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FRONTISPIECE.
THK CHANGES OF A MKKTrMK-.SlXTY VKAKS— Hi TO 7l), OK
FIFTY YEARS 11 OVER
OF
AKRON
AXD
Summit County,
BY
EX-SHERIFF SAMUEL A. LANE.
EMBELLISHED BY NEARLY SIX HUNDRED ENGRAVINGS — PORTRAITS OF
PIONEER SETTLERS, PROMINENT CITIZENS, BUSINESS,
OFFICIAL AND PROFESSIONAL — ANCIENT
AND MODERN VIEWS, ETC.
NINE-TENTH'S OF A CENTURY OF SOLID LOCAL HISTORY ^PIONEER INCIDENTS,
INTERESTING EVENTS— INDUSTRIAL, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL
AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS, BIOGRAPHIES, ETC.
AKRON, OHIO:
BEACON JOB DEPARTMENT.
1892.
Entered, according to Act of Congress,
in the ofiBce of the Librarian of Congress, at
Washington, D. C, January 17, 1887, by ,
SAMUEL A. IvANE. /
All'Righta Reserved.
CONTENTS.
Autobiography of Author 1— 3(t
Preliininar J' Remarks 31
CHAPTER I.— Akron's Beginning— Ancient Middlebury— A Visit from DeWltt
Clinton — Commencement and Completion of the Ohio Canal — First Boat to
Cleveland— Dr. Crosby and his " Ditch "— " Thunder from a Cloudless Sky "—
The Doctor's " Goose Pasture " Prophecy— The New Village of " Cascade "—
Bitter Triangular Rivalry— Spirited Guide Board War— Early Manufactures
Pioneer Hotels, Merchants, Etc., Etc .32 — 48
CHAPTER II.— Akron Incorporated— First Charter Election— Early Mayors— The
First a Venerable but Wealthy Quaker, the Second an Impecunious Lawyer
" Kid " — Unsuccessful Speculations — Curious Law Practice — A "Moving"
Defense— Successful Administration— Subsequent Mayors, Etc 49—56
CHAPTER III.— Early Crookedness— Confidence Games, -'Keg Money," Etc.—
Unsavory Reputation — The " Gore-y " Battle Ground— Bitter Post Office Con-
troversy—Scandalous Church Squabbles— Decadence of Middlebury and the
South End — "Cascade" in the Ascendency— Succumbing to the Inevitable,
Etc .57-63
CHAPTER IV^— The Boom and the Collapse— Poetry versus Fact— Speculation
Rampant— Wonderful Enhancement of Values and still more Wonderful
Decline — The Morus Multicaulus Craze —Immense Fortunes that Didn't
Materialize— The Panic of 1837— Hard Times as was Hard Times— The Shin-
plaster Era— Decidedly a Mixed Currency— The "Truck and Dicker" System,
Etc 64—70
CHAPTER v.— The "Cross-Cut" Canal-Charter Granted in 1827— Preliminary
Survey— Eight Years' Slumber— Revival of Project in 1835 — Ohio a Large
Stockholder— Delaj^ed by Panic of 1837 — Push and Pluck of its Projectors —
Successful Completion— Celebrating all Along the Line— Prosperity, Decline,
Etc 71—79
CHAPTER VI. — The Portage Canal and Manufacturing Company or " Chuckery "
Enterprise — A Mammoth Scheme — Superior Sagacity and Engineering Skill
of Akron's Great Benefactor, Doctor Eliakim Crosby— Rise, Progress and
Collapse — Portrait and Life History of its Projector, Etc.— An Instructive
Chapter 80-90
CHAPTER VII.— Summit County— Six Years' Struggle Over its Ejection- Rejoic-
ing Over the Result — Preliminary Election and Organization— The County
Seat Question— Akron, Cuyahoga Falls and the "Chuckery" Competitors-
Akron Finally Wins the Prize— Public Buildings Erected— First Speech in
the New Court House Made by ex-President John Quincy Adams— Improve-
, ments, Etc 91—108
CHAPTER VIII.— Educational Matters— Pioneer Schools— " Model" Examination
— Early Select Schools, High Schools, Etc. — The Union School System — A
Distinctly Akron Institution but now Universal — A magnificent Educational
Showing— Present Status of Akron's Splendid Public Schools, Views of Build-
ings, Portraits of Superintendents, Etc.— Buchtel College and its Promot-
ers, Presidents, Officers, Etc 109—167
CHAPTER IX.— Akron's Literary Achievements— "Lyceum and Library Asso-
ciation" Chartered in 1834— "Philo Lexion Society" 1&36-40 — "Akron Literary
Association" — "Akron Lecture Association "—"Akron Library Association"
—Akron Mechanics' Library, Akron Public School Library, Akron Free
Public Library— Young Men's Christian Association Reading Room, Lec-
tures, Etc 168—187
CHAPTER X.— Akron's Churches— Pioneer Religious Organizations— Successes
and Reverses — The Various Sects Very Largely Represented — Views of
Several Early Church Structures and a Number of Modern Houses of Wor-
ship-Portraits of Several Representative Ministers With Brief Biographies
—Church and Sabbath School Statistics, Etc 188—214
ii. CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XI.— Akron Truly a Literary Center— Ancient Middlebury the Pioneer
with the "Portage Journal" in 1825— The "Akron Post" of 1836— The "Ameri-
can Balance" of 1836— The "Akron Buzzard" of 1837— The "Akron Journal" of
1836, '37— The " Summit Beacon" of 1839, and the Various Literary and News-
paper Ventures to the Present Day. An Interesting Chapter 215 — 231
CHAPTER XII.— Akron's Burial Places— The Old Sixth Ward Cemetery of 1808-
The Spicer Cemetery 1813 to 1870— The . Original North Akron or "Dublin"
Burying Ground of 1825— The Akron Rural Cemetery 1838 to Present Time—
The New Sixth Ward Cemetery— The Several Church Cemeteries of the
City— Superintendent's Lodge and Memorial Chapel and Other Fine Views in
Akron Rural Cemetery, Officers of Association and Superintendents— Some-
thing About Public Parks, Etc 232-2.')9
CHAPTER XIII.— Akron and Portage Township Civil Service— Town, Village, City
and Township Local and General Public Officers for Over Half a Century
— A Highly Honorable Record "Without a Single Case of Malfeasance Known
Among the Hundreds of Official Incumbents — Portraits, Biographies 2fiO— 300
CHAPTER XIV.— Public Illumination— The Original "Tallow Dip" Followed
by Sperm Oil, Lard Oil, Coal Gas, Petroleum and Electricity — Local Trans-
portation, Herdics, Horse Cars, Electric Cars, Etc.— Fuel Gas, and Other
Modern Improvements— Akron Fully Abreast With the Times 310—314
CHAPTER XV.— Akron's Postal History— Ancient Middlebury's Early and Suc-
cessive Postmasters to Present Time — First Postmaster of Akron Proper-
Youthful Mail Carrier— Successive Postmasters of Akron for Sixty Years,
With Portraits of Several— Scramble for the " Spoils " Under Successive
Administrations— Wonderful Growth of Postal Business — Free Delivery Sys-
tem, Etc .315—329
CHAPTER XVI.— Akron's Fires— Hundreds of Houses, Churches, Stores, Shops,
Mills, Etc., Destroyed— Millions of Dollars' Worth of Property Consumed—
Incendiarism Rampant— The Bucket Brigade— The Old Crank and Brake
Engines— The Tireless Steamer — List of Akron's Principal Fires for Over
Half a Century— A Chapter Full of Instructive Information .330—349
CHAPTER XVII.— Akron, Middlebury and Portage Township Military History.
Ancient and Modern— Early Army and Civil Militarj' Operations— Brilliant
Record in the War of the Rebellion— Later Local Military Affairs— A Mag-
nificent Showing ,3ii0 — 446
CHAPTER XVIII.— Ancient and Modern Akron Contrasted— Early Business and
Industrial Status -What Horace Greeley Said of Us in 1843— Greeley a True
Prophet— The Boom that Came to Stay— From Village to City— An Indus-
trial, Commercial, Financial and Professional History Justly to be Proud of. .447— 557
CHAPTER XIX.— Summit County's Tornadoes— The Stow Disaster of October 20,
1837— Dwelling House Demolished and Fotir Persons Instantly Killed— The
Sharon, Copley and Springfield Blow of April 8, 1890, Leaving Death and
Desolation in its Track— Akron's Fearful Visitation of May 10, 1890, with Ten
Graphic Illustrations— Barberton's Fatal Call, December 23, 1890, Etc 5.'i8— .568
CHAPTER XX.— Akron's First, Last and Only Homicide— The Sixth Ward Wife-
Murder— Terrible Brutality of a Whisky-Selling, Whisky-Drinking Fiend
—"Watt" Henry's Fatal Assault upon His Wife, Bridget Henry— Exciting
Trial, Conviction, Life Imprisonment, Etc 569-576
CHAPTER XXL— The "Irrepressible Conflict"— The Infamous Fugitive Slave
Law— Every Man, Woman and Child a Bloodhound— Dastardly Attempt to
Kidnap a Weil-Known Akron Barber, "Jim " Worthington— Prominent Citi-
zens to the Rescue— The Slave-Catchers Foiled- Escape of "Jim" and
Other Local Fugitives to Canada— An Intensely Interesting Chapter 577—58,3
CHAPTER XXII.— Our Own John Brown— " Old Ossawatomie"— Freedom's Hero
and Martyr— Full Personal History with Life-like Portrait— Business Suc-
cesses and Reverses— Free-State Operations in Kansas— Fatal Harper's
Ferry Expedition— Capture, Trial, Conviction and Execution for Treason
and Insurrection— A Thrilling Historical Episode .584—592
CH.VPTER XXIII.— The Canadian Patriot War of 1837-183$)— " Hunter's" Lodges-
General Lucius V. Bierce one of the "Leading Spirits"— Defeat, Execution
and Banishment of Insurgents in the East— The United States Interferes—
Commander-in-Chief Bierce Captures Windsor, Burns Barracks, Etc.—
Defeat and Flight for Life— An Exciting International Episode 593—603
CONTENTS. iii.
CHAPTER XXIV. -Second Adventism— The End of the World Predicted in
1843 — Great Excitement in Akron and Summit County— Miscalculation in
Dates— The Final Catastrophe Postponed One Year— Still the Day of Doom
will not Come— Attempts to Work Miracles— Feet-Washing and the Holy
Kiss— Spiritual Marriages, Etc.— Wonderful Power of Humbug (iOl— (ii;?
CHAPTER XXV.— The Geology of Summit County, by Professor Matthew Can-
field Read, with Portrait and Biography of Author— Canyon Formation-
Nature's Great Ice Pl<5w, the Glacier— Structural Geology— Coal, Oil and
Gas Measures, Etc— An Extremely Useful and Instructive Chapter 614— G'JO
CHAPTER XXVI.— Summit County's Railroads Early Railway History-
Schemes that never Materialized— Successes and Reverses— Projects that
Came to Stay — Present and Constantly Increasing Systems — The Chief
Factor in Akron's Unexampled Prosperity— A Chapter Full of Interest
to All , ". 621-««)
CHAPTER XXVII.— The Township of Bath— Early Settlement, with Portraits of
First and Subsequent Early Settlers— Pioneer Incidents and Perils— Civil
Criminal, Military and Business Status. Past and Present— Educational and
Religious Matters, Etc &40— 653
CHAPTER XXVIII.— The Township of Boston— Early Settlement, Organization,
Xame, Etc. — Indian and Other Pioneer Incidents — Ancient and Modern
Military Prowess— A Splendid Record in the War of the Rebellion -Criminal
Catalogue— Civil, Business, Educational and Religious Status— Portraits of
Prominent Citizens, Soldiers' Monument, Etc 654— (>6!»
CHAPTER XXIX.— Daring Burglaries in Peninsula — Singular Detection of
Burglar— Arrest, Indictment and Ingenious Escape from J^il— Giving "Aid
and Comfort" to Rebels— Confinement in Fort Lafayette— Return to his Old
Quarters in Jail— Conviction and Nine Years' Imprisonment— Thoroughly
Reformed, Etc 670—677
CHAPTER XXX. -The Peninsula Wife Murder -Henry Kerst from Ambush
Shoots his Wife upon the Public Highway— Terrible Excitement Among the
People— Arrest, Trial, Conviction and Sentence— His Own Executioner by
Suicide— A Ghastly Spectacle 678— tw;{
CHAPTER XXXI.— Boston's Last Great Sensation— The VVashburn-Peoples Homi-
cide—A Wronged Husband's Terrible Revenge— Preparations for the Bloody
Deed — Arrest, Trial and Conviction of Murder in the Second Degree-
Imprisonment for Life— Still Doing Penance after Twenty Years 684— (MU
CH.VPTER XXXIL— Copley Township— Why so Xamed-Topography-The Big
Swamp— A Gamy Locality — Early Settlement, Organization, Etc.— Pioneer
and Later Thrilling Incidents— Growth, Population and Business, Educa-
tional, Religious, Civil and Military Status— The Bosworth Insane Homicide,
Etc 095—7(15
CHAPTER XXXIII.-'The State of Coventry "-Origin of Name— The Indian's
Paradise— Settlement. Organization, Growth and Wonderful Prosperity-
Mineral and Manufacturing Resources— The Reservoirs, When and Why
Constructed— Early and Later Criminal Matters— Civil and Military Status—
A Chaoter Well Worth Perusal 70(i— ?_'4
CHAPTER XXXIV.— Cuyahoga Falls, a Full History of its Beginning, Progress,
Prosperity, Reverses, Etc.— Its Past and Present Business, Educational,
Religious, Criminal, Civil and Military Status, with Portraits and Biogra-
phies of Several Promkient Citizens, a Numljcr of Romantic Views, Etc 7"i5 -7<W
CHAPTER XXXV.— The Parks-Beatson Homicide— One of the Most Cold-
Blooded Murders on Record— Exciting Chase after the Murderer— Capture,,
Trial, Conviction— New Trial Granted— Again Convicted, Executed, Etc.—
Full History of the Case 770—783
CHAPTER XXXVL— Franklin Township— Early R(;sources, Settlement, Busi-
ness Centers, Civil, Criminal, Moral and Military Status--Portraits, Biogra-
phies, Etc 784— 7U5
CHAPTER XXXVII.— Green Township— When and by Whom Settled -Organiza-
tion— Mercantile, Educational, Military, Business and Criminal Matters-
Personal Biograj>hy, Etc 7!K!— 8H}
iv. CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXXVIII— Hudson Township and Village— The Pioneer Township
of Summit County, Founded in 1799— Perils by Water and by Land— Early
Privations— The Grand Old Western Reserve College— Other Educational
Institutions— Religious, Industrial and Military History— The Malony-Ste-
pleton Homicide, Etc 811—^3
CHAPTER XXXIX— Northampton — Indian and Frontier. "Matters— Settlement,
Organization, Early and Modern "Military Operations, Civil and Criminal
Status— The Dunn-Whipple Homicide, Trial and Life. Imprisonment of the
Murderer— The Brooks-Tedrow Tragedy, Etc 854—875
CHAPTER XL— The Counterfeiters of the Cuyahoga— " Dan " and "Jim" Brown
—Stupendous Financial Schemes— Successes and Reverses— Brilliant Oper-
ations of " Dan " the Second— Wonderful Romance of Crime 87&— 897
CHAPTER XLI.—Northfield — Early Settlement, Organization and Progress—
The Viers-Charlesworth Episode of 1826 — Wrongfully Accused of Crime—
The Mystery Pluckily Cleared Up— A Genuine Romance in Real Life-
Township Patriotism "and Military Roll of Honor— Honorable Civil .Service
Record, Public .Spirit, Etc 8»8~907
CHAPTER XLIL— Xorthfleld's Second Great Sensation, The Murder of Catha-
rine McKisson by her Brother-in-law, David McKisson July 24, 1837— Pursuit,
Trial, Conviction and Execution— A Highly Thrilling Narrative 908—917
CHAPTER XLIII.— Norton— Origin, Pioneer Experiences— Organization— Early
"Queer" ness — Business Emporiums — Mad Pranks of Lunatic Merchant-
Killing of Burglar by New Portage P. M. — The McLister-Welsh Homicide
—Civil and Military Status— Portraits, Biographies, Etc 918—935
CHAPTER XLIV^— The New Industrial City of Barberton— Wonderful Growth ^
and Prosperity— Showing What Courage and Cash can Accomplish— Finely
Illustrated 836-940
CHAPTER XLV.— The Township of Richfield— Pioneer Inhabitants and Inci-
dents—Successes and Reverses- Educational, Religious, Civil, Military and
Criminal Status— The Big Sleigh Ride of 1&56— The Great Reunion of 1880—
Present Business Status, Population, Etc !>41— 955
CHAPTER XLVI. — The Hunter-Gargett Tragedy - Love-Making by Proxy-
Marriage Contract " LTnsight Unseen" — Lover Jilted by Sweetheart — Fatal
Revenge— Father and Mother of Girl Shot to Death — Narrow Escape of
Young Lady Herself— Arrest, Trial and Execution of Murderer— Spicy Cor-
respondence, Etc 95»i— 978
CHAPTER XLVII.—SpringHekl Township — Early Settlement, Organization-
Progress— Industrial, Educational, Religious, Patriotic, Etc.— The Murder of
John Rhodenbangh and Punishment of Murderers— The Roof-Musson Hom-
icide—Exciting Trials— Imprisonment, Pardon, Etc 979—1002
CHAPTER XLV'III.— Stow Township— Historical and Incidental — " Pioneer Mir-
•acle"— Wild Animals, Rattlesnakes, Indians, Etc.— Early Fatal Tornado-
Double Fatal Episode of the Rebellion — Educational, Moral, Civil and
Military Status — Portrait of Judge Joshua Stow and Other Prondnent
Citizens, Etc 1003-1027
CHAPTER XLIX.— Monroe Falls — One of the Early Booming Cities of Summit
County — Rise, Progress and Decline — Protege Dude of Company Twice
Convicted of an Infamous Crime— Escape From Jail; Secreted in Attorney's
Cistern Six Weeks — Five Years in Sunny Italy — Return to America With
Lola Monte&-Death, Etc 1038-1035
CHAPTER L.— Tallmadge Township— A Unique Arrangement of Roads, Lots,
Etc.— A Projected "Utopia"— Hopes of Founder Blasted but Settlement
Rapid and Township Prosperous— Industrial, Religious, Educational and
Military Status— Biographical, Etc 1036— l(«t
CHAPTER LI.— Twinsburg, the Latest Settled Township in Sununit County-
First Settler a Seventeen-Year-Old Boy— Derivation of Name— Rapid Prog-
ress—Pioneer Incidents— Wonderful School History — Church, Official and
Military Matters— Past and Present Business Status, Etc 1060—1079
CHAPTER LII.— Summit County's Agricultural Society— Origin, Early Fairs,
Changes ot Location, Hindrances, Successes, Etc. — Popular "Fountain
Park"— Most Prosperous Local Fair in Ohio 1080- H'd
CONTEXTS. V.
CHAPTER LIII. — Summit County's Benevolence— Early "Poor Houses"— Pur-
chase of County Farm — Original Infirmary Buildings — New and Enlarged
Structures— Greatly Improved Methods — The De Roo Hospital Bequest-
Akron Charity Association— Mary Day Nursery, Etc 1087—1098
CHAPTER LIV.— Labor Fifty Years Ago— History Repeating Itself-Early Dis-
satisfaction, Strikes, Riots, Etc., as Now — Clamoring for a Ten Hour Day
and Cash Payments— Combinations, Dissensions, Defeats, Successes, Etc.—
An Interesting and Instructive Chapter 1099—1105
CHAPTER LV. — Akron and Summit County in California — The Great Exodus
of 1849, '50— Dangers and Hardships of the Journey Thither— Incidents of
Travel, Both Thrilling, Ludicrous and Sad -Successes, Disappointments
and Deaths— A Chapter Full of Reminiscent Interest for All 1106—1140
CHAPTER LVI.-Early Crimes and Other Incidents Within the Present Limits
of Summit County — Captain Samuel Brady's Reputed Wonderful Leap for
Life— Brady's Lake, Etc.— Shooting of Daniel Diver and Killing of Indian
Nickshaw— Murder of Nathan Cummins in 1834, Etc 1141—1147
CHAPTER LVIL— Some Clever Local Detective Operations— How the Civil Offi-
cers of a Third of a Century Ago Managed Things— Thieves, Burglars and
Counterfeiters "Roped In" — Sheriff Lane, Himself Victimized — Slippery
" Bob " Hurst, Etc.— A Brief but Interesting Chapter 1148—1159
CHAPTER LVIIL— Miscellaneous— Portrait and Biography of Rev. William
Frost Crispin- Something Further About Buchtel College— Death of Miss
Myrtle Louisa Barker— Death of Treasurer Joy H. Pendleton — The Howard
Street Disaster With View of Ruins, Etc , 1162-1168
GENERAL INDEX.
A.
Autobiography of Author 1—30
Author's Preliminary Statement 31
Absolute Chemical Company 498
Adains, John Quincy, Visit to Akron in 1813 107
Advance, The 230
^Etna Furnace 43
AKRON— Beginning ; Why so Named 32
As seen by Horace Greeley in 1843 447
As seen by Henry Howe, Historian, in 1846 447
As shown by Parallel Views— 1853— 1891 : 448
Additions to 449
Annexation of Middlebury 449
Ancient and Modern, Contrasted 447 — 457
Abstracters of Titles 521
Architects 511
Bakers 510
Banks and Finances 538
Barbers 510
Belting Company , 471
• Blacksmiths 511
Brass Band— 1840 444
Book and Stationery Stores 518
Boom and Collapse— 1835— 1845 64
Boot and Shoe Stores 527
Board of Education, 1847 to 1891 '.. 145
Board of Education— Presidents 147
Board of Education — Secretaries. 147
Board of Education— Treasurers 147
Bounty Fund Surplus 176
Branch Railroad 623
Building and Loan Association ; . . 544
Burial Places 232—259
Buzzard 217
Cabinet and Building Company 492
Cart Works 502
Carriage Makers 521
Cereal Operations ^. 554
Chemical Company 498
China and Glassware Dealers 520
Church History 188-214
Cigar Company .' 508
City Clerks 278
City Councilmen 268
City Engineers 282
City Marshals ; 278
City Mayors : 278
City Solicitors 282
City Street Commissioners 282
City Guards 429
City Organization .' 449
City. Times 226
Clothing Dealers 520
Coal Dealers 528
Cold Spring Company 451
Commercial 228
Confectioners 520
Congressmen 308
Constitutional Delegates 309
Contractors and Builders 509
Cooper Shops..,. ; 510
CONTENTS. vii.
AKRON County Officials 298—307
Croc&ery Dealers 520
and Canton Railroad 623
and Chicago Junction Railroad 638
Daily Argus 227
Daily Beacon 221
Daily Beacon and Republican 222
Daily News 228
Daily Republican 228
Daily Telegram 228
Drafts during the War— 1861— 1865 417
Drug Stores 527
Dry Goods Stores ; 516
Eagle 223
Electric Company 501
Engraving Company 537
Educational History 109—167
Electric Street Lighting 312
Electric Street Railway 313
File Works 498
First Building 38
First Church Building 189
First Election 49
First Mayor, Counciltnen, etc 50
First School House 110
First High School Building 122
Fire History... 330—349
First and Only Homicide 569
Fire Brick Company 475
Free Democrat 224
Free Public Library 178
Freie Presse 227
Fruit Dealers 528.
Fuel Gas Company 314
Funeral Directors 528
Gas Company 310
Germania 227
Grain Dealers 518
Great Exodus to California— 1839-'40 1109
Grocery Merchants , 523
Hardware Company 498
Hardware Merchants 520
Harness Makers 510
Hat, Cap and Furnishing Stores 525
Heat, Light and Power Company 498
Heating and Ventilating Company 498
Home Guards 395
Hotels '. 528
Hydraulic Company 78
Incorporated .' 49
Institute 115
Insurance Agents 529
Iron Company 468
Jewelers 518
Journal 216
Knife Works 409
Lawyers ' 551
Lecture Association 173
Library Association 174
Library Association Officers 182
Literary Association Officers 171
Lyceum and Library Association 168
Light Infantry 353
"Live Dutchman" 451
Machine and Repair Shops 510
Meat Markets 529
Mechanics' Library 171
Merchant Tailors 510
Military History ^ 350-446
viij. CONTENTS.
AKRON Milliners S20
Milling Company 455
Mining Company— 1849 1107
Ministerial Association 214
Musical Organizations 444
Newspaper History 215—231
Notion and Fancy Stores 520
Novelty Manufacturing Company 506
Original "Eel Pot" 1149
Painters and Paper Hangers 510
Paving Brick Company 483
Philo Lexion Society 169
Photographers 525
Physicians 544
Pioneer Boat Yard 492
Pioneer Lumber Yard 485
Pioneer Planing Mill 486
Pioneer Sash Factory 484
Pioneer Street Railway 313
Plumbers 525
Popular Lecture System 187
Population 451
Postal History 315-329
Presidential Electors 308
Printing Houses 534
Printing and Publishing Company 534
Public Parks 255
Post 216
and Portage Township 260—369
and Perrysburg Railroad— 1836 622
Queensware Company 481
Real Estate Dealers 528
Reed and Rattan Company 502
Rifles 351
Rural Cemetery 235
and Richmond Railroad 622
Rolling Mill 468
Rubber Works 469
Savings Bank 443
School Law 116
Second Election 51
Second Mayor, Council, etc 52
Second High School Building 123
Security and Indemnity Company 544
in State Legislature 307
in State Senate 308
Soap Company 508
Sewer Pipe Company 477
Shoe Company 516
Silver Plate Company 502
Steam Forge Company 471
Stoneware Agency 481
Stoneware Company 481
Stove and Tinware Dealers 321
and Summit County in California 1106
Tool Company 496
Town and Village Attorneys 267
Town and Village Marshals 263
Town and Village Mayors 263
Town and Village Recorders 265
Town and Village Treasurers 267
Town and Village Trustees , 260
Township OfHcers 297
Union Depot (old) 626
Union Depot (new) 628
Vitrified Pressed Brick Company 483
Water Supply 451
Water Works Company 452
White Sand Company 502
CONTEJStTS. ix.
Akron Wholesale Grocery Company 512
Akron "Woolen and Felt Company 49g
Allen, David and Jesse, Pioneer Manufacturers 44
Allen, Frank P., Printer 577
Allen, Jacob, Early Manufacturer and Miller 293
Allen Mills 459
Ailing, Ethan 1061
American Balance 217
American Cereal Company '. 457
American Crayon Company 503
American Democrat 223
American Farm News 230
American Marble and Toy Company 481
American Sewer Pipe Company 479
American Straw Board Company 935
American Tin Plate Company 508
Angel, Miss Harriet N., Teacher 134
Art Preservative of All Art 534
Ashley, " Col." William .' gg7
Atlantic and Great Western Railway 628
Aultman, Miller & Co 466
Babcock's Band 445
Bank Charter Applied for— 1837 45
Banks, Finances, etc 538
Baker, McMillen Company 474
Bakers 511
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 631
Bank of Akron 543
Barbers 511
BARBERTON, New City of.... 936
Land Company 937
Manufacturers 938
Barber Match Company 464
Barrel Factory Fire II53
Barris-Cummins Homicide 1146
Barker, Myrtle Louisa, death of 1163
BATH TOWN SHIP, History of 641-653
Pioneer Settlers 641
Manufactures 641
In War of 1812 642
Organization, Name, etc 644
Civil Service Record 645
Military History 647
as " Railroad Center " 648
Early Crookedness 649
Educational and Religious Status 652
Population 652
Present Official Roster-1891 653
Beach, Thomas Parnell, Teacher 115
Beacon and Republican 222
Belding, Miss Lucy E., Teacher 131
Bennett, Mrs. Sarah P., Teacher 129
Bernard, Harriet Amanda, Teacher 124
B. F. Goodrich Company 469
Bierce, General Lucius V 593
Bierce Cadets 428
Bierce Cadets, Dismissal from Service 430
Big Falls, Cuyahoga River 1 84
Bissell, Rev. Samuel, Teacher 1070
Blacksmiths, in Akron y 511
Bitter Church Controversy— 1837 39
Bitter Postoffice War— 1837 61
Boat Building in Akron 492
Books and Stationery 518
Boots and Shoes - 527
X. CONTENTS.
BOSTON TOWNSHIP, History of 554-681
Village of 654
Pioneer Settlers 657
Organization, Name, etc 658
Early Marriages, Births, Deaths, etc 659
Pioneer Experiences ' 658
Military Prowess 660
Roll of Honor 661
Soldiers' Monument 663
Industries 663
Civil Service Status 664
Crookedness 666
Schools, Churches, etc 668
Present Official Roster— 1891 668
Population 659
Postmasters 669
Triple Burglary 670
First Great Sensation 678
Last Great Sensation 684
Bounties, Quotas, Drafts, etc 409
Bounty Jumpers 428
Bounty Tax Law 418
Brady, Captain Samuel, Narrative of 1141
Brady's Lake 1144
Brady's Leap '. 1142
Brigger Belting Company 502
Brittain 886
Brown, "Jim" and "Dan" 876
Brown, John—" Old Ossowatomie" 584
BUCHTEL COLLEGE, History of 149-167
Breaking Ground 153
Laying Corner Stone, Address by Horace Greeley 153
Faculty-1891-'92 161
Presidents of 159—161
Course of Study 161
Board of Trustees of 161
Officers of Board 161
Professorships 163
Finances 164
Crouse Gymnasium 162
Science Building 165
Fatal Disaster 165
Addenda 1163
Athletic Grounds 1164
Cadets 444
Buchtel, Mr. and Mrs. John R., Portraits of 150
Buckeye Sewer Pipe Company 478
Budd, Townsend C, Machinist 498
Burglar Neatly Nabbed 1154
" Butternut " Demonstration — 1863 414
Caldwell, Charles G 1139
California, Goldseekers of 1849-'50 1110
California, Perils of the Journey to 1128
California, Akron's Bonanza King 1138
California, Ups and Downs 1139
Camp, Miss Lizzie, Teacher 132
Campbell, Miss Emma, Teacher 130
Canadian Copper Company 509
Canadian Patriot War-1837-'39 ms
Canal Dover Paving Brick Company 509
Canfleld, Horace G 536
Capron & Curtice 537
Carothers, Miss Sarah J., Teacher 129
Carleton, Will M., Memorial Poet 253
Cascade Mill Race 41
Cascade, Village of 43
Cascade House 43
CONTENTS. xi.
Cascade Store ^
Cascade Roarer 225
Charleroi Plate Glass Company 508
Cheap Popular Entertainments 187
Chittenden, Henry ." 39
"Chuckery," History of 80
" Chuckery " Race, View of ^
Church, Miss La vena, Teacher • • • 124
CHURCH, Central Presbyterian 214
First Congregational 189
Second Congregational 189
West Congregational 211
Christian Science 213
Calvary Evangelical 207
First Presbyterian 188
First Methodist Episcopal • • • 191
First Baptist 191
First Universalist 196
St. Paul's Episcopal 198
High Street Church of Christ 201
Grace Methodist Episcopal 201
First German Reformed 202
Grace Reformed 204
German Zion Lutheran 204
Sixth Ward Church of Christ 205
Trinity Lutheran 206
German Methodist 206
United Brethren 206
St. Bernard's 209
St. Vincent de Paul's r. 207
Akron Hebrew Congregation 210
African M. E. Zion 212
Shiloh Baptist 212
Trinity Reformed 212
North Hill M. E 212
Wabash Avenue Church of Christ 213
South Main Street Church of Christ 213
Sherbondy Hill Church of Christ 213
Evangelical Lutheran 213
Swedish Evangelical Lutheran 214
Old Forge Congregational Sunday School «- 213
Clark, Henry, Akron's First Hotel-keeper 38
Clothiers, Hats, Caps, etc . . . .* 520
Clarendon Hotel ^23
Cleveland, Akron and Columbus Railroad 625
Cleveland and Pittsburg Railroad 623
Cleveland, Mt. Vernon and Delaware Railroad 625
Cleveland, Zanesville and Cincinnati Railroad 625
Cleveland and Canton Railroad 635
Clinton, Governor De Witt, V^isit to Akron in 1825 38
City National Bank 540
Citizens' Savings and Loan Association 540
Civil Engineers 530
Coal^Dealers 528
Cobb, Charles B., Pioneer Hotel-keeper 45
Codding, Miss Elsie A., Teacher 123
CofTman, Miss Rebecca, Teacher 124
Cohn Manufacturing Company 502
Collapse of the Rebellion 424
Commercial Matters 512
Commins & Allen , 455
Company B, Eighth Regiment O. N. G 436
Company B, Official Roster 440
Company B, at Presidential Inauguration, 1889 441
Cone, Rev. Orello, D. D 160
Confectionery Dealers 520
Cook, Fairbanks & Co 481
Cooper, Samuel F., Early School Superintendent 126
Cooper Brick Company 484
xii. CONTENTS.
Cooper Shops ' ^10
Cooper, Jack, alias Samuel Wittuni, Execution of 9^
COPLEY TOWNSHIP, History of 695-705
Starting Point 695
Swamp— The Great Hunt 695
Swamp— Danger, Death, etc 696
Why so Named • 697
When and by Whom Settled 697
Organization 698
Growth, Population, etc 699
Business Status 699
Early Temperance Society "^^
Schools, Churches, etc '^1
War Record 702
Civil Service Record "^^
Railroad Facilities 704
Present Official Roster (1891) J04
Sad Insane Homicide 704
Cotter's Battery, O. L,. A 438
COVENTRY TOWNSHIP, History of 706-724
Aboriginal " Garden of Eden" 706
Early Settlement 707
Organization, etc 708
Why Called "The State" of 709
Early Homicide 709
Industrial Resources 711
Milling Operations— The Old State Mill 712
Ancient Metropolis 715
Military History - 716
Civil Service Record .*. 718
Growth, Population, etc 720
Indian Traditions 720
Early Crookedness 721
Last Sad Homicide 722
Present Official Record (1891) 724
County Seat Contest— 1810-1843 102
County Seat, Election for 101
Court House and Jail 105
Court House, View of 105
County Jail, Shabbiness of 100
County Jail, ^scape From 106
Crispin, Rev. William Frost 1162
Crosby, Doctor Eliakim, Sketch of .*. 41
Crouse Gymnasium 162
Cummins, Nathan, Murder of 1146
Counterfeiters of the Cuyahoga 876
CUYAHOGA FALLS, History of .- 725-769
Early Settlement 725
Pioneer Mills 725
Why so Named 726
Pioneer Paper Mill 727
Magnificent Water Power 728
Early Residents '. 729
Early Business Matters 739
"Ahead of Chicago " 731
Shinplaster Mill (1838) 731
Later Banking Operations : 732
Pioneer Temperance Society in Ohio 733
Whisky" Strike 734
Municipal Organization 735
Township Organization 735
Portage Mutual Insurance Company , 737
One Year a County Seat 737
Educational Matters 738
Church History 740
Temperance Crusade 743
Musical, Fraternal, etc 745
Fine Pleasure Resort 746
JJewspapers 748
CONTE^fTS.
Xlll.
CUYAHOGA FALLS, Military History 750
Soldiers' Monument 753
Criminal Status 754
Early Births, Marriages, Deaths, etc 755
Public Buildings 755
Library, Lyceum, etc 755
Population 757
Fires 757
Civil Service Record 761
Present Business Status (1891) 763
D.
Detection of Crime in the Early Days 1148
D. F. Morgan Boiler Company 497
Diamond Drill and Tool Company 497
Diamond Fire Brick Works 475
Diamond Match Company ' 464
Diamond Plate Glass Company 508
Diver, Daniel, Shooting of , 1144
Dodge, Col. Sebried, Civil Engineer 42
Dodge, Mrs. Susan E., Teacher 112
Dodge, William M., Probate Judge ■ 130
Dow, James G., Early Akron Merchant 1139
Doyle, William B 486
Draft "Prize Winners" in War of Rebellion 412
Drafts, Quotas, Bounties, etc 409
Drop Hammer Forging Company 497
Dry Goods, Akron Dealers in 516
Drugs and Medicines, Dealers in 527
" Dublin "—North Akron's Early Cognomen 39
Ducking Rebel Sympathizers 411
Dussel, Miss Lida M., Teacher 131
E.
Early Crimes and Incidents 1141
Early Crookedness ^ 57
Early Hotels 37
Early High Schools 113
Early Schools, Teachers, etc Ill
Early Select Schools 112
E. H. Merrill Company 480
Eighth Regiment, O. N. G , 436
Eighth Regiment Band 445
Eighty-fourth Regiment, O. V. 1 417
Elwood Land Company 509
Empire Reaper and Mower Works 467
Enterprise Manufacturing Company 497
Eves, Parvin ; 1022
Ewart, J. C. & Co., Roofing Tile Works 48S
Ewing & Hollinger, Builders 292
Excelsior Reaper and Mower Works 467
Exchange Bank 539
Executions at Wooster and Ashland 436
»=■.
Filley, Homer, the Killing of 1020
First American Locomotive 620
First Draft During the War 410
First National Bank of Akron ^. 539
First Ohio Light Artillery 384
Fifth U. S. (colored) Infantry 405
Fifty-Eighth Regiment, O. V. 1 386
Fifty-Fourth Battalion, O. N. G * 396
Flag Festival-»54th Battalion, Co. A 397
Finances, Banks, etc 538
Forty-Second Regiment, O. V. 1 406
Foster, Joseph W., Boat Builder 4W
Fountain Park •. 1084
Free Democratic Standard 224
xiv. CONTENTS.
Free School Clarion 225
Friction Matches, History of 459
Fruit Dealers in Akron 528
F. Schumacher Milling Company 455
Fugitive Slave Law 578
Funeral Directors in Akron 528
Furniture Dealers 525
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, History of.: 784
Where Located 784
Water Courses, Lakes, etc 784
Resources 785
Early Village Failures 785
Early Business Emporiums : 785
Three Villages in One 786
The Village of Clinton 786
The Village of Manchester 786
Business Status 786
Organization 788
Industries 788
Military Matters 788
Criminal Matters , 790
Civil Service Record' 793
Population, etc 794
Present Official Roster (1891) 795
Garfield Obsequies 436
Gargett, Mr. and Mrs. Robert, Murder of 956
Gargett, Chloe E., Daughter of Above 956
Garrett, John O., California Forty-Niner 1110
Geology of Summit County 614
German Guard, Company Buchtel 443
German Lutheran School 135
Gilbert, Miss Mary, Teacher 123
Globe Sign Company 508
Glover, Prof. N. L., Musical Instructor 134
Goodrich Hard Rubber Company 469
Gothic Block, Howard Street 63
Graded School System 116
Graham, Joseph Gilbert, Teacher 122
Graham, William, tlie Stow Homicide 1018
Grain Dealers in Akron 518
Great Western Band 446
Great Western Railway 622
Greele, Samuel S., Teacher 115
Greeley, Horace 155
Grocery and Provision Dealers 5i!3
Guide Board War, in the Early Days 46
Green Township's Hundred-Day Men 401
GREEN TOWNSHIP, History of 796
Early Settlement 796
Indian Experiences 797
Topography, Resources, etc 788
Business Centers 800
Industries 801
Educational Matters 800
Electoral Matters 802
Criminal Catalogue 802
Military History 807
Civil Service Record 809
Present Township Officers (1891) 810
H.
Hall, Philander D., Akron's Pioneer Merchant 46
Hankey Lumber Company 490
Hanscom, Lewis 1138
Harper's Ferry, Capture of 589
Hardware, Dealers in 520
Harness Makers , ,,,,, .»«,,., ,,r .>.... 510
CONTENTS.
XV.
Hart, Capt. Joseph, Middlebury Pioneer 33
Hartford City Plate Glass Company 508
Hats, Caps, etc.. Dealers in 525
Hawkins, Miss B. M., Teacher 112
Heathman— Heathtnan Homicide 709
Herrick & Son, China, Glassware, etc 516
High Street Church of Christ, View of 1167
High School Dedication (1853) 123
Hill & Adams Sewer Pipe Company ; 476
Hill, Foster & Company : 476
Hill, Merrill & Company 476
Hill, Powers & Company , 476
Hill Sewer Pipe Company 477
Hole, Prof. Israel P., Educator 125
Hollinger, Miss Annie M., Teacher 130
Home Building & Loan Association 544
Howard, Charles W 69
Howard, Frank D 498
Howard Street Disaster, November 7, 1891 1164
Howe, Capt. Richard 117
Hower Oatmeal Mills 457
Hoy, Judge John 98
Hotels 528
Hubble, Miss M. E., Teacher 114
Hugill & Briggs, Brick Manufacturers 484
Humphrey Turbine Company 505
Hundred and Eighty-Eighth O. V. 1 407
Hundred and Fifth O. V. 1 405
Hundred and Fifteenth O. V. 1 371
Hundred and'Fourth O. V. 1 368
Hundred Day Men, O. N. G. (1861) 396
Hundred and Ninety-Seventh O. V. 1 404
Hundred and Seventh O. V. 1 387
Hundred and Seventy-Seventh O. V. 1 407
Hundred and Sixty-Fourth O. V. 1 400
Hundred and Twenty-F^ifth O. V. 1 404
HUDSON, Pioneer Township in Summit County 811—850
David, First Settler ^in Summit County 812
The Long and Perilous Journey to 812
Early Settlers 816
Organization, Name, etc 817
First Born White Child 818
Indian Experiences 818
Religion, Churches, etc 820
Educational Matters 823
Western Reserve College 824
Railroad Enterprises 834
Business S a tus 836
Population ' 839
Municipal Officers 840
Newspapers 841
War History 843
Civil Service Record 846
Present Village and Township Officers (1891) 848
Criminal Matters 849
Hinckston, the Fire Bug 849
The Maloney-Stepleton Homicide 850
Hunter, John H., the Richfield Double Homicide 974
Hunter-Gargett Tragedy, History of 956
Hurst, " Bob "—Sharp Evasion of Justice 1158
I.
Insurance Agencies 446
"Irrepressible Conflict" 577
Issue, The 229
Italian Orchestra : 529
xvi. CONTENTS.
J.
Jackson, George C, & Co 537
Jackson & Lyman 490
J. C. McNeil Company C 495
J. F. Seiberling & Company 467
Johnny Cake Lock 655
Johnson, Harvey H 61
Jones Wholesale Grocery Company 516
Joyce, M. & A. C, Teachers 112
K.
Kansas — Freedom versus Slavery 588
Heating's Orchestra 445
"Keg Money" 57
Kerst, the Peninsula Homicide 578
Kilpatrick, Hugh, Death of 1020
King, Judge Leicester 557
King Varnish Company 474
Klages Coal and Ice Company 508
Knight, Lee R., Teacher 131
Konkle's Battery, O. L. A ; 385
Kubler & Beck, Varnish Works 473
Labor Fifty Years Ago 1099
Ladies' Cemetery Association 241
Lane, Luman 1064
Latta, William, the Counterfeiter 651
Lake Shore and Tuscarawas Valley Railroad 635
Lantz's Orchestra 446
Leggett, General M. D., Early School Superintendent 122
Ley-Swartz-Thomas Homicide 722
Library Board of Control 186
Line and Packet Boat Navigation 656
Locofoco Matches 461
Locofoco Party 462
Lucifer Matches 461
Lumber and Building Establishments 484
Lyceum and Library Association 166
IN/I.
Machine and Repair Shops 510
Maloney— Stepleton Homicide 85o
Marble's Band 445
Markle & Inman, Stoneware "481
Marriner Rifles 352
Massillon Branch R. R 635
Match Manufacture 450
May, Andrews 123
McArthur, Miss Jerusha, Teacher ; 124
McCausland Brothers, Brick-Makers 484
McClellan, William A., Builder 492
McCollester, Rev. Sullivan H., D. D 159
McCready, Miss Margaret L., Teacher 129
McMasters, Henry, 1139
McKisson Homicide, Trial, Execution, etc 908—917
McMillan, Reuben, Early Manufacturer 45
McMillen, John 39
Moffatt & McNeil 495
Meat Markets in Akron 529
Mechanics' Association (1840) 1102
Mechanics' Library 1103
Mechanics' Political Organization (1848) 1103
Mechanics' Strike for Ten Hour Day (1815) 1102
Mechanics' Strike for Cash Payments (1845) 1102
Mechanics' Strike for Higher Wages (1845) 1102
Members of Akron School Board, 1847 to 1891 145
Memorial Chapel 245
CONTENTS. xvii.
Merfill, Powers & Company' '. 476
Merchant Tailors of Akron 510
Metropolitan Band 446
Middlebury, Ancient Village of 32
Middlebury, Annexation to Akron ^ 449
Middlebury Cemetery Association 232
Middlebury Mining Company (1»49) 1107
Middlebury Township Ofificers 297
Militia During the War 426
Miller Chain Works 474
Millerisni or Second Adventism , 604
Miller & Roche, Grocers * 512
Miller Match Company 474
Millinery Stores in Akron 520
Millheim 986
Miscellaneous Kegiments in Union Army ■ 407
Miscellaneous Trade and Traffic 530
Modern Military Operations 446
Mogadore, Village of 984
Moore, Milton, Trials and Tribulations of 994
Morrow County Draft Riots .• 413
Morus Multicaulis Craze 66
Munificent Bounty Fund 423
Munroe Falls, Village of 1028
Munroe Falls, Boom and Collapse 1029
Munroe Falls, Early Criminal Episode 1030
Musical Instrument Dealers 523
Musson, Mrs. Harriet, Murder of 994
Mustill's Orchestra 446
N.
Neracher Sprinkler Company 509
Newberry, Henry, Sr 728
Newberry, Henry, Jr 762
Newberry, Miss Josephine, Teacher 128
New York, Mahoning & Western R. R 636
New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio R. R 631
New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio R. R. Depot 627
Nickshaw, John, the Killing of 1145
Nineteenth Regiment, O. V^. I 357
Ninth Battery, 'O. I.. A 390
Ninth Regiment, O. N. G 434
Ninth Regiment, O. N. G., Merged in Eighth 436
North Hill Band 446
Notion and Novelty Dealers 520
Norton, Capt. Aaron 33
Noyes, Gov. Edward F., Memorial Orator 253
NORTHAMPTON TOWNSHIP, History of 854-^75
Locality, Beginning, etc 854
Indian and Frontier Matters 854
Settlement, Name, etc 855
Growth, Development, etc 856
Industrial Matters .* 858
Organization, Population, etc 860
Military History 861
Civil Service Record 863
Present Official Status (1891) 864
Criminal Catalogue 864
Dunn-Whipple Tragedy 865
Brook-Tedrow Homicide 873
Sapp Treasury Robbery 1153
NORTHFIELD TOWNSHIP, History of 898—917
When and by Whom Settled 898
Name, Organization, etc 898
Rapid Settlement 899
Military Record 900
Civil Service Status 901
The V^iers-Charlesworth Romance 903
The McKisson Homicide 908
xviii. CONTENTS.
NORTON TOWNSHIP, History of 918-935
Origin, Name, etc 918
Early Settlement 918
Business " Centers " 920
Early Crookedness 922
Lunatic Merchant 922
Postoffice Robber Killed 924
Lost Child Excitement 925
Military History 926
Ciyil Service Record 828
McLister- Welsh Homicide 931
Population, Present Official Roster, (1891} etc., 935
o.
Ohio Canal, Letting Contracts , 38
Ohio Canal, Breaking Ground by De Witt Clinton 38
Ohio Canal, First Boat to Cleveland 40
Ohio Educational Monthly 229
Ohio Exchange 47
Ohio National Guard (1864) 399
Ohio National Guard, Guarding Coal Mines 430
Ohio National Guard, Annual Encampments 438
Ohio Stoneware Company 480
Olcott, Charles, Akron's Christener 35
Old Maid's Kitchen, View of ^ 85
Olmsted, Edwin Bigelow, Early Superintendent of Schools 123
Oster-Kernan Homicide 792
Overland Journey to California 1107
Paige Brothers Company 516
Paige Tube Company 509
Painters and Paperhangers 510
Palmer, Charles W., Early Principal Akron Schools , 122
Panama Route to California 1108
Panic of 1837 66
Parks-Beatson Homicide 771
Patriotism and Pleasantry 418
Pavilion House 45
Payne, William H., Boat Builder ^. 494
Pease, Judge Calvin 36
Pendleton, Joy H., Death of 1164
PENINSULA, Village of 651
Burglarized 670
Homicide 678
Official Roster (1891) 669
Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal 71—79
People's Monthly 228
People's Savings Bank 544
Perkins, Crosby & King 42
Perkins School 128
Piano Tuners 523
Picture Frame Makers 523
Pittsburg, Akron and Western Railroad 637
Pittsburg and Western Railroad 635
Plumbers 525
Polishing and Plating Company 502
Pomeroy, Miss Helen , Teacher 122
Pooler, Charles T., Early Superintendent of Akron Schools 125
Portage Canal and Manufacturing Company 80
Portage Furnace 43
Portage Journal 115
Portage Strawboard Company 595
PORTAGE TOWNSHIP-Early Settlement 32
Assessors '. 297
Clerks 289
Justices of the Peace 295
Treasurers 291
Trustees 287
CONTENTS. xix.
Porter Zouaves 428
"Powder Patch" 1083
" Preliminary " 31
Pryne, Miss Rosetta, Teacher 123
o.
Quotas, Drafts, Bounties, Etc 406
Railroads of Summit County 621-639
Real Estate Agents 528
Recruiting in Rebel States 420
Regular Army Military Service 408
Resistance to Draft 410
Rexford, Rev. Everett L., D. D 159
RICHFIELD TOWNSHIP, History of 941-978
Organization 941
Early Settlers 942
Population 943
Business Resources 944
Rival Centers 944
Education and Religion 954
Military History 946
Civil Service Record 947
Big Sleigh Ride (1856) 950
Great Reunion 951
Lunatic Horse Thief 952
Present Business Status (1891) 9M
Official Roster 955
Hunter-Gargett Tragedy 956
Robeson, W. E., the Farmer-Detective 1149
Robinson Brothers & Co 478
Rodenbaugh,' John, Murder of 991
Rood, Wilbur V., Principal High School 128
Roofing Tile Works 4S3
Roof-Musson Homicide 994
Roman Orchestra 446
Root, George H., Teacher 124
Roster Company B., Eighth Regiment, O. N. G 440
Sanitary Aid Societies 418
Sapp, George, County Treasury Burglar 1152
Sauter-Sheetes Homicide 791
Sawtell, S. L., Early Akron Teacher 112
School Enumeration (1839) 112
School Enumeration (1888) .• 139
School Enumeration (1890) 141
School Graduates, 1864 to 1891 142
Schools— Latin, Greek, Etc 144
Schools— Teachers' Examinations in 1835 109
School-Early Select High 115
Scholarships in Buchtel College , 145
Schumacher Gymnasium Company 504
Seaman Manufacturing Company 508
Second Adventisni 604
Second Draft during the War 416
Second National Bank of Akron 53^
Second Ohio Cavalry 378
Seiberling, J. F. & Co 467
Seiberling Milling Company 459
Selle Gear Company 471
Semler-Kepler Homicide 804
Seventy-Sixth Regiment, O. V. I.... 407
Sewer Pipe Manufacturers 475
Sherbondy Hill Church of Christ 213
Sheriff Lane Victimized 1155
Singular Boiler Explosion 621
Sixth Battery Light Artillery 431
XX. CONTENTS.
Sixth Battery at Washington Centennial 443
Sixth Battery Roster for 1891 642
Sixth Independent Battery, O. L,. A 666
Sixty-Fourth Regiment, O. V. I 364
Sixty-Seventh Regiment, O. V. 1 392
Smith Brothers 502
Soldiers' Memorial Chapel 245
Soldiers' Surplus Bounty Fund 176
South Akron Flouring Mill 439
South End News 229
South Main Street Church of Christ 213
Spicer, Amos, Early Portage Township Resident 32
Spicer, Major Miner, Akron's First Settler 32
Spicer Cemetery 232
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, History of 979-1002
Early Settlement 979
Organization, Growth, Etc 979
Population 981
Topography, Resources, Etc 982
Pioneer and Indian Matters 983
Villages, Hamlets, Etc 984
Abolition Riot 986
Educational Matters 988
Railroad Facilities 988
Military History 988
Civil Service Record 1001
Hundred-Day Men 401
Present Official Roster 1002
Murder of John Rhodenbaugh 991
Roof-Musson Homicide 994
"Squirrel Hunters" 376
Star Drilling Machine Company 498
Stein bacher, Erhard 512
St. Bernard's Parochial School 148
St. Vincent De Paul's Parochial School 147
Stone Mill : 42
Stoneware and Pottery Trade 479
Storer & Barnhart . . 494
Storer & Miller 494
Stoves and Tinware 521
Summit Sewer Pipe Company .. .'. 478
Stow, Joshua, Original Proprietor of Stow Township, Portrait of 1003
STOW TOWNSHIP. History 1003—1027
A Pioneer Miracle 1003
First Actual Settlers 1005
Organization 1007
Topography, Hydraulics, Etc 1007
Beautiful Lakes 1008
Industries 1008
Education and Religion 1009
Fatal Tornado of 1837 1010
Early Marriages, Births, Etc 1012
Indians. Rattlesnakes, Etc 1012
Bears, Wolves, Etc 1014
Military History 1015
Civil Service Record 1017
Terrible War Tragedy 1018
Population, Oflflcial Roster, Etc 1027
Stripe-Cooper Homicide 803
Sultana Disaster 372
Summit Beacon , • 219
Summit City 80
Summit City Boiler Works 496
SUMMIT COUNTY, History of 91-108
Abstract Company 544
Agricultural Societies 1080—1086
Benevolence 1087—1098
Journal 226
Railroads ; 621-639
CONTENTS. xxi.
Summit County Tornadoes : 558
Summit Guards 350
Summit House 47
Supplemental Draft 417
Superintendent's Cemetery Lodge 243
Surveyors 530
Symphony Orchestra 446
T.
Tallmadge Hundred-Day Men 400
TALLMADGE TOWNSHIP, History of 1036-1059
Portrait of its Founder, Rev. David Bacon 1042
Early Settlers, Etc 1036
Topography, Population, Etc 1040
Name, Organization, Etc 1039
Utopian Schemes Not Realized .■ 1041
Educational Matters 1013
Pioneer Deaf and Dumb School 1044
Church and Spiritual Matters \... 1045
Coal Mining Interest 1048
Early Railroad Enterprise 1049
Manufactures 1050
Clean Criminal Record 1054
Military History 105f>
Honorable Civil Service Record 1057
Present Business Status 1059
Present Official Roster (1S91) 1059
Tappan, Charles W 1140'
Taplin, Rice & Co 46&
Tee-Total Mechanic. . . •. 225
Terrible Calamity 454
Thirty-Seventh Regiment, O. V. 1 389-
Thomas Lumber Company 488
Thomas Phillips Company 472'
Thomastown •. 896-
" Three Hundred Thousand More " 422"
Thyng, J. Warren, Teacher Drawing, Akron Schools 134
Trade and Labor Journal 229
Turner Band 446
Twenty-Ninth Regiment, O. Y. I 358
Twine and Cordage Company 472
TWINSBURG TOWNSHIP, History of 1030-1079
Topography, Name, Etc 1060
First Settler .• 1061
Pioneer Incidents 1066
Early Business Status 1067
Church Matters 1068
Educational History, Twinsburg Institute, etc 1070
Military Operations 1072
Soldiers' Monument 1073
Locust Grove Cemetery 1076
Pioneer Reminiscences 1076
Civil Service Record 1078
Present Business Status (1891) 1079
Present Official Roster 1079
u
" Underground Railroad " 578^
United States Baking Company 508
United States Stoneware Company 481
Upson, Dr. George C 1025
Upson, Julius A •• 1025
Upson, Dr. Daniel 1M9
Upson, William H 1058
V.
Valley Railwav 631
Vallandigham, Clement L 374
Viers-Charlesworth Romance (903
xxii. CONTENTS.
Village Rivalries, 1835—1845 46
Vitrified Sewer Pipe Industry 475
Voris, Judge Alvin C 646
Voris, Mii^s Annette, Teacher 123
Voris, Judge Peter 645
Waltz, Miss Laura E., Teacher 133
Washburn-Peoples Homicide 484
Watches and Jewelry 518
W^eary, Snyder & Wilcox Manufacturing Company 485
Webster, Camp & Lane Machine Company 464
Weeks, Arthur J 481
Weeks, Frederick H 481
Weeks & Kingsbury 512
AVerner Printing & Lithographing Company 536
Western Linoleum Company 508
AVestern Reserve College 824
Wetniore, Judge William ' 1005
Whitman & Barnes Manufacturing Company 471
Whitmore, Robinsons & Co 479
Wholesale Dealers in Akron 512
William H. Evans Building and Loan Association 544
Williams, Paul, Akron's First Inhabitant 32
Willis, Edward P 1030
Wilson, Solon L 490
Windsor Hotel 518
Wise, Prof. J. O., Teacher Penmanship 134
Wolcott, Hon. Alfred 657
Wolcott, Hon. Christopher P 553
Wolcott, Hon. Simon P 665
Wolcott, Miss Lucretia, Teacher 122
Wood and Provision Procession , 419
Worthington, "Jim," Akron's Fugitive Slave 577
z.
Zanes ville Street Railway Company 509
VIEWS, BUILDINGS, ETC.
Academy of Music, East Market Street, 1891 458
Akron's First School House, South Broadway, 1834 Ill
Akron's First High School Building, South Summit Street, 1847 122
Akron's Second High School Building (now Jennings) , 1853 123
Akron's Present High School Building, 1891 135
Akron's First Church Building, 1835 189
Akron's First Fire Engine House, 1841 332
Akron Saving's Bank, Mill and Main. 1891 543
Akron, As it was in 1853, and as it is in 1891 448
Allen School Building, South Main Street 131
Arlington Hotel, West Market Street 453
Baptist Church, Original, South Broadway, 1837 194
Baptist Church, North High Street, 1853-1890 197
Baptist Church New, South Broadway, 1890 195
Barberton— Residence of Manager Land and Improvement Company 936
Cleveland, Akron and Columbus Railroad Station 937
Inn 938
Houses for Workmen 939
National Hotel 940
Beacon Block, Corner Mill and Main , 1891 534
Bell Tower, Akron Rural Cemetery 255
Big Falls, Cuyahoga River 84
Boston Township Soldiers' Monument 663
Bowen School Building, North Broadway 131
Buchtel College, East Buchtel Avenue, 1872 149
Cemetery Lodge, from Glendale Avenue, 1891 243
Lodge, Looking East 247
View, Looking West from Robinson Monument, 1891 248
View, Looking East from Perkins Lot, 1891 250
View, Looking East, Miller's Pond 254
View, Bell Tower 255
View, Soldiers' Memorial Chapel 251
View, Glendale Avenue, Looking West 246
Central Fire Engine House, South High Street 349
Children's Home, South Arlington Street 1091
Chuckery Race, where it Emerges from River 86
Chuckery Race, in Glens, below Cuyahoga Falls 768
City Building, South Main Street 451
Clarendon Hotel, Corner Main and Exchange .\.... 523
Congregational Church (Old) 189
Congregational Church (New) 191
Companion Views of North Akron, from West Hill, 1853-1891 448
Conger, Col. A. L., Fine Stone Residence, Irving Lawn 550
Court House and Grounds Fronting on High Street 105
Crosby School Building, Corner West and Smith Streets 130
Crouse Gymnasium, Buchtel College 162
Cuyahoga Falls, High Bridge Glens 747
From Lower Dam, Looking Up 746
Suspension Bridge in Glens 765
Chuckery Race in Glens 768
Old Maid's Kitchen 85
Big Falls, From Old Chuckery Race 84
View of Chuckery Race, where it Leaves River • : 86
East Market Street, From Howard to Main, South Side (1845) 450
From Howard to Main, South Side (1891) 459
From Howard to Market, North Side, 1891 484
From Main to High, South Side, 1855 460
From Main to High, South Side, 1891 460
From Main to High, North Side, 1864 458
From Main to High, North Side, 1891 458
xxiv. CONTENTS.
Empire House, Corner Market and Main 7S
First Fire Engine House, Erected in 1841 332
Fire Station, Number 1, Corner High and Church Streets 349
Number 2, Sixth Ward 349
Number 4, South Main Street.- 349
First M. E. Church, Corner South Broadway and Church Streets 193
German Lutheran Church, Old, 1835 189
Lutheran Church. New, 1891 205-
Lutheran Parochial School, 1891 148
Reformed Church, Old, 1837 194
Reformed Church, New, 1891 203
Gothic Block, East Side South Howard Street, 1861 63
Grace School Building, Corner Maple and Exchange Streets 133-
Glendale Avenue, Looking Towards Cemetery 246
Henry School Building, North Forge Street 132
High Bridge Glens, Cuyahoga Falls .747
High Street Church of Christ, New 1167
Howard Street Collapse, November 7, 1891 1166
Howe School Building. Corner Bartges and St. Clair Streets 131
Hundred Day Men Starting for Washington, 1864 458
Hotel Buchtel 494
Jennings School Building, Corner Summit and Mill Streets 123
Kent School Building, South Arlington Street 132
Leggett School Building, Corner Thornton and Sumner Streets 133
Memorial Chapel, Glendale Cemetery 251
Miller's Duck Pond, From Cemetery 254
Northeast Akron, View From West Hill , 70
North Howard Street, West Side, Old ^tna Mill in Distance, 1858 482
North Howard Street, West Side, 1891 482
North Main Street, Old P. & O. Canal 73
Ohio Canal and East Side, From Above Glendale Avenue 90
Ohio Canal, View back of Stone Mill 259
Ohio Exchange, Corner Market and Main, 1835—1855 450
Old Maid's Kitchen, below Cuyahoga Falls 85
Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal, South Main Street 72
Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal, North Main Street 73
Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal, From Rear of Howard Street 74
Perkin's School Building, W^est Exchange Street 130
Railroads— Original Union Depot 626
New Union Depot #•• •• ^28
New N. Y., P. & O. Depot T.... 627
Valley Depot 453
Recruiting Scene at Beginning of War, in 1861 353
Schumacher Power Block, xxxix. Index
Sixth Ward, View from Tallmadge Hill, 1891 231
South Howard Street from Market, West Side, 1855 446
From Market, West Side, 1870 462
From Market, West Side, 1891 462
North from Cherry, West Side, 1872 309
North from Cherry, East Side, 1872 329
North from Mill, East Side, 1891 486
South Main Street, Market to Mill, Showing C.ourt House, 1855 72
From Rear of Howard, 1880 74
West Side, 1891 527
Spicer School Building, Carroll Street 131
St. Bernard's (Catiiolic) Parochial School Building 148
St. Paul's (Protestant Episcopal) Chapel, East Market Street 199
St. Vincent De Paul (Catholic) Parochial School 147
Stone Block, Corner Howard and Market Streets, 1835—1849 450
Summit County Infirmary 1088
Tappan Hall, Corner East Market and Main Streets, 1855 460
Trussell Hall, Corner East Market and Maiden Lane Alley, 1855 460
Trinity Lutheran Church, 1891 206
German Lutheran Parochial School, 1891 148
Tornado of May 10, 1890, Overturned House of Antony Mennell, 175 Grant Street 561
View East Side of Grant Street 562
View of Burkhardt's Brewery 562
View of Brewery Dormitory 563
Houses of Otto Miller and Frank Kuntz 563
CONTENTS. XXV.
Tornado of May 10, 1890, Overturned Houses of August Miller and Allen Coup 564
Grocery Store of Orrin C. Baker 565
Ohio Stoneware Works , 566
Barn of Frank J. Knapp 566
A. D. Alexander and Kate O'Connell 567
Twinsburg's Soldiers' Monument 1088
Universalist Church, Original Structure, 1837 197
Universalist Church, New, Corner Mill and Broadway •* 197
Valley Railroad Depot, West Market Street 153
Water Works Pumping Station, Wooster Avenue, 1891 452
Windsor Hotel, Corner Mill and Broadway 518
West Congregational Church, Corner West Market and Balch 211
West Market Street From Howard, Old City Mill, etc., 1858 453
West, Market Street From Howard, Arlington Hotel 453
PORTRAITS, BIOGRAPHIES, ETC.
Abbey, Henry S 310
Adams, Frank 318
Alexander, John 650
Alexander, J. Park 261
Alger, David B 948
Alger, General Russell A 555
Allen, Albert 456
Allen, George G 140
Allen, Jacob 293
Allen, Jesse 44
Allen, Jonah 707
Allen, Levi 708
Bacon, Rev. David 1042
Baird, Charles 274
Baker, John W 183
Baldwin, Captain Aaron P 366
Baldwin, Frederick 827
Baldwin, Harvey 818
Baldwin, Mrs. Harvey 818
Baldwin, Joseph A 478
Bangs, Elisha X 1161
Barber, Alfred M 515
Barber, George 532
Barber, Ohio C 533
Bartges, Dr. Samuel W 545
Bartlett, Albert A 277
Bates, George D 539
Battels, Benjamin F 538
Beardsley, Talmon 39
Beck, J. Martin 473
Beebe, Joseph A 185
Beebe, Oliver B 752
Belden, Dr. Albert C 549
Berger, Captain Darius F- 801
Bernard Charles B.. 173
Berry, George C 139
Bierce, General Lucius V 414
Biggs, Lester M 496
Billow, Captain George 388
Bissell. Rev. Samuel 1070
Bliss, Ambrose W 901
Call, Moses D 1005
Camp, Hezekiah 761
Camp, William 1160
Canfield, Horace 224
Cannon, Wilson B 301
Carpenter, Judge James S 94
Carter, Dr. Israel E 265
Cartter, Hon. David K 552
Case, James H 302
Chalker , Newton 556
Chandler, William 270
Chapman, Dr. Byron 696
Chapman, Dr. Mason 184
Allen, Levi, Jr 72(^
Allen, Miner J " 45&
Allen, William C 32S
Allen, William T 177
Ailing, Ethan 1061
Allison, George 1050
Allyn.Abel G 713
Allyn, Israel 712
Anderson, George M 286
Andrew, Angelo 145
Andrew, Robert L 303
Atterholt, Frank M 137
Bliss, Hon. George 5,51
Bock, Philip P 262"
Bonstedt, Charles W 183
Bowen, Hon. Hiram 219
Bowen, Dr. William 134
Bradley, Ariel 980
Brewster, Alexander 300
Brewster, George W 718
Brewster, Jonathan H 717
Bronson, Hermon 656
Bronson, Mrs. Hermon.... 656
Bronson, Hiram Volney 658
Broun, Rev. John B 209
Brouse, Cornelius A 514
Brown, Charles W 35
Brown, Henry, H 300
Brown , John ' 584
Bryan, Judge Constant 115
Bryan, Captain Frederick C 440
Buchtel, John 716
Buchtel, John R 150-
Buchtel, Mrs. John R 150
Buchtel, William 542
Buckingham, Captain Edward 374
Buckley, Col. Lewis P 359
Bunn. David R 274
Burlison, James 273
Burnham, Sanford M 163
Burton, Rev. Nathan S., D. D 195
Chapman, Willis D 290
Chase, Dr, Byron S 179
Childs, Dr. Orin D 546
Christy, James 297
Clark, Benjamin F 280
Clarke, William L 261
Cobbs, Charles S 285
Coburn, Dr. Stephen H 545
Cole. Dr. Arthur M 499-
Cole, Edmund H 661
Cole, Herbert W 499
Cole, Dr. Joseph 113-
Collins, Charles A 175-
CONTENTS.
XXVll.
Cotnmins, Alexander H 455
Comniins, Dr. Jedediah D 235
Cone, Rev. Orello, D. D 160
Conger, Col. Arthur L 470
Conger, Mrs. Arthur L 470
Conger, John C 664
Conger, Kenyon B 535
Conger, Sidney P 662
Cook, John 298
Day, Rev. William F., D. D 192
Dahlnian, Rev. Jacob 202
Dick, Major Charles W. F 278
Dodge, Burdette Lynde 525
Dodge, Judge William M 130
Ebright, Dr. Leonidas S 266
Ebright, Dr. Thomas Mc 1.37
Edgerton, Hon. Sidney 180
Edison, Thomas A 500
Edison, Mrs. Thomas A 500
EiChenlaub, Harry C ' 327
Falor, George A 714
Falor, Hiram S 715
Farnam, Daniel 489
Fay, Nahum 112
Findley, Dr. Samuel 128
Foltz, Dr. Abner E 547
Gale, Col. Justus 47
Gamble, William B 326
Ganter, Rev. Richard I,., D. D 200
Gardner, Omar N 289
Goodhue, Judge Nathaniel W 171
Goodhue, Nathaniel P 280
Hale, Andrew 643
Hale, Hon. Charles Oviatt 647
Hale, Jonathan 641
Hale, Othello W 493
Hale, William, 642
Hall, Alfred W 146
Hall, John 2nd 981
Hall, Ivorenzo 463
Hall, PhUander D 46
Hammond, Roland 0 319
Hankey, Simon 491
Hardy, Nathaniel 859
Hardy, Perry D 861
Hardy, William 305
Harper, Erastus R 301
Hart, Henry W 307
Hart, Col. John C 983
Henry, Milton W ■... 1.32
Herrick, Burke C 517
Herrick, Jonathan E ..1072
Hibbard, Allen 169
Hill, David E...: ...475
Hill, George R 476
Hill, Dr. John 926
H
Cook, Joseph 144
Cooper, Gen. Samuel F 126
Cornell, Thomas W 541
Crispin, Rev. William F 1162
Crosby, Dr. Eliakim 41
Crouse, Hon. George W 152
Crumrine, Martin H 459
Curtiss, Augustus 665
Cutter, Morrill T 463
Doyle, Dayton A 167
Doyle, William B 488
Dudley, Plimmon H... 288
Dyas, Isaac J 526
Elkins, Richard S 320
Ellet, King J 985
Evans, Mrs. Mary I. T 242
Ewart, Joseph C 442
Ewart, Robert L... 982
Foltz, Hiram H 138
Foltz, Dr. William K 549
Ford, Judge James R 114
Ford, Newton 287
Fraunfelter, Dr. Elias 129
Frederick, Henry 279
Goodrich, Dr. Benjamin F 469
Goodwin, Thomas H 311
Grant, Judge Charles R 186
Green, Judge Edwin P 153
Green, Hon. Frank M 1006
Hine, Charles, C 835
Hitchcock, Dr. Elizur 548
Hitchcock, Herbert P 497
Hitchcock, Lucius W 1051
Hitchcock, Wolcott W 531
Hole, Professor Israel P 127
Holloway, Rev. Joseph T 743
Houghton, John B 514
Howard, Dr. Elias W 174
Howe, Charles R 244
Howe, Henry W 133
Howe, Richard 117
Hower, Charles H..,. 506
Hower, Harvey Y 505
Hower, John H 457
Hower, M. Otis 505
Howland, Charles E 483
Hoy, Judge John 98
Hudson, Deacon David 812
Hugill, Joseph 509
Humphrey, Dr. Elwyn 550
Humphrey, Tudge Noah M 945
Humphrey, Major Norris 942
Humphrey, Judge Van R 831
XXVlll.
CONTENTS.
Ingersoll, Charles F
Ingersoll, Henry Ward.
Jacobs, Dr. Williani C.
Jackson, Andrew
Jackson, Erastus
James, Daniel A
Janes, Lewis M
Jennings, Rev. Isaac ..
301
182
490
659
492
660
120
Nash, Rev. C. Ellwood, D. D.
Nash, Sumner
Newberry, Henry
Newton, Samuel
Olmstead. Rev. Edward B
O'Neil, Michael
Paige, Albert T
Paige, Hon. David R.
Parker, Richard E
Parmelee, Luther H..
Parshall, Samuel W.
Parsons, William C
K
Kent, Hon. Marvin 629
Kent, Roswell 37
Kent, Mrs. Roswell 37
King, David L 241
King, Henry W 119
King, Leicester 557
Knox, Eugene 0 767
Ladd, Judge Charles G 270
Lane, Julius S , 181
Lane, Luman 1064
Lane, Samuel A., Frontispiece
Lane, Samuel A. 1
Leggett, General Mortimer D 124
IS/I
Mahar, Rev. Thomas F 208
Mallison, Amos 293
Mallison, Albert G 292
JMarvin, David L 556
Marvin, Ulysses 1004
Marvin, Ulysses L 269
Mathews, James 56
McArthur, Col. Rial 857
McClure, Judge Samuel W 268
McCollester. Rev. Sullivan H., D. D... 158
McDonald, William Z 291
McFarlin, John 646
McFarlin, William 542
McGillicudy, Captain Timothy D 432
McGregor, John 136
McKinney, Judge Henry 554
McKinney, William 1077
McMillan, Reuben 45
McNeil, James C 495
Means, Captain John A 373
ISI
198
275
728
33
125
526
519
271
&14
698
290
472
Ingersoll, Noah 719
Iredell, Seth 50
Jewett, Dr. Mendal 264
Johnston, Abraham W 797
Johnston, Alexander 101
Johnston, Hon. John 263
Johnston, Washington G 799
Johnston, William 700
Koch, Jacob 515
Kohler, Hon. Jacob A 267
Koplin, Jacob.. 282
Kreuder, John 306
Kubler, Edward G 473
Kummer, George W .535
Lewis, Hon. Asahel H 220
Lewis, Captain Isaac 750
Long, Denis J 221
Long, Jeremiah A 468
Lothman, Rev. Williani H 204
Lyder, Dr. John W 135
Memmer. John 299
Merrill, Edwin H -... 480
Metcalf, Dr. Jonathan 823
Miller, Ansel, US
Miller Charles 921
Miller, Edward B SOI
Miller, Harvey F 308
Miller, Ira M ■ ^
Miller, Lewis 140
Miller, Robert A 501
Miller, Samuel H 930
Miller, Stephen D 927
Miller, Stephen S 506
Miller, William H 285
Moersch, Peter J .• • 1161
Monroe, Rev. Thomjjs E 191
Moore, Joseph 984
Morrison, James H 324
Murray, William M 522
Nichols. Hon. Orrin P 1075
Noah, Andrew H 185
Norton, Thomas 38
Oviatt, Edward 266
Oviatt, Emmon S 279
Paul, Hon. George 766
Paul, Hosea, Sr 756
Paul, Robert S, 271
Payne, William H 493
Pendleton, Joy H 156
Perkins, Charles E 277
CONTENTS.
XXIX.
Perkins, Col. George T 157
Perkins, Henry 466
Perkins, General Sitnon 34
Perkins. Col. Simon 238
Perrin, Edward W 319
Peterson, Dr. James H 177
Pitkin, Albert J 507
Rawson, Dr. Secretary 943
Raymond, William G 295
Raynolds, Thomas C 223
Read, Prof, Matthew C 614
Rexford, Rev. E. L., D. D 159
isackett, George 764
Sadler, Rolin VV 555
Sanders, Hon. Wilbur F 554
Sanford, Hon. Henry C 273
Sargent, Albert H 245
Schumacher, Ferd 155
Schumacher, Hugo 504
Schumacher, Ivouis 504
Scott, Dr. Daniel A 179
Scott, James F 283
Searles, Henry C 949
Seiberling, Charles W 503
Selberling, B'rank A 503
Seiberling, James H 929
Seiberling, John F 467
Seiberling, Monroe 930
Seiberling, Nathan 919
Seward, Col. Dudley 379
Seward, Louis D 284
Seymour, James H 833
Sieber, George W 281
Sill, Hon. Elisha N 733
Singletary, John C 52
Taplin, James B 170
Thomas, Col. David W 361
Thomas, Rev. David T 211
Thomas, George 296
Thompson, Dr. Moses 821
Underwood, Dr. Warren J 516
Upson, Dr. Daniel 1049
Vansickle, Nicholas E 294
Viall, George..; 519
Viall, James 477
Viall, John F 533
Wagner, Edwin 291
Wagoner, Aaron 541
Wagoner, George 789
Walker, Richard B 281
Wallace, James W 899
Watt, Robert 522
Watters, Lorenzo Dow 284
Weary, Frank 0 489
Weary, Simon B 487
u
V
w
Pitkin, Rev. Caleb 825
Pitkin. Judge Stephen H.. 176
Pitkin, Stephen H 507
Poulson, James M 276
Prior, William 855
Purdy, Henry 56
Rice, Alvin 299
Ritchie, Samuel J 1053
Robinson, John K 532
Robinson, Wilson G 517
Rockwell, Frank W 141
Sisler, Dr. William 794
Smith, Rev. Carlos, D. D 190
Snyder, Jacob 487
Spalding, Hon. Rufus P 93
Spelman, Harvey B 121
Sperry, George R 1054
Sperry, Hon. Ira P 1052
Spicer, Avery 151
Spicer, Hiram J 316
Spicer, Major Miner 32
Stanford, George 655
Steinbacher, Major Erhard 513
Stewart, Adam Clarke 787
Stipe, Franklin G 144
Stone, Nelson B 261
Stone, Simon M... 292
Storer, James B 322
Storer, Webster B 116
Stow, Joshua 1003
Stuart, Judge Edward W 272
Sumner, Judge Charles 36
Sumner, Increase \ 40
Sumner, Julius A 48
Thompson, Judge Sylvester H 829
Tibbals, Judge Newell D 164
Tinker, Professor Albert B 165
Townsend, Captain Alfred R 1160
Turner, Grant B 739
Upson, Judge William H 172
Viele, Henry C 276
Viele, Hiram 294
Voris, Judge Alvin C 154
Voris, Edwin F 142
Weber, Florence 531
Weber, John C 367
Webster, Charles 465
Weeks, Arthur J 143
Weeks, George W 521
Werner, Paul E 537
Wegener, Joseph E 283
Wetmore, Henry 736
Wheeler, Benjamin F 513
XXX.
CONTENTS.
W
Wilcox, David G., (at 30) 485
Wilcox, David G.. (at 70) 485
Wilcox, Francis A 302
Wilcox, Dr. Jeremiah C 944
Williamson, Judge Samuel C 425
WiUs, Thomas 239
Wilson, Solon N 491
Wilson, Thomas 99
Wolcott, Hon, Alfred 657
Wolcott, Hon. Christopher P 553
Wolcott, Hon. Simon P 665
Wolf, John 181
Woods, John B 510
Wright, Alpha 1013
Wright, Dr. Amos 1044
Wright, Captain Josiah J 363
Wright, Reginald H 134
Wright, Hon. Thomas 986
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
IN PUBLIC OFFICE - NATIONAL, ESTATE AND COUNTY,
1840 TO 1891, INCLUSIVE.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF WAR.
WOLCOTT, Christophek P., of Akron, by appointment of PresidentAbrahairt
Lincoln, in May, 1862, became Assistant Secretary of War, under hi»
brother-in-law, Secretary Edwin M. Stanton, continuing- until broken
in health by the arduous duties of the position, returning- to Akron in
February, 1863, and dying April 4, of that year. Portrait page 553.
UNITED STATES MINISTERS, CONSULS, ETC.
Cakttek, David K., a resident of Akron from 1836 to 1845— Minister to-
Bolivia, South America, 1861 to 1863. Portrait and biographj'. page 552.' 1
COGGESHALL WILLIAM T., a resident of Akron froan 1842 to 1847, editor and
author. State Librarian from 1856 to 1862, Minister to Ecuador, South
America, 1865 to 1867, dying of consumption at Quito, in the Summer of
1867, his remains being conveyed by the government to Columbus for
interment, together with those of his daughter Jessie, who, after suc-
cessfully closing up the affairs of the Mission, died of yellow fever, at
Guyaquil, while en route for home.
Cooper, Samuel F., Superintendent of Akron schools from 1853 to 1856, was
United States Consul at Glasgow, Scotland, from 1876 to 1880, now being-
a resident of Grinnell, Iowa. Portrait and biography, page 126.
STATE AND TERRITORIAL GOVERNORS.
Edgerton, Sidney, Akron, Governor of Montana Territory, 1864-1865. Por-
trait and biography, page 180.
AxTELL, Samuel B., Richfield, appointed Governor of Utah Territory in 1875,.
transferred to New Mexico as Governor, same year, continuing between
three and four years, page 949.
Alger, Russell A., Richfield, Governor of Michigan, during the years 1885-
and 1886. Portrait and biography, page 555.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND TERRITORIAL JUDGES.
Cartter, David K., early resident of Akron, as elsewhere stated, ably served
as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, by
appointment of President Lincoln, from 1863 until his death in 1887. Por-
trait and sketch, page 552.
Edgerton, Sidney, Akron, Chief Justice of the Territory of Idaho, by
appointment of President Lincoln, from 1863 to 1864, resigning to take the
Governorship of Montana, as elsewhere stated. Portrait, page 180.
AxTELL, Samuel B., Richfield, by appointment of President Arthur, Chief
Justice of New Mexico, from 1882 to 1885, page 949.
UNITED STATES SENATE.
Sanders, Wilbur F., formerly of Akron, now of Helena, Montana, was
elected United States Senator for that State in 1890, and is still serving-.
Portrait, page 5.54.
OHIO STATE OFFICIALS.
King, Henry W., Akron, Secretary of State, and Commissioner of Public
Schools, 1850 to 1852. Portrait, page 119.
WoLCOTT, Christopher P., AttorneyGeneral, 1856 to 1861. Portrait page 553,
xxxii. CONTENTS.
Sill, Elisha N., Cuyahoga Falls, served as Canal Fund Commissioner of
Ohio, from 1843 to 1850. Portrait, page 733.
KOHLER, Jacob A., Akron, served as Attorney General from 1886 to 1888.
Portrait, page 267.
OHIO SUPREME AND CIRCUIT COURTS.
Spalding, Rufus P., then a resident of Akron, in the session of 1848, '49.
was elected by the Legislature, a Judge of the Supreme Court, serving
three years. Portrait, page 93.
Upson, William H., Akron, by appointment of Governor Charles Foster,
served as Judge of the Supreme Court, from March to December, 1883, to
fill the vacanc3^ occasioned by the death of Chief Justice William White.
Portrait, page 172.
Upson, William, H,, Akron, in 1884 was elected one of the Judges of the
Eighth Circuit of the newly organized Circuit Court System of Ohio,
drawing the fractional term of two years, in 1886 being re-elected for the
full term of six years, and is still ably serving. Portrait, page 172.
CLEVELAND HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE— TRUSTEES, ETC.
Pitkin, Stephen H., Akron, 1862—1874 and 1876—1878, page 847.
Perry, JoHxNT F.. Cuyahoga Falls. 1878 -1880.
Beebe, William M., Hudson, 1880-1886, page 848.
King, David L., Akron, 1886—1889, page 241.
Hough, Dr. Wayland S., Cuyahoga Falls, July 16, 1890, to date.
Evans, Mrs. Mary, I. T., Matron, 1858—1860, page 242.
OHIO PENITENTIARY, WARDEN, ETC.
Dewey, Laurin, Warden, 1846 to 1849, page 220.
Olines, Mrs. Julia F., Matron, 1882 to 1884.
INSPECTOR OF OHIO WORKSHOPS AND FACTORIES.
TMcDONALD, William Z., Ak^on, appointed bj^ Governor Joseph B. Foraker,
Inspector of First District, September 6, 1885, and promoted to the Chief
Inspectorship for four years from April 29, 1889, page 291.
OHIO BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS.
Paul, George, Cuyahoga Falls, member of Board of Public Works from 1878
to 1884, in special charge of Ohio Canal from Cleveland to Hebron, 185
miles, 25 miles of Walhonding canal and Western Reserve and Maumee
road, 46 miles, page 766.
OHIO CANAL SUPERINTENDENTS.
From 1829 to 1850, Captain Richard Howe, of Akron, was resident engineer
and superintendent of Northern division, with his brother, the late John
Howe, as his efficient Assistant. Later Akron Superintendents have
been L. Charles Schnell, George T. McCurdy, and Alfred W. Hall from
1886 to the present time (1892), page 146.
OHIO CANAL COLLECTORS.
The writer is without definite data in regard to the earlier collectors of tolls
upon the Ohio Canal for the port of Akron, but from the recollection of
himself and other old residents consulted, the following roster is
believed to be substantially correct: Wolsey Wells, Samuel A. Wheeler,
Robert K. Du Bois, Lewis P. Buckley, Frederick Wadsworth, Leander L.
Howard, Allen Hibbard, Frederick A. Nash, Nathaniel W. Goodhue,
George T. McCurdy, Charles Baird, J. Alexander Lantz, Mills B. Purdy,
William W. Zeisloft, and from 1888 to present time (1892), Hiram H. Foltz,
page 138.
MEMBERS OF CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS.
Otis, William S. C, Akron, Constitutional Convention of 1850, serving from
May 6, 1850, to March 10, 1851. Constitution then framed, ratified by voters
of State, June 21, 1851, the vote in Summit county standing 2,025 for, and
and 2,013 against— a majority of twelve, only, in its favor, page 309.
CONTENTS. xxxiii.
VORIS, Alvin C, Akron, Convention of 1873, serving from May 13, 1873, to
February 3, 1874. Constitution then framed, thoug'h in many respects an
improvement upon the former, was rejected bj* the people, August 18,
1874, Summit county standing 2,112 for, and 2,774 against — an adverse
majority of 662. Portrait, page 154.
TRUSTEE OF OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY.
BUCHTEL, John R., Akron, by appointment of Governor Rutherford B. Haj'es
in 1870, became Managing Trustee, and personally superintended the
laying out of the grounds and the erection of the buildings for the Ohio
Agricultural and Mechanical College, at Columbus, which was opened
to students in 1873; name since changed to Ohio State University. Por-
trait, page 150.
REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS, 1840 to 1891.
Andrews, Sherlock J., Cuyahoga count}^ XV District, 1840—1842.
TiLDEN, Daniel R., Portage County, XIX District, 1842—1846.
Crowell, John, Trumbtill County, XIX District, 1846 — 1850.
Newton, Eben, Mahoning County, XIX District, 1850—1852.
Bliss, George, Akron, XVIII District, 1852^1854, page 551.
Leiter, Benjamin F., Stark County, XVIII District, 1854-1858.
Edgerton, Sidney, Akron, XVIII District, 1858—1862, page 1058.
Spalding, Rufus P., Cuyahoga County. XVIII District, 1862 — 1868.
Upson, William H., Akron, XVIII District, 1868-1872, page 1058.
Monroe, James, Lorain County, XVIII District, 1872—1880.
McClure, Addison S., Wayne County, XVIII District, 1880—1882.
Paige, David R., Akron, XVIII District, 1882—1884, page 271.
Mckinley, William, Stark County, XVIII District, 1884—1886.
Grouse, George W., Akron, XX District, 1886-1888, page 810.
Smyser, Martin L., Wayne County, XX District, 1888—1890.
Taylor, Vincent A., Cviyahoga County, XX District, 1890 to date.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS.
Pitkin, Stephen H., 1868, voting in Electoral College for Ulysses S. Grant
for President and Schuj^ler Colfax for Vice President, page 847.
BucHTEL, John R., 1872, voting for Ulysses S. Grant for President and Henry
Wilson for Vice President, page 719.
Goodhue, Nathaniel W., 1880. voting for James A. Garfield for President
and Chester A. Arthur for Vice President, page 171.
Marvin, Ulysses L., 1884, voting for James G. Blaine for President and John
A. Logan for Vice President, page 269.
STATE SENATORS 1840 to 1891, INCLUSIVE.
*< Perkins, Simon, Jr„ Akron 1838 to 1840, page 308.
Sill, Elisha N., Cuyahoga Falls, 1840 to 1842. page 762.
Jackson, John E., Portage County, 1842 to 1844.
Wetmore, William Jr., Stow, 1844 to 1846, page 1017.
Lewis, Asahel H., Portage County, 1846 to 1848, page 220.
Swift, Lucian, Akron, 1848 to 1850, page 308.
Lyman, Darius, Portage County, 1850 to 1851.
Gillette, Ransom A., Portage Countv. 1851 to 1853.
Upson, William H., Akron. 1853 to 1855, page 308.
Brown, Oliver P., Portage County, 1855 to 1857.
Ashmun, George P., Hudson, 1857 to 1859, page 847.
Garfield, James A.. Portage County, 1859 to 1861.
Bierce, Lucius V., Akron, 1861 to 1863, page 308.
Day, Luther, Portage County, 1863 to 1864.
Hart, Alphonso, Portage County, 1864 to 1865.
Tibbals, Newell D., Akron, 1865 to 1867, page 308.
Conant, Philo B., Portage County, 1867 to 1868.
Stedman, William, Portage County,1868 to 1869.
McKinney, Henry, Cuyahoga Falls. 1861 to 1871, page 762.
Hart, Alphonso, Portage County. 1871 to 1873.
Goodhue, Nathaniel W., Akron, 1873 to 1875, page 308.
Kent, Marvin, Portage County, 1875 to 1877, page 629.
xxxiv. CONTENTS.
Beebe, David Duncan, Hudson, 1877 to 1881, pag^e 847.
Wolcott, Simon P., Portag-e County, 1881 to 1885, page 665.
Crouse, Georg-e W., Akron, 1885 to 1887, page 810.
Alexander, J. Park, Akron, 1887 to 1891, page 646.
Lampson, Klbert L., Ashtabula, 1891 to date.
REPRESENTATIVES TO STATE LEGISLATURE, 1840 TO 1891.
Spalding, Rufus P., Ravenna, 1839 to 1840, page 92.
Hubbard, Ephraim B., Deerfield, 1839 to 1840, page 92.
Weaver, Henry G., Springfield, 1840 to 1841. page 1001.
Spalding, Rufus P., Akron, 1841 to 1842, page 307.
Perkins, Simon Jr., Akron, 1841 to 1842, page 307.
Seward, Amos, Tallmadge, 1842 to 1843, page 1057.
McMillen, John H., Middlebury, 1843 to 1844, page 307.
Foote, Augustus E., Twinsburg, 1843 to 1844, page 1078.
Kirkum, George, Akron, 1844 to 1845, page 928.
Bowen, Hiram, Akron, 1845 to 1846, page 307.
Johnston, Alexander, Green, 1846 to 1847, page 809.
Voris, Peter, Bath, 1847 to 1848, page 645.
Seward, Ainos, Tallmadge, 1847 to 1848, page 1057.
McClure, Samuel W., Cuyahoga Falls, 1848 to 1849, page 762.
Spelnian, Harvey B., Akron, 1849 to 1850, page 307.
Finch, Nathaniel, Akron, 1850 to 1851, page 307.
Humphrey, Noah M.. Richfield, 1851 to 1853, pa^e 947.
Somers, Porter G., Cuyahoga Falls, 1853 to 185o, page 762.
Jewett, Mendal, Springfield, 1855 to 1857, page 1001.
Sperry, Ira P., Tallmadge, 1857 to 1859, page 1058.
Thompson, S3dvester H., Hudson, 1859 to 1861, page 847.
Voris, Alvin C, Akron, 1859 to 1861, pag-e646.
Johnston, John, Middlebury, 1861 to 1865 page 307.
Encell. John, Copley, 1865 to 1867, page 703.
Sisler, William, Franklin, 1867 to 1869, page 793.
Wolcott, Alfred, Boston, 1869 to 1871, page 666.
Burnham, Sanford M., Akron, 1871 to 1873, page 307.
Mack, Hiram H., Bath, 1873 to 1875, page 646.
Nichols, Orrin P., Twinsburg, 1875 to 1877, page 1078.
Mack, Hiram H., Bath. 1877 to 1879, page 646.
Hill, John, Norton, 1879, to 1881, page 929.
Ebright, Leonidas S., Akron, 1879 to 1881, page 308.
Alexander, J. Park, Akron, 1881 to 1883, page 646.
KohlerJTacob A., Akron, 1883 to 1885, page 794.
Green, Francis M., Stow, 1885 to 1887, page 1018.
Sanford, Henry C, Akron, 1887 to 1891, page 307.
Wright, Thomas, Springfield, 1889 to 1891, page 1002.
Hale, Charles Oviatt, Bath, 1891 to date, page 647.
COMMON PLEAS JUDGES, UNDER OLD CONSTITUTION,
President Judges.
Humphrey, Van R., Hudson, 1840 to 1844, page 846.
Newton, Eben, Canfield, 1844 to 1846.
Wade, Benjamin F., Jefferson, 1846 to 1851, page 306.
Bliss, George, Akron, 1851 to 1852, page 306.
Associate Judges.
Du Bois, Robert K., Akron, 1840 to 1845, page 305.
Sumner, Charles, Coventry, 1840 to 1845, page 718.
Caldwell, Hugh R., Franklin, 1840 to 1847, page 793.
Clark, John B., Hudson, 1845 to 1846, page 846.
Ford, James R., Akron, 1845 to 1849, page 305.
Thompson, Sylvester H., Hudson, 1846 to 1852, page 847.
Hoy, John, Franklin, 1847 to 1852, page 793.
Wheeler, Samuel A., Akron, 1849 to 1850, page 305.
Voris, Peter, Bath, 1850 to 1852, page 645.
CONTENTS. XXXV.
COMMON PLEAS JUDGES, UNDER PRESENT CONSTITUTION.
Humphreyville, Samuel, Medina, 1851 to 1856, pag'e 306.
Carpenter, James S., Akron, 1856 to 1861, pag-e 306.
Canfield, William H., Medina, 1858 to 1863.
Burke, Stephenson, Elyria, 1861 to 1869, page 306.
Boynton, Washington W., Elyria, 1869 to 1876.
Hale, John C, Elyria, 1876 to 1881.
McClure, Samuel W., Akron, 1870 to 1875, pag-e 306.
Tibbals, Newell D., Akron, 1875 to 1883, page 306.
Lewis, George W. Medina, 1881 to 1891.
Marvin, Ulysses L., Akron, May to October, 1883, page 306.
Green, Edwin P., Akron, 1883 to 1891, page 306.
Voris, Alvin C, Akron, 1891 to date, page 306.
Nye, David J., Elyria, 1891 to date.
COUNTY AUDITORS, 1840 to 1891, INCLUSIVE.
Booth, Birdsey, Cuyahoga Falls, 1840 to 1842, page 762.
Noble, Theron A., Springfield, 1842 to 1848, page 301.
Goodhue, Nathaniel W., Middlebnry, 1847 to 1852, page 301.
Newberrj^ Henry, Jr., Cuyahoga Falls, 1852 to 1854, page 762.
Bernard. Charles B., Akron, 1854 to 1858, page 301.
Crouse. George W., Akron, 1858 to 1863, page 809.
Burnham, Sanford M., Akron, 1863 to 1871, page 301.
Paul, Hosea, Jr., October 9, to November 14, 1871, page 763.
Buckingham, Edward, Akron, 1872 to 1881, page 301.
Wagoner, Aaron, Akron, 1881 to 1887, page 794.
Dick, Charles, W. F., Akron, 1887 to date, page 301.
COUNTY CLERKS, 1840 TO 1891,, INCLUSIVE.
Spalding, Rufus P., Akron, appointed by Court, April to December, 1840,
page 304.
Swift, Lucian, Akron, appointed by Court, 1840 to 1847, page 304.
Peck, Lucius S., Akron appointed b}- Court, 1847 to 1851, page 305.
Stone, Nelson B., Tallmadge, elected, 1851 to 1853', page 1057.
Green, Edwin P., Akron, 1854 to 1861, page 305.
Means. John A., Northfield, 1861 to 1864, page 902.
Rinehart, Charles, Franklin, 1864 to 1870, page 793.
Means, John A., Northfield, 1870 to 1873, page 902.
Weeks, George W., Copley, 1873 to 1879, page 703.
Nash, Sumner, Bath, 1879 to 1885, page 647.
Hale, Othello W., Bath, 1885 to 1891, page 647.
Goodhue, Nathaniel P., Akron, 1891 to date, page 305.
COUNTY TREASURERS, 1840 to 1891, INCLUSIVE.
O'Brien, William, Hudson, April, 1840 to February, 1842, page 847.
Wallace, George Y., Northfield, February, 1842 to November, 1842, page 901.
Arthur, Milton, Northfield, 1842 to 1848, page 902.
Dewey, William H., Akron, 1848 to 1850, page 303.
Wadsworth, Frederick, Akron, 1850 to 1852, page 303.
Rice, Chester W., Cuyahoga Falls, 1852 to 1854, page 762.
Sisler, Houston, Franklin, 1854 to 1858. page 793.
Wilson, Sullivan S., Northampton, 1858 to 1863, page 863.
Crouse, George W., Akron, Februar}'^ to September, 1863, page 810.
Carter, Israel E., Akron, 1863 to 1867, page 303.
Conger, Arthur L., Boston, 1867 to 1871, page 666.
Oviatt, Schuyler R., Richfield, 1871 to 1875, page 948.
Paige, David R., Akron, 1875 to 1879, page 303.
Viele, Henry C, Akron, 1879 to 1883, page 303.
Cole, Arthur M., Boston, 1883 to 1887, page 666.
Seymour, James H., Hudson, 1887 to 1891, page 848.
Oviatt, Emmon S., Akron, 1891 to date, page 948.
PROBATE JUDGES, 1851 TO 1891, INCLUSIVE.
Ladd, Charles G., Akron, October, 1851 to August, 1852, page 306.
Hammond, Roland O., Bath, August, 1852 to October, 1852, page 645.
Bryan, Constant, Akron, 1852 to 1853, page 307.
Humphrey, Noah M., Richfield, 1854 to 1860, page 948.
xxxvi. CONTENTS.
Dodge, William M., Akron, 1860 to July, 1861, page 307.
Lewis, Asahel H., Akron, July to October, 1861, page 307.
Pitkin, Stephen H., Hudson, 1861 to 1869, page 307.
Marvin, Ulysses L., Akron, 1869 to 1875, page 307.
Williamson, Samuel C, Akron, 1875 to 1881, page 307.
Goodhue, Nathaniel W., Akron, 1881 to September, 1883, page 307.
Grant, Charles R., Akron, 1883 to 1891, page 307.
Stuart, Edward W., Akron, 1891 to date, page 307.
COUNTY RECORDERS, 1840 TO 1891, INCLUSIVE.
Johnston, Alexander, Green, 1840 to 1843, page 809.
Fay, Nahum, Akron, 1843 to 1849, page 303.
Jennings, Jared, Coventry, 1849 to 1352, page 718.
Purdy, Henry, Springfield, 1852 to 1858, page 1001.
Bock, Phillip P., Akron, 1858 to 1864, page 303.
Lantz, J. Alexander, Springfield, 1864 to 1870, page 1002.
Thorp, Grenville, Bath, 1870 to February, 1872, page 646.
Viele, Henry C, Akron, February to October, 1872, page 303.
Payne, George H., Akron, 1872 to 1878, page 303.
Bartlett, Albert A., Akron, 1878 to 1884. page 303.
Searles, Henry C, Richfield, 1884 to 1891, page 949.
Clark, Benjamin F., Akron, 1891 to date, page 303.
COUNTY SHERIFFS, 1840 TO 1891, INCLUSIVE.
Wilson, Thomas, Northfield, 1840 to 1844, page 901.
Janes, Lewis M., Boston, 1844 to 1848, page 664.
Clarke, William L., Springfield, 1848 to 1852, page 298.
Seward, Dudlej^, Tallinadge, 1852 to 1856, page 1057.
Lane, Sainuel A., Akron, 1856 to 1861, page 298.
Chisnell, Jacob, Green, 1861 to 1865, page 8^).
Burlison, James, Middlebury, 1865 to 1869, page 298.
Curtiss, Augustus, Portage, 1866 to 1873, page 902.
McMurray, Levi J., Franklin, 1873 to 1877, page 794.
Lane, Samuel A., Akron, 1877 to 1881, page 298.
McKinney, William, Twinsburg. 1881 to 1885, page 1078.
Gamble, William B., Akron, 1885 to 1889, page 298.
Bunn, David R., Akron, 1889 to date, page 298.
PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS, 1840 TO 1891, INCLUSIVE.
Dodge, William M.. Akron, 1840 to 1842, page 298.
Kirkum, George, Norton, 1842 to 1844, page 928.
Otis. William. S. C. Akron, 1844 to 1846, page 298.
McClure. Samuel W., Cuyahoga Falls, 1846 to 1848, page 762.
Upson, William H., Akron, 1848 to 1850, page 1058.
Whedon, Harvej'-, Hudson, 1850 to 1352, page 847.
Edgerton, Sidne5\ Akron, 1852 to 1856, page 1058.
McKinney, Henry, Cuyahoga Falls, 1856 to 1860, page 762.
Tibbals, Newell D., Akron, 1860 to 1864, page 298.
Green, Edwin P., Akron, ad interim 100 days, 1864, page 298.
Oviatt, Edward, Akron. 1864 to 1868. page 948.
Kohler, Jacob A., Akron, 1868 to 1872, page 794.
Sanford, Henry C, Akron, 1872 to 1874, page 298.
Poulson, James M., Akron, 1874 to 1876, page 298.
Stuart, Edward W., Akron, 1876 to 1880, page 298.
Baird, Charles, Akron. 1880 to 1884, page 298.
Means, John C. Tallmadge, 1884 to May, 1886, page 1058.
Voris, Edwin F., Akron, May to October, 1886, page 298.
Sieber, George W., Akron, 1886 to date, page 298.
COUNTY SURVEYORS, 1840 TO 1891, INCLUSIVE.
Ashmun, Russell H., Tallmadge, 1840 to 1843, page 1057.
Voris, Peter, Bath, 1843 to 1846, page 645.
Seward, Frederick. Tallmadge, 1846 to 1849, page 1057.
Newton, Dwight, Akron, 1849 to 1852, page 303.
Oviatt, Schuyler R., Richfield, 1852 to 1855, page 948.
Paul, Hosea, Cuyahoga Falls, 1855 to 1870, page 762.
COXTENl'S. • XX
Paul, Robert S., Akron, 1870 to 1874.pag-e 762.
Seward. John W., Tallmadge. 1874 to 1877, page 1058. •
Paul, Robert S. Akron, 1877 to 1883, pao-e 7(52.
Perkins, Charles E., Akron, 1883 to date, page 303.
COUNTY CORONERS, 1840 TO 1891, INCI.USIVE.
Hinsdale, Elisha, Norton, 184:0 to 1844, page 928.
Mills, Ithiel, Akron, 1844 to 1848, page 304.
HoUoway, Joseph T., Cuyahoga Falls, 1848 to 18."iO page 762.
Nash, Col. John, Middlebury, 1850 to 1853, page 304.
Gross, Oliver E., Stow, 1853 to 1855, page 1017.^
Clarke, William E., Akron, 1855 to 18.57, page 304.
Ingersoll, Noah. Coventrj^, 18.57 to 1861, page 719.
Holloway, Joseph I'., Cuyahoga Falls, 1861 to 1863, page 762.
Soniers, Porter G.. Cuyahoga Falls, 18(53 to 1868, page 762.
Gross, Oliver E., Stow, 18(58 to 1872, page 1017.
Brown, Almon, Akron, 1872 to 1882, page 304.
Brashear, B. B., Akron, 1882 to 1886. page 304.
Sargent, Albert H., Akron, 1886 to 1890. page 304.
Brewster, George W., Coventry, 1890 to date, page 720.
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, 1840 TO 1891, IxNCLUSIVE.
Foote, Axigustus E., Twinsburg, 1840 to 1843, page 1078.
Starr, Jonathan, Copley, 1840 to 1844, page 703.
Hoy. John, Franklin, 1840 to 1845. page 793.
Thompson, Mills. Hudson. 1843 to 1849, page 847,
Weld. James W., Richfield. 1844 to 1853, page 947.
Weaver, Henry G., Springfield, 1845 to 1851, page 1001.,
W^etmore, FMwin, Stow. 1849 to 1858. page 1017.
Weston, Hiram, Middlebury, 1851 to 18.t4, page 298.
Metlin, James A., Norton, 18.53 to 18.56, page 929.
Bliss. Ambrose W., Northfield, 18.54 to 18(50, page 902.
Gilcrest, John S.. Springfield, 18.56 to 1862. page 1001.
McFarlin, John, Bath. 1858 to 1861, page 646.
Upson, Nelson. Twinsburg, 1860 to March, 1866, page 1078.
Buel, George, Akron, 1861 to yiay, 1864. page 298.
Hill, David E., Middlebury, 1862 to 1868, page 298.
Bates, George D., Akron, May to December, 1864, page 298.
Conger, Sidney P., Boston, ^lay to December, 18(56, page (5(56.
McFarlin, John, Bath, 1864 to 1867, page 64(5.
Johnston, John C, Northampton, 1866 to 1872, page 8(53.
Sackett, George, Cuyahoga Falls, 1867 to 1870, page 7(53,
Oviatt, Orson M., Richfield, 1868 to 1874, page 948.
Hill, John, Norton, 1870 to 1879, page 92i).
Crotise. George W., Akron, 1872 to 187.5, page 809.
L'Hommedieu, Giles. Cuyahoga Falls, 1874 to 1877, page 763.
Sisler, William, Franklin, 1875 to 1881, page 793.
Call, Moses D., Stow, 1877 to 1883, page 1018.
Hart, Hiram, Richfield, 1879 to 1885, page 948.
Miller, David C, Franklin, 1881 to November, 1886, page 794,
Ellet, King J., Springfield, 1883 to 1889. page 1002,
Hill, John C, Coventry, November, 1886 to December, 1887, page 720.
Hine, Charles C, Hudson, 1885 to 1891. page 848.
Johnston, Washington G., Green, 1890 to date, page 810.
Frederick. Henry, Portage, 1889 to date, page 298.
Nesbit, James, Northfield, 1891 to date.
COUNTY INFIRMARY DIRECTORS, 1849 TO 1891. INCLUSIVE.
Kent, Roswell, Middlebury, 1849 to 18)1, page 303.
Spicer, Avery, Coventry, 1849 to 1853, page /18.
Bierce, Lucius V., Akron, July to October. 1849. page 303.
Ackley, Gibbons J., Akron, 1849 to 1851, page 303.
Wesener. Joseph E., Akron. August to December, 1851, page 303.
Hawkins. Ira, Portage, 1851 to 1857, page 304.
Bates, George D., Akron, 1851 to 1855, page 304.
Sherbondj% George, Portage, 18.53 to 18.56, page 304.
Hanscom, Charles, C, Akron, 1855 to 1858, page 3Q^,
xxxviii. CONTENTS.
Scott, David A.. Akron, 1856 to 18.19, page 304.
Spicer, Avery, Coventry, IS-oT to 1866, pag-e 718.
Johnston, William, Copley, 1858 to 1861, page 703.
Walker, Richard B., Akron, 1859 to 1868, page 304.
Townsend, Alfred R., Akron, 1861 to 1867, page 301.
Brewster, Jonathan H., Coventr}-. 1866 to 1875, page 719.
Cunningham, William M., Akron. 1869 to 1873, page 304.
Husong", Francis T., Copley, 1868 to 1871, page 703.
Storer, Webster B., Portage, 1871 to 1874, page 304.
Townsend, Alfred R., Akron, 1873 to 1876, page 304.
Herrold, Levi S., Akron, 1874 to 1877, page 304.
Kolb, Clement J., Akron, 1875 to 1881. page 304.
Frederick. Henry, Portage, 1876 to 1882, page 304.
Townsend, Alfred R., Akron, 1877 to 1879, page 304.
Southmayd, William, Stow, 1879 to 1883, page 1018.
Beebe, Joseph A., Akron, 1881 to 1887, page 304.
Johnston, John M., Copley. 1882 to 1888, page 703.
Miller, Stephen D., Norton, 1883 to 1889, page 929.
Moore, Joseph, Akron, 1887 to date, page 1002.
Smith, F:ii, Portage, 1888 to date, page 304.
Koplin, Jacob, Akron, 1889 to date, page 304.
SUPERINTENDENTS OF INFIRMARY, 1849 TO 1891, INCLUSIVE.
Sichley, Abraham, 1849 to 1855, page 304.
Chandler. William, 18.55 to 1861, page 304.
Husong, Francis T., 1861 to 1868, page 703.
Glines, George W., 1868 to 1878, page .304.
Feichter, George, 1878 to 1879, page 304.
Glines, Julia F., 1879 to 1882, page 304.
Hamlin, Millard F., 1882 to 1387, page 304.
Stotler, Sherman B., 1887 to date, page 304.
FURTHER ADDENDA; ERRATA, ETC.
On page 1058, in notice of Hon. Williatti H. Upson's election to Circuit Court Judgeship,
read elected in 188i, drawing fractional term of two years, and re-elected in ISSfi for full term
of six years.
On page 532, in biographical sketch of Mr. John K. Kobinson, read married to Miss
Henrietta Eleanor Barber, Januarj- 1, 1868, instead of January 15, 1869, as printed in part of
edition.
On page 526, to biographical sketch of Isaac J. Dyas, add: died suddenly of pneumonia,
January 3, 1892, aged 42 years and 12' da5's.
On page 913, to biographical sketch of IJr. Secretary Rawson, add: died in Des Moines,
Iowa, December 29, 1891, aged 95 years, 2 months and 11 days.
On page 609, to official roster of Boston Township and Peninsula Village, add the death
of Treasurer Henry Kerst, January 7, 1892, aged 51 years.
On page 463, to biography of Mr. Lorenzo Hall, add: died January 9, 1892, aged 79 years, 10
months and 17 days.
On page 762, read that Dr. Chester W. Rice was elected Treasurer of Summit county, in
1852 instead of 1872, as there printed.
On page 736, to biography of Mr. Henry Wetmore, add: died January 10, 1892, aged !K) years
and 11 months.
On page 130, to biographical sketch of Judge William M. Dodge, add the death of Mrs.
Dodge, January II, 1892, aged 8;^ 3-ears, 5 months and 13 dajs.
Add to Contents:
Official Roster of Summit County, 1840 to 1891, Index pages xxxi to xxxviii.
Schumacher Power Block, Index page xxxix.
Government Public Building, Index page xl.
Akron City Hospital, Index page xl.
THE SCHUMACHER POWER BLOCK.
XXXIX.
Since the completion of the main portion of this book, Messrs.
Weary & Kramer, architects, have perfected the drawings of the
new power block which Mr. Ferd Schumacher is about to erect
on West Market street, the foundations for which are now being
laid upon the site of the well-remembered Old City Mill, as shown
in the upper engraving on page 453. As this will be the largest,
handsomest and most costly structure yet erected in Akron, it is
fitting that an engraving of it, with proper measurements, should
be given the prominent place in this volume here accorded to it.
ir^
-.^
Schumacher Power Block, Corner of West Market and Canal Streets, Erected in 1892.
This superb structure w^ill be built in the modernized
Romanesque style of architecture, and present a facade of 165 feet
on West Market street, and 135 feet on Canal street. The building
will be seven stories in height — tw^o full stories, equaling thirty-
four feet, below the level of West Market street and five stories
above, the total height of the walls being about 114 feet. The walls
of the first tw^o stories w^ill be of brow^n stone or granite, and the
upper stories of pressed brick, the floors and roof being carried by
a system of protected steel construction, supported from massive
stone foundations. The building will be so constructed that it can
be adapted to any desired business, and the machinery of such
mechanical and manufacturing operations as may be therein
located will be driven by the waters of the Cascade mill race, with
its forty-five foot fall secured by means of the tunnel constructed
through the solid rock, by Mr. Schumacher, between the point
named and the Cascade Mill, a year or two ago.
The entire plant will cost not far from $200,000, and will not
only be a very decided credit to our already wonderfully pros-
perous city, but the crowning glory of the very many magnificent
business structures hitherto erected by Akron's truly munificent
benefactor, Mr. Ferd Schumacher.
xl. AKRONS GOVERNMENT BUILDING.
In closing the chapter on Akron's postal history, pages 315 to
329, it was stated that a government building was "almost in
sight," Congress having voted an appropriation of $75,000 for that
purpose, though owing to the clashing of local interests, and per-
sonal predilections, the site had not then been agreed upon. Since
that time, however, in the spirit of mutual concession and good
feeling that should ever animate our people, the differences in
question have been harmonized, and the old Bartges property,
now known as the Union Club House, on the southeast corner of
Market and High streets, has been agreed upon. It is a convenient
and sightly location, and it is expected that Avithin the coming
year an imposing and elegant government building will cover the
ground for nearly sixty years occupied by the then and still hand-
some frame cottage, built in 1834 by Akron's pioneer merchant
and manufacturer, Charles \V. Howard, after Avhom our hitherto
principal business street viras very properly named.
AKRON CITY HOSPITAL.
On page 1093, in the chapter devoted to Summit county's
benevolence, is an account of the bequest of the late Boniface
De Roo, of the Sixth Ward, who died November 3, 1883, towards
the founding of a city hospital in Akron, which bequest, judici-
ously invested by duly constituted trustees, now amounts to some-
thing over $10,000, Mr. De Roo expressing the desire, in his will, that
the hospital, when established, should bear the name of the largest
contributor towards its establishment and maintenance. Though
the need of such an institution has for several years been sorely
felt and often discussed by our people, nothing tangible has hith-
erto been developed in the premises. Now, however, among the
very last w^ritten words for this book, w^e are pleased to note that
this long felt want is about to be munificently filled. To the
accomplishment of the project, Messrs. Ohio C. Barber and Thomas
\Y. Cornell have made voluntary donations of $10,000 each, and
negotiations have nearly been completed for the purchase of the
Bartges homestead, 943 East Market street, for the sum of $30,000,
to be used for that purpose. The property consists of five acres of
land and a large and handsome brick house and suitable out build-
ings, and can be made immediately available for the needs and
purposes of such an institution. In addition to the generous
donations mentioned, Mr. Barber is endeavoring to secure, by pop-
ular subscription from our well-to-do citizens, an endowment fuild
of $100,000, for the future maintenance of the institution, nearly
one half of which is already in sight, though an analysis of the list
of donations, when completed, will alone determine the question in
regard to the name which shall be given to this, the crowning
glory of the charitable impulses of our people.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
SAMUEL ALANSON LANE.
foui
irth son of Comfort and
Betsey (Sikes) Lane, was born in
Suffield, Hartford County, Conn.,
June 29, 1815. The father, a car-
riage maker by trade— ^an exten-
sive manufacturer of the old-time
thorough-brace stage coach — ow-
ing to a natural aptness in that
direction, had designed the boy,
Alanson, for a carriage and orna-
mental painter, and hence, during
his childhood, he was permitted
to dabble in colors to his heart's
content, his own face, hands and
clothing often presenting a more
variegated and picturesque ap-
pearance than the majority of
the lavishly bepraised subjects of
his juvenile pencil.
The father dying, when the lad was but thirteen years of age,
and the business being discontinued, that plan had to be aban-
doned, and the next two and a half j^ears were devoted to school
and such agricultural labor, at home and among neighboring
farmers, as such a boy was capable of performing — an arrange-
ment to enter the painting department of a large chair manufac-
tory in an adjoining town, as an apprentice, having been foiled by
the destruction of the establishment by fire.
In addition to his repute, as a carriage maker, "Judge" Lane,
as he was called by his neighbors, was quite an inventor, not only
in the way of mechanical devices in the furtherance of his own
business, but shortly before his death he constructed and patented
the "Suffield Cotton Gin" — a machine which it was confidently
believed would supersede the celebrated Whitney Cotton Gin — the
parchment letters patent, dated March 24, 1825, (now in* possession
1
SAMUEL A. LA^E.
Z AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
of the writer) l^earing the autograph signatures of John Quincy
Adams, President; Henry Clay, Secretary of State; and William
Wirt, Attorney General; a single clerk in the office of the Secre-
tary of State then performing the entire clerical work of the Patent
Department, while an average of 500 emploj^es in that branch of
the government are now scarcely adequate to its necessities.
Death intervening, however, before its practical introduction, the
device was of no pecuniary benefit to the heirs of the inventor.
MERCHANT'S CLERK, BOOK-AGENT, ETC.
May 1, 1831, then not quite 16 years of age, young Lane engaged
as clerk in the store of Mr. Billings Brown, father of the present
United States Judge, Henry Billi^igs Brown, in the paper manu-
facturing village of South Lee, Berkshire Co., Mass., Avith whom
he served a year and a half, when he entered the larger establish-
ment of Mr. Austin Hayden, at Pittsfield, in the same county,
with whom he remained six months. Keturning home for a visit,
in the Spring of 1833, an arrangement was made with a Hartford
publishing house for the *canvass of Merrimac County, New
Hampshire, for the sale of the then popular History of the United
States, by Chauncey A, Goodrich, which service Avas so satisfac-
torily performed that, in the Fall of the same year, he was assigned
to similar duty in the States of South Carolina and Georgia, with
headquarters at Augusta; the journey from New York to Charles-
ton being made in the sailing vessel, "John C. Calhoun," there
then being no ocean steamers, (not even coastwise); the journey
from Charleston to Augusta being over the then just completed
Charleston and Augusta Railroad, at that tiine the longest railroad
in the World — 130 miles.
A CONTEMPORARY OF "BOB" TOOMBS.
While awaiting the arrival of books, in the late Summer and
early Autumn of 1834, during a very heated political campaign, a
I^osition, as m-ailing clerk and assistant editor, was accepted in the
office of the "Southern Spy," at Washington, Wilkes County, Geor-
gia, then, and until his death, the home of the afterwards notorious
secession agitator and rebel general, Robert Toombs — the "Spy"
being a strong Jackson, or Union, paper, with the talented j^oung
lawyer, Toombs, as one of its most vigorous writers against John
C. Calhoun's nullification heresies, so prevalent in South Carolina
and Georgia about those days. While thus employed, in addition
to his mailing and editorial duties, the writer obtained something of
an insight into the "Art Preservative of All Arts" — printing —
which was to be such a potent factor in the shaping (or unshaping)
of his futurfe life.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 3
A NIGHT IN AN INDIAN WIGWAM.
On concluding his book-canvassing labors, in the late Fall of
1834, the writer, then nineteen years of age, concluded to resume
mercantile life, and permanently settle in the South. Not succeed-
ing in finding a clerkship in Augusta, and the several other cities
and villages visited in Georgia and South Carolina, in company
with a young northern printer, a few years his senior, he started,
in his double-rig Yankee peddling w^agon, overland, for Mobile,
Alabama, having to pass through the territory of the Creek Indians,
then in rather an unamiable mood, by reason of the agitation of the
question of removing them beyond the Mississippi. It was about
sixty miles through the territory, with one intervening white set-
tlement and trading post abovit midway, at the ferry across the
Wetumpka river. The road through the w^ilderness was blind and
difficult, the Indian trails, from time to time diverging therefrom,
being more distinct than the road itself. Darkness setting in,
before reaching the ferry, we at length found ourselves wedged in
-among the trees, and on reconnoissance, in the darkness, for we had
no means of striking a light (friction matches not being then in
general use, as now), discovered that we had branched off on to
a trail, but w^ere w^hoUy unable to discern the point of diver-
gence.
In this dilemma, our only resource, except to remain all night
Avliere w^e were, was to unhitch our horses and follow the trail
whithersoever it might lead. A quarter of a mile, or so, brought us
to a log hut in w^hich were two squaw^s — evidently mother and
daughter. Endeavoring, by words and signs, to make them under-
stand that we wnnted to find our way to the ferry across the
Wetumpka river, the elder squaAV lighted a pine-knot torch, and
motioning to us to follow, started diagonally to the left from the
trail we were on, through the woods, ten minutes' w^alk bringing
us to the l)ank of the river, running rapidly and darkly through
the murky forest.
We were now, of course, no better off than before, and could
only follow our guide back to her hut, where w^e found a gayly
dressed yt)uiig Indian buck, to whom ^ve also endeavored to
explain the situation, in doing so, in addition to signs, saying in
English that we had got lost, wanted some supper and to stay all
night. Borrowing a torch, he started in an opposite direction, w^e
and our horses following. Our guide was in a very merry mood,
indeed, gayly singing as he w^ent, his music being interspersed \»^ith
loud peals of laughter, frequent repetition of our phrases, "got loss!
got loss! suppaw! suppaw! 'tay all night! 'tay all night! "etc., with an
occasional blood-curdling and hair-lifting Indian 3'ell, or whoop,
that made the surrounding woods — the darkness being intensified
by the flaming torch he was carrying — all ring again!
4 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
RIGHT ROYALLY ENTERTAINED.
Ten or fifteen minutes brought us to a somewhat more preten-
tious cabin, from which, warned by the noisy antics of our guide,
there came forth to meet us a fine looking Indian, somewhat past
middle life, his w^ife, another buck about 25 years of age and his
w^ife, the latter bearing in her arms a six or eight months' old
pappoose — our guide also being a member of the family.
After a short palaver \vith the head of the family, active meas-
ures for our "entertainment" >vere inaugurated, the men helping
us to unharness and properly secure and feed our horses, the feed
consisting of corn in the ear, and corn-fodder cured in the same
manner as among the planters of the South, generally, in those
days. Our "suppaw" consisted of bread made from pounded
corn, and baked before the fire, s^veet potatoes roasted in the ashes,
some bear's meat fried in a small iron kettle, and some sort of home-
made but quite palatable coffee, the rude table being set with reg-
ular dishes — plates, cups and saucers, knives, forks, spoons, etc.
Later in the evening, and just before retiring to rest, the family
supper was partaken of. A large tub of mush and milk was placed
in the middle of the bare earth floor, the members of the family
squattingthemselves in a circle around it. It was provided with
one large wooden spoon, or ladle. The elder Indian, picking up the
spoon, takes a mouthful and returns the spoon to the tub. The
elder squaw next takes a mouthful, and so on around, according to
age, a running merry conversation being kept up during the repast,
of which the "strangers within their gates" were apparently the
principal subjects.
Across one end of the cabin was a platform, about two feet from
the floor and six feet in depth, devoted to sleeping purposes.
Spreading a blanket on one end, and rolling up some of their sur-
plus clothing for pillow^s, they motioned us to take our places
thereon, my chum taking to the wall and myself turning in next to
him, w^ith a blanket for covering. The elder Indian then planted
himself next to me, the old squaw next, and the younger squaw
with her pappoose next, the two younger bucks stretching them-
selves out upon the floor.
. Our slumbers were reasonably tranquil, being occasionally
interrupted by the distant hoAvl of the festive wolf, and once or
tw^ice disturbed by the rushing forth of our hosts to drive away their
own horses running loose in the woods, while trying to pick a quarrel
with our animals in the snug pole-pen in which they had l)een
corralled,
AGAIN UPON OUR WINDING WAY.
Rising with the earliest dawn, harnessing our horses, paying
our hosts liberally in silver coin for our entertainment, and bidding
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. O
them all good-])y, we started in the direction of our wagon. The
three bucks, however, fell into our wake and helped to get our
wagon up into the main road, only a few rods distant, it appearing
that the trail ran for a considerable distance nearly parallel at the
foot of the ridge along which the w^agon road passed. The con-
tents of our wagon were found to be intact, and producing from
one of the trunks some slight presents of cheap jewelry, pictures,
etc., for each of the three bucks, the two squaws and the pappoose,
we again bid our tawny friends good-by and started for the ferry.
The people at the ferry were very greatly astonished at our
<iarly call to be ferried over the river, it being deemed very unsafe
for pale-face strangers to travel through the territory, especially at
night, a number of murders having been committed during the
previous Summer. From our account of our night's adventure, it
was thought that we had staid at the house of one of their
"kings," who, as well as the other members of the household,^
<:ould both understand and speak English, but that their natural
•cunning led them to affect ignorance with strangers, in order, as
in our case, to learn what might be said about them; but that even
had our criticisms been offensive to them, having sought their
hospitality, they would have permited no harm to come to us or
our belongings within the limits of their jurisdiction.
TWENTY APPLICANTS TO ONE VACANCY.
Disposing of my horses, wagon and other property at Mobile,
I renew^ed my efforts to obtain a clerkship, but without success, as
Avas also the case at Ncav Orleans, w^hither I went a couple of
weeks later, there being scores of young men from the North
watching for any vacancy that might possiblj^ occur.
I then " floated" up the river to Louisville and Cincinnati, where
everj^thing in that line was also found to be more than full. In
the latter city 1 made an arrangement w^ith a publishing house to
canvass for a book in the northeastern portion of the State, but on
going to the office the next morning, to procure my outfit, found
the entire establishment in ashes.
Thus, for the second time, had my plans been frustrated by
tire. I now determined to visit " New Connecticut," as the Western
Reserve was then called, Avhere, at Aurora, Porta.ge County, an old
family friend, 'Squire Artemas W. Stocking, a former employe of
my father, w^as located, an unmarried aunt of mine being also a
member of the 'Squire's family.
NARROW ESCAPE FROM ARREST.
My journey from Cincinnati to Cleveland was by stage, via
Columbus, Mount Vernon, Wooster, etc. Leaving Cleveland by
6 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
stage, before daylight, on the morning of Wednesday, March 4,
"dragging our slow length along," through the unfathomable clay
mud of the " turnpike," between Newburg and Twinsburg, we
arrived at the " stage house," in the latter village, between 9 and 10
o'clock in the forenoon. Taking breakfast with the rest of the
passengers, while they resumed their journey I sought to secure a
chance ride for myself and baggage, to Aurora, live miles to the
eastw^ard. No such chance presenting itself, I remained to dinner
and finally, leaving my two hand trunks at the hotel, I started for
Aurora on foot.
During my stay at the hotel, at which, l^esides the landlord
and his help, a number of village idlers dropped in during the
afternoon, I had probably, like many another " traveled" young man
not yet out of his teens, put on a good many airs, and perhaps in
settling my bill made a somewhat reckless display of the rather
showy, but exceedingly meager amount of Avealth of Avhich I was
then possessed.
My Aurora friends, w^hom I had not seen for five years, made
me very w^elcome, and the next day the 'Squire loaned me his
horse and wagon to go for my baggage, the 'Squire's younger
brother, " Sam" (about my own age) accompanying me. Through
the 'Squire and Sam I was pretty well acquainted with most of the
villagers by the end of the week, some of whom were from the
same town in Connecticut.
On Sunday morning, about 10 o'clock, while the rest of the
family were reading or resting in their rooms, I slipped out to the
'Squire's carriage shop to sharpen my knife. The grindstone wa&
under the staging in front of the shop, and while turning the
crank wath my right hand, and holding on with the left, I observed
three men approaching from the direction of the hotel, w^hile quite
a crowd stood in front of the hotel, apparently watching for some-
thing extraordinary to " turn up."
As the trio approached, I discovered one of them to be a young
man with whom I had been quite familiar at the Twinsburg hotel.
I greeted them pleasantly, and, in answer to the leader's inquir}-
for 'Squire Stocking, directed him to the house, the back way,
through the shop. Entering the shop, I sat down on a sa\vr-horse
at one of the benches and began honing my knife, holding
the whetstone in my left hand, the two remaining men follo\ving
me in, apparently much interested in the work I w^as performing.
Presently the other stranger, with the 'Squire and Sam, put in
appearance, the faces of the two latter bearing a distressed expres-
sion that I could not at the moment account for. After an embar-
rassing silence of a few seconds, the leader directed his attention
to me, by saying: "Your name is Lane, is it?" "Yes, sir," I replied.
"Well, Mr. Lane, I desire to ask you a few^ questions," said he. "All
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 7
right, go ahead," said I, •' Mr. Lane, where did you come from to
Aurora? " " From Twinsburg," I replied. " Where from to T>vins-
burg?" "Cleveland." " Where from to Cleveland?" "Wooster."
"Where from to Wooster?" "Mount Vernon." "Where from to
Mount Vernon?" "Columbus." "Where from to Columbus?"
"Cincinnati." "Where from to Cincinnati?" "Louisville." "Where
from to Louisville?" "New Orleans." "Mr. Lane, were you ever
in Detroit?" "No, sir; but I should very much like to go there,"
said I, jestingly. "Well, sir," said he, sternly, "you may soon have
your wish." He then asked: "Mr. Lane, did you ever go by the
name of Charles Lewis ?" " No, sir!" " Or by the name of George
Davis?" "No, sir!"
During this colloquy I had continued sharpening ni}- knife,
and at this stage my interrogator said: "Mr. Lane Avill you oblige
me by straightening out the fingers of your left hand?" " Suppose
I can't do it, what then?" I smilingly enquired. "It will be all the
better for^ow, if you can/' he rather savagely replied. After a few
seconds' aggravating delay, I suddenly extended my open hand to-
Avards him for inspection. "You are not the man I'm after," he
stammeringly responded and then it w^as my turn to ask
questions.
His explanation was this: That he was a Deputy Sheriff from
Detroit; that a j^oung man named Charles Lewis, but u'ho some-
times called himself George Davis, about 25 years old, and answer-
ing to my general description, but with the fingers upon his left
hand seriously crippled, had committed several forgeries in Detroit,
and was also believed to be connected w^ith an extensive gang
of counterfeiters. The officer (who had never seen him) had traced
him to Cleveland, and from thence on board the Pittsburg stage,
on Thursday morning (it w^ill be remembered that I came to Twins-
burg on Wednesday morning); that on reaching Twinsburg, on the
Saturday morning stage, he, the officer, was assured by landlord
Grant and his bar-keeper, that the party he was after had stopped
off there and had gone to Aurora to visit one of the most respecta-
ble men of that toA^nship, 'Squire Stocking, their statement being
verified by the dining room girl, who had particularly ol)served
that in handling my fork and food, I didn't straighten out the fin-
gers of my left hand; while the clerk was sure I had quite a quan-
tity of counterfeit inoney w^ith me.
Thus assured, he had remained at Twinsburg over night, as
the man he was in pursuit of was a desperate character, always
w^ent armed to the teeth, and a dangerous customer to encounter
in the dark. On Sunday morning, calling to his assistance a
Twinsburg constable, and taking along a j^oung man w^ho had seen
me at the hotel, to point me out, the Detroiter and his posse had
dulv arrived at the Aurora hotel as stated.
8 AKRON AND SUMMIT COTNTY.
Making known his mission to landlord Woodruff, and others at
the hotel, he was assured that there must be some mistake about
the matter, but he knew better; he was after the right man, and
though he expected to meet ^rith a desperate resistance (exhibiting
a number of weapons) he intended to secure him either dead or
alive, even if he had to take him out of church, to which it was
suggested that I might have accompanied the family.
At this juncture the spy of the party had observed me passing
from the house to the shop, and entering upon the knife sharpening
operation alluded to, and they had approached as stated. On
making known his errand to the 'Squire, he also assured the officer
that there certainly must be some mistake about it, as his young
friend was the son of his old boss, Judge Lane, of Suffield, Conn.,
and although he had not know^n much about him for live or six
years, it could not be possible he was the desperado intimated.
The officer, how^ever, was positive, and called upon the 'Squire as
a magistrate, not\srithstanding his friendship for the family, to aid
him in bringing the offender to justice. The rest has already been
told.
By the time the denouement had been reached, a number of the
villagers had ventured into the shop. To say that the 'Squire and
Sam were indignant, and the by-standers excited, w^ould be a mild
statement. Sam Ayas for booting the Detroiter and his Twinsburg
aids out of the shop, and several other young men manifested an
ardent desire to help him do it; but the 'Squire and myself inter-
ceded and they were permitted to depart in peace. Whether the
real Charles Lewis, alias George Davis, was ever apprehended,
this deponent knoweth not; but one thing is certain, the w^riter, for
over half a century, has retained a very vivid recollection of his
first visit to Tw^insburg, though his intercourse with many of her
good people during the intervening 56 years has been both inti-
mate and pleasant.
ARTISTICAL, THEATRICAL, ETC.
Remaining Avith my friends nearly two months, about the first
of May, 1835, I again started out to "seek my fortune." At this
time the art of making sun pictures had not been discovered, and
aside from painted portraits and miniatures, about the only mode
of securing a semblance of the "human face divine," was 1)3^ the
silhouette process — drawing, with tracing rod and universal joint,
a sideview outline of the features on white paper, deftl}^ cutting
out the same and placing a piece of black silk back of the opening,
the whole being mounted with frame and glass.
On this crude device I essayed an improvement, in that,
instead of cutting out the center and producing a simple black
profile, I finished it up with pencil, india ink and water colors.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 9
tracing in the hair, eyebrows, eye, nostril, lips, ear, chin, Avrinkles,
drapery, etc., my apparatus being adjustable from miniature up to
quarter size. After some gratuitous experiments in Aurora, my
first objective "business" point was Kavenna and the contiguous
tow^nships of Shalersville and Streetsboro. Though infinitely
superior to the plain black profile, ow^ing to the enhanced cost of
their production, and the general scarcity of money in the country,
the business did not prove to be remarkably remunerative, besides
footing it from house to house with my pretty heavy outfit, w^as
found to be decidedly hard work.
At this time an amateur dramatic company — The Thespian
Society — was being organized by the young people of Ravenna,
and I was invited to assist in painting the scenery, also taking
prominent parts in both the tragedy of " Barbarossa" and the
comedy of "Fortune's Frolic," during "Court Week" of the June
term, 1835.
HOTEL CLERK, BAR-TENDER, ETC.
My Aurora friends advised me, whatever I did, by all means to
steer clear of Akron. But during my brief stay in Ravenna I met
a number of Akron gentlemen, lawyers and others, at the hotel
w^here I boarded, and after closing my theatrical "engagement," I
concluded to run over and take a look at it. Accordingly, on
Wednesday, June 10, 1835 — by stage, via Franklin Mills, (Kent)
Stow Corners, Cuyahoga Falls, Old Forge and Middlebury — I
Avended my way thither, sleeping the first night in the southAvest
corner, second story, of the frame building now standing on the
northeast corner of South Main and Exchange streets, then kept
by Mr. Lewis Humiston, and designated as the "Stage House,"
and later as the "Railroad House," and kept by Mr. Charles
P. McDonald, father of the veteran livery man, Mr. Venning
McDonald.
The next day, visiting North Akron, or "Cascade," as it was
then called, I made an arrangement with Mr. Charles B. Cobb,
proprietor of the "Pavilion House," northwest corner of Howard
and Market streets, to keep his books, tend bar, wait upon guests
and make myself generally useful for my board, until some other
suitable employment could be found. Clerkships were as scarce
then in Akron as in the other Western and Southern towns which
I had visited, and by this time I was beginning to think that
"counter-jumping" wasn't very good business, anyhow. (The
grapes were getting very sour, you see.)
ANOTHER NARROW ESCAPE.
At this juncture, the late Gen. Lucius V. Bierce, then the
Prosecuting Attorney for Portage County, being about to establish
10 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
an office in Akron, made me a proposition to enter his office as a
law student, offering to furnish me with gratuitous instruction,
and to help me through with my board during my studies. I
interposed the objection that my education was inadequate, having
no knowledge whatever of Latin or the other dead languages. But
the General held that all that >vas needed to make a successful
laAvyer was a fair common school education, a reasonable famil-
iarity with Shakespeare and the Bible, and ordinary common -
sense. Distrusting my own inquisitorial and forensic abilities,
however, I respectfully declined the General's kind proposition, and
the legal world will probably never realize the full magnitude of
its loss, by reason of such declination, though the "generality of
mankind in general" may >vell congratulate itself upon its narrow^
escape from so calamitous an infliction.
HOUSE AND SIGN PAINTER, SCHOOL-TEACHER, ETC.
About two months later, as half apprentice and half journey-
man, I entered the service of a house and sign painter, my first job
being a piece of ornamental work that the boss himself was
incapable of performing. With the slowing up of work in the late
Fall, I again returned to the" Pavilion," but a few days later engaged
to teach the school in district number seven. Portage township,
(opposite the northeast corner of the present Infirmary farm), as
detailed in another part of this volume.
EMBARKS IN BUSINESS FOR HIMSELF.
After the close of my school, in the Spring of 1836, I opened
shop as a full-fledged "House, Sign and Ornamental Painter," and
though not making "rich" come very fast, I may, with all due
modesty, claim that I was fully as expert on general work as any
of my "regularly bred" contemporaries, w^hile on sign-writing and
ornamental >vork I was ahead of all competitors, >vith considerable
skill as a wood and copper-plate engraver, stencil-plate and brand-
pattern maker for marking flour barrels, etc.
PUBLISHER OF THE "AKRON BUZZARD."
As detailed in Chapter XI of this work, under the editorial noiii
de plume of "Jedediah Brownbread, Esq.," while still carrying on
my painting business, on the 7th day of September, 1837, I started
a small semi-monthly paper under the above title, utilizing my
knowledge of the printing business acquired in the office of the
" Southern Spy," by setting up and striking off the first number
with my own hands, with the type and press of Judge Bryan's
suspended Akron Journal, elsewhere alluded to, afterwards hiring
it printed in the office of the American Balance.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 11
The object of the paper was to combat and expose the black-
legism, and other crookedness and wrong doing then so prevalent
in Akron and neighboring villages along the line of the canal.
The editorials w^ere constructed on the Yankee dialect plan, these
excerpts from its salutatory being an example: " You see, I cum from
Varmount about tew^ munths ago. Uncle Jed w^as monstrous glad
tu see me, now I tell you. Says he, ' Jedediah,'(you see I was named
arter Uncle Jed, and he thinks a monstrous site of me), 'I'm mity
glad you've cum and I've biii 'spectin you this tew or three years,
for I ne^v that a chap o.f your genus and enterprise wood'nt be
contented tu stay in Varmount all your lifetime, an' then die poor,
when you cood make a fortin here in six munths.' * * * You see, I
was raised to the occupashun of teechin the young idee how to
shute, but seein as ho^v as that's ruther poor bizness in this secshun,
I've concluded to try my hand at editerin awhile. Uncle Jed says
that a real-joUy-nothin-tu-du-with-polyticks-anti-blackleg-respect-
able paper w^ill du w^ell here, an that's jist what I'm goin tu print. *
* * Sum folks may think, perhaps, that I've got a curious name for
my paper, so I'll jist explain it tu em. You see, a buzzard is a kind
of haw^k, an my "Buzzard" is near of kin tu the turkey-buzzard that
I've hern tell on way down south, Avhere it's a fine tu kill 'em, cause,
you see, they remove all the filth an carin from the streets. Now,
you see, I calkulate to make my paper prodigous handy in this
way. If there 's enny thing Avrong goin on, I calkulate to tell on't,
an expose an endevor to remove newsances and so forth from the
city."
THREATENINGS DIRE, ASSAULTS, ETC.
As may well be imagined, the plain-speaking of the Buzzakd
was well calculated to arouse the ire of the \vrong-doers inveighed
against„and many threats to destroy the office where it was printed,
ivhip, and even shoot, the editor, were indulged in, and innumera-
ble schemes for revenge Avere attempted, a fcAv, only, of which can
be noticed here. One evening, just at dusk, after the appearance
of a pretty pointed article on counterfeiting and counterfeiters, a
boy entered the office saying that there was a gentleman at a
neighboring hotel who wished to see me. Learning, on inquiry,
that a well-know^n blackleg, by the name of George Miller, had sent
the message, I at once suspected that mischief was brewing, but
not wishing to exhibit the white-feather, in company with a friend,
I promptly responded to the message. As I entered the bar-room,
in which were a number of well-known sporting gentlemen who
made the hotel their headquarters, I found the head-center of the
counterfeiting fraternity, "Jim" Bro>vn, in confidential conversa-
tion with the said George Miller, and noticed the significant glances
and grimaces indulged in by the crowd.
12 AKROX AND vSUMMIT COUXTY.
Approaching the bar I said to the mixer of whisky toddies:
^'Your boy told me there was a gentleman here Avho wanted to see
me. Who is he?" "I don't know," replied the bar-keeper, "he's a
stranger; you'll find him in the sitting room." Thinking it possible
that some Eastern acquaintance might have come to to^vn, but
still keeping my wits about me, I stepped across the hall and
opened the sitting-room door. The first glimpse revealed the fact
that, though not yet lighting up time, the w^indow curtains
w^ere closely drawn and the room duly lighted. Keeping my
hand still upon the latch of the door, I sw^ung myself far
enough into the room to discover that its only occupant, standing
"with his back to the grate, was a w^ell-know^n local bruiser b}^ the
name of "Jim" Blane, who a few years later, while drunk, fell
from the West Market street bridge to the canal towing-path below
and broke his neck.
"Good evening, Mr. Blane," I said pleasantly. "G'n'ev'ning,"
he surlily responded. "I was told there w^as a gentleman here
who w^anted to see me, but I don't see any," I said, and sAvinging
myself back into the hall, closed the door, and re-entered the bar-
room, into w^hich, by this time, had come quite a number of
mechanics, merchants and others, regular boarders in the house.
It afterwards transpired that "Jim" Brown had hired the
other "Jim" to give me a drubbing, not only the blackleg habitues
of the house, but the rascally bar-keeper also, entering into the
conspiracy, the plan being to inveigle me into the room ^vith the
bruiser, who, while his confederates were to hold and guard the
door upon the outside, was to "decorate" my countenance and
other portions of my corporeal economy.
A NEARLY FATAL RENCOUNTER.
Up to this time I had never gone armed, but after the occur-
rence narrated, my young friend, the late Henrj^ J. Frost, of
Wooster, then clerking for Mr. P. D. Hall, handed me an old-
fashioned single-barreled brass pistol (ready loaded) with which to
defend myself, should another attempt be made to inflict personal
injury upon me. This weapon I carried in the right hand skirt
pocket of my overcoat, while upon the street, and deposited it upon
a shelf, above the editorial table, while in the office.
