Monday July 29, 2024.
We departed Port Erie at 10:30 arriving in Ashtabula at 5:00. Winding our way up river and through one drawbridge that opens on the half-hour, we docked at the wall at Ashtabula Yacht Club. The club has recently renovated part of their facility and the wall is renovated. Their new electric hookups had a glitch that was quickly repaired by their electrician.
Tuesday July 30, 2024.
We left Ashtabula at 8:30. Winds and seas were fast becoming uncomfortable so we decided to stop at Geneva State Park. We docked at 10:30 and explored the park.
Wednesday July 31, 2024.
We departed Geneva State Park at 9:00 and headed for Cleveland. We arrived at Cleveland’s downtown marina at 4:30. We were pleased to see a very modern facility and it was a new and unusual experience for us.
Located in the heart of downtown Cleveland, the marina is very close to the executive airport and to the pro-sports stadium. Jets flew closely overhead and the downtown area generates a lot of foot traffic. The adjacent city park and cruise ship docking provide a venue for local motorcyclists to loudly wheel their unmuffled cycles through the park’s parking lot.
Because of its excellent location, on sporting weekends the marina requires a multiple-day reservation, presumably to bump up the cost of the slip for sports fans who prefer to visit the city by boat. Undoubtably the marina experience during game weekends is heightened even more that what we experienced.
Being at dock in the marina is its own show. For sizeable pleasure boats the marina is entered by water only through raising a pedestrian drawbridge that was not 100 feet from our boat slip. The bridge announces its raising and lowering with a loud clanging of bells and simultaneous blasting of its horns. A beautiful display of bright lights on the bridge changes colors as the bridge bells clang.
The jets flying overhead, the sounds of the downtown crowds and traffic, the frequent clanging of bells and blasting of horns of the footbridge all provide a stunning contrast to boating several miles offshore in quiet solitude.
Thursday August 1, 2024.
We left Cleveland at 8:45 a.m. going directly to Put-in-Bay. We arrived at South Bass Island about 5:00 and took our spot on the island’s large mooring field. Similar to the mooring field at Chicago the field at South Bass is extensive, but different in that it allows tie up with a single line in contrast to Chicago’s more stringent requirements. Out of practice tying to a mooring ball we almost lost the boat hook but made a quick save and tied up.
Friday August 2, 2024.
We took the mooring field taxi service into shore and proceeded to explore the island by bicycle. Island traffic consists of a few cars and lots of golf carts. We stopped at the Perry Victory & International Peace monument for a few minutes. Both the Perry monument and the adjacent National Park Service building memorialize and testify to Perry’s victory in the battle of Put-in-Bay.
Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry commanded the U.S. Navy in its victory over the British in the War of 1812. The decisive battle between the warships of each country was fought at Put-in-Bay in 1813. During the battle Perry ripped imminent victory from the British who utterly destroyed his first vessel. Leaving his splintered and disabled warship he boarded a second warship. Through fair wind and the grace of God he maneuvered it between two British warships, blasting them to pieces and forcing their surrender. The battle opened Canada to U.S. invasion and was integral to the American victory in the war. The people at Put-in-Bay celebrate this action daily. Each evening a stirring rendition of the Star Spangled Banner is performed over a loudspeaker and is easily heard at the distant ends of the mooring field.
Saturday August 3, 2024.
We disconnected from the mooring ball and motored to Middle Bass Island. We threw out the anchor and spent the day relaxing, watching boats and water skier’s go by, occasionally taking a swim next to the boat. At days end we returned to the mooring.
Sunday August 4, 2024.
One of the family in-laws is reputed to have served with Perry. George Haybarger married Catherine Deitz, daughter to one of our family’s great grandfathers, Arnestus Deitz. George Haybarger and the Deitz family were in the Erie Pa. area by 1798. George Haybarger is mentioned in a county history book as having served with Perry at the Battle of Put-in-Bay and we were interested in locating further recognition of that participation. [1][2][3]
Our exploration of South Bass Island continued by bicycle. Visiting the NPS visitor center at the Perry Monument we looked through the center’s binders of some of the participants in the Battle of Put-in-Bay. We did not find George Haybarger mentioned in the NPS incomplete binders.
We were told that there are bronze plaques within Perry’s monument that have the names of many of the participants in the battle so we decided to tour the Perry Monument and look at the plaques.
The Perry monument at Put-in-Bay is massive. The view from the top of the monument takes in all of the surrounding area. The ascent through the approximately 300+ foot tall monument is made via an elevator that is accessed through two levels, each level having several bronze plaques with the names of some of the participants in the battle. The plaques are known to be incomplete lists and we were disappointed to not see George Haybarger’s name.
Monday August 5, 2024.
Due to predicted heavy seas we moved the boat to Middle Bass Island and docked at the Middle Bass Island State Park Marina. Biking around the island we found that much of the island is cordoned off with private roads. The island is a small, slow moving place. Its post office consists of one mailbox and its downtown is a large vacant lot. There are several public natural conservancy enclaves on the island but they are accessible mostly by water as the private roads restrict access to them.
