To the early American white men, this northeastern comer of Ohio had long been an unexplored and unknown region inhabited only by tribes of Indians.

During the period of colonization along the Atlantic coast, the English crown had granted large tracts of land to her numerous colonies. To Connecticut had been granted a strip of land the width of the present state, and extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific. As their claim to this part of the territory conflicted with that of other states, especially New York and Pennsylvania, disputes were constantly arising over boundary lines.

CONNECTICUT TERRITORY
After the Revolutionary War, when the colonies had gained their independence, the courts of the newly established nation were called upon to settle differences between the states. Through decisions of the Federal government, Connecticut lost considerable of her territory and finally, on September 13, 1786, she relinquished her claim to the greater part of her western lands. However, she retained about three million acres in northern Ohio, which is referred to as the Western Reserve. This land extended 120 miles west from the Pennsylvania border.

Six years later the Connecticut government gave a large section of Western Reserve to the citizens of that state whose property had been burned or destroyed by the British army during the Revolution. That section of northern Ohio was known as the "Fire Lands" and lies west of the city of Cleveland.

SYNDICATE BUYS LAND
In 1795 the remainder of the land in Western Reserve was sold to a syndicate known as the Connecticut Land Company.

A survey of Pennsylvania's southern border had established the western boundary of that state, but as no survey had been of the lands in Western Reserve, a party of the Connecticut Land Company's surveyors were sent to make a survey of their territory.

Schenectady, N.Y, was agreed upon as the starting point for the trip and the expedition began its westward journey in the latter part of May, 1796.

The party of fifty under the command of General Moses Cleaveland included two women. Traveling by water and portaging when necessary, they chose a route which took them up the Mohawk River and overland to Oswego, N.Y. From there they proceeded to Canandagua, and thence to Buffalo. Some delay had been encountered, but finally after much bickering with authorities and with the Indians of Western New York, they negotiated passage into the west.

FORT INDEPENDENCE
They sailed up Lake Erie and arrived at the mouth of Conneaut River on Monday July 4, 1796, naming the place Fort Independence. (Some historians refer to it as Port of Independence.) Dipping the cool fresh water from the stream and the lake, they drank six toasts:

1st—To the president of the United States.
2nd—To the state of Connecticut.
3rd—To the Connecticut Land Company.
4th—"May the Port of Independence (Conneaut) and the fifty sons and daughters who have entered it this day be successful and prosperous."
5th — "May these sons and daughters multiply in 16 years sixteen times fifty."
6th — "May every person have his bowsprit trimmed and ready to enter every port that opens."

This was the manner in which the Fourth of July was first observed in northwestern Ohio.

The following day was spent in erecting a log structure which they named Stow's Castle in honor of their commissary Joshua Stow (spelled Stowe by some writers). This was the first wooden building built in Western Reserve by white men, and it served as their headquarters until the completion of their survey here, at which time they continued westward to the Cuyahoga River.

FOUNDING July 4, 1796
July 4, 1796 is taken as the day of the founding of Conneaut as that is the date of the arrival of the white men who opened this new land.

True it is that other white men had visited this part of Ohio prior to the coming of Moses Cleaveland's surveying party. A soldier, Edmund Fitz Jeralds, and a companion who had fought under General St. Clair had been captured on the Miami River and brought here as captives by the Senecas about 1791. They continued to live with tribe until the coming of the white people.

HALSTEAD THE HERMIT
A third white man was a hermit named Halstead of whom very little is known. He had come from the east and at the time of the arrival of the first settlers he was making his home in a small rough shack one-half mile south of the Ridge Road near the Pennsylvania state line in East Conneaut. These three men are the only white persons prior to 1796, and none of them contributed to the development of this territory.

Soon after the departure of the Connecticut Land Company's men, there arrived at Conneaut the James Kingsbury, the first white family to spend a winter in Western Reserve. They took possession of Stow's Castle and made that their home during their short stay here.

