A soldier of the American Revolution.
A founding member of historic St. James' Episcopal Church in Boardman, Ohio; and a member of its first Vestry.
"Turhand Kirtland was born in Wallingford, Connecticut, in the year 1755.In 1776 he was in the provisional service of New York at the time of the defeat of the American Army on Long Island, and was engaged on board the boats which
conveyed our forces over to the main land.He was a descendant of the family of Kirtlands, "Gentleman" of Sherrington,Buckinghamshire, England, which sent its first representatives to this country in 1635. The family settled in Lynn, Massachusetts, but later moved to Connecticut where for many generations it has held a prominent and influential position.
Turhand,of the fifth generation of Kirtlands in this country, was one of the proprietors of the Connecticut Land Company in the purchase of the Western Reserve from the mother state.In the first draft of the Company in 1798, he, with several others, under the name of Caleb Atwater, drew the township of Mecca and part of the township of Auburn, and in company with Messrs. Benjamin Doolittle, Samuel Doolittle, Seth Hart, Win. Law, Andrew Hull, Titus Street, Levi Tomlinson and Daniel Holbrook,under the name of Benjamin Doolittle, he drew the townships of Poland and Burton,and over two thousand acres in Kirtland, as well as many minor amounts in other townships. Three months after this draft, April 1798, he set out with his party of surveyors and settlers upon the arduous journey to the Northwest Territory, where lay these new possessions, and each succeeding summer he returned, until 1803,when his family accompanied him and he settled in Poland.
For many years he acted as agent for the Connecticut Land Company, and, until he retired from active business in 1834, he had charge of the greater part of the
lands of those proprietors of the Connecticut Land Company who resided in the East.He took a prominent part in the affairs of the Reserve, establishing Libraries and schools; as early as 1805 he had secured sufficient funds from the settlers to purchase a fine library for Poland, and this library was kept abreast of the times as
long as he lived. He was one of the first to urge the necessity of a western college and he contributed most generously both in time and money to that institution
which eventually became the Western Reserve College.
Turhand Kirtland was elected State Senator for Trumbull County in 18 14; he was Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for several terms, and was Justice of the Peace in Poland for over twenty years. The Diary, relating his early experiences in New Connecticut, ends abruptly in
the fall of 1800. Presumably the remaining pages have been lost in the hundred and more years intervening, but enough remains to show the unflagging energy and indomitable perseverance of the man—no complaints, no regrets, no maligning, but a steady pushing forward amid the untold trials and privations of those pioneer days.The imprint for good, Judge Kirtland has left upon the character of the Western Reserve, will be felt for many succeeding generations."
Source: MARY L. W. MORSE in the Introduction to Turhand Kirtland's Diary, 1903. It is available online
∼Founder of Poland, Ohio
Cleveland Herald, October 9, 1844:
"Died at Poland, Trumbull County, Ohio, on the 16th, August 1844,
Turhand Kirtland, in the 89th year of his age. He was a native of
Wallingford, Conn. In 1798 he first visited northern Ohio, which
was then called New Connecticut, and was owned by the Connecticut
Land Company. He as agent for that company conducted a boat, loaded with surveyors, emigrants, and provisions up the Mohawk River, through Wood Creek into Oneida and Ontario Lakes, and then by teams hauled his boat around the falls of the Niagara on the Canada side. On the New York Side he purchased several oxen and cows, and sent them onto Ohio through an unbroken wilderness by land in charge of two men. In this small craft he cruised up the lake, touched at Presque Isle, now Erie, then garrisoned by United States troops, and at length arrived in safety at the mouth of Grand River to the place where the road from Painesville to Fairport crosses the River. There he disembarked his stores and emigrants and erected a temporary hut for protection.
