- Chronicles is made possible by a grant from the Erie Community Foundation, the Community Assets grant provided by the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority support from Spring Hill Senior Living and the generous support of Thomas b Hagen.

- This is WQLN.

- Those that live in Erie, Pennsylvania know the name Oliver Hazard Perry, the victorious commander over the Royal Navy on Lake Erie in the Battle of 1813.

But another name is integral to this victory, the Frontiersman pioneer and master sailor Daniel Dobbins.

Daniel Dobbins is one of the most important figures to have called Erie home without his determination and fortitude the outcome of that battle and the future of America as we know, it could have been very different.

It's late 1795.

Erie is designated for settlement by US land companies, given its lake access and positioning along the waterways.

And Daniel, a 19-year-old who has walked over 200 miles from Mifflin County, arrives with the very first settlers.

Those first settlers included Juda, col and Rufuss.

Reed Col is there working for the land companies and Rufuss has joined his father.

The first settler of Erie, Colonel Seth Reed.

Daniel arrives and witnesses the burial of General Wayne, a divisive military leader who had recently brought stability to the area.

There's a military fault and just a handful of people eager to forge a home on Lake Erie and that's it.

Daniel's first few years here are unknown.

It's assumed that he worked for the land companies surveying and parcelling up land to sell.

What is known is that he saved up enough money to buy 200 acres in 1797, and as an early buyer, he received a further 200 acres in gratuity.

Daniel now has land.

Land potentially meant great wealth if a thriving community can be established, but Erie is all but cut off from the rest of the United States.

Dense old growth forest and a lack of roads makes land access difficult and the lake has maybe a dozen merchant ships on it.

It's on the lake that Daniel sees opportunity with land acquired.

He engages in lake navigation and starts to learn about commanding ships rufuss and newly arrived.

Captain William Lee begin to build ships when not busy hauling cargo along the waterways.

And in early 1803 complete the 30 done sloop Good intent.

One of the first ships launched in Erie and the first vessel Daniel would command.

She immediately starts transporting passengers, meats, furs, fruits, bricks, butter, whiskey, soap, and salt to Lake Erie's settlements.

Salt is big business.

In 1800, 700 salt barrels passed through erie's ports and by 1803, the number jumped to 6,000.

With increasing knowledge of the lakes, Daniel is made master of increasingly larger vessels.

He proves to be good for business from everything we know about Daniel.

One standout detail is that he's well liked, he's funny, kind hearted and is a prankster.

An example of this is when Daniel and his friend, captain James Barney are exploring the west of Lake Erie.

James Road assured to explore an island when Daniel sees the opportunity to give him a spook.

Daniel sailed around the island to briefly hide, but a storm set in forcing Daniel to seek shelter.

It was three days before calm waters allowed James to be rescued.

Years later, James hosted a Christmas party and placed apples in the hot ashes of a fire to roast.

In preparation for hot toddies, Daniel Unobserved replaced the apples with frozen horse dung collected from outside and swiftly slipped away.

James' reputation for his secret toddy recipe lingered many years longer than the ensuing smell.

His likability helps him build relationships all across the lakes.

And so in 1809, Daniel and Rufuss team up and buy the 90 ton schooner Charlotte.

And in anticipation of all the salt she will carry, Daniel renames her Selena with perilous weather and risks of piracy.

Being likable is also helpful in keeping your crew.

The Royal Navy serves to provide supplies, but also protect the waters and piracy, but has a limited presence.

While no doubt a deterrent, piracy is still a risk facing those on the water.

Daniel's kindness extended beyond friends and business.

In certain circumstances.

Slavery was still legal In Pennsylvania.

Rufuss Reed paid a hundred barrels of salt for a slave boy.

And in contrast, Daniel crossed pass with a runaway slave Bill Mason.

Rather than turn bill in as required by law, he gives bill shelter and employment.

Once bounty hunters drew close, he made swift arrangements to smuggle bill across to the safety of Canada, popular kind.

