Levi Johnson, man of enterprise and the War of 1812 on Lake Erie

Another story about the events surrounding the Battle of Lake Erie, this one the story of an enterprising local carpenter named Levi Johnson, who had settled in Cleveland in 1808 (from A History of Cleveland and Its Environs by Elroy McKendree Avery, 1918):

A few days after this battle Levi Johnson and a friend found a large flat boat [probably a batteaux or Schenectady boat, not a river barge] that had been built by General Jessup (Major Thomas Jessup) for the conveyance of troops and had been abandoned. The two men bought a hundred bushels of potatoes and loading them on the flat boat proceeded to the army and navy headquarters at Put-in-Bay, where the potatoes proved a welcome addition to the army fare and brought the partners a handsome profit.* That was the first of Levi Johnson's successful commercial transactions and as much as anything else started him on the road to prosperity. Later he and his companion loaded the flat boat with supplies which were taken to the army at Detroit, and again gave them a large profit. Mr. Johnson entered into a contract with the quartermaster of the Detroit Post to carry a cargo of clothing to the army. It was late in the season and the boat was obstructed by ice, compelling a landing at Huron. Nevertheless the cargo was delivered and those were the initial successes of Capt. Levi Johnson as a contractor and an important figure in the lake transportation business.

 He next proceeded with the construction of a vessel of his own. The keel was laid for a ship of thirty-five tons, named Highland**. Under many difficulties this boat was finally completed and its launching was a big event in the history of Cleveland of that day. The boat was hoisted on wheels, and with much strenuous exertion was finally drawn to the edge of the water by twenty-eight yoke of oxen. This launching occurred on the river at the foot of Superior Street, and an immense crowd, as measured in proportion to the population of Northern Ohio at that time, cheered and applauded the exploit. It was the first boat of any size constructed and launched at Cleveland and marks the beginning of Cleveland's history as a shipping center...

...He made a great success of his first boat, and when it was launched it was requisitioned for army purposes and on it army stores were transported between Buffalo and Detroit. Two loads of soldiers were also taken from Buffalo to the command of Major Camp at Detroit. On the return trip the guns left by Harrison at Maumee (Fort Meigs) were taken to Erie. In this business Mr. Johnson lost $300 as a result of the qaurtermaster absconding. In 1815 he began transporting stores to Malden, making his first trip on March 20th [at that time Fort Malden was still occupied by the United States Army], and when his boat did not stop a shot was fired, the ball passing through the foresail, and after the second shot Mr. Johnson brought his vessel to the shore. The commander of the fort demanded the maiml, but Mr. Johnson declined to give it up and though an attempt was made to detain his vessel he spread sail  and with a favorable wind got away from his pursuers and did not stop until he had delivered the mail safely at the Detroit post office.*** In 1815 Captain Johnson built the schooner Neptune, of sixty-five tons, and after taking it to Buffalo he returned with a cargo of merchandise consigned to Jonathan Williamson. In 1817 this vessel made a trip to Mackinac for the American Fur Company****, and was employed in the fur trade until the fall of 1819. 

In 1824 Captain Johnson and his associates built the first steamer ever constructed at Cleveland. It was known as the Enterprise and was of about 200 tons capacity.

*Not the first time! On June 4, 1813, Captain Daniel Cushing wrote in his diary that "two men arrived from Cleveland with a boat load of potatoes, 150 bushels, sold them all out in a few hours at $2.00 per bushel; they returned this evening."

**According to another source, this was the schooner Pilot. It was built on the site of St. Paul's Church on Euclid Avenue, and Levi Johnson enlisted the aid of 28 pairs of oxen belonging to local farmers to haul his vessel to the water! It's mentioned in a list of  ships built on Lake Erie in 1814--while the war was still on (newspaper clippings found in Maritime History of the Great Lakes).