A feviT days later, having an item of business w^ith the brother
of the landlord of the hotel in question, as I started to leave the
bar-room I was confronted by a six-foot, double-fisted habitue of
the house, by the name of Dwight Spooner, who, seizing me by the
collar with his huge left hand, began making hostile demonstra-
tions towards my physiognomy w^ith his right. Instinctively I
thrust my right hand into my overcoat pocket, at w^hich one of the
half dozen black-legs present, who were hissing my assailant on.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 13
seized my elbow and threatened to put an end to me if I attempted
to draw a pistol. Quietly withdrawing my hand, I appealed to the
landlord for protection. Instead of compelling the ruffian to
release his hold, the landlord, opening the door, said: " If j^ou are
going to fight, gentlemen, you must go out of doors," and as my
assailant backed out through the hall and front door, his brawny
fist still glued to the collar of my coat, it may be taken for a fact,
without substantiation by affidavit, that I didn't hang back anvl
The blackleg fraternity followed us out and continued to hiss
the drunken bully on, but the commotion also attracted the
attention of respectable people upon the street, who imiuediately
gathered around us. Drawing back his right fist, and pulling me
towards him with his left, he w^ould maudlinly exclaim: "Shall I
strike you! Shall I mash your face for you! " etc. Meantime I had
(juietly slipped my hand into my pocket, cocked my pistol, and, as
near as I could calculate, aimed it in the direction of the fellow's
abdomen, with full determination to pull the trigger the instant his
fist came in contact Avith my face, saying in response to hi&
questions, as to whether he should strike me, "You can do as you
please about it, Dwight, but I advise you not to, as you may feel
bad about it aftervt^ards."
Happily, however, for both Spooner and myself, such by-
standers as Col. Justus Gale, Mr. Lyman Cobb, Mr. James B,
Taplin, Alfred R. Townsend and others, compelled him to release
his hold, before bringing his drunken courage up to the striking
point. His blackleg coadjutors, however, plying him still further
with liquor, urged him to visit my office, and finish up the job.
Half an hour later, I heard some one blunder up the stairs and
open the door. Looking around, there stood my late assailant,
hanging on to the door casing, incoherently inquiring if I was going
to "Buthard" him again. Seizing the pistol from the shelf, I
started tow^ards him, telling him to get out of my office, or I
would Buzzard him so that he w^ould stay Buzzarded, and he
"got," falling heels over head down the stairs, and vomiting all
over the landing and the platform upon the outside.
Subsequent examination revealed the fact that in addition to a
large charge of powder, that pistol contained four buck-shot and
three slugs of lead about one-fourth of an inch square. It makes
me shudder, even to this day, to contemplate the consequences to
my assailant, and possibly to myself and the by-standers, that
would have followed the discharge of that pistol.
ANOTHER SHARP GAME THAT DIDN'T WIN.
In those days the village of Franklin Mills (now Kent), like
many another western village (and eastern, too, for that matter),
boasted of a number of very fast young men, who, though admitted
14 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
to the very best society, were from time to time guilty of the most
immoral practices. Among this class was a young and enter-
prising business man, who, later in life, having abandoned his evil
courses, not only became the head of a highly respectable family,
but one of the political, commercial and financial magnates of
Northern Ohio. The Buzzard's Franklin Mills correspondent
having laid bare some of the more flagrant violations of the moral
code, by this gay and festive Lothario and his associates, it imme-
diately came to my ears that he was threatening to come to Akron
and "whip me Avithin an inch of my life."
A day or two later, how^ever, I received a very polite letter from
the gentleman, enclosing a one dollar note, w^ith the request that
I should send him my "very valuable paper" for one year. This I
supposed Avas the mode of "vengeance" that he had finally
concluded upon, instead of inflicting the threatened personal
chastisement.
But this proved to be an erroneous conclusion, for a short time
afterAvards, one afternoon, a boy brought me a note of about the
following purport :
" Ohio Exchange, Akron, March 7, 1838.
"Compliments of Mr. Blank, of Franklin Mills, to Mr. S. A. Lane,
and w^ould be pleased to see Mr. Lane at room 24, Ohio Exchange."
Know^ing that room 24 was in the rear end of the third story of
the hotel, and surmising the true intent of the "call," I dispatched
as polite a reply, by the boy, saying that it was inconvenient for
Mr. Lane to visit the Ohio Exchange, but that Mr. Lane would be
happy to see Mr. Blank at his office.
L^p to this time T had never met Mr. Blank, and not knowing
exactly what kind of an adversary I had to deal with, I invited in
three or four friends from adjoining offices to w^itness the interview^.
Presently Mr. Blank, a medium sized but robust young inan,
presented himself, accompanied by a six-foot-tw^o stalwart friend,
whom he introduced as Captain Pierce. After mutual introduc-
tions, and a little desultory conversation, Mr. Blank expressed
a desire to speak with me in private. Leading the w^ay to a back
room I invited him to a seat and to state his wishes. Thereupon,
in stentorian tones that could be heard all over the neighborhood,
he exclaimed:
" Mr. Lane, I have come down here to ascertain who wrote that
blankety blank scurrilous article signed 'Jerry,' in your last
Buzzard."
"Well, Mr. Blank," I replied, "I am not authorized to give you
the name of the w^riter of that article w^ithout his consent. But if
there was anything unjust or untrue in the article, of course I
stand ready to make the ^amende honorable.^"
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 15
"It don't make a blankety blank's difference whether the
article was true or false, I'm not going to be held up to public
contempt, through the press, without having satisfaction, and if
you don't give me the name of the writer of that article you will
hav e to take the consequences."
"Very w^ell, Mr. Blank, I'm prepared to take the consequences.
But see here, 'Dan,'" said I, adopting the familiar sobriquet by
w^hich I had often heard him called, "you may as well understand
at the outset that I don't ' scare worth a cent.' I w^as too sViarp to
fall into your trap. After attempting to allay suspicion by sending
me a sop in the shape of a dollar for the paper, you sought to
inveigle me into a back room in the third story of the Kxchange,
w^here, through the 'influence' of your herculean friend, you expected
to squeeze me into the disclosure of the name of my correspondent.
Though you might there have inflicted upon me the personal
chastisement you had so fiercely threatened, you Avould have failed
to learn the name of the correspondent in questipn. Now, hoAvever,
I am upon my o\vn 'dunghill' and do not propose to be either
Avhipped or frightened."
"See here. Lane," he rejoined, "I admire your pluck and have
no desire to injure you or your correspondent. It was a mighty
sharp article, anyw^ay, and I have a curiosity to know ^svho wrote it,
and if you will just tell me, I pledge you my word and honor that
no harm shall come to either you or him."
"It's of no use, Dan," said I. "That would be a breach of confi-
dence and good faith betw^een publisher and correspondent that
would be entirely unjustifiable."
"One thing more," said Dan, "will j^ou show me the manu-
script?"
"O, certainly," I replied, and handed him the copy from which
the article had been put in type. After scrutinizing it awhile,
saying that the handwriting was very familiar to him, but he
couldn't quite place it, he handed it l^ack to me, and with his
stalwart friend cordiall}^ took his leave.
Afterwards, becoming very well acquainted with Dan, in
talking over the episode in a friendly chat, I disclosed to him the
fact that having a printer from Franklin Mills at work in the office
who would be likely to recognize his chirography, I went to the
trouble of copying all of "Jerry's" communications, and it was my
copy of the article that I had show^n to him.
"That was the cutest part of the whole transaction," said Dan,
with a hearty laugh. "Shake!"
COWHIDED BY A WOMAN.
Among the minor subjects treated by the Buzzard was an
indolent, whisky-guzzling, wife-beater by the name of Chandler.
16 * AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Following a pretty severe castigation for some of his many acts of
brutality towards his long-snffering wife, being too cowardly to
attempt it himself, he, by threats of additional violence, compelled
her to undertake the task of giving me a whipping. They lived in
the garret of a building in the second story of which \^ras located
the Balance office where the Buzzard was printed, both reached
by a common stairway. One day as I started up I observed the
lady coming dow^n. As we reached the central platform, she
suddenly drew a rawhide from under her apron and made a pass
at me. Catching the blow upon my left arm, I took the w^eapon
from her with my right hand, and hastily opening a side door she
ingloriously retreated into an adjoining room.
AN EGGS-TRAORDINARY DEMONSTRATION.
Bxasperated at the failure of his cowhiding scheme, and
claiming that in the scrimmage on the stairs I had choked his
wife, "Old Hod" as he w^as called, determined to take the matter of
inflicting adequate punishment upon me into his ow^n hands.
Among others w^ho had fallen under the ban of the Buzzard was
"Mother Mason," of questionable repute, whose husband was the
keeper of a grocery, located directly under the Buzzard office on
the present site of the Arlington Hotel on West Market Street.
Just before noon, one day, a friend informed me that "Old Hod"
w^as on the street below, with a pocket full of addled eggs, with
w^hich "Mother Mason" had supplied him, Avatching for me to go
to dinner, with a view of treating me to an odoriferous shower-
bath. Raising a window^ I inquired what he w^as doing there.
Drawing an egg from his pantaloons pocket, he made several
motions as if to throw^, w^hich I dared him to do. Finally I took
the old brass pistol from the shelf and asked him \\o^w he liked the
looks of that. This seemed to inspire him with the idea that
rotten eggs would fail to do the subject justice, and thrusting the
&g,^ into his pocket, he stooped down to pick up a stone, in doing
which he broke all of the eggs in his pocket!
" Hod " withdrew^ for repairs and I went to dinner w^ithout moles-
tation. Having again "charged his batteries," he watched for my
return, and, starting towards me on the run, again broke his eggs
in his pocket. "Hod" then changed his tactics, and expressed a
determination to Avhip me on sight, and >vhenever I would pass
him on the street he would strike or kick at me with all vengeance,
though al-ways very careful not to hit me. This anno3^ance
continued for several months, when one day while he was
follow^ing me and going through his "monkey shines" on West
Mill Street, I turned upon him and said: "Now^, Chandler, I've
stood this tom-foolery long enough. You are a consummate old
cow^ard, and wouldn't dare to strike or kick me, but I'll not V)e
AUTOBIOGKAPHY. 17
annoyed by you any longer, and if you ever make a motion towards
me again, or even speak to me, I'll shoot you on the spot — and
(drawing from my vest pockets a pair of small-sized pistols which
a friend had in the meantime presented to me) I've a good mind to
do it now!" "Oh, for God's sake, Lane, don't shoot; I didn't inean to
hurt you!" Then ordering him to "about face! march!" he left me,
and that was my last personal rencounter with old " Hod. "
A "BUTTONED-UP" EYE AND A BLOODY NOSE.
Somewhat later, a notorious pugilist and negro-dancer, by the
name of John Kelley, whose action in fraudulently and forcibly
obtaining possession of a hall occupied by a religious society, in
which to give a disreputable exhibition, had been severely criticised
in the Buzzard, confronted me on the northeast corner of Howard
and Market streets. His first salutation -was a swinging blow with
his right fist upon the left side of my head, slightly staggering me,
but not knocking me down. As I regained my equilibrium, a
similar blow from his left hand grazed my right eye and the bridge
of my "rather prominent" nose, almost instantly closing up the
former and causing a copious flow of "claret" from the latter. Well-
knowing my inability to cope with the burly athlete, I dodged
under his up-raised arm and started at a two-forty gait for the
stone-block corner, w^ith my irate antagonist close at my heels.
Catching me by the collar of my vest, (I was in iny shirt-sleeves)
he gave me a whirl w^hich threw me to the ground, I instinctively
seizing the skirt of his fine broadcloth frock coat, to ease my fall,
and tearing it entirely up the back. Here the ferocious gymnast
endeavored to kick and jump upon my body and face with his heels,
but by making pivotal gyrations on my back, t kept him at bay
w^ith my feet until by-standers interfered and drove him off.
This being the first actual personal injury that had been
inflicted upon me, a Tvarrant w^as issued for my assailant, but, in
the meantime, his friends spirited him aw^ay, and thenceforward
Akron was relieved of his pestiferous presence. In the next issue
of the Buzzard, in alluding to the affair, I said editorially: "It
makes us feel inore sensibly the high responsibility that devolves
upon us. Go it, blacklegs, rummies and sympathizers — we would
quietly submit to a good sound thrashing every day, for a month
to come, if for each one we could rid the community of the baneful
influence of twenty or thirty individuals whom we could mention."
SUSTAINED BY PUBLIC OPINION.
In view of these hostile demonstrations, and other disreputable
operations, a very large meeting of the more reputable citizens of
Akron, such as Col. Justus Gale, Gibbons J. Ackley, Seth Iredell,
Horace K. Smith, Alvin Austin, Erastus Torrey, Ithiel Mills,
2
18 AKRON AXD SUMMIT COUXTY.
Jonathan Myers, Ansel Miller and others, was held on the evening
of February 28, 1838, among the spirited resolutions unanimously
adopted, being the following:
"Resolved, That S. A. Lane, publisher of the Buzzard, is entitled to the
thanks of this community for his exertions in holding up to public odium
the gamblers and counterfeiters who have hitherto infested this village.
"Resoh'ed, That we will protect aud sustain the public papers of our
village, in holding up to merited contempt the gamblers and counterfeiters."
A FABRICATOR OF "LOCO-FOCO" MATCHES.
In Chapter XIII, of this volume, is given a detailed history of
the rise and progress of the match-making business, no\sr one of the
leading industries of our goodly city and of the w^orld. The
pioneer establishment of this character, in Akron, was founded
by the writer and the late Dr. James R. Miltimore, in the Spring of
1838, the mode of manufacture being fully described in the chapter
referred to. The business not proving remarkably remunerative,
and both the writer and the Doctor forming other business
connections, the works w^ere transferred to other parties, and the
business soon afterwards discontinued, Dr. and Mrs. Miltimore
both being drowned on the occasion of the burning of the steamer
Brie, off Silver Creek, Lake Erie, on the afternoon of August 9, 1841.
MARRIAGE, BUSINESS CHANGES, ETC.
On the 11th day of November, 1838, I -was united in marriage
to Miss Paulina Potter, the foster sister of the late Paris Tallman,
a week or ten days later being joined by my elder brother, Henry
L. Lane, a carriage maker by trade, who had concluded to establish
himself in business here. In the Spring of 1839, owing to fears of
personal violence to myself naturally indulged by my young wife,
and the desire of my brother that I should join him in business,
the Buzzard wras discontinued and a carriage shop erected on the
present site of Paige Brothers' magnificent block on Main street,
there being then, also, an open space on the West to Howard
street. Here quite an extensive carriage making, painting and
blacksmithing business -was entered into under the firm name of
H. L. & S. A. Lane. My brother dying July 20, 1841, I soon after-
wards associated with myself Mr. Jonathan Remington, a former
employe of my father in Connecticut, and the father of Mr. Orson
H. Remington, our present w^ell-know^n Howard street jevv^eler, the
business being disposed of to other parties in the Fall of 1843.
TEMPERANCE LECTURER, EDITOR, ETC.
Entering heartily into the Washingtonian Temperance move-
ment, w^hich struck Akron in the Winter of 1841-2, and my health
having become somewrhat impaired by too close application to the
painting business, in the Spring of 1844, in connection writh the
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 19
late William T. Coggeshall, (afterwards State Librarian for several
years, and later Minister to Ecuador, South America, where he
died in 1867), I revived the Buzzard as a temperance paper, its
name being afterwards changed to the Cascade Roarer, as
elsewhere stated. To promote the cause of temperance, as -well as
io secure a circulation for the paper, I devoted the most of my
time to lecturing, a portion of the time traveling in connection
w^ith another l^turer, and "discussing" the question — I taking the
side of the liquor drinker and saloon keeper, using their customary
arguments, but by a series of ludicrous arguments and illustra-
tions often producing a more salutary effect upon the minds of
both drinkers and venders, than the most eloquent straight-
forward lecturing could possibly do — that mode of procedure,
notwithstanding the burlesque nature of the defense, securing a
full attendance of saloon-keepers and their customers, as well as
out-and-out temperance people, besides securing immunity from
disturbance and violence so often visited upon Temperance and
Abolition speakers in those early days; attempts being made to
"egg" the writer w^hile talking straight temperance, on tw^o
different occasions, once in the Summer of 1846, at the small
village of McCutchensville, Wyandot County, while lecturing in
the village school house, and later, the same year, w^hile speaking
from the Judge's bench in the Court House of Holmes County, at
Millersburg, more harm coming to the audience, how^ever, than to
myself.
ACROSS THE CONTINENT IN SEARCH OF GOLD.
Retiring from the Roarer, in the Fall of ,1846, I again took
up the brush, continuing the painting business until the Spring of
1850, when, my health again becoming precarious, I w^ent overland
to California, the details of the journey being fully set forth
elsewhere in this volume. Notw^ithstanding its almost incredible
hardships, I found, on reaching the first town in California,
Placerville, on Sunday morning, August 4, 1850, that I had gained
32 pounds in weight — six pounds more than I had ever weighed at
home, which condition of corpulency I more than maintained
during my entire residence upon the Pacific Coast, over tw^o years.
Looking about among the mines for a day or tw^o, I immedi-
ately proceeded to San Francisco, spending but a single day among
the Summit County boys in Sacramento City. With health fully
restored, then 35 years of age, I again embarked in the painting
business, earning, over and above my expenses, about $200 per
month.
About the first of December, 1850, in company with Mr. Charles
G. Caldwell, of Akron, a "Forty-niner," then located at Sacramento,
I embarked in the auction business on the corner of Jackson and
Montgomery Streets, San Francisco, with a cash capital of $3,000 —
20 AKRON AND SUMiMIT COUNTY.
$600 of which -was contributed by myself, $1,400 by Caldwell and
$1,000 borrowed, Mr. James G. Dow, also of Akron, having accumu-
lated quite a handsome fortune in that business during the pre-
ceding six or eight months.
AN IGNOMINIOUS FAILURE.
The firm of Caldwell & Co. got a good start, with a fair prospect
of doing as \^ell as the firm of Dow & Co. had previously done.
Before Ave had got fairly under w^ay, however, owing to the over-
stocking of the market with all kinds of merchandise, and the
appearance and fearful ravages of the cholera at Sacramento and
other portions of the upper country, a commercial panic ensued,
by which the same class of goods "we had upon our shelves, could l^e
bought at one-half, or less, than we had paid for ours, while retail
sales could hardly be made at any figures.
With our heavy expenses — one item of which Avas $600 per
month for rent of store — the reader will not be surprised to learn
that though we managed to refund our borrow^ed money, besides
giving several months' valuable time to the "enterprise," we sunk
every dollar of our capital, and w^ere nearly $1,500 in debt to our
landlord, Mr. Dow^, who, on his return to California, a few months
later, generously abated one-half the amount of his claim.
AGAIN AMONG HIS POTS AND BRUSHES.
On winding up our disastrous venture, Mr. Caldwell returned
to his cows and chickens, at Sacramento, which in the meantime
had been in charge of Mr. William H. White, the present head
miller at the Allen Mills, and I returned to my pots and brushes,
in the upper portion of the building spoken of. On the first da3' of
March, 1851, though still in possession of my painter's kit and
sundry household goods, furniture, stove, bedding, etc., I hadn't a
dollar in money w^ith which to buy a meal of victuals. On the first
day of April I sent my wife a draft for $150, had paid out a hundred
dollars for stock, clothing, etc.; had paid a month's board in advance
by work on Morton & Hanscom's Kastern Exchange Hotel, else-
Avhere alluded to, and had about $50 of finished work still in the
shop. On the first day of May I transmitted another $150 to my
w^ife, w^ith about that amount of my earnings for the month still
in hand.
A FIFTEEN MILLION DOLLAR FIRE. >
Early on Sunday morning. May 4, 1851, commencing in the
upper part of the city, eighteen squares, comprising the principal
business houses, banks, hotels, etc., of the city, Avere destroyed by
fire, involving a total loss of fully $15,000,000. As it became evident
that the building I occupied w^ould be reached by the fire, I
removed such of my personal effects as I could carry Iw hand, two
AUTOBIOGKAPHY. 21
or three l)locks away, only to he ohUged to remove them still
further up the hill, a half hour later, the operation having to he
repeated several times hefore a safe place was found for them.
My individual loss, in stove, table, benches, heavy sign boards, etc.,
and my proportion of the store fixtures burned, amounted to
perhaps $200, Avhile a hundred dollars or so of work delivered
and not yet paid for was afterwards found to be non-collectable.
SINGULAR EARTHQUAKE EXPERIENCE.
The course of the fire had left intact a number of small
buildings on a lot considerably below grade nearly opposite our
old stand, mostly occupied by a company of Chilians, w^ho coined
money by bringing drinking water and stove-w^ood from over the
high range of hills w^est of the city, on the backs of donkeys. One
of these buildings, just 10x20 feet in size, planted on blocks about
a foot in height, I secured for a shop, at a rental of $30 per month,
also securing, at the same figure, a lodging room on Telegraph
Hill, nearly a mile aw^ay. Painting on cloth, and fastening to the
end of my shop, a suitable sign, I also nailed upon the charred
lamp-post at my old corner, a guide-board, pointing in the proper
direction, bearing the legend: "S. A. Lane, Sign and Ornamental
Painter, just over yonder J|@°"."
A few^ days after the fire, w^hile seated on a stool at my impro-
vised table, vt^riting an account of the great calamity for the
Beacox, I felt the entire building swaying violentl}^ back and
forth, in an easterly and westerly direction, for several seconds,
which phenomenon I instinctively thought was caused by the
rubbing of one of the aforesaid donkeys against the corner of my
frail building, and was greatly puzzled on going to the door and
finding none of said animals in the vicinity. On going to the
plaza to mail my letter, a short time after^vards, I found the people
of the city in a high state of excitement over an earthquake \vhich
had toppled down chimneys, cracked w^alls, broken windows,
thrown bottles and other articles from shelves, and driven the
occupants of hotels, private dwellings, stores, etc., in the utmost
consternation into the streets. The scratching of a donkey,
indeed !
AGAIN IN THE AUCTION BUSINESS.
In the rebuilding of the burned district, which proceeded at a
rapid rate, there was, of course, a great demand for sig-ns, and my
business w^as quite prosperous for several months. In the mean-
time Mr. James G. Dow, with Mr. Charles \V. Tappan, also of
Akron, as a partner, had again embarked in the auction l)usiness,
with phenomenal success, and about the middle of September, 1851,
T entered their employ as a salesman, at a salary of $275 per month.
Two months later a branch store was established in w^hich I took
22 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
a one-fourth interest, with Mr. Hallet Kilbourn, no-w of Wash-
ington City, as a member of the firm, finally becoming a half owner,
w^ith Mr. Humphrey Sa\^yer, of Massachusetts, as partner, the
venture being reasonably remunerative.
THE HOMEWARD FLITTING— CH0LP:RA RAVAGES. ETC.
Mr. Sa^vyer desiring to go to the mines, we closed up our
business and dissolved our partnership on the first of May, 18o2,
Doing an occasional job of sign-writing for an old established firm,
ad interim, to defray my expenses, on the first day of September,
1852, I sailed for- home via Panama, on the Steamer "Winfield
Scott" — its distinguished namesake then running for the Presi-
dency as the candidate of the Whig party. The steamer was
densely packed with passengers, and the passage to Panama
stormy and long (19 days) not only causing a great amount of sea-
sickness on the first part of the journey, but producing consider-
able havoc from cholera, on the latter part, from 30 to 50 persons
having probably been consigned to a w^atery grave during the last
six or eight days.
The transit across the Isthmus w^as then largely of the primitive
order, the first 22 miles, from Panama to Cruces, on the backs of
mules, at a cost of only $25 per mule (hire, not purchase,) from
Cruces to Barracoa, 12 miles, by open boat rowed by nearly naked
natives, at $2.00 per passenger, and from* Barracoa to Aspinwall,
20 miles, by railroad, at the moderate charge of $8.00, tivo full days
being consumed in making the transit, 54 miles. The trip from
Aspinwall to New; York, via Kingston, on the Island of Jamaica,
was also tempestuous, and fraught -with much discomfort to all,
and especially to this particular individual, who lost, from sea-
sickness, nearly one-half the surplus flesh gained upon the overland
journey as above stated, but a small portion of which has ever come
back to him. The many interesting (and some thrilling) incidents
of the homeward journey cannot be here given for want of space,
CLOTHING MERCHANT— AGAIN BURNED OUT. ETC.
Returning to Akron with my " pile" — something "less" than a
million — but with what was far better than gold, thoroughl}^
restored health, after "pottering around" through the winter of
1852-3, (among other things, paying my own hall rent and deliv-
ering to crowded houses a series of lectures on the "Overland
Journey to California," the substance of which is reproduced in
another chapter of this volume), I invested my savings in a
clothing and merchant tailoring establishment, wrhere the New
York Clothing House now stands, on the south side of East Market
Street.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 23
With Mr. Arthur Malcolm, as senior partner and chief cutter,
the firm of A. Malcolm & Co. >vere doing a reasonably prosperous
business, when, on the morning of April 30, 1855, in the fire -which
destroyed the large brick hotel on the present site of Woods' block,
every dollar of my investment was greedily licked, up by the
devouring flames.
UNSUCCESSFUL CANDIDATE FOR OFFICE.
In the Fall of 1853, while selling "rags" as aforesaid, the
Temperance Reform Party of Summit County placed me in nomi-
nation as a candidate for Representative in competition with the
regular nominees of the Whig, Democratic and Free Soil parties,
but afterward an arrangement was made between the Temperance
Reformers and the Whigs and Free Soilers, by which all three
candidates should submit their claims to a union mass convention,
in which Dr. Porter G. Somers, of Cuyahoga Falls, carried off the
prize.
After being thrown out of business by the fire, as stated,
on the affiliation of the Whigs, Free-Soilers and Temperance
Reformers, under the banner of Republicanism, in the Summer of
1855, I announced myself as a candidate for Representative, subject
to the decision of the county nominating convention, the late Dr.
Mendal Jewett, then living in Mogadore, being my successful
competitor. On the accession of Salmon P. Chase to the Gover-
norship of Ohio, in the Winter of 1855-6, I applied, with a strong
backing from the citizens of Akron and contiguous canal towns, for
the position of Collector of Tolls upon the Ohio Canal, but my
genial friend, the late Nathaniel W. Goodhue, carried too many
political guns for me, and won the prize for himself.
OFFICIAL HONORS AND SUCCESSES.
My official "deserts," however, had not been altogether over-
looked by my fellow-citizens, for, on the appointment of Councilman
Richard S. Elkins to the Recordership, made vacant by the death of
Recorder Horace Canfield, in December, 1853, in January, 1854, I
w^as appointed by the Town Council to fill the vacancy in the
Board of Trustees, holding the position until the ensuing munici-
pal election. On the resignation of the late James Mathews, as a
member of the Board of Education, December 20, 1854, the Council
also elected me to the vacancy, which position I continued to hold
by appointment and re-election until April, 1857, also serving as
Treasurer of the Board from November, 1855, until the expiration
of my term of service, in the Spring of 1857.
SHERIFF, EDITOR, PROBATE JUDGE, ETC.
In the first National campaign of the Republican party, in the
Summer of 1856, I endeavored to make myself generally useful, in
24 AKROX AND .SUMMIT COUNTY.
painting banners and mottoes, writing, speaking, etc., but with no
special design of asking for an office for myself. Leading Repub-
licans, however, in different portions of the county, seemed to
spontaneousl3^ lix upon me as their candidate for Sheriff, and
though there were some six or seven other aspirants w^orking like
beavers for the position, I was nominated on the first ballot by a
majority of 17 over all competitors. Though bitterly opposed, on
account of my well-known radical temperance proclivities, I 'was
triumphantly elected, renominated by acclamation, and re-elected
by a largely increased majority in 1858, holding the office four years
and two months, the time of taking possession of the office having
in the meantime been changed from the first Monday of November
to the first Monday of January.
In January, 1861, on retiring from the Sheriff's office, I accepted
a position with Messrs. Beebe and Elkins, as editor-in-chief of the
Summit County Beacon, a few years later acquiring a one-third
interest in the paper. Some six months after afesuming my
editorial duties, Governor William Dennison, without solicitation
from either myself or my friends, appointed me Probate Judge of
Summit County, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of
Judge William M. Dodge, the commission, now in my possession,
bearing date July 24, 1861, being accompanied by the following
note from the Governor's Private Secretary:
The State of Ohio, ) .
Executive Department, >
Columbus. July 24, 1861. )
Samuel A. Lane, Esq.,
Dear Sir: — The Governor has heard of the death of William
M. Dodge, your Probate Judge. He has appointed you to fill the
vacancy occasioned by his death till the Fall election shall decide
upon a successor. Herewith please find commission. Trusting
it will be satisfactory to yourself and beneficial to your people, I
remain very truly, Yours, etc.
W. T. Bascom, Private Secretary.
While this voluntary action of Governor Dennison, with
"whom I had had a pleasant personal acquaintance for several
years, Avas exceedingly gratifying, I immediately notified him by
telegraph that I could not accept the position, not only being
under obligations to Messrs. Beebe & Elkins, but the brief period
that I could hold the office would be no object, as even iiij^ cheek
was not then sufficiently colossal to warrant me in asking the
people of Summit County to elect me to so important an office so
soon after vacating the one Avhich I had so recently, for over four
years, enjoyed at their hands.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 25
AGAIN BURNED OUT— AGAIN SHERIFF.
A full history of the Beacon is given elsewhere in this volume,
b3' which it will be seen that on the 27th day of April, 1872, the
entire establishment, then running on a fully paid up capital of
$25,000, of which I was the one-third owner, w^as totally destroyed
by fire. Though immediately rebuilt and established on a much
larger scale, it became so greatly embarrassed by the calamity,
and the subsequent commercial and financial panic of 1873-4, that
in the Fall of 1875, after nearly fifteen years of the very hardest
work of my life, I had to consent to transfer the concern to other
parties, for the assuinption of its liabilities, and retire therefrom
without a dollar, and with quite a large personal indebtedness
resting upon my shoulders, besides.
Thus once more hors de combat in the battle of life, in 1876,
just twenty years after my first election to that office — then 61
years of age — I again appealed to the good people of Summit
County to give me my old position of Sheriff, to which they
generously responded, also re-electing me in 1878, making my
entire term of official service eight years and two months, an
honor accorded to no other incumbent of that office in the history
of the county.
The office of Sheriff, of a county like Summit, while not
remarkably remunerative, involves very great pecuniarj- responsi-
bilities and hazards, and bristles with perplexities and dangers,
but fortunately, though declared by my political opponents and
competitors to be too old to properly perform its functions— in my
"dotage," in fact — I got safely through, and am under a positive
pledge to my constituents not to ask for the office again until 1896
— just 40 years from the comm^yicement of my first and 20 years
from the commencement of my last incumbency, at ^vhich time,
should I survive till then, I shall be onlvSl years of age.
EXCITING JAIL INCIDFINTS.
Space will not permit a recital, even in the briefest terms, of
the many exciting episodes of the eight years of my Sheriffalty —
efforts to break jail — mutinies and insubordinations — attempts to
commit suicide— one by cutting his throat, at the moment of
starting him to the penitentiary, and another (a girl) by drowning
herself in the bath-tub, though I am happy to say that -no thanks
to our noisome and rickety old jail— T never lost a prisoner, either
by sickness, self-murder or escape.
One incident, however, is worthy of pretty full mention, as
illustrative of the strategetic ingenuity of the average prisoner,
and of the pluck and nerve of some women. Among my most
efficient aids in the management of the jail, and safe-keeping of
the prisoners, was my present kind-hearted wife, who, while most
26 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
sympathetic to any of the numerous cases of illness or distress
Avith which we had to deal, was also extremely vigilant in
detecting mischief among the inmates and preventing escapes.
In the Summer of 1878, a couple of tramps giving their names as
James Thompson and James Pierce, were convicted of burglar-
izing the store of Mr. George S. Dales, Corner Ho^vard and Mill
streets. Pierce was a stout, burly young man, \vith close kinky
hair, from Avhich his jail-mates nicked-named him "Curly," and
Thompson w^as a short, spare, and rather sickly looking youth,
w^hom his companions nick-named " Short3^." At this time the
late John S. Rowan was temporarily acting as my turnkey, ^vho,
after locking the prisoners safely in their cells, in the evenings
spent the night Avith his own family on Forge street.
After conviction, and before sentence, "Shorty's" " sickly '^
symptoms rapidly increased, dieting the sympathy not only of
turnkey Rowan, but also of our kind-hearted Women, especially our
most excellent cook at that time, Mrs. Amelia Randall, of Richfield,
w^ho fixed him up sundry delicacies to eat, instead of confining
him to the regular, though wholesome and abundant, rations
served to the other prisoners.
One night, between ten and eleven o'clock, just as I was
retiring, there was a commotion in the jail, and on going to the
door I was informed that "Shorty" w^as very sick with a terrible
pain in his stomach, which statement seemed to be confirmed by
fearful groans apparentlj^ emanating from his cell. Thinking that
perhaps a dose of strong peppermint sling might afford him relief,
I w^armed some ^vater in a tin cup over the gas burner in the
guard-room and compounded a good strong potion. In the mean-
time Mrs. Lane and Mrs. Randall had both put in an appearance,
and supposing all the prisoners to be safely locked in their cells, I
thre^r open the inner jail door, without taking the precaution to
close the guard-room door, and w^ith my cup of "medicine" in one
hand and a candle in the other, I started down the steps and along
the corridor, "Shorty's" cell being upon the north side upper tier,
reached by stairs, at the east end of the jail.
Just as I w^as about to turn the corner, I heard a sort of
suppressed scream, and instantly comprehending the situation, I
turned and retraced my steps, on what the prisoners in the lower
cells, w^ho were on the watch, called "the best time on record," to
find the "sick" prisoner in a desperate hand-to-hand struggle with
the two >vomen, Mrs. Randall, as he suddenly popped up from the
darkness of the narrow ct)rridor, on the ^vest end of the jail,
instinctively seizing him around the w^aist and hanging on for
dear life, on the supposition that he had suddenly gone crazy,
while Mrs. Lane was doing her utmost to keep him from getting
through the open door of the guard-room.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 27
On arriving upon the scene of conflict I seized the young
desperado by the collar, whereupon he turned and clutching me
by the throat, endeavored to thrust me back into the jail.
Wrenching his hands from my throat Avith my right hand and
holding on to his collar with my left, with my right foot I
managed to close the outer guard-room door, w^hich being at once
securely fastened by Mrs. Lane, the prisoner incontinently wilted,
and was soon safely locked in his cell again, by Deputy S, D.
Blocker, who, awakened by the rumpus, had by this time appeared
upon the scene; the feat of closing the guard-room door being all
the more difficult from the fact that when both wide open the inner,
with its stationary lock-bar, laps a foot or more over the outer
door.
Investigation sho^ved, that out of some of their extra garments
and the contents of their husk mattresses, the boys had constructed
a "dummy," w^hich had been skillfully tucked away in "ShortN^'s"
bed. When Row^an was locking them up for the night, not seeing
the "sick" boy about, he sympathetically inquired how^ he wa§,
and was told by "Curly" that he guessed he was feeling better as
he had been sleeping quietly for some time. On reaching his
cell, and finding its inmate already snug in bed (as he supposed)
he locked the door and after locking all the cells, properly secured
the outer door and returned home.
The manner in which he escaped detection, while Row^an was
thus making his rounds, was as folloAvs : In the Winter time the
jail is heated by a huge cylinder stove, fully two feet in diameter,
and four feet in height, with about a 10x15 inch door. This stove
had been lined with newspapers, and "Shorty," being small of
stature, found no difficulty in secreting himself therein, until All
was quiet for the night, when he made his exit therefrom with the
result stated^the desperado afterwards being heard to lament
that he didn't carry out his original intention of beating me
senseless with the heavy iron stove-poker, or a chair, before
rushing up the steps and unexpectedly encountering the women,
in his unceremonious flight for liberty.
HOW "CURLY" FOOLED THEM ALL.
The two burglars in question were sentenced to the peniten-
tiary by Judge Newell D. Tibbals, for three years and a half each,
whither I took them*on the 8th day of July, 1878. Nothing fufther
was heard from either until early in Sheriff William McKinney's
term, in 1881, when Probate Judge Samuel C Williamson received
a notice from the prison authorities, at Columbus, that the
Summit County prisoner, James Pierce, was violently insane, and
must be forthwith removed from the institution. Sheriff McKinney
was therefore sent for him, returning him to his old quarters here,
28 AKROiX AND SUMMIT COl'XTY.
only lodging him in the "crazy room" in the second story instead
of a cell in the lower jail, as before.
In the penitentiary he had violently assaulted his keeper and
the surgeon, putting them all in deadly fear for their lives, and
undertook to practice the same tactics upon Mac. while awaiting
the determination of the county and insane authorities as to what
should be done with him. Finall^^ mistrusting that he was
shamming, Mac. told him one day, that if he did not stop his fooling
he would "pulverize" him, w^hereupon the fellow simmered down
and ])ecame as quiet as a lamb, and finally confessed to Mac. that
his insanity had been w^hoUy feigned, and there being some
question as to whether he could be legally returned to the peni-
tentiary, and the term for which he had been sentenced being so
nearly out. Judge Williamson ordered his discharge, and he has
never troubled the community since.
MAYOR OF THE "TIP-TOP" CITY.
In April, 1881, w^ithout solicitation on my part, though violently
opposed, not only because of my radical Republicanism, but also
of my radical anti-saloonism, as the Republican nominee, I w^as
elected as Mayor of Akron by a small majority (60) over the then
Democratic incumbent, one of the most popular members of his
party in the city, John M. Fraze, Esq., in w^hich capacity I served
the people faithfully, if not brilliantly, for a single term of two
years.
FAMILY AND DOMESTIC MATTERS.
My good and faithful wife, Paulina Potter Lane, after bearing
me eight children, four of whom died in early childhood, after a
lingering and distressing illness from cancer, died July 2, 1871. Of
our four surviving children, the eldest son, Julius Sherman Lane,
born November 19, 1841, well-knoAvn in the business circles of
Akron for many years as the Superintendent of the Webster,
Camp & Lane Machine Company, is now the general Superinten-
dent of the M. C. Bullock Manufacturing Company, of Chicago,
111., with his family residence in the beautiful suburban village
of Oak Park, eight miles west of the city. ^Ly second son, Frede-
rick Alanson Lane, born October 31, 1849, has for many years
served as foreman of the Beacon press rooms, and superintendent
of its machinery. My youngest son, Arthur Malcolm Lane,
bom November 6, 1855, is head draftsman *of the Schenectady
(N. Y.), Locomotive Works, of w^hich my son-in-la\v, Albert J.
Pitkin (the husband of my only living daughter, Carrie Maria,
born March 26, 1858,) is the general Superintendent, the works
being the second largest of the kind in the United States, employ-
ing from 1600 to 2000 men, with a capacity for turning out one
complete locomotive, of the largest class, every day in the year.
AU1X3BIOGRAPHY. 29
Among the four, with one still unmarried, there are, at the present
w^riting, eleven grandchildren, five boys and six girls, ranging
from six months to twenty-three 3'ears, so that there is no imme-
diate danger of the tribe becoming extinct, while bringing to
their progenitor the proud satisfaction of knowing that w^hatever
his own personal short-comings and errors, in business or social
life, the world is decidedly the better for his having lived in it.
THK SECOND MARRIAGE.
On the eleventh day of November, 1872, I married for m}' second
wife, Bmeline (Potter) Manning, widow^ of the late Levi Manning
and only sister of the first Mrs. Lane, and who for the past nineteen
years has been to me a most pleasant and affectionate companion
and faithful help-mate, my chief regret being that the heavy strain
put upon her in the care of the jail, during my last four years'
incumbencj' of the Sheriff's office, and the excitements incident
thereto, has so seriously affected her health, as to very greatly
lessen the physical and social enjoyment that in her declining
years, her long and faithful service, as wife, mother and neighbor,
she is so justly entitled to.
CONCLUDING REMARKS.
I have thus, at some length, though omitting many (to me)
interesting incidents and experiences of the nearly four score years
that I have lived, given to the reader the principal events of my
life-history, confirming, in a lai'ge degree, the old adage that "Man
is the creature of circumstance," and possibly the truth of the
familiar quotation:
"There's a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough hew them how we may."
Since retiring from the Mayoralty, in 1883, being too far
advanced in life to undertake to re-establish mj^self in active busi-
ness, and yet not w^ishing to be entirely idle, I have devoted a
large portion of my time to gathering the data and preparing for
the press, the local historical matters contained in the following
pages, w^hich, though heretofore mainly given to the public,
through the columns of the Beacon, it has seemed to me and the
many friends with whom I have consulted, should be put into a
more enduring and convenient form.
Though very many pioneer incidents and personal experi-
ences, that w^ould have been extremely interesting to the partici-
pants therein, and their surviving friends, necessarily had to be
omitted, I feel that I have amassed a great amount of matter that
has interested those who have perused the several chapters as
they have appeared, and that iviJl be still more interesting to the
30 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
rising and coming generations, who are, for the succeeding
" Fifty Years and over of Akron and Summit County," to take the
places of those who have so gallantly" fought and \von the physical,
political, intellectual, moral and spiritual battles of the city and
county for "Fifty Years and Over" in the past.
In the way of illustration, I have reproduced such of the early
views of Akron, as could be gathered up, supplemented by many
modern vie>vs of the same localities, showing the changes that
have taken place and the improvements that have been made in
the intervening half-century. I have also given the portraits of
such of the early settlers and prominent citizens as Avere available,
together with those of a large number of the present live business
and public men, old and young, accompanied by brief biograph-
ical sketches. This is a very valuable as w^ell as a somew^hat
expensive feature of the work, made possible only through the
generosity of our people, many of whom, in addition to liberally
subscribing for the book itself, have voluntarily assumed the cost
of engraving such portraits of themselves and deceased friends
as it was deemed advisable to include therein.
As showing the changes of a life-time I have also had
prepared, as a frontispiece to this w^ork, seven portraits of myself,
averaging about ten years apart, from 16 to 76, which may possibly
elicit the curiosity if not the interest of my readers. The silhouette
at 16, was left w^ith my mother on first leaving home in 1831; that
at 26 is from one of the very first sun-pictures ever made in Akron,
by a travelling daguerreotypist, in 1841 ; that at 36, is from a
daguerreotype taken in San Francisco, Cal., in 1851; that at 48 is
from a photo, taken in 1863, by Akron's pioneer photographer,
Samuel J. Miller, in the gallery of Gurney & Son, New^ York, where
he Av^as then employed as poser ; that at 59 was executed by
Akron's present well-known photographer, Benjamin F. Battels,
in 1874 ; that at 72 is from the camera of Walter B. Manning, a
native Akron boy, at Georgetown, BroAvn Co., O., taken in 1887 ;
that at 76 by Battels, in 1891.
Trusting that its sale may be sufficiently large to defray the
heavy cost of its publication, and slightly compensate the writer
for his many years of downright hard work devoted to its compi-
lation, this volume is respectfully dedicated to my contemporaries
— living and dead — ^for "Fifty Years and Over of Akron and
Summit County," and their descendants and successors, by its
grateful author.
Samuel Alanson Lane.
PRELIMINARY.
WITH a view of rescuing from oblivion sundry interesting events
— historical, biographical, criminal, tragical, comical, etc., —
that have transpired in Akron and Summit County during the
past fifty years and over, and in the hope of imparting informa-
tion, admonition, and possible amusement to the younger, and
reminiscent gratification to the older readers thereof, this w^ork
has been compiled.
Of matters and things transpiring prior to my becoming a
resident of the town and county, June 10, 1835, I have had to rely
largely upon tradition and such written evidence as -was available,
aided somewhat by the recollections of such pioneer residents of
the vicinity as still survive. But as to incidents and events that
have taken place since I came here, I have relied largely upon my
own memory, supplemented by the official, civil and criminal
records of this and the original counties out of w^hich Summit was
carved, and the newspaper files in my possession, or otherwise
readily accessible, covering almost the entire period w^ritten of.
While my own recollections may, and doubtless do, differ
somewhat from those of other gentlemen now^ living who have
participated in, or been personally cognizant of, the scenes and
events herein recorded, I think I can guarantee substantial
accuracy, both as to data and detail. At all events, unlike some
local " historians" who have preceded me, I have not, for the sake
of telling a good story, perpetrating a flippant joke, or swelling
the importance of my subjects on the one hand, or disparaging
them upon the other, in any instance draw^n entirely upon my
imagination, or given vent to any personal animosities that may
have existed between myself and such persons as a narrative of
this character must of necessity mention.
And, in this connection, I desire to say that in detailing
individual transactions or personal conduct prejudicial to morality,
or the public w^elfare, I have endeavored to be as considerate of
the feeling of the parties themselves, if living, or their surviving
friends, if dead, as a reasonable conformity to the truth of history
would justify.
Permit me, also, right here, to remark that if in these chapters
the personal pronoun " I " should appear to be a rather prominent
factor, I wish to have it distinctly understood that it is not by any
means because the writer wishes to exalt himself above those of
his neighbors who have participated in, or witnessed, the. events
narrated, nor through an^^ spirit of egotism or "top-loftiness," but
because the force of circumstances, and the "logic of events," have
conspired to bring him to the front in many of the skirmishes with
immorality and crime herein described, as well as in advocating
and advancing many of the laudable enterprises >vhich have, from
time to time, contributed to the industrial, commercial, financial,
educational and moral w^ell-being of the city and county.
That its merits may be properly appreciated, and its faults
indulgently overlooked, by a discriminating public, on the comple-
tion of his long and arduous labors upon it, more than any hope
for large pecuniary gain, is the sincere desire of
THE AUTHOR.
32
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
CHAPTER I.
AKRON'S BEGINNING— ANCIENT MIDDLEBUR Y— A VISIT FROM DEW ITT CLINTON
—COMMENCEMENT AND COMPLETION OF THE OHIO CANAL— FIRST BOAT TO
CLEVELAND "DR. CROSBY AND HIS " DITCH" — " THUNDER FROM A CLOUDLESS
SKY"— THE doctor's "GOOSE PASTURE" PROPHECY— THE NEW VILLAGE OF"
"CASCADE" — BITTER TRIANGULAR RIVALRY— SPIRITED GUIDE BOARD WAR
—EARLY MANUFACTURES PIONEER HOTELS, MERCHANTS, ETC., ETC.
THK BEGINNING OF AKRON.
PREVIOUS to the commencement of work upon the Ohio Canal,
in 1825, the territory now covered by the thriving and popu-
lous city of Akron was an almost unbroken wilderness, excepting a
small portion of the Sixth Ward (the original village of Middle-
bury) and the partially cultivated farms of Miner and Amos
Spicer and Paul Williams, these gentlemen being the first settlers
in Portage township, Mr. Miner Spicer having, in 1810, visited
and located the lands in the southeast portion of the township on
w^hich the three families settled in 1811 — Portage township being
so named from the fact that its entire length, north and south, is
traversed by the path over which the Indians used to "port" their
canoes, and other portable belongings, betw^een the Cuyahoga
and Tuscarawas rivers, that name also extending to the count}- of
which the township was originally a part.
IVTAJOR MINER SPICER, — born
iVl in Groton, Conn., May 29, 1776:
married to Miss Cynthia Allen, of
Groton, in 1798; in 1810 came, on horse-
back, to Ohio and boug-ht 2(tO acres
of land in the southeastern part of
Portage township; in June, 1811, with
his family, accompanied by his
cousin, Capt. A^nos Spicer, and Mr.
Paul Williams, again started, by ox-
team, to Ohio, arriving- at their desti-
nation in September, being the first
actual settlers in Portage township;
built sinall log cabin about 40 rods
southeast of the present corner of
Spicer and Carroll streets. On organ-
ization of township Mr. Spicer was
made a trustee, and also for inany
years was justice of the peace. In
the war of 1812, served as Major of
Militia, and through life was active
and energetic in all business matters,
both public and private. Mrs. Spicer
dying, at the age of 50 years, 2 inonths
and 14 days, Sept. 10, 1828, Mr. S. was
again married in March, 1829, to Mrs.
Hannah (Allen) Williams, widow of
Barnabas Williams, and sister of the
first Mrs. S. Major Spicer died Sept.
11, 18.55, aged 78 years, 3 months and
12 days, and the latter Mrs. S., March
7, 18.^6, aged 63 years, 5 months and
21 days. The first Mrs. S. bore him
nine children — Avery, born Oct. 26,
MAJOR MINER SPICER.
1799; Lucinda (afterward Mrs. Stephen
Ajres) Feb. 8, 1801; Cynthia, (Mrs
Jonah Allen) May 21, 1803; Phcebe,
(Mrs. Levi Allen) Dec. 4, 1804 ; Tem-
perance, (Mrs. Talmon Beardsley)
Oct. 15, 1807; Emily, (Mrs. Ithiel
Mills) Aug. 8, 1809 ; Lydia, (Mrs. War-
ren H. Smith) Feb. 16, 1811 ; Miner A.,
March 20, 1813 and Hiram J., Oct. 24,
1816.
THE AXCIEXT VILLAGE OF MIDDLEBURY.
33
Down to 1825, the village of Middlebury, founded bj' Capt.
Joseph Hart and Judge Aaron Norton, in 1807, embracing a corner
each of Tallmadge, Springfield, Coventry and Portage townships,
w^as the market town and commercial center for this entire
section of Ohio, having a population of from 300 to 400 inhabi-
tants, with several mills, a blast furnace, a nail factory, three or
four hotels and some 10 or 12 stores, besides the usual comple-
ment of mechanics and artisans in demand at that earl}- day,
together with sundry civic and military organizations which
need not be enumerated here, one of the most prominent and
best-remembered hotels of the ancient emporium being that of
Mr. Samuel Newton, whose portrait and biograph}" is here given.
e AMUEL NKWTON,— born at New-
vJ port, N. H., September 13, 1782,
when j^oung moving- to Groton, Conn.,
and from thence to Ohio, settling in
Middlebur3% October 14, 1815. Mr.
Newton was formany years one of the
leading- hotel-keepers of Northern
Ohio, his house standing- at what is
now the intersection of East Market,
North Arlington and Kent streets,
Akron, Sixth Ward. In March, 1849,
Mr. Newton, though then 67 years of
age, went with the Middlebury Min-
ing Company overland to California,
returning via the Isthmus of Panama
in January, 18.tO. His wife dying in
September, 18,o5, Mr. Newton was
again married, to Mrs. Laura Reming-
ton, in November, 185(5. Mr. Newton
died August 5, 1871, at the age of 88
years, 10 months and 22 days, leaving
three children — Isaac S. (since de-
ceased), William G., now residing in
the City of Washington, and Eliza-
beth R., married to the late Hon.
John Johnston, and now residing
with her daughter, Mrs. Robert Watt,
East Market street.
SAMUEL XEWTOX.
In that year, 1825, Gen. Simon Perkins, of Warren, owner of a
large tract of land in Portage township, foreseeing that the
construction of the canal, with the large number of locks necessary
to its successful completion and operation, located here, would
make it something of a business point for the shipment of
produce, and the receipt and distribution of merchandise, as well
as, through its lockage water-power, be likelj'^ to attract manufac-
turing and commercial enterprise, induced Mr. Paul Williams,
owner of the adjoining lands upon the east, to join with him in
laying out into village lots, with the usual complement of streets,
alleys, parks, etc., the territory embraced within the limits of
Summit street on the east, Center street on the north, and
Chestnut street on the south, on the east side of the canal, and
Center street on the north. Pine street on the west, and an alley
next south of Catharine street on the south, on the west side of
the canal, embracing in all some 300 lots. The plat of the new-
village was duly recorded in the Records of Portage County on
the 6th day of December, 1825.
34
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
f^BN. SIMON PERKINS— born in
vJ Lisbon, Conn., September 17, 1771 ;
located in Osweg-o, N. Y., 1793 ; in 1798,
eniplo3'ed by the Erie Land Com-
pany to explore the " Connecticut
Western Reserve;'' as ag-ent of the
company, spent his summers in Ohio
and his winters in Connecticut,
until his marriage, March 18, 1804,
with Miss Nancy Anna Bishop, of
Lisbon, born January 24, 1780, when he
permanently settlecl in Warren; post-
master of Warren from 1801 till 1829,
also special agent of Governinent in
establishing local offices, treating-
with Indians, etc.; as Brigadier Gen-
eral of militia. August, 1812, took
command of troops in defense of
northwestern frontier ; at close of
campaign, Feb., 1813, w^armly com-
mended by Gen. Harrison, for ener-
g-etic and faithful performance of
duty; tender of Colonel's commission
in regular army by President Madi-
son declined by reason of pressing
private and fiduciary duties ; in 1813
organized Western Reserve Bank,
and its President until 1836 ; Ohio
Canal Fund Commissioner from 1826
to 1838 ; in connection with Paul
Williams, in 182o, founded the village
of Akron, and in 1831, in connection
with Judge Leicester King and Dr.
GEN. SIMON PERKINS.
Eliakim Crosb5^, that portion since
known as North Akron, liberally
donating grounds for public build-
ings, parks, churches, etc. General
Perkins died at Warren, November 6,
1844, aged 73 years, 1 month and 19
days, Mrs. Perkins dying April 24, 1862,
aged 82 years and 3 months.
Previous to this, our late well-retnembered fellow citizen, Mr,
Charles W. Brown, of 966 Kast Market street, then living in
Middlebury, where he located in 1817, w^as the owner of 58 acres
of uneven and rather swampy land, running from near the present
southwest corner of South Main and Exchange streets, south-
wardly and westwardly, covering w^hat is now known as the
Lower Basin, and that portion of the canal at and immediately
above and below Lock One. Gen, Perkins requested Mr. Brown to
donate to the State the right of way through this land for the
canal. This, Mr. Brown, being a mechanic with but limited
means, could not afford to do, but would sell it to Gen. Perkins
and let him do the donating. The General then made hifn an
offer, giving him the option of four different tracts of land for his
58 acres ; 45 acres in the eastern part of Portage tow^nship, 30 rods
wide on Middlebury street, and running north to the middle of the
Little Cuyahoga River; 100 acres a little west of the homestead of
the late Col. Simon Perkins ; 150 acres further west or 300 acres in
an adjoining county; and, to the General's great surprise, Mr.
Brow^n took him on the 45 acres, it being a portion of the same
farm on w^hich he ever afterw^ards resided, and as the sequel
proved, it w^as a good trade for both of them,
"AKRON," HOW AND WHY SO NAMED.
There already existed a tortuous public highway from the
northeast to the southwest portions of the State, running from
Warren via Ravenna, Franklin Mills (now Kent), Stow Corners,
Cuyahoga Falls, Old Forge, Middlebury, New Portage and John-
'AKRON, HOW AND WHY SO NAMED.
35
son's Corners to Wooster, Mount Vernon, etc. This road ran
substantially w^here Middlebury street, since changed to Buchtel
avenue, now is, as far w^est as Broadw^ay, thence striking
diagonally towards, but a little north of what is now Kxchange
street, and, after crossing the valley and circling somew^hat
around to the south, again striking the present Bxchange street
line near its junction with Maple ; thence rising the hill near the
Perkins residence, and continuing on southwesterly towards New
Portage.
r^HARLES W. BROWN,— born Oct.
v-^ 2, 1796, in North Stonington,
Conn.; district school education ;
learning- carpienter's trade, in 1817
came on foot to Ohio, reaching
Middlebury, 700 miles, February 28,
Mrs. Brown, nee Miss Henrietta Hal-
sey, to whom he was married June 9,
1810, arriving- in the following Au-
g-ust, by ox-team ; lived in Middlebury
15 years, working- at his trade, mean-
time purchasing the 115 acre farm
upon which he resided from 1832
until his death, at the present Junc-
tion of East Market street and Buch-
tel avenue, dividing his time between
farming and jobbing at his trade,
opening streets, building bridges,
etc., among others opening Market
and Main streets, building the Stone
<late Baptist) Church, the High (Jen-
nings) School biiilding, etc. Though
a inan of peace, he took an active
part in earl}^ local military matters,
holding a lieutenant's commission
for five years. Mr. Brown was the
father of five daughters and one son
— Mary, wife of Edward F. Pulsifer, of
Chicago ; Prudence, wife of John W.
Sabin, of Akron, (both deceased),
Antoinette, wife of Benjamin Mc-
Naughton, of Akron ; Eucy, wife of
Robert P. Henry, of Akron,who died in
CHARLES
BROWX.
1850 ; Alice, now Mrs. William H. Mills,
of Akron, and Capt. Henry H. Brown,
of Akron. Mrs. Brown dying Septem-
ber 23, 1859, Mr. B. was again married
on May 14, 1864, to Mrs. Lydia Will-
iams, of Connecticut, who died Sep-
tember 6, 1865, Mr. Brown himself
dying June 1, 1888, at the age of 91
years, 7 months and 29 days.
The new village w^as named ''Akron" at the suggestion of
Charles Olcott, Esq., of Medina, from a Greek virord signifying
"high," this being the highest point of land on the line of the
canal between Lake Erie and the Ohio River. It is not, however,
as is popularly supposed, the highest land in the State, though no
other point in Ohio, probably, can boast of a location that, through
the fresh and living w^aters gushing from its summit, daily
replenishes the Atlantic ocean at two separate points more than
two thousand miles apart, the northern outflow from our own
beautiful Summit Lake reaching the ocean through the Cuyahoga
river. Lake Erie, the Niagara river. Lake Ontario and the river
and Gulf of St. Law^rence; w^hile from its southern outlet its w^aters
find their way to the ocean through the Tuscarawas, the Muskin-
gum, the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers, and the Gulf of
Mexico.
Apropos of the name of "Akron," Gen. Perkins was greatly
chaffed, by his Warren neighbors, while he was engaged in laying
out his new town in w^hat they regarded a very forbidding locality.
36
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
and many ludicrous names were suggested, one of his most
persistent teasers being Judge Calvin Pease, grandfather of our
well known citizen, Calvin Pease Humphrey, Bsq., and after
whom the latter was named. Judge Pease was a fine scholar,
and had suggested a number of classical names, with the most
ridiculous definitions, and in consulting with Mr, Olcott, also a
fine classical scholar. Gen. Perkins told him that he wanted a
name that would not only represent the topographical position
of the tow^n, but one, also, that Judge Pease could not perpetrate a
pun upon. After having adopted the name selected by Mr. Olcott,
on his return to Warren he was accosted by Judge Pease with:
"Well, General, have you named your new. village yet?" "Yes,"
said the General, "we've named it Akron." "Ach-e-ron! Ach-e-
ron!" said the Judge thoughtfully. "Ah, yes, I see! Ach-e-ron —
river in hell, hej^? A»very appropriate name indeed!"" Classical
scholars, asWell as those familiar ^with the original "lay o' the
land" hereabouts, will at once see the aptness of this retort.
In this connection, also, it may properly be mentioned that
Akron's christener, Charles Olcott, more than 65 years ago,
invented and built the model of an iron ship, which he in vain
urged upon the public authorities to adopt; a style of ship now in
common use without the bestowal of a thought upon the original
inventor.
HON. CHARLES SUMNER, born
in Roxbury, Massachusetts,
June 6, 1794 ; common school edu-
cation ; came to Middlebnry, (now
Akron, Sixth Ward), in spring of 1817,
and was married the following- June
to Miss Clarissa Hart, daughter of
Rufus Hart, w^ho settled in Middle-
biirj' in 1815 ; in earlj' life worked at
the clothier's trade, and officiated as
minister of the gosi^el of the Baptist
faith, his quite extensive congrega-
tion being- greatlj^ decimated and
altogether broken up by sickness and
death during the building- of the
Ohio Canal. Enterprising and suc-
cessful, he purchased a large tract
of land in Springfield township,
raising and dealing in stock, and
taking large droves of horses, cattle
mules, etc., over the mountains. In
1834 he moved upon the farm and
built the fine stone mansion, where
the daughter, Miss A. Louise Sumner,
now resides. He was Associate
Judge for Portage countj" nine years,
and on the organization of Summit
Count}'^, 1840, was made one of its
first Associate Judg^es, which posi-
tion he held until his death, June 22,
184.5, at the age of 51 years and 16
days, Mrs. Sumner dying March 3,
HON. CHARLES SUMNER.
*1872, aged 75 years, 10 months and
25 days. The daughter. Miss Louise,
has never married, and is managing-
the fine estate left by her parents
with admirable judgment, liberality
and beneficence.
SOME ANCIENT LANDMARKS.
At that time the only hotels, or taverns as they were then
called, west of Middlebury, within the territory now embraced in
Summit County, on the Warren and Wooster road, were those of
SOME EARLY LANDiMARKS.
37
Joshua King, a log structure, on the present site of County
Surveyor Charles E. Perkins' residence, in the T\^est part of the
city; a story and a-half frame building nearly opposite, on the
east, kept by Pliny Wilcox; the tw^o story frame house of Henry
Clark, at New Portage ; and one or two wayside inns at or near
Johnson's Corners; for houses of "entertainment for man and
beast," of rather a primitive character, were to be found at most of
the township centers, and at frequent intervals along all the
public thoroughfares, in those early days. On the Smith road
also, leading from Old Portage to Medina, on the line between
Copley and Bath, besides two or three others further w^est, was
the notable and somewhat notorious "Latta's Tavern," kept by
one William Latta, at what was then called "Latta's Corners,"
afterwards for many years known as "Kills' Corners," but which
is now known as the village of Montrose. The original building,
substantially as first constructed, is still doing duty as a hotel.
But of this hotel and others, and their earl}^ proprietors, more
anon.
KOSWELL AXI) ELIZA KENT.
ROSWELL KENT, borti in Eeydeii, Massaclmsetts, Ma)' 18, 1798; removing-
with his parents to Hudson, Ohio, about the j-ear 1812; educational
iidvantag-es quite limited ; at majoritj' entered store of his brother Zenas
(father of Hon. Marvin Kent, of Kent), at Ravenna. About 1820, he estab-
lished a store in Middleburv-, (now Akron, Sixth Ward), for his brother and
Capt. Heman Oviatt, of Hudson, buying- out the concern about 1826, and
continuing the business on his own accotuit for several 3ears. He then
<?ngaged in the manufacture of woolen machinerj-, as a member of the firm
of Irish, Kent & McMillan, afterwards Irish. Kent & Baldwin, later changed
to Kent. Baldwin & Co., which he followed until his death, July 19, 1871. Mr.
Kent was married to Miss Eliza Hart, daughter of Joseph and Annie
(Hotchkiss) Hart, the first settlers in Middlebury (1807), wdio was born
August 0, 1808, being the first white child born within the present limits of
Akron and the third born in Tallmadge township. Seven children were
born to Mr. and Mrs. Kent, three of whom. only, are living -Ella K., now Mrs.
Finlev McNaughton, of Youngstown; Russell H., Secretary and Treasurer
of the Akron Stoneware Company; and Flora K., now Mrs. T. S. Page, of
Toledo. Mrs Kent is still living in the enjoyment of reasonably good
health, at the ripe age of over 83 years.
38
AKRON AND vSUMMIT COUNTY.
The farm house of Paul Williams, a one story frame building,
on the laying out of the new village, was found to stand in about
the center of South Broadway, a little south of Middlebury street,
and was accordingly moved a few rods to the eastward, where, as
the well known Babcock house, it still stands, in a remarkably
fair state of preservation. The first building erected in the new
village, however, was the tavern of Henry Clark, on the northeast
corner of South Main and Exchange streets, the main portion of
w^hich building still stands upon the same site. Up to the
occupation of this house, in the latter part of the Summer of 1825,
the largely augmented hotel business of the vicinage, pertaining
to canal operations, was transacted in Middlebury, the letting of
the contracts from Cleveland to Summit Lake, having been made
at Chittenden's hotel, early in June of that year; sections further
south being let at other convenient points along the line of the
canal during the same month.
nrnoMAs Norton,— bom in
A Oneida Co., N. Y., April 6, 1806;
same year parents moved to Ohio,
first to Smithfield, Trumbull County,
and in 1809, to Tahmadg-e, the father,
Peter Norton, in 1813, purchasing- 200
acres of land, in Springiield township
adjacent to the village of Middlebury,
on a portion of which Mr. Norton
still lives, though somewhat physi-
cally infirm, in full possession of his
mental faculties, at the age of nearly
86 years. Mr. Norton was married
January 10, 1847, to Miss Hannah M.
Coney, born in Stark County, April
13, 1812. Of their two daughters,
Martha M. was married, June 2, 1873,
to Mr. Theodore Johns, a former
Middlebury boy, now a prosperous
shoe merchant in Des Moines, Iowa,
and Mary P. is now the wife of Mr.
Joseph Cook, a prominent manufac-
turer of Akron, whose portrait and
biography will be found elsewhere,
Mr. and Mrs. Cook now occupying
the old homestead, and kindlj^ min-
istering; to the care and comfort of
Father Norton, in his declining years.
THOMAS NORTON.
Mrs. Norton having- died at the home
of her daughter in Des Moines, Iowa,
August 7, 1886 in the 7Bth year of her
ag-e.
A DISTINGUISHED VISITOR.
Though some work had previously been done by the con-
tractors in this vicinity, the formal breaking of ground took place
at Licking Summit, near Newark, on the 4th of July, 1825, DeWitt
Clinton, the projector and "Patron Saint" of the Erie Canal,
performing the ceremony, aided by the then Governor of Ohio^
Hon. Jeremiah Morrow, amid great rejoicing by the assembled
thousands, with booming of cannon, beating of drums, and other
characteristic oratorical and gustatorical festivities of those early
times. The distinguished New Yorker, and his retinue of traveling
companions and servants, came to Buffalo by the Erie Canal;
from Buffalo to Cleveland via Lake Erie, and from Cleveland to
Middlebury in stage coaches. Remaining over night at Chitten-
RAPID GROWTH OF THE NEW VILLAGE.
39
den's hotel, early on the morning of July 2nd, in the private
carriages of Mr. Chittenden and Mr. John McMillen, they started
for Newark, our lately deceased 91-year-old fellow citizen, Talmon
Beardsley, Esq., officiating as the driver of Mr. Chittenden's team.
XALMON BEARDSLEY,~born in
J- Delhi, Delaware Co., N.Y., De-
cember 15, 171K) ; in 1810 moved with
parents to Licking- Co., Ohio, settling
on wild land which Talmon helped to
clear and cultivate, attending school
about three months per year ; in Sum-
mer of 1818, walked to Middlebury
(now Akron, Sixth Ward) finding em-
ployment in the okl i uyahoga Fur-
nace of Laird & Norton, going to school
part of the time ; in 1819, entered the
employ of Henry Chittenden, hotel
keeper, farmer, canal contractor, etc.,
with whom he continued 14 years ;
October 27, 1831, was married to Miss
Temperance Spicer, fourth daughter
of Major Miner Spicer, settling upon
a 75 acre farm near Middlebury,
selling that in 1833 and purchasing
100 acres in Coventry, now largely
embraced within the city limits of
Akron, which he brought up to a
high degree of cultivation, and upon
which they lived until 1864, when
they removed to Akron. Their five
children are Ann, wife of Mr. George
W. Hart, of Cuyahoga Falls ; Mills H.,
hotel keeper at Green River, Utah;
Avery S., now residino- at Adrian,
Mich.; Harriet, wife of Gates A. Bab-
cock, now living in Fremont, Ohio;
Louisa D., wife of Mr. Geo. Stover, of
TALMON BEARDSLEY.
Canal Fulton, Ohio. In 1889 Mr. and
Mrs. Beardsley went to reside with
Mr. and Mrs. Stover, where Mrs. B,
died April 20, 1891, aged 83 years, 6
months and 5 days, Mr. Beardsley
dying July 18, 1891, aged 91 years, 7
months and 3 days.
THE SECOND BUILDING.
Soon after the commencement of work upon the canal and
locks at this point, and following closely upon the erection of the
hotel of Henry Clark, a man named Benedict built a two-story
frame store, on the southw^est corner of Main and Exchange
streets, w^hich was for many years, under successive proprietors,
known as the " Mammoth Store." From this time on, lots in the
new village sold quite rapidly, and a considerable number of
residences and shops were erected for the accommodation of the
large number of contractors and operatives required to build the
canal, and construct the locks and bridges in this vicinity. The
lower lands of what is now called North Akron, being thickly
dotted over with log and slab shanties, inhabited mostly by Irish
laborers upon the canal, was christened, and for many j'-ears
retained, the historic name of "Dublin." Thus, by the time the
canal Avas finished, in 1827, the village had, including its Dublin
suburb, a population of perhaps two hundred souls, embracing
merchants, lawyers, doctors, mechanics, laborers, and "gentlemen
of leisure," of which latter class, more anon. The more substan-
tial improvements w^ere on the east side of the canal, on Main and
Exchange streets, several of the original structures still standing
where they w^ere then erected, though one or two grocery stores
40
AKROX AND SUMMIT COUNTY
and two freight warehouses v^ere soon afterv^ards located upon
the w^est side of the canal, one of the latter at the head of Lock
One, still standing, and the other on the north side of the bridge, a
Avarehouse also being located on the east side of the lower basin,
about where the Brewster coal chutes are now.
INCREASE SUMNER,— son of
J- Thomas and P^lizabeth (Holland)
Sumner, was born in Townshend,
Vt.. Februar}' 2.1, 18(X) ; at 16, came to
Pittsburg-, where he worked for a
time at nail-making, when he came
to Middlebur3 , where his brother
Charles was then living, where he
early became prominent in business
affairs, engaging in milling, mer-
chandising, contracting, etc., build-
ing many of the bridges and dams
in Akron, besides doing considerable
stone work on the Ohio Canal. In
1849, as Captain and Treasurer of the
"Middlebur3' Mining CoinpanjV' he
Avent, by ox-team, overland to Cali-
fornia, where, mining and merchan-
dising, he remained nearl}- three
3'ears. On his return to Middlebury,
he engaged in farming, but later
sold his farm and opened a stone-
quarry and engaged in contracting
stone work until his death, November
18. 1868, at the age of 68 j-ears. 8
months and 23 days. March 19, 1837,
Mr. Sumner was married to Mrs.
Elizabeth (Hammel) Miller, a native
of Ithaca, N. Y., born September 21,
1812, her first husband, Arthur Miller,
to whom she was married Januar}'
29, 1827, having died of consumption,
at Pautuxet, R. I., whither he had
INCREASE SUMNER.
gone in hopes of recovering his
health, Jidj- KJ, 1830, leaving two
children, since deceased. Mrs. Sum-
ner, in comfortable health and cir-
cumstances, still survives.
The first regular boat to navigate the waters of the Ohio
Canal was called the "Ohio." It was built upon the east side of
the lower basin, about where Jackson Sc Lyman's planing mill now
stands, according to the recollection of the late George Dailey, of
Cuyahoga Falls, l)y Alexander and Edward Wheeler, the hulk of
the ancient craft now lying in the mud in a small cove in the
berme bank of the canal near the residence of the late James
Robinson, of Coventry. It was launched on the 27th daj^ of June,
1827, and, after receiving a few finishing touches, and its furniture,
commissary stores, etc., on the third day of July, under command
of Captain Henry Richards, an experienced navigator from the
Erie Canal, started, with a full load of passengers, amid the
huzzas of the multitude, the firing of cannon, etc., for Cleveland,
to participate the next day in the dual celebration of the Nation's
birthday — the glorious Fourth — and the arrival of the first boat
from the "port" of Akron, via the new canal. The late John C.
Stearns, of Copley, claims to have been steersman of the "Ohio,"
on its initial excursion trip, while Northampton claims for the
late Job Harrington, of that township, the honor of having
propelled said craft from Akron to Cleveland and back, with his
own team of substantial farm horses.
DR. CROS?BY A^'I) HIS " DITCH.
41
DK. CKOSBY.
Doctor Eliakim Crosby, to whom
Akron is more largely indebted
for its manufacturing existence than
to any other one man, was born
in Litchfield, Conn., March 2, 1779.
He was educated and for some time
engaged in teaching in and about
Litchfield. In 1806, he went to Buf-
falo, where he read medicine with a
Dr. Chapin, allopathic, though in the
early forties he embraced, and for
a while practiced, the homeopathic
system of medicine. About 1808 or
1809 he went to Simcoe, Canada,
where he was married to Miss Marcia
Beemer in 1810. In the war of 1812,
Dr. Crosby entered the service of the
United States as a surgeon in the army, in consequence of Avhich
his property in Canada was confiscated by that government. In
1820 he removed with his family to Ohio, locating in the then
enterprising village of Middlebury. Though giving some attention
to the practice of medicine, he soon became interested in the
various enterprises of the time, in connection w^ith Mr. Henry
Chittenden taking a contract upon the canal, betw^een Bethlehem
and Zoar, and for furnishing 16,000 bushels of water-lime for the
construction of locks in 1826-7. Previous to the completion of
these contracts, Dr. Crosby purchased of Mr. Ralph Plum the
Cuj^ahoga Furnace property, originally erected by Aaron Norton
and \Vm. Laird in 1817, on the present site of the Seiberling
flouring mill. This purchase included the property on the opposite
side of the Canton road, for many years past known as the "Aunt
Betsy Stewart homestead," the doctor removing his family into
the small frame house erected by Mr, Plum, and now doing
service as a horse barn and carriage house.
This furnace, originally devoted to the smelting of such iron
ores as were found in the vucinity, was, by Dr. Crosby, largely
devoted to the manufacture of plows and sundry other agricultural
and household articles in demand at that time. The furnace was
at this time run by water power from a dam across the Little
Cuyahoga river, near the present woolen and felt works. A year
or two later Dr. Crosby sold the furnace property, including his
dwelling house, to the Stewart brothers, Arnold, Isaac and Daniel
B. The Doctor then bought the sawmill property, near the dam,
and by securing the control of the river above, built a dam three-
fourths of a mile further up, and by race and flume, secured a better
head of water, both for the furnace property, his saw mill and
the large two-story grist mill which he erected where the felt
works now stand; building for himself, in the meantime, a new-
dwelling house on or near the present site of the Kent
school house. After running these mills a year or two Dr. Crosby
sold his mill property to the late Increase Sumner, who also
opened a store in the business portion of the village, both of
which, finding himself financially embarrassed, Mr. Sumner trans-
ferred to his two brothers, Kdward and Charles, in 1832.
42 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
The Doctor now got his practical eye upon "bigger game,"^
and by his mysterious maneuvers led certain property owners to
believe that he was endeavoring to divert the business of the
town to a point further down the stream, towards or below the
Old Forge, and a combination was entered into by which it Avas
sought to dam the river at, or near, w^hat is now known as the
"White Grocery," and from thence conduct the w^ater through
Blue Pond to a point near where the Akron Sew^er Pipe vt^orks
now" stand, thus creating a w^ater power that Avould overshadow
anything that the Doctor could command lower dow^n the stream.
That eminent hydraulic t^ngineer. Col. Sebried Dodge, (afterwards
ow^ning and living upon, until his death, w^hat is known as the
"Dodge farm," three miles south^west of Akron) w^as emploj^ed by
the syndicate to make the surveys, and both loud and frequent
were the boasts made to the Doctor that they would head him off,
to all of w^hich the Doctor would pleasantly, but significantly
reply: " Gentlemen, ^our scheme w^on't w^ork, but mine w^ill; and
what's more, it will cause the g-rnss to grow inj^our streets, and
make a goose pasture of your toivn."
Thus time passed on, Kngineer Dodge found that ver3^ little^
if any, additional power could be obtained by the plan proposed
than by following the natural course of the stream to the point
designated, and that scheme was abandoned. In the meantime
the Doctor pursued the even tenor of his way, quietly obtaining
control of the river bed and all the lands upon either side, as far
west as the lands of Gen. Perkins, through which the Ohio Canal
had been constructed, when, suddenly, like a peal of thunder
from a clear sky, it burst upon the astonished intellects of the
Middleburghers, that an arrangement had been made betw^een the
Doctor and Gen. Perkins to conduct the entire w^aters of the river,
by means of a race, to be immediately constructed, from the north
part of that village to a point near Lock Fiv^e on the Ohio Canal,
from w^hence they could be used over and over again, as far as
Lock Seventeen, for milling and manufacturing purposes.
This w^as in 1831. The surveys being completed, a large force
of men -was at once set to work constructing the race, a consider-
able portion of w^hich, from about opposite the present Fair
Grounds to Summit street, had to be quarried from the solid rock.
The next year, 1832, the building then, and ever since knowrn a&
the " Stone Mill," at Lock Five was begun ; both the race and the mill
being completed and running early in 1833. The lands purchased
by Dr. Crosby were consolidated with the 300 acre tract, so-called,
belonging to Gen. Perkins, and by those gentlemen, and Judge
Leicester King, of Warren, who had in the meantime purchased a
one-third interest in the enterprise, had been platted into streets,
lots, etc., and quite a good many lots sold and improved, though
the plat was not put to record until the 10th day of August, 1833;
the new plat covering the territory between North street, on the
north, and the " gore," so called, (Quarry, Bowery and West
Center streets) on the south, and Summit street upon the east,
and Oak and Walnut streets upon the w^est. It was said, with
how^ much truth the writer cannot say, though with a strong
shade of probability^, that to prevent observation and the miscar-
riage of his designs, the Doctor did much of his surveying and
the running of his levels for his contemplated race, by moonlight,
THE NEW VILLAGE OF "CASCADE." 43
as all of his movements had to be made on the sly, until after the
control of the river bed had been secured by the purchase of
contiguous lands on either side.
As a sample of some of the difficulties encountered and over-
come, some 15 acres off from the north end of the 45 acre tract
deeded by Gen. Perkins to Mr. Charles W, Brown, as before stated,
being needed for the race, and the control of the waters of the
river, and suspecting that the Doctor's designs Avere deeper than
was apparent upon their surface, Mr. Brown drove so sharp a
bargain with him that 57 acres of much better land, immediately
adjoining him upon the east, was obtained from the Doctor for the
smaller parcel needed. Also upon the north side of the Little
Cuyahoga river was a 300 acre farm belonging to Mr. William
Phelps, a small corner of which ran down into the bed of the
stream, and which had to be secured before the waters could be
diverted from their natural channel. This acre or two Mr. Phelps
would not sell at any price, unless they would take the entire farm
at the exorbitant price, for those days, of $14,000 in gold. An
option for a certain number of days having been obtained by
Judge King, late in the afternoon of the last day of the option the
Judge appeared at the Phelps mansion >vith the coin. On
inquiring for Mr. Phelps, the Judge was informed that he w^as
aw^ay from home, but could get no information as to where he had
gone nor how soon he would be back. " Very well," said the Judge,
" I'll Avait for him," and wait he did until near midnight, when he
took the bag of gold from his pocket and began counting it out
and piling it upon the table, and then and there made a tender of
the sum agreed upon to Mrs. Phelps, as the representative of her
husband. After the midnight hour had passed Phelps came forth
from his hiding, but refused to receive the money, claiming that
the time of the option was up; thinking perhaps, that by holding
off he could extort from them still higher figures. Finally a day
or two later, on the advice of Mr. Brown, he executed a deed to
Judge King, and took his money, a portion of w^hich he invested in
farming lands in Wadsworth, Medina County.
*THE NEW VILLAGE OF "CASCADE."
As indicated by the name given to Dr. Crosby's "ditch" — the
"Cascade Mill Race," — the embryo rival to the ancient village of
Middlebury and the original town of Akron,. w^as at first called
"Cascade," though it was finally platted under the name of Akron.
Hence the first store on the site now occupied by Hall's block,
corner of Market and Howard streets, erected by Mr. Seth Iredell
(father of our present fellow citizen, Robert S. Iredell) in 1832, was
called the "Cascade Store," while the first hotel, erected the same
year, by James Baldwin (father of Capt. Aaron P. Baldwin) and
Lewis Kilbourn (father of William W. Kilbourn, of 212 East
Exchange street), was called the "Cascade House;" and for several
years, both at home and abroad, the snappy and prosperous new
village was known as "Cascade," rather than by its platted and
ultimately well-established cognomen of Akron.
About simultaneously with the building of the race and the
Stone Mill, two blast furnaces had been erected at the North End
— the " .^tna," near Lock Twelve, by Parsons, DuBois & Co., (L. M.
44
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUXTY.
Parsons, Robert K. DuBois and William Slater) succeeded early
in 1833 by Hart, DuBois & Co., (William J, Hart, Robert K. DuBois
and David J. Garrett) and the " Portage," on the present site of
Dr. J. H. Peterson's Assembly Hall, by Fenn & Howard, (Jonathan
F. Fenn and Charles W. Howard), the blast of the former run by
the waters of the Cascade Mill race, and that of the latter by the
waters of Wilcox run (the cemetery brook) brought in a race and
Avooden flume from a little above the cemetery lodge and crossing
West Market street, at its present junction with Cherry street.
About the same time, also, Messrs. David and Jesse Allen and
Col. Reuben McMillan, under the firm name of Aliens & McMillan
erected a three-story frame building, a little southwest of what is
now known as the Allen Mills, where they entered largely into
the manufacture of carding and spinning machines, for which
there was quite a demand in those early days. This factory was,
a few years later, converted into a flouring mill by Messrs. Joseph
A. Beebe (our late City Librarian) and William E. Wright, (late of
Rome, N. Y.,) and was called the "Center Mill," and though it long
years ago gave place to the Allen Mills, the most excellent brand
of flour, called "Center Mills," is still a favorite with many of our
citizens.
TESSE ALLEN,— sixth son of Jesse
J Allen, senior, one of the pioneers
of Coventr}^, was born in Tompkins
Co., N. Y., May 1, 18()7, removing- with
familj^ to Ohio in 1811. Though his
education was limited he was remark-
ably intelligent, and early acquired
prominence in business, social and
political circles. In boyhood worked
on farm, later learning tlie trade of a
stone cutter, at which he became
quite expert, especially in carving,
lettering, etc. About 1833, with his
brother, David, and the late Reuben
McMillan, he erected a large three-
story building, west of the present
barrel-house of the Allen Mills, and
engaged in the manufacture of vs^ool-
carding and spinning machinerj'. On
the retirement of Mr. McMillan, three
years later, D. and J. Allen erected
the shop on the west side of Lock 7,
now embraced in the Akron Building
and Cabinet Companj^'s plant. Mr.
David Allen djang December 6, 1842.
at the age of 42 3'ears and 4 days, the
original shop having meantime been
converted into the well-remembered
Center Mill, Mr. Allen, in connection
with other members of the family,
engaged in milling, later, with his
brothers Jacob and Hiram, and the
late Jedediah D. Commins, engag^ing
in the. manufacture of satinets, in the
JESSE ALLEN.
building now known as the Allen
Mills, the change from cloth to flour
being made in 1856, in which business
he continued until his death, Sept.
24, 18(i3. at the age of 5(3 years, 4
months 23 days. Mr. Allen served
three years as member of the Village
Council — 1837-38-44. He never mar-
ried.
PIONEER MERCHANTS, HOTEL KEEPERS, ETC.
In 1832, Jonathan F. Fenn and Charles W. Howard, (son-in-
law of Dr. Crosby), placed a stock of general merchandise in the
store which had been erected by Mr, Seth Iredell as above stated,
BANK CHAKTEK APPLIED FOR.
45
but that firm having failed, in the Spring of 1835 the building was
leased to Mr. P. D. Hall, and, as lessee and owner, the stand has
been continuously occupied by that gentleman to the present
time. The "Cascade" House was opened by Mr. Willard W.
Stevens, (now^ living At Tontogany, Wood County, Ohio), and
kept by that gentleman until the Fall of 1834, when the lease was
transferred to our present venerable fellow citizen, and model
landlord, Mr. Charles B. Cobb, who changed its name to the
"Pavilion House." These pioneer hotel, mercantile and manufac-
turing establishments, were rapidly followed by others, so that,
w^hen the w^riter arrived in Akron, June 10, 1835, though the South
End still held the ascendency, in point of imports and sales of
merchandise, shipments of produce, etc., ^ the North End was
rapidly developing its manufacturing and commercial resources,
and in population, also, rapidly approached the former.
/^OL. REUBEN MCMILLAN,— born
^ in Galwaj^ baratoga Co., N. Y.,
May 25, 1799, when young moving
with parents to Lima, Livingston Co.;
soon after coming of age was com-
missioned Colonel of artillery ; Oct.
24, 1824, was married to Miss Orpha
Partridge, of Thetford, Vt., who bore
him six children — Geo. Willis, died
in infancy; Harriet Louisa, now Mrs.
D. E. Hill, of Akron; Lucinda Avis,
late Mrs. Robert Foster, of Minneap-
olis; Caroline Eliza, deceased; George
R. died young; and Frances A., now
Mrs. O. W. Keller, of Montana. In
1832, came to Middlebury and a year
or two later to Akron, engaging with
Messrs. David and Jesse Allen
in the manufacture of carding ma-
chines; in 1836 went to Massillon and
started the same business there. The
works being destroyed by fire, in 184()
he returned to Middlebury and or-
ganized the firm of Kent, Irish & Mc-
Millan, successful manufacturers of
carding and spinning machinery for
many years. Col. McMillan was an
early advocate of the cause of tem-
perance, and an earnest abolitionist,
both by his tongue and pen advo-
cating the doctrines of the "Wilmot
The joint population of the two villages at this time was
probably from 600 to 900, though in the copy of a petition to the
Legislature, now in possession of the writer, dated Decerrtber 18,
1835, for a bank charter for Akron, the committee composed of
James W. Phillips, Kichard Howe, Erastus Torrey, S. A. Wheeler,
Justus Gale, Simon Perkins, Jr., J. D. Commins, R. McMillan and
Seth Iredell, state the population of the town to be between 1,200
and 1,300. It is quite probable, however, that it was intended to
include, in this estimate, the inhabitants of Middlebury and other
adjacent territory, who would be patrons of, and benefited by, the
establishment of a bank in Akron, the entire population of
Portage township, five years later, including Akron, the
"Chuckery," and a portion of Middlebury, being, by the census of
1840, but 2,381.
COL. REUBEN MCMILLAN.
Proviso," and using his personal in-
fluence, in Washington, to secure its
passage; was also an able and intelli-
gent advocate of labor reform and
protection to American manufac-
tures. Mr. McMillan died Nov. 9,
1851, aged 52 years, 5 months, 14 days,
Mrs. McMillan dying March 31, 1887,
aged 83 years. 1 month, 5 days.
46
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
PHILANDER D. HALL,— born at
1 Bridgeport, Conn., Oct. 10, 1806;
educated at Weston Academy; at 20
engaged in teaching at.Saugatuck,
Conn., where he also clerked in dry
goods store a year and a half; return-
ing to Bridgeport, engaged in the
grocery shipping trade and import-
ing West India products; in Summer
of 1834 first visited Akron, and in Maj^
1835, established himself in the gen-
eral merchandise trade, corner of
Howard and Market streets, then
called the "Cascade Store." The
original store, a two-story frame,
being destroyed by fire, February 17,
1851, the present three-story brick
block was erected and occupied
the same season. In 1842 Mr. Hall
was joined in business by his brother
Orlando, who was married to Miss
Sophia R. Towne, December 12, 1854,
and died March 10, 1855, Mr. Hall soon
afterwards associating with himself
his brother Lorenzo, under the firm
name of "Hall Brothers," which ar-
rangement still continues. Mr. Hall
was married December 30, 1841, to Miss
Martha McElhinney, of Allegheny
Citj'', Pa., who died in New York, Feb-
ruary 20, 1889, Mr. Hall in 1857 having
PHILANDER D. HALL.
established his family residence in
that city, dividing his time between
travel and purchasing supplies for
his firm, though at frequent intervals
giving his personal attention to bus-
iness and property interests here.
INTENSE AND BITTF:R RIVALRY.
The completion of the Cascade Mill race, the starting of the
Stone Mill, and other business enterprises resulting therefrom,
soon culminated in a very bitter triangular rivalry between
Middlebury and the two Akrons, and especially between the North
and South Akronites. The ancient emporium had struggled
bravely to prevent the diminution of its business by the establish-
ment of a rival village at the Summit, and for the reason that the
former, through its water pow^er, possessed superior manufac-
turing advantages, w^as for a time fairly successful in holding its
OAvn, if not, in fact, slowly advancing. But this new^ rival —
Cascade — was an impending calamity to be fought to the bitter
end by both the Middleburghers and Southenders; for the Doctor's
"goose pasture" prediction, in regard to the former, was not only
likely to be speedily and literally fulfilled, but South Akron, also,
was in imminent danger of sharing the same fate. Hence, when
the denizens of the former could no longer retain all the trade
from. the south and east, they would use their best endeavors to
turn it towards the south end, representing the inhabitants of
"Cascade" as being a set of cut-throats, and the village itself as
reeking with pestilential niiasms that it would be dangerous to
encounter, even for an hour. These representations were also
persistently promulgated by the Southenders, and every possible
device adopted to keep the people of the country from visiting the
lower village. At the forks of the road, at the intersection of East
Market and Middlebury streets, the Southenders erected, upon the
south side of the road, a guide board, pointing towards that village,
bearing the inscription " Akron, 1 mile J|@°"." This was imitated by
hg Northenders, the board pointing tow^ards that village also
CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES.
47
reading "Akron, 1 mileg^"." This was speedily demolished by
the Southenders, followed almost as speedily, by the destruction
of their own board by the irate Northenders. Both of these
boards were several times replaced with like results, and several
personal collisions took place between the parties detailed to
guard the boards in question. At length a compromise was
effected, said boards being inscribed "South Akron" and "North
Akron" respectively; after which, so far as the guide board
contest was concerned, there was a cessation of hostilities ; but, as
will be seen further on, the "cruel war" was bv no means over.
pOL. JUSTUS GALE, — born in
v-y Guilford, Vt., January 14, 1798;
June 23, 1823, was married to Miss
Sarah Hyde, who was born in Guil-
ford, April 26, 1802; in July, 1833 remov-
ed to Akron, as a member of the firm of
Pulsifer, Gale & Austin, establishing-
a store on the east side of South
Main street, near Exchange, and a
year later the pioneer tin-shop in
North Akron, and erecting- a dwelling
house on the southeast corner of
Howard and Mill streets, later erect-
ing a cupola furnace and engaging
extensively in stoves, hollow-ware,
plows, etc. Col. Gale was active in
all public enterprises, an earnest
promoter of the cause of education;
was one of the trustees of Akron's
first high school project in 1837; was
several times member of the Village
Council, and one of the most influen-
tial promoters of the New County
project— 1835 to 1843. Col. Gale died
June 28, 1847, aged 49 years, 5 months,
14 days. Mr. and Mrs. Gale were the
parents of six children — Lucy Jane,
afterwards married to the late John
H. Chamberlain, now Mrs. Alexander
Brewster; Sarah Hyde, the first Mrs.
Frank Adams, died in 1863, aged 35;
Frances Harriet, died May 10, 1845,
aged 16; Ann Elizabeth, now Mrs.
COh. JUSTUS GALE.
Theodoric Balch, Henry Clay,
farmer on West Exchange street; and
Mary Gertrude, widow of the late
James C. McNeil, whose portrait and
biography appear elsewhere. Mrs.
Gale, in full possession of all her
faculties, now in her 90th year, still
survives.
SOME OTHER EARLY HOTELS.
On my arrival in Akron, June 10, 1835, besides the "Clark
Hotel," then kept by Mr. Lewis Humiston, who was also at that
time Akron's postmaster, there w^as a two-story frame tavern,
directly east, on Kxchange street, kept by Dr. Rufus Pierce, and a
new two-story and a half frame, the Summit House, on West
Exchange street, kept by "Col." Lyman Green, afterwards from
about 1839 to 1845 by Samuel Edgerly, father of Mr. Charles H.
Edgerly and Mrs. Sarah M. E. Battels, Mr. Edgerly being a
charter member of Akron Lodge, No. 83, F. & A. M., and dying
in this city in 1852, while at the North end, besides the Pavilion
House, kept by Mr, Charles B. Cobb, a three-story brick hotel,
called the "Ohio Exchange," on the present site of Woods' Block,
corner Market and Main streets, -was completed and occupied by
Gen. Duthan Northrop, of Medina, the same year. While it is not
my design to name all the buildings, public and private, that then
48
AKKON AND vSUMMIT COUNTY,
composed the two rival, and in fact, bitterly hostile, villages,,
since, with the pioneer village of Middlebur3% now bravely over its
"goose pasture" stage of existence, consolidated into one compact,
harmonious and enterprising city, I have been thus particular in
regard to those early hotels, because of the prominent part the}',
and their proprietors, and some of their patrons, will pla}^ as
"dramatis persomxi" in the scenes and events to be recorded in
these chapters.
JULIUS A. SUMNER, born in
J Townshend, Vt., January 2, 1802;
educated in common school ; at 14
started out for himself, going- first
to Boston, then on foot to Huntington,
Pa., and soon to Pittsburg, working-
in nail factory ; at 16 taught school
one year ; in 1818 engaged with father
and brother in the manufacture of
bar and strap iron and nails in Mid-
dleburj' ; also making frequent trips
east, over the mountains with horses
and cattle; later carrying on a large
farm, potter}- and distiller3% near
Mogadore, and in the middle forties,
erecting a large distillery at Lock
Seventeen, and keeping Akron's prin-
cipal hotel, the Ohio Exchange, on
the present site of Woods' block, and
quite an extensive store on the oppo-
site side of the street ; later building
Empire block, adjoining the Empire
Hotel on the west, and the large
hotel and opera house building, cor-
ner of Howard and Tallmadge streets.
Though from time to time meeting
with heavy losses bj- fire, Mr. Sumner
w^as phenomenall}^ prosperous dur-
ing a long business career, dj-ing June
20, 1882, at the age of 80 years, 5 months
and 18 days. In 1824 Mr. Sumner was
married to Miss Margaret New-
comb, of Wadsworth, who bore him
six children — Charles A. (now of
Detroit), Mary (now Mrs. C.Ferguson,
of Akron, Sixth Ward), Nellie (Mrs.
JtXIUS A. SUM>'ER.
J. B. Houghton, now deceased), Eliza
(Mrs. E. S. Stillwell, of Coventry),
Albert A. (deceased) and Victoria
(Mrs. George S. Clark, Akron). Mrs.
Sumner dying in 1849, in 18.^3 Mr.
Sumner was again married to the
widow of Heman A. Bradlej', who-
died October 18, 1880.
-^5igi2,.Sigi9^
AKRON IXCOKPORATED. 49
CHAPTER II.
AKKOX INCOKPOKATEI) FIRST CHARTER ELECTIOxN -EARLY MAYORS— THE
FIRST A VENERABLE AND WEALTHY, BUT WORLDLY-MINDED QUAKER -
THE SECOND AN IMPECUNIOUS, BUT TALENTED FARMER-LAWYER "KID**—
UNSUCCESSFUL SPECULATIONS- FORCED INTO BANKRUPTCY— PECULIAR
LAW PRACTICE -PROSECUTED FOR ASSAULT -CHIEF JUSTICE DAVID K.
CARTTER. ATTORNEY FOR THE STATE "MOVING" DEFENSE— IxXDEPENDENT
CANDIDATE—ELECTED BY THE " KIDS "—SUCCESSFUL ADMINISTRATION-
RE-ELECTED— PROSPEROUS FARMER -SUBSEQUENT MAYORS, ETC.
ACT OF INCORPORATION.
^^HE two villages, North and South Akron, having for the time
J- being placed their antagonisms in abeyance, in the Winter of
1835-36, jointly petitioned the General Assembly of the State of
Ohio for a town charter, which was duly granted on the 12th day
of March, 1836. The territory described in the charter, comprised
of portions of both Portage and Coventry townships, embraced the
territory within the recent north, west and south corporation lines,
and a line upon the east starting a short distance east of the south
end of Spicer street, and running northerly, diagonally crossing
Spicer street a short distance south of the old Spicer homestead,
through Fir street to the north corporation line, a little east of Lock
Sixteen, and containing about three and one-fourth square miles of
land.
By the terms of the charter it was provided that the first elec-
tion for the new corporation should be held on the second Tuesda}'
of June, 1836, at the usual place of holding elections in the town-
ship of Portage, commencing between 9 and 10 o'clock in the fore-
noon and closing at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, " white male inhab-
itants " having resided in said town for the period of six months,
and having the qualifications of electors for members of the Gen-
eral Assembly, only, being allowed to vote.
This initial election was held at the tavern of Asa Larned (the
old Clark stand on the northeast corner of Main and Exchange
streets), Harvey H. Johnson (lawyer), Rufus Pierce (hotel-keeper),
and Zebulon Jones (shoemaker), acting as judges, and Franklin C,
May (merchant), acting as the clerk of election, being elected KiVe
voce by the electors in attendance, as provided by the charter.
As the time for the election approached, there was, of course,
a good deal of figuring as to candidates, the officers to be elected
being Mayor, Recorder and five Trustees. Not only politics, but ,
sectional interests and predilections, were invoked, both in the
choice of candidates and at the polls. Whigs and Democrats were
the only political parties then in vogue, and the lines, in both gen-
eral and local elections, were usually drawn pretty taut, and the
contests were often very warm, and sometimes extremely bitter.
By this time the voting population of the North End was
rather the stronger, and in the caucuses secured both of the can-
didates for Mayor — Seth Iredell (Whig), and Dr. Eliakim Crosby
(Democrat) — as well as both of tliii candidates for Recorder — Charles
W. Howard (Whig), and Constant Bryan (Democrat). Politically,
the new corporation was pretty evenly balanced, but an analysis
of the vote, for Mayor and Recorder, will show that sectional, rather
50
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY
than political, interest, was the most potent factor in determining
the result. Mr. Iredell was a venerable Pennsylvania Quaker,
a man of liberal means (for those days), and had been thoroughly
identified with the growth and prosperity of the LoAver Town from
its very start, while Dr. Crosby was, in reality, the very father
thereof, by reason of his having projected and successfully com-
pleted the Cascade Mill race, w^hich made the very existence of the
Lower Town possible.
The vote for Mayor stood : Iredell (Whig), 91 ; Crosbj^ (Democrat),
75; clearly indicating that the very fact that the Louver Tow^n
existed through the genius and push of the enterprising Doctor,
compassed his defeat. A like influence is also'seen in the vote for
Recorder; Mr. Howard, (Whig, but son-in-law of Dr. Crosby), receiv-
ing but 75 votes, w^hile his competitor, Mr. Bryan (Democrat),
received 87. The contest for Trustees seems to have been a sort of
"go as you please" scrub race, 16 different persons receiving votes
as follows : Krastus Torrey, 153 ; Jedediah D. Commins, 143 ;
William B. Mitchell, 114; William E. Wright, 88; Justus Gale, 87;
Noah M. Green, 124; Ansel Miller, 23; Robert K. DuBois, 43;
Samuel A. Wheeler, 4 ; Alvah Hand, 3 ; Hiram Payne, 7 ; Eliakim
Crosby, 13 ; Seth Iredell, 3 ; Richard Howe, 1 ; Eber Blodgett,
2 ; and Capt. Howe, 1. Erastus Torrey (South Akron, Whig),
Jedediah D. Commins, (South Akron, Democrat), Noah M. Green,
(South Akron, Whig), William B. Mitchell, (North Akron, Demo-
crat), and William E. Wright, (North Akron, IF72i^),were returned
as duly elected, but Mr. Mitchell declining to qualify, the Council,
at its second meeting, appointed Col. Justus Gale, (of North
Akron, Whig), to fill the vacancy ; the Mayor and Recorder, with
the five Trustees, constituting the Town Council, and five
members constituting a quorum ; Marshal, Treasurer, Engineer,
Solicitor, etc., being appointive offices by the Council.
AKRON'S FIRST MAYOR.
As above stated, Seth Iredell re-
ceived 91 votes for Mayor out of a
total vote of 166, being a majority of
16 over the vote of his worthy com-
petitor, Dr. Crosby. This total vote
of 166, making the ver\^ liberal
allow^ance of five inhabitants for
every vote cast, Avould make the
total population of the town at this
period, 830 souls, only, instead of
1,200 or 1,300, as represented a year
previous, in the memorial to the
Legislature for a bank charter, here-
tofore alluded to.
Mr. Seth Iredell, the first recip-
ient of Akron's highest honor, the
mayoralty, w^as a Pennsylvania
Quaker, then about 62 years of age,
but still remarkably vigorous, both
physically and mentally. Though,
characteristic of his sect, he w^as
moderate in conversation, and con-
SETH IREDEIvL.
Akron's first mayor. 51
servative in business and official matters, he was, nevertheless,
decided in his opinions, and diligent in the discharge of every
private obligation and public duty. Thus, while he looked care-
fully after the welfare of the public, and labored faithfully for the
prosperity of the entire town, being a man of peace, he also earnestly
sought to harmonize sectional differences, and allay sectional ani-
mosities. This characteristic also led him to discourage every
species of litigation, and to peaceably and amicably adjust antag-
onisms among his neighbors. Hence, though opening and keeping
a mayor's docket, as required by law, he not only did not court
magisterial business, but, so far as he could, turned such parties
as were bound to fight, whether civilly or criminally, over to the
justices of the peace of the respective townships out of which the
municipal corporation had been carved.
The venerable and most amiable and devoted Quaker wife of
Mr. Iredell, Mrs. Mary Iredell, died on the 17th day of March, 1839,
at the age of 65 years, leaving no children. As soon thereafter as
the proprieties would allow, Mr. Iredell married, for his second
wife, Elizabeth (or Betsy) Davidson, who had been a faithful
domestic in the family for several years, and who died Nov. 30,
1840, at the age of 34 years, leaving one son, Charles Iredell, for
many years a worthy citizen of Portage county, but now residing
in Akron.
Mr. Iredell married, for his third wife. Miss Mary Irvin, of
Middlebury, March 4, 1841, with whom he lived quietly and hap-
pily until his death, March 22, 1854, at the ripe age of 80 years.
The fruit of this marriage was two sons — Seth, a bright and
promising boy, who died at the age of seven years, September
13, 1849, and Robert S., still living, a highly respected resident of
his native city, over w^hich, in its chrysalis existence, of more than
a half a century ago, his venerable father reigned as its first
chief magistrate. Mrs. Mary Irvin Iredell died April 19, 1883, at
the age of 78 years. '
By the provisions of the charter, the tenure of municipal office
was one year, only. The second annual election was held on the
first Tuesday of June, 1837, at Clark's hotel, in South Akron, with
Councilmen William E. Wright and William K. May, as judges,
and Recorder Constant Bryan, as clerk. The record does not give
the names of all the candidates voted for, but the result only.
There were 155 votes polled, of which John C. Singletary.
Jr., received 85 votes for Mayor ; William E. Wright, 135 votes
for Recorder ; and for Trustees, William K. May, 133 ; William
T. Mather, 145 ; Dana D. Evans, 125 ; Jesse Allen, 147 ; and
Eber Blodgett, 110 votes, being an entirely new set of men, with
the exception of William E. Wright, Recorder-elect, who had served
as Trustee during the preceding year, and William K. May, who
had several months before been appointed Trustee, in the place
J. D. Commins, resigned. The new Council met for organization
June 12, with Mayor Iredell in the chair, until the bond of the
Mayor-elect, in the sum of $3,000, was approved, which was unani-
mously done, one of the eleven sureties upon the bond being the
late Paris Tallman, Esq., of 803 East Market street. At the
second meeting, September 17, Horace K. Smith was elected
Treasurer, and Moses Cleveland, Marshal, which, with the regular
standing committees, completed the organization.
52
AKKON AND vSUMMlT COUNTY.
AKRON'S SECOND MAYOR.
^^^^^^^ Although Mayor Iredell, as before
/ j^^^^^^^s intimated, had declined to do very
i^/ )^^^^^ Vu\^ much judicial business, his admin-
^i^f ^H^^ istration had been generally satis-
fy; fl ^^^i^^Hv factory, and as the time for the new
(f>!ff ^^^^r ^^ election approached, it was sup-
\ll^' "^/ ^^ posed he would be his own suc-
\lfii'^'^ d^rfm^^k. cessor; but it was destined to be
^^<A^M^mVl^m. ^^ ^^^^' there had come into
liii i /-^i^^^iir / r'f'iWr\ f ijy i I I^^S, c-.. ■ -. Akron, a stalw^art young lawyer, hy
'^lll/^^fmf^h}' iHyilvll \\\N;« - the name of John Curtis Singletary,.
"^"^^^^Pi^^^Klllij^jM^i^^Hi^ every way well proportioned, with
'^^^^^^^■H^^^iil^^^^^' ^^ intelligent and genial counte-
>fl^^^^^^^^^ F^^l^^ nance, good-natured, social and
^^"^^^^^^^^^^v p/^^^ws kind-hearted. His father, Col. John
' / iK C. Singletary, was a wealthy
J. c. SINGLETARY. and highly respected farmer of
the tov^nship of Streetsboro. Young
Singletary was born in Aurora, Portage Count}^ December 19, 1810,
and was a graduate of Western Reserve College, at Hudson, of the
class of 1835. His proficiency in his studies was such that he had
substantially completed his course a year or more before graduation
day, and had also studied law with his uncle, in Middleburj', the
late Senator Gregory Powers, and had been admitted to the Bar,
by the Court in Banc, at Coluinbus, in 1834, Judge Reuben Wood
presiding.
Though not very liberally endowed with read}- money, he had
been provided by his father w^ith a good law library (for those days)
and started in, at the age of 24, with bright prospects of winning
for himself a brilliant career in his chosen profession; building a
commodious and comfortable office on the south side of Kxchange
street, a little east of Main.
Had the young lawyer stuck closely to his briefs, all would
have been well; but, unfortunately, like the most of his associates,
he w^as seized with the prevailing mania for speculation, the
embryo "Lowell of the West," as Akron was then called, being at
that time decidedly on the boom; both business blocks and tene-
ment houses being in real or prospective demand.
Accordingly, with but limited business or financial experience,
but, (as he himself expresses it in a private note to the writer), with
"immense credit," he largely "invested" in village lots, building
materials, labor, etc.; one of the monuments of his enterprise being
the substantial two story tenement house, on the corner of Bowery
and West Middlebury streets, now owned and occupied by Dr. John
G. Carpender. The tightening doAvn of business and monetary
matters, in 1836, precursory to the great financial and commercial
crash in 1837, brought matters to a crisis, and our youthful specu-
lator was forced into bankruptc}'.
Bverything he possessed, even down to his law office, library,
etc., had to be sacrificed. This, of course, very materially clouded
his prospects, and subjected him to many indignities, and consid-
erable persecution, from those who held, but were unable to realize
^ Akron's second mayor. " 53
upon, his paper. But he still maintained his genial good nature,
and, to a limited extent, his law practice; his desire being rather to
see justice done, through his services, than the tilling of his own
pockets.
As a sample of his mode of procedure, in this regard, and of tlie
persecutions with which he was beset, the following incident will
suffice: A farmer's boy, from Springfield, came to town on busi-
ness, riding upon one of his father's horses. A local shark had
induced the boy to swap horses with him, and had palmed off upon
the boy a tolerably good looking, but totally blind, horse. On dis-
covering the swindle that had been perpetrated upon him, the boy
sought the office of young Singletary, and weepingly told his tale.
"Where is your horse?" enquired Singletary.
" Over in the tavern barn," said the boy, and then looking out
of the window, he exclaimed, "there he goes now; they're leading
him away — please stop 'em, Mister!"
Looking in the direction indicated, Singletary saw a noted
horse-jockey-boat-captain, leading the farmer's horse past his
office. Stepping into the street, he took hold of the halter strap,
and said to the boat-captain, "Here, give this boy his horse."
"'Tain't his hoss ; it's my hoss ; it was a fair trade," replied the
captain.
Singletary pulled one way, and the horse-jockey the other,
until the latter began to make some hostile demonstrations
towards the former, when Singletary, striking straight-out from
the shoulder with that brawny right fist of his, knocked the
trick}' boat-captain nearly half Avay across the street. Then, before
the captain could recover his equilibrium, and his grip upon the
halter, Singletary picked up the boy, threw him astride the horse,
and told him to "run for his life," which he literally did ; neither
the boy nor the horse ever having been seen or heard of by Mr.
Singletary from that day to this.
The discomfited horse-jockey, backed b}' the entire gang,
caused Singletary to be arrested for assault and battery. The
Avarrant AAras issued by Justice of the Peace, John H. Cleveland,
whose office was located in North Akron, in the second story of
a building standing -where the office of the Thomas Lumber and
Building Co. no^v stands, on the west side of West Market Street
canal bridge. Justice Cleveland was a short, corpulent luan, a veri-
table "Dogberry," and very decidedly appreciated the importance
and dignity of his official position.
The case w^as prosecuted by David K. Cartter, Esq., late Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. Cartter
was then, 1835, a new accession to the legal fraternity of Akron
and the bar of Portage County. He had, however, been here suf-
ficiently long to have fully established his reputation as a sharp,
w^itty, and terribly sarcastic pettifogger, before the lower courts, as
well as a profound and sagacious lawyer, and skillful pleader,
before the higher courts. Singletary defended himself, assisted by
Harvey H. Johnson, Esq.
During the examination of witnesses, by Cartter, numerous
objections interposed by Singletary, and his associate counsel,
were nearly all promptly and pompously over-ruled by the Court.
At the conclusion of Cartter's opening plea, in which the accused
54 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
had been unmercifully scored, Singletary arose, and with smiling
countenance, commenced his defense something in this -wise :
'* May it please your Honor, I stand here nominally to defend
myself against the charge of assault and battery, but in reality as
the defender of virtue and innocence against such unmitigated
scoundrels as the complainant in this case, and the perjured vil-
lains who "
Cartter : (Interrupting) "I ask the Court to protect the
-witnesses for the State from the abusive epithets of the prisoner
now^ on trial."
The Court: "Mr. Singletary, you must confine your remarks
strictly to your defense, under the evidence that has been given."
Singletary: (Resuming) "That, may it please your Honor,
is precisely ivhat I am doing, and I repeat, that I stand here as the
defender of virtue and innocence against thieves and robbers, and
I am not to be intimidated by the foul-mouthed billingsgate of the
imported blackguard from New" York, nor am I to be frowned
down, nor awed into silence, by the bloated dignitj^ of the
Court "
Justice Clev^Eland : (Hastily rising) " Stop, sir ! Stop sir ! I
w^on't listen to you, btit bind you over to Court!" and seizing his
docket he rushed from the room. As he reached the door
Singletary laughingly called to him :
"Hold on. Squire! What's the amount of the bond?"
"Three hundred dollars!" yelled the irate Justice, as he dis-
appeared through the door.
The bond -was duly executed, and the transcript sent to the
Court of Common Pleas of Portage County, but the case was
promptly ignored by the Grand Jury at the September term, 1835,^
on hearing all the facts connected therewith.
As above related, the financial and business status of the young
lawyer, was considerably below^ zero, on the setting in of the Winter
of 1836-7. Clients were few, and most of those who d^d emploj" him
were as impecunious as himself; and being too proud to call upon
his father for further pecuniary aid, he was often in dire straits for
his daily bread. In addition to this, he was constantly hounded by
his creditors, and taunted with his failure and poverty.
One day, in the latter part of the Winter of 1836-7, he turned
upon a party of his high-toned annoyers, saying: "Never mind,,
gentlemen, it is your turn now^, but my turn v^^ill come by and by^
for I intend to be your next Mayor ! " This declaration was received
virith shouts of derision, and after a few daj^s' gossip and laughter
over the boast, the circumstance was forgotten by those >vho heard
it. Not so, how^ever, with the moneyless and almost briefless la^v-
yer. As the June election drew near, he announced himself as an
independent candidate for Mayor. His announcement was fairl^^
hooted at by the "aristocracy" of both sections of the town; his
lack of success in business, and his poverty, being the chief accu-
sations against him, for his honesty, moralit}^ and ability could not
be called in question.
It is not no"w remembered w^ho was placed in nomination against
him, but, by concentrating the vote of both parties upon a single
man, it Avas not supposed that Singletary stood the ghost of a
chance of being elected. The opposition to him at length became
so bitter and abusive that a reaction in his favor finally set in. The
SUBSEQUENT MAYORS TO DATE. 55
majority of the voters of the town, mostly young men — nearly, if
not quite, as poor as himself — began to argue that poverty, though
mighty inconvenient, was not a crime, and that even in a rough-
and-tumble physical fight, it was mean to kick a man when he was
down. Consequently the "kids" of that day, of whom the writer
was one, openly espoused the cause of the plucky independent can-
didate, and the election of June 13, 1837, resulted in his triumphant
election by the handsome majority of 15, above indicated.
Mr. Singletary, who had hitherto resided in the South End,
immediately opened an office in the north village, and announced
himself ready to attend to all the duties of the office, both civil,
municipal and criminal. So successful was his administration
that he ^vas triumphantly re-elected on the 5th day of June, 1838,
against a prominent South End lawyer, William M. Dodge, Esq.,
receiving 125 votes out of a total of 222, being a majority of 28.
He continued to satisfactorily discharge his municipal and
magisterial duties until February, 1839, when, by reason of debility
superinduced by oft recurring attacks of fever and ague, he went
home to Streetsboro to recruit, -where, on account of the poor
health and the increasing years of his father, he concluded to
permanently remain, and where, as successor to his father's tine
estate of some 350 acres of excellent land, he has since lived the
life of a quiet but highly successful and enterprising farmer.
On the 11th day of August, 1845, Mr. Singletary was married
to Miss Mary Ann Carter, of Boston township, Avho is still living.
There have been born tq them eight children — three sons and five
daughters — of whom three of the latter only survive. For the past
few^ years the health of Mr. Singletary has not been very good, and
yet, at the age of 80 years, he is able to superintend his extensi>»e
farming operations, and will be happy to receive calls from any of
his old Akron friends and constituents, at his hospitable domicile,
on the northw^est corner of the public square, at the center . of
Streetsboro.
It is not the purpose of these papers to give the biographies of
all the persons who have held the honored post of Mayor of Akron
during the half century of its municipal existence, both as Town,
Village, and City, some of whose characters and idiosyncracies were,
perhaps, as marked as those of the two already named. The bare
names, therefore, of those who have successively filled that office,
since June, 1839, with the length of their respective terms of
service, will have to suffice: 1839, Lucius V. Bierce; 1840, Arad
Kent; 1841, Lucius V. Bierce; 1842 and 1843, Harvey H. Johnson;
1844, Lucius V. Bierce; 1845, 1846 and 1847, Philo Chamberlin; 1848,
Israel E. Carter; 1849, Lucius V. Bierce; 1850, George Bliss; 1851,
Charles G. Ladd; 1852. Frederick Wadsworth; 1853, Philip N.
Schuyler; 1854, William T. Allen; 1855 and 1856, Nathaniel Finch;
1857 and 1858, Frederick A. Nash; 1859, George W. McNeil; 1860
and 1861, Henrv Purdy; 1862 and 1863, Charles A. Collins: 1864,
George D. Bates; 1865 and 1866, James Mathews; 1867 and 1868,
Lucius V. Bierce; 1869, 1870, 1871 and 1872, T^lm L. Robertson;
1873 and 1874, Henry Purdy; 1875 and 1876, Levi S. Herrold; 1877
and 1878, James F. Scott; 187.9 and 1880, John M. Fraze; 1881 and
1882, Samuel A. Lane; 1883, 1884, 1885 and 1886, Lorenzo Dow
Watters; 1887 and 1888, Louis D. Seward; 1889, 1890, 1891 and 1892,
William H. Miller.
56
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
TAMES MATHEWS, bom in Wash-
J iiigton County, N. Y., April 23,
1803; in bo5^hood removing- with his
parents to Vermont; educated in
common schools and bred a cabinet
maker and ornamental painter ; in
1839 came to Akron, and eng-ag-ed in
mantifacturing- grain shovels, in 1841
engaging in g^rocery business, until
1849 when he became secretary and
inanager of the Summit Mutual Fire
Insurance Company, and on the
winding up of the business of that
companj', a few years later, becoming-
the agent of several of the leading
lire insurance companies of the
country, and of the Mutual Life of
New York, for which he secured a
very large clientage in Akron and
vicinity, the policies written b}^ him
aggregating over $12,000,000. Mr.
Mathews possessed both public spirit
and private enterprise, as witness the
fine block on Howard street bearing-
his name ; was a member of Akron
Town Council in 1843 ; member of
first Board of Education in 1847, and
the first Mayor of Akron, under city
charter, 1865-1866. Mr. Mathews was
inarried to Miss Agnes Grant, of
Wells River, Vt., in January, 1833, who
died in Akron in April, 1870, leaving-
three children — George H., who died
JAMES MATHEWS.
in Deceinber 1873, Henrj' G. and
Charles H., now of New York. Mr.
Mathews was ag-ain married, to Mrs.
Isabella ("Howard) Taj'ler, a native of
Middlebury, (Akron, Sixth Ward),
who now resides in California, Mr.
Mathews dying^ December 2'), 1883.
aged 80 years, 8 months and 2 days.
HENRY PUKDY.
HENRY PURDY,- son of Solomon
Purdj', was born in Zanesville.
Ohio, September 30, 181,5, removing to
Spring-field township, with parents.
when 13 3ears of age; educated in
Putnam Acadeni)' in Zanesville and
Randolph Academy. In 1837 became
associated Avith his father in the
manufacture of stoneware at the
center of Springfield. In 18.52 Mr.
Purd}' Avas elected Count}' Recorder
on the Whig ticket, and re-elected in
1855 on the Republican ticket, hold-
ing the office six jears; was member
of Council in 1857; Maj^or of Akron
in 18(30-1861,1873-1874; and Justice of
the Peace for Portage Township,
with the exception of a single term,
from 1868 till his resignation, bj'
reason of failing health, February
12, 1888. February 2. 1837, Mr. Purdy
was married to Miss Diantha C.
Clark, daughter of Barber Clark, of
Franklin Mills, (no%V Kent). Mr. and
Mrs. Purdj, who have continuously
resided in Akron since April, 1853,
have three children Mills B. (City
Clerk 1867, 1868, 1869, 1870. 1871, 1872
and 1876) born June 27, 1839; Mary C,
(now Mrs. J. A. Boj-nton, of Sala-
manca, N. Y.) born Julv 10, 1841; and
Melissa C. (now Mrs. S. K. Zwisler,
Akron) born November 29. 1847.
THERE WERE "CKOOKS" IN THOSE DAYS. 57
CHAPTER III.
EARLY CROOKEDNESS" CONFIDEXCE GAMES, "KEG" MONEY, ETC. UNSAVORY
REPUTATION— THE "G0RE"-Y BATTLE GROUND BITTER POST-OFFICE CON-
TROVERSY—CRIMINATION AND RECRIMINATION SCANDALOUS CHURCH
SyUABBLES — DECADENCE OF MIDDLEBURY AND THE SOUTH END -DESPISED
"CASCADE" IN THE ASCENDENCY THE "WHIRLIGIG OF TIME BRINGS ALL
THINGS EVEN," ETC., ETC.
EARLY CROOKEDNESS.
IN those early days, the Ohio, Mississippi, and other western riv-
ers and lakes, and the cities and villages contiguous thereto,
were swarming with, and infested by, gamblers, counterfeiters and
thieves; and on the opening of the Ohio Canal, as a channel for
trade and travel, not only the passenger boats navigating its waters,
but the thriving towns that immediately sprang into existence
along its entire line, were soon thoroughly infested by the several
classes of "sports" and "crooks" alluded to, with branch resorts at
man3^ of the "centers" and "corners" of adjacent tow^nships.
Akron and other points ^vithin the present limits of Summit
County, were by no means excepted from the general rule, but, on
the contrary, the large number of locks here, and the peculiar for-
mation of the country, particularly down the valley, northw^ard from
Akron, afforded especial facilities for the successful operations of
the fraternity, and for the effective concealment of their nefarious
occupation, their gambling and counterfeiting implements, and
their stolen plunder. "
At the date of mj^ arrival in town, (1835) the average honest
stranger was filled with astonishment at the large number of finely-
dressed, ruffle-shirted, plug-hatted, kid-gloved, lavishly-bejewelled,
and apparently wealthy sojourners at the various hotels. To the
writer, though, the genus was very familiar, the several preceding
months having been spent in New Orleans, Louisville and Cincin-
nati, and on the steamers plying between those points, with brief
calls at Natchez, Vicksburg, Memphis, and other blackleg-infested
towns upon those great thoroughfares — the Mississippi and Ohio
rivers. Indeed, so flagrant had become the operations and outrages
of this class of scoundrels, that about this time the honest people
of Vicksburg, after giving the gamblers proper warning to leave
that place, arose in their might and summarily hung half a dozen
or more to the lamp posts and shade trees of the city, creating the
most intense excitement among all classes, and a decided panic
among tha fraternity throughout the entire South and West.
Besides the numerous raids that were made among the pioneer
farmers of the vicinity, by those early "crooks" and shoversof the
" queer," for predator}^ purposes, and for the purchase of horses,
cattle, sheep and other property with bogus coin or spurious paper,
there was in Akron and other business centers of the gang, a set
of confidence operators, who got in their work something in this
wise :
An unsophisticated farmer would be inveigled into some back
room, and "confidentially" shown a number of genuine American or
Spanish silver dollars, with the statement that they were bogus,
58 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
but SO cleverly executed that they could never be detected, and
that if he would buy 500 or 1,000 of them, to operate with among
his neighbors, he might have them for 10 or 20 cents on the dollar.
If the cupidity of the ruralist should over-balance his discretion,
and he should " tumble to the racket," he would be shovt^n sev-
eral small kegs, said to contain 500 or 1,000 each of the bogus coin,
so arranged that by taking out a plug in one end, he could see the
glittering metal of a genuine silver dollar inside, and be assured that
if, on getting home and counting it, he did not find the full num-
ber there, the dealer would make it all right the next time he came
to tow^n.
Having duly paid over his $50 or $100 in good money, and
having with due secrecy deposited the keg selected under the
straAV in the wagon, the "honest" yeoman w^ould depart for home,^
to find, on examining his treasure, that, w4th the exception of the
genuine dollar seen through the hole in the end, his precious keg
contained the regulation weight of scrap-iron, onlj^.
Generally the victim would quietly swalloAV his disappoint-
ment and shame, and never be heard of again ; but noAV and then
one would return to seek redress, only to be told by the operator, if
found, that he had never seen him before, or to be informed by his
laAvyer that his OAvn hands w^ere too badly soiled in the transac-
tion to enable him to proceed against his confederate in crime.
The game was ])y no means confined to Akron, or the neigh-
borhood of the canal, as witness the following item from the
Western Courier, of Ravenna, under date of September 15, 1836:
"Several attempts have been made lately, to defraud in the waj- of what
is called keg money speculations ; obtaining money and property oti a
promise to deliver a keg" or box of money, of large amount, and 'Just as good
as genuine.' The keg or box supposed to contain the money, and perhaps
having some on the surface, is usuallj^ delivered in some dark place, and 'is
then, if of any value, wrested or stolen from the owner by ruffians before he
gets home with it. Many such cases have formerly occurred in this county,
in Geaug"a and Cuyahoga, and several latelj^ — the last one in Newburg. But
the people are learning to expose them, and the head ones have to abscond
from the officers of the law."
Similar transactions in paper "money" w^ere also often nego-
tiated, genuine bills being exhibited and represented as coun-
terfeit, and duly placed in a package, under the eye of the
purchaser, to be adroitly exchanged for a similar looking package
of w^rapping paper, cut to proper size, while the purchase money
was being counted out and examined.
Still another mode of procedure was for a couple of sharpers
to purchase a horse from some rustic, to be paid for in non-detect-
able counterfeit money, at a nominal price, the exchange to be
made after dark, in some neighboring thicket, and after the
transfer had been duly made, and the horse led off b}- one of the
sharpers, other confederates would rush in, under the guise of
officers, and pretend to arrest the remaining two, but finally let
them off on their handing over all their loose change ; and thus
the victim would not only be done out of his horse and the pre-
tended counterfeit money he had received in exchange for him,
but also of whatever good money he might happen to have about
him at the time.
By this and similar devices were the unwary pioneers of the
rural districts "taken in and done for," while from the lack of
information, now^ so rapidly and so generally transmitted through
EARLY CHURCH IMBROGLIOS. 59
the mails, the railroads, the telegraph and the newspapers, whole
droves of horses, cattle, sheep, and even hogs, could be gathered
up and paid for wholly in counterfeit money, and safely driven
out of the country, before the sellers would discover the fraud that
had been practiced upon them.
And yet, notwithstanding such was the early status of Akron,
as well as many other enterprising business points along the line
of the canal, and notwithstanding good friends with whom I was
visiting in the northern part of Portage County, in the early Spring
of 1835, advised me, in my search for a location for permanent set-
tlement, by all means to avoid Akron and Cascade, I found, on
coming here, later in the season, that the great majority of the
people were honest, industrious and enterprising, and that its
unsavory reputation was wholly due to a comparatively small
minority of local crooks, and the large contingent of transient
sharpers continually moving from point to point, along the line of
the canal as above noted.
That this vicinity was, however, for many years the general
rendezvous and headquarters of one of the most extensive gangs
of counterfeiters in the entire country, admits of not a doubt. The
reputed leader of this gang, together with several of his most
important subordinates, were permanently located within the
limits of what is now^ Summit County, some of whom sought and
obtained positions of public trust and honor, the more effectually
to cover up their true characters, and their nefarious operations.
To the chief of this gang, and his prominent lieutenants, Avith
an inkling of their operations, their successes, reverses, arrests,
trials, imprisonments, etc., one or more chapters of this w^ork will
be devoted, as well as one, or more, to the measures that were
finally taken to rid the village and county of local sharps and trav-
eling blacklegs and thieves.
The bitterness existing betAveen the inhabitants of the north
and south villages has already been alluded to, in the " guide
board war" spoken of in the first chapter, and other^vise. It will
be impossible, of course, in the prescribed limit of this work to
relate all the acts of hostility, overt and covert, manifested ; but
one or two episodes, illustrative of that feeling, somewhat in detail,
may not be amiss.
The tvk^o villages were divided by a wedge-shaped strip of
unplatted land, called the "gore," embracing the territory between
Quarry street on the north and Center street on the south. On
this unplatted strip the earlier churches — the Congregational
the Methodist and the Baptist, were originally erected, not only
because their respective sites were generously donated by Gen.
Perkins, but more particularly, perhaps, because the adherents of
the several denominations, residing in either section, were unw^ill-
ing to w^orship, on Sunday, in houses located within the boundaries
of the rival village they so heartily, and perhaps religiously,
hated through the week. '
This feeling was so strong that when, in 1836, the majority of
the trustees of the Baptist Church decided to face the new church
edifice they were then about to build (on the site of the present
fine German Reformed brick structure) towards South Akron,
instead of towards the West, as had been done by both the
Congregationalists and Methodists, (the Congregational Church
60 AKRON AND .SUMMIT COUNTY.
then stood on the present Court House grounds), several contrib-
utors to the building fund, living north of the "gore," withdrew
their subscriptions, and a few even severed their connection with
the society in consequence of such action; the facing of the
church in that direction being considered an advantage in favor of
South Akron.
This anirnosit}' became intensified as the w^ork progressed, and
by the time the structure was completed had culminated in a most
bitter controversy between certain prominent members, trustees,
building committee, pastor, etc., in which charges and counter-
charges of falsehood, dishonesty, malice, etc., were freely bandied,
resulting in the calling of a church council on the 6th day of
October, 1837, at which Rev. Levi Tucker, of Cleveland, presided
as Moderator, and by v^rhich it was
'^Resolved, That brother Dodge has not been labored with according- to
gospel discipline; that brother Dodge's conduct has rendered hiin unworth3^
of a place in a Christian church, and that he ought not to be recognized as a
member until he make satisfaction to the church ; that brother Crane (the
pastor) did not act judiciously; believing, however, that his press of duties
ought in this case to be admitted in extenuation ; that Elder Avistin (a retired
minister) has acted injudiciouslj^ and the church had better grant him a letter
of dismission and a recommendation to any other sister church ; that the
course of brother Alvin Austin has been incautious and wanting in pru-
dence ; and that this Council earnestly recommend to each individual in
any way concerned in the late difficulties, to make very strenuous efforts to
promote the peace of the church, and zealousl}^ engage in the cause of our
dear Redeemer."
Notwithstanding these dissensions the church was duly dedi-
cated October 26, 1837, Elder Tucker preaching the dedicatory
sermon. But neither that solemn proceeding, nor the action of the
Council, were productive of any perceptible mollifying influence, as
is evidenced by some six or seven columns of crimination and
re-crimination published in the several issues of the American
Balance, from December 7, 1837, to January, 4, 1838, in which the
names of Kev. Kber Crane, (pastor and building agent) Alvin
Austin, H. K. Smith, Smith Burton, Richard HoAve, J. Rockwell, R.
K. DuBois, S. R. Brackett, Erastus Torrey, Nathan B, Dodge,
Miner Spicer, Warren H, Smith, Justus Gale, Joseph Cole, David
Allen, Jesse Allen, Jacob Brown and Nathan S. Jones, were some-
>vhat promisicuously mingled.
Though nearly, if not quite, all of the belligerents in this wordy
w^arfare have passed ixway, and though the society, in another loca-
tion, has for many years maintained more than an average stand-
ing in usefulness and numbers, among the many similar benefi-
cent institutions of our goodly city, it is questionable whether the
deleterious influences of those early contentions, among really good
men, have not been felt, in a greater or less degree, through all the
intervening half century.
The Methodist Society, also, got into a similar tangle, mainly
through sectional jealousies, regarding the building of their first
house of worship, about the same time; certain of the members
connected with the raising of funds and erecting and furnishing
the building, accusing each other of gross irregularities. This
bitter feeling, though not ventilated through the public press, con-
tinued for several j^ears, and finallj^, w^hen the building was
destroyed by fire, on the morning of March 17, 1841, each party
accused the other of having set the building on fire, though the
"upper" versus " lower" town. 61
origin of the fire was, doubtless, purely accidental. The original
Congregational society was also twice rent asunder, and finally
annihilated, by unhappy dissensions, which will be fully set forth
in a subsequent chapter.
BITTER POSTOFFICE WAR.
Up to 1837, a full year after both the rival villages of North
and South Akron, had been consolidated by Legislative enactment
into the corporate "Town of Akron," and though by this time
much the larger portion of the business of the town was done
north of the "gore," virhen it was sought to remove the postoffice
from the upper to the low^er town, a struggle ensued, which in
point of bitterness, renders the partisan and personal squabbles of
modern office seekers the very extreme of mildness and cor-
diality.
Some three or four years prior to that time, Akron's first post-
master, Wolsey Wells, Ksq., having left the place, had been
succeeded by Mr. Lewis Humiston, keeper of the Clark tavern,
the office being located in a small building immediately east of the
hotel, on Exchange street, the late Arad Kent officiating as hia
deputy.
As Mr. Humiston was about to leave the to>vn, it became
necessary to secure the appointment of his successor. There were,
of course, a number of applicants for the place, and among the
rest, the late Judge Constant Bryan, and another law^yer by the
name of Harv^ey H. Johnson, both Democrats and both northenders.
Who the southern candidates w^ere, is not novir remembered, but
the contest was so bitter that the appointment hung fire for some
time, Postmaster General Amos Kendall finally intimating that
unless the tvsro factions reconciled their differences he would
discontinue the office.
In this emergency, after a conference with that gentleman,
the southenders gave in their adhesion to Mr. Johnson, and he,
consequently, received the appointment some time in June, 1837;
it being aftewards vigorously claimed that the withdrawal of their
opposition to him by the southenders, ^vas upon the distinct under-
standing that, if appointed, he would not remove the office north
of the "gore."
For several months after the appointment of Mr. Johnson, the
Akron postoffice continued to "do business at the old stand," on
Exchange street, much to the* delight of the southenders, and
very greatly to the disagruntlement of the northenders, who
were not backward in expressing their feeling to Mr. Johnson, both
verbally and through the press.
At length, some time in December, 1837, the confiding south-
enders one morning suddenly awoke to the disagreeable and
astounding fact, that the office had not only been removed, but
that, not stopping to rest, for even a single moment, upon the
"gore," it had gone "clean down" to their hated rival, "Cascade,"
into the building then owned by the late Col. Lewis P. Buckley,
on the site of our present splendid postoffice structure.
This high-handed act of "perfidy" and "treason" immediately
called down the direst anathemas of the southenders upon the
devoted head of the offending postmaster, the arraignment of
whom, written by the late Jedediah D. Commins, and signed by
62 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
that gentleman and the late Judge Samuel A. Wheeler and Gen.
Philo Chamberlin, as published in the American Balance,
commences as follows:
"The doctrine that a public servant is bound to resign when he finds
himself unable, or unwilling-, to perform the duties of an office in the manner
he had pledg^ed himself to those who were the active cause of his appoint-
ment, has been long sanctified by the republicans of this country, and acted
on b}' everj^ high-minded man, when he found himself so circumstanced."
Afternearly a column of high sounding platitudes — "violation of
solemn pledges," "plighted faith," "stung by the viper we had nour-
ished in our bosoms," "stab in the dark," " forfeited honor," "^vant of
gratitude," "gentlemanly feeling," "moral restraint," etc. — the man-
ifesto concludes with several affidavits to the effect that the
affiants had, at divers times and places, heard Mr. Johnson say
that if he should receive the appointment, he would not remove
the office north of the " gore," or stone quarry.
To this severe castigation, Mr. Johnson, after a few prelim-
inary observations, gets back at the gentlemen Avhose signatures
are thereto attached as follow^s:
"As your communication was intended to affect the public mind, not
only in our own vicinity, but at a distance, it is proper that I should premise
by informing the public by what and by whom my private as well as my
public character has been w^antonly assailed. Is it -not true of one of 3'our
number, that he has succeeded, to his entire satisfaction, in failing two or
three tiines in the State of New York, and from the wreck has been able to
establish two most splendid wholesale and retail stores in Ohio? In reg^ard
to another, is it not true that there is a letter in town which asks if a note of
some $.30 or $40, can be collected, which was g;iven before he absconded from
the town of E., in Vermont ? "
After much more similar verbiage, reflecting upon the honesty
and credibility of his assailants, Postmaster Johnson continues as
follows: "I will only add that where the parties to this transaction
and the circumstances are known, I do not deprecate the righteous
decision of a virtuous community — your allegations and affidavits
to the contrary, notwithstanding."
The editor of the Balance having declined to publish anything
further on the subject, in a 16-page pamphlet, now^ in possession
of the writer, Messrs. Commins, Wheeler and Chamberlin, in a
lengthy rejoinder, including affidavits from Ferdinand Durand, C.
P. McDonald, Dr. Dana D. Kvans, Asa Field, Jonathan Myers,
George Howe, Joshua Catlin, Silas Anson, E. M. Chamberlin, Miner
Spicer and Arad Kent, in opening, say: "In regard to what you
are pleased to say about ourselves, it may be proper to remark that
it does not become us to speak of our own standing in this com-
munity, but whatever it may be, we have too much self-respect to
notice your abusive epithets and innuendoes, further than to say,
if our characters need defense from such vituperation, they are no
longer worth our care." And ftirther on they clinch the matter
against the offending P. M,, thus: "But it requires not the gift of
prophecy to foretell that when your hair shall have been w^hitened
by the frosts of a fe^v more winters, as you walk among inankind,
and they shall hereafter see you niot^ing alone in the midst of
society, with the brand of 'forfeited faith' burnt deep in your fore-
head, you will regret, in the bitterness of your soul, the course you
have taken in relation to this w^hole matter."
DISSENSIONS HAPPILY ENDED.
63
But the fact remains that the Akron Postoffice u^as removed
to "Cascade" just 54 years ago, and that, as water — then the most
potent factor in the growth and maintenance of tow^ns and cities —
ivoald run down hill, instead of up, the preponderance of business
and industry were largely in its favor. Commins, Chamberlin and
others of the original business men of the South End, had to suc-
cumb to the inevitable, and a few years later removed their own
business operations north of the "gore;" though the decadence in
the volume and value of w^ater power, and the rapidly increasing
use of steam, as a propelling agent, has, in these latter days, again
brought to Ancient Akron, south of the "gore" and in fact to said
"gore" itself, as well as to the ancient burgh of Middlebury, a high
degree of business enterprise and prosperity, thus wonderfully
demonstrating the truth of the old adnge that "the whirligig of
time makes all things even," while the offending postmaster was
elected Mayor of Akron in 1842 and 1843, afterw^ards went to Con-
gress from the Ashland District, and was subsequently U. S. Land
Commissioner, in Minnesota, where he still resides.
The office was, a few years later, removed still further "down
to"wn," and after several changes of location, was finally established
in "Gothic Block," a view of vi^hich is here given, where it
remained until removed to its present location, in 1871, as elsewhere
stated.
(iothic Ulock, erected by Ex-Mayor James Mathews, on present site of J. Koch
& Go's Clothing Store.— From photo by George W. Maniey, 1861.
64 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
CHAPTER IV.
THE BOOM AND THE COLLAPSE — POETKY VERSUS FACT— SPECULATION RAM-
PANT—WONDERFUL ENHANCEMENT OF VALUES, AND STILL MORE WONDEK-
FUL DECLINE— THE MORUS MULTICAULIS CRAZE— IMMENSE FORTUNES THAT
DIDN'T MATERIALIZE— THE PANIC OF 1837— HARD TIMES. AS WAS HARD
TIMES— THE SHIN-PLASTER ERA— DECIDEDLY A MIXED CURRENCY— THE
"TRUCK AND DICKER" SYSTEM, ETC., ETC
A l!)ECIDKD BOOM.
In a Avork of this character, it will, of course, be impossible to
present a strictly chronological narrative of the events to be
treated of; consequently there will sometimes be, for the sake of
continuity on the subject under immediate consideration, a
reaching forw^ard, and at other times a backward movement, as to
the order of occurrences herein recorded. Though the grow^th of
Akron, notwithstanding its antagonisms, had hitherto, from its
very inception, been almost phenomenal, in the West, for those
early times, the location of the Pennsylvania and Ohio canal, com-
monly known as the "Cross-cut" canal, from the Ohio River a
short distance below Pittsburgh, to this point, gave an impetus to
the boom w^hich has scarcely been exceeded in the later gold,
silver, oil and gas booms of California, Colorado, Pennsvlvania and
Ohio.
While Howard and Market streets w^ere then, as now, the chief
business streets in North Akron, the sticking of the stakes in
Main street for the new^ canal, in 1835, caused the real estate upon
that street, betw^een Mill and Tallmadge, streets more than quad-
ruple in value in a verj^ short time; it being confidently believed
that the completion of the canal would immediately" create a
demand for large warehouses, and other business blocks, along the
entire street.
Such was also the case in South Akron, and lots abutting
upon the canal, fronting on Main street, betw^een the present City
Building and the Clarendon Hotel, were immediately and eagerly
sought after, and contracted for (but not alwaj^s paid for) at almost
fabulous prices, both on speculation and by persons w^ho reall}^
designed to improve and occupy them on the completion of the
canal; one substantial three-story brick block having actualh^ been
built, and the store-room filled with goods, by Mr. Benjamin W.
Stephens, on the present site of Merrill's pottery, the south end of
which is part of the original building.
Money, such as it Avas, -was plenty, and credit was seemingly
lavished upon all who asked for it; large stocks of goods were
ordered, and stores and other business enterprises rapidly increased
so that, in the early part of the 3^ear 1836, the tow^n was seemingly
upon the very apex of the high road to prosperity and wealth.
A local poet (Mr. Milo Fuller, brother of the late well-known
"Doctor" Isaiah Fuller) voiced the popular enthusiasm and con-
POETRY VERSUS FACT. 65
licience in Akron's future, in the following "jingle," which we find
in a local journal of the time:
"AKRON IN 1840."
Hail lovely city! Thy unrivalled powers,
Thy feathered waters and thy lofty towers.
Thy stately cars in their majestic flight.
Thy rumblins coach, fast rolling through the night,
Thy hundred wheels that raise the factor's tlin.
Thy boat, swift gliding round each nt)ok and Ivnn, •
Thy growing greatness and thy busy clan,
Froclaiiii to all, the enterprise of man!
A few days since, in this now peaceful glen.
The wild-beast lurked securely in his den.
The stately savage, with his dart and bow.
With dauritless step pursued his stealthy foe;
The serpent's hiss, the war-song and the" yell.
Was oft re-echoed from each hill and dell.
And in this vale from which yon Summit rose.
The panther crouched, and safely sought repose,
The gloom of darkness, as in sable night,
Hung o'er this valley and obscured the sight.
Where Nature saw would rise, in grandeur d rest.
The great, unrivaled Princess of the West.
The white man came, the savage Indian fled.
The wild-beast started from his leafy bed;
The war-song ended when the mighty blow.
Of Eastern genius laid the forest low;
Yon rugged hills, that sought the sky in vain.
Fell by the shock, and formed a pleasant plain;
Hence grew this citj', which unrivaled stands.
A beacon-light to all l>eniglited lands.
Here, Science reigns and guides the statesman's quill.
And Arts develop all their wondrous skill;
Here, Virtue sits enthroned in robes divine, .
With modest Beauty kneeling at her shrine;
Here, Pleasure, too, with all her matchless charms.
Invites the youth, and calls them to her arms.
And gently whispers to each mirthful son,
' The banquet's open for your sport and fun ;
While all things grand and pleasing to the eye.