And with 400 acres to his name, Daniel finds himself married to a young woman by the name of Mary West Daniel's life is going from strength to strength.

We don't know much about Mary's origins, but it's clear in how Daniel writes to her that they share deep love.

Daniel is a family man who writes frequently to his parents and siblings.

So it's not long before he and Mary welcome their first daughter, Elizabeth in 1801 Mary in 1803, a son William in 1805, Susan in 1807, and Eleanor in 1810, a dotting father.

He and Mary had become prominent figures in the growing community and trading with his ship.

Selena Daniel was a loved figure throughout the port communities of Lake Erie and beyond.

Despite the ongoing frictions between Britain and the United States in the early 18 hundreds, Canada is under British rule.

While the Revolutionary War with Britain had ended, there is still tension and fighting along the Canadian border with native tribes being used as proxies for either side.

This wasn't true on Lake Erie, however, these settlements were so isolated that they went about their business removed from the problems of post-war politics.

- There wasn't the friction here between the United States and Britain that there was on the East Coast.

The friction of the Royal Navy having a a, a shortage of of combat sailors, someone who knows how to sail a ship, you just can't take a a landsman and put them on a sailing ship and expect them to be able to function.

They needed these sailors because they were at war with Napoleon's empire.

So it was very attractive for the British to pull over merchant ships under the guise of we're looking for deserters from the Royal Navy Board the ship, and somebody who to them was a talented sailor and they could tell by the physique and the hand they would take you.

At the point of a bt, - The Royal Navy impressed over 15,000 American sailors in less than 20 years.

- That was one of the key forces that caused the United States to declare war on the British Empire, which if you think about it makes no sense.

When the war hit and the British controlled the Lake Erie was cut off.

It wasn't like they anticipated it.

- June, 1812, the United States declares war on British.

Held Canada.

News from the Capitol is slow to travel west.

At the best of times, the mail is reliant on shipping Across the Lakes, lakes, the Royal Navy have dominance over Congress declared war without first preparing its lake dependent frontier settlements.

British forces swiftly begin seizing ships with communications essentially cut the frontier towns are left in the dark.

In July of 1812, Daniel sells Selena into the American port of Mackinaw Island, but arrives to an anxious crowd.

The usual flow of merchant ships is missing.

The villagers are warned of a large force of British troops and their Native American allies positioned to attack the island's.

Fort Daniel can't sail away.

The British brick Caledonia has blocked the port.

The American troops are outnumbered 10 to one and surrender without a shot fired.

Daniel Dobbins is now a prisoner of the British Lake.

Erie settlements are already difficult to supply.

The burden of feeding prisoners is unwanted, so prisoners are often granted parole free to go about their business if they sign a document and agree not to take up arms against the British.

If they won't sign, then they're expelled.

And if they violate the terms, then they faced execution.

Daniel refuses to sign and so must leave.

But he's permitted to keep SEL in return for transporting other American prisoners off the island.

Selena is stripped of any defenses she carried.

The Native American warriors want blood bitter and enraged by broken agreements and persecution by American forces.

They are unlikely to show any mercy.

The Selena unarmed quietly slips away unscathed across Lake Huron with orders to report to the British garrison.

At Fort Malden, Detroit is a trading port and settlement of roughly 800 people and a military presence, but not one that could withstand a full-blown attack.

What happens next is disputed.

Daniel either chooses to stop in Detroit or the SEL is seized by American forces while passing by.

Detroit's military command has been trying to bolster its regional control but are poorly equipped and they're frequently attacked by local tribes armed by the British to disrupt the American fur trade.

Now on the one hand, Daniel is desperate to get back to his family, but he's also a staunch patriot.

So he joins the Detroit unit and takes up arms.

The British numbers steadily increase and by mid-August, the command of Detroit face surrender or complete annihilation.

Once again, Dobbins finds himself a prisoner of the British.

This time he's carrying a military pass from his Majesty service authorizing him to transport paroled military personnel to Fort Malden.

