with the Ballou family than to make his fortune.
The widow's daughter Eliza was the attraction that drew him into the
Western wilds.

On the third of February 1821, Abram Garfield and Eliza Ballou became
man and wife, and their first home was a log cabin, which the young
husband erected at Newburg, near Cleveland. It was an isolated spot,
for Cleveland, the larger place, then consisted of a few log cabins,
containing a population of about one hundred persons.

The humble dwelling of Abram Garfield and his young wife had but one
large room. The three windows were of greased paper, a substitute for
glass, and the furniture was home made and of the rudest description.
Wood was the chief material used. There were wooden stools, a wooden
bed, and wooden plates and dishes. A frying-pan, an iron pot, and a
kettle, made up the list of utensils which were absolutely necessary.

Nine years passed away, during which the young couple were very happy
in each other's love, and three children were added to their little
family circle. Abram worked on the land, and was for a time employed
in the construction of the Ohio and Pennsylvanian Canal. To provide
for his growing family, the young husband then bought fifty acres of
land, a few miles away from his first home. At the same time, Amos
Boynton, who had married Mrs. Garfield's sister, also bought a tract of
land in the same locality.

The two families removed to the new scene of their labours at the same
time, and lived together in one log cabin, until they had erected a
second dwelling. When this was done, the Garfields and the Boyntons
settled down to reclaim the wilderness. They had to depend on each
other for society, as their nearest neighbour lived seven miles away.

Garfield's new home was built of unhewn logs, notched and laid one upon
another, to the height of twelve feet in front and eight feet behind.
The spaces between the logs were filled with clay and mud, to keep out
the wind and the rain. The roof was covered with boards, and the floor
was made of logs, each split into two parts and laid the flat side up.
A plank door and three small windows completed the primitive dwelling.
There was but one large room on the ground floor, twenty by thirty
feet, and a loft above, to which access was obtained by a ladder. In
the loft were the straw beds on which the children slept.

The land which the pioneers had bought was part of the forest, and was
therefore covere