FIRST WHITE CHILD
Provisions in the Kingsbury home ran low and their suffering was acute. A daughter was born to this couple, the first white child born in Western Reserve, but the baby did not survive the winter. Mr. Kingsbury tilled the new land, and history states that he was the first white man to sow seed and harvest a crop in Western Reserve. Later the family moved farther west to make their home in Newburg, Ohio.

FIRST PERMANENT SETTLERS
The year 1798 saw the coming of the first permanent settlers, with the arrival of Nathan and John King Robert Montgomery and family who occupied Stow's Castle, Samuel Bemus and family, and Aaron Wright. These were the pioneers who left their New England farms to make the long journey west and settle in "New Connecticut." The group had planned to proceed to Harpersfield, but the lake country so appealed to them that they altered their plans and selected locations along Conneaut River.

As more and more settlers arrived to make homes here, a village grew which they named Salem, the name years later being changed to Conneaut.

IROQUOIS LIVED HERE
The Indians living here at the time of the opening of Western Reserve were the Massasauga tribe, of the Iroquois nation. "Massasauga' means "the mouth of a great river." Their village consisted of a few huts roofed with strips of bark.

They were a peaceful people given to hunting and fishing, and a small clearing had been use for tilling the soil in their primitive way. Their burying ground was located in what is now the business section of Conneaut.

INDIANS DEPART
In the summer of 1798 there occurred the first murder in Conneaut when a Mr. Williams traveling from Buffalo to Detroit was killed by a young Massasauga in a quarrel resulting from a misunderstanding concerning the ownership of a gun.

Shortly after the murder the tribe of Massasaugas, under the leadership of Chief Macqua Meda ("Bear's Oil") left their village along Conneaut River to locate in a neighboring state. They never again returned to this section of Ohio.

NORTHWEST TERRITORY
Connecticut in 1800 ceded to the Federal government the jurisdiction over Western Reserve, and this land was added to the Northwest Territory.

As an aid to immigrants arriving to take up land in this vicinity, the "old Girdled Road" was built in 1798, connecting this settlement with Sheffield, Plymouth and Harpersfield. It was for many years known as "Mad Anthony Wayne's Road." However, the Indian Pathfinders Association of Cleveland stated that General Wayne was never known to have been in this section of the country and further added that he had had nothing to do with its construction. The road was never used extensively as the newcomers preferred to travel nearer the shore of lake Erie.

ROUTE 20 LAID OUT
In 1800, Ashtabula and Conneaut were joined by a road built along the South Ridge by Seth Harrington, Aaron Wright and Nathan King, and two years later a more important road was laid out, the Stage Route along the Ridge Road from Erie, Pa., to Cleveland, Ohio.

This road has been one of the great roads leading into the middle west and today, heavy with motor vehicle traffic, it is known as Route 20.

In 1804 another road was ready for use, the Old Salt Road. This was the first road, leading south from Conneaut and opened up a new section of country.

FIRST CONNEAUT MARRIAGE
Early in 1800 Conneaut's first marriage was announced when Aaron Wright and Hannah Montgomery were married. On March 12th of the following year a daughter Amelia was born to this couple, the second white child to be born in Conneaut.

The settlers decided early that the children of the community should receive as good an education as was possible to be had in this new country and in 1801-02 a Mr. Loomis became the first school teacher in Conneaut when he taught that term in a log cabin near the mouth of Conneaut River.

WORSHIP IN 1800
The pioneers were a deeply religious group and early recognized the need of opportunity to assemble for worship. It was in 1800 that the first religious meeting in this area was held, the group gathering at the home of Aaron Wright.

Following this meeting there were similar gatherings in other nearby homes. No formal organization was accomplished however until 18 years later.

During the intervening years, circuit-riding ministers, local preachers, and elders and exhorters conducted religious meetings in the community.

SALEM TOWNSHIP
The settlement along Conneaut River was organized in 1804 and was called Salem at that time. Salem Township at the time of the organization included Conneaut village and township, and also Monroe Township which withdrew in 1818 to form a separate district.