Allure the traveler as he passes by.
And with glad accents from his weary breast.
He hails a home, a refuge and a rest.
Thus has Dame Fortune from her bounteous store.
Poured forth her treasures on this happy shore.
And every breeze from every sun-lit laiid.
Is wafting blessings with a liberal hand.
And all the world with honor deigns to bless,
THE GREAT A.\D MIGHTY LOWELL OF THE WEST.
The foregoing doggerel was, as before intimated, a true index
of the prognostications, as to both its proximate and ultimate great-
ness, indulged in by the average citizen of Akron, in 1835-6. Btjt,
alas ! hov^ uncertain are human calculations and human prophe-
cies. Not only the new and snappy town of Akron, but the entire
•country was at that period on a tiigh pressure boom; all making
haste to get rich, but to be overtaken by the inevitable sequence of
over-production, over-trading and excessive speculation — irretriev-
able collapse — the now historical panic of 1837.
So disastrous was the collapse in Akron that only two or three,
out of the score or more of the mercantile establishments of the
town, maintained their financial integrity, while real estate sank
in value almost out of sight. To such an extent did this deprecia-
tion fall, and continue, that, in 1839, the writer leased from Col.
Justus Gale the lot on Main street now covered by the handsome
new brick blocks of Augustus Warner and K. G. Kubler, and from
Mr. Nathan B. Dodge the adjoining lot upon the north, now occu-
pied by Paige Brothers' magnificent stone front block, for which
66 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
$1,(H)() each had been paid in 1835, for the period of five years,
for tlie payment of the taxes; w^hile hundreds of lots, (thus pur-
chased at boom prices, either reverted to the original oAvners or
Avere sold for taxes.
GENERAL MONETARY CRASH.
At that period the most of the banks of the countr^^ were
chartered under loosely-constructed State laws, the greater por-
tion of them being what were properly denominated " Red Dog,"
or "Wildcat" institutions. When the crash came, all the banks of
the country, good, bad and indifferent, immediately suspended specie
payment, and gold and silver, ^vhich had been in fair supply dur-
ing the flush times, at once almost entirely disappeared from
circulation. Many of the banks failed out-right, and the large vol-
ume of the notes of such banks then in the hands of the people,
became entirely worthless. Others maintained a partial standing,
their notes for a time being taken by merchants in exchange for
merchandise, at discounts ranging froin 10 to 90 per cent.
This condition of things . continued for several years. The
Beacon of June loth, 1842, giving quotations of discounts as foUow^s:
Mechanics' and Traders' bank of Cincinnati, 10; Marietta, 10;
Chilicothe, 20; Franklin bank of Columbus, 20; Lancaster, 20; Com-
mercial Bank of Lake Erie, 40; Farmers' Bank of Canton, 50;
Hamilton, 60; Cleveland, 70; Steubenville, 75; Urbana, 75; Gran-
ville, 80; Ohio Railroad, 85. As indicative of the dire financial
distress of the entire country, particularly Akron and Summit
County, at that period. The Beacon of November 2, 1842, contains
five full pages of delinquent taxes, while wheat is quoted at 50
cents per bushel, and a year or so later a single number of The
Beacon advertises 54 sheriff sales.
A few of the old banks of the country, though suspending spe-
cie payment, maintained their financial standing, among which, in
this vicinity, were the old Western Reserve, at Warren; Banks of
Geauga, Massillon, Wooster, Norwalk, Sandusky, etc., (Akron hav-
ing no bank at that time). The notes of these banks were readily
taken at par in all commercial transactions, though being
extremely conservative as to discounts, their limited issues were
entirely inadequate to meet the Avants of the people in their abso-
lutely necessary business transactions.
Then came into existence, all over the countrj^, a class of local
"shinplaster" factories, from which small notes for circulation
were issued, payable, not in specie, but in current bank notes, the
most of these institutions purporting t<^ be based upon real estate
securities. Of this class, noAV readily recalled to mind by the wri-
ter, were the "Kirtland Safety Fund Bank," under the auspices of
the original Mormon prophet, Joe Smith; "The Orphan's Institute,"
at Canal Fulton; "The Cuyahoga Falls Real Estate Association;"
''The Medina Land Company;" "The Munroe Falls Manufacturing
Comj^any;" "The Franklin Silk Company," etc.
THE MORUS MULTICAULIS CRAZE.
This latter institution was based upon the silk culture craze
that then prevailed in many sections of the countr3^ viritli which
the people of Munroe Falls, Franklin Mills (now Kent), and other
THE " SHINPLASTER " ERA. 67
♦
places in this vicinity were severely smitten — village lots, as w^ell
as farm lands, being held and sold at fabulous prices. Immense
cocooneries were l)uilt, and everybody having land went into the
raising of the moras niulticaulis variety of the mulberry tree, on
■which to feed the silk w^orms.
A wealthy farmer b^'' the name of Barber Clark, a short dis-
tance east of the village of Franklin Mills, made arrangements to
devote his entire farm to the business, and among other like
transactions, contracted with Joy H. Pendleton, Esq., now^ of the
Second National Bank of this city, then residing there, for all the
young trees of a single year's growth, that he could raise for three
years, at 25 cents each for the first year, 15 cents for the second
year and 10 cents for the third year. As they could readily be
groAvn from slips, or cuttings, it will be seen that Pendleton had a
mighty good thing of it, (in his eye). The first year the plant was
comparatively small, but the second year he w^as on hand with
some $3000 worth, and by the third year he would have realized,
under his contract, about $50,000. But, alas! for human calcula-
tions and, alack! for Pendleton and Clark. The bottom suddenly'-
fell out of the silk business; Clark \vas irretrievably bankrupted
and Pendleton not only did not realize his $50,000, but absolutely
lost, from Clark's failure, about $20(X) of the $3000 already earned,
and, considering the outlay he had made, was probably consider-
ably out of pocket by the operation.
In the general dearth of real monej'', the bills of these local
institutions circulated more or less freely, in the traffic of the
vicinit}^ where they were issued, and to a limited extent in more
remote localities. Being redeemable in sums of not less than five
dollars, holders of lesser sums at length found it difficult to get rid
of them, giving rise to a brood of street brokers, w^ho would buy
them up at a discount, paying for them, perhaps, in the equally
w^orthless notes of the "Bank of Pontiac," or "River Raisin," of
Michigan, or simular red-dog "currency."
When these speculators began to pass in their accumulations
for redemption, the shinplaster fabricators were found to be decid-
edly short of "current bank notes" wherewith to redeem their
promises to pay, and speedily fell into disrepute and eventual
failure. The Franklin Silk Compan^^ was an exception to this
rule; the late Zenas Kent, father of the Hon. Marvin Kent, then
a substantial merchant in Ravenna, being a large stockholder in
the company in question, rendered the value of its notes certain
and their redeinption sure.
Owing to the scarcity of coin, merchants, hotel-keepers and
other business men, issued considerable amounts of a species of
private "fractional currency," payable on demand in their own
wares, or in current bank bills, when presented in sums of one
dollar or its multiple. These however, unlik^ the majority of the
class above named, were pretty generally re leemed, in one or the
other of the modes indicated upon their face.
In fact, so uncertain was every species of "currency," that
people at length became, distrustful of even the very best, and
preferred to exchange such commodities as they raised, or manu-
factured, for such fabrics or produce as they themselves needed;
and even if a man got hold of a dollar or two in "currency," he
would hasten to get it off his hands the same day, lest he should
08 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
•
wake up the next morning to find that the bank had failed during"
the night. Hence, the inauguration of the "truck and dicker''
system that w^ill be so vividly- remembered bj^ the older portion of
my readers, and which was operated something as follows:
Country produce w^as bought b}^ all our merchants, and invar-
iably paid for in goods, or credited on running accounts, farmers, in
turn, paying their help, farm hands and mechanics, whom they
employed or dealt with, in their own products, or in orders upon
the stores. There were a number of woolen factories then running^
in the town and vicinitj^ and "sheep's gray" cloth, was almost a
"legal tender" in the transaction of nearly every kind of business,
while the goods and wares of the numerous stove founders of the
town, were of almost equal potency as factors of trade and com-
merce.
How^ was it done? Something like this: A carriage maker,
for instance, would sell a ^wagon or buggy to the factory or foundrj^
man, and agree to take his pa^^ in cloth or castings. Then he
Avould trade off his cloth or his castings for lumber, wood, coal,
horses, hay, oats, beef, pork, potatoes, apples, butter, cheese, poultry,,
eggs, etc., or perhaps sell a roll of cloth at a discount to a merchant
to be paid for in goods. Then, in turn, he w^ould pay his hands in
sheep's gray, farm produce, orders on stores, furniture dealers,,
tailors, shoemakers, butchers, etc. In payment for his ne^v wagon
or carriage, the farmer would turn in ten or a dozen fat steers,,
w^hich the wagon maker would pass over to the butcher to be paid
for in daily steaks and roasts for the famil3^ of the ^vagon maker
and his hands.
And this system of exchange entered into all the ramifications
of business, agricultural, manufacturing, mechanical and com-
mercial, and to a great extent into real estate transactions; the
w^riter once taking in part payment for a house and lot on HoAvard
street, 40 brass clocks, ^vhich in turn, were traded off to the lumber
dealers, the stone mason, the carpenter, the brick mason and the
plasterers, for the erection of another house on the lot next north
of the new Baptist Church on South Broad\vay.
Individuals and firms doing thousands of dollars worth of busi-
ness per year, would thus sometimes go weeks at a time without
handling scarcely a dollar in money. During a good portion of the
time covered by this financial and commercial depression, the w^ri-
ter was engaged in the publication of a small paper in the interest
of which he personally canvassed the most of the towns and villages
of Northern Ohio, and in about the proportion of nine to one, pay-
ments for subscription and advertising ^vere made in trade, woolen
cloths, calicoes, sheetings, shirtings, furnishing goods, boots, shoes,
tinware, saddlery, etc., which in turn w^ere traded for paper, >vood,
coal, farm produce, etc., for the use of his own and his printers'
families. This state bf affairs was, in manj- respects, a very whole-
some experience and discipline for both the business man and the
farmer, mechanic and laborer of the da^^, inasmuch as the con-
stant figuring and ingenuity required to transmute such commodi-
ties as he could get for his own labor or j^roducts, but for which he
had no use, into such articles as he really did need, had a tendency
to sharpen both his intellectual and his business faculties, while at
the same time it inculcated habits of the strictest industry and the
most rigid economy of both individuals and families.
IMPRISONMEXT FOR DEBT. 69
Of course, merchants had to have sonje inoney to make their
purchases in the Bast, though these were largely made with wool
and other produce taken from the farmer in exchange for goods.
Mechanics would also need to have a little money, to huy their
iron, steel, paints, etc., and in making their contracts Avould have
to stipulate accordingly, a liberal amount of good Kastern money
finding its way into circulation here, during the Summer, in the
purchase of wheat, >vool, etc. There being no railroads in those
days, transportation of every description from the East to the West,
and from the West to the East, Avas entirely suspended for nearly
one-half of the j'^ear; the writer, on getting married and going to
housekeeping in November (1838), being obliged to hire beds and
bedding to use through the Winter, until the provident young lady,
who had consented to unite her destiny with his, could get her own
liberal collection of such articles, from her former home in the
State of New York; on the opening of navigation in the Spring.
And dire, indeed, was the condition of the poor weight w^ho w^as
so unfortunate as to be indebted to a heartless creditor; and the town
and count}^ was then, as now, perhaps, cursed Avith a class of Shy-
locks, who not only stood ready to prey upon the necessities of
their felloAVS, but to invariably insist upon the "pound of flesh," if
the victim found himself unable to meet the fullest requirements
of his bond, or of the inhuman and oppressive laws then in vogue.
There >vas then no exemption of real estate from execution, and
but about $20 worth of personal property, such as furniture, per-
sonal clothing, etc. In one instance in the South Village, in Decem-
ber, 1838, and which created the most intense excitement in the
community, as well as severe newspaper comment, in collecting a
small store account from a hard-working mechanic, the creditor
caused the Sheriff to levy upon everything he could find in and
about the house — furniture, meat, flour, potatoes, beans, apples, etc.,
and even the cradle of a sick infant and the vsrashtub which con-
tained its soiled linen, the family books, the ax from the scanty
wood pile, etc., and when, in setting off the exemptions, the wife of
the debtor wanted them to include a portion of the provisions, the
creditor objected, because the law exempted clothing and furniture
only.
The law then sanctioned imprisonment for debt, and if the
creditor chose to do so, by paying a dollar or two a week for board,
to the Sheriff, he could cAst his debtor into jail for an indefinite
period, unless he could prevail upon some friend to sign a bond
admitting him to the limits of the county, in which case, if he but
stepped over the count}^ line for a single moment, the bondsman
would become liable for the entire debt. Under this barbarous
law, Mr. Charles W. Howard, one of Akron's pioneer manufacturers
and merchants, and for whom our well-known and well-used How-
ard street was named, was, in 1837, incarcerated in the jail of
Portage County for nearly a year, at the instance of the local
attorneys of the well-remembered New York dry goods firm of
Tappan, Edwards &c Co., the senior member of which firm — Arthur
Tappan — was the best known philanthropist and promoter of the
Anti slavery cause, and other humanitarian and benevolent enter-
prises, of half a century ago. Of course, in the extensive operations
of the firm, Mr, Tappan had no personal knowledge of this particu-
lar transaction, but, on the contrary, it was said that on his atten-
70
AKKOX AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
tion being calltxl to the matter, through certain strictures in the
Httle paper, devoted to the righting of similar wrongs, which the
Avriter \v^as then pubHshing (the "Buzzard") Mr. Howard's dis-
charge was at once ordered. Be this as it may, Mr. H. n^as released
from custody, either by such order, or by the repeal of the law in
question, in March 1838. Mr. How^ard's case was, bj^ no means, the
only case, in wdiich citizens of early Akron and contiguous villages,
suffered imprisonment for debt, though in most of the cases so
long a confinement, or perhaps any actual incarceration, was obvi-
ated b}^ furnishing the required bond, giving them the range of the
county— thus, of course, affording them the privilege of being with
their families and of pursuing their customarj^ vocations.
It will thus be seen — and those of my contemporaries who have
lived through them all, will bear me out in the assertion — that the
"hard times" resulting from the panics of 1873 to 1877, and from
1883 to 1887, were unalloyed prosperity, compared with the disas-
trous nine years' panic and financial and commercial depression,
from 1837 to 1846.
As may readily be imagined, during that dark period in its
history, Akron made but cpmparatively slow progress; though even
then, it pluckily more than held its ow^n A\ath its sister towns in
Ohio, and of the West generally.
View from near residence of Mr. Lorenzo Hall, "West Hill," looking
northeast.— From ijhoto. by G. W. Manley, 1*^70.
THE "cross-cut" canal. 71
CHAPTER V.
EAKLY INTER STATE EXTEKPKISE -THE "CKOvSS-CUT" CANAL GEN. PEKKLXS,
JinxJE KLXG ANl) DOCTOR CROSBY ITS ACTIVE PROMOTERS CHARTER
OBTALNEI) IN 1827 PRELIMINARY SURVEY -EIGHT YEARS' SLUMBER PRO-
JECT REVIVED OHIO A LARGE STOCKHOLDER -DELAYED BY PANIC OF 1837
-CHANGE OF ROUTE MERGED WITH CASCADE MILL RACE— GREAT EXPEC-
TATIONS COMPLETED AT LAST FIRST BOAT TO MIDDLEBURY FIRST BOAT
FROM PITTSBURG GRAND CELEBRATION MAGNIFICENT RECEPTION TO
GOV. PORTER OF PENNSYLVANIA BANQUET. SPEECHES, TOASTS, ETC. -
DEATH OF EXCURSIONIST FROM APOPLEXY EARLY MODES OF TRANSl'OR-
TATION CANAL PROSPEROUSLY OPENED— ADVERSITY AND DECLINE
SWALLOWED BY THE MAHONING RAILROAD LEASED TO AKRON HYDRAULIC
COMPANY NOCTURNAL NAUGHTINESS -BANKS CUT AND WATER DRAWN
OFF— CHARTER FORFEITED— CANAL SOLD— MORE NIGHT WORK— FINAL
DEMISE— RAILROAD BUILT UPON ITS RUINvS, ETC., ETC.
PENNSYLVANIA AND OHIO CANAL.
UP to 1840, the only access to, or egress from, Akron, except by
wagon, etc., was by the Ohio Canal, completed from Akron
to Cleveland in 1827, and through to the Ohio river in 1830. As
early as 1825, however, the project of constructing a canal from
the Ohio river, a short distance below Pittsburg, to connect wnth the
Ohio canal, then just commenced, at the Portage Summit, began
to be agitated, a meeting of prominent citizens of Trumbull and
Portage counties, in the furtherance of that project, being held at
Ravenna, November 6, 1825, Gen. Simon Perkins, of Warren, and
Dr. Eliakim Crosby, of Middlebury, being placed upon the com-
mittee to collect information as to the most favorable route, etc.
The ensuing Winter, a bill was introduced in the Ohio Legis-
lature to incorporate the Pennsylvania & Ohio Canal Company,
"for the sole purpose of making a navigable canal between some
suitable point on the Ohio river, through the valley of the Mahgning
river, to some suital)le point on Lake Erie, or to some point on the
Ohio Canal," said act to go into effect when the Legislature of
Pennsylvania should pass a similar act, but final action upon the
bill w^as postponed until the next session.
The people along the line now^ became "terribly in earnest" on
the subject, and numerous meetings were held at Beaver, New
Castle, Warren, Ravenna, Franklin Mills, Middlebury, etc., in which
Gen. Perkins, Judge King, Dr. Crosbj'^, Judge Wetmore and others
participated, and on the 10th day of January, 1827, the bill passed
the Ohio Legislature, with Jonathan Sloane, of Ravenna, and
Frederick Wadsworth, of Kdinl)urg (afterwards for many years a
resident of Akron), as the corporators for Portage Count}', a sim-
ilar bill passing the Pennsylvania Legislature the following April.
Outside of preliminary surveys, under the auspices of the
Canal Commissioners of Pennsylvania and Ohio, nothing further
was accomplished for the period of nearly eight years.
Interest in the project at length having revived, on the 20th
day of February, 1835, the charter was renewed with an amend-
72
AKK<.).\ AXD SUMMIT COUNTY.
merit, giving the company ten years from December 31, 1835, in
which to complete the work; Pennsylvania taking similar action
April 13, 1835.
East side Main street, South of Market, showing section of old Pennsylvania and
Ohio Canal, and ruins of Ohio Exchange— 1855— from photo, by S. J. Miller.
The Company was organized at Newcastle, May 21, 1835, with
Judge Leicester King as a director, and as the Secretary; Col.
Sebr^ied Dodge (afterwards owner of the "Dodge farm," three miles
west of Akron), being appointed Chief Engineer. The State having
promised to take one dollar of the stock of the company, for every
two dollars subscribed b}" private parties. Judge King pushed the
matter so vigorously, both at home and in Pittsburg, Philadelphia,
etc., that he was soon enabled to report private subscriptions to the
amount of $840,000, the State promptly responding in the sum of
$420,000; the Pennsylvania Legislature, in 1839, contributing $50,000
for th*e completion of the work. In those days the present system
of exchange was not in vogue, nor ^vere there responsible express
companies everywhere in operation, as now, and on his return from
his successful canvass for stock subscriptions in Philadelphia, he
brought with him, over the mountains, several hundred thousand
dollars of gold and paper money in a common leather satchel, an
exploit that would, be considered very risky now, w^ith all our
improved police regulations and methods of travel.
, Though pushed quite vigorously for two or three years, for
those comparatively slow times, the work was somewhat retarded
by the panic of 1837, owing to the difficulty of collecting stock
installments, so that the canal was not fully completed and opened
to through navigation until the spring of 1840, though portions at
either end were in use as early as May, 1839.
The project, originally, contemplated running the canal
directly through Middlebury, with its western terminus ahov^e
Lock One, on the Ohio Canal. This would have entirely given
Cuyahoga Falls and North Akron the go-by. But in the interven-
COMPLETION OF THE WORK.
73
iiig years a material change of interest had taken place with Gen.
Perkins, Judge King, Dr. Crosby and several others of its early
promoters, which, together with some engineering difficulties
<jncountered by the management, and the powerful influences
brought to bear by the people of Cuyahoga Falls, resulted in a
change of route, by which, after crossing the valley of the Little
Cuyahoga, it should merge itself vi^ith, and follow the route of, the
Cascade Mill race, and unite with the Ohio Canal below Lock One.
This change necessitated the construction south of Cuyahoga
Falls, of nine descending locks to meet the level of the race, and
of one lock up, at Mill street, in Akron, to meet the level of its junc-
tion with the Ohio Canal, thus very materially augmenting the
w^aters of the race, and by so much the power and value of the
mills.
..-<.^^^^^-^>$^V
\'ie\v of North Main street from Market, showing old Pennsylvania and Oiifo
Canal, Market street canal bridge, etc.,— 1875.
Under this arrangement, and to somewhat mitigate the disap-
pointment of the Middleborians, a side-cut was constructed,
following the race from the junction southward to the mills and
warehouses in that village. The first boat to navigate the western
end of the new canal, was the "Joseph Vance," which, on May 9,
1839, carrying a jolly load of passengers, sailed from the junction,
in South Akron, making a triumphant entry into the "port" of
Middlel)ur3', amid the joyful plaudits of the people of that ancient
metropolis.
It was not only supposed that this canal would greatly inure
to the advantage of the towns and villages, through which it
passed, but that Pittsburg, Philadelphia and other |)oints in
Pennsylvania, as well as Cleveland, Columbus and other points in
Ohio, and further west and south, would be largely benefited
therebv.
74
AKK(1X AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
On this point, the Beacon of Mua" 6, 1839, said: "This canal will
be of very great importance to the cities of Philadelphia and
Pittsburg. In the Spring goods can be brought from Philadelphia
four or five weeks earlier than by the New York Canal, which will
make a vast difference with merchants who live far in the interior,
who are naturally impatient at tlie long interruption to navigation
w^hich now occurs between the West and New York; and all the
Kastern purchases will find their way to their destination by this
route!" the idea also being advanced that during the long seasons
of suspension of navigation, by reason of low w^ater in the upper
Ohio, shipments of merchandise and products to the lower Ohio
and Mississippi could be made over this route; a Pittsburg paper
of about this date, saying: "This very important canal will oj^en
to our city the trade of Warren, Akron, Massillon, Cleveland, and
all the north and western portions of the flourishing State of Ohio;
also of the lakes and Michigan, New York, Canada, etc."
View of P. and O. Canal, South Main street from rear of Howard—the dwellinif
«ind clothes-yard in foreground, being the present site of O'Xeil & Dyas' store.
On the eastern division, the first trip from Beaver to Warren
\vas made by the packet "Ontario," May 23, 1839, quite a jollifica-
tion taking place on its arrival; among the impromptu toasts offered
and responded to, being: "Judge Leicester King and Col. Sebried
Dodge, to whom the public is much indebted for the early comple-
tion of this part of the P. & O. Canal, in which they have done the
company great justice, and themselves much credit!"
The first boat through from Beaver, freighted with mer-
chandise from Pittsburg, mostly iron, nails, glass, etc., arrived in
Akron, April 4, 1840, on noticing v^hich fact the Beacon said:
"Pennsylvania and Ohio are no^v united by a canal w^hich prom-
ises to be of immense benefit to both, and the citizens of Akron
should felicitate themselves upon the completion of this impor-
tant work, which, from its termination at this point, cannot but be
of great importance to our already flourishing tow^n."
In May, 1840, Judge King, Secretary of the company, success-
fully negotiated, at par, in Philadelphia, a sufficient amount of
ENTHUSIASTIC CELEBRATION. 75
the bonds of the company to cancel its floating indebtedness and
place it upon a firm financial foundation, with abundant funds to
fully complete the line. *
At a meeting of the Board of Directors, at Warren, June 18,
1840, it was resolved to celebrate the completion of the work, all
along the line, and a committee of arrangements was appointed,
consisting of Judge Leicester King, Hon. David Tod, Jonathan
Sloane, Ksq., and Col. Sebried Dodge; the programme being for the
boats to start from Newcastle, Pa., at 6 o'clock a. m., August 4,
proceed to Youngstown for dinner, and to Warren the same
evening; leave Warren at 6 A. m., Ailgust 5, dine at Ravenna, and
arrive at Franklin Mills (noAv Kent) the same evening; August 6
leave Franklin at 7 A. m., and Avith brief stops at Munroe Falls, and
Cuyahoga Falls, proceed directly to the junction of the two
canals, in South Akron.
The programme Avas successfully carried out. The Pennsyl-
vania party, including Gov. David R. Porter, were met at the State
line, by delegations from Warren and Youngstown, and Avere warmly
welcomed to Ohio, by Judge King (in the absence of Gov. Wilson
Shannon who had promised to be present), which was fittingly
responded to by Gov. Porter. Similar ceremonies w^ere observed
at Youngstown, w^here the party dined, Avith a banquet, speeches,
toasts, etc., at Warren in the evening.
The next day, at Ravenna, a dinner was given the excur-
sionists with an address of welcome by Hon. Darius Lyman, and
responses by Gov. Porter and Col. Dickey, of Beaver, and in the
evening, a supper and reception were given the party on its
arrival at Franklin Mills.
The next day, making a brief halt at Munroe Falls, where the
villagers and surrounding farmers made the welkin ring with
cheers and shouts of joy, the party, on arriving at Cuyahoga Falls,
were escorted by a band of music, to the American House, where
an enthusiastic reception, with a bounteous collation, w^as given
them, with an eloquent address of welcome from Hon Elisha N.
Sill, and spirited responses from Gov. Porter, Col. Dickey, Judge
King and others.
Soon after leaving Cuyahoga Falls, the party was met by a
boat carrying Akron's reception committee and other promi-
nent citizens, when the entire fleet, consisting of six new and
freshly painted boats, with banners and pennants flying, to the
music of the Akron Brass Band, led by the late Henry S. Abbey,
drove gayly into Akron, amid the plaudits of the multitude who
lined both banks of the canal from Tallmadge to Mill streets, and
as soon as the lockage at the latter point could be made, continued
on to final destination, in the lower basin of the Ohio Canal in
South Akron, where an equally demonstrative crowd welcomed its
arrival with booming cannon and prolonged and enthusiastic
cheers.
The six boats were drawn up side by side on the east side of
the basin, many other boats already in the basin, quietly drawing
near, when in the presence of the large concourse of people upon
the shore and surrounding boats, Hon. Rufus P. Spalding deliv-
ered an eloquent address of welcome to the distinguished visitors,
and of congratulation to the officers of the company, at the final
consummation of the great work whose completion they were met to
76 AKKOX AXL) SUMMIT COUXTY.
<:elel)rate, to which an equally eloquent and happy response was
made in behalf of the visiting party, by Governor Porter.
At the conclusion of the exercises at the basin, the visitors
were transferred to carriages, and, headed by the band and the
Summit Guards, commanded by Capt. Philo Chamberlin, and fol-
lovi^ed by nearly the entire populace, were escorted to the Univer-
salist Church, on North High street, where Judge King, on behalf
of the directors, made a concise report of the work which had been
so successfully accomplished, and of the highly satisfactory condi-
tion and prospects of the company, Mr. King being foUow^ed by
Tarief and spirited congratulatory speeches from Hon. David Tod,
Gov. Porter, Hon. E N. Sill and others.
At the close of the exercises at the church, the party repaired
to the spacious hall in the third story of May's block (the present
Clarenden Hotel), where a sumptuous dinner had been spread by
that ancient prince of hotelists, Mr. Samuel Edgerly (father of Mrs.
B. F. Battels and Charles H. Edgerly).
Here the balance of the afternoon was spent in feasting, drink-
ing, toasting and speaking, in which both visitors and citizens
heartil}^ participated.
Upon the Akron boat had been borne an elegant silk banner,
upon which, in the line of his early artistical profession, the writer
had painted in gilt, two right hands clasped underneath the legend,
^'Pennsylvania and Ohio." Tow^ards the close of the festivities,
Mr. Spalding, offering as a sentiment: "Pennsylvania and Ohio,
distinguished by unity of interest, unity pf principle and unity of
friendship," presented the flag in question to Gov. Porter, "as a
slight testimonial of the respect entertained for him by the citizens
of Akron, and as a memento, in subsequent life, of the joj^ful festivi-
ties of the day."
On receiving the flag, the Governor feelingly responded,
expressing his great gratification at the kindness of his reception
by the people of Ohio, and especially at the extreme cordiality that
had been extended to him by the citizens of Akron and Summit
Count)'.
Much w^onderment, and very great regret, w^as indulged in over
the absence of Governor Shannon, after his unqualified agreement
to honor the occasion with his presence, and on his non-appear-
ance, without explanation, it was feared that he had l^een suddenly
taken severely ill. But when it soon afterwards transpired that,
on the very days when the festivities named were in progress, the
Governor was in attendance upon political meetings in the south
part of the State, making stump speeches in behalf of his own
re-election, the indignation hereabouts w^as both intense and
emphatic, aiding to some extent, no doubt, in compassing his defeat.
A previous historical writer has given the date of the celebration
as 1841, and Gov. Thomas Corwin as the delinquent official, an error
that should be corrected, as Gov. Shannon was defeated by Mr.
Corwin, at the ensuing October election after his shabby treatment
of Gov. Porter and the people of Northeastern Ohio.
In the evening of the celebration in Akron, as above related,
there was an impromptu reception, with rather a late supper,
accompanied with the usual liquid refreshments then so univer-
sally in vogue, at the Ohio Exchange, on the present site of Woods'
block, corner Main and Market streets. The visitors retiring to.
IX vSUCCESSFUL OPEKATION. 77
their several raoms at rather a late hour, were not very early astir
in the morning, and when finally assembled for breakfast, Major
General Seeley, of Warren, was found to be absent. A friend going
to his room to call him found him dead, from an attack of apoplexy"
during the night. The General was 70 ^^ears of age, of genial man-
ners, and a great favorite, his sudden and unexpected death, creating
great excitement and the profoundest sorrow among his fellow-
excursionists, as well as the citizens of Akron and other towns
along the line of the canal generally.
But sometimes the most serious event has a comical side to it.
A middle-aged son of the General, a phj'sician by profession, being
bibulously inclined, not having entirely recovered from theindulg-
encies of the night previous, on being informed of his father's death,
broke out into an uncontrollable and hysterical fit of weeping. A
lady acquaintance of the family, a former resident of Warren, then
living in Akron, endeavored to comfort him, urging him to cease
weeping and control his feelings, but the Doctor, in his maudlin
phrenzy, pathetically exclaimed : " Why, I — ^I — I always cry w^hen
my dear father dies ! "
Among the incorporators and active promoters of the enter-
prise w^as a rather eccentric and somewhat profane lawyer, of
Ravenna, named Jonathan Sloane, and when the sudden death of
Gen. Seeley, who was one of his most intimate friends, was dis-
closed to him, rubbing his hands together he gleefuU}^ exclaimed:
"Dom'd fine! Dom'd fine! Went out of the w^orld with his belly
full of beefsteak and brandy!"
Hitherto transportation of iron, steel, nails, glass and other
Philadelphia snd Pittsburg manufactures and merchandise, com-
ing into Nortern Ohio, had to be made overland in "Conestoga
w^agons" — immense schooner-like affairs, drawn by four, six and
eight horses — the products of this region, black salts, potash, w^ool,.
cheese, flour, etc., etc., being in like manner transported thither.
Among the .commanders of this class of crafts, the writer remem-
bers, Mr. Peter More, of Sharon, (father of the well-known cattle-
king, More Brothers, of California), Mr. George Grouse, of Tall-
madge, afterwards of Green, (father of ex-Congressman G. W. Crouse)
and Mr. Patrick Christy, of Springfield, (father of Messrs. James
and John H. Christy), Mr. James Christy himself making an occa-
sional trip both with his father and by himself. Indeed, the writer,
then with a brother running the carriage making and painting
business on the present site, of the Paige block, on South Main
street, made several excursions to Pittsburg with a four-horse rig,
for iron, steel, paints and other supplies, in 1839-40, previous to the
completion of the canal.
The opening of the canal to navigation, as above narrated,
changed all this, quite large warehouses being erected upon its
banks, at Akron, Cuyahoga Falls and other points, for the storage
and forwarding of produce and merchandise through the large num-
ber of boats that immediately commenced plying thereon.
For 12 or 15 years receipts for tolls were quite satisfactory, and
several small dividends upon the stock were declared and paid.
The tolls received at Akron amounted to about $7,000, in 1852; over
$8,000, in 1853; and nearly $9,000, in 1855; quite large shipments
being made by this route between Pittsburg and Cleveland, Mas-
sillon, etc.
78 AKROX AND SUMMIT COUXTY.
In the ttieantitne, however, railroad competition had come in,
the completion of the Cleveland and Pittsburg, and the Akron
branch, in 1852, very materially interfering with the canal, and the
building of the Mahoning Valley road, from Cleveland to Youngs-
town, a few years later, seriously crippling its resources and
impairing its usefulness and prosperit}^.
In 1862, under a resolution adopted by the Legislature, in 1858,
the Sinking Fund Commissioners sold the $420,000 worth of the
stock of the canal owned l)y the State, to the Mahoning road for
$35,000, which with stock previously secured from private parties,
at equally low rates, gave that company a controlling interest in
the canal. From that moment its doom ^vas sealed; transportation
rates largely discriminating in favor of the road and against the
canal being adopted, traffic upon the latter soon almost entirely
ceased.
It will be remembered that in the erection of the canal, the
Cascade Mill race, from Middlebury to Akron, had been merged
therein, under an arrangement that gave the mills the advantage
of the surplus or lockage waters from the canal. So when, in 1867,
the Legislature authorized the company to abandon or lease any
portion of the canal it might deem advisable, the Akron Hydraulic
Company leased, in perpetuity, all that portion of the canal
between the Portage summit, near Ravenna, (including the reser-
voirs, feeders, etc.), and Akron, with the view of mantaining the
full supply of water that had hitherto, since the constructing of
the canal, accrued to their several mills.
By a provision of the charter, any portion of the canal not used
for navigation purposes for the period of one year, became forfeited,
the lands covered thereby reverting to their original o\vners. The
middle and eastern portion having thus gone into disuse, its stag-
nant^waters were drained off by contiguous land owners, and its bed
and banks largely brought under cultivation
The Akron Hydraulic Company, however, fully maintained its
rights, under the charter, and its lease, by keeping the section
between Akron and Ravenna in repair, and passing an occasional
boat along its channel. In the meantime, the people of Cuyahoga
Falls, feeling that not only Avas the health of the neighborhood
being imperiled by the comparative stagnation of its waters, but
that a large proportion of w^hat water did pass, was just so much
wrongfully kept from the Avheels of their own mills and manufac-
tories, in the Spring or early Summer of 1868, the bank of the canal
w^as clandestinel}^ cut in three several places, both at, above and
below that village, by which the entire waters of the long level
between Kent and the nine locks were drawn off into the river.
The Hydraulic Company several times repaired the breaches
thus made, and sought to protect them by stationing watchmen
along the line, but as often Tvould the waters nij'sterioasli^ " per-
colate" through the soft earth, and wash it out again. In this way
the fatal year was permitted to pass, without a resumption of
navigation, and quo vrarranto proceedings were at length brought
in the Supreme Court, in 1872, under which Gen. A. C. Voris, of
Akron, and Hon. Samuel Quinby, of Warren, ^vere appointed
trustees to sell the property, rights, franchises, etc., of the Canal
Company to the highest bidder, which Avas accordingly done, in
September, 1873, for the sum of $38,000, the Mahoning Railroad
CANAL ABANDONED. 79
Company, being the sole beneficiary of the sale. This sale did not,
of course, affect the rights of the mill men in that portion con-
nected with the original mill race, between Middlebury and
Akron, nor the short section, between the junction with the race,
in Main street, and the Ohio Canal basin in South Akron, the ben-
efits of whose waters, through the Mill street Lock, the mill
owners still for some years continued to enjoy.
To this enjoyment the South Main street people, through
whose lands the canal ran, put in an emphatic demurrer one
night, in the Spring of 1874, by filling the canal with earth at the
Exchange street bridge, and tapping the towing path at one or
two points further North, and discharging the waters of the level
upon the bottom lands, and into the Ohio Canal ou the ^vest.
Legal proceedings against the supposed nocturnal violators of the
law were instituted, but finally abandoned, and that portion of the
canal also reverted to the contiguous land owners, and the
Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal, as such, became a thing of the past,
and its bed and banks, from New^castle Junction to Akron are now
covered by the tracks of the Pittsburg &c Western Railway, as fully
set forth in another chapter.
The conception of the scheme, however, ^was a grand one, and
one which, through the sagacity and enterprise of Gen. Perkins,
Judge King, Dr. Crosby and their contemporaries, did its full
share towards establishing the commercial and manufacturing
reputation and importance of Akron, Middlebury and Cuyahoga
Falls, and but for the advent of that still more potent factor of
human enterprise and progress — the modern railroad — w^ould still
have been one of the cherished institutions of the State, and a
source of profit to its proprietors.
As a mill race, however, conveying the waters of the Little
Cuyahoga river, Springfield Lake, etc., from Ancient Middlebury,
now the populous Sixth Ward, of Akron, to the several extensive
flouring mills of the city, it is still doing valuable service, though
hidden from sight by a substantial conduit through Main, and that
portion of Mill street, east of Howard. Peace to the "ashes" of
the Pennsvlvania and Ohio Canal!
8() AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
CHAPTER VL
THE PORTAGE CANAL AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OR THE " CHUCKER Y "
ENTERPRISE — A MAMMOTH SCHEME— SUPERIOR SAGACITY AND ENGINEER-
ING SKILL' OF AKRON'S GREAT BENEFACTOR, DR. ELIAKIM CROSBY- -" SUMMIT
CITY" FIFTEEN MINUTES A COUNTY SEAT RISE, PROGRESS AND COLLAPSE —
MISMANAGEMENT AND RASCALITY— PROTRACTED LITIGATION —RUIN ALL
AROUND— BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOCTOR CROSBY AND FAMILY
— TARDY JUSTICE TO HIS MEMORY.
TRULY A MAMMOTH SCHEME.
AFTER the consumniation of the Cascade Mill race scheme, bj^
which the waters of the Little Cuyahoga river had been turned
from their course, at Middlebury, and brought to North Akron,
thus constituting the extensive water-power now owned bj" the
Akron Hydraulic Company, and which has, in reality, made Akron
what it is, Doctor Kliakim Crosby conceived the idea of securing
as an adjunct to that then potent element of manufacturing
growth and prosperity, the entire volume of the waters of the Big
Cuyahoga river, also. Quietly, but carefully, making his survej's,
the Doctor satisfied himself that, if the right of waj^, and the
requisite territory, together with an adequate construction fund,
could be secured, a water-power second in magnitude and accessi-
bility to no other in the Western country could be created, and a
large manufacturing town, rivalling even the most prosperous in
New i^ork and New England could be built up.
The village of Cuyahoga Falls was already largely using the
waters of the river for manufacturing purposes, but the peculiar for-
mation of the land and the stream below the village, with its deep
and almost inaccessible gorge, rendered the availability of its
waters, for manufacturing purposes, both difficult and extremely'
inconvenient, if not wholly impracticable.
In the furtherance of this project, Doctor Crosby, having sold
his one-third interest in the Cascade Mill race and contiguous
lands in North Akron, to his associates in that enterprise, General
Simon Perkins and Judge Ivcicester King, with the avails thereof
quietly, through Mr. Eleazer C. Sackett (for many years past, until
his death, July 10, 1889, at the age of 88, a resident of Wyandotte,
Kansas), in 1836 secured, by purchase, all the lands abutting on the
river, on both sides, from a point a little below the " High Bridge, "
in \ehat is now known as the "Glens," to its junction with the
little Cuyahoga, a short distance below Lock Twenty-one upon the
Ohio Canal.
Of the large tract of land thus purchased, nearly four square
miles, or something over 2,500 acres, about 200 acres were nicely
platted, and a large and handsomely engraved and printed map of
" Summit City" was placed on exhibition in the principal business
centers of the country, particularly in the East, and capitalists
were invited to invest in the choice manufacturing sites and
eligible building lots for business blocks and private residences
displayed thereon.
TRULY A MAMMOTH SCHEME. 81
To those familiar with the territory comprising Avhat is now
generally known as the "Chuckery" (so named from the facetious
remark of that inveterate joker and punster, the late Col. John
Nash, of Middlebury, in reply to the inquiry of a stranger as to
the population of Summit City, that as near as he could judge it
was about 10,000, "that is," he said, with that peculiar leer of his,
"one man and nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine wood-
chucks"), it will be readily seen that the location was remarkably
favorable for the success of the contemplated scheme. The large
plateau, now designated as " North Hill," embracing the Wise
farm, and contiguous lands north to the river, and east to the old
Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal, were admirably adapted to private
residences, public buildings, parks, etc., while the next lower pla-
teau, elnbracing Cuyahoga street, was to be the business or
mercantile portion of the city"; the contemplated mammoth mills
and manufacturing establishments to be located on the side of the
bluffs, the lower plateau, and along the bottom lands of the Little
Cuj'ahoga, from a short distance west of the deep cut of the
Howard street extension, around the brow of the hill westerly and
northerly, to the junction of the two rivers.
On the 27th day of February, 1837, a charter was granted to
Simon Perkins, Eliakim Crosby, Frederick Wadsworth, Eleazer
C. Sackett, Edmund W. Crittenden, Peter Eicher and their asso-
ciates and successors, undername and style of the Portage Canal
and Manufacturing Company, with an authorized capital of $500,-
000, and with power to issue bonds for the purpose of raising funds
for building its dam and canal, and defraying the other necessary
expenses of the corporation, and w^ith authority to mortgage its
entire lands and franchises to secure the paym'ent of such bonds.
The first series of bonds was issued with the view of being
negotiated in London, through the L^nited States Bank of Penn-
sylvania, at Philadelphia, to which institution, as trustee, the
company executed a mortgage upon all its lands and franchises,
on the 19th day of April, 1839, to secure the payment of said bonds.
The total amount of bonds thus authorized was £20,000 sterling,
in forty bonds of £500 each. These bonds, as prepared, were
nicely engraved, with a handsome vignette, representing both a
moving canal boat and a railroad train, fine marginal designs,
with 24 interest coupons attached to each, and were nicely printed
on a fine quality of bank note paper. The body of the bonds read
as follows:
STATE OF OHIO, U. S. A.
No
500 £ St'g. [Canal Boat, etc.) £ Sf g 500.
THE PORTAGE CANAL AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, (Incorporated bv
the Stateof Ohio, February, 27th, A. D. 1837), promise to pay to the bearer of this Bond, FivE
Hundred Pounds Sterling, on the first clay of January, one thousand, eight hundred
and , with interest thereon at the rate of SIX per cent, per annum from the
date hereof. The said interest to be paid semi-annually, on the first days of January and
July, on presenting the proper warrant for the same at where the principal
will also be paid on the surrender of this certificate at its maturity.
paid
Witness the Seal of said Corporation, with the signatures of the President
[.SEAL] and Treasurer, at Akron, Ohio, the day of A. D. 18....
Treasuref . President.
With the exception of some four or five of these bonds, negoti-
ated with Joseph S. Lake, a Wooster Banker, and a stockholder
in the company, it was found impracticable to carry out this
scheme, because of the alleged stringency of the money market in.
6
82 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
London, and because of the discoverj^ that, being a corporation,
the United States Bank of Pennsylvania, under the laws of that
State, could not legally act as a trustee for their negotiation. An
arrangement was therefore made by the company with Mr. Lake
to give him, in exchange for the bonds he had thus purchased, a
like amount in a new series of bonds to be issued, and the mort^
gage given, as above stated, to the U. S. Bank, was duly cancelled
on the 30th day of March, 1841. On the succeeding day, March 31,
1841, a mortgage was executed in favor of John J. Palmer, of Newr
York, as trustee, to secure the payment of bonds to be issued by
the company, to the amount of $100,000, in sums of $500 each, to be
negotiated by him, which bonds, similar in style and execution to
the others, as appears by a specimen in the hands of the writer,
were as follows:
ILoan of 100,000 Dollars.] [Real Estate Pledged By Deed of Trust.]
STATE OF OHIO, U. S. A.
$500. [Canal Boat, etc.] $500.
THE PORTAGE CANAL AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, (Incorporated by
the State of Ohio, February 27,1857), promise to paj' the bearer of this Bond, Fi\'EHrNUREl)
Dollars, on the first day of January, One Thousand, Eight Hundred and Forty-Six, with
interest thereon at the rate of six per cent, per annum from the date hereof ; the said
interest to be paid senii-annuallv, on the first days of January and July, on presenting tlie
proper warrant for the same, at The Merchants' BANK IN THE City of New York, at
which iNSTiTLfTlON, the principal will also be paid on the surrender of this Certificate at
its maturity.
Witness the Seal of said Corporation, with the Signatures of the President and
[SEAL.] Treasurer, at Akron, Ohio, the thirty-first day of March, A. D. 1841.
S. DAY, Treasurer. Eliakim Crosby, President.
(Instituted March 31, 1811.] [Appraised at five times the amount of the Loan.]
Some time previous to the issue of the bonds described, the
original proprietors of the lands and water powder, Messrs. Crosby,
Eicher, Sackett and Crittenden, transferred the entire property to
the company, after it had become duly organized, being credited
therefor, upon the books of the company, the sum of $500,000, stip-
ulating to erect the dam, construct the canal and cause to be
surveyed and laid out into suitable sized lots for the purposes
designed, 100 acres or more of said lands. Of the $500,000 thus
credited to them, the original proprietors set apart the sum of
$118,000, for the execution of the work they had stipulated to per-
form. Subsequently, said original proprietors contracted w^ith
Mr. E. C. Sackett to build the canal or race for the sum of $90,000,
Mr. Sackett entered vigorously into the work, its progress, from the
nature of the route to be traversed, being necessarily very
slow, however, and af^r he had expended about $50,000 the com-
pany, reimbursing him in that amount, purchased his contract,
binding itself to complete the -work as stipulated therein. After-
wards the company contracted with Dr. Crosby, for the sum of
$30,000, to complete the dam and race, excepting the unfinished
work upon the latter begun by Mr. Sackett; but for some reason
not now fully ascertainable, this arrangement fell through, and
the company itself, under the superintendenc}^ of Dr. Crosby,
proceeded to complete the \vrork.
The means for the earlier prosecution of the work were mostly
procured from the sale of shares of stock, lots, etc. For this
purpose. Dr. E. W. Crittenden, as general agent of the company.
ASPIRING FOR COUNTY SEAT H6N0RS. 83
and James W. Phillips as special agent, visited New York
Philadelphia, and other Eastern cities, in the interest of the corpo-
ation. Money being a decidedly "cash article," in those days— the
panic of 1837 then being full head on — large blocks of stock in
Kastern railroads and other corporations, real estate and all kinds
of merchandise, were taken in exchange for both stock shares and
building lots in the prospective city; a store being opened, about
1810, in the corner room of the historical old stone block — where
the M. W. Henry block now stands, corner Howard and Market
streets — by E. Darwin Crosby, son of Dr. Eliakim Crosby, the large
double-faced gilt sign, bearing his name, on either side, as above
given, made by the writer, now^ doing service as a shelf for canned
fruit in his [the w^riter's] cellar, at 510 West Market street.
Later on, in 1842, the late John T. Balch (father of Mr.
Theodoric A. Balch, of 136 Balch street), as agent for John R.
Hudson, of New York, contracted to furnish goods upon the orders
of the company, at retail prices, to the amount of $30,000, on a
year's credit, the company to provide tw^o store rooms for the sale
of said goods, rent free. The main store under the taking title of
'* The New York Store," was established in room No. 3, of the stone
block, and filled with a large and well-selected stock of general mer-
chandise, for sale to the public at large, as well as upon the orders
■of the company; a smaller but pretty full assortment of goods also
being kept in a store erected by the company in "Summit City,"
on the southwest corner of Cuyahoga street and Tallmadge
avenue. The same building, then occupied as a dwelling by Mr.
Seth Sackett, was destroyed by fire on the night of Februar3'- 11,
1844, \vith all its contents, the family, in their night clothes, barely
escaping with their lives; the New York Store closing business on
the 25th day of April, the same year.
FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES A, COUNTY SEAT.
Elsewhere will be found, in detail, the history of the erection
of Summit County, and the protracted and bitter struggle over the
location of the county seat. For the purposes of this chapter it
will be sufficient to say that, in 1840, the "Chuckery" appeared upon
the tapis as a compromise candidate for county-seat honors,
against Akron and Cuyahoga Falls, between which towrns a fierce
rivalry existed. Akron claimed it as being the larger, in point of
manufactures, general business and population, and because of its
more convenient access from a large proportion of the territory
included in the new^ county; vrhile Cuyahoga Falls claimed it
because of its more central geographical location, its alleged
superior water power; its more favorable topographical advantages,
and above all for its unsurpassed salubrity and healthfulness; the
'•Chuckery's" claim being that by means of its gigantic hydraulic
operations, then rapidly progressing. Summit City would speedily
outgrow either of the other claimants, both in the magnitude of its
manufactures and general business, and in population, while its
accessibility, as well as its beauty of location, would be generally
satisfactory to the people of the entire county, and allay the bitter
animosities that were being engendered in the controversy then
being waged between its tw^o rivals.
So promising were the prospects of the company at this time,
and so plausible were the arguments presented by Drs. Crosby and
84
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Crittenden before the reviewing commissioners, at an all day's
meeting held by them in the Universalist (late Baptist) Church, in
1841, to hear the question discussed, that two of the three commis-
sioners actually decided in its favor, and proceeded to " stick the
stakes" for the public buildings on the first level above the vallcA"
of the Little Cuyahoga, a little east of the house now o^vned bj^ Mr.
R. A. Grimwood, on Glen\^^ood avenue, built and formerly occupied
by Mr. K. C. Sackett, one of the most prominent and active promot-
ers of the "Chuckery" scheme.
It is possible that this selection would have prevailed, the disas-
ters of the company have been averted and the project have proved
a triumphant success, but for the "moving" reinark of bluff old
Dr. Daniel Upson, of Tallmadge, \vhile the measurements were
being made and the stakes driven, who said to the bystanders, loud
enough to be heard by the commissioners, that " nobody but fools
or knaves vt^ould think of locating county buildings on such a spot
as that." This so incensed the commissioners who, having con-
versed with the Doctor the day before, knew^ that though his resi-
dence was nearer the Falls, he was favorable to Akron, that
they immediately pulled up their stakes, and proceeded to locate
the county seat at Cuyahoga Falls as elsewhere stated, resulting
finally in a submission of the question to a vote of the people, in
1842, and a confirmation of the judgment of the original commis-
sioners in favor of Akron.
To those familiar with the topog-
raphy of the section traversed
by the canal, the engineering diffi-
culties to be overcome, with the
crude and limited appliances then
in vogue, to say nothing of the
serious financial embarrassments
by -which the company and the
contractors were beset, the won-
der is that the really gigantic
work in question could then have
been accomplished as soon as it
was, ^vhile in these modern
days of improved labor-saving
expedients, and comparatively
eas3^ finances, it could have been
done in one -fourth the time,
though probably at double the
cost; common laborers upon the
job then receiving but $13 per
month, $2 only of v^'hich vt^as in
money, and the remaining $11 in
orders upon the company's stores.
For the information of those who
have never been over the ground, I will attempt to convey what, at
best, will be but a faint idea of the magnitude of the work.
In the first place, a dam, some 20 feet in height, was required
to be throvirn across the river, from -whence to dra-w the water
thereof at a sufficient elevation to properly flow through the con-
templated canal and discharge itself, on reaching its intended
outlet at the other end, a distance of nearly four miles. This dam,.
View of "Big Falls" on Cuyahoga River,
from "Chuckery" race, opposite "Old
Maid's Kitchen/'
SKILLFUL ENGINEERING FEAT.
85
nearly 100 feet below the general surface of the surrounding coun-
try, was constructed of heavy timbers, anchored to the bed rock, at
the bottom of the narrow gorge where it w^as located, w^ith the ends
of the upward arching superstructure resting against the solid
rocky walls of the river bank, upon either side. Though meeting
with several disasters and many hindrances, by reason of frequent
floods, during the progress of the work, the dam was finallj^ suc-
cessfully completed some time in the year 1843.
For two miles from the dam, the canal had to be cut from the
solid rock of the overhanging cliff, or built up from the bed of the
stream with substantial masonry and curbing, and filled in with
earth difficult of access. On emerging from the gorge of the river
a mile or so above the present covered bridge, the course of the
canal, southward, w^as through a succession of large spurs of the
high bluffs on the northwestern verge of the upper plateau of the
company's domain, and at an elevation of fully one hundred feet
above the bed of the river.
These bluffs, composed chiefly of sand, had been corrugated and
worn into deep ravines, by the action of the surface water from the
■upper plateau in its flow^ towards the river. These numerous high
ridges required to be cut down, w^hile the intervening gullies had
to be elevated to the proper level for the bed of the canal then
being built. To have done this by the usual modes of excavation
then in vogue, the shovel, the barrow, the scraper and the cart,
would have required an immense number of men and teams, and
an immense expenditure of time, muscle and money.
But the engineering and
hydraulic skill of Dr. Crosby
w^ere equal to the emergency.
Procuring a permit from the
managers of the Pennsylvania
and Ohio Canal, that canal was
tapped upon the eastern verge
of the company's lands, and in
*a shallow ditch, formed mainly
by its own current, the w^ater
w^as conducted across the nearly
level plain, about a mile and a
half, to the vsrestern edge of the
plateau, where, in troughs and
properly directed sluice-ways, it
was made to w^ash the parts to
be cut down into the parts to be
filled up; the latter being forti-
fied at the bottom with suitable
breastworks of logs, brush, etc.,
to catch the moving sand, w^hich
were from time to time added to,
as the cavities filled up.
In this w^ay, not only were the
depressions in the bluffs brought
up to the required level, but thousands and perhaps millions of
cubic yards of earth were deposited upon the flats below; the
bottoms, between the river and bluffs, being in places raised from
twenty-five to thirty feet; trees of quite large growth, being almost
completely buried thereby.
View of "Old Maid's Kitchen," from
" Cliuckerv" race below the " Big
Falls, *^ on Cuyalioga river.
86
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
The south end of the canal, along the base of the upper plateau^
for a mile or more, was constructed in the usual way, with shovels,
barrows, scrapers, carts, etc., and though the \^ork had several
times been suspended, by the exigencies of the times, and the
many unavoidable obstacles it had encountered, the great project
was at length so far consummated, that on the 27th day of May,
1844, the water was turned into the canal at the dam, and,
running its entire length, nearly four miles, was permitted to flow,
for a short time, over the edge of the lower bluffs into the valley of
the Little Cuyahoga, at a point about midway between Cu^^ahoga
street and Howard street extension.
The news that the water was
to be let into the "Chucker3'"
canal, at a given hour of the da3'
named, attracted to the spot a
large crowd of interested people,
from both "Summit City," Akron
and the surrounding countr^^.
Of this event, Hiram Bowmen,
Bsq., founder and editor of the
Beacon, in the issue of May 29,
1844. said:
"On Monday morning last the
water of the Great Cuyahoga
river was turned into the race,
which has been for several j^ears
in process of construction by the
Portage Canal and Manufactur-
ing Company, for the purpose of
conducting it to the brow of the
hill, just north of the village, to
be used for h3''draulic purposes.
The water flowed freely through
the rockj" channel which ha&
been made at incredible labor
and expense along the precipi-
tous banks of the Cuyahoga, for more than two miles, when it
passed into that portion of the race made through the sand bank,
w^here it makes a southerly course towards the village of Akron, and
leaves the river. Here, in consequence of the porous nature of
the soil, the water made but slow progress, but it crept slowl^^ and
securely on towards its destined termination, the distance through,
from the commencement of the sand bank, being about two miles.
Long before the Avater came in sight a crowd of spectators from
the neighboring villages, had gathered to w^itness the interesting
spectacle.
"About 4 o'clock p. m, the Avater was descried from the point
where it yvas to flo^v over the hill into the valley of the Little
Cuyahoga river, when the * Baby Waker' of the Summit Guards,
stationed on a neighboring hill, awakened the echoes that skirt
the vallies of the two rivers, by repeated discharges, done in line
style. This was answered by the hearty cheei;s of the multitude,
and the ringing of the bells from the town. Then came a pause,
and all were on tip-toe to see the final consummation of this great
w^ork — the fall of the water at the end of the race into the valley
View of " Cliiickery " race where it emerges
from the rocky "bank of the Cuyahoga
river, into the sandy plain towards
Akron.
INHARMONY AND DISASTEK. 87
below. The "water came slo\^ly on, as if it had lost its "way, and
was loth to leave the foamy bed of the ancient river, and check its
headlong career to be subject to the control of man. But art and
enterprise had triumphed — the great w^ork, Avhich had so long been
held in doubt, -was accomplished, for soon the water was seen to
emerge from the termination of the canal, and flow over the hill
into the valley below. This -was greeted -with three cheers from
the people and the firing of cannon. Ithiel Mills, Esq., then pro-
posed the follo>ving sentiment, to which the people responded with
a right good will, and then retired to their homes:
" *Dr. E. Crosby: The noble projector and efficient executive
of the great enterprise this day successfully accomplished, of
introducing the waters of the Great Cuyahoga river to Akron by
land. Of his noble and persevering spirit of enterprise, his fellow-
citizens are justly proud.'"
It was to be expected, of course, that there would be more or
less defects in the bed of the canal, particularly in the sandy por-
tion of it, that ^vould need to be puddled and otherwise remedied,
and there being as yet no proper gates and sluices for safely
conducting the water into the Little Cuyahoga river, the water -was
turned off at the datn until these things could be provided, and, as
the sequel proved, never to be again turned on.
Of the causes that led to the final overthro"w of this gigantic
project, vsrhich had cost so much time, labor and monej', and so
great a degree of intrepidity, skill and perseverance of its projector
and his associates, it is difficult at this remote day to definitely
determine. But from the legal and other sources of information
available, it seems to have largely resulted from -want of harmony
among the stockholders, and the importunity of the numerous
creditors of the company, and perhaps, to a certain extent, from the
cupidity, if not downright rascality, of certain parties who had
been trusted with the sale of bonds, stocks, lots, etc., and the
purchase of merchandise and other property in exchange therefor,
the court records showing that about fifty suits at law, and in
chancery, "were instituted against the company and parties con-
nected therewith, between the time its embarrassments and
complications became manifest, until the final closing up of its
affairs.
Finding itself unable to restore harmony among its members,
or regain the confidence of capitalists, in September, 1845, Joseph
S. Lake, of Wooster, was appointed a trustee, and all of the lands
and franchises of the company "were conve^'ed to him, in fee
simple, for the purpose, as he expressed it in his advertisement
announcing his appointment, "of enabling him to payoff the debts
of the company, and to secure a good title to the purchasers;" and
to more speedily accomplish that object, he associated with him-
self, \V. S. C. Otis, Esq., to arrange and settle claims, and receive
pay for lands sold; and Mr, E. C. Sackett to make sales of lands,
rent property, etc.
Finding that but little, if any, headway was being made by
Trustee Lake, towards adjusting the affairs of the company, and
placing it upon its feet again, on the 20th day of June, 1845, John
J, Palmer, of New York, mortgagee of all the company's property
in trust to secure the payment of its bonds negotiated through
him, filed a bill in chancery, in the Court of Common Pleas of
88 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Summit County, for the foreclosure of said mortgage, in which
suit, besides the corporation itself, some 45 or 50 more or less
interested private individuals were made parties. What with
answers, replications, demurrers, amendments, references, contin-
uances, etc., this suit was prolonged until the October term of the
court, 1849, at which time a judgment was rendered against the
company for $127,832.18 and costs $289.81, and a decree entered for
the sale of the mortgaged property, by Daniel K. Tilden, Esq., as
Special Master Commissioner; K. C. Sackett having been appointed
by the court, receiver of rents, etc., pending said litigation.
Having been duly advertised, said property Viras sold by Master
Commissioner Tilden, on the 15th day of June, 1850; a few of the
smaller portions, city lots, etc., being sold to parties to "whom they
had previously been sold or contracted, by the company, and who
had made improvements thereon ; but the bulk of the property, includ-
ing its water-power, hydraulic improvements, franchises, etc.,
being sold to W. S. C. Otis, Ksq., attorney for the bondholders for
the sum of $38,172, the entire sales aggregating a little over $42,000,
for what, exclusive of the large outlay on the dam and race, had
originally cost the company nearly or quite $300,000.
In speaking of this sale, John Teesdale, Esq., then editor of the
Beacon, said: "Its present shape renders it available for the exe-
cution of the original design, and the conviction seems to be
general that with the requisite enterprise and energy, the new
purchasers may realize from their investment what even the most
sanguine of the stockholders dared hope for."
But the prediction of Mr. Teesdale w^as destined never to be
verified. The rapidly increasing use of steam, as a machinery pro-
pelling power, and the constantly diminishing volume of Avater in
the Cuyahoga river, by reason of the w^anton denudation of adja-
cent timber lands, rendering hydraulic privileges less desirable,
the entire project was finally abandoned, and the territory included
in the original scheme, embracing about 2,500 acres — >vith the small
exceptions noted — was sold as occasion offered, to private parties,
mostly for agricultural purposes; though at this time a considera-
ble portion thereof is rapidly assuming a city aspect, preparatory
to annexation as the Seventh Ward of the exceptionally prosper-
ous and growing city of Akron; while the dismantled canal through
the gorge of the Cuyahoga river — ruow^ largel}^ overgrown w^ith
bushes and trees — only serves as an object of curious interest and
wonderment to the thousands of pleasure seekers Avho annually
visit that now celebrated Summer resort, "The Glens;" that portion
south of the river being rapidly obliterated by the action of the
elements upon its sandy embankments, and the plowshare of the
gardener and husbandman.
DR. CROSBY'S LATER LIFE, DEATH, ETC.
Fifty years ago the Crosby family were not only the very elite,
but the very life and soul of Akron society, first and foremost in
every good work and social enterprise, the second and third daugh-
ters, Louisa and Mary, being very fine singers — the latter occupying
about the same position in musical circles that Mrs. Henry Perkins
holds among us to-day.
What I have said of Dr. Eliakim Crosby, in this and former
chapters, conveys but a faint idea of his services to the people of
DOCTOR Crosby's later life. 89
Akron, a meager recognition of Avhich has been tardily accorded in
the naming of the new street running parallel with West Market
street, from Maple to Balch streets; and also in giving his name to
the Third Ward school building, corner of Smith and West streets.
It is proper, in closing this chapter, and as supplemental to
matters pertaining to the same subject contained in the first chap-
ter of these papers, to add the following in regard to Doctor Crosby
and his family: In 1830, the Doctor buried his wife, Mrs. Marcia
Beemer Crosby, w^ho died October 13, at the age of 38 years,
having borne him seven children, four sons and three daughters.
In about 1832 he moved his family to his projected new village of
"Cascade," building for himself the house which is still standing
on the back part of the lot on the corner of North Howard and
Beach streets, and for many years kno^vn as the "Wheeler
House." A year or two later this property w^as exchanged, with
Mr. Reuben Downing, for the present lot occupied by the St. Vin-
<;ent De Paul Church and parsonage, corner of West Market and
Maple streets, and in the plain story-and-a-half frame house thereon
he continuously resided until removing from the town in 1853.
August 15, 1832, Doctor Crosby married for his second w^ife
Elizabeth Brackett, w^ho died January 3, 1834, an infant daughter
remaining to him as the fruit of this marriage. May 8, 1834, he
married for his third wife, Mrs. Ann Hamlin West (widow of Dr.
Wareham West, who died in Middlebury, December 9, 1821, at the
age of 30 years), her only daughter, Mary West, then being added
to the lively family circle.
After the disastrous failure of the great enterprise of his life,
^nd the termination of the perplexing litigation connected there-
w^ith, shattered in fortune and spirits. Dr. Crosby, in 1853, removed
■with his wife and youngest daughter, to Suamico, near Green Bay,
Wisconsin, -where his youngest son, Benjamin Franklin Crosby,
was then engaged in the lumber trade; his two other sons, Henry
Clay, and E. Darwin, soon after going thither also. Dr. Crosby died
at Suamico, September 2, 1854, aged 75 years and 6 months, his
widow, Mrs. Ann Hamlin Crosby, dying at the same place Decem-
ber 11, 1857, aged 64 years.
Dr. Crosby's eldest son, John B., died in Akron, September 23,
1832, aged 20 years. His second son, Henry Clay, married Mary
West, (daughter of his last step-mother), and soon after the death
of his parents removed to Chicago, near which citj^ in the pleas-
ant village of Winnetka, he died May 27, 1886, in the 71st year of
his age; his wife and one son, Wareham West Crosb3% surviving
him. The next younger son, E. Darwin, recently died in Chicago,
where the youngest son, Benjamin Franklin, now lives.
Of Doctor Crosb^^'s four daughters, Calista M., when quite
young was married to Charles W. Howard, one of Akron's pioneer
merchants, and for whom Howard street was named, and in 1853
was again married to Judge Leicester King, of Warren, who died
in 1856. She is still living, dividing her time among her brothers,
sisters and other friends at Chicago, Colorado Springs, Akron and
other places; her only son, Charles O. Howard, having died in
Nebraska in 1876. The second daughter, Louisa, married William
Harrison Dewey, (brother of the late Mrs. Dr. Joseph Cole, of
Akron), also one of early Akron's enterprising business men, who
died in Chicago in 1863, leaving to the care of his widow five
90
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
daughters; the eldest, Jennie, died in 1870; the second, lone, mar-
rying Gen. Li. P. Bradley, of the United States Army, now retired;
the third, Helen, marrying Capt. Rogers, of the U. S. Army; the
fourth, Louisa, marrying Samuel Colj'er, son of Rev. Dr. Robert
Colyer, now living in Portland, Oregon; the fifth, Charlotte,
unmarried, still living with her mother. Dr. Crosby's third daugh-
ter, Mary, married Hon. Henry W. King, brother of our present
w^ell-known citizen, David L. King, Rsq., the two brothers forming
the law firm of King & King, in this city, from 1849 to 1851; Mr.
Henry W. King also holding the office of Secretary of State and Com-
missioner of Public Schools, from 1850 to 1852, dying in Akron,
November 20, 1857, at the age of 42 years and one month, leaving
two children, Harry C. and Julia H. The former died in Washing-
ton in August, 1864, ^vhile serving as one of Summit Countj^'s 100-
day men in the war of the rebellion. The daughter, Julia H., is
married to Homer Dewey Fisher, son of the late Dr. Alexander
Fisher, of Chicago, (formerly of Akron), w^ho is now manager of
the Colorado Midland Railw^ay, \vith headquarters at Colorado
Springs, and with Avhom Mrs. King now resides. Dr. Crosb3''s
youngest daughter, (by his second wife), Elizabeth Brackett Crosb}',
married Charles N. White, paymaster of the N. Y,, L. E. & W. R, R.,
with headquarters at Nyack, N. Y., where she died in Decem-
ber, 1885.
View from West Hill, above Glendale Avenue, looking East.— From photo
by E. J. Howard, 1879.
CHAPTER VII.
SUMMIT COUNTY— SIX YEARS' STRUGGLE OVER ITS ERECTION— SUCCESSFUL AT
LAST— GREAT REJOICING OVER THE RESULT— PRELIMINARY ELECTION AND
ORGANIZATION— THE COUNTY SEAT QUESTION— AKRON, CUYAHOGA FALLS
AND SUMMIT CITY COMPETITORS— LOCATING COMMISSIONERS DECIDE IN
FAVOR OF AKRON— BUILDING OF COURT HOUSE AND JAIL BEGUN— NEW
DEAL.AND NEW LOCATING COMMITTEE APPOINTED— EXCITING DISCUSSION-
STICKING THE STAKES, FIRST ON THE "CHUCKERY," THEN AT CUYAHOGA
FALLS — MAJORITY AND MINORITY REPORT— A DIVIDED COURT FAILS TO
CONFIRM MAJORITY REPORT — COUNTY OFFICERS DIVIDED ALSO, PART
GOING TO THE FALLS, PART REMAINING IN AKRON— ANOTHER NEW DEAL
—THE QUESTION SUBMITTED TO VOTE— AKRON AHEAD NEARLY TWO TO
ONE— COMPLETION OF THE PUBLIC BUILDINGS— OVATION TO JOHN QUINCY
ADAMS— SHABBY COURT HOUSE AND UNSAFE JAIL— SUBSEQUENT IMPROVE-
MENTS—NEW BUILDINGS IMPERATIVELY NEEDED, ETC.
EARLY NEW COUNTY AGITATION.
TH'E opening of the Ohio Canal, from Cleveland to Akron, in
1827, and through to the Ohio river, in 1830, greatly increasing
the facilities for travel and transportation, very materially changed
the currents of trade, diverting business from old established cen-
ters, like Ravenna, Canton, Wooster, Medina, etc., to such points
as Akron, Massillon, Canal Fulton, Clinton, etc., on the line of the
canal.
As early as 1833, therefore, the farmers of the western portion
of Portage, and the eastern portion of Medina Counties, in connec-
tion with the people of the new and enterprising village of Akron,
began to agitate the question of a new county, to be composed of
two tiers of townships from Portage, one tier from Medina, and a
sufficient amount of territory from either Stark or Wayne, or both,
to answer the constitutional requirements in regard to area.
To facilitate the project, on the 14th day of December, 1833,
Dr. Eliakim Crosby, in behalf of the people of Akron, published
the following in the Ohio Review, at Cuyahoga Falls, Akron
having no newspaper at that time :
"PUBLIC NOTICE AND PLEDGE.
" To whom it may concern:
"Should the Legislature of Ohio set off and org-anize a New County, at its
present session, composed of townships from Portage, Medina, Stark and
Wa3-ne counties, establishing the seat of justice in Akron, or its vicinitj^
then in that case, I hereby agree and obligate m3^self to raise and appropri-
ate, or secure to be given and appropriated, towards the New County
Buildings, a sum not less than Two THOUSAND DOLLARS.
"Akron, Dec. 14, 1833. E. CROSBY."
It is proper to say, here, that at this time two other projects
were being agitated, and advocated with considerable earnestness,
by the people of the localties interested; one, the project of remov-
ing the county seat of Portage County from Ravenna to Franklin
Mills (now Kent), which was supposed to be destined to become
92 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
a large manufacturing city; the other to retain the regular county
seat at Ravenna, with Cuyahoga Falls as a half-shire; that is,
the business pertaining to the west part of the county to be trans-
acted at Cuyahoga Falls, and that from the east part at Ravenna,
Avith perhaps an alternation of commissioners' meetings, court
sessions, etc. For these reasons, not only the people of Ravenna
and the eastern townships, vigorously opposed the new county
movement, but Franklin Mills and Cuyahoga Falls, also, and when
Dr. Crosby's proposition wras left with the editor of the i?eFiew,
the people of the latter village hastily prepared for publication, in
the same issue, the following counter proposition:
" To the Public : An effort being- inade at this time to divide the county
of Portag-e, and, from a part of this and the counties of Medina, Wayne and
Stark, to form a new county, the seat of justice to be at Akron, and public
notice having been given that if the Leg^islature of the State shall, at its
present session, locate the seat of justice at that place, and in conformity
with the terms therein offered, then that the sig^ner, E. Crosby, will pay, or
cause to be paid, two thousand dollars towards the new public buildings :
" We, the undersigned inhabitants of Cuyahoga Falls, believing that
said attempt to divide this county is premature and uncalled for by the best
interests of the county, and believing further that if it should be determined
to divide the county at this time, ag^ainst which we hereby publicly protest,
-the best interests of this part of the countj^ require that the county seat shall
not be placed at Akron, but that other places would be more eligible, and
that this place, from its location, its superior healthfulness, and the many
natural advantag^es of its situation, offers peculiar advantag^es for the
count3^ seat, if such county shall be formed, do hereby pledge ourselves,
that if the Legislature, at its present or next session, will locate the seat of
justice of a new county, to be formed of such portions of the adjoining-
counties as to them shall seem proper, at this place, we will pay, or
secure to be paid, the sum of Five Thousand Dollars towards building
the new county building-s of said county.
Henry Newberry,
Joshua Stow,
(By his agent B. Booth.)
Ogden Wetmore."
Nothing, however, was accomplished at that, nor the five
succeeding sessions of the Legislature, though continuous and
and persistent efforts >vere made to work up a public sentiment
in the territory interested, and to influence the members of the
Legislature elected from time to time, in the counties named, to
look favorably upon the proposition.
Thus matters stood up to the Summer of 1839. Politically,
Portage County was largely Whig, and as long as party lines were
adhered to, that portion of the county opposed to division were
able to nominate and elect candidates for the Legislature inimical
to the measure. But at the annual election in 1839, the Whigs of
Akron, and the western townships, united with the Democrats of
Portage County, and elected their candidates for Representative,
Hon. Rufus P. Spalding, then practicing law at Ravenna, and Hon.
Ephraim B. Hubbard, an enterprising farmer, of Deerfield, both
pledged to the New County project; Col. Simon Perkins having
been in 1838, elected State Senator for two years.
NEW COUNTY BILL INTRODUCED.
The Legislature convened on Monday, December 2, 1839, and,
true to their pledges, Messrs. Spalding and Hubbard formulated a
bill for the erection of the County of Summit, which was favor-
NEW COUNTY BILL REPORTED.
93
ably reported by Hon. James Hoagland, of Holmes County,
chairman of the Committee on New Counties, and read the first
time on Tuesday, December 17, a full synopsis of the bill being a&
follows:
HON. RUFUS PAINE SPALDING,
—born at West Ti8bur3^, Island
of Martha's Vineyard, Mass., May 3.
1798 ; educated in academies of
Bridg-ewater, Mass., and Colchester.
Conn., and at Yale Colleg-e, g-radiiat-
ing' from latter in 1817 ; studied law
with Chief Justice Zephaniah Swift, of
Conn., to whose daughter, Lucretia
A., he was married October 1, 1822.
Soon after finishing- his law studies,
he emigrated to Ohio, practicing for
several j'ears in Warren, then in
Ravenna, and, on organization of
Summit County, in 1840, moved to
Akron, several j'ears later going to
Cleveland, where he resided until his
death, August 29, 1886, at the age of 88
years, 3 months. 23 days. In 1839, Mr.
Spalding was elected representative
to the Legislature, on the New County
issue, and was largelj' influential in
securing its erection ; was re-elected,
by his new constituency, in 1841 and
made Speaker of the House ; in 1848-9
was appointed Judge of Supreme
Court of Ohio, ably serving three
years ; in 1862 was elected Represen-
tative to Congress from the 18th dis-
trict, and twice re-elected, ably
serving six years. Mrs. Spalding
dying February 21, 18v58, Judge Spald-
ing was again married, Januar}" 11,
1859, to Mrs. Nancy Sargent, eldest
daughter of Dr. William S. Pierson,
of Windsor, Conn. By the first Mrs.
Spalding he had seven children —
HON. RUFUS PAINE SPALDING.
Emily, married to Judge Luther Day^
of Ravenna, both now deceased ;
Philura C, the first wife of Mr.
Joseph E. Wesener, of Akroti ; Lucre-
tia, died 5'ovuig ; Rufus died at the
age of 19 ; Kittie, now Mrs. Mcllrath,
of St. Paul, Minn. ; Zephaniah Swift,
now a wealthy sugar grower in
the Sandwich Islands ; and George,
deceased. The second Mrs. Spalding-
is now also deceased.
Section 1, provided that the townships of Twinsburg^
Northfield, Boston, Hudson, Stow, Northampton, Portage, Tall-
madge, Springfield and Coventry, in Portage County; Richfield^
Bath, Copley and Norton, in Medina County, and Franklin and
Green, in Stark County, be erected into a separate county, to be
known by the name of Summit, and that, for the purpose of
restoring to Medina County its constitutional limits, the town-
ships of Homer and Spencer be transferred from Lorain to Medina.
Secs. 2 AND 3, provided for the prosecution of suits already
commenced, in the several original counties; the collection of the
taxes should proceed as if no change had taken place, and that
justices of the peace, constables, etc., continue to act until the
expiration of the terms for which they were elected.
Secs. 4 and 5, provided for the election of county officers on
the first Monday of April, 1840, to hold their respective offices until
the ensuing annual election, and that the courts be held in Akron,
until the permanent location of the seat of justice.
Sec. 6, provided for the appointment of comtnissioners to
locate the county seat, said commissioners to be paid by said new
94
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
county; with authority "to receive propositions for the erection of
county buildings by the citizens of such towns and villages as
may desire to have the seat of justice established within their
respective limits/' and that "in no event shall any tax for the
erection of county buildings for said County of Summit be
imposed upon the citizens of the townships of Franklin and
Green, which townships are taken from the county of Stark, for
and during the term of fifty years, from and after the passage of
this act."
JUDGE JAMES S. CARPENTER,
J — born at Swanzey, N. H., Aug-ust
17, I8O0 ; at 18 months of ag-e moved
with parents to Pottsdam, N. Y. ;
boj'hood spent on farm ; educated at
home, in schools of neighborhood,
and at St. Lawrence Acadeni}^, at
Pottsdam, teaching partof j-ear, from
17 to 20; in Winter of '25-26 taught in
Franklin Co., New York ; 1826 to 1828
taught in Canada, part of the time in
Montreal ; then became assistant
teacher in Amherst (Mass'.) Acadeinj^
and during Suinmer of 1829 a teacher
in Ladies' Seininar}^, at Springfield ;
then entered Amherst College, but
from failing health returned home,
resuming teaching and j^et keeping
up the studies of his college course.
In June, 1832, came to Ohio, teaching
in Cleveland, Massillon and Ravenna,
being- Principal of Ravenna Acadeni}'
from 1833 to 1835 ; in Summer of 1835
worked on farm ; Maj" 1, 1835, was
married to Miss Frances C. Saltonstall
of Geneva, N. Y. ; in November, 1835,
went to Medina and for four j'ears
edited the Constitutionalist, a Whig
and anti-slavery paper, at same time
studying law ; admitted to bar May 29,
1838 ; in Fall of 1839 was elected Rep-
resentative to Ohio Legislature, and
in 1840 to the Senate, being the onlj^
avowed Abolitionist in either House,
fighting valiantly for the rights of
the colored people of Ohio in the
schools and otherwise ; from 1840 to
1850 was law-partner of the late
/
Ih %
JUDGE JAMES S. CARPEXTER.
Judge Samuel W. McClure ; in 1846
removed to Akron and has practiced
law here ever since, with the excep-
tion of the five j^ears, from 1856 to
1861, that he occupied the Common
Pleas Bench. Judge Carpenter is
the father of three children — Gilbert
S., captain in regular arm3', now on
recruiting service in Cleveland ; Dr.
William T. Carpenter, of Stambaugh,
Mich., and Abbie L., now wife of
Charles W. Tyler, Esq., of Warren,
Ohio.
Our w^ell-known fellow^-citizen, Hon. James S. Carpenter, was
then — 1838-40 — the representative of Medina County, and the
senator from that district from 1840 to 1842, and, in accordance
with the w^ishes of a majority of his constituents, opposed the
measure, slicing off as it did, some of the very best townships of
that county. For a like reason Representative Bliss and Senator
Birch, of Lorain, and Representatives Smith and Welch, and
Senator Hostetter, of Stark, also vigorously fought the project at
every step, while the representatives and senators of other
counties threatened w^ith disgiemberment, by new county projects,
acted and voted with them.
Prominent citizens of Ravenna and Medina w^ere in attendance
to lobbj^ against the measure, while a number of Akron's foremost
business men w^ere sent to Columbus to work for the project.
THE PROJECT VIGOROUSLY OPPOSED. 95
The bill finally passed the House on the 6th of February, 1840,
by the close vote of 34 to 31 — a majority of three only. The bill
was read the first time in the Senate, February 7, and passed
February 28, by a vote of 19 to 15, a majority of four; and was
engrossed and signed by Thomas J. Buchanan, Speaker of the
House, and William McLaughlin, Speaker of the Senate, March 3,
1840.
Space will not permit a full detail of the artifices resorted to
to defeat the measure, nor the skill with which our representa-
tives and senator engineered the bill through, though the follow-
ing extracts from the House and Senate journals will suffice to show
the persistence with which the project was fought throughout.
In the House, December 21, the bill being taken up for
consideration, on Mr. Spalding's motion, Mr. Welch moved to
postpone until the second Tuesday of January, which was carried
by a vote of 42 to 28. On the day named, the bill was taken up on
Mr. Spalding's motion, when Mr. Welch moved to commit it to the
Committee on New Counties, with instructions to report the
number of petitioners for and remonstrants against the project,
w^hich was agreed to. January 17, the bill being under consider-
ation, Mr. Welch moved to postpone further action until the first
Monday of the following December, which was lost, 28 to 32, and
the bill laid upon the table. January 27, Mr. Spalding moved to
take the bill from the table which motion was lost, 25 to 30.
February 6, Mr. Spalding moved to put the bill upon its final
passage, which, after considerable delay, caused by Mr. Welch's
demand for a call of the house, was done, and the bill passed, as
as above stated, 34 to 31.
In the Senate February 27, Mr. Hostetter moved to strike out
the territory belonging to Stark County. Lost, 15 to 18. Mr. Nash
of Meigs, moved to strike out the clause exempting Franklin and
Green tow^nships from taxation for public buildings for 50 years.
Lost 14 to 19. February 28, on the third reading of the bill, Mr.
Thomas, of Miami, moved to re-commit to Committee on New
Counties with instructions to so amend as to strike out the part
exempting Franklin and Green from taxation. Lost, 13 to 21. Mr.
Hostetter moved to postpone the further consideration of the bill
to the first Monday of December. Lost, 7 to 27. Mr. Birch, of
Lorain, moved to refer to Judiciary Committee, with instructions
to strike out the two Lorain townships. Lost, 9 to 25. Mr.
Hostetter moved to amend so as to submit to voters of the pro-
posed new county at the next October election. Lost, 10 to 24.
The bill was then passed as above stated, 19 to 15.
A joint resolution passed both Houses, without opposition,
appointing Jacob J. Williard, of Columbiana County, James
McConnell, of Holmes County, and Warren Sabin, o£, Clinton
County, as commissioners to locate the seat of justice of the new
county, as did also the organizing bill providing for the election
of officers, the proper care of paupers, idiots and insane; the col-
lection of taxes; giving to the new county its proportion of the
government surplus revenue, $29,330; the time of holding courts;
attaching Summit to the Third Judicial District, embracing the
counties of Ashtabula, Trumbull and Portage, and to the
Fifteenth Congressional District, embracing Cuyahoga, Portage,
Medina and Lorain counties, etc.
96 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
It will be remembered that the bill passed the Senate Februarj^
28, which was on Friday, 1840 being leap year. It will also be rec-
ollected that there was neither telegraphic nor railroad communi-
cation between Akron and Columbxis at that time, the old
four-horse mail and passenger coach being the fastest mode of
travel then in vogue, wrhich at that season of the year, w^as not by
any means fast.
The news of the passage of the bill consequentl3^ did not
reach Akron until Monday evening, March 2, three full days.
The effect of the news upon the people of Akron was thus graphi-
cally stated in one of the local papers:
"With the rapidity of lightning the news was spread from
house to house, and in less than half an hour the whole town Avas
in motion. Cheers, congratulations, ringing of church bells, bon-
fires and illuminations were the order of the day, while the deep-
toned thunder of the cannon continued to proclaim the birth of
the new county to all the surrounding country. Such a spon-
taneous burst of feeling has seldom been witnessed under any
circumstance. It was a scene to be looked upon, but cannot be
described; such a noise as the shrouds make at sea in a stiff tem-
pest—as loud and to as many tunes. Hats, caps and cloaks fleu^
up, and had their faces been loose this night had lost them."
The recollection of the writer, looking backward through the
dim vista of the intervening half century, is clear and distinct that
throughout that entire night unrestrained jollit}^, if not absolute
revelry, prevailed.
Nor did the people of Akron confine the jollification business
entirely to themselves. The booming of the cannon, the ringing
of the bells and the reflection from the bonfires, had already
announced to contiguous townships that something extraordinary'-
had happened, and many of the nearest came in to help us "make
a night of it," -while those more distant were in betimes next
morning.
Steps were immediately taken for a general New County Cele-
bration on Wednesday, March 4. A committee of twelve citizens
of Akron and one from each of the townships, was appointed and
messengers were sent to every part of the county to spread the
joyful new^s, and invite everybody to the banquet. Dr. Jedediah D.
Commins was made President of the daj^; Col. James W. Phillips,
Col. Justus Gale and Justice Jacob Brown, of Akron; Col. Frederick
A. Sprague and Benjamin Rouse, of Richfield, and Col. Solomon
Markham, of Green, Vice Presidents; Gen. Lucius V. Bierce, Mar-
shal, and Col. Erastus Torrey and Major Ithiel Mills, Assistant
Marshals.
At sunrise, on Wednesday morning, a national salute of 13 guns
was fired from the summit of the " grove," betv^een north and
south Akron, the present Court House lot, ^vhich was also the place
selected for the celebration. At an earlj^ hour people from near
and far townships began to assemble, everybody seeming jubi4ant
and happy. The military display was very fine, indeed, partici-
pated in by the Summit Guards, Akron Light Infantry and Cav-
alry, Copley Light Artillery, the Military Band and the Akron
Brass Band, under the leadership of the late Henry S. Abbey.
The procession of several thousand men and boys, after march-
ing through several streets, was joinflid by a large cortege of ladies
NEW County jollification. 97
dressed uniformly, all carrying parasols, who, taking position
between the committee of arrangements and the military,
marched the balance of the route to the place of feasting, the din-
ner, though hastily prepared, being both abundant and palatable.
Space will not permit a detailed report of the after-dinner pro-
ceedings, consisting of the customary thirteen regular toasts, and
a great variety of volunteer toasts, with responses more or les appro-
priate, by the more tonguey of the jollifiers. The full text of the
regular toasts, well illustrates the popular sentiment, and are here
reproduced as foUow^s:
1. The Legislature of Ohio — They have at length done jus-
tice to themselves and to us. Better late than never.
2. Our Senators and Representatives — Many have done well,
but these have excelled them all.
3. The Countv of Summit — An infant Hercules. Give him
a wide berth, for he'll be a w^hopper!
4. Our Struggle — Almost another Trojan siege! The pangs
and throes it has cost our parents to bring us forth are a certain
presage of future greatness.
5. Akron — Look at her as she was, as she is and as she
WLL BE!
6. Our Young Countj^ — The pride of our affections; unsur-
passed in the elements of future greatness; already populous and
w^ealthy. If such is its childhood, what w^ill it be w^hen it becomes
a man?
7. Portage, Stark and Medina — Among them thej^ have
hatched a young eagle, full-fledged and on the wing. She will soar
above them all.
8. The Buckej^e State — A germ of future empire, marching
right ahead in the road of prosperity. She w^ill not be turned aside
from the high destinj^ that awaits her !
9. Our Canals and Public Improvements — If such things
be done in the green tree, what will be done in the dry?
10. The Late Meeting at Ravenna — Malignity feeding on
envy; daws pecking at eagles; a striking instance of folly reacting
on itself !
11. The Memorjy of Gregorv Powers — We mourn the untimely
fate of this patriot, statesman and jurist. His memory will long
be cherished in the County of Summit, his native and resting place!
12. The Memorv of George Washington — The greatest and
best man ever produced in the tide of time. When nature formed
him she broke the mold, that he might stand peerless and alone !
13. The Ladies of Summit — It is the summit of our ambi-
tion to stand in the summit of their affections !
Volunteer toasts similar in sentiment, and perhaps still more
extravagant in language, were offered by Messrs. Benjamin Rouse,
of Richfield; Gen. Samuel D.Harris, of Ravenna; JohnHunsberger,
of Green; Julius A. Sumner, of Springfield, and Dr. Asa Field, Col.
James W. Phillips, Robert K. DuBois, Dr. Jedediah D. Commins,
Capt. Philo Chamberlin, Col. Erastus Torrey, Col. Justus Gale, Dr.
Joseph Cole, Major Ithiel Mills, and Hiram Bowen, Esq., (Editor
Beacon), of Akron.
In the evening a large convival party took supper at the "Ohio
Exchange," southwest corner of Main and Market streets, (present
site of Woods' Block), winding up with a social dance, the utmost
98 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
good feeling and hilarity prevailing throughout; a local paper say-
ing: "The day was closed without accident, or other untoward
circumstance to mar the festivities, amid bon-fires and every
demonstration of joy. The 4th of March, 18iO, w^ill long be remem-
bered in Akron !"
HON. JOHN HOY,— born in Adams
Countj^ Pa., Jul3^ 4, 1797; com-
mon school education; learned trade
of stone and brick mason; December
19, 1820, was married to Miss Eliza-
beth Traxler; moved to Ohio in 1821,
settling in Manchester, then in Stark
Co.; soon after settling- there was
elected justice of the peace for Frank-
lin township, holding the office 18
years; oti the organization of Summit
County, in April, 1840, was elected
County Commissioner, re-elected in
October following, for two years, and
again in 1842 for three years, serv-
ing in all five j^ears and seven
months; in April, 1847, was appointed*
by the Legislature one of the Asso-
ciate Judges of Summit County, ably
serving till the taking effect of the
new State Constitution, in 1852; also
served as land appraiser for four
townships, and on the State Board of
Equalization, and took an active
interest in educational matters and
the religious and benevolent enter-
prises of the da3^ Judge and Mrs.
Hoy were the parents of six daugh-
ters and one son — Sophia, married to
Adam Sorric, (now deceased); Sabina,
wife of Henr}' Dailj-. (deceased);
Lorohama, wife of Dr. William Sisler,
^'^a^'
HON. JOHX HOY.
(deceased); Amanda, now Mrs. Dr.
Adam Sisler; Caroline Maria, now
Mrs Samuel Gongwer; Anna, wife of
Lewis Everhart, (deceased), an-d John
F., now a resident of the city of
Springfield, O.
As provided by law the county officers Avere chosen at the reg-
ular Spring election, on the first Monday of April, to hold their
respective positions until the annual election in the following
October. The officers chosen at that time w^ere: Commissioners,
John Hoy, of Franklin; Jonathan Starr, of Copley; and Augustus
E. Foot, of Tw^insburg; Auditor, Birdsey Booth, of Cuyahoga
Falls; Treasurer, William O'Brien, of Hudson; Recorder, Alexan-
der Johnston, of Green; Sheriff, Thomas Wilson, of Northfield;
Prosecuting Attornev, George Kirkum, of Akron; Coroner, Elisha
Hinsdale, of Norton; Real £'si!^a^e^/?pra/ser, Frederick A. Sprague,
of Richfield; Assistant Appraisers, Milo Stone, of Tallmadge and
Thomas E. Jones, of Franklin, County Clerks at that time being
appointees of the several Common Pleas Courts of the State, Court
Judges in turn, being appointees of the Legislature; the office of
Probate Judge not then being in existence.
The officers elect assembled at the tavern of Charles P. McDon-
ald, northeast corner of South Main and Exchange streets, (in the
sam,e building still standing there), on Thursday, April 9, 1840.
Justice Jacob Brown administered the oath of office to Commis-
sioners Hoy, Starr and Foote, w^ho, in turn, administered a like
oath to the several other officers, and on the due filing and accept-
ance of the proper bonds, the organization was complete.
LOCATIXG THE COUNTY SEAT.
99
At this meeting propositions were made for temporary quar-
ters for county purposes, pending the erection of public buildings,
as foUoA^s: the present Continental Hotel building, corner of
Main and Exchange streets, by Jacob Brown, Esq.; the three-story
brick building of Mr. Benjamin W. Stephens, on the present site
of Merrill's Pottery, and the three-story stone block of Messrs.
Chauncey S. and Hiram Payne, on the southeast corner of Howard
and Market streets; the latter being accepted at a subsequent
meeting of the commissioners.
The large hall on the third floor was used for a court room, a
small portion of the southeast corner being partitioned off for jail
purposes; the several county officers occupying other rooms on
the second and third floors of the building.
nr HOM AS WILSON, - Summit Coun-
-•- ty's firvSt Sheriff, was born in
Pennsylvania, December 22, 1811 ;
raised on farm, with common school
■education ; about 1830 moved with
parents to Northfield, Ohio, walking-
all the way, and driving- his mother's
tw^o favorite cows. He w^as married
at Brandywine Mills, by Rev. Caleb
Pitkin, of Hudson, to Miss Emeline
H. Wallace, sister of the late James
W. Wallace, December 20, 1838, who
died October 7, 1840, aged 26 years.
At the preliminary election, in the
organization of the new county of
Summit, held on Monday, April 6,
1840, Mr. Wilson was elected Sheriff,
was re-elected in October, the same
year, and again in 1842, ablj'^ filling-
the office four years and seven
inonths. On retiring from office Mr.
Wilson was for several years engag-
■ed in the manufacture of luineral
paint in Akron, about 1860 remov-
ing to St. Louis, Mo., where he en-
gaged in the real estate business, also
having an interest in the Glencoe
Rock Company, and furnishing the
«tone for some of the finest buildings
in that city. June 15, 1857, Mr. Wilson
married Miss Marie E. McArthur, of
Akron, who bore him three children.
THOMAS WILSON.
one only of whom is now living-
Ruth, now a music teacher in St.
Louis and living with her mother.
At the time of his death, June 19,
1887, at the age of 75 years, 6 months
and 7 days, Mr. Wilson w^as superin-
tendent of "Memorial Home," a home
for old gentlemen in St. Louis.
At this time, it will be recollected, the seat of justice of the
new county was only temporarily located at Akron, the perma-
nent location of >vhich was to be determined by the commissioners
named in the joint resolution of the Legislature heretofore given;
Akron, besides being pretty evenly divided between the North and
South villages, having two formidable rivals in Cuyahoga Falls,
four miles to the northward, and the then largely talked of " Summit
City" (since known as the "Chuckery"), midway between.
Messrs. Williard, McConnell and Sabin, the Locating Commis-
sioners, entered upon the task assigned them on Tuesday, May 12,
1840, occupying several days examining the several proposed sites
for the location of the public buildings, hearing arguments in
favor of each, receiving proposals for the donation of lands, con-
struction of buildings, etc. The principal competitors for the
100 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
prize were, as before stated, Akron, Cuyahoga Falls and Summit
City — Akron, meantime, having so far harmonized her conflicting
local predilections as to agree upon a point midway between the
tw^o villages, should tjie commissioners deem it advisable to
decide the matter in her favor.
Kach locality presented well secured pledges for the donation
of lands and the construction of the county buildings free of cost
to the tax-payers of the ne^v county, and each, through its chosen
spokesman — Hon. Klisha N. Sill, for Cuyahoga Falls, Dr. Edmund
W. Crittenden, for Summit City, and Hon. Rufus P. Spalding, for
Akron — presented arguments, accompanied by statistics in regard
to business resources, healthfulness, accessibility, etc., of the
several locations.
Akron based its claim upon its location on the Ohio Canal,
the great artery of travel and commerce from Lake Erie to the
Ohio river on the south, and the just completed Pennsylvania and
Ohio Canal, bringing it in direct communication with Pittsburg
and Philadelphia, on the east, and upon its superb Avater power,
as w^ell as its ready accessibility from all parts of the county.
Cuyahoga Falls claimed to be nearer the geographical center
of the county, more eligibly located for the building up of a large
manufacturing city, and more healthful than the other points
named, with inexhaustible \v^ater-power, and, with the completion
of the new P. & O. canal, of equal access to the outer world with
Akron, and vastly superior to that of the intermediate point
named.
Summit City's claim w^as based upon its location nearly midAvay
between its two bitterly hostile rivals; its high and salubrious terri-
tory, and, above all, upon its mammoth hydraulic scheme then
nearing completion, by w^hich the entire waters of the Big
Cuyahoga river, with nearly 200 feet fall, was to speedily build up
at that point the largest manufacturing city in the Great West.
After a thorough and pains-taking examination of the points
named, and a full consideration of the statistics and arguments
presented, the commissioners unanimously decided that the
interests of the people of the new county would, as a whole, best
be subserved by locating their seat of justice at Akron, and
accordingly, as the unanimous choice of Akron, the stakes for the
county buildings were stuck upon the "gore," between the two
villages, where they no^v stand, the land for that purpose being
generously donated b}^ Gen. Simon Perkins, of Warren, father
of the late Col. Simon Perkins, of Akron.
Though the bitter rivalry betw^een North and South Akron for
the business ascendency had not, perhaps, entirely abated, the public
buildings having been located upon neutral ground, then about as
ui3handy to the one as the other, they so far stifled their animosi-
ties, for the time being, as to unite in a \^rild jollification over the
result, and to heartily co-operate with each other in raising funds
and materials with which to erect the public buildings, which, it
will be remembered, each of the three competitors had agreed
should be done free of cost to the tax-payers of the county.
Hiram Bowen, Esq., the editor of the Beacon, in announcing
the result, said: "The 'Gore' is situated midway between North
and South Akron, and a more beautiful and commanding site can
not be found for public buildings in the State. It is said that
CONTRACTS FOR PUBLIC BUILDINGS LET.
101
almost every township in the county can be seen from the build-
ings on this spot. Its location, as regards Akron, is auspicious —
she is now one. There is now no North Akron, no South Akron,
and our citizens will henceforth unite their common energies in
developing the great natural resources for which Akron has become
so justly celebrated."
A LKXANDER JOHNSTON,— born
■^ in Center Count}', Pa., Novem-
ber 7, 1808 ; coming- with parents to
Ohio, and settling- in Green town-
ship in 1814; educated in common
schools ; for many years taiight
school winters, working- on farm in
summer; Summit County's first Re-
corder, elected in April, 184(), re-elect-
ed in October, of that year, for full
term of three years ; in 1846 elected
as Summit's Representative to State
Legislature for two j^ears, having
also served his township for many
years in the capacit}- of school ex-
aminer, township clerk, justice of the
peace, etc. March 14, 1850, Mr.
Johnston was married to Miss Lovina
Thurston, who was born November
8, 1821. They are the parents of three
children — Horace Greeley, surveyor
and engineer, born April 15, 1851, now
living in Salina, Kansas ; Isaac
Newton, born July 13, 1853, now living
in Hinton, W. Va.; and Anna Maria,
born September 7, 1858, still at home
with parents. Residing on his finelj^
cultivated 125 acre farm, in the east-
ern portion of Green township, Mr.
Johnston, now in his 83d j'ear, is one
of the best preserved and most intelli-
g-ent representatives of pioneer life
in Summit Countj'. Originallj^ a
\ \i
ALEXANDER JOHNSTON.
Whig with strong anti-slaver}' pro-
clivities, Mr. Johnson naturally, on its
organization, attached himself to the
Republican party, which for over a
third of a century has received his
most zealous and unqualified sup-
port.
The committee on subscriptions to the building fund consisted
of Ansel Miller, Lewis Miller, Robert K. DuBois, Richard Howe,
Benjamin W. Stephens, Leander L. How^ard, Justus Gale, George
P. Stephens, Simon Perkins, Jr., Tedediah D. Commins, Jacob
Brown, Thomas P. May, Joseph Cole, Charles, P. McDonald, Ithiel
Mills and Warren Clark. The subscriptions, amounting to $17,495,
were made payable to the County Commissioners, and the deed of
the land having been received from Gen. Perkins, on the 14th of
July, 1840, the commissioners, Messrs. John Hoy, Jonathan Starr
and Augustus E. Foote, and the committee, in a w^ritten agreement,
transferred, assigned, conveyed, set over and delivered to Simon
Perkins, Jr., Jedediah D. Commins and Richard Howe, as trustees,
the subscription aforesaid, with power to collect the same, and "to
make all such contracts and agreements as they shall judge nec-
essary and proper, for the erection and completion of said buildings,
and furnishing materials for the same, and generally to superin-
tend and direct in the expenditure of the moneys and property to
be received on the su])scriptions aforesaid."
It w^as further stipulated in the agreement that the court
house and jail were to be similar in construction, and equal in
value, to those at Ravenna, to be fully completed and finished by
102 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
the first day of July, 1843. The trustees acted promptly and after
due notice for proposals, entered into contracts with Major Ithiel
Mills, of Akron, for the erection of the court house, and with Mr.
Sebbens Saxton, of Norton, for the building of the jail, both con-
tractors at once commencing operations, the foundation, and several
feet of the main w^alls of the former, and the massive foundation
walls of the latter, being completed before the setting in of Winter^
the same Fall.
AN ENTIRELY NEW DEAE.
The term of Senator Perkins having expired, Hon. Elisha N^
Sill, of Cuyahoga Falls, was, as the candidate of the Whig party^
elected as his successor, in the Portage-Summit District, in October,
1840, Henry G. Weaver, a substantial farmer, of Springfield^
being at the same time elected Representative of the new^ county.
Early in the session Mr. Sill introduced a bill for the appoint-
ment of a commission to review, and, if in their judgment deeined
necessary, to re-locate the seat of justice of Summit Count3% said
commission consisting of Jacob C. Hoagland, of Highland County^
Valentine Winters, of Montgomery County, and William Kendall^
of Scioto County. This bill was readily engineered through the
Senate, by Mr. Sill, and though Mr, Weaver made a vigorous effort
to defeat it in the House, Mr. Sill's influence w^ith that body pre-
vailed also, the bill having been passed and signed by Seabury
Ford, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and by William
M. McLaughlin, Speaker of the Senate, on March 25," 1841; and
that, too, in the face of the fact that on a very thorough canvass-
of the county, 3,014 voters remonstrated against, while but 2,376
petitioned for, the opening of the vexed question, there being a
majority of 638 in favor of the location already made.
The review^ing commissioners came upon the ground about
the middle of May, 1841, and, after spending a day or tw^o in exam-
ining the several competing locations, on Thursday, May 20, held
an all day meeting in the Universalist Church on North High
street, in Akron, where, as before, arguments were made b^''
Messrs. Sill, of the Falls, Crittenden of Summit City,' and Spalding
of Akron, in favor of their respective locations. This meeting vi^as
interesting and exciting in the extreme, the church being crowrded
to its utmost capacity all day.
The commissioners held a consultation at their room in the
Ohio Exchange in the evening, and, after "sleeping over it," a final
talk the next morning, w^hen, to the astonishment of everybod3%
it w^as announced that a majority of the committee, Messrs.
Hoagland and Winters, had decided in favor of Summit City, Mr.
Kendall being in favor of the original location. When, therefore^
the commissioners started out to formally drive the stakes for the
county buildings, a large crowd of indignant Akronians and
delighted "Chuckery-ites" accompanied them to witness the
ceremony.
To the great surprise of all, however, instead of going to the
upper plateau, which sightly position had been proffered by the
company, they proceeded to set their stakes on the first bench
above the Little Cuyahoga river, at a point a short distance east
of the present residence of Mr. R. A. Grimwood, on Glenwo( d
avenue. Expressions of disgust were both numerous and emphatic.
REVIEW AND RELOCATION. 103
the pretended "compromise," between the contending interests,
pleasing nobody. The tw^o active Commissioners, (Kendall
standing aloof) were evidently sorely nettled at the pungent criti-
cisms of the crowd, bluff old Dr. Daniel Upson, of Tallmadge, who
sat in his buggy watching the operation, capping the climax by
remarking, in his emphatic and incisive manner, that "nobody but
fools or knaves would think of locating bounty buildings in such a
place as that! "
At this point, Messrs. Hoagland and Winters held a hurried
consultation, at the close of which, they hastily pulled up the
stakes they had driven, and loading them into their carriage drove
direct to Cuyahoga Falls, w^here they proceeded to set the stakes
upon the very handsome site now^ occupied by the Congregational
Church, on the south side of Broad street betw^een Front and
Second streets.
As elsewhere stated. Summit County was made a part of the
Third Judicial District, of w:hich Hon. Van K. Humphrey was at
that time the President Judge; while the Legislature, imme-
diately after erecting the new county, had appointed as Associate
Judges, Messrs. Robert K. DuBois, of Akron, Charles Sumner, of
Middlebury, and Hugh R. Caldwell, of Franklin.
As required by law, majority and minority reports were sub-
mitted to the Court by the locating Commissioners, ^v^hich were
duly presented for record by Prosecuting Attorney George Kirkum.
To this the County Commissioners, through counsel, objected, and
after full argument, the court, on the 23d day of July, 1841, made
the following entry upon its journal:
"In the matter of the review and relocation of the seat of justice for
Summit Covinty, Jacob C. Hoagfhmd and Valentine Winters, two of the Com-
missioners appointed by the Legislature to review and locate the seat of
justice of Summit County, having returned to the office of the Clerk of this
Court their joint report, and William Kendall, the other Commissioner,
having returned to the Clerk of this Coixrt his separate report, this day
George Kirkum, Esq., a citizen and Prosecuting Attorney of said county,
presented the same reports to the Court, and moved that the report of said
Hoag-land and Winters be filed and entered of record. Whereupon the Com-
missioners of said County of Summit appear bj- their attorney and object to
the filing and entering of said reports of record, for various reasons bj- them
set forth, and the parties were heard by counsel and the Court being equally
divided in opinion, it is ordered that the said George Kirkum, Esq., take
nothing by his said motion."
The Court being thus divided as to the legality of the proceed-
ings Avhicli had been had, and the County Commissioners also
being divided on the same subject, Commissioner Foote favoring
the majority report, no further action w^as had in regard to the
public buildings during that year; the several county officers
meantime, assuming the prerogative of deciding, each for himself,
where his office should be kept; Auditor Booth establishing his
headquarters at Cuyahoga Falls, Treasurer O'Brien, also, having
his main office in that village, though maintaining a branch office
in the room w^hich had been provided by the commissioners in
Akron. This arrangement was very unsatisfactory and inconven-
ient, but was patiently borne with in the hope that the next Leg-
islature would straighten the tangle out.
Senator Sill's incumbency, of course, continued through the
session of 1841-42, Summit County being entitled to two represen-
KM
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
tatives, at this session. Politically, as before intimated, the new
county was largely Whig, and through certain influences the
executive conimittee of that party appointed its nominating. con-
vention at Cuyahoga Falls, notice of which failing to reach the
remote southern townships in time, several of said tow^nships were
not represented in said convention; Capt. Amos Seward, of
Tallmadge, and Harvey Whedon, Ksq., of Hudson, being nomi-
nated for Representatives.
Feeling that this convention was being manipulated entirely
in the interest of Cuyahoga Falls, the people of Akron, and those
townships favorable to Akron as the county seat, called a non-
partisan convention for about the same date, "which convention
nominated Hon. Rufus P. Spalding (then a resident of Akron), and
Col. Simon Perkins, as its candidates for representatives, the
former being a Democrat and the latter a Whig. This non-partisan
convention also renominated Mr. Jonathan Starr, of Copley, for
commissioner, his opponent on the Whig ticket being Asaph
Whittlesey, Esq., of Tallmadge.
The canvass Avas short but spirited, and proved to be a decided
victory for Akron, the vote standing: Perkins, 2,133; Spalding,
2,005; Seward, 909; Whedon, 950; Starr, 2,178; Whittlesey, 959.
On the assembling of the Legislature, in December, 1841,
Messrs. Spalding and Perkins introduced a bill to submit the ques-
tion of location to the voters of the county on the first Monday of
April, 1842. The opposition to the bill in the House was much less
stubborn tha^ against the original bill, but in the Senate, through
the efforts and influence of Mr. Sill, the vote was substantially the
same, standing 45 yeas to 19 nays in the House, and 20 yeas to 16
nays in the Senate; the bill being signed March 2, 1842, by Rufus
P. Spalding, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and James
J. Farran, Speaker of the Senate.
Some lively campaigning was done by both parties during
the intervening month between the final passage of the bill and
the election, and it may safely be said that a full vote was polled,
with the followinsf result:
TOWNSHIPS.
c
c
kl
<
o a
Scattering.
Bath..
191
66
271
232
250
289
16
29
30
295
621
153
348
6
181
41
54
1
2
60
1
Boston
2
Copley
1
Coventry
Franklin
4
1
235
132
143
12
Green
2
HudvSon
Northampton
Northfield
7
9
2
Norton
Portage
5
16
15
361
177
199
15
1
7
1
Richfield
Sprnigtield
1
StOAV
I
Talhnadg-e
Twinsburg^
1
2,978
1,:^84
101
24
AKRON FINALLY WINS.
105
Akron's total vote 2,978
Cuyahog-a Falls' total vote 1,384
Akron's plurality 1,594
Summit City, etc 125
Akron over all I,4<i9
Summit County Court House, erected 1840— 1843— Remodeled and Wings
added in 1867.
This emphatic vote definitely settled the question as to loca-
tion, and the erection of the county buildings was proceeded with,
though by reason of the protracted delay, they Avere not completed
until several months after the time stipulated in the contract as
above set forth, as will be seen by the following extract from the
record of the County Commissioners:
"December 5th, 1843. Simon Perkins, Jr., Jedediah D. Commins and
Kichard Howe, the trustees for building- the court house and jail, and Ithiel
Mills, the court house contractor, submitted the court house for inspection
of the board and for their acceptance.
"December ()th. Having examined the court house the board proposed,
as an offset to the general bad character of the work, which the building-
trustees fully admitted, to accept it, if the windows were made to work freely
up and down, the doors better hung or fastened and provided with more
suitable latches and locks, and the windows in the Auditor's, Clerk's and
Recorder's offices secured bj' iron blinds or shutters made and fitted into
them."
Though the ceiling has been raised and modernized, the court
room remains substantially the same as originally built, though a
flight of stairs leading from the lower hall to the two small rooms
in the rear of the Judge's seat, on the east end, has been dispensed
with. On the lower floor the space on the north side of the hall,
now entirely occupied by the treasury, w^as divided into three
106 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
rooms — Sheriff's office on the east, Treasurer's office in the center
and Grand Jury room on the west, wrhile upon the south side of
the hall was the Probate office upon the east, with the Auditor,
Clerjc and Recorder in the order named upon the west.
A special act was passed March 29, 1867, authorizing the County-
Commissioners to make certain greatly needed improvements to
the court house edifice without submitting the question to a vote
of the people. Under this act the two wings upon the front or
■west end w^ere erected, and the other changes alluded to made, the
cost of w^hich -was paid out of the general fund as collected from
the taxpayers of the entire county, notwithstanding the inhibition
clause of the original new county act in regard to the taxing of Frank-
lin and Green for county building purposes for the period of 50
years, that provision having been entirely lost sight of, both by the
officials and the tax-payers of those two tow^nships, themselves.
No one, ho"wever, regrets the expenditure, the improvements
being very greatly needed, the -wing upon the south providing
fairly respectable offices for the Probate Judge below and the
Clerk of the Courts above, and that upon the north for the Recorder
on the ground floor, and the Jury room above; though the structure
is still very inadequate to the constantly growing necessities of the
public service, and the people of Summit County cannot better
subserve their OMrn interests than by taking immediate measures
for the erection, upon their present sightly and beautiful grounds,
a new court house not only commensurate with the public require-
ments, but one, also, that, in point of architectural design and
adornment, shall be in keeping Avith the proverbial good taste of
its enterprising and public spirited citizens.
The contractor on the jail, Mr. Sebbins Saxton, dying in August,
1841, pending the controversy over the location of the county-seat,,
on the final settlement of the " vexed question," the trustees, Messrs.
Perkins, Commins and Howe, on the 13th day of April, 1842, adver-
tised in the Beacon for proposals for the erection and completion
of the jail, a new^ contract being finally entered into with Mr.
Harvey Saxton, a younger brother of the former contractor.
The jail w^as accepted by the Commissioners about the first of
October, 1843, and the prisoners then in custody — four in number
— Avere immediately transferred from their comparatively unsafe
quarters in the third story of the old stone block, to the supposed
to be impregnable and perfectly secure quarters in the new stone
jail, on Wednesday, October 3, 1843. Yet, notw^ithstanding its
presumable "non-break-out-ability," the very next night, those
same four prisoners liberated themselves from "durance vile " with
perfect ease in the following ingenious manner: One of them, by
the name of Garner Miller, charged with "tinkering with the cur-
rency," was a machinist by trade, and perfectly understood the
principle and power of leverage and purchase. He Avas not long,,
therefore, in devising a plan for testing that power, and his own
skill upon the walls of the new^ jail. The beds of the prisoners
w^ere composed of a frame work of strips of about 2x6 whitewood
plank, w^ith canvas nailed across them. The side rails of the bunks
w^ere just about as long as the space betAveen the outer and the
inner walls. Using one of these bed rails horizontally as a lever,
and another as a pry, with the inner wall as the fulcrum, the
united strength of the four men readily pushed one of the huge
OVATION TO JOHN OUINCY ADAMS, 107
blocks of sand-Stone entirely out of the massive wall, thus demon-
strating that at least one important point of strength in the
construction of the new bastile had been entirely overlooked, viz.:
the anchoring of the several courses of stone as they were laid.
This defect was remedied, in part, by drilling obliquely from
near the upper edge of each stone, into about the middle of the
tier below, inserting iron dowels, and filling the orifice with
cement. No escapes from that cause have since been made,
though many nearly successful attempts have been made to dig
through the soft sand-stone of w^hich the walls are composed.
Several escapes have been effected, how^ever, through the soft-iron
window gratings and otherwise, though that danger has been par-
tially obviated by the addition of inside steel windovir gratings,
and by boiler plating the walls, but the fact remains that the jail
is, as it has been so often declared to be by the Grand Jury, a
nuisance — inconvenient and insalubrious to both jailor and pris-
oner— which should at once be abated by the erection of a building
not only creditable to the intelligence and ability of the people of
the county, but also in accord w^ith the advanced humanitarian
and reformatory status of the age.
A FITTING DEDICATION.
In the autumn of 1843, Ex-President John Quincy Adams,
"The Old Man Eloquent," was invited to deliver an address on the
occasion of laying the corner stone of the Cincinnati Astronomical
Observatory — the first of its kind on this continent. Being prior
to the advent of railroads in the West, Mr. Adams traveled exclu-
sively by those ancient "fast" modes of conveyance^ — the stage-
coach, the canal packet and the steamboat, making brief calls, and
receiving enthusiastic ovations at prominent points along the
route.
Learning that it was his intention to visit Ohio's then most
distinguished statesman, Hon. Joshua R. Giddings, at his home in
Ashtabula County, a delegation was sent to Jefferson to invite Mr.
Adams to visit Akron, but stress of w^eather on Lake Erie
prevented him from calling upon his warm personal friend and
anti-slavery colleague in Congress, as he had designed to do, and
the committee returned home v^ithout seeing him.
Early in the morning of Thursday, November 2, 1843, word was
received that Mr. Adams wras coming up the canal, en route to
Columbus. The committee were hastily convened, who procured
a carriage, met the distinguished visitor at Lock Twenty-one, and
escorted him to a hotel. As he could only remain while the boat
w^as passing through the locks, bells Avere rung and messengers
w^ere sent from house to house, notifying the people that a recep-
tion would be tendered to Mr. Adams at half past eight o'clock.
As short as the notice was, the new court room w^as crowded to its
utmost capacity, by men, women, children and babies.
The distinguished visitor, on appearing in the Judge's desk,
by the rear entrance, w^as greeted by an immense show^er of
enthusiastic cheers from the men and the waiving of handker-
chiefs from the women. Mayor Harvey H. Johnson, made a brief
and fitting address of welcome, the response of Mr. Adams, though
occupying only about twenty minutes, giving quite a comprehen-
108 . AKROX AXD SUMMIT COUNTY,
sive review of the history and progress of our whole nation, and
of his surprise at, and admiration of, the evidences of enterprise and
prosperity which met him at every step of his initial visit to the
great West, saying among other things equally happy: "It seems
as though a person in this Western country was witnessing a new
creation — a nev^r world rising from discord and chaos to order,
happinsss and virtue! What will this country be in half a century
from this time? Cherish this spirit of improvement which has
made it what it is — apply your mighty energies to the work, —
invoke the aid, encouragement and protection of your country in
your enterprise, and may God speed you."
Mr. Adams' remarks were frequently interrupted by enthusias-
tic applause, and at the close he stepped forward and took each one
by the hand, gallantly and graciously kissing each of the ladies
and all of the the babies in attendance.
It Avas truly a fitting dedication of the new^ court house, which
had not as yet been formally accepted by the County Commis-
sioners.
ADDITIONAL TOWNSHIPS.
The aggregate territory of the county remains the same as in
1840, though there have been some changes in the arrangement of
the townships, there being now eighteen instead of sixteen as
originally. In March, 1851, the township of Cuyahoga Falls was
erected by the County Commisssoners, out of portions of the four
original townships of Stow, Tallmadge, Portage and Northampton,
being on the average, about two miles square. In like manner the
township of Middlebury was erected in March, 1857, out of portions
of Tallmadge, Springfield, Portage and Coventry, and though
subsequently annexed to the city of Akron, as its Sixth Ward, it
retained its distinctive township features to the extent of having
one justice of the peace and one constable, until the erection of the
new township of Akron, by special act of the Legislature, in March,
1888, when, the latter being co-extensive with the city, the former
becam^ merged therein. The to-wnship of Akron is entitled to three
justices of the peace and three constsbles, onlj^, the other govern-
mental functions of the to^vnship devolving upon the officers of the
city, the law providing for the appointment, by the cit}' council, of an
Infirmary director to take the place of the township trustees iu
looking after the township and city poor.
CHAPTER VIII.
EDUCATIONAL MATTERS-PIONEER SCHOOLS— " MODEL" EXAMINATION AND A
"MODEL" TEACHER OF A "MODEL" SCHOOL— EARLY SELECT SCHOOLS,
HipH SCHOOLS, INSTITUTES, ETC.— SUCCESSES AND FAILURES— THE UNION
SCHOOL SYSTEM, DEVISED IN AKRON IN 1846 BUT NOW UNIVERvSAL— A
MAGNIFICENT EDUCATIONAL SHOWING — PRESENT STATUS OF AKRON'S
PUBLIC SCHOOLS — BUCHTEL COLLEGE, WHEN, HOW ANl) BY WHOM FOUNDED
—HORACE GREELEY'S CORNER-STONE ADDRESS— BIG-HEARTED JOHN RICH-
ARDS BUCHTEL— THE CROUSE GYMNASIUM -THE INSTITUTION A GRAND
SUCCESS— FATAL DISAvSTER— CONTEMPLATED NEW FEATURES, ETC.
EDUCATIONAL MATTERS.
WHEN the writer first came to Akron , in 1835, the public schools of
the village were under the j urisdiction of the tow^nship author-
ities, Portage township then being divided into seven school dis-
tricts. It w^as the fortune of the writer to teach the school in
district number seven, in the Winter of 1835-6. The school house,
about 16x18 feet in size, w^as built of logs, w^ith a huge stone fire-
place at one end, surmounted by a stick and mud chimney; plain
board desks running lengthwise around the sides of the room, with
slab benches for the older scholars, and an inner circle of lo^v^er
board seats for the smaller ones. The house was situated on the
northwest corner of Medina and Portage roads (opposite the north-
east corner of the present Infirmary farm), and the "deestrict"^
extended from Old Portage on the north, to, and including, the
Perkins homestead on the south, and from, and including, the
McGuire farm upon the w^est, to the Ohio Canal upon the east,
embracing, as will l)e seen, quite a large slice of the western por-
tion of the present City of Akron.
Then, as now^, teachers of public schools had to be examined,
and provide themselves Mvith certificates, to enable the trustees to
draw^ their proportion of the school fund, but, unlike the present
usage, in addition to the half or quarter yearly examinations, the
president of the board was authorized to make examinations and
issue certificates during vacation, as occasion might require.
Akron was then a dependency of Portage County, the presi-
dent of the board of examiners being, at that time, Darius Lyman,
Esq., a prominent law^yer of Ravenna. Riding on horseback, via
Middlebury, Old Forge, Cuyahoga Falls, Stow Corners and Frank-
lin Mills (Kent), 18 miles to Ravenna, on a cold December Saturday
afternoon, I reached the house of Mr. Lyman, a short distance east
of the public square, just as the family w^as retiring from the sup-
per table. Making known my errand, Mr. Lyman turned to his
law-student, Frederick Hudson, a young man about my oAvn age,
and with whom I had a slight acquaintance, and said: "Fred, you
take Mr. Lane into the office and examine him w^hile I go to the
barn and do the chores."
Repairing to the office, after a few preliminary questions as to
where I was going to teach, size of school, etc., Fred shoved a law-
book across the table, requesting me to read a few sentences, which
I accordingly did. Then handing me a sheet of paper and a stubbed
110 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
goose quill pen, he asked me to write a line or two, and I "writ."
Next a sum in simple interest, and a problem in the "Rule of
Three" were submitted w^hich Avere duly ^vrought out.
"That'll do," said my examiner. "What!" I exclaimed, "don't
you examine in geography, grammar, etc.?" "No," said Fred, "the
law only requires a know^ledge of reading, writing and arithmetic —
the three R's you kno^^ — and in all of those you've done first-rate."
President Lyman soon coming in, w^as informed by Fred that I
w^as " O. K." and a certificate for one year, w^as AwXy executed, and,
paying the customary fee of 75 cents therefor, I wended my way
back to Akron, in*the face of a blinding snow storm, rejoicing at
having slipped through the dreaded examination-mill so easily.
How some of the modern aspirants for pedagogic honors, in con-
templation of the intricate mathematical problems, grammatical
conundrums and geographical, historical, and other puzzles which
will be fired at them, will envy me.
My stipulated salary was $11.00 per month and " board around,"
some ten or twelve families thus sharing the "honor" of providing
the "school master" with fresh pork, sausage and buckwheat cakes
during the winter. The average attendance >vas about 30, ranging
from 6 to 21 years of age. Every house \rhere I boarded but one,
wras of the log cabin variety; in one, my bed being in the loft,
reached by a ladder, and through the long oak shingles of ^vhich,
on stormy nights, the snow would sift liberally down upon the
coverlet. The house where I boarded the longest, had two rooms;
one kitchen, dining room, parlor and bed room, combined, the high
bed in the corner being occupied by the old folks, and the trundle-
bed, beneath, by the two younger children; the other room con-
taining tw^o beds, one of which Avas occupied by the "Master" and
a twelve-year-old boy, and the other by the three older girls of the
family, with a linen sheet suspended midviray between the t"wo beds!
As prolific as were xw2i\\y of those early families, the enumer-
ated youth of the district, of school age, warranted the draw^ing of
less than half the amount of public money needed to pay the
teacher's salary, as meager as it was; consequently a roll of
attendance had to be kept, even to the half da^^s, and the deficit
assessed, pro rata, and collected from the parents, a task which
proved so irksome to the acting director, the late Sidney Stocking,
that he finally gave up the job in disgust, paying the last ten
dollars out of his ow^n pocket.
AKRON'S EARLIER SCHOOLS.
Besides this and other outside schools, in the Ayres settlement,
the Sherbondy neighborhood, the Spicer settlement, the Old Forge,
etc.. North and South Akron w^ere each separate school districts, a
small frame school house standing on the northeast corner of
Middlebury street and Broadw^ay, afterwards replaced by a one-
story stone building, which is still standing.
That school house, a cut of which, from memory, is here
given, was the only place for holding public meetings — religious,
political, literary or otherwise, the first number of Akron's first
newspaper — the Weekly Post — issued March 22, 1836, announcing
that "The Akron Lyceum and Library Association w^ill meet at
the School House in South Akron, on Friday next, at 6 o'clock
EARLY SCHOOL HOUSES, TEACHERS, ETC.
Ill
P. M., to discuss the question:
'Ought the right of suffrage to
be extended to foreigners?'"
and the further announcement
that "the electors of Portage
township will meet at the
School House in South Akron,
on^Thursday, the 31st inst., at
7 o'clock, for the purpose of
nominating candidates to be
supported at the ensuing elec-
tion;" and a few weeks later
this: "A meeting of the mem-
bers of the Akron and Middle-
bury Baptist Church and Society will be held at the School House,
in South Akron, on Wednesday, June 16, at 4 o'clock p. m,, for
the purpose of organizing under their charter;" and also this:
''The citizens of Akron and vicinity are earnestly requested to
meet at the School House, in South Akron, on Saturday evening at
7 o'clock precisely, for the purpose of ascertaining the public
feeling in this place with regard to constructing a Railroad from
Akron to Richmond, on Grand river in Geauga County."
In North Akron there was then no public school house, such
brief terms as were taught being dependent upon such hired rooms,
in private houses or stores, as could be procured, though there was
erected in 1835, back of where the Congregational Church now
stands, a small house for a select school, but by vv^hom built, or by
whom the school was taught, is not no^v remembered.
In this house, also, religious, political, literary and other meet-
ings were held, until the completion of the Congregational,
Methodist, Baptist and Universalist churches, and the halls in the
old stone building, in North Akron, May's building in South Akron,
and Stephens' building, between the tw^o villages, were completed
in 1836-7.
Of the earlier public teachers, the writer has no definite
recollection, but the proportion of public money for the payment of
teachers w^as then so meager, and the term so short and uncertain,
that many parents preferred to send their children entirely to
select schools, which were quite numerous about those days.
Among those recalled, w^ho taught for shorter or longer periods,
w^ere Miss Sarah Carpender, sister of Dr. John G. Carpender, of 315
Bow^ery street, afterwards married to Mr. John S. Harvey, one of
North Akron's pioneer merchants; Miss Amanda Blodgett, sister
of the late Mrs. A. R. Tow^nsend, and later the wife of the late Dr.
William P. Cushman; and our present well preserved 80-year-old
fellow citizen, Nahum Fay, Esq.; Mr. Fay teaching the North
Akron district school for five successive Winters — 1836-7 and 1837-8
in a store-room in Lewis P. Buckley's building, where the post-
office now stands; 1838-9 in a store room belonging to Elisha N.
Bangs, where the Allen block now stands, and 1839-40 and 1840-41
in the new school house, below referred to, on South High street;
his sister-in-law. Miss Emily Cummings, teaching in the low^er
story of the same house; the first Mrs. Fay also at one time teach-
ing a small public school in a rented room on West Hill, near the
present residence of Dr. John W. Lyder. Advertisements of other
select schools are found in the newspapers of the period, as follows:
112
AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
May 20, 1836, "M. and A. C. Joyce respectfully inform the
inhabitants of Akron, and vicinity, that they have opened a school
in South Akron, where they -will instruct a iew young ladies in
Arithmetic, Orthography, History, Composition, Natural Phi-
losophy, Astrononi}', Botany, Rhetoric, Chemistry, Drawing in
Crayon, Mezzotinto, Pencil, India Ink, Japaning, Flower Paintings
etc. Terms made known on application. Those ^vishing to attend
to Reading, Writing, Geography, Grammar, etc., $3 per quarter."
NAHUM FAY— born in Reading,
Vt, July 26, 1811; common
school and academic education ; rais-
ed on farm ; from 18 j^ears of age
taught school six consecutive win-
ters ; then entered employ of map
publishing firm of Lewis Robinson
& Co., as salesman and copper-plate
printer ; in Julj', 1836, came to Akron
where the companj^ established a
map manufactory, working for com-
pany Summers and teaching school
Winters, for six j'ears ; in October,
1843, was elected County Recorder,
and re-elected in 1846, holding the
office six jears ; served as Deputj-
County Treasurer, under the respec-
tive terms of Treasurers William H.
Dewey, Frederic Wadsworth and
Chester W. Rice, from 1849 to 185.5;
afterwards grain buj^er for several
years ; Akron Village Recorder 1842,
'43, '47; Township Clerk 1844, '45, '46.
'47; Village Councilman 1844; Town-
ship Assessor of personal property
1847, '51, '52, '54, '61, '62, '64, also several
times assessor of real estate, school
enumerator, etc.; in 1860 commenced
the manufacture of cordage, twine,
etc., by hand machinery, supplying
the local markets with that class of
foods for more than twenty years,
n 1837 Mr. Faj^ was married to Miss
Lucia Cumings, of Windsor Count}",
XAHUM FAY.
Vt., who bore him two children —
Henry C. M. (deceased) and Emma
v., wife of James W. Chamberlain,
superintendent of the Webster, Camp
& Lane Machine Co., of Akron. Mrs.
Fay dying October 23, 1882, Mr. Fay
was again married, to Mrs. Marv E.^
Wright, September 16, 1883.
July 27, 1836, "Mrs. Susan E. Dodge announces that on the 1st
day of August, she w^ill open a school on the corner of Main and
Exchange streets, for Young Ladies and Misses, in which the
foUoAving branches will be taught: Reading, Writing and Spelling,.
$2.50; Grammar, Geography and Arithmetic, $3.50; Rhetoric^
Philosophy, Botany, Map-drawing and Needle-work, $5.00; Paint-
ing (water colors) 24 lessons, $5.00, Landscape Painting, $5.00.
Term eleven weeks."
January 2, 1837, Miss B. M. Hawkins, under the heading,
"Akron High School," gives notice that she "will continue her
school, over the room of M. C. and A. R, Townsend, in North
Akron, during the Winter term of twelve weeks. Tuition: Ortho-
graphy, Writing, Grammar, and Geography, $2.50; History,
Arithmetic, Rhetoric and Composition, $3. 00; Geometry, Chemistry,
Botany, Intellectual Philosophy, Natural Philosophy, Natural
Theology, $i. 00; French Painting, $5.00."
In the Spring of 1837, Mr, S. L. Sawtell, an eastern college
graduate, opened a select school in Stephens' block (present site of
VARIOUS "select" AND " HIGH " SCHOOLS.
113
Merrill's pottery) giving such satisfaction, that on the 15th of
November, the "Winter term of the Akron High School," with Mr.
Sawtell as instructor, is announced, — the price of tuition for a
term of 11 weeks, ranging from $3.00 to $5.00.
DR. JOSEPH COLE, — born in
Winfield, Herkimer County. N.
Y., Septeinber 17, 1795 ; served in the
war of 1812, (50 days at Sackett's Har-
bor in 1814; graduated at Fairfield
Medical College, February 16, 1825 ;
located at Old Portage, Ohio, in
Spring- of 1826, at once attaining' a
larg'e practice ; December 25, 1820,
was married to Miss Charlotte Dewey,
formerly of Westfield, Mass., in
Spring- of 1827 remov*ed to Akron,
where he enjoyed a lucrative prac-
tice, and the jjublic esteem and con-
fidence until his death, October 28,
1861, ag-ed 66 years, 1 month and 11
days. Dr. Cole was among the
earliest Temperance advocates in
Ohio, a bitter foe to human slavery
and a luost zealous friend of educa-
tion, larg-ely aiding in the formula-
tion of the Akron School Law, and
serving- tipon the first Board of
Education, elected under said law, in
1847. Mrs. Cole survived her hus-
band nearly a quarter of a century,
dying August 1, 1886, aged 85 j^ears, 5
months. They were the parents of
seven children — Jose])h Keep, born
April 7, 1828, died July 4, 1829;
Harriet F., born November 24, 1830,
married to Dr. A. H. Agard, October
10, 1849, died November 14, 1854, leav-
ing one child, now Mrs. Helen L.
Epler, of Saratoga Springs, N. Y. ;
Amanda L., born Deceinber 28, 1831,
died Jul}' 7, 1855; Alvin, born July
DR. JOSEPH COLE.
18, 1834, died November 15, 1834; in-
fant son born September 1835, died
September 19, 1835; Ben. Franklin,
born September 19, 1836, died Jan-
uar}' 29, 1839; Harrison Dewey
born June 19, 1840, married to Miss
Harriet A. Farnam, November 24,
1864. died April 25, 1876, leaving- two
children — Harrison D. and Fanny F.,
both now living with their mother,
603 South High street.
This seems to have been a regularly organized institution,
but whether chartered or not is. not remembered, and the manage-
ment seems to have included gentlemen from several neighboring
townships in both Portage and Medina counties (Summit not
having yet been erected), the officers named in the advertisement
being as follows: Jedediah D. Commins, (Akron), President;
Jonathan Starr, (Copley), Vice President; Simon Perkins, (Portage),.
Treasurer; Horace K. Smith, (Akron), Secretary; John Codding,
(Granger), Erastus Torrey, Eliakim Crosby, Gii)bons J. Ackley,
Justus Gale, Samuel A. Wheeler and Joseph Cole, (Akron), Roan.
Clark, (Middlebury), Lewis Hammond, (Bath), Allen Pardee,
(Wadsworth), and Henry Van Hyning, (Norton), Trustees.
But notw^ithstanding this solid backing, and notwithstanding
the acknowledged ability of Mr. Sawtell, the attendance was so
meager that, as an inducemeiit to increase of pupilage, the Spring
and Summer term, of 22 weeks, in 1838, without increased pay, was
offered, Mr. Saw^tell seeking, at the same time, to create an interest
in his school, and the cause of education generally, as well as to
piece out his income, by the jiublication of the *' Pestalozzian,'*
114
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
which had an existence of six months only, both his paper and
his school being discontinued in the Fall of 1838.
In the American Balance of December 27, 1837, is an
announcement that "on January 3, 1838, a select school "will be
opened on the corner of Middlebury and High streets. South Akron,
under the superintendence of Miss M. E. Hubble, of New^ York,
where pupils will receive instruction in all branches usually
taught in our Kastern Female Seminaries. Terms per quarter (11
weeks) from $3.00 to $5.00 according to studies pursued, and for
music, $8.00, including use of piano."
JUDGE JAMES R. FORD,— born in
J Herkimer Co., N. Y., January 28,
1797. His earlier j^ears were spent in
Pittsfield, Mass., coming to Paines-
ville, Ohio, about the year 1817. Here
he resided about 17 years, filling-
many positions of trust and honor,
when he removed to Huron County,
and from thence, about 1837 to Akron,
when, with others under the firm
name of The Akron Manufacturing
Company, a large foundry and stove
business was carried on, on what is
known as the old ^tna Furnace site,
opposite Lock Eleven, Ohio Canal.
In June, 1845, Mr. Ford was appointed
by Gov. Bartle}', Associate Judge of
the Court of Common Pleas Court,
for Summit County, which office he
acceptabl}^ filled until failing health
compelled his resignation in 1849.
April 27, 1826, Judge Ford was mar-
ried to Miss Julia A. Tod, daughter
of Judge George Tod, of Youngstown,
who bore him seven children — Sarah
T. (now Mrs. Peck, of Youngstown),
James H., deceased ; Mar}^ M. died in
infancy ; Hobart, deceased ; Julia A.,
wife of Judge William H. Upson, of
JUDGE JAMES R. FORD.
Akron ; George Tod Ford, of Akron ;
and Elizabeth A., now Mrs. John F.
Earl, of New York. Judge Ford died,
January 2, 1851, aged 53 years 11
months and 4 days, Mrs. Ford dj4ng
Januarj^ 19, 1885, aged 77 years, 11
months and 13 da5^s.
The growth of the public school system was sIoav for the next
six or eight years, because of the disproportion of Akron's quota of
the State school fund, to the number of children to be educated,
though, in about 1839, a fair sized school house had been erected in
North Akron, on High street, immediately south of the present
Congregational Church (still standing there), with a room in the
basement in which the younger scholars were taught; a small
additional building, afterwards known as the "Bell" school house,
on South High street, being used for a second school in South
Akron. But owing to the fact that each parent was required to
pay his pro rata proportion of the teacher's salary, over and above
the amount received from the State, very many of the youths of
the village were not kept in school, the average attendance, in
1845, being scarcely more than 350 out of a total enumeration
of 690.
Yet, besides those mentioned in the "High School" advertise-
ment, above quoted, many other citizens, of both villages, were
deeply interested in the cause of education, among whom were
Constant Bryan, Esq., Capt. Richard Howe, Gen. Lucius V. Bierce,
Webster B. Storer, Ansel Miller, Horace K. Smith, William H.
THE "AKRON INSTITUTE.
115
Dewey, William M. Dodge, Harvey B. Spelman, Allen Hibbard,
Henry W. King, Sidney Edgerton, Hon. James R. Ford, James
Matthews, James S. Carpenter, Dr. Edwin Angel, Dr. Elias W.
Howard, etc.
JUDGE CONSTANT BRYAN,— son
J of Elijah Bryan (a soldier of the
Revolution for six years) and Content
Baldwin Fowler ; born in Delaware
Co., N. Y., September 6, 1809; raised
on farm ; common school education ;
16 to 19 taught school ; read law in
Bainbridge, N. Y., graduating' from
Law Department of Yale College 'in
1830; came to Akron in 1833; admit-
ted to bar in Columbus, in 1834,
opening an office in Akron, later for
two or three years having Hon.
Oeorge Bliss for partner ; originally
a Democrat, in 1836-37, published and
edited the Akron Journal, a Demo-
<.'ratic paper ; was Akron's first vil-
lage Recorder, in 1836; was active in
formulating the Akron school law,
1846, and an efficient member of
School Board thereunder ; early es-
pousing the cause of Freesoilism, in
1852 was elected Probate Judge by a
Democratic and Free-soil coalition,
serving two years. May 15, 1839, he
Avas married to Miss Sophia Den-
tiison, of Hartland, Vt., who bore him
three children, one of whom, only, is
living — Henry E., for man}^ years
past Clerk of the City of Columbus.
Mrs. Bryan dying, March 27, 1847, at
the age of 29 years, 10 months and 8
<lajs, Judge Bryan was again luarried
JUDGE CONSTANT BRYAxX.
in September, 1854, to Miss Susan L.
Barnum, of Florence, Pluron Co., O.,
who bore him two sons — Fred C,
now practicing law in Akron, and
Isaac Jennings, now engaged in
newspaper work in Chicago. Judge
Bryan died July 27, 1886, aged 76
years, 10 months and 21 days.
Early in 1844, Mr. Thomas Parnell Beach, a graduate of
Bowdoin College, at Brunswick, Maine, established a high school
in the small stone building on the side-hill, north of the Dr. D. A.
Scott residence, on North High street, originally used for church
purposes by the German Lutheran Society, the school being
removed later in the season to an upper room in the new Trussell
building, corner East Market street and Maiden Lane alley, which
was carried on wdth a fair degree of success, until the death of Mr.
Beach, September 30, 1846, his successor for a term or two being
Benjamin Franklin Dennison, A. M,, commencing in November,
1846.
December 3, 1844, notice of the establishment of a " Select High
School," in the "Stone Block," is given by Mr. Samuel S. Greele,
the success or duration of which is not no^v remembered by the
■writer. In the meantime, a number of citizens had inaugurated a
movement for the establishment of a permanent high school on
the stock plan, and on the 10th day of February, 1845, a charter
was granted by the Legislature for "The Akron Institute," with
pow^er to confer degrees, with Simon Perkins, Eliakim Crosby,
Edwin Angel, Henry W, King, James R. Ford, Lucius V. Bierce
and Samuel A. Wheeler as corporators. Though the stockholders
organized, nothing definite seems to have been done towards
accomplishing the object sought, the last mention of the project
116
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
found in the papers of the day, being the announcement of a
meeting of the stockholders, held October 9, 1846, at which direc-
tors were elected as follows: Simon Perkins, Kichard Howe,
Samuel A. Wheeler, Henry W. King, Edwin Angel, Lucius V.
Bierce and William Harrison Dewej^ with Simon Perkins as Pres-
ident, Henry W. King, Secretary and Richard Howe, Treasurer.
WEBSTER B. STORER,— born in
Portland, Me., January 24, 1809;
moved with parents to Zanesville,
Ohio, in 1818, the familj^ removing- to
Cleveland in 1828 ; was educated in
common schools of Portland and
Zanesville; learned shijj-carpenter
and joiners' trade with his father, at
the age of 21 engaging in that busi-
ness on his own account, in Cleve-
land, continuing four years; in 1836
came to Akron, following house
building for three j^ears ; then boat
buildirtg for 18 years, two 3'ears in
partnership with Jacob Barnhart,
and ten years with Ansel Miller,
meantime from 1856 to 1858, conduct-
ing a wholesale and retail grocerj-
store at corner of East Market and
Hi^h streets. In 1863, sold boat
building interests to William H.
Payne, and with his son-in-law, John
h. Noble, vxnder the firm name of
Storer & Noble, ran an iron store
corner Main and East Market streets
until its destruction by fire on the
morning of March 11, 1869; in 1868
bought 208 acres of land, one mile
West of city limits, which, with his
eon-in-law, he has since successfully
conducted, making small fruits a
speciality. Mr. Storer is a prominent
meiuber of the Disciple Church, and
an ardent Republican, having served
as member of Town Council in 1841 ;
Portage Township Trustee 1848 and
1851, member of Akron Board of Edu-
WEBSTEK B. STOKEiJ.
cation several years, and from 1871
to 1874 — Director of CouiUj- Infirm-
ary, the last two years as President
of Board. Mr. Storer was married
July 24, 1832, to Miss Mary A. Bangs,
who has borne him five children four
of whom are now living — Daniel W.,
now of Anderson, Ind. ; Hattie I., now
Mrs. John L. Noble ; James B.. of
Akron ; and George S., of New York
City.
THE GRADED SCHOOL SYSTEM.
Though not a liberally educated man, himself, the late Ansel
Miller was an earnest friend of education, in those early days, being
for many years a trustee of the South Akron school district, as
well as a member of the Board of Education later on.
