Lorenzo Carter
Major Lorenzo Carter was the first permanent settler in Cleveland, Ohio.
Born in 1767, Carter spent his early years in Warren, Connecticut. Where he visited the local library frequently and developed an appreciation of books. When his father, Lieut. Elazer Carter enlisted in the Continental Army when Lorenzo was 11 years old, he came home from his temporarily disbanded unit and died of smallpox. About seven years later when his widowed mother remarried and moved to Vermont, the 18-year-old Lorenzo struck out on his own. Within four years, Lorenzo Carter bought his own land, cleared it, farmed it and married Rebecca Fuller. Lorenzo Carter is described as a swarthy, muscular man whose “gaze and speech were as direct as his actions” (Ellis, 1979, p. 42)Carter was a natural leader whose “interests transcended farming or making a living.” (Ellis, 1979, p. 42) In 1797 he left with his brother-in-law for the New Connecticut settlement of Cleaveland (now Cleveland, Ohio) via Canada. Lorenzo Carter bought Lot 199, nearly 2 acres (8,100 m2) of land for $47.50. Carter made friends with the local Native Americans and it was his friendship with Chief Seneca (also known as Stigwanish) that kept the Cleaveland colony alive through years of disease, floods and poor crops.
After building a frame house and preparing to move in Lorenzo Carter’s new home was burned down by children playing with wood shavings and only in 1803 was a two-room log cabin home finished for the family. In 1802 he also built the Carter Tavern which became a somewhat informal town hall, hotel, and religious meeting house. In 1804 the state of Ohio promoted Carter to Major and he was given the responsibility of the Cleaveland battalion. In 1808 he built a trading vessel 30 ton schooner called the Zephyr that traded furs for goods like salt. Carter was also an active member of the first library association in Cleveland which was formed in 1811 but quickly dissolved under the pressures of the War of 1812. Lorenzo's father, Lt. Elazer Carter handed down to him and the generations that followed the flag he carried during The Revolutionary War. The flag passed to Lorenzo's grand daughter, Selena Silsby Brockway who inturn passed it to her grand daughter Alice Henderson. The flag eventually ended up being passed to her grandson John (Jack) Penty Jr. The flag is one of the original flags made when there were still 13 British colonies. The Revolutionaries determined the stars and stripes would signify the Republic they were fighting to form. It is made of homespun linen and handstitched. The red stripes were dyed with cranberries and the blue with elderberries. Thirteen stars are scattered across a light blue background. This flag is about 8' by 10'. This flag was made during the Revolution before this country was even formed. It was 1775 and emotions ran high, many of them caught and spurred higher by the word "LIBERTY" sewn onto the flag. The flag now resides with The Western Reserve Historical Society.
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