His cattle from Niagara soon arrived, when he commenced laying
out and opening a public road to Burton. Among the first steps
taken was the construction of an ox sled, which must have one of
the earliest vehicles for conveyance, that traveled on the public
roads in Northern Ohio. As the workmen progressed in opening the road and bridging he streams, the provisions were moved forward by means of the ox sled. Some of the emigrants located permanently at Burton, where it is believed a few of the number are still living. The late Rodolphus Edwards and family, of Newburg came up the lake from Niagara in the company. At the close of the summer, Judge Kirtland returned to Connecticut, but visited Ohio annually until the year 1803, when he removed his family into this state and located at Poland. In 1805 he was one who explored and equalized for the Connecticut Land Company, every township lying west of the river Cuyahoga, and east of the Fire Lands, now Huron County. His name is intimately connected with the first settlement of northern Ohio. As either agent or proprietor, he disposed of extensive tracts of new lands, and at various times filled a number of public offices with reputation. He was distinguished for his integrity and business habits.
After the eastern State of Vermont was added as the 14th state to the Union in 1791 Ohio became the third state in the union to be carved out the western wilderness in 1803 after Kentucky was admitted in 1792 and Tennessee in 1796.
A founding member of historic St. James' Episcopal Church in Boardman, Ohio; and a member of its first Vestry.
"Turhand Kirtland was born in Wallingford, Connecticut, in the year 1755.In 1776 he was in the provisional service of New York at the time of the defeat of the American Army on Long Island, and was engaged on board the boats which
conveyed our forces over to the main land.He was a descendant of the family of Kirtlands, "Gentleman" of Sherrington,Buckinghamshire, England, which sent its first representatives to this country in 1635. The family settled in Lynn, Massachusetts, but later moved to Connecticut where for many generations it has held a prominent and influential position.
Turhand,of the fifth generation of Kirtlands in this country, was one of the proprietors of the Connecticut Land Company in the purchase of the Western Reserve from the mother state.In the first draft of the Company in 1798, he, with several others, under the name of Caleb Atwater, drew the township of Mecca and part of the township of Auburn, and in company with Messrs. Benjamin Doolittle, Samuel Doolittle, Seth Hart, Win. Law, Andrew Hull, Titus Street, Levi Tomlinson and Daniel Holbrook,under the name of Benjamin Doolittle, he drew the townships of Poland and Burton,and over two thousand acres in Kirtland, as well as many minor amounts in other townships. Three months after this draft, April 1798, he set out with his party of surveyors and settlers upon the arduous journey to the Northwest Territory, where lay these new possessions, and each succeeding summer he returned, until 1803,when his family accompanied him and he settled in Poland.
For many years he acted as agent for the Connecticut Land Company, and, until he retired from active business in 1834, he had charge of the greater part of the
lands of those proprietors of the Connecticut Land Company who resided in the East.He took a prominent part in the affairs of the Reserve, establishing Libraries and schools; as early as 1805 he had secured sufficient funds from the settlers to purchase a fine library for Poland, and this library was kept abreast of the times as
long as he lived. He was one of the first to urge the necessity of a western college and he contributed most generously both in time and money to that institution
which eventually became the Western Reserve College.
Turhand Kirtland was elected State Senator for Trumbull County in 18 14; he was Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for several terms, and was Justice of the Peace in Poland for over twenty years. The Diary, relating his early experiences in New Connecticut, ends abruptly in
the fall of 1800. Presumably the remaining pages have been lost in the hundred and more years intervening, but enough remains to show the unflagging energy and indomitable perseverance of the man—no complaints, no regrets, no maligning, but a steady pushing forward amid the untold trials and privations of those pioneer days.The imprint for good, Judge Kirtland has left upon the character of the Western Reserve, will be felt for many succeeding generations."
