Editing Kelleys Island, Ohio (section)

===Early European settlers===
This island is called "Sandusky Island" on maps produced in the latter half of the 18th-century.<ref>''A Survey of the South Shore of Lake Erie commencing at the Narrows at Fort Erie, and ending at the entrance of Detroit River taken in 1789'' by Hy. Ford Naval Offr. Pk. McNiff Asst. Surv. by Order of His Excellency The Rt. Hon'ble. Lord Dorchester Governor</ref> (Prior to U.S. occupation of this area, the name "Cunningham's Island" seems to have been applied to present-day "Catawba Island", which was then also a true island.)<ref>A short topographical description of His Majesty's province of Upper Canada in North America to which is annexed a provincial gazetteer, by Sir David Wm. Smyth, publ 1799</ref> In the late 1790s the [[Connecticut Land Company]] surveyed the south east shore of Lake Erie.<ref name="touringohio">Touring Ohio page: "[http://www.touring-ohio.com/northwest/sandusky/kelleys-island.html Kelleys Island] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922012604/http://www.touring-ohio.com/northwest/sandusky/kelleys-island.html |date=September 22, 2008 }}".</ref> A more thorough survey was completed in 1806, when this island was officially designated as "Island Number 6".<ref>Fire Lands Pioneer, series; publ.1858 by Firelands Historical Society</ref> Later the name "Cunningham's Island" was used to refer to this island.

There is a legend that the first European American resident of this island was a man named "Cunningham" (supposedly a "Frenchman" or French-speaking Canadian).<ref name="library" /><ref name="lei">''Lake Erie Islands: Sketches & Stories of the First Century After the Battle of Lake Erie'' by Michael Gora - [https://books.google.com/books?id=su_RlvkxoscC&dq=kelleys+island+cunningham&pg=PA108 pages 108 - 125] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830112030/https://books.google.com/books?id=su_RlvkxoscC&dq=kelleys+island+cunningham&pg=PA108 |date=August 30, 2023 }}.</ref> He was said to have traveled to the island in 1803 with the intention of making his home there, at a time when it was still inhabited by Native Americans.<ref name="lei" /> For a while, Cunningham enjoyed friendly relationship with the native people: he built a [[log cabin]] near their village, socialized with their hunters, and traded goods with them on a regular basis.<ref name="lei" /> But (as the legend goes) Cunningham had a disagreement with the Native Americans, and a group tore down his home, stole all his possessions, and attempted to kill him.<ref name="lei" /> He escaped to the Ohio Peninsula via [[canoe]], but died shortly afterward from his wounds.<ref name="lei" /> For many years after his death, the island was known as Cunningham Island.<ref name="lei" /> [ However, the legend of Mr. Cunningham might instead apply to present-day Catawba Island, which seems to have been formerly named "Cunningham's Island" by the British, prior to 1804.<ref>''The American Gazetteer'', by Jedidiah Morse - 1804</ref>) (*-Also note that the surname 'Cunningham' is not typically of French origin, but is recorded as of Scottish origin.)] Prior to the [[War of 1812]], several other white adventurers are documented as trying to settle this island, but all of them were eventually being driven away, either by the native people,<ref name="lei" /> or by the incoming U.S. pioneers and land-owners. By the time the war had ended, the few remaining Native Americans had finally also vacated the island.

During the [[War of 1812]], the west shore of Cunningham Island was developed as a military rendezvous post by US General [[William Henry Harrison]].<ref name="lei" /> In 1818, a man named Killam briefly attempted to start a logging company, but abandoned the island after the large steam-powered boat he used to transport wood to the mainland wrecked and sank.<ref name="lei" /> Around 1826, people slowly began settling on the island; by 1830, six families made up its entire population.<ref name="lei" />

About the year 1833, Ben Napier, a Scottish-American veteran of the War of 1812,<ref name=Krejci>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xV9qEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA24 |title=Lost Put-in-Bay |first=William G. |last=Krejci |date=2022 |pages=24–25 |publisher=The History Press |location=Charleston, South Carolina |isbn=978-146714740-8 |access-date=November 23, 2024}}</ref> claimed ownership of this "Cunningham Island" (and also nearby [[Put-in-Bay, Ohio|Put-in-Bay]]), through [[squatters rights]].<ref name="archive">Archive.org article: "[https://archive.org/stream/sketchesstorieso00thor/sketchesstorieso00thor_djvu.txt Full text of "Sketches and stories of the Lake Erie islands" ]", Internet Archive.</ref><ref>William Henry Van Benschoten, ''Concerning the Van Bunschoten Or Van Benschoten Family in America'' by - [https://books.google.com/books?id=j6ZYAAAAMAAJ&dq=benjamin+napier+put+in+bay&pg=PA266 page 266] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830112055/https://books.google.com/books?id=j6ZYAAAAMAAJ&dq=benjamin+napier+put+in+bay&pg=PA266 |date=August 30, 2023 }}.</ref> Napier and his associates often bullied the incoming pioneer settlers, sometimes hijacking their cabins and stealing or killing their livestock.<ref name="lei" /><ref name="pd">''[[The Plain Dealer]]'' article: [http://files.usgwarchives.org/oh/erie/history/kellys-island/1925.txt "The outlaw of Kelleys Island] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219002815/http://files.usgwarchives.org/oh/erie/history/kellys-island/1925.txt |date=February 19, 2012 }}".</ref> Napier was eventually legally ousted after the court system ruled that he had no ownership rights.<ref name="lei" /> In April 1842, he was sentenced to five years in the penitentiary for making false claims of ownership while under oath. Napier was the father of both Nelson Napier, captain of the [[PS Alpena|PS ''Alpena'']] when she sank with no survivors in October 1880, and [[Joseph Napier (USCG)|Joseph Napier]], a Life-Saving Service station keeper.<ref name=Krejci/><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9aOSEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA5 |title=Historic Shipwrecks and Rescues on Lake Michigan |first=Michael |last=Passwater |date=October 3, 2022 |page=5 |publisher=The History Press |location=Charleston, South Carolina |isbn=978-146715196-2 |access-date=November 23, 2024}}</ref>