But the Selena is now anchored in Detroit.

Daniel maintains that he never signed a parole agreement.

It's alleged that Daniel has friends in the British ranks who help him slip away.

But what's certain is that the British issue a award to local tribes for Daniel dead or alive, An old sunken gunboat with a little more room in the hold where I was than to keep my head out of water.

Daniel Dobbins, he hid in a wreck just off the shore.

The warmer waters enabled Daniel to stay hidden until the cover of night fell.

A passing Frenchman in a canoe agrees to paddle him across to a nearby schooner.

The Thames where future Secretary of War, American Colonel Lewis Cass is holding paroled prisoner.

Cass smuggles Daniel onto a sailboat, transporting wounded prisoners to Cleveland and from there Daniel finds a small boat to get him back to the relative safety of Erie and the comfort of his loving family.

He arrives on August 24th, 1812 to an increasingly fearful community.

Rumors of war have now circulated the lakes and Daniel has provided the confirmation.

Erie has little defense.

British forces would breeze through the 60 Ill-equipped volunteers.

Local leaders urged Daniel to hurry to Washington and brief them on his recent experiences.

So despite months away from his wife, daughters, and son, he agrees to leave the journey to Washington.

Takes several days at best.

So it's unlikely that Daniel is first to provide a report, but he arrives around the time the Georgetown Federal Republican publishes the news on August 31st with the noise and chaos of war, Dobbins is left waiting for an audience.

It's possible that dobbins is only seen after other reports come in, including one from Colonel Cass.

Cass can vouch for Daniel.

And when Daniel finally gives his account, he's immediately summoned to report to the Secretary of the Navy.

Paul Hamilton.

There is growing recognition.

The control of the lakes is vital for wrestling back the fallen settlements.

Britain will not retain Detroit if they can't keep it supplied.

Hamilton recognizes Daniel's expert knowledge of the lakes and of both British and American vessels that sail them.

Daniel's accounts highlight the threat posed if Lake Erie and Huron are left of the British.

So Hamilton orders Commodore Isaac Chauncey, commander of the American Navy on the Great Lakes to build a fleet not only on Lake on Ontario, but a second fleet on Lake Erie.

Hamilton wants control of the lakes before winter, and it was already September - Of the two lakes, if either is to be considered as the greatest object.

It is Lake Erie Paul Hamilton.

- Daniel proposed that the Lake Erie fleets be built in Erie, the land formation of press isle and the expert knowledge needed to navigate the shallow channel gave Erie a natural defense from the larger British ships on September 15th.

Finally, Daniel gets written instructions from Secretary Hamilton.

He has now been appointed a sailing master in the United States Navy, a rank just below lieutenant with a uniform of blue coat and blue lapels, and he's to return to Erie to construct gunboats of 40 tons.

The tonnage refers to a ship's water displacement.

By comparison, larger ships of the time might have had a displacement of around 490 tons - Contract.

Four on the best terms in your power, all the requisite timbers and other materials for building four gunboats agreeably to the dimensions which you will receive.

Secretary Hamilton, - Daniel can now return to his family wearing his uniform of pride, but facing a major challenge ahead.

While there are plenty of trees for lumber, Erie doesn't have the materials needed to build a fleet.

The lake is too risky to use and the 36-year-old Dobbins has limited supplies on hand.

Despite this six weeks since the fall of Detroit, Daniel instructs lumberjacks to start felling trees.

Pittsburgh is a well-established settlement with a military presence, but getting goods to Erie involved moving barges upstream and then hauled by wagon from Waterford to Erie.

Without rain, the rivers are too shallow, but with rain, the roads become too muddy.

For the wagons supplying Erie is weather dependent and winter will soon make the route in possible.

But even with bountiful supplies, who is going to build these boats?

Daniel needs experienced shipwrights that no gunboats and Erie just doesn't have any.

But by far Daniel's biggest challenge is his immediate superiors.