Source: MARY L. W. MORSE in the Introduction to Turhand Kirtland's Diary, 1903. It is available online
∼Founder of Poland, Ohio
Cleveland Herald, October 9, 1844:
"Died at Poland, Trumbull County, Ohio, on the 16th, August 1844,
Turhand Kirtland, in the 89th year of his age. He was a native of
Wallingford, Conn. In 1798 he first visited northern Ohio, which
was then called New Connecticut, and was owned by the Connecticut
Land Company. He as agent for that company conducted a boat, loaded with surveyors, emigrants, and provisions up the Mohawk River, through Wood Creek into Oneida and Ontario Lakes, and then by teams hauled his boat around the falls of the Niagara on the Canada side. On the New York Side he purchased several oxen and cows, and sent them onto Ohio through an unbroken wilderness by land in charge of two men. In this small craft he cruised up the lake, touched at Presque Isle, now Erie, then garrisoned by United States troops, and at length arrived in safety at the mouth of Grand River to the place where the road from Painesville to Fairport crosses the River. There he disembarked his stores and emigrants and erected a temporary hut for protection.
His cattle from Niagara soon arrived, when he commenced laying
out and opening a public road to Burton. Among the first steps
taken was the construction of an ox sled, which must have one of
the earliest vehicles for conveyance, that traveled on the public
roads in Northern Ohio. As the workmen progressed in opening the road and bridging he streams, the provisions were moved forward by means of the ox sled. Some of the emigrants located permanently at Burton, where it is believed a few of the number are still living. The late Rodolphus Edwards and family, of Newburg came up the lake from Niagara in the company. At the close of the summer, Judge Kirtland returned to Connecticut, but visited Ohio annually until the year 1803, when he removed his family into this state and located at Poland. In 1805 he was one who explored and equalized for the Connecticut Land Company, every township lying west of the river Cuyahoga, and east of the Fire Lands, now Huron County. His name is intimately connected with the first settlement of northern Ohio. As either agent or proprietor, he disposed of extensive tracts of new lands, and at various times filled a number of public offices with reputation. He was distinguished for his integrity and business habits.
After the eastern State of Vermont was added as the 14th state to the Union in 1791 Ohio became the third state in the union to be carved out the western wilderness in 1803 after Kentucky was admitted in 1792 and Tennessee in 1796.
A soldier of the American Revolution.
A founding member of historic St. James' Episcopal Church in Boardman, Ohio; and a member of its first Vestry.
"Turhand Kirtland was born in Wallingford, Connecticut, in the year 1755.In 1776 he was in the provisional service of New York at the time of the defeat of the American Army on Long Island, and was engaged on board the boats which
conveyed our forces over to the main land.He was a descendant of the family of Kirtlands, "Gentleman" of Sherrington,Buckinghamshire, England, which sent its first representatives to this country in 1635. The family settled in Lynn, Massachusetts, but later moved to Connecticut where for many generations it has held a prominent and influential position.
Turhand,of the fifth generation of Kirtlands in this country, was one of the proprietors of the Connecticut Land Company in the purchase of the Western Reserve from the mother state.In the first draft of the Company in 1798, he, with several others, under the name of Caleb Atwater, drew the township of Mecca and part of the township of Auburn, and in company with Messrs. Benjamin Doolittle, Samuel Doolittle, Seth Hart, Win. Law, Andrew Hull, Titus Street, Levi Tomlinson and Daniel Holbrook,under the name of Benjamin Doolittle, he drew the townships of Poland and Burton,and over two thousand acres in Kirtland, as well as many minor amounts in other townships. Three months after this draft, April 1798, he set out with his party of surveyors and settlers upon the arduous journey to the Northwest Territory, where lay these new possessions, and each succeeding summer he returned, until 1803,when his family accompanied him and he settled in Poland.
For many years he acted as agent for the Connecticut Land Company, and, until he retired from active business in 1834, he had charge of the greater part of the
lands of those proprietors of the Connecticut Land Company who resided in the East.He took a prominent part in the affairs of the Reserve, establishing Libraries and schools; as early as 1805 he had secured sufficient funds from the settlers to purchase a fine library for Poland, and this library was kept abreast of the times as
long as he lived. He was one of the first to urge the necessity of a western college and he contributed most generously both in time and money to that institution
which eventually became the Western Reserve College.