Mr, Miller, realizing the many defects in the old school system,
as early as 1840 began to advocate the plan of educating all of the
children of the people at the public expense, and the classification
of schools into distinct grades according to proficiency^. In this
view Mr. Miller was warmly seconded by Dr. Joseph Cole, Webster
B. Storer, William M. Dodge, Richard Howe, and others in the
South Village, and by Horace K. Smith, Nahum Fay, James
MathcAvs, Henry W. King, Allen Hibbard, Hiram Bowen, Constant
Bryan, James M. Hale, Dr. E. W. How^ard, and others in the North
Village.
This doctrine, however, did not find favor among the childless
property owners, and some of the larger tax-payers, they contending
THE GRADED SCHOOL SYSTEM.
117
ihat aside from the amount annually drawn from the State School
Fund, every parent was bound to provide for the education of his
own children. Thus, for several years, the discussion went on,
both in private and in public, culminating in a large and enthusi-
astic public ineeting, at Mechanics' Hall, in the old stone block, on
the night of May 14, 1846, at which a committee was appointed "to
take into consideration our present educational provisions, and
the improvement, if any, which may be made therein."
f^APT. RICHARD HOWE,— born
v-^ ill St. Marys Co., Md., March 8,
17t)9; father dying- April 16. 1810, in
1812 came with mother to Frank-
linton, opi>osite Cohimbus, Ohio;
here lie was adopted by Lucas
Sullivan t, a wealthy resident of
Franklinton, who, besides giving:
him a good education for those times
also taught him the art of survej^-
ing; at 21, surveyed and located a
road from Columbvis to Cincinnati ;
in 1824. was selected as a member of
the Board of Kngineers to survey and
locate the Ohio Canal, reinoving to
Akron in 1829, where, as president of
of the board and resident engineer
of the Northern division, he w^as in
the continuous einploy of the State
until his resignation, in 18i50, to go to
California, where, in 1851, he was
appointed Dept. U. S. Surveyor to
run the meridian line from Mount
Diablo to the Bay of Monterey; from
1S63 to 1865. was employed by the
Pittsburg, Cincinnati and St. Louis
R. R. to superintend the building of
a bridge across the Ohio River at
Steubenville. at which time the por-
trait accompanying- this sketch was
taken. Capt. Howe was an early and
earnest friend of education in Akron,
liberallj- aided all of her early church
enterprises, was one of the trustees
for the erection of the court house
and jail in 184(); village councilman
in 18.54. 18.55 and 1860. September 25,
1827. Capt. Howe was mai-ried to Miss
CAPT. RICHAKD HOWE.
Roxana Jones who bore him eight
children, five of Avhom survived him
— Henrj' W. Howe. Esq., now of Ira,
Northampton township ; Charles R.,
who died December 7, 1875; Nathan
J., now of Chicago; Emil}' B. no^v
Mrs. J. A. Ingersoll, of Chicago ; Mary
Anna now Mrs. John Wolf, of Akron.
Capt. Howe died March 19, 1872, aged
73 years and 11 daj^s. Mrs. Howe
dying Februar}^ 14, 1875, aged 70
3^ears, 1 month and 10 daj's.
Rev. Isaac Jennings, Pastor of the Second Congregational
Church, was made chairman, (the names of the others not remem-
bered), and the committee at once vigorously entered upon the task
of thoroughly informing themselves upon the question under con-
sideration, and to the formulation of a report upon the subject.
At an adjourned meeting, held November 21, 1846, Mr. Jennings,
in behalf of the committee, submitted an exhaustive report, occu-
pying three columns and a half in the Beacon.
After setting forth the defects of the existing system, and the
advantages of the proposed change — greater uniformity, enlarged
scope of studies, greater efficiency, etc. — the plan submitted by the
committee, after full discussion, at a numerouslj^ attended meeting
at >Iechanics' Hall, on the night of November 21, 1846, was unani-
mously adopted, and a committee, consisting of K'ufus F. Spalding,
Henry W. King, Lucius V. Bierce and Harvey B. Spelman, was
118
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
appointed to carry the report into effect, and secure the necessary
legislation in the premises.
A NSEL MILLP:R — born in Brid^e-
■^ water, Windsor County, \ t., May
20, 1798; education limited — raised a
farmer; at 23 learned carpenter's
trade; 1826 to 1828 worked at trade in
Boston, Mass.; visited Akron in 1828
and located permanently in 1829;
here, with his brother Lewis, he
eng-ag-ed in contracting and building
and being- the first to raise a building
in Akron — a large two-story frame,
still standing- opposite Lock One-
without the use of whisky; in 1839,
engaged in boat-building with Mr.
Webster B. Storer, under the firm
name of Storer & Miller, continuing- 18
years; November 7, 1860, after voting
for Abraham Lincoln, moved on to
a farm in Copley township, with his
son, Charles C. Miller, where he died
December 16, 1879, ag-ed 81 years, 6
months and 26 days. Mr. Miller was
married to Miss Lucy Auldin Hawk-
ins, November 22, 1831, who died
December 17, 1837, having- borne him
two children — Charles C, now a pros-
perous farmer in Copley, born Decem-
ber 11, 1832, and James Nelson, born
August 25, 1836 and died August 15,
1837. Mr. Miller was a warm friend
of education, often serving- as school
trustee under the old system, and,
as elsewhere stated, among the very
first to advocate the union, or g-raded
school system, orig-inating in Akron,
ANSEL MILLER.
and now^ general in Ohio; was an
early member of the Board of Edu-
cation under the new system, and a
member of the Council of the incor-
porated village of Akron for the 5'ears
1838, 1841, 1842, 1843, 1847, 1848, 1849, 18.52
and 1855. Mr. Miller was an original
Anti-Slavery man, and from its organ-
ization, a zealouB member of the
Republican party.
. Mr. Spalding, as the chairman, and Mr. King, as secretarj^ of
the committee, carefully embodied the substance of the report in
a bill, which, being duly presented and advocated by our Repre-
sentative, Hon. Alexander Johnston, of Green, and our Senator,.
Hon. Asahel H. Lewis, of Ravenna, was duly enacted into a law on
the 8th day of February, 1847. The act is as follows:
An Act for the support and better regulation of the Com-
mon Schools of the Town of Akron.
Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the
State of Ohio, that the electors of the To\^n of Akron, in the County
of Summit, qualified to vote for members of the town council, shall,
at the time and place of holding the annual election for said inem-
bers of the town council, for the year one thousand eight hundred
and forty-seven, meet and elect six directors [Mr. Jennings' report
styled them superintendents and recommended their appointment
by the council], of common schools for said town of Akron, two of
whom shall serve for one year, two for two years and two for three
years, the order of the seniority to be determined by lot, by such
directors after their election; annually thereafter, at the time and
place above specified, there shall, in like manner, be tw^o directors
elected and qualified. All vacancies which may occur shall be
filled by the town council.
THE AKRON FCHOOL LAW
119
HON. HENRY W. KING, — eldest
son of Jud^e Leicester King-,
was born in Westneld, Mass., Septem-
ber 24, 1815; removed with parents to
Warren, Ohio, in 1817; graduated from
Washington (now Trinity) College, at
Hartford, Conn., August 4, 1836; after
thorough course of study at Cincin-
nati Law School in 1839 opened law
office in Akron in connection with
Judge Milton Sutliff, of Warren, and
later with James D. Taylor, Esq., and
in 1849, with his brother, David L.
King, under the firm name of King
&. King; was married October 20, 1842,
to Mary, third daughter of Dr.
Eliakim Crosby, who still survives,
two children having been born to
them — Harry Crosby King, d3'ing in
Arlington Heights hospital August
11, 1864, while m the hundred days
service in defense of Washington as
a member of the 164th Regt. O. N. G.;
the davighter, Julia Huntington,
being married to Homer Fisher (son
of Akron's former well-known physi-
cian, Dr. Alexander Fisher), now
living in Chicago. Mr. King was one
of the most active promoters of
Akron's Union School Sj'stein, as
elsewhere stated; in 1850 was elected
Secretary of State, whose duties, with
those of Coinmissioner of Public
Schools, he performed with singular
HON. HENRY W. KING.
intelligence and fidelity. Ever active
in the promotion of the business,
educational and moral interests of
the town and county, his early death,
November 20, 1857, at the age of 42
years and one month, was univer-
sally regretted.
Sec. II. The said directors, within ten days after their first
appointment, as aforesaid, shall meet and organize by choosing,
from their members, a president, secretary, and treasurer; and
such treasurer, before he enters upon the duties of said office, shall
give bond and security, to be approved by the council, and filed in
the office of the Mayor of said town, conditioned for the faithful
disbursement of all moneys that shall come into his hands as such
treasurer, which bond shall be made payable to the State of Ohio;
and when such bond shall be forfeited, it shall be the duty of the
town council to sue and collect the same for the use of the com-
mon schools in said tov^n; and the said directors, so organized and
qualified, and their successors in office, shall be a body politic and
corporate in law, by the name of "The Board of Education of the
Town of Akron," and as such, and by such name, shall be author-
ized to receive all moneys accruing to said town, or any part
thereof, for the use and benefit of the common schools in said town;
and the said board shall be capable of contracting and being
contracted with ; suing and being sued ; pleading and being
impleaded, in any court of law or equity in this State ; and shall
also be capable of receiving any gift, grant, donation or devise,
made for the use of common schools in said toTvn ; and said board,
by resolution, shall direct the payment of all moneys that shall
come into the hands of said treasurer; and no money shall be paid
out of the treasury except in pursuance of said resolution, and on
the written order of the president, countersigned by the secretary.
Without following the exact phraseology of the balance of the
law, we summarize the remaining sections as follows:
120
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
REV. ISAAC JENNINGS, D. D..—
born in Trumbull, Conn., Jul)'
24,1822, in boyhood re mo vino- to
Derby, Conn.; graduate of Yale Col-
lege, in class of 1837, with Senator
William M. Evarts, Chief Justice
Morrison R. Waite, Hon. Edwards
Pierpont and Samuel J. Tilde n;
taught school from 1837 to 1840; grad-
uated from Andover Theological
Seminary in 1842; June 14, 1843,
ordained pastor of the then Second
(now First) Congregational Church in
Akron — its first pastor and his first
charge; took an active part in inaug-
urating the graded or union school
vSj'stem, and formulating the "Akron
School Laws" now g'eneral in Ohio
and other states, the old High or
Jennings school being so named in
his honor. February 17, 1847, Mr. Jen-
nings was inarried to Miss Sophia
Day, of Mansfield, O., immediatelj-
removing to Stamford, Conn., offi-
ciating as pastor of First Cong'rega-
tional Church there six years, when
he removed to Bennington, Vt., where,
as pastor of the old First Church, he
faithfully and successfullj^ labored
over a third of a centurj-, his death
occurring there August 25, 1887, at the
age of 65 years, one month and one
day. Mr. and Mrs. Jennings were the
parents of nine children, six of whom,
with their mother, survive— one son,
Isaac, Jr., beinga minister; one,Fred-
REV. ISAAC JENNINGS, D. D.
erick Beach, a lawyer, and one,
Charles Green, a physician. The
memorj' of Mr. Jenning-s, whose por-
trait is given herewith, though his
sojourn here w^as comparatively brief,
will long be cherished by all the good
people of Akron, in whose behalf he
so zealousl)" labored nearly half a
centurj' ago.
Sec. Ill relates to regular and special meetings of the board,
quorum, etc.
Sec. IV gives the board entire control of all the schools and
school property; that after the then ensuing first Tuesday of June,
Akron should constitute but one school district and that all
moneys accruing to said district from the State, or otherwise, for
school purposes, should be paid over to the treasurer of the board.
Sec. V relates to number and grade of schools; the establish-
ment of a central grammar school, studies to be pursued, Avhat
pupils entitled to admission, etc.
Sec. VI confers upon the board power to make and enforce
rules, emploj^ teachers, fix salaries, purchase apparatus, buy lands,
build houses, buy furniture, etc.
Sec. VII requires the tow^n council to levy such annual tax
upon the property of the district, as, with the amount received
from the State school fund, and other sources, -would meet the
expense of maintaining said schools; which provision, ow^ing to
the clamor of certain inimical tax-payers, w^as modified by an
amended act, passed January 28, 1848,. limiting the levj^ to four
mills on the dollar in any one year.
Sec. VIII places the title of all lands, houses and other school
property, with power to purchas^, sell, etc., in the control of the
town council.
Sec. IX provides for the appointment of three school examiners,
by the council, for the examination of all applicants as teachers.
THE LAW MADE GENERAL.
121
granting certificates, etc., and also for quarterly visits to schools,
reporting progress to council, etc. •
Sec. X provides for public examinations of schools, annually,
under the direction of the mayor, council, board of education and
examiners.
HARVEY B. SPELMAN,— born in
Rootstown, Portag'e County, ().,
September 15, 1811 ; educated in Tall-
mad j^^e Academy and T^virLsburg-
Institute; after teach in »? awhile
entered employ' of Mr. Roswell Kent,
of MiddWbury, as clerk, afterwards
becoming' his partner and opening" a
branch store in Wadsworth ; in 1839
removed to Franklin Mills (now
Kent), iji 1841, formed a partnership
with >Ir. Charles Clapp, and removed
to Akron, the firm occupying the cor-
ner store in the old stone block, cor-
ner Howard and Market streets. An
ardent Congregationalist, he was one
of the organizers of the Second Con-
gregational Church, in 1842, and one
of its first deacons ; stronglj- anti-
slavery, he early allied himself with
the Third Part}' movement, and by
the aid of Free-soil Democrats was
elected Representative to the State
Legislature, in 1849; enthusiastic in
the cause of education, was a zealous
promofer of the Akron Union School
system, and a member of the first
board of education thereunder in 1847;
in 18i51 removed to Cleveland, where
he at once activel}- identified liimself
with the religious, educational and
reform movements of the daj- ; in
185(3 removed to Burlington, Iowa; in
1864, under Gen. John Eaton, took
charge of cotton raised by "contra-
bands" on lands brought under gov-
ernment control; in 18(56, removed to
New York, there and in Brookljn
actively engaging in business and
philanthropic work. November 1(>,
HAKV'EV B. SPELMAN.
1835, Mr. Spelman was married to
Miss Luc3' Henry, of Blanford, Mass.
(sister of the late Milton W. Henry),
who bore him three children — Lucj'
M., born March 4, 1838 ; Laura C, Sep-
tember 9, 1839, (now Mrs. John D.
Rockefeller, of New York), and Henry
Jennings, born December 1, 1842, and
died March 15. 18.57, Mr. S. himself
d3'ing October 10, 1881, his remains
being interred in Lake View Ceme-
ter}-, Cleveland. Mrs. S. still survives,
residing with her daughter, Mrs.
Rockefeller, in New York.
February 14, 1848, an amendment was adopted by the Legis-
lature, providing: "That every incorporated town or city in this
State shall have the provisions of the act entitled 'an act for the
support and better regulation of the common schools in the town
of Akron' and the amendatory acts thereto, passed by the Forty-
sixth General Assembly of this State, extended to all or any of said
incorporated towns or cities, whenever two-thirds of the qualified
voters thereof shall petition the town or city council in favor of
having the provisions of said act so extended," thus establishing
a precedent for the "local option" laws, on the temperance ques-
tion, now in vogue in Ohio, and other states.
Changes and amendments have from time to time been made.
extending the provisions, under certain regulations, to unincorpo-
rated villages, townships and school districts, so that now a large
proportion of the State is working under the Akron School Law,
a fact of which our citizens may justly feel proud.
122
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Akron's First HigKScHool BuilcLrng'__l847 tc» I8^^,
[on site of pv€se»i.t Jennings SgKooI}
It will be noted that the plan of the original report was so
modified in the act as passed, as to make the superindents, or as
the act specifies, the directors, elective by the people, instead of
appointive by the town council. At the first election under the
law, June 1, 1847, Lucius V. Bierce, Harvey B. Spelman, William
H. Dewey, James Mathews, William M. Dodge and Dr. Joseph Cole
w^ere duly elected as members of the board. The board organized
by electing L. V. Bierce, president; H. B. Spelman, secretary, and
W. H. Dewey, treasurer; James S. Carpenter, Esq., Abel B. Berrj^,
Ksq., and Mr. Horace K. Smith, being appointed school examiners
by the council.
The entire town, de-
nominated the "Akron
School District," was
divided into eight sub-
districts; additional pri-
mary school houses ^vere
built, and the propertj'^
abutting on Summit, Mill
and Prospect streets, then
embracing about two and.
a half acres of land, was
purchased for $2,137.21,
and the castellated one-
story, frame building, al-
ready upon the ground,
was fitted up for a gram-
mar school, at a cost of
$613.44.
Mr. Mortimer D, Leggett, Ithaca, N. Y., a ripe scholar, and a
thorough disciplinarian, ^vas employed as Principal of the Gram-
mar School, at the "munificent" salary of $500 per 3'ear, with Miss
Lucretia Wolcott and Miss Helen Pomeroy as assistants, at $200
and $150 per year, respectively.
The board was opposed in all of its movements by certain
penurious property owners, and, as above stated, an amendment
to the law was secured, limiting the rate of taxation for school
purposes, in any one j^ear, to four mills on the dollar, which
compelled so great a degree of economy, in providing houses and
apparatus, and the employment of competent teachers, as to very
seriously threaten the success of the experiment, Mr. Leggett being
impelled \o w^ithdraw^ from the schools the second year for lack of
adequate compensation for his exceedinglj' efficient services.
The graded system was found to work w^ell, however, there
being a much greater proportionate attendance, and at a con-
siderable less expense per capita, and greater proficienc}^, than
under the old plan. In 1849, an additional sub-district was formed,
the primaries were graded into primary and secondary, and the
grammar school w^as suspended during the Summer.
September 3, 1849, Mr. Charles W. Palmer, assisted b}^ Mrs,
Palmer, and Mr. Josiah Gilbert Graham, took charge of the
grammar school, Mr. Palmer's engagement being for two years, at
a joint salary, for himself and wife, of $600 per year, though owing
to Mr. Palmer's illness, the school was again suspended early in
1851, not to be again resumed until the completion of the new^
HIGH SCHOOJw BUILDING DEDICATED.
123
grammar school building, a contract for the erection of w^hich \sras
entered into by the board with the late Charles W. Brown for the
foundation, and the late Andrews May, for the superstructure, in
the Winter of 1850-51, at a cost of $9,200.
Meantime, Mr. Edwin Bigelow^ Olmstead, and his wife, were
employed to teach a higher grade primary, or rather secondary,
school, in lieu of the grammar school, at a joint salary of $50 per
month, the fifth annual report shoAving the cost of tuition for the
previous year (1851), to have been $2.00 per scholar upon the
average number enrolled; $2.80 per scholar upon the average
attendance, and $1.12 per capita on the enumeration.
This arrangement continued
until the dedication and occupa-
tion of the new High School
building, October 13, 1853. This
building was erected immediately
south of the original frame struct-
ure, being a two-story brick, 50x70
feet, of fair exterior and interior
finish with a large school room
and recitation rooms, on either
floor. In 1868, the two w^ings were
added, giving four additional
rooms, at a cost of $15,000, and is
now known as the Central or Jen-
ings School building.
The dedication exercises were
held in the upper room of the
new building, which was crowded
by parents and the friends of education. Sidney Edgerton, Esq.,
then a member of the Board of Edtication, made a formal presen-
tation of the structure, on behalf of the contractor and the board,
with congratulatory remarks upon the advanced position which
Akron occupied in the educational w^orld, and the bright future in
store for her both from a business as well as an educational stand-
point. Rev. D. C. Maybin, rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church,
read a portion of the scriptures; Rev. A. Joy, of the Baptist
Church, foUow^ing with an appropriate prayer. Brief addresses
were made by Abel B. Berry, Esq., Rev. John Tribbey, of the
M. E. Church, and others. Rev. Nathaniel P. Bailey, of the
Congregational Church, offered a resolution of thanks to the Board
for their efficiency in the promotion of the work whicli had been
done, and a hearty commendation of the system of education, so
auspiciously inaugurated, to the unstinted support of the people of
Akron, and the friends of education everywhere. The exercises
Avere interspersed with music by the Akron Band, and closed w^ith
a benediction by Rev. N. Gher, of the Grace Reformed Church.
Mr. Samuel F. Cooper was employed as Superintendent of
Schools, assisted in the High Department by Mrs. Cooper and Miss
Annette Voris, sister of Gen. Alvin C. Voris; the Grammar depart-
ment being placed in charge of Miss Elsie A. Codding, assisted by
Miss Mary Gilbert and Miss Rosetta Pryne. Mr. Cooper's engage-
ment closing after two and a half years of faithful work, in April,
1856, Horace B. Foster, Esq., of Hudson, graduate of Western
Reserve College, filled the position with great acceptance, to both
Jennings School — old High School Build-
ing—Summit, Mill and Prospect,
First Ward.
124
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
board and pupils, from October, 1856, until the Spring of 1857.
Mr. E. B. Olmsted was then appointed Superintendent, with Mr.
J. Park Alexander in charge of the Grammar school, Mr. George
H. Root, of Tallmadge, having had charge of that department
during the years 1855-56, assisted by Miss Harriet N. Angel and
Miss ferusha McArthur; Mr. Root also giving especial attention to
penmanship, in both the grammar and high schools.
r^EN. MORTIMER D. LEGGKTT.
^J born, of Quaker parentage, in
Ithaca. N. Y., April 19, 1821; at 16
emigrated to Geauga Countj', Ohio ;
school advantages limited, but by
.study at night acquired an education
which secured the voluntary be-
stowal of degrees from several west-
ern colleges ; though admitted to
the bar at 22, his time was for several
3^ears devoted to the cause of popu-
lar education, being the organizer of
Akron Union School Systein, now
general throughout the State ; as
Principal of the Grammar School,
which position he ablj^ filled for two
j^ears, as elsewhere stated, ovir fine
new Leggett School Building, East
Thornton, Sumner and All}^! streets,
being so named in his honor. On
retiring Mr. Eeggett engaged in the
practice of law at Warren, in 1857
removing to Zanesville, where in
addition to his law practice, he offi-
ciated as superintendent of public
schools, until the Fall of 1861, when
he was commissioned bj^ Gov.
Dennison to recruit a regiment for
the Union Armj-. Appointed Lieu-
tenant Colonel, 78th O. V. 1.. Decem-
ber 1861; promoted to Colonel,
January 11, 1862 ; fought at Fort
Donelson, Februarj^ 11, 1862 ; on sur-
render of fort appointed provost-
marshal ; w^as in continuous service
GEN. MORTIMER D. LEGGETT.
during the war, being several times
wounded, with constant advances
for ineritorious conduct, and appoint-
ed full Major-General from January
15, 1865 ; after the siege of Vicksburg,
receiving as the award of a Board of
Honor, a gold medal, inscribed,
" Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Sie^e of Cor-
inth, Bolivar, luka, Champion Hills,
Vicksburg." Gen. Leggett was ap-
pointed Commissioner of Patents, by
Pres. Grant, in 1871, and is now with
his son, L. L. Leggett, Esq., practicing
law in Cleveland.
The teachers' pay-roll for 1856, was $2,777 . 42, the average price
paid in the primaries and secondaries being about $4.75 per week;
in the grainmar school and assistants in the high school $35 per
month; superintendent $65 per month.
The board, deploring the evils resulting from frequent
changes of superintendents and teachers, in their 11th annual report
expressed the conviction that the low^est wages principle was not
the most economical, and that such liberal compensation should be
paid for both superintendent and instructors, as would secure the
best ability and skill in all the departments.
Acting upon this principle, Mr. Charles T. Pooler, a teacher of
large experience in the state of New^ York, was emploj^ed as Super-
intendent, assisted in the High School by Miss Harriet N. Angel
the first five months, and on her resignation, by Miss Lavena
Church, now Mrs. Jacob Oberholser, of New York Cit}^, who con-
tinued the second year, with Miss Harriet Amanda Bernard as
second assistant; Mr. Hezekiah Melchisedec Ford having charge
of the grammar school, with Miss Rebecca Coffman as assistant.
EARLIER SURERINTENDENTS.
125
pDWIN BIGELOW OLMSTED,
J--' born in Sidney, N. Y., Aug'ust
20, 182(5; academical and colleg"iate
edncation ; taught school in Sidnej',
N. Y., in Virginia., in Butternuts, N.
Y., in Mt. Sterling", Ky., in Geneva, O.,
Madisoti, O. Academy, as principal,
in Akron, as principal of grammar
school, and Fredonia, N. Y., as prin-
cipal of public schools, in 1857
returning to Akron, as superinten-
dent, as elsewhere stated, and then
for several years as superintendent
of schools at Marion, O. In April,
1861, went into service as Captain of
Co. H., 4th O. V. I., participating in
battles of Rich Movxntain and Rom-
ne}'. After a great variety of regular
and detached service, was wounded
while constructing a bridge over the
Shenandoah, near Front Ro5'al, and
discharged for divsability ; in 18(54, at
request of Gov. Brough, was sent to
take the vote of Ohio soldiers in
front of Charlestown and Hilton
Head, S. C. ; in Washington, served
on editorial staff of Daily Intelli-
gencer; completed north wing of P.
O. Dept. building ; designed and
constructed Dead Letter room in said
building ; was original inventor of
making envelopes for the govern-
erninent, without hand labor, but
through red-tape-ism, or favoritism,
failed to reap the benefit of his
invention and the large amount of
labor and nione}' expended thereon.
Mr. O. then spent several years in
educational work in the South, where
EDWIN BIGELOW OLMSTED.
he was ordained as a Baptist min-
ister, and is now the pastor of a
church in Port Byron, New York.
Mrs. Olmsted, who assisted him in
the schools here, died in the South,
leaving four sons, two of whom
Victor H. and Edwin B., Jr., are in
government emploj^ in Washington ;
Ledru Rollin in the West ; and
William Dennison preparing for the
legal profession. Mr. O. was again
married, to Miss M. F!. Strong, of
Yorkshire, N. Y. in 1881.
Mr. Pooler entered upon his duties in the Fall of 1857, at a
salary of $1,000 per year, and after a fairly acceptable service of
three years, declining a reappointment, retired from the Superin-
tendency at the close of the Spring term, 1860.
In September, 1860, Mr. Israel P. Hole, entered upon the duties^
of Superintendent at a salary of $900 per year, which was increased
from time to time, the last year of his term of service, 1867-68, his
salary being $1,500. This increase of compensation, while made
necessary by the advance in the cost of living, and the enhance-
ment of all values by the war, w^as a significant acknow^ledgment
of the high estimation placed upon the services of Mr. Hole by
successive boards, and by the majority of the people.
In January, 1868, owning to a real or supposed unfriendliness on
the part of a portion of the patrons of the schools, Mr. Hole
and several of his assistants tendered their resignations to the
board, which body, on February 1, 1868, unanimously adopted the
following resolution:
''Resolved, That the Board of Education take pleasure in attesting to-
the fidelity and zealous labors of the superintende.nt and teachers, v^e
further assure the superintendent and teachers that they have and will con-
tinue to have, the most cordial support of the Board so long as they continue
to merit their confidence in the future as they have in the past. We also
earnestlj'^ invoke the confidence and support of the community as being
126
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
eminentl}^ due to those having- charge of our public schools as superintend-
ent and teachers. As at present advised we decline to accept the resigna-
tions as tendered."
HON. SAMUEL F. COOPER —
born in Stockbridge, Mass.,
December 19, 1826- in 1836 removed
with parents to Tallinadge, Ohio,
working- on farm ; from 18 taught
school Winters, and attended Ober-
lin College Sviminers, graduating- in
the class of 1851 ; in Aug-ust, 1851,
was married to Miss Margaret J.
Loughridge, of Mansfield ; Superin-
intendent of Youngstown Union
schools tw^o years, and of Akron
schools two years and a half — from
October, 1853 to April, 1856— with Mrs.
Cooper as one of his most efficient
assistants ; in Spring of 1856, removed
to Grinnell, Iowa, being admitted to
the bar, and engaging- in practice
the same year. In August, 1861,
entered the army as Adjutant of the
4th Iowa Cavalry, serving in Mis-
soviri and Arkansas till September,
1862, when he was appointed Lieu-
tenant Colonel of 40th Iowa V. I.,
serving under Gen. Grant in the
Vicksburg campaign, and afterwards
till close of the war, west of the
Mississippi, being mustered out in
August, 1865. Since the war Mr.
Cooper has filled many honorable
civil positions— Clerk of the United
States District Court, Collector of
Internal Revenue, and, from 1876 to
1880, United States Consul to Glas-
g-ow, Scotland. For the past ten
years Mr. Cooper has been connected
HON. SAMUEL F. COOPER.
with the Merchants National Bank,
of Grinnell, of w^hich he is now^ Pres-
ident, bvit in a recent letter to the
writer, saj^s : "For nearlj^ a half a
century mj^ best thought and effort
has been given to the cause of pop-
ular education, having in all that
period, scarcely ceased to have offi-
cial connection with that grand work,
in soine of its departments."
Feeling, at length, that a change was desirable, both for him-
self and the schools, Mr. Hole again tendered his resignation, at
the close of the school year, in 1868, after eight full years of effi-
cient and meritorious service; among his most efficient aids,
Avithout disparagement to others, being Miss Harriet Amanda Ber-
nard, no^v Mrs. Dr. Edward S. Coburn, of Troy, N. Y.
In the meantime, the magnitude and importance of Akron's
public schools had immensely increased, her enumeration of
school children and youth, being fully 3,000 against less than 700 in
1846; the town itself having been advanced from an incorporated
village to a city of the second class, both its business and its pop-
ulation and w^ealth being rapidly on the increase.
At this juncture, most fortunately, the services of Mr. Samuel
Findley, as Superintendent, were secured, the new incumbent
entering upon his duties in September, 1868, holding and most ably
and efficiently filling the position for the period of 15 years, until
feeling the absolute necessity of a rest from the arduous labors of
the position, he voluntarily tendered his resignation at the close
of the Spring term- in 1883.
Meantime, in addition to the rapid growth of original Akron,
various annexations of territory were made, the Spicer school dis-
trict being added in 1865, and the township of Middlebury in 1872;
WONDERFULLY SUCCESSFUL.
127
Superintendent Findley's last report showring a total enumeration
of school youth between six and twenty-one years, for 1883, within
the city Umits to have been 5,858, as against 690 in the Akron of
1816, and probably not to exceed 1,000 in the entire territory now^
included in said city. The total enrollment of scholars in 1882,
was 3,582 and the average daily attendance for that year, 2,840.
pROF. ISRAEL P. HOLE,— born
^ near Salem, Columbiana Co., O.,
April 2, 1827 ; educated in common
schools and at select hig-h school of
G. K. Jenkins, Mt. Pleasant, O. ; from
1849 to 1856 taught part of each year
in countr}' and villag-e schools ; in
1856 was sttxdent in State Normal
School at Hopedale, Harrison Co.,
afterward merged in Hopedale Nor-
mal ColJege, from which he holds
the degree of B. S.; taught a select
school in Springiield, O., seven
months ; superintended Minerva, O.,
schools one year, Hanover, O., two
j'ears, New Lisbon, O., four years,
Akron, O., eight years and was
principal of Damascus, O., Acad-
emy ten years, making about a
third of a century in the work of
instruction, many of his students
now adorning the bench, the bar,
the pulpit, the medical, the teachers'
and other professions of Science,
Literature and Art, or successfully
eng'aged in the various other honor-
able pursuits of public and private
life. Mr. H., since 1884, has resided
on a small farm, near Damascus, O.,
partl}^ engaged in agriculture and
partly promoting the public welfare,
as opportunity offers. He is presi-
dent of an insurance companj', pres-
ident of Board of Trustees of
Danuiscua Academy, and president
of a gold miniiag company. In the
Autumn of 1852, Mr. Hole was mar-
PROF. ISRAEL P. HOLE.
ried to Miss Mary Miller, of Colum-
biana Co. February 3, 1861, two sons
— twins — were born to them — Mahlon
W., (deceased) and Morris J., the
latter — married to Eliza Spear, of
Garfield, Mahoning- Co., — holding the
degree of M. S. from Damascus
Academy, and of A. B., from Adel-
bert College ; is now principal of
Green Spring- Academy, Seneca Co.,
Ohio.
In speaking of Superintendent Findley's retirement. President
F. W. Rockwell, in his annual report for 1883, said: " With the
close of the year the board lost the services of Superintendent
Samuel Findley, who has been at the head of our schools for the
past fifteen years. His administration has been marked by ability
and firmness of purpose, and having conducted our schools from a
small beginning until they have reached their present status, he
may well look back upon his work with pride."
Capt. Elias Fraunfelter, for several years Professor of Mathe-
matics in Buchtel College, was elected by the Board of Education
as Dr. Findley's successor, entering upon his responsible duties in
September, 1883, his administration thus far being equally satis-
factory with that of his predecessor.
With the passing years many and important changes have
come to the schools of Akron, not only in the matter of greatly
improved school buildings, but also in a large increase of the
courses of instruction, including scientific penmanship, vocal
128
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
music, drawing, etc., and, in the High School, the higher mathe-
matics, chemistry, Latin, Greek, etc., with semi-annual examina-
tions and graduations — graduates from the High School being
thoroughly qualified to engage in teaching, enter college without
further preparation or examination, or to engage in business or
professional life, an arrangement having been made between the
board and Buchtel College by which, beginning at tenth year of
course, or second year in High School, pupils in Greek recite to
tutors of College.
SAMUEL FINDLEY,— born in New
Concord, Ohio, December 1, 1831;
educated in common schools and
preparatory department of M u s -
kingum College; at 17, moved with
parents to Green Count5^ working on
farm two years, then teaching coun-
try schools four years and one year
in Xenia Public Schools. In 1855,
became publisher and manager of
Presbyterian Witness and book con-
cern at Cincinnati, continuing two
years. In Spring of 1857, engaged in
book-selling in Monmouth, 111., for a
short time, then teaching near Mon-
mouth two years ; in Fall and Winter
of 1859, operated as agent for Mon-
mouth College, in Ohio; in I860,
returned to Ohio and resumed teach-
ing in Green County, in the Fall of
1861, in Xenia Union Schools, a few
months later accepting the princi-
palship of a ward school in Colum-
bus ; in January, 1864, became princi-
pal of the old Brownell Street School
in Cleveland, organized the new
Brownell Street School, in 1865, with
18 teachers; in the Fall of 1868
assumed superintendencj' of Akron
Schools, which position he ablj^ filled
for 15 3'ears, as elsewhere detailed.
For 20 years Mr. F. has been County"
and City Examiner and member of
State Teachers' Association, Presi-
dent of Superintendents' Section in
1873 and President of Association in
1877; was given degree of A. M. by
SAMUEL FINDLEY.
Buchtel College in 1876, and of Ph.
D. b}' Wooster University in 1880, and
is now editor and publisher of the
Ohio Educational Monthlj', with a
large circulation among the teachers
of Ohio. March 31, 1853, was married
to Miss Marj' A. Hardie, of Xenia,
who has borne him four sons and
two daug^hters — William Clarence,
Alvin Irwin, Lorena Belle, Laura
Ma), Edwin Leigh, and Samuel
Emerson, all living in Akron.
By the growth of the city and a change in the law, the Board
of Education has been enlarged from six to twelve members — two
elected by the voters in each ward — instead of being elected by the
city at large, as under the old arrangement.
From a half dozen or less diminutive rooms, the school accom-
modations now consist of one splendid four-story brick tw^elve
room High School building, on South Forge street, Wilbur V. Rood,
principal, with fifteen lady teachers in High and Grammar depart-
ments. Jennings School, six rooms, corner Mill and Summit
streets, former High School, (named in honor of Rev. Isaac Jen-
nings, chairman of the committee w^hich reported the plan of the
Akfon school lavir, as hereinbefore stated), fourteen teachers. Miss
Josephine Newberry, principal ; Perkins School, six rooms and
annex, corner Bowery and Exchange streets, (named in honor of
Gen. Simon Perkins, who founded the village of Akron in 1825),.
PRESENT SUPERINTENDEXT OF INSTRUCTION.
129
17 LIAS FRAUNFELTER— born of
J--' German parentag'e, near Easton,
Pa., April 3, 1840 ; came with famil}-
to Ohio April, 184C, settling near Ash-
land, working on farm and in hotel ;
educated in country school and Ver-
million Institute, Hayesville ; at 17
began teaching ; at 20 chosen tutor
of Mathematics in Vermillion Insti-
tute; Avigvist 22, 1862, enlisted in Co.
C, 120th O. V. I., but soon transferred
to Co. F; promoted to sergeant,
orderly sergeant, first lieutenant and
captain " for ineritorious conduct in
camp and in field,'' serving, also, for
a time,as aide-de-camp on staff of Gen.
Peter Osterhaus, 9th Div. 13tli Army
Corps, and later as adjutant of his
regiment ; participated in the various
battles, skirmishes and assaults
resulting in the siege and surrender
of Vicksburg and capture of Jack-
son, Miss. ; transferred with regiment
to the Department of the Gulf, was in
the Teche campaign and the dis-
astrous Red River expedition ; cap-
tured with steamer " City Belle" near
Alexandria, La., May 4, 1864 ; confined
in rebel prison at Camp Ford, Texas,
13 months ; exchanged at New Orleans
May 30. 186.'i; by consolidation, becom-
ing captain of Co. D, 114th O. V. I.,
reporting for duty at Mobile, Ala.,
May 31, 186i5, and mustered out with
regiment at Columbus, Ohio, June
27,1865; August, 18(5.5, resvimed posi-
tion in Vermillion Institute ; April,
1866, elected Professor of Mathematics
in Savannah (Ohio) Academy, and in
June, 1866, Associate Principal and
Professor of Mathematics and
Natural Science, reorganizing insti-
tution and enlarging buildings, in
1870 cataloguing 385 students ; Sep-
tember, 1873, chosen Professor of
Engineering and Normal studies in
Buchtel College, at Akron, and Pro-
fessor of Mathematics in June, 1874 ;
in August, 1883, accepted the position
of Superintendent of Instruction in
Akron Public Schools, which respon-
sible position he is still ably filling.
Capt. Fraunfelter holds a life State
teacher's certificate ; served nine
3'ears as president of board of school
examiners for Ashland County ; has
been a. member and president of the
E. FKAUNFELTEK.
board of school examiners for the
city of Akron since 1877, and a mem-
ber of the board of managers of the
Akron Public Library since May 10,.
1886 ; received degree of A. M. from
Bethany (W. Va.) College June, 1873,
and of Ph. D. from Lombard (111.)
University June, 1879. The Captain
became a member of Bucklej^ Post,
G. A. R., May 4, 1883 ; was vice com-
mander 1884-1885 ; commander 1886-87,
representing Post in Department
Encampment at Cleveland in 1886, at
Springheld in 1887, and at Cincituiati
in 1890, and the Department in the
National Encampment at San Fran-
cisco, Cal., Avigust, 1886, and at
Boston, Mass., August, 1890; has also
been a member of Ohio Commandery
of the Lo5'al Legion of the United
States since April 2, 1884. April 2,
1867, Dr. Fraunfelter was married to
Miss Laura K. Caldwell, daughter of
Rev. John P. Caldwell, a Presbyterian
minister of Barnesville, Ohio, who
has borne him two children — Charles
Davies, stock clerk in Superintend-
ent's office of Aultman, Miller & Co.,
and Clara May, book-keeper and
cashier for Kubler & Beck, Akron
Varnish Works.
seven teachers, Miss Sarah T, Carothers, principal ; Crosby School,
eight rooms, corner Smith and West streets, (named in honor of
Doctor Eliakim Crosby, projector of the Cascade mill race, which
gave to Akron its start as a manufacturing center), nine teachers,
Mrs. Sarah P. Bennett, principal ; Spicer School, eight rooms, Car-
roll street, (named in honor of Major Miner Spicer, who in 1811
settled upon the land on which said school is located), nine
teachers, Miss Margaret L. McCready, principal ; Allen School,
eight rooms, corner of South Main and Thornton streets, (named
130
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
ill honor of Jesse Allen, one of Coventry's earliest settlers, said
school being in Avhat was originally a part of Coventry town-
ship), nine teachers, Miss Anna M. Hollinger, principal ; Bowen
School, six rooms, on North Broad^vay, (named in honor of Dr.
William Bowen, an early and earnest promotor of Akron's public
schools,) seven teachers, Miss M. Elma Cam pbell, principal ; Howe
Perkins School House, corner West
JExchanije and Bowerv Streets,
^ Fifth Ward."
Croi-bv School Mouse, corner Smith
arid West Streets, Third Ward.
JUDGE WM. MORGAX DODGE,—
J born January 2, 180.5, at Granville,
Washington County, N. Y; came to
Ohio in 1813; read law with Judge
Wheeler, in Unionville; after his
admission to bar settled in Middle-
burj", in 1831 removing to Akron; in
April, 1840, was elected Prosecuting
Attorney of the then new county of
Suinmit, and re-elected in October of
the same year for the full term of two
years; was active in securing the
passage of the Akron School Law,
and an efficient member of the first
Board of Education thereunder; in
October, 1860, was elected Probate
J udge of Suinmit County, which office
he ably filled until his death, July 21,
1861, aged 56 years, 6 months and 19
days. June 4, 1833, Mr. Dodge was mar-
ried to Mrs. Harvey A. Howard, nee
Hannah B. Fenn, Mr. and Mrs. Howard
being the parents of the last Mrs.
James Mathews, and Mr. Howard one
of the early merchants of Middle-
bury and Akron. Mrs. Dodge, born
in Milford (now Orange), Conn., May
28, 1808, still survives, now, in her 84th
year, enjoying full mental and phj'S-
ical vigor, with the exception of her
low^er limbs, w^hich have been para-
lyzed for the past 22 years. Her chil-
dren by her last marriage, were :
JUDGE WILLIAM MORGAN DODGE.
Stella A., now Mrs. John B. Etz;
Victoria, died in infancy ; Walter,
died in infancj'^ ; Emmet D., died
August 2, 1882, at the age of 41 j^ears
and 28 da3-s ; Marion E., now Mrs. M.
E. Reed, and Jennie, now Mrs. George
C. Heifer, of South Mound, Kansas.
AKRONS LATKR PRIMARY SCHOOLS.
131
Spicer School House, Carroll Street,
Fourth Ward.
Allen School House, corner South
Main and Thornton Streets,
Fourth Ward.
School, eight rooms, (named in
honor of Capt. RichardHowe,an
nearly resident of Akron, and for
many years superintendent of
the Northern Division of Ohio
Canal),nine teachers, Miss Lucy
K. Beldine:, princij^al ; Henry
Bowen School, North Broadway, First
Ward.
Howe School House, South Bowery,
Bartges and St. Clair Streets,
Fifth Ward.
School, eight rooms, corner North Forge and Arch streets,
(named in honor of Milton \V. Henry, long a prominent merchant
in Akron, and a great friend of education,) nine teachers. Miss
Lida M. Uussell, principal; Kent School, eight rooms, Arlington
street. Sixth Ward, (named in honor of Roswell Kent, one of Mid-
dlehury's pioneer merchants and most public spirited citizens,)
nine teachers, Mr. Lee R. Knight, principal ; Leggett School, eight
rooms, named in honor of Gen. Mortimer D. Leggett, first superin-
tendent, (or principal, as it was then called,) of Akron schools
under the new law- — Thornton, AUyn and Sumner . streets — nine
132
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
teachers, Miss Lizzie Camp, principal ; Grace School, so named in
honor of the late Mrs. Grace Perkins, intersection of West
MILTON W. HENRY,— born in
Blanford, Mass., October 13,
1816 ; in 1830 removed with family to
Westfield, Medina County, Ohio;
educated in common schools and
Wadsworth Academy ; clerk in stores
of Kent & Spelman and G. & J.
Miller, of Wadsworth, and Clapp &
Spelman, of Akron, from 1836 to 1843,
when he became a partner of Harvey
B. Spelman, under the firm name of
H. B. Spelman & Co., located in the
"Old Stone Block," corner of Howard
and Market streets ; in 1848 purchas-
ed Mr. Spelman's interest, and soon
afterwards associated with himself,
James Zwisler, under the firm name
of M. W. Henry & Co.; December 27,
1849, building- and portion of stock
destroyed by fire, but business con-
tinued in another location ; occupied
new building on old site, in 1854, sixb-
sequently purchasing- the property ;
admitting to partnership some of his
faithful emplo5'es, the firin of G. C.
Berry & Co., was organized in 1875,
which arrangement continued until
1883, when Mr. Henry retired from
active mercantile life. Mr.Henrj^was
one of the original stock-holders and
director and vice president of the
First National Bank of Akron ; stock-
bolder and director Taplin, Rice &
Co., of Akron and Austin Powder
Co., of Cleveland ; served nine years as
member and officer of Akron Board of
Education and eight years member of
Akron City Council, a portion of the
MILTON W. HENKY.
time as its president. December 5,.
1843, Mr. H. was married to Miss
Abigail Weeks, of Copley, who bore
him six daughtei'S and one son :
Olive C, (now Mrs. M. H. Crumrine),.
Ella C, (Mrs. C. E. York. Youngsville,
Pa.), JuliaA., (Mrs. William McFarlin),
Hattie A., (Mrs. C. A. Barnes), Charles
M., Grace P. and Mattie W., all of
whom are still living. Mr. Henr}^
died, suddenly. March 16, 1886, aged
69 years, 5 months, 3 daj-s.
Henry School House, Xor'^h Forge
Street, Second Ward.
Kent School House, South Arlington
Street, Sixth Ward.
SOME PROMINENT FRIENDS OF EDUCATION.
133
Exchange and South Maple streets, eight rooms, seven teachers,
Miss Laura .E. Waltz, principal.
Leggett School House, Allyn,Tliornton
and Sumner Streets, Fourth Ward.
Grace School House, South Maple and
West Exchange Streets,
Fifth Ward.
The rapid growth of the city calling for still more extended
school accommodations, four-room additions are now (August,
1891,) being made to the already spacious Kent, How^e and Spicer
buildings, in each of which four additional teachers will be
employed.
HENRY WILLETT HOWE,-
eldest son of Captain Richard
and Roxana (Jones) Howe, was born
in Bath, June 29, 1828, in infanc}^
removing with parents to Akron ;
•educated in Akron public schools
and Oberlin College, graduating
from latter in 1849; read law with
Judge James S. Carpenter, practicing
with the Judge Jintil his elevation to
the Bench, in 1856; in 1859, engaged
in the manufacture of agricultural
implements in Akron, seven years
later removing to Richfield, where
he was» engaged in manvifacturing
enterprises until April, 1881, when he
moved to his farm in Northampton,
which he is still successfully culti-
vating ; is also postmaster of Ira
postoffice, at Hawljins station on the
Vallej^ railway, Mrs. Howe also hold-
ing the position of postmistress at
West Richfield, while residing there.
Mr. How^e was a member of Akron
Board of Education several j^ears
aud its secretary from 1851 to 1857 ;
represented the Second Ward in Citj^
Council in 1865 and 18(56 ; in Richfield
served as member of School Board,
and as Justice of the Peace, and is
now a Justice of the Peace for
Northampton township ; helped to
organize the Summit County Agri-
cviltural Society, serving as director
and secretary eight years, and since
1878 has been secretary of Summit
HENRY WILLETT HOWE.
County Grange, Patrons of Hus-
bandry. September 17, 1856, Mr.
Howe was married to Miss Jennie
Williamson, of Stow, who died March
25, 1857 ; was again married, Decem-
ber 12, 1859, to Miss Isadore C. Bell, a
native of Connecticut, who has borne
him four children Edwin B., Frank
R., and Abby B., living, and, Arthur
Willett, deceased.
134
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
DR. WILLIAM BOWEN, — born in
Genessee County, N. Y., July 3,
1805; learned trade of carpenter; on
completion of apprenticeship came
to Ohio, working on mill of Mr. Wil-
liam Raynolds, near Canton; desir-
ing- to secure a better education,
through the aid of Mr. Raj^nolds, he
attended the select school of Barak
Michener, in Canton; on completion
of his studies, taught school in the
village of Paris, Stark County, mean-
time studying medicine with Dr.
Robert Estep. In 1832, commenced
practice in Doylestown, Wayne Coun-
tj^ ; in 1835 attended lectures at Ohio
Medical College, receiving his degree
in 1836 ; then practiced two j^ears in
Canton and nearly 15 years in Mas-
sillon. In 1853 bought a farm, three
miles south of Akron, dividinur his
time between medicine and agricul-
ture vintil 1857, when he removed to
Akron, where he remained in prac-
tice until his death, Jan 14, 1880, aged
74 years, 5 months and 15 days. Dr.
Bowen was a warm friend of educa-
tion, having published the Free
School Clarion from 1846 to 1848, in
Massillon, as elsewhere noted; was
also School Examiner and ineniber
and president of the Akron Board of
Education for several years, Bowen
School, on Broadway, being named
in his honor. In Maj', 1830, Dr. Bowen
DR. WILLIAM BOWEN.
was married to Miss Huldah M. Chit-
tenden, of Middlebury, who bore him
nine children, three onlj' of whom
now survive. Miss Elma C, now
residing in the state of Washington ;
Frances C, now Mrs. Dr. A. E. Foltz,
of Akron ; and Mrs. Sarah B. Freer, of
Canton. Mrs. Bowen died Julj^ 3,
1890, aged 84 years, 9 months and 4
davs.
REGINALD H. WRIGHT.
REGINALD H. WRIGHT,— son of
Rev. A. K. Wright, was born at
Wadsworth, Ohio, January 18, 1841 ;
educated at Hudson, g-raduating-
from Western Reserve College in
1863 ; served as orderly sergeant of
Co. B, (composed principally of
students of college), 85th Regiment
O. V. I., from May 27th till September
27, 1862; in 1884 teacher in Shaw
Academy,at Collamer, Ohio ; engaged
in business in Cleveland from 1864 to
1869 and in Toledo in 18(59 ; February,
1870, came to Akron as cashier and
book-keeper for Aultman, Miller &
Co., now being treasurer of the com-
pany ; has served several 3"ears as
member of Board of Education, being
treasurer of the Board for the j-ears
1883, 1884, 1885 and 1886; October 3,
1872, Mr. Wright was married to Miss
E. Augustine Chevrier, youngest
daughter of the late Louis Chevrier,
Esq., of Akron. They have four chil-
dren— three sons and one daug'hter :
Charles Chevrier Wright, born Feb-
ruary 16, 1874 ; Reginald Ashmun
Wright, born March 14, 1876 ; Howard
Buttles Wright, born November 19,
1880, and Helen Maria Wright, born
July 18, 188:^
It will thus be seen, that, including Superintendent Fraun-
felter and Prof. Nathan L. Glover, musical instructor, Prof. J. War-
ren Thyng, teacher of drawing, and Prof. J. O. Wise, teacher of
THE NEW HIGH SCHOOL.
135
Akron's New High School Building. South
Forge Street. Erected in lb8(j.
penmanship, that Akron's public schools have a grand army of
nearly 130 teachers, and it is safe to say, that, with the thorough
examinations which are made, and the extreme care bestowed
upon selections, together with the ripe experience of man^- of the
number, Akron's instructors 'Vill compare favorably with those of
any other city in Ohio, or elsewhere, while all our people have the
proud satisfaction of knowing that the system first devised and
adopted here, nearly half a century ago, is now in vogue in every
state w^here public schools, for the free education of the children
of all the people, are maintained and'cherished.
As early as 1875 it became
apparent that a new high
school building was rapidly
becoming a public necessity,
but as larger and better w^ard
accommodations Avere also
equally necessary, and had
to be provided, the high
school project was held in
abeyance until about 1883,
though several committees
on sites had previously been
appointed without definite
results. In 1883 a committee
on sites was appointed, con-
sisting of R. H. Wright,
Thomas McEbright, D. W.
Thcmas, H. G. Griffin, Chris.
Vogt and F. M. Atterholt. This committee, after examining sev-
eral sites, and receiving various propositions frtm pioperty
p) R.JOHN W. LYDER,-born
^^ near Elkton, in Elkrtxn town-
ship, Columbiana County, Ohio,
December 16, 1837 ; educated in pub-
lic schools and at Oberlin Colleg-e ;
graduated from Philadelphia (Pa.)
ental Colleg-e in 1869 ; practiced for
a time in Fairfield, Columbiana
County, then moved to Alliance,
Stark Count}', where he practiced
until his settlement in Akron, April
20, 1875, where he has since been in
continuous and successful practice.
Dr. Lyder was president of the Ohio
State Dental Association three terms ;
served as member of Alliance Vil-
lage Council, and as president of the
Stark County Agricultural Societ}^ ;
from 1881 to 1883 was a member of
the Akron Board of Education ; was
a member of State Dental Society
Execiitive Committee for 1891 ; acting-
Eminent Commander Knights Temp-
lar for 1891, and has filled various
other offices of honor in Masonic DK. JOHX \v. lvoek.
orders for a period of twent}' years.
September 15, 1863, Dr. Lyder was ate of Philadelphia Dental College,
married to Miss Marj' V. Bedortha, now practicing with his father, and
of Oberlin, who has borne him two Jay Walter, born in Alliance, Octo-
children — Frederick H., born in ber 20, 186S, now book-keeper in the
Alliance, November 4, 1864, a gradu- City National Bank, of Akron.
136
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
owners, finally selected and purchased grounds on the southeasterly-
side of Forge street, fronting directly on Union Park and both Col-
lege and Mill streets. The property selected consisted of lots occu-
pied by Frank J. Staral, 96 feet ; Noah A. Carter, 45 feet, and
Augustus D. Power, 76 feet, making' a total frontage of 217 feet ;
with a rear frontage, on Jackson alley, of 190 feet ; the aggregate
price paid for the three properties being $19,00().
JOHN McGregor, — born near
J Wellsville, O., June 14, 1836;
raised on farm ; graduated from
Jefferson (Pa.) College in 1863 ; attend-
ing Ohio Law College, at Cleveland
on€ year, was admitted to practice in
State and U. S. Courts at Cleveland,
and opened an office in Akron in
1864, continuing in successful prac-
tice seven years ; was City Solicitor
two ye ars-vl 869-71 ; was Treasurer of
Portage Township from 1877 to 1884 ;
member of Board of Education frgm
1888 to present time. In 1871, Mr.
McGregor purchased an interest in
the Akron Steam Forge Works, and
on their reorganization as a joint
stock company, in 1872, was elected
secretary and treasurer, which posi-
tion he stills holds. In 1887, Mr. M.
became a stockholder and director in
the Webstfer, Camp and Lane Machine
Companj^, being' elected president
and treasurer of that corporation,
which offices he still retains. Novem-,
ber 11, 1868, Mr. McGregor was mar-
ried to Miss Hattie E. Folger, of
Akron, daughter of the late William
M., and Julia A. (Haj^den) Folger, who
JOHN MCGREGOR.
has borne him three children — Julia
F., John and Mary, all now living
with their parents.
Several plans were submitted by well-known architects, that
of Messrs. Weary & Kramer, of Akron, being adopted. After
various delays a contract was entered into, in the Spring of 1885,
\^^ith Messrs. Wilhelm & Schroeder, of Akron, for the complete
structure, excepting the heating apparatus, for the sum of $78,672,
to which changes, additions, etc., added the further sum of $11,-
277.42. The steam heating apparatus, supplied by Mr. John Robb,
of Akron, cost $11,423, which, with the cost of furniture, and the
various other indispensable conveniences for the proper working
of the several departments of the school, places the total cost of
the institution at about $135,030, the grand total of Akron's present
school property, at a fairly low estimate, being fully half a million
of dollars.
The edifice is 163 feet in length, 128 feet in width, and 88 feet
in height, exclusive of the central tower, vi^hich is 160 feet. The
foundation and basement walls are of stone, and the superstruct-
ure of pressed brick with handsome stone trimmings, the
architecture being of the Romanesque order. The foundation
v^alls are three feet in thickness; basement walls (stone) two and
one-half feet thick, and the brick walls of the building 20 inches;
the entire structure, including basement and upper floor of the
main building, four full stories in height.
PERSONAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL.
137
pRANK M. ATTERHOLT— born
-T December 19, 1848, near New Lis-
bon, Ohio ; educated at New Lisbon
Hiftii School,Xational Normal School,
of Lebanon, and Mount Union Col-
leo-e, g-radnating- at the latter institu-
tion in 1870. He was a prominent
teacher in the State for several years,
and for a time was editor of the
Colunibiatiii Register. He came to
Akron in the autumn of 1879 and read
law with L^pson, Ford & Baird ; was
admitted to the bar by the Supreme
Court at Columbus, O., October 5,1880,
and has most of the time since been
the law partner of Judge U. L. Mar-
vin. Mr. Atterholt is an earnest
friend of education ; has served as
member of the Board of Education,
City Board of School Exaininers, and
is a Trustee of Mount Union Colleg-e.
In politics he is an ardent Republi-
can ; has served on the State Central
Committee and been chairman of the
County Executive Committee. He is
an earnest member of the Board of
Trade and is larg'ely financially and
officially interested in a number of
the most extensive business enter-
prises of the city and with several in
FRANK M. ATTERHOLT.
other places. He was married Decem-
ber 21, 1872, to Miss Mary E. Baird, of
Columbiana, Ohio. They have one
ch ild— Frank Bryant, born June 2, 1878.
DR. THOMAS MCEBRIGHT.
DR. THOMAS McEBRIGHT,-born
in Carlisle, Pa., April 14, 1824,
removing- with parents to Wooster,
Ohio, in 1833; raised on farm, attend-
ing district school winters; at 16
attending Norwalk Academj^ and
later entering on classical course in
Ohio Wesleyan University, but on
reaching the senior year failing-
health comjjelled him to return to
the farm. Improving- by out-door
exercise, in 1847, began the study of
medicine in Wooster, graduating-
from Starling- Medical Colleg-e,
Columbus, February 22, 1851, immedi-
ately commencing- practice in Nash-
ville, Holmes Countj^ in 1857 remov-
ing- to Millersburg-. In Fall of '61 was
appointed by Gov. Dennison surg-eon
of 8th Reg-t. O. V. I., serving as acting-
Brig-ade Surg-eon and Chief Opera-
ting- Surgeon of division, in the Ariny
of the Potomac, until the Spring of
1863, when, by reason of ill health, he
resigned. In May, 1864, was appointed
Colonel of the l(36th O. V. I., but
resigned and took the position of
Surgeon to that regiment, being
mustered out with regiment in Sep-
tember, 1864, removing to Akron the
following November. June 16, 1853,
Dr. Ebright was married to Miss
Nancj^ Liggett, daughter of Judge
Thomas Liggett, of Millersburg, who
has borne him five children, three
dying in infanc}', the two survivors —
Misses Kit and Carita -both being
A. B. graduates of Cornell Univer-
sitj'. Dr. Ebright is a high degree
member of the Masonic Oi'der; a
member of the Summit County, the
N. E. Ohio, and the Ohio State Med-
ical Societies, and of the .American
Medical Association; Surgeon of C,
A. & C. R. R., and has served 14 years
upon the Akron Board of Education,
several years as its president.
138
AKRON AXD SUMMIT COUNTY.
In the basement, besides the boiler and engine rooms, are the
Superintendent's office; the office of the Board of Kducation;
vault and safe room; laboratory; boys' and girls' play rooms,
\vash rooms, cloak rooms, halls, etc. On the first floor, besides the
entrances, there is a large central court, eight school rooms, reci-
tation room, principal's room, boys' coat room, girls' cloak rooms,
halls, etc. On the second floor there are a central court, four large
school rooms, two recitation roorns, lady teachers' parlor, coat and
cloak room, ante-rooms, halls, etc., on the easterly side; while
Assembly Hall, 64x84 feet in size, occupies the entire westerh^ side
of the floor. On the third floor there are five good-sized rooms, to
be used for society purposes, library, museum, etc.
The exact dimensions of the several apartments need not be
given here, but a few figures will readily demonstrate the immen-
sity of the structure. The \\ralls have a measurement of nearly
100,000 square feet of foundation, outside and partition walls^
containing about 30,000 cubic feet of stone, 2,000,000 common brick
and 270,000 pressed brick, and consuming over one-third of a
million feet of lumber in its completion. Including halls, closets,
attic, etc., there are 107 separate rooms in the building, with a floor
surface of some 55,000 square feet, there being 195 doors, and 253
windows in the edifice.
In the tower, 108 feet from the ground, is a fine-toned 2,000-
pound bell, and a first-class clock, with four illuminated dials,
16 feet in diameter, each. While the building is externally beau-
tiful, and its interior finish every way tasty and pleasing to the
eye, substantiality and practicalness, rather than ornament and
show, have been the objects aimed at by the several gentlemen
HIRAM H. FOLTZ,— fifth son of
Moses and Sarah (Kean) Foltz,
was born near Wooster, Ohio, June
20, 1837 ; educated in common schools
of Wayne County ; raised on farm ;
August 9, 1862, with four of his
brothers, enlisted in the 102d O. V. I.
in the late war, serving^ three years,
being honorablj^ discharged May 13,
1865 ; March 14, 1866, moved to Akron,
and engaged in the painting busi-
ness ; was member of Akron Board
of Education from 1881 to 1885, being
one of the most efficient members
during the building of the High,
Howe, and Henry School buildings ;
is an active director of the Suminit
County Agricultural Society and
superintendent of Fine Arts Hall ;
member of State Executive Com-
mittee of the National Union;
chairman of City Republican Com-
mittee ; inember of Buckley Post,
No. 12, G. A. R.; in February 1888, was
appointed collector of tolls, rents,
etc., on the Ohio Canal forthej^ort of
Akron, which responsible position
he is still ably filling. March 27,
1862. Mr. Foltz was married to Miss
Cynthia Bell Hughes, of Wooster.
They have two children living —
Minnie M., now Mrs. Fred W. Davis,
HIRAM H. FOLTZ.
of the Sixth Ward, and Harrj- J., now
clerk in grocery and provision store
of J. B. Houghton, Akron. All five of
the Foltz brothers, who served
through the late war are now living
in Akron.
OCCUPATION OF NEW BUILDING.
139
under whose auspices Akron has been provided with this splendid
monument to the intelligence and enterprise of her people.
Very properly have the gentlemen alluded to perpetuated
their names in connection with the good Avork, by terra cotta tablets
inserted in the wall, upon the east side, as follows: "Memhkr.s of
THE Board of Education, 1884-5: Dr. Thomas McEbright,
Pres., '84-5, R. H. Wright, Treas., F. M. Atterholt, Sec, D. W.
Thomas; Lewis Miller, Pres., '85-86, A. M. Armstrong, A. H.
Sargent, W. H. Evans, Louis Seybold, J. T. Sell, H. H. Foltz, Dr. L.
S. Sweitzer, W. H. Kothrock, F. \V. Rockwell, H. G. Griffin. Build-
ing Committee: D. W. Thomas, chairman, F. W. Rockwell, Louis
Seybold, Dr. Thomas McEbright, Lewis Miller, J. T. Sell. Archi-
tects : Frank O. Weary, Geo. W. Kramer. Contractors : Louis
Wilhelm, W. C. Schroeder, John Robb."
GEORGE C. BERRY,— was born in
Medina Co.. Ohio. June 19, 1837,
removing to Akron with his pareats,
when three years old ; educated in
Akron's Union tjchools ; at 15 entered
store of Mr. Joseph E. Wesener, as
clerk, afterwards serving in same
capacity in store of Mr. Milton W.
Henry ; in 1864 was admitted to a
partnership in the concern under the
firm name of M. W. Henry & Co., by
the accession of others, in 1874 the
firm name being changed to G. C.
Berry & Co. ; in 1883 withdrew from
firm and opened a carpet warehouse
on Mill street, in which enterprise he
has been phenonienall}' successful,
in 1888 associating with himself in
business his son, Charles W. Berry,
under the firm name of Berry & Son.
In the war of the rebellion, Mr. Berry
served 100 days in the fortifications
in front of Washington, as a member
of Company F., 164th O. V. I., has
been a member of the Akron Board
of Education, and its most efficient
secretary for many years, and a
trustee in Summit Lodge No. 5(), I. O.
O. F. Mr. B. was married March 11,
18.57, to Miss Annie Wheeler, of Akron,
who bore him five children — Willis
H., who died at 6 years of age ; Geo.
GEORGE C. BERRY.
C, Jr., Charles W., Anna L., and Mary
H., Mrs. Berry d} ing March 18, 1869,
Mr. B. was again married, to Miss
Isabel Wright, of Tallmadge, who
has borne him two children — twins
— Belle and Zelle, the former dying
at 8 months.
Delays intervening, the edifice was not completed until the
very moment for the opening of the Fall term of school, on Mon-
day, September 6, 1886. Consequently the formal dedication of
the building which had been conteinplated, had to be omitted,
though hundreds of parents, and others, availed themselves of
the privilege tendered by the board and superintendent, of visiting
the building, and witnessing the workings of the several depart-
ments, during the earlier days of the term, as, indeed, all are
w^elcome to do at any time.
The total enumeration of school youth, within the citv limits
for 1888, was 7,707, of whom 3,871 were boys and 3,836 girls; 6,904:
American born; 516 German; 56 Irish; 51 English; 83 colored; 19
French; 9 Scotch; 10 Italian; 7 Welsh; 4 Norway; 3 Hungary; 1
Bohemia; 2 Greece; 1 Russia; 42 Sweden.
140
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
r^EORGE G. ALLEN,— son of
^ Xenianthus and Margaret E.
(Turner) Allen, was born in Grang-er,
Medina Count)', Aug-ust 26, 1855;
bo3^hood spent on farm ; at 14 moved
Avith parents to Akron, graduating"
from Akron High School in 1873 ;
read law in offices of John J. Hall
and Edward Oviatt, Esqs., with a six
months' course in Law Department
of Michigan University, at Ann
Arbor ; admitted to the bar in Akron
August 28, 1870, and immediately
admitted to partnership with Edward
Oviatt, Esq., under the firm name of
Oviatt & Allen, among the most suc-
cessful practioners at the Summit
County bar. Mr. Allen was for a
short time Acting Mayor of Akron
in 1883 ; was elected to the Board of
Education from the First Ward in
1887, and re-elected in 1889, being
treasurer of board for 1888 and 1889,
chairman of the cominittee on heat
and ventilation, etc. Besides his
extensive law practice Mr. Allen has
been a director in City National Bank
of Akron since its organization in
1883 ; director in F. Schumacher
Milling Co. since 1887 ; director in
Canada Copper Co ; in Anglo-Amer-
GEOKOE G. AJvLExX.
ican Iron Co ; in Central Ontario
Railway- Co., Canada, and Western
Linoleum Co., of Akron. July 18,
1877, Mr. Allen was married to Miss
Olivia Frances Oviatt, youngest
daughter of Edward Oviatt, Esq., who
has borne him two children — Don
Oviatt Allen, born June 9, 1878, and
Ben. Herbert Allen, born July 11, 1885.
LEWIS MILLER.
T EWIS MILLER,--born in Green-
J— ' town. Stark Count}', August 24,
1829; educated in district schools
and Illinois Academy, Plainfield ;
1846 to 1851 worked at plasterers
trade Summers attending and teach-
ing school Winters ; 1851 became
member of firm of Ball, Aultnaan &
Co., manufacturers of stoves, plows,
threshers and reapers, (the old Hus-
sey machine), the firm removing to
Canton in the Fall of that year; soon
advanced from apprentice to super-
intendent, inventing the wonderfully
successful Buckeye Mower and
Reaper, followed by the table-rake
in 1865, and subsequently the self-
binders, now so universally used,
and many other important labor-
saving devices ; separate works, on
an extensive scale, being established
^t Akron in 1864, under the name of
Aultman, Miller & Co. Besides offi-
ciating as president and superinten-
dent of the companies named, Mr.
Miller is pecuniarily and officially
connected with a large number of
other manufacturing establishments,
banks, etc., in Akron and Canton,
Mount Union College, Ohio Wesley-
an L^niversit)' and Allegheny
College ; superintendent of the First
M. E. Sunda)' School, orig'inator of
present Sundaj' School rooms, and
chief promoter of the Chautauqua As-
sociation scheme ; has served as
member of City Council and many
5'ears as memberof Board of Educa-
tion, Board of Librar}' control, etc.
Married, Septeml)er 16, 1853, to Mary D.
Alexander, of Painfield, 111., eleven
children have been born to them —
Eva, (died when 16), Jennie, Ira M.,
Edward B., Robert A., Lewis A.,
Mina (now Mrs. Thomas A. Edison),
Mamie, Grace, John V., and Theo-
dore W.
SCHOOL CENSUS, PAY OF TEACHERS, ETC.
141
T7RANK W. ROCKWELL,— son of
^ Marshall M, and Sarah (Pendle-
ton) Rockwell, born in Kent, Ohio,
October 31, 1851; when seven or eig"ht
years old, inoved with family to Mis-
souri; father entering- the Union
army, came with mother to Stow,
returning- to Missouri in Spring of
1863 ; in Spring of 18(54: reinoved to
Andover, Ashtabula Countj^ 0-! i"
186.0, to Indiana; in 186(3, to Linesville,
Crawford County, Pa.; in 1871, to
Akron ; common school education,
with one year at Allegheny College;
entered employ of Akron Sewer Pipe
Co., as book-keeper, in 1871, in A ugust,
1882, becoming Secretary and Treas-
urer of the Company; January, 1884,
engaged in manufacture of stone-
ware as member of the firin of John-
son, Rockwell & Co., successors of
Johnson & Baldwin, later F. W. Rock-
well & Co.; in 1881 was elected mem-
ber of Akron Board of Education,
holding- the position four terms
(eig-ht years), serving two vears as
president of the Board— 1883'-4, 1888-9
— and three years as chairman of
finance committee ; in 1887 and 1888,
was Chairman of Republican Cen-
tral Committee. September 21, 1875,
Mr. Rockwell was married to Miss
Mary Ann Johnson, daughter of
FRANK W. ROCKWELL.
Thomas and Harriet Johnson, who-
has borne him seven children —
George \V., Frank J., Addie (deceased),
Thomas, Mar}', Ida and Wade.
Thoug-h still a resident of Akron, Mr.
Rockwell is now Secretarj' and Treas-
urer of the Pennsjlvania Sewer Pipe-
Co., at Huntingdon, Pa.
The number of scholars enrolled during the Spring and Sum-
mer term of 1888, was 4,654; the entire expenses, including the
superintendent's and teachers' salaries, janitors, fuel, etc., for the
school year, 1887-8 being $59,220, or $12.60 per scholar per year, on
the enrollment, exclusive of interest on investment for lands,
buildings, furnishings, repairs, etc. This, as will be seen by com-
parison with figures heretofore given, is somewhat more costly,,
per capita than under the earlier workings of the system, but
scarcely more so than was the old plan of select schools at from
$3.00 to $5.00 per quarter, while a vast improvement upon the
district and select plans, by being more systematic and efficient in
its methods and results.
The total enumeration for 1890-91, was 8,442 — boys, 4,211; girls,.
4,231; total enrollment, 5,283. Total expenditures for the year end-
ing August 31, 1890, as follows: Wages of teachers, including
salary of superintendent, $51,955.65; fuel and other contingent
expenses, $18,509.51; sites and buildings, $25,016.55; bonds and-
interest, $19,100.00; total, $114,581.71.
The salary of Superintendent Findley was originally $2,500 per
year, but in 1876 was, for reasons which do not fully appear upon
the record, reduced to $2,000, but on the accession of Prof.
Fraunfelter, the old figure, $2,500, was restored; Principal Rood's
salary being $1,400; Prof. Glover, (music), four days per week,
$1,400; Prof. Thyng, (drawing), $1,000; Prof. Wise, (writing), $800;.
teachers in High School, $500 to $800; Grammar School, princi-
pal $900; teachers $250 to $650. Ward schools: principals, $600 to
$700; teachers, $250 to $500; a slight contrast between the present
superintendent's salary and that of the "superintendent" of the
142
AKROX AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
^'high" school on the hill, taught by the writer, in 1835-6— $11.00
per month and "board around."
In addition to regular teachers, "student teachers" — one for
each room— are now regularly employed, who are required to be
in dailj^ attendance, and in case of sickness or other necessary
absence, take the place of regular teachers, being paid $25 per
month, while so employed the first year, with $5 a month extra, on
taking their places as regulars the second year. This plan of
training in teachers from graduates of our own schools, is proving
to be a very valuable feature of our present most admirable school
management.
T^DWIN F. VORIS,— son of Gen.
l-> Alvin C. and Lydia (A 1 1 y n)
Voris, was born in Akron Julj' 31,
1855; educated in Akron public
schools, gTaduating from High
School in 1872 ; at its opening in Sep-
tember, 1872, entering Buchtel Col-
lege, from which he graduated June
30, 1875. Entering Harvard Law
School, in the Fall of the same year
he graduated th.?refrom June 27, 1877,
and was admitted to the bar at Cleve-
land October 8th of that year. June
8, 1878, he went to St. Louis, and the
following month was admitted to
practice in the courts of Missouri.
Studying and practicing with J. M. &
C. H. Krum, of St. Louis, until Feb-
ruar}', 1879, he returned to Akron,
forming a partnership with his father
under the firm name of Voris & Voris,
after the accession of his father to
the Common Pleas Jixdgeship, form-
ing a partnership with his brother-
in-law, Charles Baird, Esq., Feb-
ruary 14, 1891, under the firm name
of Baird & Voris, which arrange-
ment still continvies. On the death
of Prosecuting Attornej^ John C.
Means, in May, 188(5, Mr. Voris was
appointed bj^ Judge Green to fill
the vacancy, serving till January,
1887. Mr. Voris was one of the organ-
izers of Camp 27, Sons of Veterans,
EDWIN F. VOKLS.
DivisionofOhio,in Akron ; April, 1889,
was elected member of Akron Board
of Education from Second Ward, and
is still serving ; October 21, 1879, Mr.
Voris was married to Miss Lizzie U.
Slade, of Columbus, Ohio. The3^have
3 children — Lj^dia, born J ulj^ 17, 1880 ;
William S., born August 28, 1882;
F)lizabeth, born August 12, 1884.
The first pupil graduated from the Akron High School, \^as
Miss Pamela H. Goodwin, now^ Mrs. William Renwick, of Daven-
port, low^a, of the class of 1864. Since then, with the exception of
the single year of 1870, there have been graduated, yearly, as
follows: 1865, two; 1866, three; 1867, five; 1868, four; 1869, five;
1871, four; 1872, seventeen; 1873, eleven; 1874, sixteen; 1875, eigh-
teen; 1876, twenty; 1877, thirty-two; .1878, twenty-two; 1879,
thirty-five; 1880, thirty-six; 1881, eighteen; 1882, twenty-nine; 1883.
tw^enty-six; 1884, thirty-five; 1885, forty-nine; January, 1886, nine;
June, 1886, forty-seven; January, 1887, twenty-seven; June, 1887,
thirty-one; January, 1888, twenty-five; June, 1888, thirty-seven;
January, 1889, sixteen; June, 1889, tliirty-three; January, 1890,
thirty; June, 1890, thirty-four; January, 1891, thirty-six; June, 1891,
thirty-four, making a total of 747 graduates, in the 28 years, 215 of
■whom were boys and 532 were girls.
NEW AND VALUABLE FEATURES.
143
ARTHUR J. WEEKS. born in
■^ Copley, June 28, 1847 ; raised on
farm ; educated at North Madison
Academy and Willoughby College,
with a course in civil eng-ineering- at
Bethany College, W. Va. ; assistant
engineer in locating and construct-
ing Tuscarawas Valley R'y> t'^^o
years ; aSv^istant to Chief Engineer
P. H. Dudley, on Valley R'y three
years, last two j^ears as division
engineer in charge of copstruction
between Akron and Canton; Octo-
ber 1, 1874, was married to Miss
Lovina Humbert, of Lake Township,
Stark Co. ; 1875 to 1882, engaged in
jobbing Akron stoneware, pipes,
matches, etc., at Evansville, Ind. ;
in 1882, removed to Akron, becoming-
a membea- of the pottery firm of
Weeks, Cook & Weeks, a short dis-
tance south of the present felt works ;
Mr. Cook retiring in 188(5, the firm of
Weeks Brothers (Arthur J. and Fred
H.) was continued until Noveinber 1,
1890, Mr. W.,on dissolution, purchas-
ing the pottery works of F. W.
Rockwell & Co., lllO-llKi Flast Market
street, which he is still successfullj^
conducting,on organization of Akron
Stoneware Agency, Mr. W. was
elected secretary, which position he
still fills ; was elected member of
School Board in 1888 and re-elected in
1890 ; chairman of building commit-
tee, and of committee on heating- and
ARTHUR J. WEEKS.
ventilation ; in 1890 elected treasurer
and continued on building com-
inittee in charge of erection of the
new Grace School building-.
It will be seen that while the sexes, in the enumeration, are
very nearlj^ equal, considerable more than twice as many girls
graduate as boys, which may probably be accounted for, in part at
least, by the fact that before reaching the graduation point, from
necessity or choice, the boys embark in mercantile or other
business pursuits, while a large proportion of the girls go through
with the design of becoming teachers.
OTHER NEW AND VALUABLE FEATURES.
In 1890, the office of superintendent of primary instruction was
created by the board, and the position given to Mrs. Sarah C. Lake,
one of our most experienced teachers (formerly for many years
Principal of Bowen School), whose daily supervision of the work
being done in the primaries is proving to be a very valuable feat-
ure of our educational system. The salary of the primary super-
intendent is $850 per year. Another valuable advance which has
been made is the doing aAvay with formal examinations for promo-
tion, it being found that many pupils worthy of promotion, being
naturally timid and easily embarrassed, would fail at the critical
moment to reach the iron-clad standard, and thus be arbitrarily
kept a grade or two below their more ready fellows, in reality no
better qualified than themselves. Promotions are now^ made on
the recommendation of the teachers and principals of the sev-
eral schools, and the plan has so far worked most admirably.
144
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
JOSEPH COOK— born in London,
J Eng-land, March 24, 1847; in
Spring of 1849 came with parents to
America, settling at East Liverpool ;
in 1863 enlisted in the arm3'^, serving-
till close of the war. During service
in armj- his parents removed to
Middlebur}-, where he came to reside
on receiving his discharge. Octo-
ber 9, 1873, Mr. Cook was married to
Mary T.. Norton, eldest daughter of
Thoinas and Hannah Norton, who
has borne him five children — Eva P.,
Thomas N., Mary J., Martha W. and
George W. Mr. C. engaged in the
pottery buisness . with David A.
Butler and John Richardson, under
the firm naiue of -Richardson, Cook
& Butler, incorporated March, 1879, as
the Akron Stoneware Co., with Mr.
Cook as president. Disposing of
his stock, three 5^ears later, the firm
of Weeks, Cook & Weeks, built an-
other potterj^, of which Mr. C. was
superintendent until the Fall of 1886,
when he disposed of his interest to
the Messrs. Weeks. Then helped to
organize and was made president of
the Wood Type and Novelt3- Manxi-
facturing Coiupany, two years later
disposing of his interest therein, and
in the Spring of 1890, aiding in the
organization of the Drop Hammer
Forging- Co., of which he is president.
JOSEPH COOK.
April. 1889, Mr. Cook was elected
member of the Akron Board of Edu-
cation, the first year being chairinan
of coinmittee on grounds, and the
second j-ear of committee on janitors,
being re-elected in 1891.
FRANKLIN G. STIPE.
pRANKEIN G. STIPE,— eldest son
-*- of Harrison and Anna (Neugent)
Stipe, was born in Greentown, Stark
County, April 23, 1846, when young
removing- with parents to Green
Township, Summit County; edu-
cated in public schools and Greens-
burg Seminar}', for several years
teaching in Winter and assisting
father on farm in Summer; during
the war, as a inember of the Ohio
National Guard, served from May to
September, 1864, in Co. H., 164th O. V.
I., in defense of Washington, as else-
where detailed ; in 1866, reinoved to-
Akron, where he has since success-
fully followed the painting business.
A life-long Republican, Mr. Stipe
was vice-president of the Republi-
can CentralCominittee for 1887 ; mem-
ber of Board of Education from
Fourth Ward for 1888-9, and mem-
ber of Citj' Board of Equalization of
decennial appraisement of real estate
for 1890. September 5, I860, Mr. Stipe
was married to Miss Soviah Koons,
daughter of Jonas and Sarah (France)
Koons, of Green Township, Avho has
borne him four children — Norah
Eleanor, Harry Jonas, Mabel Lonelj-
and Mattie Maria. Mr. and Mrs. Stipe
are members of the First M. E.
Church of Akron.
In September, 1884, in addition to English, Latin and Greek, a
class in German was formed in the High School, which is highly
SCHOLARSHIPS IN BUCHTEL COLLEGE.
145
appreciated by such of our people as desire to have their children
instructed in that language. Pupils in the several courses in 1890
were: English, 222 — 64 boys, 158 girls; graduates, 5 boys, 25 girls;
Latin, 51 boys, 53 girls; graduates, 8 boys, 7 girls; German, 56
boys, 57 girls; graduates, 7 boys, 12 girls; Greek scholars reciting
at College, 9.
November 14, 1881, the executive committee of the board of
trustees of Buchtel College adopted the following resolution, which
is still in full force:
"Resolved, That one scholarship be granted to the City of Akron, to be
awarded by competitive examination onlj^, to the g-raduates of the High
School qualified to enter the Freshman Class in one ofthe courses of Buchtel
College. But in case there be no competitors for this scholarship among'
the graduates of the High School, it may be granted, by competitive exami-
nation, to anj^ student in the City Schools who shall be qualified to enter the
Senior Preparatory Class of the College in either of the three courses."
A NGELO ANDREW,-"born in Bos-
-^ ton Township, Summit County,
O., February 1, 1846 ; common school
education ; at 17, apprenticed to
printer's trade in oftice of Summit
County Beacon ; August 23, 1864,
enlisted in Company H., 177th O. V.
I., participating in all its engage-
ments, and serving until the close of
the war ; on retiring from the army,
returned to Peninsula and engaged
in painting, three years later accept-
ing a clerkship in the store of Mr.
Frederick Wood, where he remained
five years ; resuming his trade and
removing to Akron, in 1877 he formed
a partnership with his brother,
Robert L., under the firm name of
Andrew Brothers, and besides em-
ploying a large number of painters
and decorators, dealing extensively
in paints, paper-hangings, house and
church decorations, etc. ; in Septem-
ber, 1890, buying his brother's inter-
est and now successfully conducting
the business upon his own account.
Democratic in politics, Mr. Andrew
has been thrice honored with a seat
in the School Board of the generally
Republican City of Akron, serving
faithfully and acceptablj' four full
ANGELO ANDKEW.
years, from 1887 to the present time,
August 14, 1873, Mr. Andrew was mar-
ried to Miss Lizzie Warburton, a
native of Northampton township,
who has borne him five children —
Mabel, Frank, Bessie, Nellie and
Mildred.
The following pupils, under this beneficent provision, have
availed themselves of its privileges: Lillian Moore, scholarship,
'81-'82, full course; May Baker, '82-'83, four terms; Lizzie Griffin,
'84-'85, one term ; Edith Garside, '85,-86, one term ; Edwin L. Findley,
'86-87, full course; WilUam B. Baldwin, '87-88, full course; Anna
Thomas, '88-'89; Leroy C. Eberhard, '89-'90; Myrtle Pardee,'9(>-'91.-
MEMBERS AND OFFICERS OF BOARD.
FoUoAving is given what is believed to be a full list of the
gentlemen w^ho have served upon the Board of Education, from its
organization in the Spring of 1847 to the present time, (1891) a
period of 44 years, although the exact terms of service cannot here
be enumerated: Lucius V. Bierce, Harvey B. Spelman, William
Harrison Dewey, William M. Dodge, Dr. Joseph Cole, James^
lo «
146
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
A IvFRED W. HALL— son of Alex-
■^ ander and Phoebe Elizabeth
(Kosnian)Hall, was born in Lawrence
township, October 19, 1847 ; came with
parents to Akron when about three
j^ears of age ; educated in Akron pub-
lic schools ; followed boating-on Ohio
Canal, first with his father and after-
wards on his own account, till 1871 ;
engineer in Allen Mill and Rolling
Mill ten j^ears ; then engaged in
insurance business for five years, in
March, 1886, being appointed by the
Ohio Board of Public Works super-
intendent of Northern Division of
Ohio Canal, from Cleveland to Boli-
var, 75 miles, which position he is still
ably filling. In local matters Mr.
Hall was an eiilicient inember of the
old Volunteer Hook and Ladder
C0nipan5% Mechanics No. '6 ; a direc-
tor of the Summit County Agricul-
tural Society ; in 189() was elected a
member of the Board of Education
from the Fotirth Ward, which posi-
tion he still holds ; is also a stock-
holder in the Peoples' Savings Bank.
September 22, 1870, Mr. Hall was mar-
ried to Miss Jennie Letter,of Blissfield,
Lennewa Count3% Mich. The5' have
one son — George Alfred, born Nov-
ALFRED W. HALIv.
ember 1,1881, now a student in Akron
public schools.
Mathews, Judge James S. Carpenter, Dwight Newton, Judge
Daniel R. Tilden, Dr. Elias W. Howard, Henry W. Howe, Webster
B. Storer, Joseph F. Gilbert, Gov. Sidney Kdgerton, Joshua C,
Berry, Kdw^ard W. Perrin, Richard S. Klkins, Dr. Joseph Stanton,
Samuel A. Lane, Judge Nathaniel W. Goodhue, Jacob Snyder,
Judge Constant Bryan, Charles B. Bernard, Ansel Miller, William
C. Allen, Dr. Elias L. Munger, Rev. Samuel Williams, Dr. William
Bowen, Houston Sisler, Capt. Gilbert S. Carpenter, Dr. Israel
E. Carter, Milton W. Henry, Hiram Viele, Rev. Robert Koehler,
Judge Roland O. Hammond, Edward Oviatt, Judge Stephen H.
Pitkin, Arad Kent, Gen, Alvin C. Voris, Alvin Rice, Col. Arthur L.
Conger, Andrew Jackson, Hon. George W. Crouse, Col, George T.
Perkins, Lewis Miller, John F. Seiberling, Judge Newell D.
Tibbals, George Tod Ford, Dr. J, K. HoUoway, Henrj^ Young, John
M. Kirn, Adam Bahl, Levi S. Herrold, Lewis Creveling, Dr. Mendal
JcAvett, Dr. W. P. Morrison, John Johnston, Josiah Miller, George
C. Berry, Dr. Thomas McEbright, Fred Kuhlke, Frank Adams,
Joseph A. Baldwin, David Butler, Dr. William C. Jacobs, Sanford
M. Burnham, Paul E. Werner, Edward W. Wiese, Noah N.
Leohner, William M. Heffelman, James W. Stuver, Martin J.
Housel, William B. Raymond, Andrew M. Armstrong, Horace G.
Griffin, Frank W, Rockw^ell, Hiram H, Foltz, Frederick Bishop,
Isaac C. Alden, Frank L. Danforth, Judge Charles R. Grant, Frank
M. Atterholt, Reginald H. Wright, Dr. J, W. Lyder, Col. David W.
Thomas, William H, Evans, Christian Vogt, Louis Seybold, Dr.
Louis S, Sweitzer, Albert H. Sargent, John T. Sell, William
Rothrock, Frank G. Stipe, Charles H, Cleveland, George G. Allen,
Chester F. Lamb, Angelo Andrew^, John McGregor, James V.
Welch, Arthur J. Weeks, F, Joseph Koeberle, Edwin F, Voris,
OFFICERS OF BOARD OF EDUCATION,
147
Joseph Cook, Amos J. White, Alfred W. Hall, Walter A. Folger,
Ivouis Lanman, James A, Sv^'inehart.
Presidents: Following is as full a list of Presidents of the Board
and years of service in that office, as can no^r be compiled: Lucius
V. Bierce, 1847, 1848, 1852, 1853, 1854; James S. Carpenter, 1849, 1850;
Daniel R. Tilden (probably) 1851; Dr. Elias W. Howard, 1855, 1856,
1857; Constant Bryan (probably) 1858; Rev. S. Williams, 1859, 1860,
1861; Charles B. Bernard, 1862, 1863; Milton W. Henry, 1864; Dr.
Israel E. Carter, 1865; Judge Stephen H. Pitkin, 1866, 1867, 1868,
1870; Dr. WiUiam Bowen, 1869; George W. Crouse, 1871, 1872, 1877,
1878, 1879; Lewis Miller, 1873, 1874, 1881, 1885, 1886; Dr. Thomas
McEbright, 1875, 1876, 1880, 1884, 1887; Col. George T. Perkins,
1882; Frank W. Rockwell, 1883, 1888; Albert H. Sargent, 1889, 1890;
Edwin F. Voris, 1891.
Treasurers: William H. Dewey, 1847, 1848; Harvey B.
Spelman, 1849, 1850, 1851; Dr. Elias W. Howard, 1851, 1852; Sidney
Edgerton, June, 1853 to February, 1855; Richard S. Elkins,
February, 1855 to April, 1855; Joseph Stanton, April, 1855, till
death in August, 1855; Samuel A. Lane, August, 1855, till April,
1857; Charles B. Bernard, 1857, 1859; Constant Bryan, 1858;
Houston Sisler, 1860, 1861; Dr. Israel E. Carter, 1862, 1863, 1864;
Milton W. Henry, 1865, 1866, 1867, 1869; Col. George T. Perkins,
1870, 1871, 1872, 1873, 1874, 1877, 1878, 1879; William C. Allen, 1875,
1876; William B. Raymond, 1880, 1881; Reginald H. Wright, 1883,
1884, 1885, 1886; Frank W. Rockwell, 1887; George G. Allen, 1888,
1889, 1890; Arthur J. Weeks, 1891.
Secretaries: Harvey B. Spelman, 1847, 1848; Dwight Newton,
1849, 1850; Henry W. Howe, 1851, 1852, 1853, 1854; Edward
W. Perrin, 1855,-1856, 1857; William C. Allen, 1858, 1859, 1860;
Hiram Viele, 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864; Charles B. Bernard, 1865;
Edward Oviatt, 1866, 1867; Ahdn Rice, 1868; Arthur L. Conger,
1869, 1870, 1871; George Tod Ford, 1872, 1873, 1874, 1875; George C.
Berry, 1876, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891; Paul E. Werner, 1877,
1878; Sanford M. Burnham, 1879, 1881; Edward W. Wiese, 1880;
Frank M. Atterholt, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885.
In addition to Akron's munificent public school system, herein
before described, separate parochial schools are maintained as
follows:
St. Vincent de Paul's parish
school was established in 1853, in
a small frame building adjacent
to the original church structure,
on Green street. Since the com-
pletion of the nevir stone church
edifice, corner of West Market
and Maple streets, the old frame
church has been used for school
purposes. There are at present
three divisions, each in charge of
a competent teacher, with a total
pupilage of about 200. It is the
intention of the society to erect a
new and more commodious school
building adjoining the church, on
St. Vincent de Paul's Parochial School, TVIor^lc* cfr-^/^f ;« ftic^ t^aor fn + m-^
South Maple Street, Third Ward. Maple Street, in tne near tuture.
148
AKRON AND SUMxMIT COUNTY.
St. Mary's division of this Church, erected on South Main
street, near Bartges street, in 1887, a fine two-story brick building,
30x62 feet in size, ^th chapel on the upper floor, and two school-
rooms on the lower floor, with an average attendance of 110 schol-
ars. The English language only is taught in these schools. Salary
paid teachers $200 per year.
St. Bernard's Catholic school
was established in 1865, in the
basement of the church, N. E.
corner Broadway and Center
streets, with about 35 scholars.
In 1867, a small frame building
was erected, east of the churchy
the lower story of w^hich was also
used as a school room. In 1880,
four school rooms were fitted up
in the lower story of the large
addition then made to the church
edifice, the number of scholars
having meantime increased to
150. The present number is 370,
and a fine new building on the
southw^est corner of Broadway
and Center streets, of brick,
72x100 feet in size, four stories
high, and of imposing architect-
ure, has just been coinpleted.
In the lower storj^, besides numer-
ous other apartments devoted
to the uses of the societ}", is a
chapel 33x72 feet, and on the
upper floor is an assembly hall the full size of the building. The
second and third floors, besides proper halls, closets, etc., contain
eight spacious rooms; with accommodations for 100 scholars each.
The cost of the building Avith
necessary fixtures, furniture, etc.,
was about $35,000, exclusive of
the real estate, the consideration
for which was $9,000. Both
English and German instruction
is given in the schools of this
society. Compensation to teach-
ers $200 per year each.
The German Zion's Lutheran
society also maintains a parish
school in a new tw^o-story brick
building standing in the rear of
the society's handsome brick
church, corner of South High
and Quarry streets. There are
at present 225 scholars, in three
classes, the first taught by Mr.
William M. Spuhler, the second
by Miss Emma Lothman, and the third by Rev. Theodore Huegli,
both German and English being taught. Salary of teachers, $600,
St. Bernard Parochial School, corner
South Broadway and East Center
streets.
German Lutheran Parochial School,
Quarry street, Second Ward.
BUCHTKL COLLEGE.
149
$400 and $300 per 3^ear, respectively. After confirmation, at the
age of 13 or 14 years, pupils are permitted to attend the public
schools of the city. Present school directors, George Single and
Henr}'^ Range.
Unchtel College, named in honor of principal contributor to building
and endowment funds, Hon. John R. Bnchtel, of Akron-
Erected in 1871-2.
BUCHTEL COLLEGE.
This institution is the crowning educational glory of Akron,
and, indeed, of Summit County, since the ruthless spoliation of
the venerated old Western Reserve College, at Hudson, and
requires more than mere passing mention in this work.
Though in no manner sectarian, the College was founded by, and
is carried forward under the auspices of, the religious organization
knovy^n as Universalist, and its history is, briefly, as foUow^s:
At the annual Convention of the Universalist Church of the
State of Ohio, in 1867, its Coinmittee on Education submitted a
report in favor of establishing, at some eligible point in the State,
a seminary for the education of the youth of the State, to the
privileges of which both sexes should be admitted on equal footing.
The report >vas favorably received by the Convention, but no
•definite action w^as taken upon it at that session. At the session
of 1868, Rev. Andre^v Willson, of Kent, submitted a plan for the
estal)lishment of the contemplated school, which was adopted by
the Convention, but no action was had tow^ards carrying it into
effect. At the session of 1869, the Convention, by resolution,
rescinded its former action, and authorized the l^oard of trustees,
and the committee on education to take the necessary steps for the
establishment of a college, instead of an academy, as at first con-
templated. The board of trustees then consisted of Rev. John S.
Cantwell, Rev. Andrew Willson, Rev. Henry L. Canfield, Rev. John
W. Henley, and Oscar F. Haymaker; and the committee on educa-
tion of Rev. Everett L. Rexford, Rev. Marion Crosley, and Rev.
Benjamin F. Eaton.
At a joint meeting of the board and committee, in November,
1869, Rev. Henry F. Miller, then of Madison, Indiana, who had
already greatly aided one or two similar institutions in that
150
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
direction, was chosen as the Financial Secretary of the Convention,
to solicit funds for the erection of the necessary buildings, endowr-
ments, etc., of the proposed institution, which the Convention
desired to present as Ohio's offering to the approaching Centennial
anniversary of Universalism in America, the first Universalist
Church in America being organized at Gloucester, Mass., by Kev,
John Murray, in 1770.
MR. AND MRS. JOHN R. BUCHTEL.
JOHN RICHARDS BUCHTEL,— son of John and Catharine (Richards)
J Buchtel, was born in Green township, January 18, 1820 ; education limited ;
raised a farmer, working- land on shares, then buying twenty acres in Coven-
trj% and afterwards the 210 acre farm, since known as the Thornton farm, now
a populous portion of the city of Akron ; for several years agent for Canton
Buckeye Reaper and Mower Works, and largely instrumental in securing the
Aultman, Miller & Co. branch for Akron ; during the war, active in securing-
enlistments, raising- bounty money, and averting- the draft ; largelj^ promo-
tive of many of the industrial enterpris.es of the cit}', including blast fur-
nace and extensive coal and iron mines in Athens County ; Grant presidential
elector, in 1872 ; Prohibition candidate for Secretary of State in 1874 ; inanag-ing-
trustee of Ohio Agricultural College for several years. An ardent Univer-
salist, while unstintedly liberal towards other denominations, his crowning'
glory is his munificence, aggregating nearly a half a million dollars^
toward the coUeg-e that bears his name, fully written of elsewhere. Married
Janvxary 8, 1844, to Miss Elizabeth Davidson, never having been blessed with
children of their own, though both physically infirm for many 3"ears, Mr. and
Mrs. Buchtel jointly devoted the accumulation of their lives, for the benefit
of the children of their neighbors and the general welfare.
Mrs. Buchtel, — daughter of John Davidson, was born in Union County,
Pa., August 25, 1821 ; removed to Ohio, with parents, in 1834, settling- in
Coventry ; after marriage sharing with her enterprising husband the labor
of founding for themselves a home and a fortune, and sharing equally with
him the pleasure of dispensing, while living, the wealth thus jointlj- accumu-
lated, in the fotinding.of Bvxchtel College, and the promotion of the various
other educational, moral and benevolent enterprises of the da}-. In June,
1881, Mrs. Buchtel was stricken wirth paralysis ; but notwithstanding her great
infirmity, and its many deprivations, she was ever cheerful and helpful of
her distinguished husband, who became similarlj- afflicted March 21, 1887,
still retaining her interest in all of their joint enterprises and benefactions,
to the last, her death occvirring Friday, May 22, 1891. at the age of 69 years. 8
months and 27 days.
AKRON SECURES THE PRIZE.
151
Mr. Miller entered upon his duties in January, 1870. Meantime
a lively competition was in progress, between the inhabitants of
several of the cities of the State, Akron among the rest. It was
finally authoritatively announced that the location would be given
to the city that would furnish a suitable site and subscribe $60,000
to the funds of the College.
To this proposal, the people of Akron and Summit County
promptly responded, Mr. John R. Buchtel leading off w^ith a sub-
scription of $25,000 to the endowment fund and $6,000 to the
building fund. Others followed w^ith equal liberality, in proportion
to their means, and on May 31, 1870, Financial Secretary Miller
reported to the trustees and committee that the stipulated sum of
$60,000 had been subscribed and the proper site secured b}" the
people of Akron.
AVERY SPICER,— eldest son of
-i*- Miner and Cynthia (Allen) Spicer;
born at Groton, Ct., October 26, 1799 ;
came with parents to Ohio in 1811,
being the first white settlers in Port-
ag^e township ; district school educa-
tion ; raised a farmer ; at 21, worked
for father two years at $7.00 per
month ; in 1825, had charge of gang
of hands on Ohio Canal, furnishing
stone, timber, etc. for locks ; Septem-
ber 3, 1826, was married to Miss Har-
riet King, daughter of Joshua King,
first white child born at Old Portage,
(September 7, 1810); in 1837 purchased
large farm in Coventry, where he
lived 20 years, moving to the original
homestead, corner Spicer and Car-
roll streets, in 1857, where he resided
until his death, May 10, 1881. Mr.
Spicer officiated for several years as
trustee of Coventry township, and
for 15 3'ears as director of County
Infirmary, superintending the erec-
tion of present Infirmary buildings.
Mr. and Mrs. Spicer were the parents
of nine children — Isaac A., who died
in California in 1850; Cynthia, now
Mrs. Geo. Coggshall, Akron ; Sarah C,
late Mrs. John Newton, of Buchanan,
Mich.; Austin A., who died in Cov-
entry, March 4, 1889; Harriet, now
AVERY SPICER.
Mrs. J. T. Trowbridge, Akron ; Olive
and Oliver, twins, who died in
infanc5% and Ella C, now Mrs. Charles
Parmenter, Waltham, Mass. Mrs.
Spicer, now in her 82d j^ear, still
survives.
This joint body then, by resolution, formally located the
"Universalist Centenary School of Ohio," at Akron, and a certifi-
cate of incorporation w^as duly filed, with the foUow^ing named
corporators: Hon. John R. Buchtel, Rev. John S. Cantwell, Col.
Geo. T. Perkins, Henry Blandy, Rev. George Messenger, Rev.
Benjamin F. Eaton, Hon. Newell D. Tibbals, Rev. John W.Henley,
Hon. Edwin P. Green, Oscar F. Haymaker, Rev. Willard
Spaulding, James Alexander Lantz and George Steese.
The association, on organization, very appropriately took the
name of "Buchtel College," in honor of its principal donor, and the
institution Avas formally declared "to be under the control of the
Ohio State Convention of Universalists." It was made the duty of
the corporators to appoint a board of 18 trustees, five of whom were
to be resident freeholders of Summit County, the first board
152
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
appointed being as foljows: John K. Bucbtel, president; Henry
Bland3', Philip Wieland, J. Dorsey Angier, Edwin P. Green and
George T. Perkins, for three years each: Kev. Henr3' L. Canfield,
Rev. Everett L. Kexford, Gen. James Pierce, John F. SeiberUng,
Kev. John S. Cantwell and Newell D. Tibbals, for two years each,
and Oscar F. Haymaker, Sanford M. Burnham, secretary, John R.
Cochrane, Charles Foster, Rev. George Messenger and Avery
Spicer, for one year each; George W. Crouse, not a member of the
board, being appointed treasurer.
HON. GEORGE W. CROUSE.-born
in Tallmadg-e, November 23, 1832 ;
in earl}" bo3^hood removed with his
parents to Green township ; gradu-
ating- from district school at 17,
taught schools five years ; 1855 to
1858, deputy in offices of County Audi-
tor and Treasurer ; 1858, at 25 years
of age, elected County Auditor, and
re-elected in 1860 ; resigned in Febru-
ary, 1863, to accept appointment of
Treasurer to fill vacancy, serving to
end of term, seven months ; 1863, took
management of Akron branch of C.
Aultman & Co.'s Buckej^e mower and
reaper business ; in 1865, on organi-
zation of Aultman, Miller & Co., as a
separate corporation, became secre-
tary and treasurer, being no^v its
president, besides being pecuniarily
and officially connected with a large
number of other business and finan-
cial enterprises in Akron and else-
where. Republican in politics, Mr.
Crouse has filled, besides those
mentioned, the following civil offices:
County Commissioner, member and
president Board of Education ; mem-
ber and treasurer Board of Control
Akron Public Library ; member and
president Akron City Council ; State
Senator and Member of Congress.
Liberal, efficient and patriotic, Mr.
Crouse served 100 days in defense of
Washington, in 1864, and was largely
instrumental in securing the erection
of our beautiful Soldiers' Memorial
Chapel, besides contributing liber-
HON. GEORGE W. CROUSE.
ally in behalf of all the educational,
religious and benevolent enterprises
of the day. Married October 18, 1859, ^
to Miss Martha K. Parsons, of KTii*tv ^^
The}^ have five children— Martha P., ^
Julia M., Mary R., Nellie J., and
George W., Jr.
The site selected for the College is one of the most commanding
in the city, fronting on Middlebury street, (now Buchtel Avenue),
upon the north, and running through to Carroll street on the
south. It is a part of the original farm occupied by Akron's
first settler, Major Miner Spicer, in 1811 — Major Spicer himself
being an ardent Universalist, and a zealous inember of the first
society of that faith organized in Akron, in 1837 — the college edifice
being visible from every portion of the city, while the view from
the top of its central tower is one of the most extensive and pic-
turesque in the county.
Tlie architect, Rev. Thomas W. Silloway, of Boston, Mass.,
submitted plans for the College building, December 28, 1870, and
a building committee of seveti was appointed, as follows: Hon.
John R. Buchtel, Avery Spicer, Col. George T. Perkins, Rev. Henry
LAYING THE CORNER STONE.
153
F. Miller and Gen, Alvin C. Voris, of Akron; Rev. George
Messenger, of Springfield, and Mr. Henry Blandy, of Zanesville.
Xoah A. Carter, of Akron, was made general superintendent;
Samuel Snider and Lewis Wilhelm, of Akron, awarded the contract
for stone work; John H. Waggoner, of Akron, superintendent of
brick work, and Henry W. Howe, Esq., superintendent of grading.
Ground was broken on the 15th day of March, 1871, and the
work so vigorously prosecuted that the massive foundation and
basement walls were completed, and the corner-stone of the super-
structure was laid on the Fourth of July, 1871, with the following
imposing ceremonies:
JUDGE EDWIN P. GREEN, born
J in Gaysville, Windsor Co., Vt.,
March 10, 1828; educated in common
schools and Bradford Academy;
commenced studjang- law in Little-
ton, N. H., coming- to Akron in 1852
and completing- studies in office of
Humphrey, Upson & Edgerton, being
admitted to the bar in September
1853; October 1854 elected Clerk of
Courts, holding the office until Feb-
ruary 1861, then resuming his law-
practice; during the war was deputy
provost marshal forSutnmit County,
and member of Cohgressional Mili-
tary Committee. Prosecuting Attor-
ney N. D. Tibbals entering- the ser-
vice for 10() days, in 1864, Mr. Green
was appointed prosecuting attorney
ad interiin; in 1883 was elected
Judge of Common Pleas Court, to
fill the unexpired term of Judge Tib-
bals, resigned, and re-elected for
full term in 1885, ably filling the
position until January 1, 1891,
when he resig-ned and ag'ain resumed
practice at the bar. Judge Green
has always taken a lively interest in
educational matters; for many years
serving as count}' and city school
examitier; was active in establishing
Akron Public Library, and a mem-
ber of its board of control until
elected Judge; was one of the incor-
porators of Buchtel College, serving-
as Trustee since its organization in
1872; member of American Bar Asso-
ciation, for manj' jxars its member
• JUDGE EDWIN P. GREEN.
of General Council for Ohio, and in
1889 elected its vice president for
Ohio, also member 'of Ohio Bar
Association of which he was made
president in 1887. Judge Green was'
married to Miss Isabella M. Moore,
of Littleton, N. H., December 31, 1855,
who died March 13. 1809; was again
married, to Miss Elizabeth A. Moore,
sister of the first Mrs. G., April 25,
1870, who has borne him three child-
ren, Isabella M. and William A., now
living, and Mary L., deceased.
The Excelsior Gun Squad fired a salute of thirty guns at mid-
night, and at sunrise the Buckeye Gun Squad awoke the morning
echoes ^vith thirty-seven guns. The procession was formed on
Howard street by Chief Marshal Gen. Geo. W. McNeil, assisted by
Herman F. Hahn, Paul Giffhorn and Thomas K. Perkins, on the
part of the citizens, and by Dr. Thomas McEbright, Milton H.
Hart and Ohio C. Barber, marshals, on the part of the Masonic
Fraternit}'.
The procession formed in the following order: 1, Marshals
and Assistants; 2, Bal)cock's Band; 3, Fire Department; 4, German
Benevolent Society; 5, Order of United American Mechanics; 6,
Coopers' Union; 7, Harmonie Society; 8, Turner Society; 9,
154
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Liedertafel Society; 10, Knights of Pythias; 11, Father Mathewr
Temperance Society; 12, Good Templars; 13. Sons of Temperance;
14, Grand Army of the Republic and 29th O. V. V. I.; 15, I. O. O.
F.; 16, Marble's Band; 17, Masons; 18, Mayor, City Officers and
Council; 19, Clergy; 20, Trustees and Officers of College; 21,
Officers of the Day and invited and distinguished guests; 22,
Citizens,
C^ EN. ALVIN COE VORIS,— eldest
J son of Judge Peter Voris, born
in Stark Co., April 27, 1827, in infancy
moving to Bath township; educated
in Twinsburg- Institute and Oberlin
College; 1850 to 1852, deputy county
clerk and acting probate judge;
admitted to practice law June 20,
1853 ; in partnership with Gen. L.
V. Bierce till 18.59; Sept. 25, 1853,
married Miss Lj^dia Allyn, who bore
him three children — Edwin F. (now
practicing law in Akron,) Lucy,
(now Mrs. Charles Baird) and Bessie
C, (now Mrs. Will T. Sawyer); repre-
sentative to State Legislature 1859 —
1860; in September 1861. entered the
army as Lieutenant Colonel of 67th
Regiment. O. V. I., becoming its
commanding office the following
March; [the gallantry of this regi-
ment and the terrible sufferings of
its commander, from wounds
received in battle, fully set forth
elsewhere in this work]. Colonel
Voris was bre vetted Brigadier Gen-
eral December 8, 1864, and a few
months later Major General, ■ "for
distinguished services in the field."
Since the war, with the exception of
serving. as a delegate to Constitu-
tional Convention in 1873, the Gen-
eral has devoted himself assiduously
to his profession, with marked legal
GEN. ALVIN COE VOKIS.
and financial success. November 4^
1890, General Voris was elected Judge
of Court of Common Pleas for the
counties of Summit, Medina and
Lorain for the the term of five years.
The first Mrs. Voris dying March 16,
1876, the General was again married,^
to Mrs. Lizzie H. Keller Februarj^ 21,
1882.
The corner-stone, three feet square on its surface and two feet
in thickness, bears, in oval form, the inscription: "Centenary of
Universalism in America, 1870. This stone laid July 4, 1871, by A.
H. Newcomb, G. M. F. & A. M., A. L. 5871." In the cavity wa&
placed a casket containing copies of the Star in the West,
Universalist, Gospel Banner, Universalist Quarter!}^, Ladies'^
Repositorj^, Mj^rtle, Guiding Star, Universalist Register, Akron
Daily- Beacon, Akron Citj^ Times, New York Tribune, and the
Ohio Universalist, published in Cleveland in 1838; also a history
of the College enterprise, a list of its officers, architects, builders^
etc.; a Bible; list of officers of the Grand Lodge of Ohio, and
officers and members of Akron Lodge, No. 83, F. & A. M., and
by-laws of the Lodge; samples of American coin, etc. On the
arrival of the procession at the building, the President of the Day,
Henry Blandy, Esq., of Zanesville, introduced Rev. Everett L.
Rexford, of Columbus, -who offered a brief but fervent prayer,
which was folloAved by "America," superbly rendered by Marble's
Band, and the formal laying of the corner-stone by the officers of
HON. HORACE GREELEY S ADDRESS.
155
the Grand Lodge of Masons of Ohio, conducted by Grand Master
A. H. Newcomb.
Among other musical exercises, a Glee Club, composed of W.
Milton Clarke, Wilson G. Robinson, Dr. Byron S. Chase and Daniel
R. Knight, sang an original song, of six twelve-line stanzas to the
tune of "Yankee Doodle," of which the following is a sample
stanza:
"A Yankee Dutchman lived in town,
And built machities for niowing.
And reaping, too, so he came down
(To set tlie thing a-going)
With thirty thousand of tlie pelf.
He'd earned by trade and labor;
He said 'twas good to help one's self.
Better to help a neighbor;
In this way Buchtcl (that's his name)
Was bound to scatter knowledge;
He gave them stamps, they'll give him fame.
They'll build him Buchtel College."
PERDINAND SCHUMACHER,
A — born in Celle, Hanover, March
30, 1822 ; served 13 years (from 15 to '28),
as clerk in g'rocery and sugar refin-
ery; in 18.tO emigrated to United
States, settling- on a farm in Euclid,
near Cleveland; in 1851 engaged
in fancy goods trade in Akron;
in 1852 embarked in grocery trade
which he successfully followed
ten years; in 18,56 engaged in
the manufacture of oat meal, pearl
barley and other cereal products,
enlarging and increasing his mills,
until now, notwithstan ding his
heavy losses by fire, as detailed
elsewhere, his works are the most
extensive and successful of their
kind in the world. Besides his mill-
ing interests Mr. Schiimacher is
.pecuniarily and officially connected
with many other manufacturing
enterprises. Liberal in his religious
views, he is a generous contributor
to all church organizations, the Uni-
versalists being under especial obli-
gations to him for their . present
church lot and fine house of worship.
A pronounced Prohibitionist, he is
one of the most zealous Temperance
promoters in Ohio. Mr. Schumacher
was married at Cleveland, October 7, ,
1851, to his cousin. Miss Hermine
Schumacher, of Bevern, Brunswick,
FERDINAND SCHUMACHER.
Germany. Seven children have been
born to them, five of whom are
deceased, the two survivors, Louis
and F. Adolph, ably assisting their
enterprising father in conducting
the immense business of which he is
the founder— the former as vice
president and the latter as secretary
of the F. Schumacher Milling Co.
HON. HORACE GREELEY'S ADDRESS.
After a few preliminary remarks, Mr. Greeeley, continuing,,
said: "AUow^ me nov^r to say a few words in reference to the edu-
cation inculcated by our colleges at large. It is too superficial for
the age. People do not grudge money for education, provided
they know that they secure what they pay for, yet they fear that
they are not noAv receiving in proportion to the expenditure. My
objection to college courses is, that while there has been advance-
ment of the world, in every department of human industry, there
has not been a corresponding stride in the curriculum of college
studies. I insist that our average course tends directly to drive
156
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
men into three pursuits or professions, -which, however honorable,
do not comprise the great professions Avhich labor for the general
good of mankind; and I hope to see the day when there will be a
reform; when this college shall graduate a great and glorious
bod}^ of young and earnest men in engineering, science, and a
hundred different pursuits where knowledge is of great benefit to
human kind. I want the young men to be leaders in these hundred
branches of industry, and would like to see it different from the
present day, when the richest metal of the mind is sent abroad to
be moulded and formed into shape to be practically applied to the
science of the age."
TOY H. PENDLETON, -born in
J Litchfield Countj', Conn., Febru-
arj' 1, 1810; removing- with parents to
Ohio in 1819, settling- in Stow ; reared
to farm life, with limited educational
opportunities ; at 20 entered store of
Stow & Wetmores, at Cuyahog^a Falls,
as clerk, remaining- with them about
five 3^ears, part of the time traveling
through Ohio selling their papers
and other goods ; in 1835, in company
with brother, opened a general store
in Brunswick, Medina County, a year
Jater removing the business to
Franklin Mills (now Kent), about 1840,
■engaging with B. F. Hopkins, in
conducting flouring mill, saw mill,
and woolen factor}^, vinder the title
of " Center Manxif acturing Company,"
also carrj'ing on a general merchan-
dise store, continuing therein until
about 1847. From 18.% to 1860 Mr. P.
-was engaged in railroad construc-
tion, with headquarters at Da3'ton
and Cincinnati. Removing to Akron
in 1866, aided in organizing- the Sec-
ond National Bank of Akron, becom-
ing its vice-president, which position
he retained until the death of presi-
dent George D. Bates, July 25. 1887,
^vhen he was elected to the presi-
dency of the bank, -which position,
yet hale and vigorous, in the 82d year
JOY H. PENDLETON.
of his age, he still retains. Mr Pen-
dleton has been three times married:
in 1832 to Miss Julia Corp, who died
July 5, 1833; in November, 1834, to
Miss Sybil Fletcher, who died May 29,
1841; September 13, 1842 to Miss
Eunice M. Post, a native of Summit
Count)', who still sur-vives. They
have one child, Nellie A.
Mr. Greeley then spoke at length on '^ Human Conceptions of
God as thev affect the Moral Education of our Race." We
cannot here give the full text of the address, and no mere synopsis
-would do it justice. A few brief sample excerpts, therefore, must
suffice: "There are those," said Mr. Greelej^, "-who talk sonorously,
stridently, of Law — of the La-w of Development or Progress — as
though they had found in a -word a key -which unlocks all the
mysteries of creation. But I am not silenced by a word; I demand
its meaning, and then seek to determine ho\Y far that meaning
bridges the gulf which the ^vord was intended to over-leap. To
my apprehension. Law is the dictate of an intelligent -will, or it is
nothing. * * * What we affirm is that God is mo.re than a
blind, creative Bnergy, an inexorable Fate, a vitalizing, fructifying
Principle. He is the conscious, loving Author and Governor of
things. * * * Hence the higher education of our day — most
EVENING RECEPTION TO MR. GREELEY.
157
wisely in purpose, not always in method — essays to base its insti-
tutes and processes on religion, and to ground the character it
seeks to form on the firm foundations of Christian Faith and Love,
* * * This, then, I apprehend, is the proper -work of the college:
To appreciate and measure, and undistrustfuUy accept and
commend the gigantic strides which physical science is making in
our day, yet not be swept away by them; to welcome all that is
true and beneficent in the impetuous currents of modern thought^
but not to exaggerate their breadth and depth, nor accept their
direction as authoritative or final; to proffer a genial and gracious-
hospitality to whatever is nobly new, yet hold fast, and from time
to time assert, that no discovery in science, no advances in human
knowledge, can ever invalidate or belittle the Golden Rule, and na
conclusion of philosophy ever equal in importance that simple
affirmation of the untaught Judean peasant, who long ago per-
ceived and proclaimed that 'God is Love.'"
pOL. GEORGE TOD PERKINS,—
^ son of Col. Simon and Grace
Ingersoll (Tod) Perkins, was born in
Akron, May 5, 1836; educated in
Akron schools and at Marietta Col-
lege ; April, 1861, enlisted as private
in Nineteenth Regt. O. V. I. (three
months), and as Second Lieutenant
of Co. B., participating in the West
Virginia campaign ; in August, 1862,
re-enlisted in the 105th O. V. I., becom-
ing its major ; commanded part of
regiment in the sanguinary battle of
Perrysville, K3 ., October 8, 1862, two
of his captains being killed, four
other officers wounded, 47 men killed
and 212 wounded ; participated in
the battles of Hoover's Gap, Chicka-
maiiga, Chattanooga, Mission Ridge,
Kenesaw Mountain and the siege of
Atlanta ; marched with Sherman
from " Atlanta to the Sea; " promoted
to Lieutenant Colonel July 16, 1863,
to Colonel, February 18, 1864, and
mustered out with regiment at Wash-
ington, June 3, 1865 ; secretary of Tap-
lin. Rice & Co. from 1867 to 1870 ; presi-
dent of Bank of Akron, 1870 to 1876 ;
cashier of same till consolidation
with Second National Bank, in March,
1888, and still acting in that capacity ;
president of the B. F. Goodrich Com-
COL. GEOKGE TOD PERKINS.
panj^ and the Goodrich Hard Rubber
Companj- ; Married to Miss Mary F.
Rawson, October 6, 18(j5 ; three chil-
dren, one of whom, onlj-, is is now
living — Mar}", married to Charles B.
Raymond, of Akron, May 21, 1890.
At the close of Mr. Greeley's address, Hon. John R. Buchtel
was loudly called for, who responded in one his off-hand unreport-
able speeches. Mr. Buchtel closed his remarks bj^ feelingly
thanking those w^ho had contributed to the Institution, and said
that he hoped, and trusted, and prayed, that those having children
would educate them here, and pledged himself that the College
should be an honor and pride to Akron and the State — first-clas&
in every respect. "We don't intend," said Mr. Buchtel, "to pull a
shingle from off a single church, but will unite in suppressing
evil, and in building up the morals and character of the city."
In the evening an immense reception was given to Mr.
Greeley, at Mr. Buchtel's residence, corner of East Market and
158
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Union streets. The trustees of the College were present in a body
in behalf of whom, Edwin P. Green, Esq., thanked Mr. Greeley for
his address and kindly interest in their enterprise. During the
evening there were toasts and speeches as follows: "The City of
Akron:" Response by Nathaniel W. Goodhue, Esq.; "The Common
Schools of Akron:" Response by Newell D. Tibbals, Esq.; "^The
Centenary of Universalism in America:" Responded to by Mr.
Greeley, at considerable length, defining the religious doctrines of
the denomination, and his ov^n reasons for adhering thereto,
closing by bidding all to hope that, in the time to come, would
acts be done in Love and Faith, as they were done when John
Murray first commenced to preach that faith in America in 1770.
Other toasts: The "Bands of Akron:" Response, by J. Park
Alexander; "Buchtel College:" Response by H. D. Persons, of
Cambridge, Pa.; "The Relation of Common Schools to Higher
Institutions of Learning:" Response by Dr. N. S. Townshend, of
Elyria.
eULLIVAN H. McCOLLESTER, D.
»-J D., of Scotch descent, was born
in Marlboro, N. H., December 18,
1826 ; graduated as A. B. from Nor-
wich University in 1851 ; taking div-
inity course at Harvard Univer-
sitjs was ordained to the Chris-
tian ministry in 1854; was prin-
cipal of Walpole Academy two years;
Mount Csesar Seminar}^ five 3^ears ;
Westmoreland Valley Seminary
three j-ears ; Westbrook Seminarj^
and Female College eight years ;
commissioner of New Hampshire
public schools and president Board
of Education three years, during this
time preaching Sundaj^s, organizing
a church and causing a house of
worship to be erected at Swanzey, N.
H., and also one on the grounds of
the Westbrook (Maine) Seminar3\
After a remarkably successful pas-
torate over the Universalist Church,
at Nashua, N. H., was in 1872 called
to Akron as the first president of
Buchtel College, which position he
ably filled six j^ears ; also organizing
the Universalist Church in Akron
and acceptably filling its pulpit two
3'ears. After leaving the college he
organized a strong church at Bellows
Falls, Vt., and three years later one
at Dover, N. H., securing the build-
ing of a fine edifice for each. Mr.
McCoUester with his family has five
times made the tour of Europe — in
1866, '69, '78, '86 and '89~visiting Italy,
Greece, Palestine, Asia Minor, and
many other countries, his last trip
extending entirely around the world.
He received his A. M. in course and
REV.. S. H. M'COLLESTER, D. D.
his D. D. from St. Lawrence Univer-
sitj^ ; is now domiciled at " Maple-
side, " in his native town, preaching
Sundays, lecturing winters, and gen-
erally engaged in literary w^ork,
being the author of "After Thovights
in Foreign Lands and Capital
Cities, " " Round the World in Old
and New Paths, " and other popular
works, having also represented his
native tow^n in the Legislature two
years. Mr. McCoUester was married
to Miss Sophia F. Knight at Dum-
merston, Vt., in 1853. Of the four
children born to them only one sur-
vives— Rev. Lee S. McCoUester, now
pastor of the Universalist Church in
Detroit, Mich.
In response to loud and long repeated calls, Mr. Buchtel made
a brief speech, thanking his friends and neighbors for their kind
expressions for both himself and the College bearing his name.
IN SUCCESSFUL OPERATION.
159
The institution was to be in no sense sectarian, and he was proud
to think that it would not graduate Methodists, nor Baptists, nor
Congregationalists, nor Universalists, but men and women too;
and he was willing to sacrifice all he possessed — even his very life
— for the success of the College. One end of the College was for
gentlemen and the other end, just exactly like it, for ladies. He
believed in educating all, without regard to sex or color.
THE COLLEGE IN OPERATION.
The building was so rapidly proceeded with that it was first
occupied in September, 1872, but little more than a year after the
laying of the corner-stone, and within about three years from the
first inception of the project.
The services of Rev. Sullivan H. McCoUester, of New Hamp-
shire, were secured as president of the College, with the following
Faculty: Rev. S. H. McCollester, A. M., Professor of Mental and
Moral Philosophy ; Nehemiah White, Professor of Languages ; S.
F. Peckham, A. M., Professor of Natural Science; Carl F. Kolbe,
A. M., Professor of Modern Languages ; Miss Hattie F. Spaulding,
L. A., Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature; Alfred Welsh,
A. B., Professor of Mathematics ; H. D. Persons, Professor in Nor-
mal Department ; Gustav. Sigel, Professor of Music ; Miss Hattie
L. Lowden, Teacher in English. One member of the original
faculty, only. Professor Kolbe, is now^ officially connected with the
College.
PVERETT L. REXFORD, D. D.,—
1—' born in Harmony, Chautauqua
Countj, N. Y., April 24, 1842, his
father being- a Baptist minister;
edticated in Jamestown Academy
and St. Lawrence University, at Can-
ton, N. Y., graduating- from the latter
in I860 ; commenced his ministry in
the First Universalist Church in
■Cincinnati in September, I860, con-
tiiuiing- three j-ears ; was then pastor
of the Cohimbus Universalist
Church five years ; in 1874, after three
months' trial (during which the
Columbus pulpit was held open for
his return, should he elect to do so),
he assumed the pastorate of the
Universalist Church in San Fran-
cisco, Cal., where he remained until
called to the presidency of Buchtel
College in 1878, which responsible
position he ablj' filled two 3^ears, also
officiating as pastor of the First
Universalist Church of Akron, both
of which positions he resigned to
accept the pastorate of the ncAvly
formed Universalist Church of
Detroit, Mich., where he remained
eight years, resigning to become the
pastor of a Universalist society in
Boston. Mass., where he still remains.
The honorary degree of D. D. was
REV. EVERETT L. REXFORD, D. D.
conferred upon him by Buchtel Col-
lege in 1874. October 5, 186o-. Mr. Rex-
ford was married to Miss Julia
George, daughter of the late Isaac
George, of Dunkirk, N. Y., who bore
him one daug-hter, Mary Elizabeth,
his second marriage being with Miss
Amanda Pleasant, daug-hter of
Daniel G. Pleasant, of Bowling-
Green, Ky.
During the first j'^ear there were seven students in the classical
course — six of whom were designated as Freshmen and one Jun-
ior, all entering for the regular course of four years. For the
160
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Philosophical course of two years there were 39 students, and for
the Academical course, 171 — total 217, of whom 98 were ladies, 119
were gentlemen. It will thus be seen that from the start the sexes
fairly balanced each other in the race for know^ledge, which con-
dition has been substantially maintained to the present time, the
catalogue for 1890-91 listing 130 gentlemen and 143 ladies — 273
students in all, and experience has demonstrated that the founders
of the College acted wisely in providing for the co-education of the
sexes on equal terms.
Dr. McCollester tendered his resignation as president in June,
1877, but its acceptance was declined by the Board of Trustees
until June, 1878, when he was succeeded by Dr. Kverett L. Rex-
ford, a graduate of the Theological School of St. Lawrence Univer-
sity, at Canton, New^ York, and a preacher of considerable emi-
nence. Dr. Rexford, besides ably filling the presidential chair of
the College for tv^o years, also officiated as pastor of the Univer-
salist Church of Akron, resigning both positions, in 1880, to assume
the pastorate of a new Universalist parish in Detroit, Mich., being
no^v pastor of a Universalist Church in Boston, Mass.
Dr. Rexford's successor w^as Rev. Orello Cone, A. M., D. D., for
fifteen years Professor of Bibilical Languages and Literature of
St. Lawrence University, at Canton, N. Y., Avho assumed the presi-
dency of the College in 1880, his administration, during his eleven
years incumbency, having been deservedly popular and successful.
REV. ORELLO CONE, D. D.,—
born in Lincklaen, Chenang-o
County, N. Y., November 16, 1835;
taught in public schools, securing
an education by his own exertions
and earnings ; in 1858 engaged as
teacher in St. Paul's Episcopal Col-
lege, at Palmyra, Mo., remaining'
three years ; soon after entered the
Universalist ministry, preaching two
years in Little Falls, N. Y. ; in 18&5
was elected to the Chair of Biblical
Languages and Literature in the
Theological School at Canton, N. Y.,
where he remained until called to the
presidency of Buchtel College in
Akron in 1880, which position, after
eleven years of eminently satisfac-
torj^ service, he still occupies. In
addition to his college duties, Dr.
Cone has done considerable literary
w^ork, having w^ritten man}'^ articles
for reviews, a volume on " Salva-
tion," published in 1889, his latest
and most important work being'
" Gospel Criticism and Historical
Christianity," issued from the press
of G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, in
April, 1891. Dr. Cone was married to
Miss Mariamne N. Pepper, at Little
FaJls, N. Y., October 3, 1864, who has
KEV. ORELLO CONE, D. D.
borne him two children — Edwin F.,
born October 4, 1867, now studj'ing
chemistry in Case School, Cleveland,
after being graduated from Buchtel
College, and Wm. Channing', who^
died in childhood.
COLLEGE FACULTY, INSTRUCTORS, ETC.
We have not the space to name all of the professors and
teachers who have officiated in the several departments and classes
of the College during the nineteen years of its existence, but it
OFFICIAL ROSTEK FOR 1891-'92. 161
may be said, generally, that each and all have done well. The
present roster, for 1891-92, is as follows:
Rev. Orello Cone, D. D., President, Messenger-Professor of
Mental and Moral Philosophy ; Charles M. Knight, A. M., Buchtel-
Professor of Physics and Chemistry"; Carl F. Kolbe, A. M., Ph.
D., Hilton-Professor of Modern Languages ; William D. Shipman,
A. M., Professor of Greek Language and Literature and Philolog-
ical Science ; Charles C. Bates, A. M., Professor of Latin Lan-
guage and Literature and Secretary of Faculty ; Bdward W. Clav-
pole, B. A., D. Sc. (Lond.), F. G. S. S. L. & A., Professor of Natur'al
Science ; Mary B. Jewett, A. B., Pierce-Professor of English Lit-
erature and Logic ; Hermas V. ISgbert, A. M., Ainsworth-Pro-
fessor of Mathematics and Astronomy ; Willard H. Van Orman,
Adjunct-Professor of Mathematics; Judge Charles R. Grant,
Instructor in Law ; Dr. A. L. Butterfield, Ryder-Professor of
Elocution and Rhetoric ; Jennie Gifford, A. M., Principal of Pre-
paratory Department and Teacher of Science and School Manage-
ment ; Dora E. Merrill, Instructor in English History and Teacher
in Normal Work ; Mary E. Stockman, L. A., Teacher in English
and Latin ; Martha A. Bortle, Teacher in English and Rhetorical
W^ork ; Edwin L. Findley, A. B., Teacher in Greek and Latin ;
Ernest Danglade, B. S., Assistant in Chemistry ; Mattie Fiery,
Teacher of Piano and Theory ; Louise Von Feilitzsch, Teacher of
Vocal Music ; Gustav Sigel, Teacher of Violin, 'Cello and Zither ;
Miss Minnie Fuller, Teacher of Painting and Drawing. Gymna-
sium OFFICERS: Albert A. Kohler, A.B. M. D,, Director and Exam-
iner for Men; Katharine Kurt, M. D., Examiner for Women; Agnes
Claypole, Instructor for Women; Albert Hoover, M. D., Oculist.
Board of Trustees: Hon. John R. Buchtel, Akron; Judge
Edwin P. Green, Akron; Col. George T. Perkins, Akron; Albert B,
Tinker, Akron; Jonas J. Pierce, Sharpsville, Pa.; Hon. Sanford M,
Burnhatn, Akron; Judge Alvin C. Voris, Akron; W^illiam H. Slade,
Columbus; Joy H. Pendleton, Akron; Arthur A. Stearns, A. M.,
Cleveland; John F. Eddy, Bay City, Mich.; Hon. Geo. W. Crouse,
Akron; Rev. J. F. Rice, Coe Ridge; Judge Newell D. Tibbals,
Akron; Ferdinand Schumacher, Akron; Rev. Andrew Willson,
Ravenna; Joseph Hidy, Jr., Ph. B., Washington C. H.; Daj^ton A.
Doyle, A. B., LL. B., Akron.
Officers of the Board: Hon. John R. Buchtel, President;
Charles R. Olin, Secretary; Joy H. Pendleton, Treasurer. Execu-
tive committee: Hon. John R. Buchtel, Col. George T, Perkins,
Albert B. Tinker, Ferd. Schumacher and Joy H. Pendleton. Com-
mittee ON instruction: Judge Newell D. Tibbals, Judge Alvin C.
Voris, Hon. S. M. Burnham,
COURSES OF STUDY.
At the opening of the College, two courses of studj^ were
established — philosophical and classical. To these has since been
added a scientific course, and the College now gives instruction in
three courses of four years each— a classical course leading to the
degree of Bachelor of Arts; a philosophical course to Bachelor of
Philosophy, and a scientific course to Bachelor of Science.
In connection with the College there has been established and
maintained a preparatory school, having courses of study arranged
H
162
AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
with particular reference to the preparation of siudents for enter-
ing this college, but at the same time so general that students
completing a course in the preparatory school may enter other col-
leges, should they prefer to do so.
OTHER VALUABLE FEATURES. *
The Department of Music affords superior alv^antages for the
study of both vocal and instrumental music; the Department of
Art gives to students every advantage found in the larger Art
Schools of the country; Mathematical Instruments, Philosophical
and Chemical apparatus. Astronomical appliances, etc., are of the
very best; while the College museum contains a fair collection of
animal and mineral specimens and curios, and the College Library
and Reading Room, a well-selected collection of books, and a large
variety of the current periodicals of the day.
Croiise Gyuina'^iuin — named in lionor of principal contrib-
utor to building fund — Hon. (Jeorge VV. Crouse, of
Akron— Erected in 1^.
THE CROUSE GYMNASIUM.
Largely through the liberality of Hon. Geo. W. Crouse, a fine
structure, 53x100 feet in size, and of elegant design, has been
placed upon tl^e college grounds, a short distance westerly from
the main building, at a cost of $22,000, In the basement is a
bowling-alley, with bathing rooms, dressing rooms, etc., and on the
main floor, besides rooms for the instructors, is a hall 48x84 feet,
vsrith a gallery 11 feet above the floor for the accommodation of
such visitors as are, in the discretion of the instructor, permitted
to writness the exercises, — the gymnasium, with its thorough equip-
ment, affording abundant means for the healthful exercise and
muscular development of the students.
The two buildings, including the rooms of the students, are
heated by steam and lighted by gas generated upon the premises,
and the College has a well-equipped kitchen and dining hall for
ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPS, ETC.
163
those who desire to board upon the premises, besides furnishing
facilities for tiie organization of boarding clubs for the conven-
ience of such students as wish to avail themselves of that
■comparatively inexpensive mode of subsistence.
SANFORD M. BURNHAM,— born
in Genessee Count}^ N. Y., Janu-
ary 23, 1824; common school and
academic education; in 1844 taught
.school in Madison, Lake County,
Ohio; then took a course of commer-
cial study in Buffalo, afterwards, for
a time, teaching- penmanship; in 1848
settled in Akron, clerking in ware-
house of Rattle & Tappan on Ohio
•Canal, and in iron store of Mr. Tap-
pan and his successor until 18,55;
then engaged with Austin Powder
Company as book-keeper for two
years, also for a time a book-keeper
at Franklin Mills (now Kent); in 1858,
engaged as Deputy Auditor, for
Auditor George W. Crouse, also
deputj' for Treasurer S. S. Wilson,
serving in both nearly four j^ears; in
February 1863 was appointed Audi-
tor to fill vacancy, two weeks later
becoming Auditor in fact by virtue
of his election thereto the previous
October. After nearl}^ nine years
continuous servdce — four terms and
a fraction — as Auditor, in 1872 Mr.
B. was elected as Representative to
the State Legislature, ably serving
■one full term of two years; on his
retui'n was made .secretai*>' and a'
member of the Board of Trustees of
Buchtel College; in 1873 was elected
a director and secretary of the Web-
ster, Camp & Lane Machine Com-
SANFORD M. BURNHAM.
pany, holding the position 14 years,
and is now engaged in the insur-
ance business. Mr. B. was married
November 5, 1848, to Miss Anna M.
Row, of Medina Count}^ who has
borne him six children, three onlj^ of
whom are living — Lillie M. (now Mrs.
A. T. Saunders); Charles S. and Clif-
ford D, the latter now residing in
Grand Rapids, Michigan.
PROFESSORSHIPS, SCHOLARSHIPS, ETC.
By means of its fifty endowed scholarships, of $1,000 each, the
<'ollege is enabled to extend its advantages to such worthy students
as are in need of financial aid, in securing a liberal education; has
five endowed professorships; an endowed fund of $5,385, the
income from which is annually distributed for prizes for excel-
lence in reading, recitation, etc., and an alumni prize fund for the
payment of tuition fees for the student making the highest
av^erage record in the Senior, Preparatory and Freshman classes.
The endowed professorships are as follows: The Messenger
Professorship of Mental and Moral Philosophy, by Mrs. Lydia A.
E. Messenger, of Akron, in honor of her deceased husband, Kev.
Oeorge Messenger, $25,000; The Hilton Professorship of Modern
Languages, by John Hilton, of Akron, $25,0(X); The Pierce Profess-
orship of Rhetoric and English Literature, by Mrs. Chloe Pierce,
of Sharpsville, Pa., $20,000; The Buchtel Professorship of Physics
and Chemistry, by Mrs. Elizabeth Buchtel, of Akron, $20,000; The
Ainsworth Professorship of Mathematics and Astronomy, by
Henry Ainsworth, of Lodi, $30,000; The Ryder Professorship of
Elocution and Rhetoric, by William H. Ryder, of Chicago, $35,385;
164
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
The Messenger Fund of $30,000, by Mrs. Iv3^dia A. E. Messenger, of
Akron; The Isaac and Lovina Kelly Fund of $35,788, by Isaac
Kelley, of Mill Village, Pa. A Theological Department is also in
contemplation toAvards the endoA^^ment of Avhich the sum of
$10,000 has already been contributed.
HON. NEWELL D. TIBBALS,—
born in Deerfield, Portag-e
County. September 18, 1833; grad-
uated from McLain Acadenty, at
Salem, in 1853; read law in office of
Otis & Wolcott, in Akron; admitted
to bar September 18.55, at once open-
ing- an office in Akron; in 1860 elected
Prosecuting- Attorney and re-elected
in 1862; in 1865 elected Akron's first
City Solicitor, serving two terms;
State Senator for Summit and Por-
tage Counties 1865 to 1867; in 1870.
aided in organizing Buchtel College,
since continuously serving on its
Board of Trustees; in 187o, elected
Judge of Court of Common Pleas,
second subdivision. Fourth Judicial
District, re-elected in 1880, but
resigned May 1, 1883, and resumed
his law practice. In 1864, Judge Tib-
bals served 117 days in front of
Washington as fourth sergeant of
Co. F., l&tth, O. V. I.; on return from
Washington, was elected Major of
54th Battalion, O. N. G., and com-
missioned by Gov. John Brough; in
1886 was appointed Judge Advocate,
Department of Ohio, G. A. R., by
Commander A. L. Conger, and in
1890 Aide-de-Camp to Coiumander-in-
Chief Gen. Russell A, Alger. Octo-
ber 22, 1856, Judge Tibbals was mar-
HON. NEWELL T>. TIBBALS.
ried to Miss Lucy A. Morse, of
Akron, who has borne him seven
children, five of whom are now liv-
ing,—Martha A. (now Mrs. Wilson M.
T>ay of Cleveland), Jessie A. (Mrs. Dr.
Albert Hoover, of Akron), Newell L.,
Gertrude A., and Ralph Waldo.
Besides his original munificent gift of $31,000, heretofore noted,
Hon. John R. Buchtel has from time to time largely added to his
benefactions, his last gift, at the annual commencement in June,
1887, being $174,4(X), swelling the total amount of his donations to
fully half a million dollars. Other benefactors have given liber-
ally in sums ranging from $70,000 down, all of whom will receive
from the past and future beneficiaries of the college their due meed
of praise and gratitude.
The college has graduated 162 students, many of whom are
now actively interested in the w^elfare and prosperity of their alma
mater. More than half the alumni are residents of Ohio, and are
a very great help to the college; three of the graduates being now
members of the faculty, and four others members of the board of
trustees. The catalogue for 1890-91 embraces 273 students exclu-
sive of art and music.
The College is on a good financial basis, as shown bj^ the sec-
retary's report for 1891, as follows:
Total Resources $810,700.11
Total Liabilities 217,018.32
Net Resources $593,681.79-
A CONTEMPLATED NEW FEATURE.
165
The present healthy condition of the college, tinancially and
otherwise, and its promise for the future, is highly gratifying to
its friends and patrons generally, and most of all to him \Nrho gave
all he had to its establishment and maintenance, the large-hearted
John Richards Buchtel, Avhose name it so proudly bears.
pROF. ALBERT B. TINKER.-son
^ of Horace and Sophronia (Skin-
ner) Tinker, was born in Mantua,
Portage Cotinty, January 28, 1852 ;
raised on farm, attending common
school till 18, in 1870 entering- Hiram
College, teaching winters; in fall of
1873 entered Buchtel College, gradu-
ating in June, 1876; taught school
and worked on farm until November,
1878. when he entered the law office
of Green & Marvin, in Akron, gradu-
ating from the Cincinnati Law^
School and admitted to the bar in
June, 1883. In November, 1879, was
*;lected Financial Secretary of Buch-
tel College, which position, together
with that of Law Instructor, as M. S.
and LL. B., he held until his resig-
nation in June, 1891, being also a
member of the Board of Trustees and
of the Executive Committee, in addi-
tion to his College duties continuing
his law practice at his office in the
Arcade; also efficiently serving as a
member of the Akron Board of
Health from 1885 to 1891, six years.
December 25, 1876, Prof. Tinker was
married to Miss Georgie Olin, of
Windsor, Ashtabula County, O., who
has borne him seven children — Olin
Dale, born February 19, 1878; Ger-
PROF. ALBERT B. TINKER.
trude Ella, born March 20, 1879; Frank
Burke, born August 20, 1880; Sojih-
ronia Mary, born June 29, 1882 ; Ruby
Georgia, born September 25, 1886,
died November 11, 1886 ; Abby, born
June 8, 1888, and Donna Alberta, born
June 6, 1890.
SCIENCE BUILDING.