Tuesday August 6, 2024.
High winds, high seas and heavy rain and bad weather kept us on Middle Bass Island. Unbeknownst to us at the time, Cleveland had 4 tornados that day. Hunkered down in the boat we listened to History of the Pirates and the wind howling through the halyards. The book’s discussion on early settlers of Block Island in the State of Rhode Island prompted me to search our family’s Block Island branch for pirates. That search led me to a story of an ancestor, Archibald Greenfield the mariner. According to the story Archibald was kidnapped September 1720 and impressed into the service of Bartholomew Roberts, aka Black Bart, a notorious pirate.[4] As Archibald appears later as an honest man, he must have extricated himself the pirate’s clutches somehow. The book also led me to the discovery that Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, hero of the battle of Put-in-Bay, is my 4th cousin 6 times removed. We are both descendants of my 9th great-grandmother Mercy Sands, a familiar of the notorious pirate Captain Kidd.[5] [6]
Wednesday August 7, 2024.
We continued our stay on Middle Bass Island due to unfavorable weather, high wind and high seas. Waves of 9 foot were reported yesterday and slightly less height today. Lake Erie is not a very deep lake and so it is fast to rile up large waves in heavy weather.
Thursday August 8, 2024.
We left dock at Middle Bass at 9:30 and arrived at Cleveland’s 55th St. Marina at 6:00. The area was hit by a tornado Tuesday knocking out power to some of their facilities. During our trip from Middle Bass the lake gradually calmed from 3 foot waves when we started to one foot waves.
Friday August 9, 2024.
We bicycled into town hoping to visit the Western Reserve Historical Museum and view their records. Often in our research we encounter impediments to our research plans and Cleveland was no exception. The museum records area was closed due to an electrical fire, and it is not scheduled to reopen for 12-18 months. We also looked for a grocery store near the marina but had no luck. We discovered that Google does not keep a very good account of places when they shut down and we were disappointed the Aldi that we biked to 8 miles from our marina was empty and closed. The downtown area is a “grocery desert”.
Saturday August 10, 2024.
Unfavorable weather prompted us to extend our Cleveland stay. Undeterred we biked again into downtown Cleveland for genealogy research into the Taylor family at the public library. We researched online newspaper articles about the family. We also located a nice grocery store near the library and stocked up.
Sunday August 11, 2024.
The weather still unfavorable, we biked to the library again but found it closed. We also visited Erie Street Cemetery and located the graves of several in the Taylor family including Elisha Taylor and his first wife Anna Taylor.
Monday August 12, 2024.
We biked to the library to research the Taylor family. We discovered on this trip that that there is a lot to research on the Taylors. Elisha Taylor is named on the plat maps of multiple subdivisions in Cleveland. The Taylors were among the first Cleveland residents and had extensive business and land holdings in the nascent city. Our research prompted us to visit the public square Soldier’s Monument area near where Elisha Taylor and his relatives lived, and the “Old Stone Church” where he was a founding member.
OLD STONE CHURCH HISTORICAL MARKER
Tuesday August 13, 2024.
Weather and seas calm. We left Cleveland’s 55th St. marina at 8:30 and made our way to Geneva State Park, arriving around 3:00 in the afternoon, and tied up to the wall.
Wednesday August 14, 2024.
We left Geneva State Park at 8:30 arriving at our boat slip in Erie at 5:30 in the afternoon. We returned home with much to contemplate. We learned much more about the War of 1812. We discovered for us what is a new part of the lake. We stepped into the past again into the lives of distant and not so distant relatives. I have to say that it seems like people from the distant past are beckoning us to discover their past lives their past efforts, their past sacrifices and achievements. All together it was an extraordinary visit into America’s past.
[1] S.B. Nelson, Nelson’s biographical dictionary and historical reference book of Erie County, Pennsylvania, p. 292, S.B. Nelson, Erie, Pa., 1896. https://archive.org/details/nelsonsbiographi00whit/page/292/mode/2up
[2] Id. at p.114.
[3] Id. at 725-726. https://archive.org/details/nelsonsbiographi00whit/page/725/mode/1up?q=%22george+haybarger%22
[4] Frank Davis, Dolor Davis, Newest Research Results, p. 183, 2023. https://www.google.com/books/edition/DOLOR_DAVIS_c1593_1673_Newest_Research_R/VBa3EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=dolor+davis&printsec=frontcover
[5] Malcom Sands Wilson, Descendants of James Sands of Block Island, p. 61, New York, 1949. https://archive.org/details/descendantsofjam00wils_0/page/61/mode/1up
[6] Frances Manwaring Caulkins, History of New London Connecticut, p. 293, Utley, New London, 1895. https://archive.org/details/historyofnewlond00caul/page/293/mode/1up
The Boating Genealogists 