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102 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Jabez Wright and Almon Ruggles made the original survey of the
township, completing it in 1810, the work occupying nearly tAvo years.
Air. Wright was at one time a judge of the Common Pleas Court. He
Avas killed in 1840, by falling down the bank of the lake.
Cyrus DoAvning came to Huron in 1809, settling on land Avest of the
present toAvn, near Sawmill Creek, where he resided about three years,
removing to Cleveland, and dying there about the beginning of the VVar
of 1812.
Jeremiah Daniels came here in 1809 also, and married a daughter of
Air. Downing in 1813, settling on a farm near the old Downing home,
after ward oAvned by W. J. Hinde.
Air. Daniels carried the mail between Huron and Cleveland for several
years. Barring accidents, the round trip was made in a week, and
was considerable of a journey, when the condition of the roads and the
dangers of the forest are taken into account. Savages at that time were
making some trouble on the Western Reserve, and though Air.- Daniels
never met with any serious injury, it is said that he passed through
st'A'eral exciting experiences.
Maj. II. Russell came to Huron in 1809, and in 1810 built a log
house on land afterward owned by Jeremiah Van Benschoter. The
building AVIIS used as a hotel and store, and Avas probably the first public
house in Huron. It was opened for the reception of travelers in 1810.
In the same year Russell, with J. S. Sprague as iron worker, began the
construction of a 40-ton sailing vessel, which he finished in 1811. This
boat AVIIS fastened mostly with wooden pins instead of bolts. TAVO years
later a second and larger vessel was completed and named The Fair
America. British agents soon after purchased her, and she is said to
have been delivered to them at Buffalo.
Air. Russell cleared a field on the AV. G. Sage farm about this time,
but it AVIIS afterAvard abandoned and alloAved to groAV up again to timber.
The soil, like much land east of the river in this toAvnship, was sandy, and
AVIIS considered by the pioneers to be nearly worthless. It is now knoAvn
to be among the best farm lands on the AVestern Reserve.
Jonathan S. Sprague came to Huron with his family in 1810,'from
Canada. He married Mahala Daly. He was a man of more than ordinary
talents. Though not having the benefit of even a common school
education he was held in such high esteem by his neighbors that he was
frequently elected to offices of trust. He was justice of the peace for
eighteen years in succession, when he declined re-election, feeling that
he had done his share of public service. He died in 1861. His wife
followed him in 1872, dying at the residence of her son-in-law, J.
Dunham.
Asa Smith visited the country in and around Huron in 1809, and
moved into the township with his family in June, 1810, coming from
Romulus, Seneca County, New York. In 1811 he was elected justice of
the peace, at the first election held in the township after its organization.
He was the father of six children. He died in Huron in 1815.