The management of the College have in contemplation the
addition of a science department, and the erection of a new and
comtnodious building, to be fitted with the most approved appa-
ratus and appliances, at a cost of from $49,000 to $50,000, but the
plans are not, at the closing of this chapter (August, 1891), suffi-
ciently inatured to give them in detail here. It may, however, be
properly said that one donation to the project in the sum of $10,000
has already been secured, and one or two similar offers condition-
ally made, so that it is confidently believed by the Board of Trustees
and officers, that in the near future the full fruition of the project
will be realized.
FRIGHTFULLY FATAL DISASTER.
As the Fall term was drawing to a close, on the approach of
the holiday season for 1890-91, a terrible disaster came upon the
College, bringing an appalling death to two of its most promising
students, and terrible suffering and life-long injury to several oth-
ers. The term had been highly successful, and all the students
were happy in anticipation of its auspicious close, and of the holi-
day pleasures in store for them at their respective homes.
166 ' AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
About a dofeen of the young ladies whose birth-days, respect-
ively, occurred between the first of September and the first of
December, resolved upon 'a joint celebration, and, by consent of the
matron, the festivities were being held in Cary Hall, on the even-
ing of Saturday, December 13, 1890, several ladies connected with
the building, and a number of the other lad}" students being* pres-
ent. The young ladies in \^hose honor the party was being held
were fantastically arrayed in their night costumes, garlanded 'with
^eecy white cotton, with tall paper caps also trimmed with cotton,
surmounted by a tassel, upon their heads.
Thus arrayed, Avith one of their number at the piano, the other
eleven were merrily dancing around a pan of pop-corn, when the tas-
sel upon the head-dress of Miss Aurelia Wirick, of Storm Lake, Iowa,
came in contact with a burning gas jet, instantly igniting the highlj^
inflammable cotton, and enveloping her person in flames. Before
realizing what had happened, the other girls waltzing past her
were also ablaze.
Without attempting to describe the terrible panic which
ensued, and the frantic efforts of the young ladies and their friends
to relieve them from their frightful peril, suffice it to say, that of
the thirteen persons finally involved in the fearful holocaust, Miss
May Emma Steves, of Clifton Springs, N. Y., after four hours of
untold agon)^, found merciful relief in death, a little after midnight,
w^hile Miss Lulu Myrtle Steigmeyer, of Attica, Ohio, lingered until
quarter past five o'clock Sunday morning, when she, too, passed
away.
The surviving sufferers were: Mary Elizabeth Baker, of
Johnson's Creek, N. Y.; Myrtle Barker, of Peru, Ohio; Eva Ellen
Dean, of Storm Lake, low^a; Aurelia Blair Wirick, of Storm Lake,^
Io\ea; Dian May Haynes, of Clifton, Kansas; Addie Marion
Buchtel, of Columbus, Kansas; Almira Reed Van Dusen, of Fair-
pla}'^, Colorado; Dora E Merrill, Professor of English History, of
Williamsport, Pa.; Mary Zuba West, of Marietta, Ohio; Estella
Frances Musson, of Mogadore, and Wilbur Walter Ackley, Haga,.
Ohio. The lives of several of these hung in the balance for several
days, but they gradually recovered, though a number will bear
marks of the disaster upon their persons through life.
This appalling calamity not only brought deep sorrow to the
friends of the sufferers, eliciting the depest sympathy from the
entire community, but was especially painful to the College
authorities, lest they should be charged with lack of discipline and
a proper oversight of the young people entrusted to their care.
There is, hoivever, no room for censure of the authorities in con-
nection with this sad affair. The College is not in any sense, a
prison, and innocent pastimes, by either sex, among themselves^
may properly, on occasion, be permitted, and it is gratifying to
know that while the melancholy event is still sadly remembered,
by the friends of the institution, confidence in the administration
of its affairs has remained unbroken, and its pupilage and influ-
ence is increasing year by year.
The writer has, in the preparation of this chapter, drawn
largely upon the late Judge Bryan's sketch of the Akron schoolSr
prepared for the Board of Education, in 1876, and is under special
obligations to Superintendent Fraunfelter, ex-Superintendent
Samuel Findley, President Orello Cone, ex-Secretary Albert B^
C(iNCLUvSION OF AKRON S SCHOOL HISTORY.
167
Tinker, and Secretary Charles R. Olin, for data furnished there-
for, and in conclusion would say, that while the chapter itself is of
considerable length, it is scarcely more than an outlineiof Akron's
educational history during the sixty-six years of its existence,
though enough has been said to show, that in point of progress,
Akron, for many years, took the lead, and is not now outranked
by any city, large or small, in Ohio or elsewhere.
DAYTON A. DOYLE,— son of Wil-
liam B. and Harriet (S a fy e)
Doyle, was born at Akron, Ohio, Sep-
tember 27, 1856; educated in public
schools of Summit County, graduat-
ing' from Akron High School June
26, 1874. and from Buchtel College,
with the degree of A. B., -June 26.
1878. He then read law in the office
of Attorney-General Jacob A. Kohler
one year, afterwards attending- lect-
ures at Cincinnati Law School, from
which he was graduated May 26, 188().
with the degree of LL. B. ; was
admitted to the Bar in the Supreme
Court of Ohio, at Columbus, May 27,
188(), and to practice in the United
States Courts, at Cleveland, May 26,
1882. On adinission to the bar Mr.
Doyle opened a law office in Akron,
in 188.5 forming a partnership with
Frederick C. Bryan, Esq., which still
continues. In April, 1885, Mr. Doyle
was elected City Solicitor for Akron,
and re-elected in April, 1887, ably fill-
ing that important office four years.
April 23, 1884. Mr. Doyle was married
to Miss Ida M. Westfall, of Akron.
DAYTON A. DOYLE.
\
They have two children— Daj'ton A.,
Jr., and Julia M.
'^"^v?'""
M\
CHAPTER IX.
AKRON'S LITERARY ACHIEV^E>IEXT8— EARLY DEBATIXG SOCIETIES— " LYCEUM
AND LIBRARY ASSOCIATION" CHARTERED IN 1834 — vSHAPING THE DESTI-
NIES OF THE NATION— THE "^KRON PHILO LEXION SOCIETY "—BRIEF BUT
BRILLIANT — THE " AKRON LITERARY ASSOCIATION " — " THERE WERE
GIANTS IN THOSE DAYS" — THE MECHANICS' AND SCHOOL LIBRARIES — THE
"AKRON LECTURE ASSOCIATION "—ITS SUCCESS AND BENEFICENT OUT-
COME^THE "AKRON LIBRARY ASSOCIATION," CHARTERED IN 1866 — PHENOM-
ENAL ENTERPRISE AND PROSPERITY — AKRON'S FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY,
ONE OF THE BEST IN THE STATE — THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCI-
ATION'S READING ROOM, GYMNASIUM AND WONDERFULLY' SUCCESSFUL
CHEAP POPULAR LECTURES, ETC.
AKRON'S ANCIENT LITERARY OPERATIONS.
From Akron's very beginning, her people, as evidenced by her
splendid edticational record already fully set forth, have always
given special encouragement to literary and scientific enterprises.
As early as 1834, the Legislature granted a charter to the
"Akron Lyceum and Library Association," as follows:
An Act to incorporate the Akron Lyceum and Library Association
Company, in Akron, Portage County.
Section I. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio,
that Seth Iredell, Justus Gale, Hiram Paj^ne, William B. Mitchell, William
E. Wright, Charles W. Howard, Lyman Green, William M. Dodge, Woolsey
Wt^ls, Erastus Torrey, David Allen, Reuben McMillen, Eliakiin Crosby and
Jaines W. Phillips, and their associates, tog-ether with such others as may
be hereafter associated with them, be and are hereby constituted a body
politic and corporate with perpetual succession, by the name and style of
' The Akron Lyceum and Library Association Company,' and hy their cor-
porate name maj- contract and be contracted with, sue and be sued, plead
and be impleaded, in all the courts of law and eqviity in this State, or elsewhere;
may have a common seal and alter the same at pleasure ; shall be capable
of holding- personal and real estate, bj- purchase, gift or devise, and may
sell, dispose of and convej" the same, provided the annual income shall not
exceed live hundred dollars ; they shall have power to form and ratif}' a
constitution and adopt by-laws for the g-overnment of such Association, the
arrangement and regulation of its fiscal affairs, the admission of its mem-
bers and the appointment of its officers, together with all other powers
necessary for its corporate existence, and the proper and efficient manage-
ment of its concerns ; provided said constitution and bj'-laws be not incon-
sistent with the laws of this State and of the United States ; and provided,
also, that the funds of said Association shall not be applied to any other
purpose than the support of the above named Lj'ceum and Library
Association.
Section II. That any future Legislature maj^ alter, amend or repeal
this Act.
John H. Keith,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
David T. Disney,
Passed Februar J- 21, 1834. ' Speaker of the Senate.
Besides those named in the charter, such other early citizens as
Capt. Richard Howe, Alvin Austin, Samuel A. Wheeler, Philo
Chamberlin, Jedediah D. Commins, Nathan B. Dodge, Dr. Joseph
Cole, Eber BIc)d3:ett, Jonathan Myers, Ansel Miller, Robert K.
ANCIENT DEBATING SOCIETIES.
169
DuBois, Gibbons J. Ackley, Alfred R. Townsend, John H. Cleveland,
Ithiel Mills, Paris Tallman, Arad Kent, Horace K. Smith, and
others, became members of the Association by the purchase of
stock, which was fixed at $25 per share, quite a respectable library
of books, by donation and purchase, being collected.
During the long Winter evenings, weekly meetings were held
for the purpose of listening to addresses from members and others,
and of discussing the "burning" questions of the day: "Is the
human mind capable of improvement?" "Ought a Representa-
tive to be bound by the instructions of a majority of his constitu-
•ents?" "Ought females to be permitted to vote at elections?"
^' Ought capital punishment to be abolished ?" etc.
ALLEN HIBBARD,— born in
•^ Amherst, Mass., September 17,
1813; came to Akron from Rome, N.
Y., in 1834, with Mr. William E.
Wrig'ht, one of the pioneer merchants
of North Akron, a few j^ears later
clerking- for Acklej' & Austin, and
still later in partnership with Gib-
bons J. Acklej-, and Joseph E. Wese-
ner, under the firm name of A. Hib-
bard & Co., doing- an extensive gen-
eral merchandising business, in the
well remembered "Old Green Store"
on Howard street. On closing his
mercantile operations, Mr. Hibbard
was for several years book-keeper of
the Webster, Camp & Lane Machine
Compan)', and later, for nearlj^ 20
j^ears, and until his death, collector
for the Akron Gas Company. Au-
gust 22, 1841. he was married to Miss
Lucy Ann Ackley, of Akron, who
bore him one son — Dwight A. Hib-
bard. of the jewelrj' firm of J. B.
Storer & Co. Mrs. Hibbard dying-
October 11. 1843. Mr. Hibbard was
again married, November 4, 1844, to
Miss Nancy J. Ackley, sister of the
first Mrs. H., who bore hitn four
children— Frank Jewett and Thomas
Allen, deceased; William Grant, now
a farmer in Kansas, and Charles M.,
now a jeweler in Akron. Mr. Hib-
bard was a life-long- consistent mem-
ALLEN HIBUAKI).
ber of the Congregational Church;
member of Village Covmcil 1840, '47
and 18r>4, and Recorder for 1859. He
died March 6, 1889, aged 7o years, 5,
months and 19 days. The last Mrs.
H, still survives.
These discussions were spirited, and cohsiderable tact and tal-
ent displayed, not only by the regularly appointed disputants, but
by others, while the essays and addresses, by home talent, were
often able and instructive. This Association maintained a fairly
prosperous existence for about ten years, when, by reason of deaths,
removals and the advent of other sources of amusement and
social pastime, it was disbanded, 'its books being sold at auction in
November, 1844, and the proceeds distributed pro rata, among the
stockholders.
"AKRON PHILO LEXION SOCIETY."
In the Winter of 1836-37, the younger business men of Akron
established a literary and oratorical society, under the above rather
stilted title, suggested by some one who had perhaps officiated as
170
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
janitor in some eastern college. In addition to its rhetorical and
declamatory exploits, and its profound disquisitions and essays
upon political, scientific and metaphysical topics, the society dur-
ing the Winter months, maintained a literary weekly (manuscript)
periodical, entitled the "Akron Mirror," spicy contributions to
which, from both male and female members, together with edi-
torial comments, 'were read by the editor for the time being —
elected monthly — the honors of which position were about equallj^
divided between the writer and the late Hiram Bo\ven, founder of
the Beacon.
TAMES B. TAPLIN,— born in Clare-
J mont, N. H., August 12, 1812; at
5 years of age moved with parents to
New Haven, Vermont, and three
years later to Franklin County, N.
y.; in boyhood worked on farm and
attended school, the lavst six months
at Franklin Academy, in Malone, N.
Y.; at 20 learned trade of carpenter
and millwrig-ht; in fall of 18.34 came
to Akron, Ohio, by canal and on foot,
following carpentering- and mill-
wrighting until 1848, when in com-
pany with Geo. D. Bates and Charles
Webster he started the Globe
Foundry and Machine shop, under
the firm name of G. D. Bates & Co.
Mr. Bates retiring two or three years
later, business was continued bj^
Webster & Taplin, with some slight
changes, until the works were
destroyed by fire in 1860, when Mr.
Taplin retired and in connection
with Alvin Rice and Hobart Ford,
under the firm name of Taplin, Rice
6 Co.. established new^ works on
South Broadway, a stock company,
under the same title, being organ-
ized in 1867, with Mr. Taplin^as presi-
dent and manager, which position
he still holds. In October, 1839, Mr.
Taplin was married to Miss Rachel
Grandy, of Port Bj^ron, N. Y., who
had for some time been a teacher in
Akron schools. Six children were
born to them, two dying in infancy,
one, James F., at seven years of age;
the survivors being John L., for
JAMES B. TAFLIX.
many years superintendent of
machine works of Taplin, Rice & Co..
now superintendent of Circleville
branch of the Portage Strawboard
Works; Charles G., book-keeper for
Standard Oil Company, of Cleveland;
and Ella G., who is still at home. In
religion Mr. Taplin is a Congrega-
tionalist; in politics a Republican,
being elected Councilman of the
Incorporated Village of Akron in
April, 185.5, but resigning- the posi-
tion before entering upon its duties.
Besides the writer and Mr. Bowen, members of the organiza-
tion are recalled as follows: Allen Hibbard, Dr. James R. Miltimore,
James B. Taplin, William H. Dewey, Henry Clay Crosbj^, Russell
Gale, Grove N. Abbey, Henry Converse, Solomon Coloney, Francis
Dexter, Nahum Fay, William Pitt Carpender, John Tooker, Milo
Fuller, Samuel Manning, etc.
The "Philo Lexion Society," had an existence, under that dis-
tinctive appellation, of only four or five years, though in some
form, debating and literary societies, maintained by home talent,
long continued in vogue during the Winter months— often eliciting
intense interest, and attracting large audiences, in Militar3^ Hall,
Tappan Hall, Trussell Hall, etc., one of the most successful of
which, from 1855 to 1861, Avas
MECHANICS AND LITERATURE.
171
HON. NATHANIEL W. GOOD-
HUE,— born in Lincoln County,
Me., December 20, 1818; from 3 to i7
years lived with parents in Lower
Canada ; in 18.37 removed to Wayne
County, Ohio, teaching- school Win-
ters and peddling Summers ; in
Summer of 1840 taught in Greens-
burg-, Summit Countj^ and the next
Winter in Greentown, Stark County,
Hon. Lewis Miller being one of his
pupils ; in 1841 clerked for Johnston
& Irvin, in Middlebury, and after-
wards for Kent & Co.; taught school
in Middlebury, in Winter of 184.0, '40,
studying law in office of Hand &
Nash ; was engrossing clerk of House
of Representatives at Columbus in
Winter of 1846, '47 ; admitted to bar in
1847; elected County Auditor in 1848
and re-elected in 18,tO, holding the
office four years ; was canal collector
from 18.t6 to 1858; collector of inter-
nal revenue for Summit County from
September 1862 to September 18W) ;
State Senator for Summit and Port-
age district, 1873-75 ; Republican
elector for 18th congressional dis-
trict in 1880 and president of Ol::o
Electoral College ; was elected Pro-
bate Jvxdge of Summit County in
October, 1881, ably filling that posi-
tion until his death, Septetnber 12,
1883, aged 64 j^ears, 8 inonths and 22
days. Judge Goodhue was married
to Miss Nancy Johnston, of Green
HON. NATHANIEL W. GOODHUE.
township, December 20, 1841, who
bore him four children — James P.,
died in infanc}' ; Allan J., a member
of the 104th O. V. I. during the late
war, now residing in Cleveland ;
Mary H., wife of Rev. Samuel Max-
well, of the Protestant Episcopal
chvxrch, and Nathaniel P., from 1882
to 1891 Deputy Clerk in office of
Probate Judge and now Clerk of
Courts for Summit County,
" THE AKRON LITERARY ASSOCIATION."
This society AAras composed of such men as Nathaniel W,
Goodhue, Charles B. Bernard, Newell I). Tibbals, Dudley C. Carr,
Daniel B. Hadley, Edward Oviatt, Edwin P. Green, William H.
Upson, David L. King, Wilbur F. Sanders, Henry Ward Ingersoll,
Samuel C. Williamson, Arthur F. Bartges, John J. Hall, Augustus
N. Bernard, Geo. W. Grouse, Dudley Seward, Dr. Daniel A. Scott,
Dr. Elias W. Howiard, Dr. William Bowen, Dr. Thomas Earl, Alvin
C. Voris, Jacob A. Kohler, Joseph E. Wesener, Henry W. Howe, J.
Park Alexander, Homer C. Ayres, Thomas Brownless, Israel P.
Hole, S. A. Lane, etc.
The war coming on absorbed the public attention for the next
four or five years, amid the dread realities of which rhetoricals
were suspended, since \vhich they have largely been superseded
by the innumerable civic, social and beneficial associations that
have come into existence in later years, though it is questionable
whether a well-conducted debating society, with original essays
and lectures, by members, and other home talent, w^ould not be
more profitable — mentally, morally and financially — than some of
the devices now in vogue for social pastime and recreation.
MECHANICS' LIBRARY.
Allusion has been made, elsew^here, to the Mechanics' Associa-
tion of Akron, organized in 1846, and of the liberal contributions-
made by Judge James R. Ford and Col. Simon Perki/is, ($30 each).
172
AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
and others, for the purchase of books and periodicals for the
benefit of the association and their families, which, under the
fostering care of Messrs. James M. Hale, David G. Sanford, Joshua
C. Berry, James Holmes, and other active members of the associa-
tion, was successfully maintained for some ten or twelve years.
HON. WILLIAM H. UPSON,— born
at W o r t h i 11 g"ton, Franklin
County, Ohio, January 11, 1823;
moved with parents toTallniadge, in
1832 ; graduated f r o ni Western
Reserve Colleg-e in 1842 ; read law
with Judge Reuben Hitchcock, in
Painesville, followed by one year's
study in law department of Yale
College ; admitted to bar September,
1845; opened law office in Akron,
January. 1846, in partnership, suc-
cessively, for mail)- years, with Hons.
Sidney Edgerton and Christopher P.
Wolcott; Prosecuting Attorney for
Summit CouiVty, 1848 to 185() ; State
Senator, 1853 to 1855 ; member of
Congress, 18th district, 1869 to 1873;
delegate to Republican National
C o 11 V e n t i on, which renominated
Abraham Lincoln in 1864 ; delegate
at large to the convention which
nominated Rutherford B. Haj^es, in
1876 ; many years trustee of Western
Reserve College, Oberlin College
and Lake Erie Female Seminary ;
first president Summit Count}' Bar
Association and member State Bar
Association Executive Committee;
from March to December, 1883, by
appointment of Gov. Foster, Judge
of Supreme Court of Ohio ; in 1884
•elected Judge of Circuit Court, draw-
ing two years' term, and re-elected
HON. WILLIAM H. UPSON.
in 1886, for full term of six years.
May 20, 1856, was married to Miss
Julia A. Ford, of Akron, four child-
ren having been born to them —
William Ford Upson, now practicing-
law in New York Cit}^ ; Henry Swift
Upson, now practicing medicine in
Cleveland ; Anna Perkins, now wife
of Lieut. G. J. Fiebeger, U. S. Corps
Engineers; and Julia Ford Upson.
THE AKRON SCHOOL LIBRARY.
In the meantime, in 1853, the State of Ohio had adopted a
public school library system, by which all the school districts of
the State, through general taxation, w^ere supplied Avith choicely
selected libraries proportioned to size of school, "Ohio School
Library," being embossed, in plain letters, upon both covers
of each of the substantial leather-bound books thus provided.
The superintendent of the Akron Public Schools was constituted
librarian, as w^ell as custodian of the astronomical, chemical and
other apparatus provided by the State, the library being kept in a
small room, between the two stairways on the upper floor of the
old High (now Jennings) school building.
After the establishment of this library, which, by the terms of
the law, was accessible to every family in the district, w^hether having
children in the schools or not, the Mechanics' Association gener-
ously donated their books to the Board of Education to be added
thereto, though the association maintained its reading and club
room for several vears thereafter.
SUCCESSFUL LITERARY VENTURE.
17S
pHARLES B. BERNARD,-son of
^ Rev. David Bernard, a former
Baptist clergyman in Akron ; born
in Western New York ; came to Ohio
in 1845 and to Akron in 1846 ; taug'ht
school four winters, last two in Mid-
dleburj', workini^ on farm in Suin-
mer ; March, 1849, entered Auditor's
office as deputy, serving- six years- -
four under N. W. Goodhue, and two
under Henry Newberry ; elected
Auditor, October, 1854, and re-elected
in 1856, serving four years ; first rail-
road ticket agent in Akron ; entered
law office of Wolcott & Upson in 1859 ;
admitted to bar and to partnership
with W. & U.in 1861— afterwards with
Mr. Upson ; City Solicitor in 1862-
186)3; member of Board of Education
— president, secretar}^, treasurer, etc.,
some seven j-ears ; treasurer Akron
and Portage township Soldiers'
Bounty Fund during the war ; in
1864, served 100 da3'S in front of Wash-
ington, as adjutant of 164th regiment,
O. N. G., and A. A. A. General ; in
April, 1867, moved to Cleveland — sec-
retarj^ Cleveland Stove Co. 20 years
(actively about two years); chief clerk
Internal Revenue two j^ears ; first
appraiser of merchandise at port
of Cleveland two j^ears; ineinber of
City Council two years ; meinber of
Board of Education two years ;
since resigning- appraisership has
practiced his profession, in a case
CHARLES B. BERNARD.
referred to him, writing out an orig-
inal opinion as to the liability of
stockholders under the Ohio law,
which the Ohio Supreme Court, in
another case, sustained in everj- par-
ticular, and is now the law. October
27, 1858, Mr. B. was married in Akron,
to Miss Mary E. Gardiner. Thej^
have two davighters — Grace and BelU
still with their parents.
AKRON LECTURE ASSOCIATION.
As time sped on, Akron outgrew the school library system, as
liberal as had been its provisions, and in the latter part of 1865, a
number of gentlemen effected an organization, under the name of
the "Akron Lecture Association," for the purpose of establishing a
reading room, together with a series of popular lectures upon
literary and scientific subjects.
The first course of eleven lectures (one more than promised),
in the Winter of 1865-6, were by William Lloyd Garrison, George
Alfred Townsend, R. J. De Cordova, New York humorist; Prof.
Anson J. Upson, of Hamilton College, N. Y.; Prof. E. L, Youmans,
of New York City, on the "Dj'namics of Life;" James E. Murdoch,
dramatic readings; Rev. W. H. Milburn, the eloquent blind
preacher; Hon. George Thompson, of England; Rev. A. A. Willitts,
of Brooklyn, N. Y.; John B. Gough, and C. Oscanj'un, Turk. The
terms for the course: Gentleman and lady, $5.(X); gentleman
without lady, $3.00; lady alone, $2.00; single admission, 50 cents.
In the Spring the lecture committee reported receipts from season
tickets, $867.50, at door $917.10— total, $1,784.60; paid lecturers
$1,225.00, incidentals $310.35— total, $1,5^5.35; balance in treasur3%
$249.25. Lecture committee: William H. Upson, chairman;
William H. Huntington, corresponding secretary; George W.
Crouse, treasurer; Israel P. Hole, Charles B. Bernard, James H.
Peterson.
174
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
DR. ELIAS W. HOWARD— born
in Andover. V^t., April 14, 1816;
raised on farm ; common school edu-
cation, with (One term in Chester
Academy ; in 1835 began studj" of
medicine with cousin, Prof. R. L.
Howard, at Elyria, Ohio ; afterwards
attending- lectures at Berkshire Col-
lege, Pittsfield, Mass., completing his
studies with Dr. L. G. Whiting, in
Windsor Co., Vt., and graduating
from Berkshire College in 1838; same
year began practice with cousin, in
Elyria, 0-, a j^ear later, 1839, reinoving
to Akron, where he was in continu-
ous practice over half a centurj^; after
battle of Antietam was sent b}' Gov.
Tod to assist in caring for wounded
Union soldiers, serving in hospital
at Frederick Citj^, one month ; the
Winter following devoting several
months to hospital dutj^ at Nashville,
Tenn. Dr. Howard served several
years on Board of Education, and
four years in City Council --1871, '72,
'74, '7o, the last year as president pro
tem.\ member and president of
Board of Health ; helped to organize
the Summit County Medical Society
and several years its president ; was
member of Union Medical Associa-
tion of Northeastern Ohio, two terms
its president ; member of Ohio State
Medical Association and of American
Medical Association, being a dele-
gate to the International Medical
DK. ELIAS W. HOWAKI).
Congress in 1876. June 16, 1840, Dr.
Howard was married to Miss Eliza-
beth Chittenden, of Middlebury, who
bore him two sons — Dr. Henr^^ C,
who died April 23, 1887, aged 44 years,
10 months and 14 daj'^s, Frank D.,
inanufacturer of agricultural imple-
ments, still residing with his mother.
Dr. Howard died August 9, 1890, aged
74 j^ears, 3 months, and 25 daj'S.
THF: "AKRON LIBRARY ASSOCIATION."
So successful veas this initial course of popular lectures —
evincing that the people would relish more of the same sort — that
at a meeting of the association, held March 3, 1866, a resolution w^as
passed, formally adopting the title of the "Akron Library Associa-
tion," and instructing the secretary to duly prepare and have
recorded the necessary papers of incorporation, which w^as accord-
ingly done.
In addition to the quite extensive reading room already
estal^lished, in the room now occupied by Newton Chalker, Esq., a
circulating library was now determined upon, and a committee,
consisting of David L. King, Stephen H. Pitkin, William H. Upson,
Charles B. Bernard, James H. Peterson, Julius S. Lane and George
W. Crouse, w^as appointed to prepare a constitution and by-law^s,
which "were duly reported and adopted on the evening of June 11,
1866, the first section thereof being as follows:
" Sec. I. The Association shall be known as the 'Akron Librarj^ Associa-
tion,' having for its object the diffusion of useful knowledge and the
acquirement of the arts and sciences, bj' the estsblishment of a library of
scientific and miscellaneous books, for general circulation, and a reading
room, cabinet, lectures and such other measures as maj' be deemed
expedient."
The annual membership fee was fixed at $2.00, the foUow^ing
eight persons paying $2.00 each, and subscribing their names to
the constitution, on the night of its adoption: Julian H. Pitkin,
UNSTINTED LIBERALITY.
175
David Iv. King, Stephen H. Pitkin, William H. Upson, Charles B.
Bernard, James H. Peterson, Julius S. Lane, Samuel A. Lane,
George W. Crouse.
pHARlvKS A. COLLINS,— born in
^ Richmond, Berkshire County,
Mass., Jnly 26. 1816 ; father dying-
August 4, 1817, removed with
mother to Tioga County, N. Y., in
1827 ; in both Massachusetts and New
York, working on farm suminers
and attending dis trie t school
winters. In 18iX) removed with mother
to Ohio, settling in Tallmadge, where
he served an apprenticeship with his
brother-in-law, Mr. Amos Avery, at
carriage making; in 1838, in partner-
ship with Mr. jlimes M. Hale, under
the firm name of Collins & Hale,
established a carriage manufactory
in Middlebury, now Akron, Sixth
Ward. Mr. Hale retiring in 1841, Mr.
Collins continued until the burning
of the shops in 18(>0, when, in com-
pany with Mr. John E. Bell, works
were established in May's Block
(now Clarendon Hotel), corner South
Main and Exchange streets. In Feb-
ruary, 1870, C. A. Collins & Son'
erected shops corner Main and
Church streets, where the business is
still carried on by the Collins Buggy
Companj^ of which Mr. Charles A.
Collins is president and Mr. George
A. Collins manager. January 16, 1839,
Mr. Collins was married to Miss
Louisa Hine, of Tallmadge, who has
borne him seven children, four only
now living — Georg-e A., of Akron ;
Mrs. Josephine A. Kent, of Kent ;
•Charles E., of Cleveland; and Nettie
E., now Mrs. C. D. Hatch,of Cleveland.
CHARLES A. COLLINS.
While a resident of Middlebury Mr.
Collins served for many years as
member of Village Council and on
Board of Education ; was also Mayor
of Akron in 1862 and 1863 and mein-
ber of City Council 1877-1879, the first
year as president pro tern.
Subsequentl}^ the annual membership fee was increased to
$3.00, entitling the member and his family to the privileges of the
library and reading room during the time for which he had thus
paid, and an amendment adopted by which the payment of $50.00,
at one time, constituted the person thus paying, a life member,
■entitled to such privileges in perpetuity, w^ithout further payinent,
and in case of the decease of such life member, the privilege to
descend to the survivor, husband or w^ife, and minor children, such
privilege, as to such minors, to cease on attaining their majority.
The first officers of the Association, under the charter, w^ere:
William H. Upson, president; Stephen H. Pitkin, vice president;
Charles. B. Bernard, corresponding secretary; James H. Peterson,
recording secretary; George W. Crouse, treasurer; David L. King,
Julius S. Lane, Julian H. Pitkin and Israel P. Hole, directors.
As an indication of the popular feeling in regard to the project,
on being inade known to the public that a considerable sum of
money was immediately^ desirable for the purchase of a library
commensurate to the public needs, life memberships, at fifty
176
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
dollars each, were taken to the number of at least one hundred
within the first three or four years, besides the large list of yearh'
memberships at three dollars each.
The funds thus raised, together with the surplus, (w^hen there
was a surplus), from the annual lecture courses, enabled the
Association to at once establish a highly creditable circulating
library, and one in which all the people of Akron, during the inter-
vening quarter of a century, have ever justly been proud.
JUDGE STEPHEN H. PITKIN,—
J born in Old Milford, Conn.,
October 5, 1810. At 7 years of age
came with parents to Ohio, settling in
Charlestown, Portage County, remov-
ing to Hudson in 1827, his father. Rev.
Caleb Pitkin, being one of the found-
ers of Western Reserve College,
Stephen being one of its earliest
students, graduating in June, 1834,
the following October going to
Fulton County, 111., teaching and
studj'ing law, being admitted to the
bar in 1836 ; was elected County Sur-
veyor and in 1838 elected Probate
Judge, holding- the office four years ;
in 1852 returned to Hudson, taking
charge of home farm and the care of
his aged parents ; in 1861 was elected
Probate Judge of Summit County,
serving eight j^ears ; member of Vil-
lage Council in 1864 ; served on
Akron School Board several 3'ear8 ;
was secretary of Summit County
Agricultural Society from 1871 to
1880 and president for 1880 ; was
presidential -elector for the Eigh-
teenth Congressional District in 1868,
voting in the Electoral College for
Ulysses S. Grant for President and
Schuyler Colfax for Vice-President.
He was married in October, 1834, to
Miss Julia Lusk, of Hudson, a sister
of the first wife of John Brown, of
Harper's Ferry fame. Mrs. Pitkin
died October 7, 1873, two of their five
JUDGE STEPHEN H. PITKIN.
children only surviving — Julian H.,.
now living in Chicago, and Mary A.,
wife of Mr. Abner L. Caldwell, of
Portage township. September 24,
1879, Judge Pitkin was again married,
to Miss Helen B. Bill, of Cuj-ahoga
Falls, who still survives, the Judge
himself dying February 25, 1882, at
the age of 71 years, 4 months and 20
days.
SURPLUS SOLDIERS' BOUNTY FUND.
In later years, as money was needed to replenish and increase
the books and periodicals, it was from time to time liberally con-
tributed by our citizens, besides which, on the recurrence of the
question as to what should be done with the surplus soldiers'
bounty fund in the hands of Treasurer Charles B. Bernard at the
close of the w^ar, it v^ras, by general consent, turned over to the
Association, in December, 1869, on the adoption of the following
resolution, and the execution of the accompaning bond ol
indemnity to the custodians of said fund:
"Resolved, by the directors of ^the Akron Library Association, that the
president and secretary of said Association be and are herebj^ authorized to
sign a document presented to them by a committee consisting of John R.
Buchtel, J. Park Alexander, George W. Crovise and Charles B. Bernard,
which document is in the following words, to-wit:
AKRON LIBRARY ASSOCIATION.
177
WILLIAM T. ALLEN,-born in
Montreal, Canada, September
16, 1814; at 8 or 9 removed with par-
ents to Hudson, N. Y,; on death of
father, at 14, removed with mother to
Albany; common school education;
read law and admitted to the bar in
Albany, but did not enter into prac-
tice; engaged with Ralph P. Myers
in the dry goods trade in Albany,
the firm of Allen & Myers removing
to Akron in 1844; a year or two later
changing to the stove business, soon
afterwards, with others, establishing
the Akron Stove Company, which,
after a successful career in Akron,
for many years, removed to Cleve-
land, under the corporate name of
the Cleveland Stove Company. In
addition to holding a continuous
directorship in the companies
nained, Mr. Allen conducted a stove
store upon his own account, in Fort
Wayne, Ind., from 1857 to 1864; also
for a time, in connection with Mr.
James M. Hale, under the firm name
of Allen & Hale, carried on a
machine shop at Lock Seven;
later becoming a stockholder,
director and treasurer in the Web-
ster, Camp & Lane Machine Com-
pany, and a stockholder and director
in the First National Bank, of Akron.
Mr. Allen was a member of Village
Council in 1853; Mayor in 1854; mem-
WILLIAM T. ALLEN.
ber of City Council. 1870, '71, '72, '73,
'74, '75, '81, '82, '83 and '84 and several
years Chairman of its Finance Com-
mittee. July 31, 1852, at Milwaukee,
Wis., Mr. Allen was married to Miss
Laura McCartey, a native of Romu-
lus, N. Y.. then teaching music in
Akron, Mr. Allen dying November
13, 1886, aged 72 years, 1 month and
27 days.
I)K. JAMES H. PETERSON.
T)R. JAMES H. PETERSON,— was
-*-^ born at St. Johns, New Bruns-
wick, July 9, 1830; removing in early
life with his parents to Buffalo, N. Y.,
and afterwards to Portage County,
12
Ohio. Here, on entering his major-
ity, with such education as the
schools of the vicinity afforded, he
began the study of medicine, finally
changing to dentistrj^ completing
his course of study with Dr. B. T..
Spelman, of Ravenna. Practicing one
year in Cleveland, in 1854, he came to
Akron, where he has been in contin-
uous and successful practice ever
since, at the same time devoting
much time to other matters — busi-
ness, political, social, etc.. officiating
as secretary of the Republican
Union Central Committee of Summit
County during the war; is a member
of Akron Lodge No. 83 and Wash-
ington Chapter No. 25 of A. F. and
A. M., and of the Masonic Relief
Association. November 29, 1855, Dr.
Peterson was married to Miss Caro-
line Van Evra, of Akron, a native of
Cherry Valley, N. Y., who has borne
him three children — Carrie M., now
wife of Charles W. F. Dick, present
Auditor of Summit County; John
Edward, now a member of the pro-
duce firm of Dick & Peterson, and
Grace C, student in Conservatory of
of Music at Oberlin College.
178 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
" Whereas, there remains in the hands of Charles B. Bernard, as Treas-
urer of a committee consisting' of John R. Buchtel, Georg-e W. Crouse, J.
Park Alexander and the said Charles B. Bernard, styled ' Portage Township
Recruiting Committee,' a balance of money contributed bj^ citizens of
Portage township to fill the quota of said township, at the last call of the
President of the United States; and
" Whereas, a large number of the subscribers to said fund have requested
and directed said Bernard, acting as treasurer of said committee, to pay
over said balance remaining in his hands to the directors of the Akron
Librar^^ Association, an association having for its object the improvement
and general good of the citizens of Akron ; and
" Whereas, the balance of said committee, consisting of John R. Buchtel,
George W. Crouse and J. Park Alexander, have requested and directed, in
writing, the said treasurer to pay over said balance, now amounting to over
three thousand dollars [exact amount $3,211.26] to said Akron Librarj^ Associ-
ation,
" Now, Therefore, Know All Men by these Presents, that the Akron
Library Association, of the City of Akron, Summit Coxinty and State of Ohio,
an Association incorporated under the laws of said State, in consideration
of the donation to said Association of said sum of money, do hereby obligate
and promise to use said monej- for the purchase of books for said Associ-
ation, and for such purposes as will carry out the objects of said Associa-
tion, and said Association further binds itself to pay to any subscriber to
said fund his pro rata share of said balance reinaining in said treasurer's
hands and paid over to said Association, and to save harmless from all costs
damages and claims, said Committee and said Bernard as treasurer of said
Committee, by virtue of any claim which may be set up by any subscriber
to the fund aforesaid.
" In witness whereof said Akron Librarj'- Association has caused these
presents to be signed by its president and secretary, by a resolution of the
directors passed December 11, 1869.
[Signed] GEO. P. AsHMUN, President.
A. L. Conger, Secretary."
Down to this time, 1870, the Association had occupied the
room now^ occupied by Newton Chalker, Esq., on the ^vest side of
Howard street, which was now found to be altogether too small
for the uses of the Association, and a committee w^as appointed to
secure more commodious quarters. At this time two large new
buildings were approaching completion — the Academy of Music,
on East Market street, by John F. Seiberling, Esq., and Masonic
Temple, corner Howard and Mill streets, by Capt. Aaron P.
Baldwin, both of which localities found spirited advocates among
the life members of the Association.
Liberal propositions were made by both parties, and the
rivalry waxed warm and somew^hat bitter, but was finally termi-
nated by the friends of that locality purchasing from Capt.
Baldw^in, for the sum of $3,500, the rooms under consideration in
the second story of the Masonic Temple building, and making a
free gift of the same, by deed, to the Association — an arrangement
w^hich, in view of the subsequent tendency of business in that
direction, and of the location of the postoffice in the same building
about the same time, has been generally very satisfactory indeed.
FREE CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY.
In the meantime, in 1869, cities of the grade of Akron had been
empo^vered to establish and, by taxation, maintain free libraries
and reading rooms, and on April 14, 1873, a committee consisting
of Edwin P. Green, Sidney Edgerton and John R. Buchtel, was
appointed to confer with the City Council on the subject, and after
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
179
DR. DANIEL ARNOLD SCOTT,—
eldest son of James and Harriet
Penning-ton (Arnold) Scott, was born
^t Cadiz, Harrison County, Maj"- 4,
1821; educated at Cadiz schools,
being- at one time a pupil of the late
Bishop Simpson ; read medicine with
Dr. William F.Poole, and was a grad-
uate of both the Eclectic and the Allo-
pathic schools of medicine. June 15,
1842, was married to Miss Mary
Burnett Phipps, of Smithfield, Jeffer-
son County, who bore hitn three
daughters — Harriet Rebecca, Emma
Virginia, and Mary Bell. In 1848, Dr.
Scott came to Akron, successfully
practicing his profession here till his
sudden death from heart failure, Janu-
ary 23, 1890. in several instances minis-
tering to five generations in the same
familj'. Though repeatedlj^ declin-
ing political preferinent. Dr. Scott
was an efficient and conscientious
member of the Akron Board of
Health from 1886 until his death. He
was a prominent member of the
Masonic Order, holding the office of
Grand High Priest of the Grand
Chapter of Ohio for two terms,
High Priest of Washington Chapter,
No. 25, R. A. M. for 14 consecutive
years, was a member of the Grand
Chapter of the United States, and a
member of Akron Commandery, No.
25. Knights Templar, from its organ-
ization. As husband and father.
DR. DANIEL ARNOLD SCOTT.
tenderly affectionate ; as a citizen,
modest, warm-hearted and sincere ;
as a physician, honest, faithful and
sympathetic. Dr. Scott was truly
beloved by all who knew him. He
died at the age of 68 years, 8 months
and 19 days.
DR. BYRON S. CHASE.
DR. BYRON S. CHASE,— born in
Jamaica, Vt., January 9, 1834;
raised on farm ; educated in common
schools and Chester Academy ; at
21 engaged in sale of maps, in Michi-
g^an ; later studying medicine with
his uncle. Dr. E. W. Howard, in Akron,
^aduating at Ann Arbor, Mich.,
beg-inning- practice with Dr. Howard
in Akron ; in 1862, entered the army
as assistant surgeon of 16th Reg't.
O. V. I.; in June, 1863, was transferred
to 53rd Mississippi (colored) Regt. as
surgeon, serving till close of the war,
acting on operating board at Chicka-
saw Bayou and during- the siege of
Vicksburg. At close of the war
resumed practice in Akron, continu-
ing with marked success until his
death, February 23, 1878, at the ag-e of
44 years, 1 month and 14 days. Janu-
ary 26, 1863, Dr. Chase was married
to Miss Henrietta Sabin, daughter of
the late Joseph W. and Prudence
(Brown) Sabin, born in Akron Decem-
ber 17, 1842, who bore him four chil-
dren— William Sabin, born December
9, 1866, now city editor Akron Dailjr
Beacon and Republican ; Charles
Hibbard, born June 2, 1869, now clerk
for the E. H. Merrill Stoneware Com-
pany ; Martha, born November 25,
1874, and Byron Samuel, born Octo-
ber 12, 1877 ; Doctor and Mrs Chase
also having adopted and raised a
nephew, Sabin Ford, son of Hobart
and Martha (riabin) Ford, now in the
employ of The Diamond Match Com-
pany, at Ontonagon, Mich.
180
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
several interviews with a corresponding committee from the
Council, consisting of Councilmen Milton W, Henry and William
T. Allen and City Solicitor Edward W. Stuart, on December 30,
1873, the committee reported that they had tendered to the Council
all the books and property of the Association, Avith a perpetual
lease of its rooms, on condition that the city w^ould establish a
Public Library, for the free use of all its citizens who might
choose to avail themselves of its privileges, which proposition had.
been accepted.
HON. SIDNEY EDGERTON, —
born in Cazenovia, N. Y.,
August 17, 1819; thrown vipon his
own resources at eight years of age,
he managed to secure a fair common
school education ; at 17 began teach-
ing ; at 18 entered Wesley Seminary
at Liina, N. Y., where, after spending
two terms, he w^as employed as
teacher ; in April, 1844, came to Ak-
ron, a stranger with but $3.00 in his
pocket ; entering the office of Judge
Rufus P. Spalding as a law student,
in the Winter season teaching in
Tallmadge Academy ; in 1846 gradu-
ated from Cincinnati Law^ School,
and admitted to the bar in that city,
opening a law office in Akron ; in
1852 elected Prosecuting Attornej^
serving four years ; in 1858 elected to
Congress and re-elected in 1860, serv-
ing four years ; in 1863 was appointed
bj' President Lincoln Chief Justice
of Idaho, transporting his family
and effects from Omaha to Bannock
City in wagons ; in 1864, traveled on
horseback to Salt Lake Citj^ (sleep-
ing on the ground), thence by stage
to the Mississippi, en route to Wash-
ington, where, by a bill prepared bj^
himself, he secured the organization
of Montana, of which he was made
Governor by President Lincoln.
Getting the territorial machinery into
running order, he tendered his
HON. SIDNEY EDGERTON.
resignation Februarj^ 23, 1865, whiclr
was accepted in July. Returned
with familj^ to Akron in Januar5%
1866 and resuined the practice of
law. Mr. Edgerton was married tO'
Miss Mary Wright, of Tallmadge,.
May 18, 1849, who bore him nine
children — four sons and five daugh-
ters, seven of whom are still living.
Mrs. Edgerton dying August 3, 1883.-
This action ^vas approved and the committee authorized to
execute the lease, on the part of the Association, the proposition
being formally accepted by the Council, by resolution adopted
January 5, and by ordinance passed January 26, 1874. The lease
"was conditioned upon the pa3^ment of the then existing indebted-
ness of the Association; that said library should be free to all the
citizens of Akron; that the Boardof Control should consist of two
members of the Association, one member of the Board of Educa-
tion, and two members of the Council, the lease to run three years,
with a stipulation that "at the expiration of the term of said lease,
said Library Association agrees to convey said property to said
city, by perpetual lease, provided said city shall have complied
with the conditions herein expressed, on its part, and provided,
further, that said city shall faithfully care for said library, under
said perpetual lease, and maintain the library for the free use of
the inhabitants of said city and the members of this Association.""
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
181
JULIUS SHERMAN LANE— eld-
J est son of Samuel Alanson and
Paulina (Potter) Lane, was born in
Akron, November 19, 1841 ; educated
in Akron public schools ; learned
the machinist's trade at the Newark
Machine Works and with Webster,
Camp & Co., in Akron ; in 1866 was
elected chief eng^ineer of the Akron
Fire Department, in charg-e of its
first steamer, " City of Akron, No. 1."
In 1867, occupied the position of chief
eng-ineer of the Lake Superior Com-
Sany's iron mines, at Ishpeming,
[ich.; in 1868, returned to Akron, as
superintendent of the newly organiz-
ed Webster, Camp & Lane Machine
Company, which position he success-
fully filled for 17 years, having mean-
time invented " Lane's Band Fric-
tion Hoist" and other valuable
mining devices, now so largely in
vogue in the mining districts of the
United States, Mexico, and Central
and South America. Since 1885 Mr.
Lane has been the general superin-
tendent of the M. C. Bullock Manufac-
turing Company, of Chicago, mining
machinery, including the celebrated
Bullock Diamond Drill, being a
specialty. August 21, 1867, he was
married to Miss Julia E. Pitkin,
daughter of the late Rev. Caleb
Johnson Pitkin, at Cerro Gordo, 111.
JULIUS SHERMAN LANE.
They have six children — Henry
Marquette Lane, born at Ishpeming,
Mich., May 14, 1868; Pauline Eliza-
beth, born at Akron, November 20,
1869; Frank Pitkin, August 19, 1871
Albert Alanson, September 22, 1873
Florence Maria, Decembers, 1876; and
George Comfort, October 28, 1882.
JOHN WOLF.
TOHN WOLF,— born in Selb, Bav.
J aria, Germany, January 25, 1837,
attended German schools till 14
years of age ; in 1851 came to United
States, clerking in store in Aurora,
Ind., until September, 1853, when he
came to Akron ; here he clerked two
years for George T. McCurdy and
seven years for Milton W. Henry,
when, in 1862, he became a memberof
the firm of M. W. Henrj^ & Co, con-
tinuing there until 1869, seven j^ears.
In Spring of 1870 formed a partner-
ship with his half-brother, J. Martin
Beck, and Mr. Harry J. Church, under
the firm name of Wolf, Church &
Beck, establishing a dry goods store
in the Academy of Music building,
remaining there five j^ears, when
they removed to the southeast corner
of Main and Market streets, where
Mr. Wolf still remains. Mr. Beck
withdrawing in 1878 and Mr. Church
in 1886, Mr. Wolf is now sole pro-
prietor and one of the leading and
most prosperous of Akron's many
enterprising and successfiil mer-
chants. October 25, 1864, Mr. Wolf
was married to Miss Mary Anna
Howe, daughter of Captain Richard
Howe, one of Akron's pioneer set-
tlers. They have two children —
Charles R., born November 2, 1869,
and Harry H.,born May 28, 1874. Mr.
W. was one of the founders and is
still a stockholder and director of the
Citizens' Savings and Loan Associa-
tion, and also a stockholder and
director of the incorporated firm of
Taplin, Rice & Co.
182
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
The Library ordinance, as revised and codified July 1, 1886, i»
as follows:
Sec. 279. The City of Akron shall maintain, at the public expense, the
library deeded and conveyed to said city by deed from the Akron Library
Association, of the date of January 15, 1877.
Sec. 280. In accordance with the terms of said deed a Board of Control
for said library shall be and is hereby provided, to be constittited in the fol-
lowing manner: It shall consist of six members— resident electors of said
city.
Sec. 281. The members of said board shall be chosen by ballot, by a
majority of all the members of the City Council, who shall annually at the
first meeting' in May, choose two members of said board for the term of three
years. All members shall serve for said term and until their successors are
duly chosen.
Sec. 282. Said Board of Control shall make its own by-laws, and hold its
meetings at such times as they may decide upon, and shall have the power to-
make such rules and regulations for the care of said library as they deem
necessary faithfullj^ to carry out the terms of said deed. That the board
shall have power to appoint a librarian and such other officers as they
maj^ require for the proper care of the librarj'-, and shall report semi-
annually to the Council the condition of said library.
Sec. 283. All moneys used by said board for library purposes shall first
be appropriated for such use by said City Council, and no expenses shall be
incurred, chargeable to the city, other than as covered by appropriations
made therefor by the City Council.
Sec. 284. The use of said library shall be free of all charge to the inhab-
itants of said city, the life members of the Akron Library Association and
their families, except such fines as may be imposed for the infractions of the
rules regulating the use of the same:
DR. WILLIAM C. JACOBS,— born
at Lima, Ohio, February 26, 1840;
educated in Lima public schools ; at
16 was appointed to National Naval
School, at Annapolis, Md., but
resigned in 1859, and began the study
of medicine with Dr. William Carson,
of Cincinnati, graduating from the
Ohio Medical College, in that city, in
1862. In April, 1862, was appointed
assistant surgeon of the 4th O. V. C,
serving with that regiment until
Deceinber, 1862, when he was pro-
moted to surgeon and assigned to
the 81st O. V. I., with which he served
till close of war ; during the Atlanta
campaign serving on the Operating
Board of Second Division of Six-
teenth Army Corps. In October, 1865,
Dr. Jacobs located in Akron, where
he has since been in continuous
practice, from 1870 to 1873 with the
late Dr. William Bowen, and after-
wards with Dr. Albert C. Belden. Dr.
Jacobs is a member of Summit
County Medical Society, Union Medi-
cal Association of North Eastern
Ohio, State Medical Society, and
American Medical Association ; was
the first secretary of the second
named society, and has held official
DR. WILLIAM C. JACOBS.
positions in others. September 10,
1863, Dr. Jacobs was married to Miss
Huldah M. Hill, a native of Knox
County, O. They have one child,
Harold H., born February 10, 1866.
now^ practicing medicine incompati}"
with his father.
The officers and directors of the Akron Library Association, in
its corporate capacity, were as follows: Presidents: William H.
Upson, 1866, '67, '68; George P. Ashmun, 1869; Lewis Miller, 1870;
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
183
JOHN W. BAKER,- born in
J Auburn, Cayuga County, N. Y.,
January 27, 1827, common school
education; in 1843, came with parents
to Akron; a year later went to Col-
umbus to learn cabinet making-,
serving three years, worked at trade
in Akron till 1850, when he went over-
land to California and engaged in
mining, remaining two years;
returning home, via Panama and
New York, worked for a musical
instrument firm until 1857, when he
became a member of the Akron
Melopean Company, continuing ten
years; then engaged in the manufac-
ture of cigar boxes, gradually adding
wood-turning and japanning, about
1870 forming a partnership with Mr.
John C. McMillen, a few years later
Mr. John P. Teeple being added,
under the firm name of Baker,
McMillen & Co., which in the spring
of 1890 was organized into a stock
compan}^, with Mr. McMillen as
president, Mr. Baker as superintend-
ent and Mr. Teeple as secretary and
treasurer, and is one of the most
prosperous industries in the city.
Politically a stanch Democrat, in
1876 and 1877 Mr. Baker represented
JOHN W. BAKEK.
the Second Ward in the Cit)^ Council.
May 6, 1853, he was married to Miss
Caroline M. Thayer, a native of New
York, who has borne him three
children, two of whom are now liv-
ing— Frank E. and Alice., both still
at home.
CARL WILHELM BONSTEDT.
pARL WILHELM BONSTEDT,—
^ son of Carl Frederic a n d
Augusta Wilhelmina (Peschau) Bon-
etedt, was born at Clausthal, on the
Hartz, Kingdom of Hanover, Ger-
many, January 11, 1825; common
school education; at 14 apprenticed
to grocery trade, serving four years;
then superintendent of the large
cigar factory of Landsmith & Co.,
at Engter, near Osnabruck, for several
years, when he came to America,
having charge of a large tobacco
business in Baltimore, Md., until
1855, when he came to Akron, as clerk
in the grocery store of F'erdinand
Schumacher, later being proinoted
to book-keeper; in 1863 bought out
Mr. S., continuing the business till
1875, when he sold out to his book-
keeper, Mr. John Terrass. After a
short engagement in the limestone
business, near Sandusky, again
embarked in the grocerj- trade in
Akron, with Mr. John Kreuder, at 210
East Market Street, the partnership
continuing six j-ears, on the with-
drawal of Mr. K., Mr. B. continuing
on his own account, until his death,
October 19. 18tK). the business being
still carried on by his sons. Mr.
Bonstedt was one of the organizers
and most active members of the
Akron Liedertafel; was first president
of Retail Grocers' Association, mem-
ber of Akron Mercantile Associa-
tion, Board of Trade, and of City
Council 1864-65. March 15, 1857, Mr.
Bonstedt was married, in Akron, to
Miss Augusta F. Beyer, a native of
Germany, w^ho bore him eight sons
and one daughter Charles W.. of
Greentown; Adolph; Victor E.;
Ferdinand, of Lincoln, Neb.; Her-
man; William H.; Frank; Louis, and
Augusta F. Mrs Bonstedt still sur-
vives.
184
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
David L. King, 1871, '72; Edwin P. Green, 1873. Vice Presidents:
Stephen H. Pitkin, 1866; Lewis Miller, 1867, '68; John J. Wagoner,
1869, '70, '71, '72; Thomas Rhodes, 1873. Corresponding Secre-
taries: Charles B. Bernard, 1866; Stephen H. Pitkin, 1867, '68, '69,
'70, '71; George W. Crouse, 1872; Byron S. Chase, 1873. Recording
Secretaries: James H. Peterson, 1866; John E. Miller, 1867, '68;
Arthur L. Conger, 1869, '70; William T. Allen, 1871, '72, '73. Treas-
urers: George W. Crouse, 1866, '67, '68, '69, '70; John H. Christy,
1871; WilUam B. Raymond, 1872, '73. Directors: 1866, David E.
King, Julius S. Lane, Julian H. Pitkin, Israel P. Hole; 1867, George
P. Ashmun, George T. Perkins, New^ell D. Tibbals, Edwin P,
Green; 1868, Ferdinand Schumacher, David L. King, George
T. Perkins, Edwin P. Green; 1869, Edwin P. Green, James H.
Peterson, Thomas Rhodes, Robert L. Collett; 1870, Jeremiah A.
Long, Byron S. Chase, Edwin P. Green, Ferdinand Schumacher;
1871, Sidney Edgerton, James H. Peterson, John Wolf, John H.
How^er; 1872, Sidney Edgerton, John H. Hower, George T. Perkins,
A^illiam C. Jacobs; 1873, John R. Buchtel, John H. Hower, George
T. Perkins, William C. Jacobs.
DR. MASON CHAPMAN,— son of
Lucius and Sally B. (Mason)
Chapman, was born in Copley, June
28, 1838 ; in 1857 went with parents to
Wisconsin, and later to Iowa, work-
ing on father's farm, except for a time
clerking: in grocery and boot and
shoe store, while living in Wiscon-
sin, till December, 1864 ; meantime
having attended Cornell College at
Mt. Vernon, Iowa, two years ; taught
school two terms and studied den-
tistry two years with Dr. Matson, of
Anamosa, Iowa. After a short visit
to the State of New York, in the
Spring of 186.5, caine to Akron and
engaged in the practice of his pro-
fession with Dr. C. H. BoUes, later
buying him out, and continuing the
business with phenomenal success to
the present time, having fitted up in
his own new building, erected in 1887,
corner Broadway and Mill, the finest
suite of dental parlors in the city.
An earnest Republican, though not
an office-seeker, Dr. Chapman ably
represented the Third Ward in the
City Council from April, 1878, to
April, 1880. November 3, 1867, Dr.
DR. MASON CHAPMAN.
Chapman was married to Miss Alice
L. Randall, a native of Copley town-
ship. They have one son, Cloyd M,
Chapinan, born November 5, 1874,
now a student in Akron High School.
At a meeting of the life members of the Library Association,
January 9, 1877, David L. King, Edwin P. Green, John R. Buchtel
and Sidney Edgerton were constituted a committee to convey, by
deed, with proper stipulation for its perpetual care, the library and
property of the Association to the city, concluding its labors by the
adoption of the following resolution:
Resolved, That the members of the Akron Library Association
are extremely gratified by the success of the movement to transfer
their library to the City of Akron, and have full faith that the true
interests of the Library Association will be promoted by such
transfer.
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
185
ANDREW H. NOAH— son of Elmer
and Esther Noah, was born in
Bath, February 15, 1858, his father
dyino^ in the war when he was quite
small ; was raised in Peninsula, edu-
cated at Oberlin College ; taught
school four 3^ears at Steele's Corners,
Boston Village and Chittenden's Cor-
ners ; worked for the Daj'ton (Ohio),
Hedge Company five years, in the
capacit}' of general agent, traveling
through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Ken-
tucky and Tennessee; December 29,
1880, was married to Miss Kittie B,
McGill, youngest daughter of James
and Susan McGill, of Urbana, Ohio ;
they have no children ; August 1, 1885,
bought half interest in real estate
busitiess with Frank A. Wilcox ; May,
1888 was elected member of Board of
Control of Akron Public Library, and
made secretary of the board, serving
two years and declining a re-election;
charter member of The Akron Build-
ing and Loan Association, on organ-
ization, in 1888, being elected secre-
tary, which position he still holds ;
Past Grand of Akron Lodge, No. 547,
JOSEPH ALVrN BEEBE.
JOSEPH ALVIN BEEBE,— born in
J New London, Conn., September
18, 1810; removed with parents, in
infancy, to Middletown, Conn.; com-
mon school education ; from 14 to 21
clerk in postoffice, under Postmaster
Joshua Stow ; in 1832 came to Cuya-
hoga Falls, and engaged in book-
binding with his brother, the late
Oliver B. Beebe ; in 1838 established
Akron's pioneer book store, on pres-
ent site of Houghton's grocery store
ANDREW H. NOAH.
I. O. O. F.; member of Akron Encamp-
ment and one of the five directors
of the Akron Underwriters' Asso-
ciation.
on East Market street ; in 1839 with Mr.
William E. Wright established the
Center Mill, near the present site of
the Allen Mill, continuing two or
three j^ears ; in 1841, in partnership
with Dr. Perkins Wallace, added
drugs to book trade in the old stone
block, later having Dr. Dana D.
Evans for a partner, and still later
(1848) Mr. Richard S. Elkins, after-
wards adding to their business the
publication of the Summit County
Beacon, the firm of Beebe & Elkins
continuing until 1879, over 30 j'ears.
October, 1880, Mr. Beebe was elected
a director of Count}^ Infirmar3' and
re-elected in 1883, serving six years,
most of the time clerk of the board ;
also occupied the position of City
Librarian seven j^ears, from 1882 to
1889. May 19, 1840, Mr. Beebe was
married, at Edinburg, Portage
County, to Miss Cornelia E. Wads-
worth (daughter of the late Frederick
Wadsworth). who bore him three
children — Helen, born August 16,
1841, now Mrs. William B. Rajnnond ;
Frederick Wadsworth, now of Paige
Brothers &'Co.'s hardware corpora-
tion, Akron; and Charles Joseph,
now of Philadelphia. Mrs. Beebe
died December 21, 1884, aged 65 j^ears,
10 months and 2 days, Mr. Beebe
dying May 16, 1891, aged 80 years, 7
months, 28 days.
The Board of Control consists of six members elected by the
Council, two each year, to serve three years, the Board maintaining
its own separate organization for the management of the affairs of
186
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
the library, subject only to the control of the Council in the matter
of its money expenditures, the authorized tax levy for its support
being limited by law to half a mill on the dollar, three-tenths of a
mill being about the average yearly levy for library purposes, the
expenditures for the year ending March 12, 1887, being $2,023.36,
and for the years ending March 15, 1888, $2,325.82; 1889, $2,500; 1890,
$3,700; 1891, $1,600, the Hbrary at the present time (1891) containing
about 12,000 volumes.
Members of the Board of Control, since the organization of the
Akron Public Library, have been: John R. Buchtel, J. Park Alex-
ander,Milton W.Henry, Edwin P. Green, George Tod Ford, William
T. Allen, William C. Allen, John W. Baker, Paul E. Werner, David
L. King, Charles A, Collins, Adams Emerson, Mason Chapman^
Noah A. Carter, Lewis Miller, Thomas E. Monroe, Frank M. Atter-
holt, Charles W. Bonstedt, C. P. Humphrey, Olin L. Sadler, Kalph
P. Burnett, Charles R. Grant, Elias Fraunfelter, Andrew H. Xoah,.
Louis Seybold, Louis D. Seward, Charles S. Hart.
JUDGE CHARLES R. GRANT, -
born October 23, 1846, in Orange,
New Haven County, Conn.; at 15
enlisted in 12th Connecticut V. I., and
held the extremely perilous position
of dispatch bearer on Gen. Butler's
Staff, in the Department of the Gulf,
and continued on the staff of Gen.
Banks until October, 1863, when he
was discharg-ed. In April, 1864, locat-
ed at Cuj^ahoga Falls, where he was
engaged in farming and study until
September, 1868, when he entered
.the freshman class at Western
Reserve College, graduating in 1872
as valedictorian of his class of eigh-
teen students. After a year spent in
Colorado, recruiting his health, he
entered the office of Judge N. D.
Tibbals as a law student, being
admitted to the bar, at Akron, in
September, 1874. Health a^ain fail-
ing, he engaged in farming until
January, 1876, when he formed a
partnership with H. B. Foster, Esq.,
of Hudson, in November of that year
locating in Akron, as a member of
the law firm of Foster, Marvin &
Grant, which arrangement continued
until his appointment by Gov.
Foster, September 16, 1883, Probate
Judge of Summit County, on the
death of Judge Goodhue, being
elected to the office in 1884, and
again in 1887, giving to the office
over seven years of able and faithful
JUDGE CHARLES R. GRANT.
service. October, 9, 1873, Judge
Grant was married to Miss Frances
J. Wadhams, of Boston township,
who died September 14, 1874. Nov-
ember 9, 1876, he was again married,
to Miss Lucy J. Alexander, of Akron,
who died June 8, 1880, leaving one
child — Frances Virginia, born Sep-
tember 24, 1877. August, 19, 1891, was
again ijiarried to Miss Ida Shick, of
Akron.
Presidents of the Board have been as follows: Hon. John R,
Buchtel, 1874-77; Milton W. Henry, 1877-79; Edwin P. Green,
1879-82; Rev. Thomas E. Monroe, 1882, '83; Noah A. Carter, 1883, '84?
C. P. Humphrev, 1884-86; Frank M. Atterholt, 1886, '87; Charles R.
Grant, 1887,'88; "OHn L. Sadler, 1888, '89; Charles R. Grant, 1890, '9K
POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS. 187
Secretaries: George Tod Ford, 1874, '75; William T. Allen, 1875,
'76; William C. Allen, 1876, '77; Paul E.Werner, 1877-82; Dr. Mason
Chapman, 1882-84; Paul E.Werner, 1884, '85; Olin L. Sadler, 1885,'89.
Louis D. Seward, 1890, '91.
Treasurers: Previous to 1882, the Secretary also officiated as
Treasurer of the Board, since \^rhich time the treasurers have been:
Frank M. Atterholt, 1882-85; Ralph P. Burnett, 1885 to present time.
Librarians: Theron A. Noble, from beginning to 1875; Horton
Wright, 1875-82; Joseph A. Beebe, 1882-89; Mary Pauline Edgerton,
1889 to present time.
Assistant Librarians: Mary Vosburg and Anna M. Kuinmer,
to December, 1875; Bessie Willis, 1875-85; Mary Pauline Edgerton,
1885-89; Mrs. Jennie M. Proehl, 1889 to present time.
Akronians are justly proud of Akron's Free Public Library,
which it is conceded is not only one of the very best equipped, in
point of the extent and arrangement of its alcoves, and the judi-
cious selection of its books and periodicals, but also one of the best
managed institutions of its class in the State. t
CHEAP POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS.
Besides the frequently recurring popular lectures and other
entertainments — literary and scientific — given under the auspices
of Buchtel College, the Grand Army of the Republic, and the
various church and other organizations of the city, the Young
Men's Christian Association, has, during two decades, not only
maintained a Avell supplied reading room, to which has recently
been added an extensive gymnasium, but for several years past
has given to the public, during the winter season, courses of ten
lectures and musical entertainments by the very best talent of the
country, at the extremely low figure of one dollar per course, their
popularity not only rendering them self-sustaining, but affording a
handsome surplus for the carrying forw^ard of the other branches
of the beneficent work of the association.
Long may Akron continue to cherish and liberally sustain her
magnificent educational, literary, benevolent and Christian
institutions.
CHAPTER X.
AKRON CHURCHES — FULLY ABREAST WITH HER BUSINESS ENTERPRISES,
SCHOOLS, ETC. — PIONEER RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS— STRIVINGS, STRUG-
GUNGS, ADVANCES, REVERSES, ETC.— THE SECTS VERY LARGELY REPRE-
SENTED— HARMONIOUSLY WORKING TOGETHER FOR THE GENERAL GOOD
—MODERN CHURCH STRUCTURES, SOME OF THE FINEST IN THE COUNTRY
—PRESENT STATUS OF ALL THE CHURCHES— MINISTERIAL ASSOCIATION,
ETC.
AKRON CHURCHES.
'T^^HIS chapter, giving an epitome of Akron's church history, is
^ largely compiled from the more elaborate sketches furnished
by pastors or prominent members of the several societies, with
such emendations as the personal recollections of the wrriter furnish,
and such statistical information obtained from official sources as
to bring the matters written of down to the present date.
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
This society, whose present church edifice is located on Kent
street, near Arlington, in the Sixth Ward, is undoubtedly the oldest
church organization in w^hat is now^ the city of Akron. It was
organized on the 15th day of December, 1831; by Revs. Benson C.
Baldw^in and John Hughes, with twenty-six members, one of w^hom,
only, Mr. Kdgar T. Chapman, now survives, though not now a
member of the congregation; but we are w^ithout definite data as
to when their house of worship was erected. Successive pastors
for tw^enty-four years were: Rev. Benson C. Baldw^in, December
1831 to September 1838; Rev. Abraham Sanders, October 1838 to
October 1839; Rev. H. A. Sackett, July 1840 to June 1841; Rev. James
Shaw, 1841 to 1845.
About this time, by reason of differences growing out of the
slavery question, quite a number withdrew from the society, and
organized the Congregational Church of Middlebury, the parent
church being ministered to by Rev. William Hanford in 1846; Rev.
Horace Foote in 1847; Rev. Elroy Curtis, 1848 to 1854. Having
harmonized their differences on the slavery question, the two
societies re-united, as an independent church, in 1860, under Rev.
William Dempsey, who continued to officiate as pastor until 1863,
followed by Rev. Mr. Hicks for three years; Rev. G. Hall, three
years; and Rev. Henry Avery three years.
In 1874, largely through the influence of the late Ambrose L.
Cotter, one of the original members, the society returned to the
fold of the Presbytery, under w^hose auspices it has since remained.
Late pastors: Rev. C. Barnes, 1874 to 1877; Rev. J. H. Jones, 1877 to
1881; Rev. D wight L. Chapin, September 1883 to 1889; Rev. Kdward
Ivayport, May 1, 1889, to present time. Membership in 1883, thirty-
five; present membership of 145; number scholars in Sunday
School, 150. About 1885 the present fine brick church, with hand-
somely decorated interior, Sunday School rooms in basement, etc.,
was .erected, at a cost, for house and lot, of some $10,000; the old
AKRON S CHURCH HISTORY.
18&
well-known and w^ell-w^orn brick church, south of the present fire
station, after half a century's faithful public service, for religious
meetings, political meetings, temperance meetings, lectures, con-
certs, festivals, etc., having been razed to the ground.
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
In the earlier years of its
existence, the few Presby-
terians and Congregational-
ists of the new village of
Akron, used to meet from
week to w^eek for conference^
prayer and praise at private
residences, school houses, etc.
In 1834 a Congregational
church, amenable to Pres-
bytery, w^as organized by
Rev. John Pettit, and in 1835
a small house of w^orship, a
cut of which is here given, was erected on the present Court
House grounds, but, on the location of the Court House at that
point, in 1840, was removed to the corner of Quarry and High
streets, and, after doing service for several churches, as elsewhere
detailed until 1877, w^as removed to the rear of the present German
Lutheran Church and used for the parochial school of that
Society until 1889, when it was torn down to make room for the
nice brick house now standing there.
The pulpit was supplied by Mr. Pettit, members of Western
Reserve College and others, until 1836, when Rev. James B.
Walker, a theological graduate from the college named, w^as called
to the pastorate, erecting for himself a dwelling house in the
woods, which house for many years was owned and occupied by
Richard S. Klkins, Ksq., late of Ravenna, and is still standing
immediately north of the Windsor Hotel. In 1839, Mr. Walker
resigned and w^as succeeded by Rev. James D. Pickands, who,
unfortunately, embraced and preached the Second Advent doc-
trines which so greatly agitated the religious w^orld from 1840 to
1846, as fully detailed in another chapter.
In consequence of these heresies, 22 members withdrew from
the church in the Spring of 1842, and on the 2nd day of January,.
1843, were formally organized, by a council convened for that
purpose, consisting of Rev. Seagrove Magill, of Tallmadge, Rev.
Joseph Merriam, of Randolph, Rev. Mason Grosvenor, of Hudson,
and Rev. William Clark, of Cuyahoga Falls, under the title of the
"Second Congregational Church of Akron."
July 3, 1843, nine others from the old, joined the new church,
and the 31 members proceeded to organize by the appointment of
Mr. Harvey B. Spelman, as Deacon, and Mr. Allen Hibbard, as
Clerk.
Meantime, the embryo society, holding regular services in
what was then known as the "Court Room," in the third story of
the large stone block on the southeast corner of Howard and
Market streets, had been ministered to by a young eastern theo-
logian by the name of Isaac Jennings, w^ho was ordained as the
190
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
first pastor of the new church, on the 14th day of June, 1843.
Measures were soon afterwards taken for the erection of a church
edifice, which was accordingly built at the corner of North Main
and Tallmadge streets, at a cost of $1,800, w^hich ^vas dedicated in
June, 1845. [This building in more recent years w^as purchased by
Mr. George WuUe, and used as a livery stable until destroyed by
fire in 1887.]
The pastorate of Mr. Jennings ceased in February, 1847, by
resignation, being followed by Rev. W. R. Stevens, as stated
supply, from November, 1847, until May, 1849, when Rev.
Nathaniel P. Bailey, now of Massillon, assumed the pastorate,
being ordained October 7, 1849. Mr. Bailey served until May 3,
1856, and >vas followed by Rev. A. Duncasson, from February, 1857,
to November, 1858; Rev. Abraham E. Baldwin, from 1858 to 1861
(ordained in February, 1860); Rev. Carlos Smith, December 30, 1861,
till the Winter of 1873; Rev. Thomas E. Monroe 1873 to the
present time.
By reason of the Second Advent delusions, the original First
Congregational Church had gone to pieces, and its house of
worship sold to the Disciples, so that the Second naturally became
the First, by which title it is now known.
REV. CARLOS SMITH, D. D.,—
born in Hopkinton, N. H., July
17, 1801 ; married to Miss Susan
Saxton, of Hanover, N. H., February
20, 1827 ; inducted into the ministry
at Utica, N. Y., b}^ the Oneida Pres-
tery in 1832 ; was pastor at Manlius,
N. Y., four j^ears ; Painesville, Ohio,
eig"ht jears ; Massillon, three years ;
Tallmadg-e, 14 years ; and of First
Congreg^ational Church in Akron 12
years— 1861 to 1873. " Father Smith, "
was a general favorite Avith all
classes — genial in his manner, and
earnest in his pietj", but remarkably
liberal and tolerant of the views and
feeling's of others. Mr. and Mrs.
Smith were the parents of twelve
children, four of whom died in
infancy and one — Eliza Mygatt —
dying at 16 years of age in Tallmadge,
the seven survivors being: Louisa
J., now Mrs. George Carter, of Jack-
sonville, 111.; Charles Edward, a ph)^-
sician in Palmyra, 111. ; Sarah Porter,
now Mrs. Leavitt Bissell, of New
York City ; Harriet Sanford, at home,
in Akron ; Mary Clark, now Mrs.
Robert McKee, of Waverly, 111.;
Ellen Chase, at home ; and Ethan
Sanford, attorney in Minnesota. Mr.
REV. CARLOS SMITH, D. D.
and Mrs. Smith celebrated their
golden wedding anniversary, Feb-
ruary 20, 1877, Mr. S. dying April 22,
1877, aged 75 years, 9 months and 5
days, and Mrs. S, December 21, 1889,
aged 84 years, 3 months and 24 days.
At the beginning of Mr. Smith's pastorate there was a mem-
bership of about 60, at its close 268, during which time a new
house of worship, a fine brick structure, on High street, had been
erected at a cost of some $40,000.
Soon after Mr. Monroe's accession, a gallery was added to the
seating capacity of the auditorium, and additional Sunday School
facilities provided in the basement, at a cost of $5,000. The house
AKRON S CHURCH HISTORY.
191
being partially destroyed by fire, on February 2, 1881, additions
and repairs were made to the extent of about $10,000, with a large
new organ, there being a fine-toned bell in the tower, and a first-
class clock, donated by one of Akron's best-known business men
for nearly half a century, Mr. Joseph K. Wesener.
REV. THOMAS E. MONROE,—
son of Job and Phtebe (Collins)
Monroe, of Scotch descent, was born
at Plainfield, Conn., April 28, 1829;
raised on farm with common school
and academical education; at 17
beg-an teaching in Rhode Island,
continiiingthree years ; then entered
a preparator}^ school in Providence,
the 3-ear following entering Oberlin
College, graduating from the clas-
sical coarse in I806 and from the
theological course in 1858 ; ordained
as a minister of the Gospel in 1859 by
the Cleveland Conference. Preaching-
one year in Amherst, Lorain County,
in 1860 Mr. Monroe became the pastor
of the First Congregational Church
in Mount Vernon, the church mem-
bership increasing during his
thirteen years pastorate from 150 to
457 and the society building a new
church edifice at a cost of $38,0(X).
April 1, 1873, Mr. Monroe became the
pastor of the First Congregational
Church of Akron, which position he
still retains; the society in the inter-
vening 18 years,be8idesmakingexten-
sive improvements on its house of
worship, having increased its inem-
bership from 268 to 903, besides con-
tributing- 100 of its members to the
West Congregational Church, organ-
First Congregational Church, South High
Street.
KEV. THOMAS E. MONKOE.
ized in 1888. June 3, 1859, Mr. Monroe
was married to Miss Hannah Marj'
Bernard, of Philadelphia, who has
borne him one child — Pauline, now a
teacher in the city of Philadelphia.
The church has now nearly
1,000 sittings, a roll of 903 mem-
bers, 746 of whom are residing
here at this time, besides having
recently transferred 65 members,
and a corresponding number from
the Sunday School, to the West
Congregational Chu^-ch, spoken
of elsewhere. Members of Sun-
day School, officers, teachers and
scholars in 1887, before division,
600; after division, 510; now, 1891,
572.
FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL
CHURCH.
Perhaps as early as 1830, a
small M. E. class was organized
in South Akron, and meetings
held ^vith such occasional mini-
strations as could be secured,
Rev. John Janes, of the North
192
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Ohio Conference, among the number. Just w^hen a church organ-
ization was effected is not- now ascertainable, though it was some-
time previous to the arrival of the writer in the village, in the
Summer of 1835, its meetings being then held in the school house,,
corner of South Broadway and Middlebury streets.
In 1836 the erection of a house of worship, 40x50 feet in size,
was commenced immediately east of the present brick structure,
corner of Church street and Broadway, >vhich was completed and
occupied the latter part of the following year. In the latter part of
the Winter of 1840-41 a protracted meeting of several >;veeks'
duration, was held, during which, on the morning of March 17,.
1841, the house was destroyed by fire, presumably from a defective
flue, or from ignition of some portion of the woodw^ork, from the
superheated stoves, the -weather of the night before, Avhile the ser-
vices were in progress, having been intensely cold, though it was
uncharitably and unchristianly insinuated by each of the tw^o
factions who were at loggerheads on questions connected with the
building of the church, that the house had been purposely fired by
the other faction.
REV. WILLIAM FARNHAM DAY,
D. D., — son of Rev. David Day,
was born in West Springfield, Mass.,
November 11, 1821, when a boy re-
moving- with parents to Franklin
Mills (now Kent), Ohio; educated in
part at home, in part independently
and in part under a tutor, but never
attended college though later in life
honored by Allegheny College in
1865 with the degree of Master of
Art-s, and by Baldwin University in
1869, with the degree of Doctor of
Divinity. He was a man of deep
learning, a thorough master of
Greek, a devoted student of historj-
and a great lover of scientific
research, his large library embracing
the whole range of literature, with
every department of which he was
thoroughly familiar. He was
licensed to exhort in 1843, and to
preach in 1845, receiving elders' orders
in 1849. Among the nearly- two score
appointments filled during a min-
istry of nearly forty years, he
was twice stationed in Akron as
pastor of the First M. E. Church,—
1855, '56 and 1868-'70, in all, five years,
his last charge being Titusville, Pa.,
where he died October 23, 1882, his
remains being interred in Akron
Rural Cemetery. Dr. Day was for
27 years Secretary of the Erie Con-
ference, and was twice honored with
REV. WILLIAM FARNHAM DAY, D. D.
an election to the General Confer-
ence— 1863 and 1872, his fidelitj- to his
own Conference, however, leading-
him to decline many tempting calls
to prominent localities in other Con-
ferences. Dr. Day was married in
1847 to Miss Ann Delia Grover, of
Poland, O.; of their four children two
only survive — Wilson M, now Presi-
dent of Cleveland Printing and Pub-
lishing Co., and Harriet, now Mrs.
John H. Auble, of Akron.
The house was soon afterwards rebuilt, upon the same founda-
tion, facing west, as before, but in 1861, under the pastorate of
Rev. J. D. Norton, the house was enlarged and remodeled, and
made to front on Broadway, at a cost of $3,500, During the Cen-
tennial 3^ear of Methodism in America, 1866, the sum of $30,000 was
contributed towards the erection of a new house of worship that
AKRON S CHURCH HISTORY.
193
should be commensurate with the rapidly increasing needs of the
society, and a fitting memorial to the beneficent aims and objects
of the denomination and a credit to the city.
The newT structure was commenced in the Spring of 1867,
immediately west of the old, the Sunday School room, lecture
room, etc., being dedicated on the 15th day of April, 1875, the old
building being at this time sold to Mr. Ferd. Schumacher, who,
moving it to the corner of Mill and Summit streets, fitted it up into
a hotel called the " Cascade House, " subsequently removing it to
the corner of Mill and Broadway, where it is still doing duty as a
part of the " Windsor Hotel, " though so disguised by its bi"ick
veneering as to be altogether unrecognizable by the former wor-
shippers therein.
The auditorium of the new
structure was completed in the
Autumn of 1871, and dedicated in
January, 1872, at which time over
$32,000 was subscribed to clear
the church from debt, the total
cost of the new structure, fur-
nishing, etc., being about $128,-
000. It is a fine building, both
externally and internally, and its
Sunda3' School rooms, planned by
Messrs. Le^vis Miller and Jacob
Snyder, pronounced at the time
to be the best in the world, though
many others have since been
modeled therefrom, both in the
cities of the United States and
Europe.
Successive ministers to t h e
church have been as follows:
1836, Thomas Carr and John F.
Holmes; 1837, Daniel M. Stearns
I'irst Methodist Episcopal Church, cor- and Thottias Graham; 1838, Hor-
ner South Broadway and Church .. -vx oj. -I oor» XI T^ t
Streets. atio N. Stearns; 1839, John Rob-
\ inson and Caleb Brown; 1840,
John Robinson and Beajamin K. Maltby ; 1841, Ira Eddy and James
O. Wood; 1842, Dr. Timothy Goodwin; 1843, William H. Hunter;
1844^5, Edwin J. Kinney; 1846, Samuel Gregg; 1847, James R.
Locke; 1848, Martin C. Briggs: 1849, Reuben J. Edwards; 1850-51,
Ezra Jones; 1852-53, John Tribby; 1854, Gaylord B. Hawkins;
1855-56, William F. Day; 1857-58, George W. Clarke; 1859, Thomas
Stubbs; 1860-61, John D. Norton; 1862-63, John Peate; 1864, E. A.
Johnson; 1865, '66, '67, D. C. Osborne; 1868, '69, '70, and till August,
1871, Dr. William F. Day; 1871 to 1874, W. W. Ramsay; 1874 to 1877,
Henry Baker; 1877, I. A. Pierce; 1878 to 1881, W. W. Case; 1881 to
1884, W. H. Pearce; 1884 to 1887, E. K. Young; 1887 to 1889, B. T.
Vincent; 1889 to present time. Dr. Gilbert De La Matyr.
Present membership, 1149; scholars in Sunday School, 1069;
Lewis Miller, Superintendent. Without disparagement to other
faithful workers and liberal givers in this church, it may justly be
said, that to the munificence of Mr. Miller is the society very
largely indebted for its present handsome church edifice, and. to-
18
194
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
his wise management, for the unprecedented success and pros-
perity of its model Sunday School.
THE BAPTIST CHURCH OF AKRON.
April 19, 1834, at the school house, corner of South Broadway
and Middlebury streets, was organized the "Akron and Middlebury
Baptist Church," Elder Caleb Green officiating as Moderator and
Elder Amasa Clark as Scribe, the members of the new organiza-
tion being: Horace Barton, Daniel B. Stewart, Henry H. Smoke,
Mrs. Thirza J. Smoke, Miss C. Barton, Mrs. Elizabeth Burton, Mrs.
Sally Smith, Miss Amanda Smith, Miss Elizabeth Stewart. March
5, 1836, an act was passed by the Legislature, authorizing the
incorporation of religious societies, this church being among the
very earliest to avail themselves of its provisions, as will be seen
by the following notice published in Akron's first newspaper, the
IFeeklr Post, June 10, 1836: "To All Whom it May Concern. A
meeting of the members of the Akron and Middlebury Baptist
Church and Society will be held at the School House in South
Akron, on Wednesday, the 16th inst., at 4 o'clock p. m., for the
purpose of organizing under their charter."
Arrangements were immedi-
ately made for the erection of a
house of worship, corner of South
Broadway and Center streets, a
cut of which is here given.
Elder Eber Crane was regularly
installed as pastor, and the house
was built under his management,
as the, agent of the trustees;
though considerable ill-feeling
was engendered, by the trustees
facing the building south,
instead of west, as the other
churches had been, and by alleged
mismanagement on the part of
I'vlder Crane and the building
committee, resulting in a heated
newspaper controversy, covering
six or seven columns in the
American Balance, and the
holding of a church council, with
Elder Levi Tucker, of Cleveland,
as Moderator, on the 6th day of
October, 1837. Though the dis-
sensions alluded to were not
entirely cured by the action of
the council, the church w^as dedi-
cated on the 26th day of October,
1837, Elder Tucker preaching the dedicatory sermon.
In 1853 the society sold its original church structure to the
German Reformed Society and purchased the original Universalist
stone church, on North High street, which was dedicated to the
uses of its new owners June 17, 1853, where they continuously
■worshipped for over a third of a century.
Original Baptist, late German Re-
formed Church, corner of South
Broadway and Center vStreets.
Erected in 1836-37. Torn
down in 1890
Akron's church history.
195
p K V. NATHAN S. BURTON, D. D.,
AV —born in Manlius, N. Y., Feb-
ruary 5, 1821, in infancy removing-
with parents to Elbridg-e, N. Y., and
in 1831, to Middle bury, Ohio;
attended Village School winters and
worked in father's sash factory sum-
mers; taught Southwest "Six Cor-
ners" school, in Tallmadg-e, two
winters; in 1841 entered Western
Reserve College, graduating in 1846,
delivering the valedictory oration;
taug-ht one j^ear in Norwalk (O.) Insti-
tute; in 1847 entered Theological
department W. R. CoUeg-e, also
acting- as assistant editor of "Ohio
Observ^er;" in 1848 attended Newton
(Mass.) Theological Institute; in
1849 returned to Hudson to com-
plete studies and fill the chair
of Latin and Greek in Colleg-e;
on g-raduating-, in 185(), became pas-
tor of Elyria Baptist Church; in
1853 first pastor of the Third Baptist
Church in Cleveland; in 1854 pastor
of the Granville Baptist Church, dur-
ing his eight years pastorate there
establishing a Young Ladies' School
now Shepardson College, its princi-
pal building- being- named "Burton
Hall"; in 1^2 became pastor of the
First Baptist Church in Akron; dur-
ing the rebellion serving- for a time
on the Christian Commission at
Grant's Headquarters, City Point,
Va.; in 1866 pastor of Ann Arbor
(Mich.) Baptist Church; in 1871 pastor
of Calvary Baptist Church, Daven-
port, Iowa; in 1877 accepted Chair of
Philosophy in Kalamazoo (Mich.)
College; in 1877 resumed the pastor-
ate of the Church in Akron, remain-
ing- ten years, during that time
officiating- six months as President
REV. NATHAN S. BURTON, D. I).
of Dennison University at Granville;
in 1887 visited Europe, and on his
return became pastor of the Need-
ham (Mass.) Baptist Church, where
he still continues. October 14, 1850,
was married to Miss Sarah J. Fair-
field, of Spring- Arbor, Mich. They
have live children — Henr}'^ F., Pro-
fessor of Latin in the University of
Rochester; Charles S., lawyer in
Chicago; Nellie, wife of Prof. W. W.
Beman, University of Mich.; Ernest
D., Prof, of Greek, Newton Theolog-i-
cal Institute, and Edward F., Iaw5'er
in Chicago.
Successive Pastors, previous to
first removal: Revs. Eber Crane,
Henry Carr, Stephen Van Voris,
C. A. Clark, J. Hall, David Ber-
nard, Lewis Kansted, J, M. Greg-
ory, J. C. Courtney, A.Joy. Since
removal: Mr. Joy continued until
1855, followed by Rev. J, W. Ham-
mond, one year; in 1856, by Samuel
Williams, five years; in 1862, by
Nathan S. Burton, four years; in
1866, by Frank Adkins, two years;
in 1869, by C. T. Chaffee, three
years; 1872, by J. P. Agenbroad,
one year; 1873, by Charles A.
Hayden, three years; 1877, by Dr.
Nathan S. Burton, ten years; in
1887, by Rev. A. M, Waxman,
whose pastorate terminated by voluntary resignation June 14, 1891.
First Baptist Church, South Broad-
•way. Erected in 1889-90.
196 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
At length, feeling the need of a more commodious house of
worship in a more convenient locality, in 1888 the society pur-
chased a handsome site on South Broadway, between Market and
Mill streets, and in 1889 erected thereon a fine brick edifice with
auditorium and Sunday School room on the same floor, and a light,,
airy basement for social meetings and other church purposes.
The building is 76x106 in size and of handsome design, as will be
seen by the fine engraving given herewith, the entire cost of lot,
building and furnishing being about $40,000.
Present membership of church 290. Present number of
scholars in Sunday School, 250.
THE UNIVERSALIST CHURCH.
Sundry Universalist ministers held religious services in
Akron, from time to time, during the years 1835 and 1836, and
during the early Summer of 1837 Rev. Freeman Loring organized
a society of believers in that faith, holding his meetings in the
third story of a building erected by Mr. Benjamin W. Stephens,
corner of Main and State streets, present site of Merrill's potter3^.
Among the members of that congregation -were Dr. Kliakim
Crosby and family. Major Miner Spicer and family, Henry
Chittenden and family, Watrous Mather and family, Jesse and
Jacob Allen, and quite a number of other prominent business
men of Akron and Middlebur^^; the choir, composed largely of the
sons and daughters of the families above named, being one of the
most attractive of any of the church choirs of the town or vicinity.
Steps were immediately taken for the erection of a suitable
church edifice. Dr. Crosby furnishing a lot on North High street,
and very largely defraying the cost of the building, the writer
doing the glazing and general painting, to the extent of some $200,
in part payment for t\^o acres of ground on West Market street;
our venerable fellow citizen, Mr. Curtis C. Wilcox, of 216 South
Union street, then living in Middlebury, gilding and varnishing
the balusters of the gallery, settees, etc., this being the first
church in Akron to have anything but stiff board pews and slips
for the seating of its worshippers.
The church was built of stone, and was then one of the hand-
somest structures of the kind in Ohio. The belfry w^as sur-
mounted by a tall spire on the top of which, above 100 feet from
the ground, was a gilded ball, two and a half feet in diameter, in
the center of which \vere deposited such articles as are usually
placed in the corner stones of similar edifices — church history,,
newspapers, coins, etc.
Some thirty years later the belfry timbers had become so
decayed that, on Sunday, August 5, 1868, the steeple being likely
to fall, to prevent possible serious accident, by attaching ropes to-
the lightning-rod connected therewith, it w^as pulled down, and in
falling the ball was broken to pieces. Such of the contents as
were found were in a fair state preservation, the copj^ of the
Akron Buzzard encased by the writer in a sealed quinine bottle,
being as clean and legible as when first printed, thirty-one years
before.
AKRON S CHURCH HISTORY.
197
Surmounting the ball was an
immense sheet-iron weather vane
in the shape of an angel, w^ith
soaring wings, proclaiming to
the whole world through a golden
trumpet, the Glad Tidings of Uni-
versal Salvation; the entire cost
of the structure being about
$8,000. A line-toned bell, pro-
cured by subscription of citizens,
was placed in the tower, and also,
a year or tw^o later a clock, man-
ufactured, and for many years
kept in repair, by the late Henry
S. Abbey. The society was also
presented w^ith a most excellent
organ, by the late Jesse Allen —
probably the pioneer church
organ of Summit County.
The society w^as incorporated
by Act of the Legislature, Feb-
ruary 4, 1839, the incorporators
t)eing Eliakim Crosby, Miner Spicer, Watrous Mather, Henry
Chittenden and Jesse Allen. The house was dedicated in Novem-
ber, 1839, the installation of Mr. Loring, as pastor, being included
in the dedicatory services; the membership at this time being about
one hundred persons. Though
Mr. Loring had taken almost
entire charge of the building of
the church, laboring incessantly
with his ow^n hands, his pastor-
ate, after its dedication, was of
short duration, a feeling prevail-
ing that though sound in doc-
trine, and earnest in its promul-
gation, he was not sufficiently
cultured for so "metropolitan" a
position, realizing which he tend-
ered his resignation and removed
to Suffield, Portage County, where,
after serving the church there for
a number of years, he finally
died.
Mr. Loring was succeeded by
Kev. Nelson Doolittle, for several
years, foUow^ed by Rev. J. G.
Foreman, the latter part of 1845,
and in 1849 by Kev. Z. Baker.
This latter gentleman leaning
strongly towards the Spiritual-
ist icfaith, w^hich was then a prev-
alent belief w^ith many, alienated
several members of the society
First Univer.alist Church, corner of ^^^^he true faith, begetting an
South Broadway and Mill vStreets. indifference which, couplcd with
198
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
the serious financial embarrassment of its principal promoter,
Dr. Crosby, caused the society to go to pieces,, and in 1853 its house
of worship was sold to the Baptists, as elsewhere stated.
After an interregnum of nearly thirty years, a new organization
was effected in November, 1872, with twenty members, Hon. John
R. Buchtel, Moderator; Sanford M. Burnham, Clerk; Avery Spicer
and Talmon Beardsley, Deacons. Rev. G. S. Weaver was chosen
pastor, in April, 1873, the meetings of the society being held in
the chapel of Buchtel College, then just completed. Mr. Weaver
was succeeded by Rev. Henry L, Canfield, in 1876, followed by
Rev. Kverett L. Rexford, president of College, in 1878, and in Sep-
tember, 1880, by Rev. Richard Eddy until July, 1881, and again by
Rev. Dr. G. S. Weaver, from December, 1881, to December, 1883,
followed by Rev. C. Ellwood Nash, from May 1, 1884 to May 1,
1891, succeeded June 7, 1891, by Rev. J. F. Thompson, of Jersev
City, N. J.
REV. C. ELLWOOD NASH, D. D.,
son of Rev. C. P. Nash, Univer-
salist clerg^^man at Conneautville,
Pa., was born in Warren County, N. J.,
March 31, 1855 ; removed to Michig'an
in 1856, and to Iowa in 1870 ; prepared
for college at Prof. W. W. Curry's
priyate school, Newton, Iowa;
entered Lombard LTniversity, Gales-
burg-, 111., as a sophomore, in 1872,
graduating as A. B. in 1875, in college
belonging to the Phi Delta Theta
fraternity; in September, 1875,
entered Tuft's Divinitj^ School, Tuft's
College, Mass., graduating as B. D.
in 1878 ; delivered Master's Oration
and received honorary degree of A.
M. at Lombard University, in June,
1878 ; was engaged as pastor at
Abington, Mass., during divinity
course, from March, 1877, to March,
1878 ; called to and accepted pastor-
ate of church at Stamford, Conn..
December, 1878, assuming pastorate
there in July, 1878; was married to
Miss Clara M. Sawtelle, of Auburn,
Me., December 31. 1878 ; went to New-
ton, Mass. as pastor in June, 1881,
and came to Akron as pastor of the
First Universalist Church, May 1,
1884, continuing until May 1, 1891, his
seven years pastorate here being
RSV. C. ELLWOOB NASH, D. D.
highly satisfactory to the meniber-s
of that societj', resigning to accept
the pastorate of the Church of Our
Father, Brooklyn, N. Y. Mr. and
Mrs. Nash are parents of four
daughters.
During Mr. Rexford's pastorate, the rapidly growing congre-
gation rendering such a step absolutely necessary, the fine new
house of worship, corner of Mill and Broadway, was erected at a
cost of about $40,000, Mr. Ferd. Schumacher generously donating
the lot, besides liberally contributing to the building and fur-
nishing fund, Hon. John R. Buchtel also subscribing liberall}' to
the various funds of the society. The present membership of the
church is about 350; scholars in Sunday School 325; teachers, 24,
ST. PAUL'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
Though an occasional Episcopal family resided in the neigh-
borhood, and though occasional services were earlier held, both
AKRON S CHURCH HISTORY.
199
St. Paul's Episcopal Chapel, corner East
Market and South Forge Streets.
in Middlebury and Akron, it was not until 1836 that a parish of that
denomination was organized in Akron, under the auspices of
Rev. William H. Newman, rector of St. John's Church, at Cuyahoga
Falls, (originally organized in Stow in 1830), Rev. T. J. Davis
assuming charge of the new church in 1838. The meetings of
St. t*aurs Church and society, like those of the other early
churches named, w^ereat first held in private houses and school
houses, or, by courtesy, in the
other churches of the village, and
afterwards for some three or four
years, in the second story of the
"Old Stone Block" so often
referred to in this work, on the
southeast corner of Howard and
Market streets.
This building was rather shab-
bilj^ constructed, and one Sunday,
in the latter part of 1840, when
services were in progress, a sud-
den storm, accompanied by high
wind, toppled over one of the
huge stone chimneys, with a por-
tion of the heavy battlement,
which Avent crashing through the
roof and the third, second and
first floors to the cellar. The
congregation, fortunately, were
not within the direct range of the falling mass, but, by the tilting
of the floor a number of seats, w^ith their occupants, were precip-
itated into the cellar, and Mrs. Stephen Willard Powers and her
mother, Mrs. Bush, Mr. George T, Ray, a young man named Morris
L3^on, then working for the writer, and perhaps one or two others,
w^ere somewhat bruised, but none of them were seriously injured.
At this time the erection ^f a house of worship was under-
taken, donations for the purpose, to the extent of $900, being made
by friends of the church in Philadelphia, the balance of the cost
of the structure to be raised by local subscriptions, principally of
materials and labor — money being decidedly a cash article in Ohio
in those days. The "chuckery" project, elsewhere alluded to, was
then on the boom, several of its promoters being zealous Episco-
palians, notably Dr. E. W. Crittenden, and with the expectation
that a fair proportion of the prospective inhabitants of "Sum-
mit City," would be of that faith, it was resolved to locate the new
church so as to acommodate both said "city" and the "village" of
Akron. Consequently the house was erected on North Maple street,
below Hickory street, overlooking the Ohio Canal, facing North.
Before this house was fully completed a contract was made
Avith Mr. Lyman Cobb, then an enterprising business man of
Akron, for the erection of a church edifice on South High street,
Mr. Cobb taking the first named house and lot in part payment,
which w^as at once converted into a tenement house, ever since,
until recently torn down, well, and sometitnes notoriously, known
as the " Cobb House." Besides the turning in of this propert3^, and
quite liberal contributions from citizens, the sum of $1,770 was
contributed by outside parties.
200
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
This new house, 40x60 feet in size, was dedicated June 27, 1844,
the parish then numbering sixty communicants. In 1870 the house
"was greatly enlarged and a newr organ provided, and also a hand-
some parsonage erected on North Summit street. In 1872, '73, new
Sunday School rooms Avere added, at a cost of $4,000. Finding
that this structure was inadequate to the rapidly growing needs
of the society, a commodious triangular lot, bounded on Kast Mar-
ket, Forge and Fir streets, was purchased, in 1884, at a cost of
$10,000, on which was erected a fine stone parish and Sunday
School house, 72x88 feet, at a cost of $35,000, which was dedicated
on the "Feast of Epiphany," January 6, 1885, the High street edi-
fice being sold to the Hebrews, in 1885, for a synagogue, as else-
where stated.
It is the intention of the parish to erect, at an early day, an
elegant and commodious church structure, and eventually a
handsome rectory upon the same lot. Successive rectors of St.
Paul's during the 52 vears of its existence, have been as follows:
1836, '37, Rev. Mr. Barrow; 1838-40, Rev. T. J. Davis; 1841-44,
Rev. Lyman Freeman; 1844-47, Rev. Robert G. Cox; 1847, Rev.
Mr. McElhinney; 184S, Rev. J. K. Stuart; 1850, Rev. E. H. Gum-
ming; followed a year or tw^o later, by Rev. R. S. Nash, and in 1854,
by Rev. D. G. Maybin; 1855 to 1859, Rev. Edward Meyer; 1860, Rev.
Henry Adams; 1863, Rev. Samuel Maxwell; 1866, Rev. W. T. Fitch;
1869, Rev. Henry Gregory; 1870, the present incumbent. Rev. Dr.
R. Iv. Ganter, twenty-one full years, and still popular and efficient.
"pEV. RICHARD L. GANTER, D.
•*^^ D., — born in Alleg'heny, Pa.,
July 23, 1835; primary education in
Catholic schools of Pittsburg-;
entered Kenyon Grammar School,
•Gambler, Ohio, in Spring- of 1851;
g-raduated from Kenyon College
Classical Course, Jtily, 1856, and from
Bexley Hall Theological Seminar}^
in 1859 ; ordained deacon of Episco-
pal Church the same year ; Presbyter
in 1860, then in charge of Grace
Church, Mansfield, O.; entered army
as private in 1861, and elected Chap-
lin of 15th O. V. I.; in 1863 took charge
of Trinity Church, Michigan City,
Ind.; in 1865 called and accepted
pastorate of Trinitj^ Church, Iowa
Citj', Iowa ; 1867 to 1870 superinten-
dent of Johnson County (Iowa) public
schools ; in October, 1870, on call,
accepted Rectorship of St. Paul's
Church, in Akron, which position he
still holds, being now, in point of
incumbency, the oldest minister in
Akron. During his pastorate the
Parish has grown from 80 communi-
cants to 370, with four distinct eras of
church improvement and building
during that time, the last being the
fine stone chapel, at intersection of
East Market and Forge streets, a
handsome engraving of which is
herewith given. September 27, 1865,
Dr. Ganter was married to Miss
Henrietta D. Sanford, at Painesville,
REV. KICHAKl) L. GANTER, D. D.
Ohio. They have four children liv-
ing— Anna S.; Leo S., at Warren, O.,
Charles R. and Maxwell. The Doc-
tor is at present atrustee of his Alma
Mater, and President of the Diocese
of Ohio.
Akron's church history. 201
Membership: 1836, five communicants; 1837, nine; 1839,
fifteen; 1844, sixty; 1888, 250 families, 370 communicants, 300 Sun-
day School scholars, 36 teachers.
HIGH STREET CHURCH OF CHRIST.
The Disciples of Christ, or as they were then popularly, or per-
haps derisively, called, "Campbellites," from the founder of the
sect, Rev. Alexander Campbell, as early as 1830 began to teach
their peculiar doctrines in this vicinity, and in 1339, organized a
church in Akron, the meetings at first being held in private houses,
school houses, halls, etc., the earlier preachers of the sect now
recalled by the w^riter being Klders William Hayden, E. B. Hub-
bard, O. Newcomb, M. S. Wilcox, A. S. Hayden, Almon B. Green,
R. Moffat, J. H. Jones Benjamin Franklin, Jasper J. Moss, etc.
At the organization of the society, by Klders Bently and
Bosworth, in 1839, there were thirty-two members, Levi Allen and
Samuel C. Bangs being elected elders, and Webster B. Storer and
Jonah Allen deacons. In 1843, a protracted meeting, conducted by
Elders John Cochrane and John Henry, resulted in 49 accessions
to the church. About 1845, the church property originally belong-
ing to the Congregational society, corner of Quarry and -High
streets, w^as purchased, which was occupied until 1857, when it
was sold to the German Lutheran society, who later removed the
house to the rear of the lot for school purposes, erecting in its place
their present handsome brick structure.
Tappan Hall, on East Market street, was now used for church
purposes for about six years. In 1863 the present site, on South
High street, was purchased and a handsome frame edifice was
erected thereon, at a cost of $6,000, to which quite extensive and
expensive improvements, from time to time, have since been
made.
Officiating pastors since 1845: ])r. William F. Pool, M. J.
Streator, W. S. Gray, Warren Belding, J. Carroll Stark, J. G.
Encell, J. O. Beardsley, L. R. Norton, R. L. Howe, Lathrop Cooley,
John L. Rowe, R. G. White, Frank M, Green, C. C. Smith and Levi
Marshall, the pastorate of the latter commencing October 29, 1885;
F. A. Morgan, February 1, 1890 to December 1, 1890; E. A. Bosworth,
April 1, 1891 to present time.
In 1875, 80 members of* the church, residing in that vicinity,
withdreAV from the society for the purpose of establishing a mis-
sion in the Sixth Ward, vt^hich was later organized into the Sixth
Ward Church of Christ, as elsewhere noted. Present membership
of High street Church of Christ, about 500; scholars in Sunday
School, 330; teachers, 29.
GRACE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
The original of the church now organized under the above
title, was one of the earliest church organizations of this vicinity
— ^the Old Middlebury Methodist Church — and part of the ancient
circuit, composed of Tallmadge, Brimfield, Mogadore, Pleasant
Valley and Middlebury. It was made a separate charge in 1870,
and in 1878 the old church edifice, corner Arlington and Exchange
streets, was neatly remodeled, under the superintendence of Archi-
tect Jacob Snyder, at a cost of $3,000. Among the earliest preachers
202
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
in this church were Revs. Mr. Monck, and the present venerable
Dr. George W. Clarke. Since, and including, 1869, the pastors of the
church have been as follows: M. Williams, George Elliott, W.
W. Painter, James Greer, J. H. Merchant, W. H. Wilson, J. B.
Cory, R. F. Randolph, A. W. Arundel, W. L. Slutz, R. M. Fresh-
water, M. W. Dallas, Rev. J. H. Conkle, September 1887 to Septem-
ber, 1890; Rev. J. K. Rader, September, 1890, to the present time.
The present membership of the church is 150; Sunday School
scholars 250. The society has recently constructed a comfortable
parsonage, at 1016 East Market street.
FIRST GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH.
About 1842, the German Evangelical Protestant Congregation
w^as organized, erecting a small house of worship, of stone, on the
side of the hill north of Doctor Scott's residence, on North High
street, Avhich building, devoted to secular purposes, is still stand-
ing. In 1852, the Lutheran element withdre^r and organized a
separate congregation, and in 1855, the German Reformed element
consolidated with the German Reformed Church, the latter having
previously purchased the original Baptist Church structure,
northwest corner of South Broadway and East Center streets, the
t^vo branches mutually "working for the cancellation of the debt
against the church property.
REV. JACOB DAHEMAN, D. D,~
born at Barmen, Rhenish Prus-
sia, April 11, 1831 ; in Spring- of 1846
entered counting' house in Elberfield,
two years later emigrating with par-
entsto Wooster, Ohio ; here he served
a three years' apprenticeship to trade
of tanner and currier, at which he
worked several years as journeyman
in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and
Michigan; in 1855, entered Marshall
College, at Lancaster, Pa., graduating-
in 18w ; then for two years attended
the thelog-ical seminary at Mercers-
burg-, Pa., graduating therefrom in
1862; ordained to the ministry by the
Philadelphia Classis of the Reformed
Church June 15, 1862, immediate]5'
organized a congregation in West
Philadelphia, known as the German
Evangelical Reforined Emanuel's
Church, building a fine house of
worship and parsonage, with a inem-
bership of 245 communicants ; also
officiating as stated clerk of Philadel-
phia Classis 10 years, clerk of Synod,
etc., receiving- the degree of D. D. from
Ursinus College, CoUegeville, Pa., in
1880. November, 1880, Dr. Dahlman
was called to the pastorate of the
First German Reformed Church in
Akron, which, as will be seen else-
where, he has served with eminent
KEV. JACOB DAHLMAN, D. D.
success to the present time, replacing-
the original frame church structure,
erected in 1836, '37, with a fine brick
edifice in 1890, '91. September 23, 1862,
Mr. Dahlman was married to Miss
Catharine M. Kopp, of Lancaster, Pa.,
who still survives. They have no
children.
Services were held on alternate Sundays in German and
English, by their talented young minister. Rev. L. C. Edmunds,
but after his rcvsignation, services in the German language, only.
Akron's church history.
203
were maintained, with Rev. John F. Engelbach, as pastor. April
27, 1857, articles of incorporation were filed under the name of the
"First German Reformed Church of Akron, Summit County,
Ohio." In the Fall of 1858, the German portion of the congrega-
tion, bought the interest of the English portion in the church
property, and are now the sole owners thereof.
Mr. Engelbach resigned as pastor in 1860, follo>ved bj^ Rev.
Robert Koehler, in 1861; Rev. J. D. Leeman, in 1864; Rev. John
Baumgartner, in 1866; Rev. Christoph Schiller, in 1870; Rev. Julius
Herold, in 1876; and Rev. Jacob Dahlman, D. D., the present
incumbent, in 1880.
In the tow^er of. the church was a fine-toned 1200 pound bell,
purchased by the citizens of Akron, in 1837, on condition that the
then owners, the Baptists, should permit the "Town Council of
Akron, and their successors in office, or their agents, thereunto
lawfully authorized, to go in and out of the Baptist Church in
Akron, free and unmolested forever, for the purpose of using said
bell," said arrangement being ratified by the trustees of the church,
Smith Burton, J. Rockwell, Robert K. DuBois, Richard Howe and
Joseph Cole, November 15, 1837, and by the Town Council of
Akron, November 23, 1837; and for many years this bell was rung
morning, noon and night, at stated hours, in sounding fire alarms,
announcing public meetings, times of holding court, etc.
The society finally feeling the
need of more room, in 1890, '91
replaced the old frame structure
with an elegant brick edifice, of
which a finely executed engrav-
ing is here given, the old "Town
Bell" ringing as clearly from its
lofty tower, as it did from the
belfry of the oi^ house when first
suspended therein 54 years ago.
The cost of the new building,
with fixtures, organ and furniture
complete, being $27,000. Dedi-
cated May 3, 1891.
The present membership of the
church is 575; Sunday School
scholars, 200; teachers 25. The
society formerly, for several years,
sustained a separate parochial
school, but at present only main-
tains said school during the
vacation of the public schools,
teachers being paid by tuition
fees from the pupils in attend-
ance. Church services are in the
German language, though the
pastor conducts missionary ser-
vices every month in English.
This society has fine cemetery
grounds (seven acres) of its own, "Mount Peace," on Aqueduct
street, north of West Market street, one of the finest locations for
burial purposes in the vicinity.
New German Reformed Church— corner
South Broadway and East Center
Streets— 1891.
204
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
GRACE REFORMED CHURCH.
This society was org;anized in the original Universalist Church,
March 5, 1853, by Rev. N. Gher. In 1863 its first house of worship
w^as established, by the purchase of the Congregational Church,
of Middlebury, and removing it to a lot purchased for that pur-
pose on South BroadAvay, south of Mill street. This building,
comfortably fitted up, served the purposes of the society until 1881,
when the present fine brick structure, 52x80 feet in size, -was
erected on the same site at a cost of $15,000. Successive pastors
from one to three years each: Revs. N. Gher, P. J. Spangler, L.
Bdmunds, J. Schlosser, J. F. Helm, William McCaughey, W. H.
H. Snyder, S. S. Miller, J. M, Mickley, and I. E. Graff. In 1868 Rev.
Edw^ard Herbruck assumed the pastorate, remaining four years,
followed by Rev. M. Laucks, about two years, and by Rev. Emil P.
Herbruck from April 1876, to September, 1886, Rev. J. B. Shontz
succeeding January 1, 1887, to May 1, 1888 succeeded in turn, Octo-
ber 1, 1888, by Rev. R. C. Zartman, to April 12, 1891, succeeded by
Rev. E. R. Williard, from Tiffin, July 1, 1891. Present member-
ship 640; Sunday School scholars and teachers 600.
GERMAN ZIONS LUTHERAN CHURCH.
REV. WILLIAM H. LOTHMAN,—
eldest son of Ernest and Clara
Elizabeth Lothnian, was born in the
village of Buer, Kingdom of Han-
over, January 31, 1845, at two and a
half 5'ears of age removing with par-
ents to Cleveland, Ohio ; attended
Cleveland parochial schools until
confirmed, in 1858, when he entered
Concordia College, at Fort Wayne,
Ind., graduating thCTefrom in 1862 ;
then entered Concordia Univer-
sity, at St. Louis, Mo., from which
he was graduated in June, 1866 ;
August 19, of that 5"ear, ordained into
the ministry, preaching in the Ger-
man Lutheran Church, of Elyria,
Lorain County, and Liverpool,
Medina Countj^, on alternate Sab-
baths, six years ; in August, 1872,
became pastor of Zion's Lutheran
Church, in Akron, a fine new church
edifice, and a commodious parish
school building having been erected
by the society^ during his pastorate.
The sketch of the church here given
will show the success of his nearl}^
twentj' years' pastorate in Akron.
June 20, 1867, he was married to
Miss Betty Husmann, daughter of
Rev. F. W. Husmann, of Euclid, Ohio,
who has borne hiin six children —
Emma, Lydia, Ida, Edwin, Gertrude,
KEV. WILLIAM H. LOTHMAN.
and Clara, all still living at home.
August 19, 1891, the silver anniver-
sary of Mr. Lothinan's ministry was
duly celebrated by his parishoners,
a number of his brother ministers
from Cleveland and other points
participating.
This society was organized August 6, 1854, by Rev. P. J. Buehl.
In 1855 the society purchased from the Disciples, the house and
lot forrnerly belonging to the Congregationalists, corner South
AKRON S CHURCH HISTORY.
205
High and Quarry streets. Rev. G. Th. Gotsch succeeded Mr,
Buehl, in 1864, the present incumbent, Rev. H. W. Lothman assum-
ing the pastorate in 1872. The
rapidly increasing membership
making more room absolutely nec-
essary, a fine ncAV brick church,
50x100 feet in size, with a 150 feet
spire, was erected on the site
named, the old house being re-
moved to the rear of the lot and
relegated to the purposes of a Par-
ish School.
The cost of the new edifice was
$16,000. The house was dedicated
on the 16th day of September,
1877, with impressive ceremonies.
The society is composed of 250
families and about 700 com-
municants. Sunday afternoons
the pastor gives catechetical
instruction to young and old.
Society maintains a parish week
day school, which children of
members attend until confirmed,
at the age of 13 or 14 years, when
they are sent to the public schools.
A new parish school house, a
handsome two story brick build-
ing, was erected in 1889, the old frame house after continuous
service for church and school purposes for 54 years, being razed
to the ground.
German Lutheran Church, corner
South High and Quarry Streets.
THE SIXTH WARD CHURCH OF CHRIST.
This society is an off-shoot from the High street Church of
Christ, as elsewhere intimated. At a meeting held at Mershon'&
Hall, March 30, 1875, a letter of dismissal from the parent church
was asked for, in which the memorialists said: "We are moved to
take this step by one motive, viz., for the greater usefulness in the
cause of our Lord and Master. With many of us this is a painful
duty, but a duty we think we owe to the community in which we
reside, in order to a proper upholding and advancement of that
cause we all profess to desire to see prosper."
The letter was granted, and the new church was duly organ-
ized, to be known as the "Church of Christ in Middlebury," with
80 members, and the following officers: H. T. White, Mendal
Jewett and Almon Brown, elders; Geo, F. Kent, and Thaddeus H.
Botsford, deacons; F. W. Inman, C. H. Palmer, and R. Whitmore,
financial committee; S. C. Inman, clerk; A. Thompson and William
Youmans, ushers; F. W. Inman, Geo. F. Kent, R. Whitmore, M.
Jewett and T. H. Botsford, trustees.
In 1878 and 1879, a handsome brick church edifice was erected
on Broad street at a cost of $6,000. Successive pastors of the
church have been as follows: Elder H. J. White, two years; Elder
Frank M. Green, half time from July, 1877, to April, 1888; Elder J.
206
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
W. James, April, 1878, one year; Elder W. H. Rogers, November,
1879, six month; Elder T. D. Butler, one year; Elder Jasper J. Moss,
three months; Elder S. A. Wurts, six months, ending September
20, 1882; Elder A. B. Williams, April 1, 1883, to April 1, 1887; Elder
J. J. Moss, three months; Elder Frank W. Norton, July 1, 1887, to
February 1, 1890; S. C. Humphrey, June 1, 1890, to present time.
The society was duly incorporated as the "Second Church of
Christ, Akron, Ohio," September 1, 1887. Present officers: Elder,
Charles T. Inman; clerk, Edwin Corl; deacons: John Harrison,
Sidney C. Inman, John B. DeHaven, George Viall, John Roberts,
George F. Kent, Present membership, 150; scholars in Sunday
School, 90; teachers, 10.
TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH.
The English Evangelical Luth-
eran Church of the Holy Trinity
was organized in the Spring of
1870, through the efforts of Rev.
W. A. Passavant, D. D., of Pitts-
burg, and Rev. S. Laird, with
about thirty members. The first
regular pastor was Rev. U. P.
Ruthrauff, during w^hose pastor-
ate the beautiful gothic brick
church edifice, on Prospect street,
w^as erected, at a cost, including
parsonage, of $45,000. The
church was dedicated in June,
1872, soon after which Mr. Ruth-
rauff resigned, and was suc-
ceeded by Rev. J. F. Fahs, Octo-
ber 2, 1872. After a service of
nearly ten years, Mr. Fahs was
succeeded by Rev. Dr. J. B. Hel-
wig, four years, the present
incumbent, Rev. M. J. Fiery,
commencing his pastorate
December 1, 1886.
The present membership of the Church is 425; scholars in
Sunday School, 450; teachers, 25.
GERMAN METHODIST CHURCH.
This society was organized in 1887, by Rev. A. J. Bucher, a
small but neat and convenient house of worship having previously
been erected on the corner of East Exchange and Pearl streets
which was dedicated December 12, 1886, Rev. J. C. Gerlach, the
present Pastor, succeeding Mr. Bucher, October 6, 1888. Present
membership, 55; Sunday School scholars, 60; teachers, 12. All
services in German.
Trinitj' Lutheran Church and Parson-
sonage— Prospect Street.
THE UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH.
This society was organized in October, 1882, by Rev. J. Excell,
with 12 members and one Sunday School scholar. A snug little
house of worship, 30x45 feet in size, was built on the corner of Hill
Akron's church history. 207
and James streets in 1884, at a cost for lot and building, of $3,2(X).
Successiv^e Pastors : J. Excell, one 3'^ear ; S Castorline, two years ;
H. J. Becker, one year ; C. Whitney, t>vo years : C. N. Queen 1888,
1889; Rev. Vernon L. Fry, September 1889 to September 1890; Rev.
J. F. Shepard, September 1890 to present time. Present member-
ship, 230; Sunday School scholars, 150; teachers and officers 14.
CALVARY EVANGELICAL CHURCH.
This society was organized in 1866, by Rev. H. F. S. Sichley,
Avith 14 members, Benjamin Stahl, leader. In 1867 it was made a
Mission, by Conference, under charge of Mr. Sichle}'^. A church
edifice w^as commenced the same j^ear, and the basement com-
pleted and dedicated October 6, 1867, by«Presiding Elder, Rev.
John StuU, the main audience room being dedicated May 3, 1868,
by Bishop Joseph Long; the structure, outside of considerable
work and material contributed by individual members, costing
about $4,000.
This house though considerably enlarged and improved, being
still inadequate to the rapidly grooving needs of the society, an
entirely new^ church edifice ^vas erected in 1888-'89 on the front end
of the lot, corner of Bartges and Coburn streets. Size of building
(frame) 54x100 feet, its cost being $12,340; seating capacity 1,000.
Successive Pastors since organization: Revs. Jesse Lerch, A.
Swartz, H. E. Strauch, A. E. Driesbach, S. S. Condo, A. Vander-
soll, L. W. Hankey, J. B. Kanaga, S. S. Condo, D. C. Eckerman, J.
A. Hensel, and E. M. Spreng, the latter assuming the pastorate in
September 1890. Present members of Church, 390; teachers and
scholars in Sunday School, 500,
ST. VINCENT DE PAUL'S CHURCH.
At quite an early day, the construction of the Public Works of
Ohio centering a large Catholic element at this point. Catholic
services were occasionally held in the private houses of the mem-
bers of that faith. Father Henni, afterwards Archbishop of Mil-
waukee, 1835, coming on horseback from Cincinnati and saying
mass in the cabin of the late James McAllister, then living in the
village of Akron; Rev. J. B. Purcell, afterwards Archbishop of
Cincinnati, Rev. Louis De Groesbriand, Father McLaughlin,
Father Basil Short and others, holding services from time to time,
the latter attending to the baptising of children, etc., from 1837
to 1842.
A small frame house \^as commenced on Green street, in 1843,
by Father M. Howard, who retained charge of the congregation to
1844. Father Cornelius Daly in charge from 1845 to 1848, enlarged
and finished the house begun by Father Howard, Father Daly
being the first resident pastor. Succceeding pastors have been
Rev. Cassina Moavet, October 1848 to June 1850; Father Goodwin,
June to December, 1850; Rev. Francis McGann, December, 1850 to
August 1855; Rev. L. Molon, January, 1856, followed by Rev.
Thomas Walsh and Rev. W. O'Connor for about three 3^ears; Rev.
M. A. Scanlon from July, 1859 to November, 1873; Rev.
Timothy Mahoney from November, 1873, to August 1, 1880, at
which time the present incumbent. Rev. T. F. Mahar, assumed the
pastorate of the congregation.
208
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
REV. THOMAS F. MAHAR, D. D.,
— son of Thomas and Ann
(Hart) Mahar, both natives of the
United States, was born at Scranton,
Pa., September 28, 1851, in 1862 entered
St. Mary's College, in Cleveland,
where he remained four years, then
attended St. Louis College, at Louis-
ville, Stark County, three years. In
1869 he went to Rome, Italy, where
he pursued his ecclesiastical studies
six years, there receiving- the degrees
of Ph. D. and D. D. In 1875 came to
Cleveland, where he was made
Assistant Pastor in St. John's Cathe-
dral, serving in that capacitj^ five
years. August 1, 1880, by appoint-
ment of Bishop Gilmour, Father
Mahar becaine the Pastor of St.
Vincent de Paul's Church, of Akron,
his ministrations having been
attended with signal success to the
present time, as will be seen by the
history of the church, given else-
where, not only having charge of St.
Vincent de Paul's Church proper,
on West Market Street, with a mem-
bership of 275 fainilies, but of St.
Mary's division, on South Main
Street, with a membership of nearlj^
REV. THOMAS F.' MAHAK.
100' families, (soon to be erected into
an independent parish), with his
brother. Rev. William G. Mahar, as
his assistant.
On St. Patrick's Day, 1864, the present imposing stone church
edifice, 50x100 feet in size, corner of West Market and Maple streets
was begun, the exact date of its dedication not being remembered
by the writer. The architecture is of the Roman order, the
interior being handsomely stuccoed, and its twelve large windows
being of elaborately stained glass, emblematical of sacred Bible
characters and scenes, the keystone of each Avindo^w arch, upon
the outside, being the finely carved head of some of the more
prominent Saints of the Koman Calendar. The tower, and the
furnishing have not yet been fully completed, though the tower
now contains a large, fine-toned bell, placed there by the congrega-
tion, and a first-class clock, procured by general contributions of
citizens. The estimated cost of building, -when complete is $50,000.
This society has a handsomely laid-out cemetery, fronting on
West Market street, opposite Portage road, consisting of about
seven acres of ground, the original cost of which Avas not far from
$2,500.
The society also in 1887 erected, immediately east of the
church, an elegant brick parsonage, at a cost of $5,000. The con-
gregation consists of 275 families, or 1,500 souls.
ST. VINCENT DE PAUL'S CHAPEL OF EASE.
To accommodate the rapidly increasing "South End" member-
ship of the above named society, St. Mary's Division was organ-
ized and a fine brick building, 36x62 feet in size, two stories high,
viras erected in 1887, on South Main Street, opposite McCoy Street,
in wrhich, besides being used for a parish school, as elsewhere
stated, Father Mahar has hitherto held regular services every
Sunday afternoon, but is now assisted in his ministrations to that
AKRON S CHURCH HISTORY.
209
branch of the Church, by his brother, Rev. William G. Mahar.
There are at present connected Avith this division 100 families, or
about 500 souls. It is the intention to erect a commodious brick
church edifice upon the same lot at an early day.
ST. BERNARD'S CHURCH.
Originally all of the different nationalities subscribing to the
Roman Catholic faith, residing here, were embodied in the one
church organization of St. Vincent de Paul. Owing to the rapidly
increasing German element in that denomination, an amicable
separation was effected in 1861, tAventy-three families, of the Ger-
man-speaking portion, at that time forming a new society, under
the title of " St. Bernard's Catholic Church. " The new society was
placed in charge of Rev. Father Loure, of St. Peter's Church,
Cleveland, by whom the corner-stone of a new church, northeast
corner of South Broadway and Center streets, was laid in 1862.
The new church was completed and occupied in January, 1863.
REV. JOHN B. BROUN, D. D.,—
born in Rening, France, March
2, 1834, moving with parents to Mon-
roe, Mich., in 1847; at 20 entered
Assumption College, at fcandwich,
Ontario, remaining there three years;
then entered St. Thomas College,
near Bardstown, Ky., from which he
graduated in 1859; then spent one
year in St. Mary's College, Cleveland,
studied Theology at Assumption
College three j^ears, ordained priest
in 1863, and located at Eagle Harbor,
Mich., with a territory 55 miles in
length, embracing three churches,
sixteen missions and over 1,000
families, in making his semi-
monthly visits to the churches and
inonthly visits to the missions often
traveling long distances on foot. In
1866, Father Broun assumed the pas-
torate of St. Bernard's Church, in
Akron, in whose spiritual and tem-
poral interests, for over a quarter of
a century, with the exception of two
brief visits to Europe, in 1873 and 1890,
he has labored with phenomenal
REV. JOHN B. BROUN, DD.
success, as fully set forth in the his-
torj^ of that church, elsewhere given.
First cost of structure not remembered, but accessions and
improvements to the church property have since been made as
follow^s: 1865, residence of pastor, $2,200; 1866, cemetery, 4i/2 acres,
$2,500; 1867, school house, $1,400; 1868, renovation of church, $1,150;
1870, two bells, $1,350; 1874, necessary improvements, $1,200; 1877,
bell tower, $2,600 ; frescoing church, $400 ; large bell, $946 ;
other improvements, $200; 1880, addition to the church, $12,000;
enlargement, heating, etc., of parsonage, $4,000; interior of church —
altars, statues, candelabra, etc., $3,000. As w^ill be seen by an item
in a preceding. chapter, the society has recently purchased tw^o
large lots abutting on South Broadway, Center and State streets,
at a cost of $9,000, on which it has erected a parish school building
14
210 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
costing $35,000, and on the south part of which it is the intention
of the society to build an imposing church edifice, or cathedral, in
the near future.
Pastors of church since Father Loure: 1862, Rev. Louis Shiele,
the first regular pastor; 1863, Rev. Peter Donnerhoffe; 1866, the
present incumbent, Rev. John Broun. Present membership
between 400 and 500 families or nearly 2000 souls. Children in
schools about 500.
AKRON HEBREW CONGREGATION.
Though a number of Hebrew^ merchants commenced doing
business in Akron as early as 1845, and that class of our population
increased from year to year, no steps were taken towards the
organization of a congregation of that faith until 1865. April 2, of
that 3^ear, a legal organization was effected, with Michael Joseph,
Theo. Rice, J. L.Joseph, S. B. Hopfman, Simon Joseph, H. W. Moss,
Isaac Levi, S. M. Ziesel, Moses Joseph, Herman F. Hahn, J. N.
Leopold, D. Leopold, Louis Calish, Caufman Koch and Jacob
Koch, as charter members. Being reluctant to call upon other
denominations, or the public generally, in providing for them-
selves a house of worship, for four years after its organization the
association had no fixed place for holding its meetings, but in 1869
fitted up a room in the third story of Allen's block for synagogue
and school purposes. This ^vas occupied until 1874, when new
rooms were fitted up in Clark's block, on the opposite side of
Howard street, \vhich, in turn, gave place to still more commo-
dious quarters in the third story of the new Barber block, cor-
ner, of Howard and Cherry streets, in 1880, over $1,000 being
expended in fitting up the latter, nearly as much more, probably,
being expended upon the two former.
In 1885 the former house of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, on
South High street, was purchased for the sum of $4,500, and refitted
for a Jewish Temple, at an additional cost of $2,000. In this pur-
chase and improvement, outside aid to the extent of $2,500 was
accepted from citizens generally, the members of this societ3^ ever
doing their full share in the business and benevolent enterprises
of the day. The congregation some time ago purchased land for
burial purposes, adjoining the Akron Rural Cemetery, on the w^est,
but afterwards transferred the same to the Cemetery Association,
in exchange for a section of the southeast corner of the cemetery
grounds, paying the association $1,000 additional in money.
The Jewish population in Akron is probably about 300 souls,
175 of whom are adherents of this branch of the church, the
remainder, composed mostly of other nationalities than the Ger-
man, being know^n as " Orthodox Je^vs, " which has no Rabinical
head at the present time.
The number of paying members — heads of families — of the
High Street Society is about 125, with about 40 Sabbath School
scholars, the children attending the public schools during the
week, the Rabbi giving them lessons in German and Hebrew four
times a week, the regular religious services of the congregation
being held on Friday evening of each week. Successive ministers
to the congregation have been: Revs. N. Hirsch, N. L. Holstein,
Akron's church history.
211
J. Jesselson, A. Suhler, A. Schreier, A. Burgheim, S. M. Fleisch-
niari, B. Rabbino and Rabbi Joseph Wassertnan, the present
incumbent.
WEST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
About 1885, owing to the rapid increase of the protestant
population in the west part of the cit}^, and especially in view of
the somewhat plethoric status of the First Congregational Society-
worshipping on South High
street, a new society upon the
West Side began to be talked of,
when Mr. Lorenzo Hall gener-
ously proposed to donate a lot
for the proposed new church, on
the northwest corner of West
Market and North Balch streets.
The proposition was accepted,
and a tasty frame structure,
50x50 feet in size, with light and
airy Sunday School rooms in
basement, vt^ a s completed i n
December, 1887, at a cost of $6,300.
The church was duly organ-
ized April 12, 1888, with 65 mem-
bers from the parent society, and
others, the present membership
of the new society (August, 1891),
being 225; Sunday School teach-
ers and scholars, 400.
May 13, 1888, Rev. David T.
Thomas, a graduate of Lane
yir^f^fC r ifc^ Of
West Congregational Cliurch, corner
West Market and North Balch
Streets.
RE\^ DAVID T. THOMAS,— second
son of Thomas E. and Margaret
Thomas, was born in Penycae, Mon-
mouthshire, Soixth Wales, July 20,
1857, emigrating- with parents to Min-
•eral Ridge, Mahoning County, Ohio,
in 1864, three years later moving to
Brookfield, TrnmbtiU County, work-
ing at coal mining; in 1876 worked on
farm near West Farmington ; in 1877
attended commercial college in
Youngstown ; then clerked in grocery
store in Sharon, Pa., fifteen inonths ;
in 1879 entered preparatory depart-
ment of Western Reserve College, at
Hudson, going to Cleveland on
removal ofcollege thither, and g-radu-
ating from Adelbert University in
June, 1885. In Fall of that year
■entered Lane Theological Seminar}^,
at Citicinnati, graduating therefrom
in May, 1888, previous to graduation
accepting call to the pastorate of the
West Congregational Church of
Akron, entering upon his ministerial
labors May 13, 1888, and continuing to
the present time. January .5, 1889,
Mr. Thomas was married to Miss
Millie H. Alexander, daughter of the
late David S. and Sarah (Hale) Alex-
REV. I>AVID T. THOMAS.
ander. Thej^ have one child — Ruth
born June 19, 1891.
212 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Theological Seminary, at Cincinnati, became the pastor of the new-
church (his first regular charge,) though not as yet regularly'
installed. Taken all in all, the West Congregational Church is
one of the most prosperous of the younger religious societies in
the city.
AFRICAN M. E. ZION CHURCH.
For a number of years the colored people of Akron have main-
tained, "with more or less vigor, distinct religious organizations,
the present society knowrn as the African Methodist Episcopal Zion
Church, having been in existence some twelve or fifteen years.-
At first meetings were held in private houses and halls, but after
the erection of the present Perkins School building, the old frame
school house was purchased and removed to the present site of
Andrew Jackson's lumber office, on Exchange street, east of Ohio
Canal. This point being needed for business purposes, about 1882,
through the aid and under the auspices of the Ladies' Home Mis-
sionary Society, a lot was purchased on South High street, between
Cedar and Chestnut streets, and the house in question removed
thereto and duly fitted up and furnished. For some time church
and Sunday School services were conducted under the auspices of
the Avhite ladies of the Missionary Society, but now wholl}^ by the
colored people themselves — regular morning and evening services
every Sunday, with Sunday School in the afternoon. Among the
pastors of this church have been Rev. P. R. Anderson, five j'^ears;
Rev. Charles H. Docket, one year; Rev. A. B. Mathews, two years;
Rev. P. R. Anderson (second time), one year; Rev. J. H. McMuUen,.
one year, and present incumbent, Rev. George Cliff. Present
trustees (1891): Isham Smith, Milton Taylor, Richard Jones,
James Morrison, Wilson Gross. Present membership, 25; Sunday
School scholars, 25; teachers, 5.
SHILOH BAPTIST CHURCH (COLORED).
This society has been organized about 10 years, but having no
house of worship of its o\vn, meetings are at present held in a
hall on Howard street. Rev. Cheatham, of Cleveland, officiating
every other Sunday. Membership, 25; Sunday School scholars
and teachers, 40.
TRINITY REFORMED CHURCH.
The rapidly increasing population of the region known as
"North Hill," rendering better church and Sunday School facili-
ties an imperative necessity, a Union Sabbath School wras organ-
ized, and a suitable building for general religious services erected
on North Howard street extension in 1889. The interest manifested
in this enterprise by the people of that vicinity, soon created a
demand for distinctive church privileges, and on October 1, 1890,
Rev. E. D. Wettach organized Trinity Reformed Church, with a
present membership of 150, and a Sunday School of 270 scholars and
teachers, a Sunday School building, with seating capacity for 350,
having been erected at a cost of $3,800 with the intention of adding
thereto a more commodious church structure at an early day.
NORTH HILL M. E. CHURCH.
February 1, 1891, Rev. O. A. Curry organized, in the Union
Sunday School House, a new M. E. Church, under the above title,.
Akron's church history. 213
the present pastor being Rev. Mark G. McCaslin, of Kent.
Present membership, 60: Sunday School scholars (union) 75 to 100.
This new society have secured a lot at corner of North Howard
street and Tallmadge avenue and have already (July, 1891) a fund
of $3,000 towards the erection of a house of worship. Trustees:
Wilson Treash, George L. Hanks, George Rittenhouse, Henry
Zink, Robert Turner, Andrew^ Jackson and B. C. Herrick — Treash
and Zink, leaders.
WABASH AVENUE CHURCH OF CHRIST.
The young people of the High Street Church of Christ, feeling
the necessity of Missionary work in the southwestern portion of
the city, in June, 1889, organized a Mission Sunday School in that
locality, \\rith such marked success that on Sunday, July 12, 1891,
a handsome chapel, corner of Wabash and Euclid avenues, costing
^2,400, ^vas dedicated. The Sunday School membership is now
(July, 1891) 140 vsrith 12 teachers and officers. Church organiza-
tion, proper, not yet perfected.
SOUTH MAIN STREET CHURCH OF CHRIST.
This is also a Mission enterprise, organized in March, 1891,
tinder the auspices of the High Street Church of Christ, services
thus far having been held in the Falor school house, though the
erection of a house of Avorship at an early day is in contemplation.
Present membership (July, 1891) 58; Sunday School scholars
^union) 91; teachers and officers, 15.
SHERBONDY HILL CHURCH OF CHRIST.
Organized February 1, 1891; present place of worship
Sherbondy Hill school house, Rev. Wellington Besaw; present
membership (July, 1891), 21; Sunday School scholars, 100.
EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH.
Organized under the auspices of the Evangelical Lutheran
Synod, by Rev. E. M. Engers, of Defiance, in Germania Hall, on
Sunday, July 12, 1891, with a membership of 14. Temporary
officers; Frank Werner, president; Fred Albright, secretary;
•Christian Reinhard, treasurer.
OLD FORGE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Under the auspices of the First Congregational Church, in
which a union Sunday School is maintained with about 180
scholars, and regular preaching by Rev. Clinton W. Wilson.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE CHURCH.
Organized May, 1890, in hall, 200 East Market street; Rev.
George E. Burnell, pastor; Trustees: Herbert P. Hitchcock, chair-
man, Charles M. Huntley, Earl D. Shepard; membership 50;
Sunday School 50.
214 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
SWEDISH EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN BETHANY CHURCH.
Organized January 29, 1889: Services every other Sundaj^ by
Rev. G. M. Nilseneus, of Cleveland; deacons, John Petterson, Nels
Nelson, Nels Bengtson; trustees, Gustof Carlson, Gustof Johnson,
John Olson; church edifice on Roswell street, 28x45, two stories
and basement, erected in 1891; membership 75; Sunday School 78,
CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
At a special meeting of the Cleveland Presbytery, in 1891, a
committee, consisting of Revs. KdwardLayport, A. J. Hall, Charles
S. Pomeroy and John C. Klliott, were appointed to look over the
ground, with the view of organizing a new Presbyterian' Church in
the central portion of the city. It is understood that the com-
mittee is meeting w^ith such encouragement, in the way of pledges,
that an organization w^ill soon be effected, and a commodious
house of worship erected, though the exact location has not yet
been definitely decided upon.
AKRON MINISTERIAL ASSOCIATION.
This Association has been in existence several years, its aim
and object tersely stated in article 2, of its Constitution, as fol-
lows: "To cultivate mutual acquaintance and the social element;
to discuss local and social problems, and to secure, as far as possi-
ble, harmony and united action on questions of public expediency."
At first the constitution provided that all resident ministers,
in good and regular standing in their respective denominations,
might become members by invitation of the Association, through
its Secretary, but an amendment, passed September 8, 1885,
extended the privileges of the Association to all clergymen resi-
dent in Summit County.
The officers are: president, vice president and secretary,
elected annually. Regular meetings are held every two weeks,
except during the months of July and August, with such special
meeting as the best interests of the Associati(>n may seem to
demand.
The meetings of the Association are open to all, and its pro-
ceedings are participated in by the ministers of the religious
denominations of the city and county, and is a very useful organi-
zation, not only in a social and fraternal point of view, but in
securing unity of action in regard to the promotion of the relig-
ious and moral questions and reforms of the day.
CHAPTER XI.
AKRON'S NEWSPAPERS— A TRULY LITERARY CENTER— ANCIENT MIDDLEBURY
THE PIONEER, IN 1825— THE "PORTAGE JOURNAL"— HUDSON AND CUYAHOGA
FALLS SOON FOLLOW— AKRON ALSO EARLY ON THE TAPIS— THE "AKRON
POST," ESTABLISHED IN 1836— THE "AKRON JOURNAL"— THE "AMERICAN
BALANCE"— THE CELEBRATED "AKRON BUZZARD"— THE "SUMMIT BEACON,"
ITS STRUGGLES, REVERSES AND . SUCCESSES FOR HALF A CENTURY— THE
"AMERICAN DEMOCRAT" AND ITS NUMEROUS PROGENY— THE "CASCADE
ROARER"— THE "SUMMIT COUxNTY JOURNAL "—THE "AKRON CITY TIMES,"
AND SCORES OF OTHER NEWSPAPER VENTURES, BOTH SUCCESSFUL AND
UNSUCCESSFUL— AN ENTERTAINING AND INSTRUCTIVE CHAPTER.
SUMMIT COUNTY'S NEWSPAPERS.
THE first newspaper venture in what is now Summit County,
was in the village of Middlebury, no-w the flourishing Sixth
Ward of Akron, in 1825. The Ohio Canal project was then
agitating the local public mind, it being thought that if that great
water highway from Lake Erie to the Ohio Kiver, could be brought
through, or ^vithin a mile and a half of, that ancient emporium,
fortunes for its inhabitants ^'ould speedily be made.
Hence an active and intelligent young printer from Ravenna,
by the name of Laurin Dewey, proposed to boom the project by
the publication of the Ohio Canal Advocate, if the people of the
village would aid him in procuring the necessarj^ outfit. Accord-
ingly, a subscription paper \v^as started, w^orded as follows: "We,
the subscribers, being anxious for the prosperity of this section of
the country, and for the dissemination of useful information gen-
erally, do severally agree to pay the sums set opposite our respec-
tive names, for the purchase of a printing press, types, etc., and
the erection of a printing establishment in the village of
Middlebury, under the direction of Mr. Laurin Dewej^, who will
edit a weekly paper devoted to the general interests of the country,
advertising, etc., the columns to be enriched by foreign and
domestic news, religious intelligence, poetry, etc; the sums so paid
by us to be considered in the light of a loan, to be repaid whenever
the editor shall consider himself able to do so."
Signatures to above, and amounts paid by each are as follows
Charles Sumner, $10; Erastus Torrey, $10; Henry Chittenden, $5
Nathan Gillett, Jr., $5; Rufus Hart, $3; Edward Sumner, $10
Samuel Newton, $10; Charles W. Brown, 5; Benajah A. Allen, $3
Phineas Pettis, 5; Elijah Mason, $5; John McMillen, Jr., $10
Spencer & Morgan, $15; Alexander C. Lawson, $2; William
McGallard, $2; I). W. Williams, $5; Thomas C. Viall, $2; Jacob
Kaufman, $5; Jesse Allen, $4; Ithiel Mills, $3; Amos Spicer, $4
William Bell, $3; Roswell, Kent & Co., $5; Henry Squires. $5
Elisha Farnam, $5; Joseph W. Brown, $5; Horatio Howard, $5
Ambrose Cotter, $5; Henry Rhodes, $3; William Phelps, $2
William J. Hart, $3; R. and S. McClure, $5; Theophilus Potter, $2
J(^shua Richards, $2; Bagley & Humphrey, $10; Leonard Chatfield
$2; David Jones, $2; Julius A. Sumner, $3; Miner Spicer, $4
Alpheus Hart, $1 ; Paul Williams $2; Guerdon Geer, $5. Total .)?2(M
216 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
With this fund an old style Ramage press, and a quantity of
second-hand materials were purchased from the Cleveland Herald,
the entire outfit being transported overland in a couple of two-
horse wagons.