The first election was held at the home of Nathan King at which time James Montgomery was chosen clerk, and James Harper, Nathan King and William Ferguson were elected trustees. Among the other officers whose election took place at that time were two "fence viewers."

ELK CREEK GRAIN MILL
The farmers of Conneaut and the surrounding country were busy clearing land, plowing fields and attending to crops. After the harvesting of grain, there was still the problem of getting it ground. The nearest mill was at Elk Creek, Pa., twelve miles east of town, and lack of roads prevented the use of heavy wagons for transportation.

It was necessary for a fanner to put a sack of grain on his back and carry it to the mill, or to make the trip on horseback, the entire trip taking most of a day. In 1806 Aaron Wright, who seems to have been a progressive community leader, built a mill along the river near Conneaut which eliminated the necessity of the long trips to Elk Creek.

THE FIRST TEN YEARS
A pioneer, reviewing the history of Conneaut's first ten years, would recall that the decade had seen the arrival of the white men and the departure of the red tribe, a death, a marriage, a birth, a murder, the transfer of territory from the state of Connecticut to the Federal Government, religious services conducted, a school opened, the political organization of the settlement, the building of a feed mill and the construction of important roads to the east, west and south.

The early settlers of Salem (Conneaut) had worked hard, accomplished much of lasting good to the community and to the Western Reserve, and their years had not been uneventful

SECOND DECADE
The second decade of Conneaut's history continued the progressive trend of the first ten years. Most of the pioneers in Western Reserve were of New England stock and their friends for the most part were still living in the east. Communication between the Ohio people and their eastern acquaintances was slow and irregular. It was not until 1808 that the first postal service was established in this section of the country.

EARLY MAIL SERVICE
In that year John Metcalf was hired to carry mail on foot from Erie, Pa., to Cleveland, Ohio. This means of postal transportation continued until 1811 when Asher Bigelow was awarded a contract to carry mail from Ashtabula to Buffalo, N.Y. on horseback. In fair weather the trip required 12 days, but in rainy and muddy season two weeks were necessary for the delivery.

This arrangement lasted but one year, and in 1812 Mr. Metcalf was once more appointed mail carrier. The eastern terminus of his route was again Erie, Pa. And the westernmost point was Cleveland, the same route that he had originally traveled. But instead of making the trip on foot as he had done previously, he was now using a heavy lumber wagon drawn by a team of horses.

STAGE COACH LINE
In 1815 a stage coach line began serving northern Ohio and soon after its establishment, the mail was being delivered by stage. This was a great improvement in postal service as Conneaut was given two mail deliveries daily under this arrangement, one from the east and one from the west.

The postal rates were extremely high at this time and only the most urgent matters prompted the sending of letters. The postage was paid by the recipient rather than the sender of the mail, as is the present custom.

Postage stamps had not yet been invented and letters were so folded that the messages were concealed on the inside, while the blank, outside surfaces were used for addresses. A bit of sealing wax was applied and thus no envelope was necessary.

RECORDS CONTRADICTORY
Conneaut's population was increasing annually and the settlement was taking on the appearance of a busy village.

As one reads Conneaut's population, figures of various dates, there are found many confusing statements, but upon examination of records the discrepancies may be explained by the fact that in one census the residents of the village alone were counted, while in another the township figures were also included. Some censuses seem to have been taken for the purpose of ascertaining the number of voters in the district, as only male Citizens 21 years of age and over were counted. Then again some of the records show only the number of families in the locality at a specified time.

80 FAMILIES IN 1811
The population in 1811 is recorded because in that year Ashtabula County was organized as a separate county from Trumbull, and a census was taken then which showed 80 families living here. The total population was listed as 250, of whom 81 were males of voting age.

In 1812 Guthrie's Drug store began serving the community, and today under the management of Leslie Guthrie, it is the oldest business establishment in the city having been operated continuously by descendants of its founder James H. Guthrie.

The year 1812 found the United States and England engaged in their second and final war. As the British were operating a fleet of vessels on Lake Erie, the people living along the Ohio shore at times experienced uneasiness.