Turhand Kirtland was elected State Senator for Trumbull County in 18 14; he was Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for several terms, and was Justice of the Peace in Poland for over twenty years. The Diary, relating his early experiences in New Connecticut, ends abruptly in
the fall of 1800. Presumably the remaining pages have been lost in the hundred and more years intervening, but enough remains to show the unflagging energy and indomitable perseverance of the man—no complaints, no regrets, no maligning, but a steady pushing forward amid the untold trials and privations of those pioneer days.The imprint for good, Judge Kirtland has left upon the character of the Western Reserve, will be felt for many succeeding generations."
Source: MARY L. W. MORSE in the Introduction to Turhand Kirtland's Diary, 1903. It is available online
∼Founder of Poland, Ohio
Cleveland Herald, October 9, 1844:
"Died at Poland, Trumbull County, Ohio, on the 16th, August 1844,
Turhand Kirtland, in the 89th year of his age. He was a native of
Wallingford, Conn. In 1798 he first visited northern Ohio, which
was then called New Connecticut, and was owned by the Connecticut
Land Company. He as agent for that company conducted a boat, loaded with surveyors, emigrants, and provisions up the Mohawk River, through Wood Creek into Oneida and Ontario Lakes, and then by teams hauled his boat around the falls of the Niagara on the Canada side. On the New York Side he purchased several oxen and cows, and sent them onto Ohio through an unbroken wilderness by land in charge of two men. In this small craft he cruised up the lake, touched at Presque Isle, now Erie, then garrisoned by United States troops, and at length arrived in safety at the mouth of Grand River to the place where the road from Painesville to Fairport crosses the River. There he disembarked his stores and emigrants and erected a temporary hut for protection.
His cattle from Niagara soon arrived, when he commenced laying
out and opening a public road to Burton. Among the first steps
taken was the construction of an ox sled, which must have one of
the earliest vehicles for conveyance, that traveled on the public
roads in Northern Ohio. As the workmen progressed in opening the road and bridging he streams, the provisions were moved forward by means of the ox sled. Some of the emigrants located permanently at Burton, where it is believed a few of the number are still living. The late Rodolphus Edwards and family, of Newburg came up the lake from Niagara in the company. At the close of the summer, Judge Kirtland returned to Connecticut, but visited Ohio annually until the year 1803, when he removed his family into this state and located at Poland. In 1805 he was one who explored and equalized for the Connecticut Land Company, every township lying west of the river Cuyahoga, and east of the Fire Lands, now Huron County. His name is intimately connected with the first settlement of northern Ohio. As either agent or proprietor, he disposed of extensive tracts of new lands, and at various times filled a number of public offices with reputation. He was distinguished for his integrity and business habits.
After the eastern State of Vermont was added as the 14th state to the Union in 1791 Ohio became the third state in the union to be carved out the western wilderness in 1803 after Kentucky was admitted in 1792 and Tennessee in 1796.
A founding member of historic St. James' Episcopal Church in Boardman, Ohio; and a member of its first Vestry.
"Turhand Kirtland was born in Wallingford, Connecticut, in the year 1755.In 1776 he was in the provisional service of New York at the time of the defeat of the American Army on Long Island, and was engaged on board the boats which
conveyed our forces over to the main land.He was a descendant of the family of Kirtlands, "Gentleman" of Sherrington,Buckinghamshire, England, which sent its first representatives to this country in 1635. The family settled in Lynn, Massachusetts, but later moved to Connecticut where for many generations it has held a prominent and influential position.
Turhand,of the fifth generation of Kirtlands in this country, was one of the proprietors of the Connecticut Land Company in the purchase of the Western Reserve from the mother state.In the first draft of the Company in 1798, he, with several others, under the name of Caleb Atwater, drew the township of Mecca and part of the township of Auburn, and in company with Messrs. Benjamin Doolittle, Samuel Doolittle, Seth Hart, Win. Law, Andrew Hull, Titus Street, Levi Tomlinson and Daniel Holbrook,under the name of Benjamin Doolittle, he drew the townships of Poland and Burton,and over two thousand acres in Kirtland, as well as many minor amounts in other townships. Three months after this draft, April 1798, he set out with his party of surveyors and settlers upon the arduous journey to the Northwest Territory, where lay these new possessions, and each succeeding summer he returned, until 1803,when his family accompanied him and he settled in Poland.
