a canoe paddled toward them.
It was none other than the widow, Mrs. George Beckwith, whom I wrote about in Austinburg’s township history. Her husband had died the previous January. He had gone to Austinburg for supplies and never returned. A search party found him frozen to death sitting against a tree. After her husband died, she began a canoe transport business, taking settlers from one side of the bank to the other. What ingenuity she had in the early days of Ashtabula County as a widow!
First, Mrs. Webster was taken over by Widow Beckwith. Returning for the horses, she led them across with the oxen swimming. Then she and George Webster fastened the bed cords together to the tongue of the wagon. Then the Widow Beckwith took the other ends of the bed cords back across the creek and attached them to the waiting team of horses. In this way, she was able to float the wagon safely across.
Both George and his mother found their way safely to Saybrook, and six years later, he was able to purchase land on the South Ridge about sixty rods west of the line of Saybrook Township.
First settlers, Joseph and Rhoda Hotchkiss, came in 1809 to Harpersfield Township, but that same year settled just west of the Websters near the Geneva line in what would become Saybrook. Both families began their lives in makeshift structures of logs and cloth within a day of each other. Rhoda Hotchkiss was known to be on friendly terms with the Indians. When the Indian families would leave for Pennsylvania to get crude oil, she would babysit the babies for several days. They carried the oil, most likely on their backs, requiring them to leave their babies behind. It amazes me how smart these women were in finding a way to provide for their families.
The following year of 1810 came Zadoc and Cyntha (Mitchell) Brown of Blandford, Massachusetts. They had a son, William, that same year, making him the first white child born in Saybrook. Hubbard Tyler came with his wife, Katie (Brindle) and lived on the cross road between the ridges where they opened the first mercantile business in 1828. Aunt Katie, as she was known, became a physician for the early families, as there were none in the area.
In 1816, Wrightsburg, which had been a part of Austinburg Township, was officially organized but did not become Saybrook until 1827, so named after Saybrook, Connecticut.
Theodore and Sarah Wright Blinn came to Wrightsburg in 1816 and lived on the South Ridge Road. They added greatly to the population by having eight children. When the couple died, they were living with their son, Jesse, who had married local girl, Aurilla Simonds, in 1834. Samuel Blinn, another son, moved to Geneva, and is buried in Eagle Cemetery in Geneva. One of their sons became a pastor. Rev. Theodore Danforth Blinn, was born in Vermont before the family came to Saybrook. He is buried in Oakdale Cemetery in Jefferson, Ohio.
Prior to 1816, other families that settled in Saybrook on the South Ridge were Josiah and Samuel Wright, Jessie Blackington, A. Whipple, Thomas Stevens, Jesse N. Wright, Amaza Tyler, Solmon Bates and Jarvis Harris. Charles Pratt settled on the North Ridge near the center of the township.
The first death was of the daughter of Jessa and Laura Wright, who came in 1815 and settled on the land that was later occupied by the East Brick school house. The house had no floor, and the oxen drew their back logs directly into the large fireplace. Their little daughter fell into the huge fireplace and was burned so badly she died. Rev. Joseph Badger gave the funeral message.
Issac and Jane Turch Brooks came to Saybrook in 1816 and also had eight children. All but one lived to maturity. The fourth child born to Issac and Jane Brooks was John Adros Brooks (1829-1917), who married Helen M. Harvey (1839-1925).
The Ashtabula County Historical Society printed a special on “Heritage Homes” in the Dec. 10, 1972, quarterly. One of the homes featured with a photo was the home built by early settler, John Brooks of Saybrook, Ohio at 8320 Munson Hill Road. The article states that Isacc Brooks gave a large tract of land to his three sons and John became the owner of the land on which the house stands. John and his wife and some family members are buried in the Bates Cemetery of Saybrook. The cemetery is also known as the Munson Hill Cemetery and the Harvey-Brooks Cemetery.
The first religious services on the South Ridge were held in homes in 1838. The Methodist met in Mr. Munson’s corn barn. Eventually, the Saybrook United Methodist Episcopal Church came into being and a portion of the original 1849 building is still standing today.
Edwin Gibbs (1827-1910?) came to Saybrook from Genesee County, New York, circa 1840. Edwin married Clara Skinner, of Austinburg (1831-1894), most likely, in Austinburg in 1853. The couple had a daughter, Cora, who married Ephariam Clemmer. They had at least eight children.
Family documents and letters owned by descendant, Linda (Clemmer) White, show that Clara Skinner had 12 acres of Austinburg land transferred to her from Betsey Cowles in 1858. The land is right across from Austinburg Center Cemetery. The home they built is still standing across from the large, brick Ellsworth historical home on Route 45. The Skinner home was occupied for many years by the Clemmer family.
Although the Gibbs and Clemmer families are of Austinburg, they are tied to Saybrook Township through Edwin Gibbs’ early settlers of Saybrook.
Next week, you will read of the first settlers of Orwell.