Third in our series on Erie Street Cemetery, we meet Lorenzo and Rebecca Carter. Lorenzo Carter is considered the first permanent white settler in Cleveland. He moved here from Vermont in 1797, a year after Moses Cleaveland surveyed and laid out the city. He was joined by his wife Rebecca and their children and despite the harsh conditions and diseases they stayed to make Cleveland their home.
Lorenzo was friends with the Native Americans in the area and they helped the family survive those first years in the new land. Lorenzo built a log home on the eastern shores of the Cuyahoga River. He traded furs with the Native Americans and ran the Carter Tavern, which served as an inn and informal town hall. He also ran a ferry service across the river and served as the first constable of Cleveland.
The first white wedding in Cleveland was between Lorenzo Carter’s housekeeper, Chloe Inches and William Clement in 1797 and was held at the Carter’s home. Cleveland’s first social dance was held in 1801, also at the Carter’s home.
Lorenzo Carter died in 1814 and Rebecca Carter in 1827. Both are buried in Erie Street Cemetery. Their graves are on the left just as you enter the cemetery from E. 9th St. They grave states “They Remained – Others Fled”.