For many years he acted as agent for the Connecticut Land Company, and, until he retired from active business in 1834, he had charge of the greater part of the
lands of those proprietors of the Connecticut Land Company who resided in the East.He took a prominent part in the affairs of the Reserve, establishing Libraries and schools; as early as 1805 he had secured sufficient funds from the settlers to purchase a fine library for Poland, and this library was kept abreast of the times as
long as he lived. He was one of the first to urge the necessity of a western college and he contributed most generously both in time and money to that institution
which eventually became the Western Reserve College.
Turhand Kirtland was elected State Senator for Trumbull County in 18 14; he was Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for several terms, and was Justice of the Peace in Poland for over twenty years. The Diary, relating his early experiences in New Connecticut, ends abruptly in
the fall of 1800. Presumably the remaining pages have been lost in the hundred and more years intervening, but enough remains to show the unflagging energy and indomitable perseverance of the man—no complaints, no regrets, no maligning, but a steady pushing forward amid the untold trials and privations of those pioneer days.The imprint for good, Judge Kirtland has left upon the character of the Western Reserve, will be felt for many succeeding generations."
Source: MARY L. W. MORSE in the Introduction to Turhand Kirtland's Diary, 1903. It is available online
∼Founder of Poland, Ohio
Cleveland Herald, October 9, 1844:
"Died at Poland, Trumbull County, Ohio, on the 16th, August 1844,
Turhand Kirtland, in the 89th year of his age. He was a native of
Wallingford, Conn. In 1798 he first visited northern Ohio, which
was then called New Connecticut, and was owned by the Connecticut
Land Company. He as agent for that company conducted a boat, loaded with surveyors, emigrants, and provisions up the Mohawk River, through Wood Creek into Oneida and Ontario Lakes, and then by teams hauled his boat around the falls of the Niagara on the Canada side. On the New York Side he purchased several oxen and cows, and sent them onto Ohio through an unbroken wilderness by land in charge of two men. In this small craft he cruised up the lake, touched at Presque Isle, now Erie, then garrisoned by United States troops, and at length arrived in safety at the mouth of Grand River to the place where the road from Painesville to Fairport crosses the River. There he disembarked his stores and emigrants and erected a temporary hut for protection.
His cattle from Niagara soon arrived, when he commenced laying
out and opening a public road to Burton. Among the first steps
taken was the construction of an ox sled, which must have one of
the earliest vehicles for conveyance, that traveled on the public
roads in Northern Ohio. As the workmen progressed in opening the road and bridging he streams, the provisions were moved forward by means of the ox sled. Some of the emigrants located permanently at Burton, where it is believed a few of the number are still living. The late Rodolphus Edwards and family, of Newburg came up the lake from Niagara in the company. At the close of the summer, Judge Kirtland returned to Connecticut, but visited Ohio annually until the year 1803, when he removed his family into this state and located at Poland. In 1805 he was one who explored and equalized for the Connecticut Land Company, every township lying west of the river Cuyahoga, and east of the Fire Lands, now Huron County. His name is intimately connected with the first settlement of northern Ohio. As either agent or proprietor, he disposed of extensive tracts of new lands, and at various times filled a number of public offices with reputation. He was distinguished for his integrity and business habits.
After the eastern State of Vermont was added as the 14th state to the Union in 1791 Ohio became the third state in the union to be carved out the western wilderness in 1803 after Kentucky was admitted in 1792 and Tennessee in 1796.
Inscription
Turhand Kirtland/ Born November 16 1755/ Died August 16 1844
"Judge Kirtland gave this cemetery and green to the public 1804"
Family Members
Siblings
