Gideon Granger, Postmaster General, secured Township 6, Range 14, a part of 14,194 acres known as Connecticut Western Reserve., through The Connecticut Land Company of Hartford, Connecticut. The Honorable Gideon Grange.

Gideon Granger offered a fifty-acre homestead to the first settler who would settle in Township 6, Range 14, as our city was then known.  Jared Hickox of Waterbury, Conn. became that first permanent settler. He was 53 years old, married, the father of nine children. He and his son, Nathaniel age 32, loaded their cart hitched to an oxen team in the spring of 1809.  Upon their arrival, they chose a spot to build a cabin, started to clear the land. They chose the spot because of the abundance of wild grapes, honey and fish and the land was good for the seeds the family brought with them.

He sent for his wife, Rachel, and the rest of their family to join them. This included Nathaniel’s wife and five children. They left on June 15, 1809 and arrived Aug.1, 1809. The cabin was between Eastland and Engle Roads, what is now known as Hepburn Place. They had at this time two yoke of oxen, two cows and two dollars in cash. The land around was marsh land; there was a lake, which Jared later named Lake Abram after his Uncle Abram, the first blacksmith in Cleveland. The area was habituated by bears, wild cats, wolves and other unwelcomed vermin. There were also Indians in the area.  

Sadly, Jared did no live long after his arrival. He waked to Newburg near Cleveland to purchase oxen. On his return on the rugged trail, he became ill. March 10, 1810, he was found sitting by a tree, the oxen had been unhitched.  Nathaniel died November 9, 1810 of typhus fever.  The graves are in Hickox Park Cemetery on Hepburn Road, along with other family members.