The following merchant vessels have been built on the south shore of Lake Erie the present season---burthen 35 to 100 tons; viz 
Schooner LADY OF THE LAKE, Hanchett, Cleveland 
      " PILOT, Johnson, Cleveland 
      " EXPERIMENT, Lovejoy, Buffalo 
      " VERMILLION, Austin, Vermillion River 
      " CHAMPION, Scott, Grand River 
      " DILIGENCE, Perry, Erie 
      Buffalo Gazette & Niagara Intelligencer 
      Tuesday, July 19, 1814 [ part of article ] 

***This definitely doesn't sound right, because in March 1815 the United States  and Britain were at peace, and the Americans didn't turn Fort Malden over to the British again until July 1 of that year. Perhaps the answer lies in this account of a run-in that the Brig Union had with British authorities in 1816:

The Hermaphrodite Brig UNION, Jas. Beard, master, left Detroit on the 23rd Ult. and grounded near the head of Gros Island, about 8 miles below Detroit, her own boat being too small, she obtained one from the U.S. Garrison at Gros Island for the purpose of getting her off; which was effected on the morning of the 24th. The wind being ahead she beat down the river nearly abreast of the garrison, to which two men were sent to return the boat -- being in sight of Amherstberg, a boat was seen to leave the latter place at the same time ours left the Brig, and to proceed in the same direction until our boat came near the garrison, she then put about for the UNION, having on board an officer in a Midshipman's uniform and six men, who immediately came on deck. The officer enquired for the master of the Brig, and told him he had come to search his vesseI for deserters. Mr. Beard observed his men were all on deck, except those sent on shore in the boat. The officer then ordered his men into the hold and fore-castle to search. Mr. Beard remonstrated against such unwarrantable proceedings, and forbit it. The officer then replied, that he was ordered to search her peaceably if he could, if not to use force, saying,"your Government allows it, and why should not you?" 
At this time there were two pieces of artillery drawn up on the Canada shore, apparently well manned, and not more than one hundred yards from the UNION. Mr. Beard told the British officer that if he would search the Brig, he must take charge of her; which he did by taking the helm and ordering his men to take in sail and bring her to anchor, which was done. The Brig was then searched, and the officer told Capt. Beard he might resume the command of her. 
On Capt. Beard asking him by what authority he acted, he replied, that his name was Henry Brooks, that he acted under a verbal order from his commanding officer. 
A suitable notice of the above transaction will be forwarded to the head of the proper department at Washington. 
      Buffalo Gazette & Niagara Intelligencer 
      Tuesday, August 6, 1816 

The Union was an odd vessel herself-- being built on Put-in-Bay and finished at Grand River in 1813 or 1814, according to Captain Augustus Walker:

 The brig Union was owned by Jonathan Sidway and commanded by Captain James Beard. As this was the first vessel that I embarked on as a sailor I may be permitted to dwell on some of her peculiarities. She was modeled, built, owned and commanded by a man named Martin, who had been a house carpenter. She was partially built on Put-in-Bay Island, launched and towed to the mouth of Grand River, Ohio, in 1813. It is difficult to give any adequate idea of her construction. Her proportions were unlike those of any other craft then or since on the lakes. She had some good points, one of them her great breadth of beam; that, together with her flat bottom, with but little dead-rise to her floor, enabled her to carry a much larger cargo than other vessels of her tonnage, and when light she could sail safely in all kinds of weather without ballast. The manner of her planking was peculiar. Her garboard-streak followed up the main stem, butting underneath the wales instead of ending against the stem of the ship. Each succeeding streak of plank was gradually tapered or beveled at the forward end, so that the last streak was brought to a wedge-like point terminating some 20 feet from her bows. She was originally schooner-rigged, with two old-fashioned slip-keels. Her lower masts were buttonwood; the bowsprit and jib-boom of the same timber, both made in one spar; her decks were of red cedar and but very little iron was used in her build, she being mostly fastened with wooden trunnels. She was employed at the close of the war by the United States Government as a transport. In 1815 she was sunk in Scajaquada Creek, but was subsequently raised by Stanard & Bidwell and rebuilt into a hermaphrodite brig--removing the slip-keels and substituting a standing one in their stead. By this general overhauling she was made to look much like a sea-going vessel, and when under way, with all her canvas, upper and lower studding sails set to the breeze, her appearance was really quite imposing. In 1816, '17 and '18 she was under the command of Capt. James Beard, the father of the artist, Wm. H. Beard, of this city.

**** Following the War of 1812, the United States barred foreign firms such as the Hudson Bay Company and Northwest Fur Company from trading in its territory, giving John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company a monopoly over the fur trade in American territory.