Shipyard Located on Grand River In Old Days

By Catherine Ellsworth (1976

Shipyard Located on Grand River In Old Days

By Catherine Ellsworth (1976

Mention of the Harpersfield Shipyard to anyone today would probably be compared to sending someone on a "snipe hunt" or to find a left-handed monkey wrench.

Records show that such a shipyard did exist, one of the several firsts claimed by Harpersfield Township. In those early days following the first settlement in 1798, the Grand River was a deep navigable stream. Slightly over a mile downstream from the present dam, Ezra Gregory launched the first vessel, the Gregory, in 1800. The boat was 35 feet long and 5½ feet wide. The Gregory plus a boat built at Austinburg in 1800, and one at Windsor, became Ashtabula County's "Navy," transporting merchant's supplies and lumber between Windsor and Painesville.

On March 7, 1798, Alexander Harper, William McFarland and Ezra Gregory, with their families, bade goodbye to the comforts of their New York homes and headed for the Western Reserve. The trip was delayed by still lingering winter weather, so they stayed in Rome, New York, until the situation improved. It was May before the little party again set out for the Reserve. They traveled by water to Queenstown, then by wagon and team to Fort Erie, going up onto the Canadian shore, as there were no roads west of the Genessee River. There were, in fact, only three families at Buffalo.

At Fort Erie, they were fortunate in obtaining transportation on a small vessel which took them to Presque Isle. From here they loaded their belongings and supplies. His sorrowing wife and eight children with their friends gathered around the rough hewn plank coffin and placed him in the forest earth on lot 32, the present Unionville cemetery.

Robert, the youngest of the eight Harper children built Shandy Hall in 1815. His portrait still beams down from the wall of the parlor, greeting visitors to the home, now a museum of the Western Reserve Historical Society. Located on Route 84, just east of Unionville, Shandy Hall is a step into 150 years of history. It is filled with the clothing, furnishings and mementos of the founding family, just as they left it.

 Robert contributed much to that history. He served as a colonel in the War of 1812, a farmer, businessman, lawyer, Senator and State Representative. He died in 1850.

Mention of the Harpersfield Shipyard to anyone today would probably be compared to sending someone on a "snipe hunt" or to find a left-handed monkey wrench.

Records show that such a shipyard did exist, one of the several firsts claimed by Harpersfield Township. In those early days following the first settlement in 1798, the Grand River was a deep navigable stream. Slightly over a mile downstream from the present dam, Ezra Gregory launched the first vessel, the Gregory, in 1800. The boat was 35 feet long and 5½ feet wide. The Gregory plus a boat built at Austinburg in 1800, and one at Windsor, became Ashtabula County's "Navy," transporting merchant's supplies and lumber between Windsor and Painesville.

On March 7, 1798, Alexander Harper, William McFarland and Ezra Gregory, with their families, bade goodbye to the comforts of their New York homes and headed for the Western Reserve. The trip was delayed by still lingering winter weather, so they stayed in Rome, New York, until the situation improved. It was May before the little party again set out for the Reserve. They traveled by water to Queenstown, then by wagon and team to Fort Erie, going up onto the Canadian shore, as there were no roads west of the Genessee River. There were, in fact, only three families at Buffalo.

At Fort Erie, they were fortunate in obtaining transportation on a small vessel which took them to Presque Isle. From here they loaded their belongings and supplies. His sorrowing wife and eight children with their friends gathered around the rough hewn plank coffin and placed him in the forest earth on lot 32, the present Unionville cemetery.

Robert, the youngest of the eight Harper children built Shandy Hall in 1815. His portrait still beams down from the wall of the parlor, greeting visitors to the home, now a museum of the Western Reserve Historical Society. Located on Route 84, just east of Unionville, Shandy Hall is a step into 150 years of history. It is filled with the clothing, furnishings and mementos of the founding family, just as they left it.

 Robert contributed much to that history. He served as a colonel in the War of 1812, a farmer, businessman, lawyer, Senator and State Representative. He died in 1850.

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