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One of the first settlers on the Marblehead Peninsula was Benajah Wolcott of New Haven, Connecticut. He enlisted in the army at 14 and served until 1784. Without land or a trade or profession, he worked for others until 1806 when he was hired to work on a survey team assigned to map the western most edge of the Connecticut Western Reserve. The survey team was headed by Moses Cleaveland, the man that Cleveland was named after (Cleveland was originally spelled Cleaveland, but was changed by a newspaper that needed to shorten the name to fit on their masthead). This Sufferers Land or The Firelands, along Lake Erie, would be given to Connecticut people who had been burned out by the British during the Revolution.
After completing the survey, Benajah returned to Connecticut, but was determined to return to the area. In 1809 he bought 114 acres on what is now called the Marblehead Peninsula. He brought with him his wife, 3 children, and 2 hired men and together they built a log cabin near the site of the present stone house.
In 1812, fearing attacks by British and their Indian allies, the Wolcotts fled east to Newburgh, on the Cuyahoga River. Just after the Wolcotts fled the peninsula and abandoned their log house, their farm became the site of a multiday battle when a small group of American militia fended off a much larger group of Potawatami Indians from the Wolcotts log house. After two days of fighting 8 militiamen and 40 Potawatami were dead. The fighting stopped when reinforcements arrived from Camp Avery, about 10 miles south of Sandusky on the Huron River, arrived. [Read more about this fight that became known as the "Skirmish on the Peninsula"}
During the intervening years while Benajah Wolcott was away, his wife Elizabeth died of natural causes at Newburgh. It wasn't until after he received news that the Americans had defeated the British at Fort Meigs, Commodor Perry had defeated the British in the naval battle at Put-in-Bay in 1813, and later that fall, the Shawnee leader Tecumseh was killed around Detroit which ended his confederation and the threat to American settlers on the western frontier making it safe for them to return. Benajah Wolcott and his children moved back to their log cabin. Benajah did not remarry until almost 10 years later when he married Rachel Miller on March 10, 1822. Later that same year he was appointed keeper of the newly completed lighthouse on the penninsula point. It was built by William Kelley. Once Kelley completed the lighthouse, Benajah contracted with him to build a new house for his new bridge. This stone building still stands at the same spot it was originally constructed upon. The one difference is that Benajah's large farm is now covered with trees, houses, or quarry pits. If Benajah Wolcott were able to return today, he would certainly recognize his bride's new home.
Benajah and Rachel remained in their limestone house until Benajah died at the age of 70 during a cholera outbreak that first broke out in Cleveland earlier that same year where a large number of European immigrants most likely brought the disease with them when they immigrated to the United States and moved to Cleveland where work was plentiful. At the time medical experts were not sure what caused cholera or how it was spread. Because it was so widespread with no apparent point of connection between victims of the disease, they felt it was caused by something other than direct contact. Eventually so many deaths were caused in Cleveland and the surrounds the dead could not be buried fast enough. This led to a short-lived practice of taking the bodies out into the lake and disposing of them there. This however, further spread the disease and unfortunately claimed the life of Benajah when a few of those bodies washed upon on the rocky shore line of the peninsula and he buried them.
Eventually, scientists and medical professionals learned that cholera was spread by direct contact with bodily fluids or by consuming water contaminated by any of these fluids. The cholera bacteria was a highly resilient bacteria that could survive for long periods of time in water meaning that if the drinking water became contaminated, it would quickly spread throughout the population. In time drinking water was treated with chemicals to prevent the disease's spred. At the time of Benajah's death one of the treatments for the severe headaches caused was to bleed the patient!
With Benajah's death, his wife Rachel took over his responsibilities of tending the lighthouse throughout the year except for those months when Lake Erie was frozen (ships didn't sail at this time). Rachel became the first female lighhouse keeper on the Great Lakes. She remained on duty for the next few years when she remarried and her new husband,
The house is the oldest known residence still standing in Ottawa County and is a fine example of a "hall-and-parlor house," an early American home design.
Why is the Keeper's House so far from the the Marblehead Lighthouse? The answer is that Benajah Wolcott was primarily a farmer. The soil on the south side of Marblehead is deeper and more suitable for farming. The trip to the Sandusky Lighthouse as it was called then, was not a difficult journey on horseback, or even walking. Wolcott would remain on duty only as long as required by the responsibilities required by the position. During the winter months when Lake Erie was frozen, there would be no boats and thus no need for the lighthouse beacon.
The Keeper's House is open Monday through Friday, 1 to 5 p.m. from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Tours are free of charge. Contact the House to get the most up to date information on hours of operation. The house is located on the south side of the Marblehead Peninsula. On the other side of the road about a 1/2 mile west is Battlefield Park dedicated to the War of 1812 and just up the road is Johnson's Island, that was once a Civil War prisoner of War camp.
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