Commodore Chauncey had appointed Lieutenant Jesse Elliot stationed at BlackRock to direct the Lake Erie fleet, and Elliot wrote to Daniel - Lake.

Erie has not a single harbor calculated to fit out a naval expedition.

It appears to me utterly impossible to build gunboats at Pres Isle.

- Daniel had already sent Chauncey a copy of Hamilton's instructions and a letter informing him that local men were already contracted to get work underway.

But Elliot stationed at BlackRock intercepts the letter and replies to Daniel that he will update Chauncey and report back and for good measure, Elliot adds that he has - No further communications to make upon this subject.

- Daniel Dobbins loves his family, loves his community, and loves his country, but it's clear from the records that he doesn't love military chain of command and he quickly makes that known.

He replies to Elliot to make it clear that he will continue building the gunboats.

- I believe I have perfect a knowledge of the lake as any other person on it, and I believe you would agree with me if you were here.

- It's difficult.

Hamilton gave orders, but Daniel has to get authorizations from Chauncey.

Chauncey has been appointed by Hamilton, but seemingly doesn't approve of the plan.

On December 2nd, Daniel writes again to confirm completion of the first gun vote, but asks for authorization to hire more workers.

He comments that he has heard nothing back and outlines his concern that the available workers in Erie may leave if he isn't authorized to hire them.

He also requests permission to leave for Washington to attend a hearing for possible compensation.

After the seizure of his boat, Selena, Daniel heard nothing without a response from his immediate superiors.

Daniel breaks protocol and writes directly to their superior secretary Hamilton.

He explains that he hasn't heard from Chauncey and that the $2,000 advance has been spent.

So he asks Hamilton to personally authorize further funding.

A week later suspecting that the abandonment of Erie's fleet was imminent.

Daniel Wrights again, he tells Hamilton in no uncertain terms that constructing the eerie fleet at BlackRock would be regrettable.

- The yard is within reach of the enemy's batteries and any vessels completed there would be cut into pieces and passing up the rapids into the lake.

- And he wasn't wrong.

British guns sat across the Niagara River from BlackRock and did bombard the yards.

But Hamilton is in his own battle to get funding approval from Congress possibly because his personal battle with alcohol addiction is causing scenes at public engagements.

So finally, president Madison accepts Hamilton's resignation in the last week of December, 1812.

Now, Daniel had assumed that additional funding was a foregone conclusion.

And so Erie is now growing into a military complex creating new problems.

The influx of workers and militiamen has spiked erie's population by the hundreds.

But as a small settlement on the Great Lakes housing and food are in short supply with increase in demand, Dobbins has to work hard using his charm to prevent localized inflation.

Negotiating with suppliers and landlords pleading that this is all for the good of America.

Securing supply chains without any construction, holdups is an ongoing concern as any project manager will attest.

The silver lining is that in all this activity, Daniel can return to his wife and children each night.

While Daniel has expectations of the top brass, he doesn't expect a on New Year's day, maybe it was always part of the plan.

Maybe the new secretary of the Navy gave orders.

Either way, Chauncey is inspecting the shipyard.

But why has he come to approve the plan?

Change the plan discipline.

Daniel shut the whole thing down.

The plan does change.

Chauncey is impressed with the work and approves of the harbor, but not of the fleet.

The gunboats are no match for the British.

Chauncey wants more and bigger and fast.

He has Henry Eckford with him, a celebrated ship designer, but more boats require more people.

Chauncey calls for Noah Brown, a leading New York ship builder to head up construction and petitions the Secretary of the Navy for at least 50 workers to be sent from Philadelphia.

Carpenters join us blacksmiths and more.

Dobbins has the authorization to employ them all, but it's the middle of winter.

No one is traversing the mountains and forests to get to Erie, so Daniel will have to wait.

The boat designs rely mostly on wood, but still need iron and other materials and supplies approving elusive.

But in the clutches of winter, work is spot and abandoned ships stuck in the ice.

