Turhand Kirtland

Our city's namesake, Turhand Kirtland, was born in Wallingford, Connecticut in 1755 (the village of Kirtland Hills is named for Turhand's son, Jared Potter Kirtland). Turhand Kirtland was the resident general land agent for the Connecticut Land Company which sold parcels of land in the Western Reserve during the 1800s.

Turhand Kirtland

Turhand had nine siblings. His great-grandfather, Nathaniel Kyrtland, came to Massachusetts from England in 1635. Turhand began work by manufacturing carriages and stagecoaches, and acted in the provisional service of New York.

Turhand and other land agents formed the Connecticut Land Company and purchased the Western Reserve from the state of Ohio in 1795. In 1796, General Moses Cleaveland began a survey of this land. Two years later, the land was divided among the Connecticut Land Company stockholders by a draft. Turhand drew the township of Mecca, part of the township of Auburn, Poland, Burton, and 2,000 acres in Kirtland.

Turhand owned much of the township that was Kirtland but sold most of it and never lived there. He lived in Poland, Ohio with his wife, Mary Potter, and three children: Henry, Nancy, and Mary. (Son Jared remained in Connecticut to be educated. He gained fame as a physician, teacher, naturalist, horticulturalist, and ornithologist.) Turhand helped establish libraries and schools among the reserve, including Western Reserve College.

In 1798, Turhand, along with a group of surveyors and settlers, began surveying and laying out the townships. Turhand kept a diary of this time. You can read it here or you can follow us on Twitter as we tweet entries beginning May 12.

For more Kirtland history, check out A History of Kirtland by Anne B. Prusha or read 20th Century Memoirs of Kirtland, Ohio by Grace E. Parks which is available for purchase at the Library.

Library Lover's Month and Children's Author & Illustrator Week

February is Library Lover's Month! This month, celebrate all libraries: public, private, and school. Visit your favorite library in February! We hope it's us!

This month is a great time to come to Kirtland Public Library: it's Winter Reading! Read at least 20 minutes a day and record your times. We'll be celebrating with a Popcorn Party on Friday, February 28 at 3:30 pm. Winter Reading is for everyone who loves libraries.

Are you a Library Lover? Tell us why you love your Library in the comments! Need ideas to show your love for libraries? Here's a few: http://www.librarysupport.net/librarylovers/how.html.

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The first week of February is Children's Author & Illustrator Week. This week we celebrate 2014 Newbery Award Winner Kate DiCamillo for her latest children's novel, Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures.

Comic book-obsessed Flora saves a squirrel from a vacuum cleaner and helps him develop his super abilities in this cleverly illustrated story.

Kate DiCamillo is known for her earlier books Because of Winn-Dixie (Newbery Medal Honor Book, 2000) and The Tale of Despereaux (Newbery Award Winner, 2003).

She was recently named by the Librarian of Congress as the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature for 2014-2015.

Read Kate DiCamillo's books and find other great authors and illustrators in the Children's department.

Thank you, Garden Club of Kirtland!

You may have noticed seasonal and holiday decorations around town including the pots outside the Library's front doors. This is thanks to the Garden Club of Kirtland who has worked very hard to make the season bright!

Every year the club collaborates on the swags you see on city signs and elsewhere. Emily Kutscher made all 44 bows. This year, Marilyn Spease and Marilyn Raishart made and installed the swags for the businesses on Route 306. The Club gets the greenery for these swags from the road department.

The tree at the Farm Park is a new project for the Club this year. Most of the ornaments were made by Lynn Bernard and Gwen Zietz, with Emily Kutscher and Beth Wagar finishing up the loose ends. The ornaments are made with all natural materials. The Garden Club also decorates at City Hall.

The Garden Club is committed to gardening and the community. They have booths at the Library Yard Sale and at Lake County Fair. They also weed the Veteran's Memorial once a year and have planted many things at the Library, including the witch hazel shrubs out front.

Interested in joining the Garden Club? They are looking for new members.

Meetings are held at Kirtland Public Library on the first Thursday of the month at 6:00 pm, January through May. All are welcome to join and you don't even have to live in Kirtland. Gardeners from any city are welcome. The meetings include seasonal topics and guest speakers, plant exchanges and field trips.

Stop by the Library for information on the Club's 2014 season and get contact information for Lynette Capra who heads the Garden Club.

Thank you, Garden Club of Kirtland! You make our city even more beautiful.