Places on the Peninsula - Lorrie Halblaub
The Story of Johnson’s Island-Part I
Johnson’s Island is the only island in Sandusky Bay. Today it is part the Village of Marblehead in Ottawa County, but after Ohio gained statehood, it was part of what was once known as the Firelands. The Firelands were parcels of land in Ohio that were given to Connecticut residents whose homes were burned by the British during the Revolutionary War. One of the first settlers from Connecticut who came to the peninsula was Benajah Wolcott who worked with a party of surveyors in 1806 to plot out the land that would be given to Danbury, Connecticut fire sufferers. Wolcott returned in 1809 to purchase land on the Sandusky Bay side of the peninsula from a Danbury Connecticut lawyer named Epaphras Wadsworth Bull, Esq. (Later historians have misspelled his first name as Epahroditus.) Bull purchased many acres of peninsula land including Johnson’s Island, which was known then as Bull’s Island.
Bull was an important man, a member of the Connecticut General Assembly, and an eloquent speaker. He had great ambitions for the island. The Customs agency moved from Danbury to the island and Bull envisioned the island with a small city. Then the War of 1812 intervened. Native Americans on the side of the British attacked and killed some of the early settlers. The Bull and Wolcott families fled to Newburgh in the Cleveland area for safety. The following is a synopsis of their times and trials written by Polly Bull, the widow of Epaphras Bull. Her full account was published in 1859 in the Firelands Pioneer.
In the fall of 1811, the Bull Family, father, mother and three small children, along with their colored servant Patience, traveled to Ohio by various means of transportation over land and water. They spent that fall and winter in a log cabin in a settlement of seven families. Fish and game were abundant. The Indians were friendly. But the winter was harsh with the lake frozen. That spring, two unarmed white persons in Sandusky City, were murdered by Indians while they were asleep in their home. The Indians were caught and tried. One was hung, while the second shot himself while in custody. His hands were bound, but he used his toe to fire the gun.
Soon after, there was a declaration of war with Great Britain and General Hull surrendered at Detroit. It became apparent that the settlers, including the Bull and Wolcott families, would have to flee for their own safety. Mr. Bull had gone ahead to seek armed protection for the group, while the rest headed east toward the small settlement of Cleveland. The journey was harsh. They travelled by boat to the Huron area. In fear of being caught by Indians, Polly hid her two youngest children, aged 2 and 4, under woolen sheets. Once again on land, it began to rain. The river was so high, they spent nights in the woods. They suffered from heat, insect stings, and fevers. At last, they had just made it to Cleveland when Epaphras Bull died on Oct. 6, 1812. He was just 33 years old. Polly said the whole family and servants were ill for several months in Cleveland. Benajah’s wife Elizabeth also died there. After the war, the Wolcotts returned to the peninsula, but Polly and family went back to Connecticut, never to return to Bull’s Island.