In the meantime Mr. Ozias Bowen, (uncle of the late Hiram
Bowen, founder of the Beacon, as hereinafter detailed), for many
years Common Pleas Judge of Marion County, became associated
w^ith Mr. De^vey in the enterprise; and the canal question having
already been settled, the name of the projected paper was changed
to the Portage Journal.
The first number was issued September 28, 1825, Mr. Dewey
having meantime transferred his interest to Elijah Mason. The
size of the Journal was 19x24, an inch less each way than one-half
the size of the Daily Beacon. The price was "two dollars per
annum, (exclusive of postage) if payment be made w^ithin a year,
or two dollars and fifty cents if payment be delayed until the year
expires. No paper ivill be discon tin ued un til all arrearages are
paid."
In politics the Journal w^as independent, w^ith strong anti-
Jackson proclivities. October 27, 1826, Mr. Bowen transferred
his interest to Mr. John McMillen, Jr., the new firm of McMillen
& Mason changing the name of the paper to the Portage Journal
and Weekly Adi^ertiser.
This vvas a pretty long name for so small a paper. A year
later, with number 109, Mr. Mason transferred his interest to
Alvah Hand, Esq., then practicing law in Middlebury. McMillen
& Hand continued the paper until January or February, 1829, when,
finding that it could not be rnade self-supporting, it was discon-
tinued, the materials being sold to parties in Massillon.
In subsequent chapters upon Hudson and Cuyahoga Falls, will
be found brief histories of the Western Intelligencer (1827); the
Ohio Observer (1832); the Familj^ Visitor {18dO); Hudson Gazette
(1857); College Citj^ Venture (1866); Hudson Enterprise (1875);
and at Cuyahoga Falls, of the Ohio Re i^ien^ (1833); True American
(1840); the Cuj^ahoga Falls Reporter (1870); IVeeklj^ Journal
(1881); Hudson Ejcpress (1888), etc., which need not be further
alluded to here.
Previous to its incorporation, in March, 1836, Akron was
entirely destitute of local newspaper facilities, being entirely
dependent upon the papers of Ravenna, Hudson and Cuj'^ahoga
Falls, for such legal or business notices as were required to be
published. The act of incorporation was passed March 12, 1836,
and immediately thereafter a practical printer from Medina, Mr.
Madison H. White, removed his Ramage press and types to Akron,
and on March 23 issued the first number of the Akron Post.
The Post was a five column w^eekly. Democratic in politics,
and, considering that its proprietor was editor, compositor,
reporter, pressman, job printer and " devil," it was a very fair expo-
nent of the business and local interests of the village at that time.
But as all official advertising had to be done in the papers at
the county seat, the local paper did not receive the support antici-
pated; and the Post was suspended November 15, 1836.
7'he Akron Journal. — Deeming the continuance of a Demo-
cratic paper essential to the interests of the Democratic party, the
late Judge Constant Bryan, then an ambitious young lawyer, and,
Akron's newspapers. 217
like the Avriter, a sonieAvhat active Democratic politician, bought
the out-fit of the defunct Post, and on the 1st day of December,
1836, revived the paper under the name of the Akron Journal.
While of the same general make-up as the Post, the Journal
"was far more ably conducted, but the proper business and pecun-
iary support was not forthcoming, and the Journal, too, after an
existence of about six months, was discontinued June 15, 1837.
The American Balance. — In so stirring and promising,
and w^ithal so strongly Whig a town as Akron, it would, of course,
never do to let the Democrats enjoy a monopoly of the newspaper
business, and so Horace K. Smith, an educated business man of
Akron, and Gideon G. Gallovv^ay, of Northampton, a practical
printer, procured a second-hand out-fit in Cleveland, purchased
and repaired the crippled Ohio Observ^er press, alluded to in the
chapter on Hudson, and issued the first number of the American
Balance on the 19th day of August, 1837.
In February, Mr. Hiram Bowen, a vigorous w^riter, and a
practical printer, purchased Mr. Galloway's interest in the paper.
Messrs. Stnith & Bowen made the Balance a paper that ought to
have succeeded, but it, too, soon met an adverse fate, owing
doubtless to the monetary panic then on, and the failure-inviting
custom then in vogue among ne\vspaper men, of giving universal
credit for both subscriptions and advertising, and the Balance
■was suspended at the end of the first year, August 9, 1838.
TAe Akron Buzzard. — ^The history of this curiously named
and, in its day, quite notorious little paper is thus briefly stated:
A young Connecticut Yankee, by the name of Samuel Alanson
Lane, then a recent comer to Akron, seeing the great amount of
crookedness so prevalent along the line of the canal, at that early
day, and especially in and about Akron, conceived the idea that a
paper devoted especially to that end would greatly aid the
authorities in ridding the town and county from the hordes of
blacklegs, counterfeiters and thieves infesting and disgracing the
community.
Though follow^ing the business of a sign and ornamental
painter, Mr. Lane had previously acquired a smattering of the art
of printing, and obtaining from the late Judge Bryan permission
to use the press and types of the defunct /owri^a/, on the 7th day
of September, 1837, issued, as a feeler, the first number of the
Akron Buzzard.
It was a three column folio, 12x17 inches, published every tw^o
weeks at 75 cents per year, doubled in size and price raised to one
dollar at the beginning of the second year. The editorial nom de
plume w^as "Jedediah Brownbread, Esq.," its orthography being
of the Yankee dialect order, of w^hich the abominable styles of
"Artemas Ward," "Josh Billings," "Petroleum V. Nasby," "Judge
Waxem," etc., are fairly good imitations, and to this day Mr. Lane
is more frequently saluted as "Jedediah," by his old-time asso-
ciates, than by his own proper cognomen.
The Buzzard's Platform. — Translated into ordinary lan-
guage, the following extract from its salutatory fully sets forth
the aims and objects of the paper: "The Buzzard will be a real
jolly, nothing- to-do-^vith-politics, anti-blackleg paper, devoted to
news, popular tales, iniscellany, anecdotes, satire, poetry, humor,
the correction of public morals, etc. It will strike at the vices of
218 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
mankind with an occasional brush at its folHes. It will expose
crime whether committed by the great or small, and applaud vir-
tuous and noble actions whether performed by the rich or poor.
It w^ill encourage the honest man in well-doing and make a trans-
parency of the breast of the hypocrite. In short, it will be to
society what the common buzzard is to our Southern cities, viz.: It
will pounce upon, and bj' its influence endeavor to reform, or
remove, such loafers as are nuisances in the community, b}' hold-
ing them up to the gaze of a virtuous public."
The Buzzard made things lively for the "b'hoys" and the
"b'hoys" sometimes made things pretty lively for the Buzzard — -
or rather its editor — visiting him with threatenings dire, vindic-
tive lyings-in-wait and frequent assaults. But though literal!}"
carrying his life in his hand, in his editorial onslaught upon crime
and vice, "Jedediah" pursued the even tenor of his way from day
to day, and from month to month, for a year and a half, Avhen,
having accomplished the object of its mission, the Buzzard was
discontinued on the 25th day of February, 1839 — not for want of
patronage, for it was self-sustaining from the start — its subscrip-
tion list being transferred to Hiram Bowen, Esq., who was thus
able to resuscitate his own paper, under the title of the Summit
Beacon, a full historj^ of which will be found further on.
T/je Pestalozzian. — From the start, Akron was weW sup-
plied with enthusiastic educators, among them being our vener-
able fellow citizen, Nahum Fay, Esq., the late Horace K. Smith,
and a very proficent teacher by the name of S. L. Sawtell. For
the purpose of enthusing the people with their own advanced
ideas upon the subject of education, and of systematizing the
methods of imparting knowledge and conducting public schools,
the tw^o latter gentlemen, on the 14th day of April, 1838, commenced
the publication of a neat monthly quarto under the above title.
Though ably edited, being in advance of the times, and by reason
of the monetary stringency then on, it failed to secure a paying
circulation, and was discontinued with the issue of its sixth num-
ber; September 30, 1838.
The Ohian and A^ew^ Era. — The question of finance and
banking was one of the absorbing subjects of discussion and
legislative tinkering of 50 jears ago. To ventilate his own pecu-
liar views upon the subject, and doubtless with an honest desire
to ameliorate the financial embarassments of the people, the late
Jonathan F. Fenn, an early business man of Akron, (who died of
cholera at Sacramento, Cal., in the fall of 1850), for a short time
in 1838, published a small semi-monthly paper in Akron, under the
above title, devoted to Free Banking, but though ably (from its
standpoint) handling the financial questions of the day, it failed of
financial success, and quietlj^ expired.
Glad Tidings and Ladies' Universalist Magazine. — This
w^as a sprightly semi-monthly quarto, published in Akron, in the
interest of the Universalist faith, during the .years 1838, 1839 and
1840. It was ably edited by S. A. Davis, N. Doolittle and J. Whit-
ney, and besides being a vigorous and aggressive exponent of the
doctrine of universal salvation, was a most excellent literarj^ and
general local newspaper. At the close of 1840, the paper was
transferred to Cincinnati and its name changed to "The Star in
the West," where it continued to shine, in the interest f)f that
Akron's newspapers.
219
denomination, until about the year 1881,
unknown to the w^riter, it was discontinued.
when, for reasons
HON. HIRAM BOWEN,— born in
Strobridg-e, Mass., April 29, 1815,
removing' with parents to Ohio, when
young, settling' at "Old Forg-e;" in
1825, entered the printing office of
his uncle, Judge Ozias Bowen, pub-
lisher of Middlebury's pipneeer
paper, the Portage Journal, herein
alluded to, as an apprentice. In 1838,
in company with Horace K. Smith,
published the American Balance in
Akron, and in April 1839, on his own
account, established the Summit
Beacon, which he ably conducted
nntil its sale to other parties, in 1815,
though continuing- to officiate as its
editor one or two years longer. Mr.
Bowen represented Summit Count}-
in the Ohio Legislature during the
session of 1815, '46. In 1849 Mr. Bowen
removed to Janesville, Wisconsin,
where he edited the Janesville
Gazette for se\^eral years, afterwards
becoming' manager of extensive
Agricultural Works in that city.
His health becoming seriously
impaired Mr. Bowen finally retired to
a large farm in South Dakota. Early
in 1886, he went to Los Angeles, Cal.,
to visit his son, Mr. W. P. Bowen, a
postal clerk on the Southern Pacific
R. R., where he died March 20, 1886, at
the age of 70 years and 11 months.
Another son, W. S. Bowen, is one of
the proprietors of the Daily Press
and Dakotian, at Yankton, Dakota.
HON. HIKAM BOWEN.
The Summit Beacon. — This paper, the direct and leg^iti-
mate successor of the American Balance, was started on the loth
day of April, 1839, on a pledge of adequate support from the busi-
ness men of Akron, and the leaders of the Whig party within the
limits of the prospective new^ county of Summit, for the erection
of which it at once became a vigorous and successful advocate.
But notwithstanding the pledges of support, and of official
patronage, after the organization of the new^ county, the Beacon
in common with the new^spapers of the county, generally, had a
hard struggle for existence for several years, yet though three
times totally destroyed by fire, and hampered w^ith pecuniary
embarassments, the Reliable Old Weekly Beacon, has never
missed an issue during the fifty-tw^o years of its existence, though
slightly diminished in dimensions, Avhile recovering from its disas-
ters, and is to-day at the very head of the weekly papers in Ohio.
In May, 1844, Mr. Bowen sold the Beacon to Mr. Richards S.
Klkins, previously connected with the Ohio Star, at Ravenna.
Mr. Bowen continued to act as editor, until April, 1845, when he
was succeded by Laurin Dewey, Esq., a brother-in-law^ o.f Mr.
Elkins, who also purchased a half interest in the concern. Mr.
Dewey, it will be recollected, was the originator of Middlebur3"'s
220
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
first ne'wspaper scheme, as above set forth; having in the mean-
time been connected with the Ohio Star, as proprietor and editor,
and also served two terms as sheriff of Portage County.
April 2, 1846, Mr, Dewey was elected warden of the Ohio
penitentiary, but retained his interest in the Beacon until its
recovery from the fire of June 9, 1848, w^hen the establishment was
sold by Messrs. Dewey & Elkins to John Teesdale, Esq., former
editor of the Ohio State Journal, at Columbus, Mr. Dewey remov-
ing to Iowa, (where he died September 10, 1868), and Mr. Elkins
forming a partnership with Mr. Joseph A. Beebe in the book and
■drug business.
Under the able management of Mr. Teesdale the Beacon
became the organ of the newly formed Republican party, in 1855,
a partnership having in the meantime been formed betw^een Mr.
Teesdale and Beebe & Elkins, the new book, drug and printing
firm being Elkins, Teesdale & Co. February 27, 1856, Mr. Teesdale
sold his interest to his co-partners, Beebe & Elkins, but continued
to act as editor until his removal to Des Moines, Iowa, w^here he
was elected State printer, postmaster, etc.. May 1, 1856, and w^as
succeeded in the editorial chair by Hon. James Carpenter until his
accession to the Common Pleas Judgship, October, 1856, when
ex-Senator Ashel H. Le^vis, of Ravenna, assumed^ the position
w^hich he ably filled, with Mr. R. S. Elkins as associate editor,
about four years.
HON. ASAHEL HOOKER LEWIS,
— a native of Farming-ton, Conn.,
and a graduate of Yale College, soon
after graduating coming- to Ohio ;
for a time associated with J. A.
Harris in the editorial manageinent
of the Cleveland Herald, and later
editing the Ohio Star at Ravenna.
Mr. Lewis was also a lawyer of con-
siderable ability, for a time practic-
ing in Cincinnati. While a resident
of Ravenna, in October, 1846, Mr.-
Lewis was elected State Senator for
Portage and Summit Counties, serv-
ing- two years. In 1856, he removed
to Akron, and became the editor-in-
chief of the Summit County Beacon,
then published by loseph A. Beebe
and Richard S. Elkins, holding the
positon until 1861. In July, 1861, he
was appointed, by Gov. William
Dennison, Probate Judge of Summit
Coixnty, to fill the vacancy occasion-
ed b3^ the death of Judg^e William M.
Dodge, holding the position until
the following October. Mr. Lewis
then removed to St. Louis, where he
was given a prominent position
upon the editorial staff of the St.
HON. ASAHEL hooker LEWIS.
Louis Democrat, then the only
Republican paper in the South, ably
sustaining the government against
the slave-holders' rebellion, until his
death in September, 1862.
On retiring from the office of sheriff, in January, 1861, Mr.
Samuel A. Lane, superseded Mr. Lewis as editor of the Beacon.
Mr. Lane, by giving more attention to local matters than his pre-
decessors had done, and by the large amount of space devoted to
the writings and doings of Summit County's "boys in blue,"
Akron's newspapers.
221
during the war, increased the circulation of the paper from 1,300 to-
2,500 copies weekly, the first two years.
In January, 1865, Mr. Lane and Mr. Horace G. Canfield each
bought a one-third interest from Messrs. Beebe & Elkins, the
name of the firm being Elkins, Lane & Co. In January, 1867,
Albertis L. Paine and Denis J. Long, two former Beacon boys,
who, on being mustered out of the army, had established the
Summit County Journal, as elsewhere noted, bought the remain-
ing one-third interest in the Beacon from Messrs. Beebe & Elkins,
the firm noAV being changed to Lane, Canfield & Co.
In the Winter of 1868, Thomas C. Raynolds, then just gradu-
ated from the Michigan University, was employed as assistant
editor, and vrith the exception of a brief interruption, from 1870 to
1872, has been connected with the establishment ever since.
The Akron Dailx Beacon.— In the meantime Akron had
increased from a village of 5,500 inhabitants to a city of 10,000 in
1869, with manufacturing and commercial activities to match.
Something faster than a ^weekly local paper was demanded, and
on the 6th day of December 1869, the first number of the Akron
Daily Beacon was issued by Messrs. Lane, Canfield & Co., with
Mr. Lane as editor-in-chief, Mr. Raynolds as assistant editor, Mr.
Canfield as business manager, and superintendent of machinerj^,
and Messrs. Long and Paine, superintendents of job departments-
respectively.
DENIS J. LONG,-born in Albany,
N. Y., November 28, 1844 ; at 15,
came to Akron with his brother, J. A.
Long- ; in 1859, entered BEACON office,
as an apprentice, serving between
three and four years ; in August, 1862,
enlisted in Co. H., 104th O. V. I., serv-
ing as a private soldier, until Febrvi-
ary, 1864, when he was appointed to a
clerkship in the office of Gen. Scho-
field, in the Department of the Ohio,
serving- tiJl the close of the war,
being mustered out at Greensboro,
N. C, June 28, 1865. On his return to
Akron, in companj^ with Mr. Albertis
L. Paine, started the Summit County
Journal, with Judge James S.
Carpenter as editor. January 1, 1867,
the Journal was discontinued, Mr.
Long and Mr. Paine each buying- a
one-sixth interest in the BEACON,
Mr. Long retaining- his interest as
partner and stockholder (at its organ-
zation as a stock company, being
elected secretary), until 1875, when he
entered the office of the Akron Iron
Company, as book-keeper, continuing
two years. March 1, 1877, he was
appointed agent of the Union
Express Company, afterwards of the
Union. American and Adams Com-
DENIS J. LONG.
panics, which responsible position
he held until his death, Januarj' 17,
1883, at the age of 38 years, 1 month
and 20 days. In May, 1870, Mr. Long
was married to Miss Eliza A. Potter,
of Akron, who died May 13, 1891, aged
48 years, 3 months and 9 days.
In December, 1871, the Beacon Publishing Company was
organized with a capital of $25,000, Messrs. Lane and Long retain-
ing their one-third and one-sixth interests, respectively, Messrs.
Canfield and Paine retiring, the balance of the stock being taken
222 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
by a number of prominent business men of the city, with Mr. Lane
as business manager, Mr. Raynolds as editor-in-chief, and Mr.
Wilson M. Day as associate editor
The business of the concern rapidly increassd in all its depart-
ments, but unfortunately, in the very height of its business season,
in the job printing and binding line for the several manufacturing
concerns of the city, on the 27th day of April, 1872, the establish-
ment was totally destroyed by fire, with a loss, over and above
insurance, of fully one-half of its capital.
The burned building w^as immediately replaced, greatly
enlarged, and filled Avith a full complement of first-class machinery
and material, and a large stock of general and fancy stationery.
This rel)uilding and refitting of the establishment, on a greatly
enlarged scale, and with far better machinery and material, and
especially w^ith its impaired capital, and several months interrup-
tion to its most profitable departments, while subjected to extra-
ordinary running expenses, piled up an indebtedness, that with
the almost immediately recurring monetary and commercial panic
of 1873, brought the company into very serious pecuniary
embarrassment.
To such an extent did this embarrassment press upon the
stockholders, though still nominally solvent, that it Avas at length
deemed advisable to transfer its propertj^, fanchise and good will
to any responsible party that would assume its liabilities. Accord-
ingly, in January, 1875, the entire property was sold to Thomas C.
Raynolds, Frank J. Staral and John H. Auble, on that basis, a
sufficient number of the old stockholders retaining a nominal
interest for the purpose of keeping the corporate organization
intact.
This arrangement continued about two years, when Mr. Auble
withdrew, leaving Messrs. Raynolds and Staral sole owners,
which relation was continued, with signal success, until May 16,
1887, when Mr. Staral sold his interest to Mr. Hermon Bronson,Mr.
Bronson, in turn, transferring his interest to Mr. Raynolds, April
14, 1889, and in its inagnificent new home in the handsome six-
story brick block, erected especially for its use, by Hon. George
W. Crouse, corner of Mill and Main streets, the Daily Beacon
establishment, with its extensive news, job printing, book-binding
and stationery departments, all fully equipped with first-class
machinery and material, being one of the most complete and
prosperous of its class in Ohio, its daily circulation having
increased from 600 in 1869, '70, to a present daily average of 3,500
copies; while the reliable old Summit County Weekly Beacon,
correspondingly improved and prospered, duly celebrated its
golden anniversity on the 15th day of April, 1889.
Beacon and Republican. — As hereinafter detailed, the Daily
Telegram and Sunday Gazette, in 1889, passed into the hands of
the new^ly organized Republican Publishing Compan^^ with Mr,
Kenyon B. Conger as its president, its name being changed to the
Akron Daily Republican, w^hich had a successful run until
January 1, 1891, when a consolidation w^as effected with the Beacon.
The name and style of the consolidated organization, ^vith a capi-
tal of $100,000, is The Akron Printing and Publishing Company,
with Hon. George W. Crouse as president, Kenyon B. Conger as
vice president and Thomas C. Raynolds as business manager, the
AKRON S NEWSPAPERS,
223
several editions of the paper being: The Akron Beacon and
Republican, (daily), The Summit Countv Beacon, (weekly), and
the Sundaj^ Republican. The American Farm News is now^
also owned and published by this company.
a^HOMAS CRAIGHEAD RAY-
-^ NOLDS,T-yon of George and
Jane L. (Craighead) Raynolds, — born
near Canton, Ohio, June 18, 1848 ;
educated in public schools of Canton
and Akron and at Western Reserve
College and Michigan University,
graduating from the classical course
of the latter institution, January 24,
1868, his long- vacations being spent
upon the United States survey of the
northwestern lakes, under the super-
intendence of his uncle. Gen. W. F.
Raynolds, of the U. S. Engineers ;
July 14, 1868, began journalistic work
as a reporter on Detroit Post, six
months later, in January, 1869, com-
mencing work upon the BEACON, as
its first reporter ; in 1870 became
paragraph editor of Pittsburg Com-
mercial; in 1871 did editorial work
on an insurance and inanufacturing
journal, in Cincinnati ; in November,
1871, on organization of the Beacon
Publishing Compan}-, became editor
of the Dail}^ and Weekly BEACON,
continuing three j'ears ; from 1873 to
1875 did editorial work successivel3^
on Cleveland Sunday Voice, Cleve-
land Leader, and Toledo Commer-
cial ; in January, 1875, on reorganiza-
tion of Company, returned to the
Beacon, as its Editor-in-chief, which
position he maintained until January
1. 1891, when, on consolidation of the
Daily BEACON with the Dailj^ REPUB-
LICAN, he became the Business
THOMAS CRAIGHEAD RAYNOLDS.
Manager of the newly organized
Akron Printing and Publishing-
Company, which position he still
holds. January 3, 1873, he married
Miss Lillian Alice Waggoner, of
Akron (only daughter of John H. and
Laura A. Waggoner), who died Octo-
ber 4, 1883, leaving one son, Willie
Waggoner Raynolds. September 14,
1886, Mr. Raynolds was again inarried,
to Miss Ida B. Foote, only daughter
of Daniel S. and Mary A. Foote, of
Akron.
The American Democrat. — August 10, 1842, Mr. Horace Can-
iield, who was one of the founders of the Ohio Review, at
Cuyahoga Falls, in 1833, as elsewhere noted, issued in Akron the
first number of the American Democrat. The paper, as its name
indicates, was politically democratic. The Democrat was ably
conducted, as a party organ, until December 14, 1848, when it was
discontinued for reasons thus alluded to in Mr. Canfield's parting
editorial:
'•In performing what he has thought a duty, in advocating Democratic
principles, he has too much neglected his duty to himself and family, and
he is often roughly reminded of this neglect by the empty state of the
doinestic treasury, when calls oti it are only for the simplest necessaries for
family use. It is of no avail that the books shdw a prosperous state of
finances, if the larder and meal bag- are filled with emptiness. However pre-
valent the doctrine may be that editors can live on air, we can testify, from
experience, that it is a fallacy, so far as regards the editor's farailj^"
The Akron Eagle. — A week later^ December 21, 1848, the first
number of an "Independent Miscellaneous Family Newspaper,"
uuder the above head, was issued by Mr. Canfield. This was con-
tinued just six months, the last issue appearing on the 14th day of
224
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
June, 1849, but without any statement as to the cause of its
suspension,
Akron Free Democrat. — July 4, 1849, number one, volume
one, of a paper under the above title, with Horace Canfield as pub-
lisher and Sidney Edgerton as editor, was issued, Mr. Edgerton. in
his initial editorial saying: "The political character of this paper
is indicated by its title, and, ivhile we stand as its editor, it shall
conform to the title it bears. No party prejudice shall induce u s
to support what we know to be w^rong; neither shall party pre-
dilections restrain us from condemning what we believe to be
error. * * * We are firm believers in human progress, and that
belief is founded upon the recorded truths of history, which most
clearly point to 'a good time coming.' * * * Strike the chains
from the bondman w^herever the power of the general government
extends, and give us a sure guaranty that slavery shall extend no
further, then w^e are ready to discuss and act in reference to minor
matters."
HORACE CANFIELD, — born in
Middletown, Conn., July 4, 1803 ;
learned the printing business with
his uncle, Pholenion Canfield, in
Hartford, serving seven j^ears ;
March 24, 1824, was married to Miss
Julia Ann Everard ; worked at trade
in Hartford and Cambridge, Mass.,
till 1833, when he came to Cuyahoga
Falls, where he established the Ohio
Review, as eleswhere stated. In the
Fall of 1834, went to Cleveland where
he published the Cleveland Adver-
tiser (Democratic) about four 3'ears ;
in ■ 1838 going to Medina, where he
published The Watchman (Demo-
cratic) four years, coming to Akron
in August, 1842, and establishing the
American Democrat, which he
published and edited inost of the
time till his death, December 28, 1853,
at the age of 50 years, 5 months and
24 days. Mr. Canfield served in
Cleveland City Council, on Akron
Board of Education, and at the tiine
of his death was Recorder of the
Incorporated Village of Akron ; was
a zealous Mason and a highly honor-
ed citizen. Mr. and Mrs. Canfield
were the parents of six children —
Henry E., (now residing in Akron,
and engraver of the accompanj'ing-
HORACE CANFIELD.
potrait of his father); Thomas, who
died in April, 1860 ; Horace G., one
of the best kno^vn printers of Akron ;
Julia Ann (now Mrs. I. B. Hargett,
of Alexandria, Ohio), and William
and Caroline who died young. Mrs.
Canfield died August 9, 1882, aged 80
years and 3 months.
Free Democratic Standard. — The Free Democrat continued
until after the October electron of 1849, when the name was changed
as above, with Lyman W. Hall, a well-known anti-slavery w^riterof
Ravenna, as editor and proprietor, the first number of which
appeared November 8, 1849. This arrangement was continued
until March 6, 1851, when the names of H. Canfield and W. O.
Viers appear as publishers, "assisted editorially by an association."
In November, 1851, Mr. Canfield resumed entire control, in August,
1852, dropping the "Free," though retaining the motto, "Freedom
and Equality," and continuing to publish the Democratic
Akron's newspapers. 225
Standard until his death, December 29, 1853, after which it was
published for some time by his two sous, Thomas and Horace G.
In the Spring of 1855 the office was sold to H. P. Abel, and the
Standard re-established, issuing a small daily. The experiment
was not successful, and both the daily and the weekly were soon
suspended. In the Winter of 1855, '56, Mr. W. D. Bien bought the
office and revived the paper under the name of the Summit
Denjocrat. In the Winter of 1859, '60 the office passed into the
hands of J. Hays Webb, w^ho, just before the Presidential election
of 1860 removed the materials to Canton, where, under the title of
the True Democrat, it was run until the Spring of 1864, when it
returned to Akron, and, under the title of Summit Union, run
until the close of the Brough-Vallandigham campaign, in 1863,
when the paper ^ras discontinued and the office taken to Ravenna.
The Cascade Roarer. — March 15, 1844, while the Washing-
tonian temperance reform movement was at its height, the Buz-
zard w^as revived as a temperance paper by the writer and Mr.
Isaac Chamberlin, Jr., Mr. Chamberlin a few wrecks later trans-
ferring his interest to Mr. William T, Coggeshall, afterwards a
literary -writer of considerable repute. State Librarian under Gov-
ernors Chase and Dennison, from 1856 to 1862, and minister to
Ecuador, South America, under President Johnson until his death,
from consumption, in the Summer of 1867.
The name of the paper was changed by Messrs. Lane & Cog-
geshall to the Cascade Roarer, partly because that portion of
Akron in which it was pul)lished was still know^n by its original
name of " Cascade," but more particularly because of its radical
cold water signification. Through the vigorous and incisive
writings of Mr. Coggeshall, and the efforts of Mr. Lane, as a travel-
ing temperance lecturer and solicitor, the Cascade Roarer attained
a w^eekly circulation of about 2,500 and a considerable general as
well as local repute.
Tee-Total Mechanic— July 21st, 1846, Mr. Lane sold his
interest in the Cascade Roarer to Mr. James S. Drew, a practical
printer of Massillon, and as there was at that time considerable
agitation among the mechanics of the country for the establish-
ment of 10 hours as a day's labor (instead of the 12 to 14 hour day
day then in vogue), and for cash payments, instead of the order
and "truck and dicker" system described in a former chapter, the
name of the paper was changed as above by Messrs. Drew^ & Cog-
geshall. The 7^ee-Total Mechanic w^as successfully published for
about three months, when it w^as merged with a larger paper,
similar in character, published in Cleveland, under the name of
• the Temperance Artisan, the last issue in Akron being under
date of October 24, 1846.
The Free School Clarion. — In 1846, our late well-known
citizen, Dr. William Bowen, then a resident of Massillon, com-
menced the publication of a ringing educational journal in that
village — a four column quarto — under the above title. The latter
part of 1847, Dr. Bowen was succeeded in the publication of the
Clarion by the well-known educator, Lorin Andrews, of Massillon,
and M. D. Leggett, Akron's fiirst school superintendent, under the
Akron school law, and its publication continued simultaneously
at Massillon and Akron. This arrangement continued a few
months only, Mr. Leggett's connection with the Akron schools
16
226 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
«
ceasing some time in 1849, when the conduct of the Clarion was
relegated entirely to Mr. Andrews, at Massillon, its subscription
list being afterwards transferred to the Ohio Journal of Education
at Columbus, now the Ohio Educational Monthlj^, published by
Dr. S. Findley, in Akron. *
2 he Summit Countjr Journal. — At the close of the 'war, two
former Beacon boys, Albertis Iv. Paine and Denis J. Long, in
September, 1865, established a Republican weekly newspaper
under the above title, with Judge James S. Carpenter as editor.
Ably edited and neatly printed, the Journal was reasonably suc-
cessful, but on the purchase from Messrs. Beebe & Elkins of their
remaining one-third interest in the Beacon, as above stated, in
January, 1867, the Journal was discontinued and its subscription
list, good-will, etc., transferred to the Beacon.
The Akron Citj- Times. — January 20, 1867, a nine column
\sreekly Democratic paper, under the above title Avas started in
Akron, by Mr. J. C. Loveland, that gentleman being fresh from the
editorial chair of the Clyde, (Ohio) Times, a radical Republican
paper, which he had published during the war. Mr. Loveland,
besides his recent political somersault, had the bad taste to
immediately commence a bitter personal w^arfare against the
editor of the Beacon, moving his antagonist to obtain the loan
from its then proprietor, of the files of the Clyde Times, during
Mr. Loveland's conduct of that paper, from which copious
extracts were made from Aveek to week, dealing such vigorous
bloAVS upon the heads of his new political backers, that they incon-
tinently threw him overboard, and in August, 1867, the office was
transferred to Mr. George C. Crain.
. April 28, 1868, R, S. Bean & Co., succeeded Mr. Crain, who in
turn transferred the Times to S. L. Everett & Son, in October of
the same year. The father dying some two or three years later,
the son, Sebastian L. Everett, ("Don," as he was familiarly called),
continued the publication with considerable vigor until 1873, when
it was transferred to Mr. Richard H, Knight, ^th his son Clarence
R. Knight, as editor.
November 23, 1882, Edwin Myers, a practical printer from
Wooster, entered into partnership with the elder Knight, the
younger Knight still in the editorial chair. Februar^^ 23, 1882,
that veteran editor and publisher, of Wooster, E. B. Eshelman,
Esq., purchased Mr. Knight's remaining interest and assumed edi-
torial control of the Times, March 1, 1885, Mr. O. D. Capron
succeeded Mr. Eshelman to a half interest in the concern, the firm
name of Messrs. Myers & Capron being " The Times Printing
Company," Capt. W. B. Taneyhill being employed as editor, in •
'which position he was succeeded by Mr. Frank S. Pixley.
February 24, 1886.
July 6, 1887, Mr. Capron sold his interest to Mr. Pixley, and
May 8, 1888, Messrs. Myers & Pixley sold the concern to "The
Akron Publishing Company," of Avhich Mr. J. M. H. Frederick was
president and Mr, M. J. Gilbo secretary and treasurer, Mr. Pixley
officiating as editor until the organization of the Republican Pub-
lishing Company in 1889, when Melville Wright and Frederick G.
Frease became its proprietors, with Mr. Wright as business man-
ager and William B. Taneyhill as editor. The Citv Times, besides
vigorously supporting the political party in whose interest it is
Akron's newspapers. 227
published, is a most excellent family newspaper, and enjoys a
healthy circulation and a liberal advertising patronage.
The Akron Geriiiania. — This paper, as its name indicates, is
published in the interest of the German speaking population of
Akron and vicinity. It was founded in the Fall of 1868, by Mr. H.
Oentz, but transferred to Prof. C. F. Kolbe early in the following
year. In September, lS72, it was transferred to the "Akron Paper
and Printing Company," with Stephen Ginther as business man-
ager and Paul E. Werner as editor. In October, 1875, Mr. Louis
Seybold was employed as editor, and in 1880, the " Germania
Printing Company" was formed, with Mr. Paul E. Werner as bus-
iness manager. In November, 1881, the paper was again trans-
ferred to Prof. Kolbe, and in April, 1882, leased by Prof. K. to Louis
Seybold, who conducted it till January 1, 1884, when it was sold to
Hans Otto Beck and George Billow. In July, 1887, the " Germania
Publishing Company" was incorporoted with a capital of $15,000.
which company was reorganized September 27, 1887, with Paul E.
Werner as president; Louis Seybold, secretary; Hans Otto Beck,
business manager and treasurer.
The Freie Presse. — A new candidate for popular German and
business favor, was started in December, 1836, by the " Freie
Presse Publishing Company," with Albert Fernitz as president;
Julius Kroffke, secretary and treasurer, and Louis Seybold as
editor. Mr. Seybold vacated the editorial chair in September,
1887, after which time, the Freie Presse was under the editorial
control of Mr, Kroffke, until it was merged in the Germania, May
15, 1889, the present officers of the reorganized Germania Print-
ing Company being: Paul E. Werner, president; Kenyon B.
Conger, treasurer; Louis Seybold, editor; Julius Kroffke, business
manager.
The Akron Dailj^ Argus. — In March, 1874, the Akron Daily-
Argus was started by H. G. Canfield & Co., with Elder John F.
Rowe as editor, a semi-weekly edition also being issued. It w^as
iin independent paper and ably edited, securing a fair circulation
and a liberal share of advertisements. The paper passing to the
subsequently formed "Argus Printing Company," by a majority
vote of the stockholders, was, in September, 1874, changed into a
Democratic sheet, with "Don" Everett, formerly of the City- Times,
as editor.
March 20, 1875, the Argus passed into the hands of its former
editor, Elder John F. Rowe and his brother, Frank M. Rowe, a
practical printer, who, under the firm name of Rowe Brothers,
again changed its character from a political to an independent
paper. This arrangement continued until December 25, 1876, when
the concern >vas purchased by Mr. Carson Lake, by w^hom it w^as
again given a Democratic bias, thus continuing under Mr. Lake's
lively management, until July 1, 1879, when the office and fixtures
w^ere purchased by Messrs. Paul E. Werner and B. F. Nelson, by
whom the Argus w^as discontinued.
The Sunday- Gazette. — This was a six-column quarto, devoted
to general and local news, literature, miscellany, religious intelli-
gence, society matters, etc. It w^as started in December, 1878, by
Mr. Paul E. Werner, as publisher and proprietor, Carl F. Kolbe, as
editor. July 26, 1879, it was consolidated with the daily and
iveekly Tribune established at that time by Werner & Nelson, as
228 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
stated below, and the name changed to the Sunduj^ Tribune, but
after two or three issues again changed to the Sundaj^- Gazette.
After the dissolution of the firm of Werner & Nelson, and the dis-
continuance of the Tribune, February 2, 1880, the Gazette was
continued by Mr. Werner, in connection with the Gerniania until
September 25, 1880, when it w^as purchased by Mr. Carson Lake.
January 8, 1883, the paper was transferred to Fred C. and Isaac
Jennings Bryan, w^ho, under the name and style of the " Sundaj^
Gazette Company," successfully edited and published the same
until May 10, 1885, -when I. J. Bryan became its sole proprietor,
under whose editorial control it \Nras equally successful. June 23,
1887, Mr. Bryan sold the Gazette to Mr. Frank S. Pixley, and on the
7th of July, 1887, it was transferred by Mr. Pixley to the Times
Printing Company of w^hich he was then a member. May 8, 1888,
the Gazette passed into the hands of the "Akron Publishing
Company," w^ith the Akron Citj^ Times, as above set forth, the
name being changed by the new proprietors to the Sundaj"
Telegram, and subsequently to the Sundav Republican, which
title, under the proprietorship of The Akron Printing and Pub-
lishing Company it still, bears.
Dailj^ Telegrani-Dailv Republican. — The Akron Publish-
ing Company, then proprietors of the Akron Citj^ Times, and the
Sundaj^ Telegram, as above stated, in 1889, commenced the pub-
lication of the Dailjr Telegram, later the same year, changing it
to the Daily Republican, by the newly organized Republican
Printing Company, of which Mr. Kenyon B. Conger was president,
later being consolidated with the Beacon Publishing Company, as
already stated, under the corporate name of The Akron Printing
and Publishing Company.
The Akron Commercial. — This w^as a nine column folio
monthly, commenced in the Spring of 1874, by Capt. J. J. Wright,
formerly, for several years Akron's efficient Marshal, as well as a
plucky and faithful soldier during the entire w^ar- — 1861-65. The
Commercial, as indicated by its name, was principally devoted to
advertising and commercial matters, though giving with each
issue a large amount of interesting miscellaneous and local read-
ing matter. With the intention of removing to Dakota, about 1884,
Mr. Wright disposed of his printing material, and the paper was
discontinued.
The People^ s Monthljr. — This was a five column quarto
monthly. It was started in May, 1883, by Robert H. Behan, a
practical printer, as an "Independent Home Journal for Family
Reading." Under Mr. Behan's management it w^as fast working
its way into popular favor, until failing health compelled its relin-
quishment, the i\fo/2^/2/r being transferred to F. C. and I. J. Br3"an,
publishers of the Sundaj^ Gazette, by whom it w^as continued
until the Spring of 1885, w^hen it was sold to Capt. J. J. Wright, late
publisher of the Commercial (w^ho had, in the meantime, changed
his mind about going to Dakota), by w^hom it Avas published until
the Summer of 1889, when, by reason of ill health of the proprietor,
it w^as discontinued.
The Akron Dailj^ Neivs. — This was an independent Republi-
can paper, published by Walter E. and Frank Wellman, from about
1881 to 1883. It was an ably conducted and spicy sheet, and will
chiefly be remembered for the part it took in the Congressional
Akron's newspapers. 229
campaign of 1882, in w^hich it opposed the election of the regularlj'^
n')ininated Republican candidate, Hon. A. S. McClure, and sup-
ported the Democratic candidate, Hon. David R. Paige, ^^^ho was
elected. Though securing quite a large advertising patronage and
circulation, it fell into financial embarrassment, and after one or
two changes of proprietors, was discontinued.
South End News.— In September, 1884, John M. Sauder & Co.
coinmenced the publication of a six column monthly folio, under
the above title, with Mr. P. P. Cherry as editor. It was non-
political, especially devoted to the interests of the "South End,"
and attained a circulation of 2,000 copies, at 25 cents per year, and
though self-sustaining, other duties claiming the attention of the
proprietors, the paper w^as discontinued in April, 1886, and the
material sold to Cleveland parties, and removed thither.
Trade and Labor Journal. — About 1884, Frank R. Newell and
Irving C. Tomlinson, practical printers, opened a book and job
•office, at 112 Howard street, (second floor), from which office there
was published, for the period of about one year, a spirited labor
paper, w^hich attained quite a large circulation, but not proving
remunerative to its publishers was discontinued, and the materials
transferred to other parties.
The Issue. — During the political campaign of 1885, L. B. Logan
published a small Prohibition paper under the title of "The Cam-
paigner," w^hich, after the election, w^as continued as the organ of
the Prohibition party, under the name of "The Issue," one year
and two months, when it w^as suspended, but afterwards resumed
for a short time in Youngstow^n.
Daily Star-Iteniizer, etc. — In the Spring of 1888, George W.
Orames commenced the publication, in Akron, of a small Demo-
cratic daily, under the name of the Daily Star, which continued
to scintillate with considerable brilliancy for a month or so, when ,
its name was changed to the Itemizer, but though conducted
w^ith fair ability, the principal "item " necessary to its permanence
- — cash — was lacking, and it, too, departed hence, "to be with us
no more forever."
Dailj^ Illuminator. — During the political campaign of 1886, a
small daily paper, bearing the above title, with Mr. William Cub-
bison as editor, was published in the interest of certain of the labor
organizations of Akron, but after the close of the campaign, it was
found to be both politically and financiallj'' non-profitable, and its
"luminosity" suddenly ceased.
Ohio Educational Monthlv. — In Januarj', 1852, The Ohio
Journal of Education was inaugurated by the Ohio Teachers'
Association, with a committee of six of the well-know^n Ohio
teachers as editors. Dr. A. D. Lord, of Columbus, being the local
manager. The journal Avas a 32-page monthly, quarto in form,
price one dollar per year, and became the official organ of the State
School Commissioner on the creation of that office in 1853. In 1855
Rev. Anson Smyth became the manager and editor in chief, suc-
ceeded, on his election to the commissionership, a year later, by
Mr. J. D. Caldwell. In 1858 the late William T. Coggeshall (form-
erly of Akron), then State Librarian, w^as appointed editor, with
Mr. John Ogden as canvassing agent, Hon. E. E. White succeeding
Mr. Coggeshall, as editor, in 1861. Though ably edited and acquir-
ing quite a large circulation, the losses from credits on subscriptions
230 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
and advertising, and the expense of canvassing and collecting,,
rendering the management by the association undesirable, the
Journal was transferred to Dr, D. W. Henkle, the name having
previously been changed to the Ohio Educational Monthlv and
the price advanced to $1.50.
Dr. Henkel removed the Monthly^ from Columbus to Salem,
Columbiana County, and at his death it was bought by Dr, Samuel
Findley, late superintendent of Akron Public Schools, and, com-
mencing -with the February number, 1882, the office of publication
has since been in Akron.
Dr, Findley at once so popularized the Monthlj^ that its circu-
lation doubled in a year and a half, moving the Doctor to increase
its size from 32 to 48 pages, and the Ohio Educational Monthlv,
now on a sound financial basis, is not only the oldest, but probably
the best educational journal in America.
American Farm Neivs. — This, "A Journal Devoted to Farm-
ing and Manufacturing," is a four column 16 page monthly, richly
illustrated and handsomely printed, started by the American
Farm News Company, >vith Solon L. Goode as manager and W. A,
Connor as advertising manager. The Farm Neivs was com-
menced in January, 1888, and, at the extraordinary low price of 25
cents per year, it has already (July, 1891) attained to a circulation
of about 100,000 copies, monthly, with a very liberal share of live
and profitable advertising. The Farm News is now owned and
published by The Akron Printing and Publishing Company.
The Advance. — June 7, 1877, Robert Shilling commenced the
publication, in Cleveland, of a small daily, with a five-column
weekly edition, under the above title, as an organ of the National
Greenback Labor Party. In May, 1880, the daily edition was sus-
pended, the weekly being transferred to Salem, Columbiana
County. An Akron edition was also printed at the Salem office.
In August, 1880, Mr. John P. Burns became its editor and pro-
prietor, and in January, 1881, removed the Advance to Akron,
w^here it was published for a year, and finally discontinued.
OTHER LITERARY VENTURES.
Almost innumerable other nevirspaper experiments have been
tried in Akron, Avith greater or less literary and pecuniary success,
during the past half century, which we cannot here notice, in
detail, even could we remember them all; but as showing their
variety, and general character, we briefiy mention the following;
Rose of the Vallej^, by Abraham Allison and Asa S. Marriner;^
Akron Offering, by Miss Calista Cummings; The True Kindred^
devoted to Science and Reform, by Mrs. Rebecca M. M. Sanford;
Flower of the West, by Allison «& Rumrix; The Flail, a Demo-
cratic campaigner, in 1840, by Leander L. Howard; the Free-Soil
Platform, in 1848, by Hiram Bowen; the Sentinel of Libertv,
1855, printed by H. G. Canfield for an association of young Repub-
licans; the Wide- Awake, Republican campaigner, 1860, by D, C.
Carr, S. A. Lane and others; the Summitonian. literary monthly,
1873, by H. G. Canfield; Beacon Magazine, premium for Weeklv
Beacon, 1873; the Independent, Greenback-Democratic cam-
paigner, 1878, by H, G. Canfield, and others remembered by name
only, the Whip, the Sockdolager, the Casket, the Sunny Side, the
Akron's newspapers.
231
School Mistress, the Chui:ch Journal, the Fair Org'an, the Buchtel
College Record, the Bachtelite, the Akron Herald, etc.
THE GRAND "ROUND-UP."
It will thus be seen, by the returns now in, that if not the
exact center of the newspaper world, Sumtnit County has been
untiring in her efforts to become such. While some of the pub-
lications named were, perhaps, of doubtful utility or propriety-, the
projectors thereof were unquestionably fully impressed with their
importance and necessity. Though scarcely a man, or woman,
connected with the periodicals named, has directly made any
money out of the publication thereof, while many were consider-
ably out of pocket thereby, their general influence for good upon
the community admits of not a question. But for its neAyspapers,
where would Akron and Summit County have been to-day? The
liberal use of printers' ink, in advertising to the world our manifold
advantages, in advocacy of canals, railroads and other public
improvements, in encouragement to trade and manufactures, in
the promotion of the cause of education and morality, has hitherto
been, and will continue to be, a most potent factor in the advance-
ment and prosperity of the community at large and of the indi-
vidual citizen.
View of Akron, Sixth Ward, from Talhnadge Road, 1891.
From photo by George E. Hltclicock.
CHAPTER XII.
AKRON'S BURIAL PLACES— THE OLD SIXTH WARD CEMETERY, DEDICATED IN
1808— SPICER HILL CEMETERY IN 1813— " DUBLIN " CEMETERY, IN 1825—
AKRON PUBLIC BURYING GROUND IN 1838— AKRON RURAL CEMETERY
ASSOCIATION chartered' IN 1839— NEW SIXTH WARD CEMETERY IN 1853
— REMOVAL OF SPICER CEMETERY, TO GIVE PLACE TO BUCHTEL COLLEGE
IN 1871— REMARKABLE PRESERVATION OF MAJOR SPICER'S BODY— NATURAL
AS LIFE AFTER SIXTEEN YEARS' INTERMENT — PURCHASE OF ADDITIONAL
LANDS— EXTENSIVE AND COSTLY IMPROVEMENTS— LIBERALITY OF THE
PEOPLE — LADIES' CEMETERY ASSOCIATION AND THEIR WONDERFUL
ACHIEVEMExVTS — SUPERINTENDENT'S LODGE AND OTHER SIMILAR PRO-
JECTS— MEMORIAL CHAPEL, THE MOST SUPERB TRIBUTE TO BRAVERY AND
PATRIOTISM IN THE UNITED STATES— " GLENDALE " (SO CALLED BY COMMON
CONSENT) TRULY A " THING OF BEAUTY AND A JOY FOREVER ! "—AKRON'S
PUBLIC PARKS, ETC.
AKRON'S BURIAL PLACES.
THE first public burial ground within the present limits of the
city of Akron, was w^hat is now^ known as the "Old Cemetery,"
in the eastern portion of the Sixth ward, the land for which, about
half an acre, in about 1808, was donated by Deacon Titus
Chapman, the grandfather of the present venerable Edgar T.
Chapman of the Sixth w^ard, the donor himself, who died
November 18, 1808, being probably the first person buried therein.
The use of this cemetery w^as superseded in 1853 by the purchase
of some three acres of ground on East Market street, by a number
of the public spirited citizens of Middlebury, under the corporate
name of the " Middlebury Cemetery Association," by whom the
grounds w^ere surrounded by a substantial fence, planted to ever-
greens, and tastefully laid out into driveways, avenues and lots
18x21 feet in size, which are sold at from $25 to $50, according to
location, the Association also keeping in order, and caring for,
the "Old Cemetery" above spoken of.
THE SPICER CEMETERY.
Akron's second burial place was what w^as know^n as "Spicer
Cemetery," on the site now occupied by Akron^s educational
glory and pride, Buchtel College, the land for which, fronting on
Middlebury street, about one acre, was jointly dedicated to the
purpose by Akron's first pioneer settlers, Messrs. Miner Spicer and
Paul Williams, probably about 1813,
This ground was used for such occasional burials as occurred
in the neighborhood from year to year, during the early settlement
of Portage township, and after the building of the Ohio Canal and
la3ang out of the new village of Akron, in 1825, by the people of
the village, also, for the burial of its dead, until the establishment
of the Akron Rural Cemetery, as hereinafter set forth, in 1838.
To this ground was added, by donation from Mr. Spicer, and
the purchase from Mr. Nathan B. Dodge, of 88-lOOth of an acre, in
Akron's burial places, 233
1854, at a cost of $200, making a total of two 67-lOOth acres, both
increasing the grounds in width and extending them through to
Carroll street, under the auspices of the " Spicer Hill Burial Place
Association," w^ho neatly enclosed, laid out and beautified the
grounds for the benefit of those \srho already had friends buried
there, and such others as chose to purchase lots therein.
The site of Spicer Hill Burial Place was one of the most com-
manding in the city of Akron, and when it was decided to locate
that splendid educational institution now known as Buchtel
College, here, an arrangement was made by -which the graves were
removed to the Akron Rural Cemetery, and, in March, 1871, for the
consideration of one dollar, Messrs, Charles W, Brow^n, Avery
Spicer, Talmon Beardsley, Hiram J, Spicer, and Levi Allen, as
trustees of the Spicer Hill Burial Place Association, together with
the several heirs of Miner Spicer, deeded the lands in question to
the trustees of Buchtel College.
The sub-soil of the Spicer burial gfound was a species of rock,
similar to w^hat is known as sewer-pipe clay, excavations having
to be made almost wholly with the pick, so that surface water,
percolating through the loose earth above the coffin, would be
largely retained in the substantially w^ater-tight grave. Major
Miner Spicer, the original donor of the ground, died in 1855, being
buried in a metallic coffin. On the transfer of his remains to the
Akron Rural Cemetery, in 1871, on removing the slide from over
the glass at the head of the casket, the friends were greeted writh a
view of the features of the old Major, in a perfect state of preser-
vation, and looking as natural as when deposited in the grave
nearly 16 years before.
During the building of the Ohio Canal, the territory north of
Tallmadge street, and east of Main street, was largely covered by
the cabins of the Irish laborers upon the canal, giving to the
locality the name of ''Dublin," which it retained for many years,
and by which it is still called by many of the older residents of the
city. To meet the mortuary necessities of those early days, the
plateau north of Furnace street, and west of North High, on the
bluff overlooking the Little Cuyahoga river, was appropriated for
l^urial purposes, which was used by the people of North Akron
from its commencement, in 1832, until the establishment of the
Akron Rural Cemetery in 1838, A portion, only, of the remains
buried at the point named were removed to the new grounds, the
others remaining undisturbed, Avhere they were originally buried,
until they were unearthed by the cutting away of the bluff in
question, in grading for the Valley Railway, in 1873, to the great
surprise of those who were not aware of the sacred nature of the
ground they were plowing through; it even being reported that a
pretty well preserved skull thus brought to light was the missing
head of William Beatson, the Englishman murdered at Cuyahoga
Falls, in 1853, it being known that James Parks, the murderer,
must have passed near the place in his flight westward, after
leaving the canal boat near the Old Forge, on the night of the
murder, as elsewhere detailed.
The Spicer burial ground being private property, and the North
Akron ground having been hitherto used by mere sufferance, soon
after the incorporation of the village, the question of establishing
a public burying ground began to be agitated. No official action
234 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
was had however, until June 17, 1837, when a committee was
appointed by the Council to confer with Gen. Simon Perkins, of
Warren, about the purchase of land for the purpose named, on
what was then known as the "Oak Openings," west of the Lower
Village, the ground in question being densely covered with a
thick growth of oak bushes, interspersed with an occasional good
sized oak tree.
Gen. Perkins, when interviewed, proposed to sell to the village
four acres of ground at one hundred dollars per acre, and to
donate one acre additional, or to give the one acre whether the
four acres Avere purchased or not. November 7, the Council
resolved to accept the General's proposition, provided he would
divide the purchase money into six annual payments of $6(166|
each, which terms being acceded to, on November 13, 1837, the
committee was authorized to make contract, plat, etc., but for
reasons which do not appear, only three 42-lOOth acres were pur-
chased and platted. October 27, 1838, the Council purchased from
Judge Leicester King three acres additional upon the west side of
the plat described, for the consideration of $250, which was soon
afterwards platted and made a part of the cemetery grounds.
The grounds were laid out into four blocks, 1, 2, 3 and 4,
with central latitudinal and longitudinal drivew^ays, 20 feet in
width, with entrance on South Maple street, the lots being of uni-
form size, 10 by 15 feet, w^ith intersecting five and six foot ave-
nues between, the price of lots at first being $3, or at the rate of
two cents per square foot. For many years the grounds remained
unfenced and unimproved, except the staking out of the lots and
the grubbing out of a part of the bushes, and, without superin-
tendent or special care-taker, from its isolated location, extremel}^
favorable to the nocturnal operations of both professional and
non-professional "resurrectionists", though in one instance at
least, they failed to get away with their booty — the body of Benja-
min Tuells, a somewhat dissipated jevt^eler, v^reighing 225 pounds,
being found on the margin of his grave a morning or two after his
original interment, in December, 1847.
For many years the persons w^ho officiated as sextons were,
successively, Alexander Williams, John Taplin, C. S. W. Brow^n,
Arza Kellogg, etc., for the North Village and Peter Hendrick
Centaurus for the South Village, to one of ^vhom application for
burial had to be made, ihe applicant usually being required to
produce a certificate of payment for lot, from the Village Recorder,
before interment could be legally made, though in the general
stringency of the times, and the consequent poverty of the people,
this rule was not always strictly enforced, the delinquencies
resulting therefrom causing the authorities much trouble, and in
many instances necessitating the removal of graves to the
pottersfield, and the sale of lots to other parties.
There were no "undertakers" nor professional "funeral direc-
tors" in those days, the village cabinet-maker, from measurement
of the subject, making the coffin to order, of white^vood, pine,
cherry, black w^alnut, etc., stained or varnished, vsrithout name-
plate or ornament, at a total cost of from $2.00 to $3,00; the sexton's
fee, including conveyance of remains by wagon, (there was no
hearse until 1840), being from $1.50 to $2.00; the total expense of
burying a deceased friend, including lot, being less than $10.00;
AKRON RURAL CEMETERY.
235
many times, indeed, the coffin was borne upon the bier, by hands
of sympathetic neighbors, followed by relatives and friends from
the house of mourning to the burial place on foot.
DR. JEDEDIAH D. COMMINS,—
born in Charlotte, Vt, July 9,
1790 ; academic education ; married
to Miss Sophia Field, of Wethersfield,
Vt., soon removing^ to western New
York, and from thence to Akron, in
1832 opening- the first drug- store in
the village, his original store and
dwelling both still standing on
South Main street. Dr. Comniins
was not only a careful and succesful
merchant, but was largely instru-
mental in securing the erection of
the new county of Summit and the
location of the seat of justice at
Akron, and in many other ways
advancing- the interests of the town
and county, and to him is especially
due the credit of inaugurating
Akron's beautiful Rural Cemetery,
as elsewhere fully described in these
pages. Dr. Commins was well versed
in literature and the sciences, in
which, as well as on political topics,
he was a fluent debater and a ready
writer. In politics he was a stanch
Democrat and highly influential in
the councils of his party, both
county, state and national. He was
the father of two sons— the youngest,
Augustus J. dying October 27, 1837,
at the age of 20; the eldest.
DK. JEDEDIAH D. COMMINS.
Alexander Hamilton, surviving his
father some 13 years, as elsewhere
stated. Mrs. Commins died Febru-
ary 11, 1865, aged 78 years, 9 months,
the doctor himself dying, universally
respected, November 4, 1867, aged 77
years, 3 months and 25 days.
AKRON RURAL CEMETERY.
At an early day, however, there were those among our citizens
w^ho had a fine sense of appreciation of what was due from the
living to the dead, as well as to the better nature of the survivors
themselves.
In the archives of the present Cemetery Association, is the
folloAving pencil memorandum, in the hand w^riting of the late Dr.
Jedediah I). Commins, written over forty years ago, w^hich not
only explains itself, but much that follows:
"PRELIMINARY REMARKS."
"If the Akron Rural Cemetery should succeed and become
w^hat its founders hope, trifling incidents relating to its origin and
establishment may be sought for with avidity, in after ages, by
those whose ancestors have long been entombed in this cemetery,
and it is with a view to gratify this desire that the following
remarks are made:
"During the year 1837, Akron, although at the time an incor-
porated town, had no public burying ground, and the one thereto-
fore occupied was unsuited to the purpose, on account of its being
w^et land, the Avater frequently standing in the graves to the depth
of six inches before the body w^as deposited, and, besides, the
ground was private property.
236 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
"In this state of things one of our citizens, Mr. C. [Mr.
Commins, himself], had the misfortune to lose a son of much
promise, just entering the threshold of manhood. Mr. C. could not
endure the thought of making this a last resting place for the
remains of one Avho had been so dear to him, and as there was no
other, he caused the remains of his deceased son to be inclosed in
spirit, and kept them in his own dwelling for more than a year.
"In the course of the Summer of 1838, he visited the cemetery
of Mount Auburn, near Boston, originally w^ith the \^iew of fixing
on the form of a tomb; but -while viewing the beauties of that rural
cemetery, it occurred to him that a similar establishment might be
founded at Akron, and with that view possessed himself with such
information as was within his reach, and on his return — having
visited a similar establishment at Rochester, on the way — laid the
matter before such of the citizens of Akron as he supposed would
take an interest in the subject, and w^as gratified to find their feel-
ings harmonizing with his o^vn. Afterwards it became a subject
of frequent conversation. It w^as at once perceived that we had
localities every way suited to this interesting object, and it w^as
considered most proper to ask the Legislature for an act of incor-
poration and therefore,
"At an informal meeting of a few citizens of Akron, in the
Autumn of 1838, J. D. Commins was appointed to draw up a
charter for the purpose of incorporating a company for the pur-
pose of establishing a rural cemetery at Akron, and also a me-
morial to accompan}^ it to the Legislature. Whereupon the f ollo\ving
petition and charter were drawn up, and being approved, were
forwarded to the General Assembly, by Gregory Powers, Ksq.,
member of the Senate, and the charter being sanctioned by both
Houses, became the law of the State."
The petition, as draw^n by Mr. Commins, and duly presented
to the Legislature by Senator Powers, January 10, 1839, was signed
by Jedediah D. Commins, Krastus Torrey, Ithiel Mills, Joseph Cole,
George Babcock, Ebenezer Martin. David K. Cartter, Richard
Howe, Dana D. Evans, Philo Chamberlin and Miner Spicer, the
petition containing, among others equal cogent, these paragraphs:
"The interment of the dead is a subject of great and growing import-
ance, and one deeply interesting to everj^ well regulated community, and
can not too early engagfe their serious consideration.
" In our eastern cities corporations have been authorized to establish
rural ceiueteries on a scale commensurate with the wants of manj^ genera-
tions, combining the objects of beauty and health, which, instead of being'
shunned in consequence of their melancholy associations, have become the
most desirable promenades, where, retiring from the busy scenes of life,
they can at the same time enjoj^ the beauties of the garden and rural scenery,
inhaling the pure air of the country, and, as it were, commune with those
who had once been dear to them, in these cities of the dead.
"The situation of our village and neighborhood now admits of a
selection of ground sufficiently extensive and beautifully romantic, which a
few years will render it difficult, and perhaps impossible, to obtain.
" We do therefore pray, etc."
THE CHARTER GRANTED.
On March 18, 1839, an Act ^^as passed, containing thirteen
sections, which we condense as follows:
Section I. Be it enacted hj- the General Assernblj- of the State of
Ohio, That Simon Perkins, Jr., Samuel A. Wheeler, Erastus Torre}-, Ithiel
Mills, Joseph Cole, Richard Howe and Jedediah D Commins, and such other
AKRON RURAL CEMETERY. 237
persons as may hereafter be associated with them, their successors and
assigns, be and they hereby are created a body politic and corporate, by the
name of " The Proprietors of the Akron Rural Cemetery," etc.
Sec. II. The capital stock of this company shall be twenty thousand
dollars, which shall be divided into shares of twenty dollars each, ten per
cent, of which shall be paid at the time of subscribing-, and the residue
thereof in such installments as the directors of said corporation shall judg-e
necessary, etc.
Sec. III. Provided for the election, annually, of seven directors, all
stockholders, fotir of whom shall be residents of the town of Akron, each
stockholder to have one vote for each share of stock owned, and every lot
owner to have one vote, in the choice of said directors, the directors, until the
first election, to be Satnuel A. Wheeler, Erastus Torrey, Ithiel Mills, Richard
Howe, Simon Perkins, Jr., Joseph Cole, and Jedediah D. Commins ; also giv-
ing- the directors power " to purchase and hold such quantity of latid as thej"
tjiay deem proper for the purjiose of a rural cemetery, not exceeding- fifty
acres, and to dispose of the same in such manner as they shall judge proper,
having regard to the full objects of said charter," a subseqvient section
empowering the directors to purchase lands on a credit not to exceed ten
years, and to mortgage the same to secure the purchase monej', with inter-
est, but for no other purpose ; said lands being declared exempt from all
public taxes so long as they shall remain dedicated to cemetery purposes.
Sec. VI. Provides that the money arising from the sale of lots, after
reimbursing the stockholders, both principal and interest for money
expended in the purchase of land and improvements, " shall be laid out in,
and forever devoted to, the preservation, improvement, planting and embel-
lishing said cemetery, in such a manner as may be deemed most expedi-
ent by the directors, and for the incidental expenses of said cemeterj^, but
for no olher purpose whatever," and thiit " after the stockholders shall have
been reimbursed as aforesaid, their stock shall be canceled, and none of said
stockholders shall be members of said corporation except such as own lots
in said cemetery and have paid for the same."
Sec. IX. Authorizes the corporation to receive and hold "any grant,
donation or bequest of propery upon trust, and to apply the income thereof
for the improvement of said cemetery, or of any building-s, fences or struct-
ures erected or to be erected upon the lands of said corporation, or of anj^
individual proprietor of a lot in said cemetery, or for the repair, preservation,
or renewal of any tomb, monument, gravestone, fence or railing, or other
erection in or around any cemeterj^ lot, or for the planting and cultivation
of trees, shrubs, flowers or plants in or around any cemetery lot, according-
to the terms of such grant, donation or bequest."
ORGANIZATION OF ASSOCIA TION.
The original stockholders were: Simon Perkins, Jr., Joseph
Cole, Jedediah D. Commins, Erastus Torrey, Philo Chamberlin,
Ithiel Mills, Richard Howe, Miner Spicer, James K. Ford, Samuel
A. Wheeler, William T. Mather, Lucian Swift, five shares each;
Frank Adams, four shares; Alvah Hand, Warren Clark, David L.
King, Henry W. King, three shares each; David K. Cartter, George
Howe, Dana D. Evans, Warren H, Smith, Lucius V. Bierce, Arad
Kent, Nathaniel Finch, Rufus P. Spalding, Philander D. Hall,
Henry S. Abbey, two shares each; William M. Dodge, Henry Howe,
Heman A. Bradley, Ansel Miller, Gibbons J. Ackley, Milton W.
Henry, James M. Hale, Hiram Viele, Ezra Leonard, James Sawyer,
Harvey B. Spelman, James M. Edson, John H. Chamberlin, Myers,
Coburn & Co., Beebe & Elkins, Henry H. Wheeler, Edwin Angel,
Lucius S. Peck, one share each. Of the forty-seven subscribers
to the stock of the association only live are believed to be now liv-
ing, (September 1, 1891).
238
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
pOL. SIMON PERKINS— born at
V-> Warren, February 6, 1815;
September, 1832, married Miss Grace
I. Tod, daughter of Judge Georg-e
Tod, and sister of the late Governor
David Tod ; removed to Akron in
1835, engaging in farming and grow-
ing fine stock ; State Senator for
Portage County, 1839, '40, and largely
instrumental in securing the erec-
tion of the new countj^ of Summit ;
Representative from Summit 1841, '42,
securing passage of bill svibmitting
question of location of county seat to
popular vote ; trustee of Portage
township ten years between 1839 and
1877 ; charter meinber of Akron
Rural Cemeterjr Association, and its
president and inost active promoter
from April, 1839, until his voluntary
resignation, April, 1880—41 j^ears ;
president of Akron's pioneer railroad
— the Cleveland, Zanesville & Cin-
cinnati (now Cleveland, Akron &
Columbus) from March 11, 1851, t-^
November 3, 1864, and general super-
intendent till November 4, 1869,
sacrificing nearlj^ his entire private
fortune in its promotion ; a liberal
contributor of lands for parks and
public purposes, and of money for all
industrial, educational and benevo-
lent enterprises, his death, at the
age of 82 years, 5 months and 15 daj^s.
COL. SIMON PERKINS.
July 21, 1887, was universally
lamented, Mrs. Perkins having died
April 6, 1867, aged 56 years and 6
days, seven of their eleven children
surviving thern.
■ At a meeting of the directors named in the charter, April 9,
1839, Simon Perkins, Jr., \sras eleced president; Jedediah D. Com-
mins, secretay, and Samuel A. Wheeler, treasurer. October 17,
1839, a code of by-laws to regulate elections was adopted, and
Messrs. Perkins and Commins were empowered to purchase
twenty acres of land from Gen. Perkins and Judge King, and to
negotiate with the Council for a portion of the grounds belonging
to the town of Akron.
November 13, 1830, council committee on burying ground
reported adversely to the application of the association for part of
its grounds, which was adopted. Thus matters stood — the council
continuing to manage its grounds as named, with perhaps some
slight additions, and the association, besides purchasing lands,
doing little more than to keep its organization intact, until the
beginning of 1850, when the negotiations w^ere renewed, resulting
in a proposition to transfer the grounds to the association on con-
sideration that the association assume the liabilities of the town
for lands and improvements, make good its obligations to lot hold-
ers, pay $60 for its hearse, and transfer to the town stock of the
association to the amount of $200, reimbursable as other stock in
said company, the transfer being made by Mayor Lucius V. Bierce,
February 16, 1850.
SUBSEQUENT HISTORY, GROWTH, ETC.
We cannot minutely trace, step by by step, the progress which,
in the intervening forty-two years, nearly, has been made by the asso-
ciation, now pleasurably visible to all. From its first organization
AKRON RURAL CEMETERY.
239
in April, 1839, until his greatly regretted final resignation in
April, 1880, — 41 years — Col. Simon Perkins was the president of the
association, the secretary from the beginning, until his death, in
1867 — 26 years — being the late Dr. Jedediah D. Commins, both of
the gentlemen named being unwearied in their efforts to make the
Akron Rural Cemetery truly "a thing of beauty and a joy forever."
Lands have been added from time to time, until now, (1891) at
the total original cost of $18,940,16, the grounds cover an area of
57 25-100 acres, beautifully laid out into romantic drives and walks,
w^ith nicely graded lots of diversified shapes and sizes, the whole
centrally bi-sected by meandering and sparkling Willow^ Brook,
with its cascades, ponds, bridges, etc. Tastefully arranged shrub-
bery ornaments nearly every portion of the grounds, \\rhile upon
private lots are attractive monuments and tablets erected by lov-
ing hands in memory of the dear ones there reposing. Approach-
ing the grounds from the city, through Glendale Avenue, following
the tortuous course of Willo^v Brook, with high bluffs and over-
hanging trees on either side, with the superintendent's handsome
stone lodge upon the right, the high stone bell-tower on the'left
and Akron's splendid Memorial Chapel, in honor of her deceased
soldiers, in front, nothing can be more sublimely beautiful than
the entrance to this truly magnificent city of the dead, with fresh
surprises at almost every turn while driving or walking through
the grounds.
npHOMAS WILLS,— born at North-
^ anipton, England, April 23, 1822;
learned the trade of florist; at 21 was
married to Miss Eliza Martin, and in
1851 they came to America, settling-
at Cuyahoga Falls, where he worked
12 years as florist and landscape
gardener for the late Hon. Elisha N.
Sill. During the war Mr. Wills held an
appointment under the Government
as sanitary gardener at Chattanooga,
remaining there vxntil May 19, 1868,
when he was appointed superinten-
dent of the Akron Rural Cemetery,
which position he ably, filled until
October 27, 1879, when he resigned to
devote his whole attention to his
Park Place green house, which he
had meantime established, the
Board of Trustees unanimously
passing a highlj^' laudatory resolu-
tion on his retirement from the posi-
tion. He did an extensive and suc-
cessful business, until his death, from
cancer of the stomach, Augvxst 14,
1886. Mr. and Mrs. Wills were the
parents of seven children, four of
whom survived him — ^Alice Amelia,
wife of Mr. Hugo Schumacher, treas-
urer of the Schumacher Milling
Company; Bert T., successor to
father in Park Place greenhouse;
THOMAS WILLS.
Hannah May, stenographer with
Schumacher Milling Co., and Arthur
J., clerk in office of The B. F. Good-
rich Company. Mrs. Wills is still
living.
THE SUPERINTENDENCY.
On first assuming control, Mr. John M. Martin (father of our
present citizen, Henry O. Martin, of 415 West Center street),
2-^0 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Akron's pioneer tombstone manufacturer, was appointed superin-
tendent, being succeeded, in 1857, by Akron's pioneer cabinet-
maker, the late Mr. David G. Sanford. These early superin-
tendents gave but little, if any, attention to improving the
grounds, which matters were looked after chiefly by President
Perkins and Secretary Commins, the superintendents aiding pur-
chasers in the selection of lots, overlooking burials, etc.
The first regularly salaried superintendent, to devote his w^hole
time to the interests of the association, and the beautifying of its
grounds, was Mr. Thomas Wills, theretofore for several years a
resident of Cuyahoga Falls, and a thoroughly trained gardener and
florist, appointed May 19, 1868, at a salary of $1,000 per year.
The value of Mr. Wills' services to the association and the
community, is evinced by the action of the board in accepting his
resignation, October 27, 1879, after an incumbency of over eleven
years, in the unanimous adoption of the following resolution:
" Resolved, That in thus terininating the connection of Mr. Wills with
our cemetery, we desire to express our high regard for him and our warm
appreciation of the uniform courtesy and zeal with which he has, during the
long period of his superintendency, discharged the duties of his position."
At the same meeting, October 27,1879, the superintendency was
tendered to Mr. Albert H. Sargent, of Rochester, N. Y., at the same
salary which had been paid to Mr. Wills, $1,000 per year, and the
use of the lodge as a family residence, free of rent. Mr. Sargent
accepted, and on February 1, 1870, entered upon the duties of the
position, which have been so faithfully and efficiently discharged,
that at the annual meeting, July 7, 1884, his salary was voluntarily
and unanimously increased, by the directors, to $1,250 per annum.
TESTIMONIAL TO COL. SIMON PERKINS.
After the peremptory resignation of Col. Perkins, as presidentr
as above stated, the Board, on reluctantly accepting the resigna-
tion, April 17, 1880, unanimously adopted the following testimonial:
"Sincerely regretting the action of our late President, Col. Simon
Perkins, in se veering his coiuiection with the association, as an expression of
the views of the board, be it
"Resolved, That to the devoted attention and unwearied care of Col.
Simon Perkins, Akron is greatly indebted for our beautiful cemeterj-, the
source of so much pride and pleasure to all our citizens."
A cordial invitation was also extended to Col. Perkins to still
aid the superintendent in carrying out the plans and designs he
had originated, and also to attend the meetings of the board and
favor the members with his advice, at a later meeting July 6,
1880, the Colonel being elected an honorary member of the board,
with an urgent request to attend its rheetings.
David Iv. King, Esq., was elected as Col. Perkins' successor to
the presidency, April 17, 1880, which position he continuouslj^
filled, with eminent zeal and fidelity, till July, 1891, when he was
succeeded by Mr. Ferd. Schumacher.
Board of Directors, elected July 6, 1891: Ferd. Schumacher,
John R. Buchtel, Jeremiah A. Long, Alvin C. Voris, Edwin P.
Green, John Wolf.
After the death of the original secretary. Dr. Jerediah D. Com-
mins, November 4, 1867, Charles R. Howe was elected as his
AKRON RURAL CEMETERY.
241
successor in July, 1868, not only giving to the position the most
faithful attention during his life-time, but also on his death,
December 7, 1875, bequeathing to the association the sum of $5,000
to be held in trust, on interest, the income from which w^as to be
devoted to the perpetual care of his own lot and other portions
of the cemetery grounds.
DAVID L. KING,-~son of Judge
Leicester King^, born at Warren,
December 24, 1825 ; graduated at Har-
vard 1846 ; read law with King &
Tayler in Akron; 1849 with his
brother, Henry W., formed laAv firm
of King & King ; May 1, 1849, married
to Miss Bettie Washington Steele,
(grand-niece of President George
Washington), who has borne him
five children, three of whom survive ;
1851 located in Cleveland, but returned
to Akron in 1855, in addition to his
law practice, as executor managing
his deceased father's large landed
estate; abandoning the law in 1867,
took an interest in, and the secretary-
ship of, the Akron Sewer Pipe Com-
pany, retaining his connection there-
with ten or twelve years ; 1882-88
president King Varnish Company,
an enterprise resulting in pecuniary
disaster ; active in all public enter-
prises, his energy and liberality have
largely inured to the benefit of the
city of Akron, the Valley Railway
especially being a substantial monu-
ment of his indomitable persever-
ance, while our public schools, our
free library, our benevolent associa-
DAVID L. KING.
tions and our beautiful Glendale
Cemetery have all received his foster-
ing care, Mr. King having served as
president of the last named organiza-
tion after the resignation of Presi-
dent Perkins, in 1880, until July, 1891.
Albert J. McNeil followed Mr. Howe, as secretary, July 3, 1876,
being superseded by Albert B. Tinker in July, 1879, followed, in
1880, by Edwin P. Green, with A. H. Sargent as assistant. Mr.
Sargent succeeded to the secretaryship in July, 1884, which posi-
tion, in addition to the superintendency, he has ably filled to the
present time.
The treasurers of the association, from the beginning, have
been Samuel A. Wheeler, 1839-50; Arad Kent, 1850-55; George D.
Bates, 1855-76; William B.Raymond, 1876-88; Erhard Steinbacher,
1888 to present time.
THE LADIES' CEMETERY ASSOCIATION.
Soon after the close of the w^ar, in which the ladies, every-
w^here, had borne so conspicuous a part, by their incessant and
self-sacrificing labors for the care and comfort of our sick and
wounded soldiers, as detailed in another chapter of this 'work,
ladies of Akron, feeling that the home resting place of their loved
ones needed better care and protection, devised the scheme of
aiding the cemetery authorities in the employment of a competent
person to devote his w^hole time to the care and improvement of
the grounds, and the erection of a suitable home upon the grounds-
for the use of the person so employed.
242
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
MRS. MARY INGERSOLIv TOD
EVANS, — daughter of Judge
Georg-e Tod, of Youngstown,was born
December 8, 1802 ; was married to
John L. McCurdy, of Warren, Decem-
ber 25, 1822, who died at Nashville,
Tenn., in 1830, leaving- three children
— William, still living inYoungstown,
George Tod, late of Akron, deceased,
and Sarah, afterwards Mrs. Parks;
also deceased. In 1836, Mrs. McCurdy
was married to Dr. Dana D. Evans,
of Akron, bearing him three children
— all deceased. Dr. Evans dying
from blood poisoning in Deceinber
1849, in the 39th year of his age.
Mrs. Evans was active in all public
and private benevolent enterprises, a
leading member of the Soldiers' Aid
Society during the war, and after
several years of highly acceptable
service as matron of the Northern
Ohio Hospital for the Insane, at
Newburg, she organized the Akron
Ladies' Cemeterj- Association, and
bent all her energ^ies towards the
erection of the Sttperintendent's
Lodge, at the entrance to Glendale
Cemetery, which . was nearing com-
MKS. MARY INGERSOLL TOD EVAN.S.
pletion at the titne of her death, Feb-
ruarj^ 2, 1869, at the age of 66 years, 2
months and 6 days. Mrs. Evans was
a sister of the late Mrs. Judge Jaijies
R. Ford, Mrs. Col. Simon Perkins and
ex-Governor David Tod.
To the late Mrs. Mary I. T. Evans, is undoubtedly due the
credit of originating the plan whose munificent and beneficent
results we are about to trace. In the Beacon of July 12, 1866, is a
note from Mrs. Evans, invoking the aid of the writer, as editor of
the paper, in favor of the project. Mrs. Evans said:
" Some of us, whose friends sleep their last sleep in those
beautifully situated grounds, caqnot afford costly monuments to
mark the spot; but none are too poor to pl^nt flowers and shrubs,
and we must have these trifling proofs of undying love guarded
and protected from the rude hand of the careless passer-by, or the
determined one of some who delight in wanton destruction of
everything offering pleasure to the eye.
"The Akron Rural Cemetery Company are expending all their
present means in constructing bridges, improving avenues, etc.,
and it will probably require all the revenue they may have from
the sale of lots for some time to come. Shall we not give them a
little help?
"It is proposed to offer to the public a series of weekly enter-
tainments, such as promise pleasure to those who are willing to
patronize us. The first will be a musical entertainment on Tuesday
evening next. Mr. Cutter, Mr. Ingersoll and Miss Ashmun have
kindly consented to use their best efforts in getting up a musical
treat on said evening, and some of our best singers have promised
their valuable aid.
" We have musical talent of a high order in our city, and I have
no doubt that a succession of concerts, varied in character, and
interspersed with other pleasing performances, will call out a little
money from the plethoric pockets of our favored citizens, and also
aw^ake in all a sense of the worthiness of the object sought.
"In the absence of the gentlemen who have promised their
hearty co-operation, it seems to devolve on me, as the 'oldest
AKRON RURAL CEMETERY.
243
inhabitant,' to present this subject to 3^ou. Will you have the
kindness to give such a notice in the Beacon this week as will
serve to call attention to this subject and elicit a hearty response?"
Akron Rural Cemetery Superintendent's Lodge, 1891.— From jihoto by
George E. Hitchcock.
At first Mrs. Bvans met w^ith much discouraging opposition —
let the sexton build or hire his OAvn house as other people did —
a burying ground was not a proper place in which to erect a resi-
dence for the living — raising money by such worldly and
amusement-seeking means for so sacred a purpose was ouf of
character, any ^vay, if not absolutely sacrilegious — let the Cemetery
Association make their own improvements, etc. But her plans
were heartily approved and ably seconded by her two sisters, Mrs.
Grace T. Perkins and Mrs. Julia Ford, and such other public-
spirited ladies as Mrs. Sarah Gale, Mrs. S. H. Coburn, Mrs. J. T.
Balch, Mrs. David L. King, Mrs. Sarah T, Peck, Mrs. William H.
Payne, Miss Anna Perkins, Miss Emma G. T^w^nsend, Mrs. George
Raynolds, Mrs. N. D. Tibbals, Mrs. G. T. McCurdy, Mrs. George T.
Perkins, Mrs. Henry H. Brown, Mrs. Henry Gale, Mrs. Charles
Rawson, Mrs. Hiram G. Fuller, Mrs. Henry S. Abbey, Mrs. Dr. E.
Angel, Mrs. L. K. Miles, Mrs. Alden Gage, Miss Grace Perkins,
Miss Abby Sloat, Miss Laura Balch, Miss Abby Carpenter, Miss
Nellie Smith, Mrs. James Christy, Mrs. John H. Christy, Mrs.
D. E. Hill, Mrs. Frank Adams, Mrs. A. H. Commins, Mrs.
Philip P. Bock, Mrs. F. Schumacher, Mrs. J. H. Chamberlin, Mrs.
E. Steinbacher, Mrs. O. C. Barber, Mrs. Thomas Wills, Mrs. W. B.
Raymond, Mrs. Edward Buckingham, Miss Elma C. Bowen and
many others not now recalled, the earlier records of the associa-
tion not now being accessible. The officers elected March 25, 1871,
were: Mrs. Henry H. Brown, president; Mrs, George T. McCurdy,
vice president: Mrs. Alden Gage, secretary and tre?isurer.
24i
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
So enthusiastically did the ladies enter into the good work
that the movement soon became immensely popular and their
entertainments triumphant successes. The concert, by volunteer
home talent, above alluded to, yielded $159.35; a picnic excursion
to Gaylord's Grove, a week later, $149.76; concert, Augusts, $247.81;
repetition next night, $84.30; " Woodland Fete," on fair grounds,
including promenade concert, (which the opposition designated as
a dance), August 23, $312.40; tableaux, September 18 and 20,
$126.50; dinners during fair, $357.23; amateur minstrel perform-
ance, by Henry K. Abbey and other theatrically inclined young
men, $200.19; total gross receipts, $1,631.54; expenses, $344.52; net
proceeds, reported by Mrs. Bvans, as president, and Emma G.
Townsend, as secretary, October 25, 1866, during the first three
months, being $1,287. 02^ which was duly turned over to Col. Simon
Perkins, president of the Akron Rural Cemetery, to be used for the
purpose designated.
pHARLES R. HOWE, — son of
v-^ Richard and Roxana (Jones)
Howe, was born in Akron January 7,
1831 ; educated in Akron public
schools ; in 1856 engaged in shoe
trade in partnership with Morrill T.
Cutter, the latter retiring- in 1872 and
Mr. Howe in 1874. Mr. Howe was
a liberal, enterprising and patriotic
citizen ; was first lieutenant of Capt.
Storer's company of " Squirrel Hunt-
ers " in 1862 ; first lieutenant of Co. A,
51th Battalion, O. N. G.. Co. F, 161th
Regiment O. V. I., in the hundred
days' service before Washington in
1864 ; foreman of Eagle Hose Com-
pany; memberof City Council 1869-71 ;
Park Commissioner from organiza-
zation of board until his death ;
secretary of Cemetery Association
from 1869 until his death, in his will
bequeathing $5,000 to the Perpetual
Care Fund of the association ; mem-
ber of Summit Lodge, No. 50, I. O. O.
F.; its secretary 1855 ; presiding officer
1857; representative to Grand Lodge
two years ; District Deputy Grand
Master two years; member of
Encampment and Chief Patriarch in
1861, and at time of his death repre-
sentative to Grand Encampment.
August 30, 1850, Mr. Howe was mar-
ried to Miss Mary C. Webster,
CHARLES R. HOWE.
daughter of the late Charles Web-
ster, who died March 14, 1865, aged 30
j-ears, 5 months and 5 days, Mr. Howe
dying December 7, 1875, aged 44 j^ears,
10 months and 11 days, leaving one
child — Annabel, who died August 27,.
1876, aged 17 years, 1 month and 2'
days.
By similar means the fund w^as gradually augmented, a Bazar,
held in April, 1868, netting over $2,000, Aultman, Miller & Co. con-
tributing a Buckeye Mower, J. F. Seiberling & Co. an Excelsior
Reaper, to be sold on the ticket plan; and Herrick & Cannon a silver
pitcher, to be presented to the handsomest man, on the voting
plan — John R. Buchtel receiving 700 votes, Joy H. Pendleton 200
and the writer one!
The total fund at this time, April, 1868, Avas nearly $4,000, suf-
ficient to warrant the Cemetery Association in proceeding w^ith
the work, resulting in the completion, in fall of 1869, of the hand-
some stone cottage, near the entrance to the grounds, since known
AKRON RURAL CEMETERY.
245
as the Cemetery Lodge, though two of its most earnest promoters
did not live to witness the fruition of their unselfish labors — Mrs.
Orace T. Perkins dying April 6, 1867, and- Mrs. Mary I. T. Evans,
February 2, 1869.
To add to their resources, the ladies established, and for sev-
eral years maintained, under the care of Superintendent Thomas
Wills, an extensive greenhouse for the purpose of supplying plants
and flowers to such as desired them for the decoration of the
graves of their deceased friencte or the ornamentation of their
homes. We have not space for a^detailed report of the operations
■of the Ladies' Cemetery Association, during the intervening 23
years, during all of which time it has maintained not only an
active but a progressive existence, its truly gigantic labors being
represented by the following figures: Original cost of Lodge
$12,000; subsequent addition of kitchen, etc., $1,400; heating
apparatus, $300; bridge near lodge, $500; gate posts, $150; Win-
dow in Memorial Chapel, $500; furniture for Chapel, $210; improv-
ing old portion of Cemetery grounds, $1,000; head-stone to grave of
Mrs. Evans, $50; bell tower, $1,000; making a grand total of $17,150,
besides many incidentals for repairs of the Lodge, etc., that would
doubtless swell the amount to very near, if not quite, $20,000.
Present officers of the Association: Mrs. David E. Hill,
president; Mrs. Dr. William C. Jacobs, vice president; Miss Hattie
S. Phillips, secretary; Mrs. William B. Kaymond, treasurer.
ALBERT H. SARGKNT,— son of
-^ George A. and Lydia (Blount)
Sargent, born in Prince Edward
Coiinty, Ontario, Canada, October 31,
1845; raised on farm; educated in
common schools and at Montreal
■College, teaching two years before
Wintering college; removed to Roches-
ter, N. Y., in 1867; studied law four
years with his uncle, Henry Sargent,
Esq.; was then for ten years book-
keeper for the celebrated seedsman,
James Vick; then studied landscape
•engineering under Charles W.
Seelye, of Rochester; and was en-
gaged upon the parks of that cit}'
until called to the siiperintendenc}-
-of the Akron Rural Cemetery, Feb-
ruary 1, 1880, which responsible posi-
tion he is still ably filling; in 1882
was appointed bj' Council on com-
mittee to organize the Akron Board
of Health, officiating as clerk of that
body three years; was elected mem-
ber of Board of Education from the
Third ward in spring of 188o, hold-
ing the office six j^eare, the last two
years as president of the board; in
188(> was elected coroner of Summit
■countJ^ and re-elected in 1888, serv-,
ing four years. June 2(5, 1873, Mr.
Sargent was married to Miss Sue S.
ALBEKT H. SAKGENT.
Sargent, daughter of John and Lucy
(Seelye) Sargent, of Jefferson county,
N. Y., two children having been born
to them— Albert H., born March 4,
1877, dying in infancy, and Jennie L.,
born March 3, 1878.
MEMORIAL CHAPEL.
• But the crowning glory of Akron's beautiful Rural Cemetery,
is Memorial Chapel, near the Glendale entrance, on the left, at the
246
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
foot of "Ordnance hill," and overlooking Willow brook on the
north.
Soon after the close of the war of the rebellion, the subject of
erecting, upon the court house grounds, a suitable monument ta
the memory of such of Summit county's gallant sons as had laid
doA^^n their lives in defense of the Union, during that fearful con-
flict, began to be agitated, but with no definite result until several
of the townships of the county had erected similar monuments in
their respective local cemeteries arid public parks.
View in Glendale Avenue, looking towards Akron Rural Cemetery Lodge.
From photo by E. J. Howard.
Soon after the organization of Buckley Post, Grand Army of
the Republic, in March, 1867, that patriotic body took hold of the
project of erecting a suitable monument to the memory of the
deceased soldiers of Portage township and the City of Akron. By
a series of dramatic and other entertainments, considerable sums
of money were realized, aggregating something over three thous-
and dollars in the course of three or four years, which w^as placed
on interest.
In the latter part of 1871, the Akron Rural Cemetery Associa-
tion tendered to Buckley Post, a suitable site on which to erect
the contemplated monument, w^hich proposition was formally
accepted by the Post December 7, 1871, and on December 11, 1871,
a board of nine trustees, consisting of three members of the Post
and six citizens, was appointed by the Post as follow^s: Col.
Simon Perkins, Lewis Miller, John F. Seiberling, David L. King,
George W. Crouse, George D. Bates, Alvin C. Voris, Arthur L.
Conger and David W. Thomas.
The board by resolution of the Post, was to take charge of the
funds already raised, receive donations, procure plans, and pro-
ceed to erect a monument at a cost of not less than Ten Thousand
Dollars. The board was organized December 30, 1871, as follows:
Col. Simon Perkins, president; Arthur L. Conger, secretary;
George W. Crouse, treasurer; finance committee, John F. Seiber-*
ling, George D. Bates, David W. Thomas, Thomas W. Cornell;
AKRON RURAL CEMETERY.
'2^1
committee on design, David L. King, Alvin C. Voris, Col. Simon
Perkins; statistician, George W. Crouse.
Small additions to the fund were made from time to time, in
various ways, but no active steps were taken for the erection of
the monument until the beginning of 1874, w^hen it was resolved,
by the board, after consultation with other prominent citizens,
and the cemetery authorities, to build, instead of a monument, a
Memorial Chapel, w^ith a receiving vault, and to raise for that
purpose $25,000 l)y subscription, payable in six, twelve and eigh-
teen months.
View in Akron Rural Cenietety, looking out, 1874, before Memorial Chapel and
Stone Arch over Willow Brook were constructed.
This plan proved to be immensly popular w^ith all classes, and
at a concert held at the Academy of Music, February 14, 1874, for
the benefit of the Chapel Fund, in addition to the receipts for
admission to the concert, after an explanation of the plans of the
board, by Col. Perkins, and stirring speeches by David L. King,
George W. Crouse, John R. Buchtel, Rev. Richard L. Ganter and
others, subscriptions were promptly made aggregating over
$10,000, and on the foUow^ing fourth day of July the committee
reported $20,000 in the fund and subscribed, with a good prospect
for speedily securing the balance.
Pursuant to invitation several plans w^ere submitted by well-
know^n competent architects, that of Frank O. Weary being unani-
mously adopted by the committee on designs, and duly approved
by Buckley Post. Col. Simon Perkins, George W. Crouse, Lewis
Miller and David W. Thomas, w^ere constituted a building com-
mittee and empowered to proceed at once to erect the building in
accordance with the design adopted, and a contract was entered
into w^ith Messrs. George Wohlwend and Frank Lukesh for the
erection of the entire structure, exclusive of w^indows, for the sum
of $22,300, other necessary expenditures bringing the entire cost of
the completed structure up to a little over $25,000.
248
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
View in Akron Rural Cemetery from near Robinson and Howard Monuments,
looking West.— From plioto b> George E. Hitchcock, 1891.
Saturday, May 29, 1875 — being Memorial Day for that 3^ear^
was thought to be a fitting occasion for the breaking of the
ground for an edifice w^hich was to be erected to the memory and
valor of deceased soldiers, and arrangements to that end w^ere
made accordingly, the programme adopted being briefly as foUowrs:
<'"««? \t 2:30 p. M, the procession formed on Howard street, under
the direction of Major Thomas McEbright, assisted by Emanuel
P. HoUoway, Capt. William C. Jacobs, Henry Young, Hugo Schu-
macher and George M. Wright, in the following order: Babcock's
band, 15 men; Buckley Post, 50 men; Marble's band, 18 men;
Akron Liedertafel, 40 men; St. -Vincent de Paul's band, 18 men;
AKRON RURAL CEMETERY. 249
soldiers of 1812, in carriages, 5; Mayor Levi S. Herrold and Acting
Mayor Richard P. Marvin, Jr.; members of City Council; poet,
orator, citizens, etc.; Col. Simon Perkins officiating as president of
the da}^
The exercises opened with a solemn dirge, by Marble's band,
followed by an earnest and pathetic prayer by Rev. G. S. Weaver,
of the Universalist Church, after which a male quartette, com-
posed of Messrs. Byron S. Chase, Amasa F. Chandler, Harvey F.
Miller and W, Milton Clarke, sang an appropriate son?g. Messrs.
George H. Payne and Albert A. Bartlett, two one-armed veterans
of the late war, with pick and shovel, then formally broke ground
for the foundation of the contemplated new structure.
Gen. Alvin C. Voris, of Akron, delivered the oration, ^vritten
in his ow^n terse but fervid style, and spoken in his own earnest
and impressive manner, closing with this eloquent paragraph:
"May this inonument be fruitful of instruction to those who come after
us, as well as an honored memorial to our departed heroes, givinjr evidence
that this g-eneration possesses the spirit of our ancestors in sufficient degree
to defend the institutions they transmitted to us. AH praise to the liberality
iind good taste of the citizens of Akron who thus honor the memory of our
heroes. May we go hence resolutely determined to make, preserve and
transmit to the future the best human institutions that ever inankind
devised, and blessed will be our memory."
After the rendition of an appropriate song, in German, by the
Akron Liedertafel, Mr. Will. M. Carleton, of Hillsdale, Mich., recited
an original poem, composed for the occasion, too lengthy to be
reproduced here, but which, after portraying the patriotic upris-
ing in defense of the Union, the sacrifices and sufferings of the
soldiers on battle fields and in prison pens, the tearful and prayer-
ful anxieties and sorrow^s of the dear ones at home, in allusion to
the annual Decoration Day observances, and the memorial structure
about to be erected, said:
" And so once more we gather here, to-day.
To honor those who jfave their lives away;
And so, with offering heart-felt and s>incere,
We speak the tender words and drop a tear.
*********
When the sweet air holds out the touch of health,
And silvery blossoms promise golden wealth,
A fair and "goodly portion here we save.
To mark the memory of the fallen brave.
*********
And when this structure rises through the air.
And mingles with its memories words of prayer,
So let our hearts ring out the prayerful strain.
That those who sleep here slutnber not in vain."
A patriotic selection by Babcock's band, and the benediction
"by Rev. Henry Baker, of the first M. E. Church, closed the exer-
cises of the day, the strewing of flowers upon the graves of their
fallen comrades having been performed earlier in the day by the
members of Buckley Post.
The w^ork ivas prosecuted with such vigor that the foundation
was ready for the superstructure early in July, and on Sunday,
July 11, 1875, under the auspices of Buckley Post, the pleasant but
solemn ceremony of laying the corner-stone was performed at 5
o'clock p. M. Prayer was offered by Rev. Carlos Smith, of the Con-
gregational Church. Gen. Alvin C. Voris deposited in the cavity
of the stone resolutions of Buckley Post leading to erection of
Chapel and of building committee in regard to design of structure;
roster of Buckley Post; names of building committee; copies of
250
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Daily Beacon, containing account of breaking ground and other
matters pertaining to Chapel; a confederate bank-note; a Ten-
nessee ten-cent bank-note; various coins and pieces of United
States currency, and the Roll of Honor, containing the names of
soldiers buried in the several cemeteries of the city.
View in Akron Rural Cemetery, from liead of Upper Duclt Pond,
looking East.- -From photo by George E. Hitchcock, 1891.
Appropriate addresses were made by Rev. G. S. Weaver, and
Newell D. Tibbals, the latter, after alluding to the patriotic going
forth to do battle for the Union, sadness of parting, the sacrifice
of life and treasure, and the triumphant and glorious ending of the
most gigantic struggle in the world's history, closing as follows:
"And what was the lesson taught? It was that this great nation was
more precious than the lives of its citizens ; that the rights of the people
must be protected ; that the unity of our country be maintained, and that
henceforth our glorious flag, the emblem of our national greatness, shall
float at the masthead of our vessels, on every sea, in every harbor of every
civilized nation.
"Then, with feelings of gratitude to the noble dead, assembled here in
the eventide of the first century of our glorious national life, in the harvest
time of the year, in this beautiful home of the dead, and with the going down
of the sun of this quiet, lovely Sabbath day, let us lay the corner-stone of this
splendid structure, in memory of the loved ones who died for such a
noble cause. Let us inscribe with their names, as the sentiment of the prin-
ciple for which they fought and gave their lives — ' Union and Libert}', now
and forever, one and inseparable ! ' "
The chapel is built on the cruciform plan, the nave being
30x48 feet, the width of the transepts 42 feet, giving a ground area
, of 1,800 square feet. The entrance is at the east end, by five stone
steps at either end of the broad porch, the entrance to the receiving
vault, in the basement, being at the west end and on a level with
the surface of the ground in the rear of the chapel.
The entire structure is of fine sandstone, constructed in the
most substantial manner, the roof covered with slate, floor of the
chapel with tile, and roof of the receiving vault with stone atid
AKRON KURAL CEMETERY.
251
cement, with iron joists, copper roof protections, etc.; the interior
finish of chapel, from floor to ridge of roof, being both substantial
and handsome.
Soldiers' Memorial Chapel in Akron Rural Cemetery, erected in 1875-6.
From a photo by George E. Hitchcock, 1891.
The most interesting features of the chapel are its memorial
windows, the glass for which was imported from Scotland. The
large chancel window at the west end, 10x25 feet, contains a full
length representation of Col. Lewis P. Buckley, contributed by the
members of the 29th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with a
brief history of that regiment during the w^ar. The large three-
panel transept window on the north side represents the labors of
the Sanitary Commission and Soldiers' Aid Society — the heroic
sacrifice and suffering of the loyal women of America, both at
home, on the field of battle and in the hospital — contributed by the
Ladies' Cemetery Association, as elsewhere stated.
252 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
The three-panel transept window on the south side, placed by
the Board of Memorial Trustees, on the Centennial Anni versa r}^ of
American Independence, is a fitting conclusion of their unselfish
and patriotic labors; the center panel contains a full length repre-
sentation of Washington, with the legend: "Observe good faith
and justice with all nations;" the easterly panel, the figure of the
hero of Lake Erie in the war of 1812, Pommodore Oliver Hazzard
Perry, and his triumphant message to Gen. Harrison, September
10, 1813: "We have met the enemy and they are ours;" the west-
erly panel, the martyred Lincoln, w^ith his iminortal utterance in
closing his second brief inaugural address, March 4, 1865: "With
malice toward none, and with charity for all."
Smaller windo'ws, ^vith appropriate designs and mottoes were
contributed by individual citizens as follows: Gen. A. C. Voris, in
memory of his three brothers who died in the service; Judge
Samuel C. Williamson, in memory of his brother, William Palmer
Williamson, the first soldier killed in battle from Summit county;
Frank O. Weary, in inemory of his two young friends, Henry H.
and Eugene D. Smith; friends, to the memory of Capt. Walter B,
Scott; Gen. Thomas F. Wildes to the memory of his brother, John
C. Wildes; Theodore Robinson and other members of the family to
the memory of Virgil J. Robinson and his brother-in-law, Benjamin
F. Weary, the latter being the first to enlist in Akron, and the last
from Summit county killed, in the battle Appomattox, after the
surrender of Gen. Lee, April 9, 1865; the east window^ being placed
by members of the "Sixth Battery in memory of our fallen com-
rades"— the two Louvre windows, representing a piece of field
artillery and a Siblej^ tent, and the large ornamental rose window^
in front being contributed by architect Frank O. Weary.
There are fourteen marble slabs, eight feet in height by three
feet in width, upon which were inscribed, previous to dedication,
the names of all of Akron and Portage township's soldiers killed
in battle, or >vho had died, either during or after the close of the
w^ar, regardless of the place of their decease, or burial, and of all
other know^n ex-soldiers from other localities who had died in
Akron, to which has since been, and will continue to be, added those
w^ho are constantly being transferred from the ranks of Life to the
grand and ever augmenting Army of the Dead.
Tw^o twelve-pound brass cannon, donated to Buckley Post by
the War Department, for monumental purposes, properly mounted
on carriages are stationed in close proximity to the chapel — one on
''Ordnance Hill," upon the south, and the other on a slight mound
upon the west.
DEDICATION OF CHAPEL.
The chapel, complete in all its appointments, w^as duly dedi-
cated on Decoration Day, Tuesday, May 30, 1876, with imposing
ceremonies, briefly as follows:
Besides the usual decoration services earlier in the day, a
large procession of soldiers, ex-soldiers, citizens, civic societies,
bands of music, etc., forming on Howard street, reached the chapel
at 2 o'clock p. m. After the usual preliminary exercises of prayer,
music, etc., Mr. Lewis Miller, on behalf of the Building Committee,
presented the structure to Buckley Post in a brief but exceedingly
appropriate address, w^hich was received on behalf of the Post, in
AKRON RURAL CEMETERY. 253
elocjuent and fitting words by Capt. Samuel C. Williamson, who, in
turn, in behalf of the Post, transferred the building to the care and
custody of the Trustees of the Akron Rural Cemetery Association,
in closing addressing Col. Simon Perkins, president of the associa-
tion, as follows:
" To yoiir hands, then, O, venerable patriarch of the past — the representa-
tive of the earlier, and perhaps better, days of the Republic—in the presence
of these white-haired veterans of 1812, in whom, to-day, we span the chasm of
a century, and shake hands with the heroes of the Revolution who fell at
Lexington and Bunker Hill, and in their names, the founders of our govern-
ment, and in the names of those who died to preserve it, we now confide to
.you these keys, the symbol of possession, in token of the transfer which is
hereby made."
COL. PERKINS' RESPONSE.
On receiving the keys of the chapel from Judge Williamson,
Col. Perkins said:
"Sir: In behalf of the Akron Rural Cemeterj^ we accept the beautiful
and sacred trust, through you confided to us by the members of Bixckley
Post, Grand Armj^ of the Republic, of this fitting- memorial erected to the
memory of loved ones who were offered as a sacrifice on the altar of our
country, that those who survive may transmit the legacj^ confided to us, bj^
our patriotic fathers, in spotless purity for generations to come.
" The Cemetery Association will treasure the invaluable trust you now
confide to us, and will preserve it as a sacred and loving tribute to our sons,^
whose sacrifice was made for us and for our children after us. Allow me, in
the name of the Akron Rural Cemeterj' Association to tender, through j'ou,.
to Buckley Post, our grateful thanks for the confidence and honor reposed in
VIS, and give them our assurance that the trust shall be preserved and pro-
tected in love and brotherly regard for our sons."
Ex-Governor Edward F. Noyes, the orator of the day, delivered
one of the most eloquently impressive addresses ever listened to in
Akron, but its length precludes its repetition here. A few brief
excerpts must suffice:
"The occasion which calls us together to-day," said the Governor,
"obliterates all distinctions of creed and platform, all inequalities of fortune
and of social life. We come, indulging in a common sorrow for our beloved
dead, to dedicate to the niemorj^ of departed heroes this Memorial Chapel-—
the work of willing hands, the offering of grateful and patriotic hearts. * *
* There is something in the death of a patriot soldier which makes it more
touching and honorable than any other. * * * We realize that the}^ have
died for us and for that which is dear to us ; that their immeasurable sacri-
fice has made life, happiness and prosperitj^ possible for us and for our chil-
dren. * * * Ag a token of our appreciation and grateful remembrance,
this beautiful edifice has been erected — an honor alike to the living and the
dead. * * * A. hundred years have passed since the Declaration of
American Independence. What the coming century may have in store
for us will depend upon our own deserts. A glorious future can only be
secured to the people whose intelligence, virtue and patriotism makes them
worthy to enjoy it. * * * Looking forward, then, over the hundred years
before us, to the time when our nation shall number 300,000,000 souls — when
the prairies shall be changed into gardens, and the hills shall be fragrant
with orchards and vineyards — when the waste places shall give wa}- to 10,000
cities, throbbing with active life when our commerce shall whiten everj'^
sea, and bear to distant lands the varied products of our ingenuity and skill,
of labor and of thought, shall we not be incited to nobler aims and efforts
than we have yet attained? So best shall we honor those whose virtues we
commemorate to-day."
"THIS IS YOUR TEMPLE TO-DAY."
At the conclusion of Gov. Noyes' address, after a song by the
Akron Liedertafel,Will M. Carleton recited an appropriate original
poem, under the above title, the exercises closing with a song by
254
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
the Apollo Club, the benediction by Rev. G. S. Weaver, and music
by Akron Junior Band; and Memorial Chapel has for the past
decade and a half been, as it must long continue to be, an honor to
Akron's soldiery, living as vsrell as dead, an inestimable public con-
venience, an ornament to our beautiful Kural Cemeter^^, and a
source of perpetual pride to all our people.
Lewis Miller's Duck Pond, looking East from Akron Rural Cemetery, previous
to the Extension of Park Place to Glendale Avenue.
On finally closing up his accounts, it was found that in conse-
quence of the panic of 1873, and the financial reverses resulting
therefrom, a portion of the subscriptions were non-collectable, and
that in settling v^^ith the contractors, and the liquidation of other
claims, Treasurer Crouse, in addition to his own liberal contribu-
tion, ^vas out of pocket just $3,500,. for wrhich sum, by special act of
the Legislature, the Council w^as authorized to issue the city's
bonds on which to raise the money for his reimbursement, which
was accordingly done; the entire cost of the structure, outside of
individual contributions of memorial windows, being $25,294.64.
Aside from its preciousness, as the hallowed resting place of
Akron's departed loved ones of the past half century, in a money
point of view^, besides the nearly $20,000 paid for the land; the $20,-
000 raised and expended by the ladies for the lodge and other
improvements made by them; the $25,000 and overexpendedby our
patriotic soldiers and liberal-handed citizens in the erection of
Memorial Chapel, there has been expended by the association, at a
low^ estimate, in improvements and care of grounds, $125,000, w^hile
private expenditures, for lots and ornamentation, head-stones,
monuments, etc., w^ill undoubtedly aggregate fully $300,000 more,
making a grand total of money expended to the present time of
nearly, if not fully, half a million of dollars, one of the most notable
family monuments on the grounds, being the life-like statue of
Hon, John R. Buchtel, erected under his own supervision, after
becoming an invalid, as elsewhere stated.
AKRON S PUBLIC PARKS.
255
Bell Tower, Akron Rural Cemetery.
Lots are now held at fifty cents
per square foot, in" sizes to suit
purchasers, in the newer portion
of the grounds, in which portion
an additional payment of twenty-
five cents per foot is required, as
a contribution to the Perpetual
Care Fund, for the purpose of for-
ever, by accruing interest, keep-
ing said lots in order. As the
object of this fund becomes better
known, it grows in favor, many
owners of lots in the older portion
of the grounds, either contribu-
ting outright thereto, or provid-
ing by will for that purpose, the
fund at the present time (Sep-
tember, 1891), amounting to nearly $10,000.
This fund should be rapidly augmented, so that, in the not
ver}^ distant future, when the income from the sale of lots shall
comparatively cease, and other and more distant grounds have to
]>e resorted to, the care and beauty of our present attractive City
of the Dead, by common consent called "Glendale Cemetery," may
be forever assured, without a contingencj'^ or peradventure.
AKRON'S PUBLIC PARKS.
In addition to Akron's beautiful Rural Cemetery, of fifty-sev^en
acres, artistically laid out into romantic drives and walks, and
always open to the public, court house square, donated by Gen.
Simon Perkins to Summit county, for public purposes, in 1840, and
no\v covered with umbrageous trees, and traversed by substantial
walks, and Fountain Park, of some 50 acres, the present attractive
fair grounds of the Summit County Agricultural Society, also
constantly available to the public as a pleasure resort, the city
itself is the owner of quite a number of -not very extensive but
extremely pleasant, "breathing places" in the Avay of public parks,
iis follows:
SOUTH AKRON OR PERKINS PARK.
The original proprietor of the land, Gen. Simon Perkins, of
Warren, in platting his nevsr village of Akron, in 1825, laid out a
" public square," on the western part of his plat, embracing what
is now known as Perkins P*ark, bounded by West Exchange street
on the south, Middlebury street on the north, Bowery street on
the east and Locust street on the west, and also including the
capacious grounds on which the Perkins school building now
stands, on the south side of Exchange street, the whole containing
al)out five acres of ground. The larger portion, north of Exchange
street, is surrounded by a substantial fence, thoroughly sodded,
planted to thrift}^ shade trees, evergreens, etc., and tastefully laid
out into walks, with seats, etc., and is greatly enjoyed by the
inhabitants of that portion of the city.
GRACE AND UNION PARKS.
June 20, 1846, in Council proceedings, it is recorded that a
motion w^as unanimously adopted authorizing the Mayor "to
256 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
receive any donation that Mr. Simon Perkins might make to the
Town of Akron, and give the necessary assurance that his views
and directions would be appreciated and carried out," and, on
August 25, 1847, the Committee on PubHc Grounds were "author-
ized to take charge of that part of the same lying northeast of
Doctor Evans's, being a lot of about eight acres given to the town
by Mr. Simon Perkins, as he will deed the same soon."
March 11, 1848, a deed was executed by Simon Perkins, his w^ife,.
Grace T. Perkins, Joseph Perkins, his wife, Martha E. Perkins,.
Jacob Perkins and Henry B. Perkins, "in consideration of our
desire to provide for the health and convenience of the inhabitants
of the Town of Akron," conveying to the Town Council of said
town, "the whole of Block number thirty, (30), containing seven
and seven one-hundredths of an acre of land, and the whole of
Block number six (6) in Perkins' Addition, containing one and
eighty-live one-hundredths of an acre of land, "for the purpose of
public squares, or grounds, and for no other purpose whatsoever,
and subject to these further limitations; that good and sufficient
fences around the same shall be erected within nine months from
this date, and forever maintained at the proper cost of the Town of
Akron; and that no buildings or structures of any kind shall be
erected on the same, and on failure of said Council to erect said
fences, or, after their erection, to keep them in repair, or on the
erection of any building or structure theron, by said Council or
their successors in office, or by any other person or persons, then,
and in either of these cases, or contingences, all of said lands, shall
revert and revest in the said grantors, their heirs or assigns, as
fully as if this deed had not been made, and the said grantors,
their heirs or assigns may re-enter and take possession of the
same, and enjoy it in as full and ample a manner as if this con-
veyance had never been made."
The larger of the two parcels of ground thus conveyed^
bounded by Prospect street on the west. Park street on the south,^
Perkins street on the north and Elm street on the east, was, by
common consent, named "Grace Park," in honor of Mrs. Grace T.
Perkins, the amiable w^ife of the donor of the land in question, for
though his three brothers, Joseph, Jacob and Henry B., joined in
making the conveyance, it was understood that Col. Simon
Perkins was alone the giver.
Grace Park was fenced within the time specified, in December
1848, with lumber at $8.00 per thousand feet and labor at thirty-one
cents per rod, or a grand total cost of $189.02. Subsequently in
1875, the city purchased from Joseph Perkins for $2,000 the strip of
land lying between Elm (now North College) street and the rail-
roads, east and west, and Perkins and Park streets, north and
south, a portion of w|iich, including that portion of College street
lying between the tw^o parcels, has recently been added to the
main park, and the whole, nearly ten acres, surrounded by a hand-
some and substantial iron fence, leaving a narrow driveway
between the park and the railway embankment, on the east side.
This park, with a large number of the original forest trees — grand
old oaks — still standing thereon, interspersed with evergreens and
ornamental shrubs, surrounded by rowrs of thrifty young maples,
w^ith its well-kept w^alks and comfortable lawn settees, is a con-
stant reminder to our people of the generosity and foresight of the
akkon's public parks. 257
donor, and of his expressed desire, as above quoted, " to promote
the health and convenience of the inhabitants of the Town of
Akron."
That region of the town east of the railroads, and bet\v^eeii
East Market and Middlebury streets, was for many years an open
common, or public cow-pasture, and the triangular block now^
known as "Union Park," included in the above named donation,
remained unfenced and unimproved until a comparatively recent
period. Indeed, both parcels were many times forfeited by the
carelessness and neglect of the town officials, had the generous-
hearted donor seen fit to enforce the stipulations of the deed as
above given, Edward Oviatt, Esq., attorney for the town, in a
report submitted by him February 21, 1858, admonishing the
Council that "a failure to keep up the fences, or to permit any
permanent structure to be erected on Grace or Flat-iron Parks
would Avork a forfeiture of title and a reversion of the same to the
original grantors, or their heirs."
This triangular ground, designated as "Union Park," is now
flanked on the w^est and north by handsome private residences,
and on the southeasterly side by like structures, with Akron's
magnificent high school building about midway. Like Grace
Park, it is inclosed by a handsome iron post and rail fence, nicely
graded and sodded and planted to shade trees, both inside and out,
and most highly appreciated by both teachers, scholars and
people.
"Pleasant Park" is in the extreme south end of the cit3%
east of the railroads, bounded north by Thornton street, east by
Grant street, south by Eagle street, and west by Washington street,
and contains about five acres of land. It was dedicated to the
public use by the late Samuel Thornton, as a part of Thornton's
addition to the City of Akron, and with the care that is being
bestowed upon it by the park commissioners, being fenced, graded
and liberally provided with trees, walks, etc., is in reality a very
great boon to the rapidly increasing population of that portion of
the city.
At the junction of West Market and North streets, and
bounded on the east by Valley street, is a triangular park contain-
ing about three-fourths of at acre, the eastern portion of which,
lots five and six, or Wolf's sub-division, being purchased by the
city, July 19, 1880, from the Lock Slate Company, of Philadelphia,
for the consideration of $475, and the apex, 30-100 of an acre, from
George Flower, executor of George Treen, January 6, 1881, for the
consideration of $800. The lot has been properly graded and
improved, and in the center — a donation from Hon. J. Park
Alexander — is a commodious fountain, whose sparkling waters
gladden and refresh not only the inhabitants of the neighborhood,
but the hundreds of daily passers-by.
By an arrangement with the Cemetery Association, in the
laying out of Glendale avenue, the triangle formed by the junction
of the avenue with West Market and Cherry streets, containing
about one-eighth of an acre was dedicated to the public, and a
fountain erected thereon by the city, run at first by the waters of a
large spring, or w^ell, at the corner of West Marke:t and Bates
street, but in more recent years by those of the Akron City Water
Works. By a subsequent adjustment of street and lot lines,.
17
258 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
between the city and Col. D. W. Thomas, this little park will
finally become nearly, if not quite obliterated, though for the
present it is being cared for by the commissioners, as are the
other parks of the city. It is called the "Oasis."
The handsome and conveniently located lot, on northeast
corner of East Market and High streets, is the original lot upon
which the late Gen. Lucius V. Bierce erected, in 1835, '36, what was
then the finest family residence in the new village of North Akron.
On the 13th day of September, 1875, the Gen. and Mrs. Bierce con-
veyed their property to the city, on the consideration that,
commencing on the 15th day of March, 1876, the city should pay to
them the sum of $1,500 per annum during their joint lives, and on
the death of either, the sum of $1000peryear to the survivor during
his or her life, with the stipulation that the city should allow them
to occupy said house or provide them with rooms in the new^
building that might be erected thereon, and provided further, " that
the lot conveyed shall be forever known as ' Bierce Park.' "
Not being ready to erect a city hall, or other public building
on said lot, the grantors were permitted to occupy the premises
until their respective deaths — ^the General, November 11, 1876, and
Mrs. Bierce, April 24, 1882.
The cost to the city for the property in question was about
$6,000. For a time after the death of Mrs. Bierce, the house was
rented to various parties, for domestic purposes, but as that usage
was both annoying and profitless, besides jeopardizing the title,
the building was sold to Mr. Leroy Munson, and by him removed
to Furnace street, where it is now doing duty as a tenement house,
and the most substantial house on that street.
" Bierce Park" has been graded, sodded and fenced, and will
thus be kept as a public park until such time as the city may
desire to use the lot for the erection of such a public building —
city hall, or otherwise — as its convenient and commanding loca-
tion is w^orthy of.
From its earliest history Middlebury has had quite an exten-
sive public square, contributed by Roswell Kent, and other
public-spirited citizens, on the southerly side of what is now^ East
Market street, and on which the original school house of the
village was located, and in later years the high school building of
Middlebury toAvnship. Since the annexation of that township to
the cit}^, and the erection of the splendid new Sixth Ward school
building, on South Arlington street, the old school building has
been converted into Fire Station Number Two, and the old
Middlebury public square, w^ith its nicely graveled walks, its well-
kept lawn, its sparkling fountain, its thrifty shade trees, shrubbery,
etc., is now, under the management of the fire laddies, one of the
very pleasantest parks in the city.
In addition, and nearly opposite, in the acute angle formed by
the junction of East Market and Broad streets, also a contribution
from early residents, is a shady lawn, or park, of perhaps one-fourth
of an acre, which is both a great convenience and a source of
pleasure to the inhabitants of that portion of our goodly city.
The parks of the city are under the care and control of a board
of three park commissioners, at present consisting of Christian
Vogt, John Kreuder and David Rittersbach, all of whom, without
compensation, yearl)^ devote much time and attention to their
AKRON S PUBLIC PARKS.
259
improvement, the annual expenses for fencing, grading and plant-
ing, trimming, mowing, seating, etc., averaging about $2,700, for
the past five or six years, the expenditures for the past five years,
as shown by city clerk's annual report to City Council being,
respectively, $1,963.08; $2,369.40; $2,491.19; $2,655.39; $3,153.03; the
cost of fencing Grace and Union Parks alone being respectively
about $3,000 and $1,350; the fences, however, being of such a per-
manent nature that no further expense than an occasional coat of
paint will be required for many years to come.
View on Ohio Canal, below Stone Mill,
looking South.
CHAPTER XIII.
AKRON AND PORTAGE TOWNSHIP CIVIL SERVICE— TOWN, VILLAGE, CITY AND
TOWNSHIP LOCAL AND GENERAL PUBLIC OFFICERS FOR FIFTY-FIVE YEARS
—A HIGHLY HONORABLE RECORD— HUNDREDS OF FAITHFUL OFFICIALS —
NOT A SINGLE CASE OF MALFEASANCE KNOWN— A VALUABLE LIST FOR
FUTURE REFERENCE.
AKRON'S CIVIL SERVICE RECORD.
AS in subsequent chapters, under their respective heads, the civil
service status of the several townships, in the county, state
and nation, will be given, it is here in order to show^ how
far the citizens of the shire town have been honored with
positions of public trust, by the people of the town, village, countj^,
and state, and the fidelity with which each and all have discharged
the arduous and responsible duties thus devolved upon them, and
it may here be parenthetically observed, that, in the long list of
names w^hich follow^s, not a single instance of malfeasance in office
has been reported or suspected.
As elsewhere stated Akron was incoporated as a "Town," b3^
act of the Legislature, passed March 13, 1836, the municipal officers
provided by the act, to be elected on the second Tuesday of the
ensuing June, by the "w^hite male inhabitants Avho have resided
within the aforesaid limits of said town for the space of six months
next preceding said election," being "one Mayor, one Recorder and
five Trustees who together shall constitute a Town Council," etc.;
subsequent elections to be held on the first Tuesday of June in
each year, thus involving the necessity of holding three elections
each year — township, municipal and state, w^ith an additional elec-
tion for President every four years.
On the adoption of the new State Constitution of 1851, the legal
title of Akron, by virtue of its provisions, became "The Incorpo-
rated Village of Akron," w^hich title was retained until its advance-
ment to a city of the second-class in January, 1865, as heretofore
stated.
The initial election of town officers was fully described in the
second chapter of this work and need not be repeated here, the
entire roster of toAvn, village, city and township officers, during the
intervening 55 years, being as follows:
Town and Village Trustees. — For 1836, Erastus Torre3^
Jedediah D. Commins, William B. Mitchell, William E. Wright,
Noah M. Green; Mr. Mitchell declining to serve. Col. Justus Gale
was appointed by Council to fill the vacancy. In 1837, William K.
May, William T. Mather, Dana D. Evans, Jesse Allen, Eber
Blodgett; Mr. May removing from town in September 1837, Wil-
liam Patterson was appointed in his place. In 1838, Jesse Allen,
Ebenezer Martin, Justus Gale, James W. Phillips, Ansel Miller;
1839, Samuel Manning, Seth Iredell, James W. Phillips, Lewis P.
Buckley, Ebenezer Martin; Mr. Martin declining to serve, Ansel
Miller w^as appointed in his place and Mr. Phillips resigning in July,
Mr. Ithiel Mills was appointed to fill the vacancy. 1840, Seth Ire-
dell, Samuel Manning, Ithiel Mills, Samuel A. Wheeler, William E.
AKRON S CIV'IL SERVICE RECORD.
261
WILLIAM L. CLARKE— son of
Judge George Clarke, was born
in Lewivsburg, Pa., March 19, 1796;
<:atne with parents to Stark County,
in 1810, and to Springfield in 1814 ;
common school education, receiving
additional instruction from father
in mathematics and surveying;
raised a farmer, early manhood
divided between farming and teach-
ing, in 1833 removing to Middlebur3^ ;
in 1848, was elected Sheriff of Summit
county, and re-elected in 1850, ably
filling that responsible position four
years, meantime moving to Akron ;
was elected justice of the peace for
Portage township, in 1857, and re-
elected in 1861, '64 and '67, faithfully
seving twelve years. April 9, 1818,
he was married to Miss Sarah De
Haven, of Springfield, who bore hitn
five daughters and one son — Martha,
born January 28, 1819, married to Mr.
James Irvin, November 2, 1842, who
died September 4, 1863. Mrs. Irvin
still surviving; Nancy Cynthia,
born March 25, 1821, married to Perry
C. Caruthers, of Tallmadge, October
122, 1840, both now living ; Sarah Lois,
born July 2, 1823, married to Dudley
Seward, whose portrait and bio-
graphy appear elsewhere; Maria
Jane, born January 7, 1826, married
to N. D. Furry, November 12, 1845,
NELSON B. STONE.
NELSON B. STONE,-son of Milo
and Sarah (Beardsley) Stone,
was born September 18, 1816, in Ma-
honing County, Ohio, the family a
5^ear later settling in Tallmadge ;
educated in district schools and at
Tallmadge Academ}"^ ; after several
3'ears spent in West Bloomfield, N.
Y., Ravenna and Chardon, O., and
Wheeling, W. Va., as clerk and book-
keeper, in December, 1840, Mr. Stone
WILLIAM L. CLARKE.
died December, 1865 ; Mary H., born
August 13, 1830, married to Nelson B.
Stone, May 19, 1852, died April 6, 1853 ;
William Milton, born March 7, 1834,
died January 22, 1878. Mr. Clarke
died August 9, 1876, and Mrs. Clarke
April 12, 1881.
came to Akron, clerking in store for
a few months, when he accepted the
position of deputy, under cotinty
clerk, Lucian Swift, serviAg under
Clerk Swift and Clerk Lucius S. Peck,
until October, 1851, when he Avas
elected Clerk (the first under the new
constitution, clerks theretofore hav-
ing been appointed by the court),
which position he held three years.
Then, though still residing in Akron,
he was for a time deputy clerk*of
Cxiyahoga County ; then after a short
engagement with Aultman, Miller &
Co., in 1865, became the secretary and
treasurer of the Weary, Snyder &
Wilcox Manufacturing Co., which
position he held 18 years, having
since retired from active business.
Mr. S. has been an efficient and
official member of the First M. E.
church, and a zealous worker, teacher,
secretary, etc., in the Sunday school,
since its organization. May 19, 18,52,
Mr. Stone was married to Miss Mary
H. Clarke, of Akron, who died April
6,18.53, leaving one son — Nelson C,
now cashier in City National Bank
of Akron. August 23, 1854, Mr. Stone
was again married, to Miss Elizabeth
H. Beardsley, of Akron, who has
borne him two children— Philip C,
who died March 24, 1872, and Dwight
M., living at home.
262
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
PHILIP P. BOCK— born in Mich-
enbach, Hessian Haniburg-jPrus-
eia, February 10, 1830; at ten years of
age came with parents to America,
settling- in Akron; educated at Akron
Hig-h School ; clerked for various
firms in Akron several j^ears ; was
employed by Countj' Commissioners
to compile complete index of county
records ; in 1858, was elected Count)'
Recorder, and re-elected in 1861, ably
filling- that important position six
years, and, being- a firm advocate of
the doctrine of " rotation in office,"
declining an assured nomination
for a third term. On retiring from
office, for a short time was in the lum-
ber trade, after which he embarked in
the insurance business, later estab-
lishing a real estate and loan agencj*.
which has been phenomenall)^ suc-
cessful, being the pioneer in that
line of business in the cit3^ Mr.
Bock is emphaticallj" self-made, an
earnest Republican, a stanch tem-
perance man and a good citizen. He
was married Julv 31, 1860, to Miss
Ellen Shultes, of Buffalo, N. Y. Five
children have been born to them —
PHILIP P. BOCK.
three daughters, Ada, Mae C. and
Annie, and two sons, Philip Paul, Jr.,
who died yoving, and Charles S., a
bright, promising j'oung man. who
died suddenly. September 28, 1888, at
the age of 25 3^ears, 1 month and 11
days.
Wright; 1841, Seth Iredell, Webster B. Storer, Jacob Allen, Ansel
Miller, Leverett J. Ives; 1842, Ansel Miller, Seth Iredell, David
Allen, George T. Ray, Horace May; Mr. Allen dying in Januar^^,
1843, James Mathews was appointed to fill the vacanc3'; 1843, Seth
Iredell James Mathews, George T. Ray, Horace May, Ansel Miller-
1844, .William M. Dodge, Robert K. DuBois, Nahum Fay, Jesse
Allen, Samuel A. Wheeler; Mr. Jesse Allen, resigning in September,
his brother, Mr. Jacob Allen, was appointed to the vacancy. 1845^
Robert K. DuBois, Justus Gale, Lucius V. Bierce, William M,
Dodge, John H. Crawford; Col. Gale declining to serve, Samuel A.
Wheeler was appointed for the term, and Judge DuBois dying^
in November, Horace Canfield was appointed for remainder of
term; 1846, Horace Canfield, Samuel A. Wheeler, Allen Hibbard,.
Nicholas Emmons Vansickle, Lucius V. Bierce; 1847, Allen Hib-
bard, Lucian Swift, Samuel A. Wheeler, Joseph A. Beebe, Ansel
Miller; 1848, Ansel Miller, Nathaniel Finch, Benjamin McNaugh-
ton, John M. Cutler, George W. Bloom; 1849, Nathaniel Finch,
Ansel Miller, Charles Webster, George W. Bloom, Milton W. Henrj'^;
Mr. Finch resigning in October, John M. Cutler was appointed to
the vacancy; 1850, Thomas H. Goodwin, John Howe, Hiram Viele,
Robert Jackson, Lemuel C. Parker; Mr. Howe removing from the
town in October, William M. Dodge was appointed in his place;
1851, James M. Hale, Benjamin ^cNaughton, William O. Sanford,
Milton W. Henry, David T. Bruner; 1852, James M. Hale, William
O. Sanford, Ralph P. Myers, Peter Osborn, Ansel Miller; 1853,
WilHam T. Allen, Richard S. Elkins, David A. Scott, George
Thomas, Daniel H. Wheeler; Mr. Elkins having been appointed
Recorder, in January, 1854, in place of Recorder Horace Canfield,
deceased as elsewhere stated, Samuel A. Lane was appointed to serve
the balance of Mr. Elkins's term as trustee; 1854, James B. TapHn,
Thomas H. Goodwin, Richard Howe, David Hanscom, James M.
AKRON S CIVIL SERVICE RECORD.
263
Hale; 1855, Richard Howe, Ansel Miller, James B. Taplin, Cornelius
Johnston, David A. Scott; Mr. Taplin resigning April 18, Kichard
S. Elkins was appointed to fill the vacancy; 1856, Henry Purdy,
David A. Scott, Thomas H. Goodwin, Henry S. Abbey, Joseph
Milligan; 1857, George Thomas, Henry Fisher, Jr., Henry S. Abbey,
Henry Purdy, Charles Cranz; 1858, Charles Cranz, Richard B,
Walker, John Cook, Joseph Milligan, Job Pierce; 1859, William L.
Everett, Job Pierce, Richard B. Walker, Thoinas H. Goodwin,
Joseph Milligan; Mr. Pierce resigning in October, George W.
McNeil was appointed in his place; 1860, Richard Howe, Ferdinand
Schumacher, Robert L. Moffatt, James Christy, William S. Painton,
1861, Robert L. Moffatt, Ferdinand Schumacher, George Buel, John
Douglas, Henrj^ Fisher; 1862, Charles Webster, John E. Bell, John
Douglas, Isaac Barter, George Buel; 1863, Arad Kent, John E. Bell,
John H. Waggoner; 1864, Allen Hibbard, Stephen H. Pitkin, William
H. Lapeus, Charles W. Bonstedt James Christy.
Town and Village Mayors. — The mayors of the incorporatd
town and village of Akron, like its trustees, were elected for the
term of one year only, and v^ere successively as follows: 1836, Seth
Iredell, (father of Charles and Robert S. Iredell, now both residents
of Akron); 1837, '38, John Curtis Singletary, (now living in Streets-
boro. Portage county); 1839, '41, '44, '49, Lucius Verus Bierce; 1840,
Arad Kent; 1842, '43, Harvey H.Johnson; 1845, '46, '47. Philo Cham-
berlin; 1848, Israel E. Carter; 1850, George Bliss; 1851, Charles G.
Ladd, (father of the present Mrs. A. C. Voris); 1852, Frederick
Wadsworth; 1853, Philip N. Schuyler; 1854, William T. Allen, 1855,
HON. JOHN JOHNSTON,— born in
Center County, Pa., February
11, 1813; when a year old came witli
parents to Ohio, settling- in Green
Township ; common school educa-
tion ; worked on father's farm till 18,
when he entered store of Hart,
DuBois & Co., in Middlebury as
clerk ; about 1838 commenced busi-
ness for himself in partnership with
Mr. James Irvin, continuing- till 1845 ;
then engaged in real estate busi-
ness, loaning- money, etc.; 1864(50
member of banking firm of D. P.
Eberman & Co.; 1866-72, member of
building- and lumber firm of W. B.
Doyle & Co. Mr. Johnston was an
active Republican ; elected Re])re-
sentative to State Legislature in 1861,
and re-elected in 186;^, ably filling the
Speaker's chair in adjourned session
of 1865 ; a warm friend of Horace
Greeley, supported him for Presi-
dent in 1872, but soon became dia-
g-usted with that movement and
returned to Republican ranks, as
chairman of Republican Central
Cominittee ; for several 3'ears justice
of the peace for Middlebury town-
ship; and for 28 consecutive j^ears,
save one, a member of Middlebur3^
school board. February 4, 184(), Mr.
Johnston was married to Miss
Elizabeth R. Newton, of Middlebury-,
who still survives, Mr. Johnston
HON. JOHN JOHNSTON.
dj'ing suddenlj', of apoplexv, Jan-
luiry 26, 1879. Of the ten children
born to them, eight are now living —
Frances P. (now Mrs. Edward Buck-
ingham, of Akron) ; Charles N.; Park
B., (Deputy^ Auditor of Sumirit Co.);
Clara, (Mrs. K. T. Hall, of Titusville,
Pa.) ; William E., of Akron ; John Jr.,
(lawyer in Chicago); Lizzie J., (now
Mrs. Robert Watt, of Akron) ; and
Samuel Newton, of Akron.
264
AKKOX AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
DR. MENDAL JEWETT — of Eng--
lish descent, was born in Green-
wich, Mass., September 4, 1815; com-
mon school education ; at '18 went to
Boston, working in foundry some
two j-ears ; then visited the South,
Avhere personal observation gave
him his subsequent well-known deep
aversion to human slavery; in the
Spring- of 1836 joined an older brother
in Aurora, Portage County, soon
afterwards entering upon the study
of medicine in the office of Drs. Noble
& Town, in Hudson, graduating from
Western Reserve Medical College in
1839, locating and coinmencing prac-
tice in Mogadore the same year; in
1850 made the tedious and perilous
overland journey to California,
remaining there two j^ears ; repre-
sented Summit County in the State
Legislature during the sessions of
1855, '56 and 1856, '57, exerting a marked
influence in that body on the subject
of human rights, temperance and
morality. In 1858 Dr. Jewett removed
to Middlebury, where he spent the
reinainder of his life in the sticcessf ul
practice of his profession; in practical
scientific pursuits, of which he was
devotedly fond ; in improved horti-
cultural operations and in the pro-
motion of the cause of education and
the general welfare. June 14, 1839,
Dr. Jewett was married to Miss
JOHN PARK ALEXANDER.
JOHN PARK ALEXANDER, son
J of John and Mary (Scott) Alex-
ander, born in Bath, Axigust 1, 1834;
educated in district schools, Rich-
field Academy and Marlboro Normal
School, in latter taking a course in
civil engineering under Prof. Hol-
l^rook ; was principal of Akron Gram-
DR. MENDAL JEWETT.
Cordelia H. Kent, of Aurora, who
bore him 10 children, 4 dying in
infancy : Noble Mendal, now in
Akron ; Florence EmiU^ now wife of
Dr. Fred. W. Inman, Whitehaven,
Florida ; Eva L., now Mrs. John
DeHaven, of Akron ; Ford E., now of
Canon Citj', Colorado ; Mary B., pro-
fessor in Buchtel College ; Lillie
May, now Mrs. Charles T. Inman, of
Akron.
mar School from April, 1855, to July,
1857 ; in 1866 purchased site of present
fire brick works and engaged in the
manufacture of stoneware; also con-
tracting for product of 12 or 15 other
potteries, with warehouses in Akron,
Detroit and Chicago; in 1867 estab-
lished his present extensive fire
brick works, on Canal street ; from
1872 for five j^ears proprietor of two
oil refineries, till 1891 dealing exten-
sively in illuminating and lubri-
cating oils ; was secretary of Summit
County Agricultural Society five
years, from 1858, and its president
seven years thereafter ; treasurer
State Board of Agriculture in 1872 ;
member of Akron Cit5' Council 15
years between 1865 and 1888, and
eight years its president ; representa-
tive to State Legislature 1882, '83;
State Senator for Summit, Portage,
Geauga, Lake and Ashtabula coun-
ties 1888-92. September 4, 1860, Mr.
Alexander was tnarried to Miss
Martha D. Wright, of Tallmadge,
who has borne him eight children —
Clara W. (married to Prof. Charles
B. Wright, of Middlebury, Vt., Col-
lege); Helen B. (now Mrs. Henrj^ B.
Sperry, of Huntingdon, Pa.,); George
Bates (deceased), Grace F., Mattie D.,
Bessie H., John Park, Jr., and Alice B.
AKRON S CIV^L SERVICE RECORD.
265
'56, Nathaniel Finch; 1857, '58, Frederick A. Nash; 1859, George W.
McNeil; 1860, '61, Henry Purdy; 1862, '63, Charles A. Collins; 1864,
Oeorge D. Bates.
Town and Village Recorders. — Recorders elected by the peo-
ple each year: 1836, Constant Bryan; 1837, '38, William E. Wright;
1839, '40, '41, Robert K. DuBois; 1842, '43, '47, Nahum Fay; 1844, '45,
'46, William Harrison Dewey; 1848, '49, '50, '51, Edward W. Perrin;
1852, '53, Horace Canfield; Mr. Canfield dying in December, 1853,
Richard S. Elkins was appointed by Council for balance of term,
and elected for 1854; followed in 1855, '56 by Joseph E. Wesener;
1857, '58 by Ralph P. Waterbury; 1859, Allen Hibbard; 1860, 62, '63
Alvin Rice; 1861, James Holmes; 1864, Henry Ward Ingersoll.
DR. ISRAEL E. CARTER,— born in
Concord, N. H., April 8, 1810;
graduated from Vermont Medical
College, at Woodstock, in June, 1835;
b}^ reason of impaired health, ex-
<:hanged practice of medicine for
dentistry, opening an office in
Ravenna, Ohio, in 1836, where he suc-
<:essfully practiced until 1843, when
he removed to Akron, and was for
many years the leading dentist of
the town and county. In 1862, Dr.
Carter was elected to the office of
County Treasurer, and re-elected in
1864, ably filling the office two full
terms of two j'ears each, having
previously held the office of Maj^or
-of the incorporated village of Akron
during the years 1848, '49, and mem-
ber of School Board two terms. Dr.
Carter was married to Miss Marj'-
L. Williamson, of Ravenna, July 4,
184(), who bore him four children —
Frances L., wife of Capt. T. D. McGil-
licuddy, of Akron; William H., book-
keeper for J. F. Seiberling- Companj^;
Mary Alice died in her fourth year,
in 18,o3, and Charles E., jeweler, late
of Doylestown, Waj'ne Co., Ohio, now
living in Akron. Mrs. Carter dj'ing
June 19, 1862, in her 43d year, Dr. Car-
ter was again married, to Mrs.
DR. ISRAEL E. CARTER.
Eunice R. Sherman, in 1863. Dr. Car-
ter was a charter member of Summit
Lodge, I. O. O. F., organized in 1845,
active and prominent in its councils,
and Deputy Grand Master one term.
Dr. Carter died July 27, 1885, aged 75
years, 3 months and 19 daj's.
Town axd Village Marshals. — This officer was, under the old
constitution, an appointee of the Council, for one year, successive
incumbents, under that arrangement, being as follows: 1836,
Tthiel Mills; 1837, Moses Cleveland; 1838, '39, Alfred R. Townsend;
1840, '41, Caleb G. Gillett; 1842, Alfred R. Townsend; 1843, Caleb G.
Gillett; 1844, '45, Charles G. Ladd; 1846, '47, Cyrus S. Van Orman;
1848, '49, Merrick Burton; 1850, Jeremiah Crissman; 1851, Jacob
Rice, Mr. Rice resigning March 14, 1852, David Croy was
appointed to fill the vacancy. 1852, '53, '54 (elected by the people)
Josiah J. Wright, Hiram S. Falor, assistant; 1855, Josiah J. Wright;
1856, George W. Marriner; 1857, Josiah J. Wright, William Fisher,
assistant; 1858, Josiah J. Wright, Philip A. Bierwirth, assistant;
1*^59, Josiah J. Wright, George W. Smetts, assistant; 1860, Josiah J.
Wright, Dudley Seward, assistant; 1861, Joseph Milligan, William
266
Akron and j^ummit county.
Ward, assistant; 1862, George W. Marriner, William Ward, assist-
ant; 1863, Josiah J. Wright, David A. Scott, assistant; 1864, David
A. Scott, William Ward, assistant.
EDWARD OVIATT,— born in Hud-
son, May 19, 1822, the family
later removing' to Richfield; raised
on farm; educated at Richfield
Academy, Granville Institute and
Western Reserve College; in May,
1842, came to Akron and entered the
office of the late Chief Justice David
K. Cartter, of Washington, D. C, then
practicing law in Akron; in Septem-
ber, 1844, at Medina, admitted to prac-
tice in State Courts, and in Novein-
ber 1846, at Cleveland, to practice in
United States Courts; practiced in
partnership with Hon. S. W. McClure
from 1865 to 1870, and from 1876 to
1891 with his son-in-law, George G.
Allen, Esq., under the firm name of
Oviatt & Allen, the firm now, with
Mr. Charles S. Cobbs added thereto,
being Oviatt, Allen & Cobbs. Mr.
Oviatt was a member of the Akron
Board of Education for several years.
City Attornej^ from 1853 to 1862, and
Prosecuting Attorney of Summit
County from 1865 to 1869. In 1864.
served 100 days at Arlington Heights,
Va., as a member of the 164th Regi-
ment, O. N. G., under Col. John C.
Lee, beiijg appointed Color Bearer of
the regiment, on its organization in
Cleveland. September 8, 1847, Mr.
Oviatt was married to Miss Anna M.
Wadsworth, of Akron, who died
August 9, 1854, leaving one child.
Dk. LEOXIDAS S. EBRIGHT.
EDWARD OVIATT.
Emma, now wife of Calvin Edgerton,
a lawyer in Los Angeles, Cal.
December 5, 1855, was married t»
Miss Frances A. Lansing-, of vSara-
toga countj^, N. Y., who died August
13, 1881, leaving two children — Olivia
F., wife of George G. Allen, Esq., and
Edward Ailing, book-keeper in the
City National Bank of Akron.
T^R. LEONIDAS S. EBRIGHT,
^-^ son of George and Rachel
(Hathaway) Ebright, born in Fairfield
County, Ohio, September 26, 1844 ;
common school education ; in Maj-,
1862, enlisted in 8.5th Regt., O. V. I.; dis-
charged with regiment in July, 1865,
In February, 1866, came to Akron,
studying medicine with Drs. William
Bowen and Thomas McEbright,.
graduating at Charity Hospital Med-
ical College in February, 1869. After-
wards spent 13 months in Germanjs
then settled down to the practice of
his profession in Akron. An ardent
Republican in politics, Dr. F/bright
was elected to the State Legislature,,
in 1880, abl3" serving his constituents
in that bod}' two years. He is an
active member of the variovis ined-
ical associations of the Count}', State
and Nation, has served four years as
health officer of the Citj- of Akron,
and was president of the decennial
real estate board of eqixalization of
the city for 1890. November 15, 1883,
Dr. Ebright was married to Miss
Julia A. Bissell of Sharon, Medina
County, O. They have two children —
Ruth Bissell, born September 24, 1884,
and Mary Rachel, born June 21,1889.
AKRON S CIVIL SERVICE RECORD.