10 miles shore.

Daniel and a team trek across the ice to salvage what they can and a surreal moment unfolds for Daniel.

For out in the ice was Selena.

After the fall of Detroit, she was used as a British merchant vessel until getting stuck in frozen waters.

Daniel had her stripped of any iron rigging, canister, shot, and anything else of use then set her ablaze to prevent her falling back into the hands of the Royal Navy.

Industrialists in Pittsburgh and other cities are offering competitive wages to recruit and retain skilled workers.

So building a labor force in Erie is increasingly challenging.

But March, 1813, a wave of workers arrives, including Noah Brown.

Chauncey sends some of his own builders to aid the Erie fleet, and soon enough there's a hive of activity along the Bayfront.

Despite the lack of materials, search parties go out into the surrounding areas to see what food they can find.

With spring on the horizon, supply chains should open up, but with the melting of the lake, Daniel is now fearful of the British landing parties.

He alerts his superiors to the lack of armaments and reliance on local tribes For defense, Daniel's food and housing crisis is about to worsen.

An order is put out for 1000 militia men to report to Erie and protect the naval yard.

At all costs we're spending fully authorized, Daniel can now order canvas for sales, rope for rigging, iron for anchors.

And of course, the cannons the threat of attack, no doubt, scary.

It must have been exciting for Daniel in his blue uniform to see his shipyard come to life.

And soon Mary would be bringing new life.

Once more, Five kids, a pregnant wife, and they're preparing for war defeat could potentially mean death for Erie's residents at the hands of Britain's native American allies.

Agreements with local tribes has provided protection and the arrival of the militia certainly helps.

But the shipyard has now made Erie a major military target.

Getting the fleet ready for action is a race against time, and Daniel knows this.

Thankfully, some supplies are even more challenging for the British.

British reinforcements and key goods have to be shipped across the Atlantic from Europe.

Britain is also more concerned with Napoleon.

The priority for Britain is the war right in its doorstep.

The British commander on Lake Erie, captain Barkley, did request 500 soldiers and funding for 1000 native Americans to destroy the Erie Shipyard.

But his request was refused.

The British are stretched financially and in resources.

This bought Daniel and his superiors time.

The fleet is being built with speed, but is limited in number two.

Briggs constructed at the mouth of Erie Cascade Creek.

The only creek deemed deep enough to fit them are supported by four smaller gooners.

The ships need cannons.

The Briggs alone hold 20 guns each, and the fleet needs hundreds of experienced sailors.

Oliver Hazard Perry has arrived to take command of the fleet and challenges Elliot on the quality of the sailors being sent.

- So many of the able seamen recruited in New England turned into Negroes and Mulattos before they reached Erie.

Oliver Hazard, Perry - Elliots did later confess that the best recruits were held back.

Chauncey, however, expressed clear disapproval of Perry's reluctance to use black semen.

Perry would later speak highly of these very same men.

They want to add more boats to the fleet.

A funding request to build another brick is voted down.

The British guns overlooking BlackRock have been overpowered, allowing five more ships to be brought to Erie.

But the British fleet is standing by to intercept.

So Daniel goes with Perry to guide the Flotilla through fog sneaking past the waiting.

British ships war is imminent.

Both sides lack the skilled crews needed and dysentery is affecting those at hand.

Perry calls on the militia to help man the fleet and gives Daniel Dobbins command of the USS Ohio a schooner from BlackRock.

In August, 1813, under Perry's command, the fleet leaves Erie in search of the British.

Dobbins has succeeded in having a fleet built on Lake Erie, but it's a fleet that needs supplies and Daniel can navigate the lakes better than anyone else.

So Perry sends him on a supply run.

After all that hard work, Daniel and the USS Ohio are miles away.

- Chronicles is made possible by a grant from the Erie Community Foundation, a community assets grant provided by the Erie County Gaming revenue authority support from Spring Hill Senior Living and the generous support of Thomas b Hagen.

- We question and learn.