267
Town and Village Treasurers. — Appointed yearly by Coun-
cil: 1836, Samuel A. Wheeler; 1837, '38, Horace K. Smith: 1839,
Russell Abbey; 1840, '41, '42, '43, '44, '45, Gibbons J. Ackley; 1846, '47,
'48, '49, Grove N. Abbey; 1850, '51, '52, '53, '54, Milton \V. Henry.
Elected by the people: 1855, '56, '57, Milton W. Henry; 1858, John
T. Good; 1859, '60, John H. Chamberlin; 1861, '62, '63, '64, Charles
Cranz. Since advanced to second class city, in 1865, the County
Treasurer has, under the law, been ex-officio City Treasurer.
Town and Village ATTORNEvs.^Previous to 1851 no regular
corporation attorney was appointed by council, though L. V.
Bierce, Constant Bryan and others were employed as occasion
required, to look after the legal interests of the village. In 1851
Roland O. Hammond was regularly designated, by Council, as
Corporation Attorney, followed in 1852 and a part of 1853 by Wil-
liam H. Upson, the balance of 1853 by Kdward Oviatt; 1854, Philip
N. Schuyler; 1855, '56, '57, '58, '59, '60, Edward Oviatt; 1861, Henry
Ward Ingersoll; 1862, '63, Charles B. Bernard; 1864, Henry Ward
IngersoU.
HON. JACOB ADAMS KOHLER,
— son of Henry and Mary
(Slanker) Kohler, was born near Read-
ing, Pa., Aug-ust 15, 1835, when fonr
months old removing with parents to
Franklin township, this count}'; edu-
cated in district schools, and Lodi
Acadeiny; in 1853, apprenticed him-
self to Mr. D. G. Sanford, cabinet
maker, in Akron, later reading- law
with N. W. Goodhue, Esq., and admit-
ted to bar in 1859; Prosecuting Attor-
ney two terms — 1868-72; law partner
of Hon. Sidney Edgerton several
years, later with Rolin W. Sadler,
Esq., and now with Harvey Mvisser,
Esq. Mr. Kohler represented Sum-
mit County in the State Legislature,
1880 to 1885, and served as Attorney
General of Ohio, 1886 to 1888; was
married May 16, 1860, to Miss Frances
H. Coburn, only child of the late Dr.
Stephen H, Coburn, who has borne
him two sons — Hurlbut Stephen, born
July 20, 1868, and George Coburn,
born November 17, 1870, both grad-
uates of Yale College. In connection
with Gov. Russell A. Alger, of
Detroit, Mich., (a former Akron boy),
Mr. Kohler in 1882 erected Arcade
block, a five-story brick building, on
Howard street, one of the largest and
handsomest business blocks in the
HON. JACOB ADAMS KOHLER.
city ; and besides his fine residence
on East Market street, as the manager
of the Coburn estate, has large land-
ed interests in various portions of
the city, being also one of the incor-
porators, and president of the Peo-
ples Savings Bank on South Main
street.
CITY MUNICIPAL OFFICERS.
The incorporated village of Akron having been advanced to a
city of the second class, January 21, 1865, in the manner heretofore
described, the tenure of municipal office was changed from otie
to tw^o years, though for several years, under a misapprehension
of the law^, some of the appointive offices w^ere filled from year to
year.
268
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
HON. SAMUEL W. McCLURE —
born at Al^tead, Cheshire Co.,
N. H., Novembers, 1812; in 1815 moved
with parents to Worcester county,
Mass., four years later to Western
New York, and in 1828 to Medina
county, Ohio, meantime having pur-
sued an academical education with
the ministry in view; at 18 taught
school at Medina two j^ears; then
attended AUeghenj^ College three
years, afterwards for a time receiving
private theological instruction from
Rev. Lee, of Medina. In 1837. opened
select school in Medina, at same
time reading law with Messrs. Can-
field & Camp; in 1838 organized Ash-
land Academy, which he successfully
taught about two years while con-
tinuing- his l{iw studies in the offices
of Silas Robbins, Esq., and Hon.
Charles S. Sherman, also part of the
time editing the Ashland Phoenix.
In 1840, returned to Medina, and took
editorial charge of the Constitution-
alist, the Whig organ of that county,
which he conducted during the
Harrison campaign with great spirit
and ability; soon afterwards formed
a law partnership with James S.
Carpenter, Esq., then of Medina, and
Grant B. Turner, Esq., of Cuyahoga
Falls; in Januarj^ 1842, married Miss
Matilda E. Deming, of Ashland, the
next spring inoving to Cuyahoga
Falls; was elected Prosecuting
Attorney in 1847, and in 1848 repre-
sentative to the State Legislature,
serving one term only; 18.tO to 18(>4
HON. SAMUEL W. MCCLUKE.
was law partner of Hon Henry
McKinney; in 1865 moved to Akron,
as partner of Edward Oviatt, Esq.; in
1871, elected Judge of Court of Com-
mon Pleas, filling the office the full
terin of five years, and declining a
re-election, thereafter enjoying an
extensive practice until his death,
June 8, 1883. Two children were
born to Mr. and Mrs. McClure, Julia
E., (afterwards Mrs. Henry G. Math-
ews, now deceased), and Ida M., still
residing with her mother.
Members of the City Council. — For 1865: First Ward, Charles
W. Bonstedt, George W. Crouse; Second, John E. Bell, Henry W.
Howe; Third, Lewis Miller, J. Park Alexander; 1866: First, George
W. Crouse, John J. Wagoner; Second, Henry W. Howe, Joshua H.
Collins; Third, Lewis Miller, George Sechrist; 1867, First, John J.
Wagoner, George W, Crotise; Second, Joshua H. Collins, William
H. Payne; Third, George Sechrist, Jeremiah A. Long; 1868, First,
George W. Crouse, John W, Holloway; Second, Joshua H. Collins,
William H. Payne; Third, J. Park Alexander, Jeremiah A. Long;
1869, First, Charles R. Howe, John W. Holloway; Second, Joshua
H. Collins, William J. Atwood; Third, Clement J. Kolb, J. Park
Alexander; 1870, First, William T. Allen, Charles R. Howe; Second,
William P. Cassidy, William J. Atv^ood; Third, J. Park Alexander,
Clement J. Kolb; 1871, First, David R. Paige, Jr., William T. Allen;
Second, John Memmer, William P. Cassidy; Third, Elias W. How-
ard, J. Park Alexander; Fourth, Robert McElhinny, George Burk-
hardt; Fifth, Richard F. Palmer, Clement J. Kolb; 1872, First,
William T. Allen, David R. Paige, Jr.; Second, Ohio C. Barber,
John Memmer; Third, J, Park Alexander, Elias W. Howard;
Fourth, Noah N. Leohner, Robert McElhinney; Fifth, James A.
Methn, Richard F. Palmer; 1873, First, Milton W. Henry, William
T. Allen; Second, James Christy, Edwin H. Merrill; Third, Henry
L. Carr, J. Park Alexander; Fourth, David Lamparter, Noah N.
AKRON S CIVIL SERVICE RECORD.
26^
Leohner; Fifth; Austin J. Hamlin, James A, Metlin; Sixth, Joseph
A.Baldwin, Thomas Johnson; 1874, First, Milton W. Henry, Wil-
liam T. Allen; Second, James Christy, Edwin H. Merrill; Third,^
Henry L. Carr, Elias W. Howard; Fourth, David Lamparter,
Robert McElhinney; Fifth, Austin J. Hamlin, James A. Metlin,.
[resigned December 4, 1874, and Emanuel P. Holloway appointed
to fill vacancy]; Sixth, Joseph A. Baldwin, Enoch Ro>vle3'; 1875^
First, Milton W. Henry, William T. Allen; Second, Edwin H.
Merrill, Alexander Brewster; Third, Elias W. Howard, Williarfi A.
McClellan; Fourth, Robert McElhinnej^. Joseph H. Derhammer;
Fifth, Emanuel P. Holloway, Simon Hankey; Sixth, Enoch Row-
ley, David E. Hill; 1876, First, Milton \V. Henry, William Buchtel;.
Second, Alexander Bre\^ster, John W. Baker; Third, William A.
McClellan, John J. Cook; Fourth, Joseph H. Derhammer, John
Schott; Fifth, Simon Hankey, Christian Vogt; Sixth, David E^
Hill, Enoch Rowley; 1877, First, William Buchtel, Charles A. Col-
lins; Second, John W. Baker, James Christy; Third, John J. Cook,
J. Park Alexander; Fourth, John Schott, David W. Morgan; Fifth,
Christian Vogt, Edward A. Lawton; Sixth, Enoch Rowley, David
E. Hill; 1878, First, Charles A. Collins, Lucien G. Thorp; Second,
James Christy, Warren J. Underwood; Third, J. Park Alexander,
Mason Chapman; Fourth, David W. Morgan, John Schott; Fifth,
Edward A. Lawton, Christian Vogt; Sixth, David E. Hill,
HOxN. ULYSSES L. MARVIN,—
born in Stow, March 14, 1839;
educated in district schools. Twins-
burg Institute, and Franklin Insti-
tute at Kent, interspersed with teach-
ing- from 16 to 19; in 1858 entered law
oflice of H. B. Foster, in Hudson, the
next year completing his studies
with Hon Sidney Edgerton in Akron;
admitted to the bar May 2, 18(}(). In
1861, became Principal of Kent
Union Schools; married to Miss
Dorena Rockwell, of Kent, Novem-
ber 27, 1861. August, 1862, enlisted as
private in 115th. O. V. I.; clerk in
office of Judge Advocate at Cincin--
nati till August 1863, when he was
commissioned as First Lieut, of 5th
U. S. Colored Regiment; promoted to
Captain during the Siege of Rich-
mond; wounded at New Market
Heights, September 25, 1861, disabling
him for two months; on return to
duty was assigned as Adjutant on
Gen. Shurtliffs staff, ^oin^ to Fort
Fisher, thence to Raleigh, N. C, and
being present at the surrender; at
close of war was brevetted Major for
gallant service and made Judge
Advocate on staff of General Paine,
serving as such till mustered out in
October, 1865. Returning to Kent,
opened law office, two years later
removing to Akron. In 1869 Mr. M.
was elected Probate Judge, serving
six years; May 1, 1883, was appointed
Common Pleas Judge by Governor
Foster, in place of Judge Tibbals,
HOX. ULYSSES L. MARVIxX.
resigned, serving till the following-
October; in 1884 was elected Presi-
dential Elector for the 20th Con-
g-ressional District, casting his vote
in the Electoral College for James
G. Blaine. Mr. and Mrs. Marvin have
four children— David Leslie, attorney
in Akroti; George Ulysses, citj'- editor
Canton Daily Repository; Charles
Asahel, local editor Canton Weekly
Roller, and Francis Dorena, student
in Akron High School.
270
AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
WILLIAM CHANDLER —born in
Preble, Herkimer Co., N. Y.,
April 5, 1814 ; common school educa-
tion ; came to Akron in 1834, and
engaged with his brother John, in
the manufacture of cards for carding-
wool, in carding machine works of
Aliens & McMillan, near the present
site of the Allen Mills ; October 17,
1839, was married to Miss Sarah Ann
Taplin, sister of Mr. James B. Taplin,
of Akron ; soon afterwards removing
to Duqixesne, 111., where he w^as
engaged in the manufacture of card-
ing machinery nine years, when he
returned to Akron ; in 1855, was
appointed Superintendent of Summit
Country Infirmar}^, which responsi-
ble position he ably filled until 1861
—six years ; then purchased a farm
in Wood County, where he remained
until 1874, when he again returned
to Akron, and entered the employ of
Taplin, Rice & Co., as " a stove
mounter, which business he followed
until seized with the illness which
terminated his life, September 11,
1883, at the age of 68 years, 5 months,
and 6 days. Five children were born
to Mr. and Mrs. Chandler — Alathea,
now Mrs. Eli Wilson, of Weston, Ohio ;
Lucy A., alsoof Weston ; Fred. W., for
several years past a member of the
WILLIAM CHANDLER.
police force of Akron ; Mattie B., and
James D., the latter '4 member of the
book and stationerj^ firm of Chandler,
Findley & Co.; in April, 1889, elected
to the City Council from the Second
ward, and re-elected in 1891. Mrs.
Chandler still survives, and resides
with her son, in Akron.
JUDGE CHARLES G. LADD.
JUDGE CHARLES G. LADD,—
J born in Rutland, Vt., June 22, 1822 ;
in Spring of 1840, came to Akron, his
sister Sophronia, a teacher here, hav-
ing a short time before married the
late Gen. Lucius V, Bierce ; as Dep-
utj^ U. S. Marshal aided in taking the
census that year, with the means
thus acquired completing his edu-
cation at Western Reserve College ;
then studied law with his brother-in-
law, with whom, on being admitted
to the bar, in 1845, he entered into
partnership, under the firm name of
Bierce & Ladd. In 1850, he was
elected Mayor of Akron, serving one
5'ear. In trie Fall of 1851, he was
elected as Summit* County's first
Probate Judge, but by reason of fail-
ing health was unable to give his
personal attention to the duties of
the office, which were performed by
Alvin C. Voris, as deputy clerk, until
the death of Judge Ladd, from con-
siunption, July 30, 1852. July 12, 1845,
was married to Miss Hannah Ermina
Williams, daughter of Barnabas
Williams, one of the pioneer settlers
of Portage township, and step-
daughter of the late Major Miner
Spicer, who died October 3, 1868, leav-
ing three children — Walter C, now
of Weeping Water, Neb.; Lizzie, the
present Mrs. Gen. A. C. Voris ; and
Emma E., widow of the late Albert J.
McNeil.
AKRON S CIVIL SEKVICE RECORD.
271
ROBERT S. PAUL— son of Hosea
and Ellen (Gamble) Paxil, born
at Cuyahog-a Falls, O., October 3, 1842 ;
educated in Cuyahoga Falls vmion
schools ; meantiine teaching in Stow
and New Portage, and learning civil
engineering with his father ; in 1862
surveyed narrow gauge railway for
Brewster Coal Co.; 1862-65, served on
Topographical Engineer Corps in
the Army of the Cumberland, at close
of war attended Lebanon, O., College
one year ; then followed profession in
oil region a year and a half and in
Cleveland two years ; then spent a
year in Pennsylvania Polytechnic
College ; then came to Akron, and in
June, 1870, was appointed to fill the
vacancy, caused by the death of his
father, as County Surveyor, to which
office he was elected in October, of
that year, by appointment and elec-
tion holding that office over ten
years, Mr. Paul also having served
as president of County Survej^ors'
Association and secretary and treas-
urer of Ohio Institute of Mining-
Engineers, and as chief engineer of
the Valley Railroad, and of Ohio &
Toledo, now Cleveland & Canton R.
K. July 25. 1872, Mr. Paul was
married to Miss Sarah M. Roniig, a
native of Indiana, who has borne
him seven children — Ellen, Ada,
ROBERT S. PAUL.
Laura, Martha (deceased), Mary,
Edward, and Rosa, (deceased). Mr.
Paul is a member and P. G. of Akron
Lodge No. 547, I. O. O. F.; member of
Akron Encampment .No. 18 I. O. O.
F.; McPherson Lodge No. 63, K. of P.
and present cominander of Castle
Garfield No. 14, Knights of the Golden
Rule.
HON. DAVID R. PAIGE.
HON. DAVID R. PAIGE, -born at
Madison, Lake County, April 4.
1844 ; attended Madison high school
till 15. preparatory school at Hudson,
two years, then entered Sophomore
class at Union College, Schenectady,
N. Y., graduating therefrom in 1865 ;
serving two 3^ears with William
Bingham & Co., Cleveland, in
December, 1867, embarked in the
hardware business in Akron, being
at present one of the stockholders of
The Paige Brothers Co.; principal
owner of Varnish Works (late King
Varnish Co.); vice president Paige
Tube Co., at Warren ; member of the
contracting firm of Paige, Carey &
Company, with general office in New
York, which firm is nowbtiilding the
Sodom dam and tunnel, 52 miles in
length, for suppljang New York City
with water ; also building double-
track bridge over the Ohio river, at
Wheeling, and three tunnels, at a cost
of $1,250,000; was member of Akron
cit)^ covmcil 1871, '72; treasurer of
Portage township 1873 ; treasurer of
Summit County two terins. 1874-78 ;
and member of Congress, 20th Dis-
trict, one term, 1882-84 ; married to
Miss Ellen Lewis King, (daughter of
David L. King, Esq.), January 19, 1870,
who died December 20. 1877, leaving
two sons — Charles Cutler Paige, born
November 25, 1870, and David King
Paige, born May 20, 1872. December
22, 1884, Mr. Paige was again married,
to Miss Eva Bell Leek, of Cleveland.
272
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Enoch Rowley; 1879, First, Lucien G. Thorp, Ulysses L, Marvin;
Second, Warren J. Underwood, Noah A. Carter; Third, Mason
Chapman, J. Park Alexander; Fourth, John Schott, Edwin Estep;
Fifth, Christian Vogt, Ed\vard A. Lawton; Sixth, Enoch Rowley,
Frederick \V. Inman; 1880, First, Ulysses L. Marvin, Milton W.
Henry; Second, Noah A, Carter, Henry H. Brown; Third, J. Park
Alexander, Benjamin F. Goodrich; Fourth, Edwin Estep, John
Schott; Fifth, Edward A. Lawton, Charles F. Ingersoll; Sixth,
Frederick W. Inman, Thomas H. Peckham; 1881, First, Milton \V.
Henry, David L. King, [Mr. King resigned September 27, 1881,
William T. Allen appointed to fill the vacancy October 17, 1881;]
Second, Henry H. Brow^n, Noah A, Carter; Third, Benjamin F.
Goodrich, J. Park Alexander; Fourth, John Schott, Philip Weber;
Fifth, Charles F. Ingersoll, Edward A. Lawton; Sixth, Thomas H.
Peckham, James Housel; 1882, First, William T. Allen, Milton W.
Henry; Second, Noah A. Carter, Henry H. Brown; Third, J. Park
Alexander, Lew^is C. Parker; Fourth, Philip Weber, Andrew^
Kohler; Fifth, Edward A. Law^ton, George L. W. Edam; Sixth.
James Housel, John P. Richardson; 1883, First, Milton W. Henry,
William T. Allen; Second, Henry H. Brown, William H. Miller;
Third, Lewis C. Parker, Henry Young; Fourth, Andrew Kohler,
James M. Laffer; Fifth, George L. W. Edam, John Schott; Sixth,
John C. Richardson, James Housel; 1884, First, William T. Allen,
Thomas H. Peckham; Second, William H. Miller, Henrj^ H.
Brown; Third, Henry Young, Edward C. Simpson; Fourth, James
M. Laffer, Thomas S. Bradford; Fifth, John Schott, Charles I).
Steese; Sixth, James Housel, John C. Richardson; 1885, First,
JUDGE EDWARD W. STUART,-
J born in New Preston, Litchfield
County, Conn.. May 9, 1840; when two
3'ears old removed with family to
Erie County, Ohio ; raised on farm,
attending' district school and Huron
Institute at Milan, till 18 years of age,
entering Western Reserve College in
1858, from which he graduated in
October, 1862, graduation of class
having been postponed because of
enlistment of its members in the ser-
vice, as elsewhere detailed. After
graduation Mr. S. engaged in teach-
ing- four years, two years as principal
of Shaw Academy, at Collamer, Ohio,
having meantime studied law ; was
admitted to the bar in 1866, com-
mencing practice in Kent, w^ith Hon.
S. P. Wolcott, continuing there until
May, 1870, when he came to Akron,
forming a partnership with C. P.
Humphrey, Esq. In April, 1871, Mr.
Stewart was elected City Solicitor,
which office he held till January,
1877 ; in October, 1876, was elected
Prosecuting Attorney for Summit
County, and re-elected in 1878, hold-
ioig the office four years, and in 1890
was elected Probate Judge of Sum-
mit County, which responsible office
he is now ably filling. May 11, 1864,
he was married to Miss Harriet E.
JUDGE EDWAKD W. STUART.
Whedon, of Hudson, daughter of
Harvey Whedon, Prosecuting Attor-
ney from 1850 to 1852. They have one
son — Fred. H.,also an attorney at law,
but now serving as deputy clerk in
office of Probate Judge, tinder his
father.
AKK(JN S CIVIL SERVICE KECORD,
273
ITON. HENRY C. SANFORD, —
-n. born in Portland, Me., Septem-
ber 11, 1833 ; his father dying, when
nine years of age, he went to live
with an elder brother in Manchester,
N. H., where, besides attending- the
common school and the Kendall
Academy one year, he served as an
apprentice in the Manchester Loco-
motive Works ; at the age of 18 he
came to Ohio and engaged in rail-
roading ; from fireman being rapidly
promoted to engineer, running suc-
cessively on the Sandusky, Mansfield
& Newark and the Cleveland and
Toledo Railroads, in 1855 going to
Quincy, 111., and running- upon what
is now the Chicago, Burlington anc^
(juincy Railroad ; six years later tak-
ing a train at Augusta, 111., on which
road, by a daring act, endangering-
his own life, in running into and
crippling another train, which was
nearing Crooked River crossing,
where the bridge had been washed
away, he prevented a fearful sacrifice
of hviman life. Procuring some law
books Mr. S. improved his spare
moments upon the foot-board, and
elsewhere, in study, and after several
years spent in Pennsylvania and
Ohio, in railroading f^ and other
employment, located permanently in
Akron, in 1870, as a successful 1 a W3'er,
having ably filled the offices of Pro-
secuting Attorney two years, 1873, li;
HOX. HENRY C. SAXFOKD.
City Solicitor two years, 1879, '8() ;
Representative to State Legislature
two terms, 1888, '89, '9(). '91. Mr. San-
ford was married to Miss Emily J.
Fairchild, of Amherst, Lorain
County, January 19, 1857, who bore
him three children -William H., now
practicing law with his father ;
Burton I., grocer, and May F. Mrs.
Sanford died March 6, 1890, aged .52
years.
J
JAMES BUKLISON.
AMES BURLISON,--of Scotch-
Irish-Welsh descent, was born in
18
Hamburg, Erie County, N. Y., April
7. 1828, coming with his parents tO'
Roscoe, Coshocton Countj^ Ohio, in
1837, his father being a stone-mason,
helping to build the locks on the
Walhonding canal ; a few years later
coming to Middlebury, (now Akron
Sixth ward) officiating as constable
and marshal of that township and
village from about 1857 till his elec-
tion as Sheriff of Summit count3% in
1865, and both before, and during his
four years incumbency as Sheriff, by
appointment of United States Mar-
shal Earl Bill, of Cleveland, serving
as^ Deputy United States Marshal for
Summit county; also giving especial
attention to detective operations, a
profession which he has since con-
tinuouslj' and successfully followed,
many noted criminals having been
apprehended,convicted and punished
through his skill and vigilance.
August 22, 1848, Mr. Burlison was
married to Matilda B. Manning of
Middlebury. Having no children of
their own, they adopted in childhood
May C. Lohr, now known as May
Burlison.
274
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
CHARLES BAIRD,— born in Ak-
ron, March 25, 1853; graduated
from Akron Hig-h School in 1872; read
law with Upson & Ford; admitted to
practice by Supreme Court, at Colum-
bus, November 2, 1875, forming part-
nership with Hon. William H.Upson,
on the return of Mr. Ford from
Mexico, the firm name being Upson,
Ford & Baird ; by appointment and
two successive elections, held the
office of Clerk of Portage township
from October, 1875, to April, 1878 ; was
canal collector for the port of Akron
from February 15, 1879, till Januar}-
15, 1881, resigning to take the office of
Prosecuting Attorne}^ for Summit
Count}', to which he had been elected
in October, 1880; re-elected in 1882.
holding the office four years, and is
now enjoying a large and lucrative
law practice, giving special attention
to Corporation Law; also being
largely interested and a director in
several important industrial enter-
prises in Akron and elsewhere.
Februar)^ 10, 1882, Mr. Baird was mar-
ried to Miss Lucy Allyn Voris, eldest
daughter of Hon. Alvin C. Voris,
who has borne him five children—
CHARLES BAIKl).
Alvin Voris, born December 3, 1882;
Helen F^lizabeth, born August 30,
1884 ; Betsey Coe, born June 11, 1886 ;
Charles, born October 15, 1888; and
Katharine, born November 19, 1890.
DAVID R. BUNN.
DAVID R. BUNN, -born in Wells
Co., Ind., May 23, 1842; boyhood
devoted to farming and attending-
school two miles distant ; at 19 came
to Ohio, working at farming and in
coal mines, near Doj^lestown in
Wayne Co.; August 20, 18(>2, enlisted
in Company G, 120th Regt. O. V. I.,
participating in trans-Mississippi and
Vicksburg- campaigns and Red River
expedition ; captured at Snagg Point,
Red River, and imprisoned thirteen
months at Camp Ford, being at one
time sentenced to be shot and taken
out for that purpose, but for some
reason, not made known to hiiu, the
sentence was not carried into execu-
tion ; after such inhuman treatment
as to render him an invalid for five
3ears, he was paroled in 1865, and
returned to Dojdestown, resuming'
work for his old eiuployer, as clerk,
on farm, and in coal bank; was mar-
ried October 11, 186(5, to Miss Almira
Springer, of Doylestown, w^ho has
borne him three children — two sons
and one daughter; in 1866, embarked
in the grocerj' business and after-
Avards in the drj^ goods trade in
Doj'lestown ; in 1875 removed to
Akron and opened a boot and shoe
store on South Howard street, con-
tinuing three years; in 1878 was, b}'
Mayor Scott, placed upon the cit)^
police force, and was one of the most
efficient luembers of that body for
six j-ears ; after four j-ears efficient
service as deputy, under Sheriff
William B.Gamble.was elected Sheriff
of Summit County in October, 1888,
renominated bj^ acclamation and
re-elected in 1890.
AKRON S CIVIL SERVICE RECORD,
275
Thomas H. Peckham. Wilson B. Cannon; Second, Henry H.
Brown, Frank A. Wilcox; Third, Edward C. Simpson, Albert A.
Bartlett; Fourth, Thomas S. Bradford, Jacob L. Hall;
Fifth, Charles D. Steese, Samuel K. Zwisler; Sixth, James H.
Case, John C. Richardson, [Mr. Richardson dying October
25, 1885, Byron M. Allison was appointed to fill the vacancy
November 16, 1885]; 1886, First, Wilson B. Cannon, Robert
L. Andrew; Second, Frank A. Wilcox, Henry H. Brown; Third,
Albert A. Bartlett, Darius Rowe; Fourth, Jacob L. Hall, Wil-
liam H. McBarnes; Fifth, Samuel K. Zwisler, James W. Stuver;
Sixth, James H. Case, James M. Wills; 1887, First, Robert L.
Andrew, Wilson B. Cannon; Second, Henry H. Brown, Henry M.
Fisher; [Mr, Brown resigned October 24, 1887, and Erastus R.
Harper was elected to fill the vacancy till 1888]; Third, Darius
Rowe, J. Park Alexander; Fourth, William H. McBarnes, Conrad
Eckel; Fifth, James W, Stuver, A. Wesley Hawkins; Sixth, James
M, Wills, James H, Case; 1888, First, Wilson B. Cannon, Robert L.
Andrew; Second, Henry M. Fisher, Erastus R. Harper; Third, J.
Park Alexander, William Hardy; Fourth, Conrad Eckel, William
H. McBarnes; Fifth, A, Wesley Hawkins, James W. Stuver; Sixth,
James H. Case, James M. Wills; 1889, First, Robert L/. Andrew,
John Motz; Second, Erastus R. Harper, James D. Chandler; Third,
William Hardy, John Kreuder; Fourth, Conrad Eckel, William
McBarnes; Fifth, James W, Stuver, Cornelius Hallinan; Sixth,
James M. Wills, Henry W. Hart; 1890, First, Aaron Wagoner, John
Motz; Second, James D, Chandler, Erastus R.Harper; Third, John
Kreuder, Curtis C, Sherbondy; Fourth, Conrad Eckel, William F.
OUMNER NASH,— born in Bath
*-5 May 10, 1830; raised on farm;
common school and academic edu-
cation ; at 20 went to Wisconsin,
working at clearing- way throvig'h for-
est for railroad, driving- stage, clerk-
ing, etc.; in 1858 returned to Ohio,
farming Summers and teaching
Winters ; August 6, 1862, enlisted in
lloth O. V. I., being successively pro-
moted to rank of First Lieutenant ;
in 1863 commanded military forces at
Dayton during the election ; in 1864
was detailed as Assistant Inspector
of railroad defences under Major
Willet, which position he held till
close of the war. Returning home in
July, I860, purchased a farm in Liv-
ingston Co., 111.; March 8, 186(5, mar-
ried to Miss Rebecca M. Means, of
Northfield, working the Illinois farm
till 1868, when he returned to Summit
Co., Mrs. Nash dying July 18, 1869,
leaving one child — Maud M. Spend-
ing two years on his father-in-law's
farin in Northfield, and one season in
Illinois, as agent for a lightning rod
company, in the Winter of 1872, '73
was appointed Deputy Countj^ Clerk
bj' Clerk John A. Means, serving the
balance of the term, and also through
two terms for Clerk George W. Weeks,
being himself elected Clerk in 1878,
SUMNER NASH.
and holding the office two full terms
of three j'ears each. Mr. Nash is now
secretary- and treasurer of the Akron
Belting Companj', fully written of
elsewhere. June 23, 1874, Mr. Nash
was again married, to Miss Linnie A.
Cross, of Columbus, Ohio.
276
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
TAMES MADISON POULSON, —
J born near Holmesville, Holines
County, Ohio, March 27, 1842 ; worked
on farm and attended district vschool
during- boj hood ; from 18 to 21
worked on farm summers and taught
school winters; attended private
school of Prof. B. C. Smith, in Fred-
ericksburg, several terms, and one
year — 1864, '65 — Ha3'esville Academy ;
in 1865 entered Princeton, N. J., Col-
leg-e, graduating- therefrom in June,
1868, the same j^ear that Dr. McCosh
became its president; in 1868 entered
Columbia Colleg-e Law School, in
New York, being- admitted to bar in
New York City, on examination, May
12, 1869, and graduating from Law
School in May, 1870; came to Akron
August 1, 1870, and throtigh the kind
encouragement of John J. Hall, Esq.,
was induced to locate here, being
admitted to the bar of Svimmit
county, on examination, September
9, 1870 ; October 1, 1870, formed law
partnership jvith Mr. Hall, which
continued till January 1, 1877 ; in
October, 1874, was elected Prosecuting
Attorney for Suinmit countj^ on the
Democratic ticket, which office he
ably filled two years, from Januarj' 1,
1875, to January 1, 1877, having since
JAMES MADISON POULSON.
been in general practice on his own
account. September 28, 1875, Mr.
Poulson was married to Miss Helen
F. Smag-g-, onlj^ daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. William Smagg, of Akron. Thej^
have no children.
HENRY C. VIELE.
HENRY C. VIELE,— son of Hiram
and Abbie M. (McFarland)
Viele, was born in Washington
County, N. Y., October 29, 1841;
removed Avith parents to Akron in
Spring- of 1842 ; was educated in
Akron public schools ; at 16 began
clerking- in stone mill, of which his
father was general inanager, con-
tinuing nine j'ears ; then became
agent for the Merchants' Union
Express Company, a year later enter-
ing- the employ of the C, Z. & C, now
C, A. & C. railway, serving two or
three years as ticket agent; then
erlgag-ed in the flour and feed biisi-
ness in partnership with his father.
In February-, 1872, was appointed
Count}' Recorder, bj' the Count}-
Cominissioners, to fill the vacancy
caused b}' the death of Recorder
Grenville Thorp, serving till the
following October; then served as
deputy in Treasurer's office till 1878,.
when he was elected Countj- Treas-
urer and re-elected in 1880, holding-
the office four j^ears; teller in Citi-
zens' Savings and Loan Association
to July, 1887 ; assistant treasurer to
Jul}-, 1888, and since, treasurer of the
association. October 16, 1873, Mr.
Viele was married, at Flatbush,Long
Island, to Miss Libbie F. Mack, a
native of New York. They have one
child only — Fanny Mack. I^orn June
2, 1876.
AKKOX S CrVIL SER\ ICK RECORD,
277
A LBERT A. BARTLETT — born in
-^ Mina, Chautaviqua Count}', N. Y.,
June 22, 1840; common school educa-
tion ; raised on farm till 17, then
worked in saw-mill, the last two
years on shares, until July, 1861.
when he enlisted in the -lOth N. Y. V.
I., for three years or during the war ;
served in Army of Potoinac until
the battle of Antietam, when he was
wounded, occasioning the loss of left
arm. On being- discharged, April 6.
1863, took charge of a small place
which he owned, two years later
eijgaged as engineer in a steam saw
mill at Corry, Pa., after one year tak-
ing charge of the business ; came to
Akron in Spring of 1867, taking a
position in planing mill of George
Thomas & Son, which, under suc-
cessive firms, he held until 1879, the
last eight years as foreman. In
October, 1878, Mr. Bartlett was elected,
on the Republican ticket. Recorder
of Summit County, ably filling that
important office two full terms ; was
also Third ward member of City
Council in 1885, '86, serving as chair-
man of light and of fire and water
committees. As senior partner of
the firm of A. A. Bartlett & Co., Mr.
B. is now conducting a planing' mill
on West State street. Mr. B. is active
and enthusiastic in local military
ALBERT
BARTLETT.
affairs, now holding the position of
Adjutant of the Eighth Regiment O.
N. G.; was married November 29, 1860,
to Miss Imogene Jane Travers, of
Chautauqua Count)^, N. Y.; of the
three children born to them, two only
are living — Mary, now Mrs. George J.
Snook, photographer, and Jennie,
now Mrs. Dr. W. B. Conner, of Akron.
CHARLES E. PERKINS.
pHARLES E. PERKINS, - sixth
^ son of Col. Simon Perkins, was
born at Akron, May 7, 1850 ; edu-
cated in public schools and in pre-
paratory department of Western
Reserve College at Hudson ; in 1868
entered Troy. N. Y., Polytechnic Insti-
tute, taking a three j^ears' course in
■ civil and mining engineering, and
one year in school of mines in Col-
umbia (New York City) College; in
1873, was elected citj' engineer of
Akron, for two years, and on change
of ordinance, appointed b}' Mayor
and confirmed by Council, for the
three successive years— 1875, '76, '77,
liolding the position in all five j^ears.
In 1878, opened an agricultural ware-
liouse on Canal street. In October,
1S83. Mr. Perkins was elected County
Survej'or, re-elected in 1886. and
again for the third term in 1889, and
is still ably filling the position.
January 14, 1880, Mr. Perkins was
married to Miss Maj- Adams,
daughter of Mr. Frank Adams, of
Akron, Sixth ward.
278
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Gayer; Fifth, Cornelius Hallinan, Warren Buckmaster; Sixths
Henry W. Hart, Charles S. Hart; 1891, First, Aaron Wagoner,.
Harvey F. Miller; Second, James D. Chandler, Erastus R. Harper;:
Third, Curtis C. Sherbondy, Frank Fiebeger; Fourth, Conrad Eckel,
William F. Gayer; Fifth, Warren Buckmaster, John W. J>unn;,
Sixth, Henry W. Hart, Charles S. Hart.
City Mayors. — Official term two years: 1865, '66, James
Mathews; 1867, '68, Lucius V. Bierce; 1869, '70 and 1871, '72, John
L. Robertson; 1873, '74, Henry Purdy; 1875, '76, Levi S. Herrold;
1877, '78, James F. Scott; 1879, '80, John M. Fraze; 1881, '82, Samuel
A. Lane; 1883, '84 and 1885, '86, Lorenzo Dow Watters; 1887. '88,
Louis D. Seward; 1889, '90, '91, '92, William H. Miller.
City Clerks. — This officer is an appointee of Council, at first,
for one year only, but now for the term of tAvo years: 1865, '66^
Teremiah A. Long; 1867, '68, '69, '70, '71, '72 and '76, Mills B. Purdy;
1873, '74, '75, John A. Means; 1877, '78, Adams Emerson; 1879, '80,
'81, '82, Newton Ford; 1883, John M. Fraze; 1884. '85, '86, '87, '88,
'89, Newton Ford; 1891, '92, Edwin Wagner.
City Marshals. — Elected by the people — term at first one year^
now two years; 1865, Williams P. Babcock; 1866, George W. Fair-
banks; 1867, John Chitty, Jr.; 1868, James K. Butler; 1869, '70, '71,
'72, Hart A. Parker; 1873, '74, '75, '76, Socrates W. Pike; 1877, Jacot>
Koplin; Mr. Koplin resigning at end of first year, William H. Ragg
w^as elected in 1878 to fill vacancj^ and on expiration of term
re-elected for the two successive terms covering 1879. '80, '81, '82;
followed by John McCourt two terms, 1883, '84. '85, '86; l)y Simon
M. Stone in 1887, '88, '89, '90, and Hughlin Harrison, 1891, '92^
pHARLES \V. F. DICK,— son of
^ Gottleib and Mary M. (Handle)
Dick, was born in Akron, Ohio,
November 3, 18.58; educated in Akron
Public schools; clerked in hat store
of Chipnian & Barnes two j^ears;
book-keeper for Citizens' Saving's
and Loan Association Bank six
3'ears; book-keeper for Empire
Reaper and Mower Company' two
years; in 1881 formed partnership
with Lucius C. Miles, under the firm
name of Dick & Miles, in a g'eneral
commission and grain business, J.
Edward Peterson succeeding- Mr.
Miles in Februarjs 1890, the firm
name no^v being Dick & Peterson.
In November, 1886, Mr. Dick was
elected Auditor of Summit county
on the Republican ticket, and
re-elected in 1889, which responsible
position he is now ably filling.
Being active in local military circles,
Mr. Dick was, in 1888 elected Major of
the Eighth Regiment Infantry Ohio
National Guard, having previouslj^
served, by regular proiuotion, as
Captain of Companj^ B, Akron City
Guard. June 30, 1881, he was married
to Carrie May Peterson, daughter of
Dr. James H. Peterson, of Akron.
Four children, all boys, have been
born to them, the first dying- in
w
CHARLES \V. F. DICK.
infancy; Carl, born October 23, 1887;
James Edward, born Noveml^er 28,
1888, and Lucius Alfred, born Decem-
ber 6, 1890.
Akron's civil service record.
279'
EMMON S. OVIATT — born in Rich-
field, October 20, 1842; educated
in village public schools, working
on farm, after twelve years of age
attending- commercial school in
Cleveland winters; at 18, in 1861,
enlisted in the Second O. V. C, serv-
ing in this and the 12th O. V. C,
nearly three years. On his dis-
charge from the arm}-, he engaged
in the drug business, also serving as
township treasurer and postmaster
at West Richfield until 1872, when he
removed to Akron, soon afterwards
engaging in the carpet business,
with William H. Diehl, under the
firm name of Diehl & Oviatt, con-
tinuing six years; in 1884, entered
the office of O. B. Hardy & Co., deal-
ers and jobbers in mining and sport-
ing powders, continuing one jear,
then entered the county teasurer's
office as deputj-, under Treasurer A.
M. Cole, continuing through the
administration of Treasurer James
H. Seymour, in November, 18i)0, being
himself elected treasurer, the full
duties of which responsible office he
assumed September ii, 1891. Mr. Oviatt
is also a director of the City Nalional
Bank and president of the Akron
EMMON S. OVIATT.
Hardware Company. Ma}- 1(3, IHCAf
Mr. Oviatt was married to Miss
Mary A. Waters, of Brecksville,
Cuyahoga count}-. They have no
children.
HENRY I-RKOEK'ICK.
HKNRY FREDERICK, born in
Wayne Coimty. March 2(), 1834 ;
educated in schools of Doylestown
and Copley ; worked on his father's
farm till 18o8 ; May 2(). 18,18. married
to Miss Ellen Viers, of Norton ; Octo-
ber, 1858, rented the John C. Stearns
farm, and three years later the Jona-
than Spafford farin, purchasing same
at the end of 18 months, but later sell-
ing it and in 186i5 removed to Norton;
in 1866 returned to Copley, and rented
the 24() acre farm of Peter Weeks; in
1867, in connection with Roj-al Brock-
way, purchased 546 acres of Rhodes
brothers, on the west line of Portage
townshij) ; a division being- made,
other tracts were bought so that Mr.
Frederick's present finely cultivated
farm consists of 283 acres, stock rais-
ing and dairjing being specialties.
Republican in politics, Mr. Frederick
served as trustee of Portage town-
ship from 1874 to 1877; as Director of
County Infirnuir}^ from 1876 to 1882,
being president of the board three
}'ears, and clerk two years ; 1889
elected meml)er Board of County
Comissioners for three jears. Mr.
and Mrs. Frederick are members of
the First Disciples' Church of Akron.
They are the parents of three chil-
dren— Charlotte F^liza,now Mrs. Harry
N. Sherbondy ; James McHenrj-. (now
editor of the Ainerictin Farm Ncivs,
Akron); and Ulysses Grant, secretary
and treasurer of T h e T h o m a s
Lumber Co.
.280
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
NATHANIEL PERKINS GOOD-
HUE,--son of Nathaniel W. and
Nancy (Johnston) Goodliue, was born
in Akron, August 6, 18o4 ; educated in
city public schools ; from September,
1872, to December, 1878, deputy clerk in
United States Court at Cleveland ;
from 1878 to 1880, traveling- salesman
for wholesale boot and shoe firm of
Keller & Goodhue of Rochester, N. Y.;
from 1880 to 1882, read law in the office
of his father in Akron ; on the acces-
sion of the latter to the Probate Judge-
ship of Summit count)*, February 9,
1882, entered the office as deput)^
clerk, on the death of Judge Goodhue,
September 12, 1883, continuing
through the incumbency of Judge
Charles R. Grant, to February 9, 1891.
November 4, 1890, Mr. Goodhue was
elected, on the Republican ticket,
Clerk of Courts for Summit county ;
entering upon the responsible duties
of that office, February 9, 1891. April
4, 1883, Mr. Goodhue w^as married to
Miss Mary Kent McNaughton,
daughter of Finley and Ella (Kent)
McNaughton, formerlj^ of Akron,
NATHANIEL PERKINS GOODHUE.
now of Youngstown, who was born
in Akron, October 31, 1858. They
have no children.
BENJAMIN FKANKLIN CLARK.
T3ENJAMIN FRANKLIN CLARK,
-L' — born in New Lisbon, ()., Jan-
uarj' 24, 1841 ; when two 3'ears old
moved with parents to Munroe Falls,
and later to Massillon, at 16 graduat-
ing from public schools of that cit)^ ;
then read medicine three years with
Dr. Metz; October 6, 1861, enlisted in
Co. H, loth O. V. I., for three years ;
was severely wounded by a shell at
Chickasaw Bayou, near Vicksburg,
in December, 1862, and discharged
on surgeon's certificate August 7, 1863.
April, 18(j4, re-enlisted in McLaugh-
lin's cavalry, in John Sherman's
famous brigade, going immediately
into the Atlanta campaign, in every
battle of which he was a participant ;
went with Gen. Stoneman on an ex-
pedition into Georgia for the rescue
of Union prisoners ; was captured
by the Confederates, stripped of his
boots and most of his clothing, and
marched, bare-foot, over fifty miles
to Andersonville, where for nine
long months he suffered all the
horrors of that infernal prison pen,
on his discharge — a mere skeleton —
for many months lingering upon the
verge of the grave ; before fairlj'-
recovering he again sought his regi-
ment, being with it on the final
surrender of Gen. Joe Johnston.
After the war Mr. Clark devoted him-
self to newspaper work — 16 years on
the Akron Daily Beacon and one
year on the Daily Republican ; in
1890 was elected Count)* Recorder,
which position he is now abl)^ filling.
May 1, 186(j, Mr. Clark was married,
to Miss Caroline Foltz, of Wooster,
who has borne him four children —
Harry Walter, died in infanc)*; Cora
A. (now Mrs. Harr)- S. Brandon);
George K. and Willie F.
AKRON S CIVIL SERVICE RECORD.
i81
f^ EORGE W. SIEBER, — son of
VJ Joseph and Sarah S. (Moyer)
Sieber, was born on a farm near
Freeburg-, Snyder count}', Pa., Febru-
ary 22, 1858 ; removed with parents to
Akron in 1868 ; educated in Freeburg-
and Akron public schools, graduat-
ing' from Akron high school in 1876 ;
attended Buchtel College and Cin-
cinnati law school, graduating from
the latter in 1881, with first honors of
class ; admitted to the bar the same
3'ear and entered upon a successful
practice, in 1886 being elected
Prosecuting Attorney for Summit
county, on the Republican ticket,
and re-elected in 1889, ably filling that
responsible office six years ; April 1,
1891, associated himself with ex-
Judges Edwin P. Green, of the Com-
mon Pleas Court, and Charles R.
Grant, of the Probate Court, under the
firm name of Green, Grant & Sieber,
and besides his law practice, is quite
largely interested in several indus-
trial enterprises in Akron and else-
where. September 1, 1883, Mr. Sieber
was married, to Miss Elsie C. Moatz,
GEORGE W. SIEBER.
of Middleburgh, Pa., who has borne
him three children George W., who
died at eleven months of age ; Joseph
Byron and Florence.
RICHARD B. WALKER.
RICHARD B. WALKER.— born in
Belchertown, Mass., August 11,
1825; common school education,
reared to inercantile life; January 18,
1852, was married to Miss Mary E.
Jenney, of Ware, Mass.; same year
came to Akron, opening a store for
the sale of agricultural implements
and supplies, the first store of its
class in Akron, later adding tin and
hardware to his stock in trade. In
1862 he became traveling salesman
and general agent for Aultman,
Miller & Co., for the sale of the cele-
brated Buckeye Reapers and Mowers,
conducting competitive field trials,
etc., which business, with eminent
success to both the coijipany and
himself, he still follows. Politically
Mr. Walker is a steadfast Republican,
and though not an office seeker,
was honored with a seat in the
Council of the Incorporated Village
of Akron, during the years 1858, '59,
and in 1859 was elected director of
County Infirinary, which office, most
of the time as clerk of the board
he ably filled till 1868— nine years-
having charge of Akron's poor, and
efficiently aiding in the erection of
the present commodious Infirmary
buildings. To Mr. and Mrs. Walker
have been born four sons — William,
book-keeper for Mack Brothers,
Cleveland; George, lawj^er in Chi-
cago; Charles, deceased; and Arthur
H., also practicing law in Chicago.
282
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
JACOB KOPLIN— was born near
I Doylestown, Wayne county, Ohio,
July 24, 1828, moving- into Norton
township with parents in 1833; edu-
cated in district schools and learned
tailoring- business; in 1862, moved to
Akron, and on August 30th of that
year enlisted in Co. D, 29th Regiment
O. V. I., serv^ing- nearlj' three 3^ears.
being inustered out June 8, 1865; after
close o€ the war clerked for Barnes
Brothers nearlj^ ten j^ears; in 1875, '76
officiating as jailor and deputj-
sheriff under Sheriff Levi J. McMuf-
ray; in 1877 was elected Citj^ Marshal
of Akron, serving- one j^ear, when he
resigfned and opened a general store
at Johnson's Corners, selling out a
year later and returning- to Akron, as
salesman in the large Clothing
House of J. Koch & Co., which posi-
tion he has since continuouslj' held.
In November, 1889, Mr. Koplin was
elected a member of the Summit
Count}' Infirtnary Board for the term
of three years. May 30, 1849, Mr.
Koplin was married to Miss Mar-
g^aret Hile, of Norton, who bore him
six children, three of whom died
young, the three survivors being-:
Jennie M., (now Mrs. S. G. Williams);
Frank L., now of the shoe firm of
JACOB KOPLIX.
S. E. Phinney & Co.; and Or in P.,.
machinist with Webster, Camp &
I^ane. Mrs. Koplin dying- April 23,
1889, Mr. Koplin was again married,
to Mrs. Linhie L. Bolich, — nee Long
— of Wadsworth, January 1, 1890.
City Solicitors. — Elected bj^ the people — term two j^ears:
1865, '66, '67, '68, Newell D. Tibbals; 1869, '70, John McGregor; 1871,
'72, '73, '74, '75, '76, Edward W. Stuart; 1877, '78, Henry C. Sanford;
1879, '80, Calvin Pease Humphrey; 1881, '82, '83, '84, Charles S.
Cobbs; 1885, '86, '87, '88, Dayton A. Doyle; 1889, '90, '91, '92, George
M. Anderson.
City Civil Engineers. — Previous to 1869, no regular civil engi-
neer, for either town, village or city, had been permanently'-
employed, but such surveying, laying of grades, etc., was done by
old-time local surveyors — Joshua Henshaw^, Albert G. Mallison,
Capt. Richard Howe, Dwight Newton, Seth Sackett, Hosea PauU
and others, as necessity required. Under the ordinance of 1869, P,
H. Dudley vt^as elected City Civil Engineer by the people for tw^o
years, and re-elected in 1871, followed by the election in the same
manner, in 1873, of Charles E. Perkins for two years. In 1875 the
office was made appointive, from year to year, by the Major, sub-
ject to confirmation by Council, under which arrangement Charles
E. Perkins was successively appointed in 1875, '76 and '77, and
Omar N.Gardner in 1878, '79, '80, '81, '82 and '83. The ordinance
being again changed, making the office elective bj^ the Council for
two years, Mr. Gardner ^vas again elected in 1884, follow^ed by
Willis D, Chapman, in 1886, and re-elected in 1888. Mr. Chapman
resigning early in 1889, Assistant Engineer Samuel W. Parshall
was promoted to the engineership for tw^o years, and is still
serving.
Street Commissioner. — Prior to 1869 work upon the streets
of the village and city was done under the supervision of the
Street Committee, or some person specially appointed for the
AKKON S CIVIL SERVICE RECORD.
283
JOSEPH E. WESENER— born in
J Frankfort, Pa., May 7, 1827; moved
with parents to Canton, Ohio, in 1840;
served as clerk in store of H. H.
Myers five years; came to Akron in
1846, clerking four years, and in part-
nership two years, with the late
Allen Hibbard, in the "Old Green
Store " on Howard street, burned Feb-
ruary 17, 1851. In 1852, Mr. W. started
in business for himself, and indiffer-
ent localities, with several different
partners, (Mr. C. A. Brouse being- as-
sociated with him for about 18 years)
though again entirely burned out,
March 11, 1869, he continued to do a
phenomenallj' successful mercantile
business in Akron for over a third of
a century, his operations for the last
few years, in addition to the care of
his fine farm adjoining the city, and
his elegant Summer resort, "Monte-
bello," at Newberr5% Vt., being con-
fined to agricultural implements,
giant powder, wool, fruit, etc. Mr.
Wesener served as a member and
clerk of the Infirmary board in 1851,
and as village Recorder in 1855, '56.
September 8, 1849, he was married to
Miss Philura Spalding, daughter of
Judge Rufus p. Spalding, who bore
him three children, all of whom died
in iiitancj'. Mrs. W. djing July 6,
JOSKPH E. VVKSE.NEK.
18,52, he was again married, to Miss
Anna J. Hopkins, who died January
1, 1876 ; was again married, September
5, 1876, to Miss Alphonsene D. C'e
Chevrier, who has V)orne him four
children — Joseph E., Mary A., Anna
J. and Henrj' Huntington.
JAMES F. ^COTT.
TAMES F. SCOTT,— born at Cadiz,
J Ohio, Februarj^ 18. 1828; conunon
school education ; learned the trade
of harness-maker at Scio, Ohio ; June
8, 1848, married Miss Eunice Jolley,
who died February 28, 1849, aged 21
years and 9 months ; in 1850 started
overland for Oregon, going as far as
Iowa, but on account of illness
returned to Ohio, going into the
music business in Cincinnati ; in
Spring of 1852. went to New Lisbon,
and in Fall of same year came to
Akron, engaging with Messrs,
Blodgett & Horton in the manufact-
ure of melopeans ; January 10, 1856,
was married to Miss Bell Carsom who
died October 30, the same j'ear, aged
24 years. November 25, 1857, was
again married, to Miss Helen Shaw,^
who has borne him four children —
Daniel H. Scott, born October 25, 18,58,
now private secretary to the presi-
dent of The Richard Grant Company,,
corner Hudson and Vestrj' streets.
New York City ; James \V. Scott,
born February 22, 1860, now reading
law in the office of Cit)^ Solicitor
George M.Anderson ; Charles Brown
Scott, born August 30, 1861. died
March 26, 1864; Nellie Brown Scott,
born January 2. 18()8, died February 16,
1884. Mr. Scott is a member of the First
Disciples' Church of Akron, and an
ardent Republican, ably filling the
office of Maj'or of the City of Akron,
from April 1877 to April 1879; occu-
pation for past 25 years, piano-tuner.
284
AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
purpose by Council. By the ordinance of 1869 the office of Street
Commissioner was created, to be elected by the people for the term
of two years, the successive incumbents of which have been as
follows: 1869, '70, '71, '72, Thomas H. Goodwin; 1873, '74, '75, '76,
'77, '78, Benjamin Frederick; 1879, '80, Joseph D. Ellis; 1881, '82, '83,
'84, James Wildes; 1885, '86, '87, '88, Henry Acker; 1889, Henry Van
Hyning. The title of the office having been changed to Supervisor
of Streets, and from an elective to an appointiv^e office, Mr. Van
Jiyning is still serving as an appointee of the City Council.
T ORENZO DOW WATTERS,— son
-*-^ of Hiram and Elizabeth (Cron-
inger) Walters, was born in Carroll,
Fairfield county, Ohio, October 4,
1855. At 14 years of age removed
with his parents to Akron, where he
attended the public schools until
1872, when, at its opening-, he entered
Buchtel College, remaining three
years. On leaving college, in 1875,
he spent one year with his father in
the construction of a mill. In the
Spring of 1877 entered the office of J.
J. Hall, Esq., as a law student, and on
his admission to the bar, March 17,
1879, entered into partnership with
Mr. Hall, under the firm name of Hall
A Watters, which continued until the
election of Mr. Watters to the office
of Mayor of the city of Akron, in the
Spring of 1883, to which office Mr.
Watters was re-elected in 1885, serv-
ing in all four years. On the expira-
tion of his second terin, as Mayor, in
the Spring of 1887, Mr. Watters
resumed the practice of the law on
his own account, which calling he is
LORENZO DOW WATTERS.
Still successfully pursuing. Decem-
ber 22, 1890. Mr. Watters was married
to Miss Julia E. Lynn, of Akron.
LOUIS DUDLEY SEWARD.
T OUIS DUDLEY SEWARD,~son
^ of Col. Dudley and Lois (Clarke)
Seward, was born in Akron Januarj^
3, 1852 ; educated in Akron public
schools and under the private tute-
lage of Judge James S. Carjjenter ;
studied law with Messrs. Edgerton
& Kohler, and in office of Hon. Henry
C. Sanford; admitted to bar in April,
1876. comiuencing practice with Olin
L. Sadler, Esq.; in 1886, elected justice
of the peace for Middlebixry town-
ship and continued under Akron
township ; in 1887 elected Mayor of
the cit}^ of Akron, ably serving two
3'ears, in Spring of 1884 resuming his
law practice, Avhich he is still suc-
cessfullj' pursuing. Mr. Seward is
also interested in several of the
industrial enterprises of Akron and
vicinity. December 4, 18 90, Mr.
Seward was inarried in Akron to Miss
Katharine May Johnston, daughter
of County Coinmissioner Washing-
ton G. and Mrs. Anna (Irvin) John-
v«ton, of Green township, w^ho was
born March 19, 1870.
Akron's civil service record.
285
WILLIAM H. MILLER— born in
Perry township, Stark county,
Ohio, April 17, 1843 ; resided on farm
with parents until nearly 21 years of
Hge ; educated in township district
schools, supplemented by several
terms of instruction in Canton
Union Schools ; in 1862 moved to
Copley township, and in 1864 to
Akron, working' at the inachinist
trade, in the Buckeye Reaper and
Mower works, of Aultman, Miller &
Co., for twenty-five years. Demo-
cratic in politics, Mr. Miller rep-
resented the Fourth ward in the
Akron City Council from April, 1883,
to April, 188o ; April, 1889, Mr. Miller
was elected Mayor of Akron, which
responsible position he still holds.
Mr. Miller was married August 24,
1865, to Miss Harriet E. Manderbach,
daughter of Jacob Manderbach, of
Akron. Three children have been
born to them, two of whom are now
living — George H., 25, now a member
of the Akron Shoe Company, and Ada
A., 16, living at home. In society
matters, Mr. Miller has borne a con-
spicuous part; initiated in Summit
Lodge, No. 50, 1. 0. 0. F., October 6, 1873,
became P. G. of Lodge in 1880 ; is now
P. C. P. of Akron F^ncampment, No. 18 ;
WILLIAM H. MILLEK.
commissioned D. D. G. P. of Encamp-
ment, June 8, 188(5, by G. P. L. A.
Baldwin, of Findlay, O.; was commis-
sioned Captain and Aide-de-Camp,
Brigade Staff, Patriarchs Militant, by
Gen. Franklin Ellis, Commander
Dep't of Ohio, January 15, 1886.
CHARLES S. COBBS.
pHARLES S. COBBS,- born near
^ Alliance, Columbiana county,
Ohio, July 7, 1853; lived on farm
until 18, when he entered Mt. Union
College, from which he graduated
in Julj^ 1877; superintendent of
Malvern Union Schools two years,
meantime studying law ; in May,
1879, entered the office of John J. Hall,
Esq., in Akron, being admitted to
the bar, in May, 1879, at session of
Supreme Court in Columbus, enter-
ing at once into a successful law
practice in Akron ; in April, 1881,
was elected CitJ^ Solicitor, and re-
elected in 1883, serving two full terms ;
and has since acted as local attorney
for the Valle}' Railway Company, in
connection with his general law
practice, March 9, 1891, forming a
partnership with Edward Oviatt and
George G. Allen, Esqs., under the
firm name of Oviatt, Allen & Cobbs.
November 2, 1881, Mr. Cobbs was
married, to Miss Margaret S. McCall,
of Malvern, Columbiana Co., Ohio,,
who has borne him one child —
Charles Walker Cobbs— born Feb-
ruary 15, 1889.
286
AKROX AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
GEORGE McCLUNG ANDERSON,
— son of Rev. G. W. Anderson,
Methodist minister; born at Prince-
ton, Wis., June 29, 1857 ; in 1859, came
with parents to Ohio, living- in vari-
ous places, and attending- common
schools until Fall of 1876, when he
entered Alleghenj^ College, in part
defraying the expenses of his four
years' course bj' manual labor, man-
agement of lectures, etc.; in Fall of
1880; came to Kruinroy ; October 22,
188(), he wcffe married to Miss Mary E.
Jobes, of Damascus, Coluinbiana Co.;
remained at Krumroy two years,
teaching- school, working- at painting,
common labor, etc., leisure hours
being devote(f to Blackstone ; in Fall
of 1882, removed to Ann Arbor, Mich.,
and entered the law department of
the Michigan University, working in
in law office during vacations ; on
g-raduating, in Spring of 1884, was
admitted to the Supreme Court of
Michigan, and to the Courts of Ohio,
June 3, 1884 ; commenced practice in
Akron in August, 1884, and elected
City Solicitor, on the Republican
ticket, in the Spring of 1889, which
responsible position he still fills.
GEORGE MCCLUNG ANDERSON.
Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have had two
children— Mary Belle, born at Krum-
ro3 % October 25, 1881, died at Ann
Arbor in the Fall of 1882 ; Jesse May,
born in Akron, Januarj- 21, 1886.
HENRY WARD INGERSOLL.
HENRY WARD INGERSOLL,—
born in Richfield, October 23,
1833, moving with familj' to Hudson
when two years old ; in 1857, gradu-
ated from Western Reserve College,
studying law with Jtidge Van R.
Humphrey, in Hudson, and Wolcott
& Upson in Akron, being admitted to
the bar \)y the Supreme Court, at
Columbus, March 29. 18.59, immedi-
ately opening- an office in Akron,
where he has been in continuous
practice since, except during his
absence in the ariny ; in September,
1861, enlisted as member of the
Second Ohio Cavalry" Regimental
Band, serving in the division of Gen.
Blount, in the Western cainpaign.
After discharge of band, by order of
War Department, he was commis-
sioned by Gov. Tod, in 1862, as cap-
tain in the 124th O. V. I., but by
reason of consolidation of compan-
ies, was mustered out on organiza-
tion of regiment; in 1864, at the call
of Gov. Brough, served 100 daj'S in
defense of the National Capitol, as a
member of Compan)^ F\, 164th O. N.
G. In 1864 Mr. IngersoU was elected
Recorder of the incorporated village
of Akron, and took the census, pre-
pared the necessary papers, and pro-
cured from the Secretarj^ of State the
charter constituting Akron a city of
the second class. Iii addition to his
legal acquirements, Mr. IngersoU is a
fine inusician, having been chorister
in the Cong-regational and other
churches of the city for many years.
June 6, 186(), he was married to Miss
Sarah A. Boardman, of Newton Falls,
who has borne him two children,
Adelaide B. and Harrj'.
AKRON S CIVIL SERVICE RECORD.
287
NEWTON FORD— sou of Marvin
and Lydia (Cornwell) Ford was
born in Northfield, Ohio. March 24,
18r)2; raised on farm till 1863; assisted
his father in postoffice at Macedonia
from 18()3 to 18()S; in 1870, entered
Western Reserve CoUeg'e, at' Hudson,
<-ontinuing- until 1873, when he beg-an
teaching- in ptiblic schools of this
countj^; in 1874, began reading law
under Horace B. Foster, Esq., in
Hudson, two years later concluding-
his studies in office of Foster, Mar-
vin & Grant, in Akron, being
admitted to the bar, here, August 28,
1870. In April, 1877, located in Akron
for the practice of his profession, in
Februar}^ 1878, associating himself
with Hon. Henry C. Sanford, the
partnership continuing about five
years. In April, 1879, Mr. Ford was
elected City Clerk, by the City Coun-
cil, and successivelv elected for the
years 1880, '81, '82. After an interreg-
nvini of one year, he was again
elected Clerk, in April, 1884, which
position he continued to hold until
April, 1890, making an aggregate ser-
vice of ten years. November 26. 1879,
he was married to Miss Rosine
McKinley, of Hudson, who has borne
NEVVTOX FORD.
him three children — Howard C, born
August 14, 1882; twins, boy and girl,
born May 23, 1887— Bernice N., and
FIthel Rosannah, Bernice dying when
two months and a half old.
PORTAGE TOWNSHIP.
We are unable to secure a full record of the earlier local
officers, but commencing vv^ith 1836, the following is a tolerably
full roster of Portage township's successive trustees: 1836, William
B. Mitchell, Miner Spicer, John Sherbondy; 1837, '38, same; 1839,
William B. Mitchell, John Sherbondy, Simon Perkins, Jr.; 1840,
Charles W. Brown, Jesse Allen, John Ayres; 1841, Simon Perkins, Jr.
Jesse Allen, Charles W. Brown; 1842, Simon Perkins, Jr., Eber
Blodgett, Charles W. Brown; 1843, same; 1844, Simon Perkins, Jr.,
Moses Smith, John Sherbondy; 1845, Simon Perkins, Lucius V.
Bierce, Silas W. Wilder; 1846, Silas W. Wilder, Lucius V. Bierce,
Justus Gale; 1847, Lucius V. Bierce, Henry Converse, George
Sherbondy; 1848, Webster B. Storer, David Miller, John Ayres;
1849, David Miller, Nathaniel Finch, George Sherbondy; on the
death of Mr. Miller, in October, George D. Bates was appointed to
fill the vacancy. 1850, Nathaniel Finch, George Sherbondy, Joseph
F. Gilbert; 1851, Joseph F. Gilbert, Ira Hawkins, Robert Jackson;
1852, Rlias W, Howard, George Sherbondj", Rol^ert Jackson; 1853,
Joseph F. Gilbert, Robert Jackson, George Sherbondy; 1854, Ira
Hawkins, Elias L. Munger, George Sherbondy; 1855, George W,
McNeil, Elias L. Munger, George Sherbondy; 1856, Benjamin
McNaughton, George W. McNeil, Reuben Sherbondy; 1857, Charles
Merriman, Clement J. Kolb. W^ebster B. Storer; 1858, George
Miller, Melchiah Sherbondy, Jacob Snyder; 1859, Houston Sisler,
Clement J. Kolb, John R. Buchtel; 1860, same; 1861, Houston
Sisler, John R. Buchtel, Christopher Oberholtz; 1862, same; Mr.
Sisler dying in June, Roland O. Hammond was appointed to fill
the vacancy; 1863, John R. Buchtel, Simon Perkins, G. F. W.
288
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Fisher; 1864, same; 1865, same; 1866, John K, Buchtel, James F.
Scott, Clement J. Kolb; 1867, John K. Buchtel, Frank T. Husong,
Joseph Babb; 1868, Joseph Babb, Frank T. Husong, Abraham
Sichley; 1869, Frank T. Husong, Joseph Babb, Millard F. Hamlin;
1870, Joseph Babb, Millard F. HamUn, Nelson C. Hawkins; 1871,
Millard F. Hamlin, Nelson C. Hawkins, Abner L. Caldwell; 1872,
Nelson C. Hawkins, Millard F. Hamlin, Hiram Sherbondj^; 1873,
Hiram Sherbondy, Millard F. Hamlin, Fred Oberholtz; 1874, Abner
L. Caldwell, Abraham Sichley, IrLenry Frederick; 1875, same; 1876,.
same; 1877, Hiram Sherbondy, Simon Perkins, Abraham Sichley;
1878, Stephen H. Pitkin, Aver3- S. Beardsley, John McCausland;
1879, Stephen H. Pitkin, Albert H. Mallison, Ephraim Erdley; Mr.
Erdley dying in July, Uriah Sherbond}^ was appointed to fill the
vacancy; 1880, Jacob Carpenter, Albert H. Mallison, Charles \V.
Brown; 1881, Jacob Carpenter, Albert H. MalUson, Millard F.
Hamlin; 1882, Jacob Carpenter, Millard F. Hamlin, \V. E. Waters;
1883, B. M. Boyer, B. F. Buchtel, T. J. Wise; 1884, Jacob Carpenter,
B. F. Buchtel, W. E. Waters; 1885, B. F. Buchtel, Jacob Carpenter,
M. J. Gilbo. In 1886, the law was changed making the term three
years, one trustee to be elected everj' three years, since which
time the successive boards have been as follows: 1886, B. F.
Buchtel, Eli Smith, Charles T. Parks; 1887, same; 1888, Charles T.
Parks, Eli Smith, John Leib. Mr. Leib having deceased, Henry
PLIMMON H. DUDLEY, -born in
U Freedom, Ohio, May 24, 1843;
educated at Hiram College; elected
Akron City Civil Engineer, in 18(59,
re-elected in 1871; built Mill Street
conduit, 1870, and West Market Street
arch and bridge, 1871; 1872, serv^ed on
commission to inspect the Pxiblic
Works of Ohio; same year elected
Chief Engineer of Valley Railway,
locating road, with easy curvature
and down grade, from Summit
Countj^ coal fields to Cleveland; 1875,
'76, used his invention, the Dyna-
graph, (power writer), on L. S. & M. S.
Ry., demonstrating that 18 to 20
miles for freight trains was more
economical than the 10 to 12 miles
per hour then in vogue; 1876, '77, '78,
employed as expert, by the Eastern
Railwaj" Association, to test the
comparative merits of locomotive
trucks; 1877, awarded the Elliott Cres-
son Gold Medal, bj' the Franklin Insti-
tute, of Pennsylvania, (the sixth
in 30 years), for his invention of the
Dynagraph; 1877, invented system bj-
which each clock on a given railway
line can be set to standard time bj-
touching electric key in main office;
1878, sent Dynagraph to the Victor-
ian Railways of Australia, and built
for himself a car for his enlarged
Dynagraph; 1880, invented track-
inspecting system, showing the con-
dition of any rail passed over, and
ejecting paint where repairs are
needed; 1883, designed new type of
PUIMMON H. DUDLEY.
rails; 1884, announced plan for pro-
tecting timber from decay; 188o,
elected Fellow of the New York
Academj' of Science; 1887, was sent
to inspect the Panama Railroad; 1889,
invented sj^stem of trucks for heavy
railwa}^ service; 1890, elected presi-
dent New York Microscopical Society.
December 12, 1871, Mr. Dudley was
married to Miss Lucy M., eldest
daughter of the late Hiram V. and
Ruth (Rannej') Bronson, of Penin-
sula, their present residence beings
New York City.
akkon's civil serv^ice record.
289
Zink was appointed to fill the vacancy by Justice Solomon
Koplin, The township being separated from Akron, in the Spring
of 1888, thus making the place of Mr. Parks vacant, Reuben
Sherbondy was appointed to the place by Justice Koplin. Since
its separation from the city. Portage township has been divided
into two election precincts, the territory north of city limits, and
east of canal being designated as the East precinct, and that west
of city and canal as the West precinct. 1889, trustees: Eli Smith,
Reuben Sherbondy, Abner L. Caldwell; 1890, Thomas W. Ingalls,
Reuben Sherbondy, A. L. Caldwell; 1891, same.
OMAR N. GARDNER, — son of
• James and Elvira C. Gardner,
natives of Genessee county, N. Y., was
born in Akron, December 2, 1854;
educated in Akron public schools
and Buchtel Colleg-e. In 1870 beg:an
work with Mr. P. H. Dudley, Akron's
first city engineer, also assisting Mr.
Dvidley on the surveys for the B. & O.
and Valley railways ; in 1878 was
elected City Engineer of Akron, hold-
ing- the office until 1886, designing
and superintending the construction
of the larger portion of our compre-
hensive system of public works —
sewerage, paving, bridges, viaducts,
conduits, sewer tunnel, etc., involv-
ing an expenditure of over half a
million dollars. In 1887, was employed
as special engineer by Nebraska's
capital citj', Lincoln, where he
designed and superintended the con-
struction of a complete system of
public works — some 30 miles of
separate storm and sanitary sewers,
many miles of brick, cedar block
and granite block paving, and an
important extension of the Lincoln
water works system, which ranks
among the finest in the country. Mr.
G. has also designed a sj^stem of
sewerage for West Bay City, Mich.,
and is now professionally officiating
OMAR X. GARDNER.
as consulting engineer for all
branches of sanitary and h3draulic
works. September 4, 1877, Mr. Gardner
was married to Miss Ella J. Btish, of
Jamestown, N. Y,,who hcis borne him
two children — a daughter, Alene,
born March II, 1879, and a son, James
A., born March 20, 1881.
Portage Township Clerks. — From and including 1836, the
duly^ elected clerks of Portage township have been as foUow^s:
1836, '37, Franklin C. May; 1838, Horace K. Smith; 1839, Joseph
Cole; 1840, Nahum Fay; 1841, William Harrison Dewey; 1842,
Henry Clay Crosby; 1843, William H. Dewey; 1844, Nahum Fay;
1845, '46, '47, Charles W. Tappan; 1848, '49, Tilman Wagner; 1850,
'51, Edward W. Perrin; 1852, '53, '54, '55, '56, Roland O. Hammond;
1857, Newell D. Tibbals; 1858, '59, Jacob A. Kohler; 1860, '61, '62,
George T. McCurdy; 1863, '64, '65, '66, '67, William C. Allen; 1868,
'69, '70, '71, John McGregor; 1872, '73, '74, '75, George Tod Ford; in
September Mr. Ford resigned and Charles Baird was appointed in
his place; 1876, '77, Charles Baird; 1878, '79, '80, '81, '82, '83, Peter J.
Moersch; 1884, '85, William H. Sanford; 1886, A. K. Fouser; 1887,
Frank G. Treash; 1888, '89, '90, '91, John W. Frank.
19
290
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY
WILLIS D. CHAPMAN— son of
Dr. Bryon and Matilda A.
(Dills) Chapman, was born in Copley,
October 3, 1848; edvicated in Coplej^
schools and Pennsjdvania Polytech-
nic College, Philadelphia; was locat-
ing engineer on Lake Shore and I'us-
carawas Valley R. R. in 1871 ; same on
Canada Southern from 1872 to 1876 ;
engaged in general civil engineering,
with headquarters in Toledo, from
1876 to 1878 ; mining engineer and U.
S. deputy survej or in Leadville, Col.,
1879 to 1881 ; U. S. deputy surveyor in
Montana, in 1882 ; followed railroad
engineering in Michigan, in 1883 and
1884; Akron city engineer from 1886
until his resignation in 1889, since
which time he has been engaged in
electric street railroad construction
in Akron, Canton and Zanesville,
being now general manager of the
Akron Electrical Manufacturing
Company ; has been a meinber of the
American Societj' of Civil Engineers
since 1883, and also of the Ohio
Society of Civil Engineers. Februarj^
26, 1873, Mr. Chapman was married to
Miss Ella A. Marriner, born in Akron
Mny 5, 1849, who has borne him six
children — Charles A., born Januarj^
WILLIS I). CHAPMAN.
25, 1875 ; Etha Mav, born February 6,
1877 ; Willis D., Jr., born October 14,
1878; Ella A., born April 27, 1881;
George B., born October 12, 1884, and
Fred., born October 5, 1888.
(Shugart) Parshall, was born at
Tidioute, Pa., May 11,1856; educated
in common schools, Cornell Univer-
sity and Buchtel College ; married in
Akron, Februarj- 5, 1880, to Miss
Hattie E. Pardee, daughter of the late
Jxidge Williain Pardee, a native of
Wads worth ; followed a variet}^ of
occupations till 27, when, in 1883, he
permanently settled in Akron, in 1884
becoming an assistant in the office
of City Engineer Omar N. Gardner,
and continuing under Engineer
Willis D. Chapman, until the resig-
nation of the latter, when, on March
18, 1889, he was appointed by the Citj"
Council to fill the vacancj^, and in
May, 1890, was duly elected, by Coun-
cil, City Engineer for the term of two
years, which position he is now^ ably
filling-. Mr. and Mrs. Parshall are
the parents of five children — Ina,
born January 19, 1881 ; Gladys, born
October 11, 1882 ; Edward, born July
12, 1884 ; Wallace Dickey, born March
SAMUEL WILSON PARSHALL. 14, 1889; and Samuel Wilson, born
— son of Jaines and Henrietta L- September 1, 1890.
SAMUEL WILSON PARSHALL.
AKRON S CIVIL SERVICE RECORD.
291
Portage Towxship Treasurers.— From and including 1836,
the successive treasurers of Portage to\srnship have been as
follows: 1836, '37, '38, Samuel A. Wheeler; 1839, Lewis P. Buckley;
1840, '41, '42, '43, '44, '45, '46, '47, Samuel A. Wheeler; 1848, '49,
Zebulon Jones; 1850, '51, '52, '53, Benjamin McNaughton; 1854, '55,
Ti6, Edwin W. Perrin; 1857, Houston Sisler; 1858, John T. Good;
1859, '60, John H. Chamberlin; 1861, '62, '63, '64, '65, '66, '67, '68, '69,
Charles Cranz; 1870, '71, '72, Arthur L. Conger; 1873, David R.
Paige, Jr.; 1874, Jacob H. Wise; 1875, '76, B. F. Buchtel; 1877, '78,
^79, '80, '81, '82, '83, John McGregor; 1884, Dayton A. Doyle; 1885, '86,
'87, A. J. Williams; 1888, '89, '90, '91, John McCausland.
T7DWIN WAGNER— son of Jacob
^ and Magdalena Wagner, young-
est of a family of ten children, was
born near Hartville, Stark Countj^,
July 23, 1862; raised on farm; edu-
cated in district school, with one year
at Ada (Ohio) Normal School and to
junior year in Buchtel College, teach-
ing- Winters, the Winter of 1885, '86,
and all of the year 1886, '87, in Penin-
«!xla High School. Mr. Wagner is a
member of Grace Reformed Church ;
in politics a Democrat, and after four
years' service as deputy, under Clerk
Newton Ford, was elected City Clerk
of Akron, in April, 1890, which posi-
tion he is still ably filling. April 30,
1889, Mr. Wagner was married to Miss
Sarah Grosenbach. of Hartville, who
bore him one child — Jean Marie,
born April 11, '1890, Mrs. Wagner
dying June 29, 1891, aged 29 years, and
6 davs.
EDWIX WAGNER.
WILLIAM Z. MCI>0.\ALD.
v^^iLLiAM z. Mcdonald,— born
'' * in Wooster, Wayne, county,
Ohio, June 1.5,1858 ; educated in pub-
lic schools ; learned the machinist
trade, with his father, giving especial
attention to technical mechanical
construction, working successively^
in Wooster, Millersburg and Mans-
field, until September, 1884, when he
came to Akron, where he has since
continuously resided ; September 6,
1885, was appointed First District
Inspector of workshops and factories,
to fill an unexpired term, and re-ap-
pointed May 8, 1888, discharging the
intricate duties of the position with
such intelligence and fidelity, that
he was promoted to tbe Chief Inspec-
torship of the workshops and
factories of Ohio, by Governor J. B.
Foraker, for four years, from April
29. 1889, which important office he is
still ably filling, the headquarters of
the department being at Columbus.
October 12, 1882, Mr. McDonald was
married to Miss Lillie A. Estill,
daughier of Hon. James A. Estill, of
Millersburg, Ohio. Thej'^ have two
children living — James E. and Helen.
292
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
eiMON M. STONE— born in Lock
*-> Haven, Pa., Januarj^ 6, 18 44;
educated in common schools;
clerked in father's store until July
10, 1861, when, at 17 years of age, he
enlisted in Co. D, 7th P. V. I., serving-
two years and a half, when he re-
enlisted for the war ; Maj^ 7, 1864, was
captured with his regiment, in the
Battle of the Wilderness, spending
seven months in Ander so nvill e
prison. At the close of the war.
again enlisted in the 4th U. S.
Artillery, in which he served three
years, being discharged as First
Sergeant, at Richmond, Va., May 29,
1870, having given seven full years
to the service of his country. On
returning home, followed the busi-
ness of photographer for two years,
when, in 1872, he came to Akron,
working in Akron Rubber Works
nearly 10 years. In 1882, was
appointed on Akron police force by
Mayor Samuel A. Lane, serving until
April, 1887, when he was elected City
Marshal, to which responsible posi-
tion he was re-elected in April, 1889,
serving four full years. October 21,
1873, Marshal Stone was married, to
Miss Laura E. Bittner, of Akron,
SIMON M. STONE.
who has borne him three children -
Fred. Louis, born December 23, 1874 ;
Mabel May, born October 3, 1877, died
February 22, 1879 ; Laura Gertrude,
born December 27, 1881.
ALBERT G. MALLISON.
ALBERT G. MALLISON,— second
-^ son of Amos and Clarina (New-
ton) Mallison, born in Groton, Conn.,
June 13, 1797 ; when eleven years old,
moved with his parents to Rich-
mond, Berkshire county, Mass., com-
ing to Akron in 1832, settling on
farm, on what is now known as
Wooster avenue. In addition to a
good district school education, Mr.
Mallison, when young, learned !#ur-
vej^ing, in which capacitj' he ran the
line between Massachusetts and New
York, and also, after coming- here,was
emploj^ed b}- Perkins, King and
Crosby to survej' and plat the North-
ern portion of the City of Akron, his
name appearing in most of the deeds
of conveyance in the first, second
and third wards. Mr. Mallison also
taught school for several 3-ears in
Massachusetts, New Jersey and Ohio,
the last time in the stone school
house at the southwest six-corners,
in Tallmadge. June 22. 1843, Mr. Mal-
lison was married to Miss Cornelia
G. Washburn, of Akron, who bore
him three children — Eveline, (now
Mrs. Horace G. Moon), Albert H,
both now living on Wooster avenue,
and Amos, who died 1886. Mr. Malli-
son died Februar}' 26,1879, at the age
of 81 years, 8 months, 13 da3'8, Mrs.
Mallison d5"ing December 8, 187o,
aged 76 years, 5 months and 6 da3^s»
AKROX'S CIVIL vSERVICE RECORD.
293
AMOS MALLISON,— eldest son of
-^ Amos and Clarina (Newton)
Mallison, was born in Groton, Conn.,
Jvily (>, 1795 ; at 13, moved with his
parents to Richmond, Berkshire
county, Mass., coming- to Ohio in 1833,
settling- on the farm now known as
Ba'^tges-Mallison Addition to the
Ci ty of Akron. Mr. Mallison received
a good common school education,
and followed, through life, the calling-
of a farmer. June 6, 1840, Mr. Malli-
son was married to Mrs. Marj^ Comp-
ton, a widow with one daug-hter,
afterward married to Mr. John M.
Seidel, now of Hudson, Mrs. Sei-
del, at her death leaving one son,
Theodore, who was adopted by his
grandparents and is now a success-
ful farmer in Western New York.
After the sale of their farm, here, to
Dr. S. W. Bart^es, Mr. and Mrs. Mal-
lison, in the Spring of 1870, removed
to the townof Victor, Ontario county,
N. Y., where Mr. M. died January 25,
1877, aged 81 years, 6 months and 19
days. Mrs. M. still survives.
AMOS MALLISON.
JACOB ALLKX.
JACOB ALLKN, — fourth son of
J Jesse and Catherine (Teithrich)
Allen, was born in Lansing-, Tomp-
kins county, N. Y., February 11, 1803,
removing with parents to Coventry,
Ohio, in 1811 ; educated in district
schools ; learned cloth-dressing- trade
in Middlebury ; at 18 went to State of
New York and built woolen mill near
Ithaca ; returned to Ohio in 1835, in
1837 building woolen mill in Ghent;
in 1838 another mill in Akron tiear
Cascade mill ; in 1840 another on the
old city mill site ; in 1842 another,
now a part of the oat meal plant of
The Hower Co., and in 1846, with
others, a satinet factory further south
on Canal street, converted into a
flouring- mill in 1856, and now known
as the Allen Mills, of whjch his son
Frank, of New York, is now one of
the proprietors. Mr. Allen was a
liberal promoter of public improve-
ments, and especiall}^ influential
in securing the location of the A.
& G. W. (now N. Y., P. & O.) railroad
throug^h Akron, his latest private
enterpise being the erection of the
three-stor}' business block bearing-
his name on South Howard street.
Though not an office-seeker, Mr.
Allen was a member of Akron Vil-
lag-e Council in 1841, '42. February
16, 1830, at Ithaca, N. Y., he was mar-
ried to Miss Catharine Vansickle,
sister of the late N. E. Vansickle and
Mrs. A. M. Barber, who bore him
five children — Hiram, deceased ;
Mary Helen, now Mrs. Rufus Wright,
of Akron ; Frank H., now of New-
York City ; Elnora, who died in
infancy; and Lizzie, now Mrs. Charles
W. Kellogg, of Chicago. Mr. Allen
died November 25, 1879, aged 76 years,
9 months and 14 days, Mrs. Allen
dying- September 20, 1887, aged 73
years,9inonths and 10 days.
294
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
NICHOLAS EMMONS VAN-
SICKLE, — born inGermantown,
N. J., November 10, 1816 ; moved with
parents to Tompkins county, N. Y.,
in 1825, and to Bath, Ohio, in 1837 ;
common school education ; during
minority worked at farming and
blacksmithing- with father ; then
learned to make cloth, following that
business in connection with his
brother-in-law, Jacob Allen, from
1838 to 1845, being co-proprietor of Cit}'
Woolen Factory, afterwards known
as the City Mills, on West Market
street. September 3, 1844, Avas mar-
ried to Miss Margaret Mathews, of
Akron, who bore hiin two children-
Ella, now Mrs. E. R. Grant, and Dora,
now Mrs. N. H. Bassett, both now
residents of Akron. In 1848 engaged
in hotel keeping in Bedford, later, for
several years,- engaging in railroad
building in Missouri and other local-
ities ; was master of transportation
in the earlier years of the war ; later
employed on public works of Akron,
and in 1871, in connection with Col.
A. L. Conger, building 20 miles of the
Valley Railway. In 1875 established
cigar and tobacco store at 104 East
Market street, following that bxisi-
ness several years. In 1846 Mr. Van-
sickle served as a inember of the
XICHOLAS EMMONS VAXSICKLE.
Town Council, and was for manj^
years a member of the Board of
Directors of the Summit Countj^
Agricultural Society, and one of its
most active promoters. Mr. Van-
sickle died January' 4, 1888, aged 71
years, 1 month and 24 daj-s.
HIRAM VIELE.
TTIRAM VIELE, — was born in
-*- A Pittstown. Rensselaer county,
N, Y., September 5, 1813 ; educated in
common schools, working on his
father's farm till 20 years old, when
he engaged as clerk in stove store in
Rochester, two 3^ears later becoming
a partner in the business, which con-
tinued five j^ears ; then, after one
5^ear's residence in W a s h i n g t o n
county, in Julj^ 1842, came to ATcron,
where he engaged in the Stone Mills,
as book-keeper, afterwards becoming
manager, continuing, with an inter-
mission of two or three years, until
August 1, 1871, when he opened a
flour and feed store, where the Arcade
block now stands, in which business
he continued until his death, Julj' 25,.
1874. October 17, 1838, Mr. Viele was
married, to Miss Abbie M. McFar-
land, a native of Salem, Washington
county, N. Y. Five children were
born to them, three of whom, with
their inother, are still living — Henry
C, now treasurer of the Citizens Sav-
ings and Loan Association, in Akron,
and Mary J. and Fannie G. Mr.
Viele was a prominent member of
Summit Lodge, No. 50, I. O. O. F.. and
a charter member and high official
of Akron Encampment, No. 18, and
also acceptably officiated as Deputy
Grand Master of the State, and Grand
Representative to the Grand Lodge
of the United States.
Akron's civil sbrvick record.
295
WILLIAM G. RAYMOND, — born
in Adams, Berkshire county,
Mass,, October 4, 1811; common
school education ; learned machin-
ist's trade ; came to Akron in 1884,
working- in carding and spinning
miachine works of Aliens & McMillan,
elsewhere written of; in 1838, with
his brother John, leased the "Ohio
Exchange" hotel, where the Woods
block now stands, keeping it about
two years ; in 184(). bought the woolen
factory, corner Canal and Cherry
streets, successfully conducting it
several years; soon, in addition,
established a dry goods store, under
the firm name of J. Ra3-mond & Co.,
on Howard street, which was de-
stroyed b3'fire on the night of Decem-
ber 27, 184tT, also for many years
dealing extensively in wool. Maj' 1(5,
184(), Mr. Raymond was married, to
Miss Eliza A. Williams, daughter of
Barnabas Williams, and step-daugh-
ter of Major Miner Spicer, pioneer
settlers of Portage township, who
bore him four children — William B.,
late treasurer of the Citizens' Savings
and Loan Association of Akron, born
April 5, 1841, died June 10, 1888; John
Gilbert, born Februarj^ 23, 1840, now
treasurer of The Diamond Drill and
Tool Company of Akron ; Charlie,
who died February 7, 18.o4, aged 3
years and 5 days; and Grace, who
died March 20, 1873, aged 10 years, 9
WILLIAM G. RAYMOND.
months and 23 dnjs. Mrs. Rajniond
dying March (5. 18(),i, Mr. R. was again
married, to Mrs. Martha E. Yosburg,
September 3, IHfKi. Mr. Raj^mond
died April 9, 1870, aged 58 jears, 6
montjis and 5 da^s, the second Mrs.
R. dying October 12, 1890, aged (35
years, 1 month and 7 days.
Justices of the Peace. — In an early day justices of the peace
were appointed by the Governor, and after the office became
elective by the people, to the organization of the new county of
Summit, in 1840, the election returns had to be made to the clerk
of common pleas, at Ravenna, and cannot now be conveniently
traced. Among the earliest, if not the earliest, justices of the
peace in Portage tow^nship, was its earliest settler, Major Miner
Spicer. Though perhaps not very well up in legal learning, the
Maj(>r Avas possessed of good strong common sense, and his
decisions were very seldom reversed by the higher courts. The
Major, also had a decidedly original way of expressing his opin-
ions, as witness the following incident: A dissolute fellow of
the vicinity was brought before His Honor on the charge of
stealing a hog. The witnesses were sworn and examined, but the
evidence being a little obscure, the major, who, when especially in
earnest, had a slight impediment in his speech, ordered the
accused to stand up and in stentorian tones exclaimed: "T-t-there
a-aint q-quite t-tes-testimony e-enough to c-convict you, but I
b-believe y-you're g-guilty as a d-dog — g-git out of my house !"
Elijah Mason, Esq., of Middlebury, was also one of the early
justices of the neighborhood. Mr. Wolsey Wells, Akron's first
postmaster and canal collector, also officiated as justice of the
peace in the late twenties and early thirties, while Mr. Jacob
Brown, at the South End, and Mr. John H. Cleveland, in "Cascade,"
296
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
w^ere doing magisterial duty in their respective localities on the
arrival of the writer in Akron, in 1835.
Since that time the justices of the peace for Portage toAvnship,
elected for the term of three years, have been as follows: 1836-39,
Jacob Brown and Seneca L. Hand; 1837-40, Harvey H. Johnson;
1839-42, Leander L. Howard; 1839-42, Ebenezer Martin; 1840-43,
Harvey H. Johnson; 1842-45, William M. Dodge; 1842-45, Lewis P.
Buckley; 1843-46, Henry Converse and Jacob Brown; 1845-48,
William M. Dodge; 1846^9, George Babcock; 1848-51, Joshua C.
Berry; 1849-52, George Babcock and Noah M. Green; 1851-54, Abel
B. Berry; 1852-55, Daniel B. Hadley and Noah M. Green; 1854-57,
Joseph F, Gilbert; 1855-58, John W. Stephens and Noah M. Green;
1857-60, WiUiam L. Clarke; 1858-61, John W. Stephens and John L.
Robertson; 1860, '61, Edward Allen (died in June, 1861); 1861-63,John
W. Stephens (died in March, 1863); 1861-64, John Lugenbeel and
William L. Clarke; 1863-66, Lewis M. Janes (died in July, 1865);
1864-67, William L.Clarke; 1865-68, WiUiam M. Cunningham; 1867-
70, William L. Clarke; 1868-71, Henry Purdy and William M.
Cunningham; 1871-74, Henry Purdy and Florence Weber; 1873-76,
Dudley Seward; 1874-77, Thomas "^C, Brandon and Thomas H.
Goodwin; 1876-79, Dudley Seward; 1877-80, Henry Purdy and
Thomas C. Brandon; 1879-82, Dudley Seward; 1880-83, Henry
Purdy and Thomas C. Brandon; 1882-85, Peter J. Moersch; 1883-86,
Henry Purdy; 1886-88, Alvin Rice; 1885-88, Peter J. Moersch; 1886-
89, Henry Purdy (resigned February 22, 1888); 1888-91, Solomon
Koplin, west precinct and Edw^in P. Fouse east precinct, 1891-94,
Solomon Koplin west precinct and Joseph M. Byerly east precinct.
r:;.EORGE THOMAS,— born in Co-
^J^ lumbiana County, O., March 12,
1817 ; common school education ;
learned trade of carpenter and joiner ;
worked in Millersburgf, Holmes Co.,
four j^ears, coming- to Akiron in 1844 ;
during- the war establishing himself
in the building and luinber business,
on the present site of the Thomas
IvUmber and Building Company's
works, which he successfullj' carried
on till his death, October 28, 1872, at
the age of 55 years, 7 months, 16 days.
In 1840, Mr. Thomas was tnarried to
Miss Jane Wilson, of Millersburg,
Avho bore hini one son — Col. David
W. Thomas, his successor in business
and now president of the above
named compan}-. Mrs. Thomas dying
in 1842, Mr. Thomas was again mar-
ried, September 25, 184.5, to Miss Mary
Caldwell, of Akron, who bore him six
children, three dying in infancy; of
the three daiighters living to adult
age, Carrie F., the first wife of Mr.
Daniel A. James, dying December 22,
1S70; Eva Iv., married to Mr. William
F. Picton ; and Louisa J., the present
Mrs. D. A. Jame.s. Mr. Thomas was
active in all public afifairs, foremost
among the earlj- firemen of the vil-
lage ; a member of the villag-e Coun-
cil. 18.57, '.58; a member of the First
GEOKGii THOMAS.
Baptist Church of Akron, and of
Akron Lodge No. 83, F. & A. M., the
latter organization adopting appro-
priate memorial resolutions on his
death, and conducting the funeral
services. Mrs. Thomas died Novem-
ber 4, 1883, aged .56 years.
Akron's civ^il serv^ice record.
297
TAMES CHRISTY —born in Sprin^-
J field township, Februarj^ 4, 1820 ;
worked on father's farm during-
minority; attended district school,
and from 16 to 19, a select school in
Middlebviry ; at 20 taught school two
terms ; at 21, in connection with his
brother-in-law, Mr. James Sawyer,
established tannery on North Howard
street, under the firm name of
Christy & Sawj^er, together with shoe
manufactory and store, continuing
until 1851 ; in 1852, formed partner-
ship with his brother, John H., in
18.56, erecting more commodious
buildings, the partnership continu-
ing until 1879. Mr. C. then associated
with himself his two sons, James Jr.
and William, under the firm name of
James Christy & Sons, manufactur-
ing leather, and dealing in leather,
hides, furs and findings, making a
speciality of harness leather, now
exclusively buying- and selling-.
Republican in politics, Mr. Christy
has served five years in City Council
^1864, '73, '74, '77, '78. In October,
1849, Mr. Christy was married to Miss
Janette Warner, of Akron, who has
borne him six children— four of whom
are now living- — Alice, (now Mrs.
John E. Metlin) ; James, William and
Nettie, still at home. In 1850, Mr.
Christy performed the overland jour-
ney to California with ox-teams, the
journey from Akron to Sacrainento
■occupying nearly five months. Re-
JAMES CHRISTY.
maining about one jear, part of the
tiine in the mines, and part of the
time in Sacrainento, the home jour-
ney was made via the Isthmus of
Panama, occupying nearly a month.
Forty years later, on his 70th birth-
day, he again visited the Pacific
Coast, leisurely visiting every por-
tion of California, Oregon, Washing--
ton, Montana, Dakota, etc., the entire
journey occupying- less than two
months.
Middlebury township: 1863-66, John Johnston and Harvey-
Baldwin; 1866, '72, '75, '80, '83, '86-89, Mansfield Sumner; 1867, '70,
'73, '76, '79, '82, '85, '88, '89, Almon Brown; 1885-88, Louis D. Seward.
Akron township: 1888-91, Alvin Rice; 1888-91, Peter H.
Hoffman; 1889-92, William Anderson; 1890-93, Mansfield Sumner;
1891-94, Ernest C. Housel.
Portage Township Assessors. — The duly elected assessors of
the township, since and including 1841, have been as follows: 1841,
Miner Spicer; 1842, '43, '44, Justus Gale; Col. Gale declining to
serve this last year John H. Crawford was appointed in his place.
1845, Albert G. Mallison; 1846, Nahum Fay; 1847, Joseph F. Gilbert;
1848, John Sherbondy; 1849, Alfred R. Townsend; 1850, Nahum
Fay; 1851, '52, George Howe; 1853, John Sherbondy; 1854, Nahum
Fay; 1855, Nelson C. Hawkins; 1856, Ira Hawkins, with Samuel
A. Lane, appointed by Auditor, as assistant; 1857, Alfred R.
Townsend; 1858, Frank Adams; 1859, Alfred R. Townsend; 1860,
Nahum Fay; 1861, '62. Jacob H. Wise; 1863, Nahum Fay; 1864,
Charles C. Hanscom; 1865, '66, Edward A. Barber; 1867, Homer C.
Ay res; 1868, Augustus Curtiss; 1869, John G. Goble; 1870, '71,
Aaron Teeple; 1872, Albert H. Mallison; 1873, George Miller; 1874,
Albert H. Mallison; 1875, George Miller; 1876, Hiram Sherbondy;
1S77, '78, '79, Randall McAllister; 1880, Joseph Schnee; 1881, Hiram
Sherbondy; 1882, T. J. Wise; 1883, '84, George Botzum; 1885, John
W. Frank; 1886, '87, Henry Norton; 1888, Charles T. Parks; 1889,
298
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
east precinct, Joseph Schnee; \vest precinct, Charles S. Starks;
1890, same; 1891, east precinct, George Botzum; west precinct,
.Jason Bunker.
AKRON IN COUNTY OFFICE.
Besides such county officials as have herein been credited
to the several townships from which they originally came, Akron
(including Middlebury and Portage townships) has been repre-
sented in county office as follo>vs:
County Commissioners. — Hiram Weston, December, 1851, to
December, 1854; George Buell, December, 1861, to May, 1864; David
E. Hill, December, 1862, to December, 1868; George D. Bates, May,
1864 to December, 1864; John C. Hill, December, 1886, to December,^
1887; Henry Frederick, November, 1889, to present time.
Prosecuting Attorneys. — William M. Dodge, April, 1840 to
October, 1842; William S. C. Otis, 1844, to 1846;^Sidnev Edgerton,
1852 to 1856; Newell D. Tibbals, 1860 to 1864; Edwin P. Green, ad
interim, while prosecutor Tibbals w^as in the hundred dav service
in the army, in 1864; Henry C. Sanford, 1872 to 1874; James M.
Poulson, 1874 to 1876; Edward W. Stuart, 1876 to 1880; Charles
Baird, 1880 to 1884; Edwin F. Voris, appointed by court on death
of Prosecutor John C. Means, May, 1886, to October, 1886; George
W^. Sieber, 1886 to present time.
County Sheriffs. — Other than those named in the several
townships, incumbents of the sheriff's office of Summit county
have been as follows: William L. Clarke, 1848 to 1852;
Samuel A. Lane, November, 1856, to January, 1861, and January,
1887, to January, 1881; James Burlison. 1865 to 1869; William B,
Gamble, 1885 to 1889; David R. Bunn, 1889 to 1893.
JOHN COOK.—born in Bavaria,
Germany, AprillS, 1818; educated
in German schools, learning trade of
stone mason; came to United States
in 1839, settling in Akron, finding
employment in vEtna Mill soon
attaining- to foremanship of packing
department; in 18.tO went overland to
California, engaging in the provision
business, remaining two years, and
returning via the Isthmus of
Panama; in 1855, started a grocery on
Market street in connection with the
late Jacob Dussell, speedily building-
up an extensive trade; later, on the
retirement of Mr. Dussell, associat-
ing with himself his two sons, John
J., and William H., under the firm
name of J. Cook & Sons, which title
is still retained by the sons, Mr.
Cook having died December 1, 1880.
Mr. Cook and Miss Mary Bills, were
married in Akron, October 17, 1843,
their first-born child, Francis, dj'ing
at two years of age. Mr. Cook was
raised in the Catholic faith and for
several years after its organization
was a trustee and liberal supporter
of St. Vincent de Paul's Church.
Democratic in politics, though not
a seeker after office, Mr, Cook was
JOHN COOK.
elected to Council of the Incorporated
Village of Akron, in 1858, serving- one
term, his eldest son, John J. Cook,
filling that i)osition in the Citj^
Council during the years 1876, '77.
Mrs. Cook still survives.
AKRON S CIVIL SERVICE RECORD.
299
ALVIN RICE, ESQ..'- son of Eras-
tus and Jerusha (Brown) Rice,
was born in Albion, Erie County,
Pa., May 2, 1822; educated in common
schools and at Vienna, Trumbull
County, Ohio, Academy; tavig-ht
school three winters, meantime
reading law with H. H. Budd, Esq.,
in Sharon, Pa., passing' examination,
but never admitted to Bar, then
learned trade of moulder; working
for a time in Sharon, Pa., came to
Akron, March 1, 1846, working for
Cobb & Farnam and later for the
Akron Stove Co.; in 1860, in connec-
tion w^ith Messrs. Jaines B. Taplin and
Hobart Ford, established the firiu of
Taplin, Rice & Co., one of the pres-
sent prosperous itistitutions of In-
dustrial Akron. Mr. Rice was mar-
ried, September 3, 18-18, to Miss Jane
Mustill, of Akron, who has borne
him seven children — Jerusha, de-
ceased; Alvin, Jr., deceased; Lillie,
deceased; Eva, still living at home;
Ella, now wife of James M. Stafford,
merchant tailor of Ann Arbor, Mich.;
Frank, member of Akron Fire
Department at Central Station, and
Alvin, Jr., Shipping Clerk for Taplin,
Rice & Co. Mr. Rice was elected
Recorder of the Incorporated Village
of Akron, for the years 18(iO, 1862 and
ALVIX RICE, ESQ.
1863; and a member of the Board of
Education for the years 1867 and
1869; was elected justice of the
peace for the Township of Akron, in
188.5 and re-elected in 1888, which
responsible position he ably filled
until April 21, 1891— six 3'ears.
JOHX MEMMFK.
JOHN MEMMER,— son of David and
Margaret (Arehart) Memnier, was
born in Suffield, Portage county,
June 14, 1839, raised on farm ;
educated in township district school
and in public schools and private
school of Prof. Fitzgerald in Cleve-
land; clerked in grocery store three
years, and in confectionery storetwo
years, in Cleveland; March 1, 1861.
came to Akron and established a
confectionery store 137 Howard street,
following that business seven and a
half j-ears; in the first draft, October
1, 1862, was drafted into the army, but
having no one with whom to leave
his business furnished a substitute
for three years; in 1868 established
an insurance agency in his present
quarters, corner Main and Market
streets, which for nearly a quarter of
a centurj', he has managed with emi-
nent success. Mr. Mehimer served
as member of City Council, from the
Second ward, for the j'ears of 1871, '72
and is now a director in the Akron
Savings Bank. August 22, 1860, he
was married to Miss Louisa Bo5'er. of
Cleveland, who has borne him five
children — Laura, born September 14,
im\, died July 29. 1862; Nellie M, born
February' 14, 1863, died September .1,
1871 ; Ida May, born May 4, 1867, now
Mrs. Alexander W. Maynes of Akron,-
George W., born November 20, 1872,
now engaged in the insurance busi-'
ness in Akron; and Ella Louisa, born
September 19, 1877.
300
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
A LEXANDER BREWSTER,~~born
-^ in Augusta, Oneida county, N.
Y., September 10, 18()8; came with par-
ents to Ohio in 1812, settling in Coven-
try ; education, in earlj^ district
schools, limited ; learned carpenter's
trade with father, but mostly follow-
ed farming until 1848, when he turned
his attention to mining, coal having
been discovered on his land; in 18o0
went overland to California, return-
ing home in 1851; has since been
engaged in mining and shipping
coal, a stock compan}^ being formed
in 1865, with a capital stock of $1(X),-
<XX), of which, under the name of the
Brewster Coal Company, Mr. B. is
president, and his two sons, Alfred
A. and Austin K. are respectively,
general agent, and secretary and
treasurer, the coinpany mining and
handling between 200,000 and 300,000
tons of coal, per j^ear. January 9,
1830, Mr. B. was married to Miss Mar-
garet Ann Kinney, a native of
Ontario county, N. Y., w^ho came to
Springfield in 1813, who bore him five
children, four of whom survive — the
two sons above named ; Louisa, now
Mrs. J. F. Meacham, and Mary M.
now Mrs. Russell H. Kent; all living
in Akron. Mrs. B. dying in Novem-
ber, 1854, Mr. B. in December, 1857,
was again married, to Mrs. Minerva
ALEXAXDEK BREWSTER.
A. (Darrow) Brown, a native of Cu3'a-
hoga county, who died June 27, 1873.
In September, 1877, was again mar-
ried, to Mrs. Lucy Jane Chainberlin,
widow of the late John H. Chamber-
berlin, and daughter of Col. Justus
and Mrs. Sarah Gale, who settled in
Akron in 1831.
CAPT. HENRY H. BROWN.
pAPT. HENRY H. BROWN,— son
^ of Charles W. Brown, one of
Akron's pioneer settlers, was born in
Middlebury, (now Akron's Sixth ward)
October 23, 1828 ; educated in Akron
public schools, finishing under
Superintendent Leggett, in the Spring
of 1848 ; April 1, 1850. was married to
Miss Elizabeth D. Hickcox, of Akron,
who bore him one son — Charles H.
now of Denver, Colorado ; raised a
farmer, in 1855 went to Illinois where
he remained ten years, engaged in
farming; returning to Akron, in the.
Fall of 1865, Mr. Brown entered the
eniplo3'ment of the Middleburj^ Coal
Co., as manager, which position he
held 20 years. Mr. Brown repre-
sented the Second Avard in the City
Council for the years 1880, '81, '82, '83,
'84, and '85, resigning his seat on
account of failing health, and going
to Colorado, where, as agent for the
Thomson-Houston Electric Co., he is
still operating with headquarters at
Denver. Capt. Brown for manj' 3'ears
took a great interest in local mili-
tary affairs, having been captain of
Companj' A. Ninth (now Companj^
B. Eighth) Regiment Ohio National
Guard, from July 23, 1877 to Decem-
ber 2, 1884, being a thorough disci-
plinarian and in all respects a model
officer. Mrs. Brown died suddenlj^
of apoplexy, at Denver, April 20, 1891,
aged 63 years.
AKKON S CIVIL SERVICE RECORD,
301
County Auditor.s. — Theron A. Noble, 1842 to 1848; Nathaniel
W. Goodhue, 1848 to 1852; Charles B. Bernard, 1854 to 1858; Sanford
M. Burnham, 1863 to 1871; Edward Buckingham, 1872 to 1881;
Charles W. F. Dick, the present incumbent, elected in 1886, and
re-elected in 1889.
pHARLES F. INGERSOLL —
^ young-est child of Noah and
Mary (Stickels) Ingersoll, was born
at Albion, Orleans Co., N. Y., October
29, 1833; came to Copley, O., in 1836,
and a few years later to Coventry' ;
educated in country district schools ;
at 20 entered the employ of Hiram
Fuller, who kept a dry goods store,
corner of Main and Exchange streets.
November 10, 1859, Mr. Ingersoll was
married to Miss Olive L. Root,
daughter of the late Rile)' Root, of
Coventry, who has borne him two
children — Frank Howard, born Sep-
tember 11, 1860, and Hattie May, born
March 5, 1868. After a short residence
at Kent, Mr. Ingersoll accepted an
appointment from the A. & G. W.
Railway Company, as its first Pas-
senger and Freight Agent at New
Portage, acceptably filling the posi-
tion about three j^ears. In 1872, Mr.
Ingersoll removed his family to 116
St. Clair street, Akron, where he still
resides. In politics, an active Repub-
lican, in 1881, '82, Mr. Ingersoll repre-
sented the Fifth ward in the City
Council, serving upon some of its
most important committees. In 1883,
CHAKLES F. IXGEKSOLL.
he opened a real estate and insur-
ance office in Kaiser's block, South
Main street, in which business he
still continues.
WILSON B. CANNON.
WILSON B. CANNON,~born in
Streetsboro, Portage county,
Ohio, March 19, 1839; educated in
common schools and worked on
father's farm till 19, when he entered
a country store at a salary of $4,t0 for
three years' services ; then went to
Indianapolis as cashier in a large
store where he remained until 1868,
when he came to Akron, and with his
brother-in-law, established the well-
known crockery firm of Herrick &
Cannon, with which he was connected
for over 20 jears. In January, 1890,
iJssisted in organizing the Akron
Silver Plate Company, now in suc-
cessful operation, of which he is the
secretary and treasurer. Mr. Cannon
represented the First ward in the City
Council two terms — 1885 to 1889~three
years as its presiding officer ; was
charter member, and for a number of
years president, of Summit County
Humane Society ; a prominent mem-
ber of Akron Lodge, No. 547, I. O. O.
F.; of the Akron Board of Trade and
an active promoter of all the benevo-
lent enterprises of the day. October
29, 1865, Mr. Cannon was married to
Miss Emerene Lacey, daug-hter of
Isaac J. Lacey, one of the pioneer
settlers of Aurora, three children
having been born to them, one of
whom — Helena May — is now living.
302
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
pRANCIS A. WILCOX —son of Dr.
-T Jeremiah C. Wilcox, born in
Richfield, May 17, 1852 ; raised to farm
life, in boyhood attending- district
school and Richfield Academy, 2^2
miles distant, in winter only ; at 17
commenced teaching- winters, later
entering- Oberlin Colleg-e, from
whence he g-raduated in the classical
course in 1878. He then read law
with Hon. T. E. Bvirton of Cleveland,
until March, 1879, when he became
principal of the Glenville schools,
which position he acceptablj^ filled
four years. In 1881, was elected mem-
ber of Glenville Council and presi-
dent of the Glenville Union Church
Society. In 1882, purchased of W. W.
Warner of Akron, a half interest in
abstract, real estate, loan and insur-
ance business, and in February 1885,
the remaining half-interest, the fol-
lowing August associating with
himself, his present ' partner, Mr.
A. H. Noah. In 1885, was elected
member of City Council, serving one
term and declining a re-election ; is
an active member of the Board of
Trade, and has aided in organizing-
the Selle Gear Company, the Akron
Savings Bank, the Akron Wholesale
Grocery Companj^, the Akron
Building- and Loan Association, the
Akron Tool Co., the Loomis Motor
Co., and the Canton and Zanesville
FRANCIS A. W1I.COX.
Electric Street Railway Cos., in the
first four of which he is director and
of the last secretary ; is also pecun-
iarilj^ and officiallj" connected with a
large number o the other business
enterprises of Akron and vicinity ; in
religion a Con^reg-ationalist ; in
politics a Republican.
JAMES H. CASE.
TAMES H. CASE,— born in Middle-
J bury, (now Akron Sixth Ward),
December 23, 1844; educated in Mid-
dlebury public schools, at 17 appren-
ticed himself to the carriage-ironing
trade at Greenville, Penn., but before
completing^ his apprenticeship re-
turned home and entered the
machine shop of Kent, Baldwin &
Co., in Middlebur3^ In 1863 enlisted
in the Second Ohio Cavalry, partici-
pating in the battles of the Wilder-
ness, Petersburg, Shenandoah, Cedar
Creek, Winchester, Five Forks, and
the surrender of Lee. After the
g-rand review, at Washington, moved
with the regiment to the West,
remaining at Springfield, Mo., until
September, 1865, when the regiment
was mustered oixt at St. Louis. On
his return home, he completed his
trade at which he worked about
four years, then worked in the Buck-
eye Reaper and Mower Works, until
1876, when he established himself in
the drug business in the Sixth ward,
which he has since successfully car-
ried on, also being chemist for the
Absolute Chemical Company, writ-
ten of elsewhere; served as member of
City Council two terms — 1865 to 1869.
January 1, 1872, was luarried to Miss
Ella S. Farrar, of Akron, who bore
him one son — Charles F. Case, now
a student in Buchtel Colleg-e. April
17, 1890, Mr. Case was again married,
to Mrs. Mag-g-ie R. Blocker, of Akron.
AKKON S CIV^IL SERVICE RECORD.
303
ROBERT L. ANDREW, born in
Boston township, Summit Co.,
Ohio, May 24, 1841; in boyhood
attended common school and worked
at the painter's trade with his father,
from 1857 to 1862 clerking- at Penin-
sula and in Hudson; in June, 1862,
enlisted in 85th Reg-iment, O. V. I.,
serving' four months and participat-
ing in engagements at Prentiss, Miss.,
and Vicksburg; in Axigust, 1864,
re-enlisted in 177th, O. V. I., serving
to the end of the war, with the rank of
sergeant, participating in the battles
of The Cedars, Shelbyville Pike, and
Town Creek, and being present at
Johnston's surrender. On being
mustered out, clerked in store of E.
H. Cole, at Peninsula, then for E. B.
Thompson & Sons, successively at
lona, Marshall and Ann Arbor,
Mich; October 6, 1869, removed to
Akron and resumed his trade, in
1873, erecting the store at 314 East
Mill street, January 1, 1877, associat-
ing with himself his brother, Angelo,
under the firm name of Andrew
Brothers, which arrangement con-
tinued until September, 189(), when
he sold out to his brother and estab-
lished The Paint and Color Com-
panJ^ elsewhere alluded to. Sep-
tember 6, 1866, Mr. Andrew was mar-
ried to Miss Emerancy Hall, a native
of Northampton, who died April 3,
ROBERT L. AiXDKEVV.
1879, their two children also being
deceased. Mr. A. was again married,
to Miss Emma Woods, daughter of
Mr. John B. Woods, of Akron, Sept.
27, 1881. Though an earnest and act-
ive Democrat, Mr. Andrew for two
successive terins (1886-90) represented
the usuallj^ Republican l^irst ward
in the City Council, the last year as
its President.
County Treasurers. — William Harrison Dewey, 1848 to 1850;
Frederick Wadsworth, 1850 to 1852; Israel E. Carter, 1862 to 1866;
David R. Paige, Jr., 1874 to 1878; Henry C. Viele, 1878 to 1883;
Emmon S. Oviatt, 1891 to 1893.
County Recorders. — Nahum Fay, 1843 to 1849; Philip P. Bock,
1858 to 1864; James Alexander Lantz, 1864 to 1870; Henry C. Vi^le,
(b3^ appointment), February, 1872, to October, 1872; George H.
Payne, 1872 to 1878; Albert A. Bartlett, 1878 to 1884; Benjamin F.
Clark, 1891 to 1894.
County Surveyors. — The incumbents of this office, since the
organization of the county, have nearly all been "outsiders,"
D wight Newton, of Akron, being elected in 1849 for three years;
Robert S. Paul, of Akron, (see also Cuyahoga Falls), by appoint-
ment, filling the vacancy occasioned by the death of his father,
Hosea Paul, from June to October, 1870, and by election for the
ensuing three years; again appointed to fill the vacancy occasioned
by the resignation of Surveyor elect, Jacob Mishler, from February
3, to October, 1884; again successively elected in 1877 and 1880,
giving to the position, in all, about ten years of faithful service.
Charles E. Perkins, of Akron, was elected in October, 1883,
re-elected in 1886, and again elected in 1889.
Infirmary Directors. — Lucius V, Bierce, July, 1849, to
October, 1849; Roswell Kent, October, 1819, to October, 1851
Gibbons J. Ackley, October, 1849, till his decease in August, 1851
Joseph E. Wesener, to fill vacancy, August to October, 1851
304
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
George D. Bates, 1851 to 1855; Ira Hawkins, 1851 to 1857; George
Sherbondy, 1853 to 1856; Charles C. Hanscom, 1855 to 1858; David
A. Scott, 1856 to 1859; Richard B. Walker, 1859 to 1868; Alfred R.
Townsend, 1861 to 1867, 1873 to 1876, 1877 till his resignation in 1879
Webster B. Storer, 1871 to 1874; Levi S. Herrold, 1874 to 1877
'Clement J. Kolb, 1875 to 1881; Henry Frederick, 1876 to 1882
Joseph A. Beebe, 1881 to 1887; Joseph Moore, 1887 to 1893; Eli
Smith, 1888 to 1891; Jacob Koplin, November, 1889, to present time.
Superintendents of Infirmary. — Abraham Sichley,Jul3^ 1849,
to March, 1855; William Chandler, March, 1855, to January, 1861;
Frank T. Husong, (also see Copley), January, 1861, to April, 1868;
George W. Glines, April, 1868, till death, March 4, 1879; George
Feichter, April 1, 1878, to March 1, 1879; Julia F. Glines, March 1,
1879, to April 1, 1882; Millard F. HamUn, April 1, 1882, to April 1,
1887; Sherman B. Stottler, April 1, 1887, to present time.
ERASTUS R. HARPER, JK.,— son
of Erastus R. and Amanda
(McArthur) Harper, was born in Oak-
field, Kent county, Mich., Julj^ 14,
1857, when three years old removing
with parents to Independence, Cuya-
hoga countj^Ohio; educated in Inde-
pendence district schools and Cuya-
hoga Falls high school ; raised on
farm; at 22 went to Atchison, Kansas,
as book-keeper for Gushing & McNeil,
coal and grain merchants ; fifteen
months later returned to Ohio and
w^orked at civil engineering on Lake
Shore, and Pittsburg, Cleveland and
Toledo railroads about one year, then
came to Akron and entered the oflice
of J. F. Seiberling & Co., later holding
the position of paymaster for Avxlt-
man, Miller & Co., seven j^ears, when
he accepted the secretaryship of the
Akron Vitrified Pressed Brick Com-
pan5% which he still holds ; Novem-
ber, 1877, was elected to fill vacancy
in City Council, in place of Capt. H.
H. Brown, resigned, re-elected in
April, 1888, for full term and again
in 1890. June 21, 1882, Mr. Harper was
married to Miss Alice M. Hitchcock,
ERASTUS K. harper, JR.
of Cujahoga Falls. They have one
child — Lena May, born August 31,
1883.
County Coroners. — Col. John Nash, of Middleburj^ October,
1852 to September, 1853; William L. Clarke, 1855 to 1857; Almon
Brown, 1872 to 1882; Dr. B. B. Brashear, 1882 to 1886; Albert H.
Sargent, 1886, and re-elected in 1888 for the second term, holding
the office four years.
County Clerks. — Previous to the adoption of the present State
Constitution, in 1851, Common Pleas Judges appointed their own
Clerks of Court, the appointment, like that of the Judges them-
selves by the Legislature, being for seven years. On the organi-
zation of Court in the new county of Summit, in April, 1840, Hon.
Rufus P. Spalding, Avas appointed Clerk, employing for his deputy,
Mr. Lucian Swift. In December, 1840, Mr. Spalding resigned
and Mr. Sivift w^as appointed, serving his full term of seven years.
AKRON S CIVIL, SERVICE RECORD.
305
Lucius S. Peck, then of Akron, was appointed as Mr, Swift's
successor, in 1847, serving until the election, under the new con-
stitution, of Nelson B. Stone, Esq., in 1851, as stated in the chapter
on Tallmadge. In 1854, Edwin P. Green, Esq., of Akron, was
elected as Mr. Stone's successor, and re-elected in 1857, serving
two full terms of three years each, with Alden Gage as deputy.
Subsequent incumbents of the office have been: Capt. John A.
Means, of Northfield, now living in Tallmadge; Charles Rine-
hart, of Franklin, now of Colorado; George W. Weeks, of Copley,
now^ of Akron; Sumner Nash, of Bath, now of Akron; Othello W.
Hale, formerly of Bath, but at the time of his election a resident of
Akron, reference being had to the several townships named for
particulars as to date of election, tenure of office, etc.; Nathaniel
P. Goodhue, a native Akronian, elected November, 1890, and still
ably serving, with Mr. Frank J. Libis, after six years' experience
under Clerk Hale, as his chief deputy.
WILLIAM HARDY,— son of Nath-
aniel and Rebecca (Reed)
Hardy, was born in Northampton
township, March 11, 1829; educated in
district schools and raised a farmer;
active in all public affairs, Mr. Hardy
served as township trustee for 15 con-
secutive j-ears; was once elected and
qualified as justice of the peace, but
other duties requiring' his attention,
after a few months service he
resigned the office. During the war,
Mr. Hardy, served as recruiting
agent of 18th Congressional district
for Summit county, and has operated
as general agent for Aultman, Miller
' & Co., in selling Buckej^e reapers
and mowers in Northern Ohio, for a
period of 27 years. Having nroved
to Akron, in 1872, Mr. Hardj' repre-
sented the Third ward in the City
Council from 1888 to 1890 ; was one of
the originators of the electric street
railway 83'stem in Akron and is still
a stockholder in the company, and
besides looking after the manage-
ment of his fine farm in Northampton,
is associated with his son, Orlando B.
Hardy, in the sale of Giant and Jud-
son mining and sporting powders
throughout the United States. Dec-
ember 3, 1847, Mr. Hardy was married
to Miss Marcia Elvira Dales, daughter
WILLIAM HARDY.
of Mr. Stephen Dales, of Copley,
born November 3, 1829, who has
borne him two children — Orlando B.,
born September 19,1848, now residing
in Akron, and Clara C, afterwards
Mrs. Daniel W. Brown, and no^v
deceased.
Common Pleas Judges. — Robert K. DuBois, of the early blast-
furnace firm of Hart, DuBois & Co, heretofore spoken of, residing
where Mr. William H. Payne now^ lives, number 200 Water Street,
was appointed by the Legislature one of the first Associate Judges
for the new County of Summit, holding the position from April,
1840, till his death, June 19, 1845. James R. Ford, by appointment
of Gov. Thomas W. Hartley, succeeded Judge DuBois upon the
bench, from 1845 until failing health compelled his resignation in
April, 1849, when Samuel A. Wheeler was appointed by Governor
Seabury Ford, holding the position until his resignation to go to
California, in March, 1850.
20
306
AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
On the resignation, by Judge Benjamin J. Wade, of the Presi-
dent Judgeship of the Third Judicial District, under the old con-
stitution, on his election as United States Senator, by the Legis-
lature, in March, 1851, George Bliss, Esq., then a prominent lawyer
of Akron, was appointed Presiding Judge, -who held the position
until February, 1852, w^hen he was superseded by Hon, Samuel
Humphreyville, of Medina, the first regularl}^ elected Judge for the
Second Sub-district. Hon. James S. Carpenter, of Akron, was
elected as Judge Humphreyville's successor in 1856, holding the
position the full term of five years, when the office went to Judge
Stephenson Burke, of Klyria. An extra Judgeship being created
in 1870, Hon. Samuel W. McClure v^as elected to the position in
October of that year, holding the office five j^ears and declining a
re-election. In October, 1875, Hon. Newell D. Tibbals was elected
as Judge McClure's successor, and re-elected in 1880. May 1, 1883,
Judge Tibbals resigned, and ex-Probate Judge Ulysses L. Marvin
was appointed by Gov. Charles Foster, to fill the vacancy, serving
until the accession of Hon. Edw^in P. Green, who v^as elected in
October, 1883, to fill the unexpired term of Judge Tibbals (two
years), and re-elected for the full term of five years in October,
1885; Gen. Alvin C. Voris, 1891-96.
JOHN KREUDER,— son of Henry
J and Mary D. (Lippert) Kreuder,
was born' in Vadenrod, GreivS, Als-
feldt, Hesse -Darmstadt, Germany,
June 24, 1839 ; came with parents to
Ainerica in 1851, settling- on farm in
Chatham, Medina county ; six years
schooling- in German}^ and three
terms in Ohio ; in 1857 came to Akron
as general utilitj^ man in "American
House," kept by the late Florence
Weber. Esq.. on North Howard street;
1858 to 1872 (14 years) clerk in store of
Hall Brothers ; then three years with
G. C. Berry & Co.; in 1876 engaged in
the grocerj' trade with the late
Charles W. Bonstedt, under the firm
name of Bonstedt & Kreuder, con-
tinuing six 5'ears ; in 1882 engaged in
g-rain and produce trade on his own
account, the volume of his business
in 1890 reaching nearly $400,fX)0 ; is
also a stockholder in Schumacher
Milling Co., Jones Wholesale Grocer}-
Co., Peoples' Savings Bank and
Akron Paving Brick Co.; was Park
Commissioner 17 years — 1872-89;
member of City Council 1889-91, the
last 3'ear as president ; was married
December 31, 1863, to Miss Lana
Grohe, of Randolph ; children — Anna
c.-^>
JOHN KKEUDEK.
M., born January 14, 1865, died Feb-
ruary 5, 1866; Minnnie E., born Nov-
ember 14, 1867 ; Ida L., born January
2, 1870, died July 21, 1881 ; X>ora E.,
born Noveinber 7, 1871, died January
10, 1877 ; William J., born April 2, 1874.
Probate Judges. — Previous to the adoption of the present
constitution, in 1851, all probate business -was transacted by the
Court of Cotnmon Pleas. In October, 1851, Charles G. Ladd, Esq.,
father of the present Mrs. Gen. A. C. Voris, then a promising young
member of the Summit County Bar, was elected to the office of
Probate Judge for three years. Judge Ladd's rapidly failing
health preventing him from giving his personal attention to the
AKKON S CIVIL SERVICE RECORD.
307
duties of the office, the business was organized and ably performed
by his deputy clerk, Alvin C. Voris, Ksq., as elsewhere detailed,
until the death of Judge Ladd in August, 1852. Judge Constant
Bryan succeeded Judge Ladd from 1852 to 1854. In 1860 William
M. Dodge, of Akron, was elected, serving until his death, in July,
1861. Samuel A. Lane \^as commissioned by Governor William
Dennison to fill the vacancy, but declining the honor, Ashael H.
Lewis was appointed to serve until the ensuing October election,
being succeeded by Judge Stephen H. Pitkin, eight years, Ulysses
L. Marvin, six years, and Samuel C. Williamson, six years, as
already detailed in the chapters on Hudson and Stow.
HENRY W. HART,— son of Adams
and Isabella (Gangawer) Hart,
-was born in Akron September 19,
1852, his father doing- faithful service
in both the Mexican war and the war
of the rebellion. Mr. Hart was
educated in the Middlebury public
schools ; at 16 apprenticing- himself
to the potter's trade, at which he
worked 17 years, in 1882 embarking in
that business for himself in partner-
ship with Mr. Frank W. Rockwell,
under the firm name of F. W. Rock-
well & Co., the arrang-ement con-
tinuing seven years ; February 19,
1891, became one of the incorporators
of the Akron Paving Brick Company,
elsewhere noticed, of which he is
superintendent and manager. In
1888 Mr. Hart was elected a member
of the Akron City Council from the
Sixth Ward, and re-elected in 1890,
becoming the president of that body
on its reorganization in April, 1891.
June 15,1882, Mr. Hart was married to
Miss Hattie Johnson, daughter of the
late Thomas Johnson, of the Sixth
Ward, who has borne him four chil-
HENKY W. HAKT. '
dren, all living — Bessie, born January
8, 1884; Flossie, born June 1, 1885;
Isabella, born November 15, 1888, and
Henry Johnson, born December 29,
1890.
In October, 1881, Hon. Nathaniel W. Goodhue was elected
Probate Judge, acceptably filling the position until his sudden
death in September, 1883, his son and deputy clerk, Nathaniel P.
Ooodhue, continuing to act in that capacity under his father's suc-
cessor. Judge Charles R. Grant, appointed to fill the vacancy by
Oov^ Foster September 16, 1883, elected for three years in 1884 and
re-elected in 1887, serving nearly seven years and five months;
Edward W. Stuart elected November, 1890, and still serving, with
his son, Fred. H. Stuart, as his deputy clerk.
Representativ^es to State Legislature. — At the time of the
erection of Summit county, in March, 1840, Simon Perkins, Jr., of
Akron, was State Senator, and Rufus P. Spalding, then of
Ravenna, was one of the Representatives for Portage county. Mr.
Spalding immediately thereafter removing to Akron, in 1841
Messrs. Perkins and Spalding were elected as the Representatives
of the new county for the session of 1841, '42; John H. McMillen
(Middlebury) 1842, for one year; Hiram Bo wen, Akron, 1845, one
year; Harvey B. Spelman, 1849, one year; Nathaniel Finch, 1850,
one year; Alvin C. Voris, 1859, two years; John Johnston (Middle-
bury), 1861-63, four years; Sanford M. Burnham, 1871, two years;
308
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Leonidas S. Kbright, 1879, two years; J. Park Alexander, (see also
Bath) 1881, two years; Jacob A. Kohler (see also Franklin) 1883, two
years; Henry C. Sanford, 1887-91, four years.
Akron in State Senate. — Simon Perkins, Jr., in office on
erection of Summit county, in 1840, two years; Lucian Swift, 1848,
tw^o years; William H. Upson, (see also Tallmadge), 1853, two-
years; Lucius V. Bierce, 1861, two years; New^ell D. Tibbals, 1865,
tw^o years; Nathaniel W. Goodhue, 1873, two years; George W.
Crouse, (see also Green), 1885, two years; J. Park Alexander (see
also Bath), 1887-91, four years.
Akron in Congress. — Hon. George Bliss, 1854 to 1856; Hon>
Sidney Edgerton (see also Tallmadge), 1858 to 1862, four years;
Hon. William H. Upson (see also Tallmadge), 1869 to 1873, four
years; David R. Paige, Jr., 1882 to 1884, two years; Hon. George W.
Crouse (see also Green), 1886 to 1888, two years, declining a
re-election.
HARVEY F. MILLER,— son of
Charles and Hannah (Bechtel)
Miller, was born in Norton, Feb. 18,
1850; in boyhood worked on farm
and attended district school ;' in 1867
moved with parents to Akron, com-
pleting his education in the Akron
hig-h school ; in 1872, became a mem-
ber of the lumber and building firm
of Miller, Thomas & Co.; in 1879, with
Charles Miller and Henry D. Miller,
formed the Miller Chain Companj-,
and in 1883 became one of the incor-
porators of the Miller Match Com
pany, of which he was the secretary
and treasurer, and on the sale of tlu'
works, in 1890, formed a partnei'shi])
with Mr. Samuel C. Dj^ke, under the
firm name of S. C. Dyke & Co., for the
manufacture of marbles, miniature
jugs and other stoneware novelties,
retiring therefrom, Jul}^ 30, 1891, on
the organization of the American
Marble and Toy Manufacturing Co.,
elsewhere fully written of ; is also
director of Akron Globe Sign Co., of
Akron Novelty Manufacturing Co.,
and president of the Akron White
Sand and Stone Co. Sept. 10, 1873,
Mr. Miller was married to Miss Mary
HARVEY F. MIIvLEK.
Hays, of Medina, who has borne him
two sons — Charles Hays, born June
5, 1874, now student in Militar3^
Academy, at Gambler, and Edwin
Cloyd, born Aug. 1, 1883.
Akron's Presidential Electors. — In 1868, Hon. Stephen H.
Pitkin, of Akron (see also Hudson), \sras Presidential Elector for
the Eighteenth Congressional District, composed of Summit,
Cuyahoga and Lake counties, and voted in the electoral college for
Ulysses S. Grant, of Illinois, for President, and Schuyler Colfax,
for Vice President. In 1872, in Eighteenth District, composed of
Summit, Wayne, Medina and Lorain counties, Hon. John R.
Buchtel was Presidential Elector, and voted for Ulysses S. Grant
for President, and Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts, for Vice-
President. In 1880, district same as above, Hon. Nathaniel W.
Goodhue, as Presidential Elector, voted for James A. Garfield, of
Ohio, for President, and Chester A. Arthur, of New York, for Vice
AKRON S CIVIL SERVICE RECORD.
309
President, Ulysses L. Marvin, 1884, Twentieth District, composed
of Summit, Medina, Wayne and Stark, voted for James G. Blaine for
President and John A. Logan for Vice President.
Delegates to Constitutional Convention. — In 1850, William
S. C. Otis, Esq., was Summit county's delegate to the Ohio Consti-
tutional Convention. The convention met at Columbus May 6,
1850, and July 9 adjourned to meet in Cincinnati, closing its labors
in that city March 10, 1851, the ne^w constitution being voted upon
and adopted June 21, 1851, for twenty years; Summit county's vote
standing 2,025 for and 2,013 against, being a majority of twelve,
only, in its favor. Gen. Alvin C. Voris w^as delegate to the Consti-
tutional Convention of 1873, which convened in the House of
Representatives at Columbus, May 13, 1873, and on August 8,
adjourned to meet in Cincinnati December 2, adjourning sine die
JPebruary 3, 1874. The constitution formulated by this convention,
though regarded by many as a great improvement over that of
1851, was rejected by the people at the special election held August
18, 1874, by a large majority. Summit county's vote standing 2,112
*' for " and 2,774 " against," or an adverse majority of 662. In 1883,
what is known as the Judicial Amendment to the Constitution was
adopted, and in 1885 the amendment changing the general election
from October to November; the so-called "Second Amendment,"
prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors, submitted in 1883,
being voted down.
West side of Howard Street, looking North from near Cherry Street.
From photo by E. J. Howard, 1873.
CHAPTER XIV.
PUBLIC ILLUMINATION — THE OLD-TIME "TALLOW DIP" — SPERM OIL, GAS, PETRO-
LEUM AND ELECTRIC LIGHTS— LOCAL TRANSPC»RTATION, HEROICS, HORSE-
CARS, ELECTRIC STREET RAILWAY— FUEL GAS, ETC.
AKRON'S ORIGINAL GAS WORKS.
WITHIN the tnemor}^ of the writer, the only method of either
private or public illumination, w^as by the use of candles or
sperm oil, for though some experiments had been made with gas,
distilled from coal, as early as 1810 or 1812, its use as an illumina-
tor did not become general in the United States, even in such cities
as Boston, New York and Philadelphia, until about 1825.
HENRY STEPHEN ABBEY,— born
in Portland, Middlesex county.
Conn., November 5, 1808 ; at an early
age removed to Glastenbury, and in
1828 to Bristol, where he learned the
clock-making- business. October 30,
1831, was married to Miss Elizabeth
Smith, of Torrington, Conn., immedi-
ately removing to Buffalo, N. Y., and
two years later to Niagara Falls,
finally settling in Akron in 1835.
Here, for two j^ears, he was engaged
in cabinet-making in South Akron,
w^hen he embarked in the jewelry
business, in 1841 forming a partner-
ship with Mr. Hiram Payne, and
removing to the Stone Block, corner
of Howard and Market streets, later
establishing himself at 120 Howard
street, where he was continuously'
and successfully in business until
his sudden death, from heart disease,
October 25, 1873, at the age of 64 years,
11 months and 20 days. Mr. Abbey
was a fine musician, organizing and
for many years leading Akron's
pioneer band ; was an intelligent
florist,establishing the pioneer green-
house of the village, and was a liberal
promoter of all public improvements;
was a member, and president, of
Akron's pioneer gas company, and
served as a member of the Village
Council for the years 1856, '57. Of
HENRY STEPHEN ABBEY.
the several children born to Mr. and
Mrs. Abbey, Henr5^ E. Abbe}^ now of
New York, only survives, though
their adopted daughter, Ellen G.,.
now Mrs. S. E. Phinney, most fully
shared their confidence and love.
Mrs. Abbey died July 1, 1874, aged 66
years, 9 months and 25 days.
Previous to 1855, the streets of Akron v^ere unlighted, except
at private expense, in front of the hotels, and perhaps half a dozen
public lamps at the business corners of the two villages, with
sperm oil at first, and afterwards, lard oil; coal oil not then having
come into vogue, and petroleum, for illuminating purposes, never
dreamed of.
But about the latter date (1855) largely through the proprietary
agency of the late Henry S. Abbey, Thomas H. Goodwin, Esq.,
and others, the Akron Gas Company was organized, the works
being erected on South Howard street, immediately north of the-
PUBLIC ILLUMINATION.
311
\V. B. Doyle planing mill. As a matter of supposed economy, vit-
rified stone waterpipe was used for mains, but it was soon found
that while the glazed pipe itself w^as impervious, the cement joints
w^ere porous, besides their liability to disturbance from settling,
entailing, through leakage, a heavy percentage of loss to the com-
pany, and considerable annoyance to citizens, by the offensive
odor arising therefrom, necessitating, after a year or two, the sub-
stitution of iron mains, at a heavy expense for material and la])or.
T^HOMAS H. GOODWIN,— born in
J- Province of New Brunswick,
Canada, Oct. 10,1810; common school
education; worked on farm till 21,
then served three years at carpen-
ter's trade; in August, 1835, caine to
United States, working- in Provi-
dence, R. I., and New York City;
came to Akron in October, 1837, work-
ing seven years as pattern maker for
Judg-e James R. Ford, in old ^^tna
Furnace; in 18-17 engaged in manu-
facture of plows and other agricul-
tural implements on South Howard
street; on its organization in 1855,
was secretary and superintendent of
the Akron Gas Company for about
eight years; an original stockholder,
and two years book-keeper of Weary,
Snyder and Wilcox Manufacturing
Co.; original stockholder and direc-
tor in Akron Cold Spring Co.; an
active member of Akron's second
Fire Company, Niagara No. 2, orga-
nized Dec. 1845; member of Akron
Village Council, 1850, '54, '56 and '59;
Akron's first regularly elected City
Street Commissioner, serving from
1869 to 1873; for many years acting as
chorister and filling various official
positions in First M. E. Church, of
Akron, assisting in organizing its
first Sabbath School, and in erecting
three church edifices on the site of
the present structure. June, 1839, was
married at Troy, Miami Co., to Miss
THOMAS H. GOODWIX.
Josephine M. Field (teacher), sister
of the late Mrs. L. J. Ives. Four
children were born to them— Alfred
Davison, died at Baltimore, Md., Jan.
18, 1880, aged 40 years; Clara Fidelia,
died Aug. 6, 1883, aged 41 years;
Pomeroy Field, died in infancy; and
Helen Pamela, now Mrs. William
Retiwick, of Davenport, Iowa. Mrs.
Goodwin died Oct. 6, 1888, aged 79
years.
THE PRESENT COMPANY.
After quite a number of changes of ownership and manage-
ment, the ^vorks in 1865, were purchased by Mr. Thomas W. Cor-
nell and others, with Mr. Cornell as president, and William Mc-
Farlin secretary and treasurer, under a very liberal franchise from
the Council, not only in regard to the use of streets, alleys and
public grounds, but also in regard to the price of gas, by ordi-
nance fixing the maximum at $3.30 per thousand feet, to both the
city and private citizens.
This, it w^ill be remembered, w^as during the reign of inflated
war values of every description, and though, as other values de-
creased, some concessions w^ere made on the price of gas, the then
members of the Council thought the company did not keep pace
w^ith the general reduction, and not only substituted petroleum
oil for street lighting purposes, but, by ordinance, fixed the maxi-
tt'-Jtn price of gas to the city at $1.25, and to private consumers at
312 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
$1.50 per thousand feet. The company claiming that the city, by
the terms of its ordinance, was under a contract to use its gas, at
least to the extent of the lamps already erected, commenced a suit
for its enforcement, which, after protracted litigation, w^as decided
in the city's favor. The Gas Company, acting under legal advice,
never acceded to the requirements of the restricting ordinance
alluded to, its bills to consumers, for several years, being made
out at the rate of $2.00 per thousand feet, with a small rebate on
all bills of $5.00 or over per month, later reducing the price to
$1.40; the city, as above intimated, entirely discontinuing its use.
The company, meantime had removed its works to the north part
of the city, and greatly enlarged its facilities, and is still one of the
substantial institutions of the city, the plant being sold to other
parties, August 1, 1891, with George T. Perkins, F. Adolph Schu-
macher, Ernest F. Lloyd, Gordon W. Lloyd, and Charles Stinch-
field as directors — Gordon W. Lloyd, president and treasurer;
Ernest F. Lloyd, secretary, and James W. Lane, superintendent.
ELECTRIC LIGHT EXPERIMENT.
Soon after the culmination of the differences between the
Council and the gas company, as above briefly outlined, the project
of lighting cities by electricity, began to be mooted, and Akron
w^as the very first of the smaller cities of the country to try the ex-
periment. In 1880 an arrangement was made with the Brush
Electric Light Company, of Cleveland, by which the necessary
apparatus w^as purchased, the mast system being adopted. A cen-
tral mast, composed of gradually tapering boiler iron, 210 feet in
height above the surface of the ground, w^as erected at the inter-
section of HoMrard and Market streets, from the head of ^vhich was
suspended four lamps of 4,000 candle power each ; a wooden mast
of about fifty feet in height elevated upon the dome of Buchtel
College, furnished with four equally powerful lamps, and a like
mast upon the tower of the Central engine house with one 4,000
candle-power lamp, making nine in all, the boiler, engine, dyna-
mos, etc., owned and run by the city, being placed in an annex
built for that purpose upon the north side of the Central building,
corner of Church and High streets.
So far as tried, the system worked well, but before being ex-
tended into other portions of the city, on the theory that the city
could buy its light cheaper than it could produce it, on the 14th
day of June, 1883, an ordinance w^as passed leasing the plant to
the Akron Electric Light and Power Company — George G. Baker,
president ; Ira M. Miller, vice president ; Hugo Schumacher, secre-
tary and treasurer, and W. J. Hillier, manager — for the period of
one year, the company stipulating to furnish the necessary car-
bons, and keep the lamps upon the masts lighted, at 25 cents per
lamp per hour, on an agreed schedule, during the continuance of
said lease.
July 21, 1884, a contract was entered into, by ordinance, with
the Citizen's Electric Light Company — Henry Robinson, presi-
dent; Dr. O. D. Childs, secretary and treasurer, and S. E. Phinney,
superintendent — for the lighting of the streets and public build-
ings of the city, by the Thompson-Houston system ; the street
lamps being suspended from poles at the intersections of the
Akron's street railway, 313
streets, there being at the present time 210 lamps in use, and the
arrangement so far reasonably satisfactory — the masts, meantime,
having been taken down, and the engine and other property trans-
ferred to the new company. The present street lamps have a
nominal strength of 2,000 candle-power each, the contract price
being three and a half cents per lamp, per hour, w^ith a guarantee
of $84 per lamp per year. For a time the city building was also
lighted by this company, but now, from dynamos invented and
constructed by Chief Engineer Frank F. Loomis, the building is
lighted by the city's ow^n incandescent lamps at a cost of one-half
cent per lamp per hour.
PIONEER STREET RAILROAD.
April 16, 1883, a franchise w^as granted to the Akron Street
Railw^ay and Herdic Company— Ira M. Miller, president, Wm.
Christy, secretary and treasurer, and John E. Metlin, superin-
tendent— to lay a railway track through Howard and Main streets,
from Furnace street to the south corporation line, the franchise to
continue for the period of 25 years. The line was constructed the
same year, and successfully operated for some tim6, with an
extension, in 1887, to Lake Side Park, on the east side of Summit
Lake, about one mile south of the city limits, Mr. John Wilson, of
the Sixth Ward, for several years, having run a half-hourly line of
comfortable Herdic coaches, on Market street, between How^ard
street and Case avenue in the Sixth Ward.
ELECTRIC STREET RAILWAY.
July 2, 1888, Council, by ordinance, granted the use of the
streets of the city to the Akron Street Railw^ay Company — Gen.
John S. Casement, of Painesville, president; S. T. Everett, of Cleve-
land, vice president, and F. C. Bangs, of Cleveland, secretary — its
cars to be run by electricity instead of horse power, the new com-
pany having purchased the franchise and property of the old com-
pany for the sum of $30,000 in cash, $15,000 in the stock of the new-
organization, and the assumption of the $20,000 bonded indebted-
ness of the old company.
The new company erected its plant^ — a substantial brick build-
ing— a short distance north of the King Varnish Works, on Canal
street, and had its cars running the entire length of Market street
early in the Fall of 1888, since extended through Main, Mill,
College, Buchtel avenue, Spicer, Exchange, Grant, Bowery, Wooster
avenue, etc., the application of pow^er being by the trolley system —
a wire over the center of the track suspended by lateral wires
attached to poles on either side of the street, and capable of a
speed of fourteen to fifteen miles per hour.
CHANGE OF PROPRIETORSHIP.
November 1, 1889, a deal was made between Messrs. S. T.
Everett, of Cleveland, and John F. Seiberling, of Akron, by w^hich
the former became the o\\rner of the Academy of Music property,
and the latter of a controlling interest in the Electric Street Rail-
way Company, since which time improvements have been vigor-
ously pushed, so that no>v (August, 1891), there are 15 miles of track
314 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
in successful operation, w^ith a, roster of 175 employes, the present
officers being: John F. Seiberling, president; John S. Casement,
vice president; Frank A. Seiberling, secretary and treasurer, and
John E. Metlin, superintendent; directors, John F., Frank A. and
Charles W. Seiberling, John S. Casement and Willis D. Chapman.
FUEL GAS COMPANY.
The experiment of boring for natural gas, in and near the city,
having failed of success, the attention of the people of Akron has
naturally been turned to'ward the several systems of producing
artificial gas for heating as well as illuminating purposes, that
have recently been devised, and on August 13, 1888, a franchise
was granted to the Loomis Gas Company, of Michigan, to use the
streets, alleys and public grounds of the city, for the purpose of
supplying the inhabitants thereof with fuel and illuminating gas,
which, under the improved process of manufacture, it was believed
would place Akron fully on a par with towns at present supplied
with natural gas, with far greater assurance of permanence than
those some^vhat uncertain "holes in the ground" can furnish to
those whd erect costly manufacturing plants on the strength
thereof.
In October, 1888, the franchise was transferred to the Akron
Light, Heat & Power Company, which has erected a substantial
plant in the Sixth ward, and is rapidly extending its pipes through
the city, the present prices of gas being: fuel, thirty cents per
thousand feet; illuminating, fifty cents; light and fuel, thirty-five
cents; the present officers of the company being: Gordon W,
Lloyd, president; Ferd. Schumacher vice president; Ernest F.
Lloyd, secretary; F. Adolph Schumacher, treasurer; James W.
Lane, superintendent; Olaf L. Guldlin, engineer.
The above array, added to her magnificent Fire Department,
w^ith three first-class steamers, stationed in different portions of
the city; hose reels and other apparatus, with well-trained teams
to haul them; its own unsurpassed system of automatic electrical
alarms, and its thoroughly organized corps of engineers and fire-
men, supplemented by the splendid system of water works,
herein described, a largely patronized telephone system, and free
delivery of mail matter by an efficient corps of letter carriers,
places Akron decidedly in the van, among the second-class citie&
of the State, on the score of public w^orks; while her manufactur-
ing, mechanical, commercial and professional status, as given in
the succeeding chapters, gives to her, fairly and honestly, the title
accorded to her, by even her most formidable rivals, of "The
Tip-Top City.''
CHAPTER XV.
AKRON'S POSTAL HISTORY— ANCIENT AxVD MODERN MIDDLEBURY'S SUCCESSIVE
POSTMASTERS— FIRST POSTMASTER OF AKRON PROPER — THE PIONEER MAIL
CARRIER .STILL IN A GOOD STATE OF PRESERVATION— SUCCESSIV^E INCUM-
BENTS FOR SIXTY YEARS— SCRAMBLE FOR THE "SPOILS" UNDER SUCCES-
SIVE ADMINISTRATIONS— WONDERFUL GROWTH OF BUSINESS— THE FREE
DELIVERY SYSTEM— CLOSING REMARKS, ETC.
ANCIENT MIDDLEBURY.
A S elsewhere stated, what is now the Sixth ward of Akron, was,
■^*- under the name of Middlebury, the early manufacturing and
commercial center for this region of the country, beginning, in 1808,
by the erection of a grist mill, w^here the frame sew^er pipe mill
of the Akron Sewer Pipe Company now stands, on Case avenue,
by Judge Aaron Norton, followed soon after-wards by the erection
of Bagley's wool-carding and cloth dressing mill on the same
stream, and a few years later (in 1817) by the erection of the Cuya-
hoga Blast Furnace, by Laird & Norton, and numerous other man-
ufacturing and mercantile operations. Just when the Middlebury
postoffice was established is not no>v ascertainable, but it is believed
to have been as early as 1810, though the village was not regularly
laid out by William J. Hart until 1818.
MIDDLEBURY POSTMASTERS.
It is not definitely certain w^ho was Middlebury's first post-
master, but the earliest now remembered by the " oldest inhab-
itant" -was 'Squire Nathan Gillett, father-in-law of Akron's well
kno\\rn citizen, Mr. Sidney H. Bass, Mr. Gillett also officiating as
justice of the peace. Mr. Gillett was succeeded by 'Squire Elijah
Mason, foUow^ed in succession, by Roan Clark, Edgar T. Chapman,
(still living at 84 years of age), January 1, 1841 to January 1, 1846;
Phineas Stevens, Dr. Elijah Curtis, George Barber, 1852 to 1856,
Roan Clark (again), George A. Peckham, and on his decease, tem-
porarily by Hiram Weston, until the accession of Mr. Lincoln to
the presidency, in 1861, when 'Squire Mansfield Sumner was
appointed to the position serving ten consecutive years.
February 17, 1871, James M. Wills was appointed under Presi-
dent Grant, holding the office until November 16, 1885, nearly 15
years, when he was superseded by Mr. Edward Donohue, the
present incumbent being Mr. William W. Davidson.
AKRON'S POSTAL OPERATIONS.
As already stated, Akron, or that portion afterw^ards for many
years know^n as South Akron, w^as laid out by Gen. Simon Perkins
and Paul Williams in the Summer of 1825. The contracts for build-
ing the Ohio canal, from Summit Lake to Cleveland, w^ere let in
June, and excavations for locks commenced here, .before the formal
breaking of ground at the Licking Summit, July 4, 1825, by Gov.
DeWitt Clinton, of New York, as elsewhere stated.
316
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
The concentration of contractors and laborers at this point,
and the.rapid influx of other branches of business — hotels, stores,
mechanics, doctors, lawyers, etc., — created the necessity for better
postal facilities than were afforded by the Middlebury office, nearly
two miles distant, and earlj^ in 1826 President John Quincy
Adams' Ohio Postmaster General, John McLean, instituted the
Akron postoffice, and appointed Wolsey Wells, Esq., postmaster of
the new office. Mr. Wells was a law^yer by profession and w^as
soon afterwards elected justice of the peace, and also, on the opening
of the canal to navigation, July 4, 1827, was appointed collector of
tolls for the port of Akron.
'Squire Wells had built for himself a large two-story house, on
the southwest corner of West Exchange and Water streets, after-
wards converted into a hotel, for many years known as the "Sum-
mit House," and Avhich, moved to the rear, is still standing. In
the front room of this house — afterw^ard the hotel bar-room — did
'Squire Wells run his quadrangular combination of law, justice,
letters and navigation. As showing the magnitude of the mail
service, under the administration of Postmaster Wells, I quote from
the historical reminiscences of Gen. L. V. Bierce, w^ritten nearly
forty years ago. "I have," said the General, " in my cabinet of
curiosities, his desk, about two feet by eighteen inches, that con-
tained in its pigeon-holes all the files and documents of his multi-
farious offices."
TTIRAM J. SPICER— youngest son
-L -'■ of Major Miner Spicer, born in
Akron, October 24, 1816, within about
40 rods of his present residence,
corner of Spicer and Carroll streets;
educated in early district schools; at
nine years of age, carried mail, on
horseback, once a week, from Akron
to Bolivar, 40 miles; learned carpen-
ter's trade, afterwards working as a
mill-wright on the early mills of
Akron and vicinity, and for ten con-
secutive years on the Austin Powder
Mills. February 31, 1839, married Miss
Marilla A. King, daughter of Joshua
King, one of the pioneers of North-
ampton and Portage townships.
Five children were born to them,
three dying young; the survivors
iDeing Aver}' King- Spicer, of Akron;
and Alice M., now Mrs. Sevillian
Payne, of Davis count}-. Mo. Mrs.
Spicer dying January 19, 1861, August
29, of the same. year, Mr. S. was again
married, to Mrs. Cerenia L. Barnett, of
Akron. For 20 years, from 1865 to
188.1, Mr. Spicer was in the employ of
Aultman, Miller & Co., the last ten or
twelve 3'ears in charge of repairs
of shop machinery. Politically, as a
Whig, his first presidential vote was
cast for Gen. William Henr}' Harrison,
in 1840, and his last, as a Republican,
if
HIRAM J. SPICEK.
for Gen. Benjamin Harrison, in 1888.
Mr. S. has been a member of the First
M. E. Church of Akron, since 1872; is
now retired from business, and is
believed to be the oldest native born
resident of Portage township now
livinfif.
POSTMASTER LEWIS HUMISTON.
Notwithstanding the motto of President Jackson, that "to the
victors belong the spoils," Mr. Wells, though a Whig, was permitted
Akron's postal service. 317
to hold the office until his removal from the town, probably about
1833, when he ^ras succeeded by Mr. Lewis Humiston, a Democrat,
then keeper the Clark Hotel, (still standing) on the northeast cor-
ner of Main and Kxchange streets. Mr. Humiston erected a small
building immediately east of the hotel, about 12x15 feet in size, in
which, on the arrival of the vsrriter in Akron, in 1835, the late Arad
Kent, as Mr. Humiston's deputy; w^as doing the mailing and
delivery honors.
A YOUTHFUL MAIL CARRIER.
On the establishment of the Akron office, and other officer
along the line of the then unfinished canal, in the Spring of 1826,
Major Miner Spicer took the contract for carrying the mail, weekly,
between Akron and Bolivar, and the service w^as regularly and
faithfully performed by Mr. Spicer's nine-and-a-half-year-old son,.
our present well-known and w^ell-preserved 75-year-old fellow-citi-
zen, Mr. Hiram J. Spicer, now residing within a few rods of where
he w^as born, corner Carroll and Spicer streets.
POSTMASTER HARVEY H. JOHNSON.
Removing from the village, in the Summer of 1837, Mr. Hum-
iston tendered his resignation, whereupon several candidates for
the succession put in their claims, the two most prominent being
the late Judge Constant Bryan, and another young law^yer, by the
name of Harvey H. Johnson, the latter being also a justice of the
peace, mayor of Akron in 1842, '43, a few years later congressman from
the Ashland district, and still later a Government land agent in
Minnesota.
At this time. North Akron, or, as it w^as at first called, " Cascade, "^
was pressing the original toAvn hard, in a business point of view.
Both of the candidates named being in the North Village, were
opposed by the South-enders, while the fight between the friends
of the two gentlemen named became so bitter that Postmaster
General Amos Kendall finally intimated that unless some agree-
ment was arrived at between the contending parties he w^ould abol-
ish the office.
Thereupon, the South-enders threw^ their influence to Mr..
Johnson, as they afterward claime 1 on his promise that he w^ould
not remove the office to "Cascade," and in no event north of the
"gore," a wedge of unplatted land between the tw^o rival villages,
betw^een w^hat are now known as Church and Center streets, and
Mr. Johnson w^as accordingly appointed.
But notwithstanding his alleged pledge, Mr. Johnson, in
December, 1837, did remove the office to "Cascade," into the north
end of the Buckley building, corner of Howard and Mill streets,^
w^here S. K. Allen's drug store now is, in Masonic Block. This
action, of course, drew dow^n upon the offending postmaster'*
devoted head the direst anathemas of the irate South-enders, dis-
played in new^spaper correspondence and through pamphlets, as
fully set forth in Chapter HI.
POSTMASTER DANA D. EVANS.
Though a Democrat, appointed under President Van Buren'&
administration, Mr. Johnson was continued in office under "Tyler
Too," his successor, Dr. Dana D. Kvans, also an ardent Democrat,.
318
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
husband of the late Mrs. Mary I. T. Kvans, and step-father of the
late George T. McCurdy, on Mr. Johnson's resignation, being
appointed, by President Polk's Postmaster General, Cave Johnson,
in April, 1845,
Dr. Evans removed the office from the Buckley building to a
room in the southwest corner of the Old Stone Block, about w^here
the counting-room window of Byrider & Go's hat store is on How^ard
street, two years later removing it to the north side of East Market
street, about where Mr. Jacob Good's handsome stone front,
"Commerce Block," now stands.
POSTMASTER FRANK ADAMS.
Our present \eell-known, and still active, Frank Adams, of the
Sixth ward, though an ardent young Whig, was deputy under
Postmaster Johnson, one year, in 1841, and again tw^o years from
1843, running aAvhile into the term of Dr. Evans.
On the accession of President Zachary Taylor, the Whigs, of
course being entitled to the "plum," there was a spirited contest
for the prize between Mr. Adams and Dr. Elias W. Howard, Frank
coming in ahead, on the home stretch, entering upon his duties
April 1, 1849, and has ever since been known, among old residents,
by the cognomen of "Old Zack," then by general consent bestow^ed
upon him.
In addition to his postal duties, Mr. Adams was also consti-
tuted Akron's Electric Telegraph Agent, our late postmaster,
William C. Allen, being his assistant in both departments.
FRANK ADAMS,— born in Wind-
sor County, Vt, July 5, 1819;
common school education ; came to
Ohio in 1838 ; in 1839, '40, printed maps
for Samuel and Levi Manning- in
Akron ; 1841, clerk in postoffice ; 1843,
printed maps ; 1843, '44, clerk in post-
office ; 1845, partner in map business
with Samuel Manning-, the latter sell-
ing out to Lorenzo Eggleston in 1846 ;
Adams & Eggleston burned out June
9, 1848 ; postmaster, by appointment
of President Zachary Taylor, from
March, 1849 to May, 18,53 ; in hat trade
on Market street till again burned
out April 30, 1855 ; manufacturer of
sewer-pipe, and for many years pres-
ident and superintendent of Akron
Sewer Pipe Company, retiring in
1886 ; during the war was a member
of the Middlebvir}' military commit-
tee, and treasurer of soldiers' relief
fund ; for many years member and
treasurer of Middlebury Council and
School Board ; 1872, commissioner on
annexation of Middlebury to Akron ;
now active member of Akron Board
of Trade, president of Akron Water
Works Company and financially and
officiallj' connected with several
other industrial enterprises of Akron
and vicinity. January 21, 1846, Mr.
Adamswas married toMiss SarahHyde
FRANK ADAMS.
Gale, of Akron, who died Januarj^ 11,
1863, leaving two daughters (now Mrs.
Julia Latham and Mrs. May Perkins);
September 12, 1863,was again married,
to Mrs. Tanetta L. Murphy, who has
borne him two children — Frank H.,
and Belle M. Adams.
AKRON S POSTAL SERVICE.
319
Soon after taking possession of the office, Mr. Adams bought
the property now known as Bennett's Block, and removed the
office to the room now occupied by Orson H. Remington, the jew^-
eler, Ho^ward street at that point having been cut dovirn, after the
erection of the building, leaving the floor of the office about four
feet higher above the sidewalk than it now is.
POSTMASTER EDWARD W. PERRIN.
On the accession of Franklin Pierce to the
Presidency, in 1853, in those ante-civil service
reform days, as a matter of course, "off went
'Old Zack's' head off," the honor this time falling
upon Mr. Edward W. Perrin, for many years a
salesman and book-keeper for P. D. Hall & Co.,
and now a 70-year-old citizen of Toledo.
Mr. Perrin's only competitor for the prize was
the late Dr. Klias L. Munger, a brother-in-law of
ex-Postmaster Johnson, and also of our present
well-known citizen, Nahum Fay, Esq. The
battle waxed warm and furious between the
friends of the two contestants, but was finally
Perrin^s favor through the influence of the late
Judge George Bliss, then the member of Congress from this
District.
Dr. Munger soon afterward removed to Shalersville, Portage
County, subsequently, through softening of the brain, becoming
an inmate of the Northern Ohio Hospital for the Insane, dying
from that affection some ten years ago.
E. W. PERRIX.
decided in Mr.
JUDGE ROLAND O. HAMMOND,
J —born in Bath, July 8, 1826 ; edu-
cated at Oberlin and Western Reserve
CoUeg-es ; read law with Judg-es
Carpenter and McClure and Judge
Bliss in Akron ; admitted to bar, in
Painesville. in 18.tO, opening- an office
in Akron the same year; married in
Akron, June 8, 1851, to Miss Amanda
M. Harris, their onl}^ child, Eleanor
M., married May 18, 1876, to Mr. F. A.
Hilliard, of Cleveland, her mother,
Mrs. Hammond, now living with her.
On the death of Judge Charles G.
Ladd, Summit County's first Probate
Judge, in Augvist, 1852, Mr. Hammond
was appointed by Gov. Reuben Wood,
to the vacancy, which he ably filled
until the ensuing October ; was clerk
of Portage township, 1852-56 ; trustee
of township, 1862, '6.3 ; postmaster
at Akron, by appointment of Presi-
dent Buchanan, 1857-61; during the
war, by appointment of Gov. David
Tod, served as member of the 18th
District Militarj' Committee, and was
Deputy Provost Marshal for Summit
County in 1862, ' 63. Mr. Hammond
was a successful Uiwyer, a shrewd
politician and talented writer. He
JUDGE ROI/AiVI) O. HAMMOND.
died Januarj^ 12, 1867, aged 40 years, 6
months and 4 days.' his remains
being interred in his native township
of Bath.
320
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
Mr. Perrin took possession of the office, in May, 1853, after a
time removing it to the Mathews building, a fe^^ doors further
north, where it remained for nearly 20 years. In May, 1857, Mr.
Perrin was re-appointed by President James Buchanan, but
resigned, in August of that year, to go into the stock-raising busi-
ness in Texas, with Dr. Isaac Isbell, but failed of success, Mr.
Perrin, in a late letter to the writer, saying: "Had it not been for
the financial panic of 1857, I should now live without work."
POSTMASTER ROLAND O. HAMMOND.
On tendering his resignation, as above stated, Mr. Perrin rec-
ommended, as his successor, the well-remembered Democratic
politician and law^yer, Roland O. Hammond, Ksq., w^ho was
accordingly appointed by Mr. Buchanan, though Hon. David Tod,
then high in Democratic councils, and a few years later known as
"Ohio's Democratic War Governor," strongly urged the appoint-
ment of his nephew, the late George T. McCurdy, w^ho was, twenty
years later, appointed Collector of Tolls upon the Ohio Canal for
the Port of Akron.
RICHARD S. ELKINS, — born in
Rutland, Vt., January 30, 1818 ;
common school education ; learned
the printing- business in office of
Rutland Herald; in 1837, came to
Akron, working in office of Akron's
pioneer paper, the American Bal-
ance; in 1838, worked in office of
Cleveland Herald; in 1839, went to
Ravenna as publisher of the Ohio
Star; in 1844, removed to Akron and
eng-aged in publishing the Summit
County Beacon, in 1845, selling a
half interest to Mr. Laurin Dewey ; in
1848, sold office to John Teesdale, and
entered into the book and drug
trade with Mr. Joseph A. Beebe, a
year later taking Mr. Teesdale into
partnership and uniting- the two
branches under the firm name of
Elkins, Teesdale & Co. ; in 1856, Mr.
Teesdale retired, the firm of Beebe &
Elkins continuing the printing busi-
ness until January, 1867, and the book
and drug business until 1880, when
Mr. Elkins retired to his farm near
Ravenna, where Mrs. Elkins still
resides. In 1853, Mr. Elkins was a
member of the Akron Village Coun-
cil ; in 1854, Village Recorder ; in 1855,
member and treasurer of Board of
Education ; in 1861, was appointed
by President Lincoln, as Akron's
first Republican postmaster, which
responsible position he ably filled
nine years. February 9, 1842, he was
married to Miss Adeline L. De Wolf,
(daughter of Dr. Joseph De Wolf, a
RICHARD S. EIvKINS.
pioneer of Ravenna), born August 8,
1823, their only child, Adelaide E..
now being the wife of Rev. W. K.
Ingersoll, a Presbyterian minister,
now located in Denver, Col. Mr. and
Mrs. Elkins were . both prominent
members of the First M. E. Church,
in Akron, O., of which Mr. E. was
treasurer 13 years, and for the last
8 years of his life was a trustee of
Ravenna township. Mr. Elkins died
March 5, 1891, aged 73 years, 1 month
and 5 days.
POSTMASTER RICHARD S. ELKINS.
On the change of administration, from Democratic to Repub-
lican, in 1861, Mr. Hammond was succeeded by Mr. Richard S.
Akron's postal service. 321
Elkins, one of the proprietors and Associate Editor of the Summit
County Beacon, his sole competitor being Mr. William C. Allen,
the late highly efficient incumbent of the office. Mr. Allen had
not only acted as deputy for Mr. Adams, under the Whig adminis-
tration of Taylor and Fillmore, but, afterwards affiliating with the
newly formed Republican party, had been continued as deputy
through the Democratic administrations of Pierce and Buchanan,
under Postmasters Perrin and Hammond.
Our then member of Congress, Hon. Sidney Edgerton, recom-
mended Mr. Elkins for the position, but the popularity of " Bill "
Allen, as he was familiarly called by everybody, brought to him
strong backing in the contest, particularly among the younger
portion of the Republicans of the village and vicinity.
As an offset to Congressman Edgerton's recommendation and
influence, Mr. Allen's friends adopted the plan of holding an elec-
tion on the question as to who should be appointed postmaster,
w^hich election was held March 2, 1861, with Houston Sisler, John
R. Buchtel and Clement J. Kolb, the regular trustees of Portage
township, as judges, and Henry W. How^e and Mills B. Purdy, as
clerks of the election. Mr. Elkins and his friends took no part in
the election, Mr. Allen's vote being 430, three ballots only being
cast for Mr. Elkins. As the highest vote for any Republican can-
didate on the State ticket, at the preceding general election was
only 630, it will be seen that the vote cast for Mr. Allen embraced,
by a liberal margin, more than one-half of the Republican vote of
the village of Akron and the township of Portage.
Armed with the " returns " ex- Attorney General Christopher
P. Wolcott (afterwards Assistant Secretary of War) proceeded to
Washington to lay the matter before Mr. Lincoln's Postmaster
General, Hon. Montgomery Blair.
Mr. Edgerton, at his home in Tallmadge, being advised of Mr.
Wolcott's departure for Washington, on a given morning, himself
also started for the National Capital the same evening, arriving in
time to be present at Mr. Wolcott's interview with the Postmaster
General. Mr. Wolcott, of course, urged the popular will, as
expressed at the ballot box, w^hile Mr. Edgerton urged the influ-
ence of Mr. Elkins and his paper, in securing the Republican
victory, in which, though an admitted Republican, from the fact
of his officiating as deputy under the two preceding Democratic
incumbents, Mr. Allen's influence w^as necessarily somewhat cir-
cumscribed.
After listening to the arguments, pro and con. Gen. Blair
turning to Mr. Wolcott, said: "What the Government needs in
the present crisis, Mr. Walcott, (giving a broad pronunciation to
the first syllable,) is iron, men— men who are not only ardent
Republicans now that offices are to be filled with Republican
incumbents, but men who were outspoken and active in securing
the victory w^hich renders such appointments possible — Mr. Elkins
w^ill receive the appointment."
To say that considerable bitter feeling was engendered by this
controversy would be drawing it very mild, indeed, the bitterness
by no means confining itself to political circles, but infusing itself
into social, civic, fraternal and possibly religious affairs as well, its
influence being felt in a greater or less degree even to this daj'^,
21
322
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
though more than a quarter of a century has passed over the heads
of the participators therein.
Mr. Klkins held the office nine years, his second appointment,
by President Johnson, by some inadvertence, not being confirmed
until nearly a year after the expiration of his first appointment, as
above set forth.
Mr. Klkins was assisted in the office by his partner, Mr. Joseph
A. Beebe, and their faithful book and drug clerk, the late Eli T.
Curtis, the office being connected ^vith the store of Messrs. Beebe
& Klkins, by a door in the rear, Mr. William H. Bowers also
officiating as mailing and delivery clerk, during a portion of Mr.
Klkins' term and for about six months under his successor.
POSTMASTER JAMES B. STORER.
As the end of Mr. Klkins' second term drew near. Adjutant
James B. Storer, a life cripple, from w^ounds received in battle;
Captain George Billow^, also an ex-soldier, and Mrs. Henry O.
Hampson, w^idow of a deceased soldier, announced themselves as
candidates for the office. The contest was quite spirited — Mr.
Storer's claims being w^armly espoused by his friends on account
of his severe physicial infirmity, Capt. Billow, besides a fair gen-
eral foUow^ing, being particularly favored by the German element,
Avhile Mrs. Hampson had quite a circle of s^^mpathizing adherents
also.
TAMES B. STORER,— son of Web-
J ster B. Storer, born in Akron,
January 22,1839; educated in Akron
public schools ; at 17 beg'an learning-
jewelry trade with William H. Tall-
man, afterwards, for a vShort time,
with Henry S. Abbey ; then in iron
store with father till the breaking- out
of the war ; on the day President
Lincoln issued his proclamation for
75,000 troops, in April, 1861, enlisting
in Co. G.,19th O. V. I., during its three
months' service, rising to the rank of
sergeant ; re-enlisted in Co. H., 29th
O. V. I., for three years, engaging in
the battles of Winchester, Port
IRepublic, Cedar Mountain, South
Mountain, Antietain, Chancellors-
ville, Gettj^sburg, Lookout Mountain
and Mission Ridge, being promoted
from sergeant to sergeant - major
February 3, 1862 ; to second lieutenant
April 13, 1862 ; to first lieutenant and
adjutant Januar}^26,1863 ; as adjutant
and recrviiting officer, in December,
1863, re-enlisting nearly the entire
regiment as veterans. In May, 1864,
in the Atlanta campaign, in first
engagement at Dug Gap, in Rocky
Face Ridge, he was wounded in
spinal column by a minie-ball,
paralyzing his legs, and has since
been entirely unable to walk without
the aid of crutches ; in September,
1864, being promoted to captain.
After his discharge from the ariuy
Captain Storer engaged in the jewelry
JAMES B. STOKER.
business with Mr. Dwight A. Hib-
bard under the firm name of J. B.
Storer & Co., which arrangement
still continues. In June, 1870, was
appointed postmaster of Akron, hold-
ing the office twelve 5^ears, as herein
fully written of. January 11, 1864,
Captain Storer was married to Miss
Maria L. Acklej^ of Akron, who has
borne him one child — Helen A.
Storer, still residing with her parents.
Akron's postal service. 223
To amicably settle the matter, at the suggestion of Congress-
man William H. Upson, an election was held on Saturday, May 7,
1870, at which 1,186 Republican ballots Avere cast, as follows:
Storer, 858; Billow, 266; Mrs. Hampson, 62. This decisive vote, in
■due time, brought to Mr. Storer a commission signed by President
Ulysses S. Grant, under which he took possession of the office on
the 1st day of July, 1870, the new incumbent on the same day
removing the office from the Mathews building, w^here it had con-
tinuously remained for seventeen years, to Masonic Block, corner
-of Howard and Mill streets, where it now is.
For the second term Mr. Storer had no competition, and was
•coTisequently reappointed by President Grant in 1874, for four years
longer.
At the expiration of his second term, in 1878, Mr. Storer was con-
fronted by his former Captain of Company H, 29th O. V. I., and
during the Avar promoted to the command of the regiment. Col.
Jonas Schoonover. Though the Colonel's backing and credentials
were first-class, owing to the excellent service which had been
rendered by Mr. Storer during his eight years' incumbency, the
department deemed it advisable that he should be continued for
another term, his third commission being signed by President
Rutherford B. Hayes, Mr. Storer thus holding the office twelve full
years, a longer period than any other incumbent of the office since
its establishment, in 1826.
THE FREE DELIVERY SYSTEM.
In the meantime Akron, by reason of the rapid and enormous
increase of its postal business, became entitled to Free Mail
Delivery, and the system was established here, under the auspices
of Postmaster Storer, in March, 1879, Mr. Storer himself mapping
out the routes, and under the directions of the Special Agent of the
department, personally superintending the inauguration of the
new system.
Mr. Harry J. Shreffler had been a clerk in the office from the
commencement of Mr. Storer's administration, and had become so
thoroughly familiar ^vith the duties of the office, that on Mr.
Storer's applying to the department for several months' leave of
absence, in 1875, Mr. Shreffler was formally appointed Assistant
Postmaster, Mr. Storer's bondsmen signifying their assent thereto
by indorsing the same upon Mr. Storer's bond, w^hich position he
held to the end of Mr. Storer's term, the only appointment of that
character in the history of the office.
Mr. George \V Smetts was appointed a mail route agent on
the recommendation of Congressman Rufus P. Spalding, in Jan-
uary, 1865, and again, after an illness of six months, on the recom-
mendation of Congressman William H. Upson, at once becoming
one of the most efficient officers in the service. At Mr. Storer's
request, on dispensing with the services of Clerk Williain H.
Bowers, early in 1871, Special Agent Jamin Strong (late Superin-
tendent of the Northern Ohio Hospital for the Insane, at Cleve-
land,) transferred Mr. Smetts to the Akron office, (Mr. Storer him-
self being sick at the time), as chief clerk, which position he ably
filled for four years, when, in 1875, on the recommendation of
Congressman James Monroe, he Avas reinstated upon the road,
from w^hich time he never lost a day, by sickness or otherwise,
324
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
until his resignation of the position in November, 1889, nearly 24
years, and was undoubtedly one of the most thoroughly posted and
expert mail distributors in the State, his first work being upon the
C. & P. Road, betwreen Cleveland and Pittsburg; next, for many
years, on the N. Y., P. & O., betw^een Kent and Cincinnati, and
from May, 1884, on the Valley, between Cleveland and Zoar Station.
On the adoption of the free delivery system, Mr. George W.
Schick w^as made Superintendent of Carriers, w^hich position, after
twelve years of most efficient service, he still holds. In fact, so
perfect w^ere the arrangements made by Postmaster Storer, and
his efficient aids. Assistant Postmaster Shreffler and Superin-
tendent Schick, that, whereas, the city of Chicago, w^here the sys-
tem had been in vogue for several years, was then delivering, by
carrier, 90 per cent, of the mail matter received at that office, the
Akron office attained to the standard of 93 per cent, the first year,
the matter delivered direct from the office being mostly to parties
living beyond the city liinits, w^hich ratio, notwithstanding the
largely increased business of the office in the intervening years, is
still substantially maintained.
pAPTAIN JAMES H. MORRISON,
^ —born in Lawrence county. Pa.,
May 14, 1834; in 1838 moved with
parents to Wayne county, Ohio ;
worked on farm summers, attended
school winters ; father dying at 15,
ran farm two years ; clerk in West
Salem one year ; back to farm one
year ; again clerk one year ; in Henry
county, 111., one year ; clerk in West
Salem again six months; in Fall of
1856 went to IronCit5', traded team for
land, returned to Ohio and engaged
in sheep trade ; in 1859 engaged in
selling " Gunn's Family Medicine "
in the South ; at the beginning of the
w^ar returned to Ohio; November 1,
1861, entered service as Corporal in
Co. I, 16th O. V. I. ; wounded in
shoulder at Tazewell. Tenn., August
2, 1862 ; captured in hospital at Cum-
berland Gap in September, 1862 ; one
week in Libby Prison ; detailed with
9th Independent Battery at London,
Ky., six weeks ; discharged for wound
January 12, 1863 ; in grocery trade at
West Salem five j^ears ; traveled for
Cincinnati cigar house 12 years ;
removed to Akron in 1873 ; appointed
postmaster by President Arthur in
1882, retaining the ofBce and ably
performing its duties four years ;
now again on the road. September
CAPT. JAMES H. MORRISON.
25, 1857, Captain Morrison was married
to Miss Elizabeth B. Einery, of West
Salem. They have four children — Ira
I., book - keeper, with Twine and
Cordage Company, Akron ; Mary C,
stenographer in office of Auditor of
State, Columbus ; Emery E., in Reed
and Rattan Works, Akron ; Bessie E.,.
student in Akron schools.
POSTMASTER JAMES H. MORRISON.
At the expiration of his third term, Mr. Storer making no
further effort to retain the office, several ne"w aspirants for the
position appeared upon the tapis, only t-wo of whom. Captain
James H. Morrison and Hon. L. S. Ebright, seriously entered into
the contest. Though each had abundant local backing, Captain
AKRON S POSTAL SERVICE.
325
Morrison, being himself a Wayne county man, secured the influ-
ence of our then Member of Congress, Hon. A. S. McClure, and
thus carried off the prize. Capt. Morrison retained Mr. Shreffler
as his Chief Clerk for three years, Mr. George Schick also remain-
ing at the head of the Carrier Department, ^while the Captain's
son, Mr. Ira I, Morrison, officiated as mailing clerk and deputy
postmaster.
Not because of any dereliction of duty, in his conduct of the
office, but owing to the little circumstance that Grover Cleveland,
instead of James G. Blaine, was elected President of the United
States, in 1884, Capt. Morrison failed to succeed himself, and on
the expiration of his four years' commission, yielding gracefully to
the inevitable, on the 16th day of August, 1886, turned the office
over to his Democratic successor.
WILLIAM CHAUNCEY ALLEN,
— sonof Alvin and Mercy (Hall)
Allen, was born in Granger, Ohio,
August 10, 1828 ; educated in Granger
district schools and Akron select
and U^nion schools, coming to Akron
in 1844 ; in 1845 Avorked at map print-
ing and finishing for Adams &
Eggleston ; taught school in Grang'er
in Sumnler of 1846 ; in Falor district,
Coventry, in Winter of 1846, '47 ; Sum-
mer of 1847 in map factory ; in Winter
of 1847, '48 teaching in Bath; in
Spring of 1848 resumed work in map
factor}', continuing till burned out,
January 9, 1848 ; then worked in mill
with brother-in-law, Mr. Samuel
Dunkle, in Williams county, till Fall
-of 1849 ; clerk for Postmaster Frank
Adams, and telegraph operator, till
Fall of 1852, when he went to Cali-
fornia, remaining there one year ;
clerked in post office and telegraph
operator under Postmasters E. W.
Perrin and Roland O. Hammond
from 1854 to 1861 ; manager of Union
Telegraph Office from 1861 to 1885;
postmaster of Akron from August,
1886, to January 1, 1891. Mr. Allen has
WILLIAM CHAUNCEY ALLEN.
served two terms as member of the
Akron Board of Education, being
secretary of the board for the years
1858, '59, '60, and as clerk of Portage
township for the years 1868, '69, '70, '71.
POSTMASTER WILLIAM C. ALLEN.
The whirligig of time and politics having, after an interregnum
of almost a quarter of a century, again placed the Democratic party
in the ascendency, in the nation, and Mr. William C. Allen, having,
in the intervening years, embraced the Democratic faith, w^as, by
the almost universal assent of the local patrons of the office, both
Democrats and Republicans, very proper designated as Postmaster
of Akron, by President Cleveland, on the 22d day of July, 1886,
being confirmed by the Senate August 10th and entering upon his
duties, as stated, August 16th. In his quest for the office, Mr. Allen
■was confronted by tw^o life-long Democratic politicians — William
M^ers and Lewis C. Parker — but owing to the intimate personal
and political relations existing between Mr. Allen and ex-Congress-
man David K. Paige, and, in turn, the intimate personal and polit-
ical relations existing between Mr. Paige and Senator Henry B.
326
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Payne, who dispensed the executive patronage of this district,,
under Mr, Cleveland's administration, Mr. Allen readily distanced
his competitors and -won the prize.
THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE OFFICE.
That Mr. Allen made a good officer, in every way, goes with-
out saying, the clerical force of the office under his administration
— all thoroughly proficient in their several departments — being as
follows:
William C. Allen, Postmaster ; Charles W. Taneyhill, Deputy ;:
George W. Schick, Superintendent of Carriers ; Edwin P. Humes,
Mailing Clerk ; George T, McKean, Assistant Mailing Clerk ;
Frank A, Cummins, General Delivery Clerk ; Carriers : John W.
Sabin, Arthur E. Limric, William H. Kasch, Charles D. Steese,
James K. P. Souers, Frank L. Butler, Harry A. Pardee, Patrick
Flanagan, Harry C. Eichenlaub, Fred H. O'Brien, William A,
Caldwell, Charles C. Pomeroy, William J. Hoye, substitute ; John
Garahan, special delivery.
WILLIAM B. GAMBLE,— son of
Samuel L. and Eliza Jane
Gamble, was born in Wabash, Ind.,
October 3, 1850, raiised on farm, and
educated in common schools; at 14,
sought to enter the army, but pre-
vented by father, as being" too young;
in 1873, came to Akron and with H. A.
Gibbs and V. I. Morton, organized
the stoneware firm of W. B. Gamble
& Co., in the Sixth ward, the firm
being changed to Gamble & Morton,
in 1875. The works, being soon after-
wards destroyed by fire, with no
insurance and almost total loss, were
rebuilt and continued until 1880,
when the firm sold out; Mr. Gamble
then operating as traveling jobber of
stoneware until the organization of
the Akron Stoneware Agency in 1883.
Having been an active Republican,
since attaining his majority, Mr.
Gamble was elected Sheriff of Sum-
mit county, in 1884, and re-elected in
1886, ably filling that responsible
office four years, and officiating as
deputy under his successor two years
longer; is a director in Akron Savings
Bank, vice president of Globe Sign
Company; director and vice presi-
dent of Akron Building and Loan
Association; director in D. F. Morgan
Boiler Co.; etc. In December, 1890,
WILLIAM B. GAMBLE.
Mr. Gamble was appointed, by Presi-
dent Harrison, postinaster of the
City of Akron, entering upon his
official duties January 1, 1891. Jan-
uary 1, 1872, he was married to Miss
Clara S. Boardman, of Akron, who-
has borne him one child — Eva L., born
January 14, 1874.
POSTMASTER WILLIAM B. GAMBLE.
Another political revolution bringing the Republicans again
into power, in 1889, there were, as a matter of course, a number of
patriotic gentlemen of that faith who w^ere w^illing to become Mr.
Allen's successor, the most spirited contest for the position being^
between ex-Sheriff William B. Gamble and Major Emmitt F. Tag-
gart. So sharp was the competition that the appointment hung
Akron's postal service.
327
fire nearly six months after the expiration of Mr. Allen's commis-
sion, Mr, Gamble finally securing the prize, his commission from
President Harrison bearing date Jan. 8, 1891, and the office being
formally turned over to him, by Mr. Allen, Jan. 10.
A few changes, only, have been made in the clerical force, the
present roster (August, 1891) being as follows : William B. Gamble,
P. M.; Andrew M. Smith, Assistant P. M.; George W. Schick,
Superintendent of Mails ; Edwin P. Humes, Mailing Clerk ; George
F. McKean, assistant mailing clerk; Arthur L. Northrup, money
order clerk ; William H. Sperling, general delivery clerk ; John
Garahan, stamper; Letter Carriers: John W. Sabin, Arthur E.
Limric, William H. Kasch, Charles D. Steese, William J. Hoye,
James K. P. Souers, Harry A. Pardee, Patrick Flanagan, Harry C.
Eichenlaub, Fred H. O'Brien, William H. Caldvirell, Charles C.
Pomeroy, Fred G. Steese, James C. Reherd ; Substitute Carriers :
Charles E. Gostlin, John W. Breiner, John H. Thomas.
HARRY C. EICHENLAUB, — whose full
leng-th portrait, in the uniforin of a g'ov-
ernnient letter carrier, is given herewith, is one
of Uncle Sam's hig'hly popular and wide-awake
postal messengers in Akron. He is a son of
Alois and Catharine (Waelde) Eichenlaub, was
born in Cleveland Feb. 14, 1859, removing with
his parents to Akron about 1864, his father
being Akron's pioneer manufacturing confec-
tioner, prosecviting that business on Howard
street, until within a few months of his death,
March 4, 1873. Harry was educated in Akron
public schools ; striking otxt early for himself,
for a time clerked in saddlery hardware store
of George S. Scott, 102 North Howard street;
later as key clerk at Sherman House, Chicago,
and still later three years in the clothing store
of Hoffman & Moss in Akron. In the Fall of
1886, Postmaster William C. Allen placed him
on his staff of letter carriers, the duties of wh ich
position he so faithfully discharged that Mr.
Allen's successor. Postmaster William B. Gam-
ble, re-appointed him thereto in 1891, Harry
having hosts of warm personal friends among
the local inembers of both political parties.
He is also a meinber of one of Akron's inost
popular business and social institutions — The
"Citizens' Club."
THEN AND NOW.
In the early days, the postmaster received as compensation a
commission on the amount of business transacted, amounting,
during Mr. Frank Adams' administration — 1849 to 1853 — to about
$1,000 per year — the postmaster fitting up his ow^n office, paying rent,
clerk hire, etc. Postal rates, in those days, were on a sliding scale :
under 30 miles, six cents ; 30 to 150, twelve and a half cents ; 150 to
400, eighteen and three-fourths cents; over400, twenty-five cents, and,
as late as 1850, the postage on letters between Ohio and California
328 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
was 40 cents. This, too, be it remembered, was on "single"
letters, without regard to weight. Thus, a letter on a light note
sheet, containing a dollar bill, or check, though the -whole did not
weigh over one-fourth of an ounce, would be subject to double
postage, while a letter written on a single piece of paper, as large
as a bed blanket, and -weighing several ounces, called for single
postage only. This, of course, required the utmost vigilance, on
the part of postmasters, to prevent frauds upon the government.
Commencing about 1851, postage rates have been gradually re-
duced, so that now a letter, not exceeding one ounce in weight, no
matter how many pieces of paper it may contain, will go from
Florida to Alaska for two cents, with a fair prospect that a one-
cent rate will soon be established.
Now, the government pays for fitting up office, rent, fuel,
lights, clerk hire, incidental expenses, etc. The present net salary
of the postmaster, based upon his gross receipts, is $3,100, w^ith an-
other hundred to be added -when the gross recipts reach $60,000
per year. The present allowance for clerk hire is $5,000 per year,
exclusive of the carriers, t-welve of Avhom are paid $850 per year,
and the remaining two $600.
A FEW INTERESTING STATISTICS.
The Department reports, covering the seven years from June
30, 1884, to June 30, 1891 so far as relates to the Akron office, are as
follows: Year ending June 30, 1885, gross receipts, $31,056.81;
salary, $2,800 ; clerk hire, $3,200 ; rent, light and fuel, $998.75 ; other
incidental expenses, $29.00 ; free delivery, $5,488.45 ; total expenses,
$12,510.20 ; net revenue, $18,539.61 ; per cent, of expenses to gross
receipts, 40.
Year ending June 30, 1886 : gross receipts, $35,923.13 ; salary,
$2,800; clerk hire, $3,200; rent, light and fuel, $1,567; other inci-
dental expenses, $84.33 ; free delivery, $5,900.89 ; total expenses,
$13,552.20 ; net revenue, $22,370.92 ; per cent of expenses to gross
receipts, 37.
Year ending June 30, 1887 : gross receipts, $38,600.10 ; salary,
$2,800 ; clerk hire, $3,333.15 ; rent, Ught and fuel, $1,570 ; other inci-
dental expenses, $41.46 ; free delivery, $7,010.72 ; total expenses,
$14,755.33 ; net revenue, $23,853,77 ; per cent, of expenses to gross
receipts, 38.
Year ending June 30, 1888: gross receipts, $14,882.47; salary,
$2,900; clerk hire, $3,400; rent, light and fuel, $1,570; other inci-
dental expenses, $121.36; free delivery, $7,885.69; total expenses,
$15,877.05 ; net revenue, $29,005.42 ; per cent, of expenses to gross
receipts, 35.
Year ending June 30, 1889 : gross receipts, $49,018.48 ; salary,
$3,000; clerk hire, $3,691 ; rent, fuel, etc., $1,570; incidentals, $127.02 ;
free delivery, $9,729.31; total expenses, $18,117.33; net revenue,
$30,901.15 ; per cent, of expenses to receipts, 37.
Year ending June 30, 1890: gross receipts, $50,394.84; salary,
$3,100; clerk hire, $5,000; rents, etc., $1,380; incidentals, $148.63;
free delivery, $10,522.15; total expenses, $20,150.78; net revenue,
$30,244.06 ; per cent, of expenses to receipts, 40.
AKRON S POSTAL SERVICE,
329
Year ending June 30, 1891 : gross receipts, $58,178.56. Total
expenses for year not reported at date of compilation of this arti-
cle. From the figures above given, it will be seen that the busi-
ness of the office is rapidly increasing, year by year, to which will
undoubtedly soon be added that of the Sixth Ward, so that more
room will, in the near future, become an absolute necessity, and
the long talked-of Government Building, now almost in sight, a
blessing that w^ill be duly appreciated by both the entire people of
Akron and the local government officiials.
i^tSjiS^ t3?JS>tS>iS>^S>iS>Sr
East side of Howard Street, looking North from near Cherrj' Street.
From photo by E. J. Howard, 1873.
CHAPTER XVI.
AKRON'S FIRES, FROM 1839 TO 1891— HUNDREDS OF HOUSES, SHOPS, STORES,.
MILLS, CHURCHES, ETC., DESTROYED— MILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF
VALUABLE PROPERTY GIVEN TO THE DEVOURING FLAMES— INCENDIARISM
RAMPANT— THE BUCKET BRIGADE, THE CRANK AND BRAKE ENGINE AND
THE TIRELESS STEAMER— DISASTERS AND IMPROVEMENTS OF HALF A
CENTURY— A CHAPTER WORTHY OF PERUSAL.
AKRON'S EARLY FIRE COMPANIES.
TDRKVIOUS to 1839 there was no definitely organized fire depart-
-•- ment in Akron, other than the appointment, by the Council, of
five fire w^ardens to look after the safety of stoves, chimneys, etc.,.
and to take charge of the " bucket brigade," on the occurrence of a
fire, alarms being sounded by passing the cry of fire from mouth to
mouth, or from house to house, and by the ringing of the bells in
the towers of the original Baptist and Universalist churches, after
1837, '38.
In the meantime certain public-spirited citizens, feeling the
need of some more efficient mode of extinguishing fires, or at least
of checking their spread, formed a stock company, and in 1839, pur-
chased a small rotary hand engine, at a cost of $600, in shares of
$25 each, three only of the twenty-four original stock-holders being
now (1891) alive — Nahum Fay, Frank Adams and Samuel A. Lane,
The "North Akron Fire Company" w^as organized December 11,.
1839, with 32 members as follows: Nahuin Fay, Samuel Manning,.
Levi Manning, Sylvanus G. Gaylord, Elias L. Munger, Klisha N,
Bangs, Charles Bateman, Lucius V. Bierce, Harvey H. Johnson,
Samuel A. Lane, Arad Kent, Cyrus Shumway, S. L. Shaw, John
Kidder, William Tarble, John C. Kidder, Samuel C. Bangs, Frank
Adams, Francis Rattle, Abram Smith, Leverett J. Ives, Henry L.
Lane, Alfred R. Tow^nsend, William E. Wright, Benjamin R. Man-
chester, James Baldwin, John G. Darby, Charles Earl, Norman
Lewis, Reuben A. Kinney.
The company, furnished itself with fifty feet of leather hose,,
paid its own running expenses, rent of room for housing its machine,
meetings, etc., until the erection by the tow^n, in the latter part of
1841, of the front end of the diminutive building shown in the
accompaning engraving, just 10 x 15 feet in size, and located over
the race in Mill street, fronting on Howard. This machine was
purchased from the stockholders, by the tow^n, for the munificent
sum of $200, in January, 1846, on a credit of one and two years.
Niagara, Number Two. — In 1845, the village had purchased a
new and larger engine, run by side brakes, and in December, 1845,
Niagara Fire Company, No. 2, w^ith 47 members, \sras presented to
the Council for acceptance, the first foreman of the company being
the late Charles Webster, the only original members now^ living,,
so far as known, being James Christy, Thomas H. Goodwin and
EARLY FIRE COMPANIES. 331
Levi Allen, Jr. After allowing this company to skirmish for quar-
ters, for a year or t^vo, in the latter part of 1848 the Council caused
to be erected for its use the small two-story brick building, after-
w^ards for some years used as a lock-up, and still standing, on
Tallmadge street, between Howard and Main.
Tornado NuiMBER Three. — January 30, 1847, a hook and ladder
company, under the above title, was accepted by the Council; of its
32 original members six only are now believed to be living — James
M. Hale, Robert Baird, Webster B. Storer, James B.Taplin, Ambrose
Chapin, George Mather. A house for this company, 12x30 feet, was
built along side the original house of engine company Number One,
on Mill street.
A New Number One. — In 1852, a new brake engine was pur-
chased, by Council, to take the place of the rotary, and a new-
engine house built on the present site of the city building, the old
machine and house being turned over to a company of public-
spirited boys, ranging from 15 to 18 years of age, who organized
themselves into " Protective Fire Company, Number Four," w^hich
continued in operation about two years, virhen both house and
engine were taken to the West Hill and planted on Myrtle Place,
where, for several years, it w^as maintained by an independent com-
pany of " West Hillers" — the w^riter among the number, w^ho now
retains as a relic, the two pieces of siding, on which was originally
painted, by his own hand, in 1841, "Fire Co. No. 1," the "1" after-
w^ards being changed to "4."
Various Other Volunteer Companies. — Though there was no
pay, a vast amount of hard Avork, and a very great lack of apprecia-
tion, connected w^ith the life of the ancient volunteer fireman, a
service of five years working exemption from poll-tax and local
military and jury duty, organizations of this character, of very
great efficiency, were kept up until the advent of the steamer era,
and the adoption of the pay system. Besides those mentioned,
with their various metamorphoses, a German Hook and Ladder
Company, under the name of "Washington, No. 3," with Philip A.
Bierwirth as foreman, succeeded Tornado, No. 3; the Germans
being in turn succeeded by Mechanics' Hook and Ladder Company,
No. 3, which, with Eagle Hose Company, organized in June, 1866,
after the purchase of the first-steamer, and composed of the verj'-
best young business men of the city, had an efficient existence of
nearly ten years, both companies being disbanded on the adoption
of the pay system, in 1876.
With four commodious fire stations, three provided w^ith first-
class steamers, double hose reels and hook and ladder apparatus,
and the fourth w^ith a fine tw^o-horse hose carriage, and all provided
w^ith fine well-trained horses, and experienced men, the Akron Fire
Department is now one of the very best of its class in the State.
AKRON'S FIRES.
In connection with the old Firemen's Celebration, in May, 1888,
the w^riter gave a brief history of Akron's fire department,
from the "bucket brigade" of the early thirties, the crank and
brake engines of the forties, to the splendid equine-electro-steam-
hydraulic-paid system of the present, a summary of which is
given above.
332
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
And now, as a part of this work,
though details cannot be largely
indulged in, a brief review of
Akron's most destructive fires
during the past half century, will
not be out of order.
Burning of the M. E. Church.
— Though some minor fires had
previously occurred, the burning
of Akron's original Methodist
church, a frame building standing on the site of the present brick
structure, but facing to the west, was the first public calamity
that came upon the good people of Akron. The fire occurred at 2
o'clock on the morning of March 17, 1841, one of the very coldest of
that w^inter, there being fully a foot of snow upon the ground.
The cold -was so intense that in the slow^ process of supplying our
little hand engine with water, by draw^ing it w^ith hook and bucket
from the parsonage cistern, and passing it from hand to hand by
the bucket brigade, we soon froze up, and w^hile nothing could be
done tow^ards saving the church itself, w^e did save the parsonage,
a few feet distant, by throwing snow upon the roof and against the
sides. Loss $3,300— insurance $2,200.
MiDDLEBURY CARRIAGE WoRKS. — The latter part of March,
1844, the carriage factory of Collins & Co., in Middlebury, (now^
Akron's prosperous Sixth ward), corner Kast Market and Kent
streets, was burned at a total loss of $5,000, about half covered by
insurance.
Hotel, Barn and Eight Horses Burned.— One of Akron's
early hotels ^vas the Ohio Exchange, a three-story brick, on the
present site of Woods' block, corner Market and Main streets. Pas-
sing into the hands of Mr. Charles B. Cobb, the name was changed
to Cobb's Exchange, in 1844. The large barn, connected >vith the
hotel, about w^here Kryder's feed-store now stands, in addition to
housing the horses of the guests, w^as also largely devoted to livery
purposes, Mr. Cobb also running tri-w^eekly lines of coaches to
Canton and Wooster, for the transportation of the mails, passen-
gers, etc.
On the night of September 15, 1844, this barn, containing some
50 horses, a large number of carriages, and large quantities of
hay, stra^v, grain, etc., bet^veen 10 and 11 o'clock was found to be
on fire, and in spite of the heroic exertions of firemen and citizens,
eight horses perished in the flames. Nothing, of course, could be
done towards saving the barn, but with our little rotary, and only
50 feet of hose, through the alacrity of citizens in supplying us
w^ith water from the near-by P. & O. canal, and in spelling us at
the cranks, we did prevent the flames from igniting the hotel
kitchen, or from extending across the alley, to the rear of the row
of frame business blocks fronting on Howard street. Mr. Cobb's
loss, $1,200; insurance $500. [Building materials, horses, hay, oats,
etc., were far less expensive then than now^.]
Large Distillery Goes up in Smoke. — On the night of
November 9, 1844, the large distillery of Hiram Payne and Edward
Sumner, Avest of Ohio canal, near lock 21, was totally destroyed,
except the cattle and hog pens, saved by the efforts of the firemen.
Loss $2,800; no insurance.
Akron's early fires. 333
Jewelry and Crockery. — February 10, 1846, the jewelry and
crockery store of Samuel Gardiner, Jr., on the north side of East
Market street, first door east of corner, was found to be on fire, but
the hand engine companies performed such execution that the fire
was confined to the bxiilding, in which started, with a loss of $500
only.
Large Tannery Consumed. — November 4, 1846, the tannery,
located east of Ohio canal, near lock 16, owned and operated by
Mr. Frank D. Parmelee; one of Akron's most enterprising mer-
chants at that time, was consumed, though the adjoining bark
house and contents were saved by the efforts of the firemen, there
now^ being two companies in successful operation. Loss $14,000.
^TNA Furnace Destroyed.— ^January 13, 1847, the ^tna Fur-
nace, w^est side of the Ohio canal, opposite lock 12, owned by the
late Judge James R. Ford, but operated by the Akron Manufactur-
ing Company, under the management of the late Arad Kent, w^as
totally destroyed, excepting the most valuable portion of the
machinery, saved by the efforts of the firemen. Loss $2,000 to $3,000,
Northwest Corner of Howard and Market. — June 9, 1848,
the entire range of buildings (all frame) from present site of Hotel
Arlington, corner Canal and Market, nearly to the present brick
block of Mr. John Robb, on North Howard street, w^as consumed,
with much of the contents of the several establishments. Among
other sufferers w^ere Dewey & Elkins, publishers of the Summit
Beacon, $500; J. A. Beebe & Co., books and drugs, $1^000; Horace
Canfield, American Democrat, $1,000; Adams & Eggleston, map
publishers, $8,000. James Baldwin, father of Capt. Aaron P. Bald-
win, and Lewis Kilbourn, father of William W. Kilbourn, of 712
East Exchange street, w^ere the largest losers, (amount not stated),
being the owners of the corner block (the old Pavilion Hotel) and
several of the contiguous buildings.
WEvST Side of South Howard Street. — September 16, 1848,
the west side of How^ard street, from the Commins Sc Allen brick
block (now Star clothing house) north to the alley, adjoining Cut-
ter's block, on the south. These were all original structures, two-
story frame buildings, ow^ned respectively by John K. Foster, Henry
S. Abbey, Alfred R. Townsend and Seth Iredell. The losses w^ere:
H. S. Abbe*y, building $400, jewelry (partly saved) $500; Oren Beck-
with, harness, $200; E. C. Hurd, dry goods, $7,000; John M. Cutler,
boots and shoes, $4,000; Asahel H. Pierson, tailor, $150; Charles
Leonard, groceries, $800; Miss Hamilton, milliner, $100; Iredell &
Whetstone, dry goods, building and stock $8,000; Timothy Clark,
groceries, $100; Messrs. Foster and Townsend probably losing
about $1,000 each.
Death of a Brave Fireman. — On the night of September 22dr
1849, the new^ brick dwelling house of Mr. Charles Cranz, on Pros-
pect street, fronting Grace Park, now owned by ^ohn McGregor,
then approaching completion, was burned. Though working to
great disadvantage for w^ant of water, the firemen fought the fire
vigorously, and while at work on the back porch, Mr. David Miller,
Akron's pioneer sash, door and blind manufacturer, Avas crushed
to death by the falling of the porch roof, through the thoughtless-
ness, it w^as asserted, of some person in knocking out one of the
props by w^hich it was temporarily held in place. Mr. Miller Avas
334 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
a member of Niagara Fire Co., No. 2, and one of its most energetic
members. The brick w^alls of the house remained intact, and the
building was immediately rebuilt. Mr. Cranz's loss was about
$1,000, the builders, Messrs. B. F. and J. C. Dickerman, losing about
$800 worth of tools.
The Old Stone Block, Etc—Ou the night of Dec. 27, 1849, the
territory bet\sreen the famous old Stone Block, a solid three-story
stone building covering the present sites of the Henry and Stein-
bacher blocks, Ho^vard and Market streets, was covered as far
south as the building now^ occupied by Wilson G. Robinson, by
tw^o-story (mostly frame) buildings and all fully occupied by mer-
chants, mechanics, lawyers, doctors, etc. The fire commenced
about the middle and spread both ways. It was supposed that
the solid high wall of the stone block would arrest the progress of
the flames in that direction as effectually as the high brick wall of
the Angel block upon the south side did.
Unfortunately, however, there Avas a heavy over-hanging
■wooden cornice on that side of the block, and as the flames drew^
near, the brisk southwesterly wind sent them sheer up the wall to
the cornice. The intense heat keeping the engines at too great a
distance to do effective service, the result was that that mammoth
building, too, was speedily consumed. The solid battlemented wall
upon the east side kept the flames from spreading any further in
that direction, but after the roof and floors had gone down, the w^all,
losing its supports, toppled over, falling inward, in doing which
the lower poVtion sprang outward, shoving the adjoining tAvo-story
frame store building of J. D. Ed son & Co. over into the allej^, com-
pletety demolishing the lower story, but leaving the upper story,
including the roof, doors, wrindows, etc., intact.
The sufferers by this fire vi^ere : Milton W, Henry, dry goods ;
Henry Rattle, dry goods; McCurd}' & Michener, dry goods; the
Akron Bank ; Christy & Sawyer, boots and shoes ; J. Raymond &
Co., dry goods ; George \V. Wyman, clothing ; Charles Cranz,
hardware ; George \V. Peart, drugs ; Lander & Ward, boots and
shoes ; Koch & Levi, clothing ; Sumner & Smith, clothing ; Ne-
ville & Smith, groceries; C. B. Eells, tailor; Bennett & Smith,
harness; Benjamin McNaughton, cigars; Dr. E. W. How^ard ; Otis
& Wolcott, Pleasants & Harris, Upson & Edgerton, Philip N.
Schu^'^ler, law^yers. The individual losses were not given in the
papers of the day, but the aggregate loss was estimated at $50,000,
Hall'vS Corner Next. — On the night of February 17, 1851, the
entire block bounded by How^ard, Market and Canal streets, south
to the alley, was burned over, including the dry goods stores of P.
D. Hall & Co., A, Hibbard &c Co,, Abbey & Rose, and Sumner &
Co., the clothing store of I. P. Sanford, and the auction store of
Johnson & Piatt. The buildings were all of wood, the Hall block
being the first store building erected in North Akron, in 1832,
Part of the contents of the several stores w^ere saved, the total loss
being estimated from $25,000 to $30,000,
Foundry and Stove Works. — March 11, 1853, the extensive
foundry and stove works, on the present site of the W, B. Doyle
planing mill, owned and operated by P. Tallman & Co., was en-
tirelj^ consumed. The structure was a light one, but the patterns
and castings destroyed were valuable. Loss $7,000.
Akron's early fires. 335
Flouring Mill, Furnace, Planing Mill, Etc. — Nov. 1, 1853,
the ^tna Mill, owned and operated by Ra\srson, Noble & Co., the
^tna Furnace, belonging to the estate of James R. Ford, the plan-
ing mill of Dix & Finch, and the grocery store of John T. Good &
Co. near lock 12, were consumed, the fire originating in the -^tna
Mill. Total loss $40,000.
Northeast Corner Howard and Market. — Dec. 8, 1854, the
northeast corner of How^ard and Market streets, commencing north
on the present site of Davis & Blocker's drug store and extending
around to the Empire House, all wooden structures, one and two
stories only. Total losses about $25,000 — sufferers : Gardner &
Walker, agricultural store ; J. H. Christy & Co., leather ; Cook &
Dussell, groceries ; G. & S. Kempel, boots and shoes ; Sumner &
Pardee, clothing ; Peterson & Wetmore, tin and hardware ; Morton,
saloon; W. D. Stevens, barber; John Lander, boots and shoes;
Oren Beckwith, harness ; James Gardner, groceries.
Ohio Exchange, Stores, Etc. — April 30, 1855, the Ohio Ex-
change, three-story brick, on the present site of Woods' block, with
the intervening two-story frame buildings west to Major Stein-
tacher's brick block, -were consumed, with a loss to Rinear Van
Evra, proprietor of Exchange, of $10,000; Frank Adams, hats, caps,
furs, etc., $3,000; William H. Tallman, jewelry, $1,500; Malcolm &
Co., (Arthur Malcolm and Samuel A. Lane) clothing, $8,000 ; Hor-
ace S. Weston, restaurant, j$900 ; Koch & Levi, building, $1,000;
Mrs. Amanda A. Ackley, building, $500 ; John T. Good, building,
$500. Total, .^24,900.
^ Another Mill Destroyed. — The merchant and custom flour-
ing mill, belonging to Mr. William Thayer, and operated by Wese-
ner & Richmond, on the site now occupied by Pringle's livery
stable, immediately south of the Schoeninger block, on Main
street, was burned March 29, 1855, at a loss on- mill and stock of
$11,000, also fully covered by insurance.
Mr. Thayer Again "Unfortunate." — Having leased his mill,
as above, Mr. Thayer established a grain warehouse in the two-
story brick building corner West Market and Cherry streets,
which, on June 19, 1855, was "mysteriously" burned, at an alleged
loss of $1,000, also fully covered by insurance.
Another Fire on Howard Street. — ^A new two-story brick
building, near the -present site of Phoenix block, belonging to
Judge Constant Bryan, and occupied by Ayers & Beadle, grocers,
was burned on the night of March 26, 1856, at a loss to Judge
Bryan of $2,300 writh $1,500 -worth of insurance, and to the occu-
pants of $1,500 with $1,000 insurance.
A Second Severe Scorching. — After the disastrous fire of June
D, 1848, at the northw^est corner of Howard and Market streets,
Messrs. Baldw^in & Kilbourn, and other lot owners, immediately
replaced the buildings with substantial tw^o and three-story brick
blocks, all of Mrhich found ready occupation. On the night of Dec.
29, 1856, the Baldv^rin & Kilbourn portion of the block, embracing
four store rooms on Howard street, and one on Market street, w^ere
again destroyed. Among the losses by this fire, besides the tri-
fling loss the parties, in w^hose grocery and meat market, on
Market street, the fire started, Baldwin & Kilbourn's loss was
probably from $10,000 to $12,000 ; Henry W. WetmorS, agricultural
336 AKROX AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
store, $3,750 ; Beebe & Elkins, book and drug store on ground floor
and Beacon office in the second story, $15,000 ; McNeil & Kempel,
grocers, $1,200 ; James S. Carpenter and Henry W. Howe, attorneys,
$700 ; Daniel B. Hadley and Newell D. Tibbals, attorneys, $550 ^
Henry O. Hampson, tinware, $100 ; total, about $35,000.
This loss fell with peculiar hardship on Messrs. Beebe & El-
kins, not only being the second time they had been thus despoiled
by the devouring element, but losing all their presses and types,
and even their subscription books, made it the more difficult to
pick up the stitches again and go on with the paper. But the old
Beacon was re-established, and on April 5, 1889, celebrated its
Golden, or Fiftieth, Anniversary, the amount of matter in its weekly
edition being four times greater than in the earlier years of it&
existence, while its tw^enty-year old daily, with fully twice as
much reading matter as the original >veekly, has an average circu-
lation of over 3,000 copies per day.
The Incendiaries Come to Grief. — Though morally certain
that several of the fires named were of incendiary origin, nothing
had so tangibly implicated the perpetrators thereof as the circum-
stances attending this case. Two young men from the contiguous
townships of Copley and Bath, tiring of farm life, purchased a
small stock of groceries, in the room where the fire originated, in-
voicing but $250, upon which, on the alleged intention of largely
replenishing, they had secured insurance to the amount of $1,000.
At the time of the fire, not only had n6 addition been made to the
stock, but considerable sold out, ^vhile on the morning after the
fire several packages of goods were discovered in the barn jointly
occupied by one of the partners and a neighbor. Though the'
affair w^as partially investigated by the Grand Jury, then in ses-
sion, nothing was done about it until nearly a year afterwards,
when, through the detective operations of Marshal J. J. Wright,
with the hearty co-operation of Sheriff S. A. Lane, Deputy Sheriff
A. R. ToAvnsend, and Prosecuting Attorney, Henry McKinney,
a chain of direct and circumstantial evidence >vas forged bj^ which
not only the principals but their chief confederate, (a hitherto
respectable young farmer from the township of Northampton)
Avere sent to the penitentiary for five years each, and the tool, w^ho
applied the match, one year, the latter, on being arrested, making
a voluntary confession of the crime, and on the witness stand, dis-
closing with great particularity the details of the transaction from
beginning to end. Serving his entire term, the latter soon van-
ished from the neighborhood ; the others after serving about half
their time w^ere pardoned by Governor Dennison, the chief spirit
of the enterprise, and instigator of the crime, soon floating off into
the western country Tvhere, according to rumor, he speedily went
to the bad, while his dupes at once resumed their places in the
society of their respective townships, and have ever since con-
ducted themselves in a strictly upright and industrious manner.
In a civil suit, Messrs. Beebe & Elkins obtained a judgment
for damages against the incendiaries for $14,867.77 damages at the
November term of Court, 1858, though it does not appear from the
record that any portion of said judgment has ever been paid.
West Side of Howard Street. — March 1, 1857, the west side
of Howard street, from the Perkins and Allen brick block, south to
the brick tavel-n, part of w^hich, now^ owned by Mr. Israel Isbell, is
Akron's early fires. 337
still standing, was devastated, the buildings, mostly cheap wooden
structures, belonging principally to Judge Constant Br\^an,
William G. Kaymond, of Akron, and his sister. Miss Raymond, of
Rochester, N. Y. The occupants were: David Lebcher, marble
works; Pierre Schinbring, furniture; Lewis Creveling, restaurant;
Mr. Keiffer, boots and shoes; J. B. Martin, saloon and residence.
Total loss probably $6,000.
Another Incendiary Fire. — On the morning of October 7,
1858, the extensive w^orks of the Akron Barrel Company, on the
present site of the Miller Chain and Match Works, w^ith all its val-
uable machinery and material was consumed, presumably the
work of an incendiary, and surmised to have been the work of
local coopers \\rho bitterly antagonized the introduction of labor-
saving steam-driven machinery in the fabrication of the immense
quantity of barrels then yearly used by the mills of Akron and
vicinity, the manilla sacking, now so largely used, not having then
come in vogue. The loss to the company was $12,000. A reward
of $1,000 w^as offered lor the detection and conviction of the incen-
diary, but though one or two slight clues were struck by
detectives J. J. Wright and James Burlison, the perpetrator of the
crime was never definitely discovered.
Melopean Factory Burned.— Allusion has heretofore been
made to a musical instrument — the melopean — invented by Mr.
Horace B. Horton, and in the latter forties and early fifties manu-
factured by himself and the late Bradbury T. Blodgett. About
1852, William O. Sanford, brother of Akron's pioneer cabinet
maker, Mr. David G. Sanford, bought out Mr. Blodgett, Mr. Ira
Rose, late of California, father of Akron's w^ell-known nurseryman
Mr. Lucius Rose, succeeding to the business in 1855, purchasing
for that purpose "Central Block," a three-story bri,ck building on
the present site of Merrill's Pottery, corner South Main and State
streets, built by the late Benjamin W. Stephens, in 1836. On the
night of June 4, 1858; this establishment with all its contents w^as
burned, with a loss to Mr. Rose of from $8,900 to $10,000, and to Mr.
James Holmes, Mr. John C. McMillen and several other workmen
of from $75 to $100 each in tools. The business was resumed in
the Garrett Block, corner of South Howard and Cherry streets, by
a stock company composed of Ira Rose, James F. Scott, John W.
Baker, John C. McMillen, James Holmes and Leopold Swindeman,^
succeeded by James F. Scott and the late Alois Straub, Messrs,
Horton Wright and William Smagg also being employes of the
establishment for several years.
Another Hotel Barn Fire. — April 18, 1859, three barns — two
in the rear of, and belonging to, the " Bradford House," a two-story
brick hotel on South Howard street (part of w^hich is still standing
there), and the other belonging to Mr. William G. Raymond,
together with the frame kitchen to the hotel, were destroyed, a val-
uable horse, after being rescued, rushing back into his stall
already on fire and perishing in the flames. Total loss probably
$1,000. Origin undoubtedly incendiary.
Foundry and Machine Shop. — ^June 27, 1860, at 1 o'clock a. m.,
the foundry and machine shop of Webster, Taplin & Co., on the
present site of the Webster, Camp & Lane Machine Company's
w^orks, corner of North Main and Tallmadge streets, were burned
with all their contents. Loss, $10,000,
82
338 AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
MiDDLEBURY CARRIAGE WoRKS Again.— January 2, 1860, the
carriage works, blacksmith shop, etc., of Mr. Charles A. Collins,
corner of Kast Market and Arlington streets, with most of their
contents, w^ere again burned. Loss $10,000.
Another Mill Burned. — ^Between twelve and one o'clock, on
Saturday night, February 24, 1866, the Variety Mills, previously
sold by J. Park Alexander to Shewey, McGillicuddy & Co., on the
present site of Mr. Alexander's Fire Brick Works, was burned, at a
loss, on building, machinery and stock, of $13,000, with $8,000
insurance.
The Chidester House Fire. — The two and a half story frame
building, on the present site of Masonic Temple, built by the late
Col. Le\^is P. Buckley in 1836, had passed into the hands of the
late Conrad Fink, and had for several years been kept as a hotel,
by Mr. William K. Chidester. The house being then vacant, and
in spite of the fact that Mr. Fink himself slept there for "protec-
tion," at 2 o'clock A. M., April 15, 1867, the building was discovered
to be on fire and past salvation. Three or four other one and two
story frame buildings, on the north, were also totally consumed
and the upper portion of the corner building opposite (still
standing there) then owned by William G. Raymond, as w^ell as a
dwelling owned and occupied by Capt. George Billo\v^, across the
ravine to the north, and on the present site of the Pendleton block,
Losses: Conrad Fink, $5,000; Joseph X. Laube, $1,000; Chambers,
Appleton & Smagg, $1,500; Raymond, $4,000; Billow, $1,125.
Pottery Warehouses Burned. — At 9 o'clock p. m., August 28,
1867, the stone-ware shipping houses of J. I^ark Alexander, and G.
N. Abbey & Co., near the Railroad Repair Shops, were burned.
Mr. Alexander's loss $5,000, with no insurance. Abbey & Co's loss
$12,000, with $2,pOO insurance.
Match Factory Destroyed. — August 25, 1867, the Akron
Match Company's works, on North Summit street, were destroyed,
at a loss, on building and stock, of $7,000, and $3,000 insurance.
Both Sides of ISast Market Street.— In those daj^s the ter-
ritory on East Market street, from Main almost to High on the
south side, and from Main to the alley, on the north side, -was cov-
ered with two story frame buildings, all teeming with business
life and activity, those on the south being occupied as foUow^s:
No. 200 (corner) Storer, Noble & Co., iron; 202, J. E. Wesener & Co.,
dry goods; 204, Adams & Hawk, clothing; 206, C. Vogt, saloon;
Joseph Gonder (basement) painter, and Mrs. M. J. Van Fessler,
(second story) residence; 208, Charles Teits, tailor; Joseph Fritz,
barber; 210, J. S, Hawkins, harness maker, Amos Herman, dw^ell-
ing; 212, G. F. Rentschler, meat market, Louis Cohn, (second story)
tailor; 214, Henry McMasters, baker, Mrs. McMasters, (second
story) millinery, William H. McMasters, music; 216, Hiram J.
Ayres, meat market; 218, Jacob Miller, shoes; 220, M. Schware,
je\sreler, John Byrider, shoemaker; 222, A. Litchfield, groceries;
224, J. G. Reif snider, groceries; the buildings being o\\rned, respec-
tively by Schoeninger Brothers, Samuel Hawk, G. F. Rentschler, J.
S. Hawkins, Henry McMasters, H. J. Ayres, Jacob Miller and John
Byrider.
On the north side: 201, 203, Dodge & Cole, livery stable; 205,
Wright & Freer, tinware, stoves, etc.; 207-209, Bittman Brothers,
groceries; John Bakody, jeweler, Chas. Teits, residence; 211, Adam
Akron's later fires. 339
Orth, restaurant, Mrs. Sullivan, residence; the buildings belonged
to Robert P. Henry, Wright & Freer, Bittman Brothers and Jacob
Oood.
The fire originated in the saloon of C. Vogt, on the south side,
iit 2 o'clock Sunday morning, March 11, 1869, and the structures
being all of the inost inflammable material, and the wind high, the
flames spread with fearful rapidity, not only speedily destroying
tiie buildings named, on both sides of the street, with the most of
their contents, but also imperiling and in fact igniting many
buildings to the north and east, w^hich were only saved from
destruction by the utmost exertions of the tirenien and citizens.
The losses, by this fire w^ere respectively as follows: Storer,
Noble & Co., $1,000; Schoeninger Brothers, $3,500; J. E. Wesener &
Co., $15,000: Adams & Hawk, $9,000; C. Vogt, $200; Joseph Gonder,
$200; Mrs. Van Fessler, $200; G. F. Rentschler, $8,000; Charles Teits
4)500; Joseph Fritz, $250; J. S. Hawkins, $2,800; Amos Herman,
^250; Louis Cohn, $1,200; Henry and Mrs. McMaster, $4,000; Wm.
H. McMasters, $100; H. J. Ayres, $2,000; Jacob Miller, $4,000; M.
iSchware, $1,000; A. Litchfield, $500; J. G. Reifsnider, $500; R. A,
Prior, (barn) $500; Dodge & Cole, $3(K); R. P. Henry, $3,500; Wright
& Freer, $4,5(X); Bittman Brothers, $3,000; John Bakody, $200;
Adam Orth;$l,600, Jacob Good, $1,500; Mrs. Sullivan, $100. Total
loss, in round numbers, $70,000. Total insurance, $20,000.
Mr. Lours Cohn's Narrow Escape. — During the progress of
the fire, Mr. Louis Cohn, occupying apartments in the upper story
<if the old Trussell Hall block, after getting his family safely out
went back to secure some of his valuables, but was so hard pressed
by the flames and stifling smoke, that he was obliged to leap from
the window to the ground in the alle}'' upon the east side, and in
doing so sustained an injury to one of his ankles, from w^hich he
never fully recovered.
Summit Oil Works. — On Thanksgiving morning, November
"25, 1869, the oil refinery of John T. Good & Co., in the north part of
the city, including the treating, barreling, shipping and receiving
houses, with 250 barrels, in process of refining and a large
quantity ready for shipment, was destroyed, with a loss of nearly
$20,0(K), and with no insurance.
Grocery and Saloon — Tried for Arson. — At 5 o'clock a. m.,
March 2, 1870, the grocery store and saloon of William Traver, on
Washington street, was burned with an alleged loss of $3,900.
This property was heavily covered by insurance, and the owner
-was indicted and tried for arson, but w^as finally acquitted.
Subsequent Fires. — August 25, 1871, the Fire Brick Works of
J. Park Alexander, on South Canal street, w^ere burned, at a loss
of $5,000, with $3,000 insurance. February 27, 1872, America's
pioneer oatmeal mill— the German Mill — established by Mr. Ferd.
Schumacher in 1859, near the present hominy w^orks, on North
Howard street, was burned with all its machinery and stock, at a
loss of $20,000, with but $8,000 insurance. The turning works and
hub factory of Sidney H. Bass, on the adjoining lot, north, was also
bui-ned at a loss of $500.
THE GREAT BEACON OFFICE DISASTER.
From the diminutive affair of 1839, with its single hand press,
iind its score or less fonts of news and job type, all told, in the
340 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
early Spring of 1872 the Beacon establishment was occupying the
entire four stories (including basement) 22x60 feet (except a small
corner on the ground floor occupied by Mr. O. H. Remington as a
jewelry store) at 118 South Howard street, and w^as then having
the building extended through to Canal street, to accommodate its
rapidly increasing publishing and manufacturing operations.
Filled with valuable machinery and printing materials,
stationery, papers, books, etc., on the morning of April 27, 1872, the
entire structure, with its contents, evidently the work of an
incendiary, \^ras destroyed by lire, with a loss to the company of
$23,000 and to the proprietor of the building of $5,000, Mr. Reming-
ton also sustaining a loss of about $4,000.
The adjoining building on the north, owned by Hiram Allen,,
the low^er floor of \v^hich, then, as now, was occupied b}^ J. B.
Storer & Co., jewelers, (also considerable losers) was injured to the
extent of about $2,000, Avhile in the jewelry store of H. S. Abbey &
Co., adjoining on the south, an explosion occurred, probably from
an expansion of air through the super-heated wall (the room being
kept tightly closed), blowing out the entire glass front and the rear
windoTvs, but doing no further very serious damage. The building
of G. H. Heifer & Son, north of the Allen block, w^as also, w^ith
stock of drugs, damaged to the amount of about $400. '
An Irreparable Public Loss. — Not only to the Beacon Com-
pany itself, but to the public at large, the loss of its ne^^spaper
files, almost from the beginning of the county, together with Mr.
Lane's private files for ten years, and his large cabinet of curiosities
and relics, was an almost irreparable calamity, though through the
kindness of friends, in bringing in back numbers, the preservation
of a portion of the volumes, by the County Auditor and City Clerk,
and the purchase by Mr. Lane from Mr. Hiram Bo^sven, and ship-
ment from Dakota, some four or five years ago, of the first eight
volumes of the Beacon, nearly complete files from April, 1839, to
the present time, are available to the historian and antiquarian,
and should be preserved with the utmost security and care.
Another Close Call. — After its total annihilation, April 27th,
as above related, the Beacon established temporary quarters in
the second and third stories of Cutter & HoAve's block, ordering
type, cases, paper, etc., by express, immediately resuming the pub-
lication of the paper, with its own material, though for a time
dependent upon the Citr Times presses in the matter of printing.
On the night of June 28, 1872, the Beacon had another close
call, from an undoubtedly incendiary fire in the adjoining building
on the north, occupied by Mr. Jonathan Long, as a clothing store;
not only destroying the entire stock of clothing, but the entire
interior and roof of the building also, besides w^hich the flames
crept through the wall, doing considerable damage to paper and
other materials in the Beacon office, and also setting fire to the
roof of the building. Losses: Long, on clothing, $20,000; Israel
Isbell and Charles F. Glasser, on building, $6,000, the latter being
wholly and the former about t^vo -thirds covered by insurance.
Mathews' Splendid Block. — At 12 o'clock, on the night of
June 30, 1872, the newly reconstructed block, owned by the late
James Mathew^s, w^as discovered to be on fire in the attic. The
lower story w^as occupied by Beebe & Elkins, books and drugs;
Milton H. Hart, cigar store, and Beck & Herman, boots and shoes.^
Akron's later fires. 341
Second story: Mathews & Son, insurance; Western Union Tele-
graph, G, T. Ford, attorney, and for sleeping rooms by William C.
Allen, G. T. Ford, A. C. Lohmann, M. H. Hart and Messrs. Beck
and Herman. The third floor and large mansard attic were occu-
])ied by Cascade Division, Sons of Temperance. Loss on building
$10,000; books and drugs, $5,000; boots and shoes, $5,000; other
losses, including the law library of Judge McClure, then in Europe,
probably $5,000, making a total of $25,000, and but partially covered
by insurance.
Another Midnight " Mystery." — ^August 22, 1872, at 12 o'clock
A. M., the photograph gallery of Mr. J. J. McFadden, near Masonic
Temple, was discovered to be on fire, the flames spreading so
rapidly that the building w^as entirely consumed, with an alleged
loss of $2,000 and an insurance of $1,000.
Incendiarism Still Rampant. — At 12:30 a. m., on the morning
<if August 23, 1872, the barns of Dr. William Bowen and Gen. G.
W. McNeil, on the alley between High street and Broadway, w^ere
burned at a loss of $300 and $400 to their owners respectively.
Incendiary without doubt. At 10:02 A. m., August 23, 1872, a room
in the rear of the Y. M. C. A. rooms, in the Academy of Music
building, used as a storage room by the Ladies' Relief Committee,
w^as found to be on fire, the impression prevailing that a box of
clothing had purposely been ignited by some evil-disposed person,
who had by some means gained access to the room. About this
time, also in the day time, a fire w^as discovered in one of the
apartments of Phoenix Block, which could only be accounted for
upon the hypothesis of incendiarism. Several transient suspects
were arrested, but nothing could be proved against them, and one
local suspect was so closely interrogated in regard to his intimate
relations to the several fires in question that he incontinently left
the city, and has never returned, and for nearly a year and a half
the cit}^ enjoyed comparative immunity from that class of
conflagrations.
1873 — Rather a Light Record. — April 30, 1873, the tin and
«tove store of Wright & Freer, a story and a half frame building,
near the north end of the present beautful Arcade Block, South
How^ard street, w^ith a considerable portion of its contents, was
destroyed. Loss on building and stock $2,000. June 10, 1873, the
brewery of Fred Oberholtz, on North Forge street, was burned at
3 o'clock A. m. Loss on building and stock, including 1,000 bushels
of grain and 13 bales of hops, $13,000 ; insurance, $5,000. In the
cold storage room, in tanks and vats, 15,000 kegs of beer w^ere for-
tunatel3^ or unfortunately, saved. December 23, 1873, at 1:30 a. m.,
the two-story frame grocery store of Wm. Fink, corner of South
Broadway and Exchange streets, with nearly all its contents, was
burned. Loss $5,000, fully insured.
The Fires of 1874.— March 2, 1874, for the second time, the
Fire Brick works of J. Park Alexander, on Cannl street, greatly
-enlarged and improved, was destroyed at a loss of $10,000 with an
insurance of but $3,500. The frame building on the north, used by
Mr. Alexander as machine repair shop, was saved by the efforts of
the fireinen, Mr. Alexander the next day presenting the depart-
ment with a check for $50 for the benefit of the Relief Fund. The
three-story brick block belonging to Mr. Arthur Malcolm, 119
342 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Howard street, now occupied by Chandler, Findley & Co., station-
ers, then occupied by George W. Camp & Son, clothiers and mer-
chant tailors, was burned at midnight, March 27, 1874. Losses :
Camp & Son, $12,500; insurance $10,000. Malcolm on building and
personal property, $2,500; insured. On the night of April 20, in
the building owned by A. Eichenlaub, immediately south of the
present furniture store of Dodge & Plumer, the office of the Dailv'
Argus, and general job printing works of H. G. Canfield & Co.,
was burned, the next day the fire taking a fresh start and involv-
ing, in partial ruin, the buildings of D. G. Sanford and W. B. & J,
G. Raymond, (occupied by I. Cohen & Co.) on either side. Losses :
Canfield & Co., $10,000; Eichenlaub, $6,000; Raymond, $3,500; San-
ford, building $500, stock, $4,500— total, $24,500, partly covered by
insurance, Mr. Canfield's net loss being $3,000. July 29, "The
Block," (in an early day known as Rhodes' Hotel) in the Sixth
Ward, owned by Samuel Blackie, Michael Murphy and Henry
Donohue, and occupied by seven or eight families. Total loss
$2,500. September 8, the American House, a large frame hotel, for
many years kept by the late Florence Weber, on the east side of
North Howard street. Loss $6,CXX) w^ith $4,000 insurance. Septem-
cer 11, Excelsior Stone^vare works of Shenkel Brothers, on Foun-
tain street. Loss $13,000; insurance $7,000. October 30, Lewis
Miller's fine residence, West Side Heights. Loss $12,000. Decem-
ber 15, t>vo-story frame building on the present site of Barber's
block, South Howard street, owned and occupied as a clothing"
store by Simon Joseph. Loss $2,000.
The Disasters of 1875. — April 18, the dwelling house of Wash-
ington Martin, Akron's veteran barber, 102 James street. Los&
$2,(X)0. June 13, the carriage works and blacksmith shop of Harp-
ham Brothers, Sixth Ward. Loss $5,000. Loss to ten or twelve
customers -whose buggies were being repaired, painted, etc., $1,000,
August 12, dw^elling house of Theron A. Noble, corner Ash and
Bowery streets. Loss $6,000. August 20, (Sunday) bone-dust and
fertilizer factory of Leopold & Hedeman, foot of Sherbondy hill,
north of Wooster avenue. Loss about $4,000 with no insurance.
1876 — Epidemic Incendiarism.— February 13, dwelling house of
Ambrose L. Cotter, junction of East Market and Middlebury
streets. Loss $4,000. Accidental. On the night of April 28, about
9 o'clock, a small building connected with the cooper-shop of C. B.
Maurer, corner of Church street and Quarry alley and extending
around to High street. Being of the most inflammable material, the
entire establishment was at once enveloped in flames, w^hich were
soon communicated to the carriage w^orks of C. A. Collins & Son,,
upon the west, the dwelling house of Mr. John Prier, on the eastr
as w^ell as to several buildings on the north side of Church street,
w^hich were all destroyed, with nearlv all their contents. Losses:
C. B. Maurer, $10,000; Collins, $14,000; John Prier, $2,500; D. A.
Scott, barn, etc., $1,000; Berg & Koch, groceries, $1,000; sundry
tenants, $500. On the same night the pottery works of W. B.
Gamble & Co., in the Sixth Ward, were burned with a loss of from
$2,000 to $3,000. Two days later, on Sunday, April 30, between twa
and three o'clock p. m., the box and variety works of Baker & Mc-
Millen, west of canal, on BoAvery street, were totally destroyed, at
a loss of $5,000, immediately followed by the burning of the office
and lumber in the yard of S. N. Wilson, east of postoffice, $400, and
AKROX'S LATER FIRES. 343
directly afterwards by a stubborn fire in the basement of the rake
factory, immediately north of the jail, with a loss to Col. Simon
Perkins, owner of the building, of $500, and an additional loss to
Collins & Son, on property removed thither from their own burn-
ing building, of $100.
Capture of the Incendiaries. — Three days later the barn of
Matthew Shouler, on Water street, was burned at a loss of $375,
and on the same night tw^o young men, James Peck and George
Bates, alias "Scottie" Moore, were arrested on suspicion of being
the incendiaries. Both were indicted, tried and convicted, the first
being sentenced to four, and the latter, three, years in the peni-
tentiary.
A short time afterwards, five boys ranging from 15 to 17 years,
William Langendorf, Frank Glatthar, George Kimpflin, Charles
Ley and Jacob L. Steinel, were arrested and indicted for causing
the several other rapidly succeeding fires above alluded to. George
Kimpflin, on trial w^as acquitted ; Langendorf and Ley forfeited
their bonds, $500 each ; and Glatthar and Steinel were convicted
and each sentenced to five years imprisonment. The lesson
though severe, was w^holesome, not only to the boys implicated
but to other mischievously inclined youngsters, not to allovt^ their
fun-loving propensities to run in so dangerous a direction.
On the night of October 31, 1876, Sumner's Opera House and
Hotel, corner of North Howard and Tallmadge streets, w^ere con-
sumed with an alleged loss of $65,000 with a partial insurance
only.
1877 — Record Comparatively Light. — The Fire Department
report 39 fires in 1877, with an aggregate loss of $77,135, and an
aggregate insurance of $43,075, One of the most serious fires of
the year, occurred on the night of May 3rd, occasioned by the
breaking of a lamp in the basement of L. H.- Limbert & Son's
furniture store, 130, 132 and 134 North Howard street. The build-
ing, two stories in front and three stories in the rear, with its
entire contents, was consumed, and also the two-story building of
John Robb, 128, and the one-story building of P. D. and Orlando
Hall, 124 and 126 — the barns of Limbert and Robb in the rear, with
considerable damage to other nearby buildings. Losses reported;
Limbert, $4,000 on building, $13,000 on stock, and $8(X) on barn,
with $7,000 insurance ; Robb, $3,000 on stock, $2,000 on store and
barn, with $1,720 insurance ; Hall, loss, $1,000, insurance $500; other
losses $400. August 27, the planing mill of Miller & Kratz (now
Thomas Lumber Co.) west of Canal, was burned, at a loss to the
proprietors on building, machinery and material, of $25,000, and an
insurance of $10,500. Mr. D. A. James, manufacturer of office
and church furniture, etc., occupying the second story, also suf-
fered a loss of $1,200 with no insurance. October 17, agricultural
warehouse of Mr. David S. Alexander, on Canal street (now elec-
tric light station) was consumed with a loss of from $10,000 to
$12,000. Insurance on building $2,000, on contents $6,0(X).
1878 — Few Fires — Heavy Losses. — There were twenty-seven
alarms during the year, with losses aggregating $172,161, and an
aggregate insurance of $102,651. May 31, saloon and dwelling
house of William Doren, corner Mill and High streets. Loss,
$1,500; insurance, $3,000. The most formidable fire of the season
344 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
occurred at 1:30 o'clock on the morning of June 18th, when Com-
merce block, belonging to Mr. Jacob Good, and the Academy of
Music, belonging to Mr. John F. Seiberling, w^ere destroyed, with a
loss to Mr. Seiberling of $50,000, with $18,000 insurance only, Mr.
Good's loss being $40,000, insured for $33,000. The two store rooms
in Commerce block were occupied respectively by Mr. A. C. Loh-
mann, >vith millinery goods, and Mr. John vSebring, w^ith general
dry goods; the second story as the office of the Western Union
Telegraph Company, sleeping room of Mr. William C. Allen, etc.
The first floor of the Academy of Music building was occupied by
the Bank of Akron, and Auble, Brown Sc Co., dry goods; the sec-
ond floor by Upson, Ford &c Baird, Foster, Marvin & Grant, and S.
W. McClure, attorneys, Allen & Bock, insurance, and others, the
basement by William Besnecker, billiard room and saloon. The
fire originated in the store room of Mr. JohnSebring — a new-comer
to Akron — and as it began with a loud explosion, and as it was soon
learned that there w^as a heavy insurance upon the stock, it was
believed that Mr. Sebring, leaving one jet burning, had purposely
turned on all the other burners, thus naturally causing ignition in
all parts of the nearly air-tight room, as soon as it should become
filled with the escaping vapor.
The indignation of the people was intense, for a time nearly
reaching the lynching point. Mr. Sebring w^as arrested for arson,
and lodged in jail, but exhibiting duplicate bills of purchase to a
larger amount than the insurance thereon, he was not proceeded
against, though there were still many who believed there w^as
something crooked about the transaction.
Losses to tenants were: Lohmann (one-third of stock saved)
$8,(X)0, insured; Sebring $16,000 to $18,000; insurance $14,000;
Western Union $400 to $500, no insurance; W. C. Allen, furniture,
carpets, library, etc., $1,500, insurance $1,000; Auble, Brown & Co.,
goods mostly removed, loss light; Bank of Akron, furniture mostly
removed, books, papers, money, etc., in vault, intact; Besnecker,
loss $2,500, insurance $1,500; contents of offices, in Academy of
Music, mostly removed, miscellaneous losses being about 31,000.
August 31, dwelling house of Hugh McFarland, 306 Perkins street.
Loss $2,000; no insurance. November 5, Leopold's Block, South
Akron. Loss $1,100; insurance $8,500. December 24, potterj' of
Gamble & Morton, Sixth Ward. Loss $2,000; insurance, $1,600.
1879 — LossE-s Light. — For the year 1879 there were 39 alarms;
total value of property imperiled, $237,475; total insurance, $81,750;
total losses, $18,388.61. March 4, Buchtel College— fire in attic,
supposed by sparks from chimney. Loss $5,610. Insured. June
20, brewerj' of Burkhardt &c Gaessler, Sherman street. Loss $3,300.
Insured. July 1, Catharine Nehr, dwelling and saloon, corner
Exchange and Pearl. Loss $1,100. Insured. November 5, office
L. G. Thorp, 118 North Howard street. Loss $2,000. No insurance.
November 11, three-story brick drug store of J. A. Byrider, 218
East Market street. Loss $1,419.60. Insured.
1880 — Losses Lighter Still. — There were 50 alarms in 1880,
the total losses, out of an aggregate insurance of $52,125, being but
$12,503. 70, those of $1,000 and upwards being as follows: March 25,
slip-shop of Whitmore, Robinsons «& Co., Sixth Ward. $1,300. May
11, factory of G. Eberhard & Co., junction of Exchange and Carroll
akkon's later fires. 345
streets, $3,426.44. July 3, livery stable of John Wilson, Sixth Ward,
$2,01)0. August 1, brick brewery of Fred. Horix, North Forge
street, $2,454.
1881 — ^IvOSSES Proportionately IvIGht, — Total number of
alarms during the year 52. Losses on $138,465, insurance only
$17,430, the more important being as follows: February 17, Con-
gregational Church, South High street. Damage to building and
fixtures, $4,667. February 22, factory of Baker & McMillen, west of
canal near Ash street bridge, $1,300. July 30, frame dwelling
house ofF. Horix, North Forge street, struck by lightning; $1,600.
September 28, frame planing mill of Weary, Snyder, Wilcox Manu-
facturing Company. Damage to building and stock, $2,940.
1882 — Slight Increase of Losses. — In 1882 there were 45
alarms and out of a total insurance of $156,700 a total loss of $37,-
636.45, apportioned as follows: February 28, frame dwelling house
of Rev. T. E. Monroe, 124 South Broadway. Damage $1,300.
March 22, planing mill of W. B. Doyle & Co., junction Howard and
Main streets, $5,000. August 14, City Mill, West Market street,
unoccupied, the property of Gen. Philo Chamberlin, of Cleveland.
Alleged loss, $20,0(X), fully insured and well sold. Rinner & Lapp,
coopers, loss on barrels stored in warehouse, $1,120. October 8,
pottery of Knapp & Whitsell, east of Fountain street; $6,650.
1883 — Calls Numerous — Losses Heavy. — There were 54 alarms
in 1883, with a total loss of $164,155, the principal sufferers being:
March 7, the clothing house of Hopfman & Moss. Loss on build-
ing $700, contents $16,000. Fully insured. March 25, Carter &
Steward, oat meal mill. South Main street, building and machinery
$22,750, contents $17,250. Partially insured only. June 4, confec-
tionery store of Andrews *& Brenizer, 104 South Hpward street; loss
on contents $1,370. E. W. Howard, on building, $638. Fully
insured, December 16, strawboard works of J. F. Seiberling& Co.,
Sixth Ward, building and machinery, $25,000; contents $8,000,
insurance $5,744. December 31, McNeil &c Baldwin, ^tna Mill,
Beach street, building $16,000, contents $49,000, insurance $32,422.
1884 — Comparatively Moderate, — The total number of calls
was 58, and the total losses but $51,448, the more important being
as follows: April 24, the Mathews block, 114 to 118 South Howard
street, lower story, basement and part of second story, occupied by
J. Koch & Co., clothiers. Loss on stock $28,997, building $1,575;
fully insured. May 29, Stinehour block, and saloon building of
Felix O'Neil, West Market street. Losses on buildings $3,326,
contents $2,680; fully insured. June 18, dwelling house Eli
Blocker, 176 Balch street, $1,000. August 5, one-story frame build-
ings, west side of South Howard street, 170 to 184, east side 171 to
191, occupied by James Derrig as a liquor store, and others.
Losses on buildings $3,145, contents^ $2,013; fully insured.
1885. The Lightest Losses Yet. — Though there were 55
silarms in 1885, the total losses were only $19,977, those aggre-
gating $1,000 and upwards being as follows: March 9, Mrs. Mary
M. Stephens, dwelling house, 505 South Broadway. Loss $1,400, no
insurance. April 11, saloon of Otto Waelde, Old Forge. Loss
^2,200, insurance, $1,200. April 23, Haushalter & Tissot, jewelers,
South Howard street. Loss on stock $2,800, building (Henry
346 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Motz) $1,080, insured. September 25, J. Park Alexander, Fire
Brick Works, South Canal street. Loss on building and contents,.
$4,200. Insured.
1886. Prolific Fires — Heavy Losses. — There were 65 alarms
in 1886, and an aggregate loss of $680,825, and an aggregate insur-
ance of $325,533. The first serious calamity of the year was the
destruction of the mammoth oat meal plant of Mr. Ferd.
Shumacher, on Mill, Broadway and Summit streets, on the night
of March 6. The total loss on the several buildings destroyed,
including their contents, over and above insurance, was about
$600,000. May 17, Miller Chain Works and Match Factory, Rubber
street. Loss $12,000. Insurance light. October 23, Greenhouse of
Bert T. Wills, Park Place. Loss on building $1,CX)0; contents
$1,500, no insurance, December 31, Empire Harvester Works of J.
F. Seiberling & Co., south of Mill street, east of railroad. Boiler
explosion and burning of building. Loss on building $10,0(X), con
tents, $3,000, insurance recovered $4,415. William Brown, 17-3^ear-
old son of Jatnes Brown, 121 Arch street, was killed and several
others seriously wounded by the explosion.
1887. Increased Calls — Diminished Losses. — Total calls 88 —
total losses $41,918 on an aggregate insurance of $308,855. April 1^
dAvelling house of John Ho^ve, north of city limits $1,800, insurance
paid $950. May 30, Lewis Miller, dwelling house, Oak Place; loss
on building $1,200, contents $2(X). Insured. October 18, two-story
frame building, three stores on South Main street, building, G.
Eberhard $1,585; insurance $1,280. Loss on contents $1,690, insur-
ance paid $790. November 19, cooper-shop of J. F. Seiberling
Milling Co., Sixth Ward. Loss $8,000, covered by insurance.
November 27, livery stable, George WuUe, corner of North Main
and Tallmadge streets. Loss on building $2,000, Qontents $2,700
insurance paid $4,000. December 3, Miller Match Works, Rubber
street. Loss on building $2,5(X), contents $4,000; insurance paid
$5,000.
1888 — Slightly Increased Losses. — The alarms for 1888, were
67, with $46,064 losses on $172,697 insurance. May 8, Enterprise
Works of E. F. Pfleuger, Ash street. Loss on building, $170; con-
tents $4,530; covered by insurance. May 12, Packing House of
Jacob Brodt, 616 to 620 South Main street. Loss on building
$1,844.50, contents $1,472.14, fully insured. July 22, Carpet Store,
William H. Diehl & Co., 219 and 221 East Market street. Loss on
stock $2,700, insurance $2,500; loss on building, M. H. Crumrine,
$574, covered by insurance. August 3, Varnish Works of Kubler
& Beck, struck by lightning. Loss on building $2,3(X), insured for
$1,300; contents $11,500; insurance $9,300. September 5, Stables of
Summit County Agricultural Society, Fountain Park Fair Grounds.
Loss to Society $1,000, no insurance. Three valuable horses
belonging respectively to A. Q. Eves, of Akron, ($2,000) parties in
Michigan, ($500) and J. H. Carey, of Bedford, (value not stated)
were destroyed in this fire, which, in the terse report of the depart-
ment was caused by "^vhiskey." October 8, enameling house of
Baker, McMillen & Co., Ash and Bowery streets, by explosion of
oven. Loss on building $2,500, insurance $2,820; contents $4,500,
insurance $3,002.80. December 15, stable of Thomas W. McCue,
East Mill street; building $950, insurance paid $550; contents,,
including a valuable horse, $811; insurance paid $488.
Akron's later fires. 347
1889. Increased Calls — Heavier Losses. — There were 82 alarms
in 1889, with a total loss of $293,173 on a total insurance of $311,717.
Losses exceeding $1,000 as follows : January 4, John Wilson's livery
stable, Sixth ward. Loss on building $2,181. 80, contents, including
two horses $3,795.72; insurance paid $5,973.22. February 25,
Summit City Oil Company's warelTouse, near union depot. Loss
$3,000, no insurance. April 7, David P. Kidwell, Carroll street,
dwelling. Loss on house $1,200, contents $350, insurance paid $800.
May 3, James Christy — tenement block, South Howard street.
Loss on building $500, contents $2,200; insurance paid $1,307.12.
May* 7, Lewis Miller, Oak Place, barn. Loss on building $2,500,
contents, $500. May 9, Foltz & Frank, jewelry store. South
Howard street. Loss on building $500, on contents $6,100; fully
insured. July 22, William Poole, Thornton street, bakery. Loss on
building $3,300, contents $1,362; insurance paid $2,625. July 28, J.
M. Flickinger, Irvin street, paint shop. Loss on building $150,
contents $850; insurance paid $850. September 4, Akron Stone-
w^are Company, Sixth ward. Loss on building $850, contents
$2,100; insurance paid $2,700. October 29, O'Neil & Dyas' store,
South Main street. Loss on building $41,000, contents $177,000;
insurance paid $109,000. J, Whitelaw, Howard street. Loss on
building $2,500, contents, J. W. Little, $4,000; insurance paid $3,870;
estate, Jacob Allen. Loss on building $582.75, contents, Good &
Co., $650; insurance paid $1,194; J. K. Simmons, loss on building
$1500, contents $2,000; insurance paid $2,800; Clapsaddle estate.
Loss on building $3,250, contents. Tiger Hat Store, $3,250;
Lamparter & Pfeiffer, drugs $120.50; T. H. Wolfram, photo-
grapher, $3,700; E. B. Cahoon, $750; A. L. Dyke, $285; H. W. Moss,
$285; Akron Klectric Co., $800; total insurance paid $10,841.83.
November 6, Bert T. W^ills, Park Place, greenhouse. Loss on
building $1,700, contents $2,200; insurance paid $990. December
28, Budd & Lowrey, Sixth ward, machine shop. Loss on building
$3,000, contents $3,500; insurance paid $3,388.50.
1890 — Calls Still More Numerous — Losses Lighter. — Total
alarms 118; total losses $109,104 on total insurance of $466,600.
Losses exceeding $1000: January 7, Alfred M. Barber, brick block,
corner Howard and Cherry streets, loss $10,200; John Motz, adjoin-
ing building on the north, $1,800; contents, Myers & Polsky, drv
goods, $34,000; Weeks & Kingsbury, crockery, $4,000; Buckley Post,
G. A. R., $1;500; Woman's Relief Corps, $500; Sons of Veterans,
-100; J. V. Welsh, $48; J. M. Poulson; $625; John Mack $400,^total
losses $52,225; total insurance paid $41,128. May8, William Schroeder,
brick block. South Howard street, building $1,700; contents, Stanton
& Son, photograph gallery, $1,300; insurance paid $2,8(X). June 4,
Akron Paper Mill, West Exchange street, building, $550; contents,
$3,0(K); insurance paid $3,550. Livery stable. West Exchange street, F.
Schumacher, building, $1,616.85; John T. Adkins, contents, $4,9(X),
insurance paid $5,065.86. July 19, Patrick T. McCourt, Wabash
avenue, barn — building,$l,100; contents, $400, insurance paid $1,115.
August 16, Akron Iron Co., South High street, building $500; con-
tents $1,072.80; insurance paid $1,572.80. October 4, H. E. Merrill,
South Main street, building $125, contents, C. Rheinhold, $650;
Currycomb Co., $1,100; insurance paid $1,520. November 2, Mor-
gan Boiler Co., south of city limits, building, $4,500, contents, $8,0(X),
insurance paid $5,500. December 10, R. Thomas, corner Broadwaj'^
348 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
and Thornton streets, building, $314; contents, $700; insurance
paid $788.46.
THE SUMMING UP.
It has not been attempted,, in this sketch, to give all the fires
that have occurred in Akron, in the sixty-six years of its existence,
but only the more prominent, few being included where the losses
were under one thousand dollars, and, in the absence of full reli-
able records, it is quite. probable that some of even the moreimport-
ant early fires have been overlooked.
But enough has been given to sho^r the immense sacrifices
which the people of Akron have made to the Great Moloch, a con-
siderable proportion of the sufferers, too, being victims to the
cupidity and rascality of their immediate neighbors. Yet as great
as has been the pecuniary sacrifice by fire, during the period
written of, the physical sacrifice, if it could be computed by dollars
and cents, would be found to be still greater, for it must be remem-
bered that, until within the past tw^enty-five years, every drop of
-water dra\vn from well, cistern, canal or creek, and thrown upon
a fire in Akron, had to be done by an almost equal expenditure of
human sweat and muscle, with no extrinsic aid of steam or
hydraulic pressure, and that, too, at the imminent peril of health,
limb and even life itself, for a true diagnosis would trace many
a fatal disease, and long years of physical suffering, among old
volunteer firemen, to exposure and over-exertion, in fighting the
■devouring element with the old crank or brake machines herein
described.
Referring to the records of the Fire Department, from 1878 to
1890, both years inclusive, it is found that in the thirteen years, 792
runs were made by the department, that out of a total insurance,
on property imperiled, of $2,702,314 (full value probably $3,500,000),
the aggregate loss was $1,619,965. Though there is now no available
record, it is safe to estimate the previous average yearly fires at
twenty, or 1100 for the 55 years, and as the losses herein given,
during that time, foot up considerably more than a million, esti-
mating the minor losses, not given, at $300,000, we have an aggre-
gate loss of $3,796,191.
It is proper to remark, in closing, that while Akron's early
Volunteer Fire Companies, with their hand-drawn and hand-
w^orked, crank and brake engines, and other primitive apparatus,
are entitled to every possible meed of praise, for their untiring,
unselfish and unrequited labors, in saving the property of their
neighbors from destruction, modern horse and steam driven
appliances, w^ith the present thoroughly organized, w^ell housed,
carefully drilled and liberally paid department, aided by its instan-
taneous alarm devices, and the improved hydraulic advantages,
which the city water works afford, very materially diminishes the
risks Avith a far less percentage of loss, in proportion to value, on
the property imperiled, by its ability to promptly extinguish, or
circumscribe the limits of, the innumerable fires, that, in a city of
the size and character of Akron, must inevitably constantly occur.
In short, though somewhat expensive, the present excellent depart-
ment, pays the cost of its maintenance, yearly, many thousand
fold.
PKKSENT STATUS OF DEPARTMENT.
341>
The Fire Department, in charge of Chief B. F. Manderbach,
and Mechanical Engineer Frank F. Loomis, is now (August, 1891)
as follows:
Station No. 1 : corner High and
Church streets ; equipped w^ith
one second size Ahrens steamer;
one two-horse hose carriage; one
two-horse hook and ladder truck,
and 1,2(X) feet of best quality of
white anchor hose, with the fol-
lowing roster: Engineer, Frank F.
Loomis ; fireman,Chas. E. Hibbard ;
driver of steamer, John Zimmer-
man; driver of ladder truck, Nich-
olas Wilhelm; tillerman, Warren
Snyder; driver of hose carriage,
Charles Tryon; pipemen, Frank
Rice, AndrcAv Boehmler, and
Charles Jost; with twelve call
hosemen and three call steamer
men.
Central Fire Station, corner South
High and Church Streets.
Station No 2: Corner East
Market and East Exchange
streets, (Sixth ward), one third
size Silsby engine, one two-horse
hose carriage, and l,100feet of hose;
James Dunn, engineer; GusRyan,
fireman; George Head, driver of
steamer; Harry Wilson, driver
of hose carriage ; Charles Smith,
pipeman; five call hosemen; tw^o
call steamer men.
Station No. 3: Myrtle Place,
Third ward; one two-horse hose
carriage, and 1,000 feet of hose;
John Denious and George D. Fel-
ton, pipemen; Nathaniel P. Smith,
driver of hose carriage; three call
hosemen.
Fire Station No. 2, Akron, Sixtli Ward.
Station No. ♦4: Corner South
Main and Fair streets. Fourth
ward, one third size Button
engine, one two-horse hose car-
riage, and 1,200 feet of hose;
Charles V. Criss, engineer; Frank
A. Myers, fireman; Peter J. Hoh-
man, driver of steamer; Abe L,.
Eberly, driv^er of hose carriage;
John T. Mertz, pipeman ; five call
hosemen, and two call steamer
men.
Fire Station No. 4, Soutli Main Street,
Fourth Ward.
CHAPTER XVII.
AKROX'S MILITARY HISTORY, ANCIENT AND MODERN— OLD-TIHE ARMY
RATIONS, PAY, ETC. — EARLY MILITARY OPERATIONS— THE WAR OF THE
REBELLION — AKRON'S FIRST WAR MEETING — POLITICAL PARTY LINES
, ABOLISHED— THE POPULAR UPRISING— RAPID ENLISTMENTS— FLAG AND
REVOLVER PRESENTATIONS— " GOODIES " FOR THE vSOLDIER BOYS— OFF
FOR THE FRONT —END OF THREE MONTHS' SERVICE— ENLISTING FOR THE
WAR— NINETEENTH, TWENTY-NINTH, THIRTY-SEVENTH, FORTY-SECOND,
FIFTY-EIGHTH, SIXTY-FOURTH, SIXTY-SEVENTH, EIGHTY-FOURTH, ONE
HUNDRED AND FOURTH, ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTH, ONE HUNDRED
AND FIFTEENTH, ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINTH, ONE HUNDRED AND
SEVENTY-SEVENTH, ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-EIGHTH REGIMENTS,
OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY — FIRST, SECOND, SIXTH AND TENTH OHIO
CAVALRY — FIRST, SIXTH AND NINTH OHIO BATTERIES— THE "SQUIRREL
HUNTERS" — THE "HOME GUARD" — THE ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FOURTH
REGIMENT OHIO NATIONAL GUARD, OR "HUNDRED DAY" MEN— COPPER-
HEAD FIRE-IN-THE-REAR — A "COLD-WATER" VICTORY — COSTLY OPPOSI-
TION — POST-WAR OPERATIONS — THE BIERCE CADETS — COAL MINE
DISTURBANCES— THE ASHLAND EXECUTION RIOT — COMPANY B, O. N. G. —
AKRON GERMAN GUARDS — BATTERY F, AKRON LIGHT ARTILLERY —
BUCHTEL CADETS, ETC.
ANCIENT MILITARY HISTORY.
AKRON — including Portage and Middlebury townships — has
quite a creditable military history, but, unfortunately, the early
records are too incomplete for a full representation thereof in this
w^ork. That among the earlier settlers of Middlebury and Portage
tow^nship there w^ere some Revolutionary soldiers is quite proba-
ble, though their names have not been handed dow^n, except those
of Daniel Galpin and Elijah Bryan (father of the late Judge Con-
stant Bryan), buried in the Akron Rural Cemetery, Of soldiers of
the w^ar of 1812, resting in the several cemeteries of the city:
Rural — George Dunkle, John C. De La Mater, Asa Field, Timothy
Clark, Gideon Hewitt, William Hardesdy, James Mills, Andrews
May, William Noland; Middlebury — John C. Hart, Henry Spafford,
James Viall, Sr,
Soldiers' Pay, Rations, Etc. — As an item of interest to the
latter-day soldier, it may be properly noted here, that in the w^ar
of 1812 the pay of privates and musicians w^as $6.00 per month;
corporals $7.00; sergeants $8.00; quarter-master sergeants and
sergeant-majors $9.00; ensigns and second- lieutenants, $20.00 and
tw^o rations; first lieutenants, $30.00 and two rations; captains,
$40.00 and three rations; majors, $50.00 and three rations; colonels,
$75.00, five rations and $12.00 for forage, a ration consisting of I14
lbs. of beef, 12 oz. pork, 13 oz. bread or flour, one gill whislcy, with
tw^o quarts of salt, four quarts of vinegar, four pounds of soap, and
1% pounds of candles to every 100 rations.
The War with Mexico. — For the Mexican war of 1846-48,
Akron furnished but few^ soldiers, the bulk of that army being
recruited from the Southern States, but among w^ell-know^n citi-
zens of Akron, then or since, who served in that war, may be
EARLY xMILITARY OPERATIONS. 351
mentioned the following: Ezra Tryon, Adams Hart, Oliver Perry
Barney, George Dresher, Joseph Gonder, Jereboam B. Creighton,
Thomas Thompson, Cornelius O. Way and Valmore Morris, Of
these, Hart, Barney, Tryon and Creighton, were also soldiers in
the civil war of 1861-65. In the Mexican wrar Barney was a ser-
geant, and one night, Avhile on picket duty near Monterey, he was
lassoed by the Mexicans and dragged quite a distance, but was
rescued by his comrades before being entirely strangled to death,
and w^as alw^ays very fond of showing the marks made upon l^s
neck by the lariat. He afterwards became somewhat dissipated,
and one Winter night, from exposure w^hile intoxicated, had both
his feet frozen, but notwithstanding his semi-crippled condition,
he pluckily enlisted in the regular army during the late war, later
becoming an inmate of the Soldiers' Home at Dayton, where he
subsequently died.
Early L^cal Military Operations. — The people of Summit
county, like those of the people of Ohio, generally, were subject to
stated military duty under the early militia laws of the State, and
all able-bodied males, of military age, were enrolled into com-
panies, regiments, brigades, divisions, etc. Quite a number of
independent companies also flourished for longer or shorter
j^eriods, among which the "Summit Guards" with the late Gen.
Philo Chamberlin as captain, Arad Kent as first lieutenant and
Alexander H. Commins second lieutenant, was one of the most
prominent, and \^ith their nobby blue uniforms, showy epau-
lettes and waving plumes, thoroughly drilled as they were, the
Summit Guards were the just pride of Ancient Akron, as is Com-
pany B, Ohio National Guard, the pride of modern Akron t(>-day.
The Battle of Fort Meigs. — This company was present at
the great Fort Meigs celebration, during the Harrison-Van Buren
campaign of 1840, on June 10 and 11, in giving an account of Avhich
Hiram Bowen, Esq., founder and editor of the Beacon, said: "We
cannot here refrain from a favorable mention of the * Summit
Guards.' It was the largest company present, and in appearance
Avas the admiration of all. It was w^ith pride that w^e answrered the
numerous questions, 'Where is that fine company from?' by saying,
' They are from Akron.' The Guards had the honor of escorting
Gen. Harrison to and from the fort."
Grand Officers' Review in Akron. — In 1842, Brig. Gen.
Oliver E. Gross, and Brigade Inspector Lewis P. Buckley, notify
the commandants of regiments, squadrons and battalions to meet
in Akron, August 19 and 20, for inspection and drill, with prepara-
tion for camp duty, drum and fife majors to bring their drums and
fifes with them, the Akron and Mogadore bands also being
requested to attend on the second day.
"The Akron Rifles" O. V. M.— The Beacon of July 30, 1857,
said: " The military law of last Winter seems to have given a new
impulse to the organization of military companies. A rifle com-
pany has been formed here, consisting of substantial and spirited
young men w^ho w^ill be ambitious to make the corps equal to the
foremost in appearance, drill and discipline. The officers are as
foUow^s:
Capt., William L. Everett; first lieut., Henry G. Pow^ers; second
lieut., Dudley Seward; third lieut., Augustus Brothwell; ensign,
William B. Doyle; judge advocate, Alvin C. Voris; surgeon. Dr.
352 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Jacob J. Smith; recording secretary, Oliver Hazard Perry Ayres;
financial secretary, R. F. Gibson; treasurer, John H. Christ3^"
"Marrinek Riflemen" — German. — In January, 1861, when
signs of coming civil war thickened about us, the patriotic
Germans of Akron organized a company, under above title, in
honor of Militia Major General Asa S. Marriner and his chief of
staff, George \V. Marriner, with the following named officers:
Capt., Baptist Benkler; first lieut., John Keller; second lieut., Peter
Berra; ensign, John Schaab; orderly sergt., Cornelius Brown; sec-
ond sergt., John Hans; third sergt., Aaron Rut; first corp., Peter
Taubermann; second corp., Joseph Schmidt. This company, under
the training of the Messrs. Marriner, rapidly attained great pro-
ficiency of drill, and on March 4, 1861 — in honor of the inauguration
of President Lincoln — gave their first public parade, and were
reviewed by Brig. Gen. George W. McNeil and staff, consisting of
Major Erhard Stembacher, Capt. John T, Good, Capt. Jacob B.
Dussell, Capt. A. Zipperlin (surgeon), and Capt. Thomas Earl
(chaplain).
The tviTO companies above named, on the breaking out of the
war, went to pieces, the most of their number entering the servace
in the various companies and regiments then organized and sent
into the field.
We have not the data nor the space to further trace the early
military "prowess" of Akron and vicinity, except to say that at the
breaking out of the War of the Rebellion, the principal active local
military officers were Major General Asa S. Marriner, Brigadier
General Geo. W. McNeil and Major Erhard Steinbacher.
THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.
On the breaking out of the Civil War, in the Spring of 1861,
the people of Akron and Summit county were found to be patriotic
to the core, political party lines being abolished and Republicans
and Democrats alike — with a few dishonorable exceptions — cor-
dially united in a solid Union organization, sharing equally the
civil offices, and working shoulder to shoulder for the preservation
of the Union.
In common with the people of the entire North, the people of
Akron had w^atched with the most intense interest, the proceedings
at Washington and elsew^here, and when, in lightning flashes, the
news was received, that on the 12th day of April, 1861, Fort Sumter
had been fired upon, by armed traitors, the excitement instanta-
neously rose to the highest point of patriotic fervor.
Immediately following Mr. Lincoln's call for troops, a meeting
of the citizens of Akron and vicinity, Avithout regard to political
party predilections, was held at Union Hall (Henry's block) on
Wednesday evening, April 17, presided over by Henry Purdy Esq.,
and of which Hon. Ira P. Sperry, of Tallmadge, Dr. Mendal Jewett,
of Middlebury (Republicans) and Gen. George W. McNeil and Dr.
JacobJ. Smith (Democrats) were vice presidents, and Jacob A. Koh-
ler, Esq., Secretary, Roland, O. Hammond, then the leading Demo-
crat of Summit county, taking an active part in the meeting, and
making an equally patriotic speech with Messrs. N. W. Goodhue,
Gen. L. V. Bierce and other prominent Republicans who addressed
the meeting, which meeting unanimously adopted ringing resolu-
tions, for the abolition of all party lines and a vigorous and united
MAG.N IFICEXT UPRISING.
37)3
effort for the preserv^ation and perpetuation of the government ;
opposing to the bitter end secession and rebellion, and all kinds of
traitors, whether found in the North or South; that the requisition
for troops should be at once responded to, and doubled and trebled,
if necessary; that an overwhelming force be at once organized
that, "in one campaign, shall wipe out the rebellion of petty
tyrants, and restore peace and prosperity to our country."
Kecrnifiny Scene, corner Howard and Market .Streets, at beiiinniiiji of the
War in 1861.— From photo by «. F. Battels.
Akron Union Light Infantry. — To the first call for 75,()00 vol-
unteers, issued by President Lincoln April 15, 1861, Akron and vSum-
mit county w^ere among the very first to respond. The first com-
panies recruited here, under that call, were Companies A. and B,,
Akron Union Light Infantry, afterwards mustered into the ser-
vice as Companies G. and K., Nineteenth Regiment, Ohio Volun-
teer Infantry ; and Company C, Akron Buckeye Infantry, the
latter, because of an excess of enlistments, being disbanded before
being mustered into the United States service.
The original officers of Company A. [G.J were Lewis P. Buck-
ley, Capt.; Andrew J. Fulkerson, First Lieut.; Gilbert S. Carpen-
ter, Second Lieut., with the following members : Charles A, Ackley,
Frank C.Ackley, William G. Alexander, Henry E.Bryan, J. E. Bruce,
W. W. Buck, N. B. Bigelow, Gates A. Babcock, Avery S. Beardsley,
Charles M. Browri, Jr., Cornelius A. Brouse, Byron S, Chase,
George A. Collins, \V. A. Chamberlin, William Carl, Frederick F.
Falk, George W. Folsom, Alden Gage, John C. Hanscom, G. W.
Hart, Charles Henning, Henry O. Hampson, Charles W. Huse, T.
J. Hudson, J. D. Heathman, Marcus F. C. Humphrey, Henr^' Ward
Ingersoll, Oscar C. Jackson, Hiram A. Kepler, John Kielj^, Otto
Kipps, Charles Keol, T, G. Lane, James M. Malone, William H,
McMaster (drummer), George A. Purington, Julian H. Pitkin, Mills
B. Purdy, S. E. Phinney, John Patterson, Richard ^F. Palmer,.
23
354 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Orson H. Remington, Harrison H. Remington, Walter B. Scott,
Dudley Seward, James B. Storer, Joseph W. Swaggard, B. Schil-
ling, A. H. Thompson, John Jackson Tate, David W, Thomas,
Samuel C. Williamson, S. P. Watkins, T. Weckey, Peter Wagoner,
L. J. Wagoner, H. M. White, S. Washburn, of Akron and Middle-
bury ; John Mason, of Copley; Arthurton H. Farnum, Elias Sweet,
Henry Mack and G. J. Richmond, of Bath ; W, P. Williamson, of
Randolph ; J. Alexander Lantz, of Springfield ; Frank Maranville*
Levi J. McMurray, D. D. HoUinger and J. HoUinger, of Clinton ;
Peter Carl and E. Harrington, of East Liberty ; R. H. Morgan, E.
S. Haskell and H. L. Risden, of Peninsula ; J. A. Kellogg, Nathan
Rose and William B. Richardson, of Boston ; Charles A. Miller,
of Hudson ; C. G. Jewell, Gurley G. Crane (drummer), E. L. Hitch-
cock, Christopher Cook, William H. Hinde and A. C. Holloway,
of Cuyahoga Falls — a total of 88 men.
Unfortunately a distinct roster of Company B, Akron Light
Infantry, has not been preserved, the names of the original officers
being : Andrew J. Konkle, Captain ; Paul T. Kirby, First Lieut,
and James Nelson, Second Lieut. The roster of Company C, hon-
orably discharged May 17, 1861, was as follows: Pulaski C. Hard,
Capt.; Joshua Hile, First Lieut.; John H. Knox, Second Lieut.;
Myron T. Wright, First Sergt.; Francis H. Danforth, Second Sergt.;
Ransom J. Ellsworth, Third Sergt.; Samuel Aue, Fourth Sergt.;
Elisha H. Pursell, First Corporal; Aaron Betz, Second Corporal ;
George A. Falor, Third Corporal; William Galbraith, Fourth Cor-
poral. Privates: Alonzo Austin, Albert P. Beitel, Timothy Bald-
^vin, Samuel J. Crawford, Wellington Cook, Christian Conrad,
Mortimer Danforth, Isaac D. Dailey, George W. Dice, Joseph C.
Evans, Abram Fouser, John H. FVancisco, Thomas J. Falor, Robert
F'airbanks, David C. Fisher, Daniel D. Grim, Bird Green, Andrew
Hunsicker, Harvey Hull; Horace H. Heath, William D. Haj'^nes,
Jacob J. Houseman, Irvin W. Hull, Francis Huffman, Hiram Haring,
A. W. Kilbourn, Stephen Kissinger, Jacob Leopold, Theophilus Love-
less, Jacob A. Miller, Joseph R. Mell,, James H. McDonald, David
Mclntyre, William McBride, Lauren Merriam, John A. Osterstock,
Samuel W. Parks, Wesle}^ Powers, Frank D. Paulus, Clarence M.
Peck, Charles M. Parker, William Peat, Julius Richards, Charles
D. Steese, Daniel Shaaf, James W. Stuver, William H. Spidle, San-
born Searle, Jacob Symmen, John Scanlan, Edward Xj. Smith,
David R. Townsley, William Thompson, Henry F. Waters, George
Weidman, Harrison Weeks, Samuel Winkleman, Philip Young.
The majority of the Akron and Middlebury members of the
original Nineteenth, immediately, 6n the expiration of their three
months' service, enlisted in other regiments then being formed,
and in subsequent reports were credited to such new regiments,
but in the assessor's reports w^e find the following additional names
credited to the Nineteenth : William Bloomfield, William Beatty,
A. J. Britton, George H. Barber, John F. Earl," James H. Grinnell,
Michael Hoy, William D. Haynes, S. J. lies, Paul T. Kirby, Louis
Lods, Henry E. Musser, James Nelson, Jacob Rhoderubaugh,
Charles Sherbondy, George Smith, John Welch, George Weber,
Elbridge E. Wilcox.
ENTHUSIASM OF THE PEOPLE.
In speaking of the local patriotism and enthusiasm of those
days, the writer, as editor of the Beacon, in the issue of April 25,,
ENTHUSIASTIC PATRIOTISM. 355
1861, said : "For the past week our town has been in a constant
«tate of enthusiasm and excitement. Two full companies have
been organized and the third nearly completed. National flags,
almost without number, have been stretched across our streets,
and displayed upon our stores, shops and dwellings. The muster-
ing of soldiers — the sound of fife and drum — the singing of the
'Star Spangled Banner,' 'Hail Columbia,' and other patriotic
songs, the presentation of banners, side-arms, etc., w^ith appropriate
addresses and responses, and cheers for the Union, have been
exciting and gratifying beyond expression."
On Monday, April 22, just one week after the call of President
Lincoln for 75,000 men, Company A, Akron Light Infantry was
formed in line, on Market street, between Howard and Main, the
entire street being thronged ^vith intensely interested specta-
tors, when, on being successively called from the ranks, presenta-
tions w^ere made, with appropriate speeches and responses, as
foUow^s :
William H. Upson, Esq., to Lieut. Gilbert S. Carpenter, a Colt's
rev^olver, saying :
"I present you this revolver which I trust may be useful to
A'ou. I know you will always be true to the noble cause in which
you have enlisted and may the blessing of God go ^th you."
Lieut. Carpenter responded : "I receive this weapon from your
hands, Sir, with emotions I cannot express. I \vill endeavor to so
use it that it will never speak less firmly and surely for the right
than its former owner. You have my thanks, Sir."
Edward Oviatt, Esq., presented a revolver on his own. account
to Walter B. Scott, and on behalf of Mr. Charles Cranz, a revolver
to Henry Ward Ingersoll — ^to Mr. Scott saying : "To you, Sir, I
present this weapon believing that it will be used by you as an
<^ffective argument against the traitors of our native land ;" and to
Mr. Ingersoll saying : "In behalf of Charles Cranz, the Patriot,
i^nd at his request, I present to you this instrument of death, fully
believing that in your hands it w^ill never be dishonored, and that
when the time arrives, at least one traitor will meet his just
<leserts."
Mr. IngersoU's response was as follows:
"My friend, for this gift bear ye to the liberal and generous
Cranz the gratitude of my whole heart, and say to him, as it was
given to be used, if needs be, in defense of my person and of our
priceless liberties, for the defense of the great Magna Charta of
Freedom, under which we have loved so w^ell to live, and shield it
from the polluting touch of traitors— the enemies of Liberty and
Ood — say to him that w^ith what nerve, skill and strength I pos-
sess, it shall be used in defense of those interests; and if occasion
shall arise, it shall carry destruction and confusion to our foes.
God bless you, sir, and him; shield us and return us again safely
to our homes, where we may live and enjoy the blessings of peace
iind prosperity together."
Other presentations w^ere made with equally appropriate
speeches and responses, which we cannot here reproduce, as
follows: Daniel W, Storer to his brother, James B. Storer, a
revolver; William H. Tallman to Archibald H. Thompson, a vol-
canic repeater; Joseph E. Wesener to Cornelius A. Brouse, a
revolver; Wilbur F. Sanders, Esq., on behalf of Gen. Asa S.
356 AKRON AND SUMx^IIT COUNTY.
Marriner, a revolver to Joseph W. S-waggard; on behalf of hi»
fellovi^ salesmen, a revolver to J. E. Bruce; on behalf of his brother
mechanics, a revolver to Mr. T. G. Lane.
Edwin P. Green, Esq., also presented a revolver and a large
dirk-knife each, to Alden Gage, Henry E. Bryan and Arthur H^
Farnam, after proper responses had been made, saying to the
company:
"Gentlemen: I have not not selected these three young men
— my especial friends — because I do not believe 3^ou will all
equally do your duty, and that I Avould not with the same pleasure
do the same for each one of you. Not at all. My heart reaches,
but my pocket falls short. Some of j^ou have families, and you are
anxious to know if they wall be taken care of during your absence.
Let us know where your families are, and if, on 3'^our return, they
say they have not been cared for, and I have one cent remaining,
that I have not divided with them, shoot me as a traitor; and
now I say you will onlj'^ then have done — as 3^0^^ will do during
your absence^ — your duty."
Ralph P. Waterbury, for the Akron Stove Company, presented
a revolver to N. B. Bigelow^, an emploj^e of the company; Charles
Falk a like weapon and a bowie-knife to his brother Fred. F. Falk;
George Thomas, a revolver to his son, David W. Thomas; Christy
Sc Co., a revolver to John Jackson Tate; J. Baldwin & Co., a
revolver to Charles H. Edgerly; and George W. Weeks, Esq., on
behalf of sundry citizens of Copley, made donations in money to
C. Conrad, E. H. Pursell, John Mann, S. Fairbanks, Charles
Corbus, E. Hull, E. Capron and A. Golden, volunteers from that
township.
AT CAMP AKRON.
As soon as company organizations were effected, "Camp-
Akron" was established on the Fair Grounds, near the present
residence of Col. A. L. Conger, over-looking the city upon the west,,
the fair buildings being utilized as barracks, the ladies of the citj''
generously supplying the boys with rations, blankets, etc.
Here, on Monday, April 29, 1861, Philip P. Bock presented
Capt, Buckley w^ith a very fine revolver; Mr. C. J. Slocum, on
behalf of citizens of Middlebury, presented the boj's from that
village w^ith a substantial sum of money each; the ladies of Akron
presented Company A with a fine merino banner with "Akron
Union Light Infantry, Company A." embroidered on its folds r
Rev. Henry Adams, of St. Paul's Church, in behalf of the Christian
people of Akron, presented each member of the several companies
w^ith a beautiful pocket edition of the New Testament, with a per-
tinent and feeling address, Mr. Adams also giving a prayer book to
each soldier member of his own congregation.
A fine stand of colors, with the legend "Akron Union Light
Infantry, Company B," embroidered upon one. of its w^hite stripes
in blue silk, was presented to that company, in behalf of the ladies
of Akron, in the following neat address by Mrs. S. H. Coburn:
"In behalf of the patriotic w^omen of this place, I present you this
flag of our Union, feeling assured that there is need of no Tvord
of ours to inspire you w^ith courage in its defense. That the Ruler
of Battles may guard and protect 3'^ou, and after giving you a
victory over the enemies of freedom, bring 3'ou in safety to your
"goodies" for the boys in camp. 357
homes, will be the daily prayers of those whose fingers have fash-
ioned this emblem, and in their behalf I bid you God speed in this
your glorious undertaking."
IN CAMP TAYLOR.
So immense had been the uprising all over the country, that
our boys were beginning to feel somewhat "blue," lest they should
not be permitted to go to the front, after all, but on Monday, May
lst,Gen. George \V. McNeil, received orders from Gov. Dennison for
the Command to report immediately at Camp Taylor, near
Cleveland, and on Tuesday morning the three companies named
marched from Camp Akron to the depot, w^here an immense
■crowd of joyful yet tearful friends had assembled to witness their
departure. At the depot, Dr. Thomas Earl, on behalf of the ladies
of Akron, in brief but fitting words, presented to Company C a
beautiful flag, on which was embroidered, "Akron Buckeye
Infantry, Company C," Captain Hard, in response, expressing the
gratitude of his company for the beautiful gift.
Scores of our citizens daily visited Camp Taylor, the great
interest felt for the w^elfare and comfort of the soldier boys being
evidenced by the fact that on Wednesday, May 16, a large company
of the ladies of Akron, Cuyahoga Falls and Hudson visited the
<:amp, armed vsrith heavily charged baskets of cold chicken,
biscuit and butter, cakes, pies, canned fruit, etc., the spread being
most heartily enjoyed by all, w^hile our present fellow-citizen, Mr.
John J. Wagoner, then doing business in Manchester, sent them
tw^o barrels of roll butter, w^ith the promise of several barrels of
eggs should they remain in camp until they could be provided.
NINETEENTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
The quota of Ohio, under the 75,000 call of Mr. Lincoln, was
only about 18,0tX), and when at least 80,000 of her patriotic sons
were not only offered but urged upon Governor Dennison, of
■course all could not be accepted, and many companies had to be
disbanded before being assigned to regiments or mustered into the
service of the United States. Among those thus doomed to disap-
pointment, were the members of Company C, a portion of the men
however, uniting with Captain Buckley's company, or re-enlisting
under the first three years' call which had just then been made, in
announcing which fact Captain Hard said: "To the citizens of
Akron, and to the ladies especially, we extend our gratitude for
the respect they have show^n us, and will return our banner to
them as pure as w^hen received, hoping ere long to bring it forth
to a more honorable position in the field."
Companies A and B, however, were accepted, and as before
intimatetl attached to the Nineteenth Volunteer Infantry as com-
panies G and K, which regiment, on being duly organized and
mustered in, was sent to Camp Jackson, at Columbus, May 27,
1861. Here regimental officers were elected, with Samuel Beatty,
of Canton, as Col., Capt. Buckley, of Company G, being promoted
to Major.
Companies A and B were detailed to gqard the ferry at Bellaire,
iind the balance of the regiment sent to Camp Goddard, at Zanes-
ville, to perfect themselves, under that strict disciplinarian, Major
358 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Buckley, in military drill. June 20, the entire regiment, with
others, went to Parkersburg, Va.,and were organized into a brigade
under Brig. Gen. W. S. Rosecrans. This brigade participated in the
battle of Rich Mountain, on July 7, the gallant conduct of the regi-
ment dieting from Gen. Rosecrans, the following: "The Nine-
teenth Ohio distinguished itself for the cool and handsome manner
in which it held its post against a flank attack, and for the hand-
some manner it w^hich it came into line and delivered its fire near
the close of the action."
The term for w^hich the members of the original Nineteenth
had enlisted having expired, on July 23, 1861, the regiment returned
to Columbus and ^vas mustered out of service. It was, however,
immediately reorganized — and recruited to 996 men, for three years,
including many of the original Summit county members of Com-
panies G and K.
Leaving Camp Dennison November 19, the newly organized
Nineteenth participated in the battle of Mill Springs, in Avhich
the rebel General Zollicoffer was defeated; Pittsburg Landing; the
siege of Cornith; marched and counter-marched with Gen. Buell
in and through Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, etc.; crossed Stone
River and received the rebel charge under Breckenridge.on June 2,
1863, losing 213 men, killed, w^ounded, and misusing; participated in
the battle of Chickamauga, losing 100 men, killed, Avounded and
missing; at Orchard Knob, November 23, 1863, losing 20 men, killed
and wounded; took part in the charge on rebel works at foot of
Missionary Ridge, November 26, with a loss of one man killed and
13 wounded.
At Strawberry Plains, January 1, 1864, some 400 of the surviv-
ing members of the regiment enlisted as Veterans for three 3'ears
more, and were sent' home on a 30 days' furlough. On returning
to the front, the regiment engaged in the Atlanta campaign, in
the Spring of 1864; fought at New Hope Church, (with a loss of 44
men, killed and Avounded), at Kenesaw, at Peach Tree Creek, at
the crossing of the Chattanooga, and was dailj^ under fire until the
evacuation of Atlanta; the entire loss in the campaign being two
commissioned officers and 13 men killed; six commissioned officers
and 96 men wounded, and 13 men missing — total 145.
After the evacuation of Atlanta, the Nineteenth formed a part
of Gen. Thomas' division in preventing Hood from following Sher-
man in his celebrated march from "Atlanta to the Sea," partici-
pating in the battle of Nashville, with a slight loss, and in the
Spring of 1865 was sent to Texas, and was mustered out of service
on the 21st of October, 1865.
THE TWENTY-NINTH O. V. I.
Immediately on the mustering out of the original Nineteenth,,
as above set forth, the Twenty-ninth Regiment was recruited,
under the auspices of that grand old friend of freedom and justice,
Hon. Joshua R. Giddings, of Avhich, on its organization in Camp
Giddings, at Jefferson, Ashtabula county— the home of its patron
saint — Major Lewis P. Buckley, of Akron, was elected Colonel.
Companies D, G and H, were substantially raised in Summit
county; Company D, with Pulaski C. Hard as captain, Myron T.
Wright, first lieutenant and James H. Grinnell as second lieutenant^
TWENTY-NINTH REGIMENT O, V. I.
359
Company G, with John S. Clemmer captain, James Treen, first lieu-
tenant, and Josiah J. Wright as second lieutenant; Company H, with
Jonas Schoonover as captain, Andrew J. Fulkerson, first lieutenant,
and Henry Mack, second lieutenant.
r^OL. LEWIS P. BUCKLEY, -born
vv at Cayuga Lake, N. Y., in 1804;
at 17 entered Military Academy at
West Point, becoming- very proficient
in both literary, scientific and mili-
tary studies, resigning before gradu-
ation because he would not submit
to the customary insolence of the pro-
slaverj' "F. F. V"-ism, then largel}'
dominating that institution; came to
Akron about 1834, opening a grocer}-
storje at Lock Eight, Ohio Canal, in
the building still standing there,
, with his family residence in the base-
ment ; in 1835 built a frame block on
the present postoffice site, corner
Howard and Mill streets, afterwards
converted into a hotel, known as the
Chidester House, a year later erect-
ing for his own family residence,
the house now occupied by Mrs.
William T. Allen, on South High
street ; was member of Village Coun-
cil in 1839 ; in 1840 established foun-
dry and plow works at Lock Two,
and stove and tin shop on Howard
street ; also officiating as collector
of tolls on Ohio Canal during 1841,
in which, through the alleged rob-
be»-y of his deputy, while en route to
Wooster, to deposit the monthl}^ col-
lections for October of that year, he
became an apparent defaulter in the
sum of $3,985.45, which, after the ab-
sorption of the residue of his own
means, was made good to the State
by his bondsmen. Though thus un-
fortunate, the majority of his fellow-
citizens believing in his personal
integrity, in 1842 elected him Justice
of the Peace, which position he ably
filled three years. In 1849, Mr. Buck-
ley -went to California, where he re-
mained about three years. On his
return to Akron followed a varietj'^
of employments until the breaking
COL. LEWIS P. BUCKLEY.
out of the war, in 18(il, when he
promptly raised a company for the
original 19th O. V. I., of which regi-
ment he was elected major. On ex-
piration of three months' service,
raised a company for the 29th O. V.
I., of which he was made colonel,
ably serving until failing health com-
pelled his resignation, Jan. 26, 1863 ;
was then assistant doorkeeper in
House of Representatives at Wash-
ington through two sessions of Con-
gress, dying in Akron June 25, 1868.
universally'- lamented, his memory
being perpetuated in Bucklej- Post,
G. A. R., and his full length portrait
in one of the large stained-glass win-
dows in our beautiful soldiers' me-
morial chapel, elsewhere written of.
This regiment was organized August 26, 1861, under the first
three years' call, but owing to unavoidable hindrances, it remained
at Camp Giddings until December 25, and at Camp Chase, Colum-
bus, until January 17, 1862. But the time was by no means lost, as
by its nearly five months' constant practice, it was probably as
thoroughly perfect in drill as any regiment in the service during
the entire war.
NATIONAL AND REGIMENTAL FLAGS.
The ladies of Summit and Ashtabula counties having prepared
beautiful stands of national and regimental colors, on November
27, the flags were duly presented by Mr. Giddings with a char-
acteristic speech, briefly tracing the causes that led to the rebellion.
360 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
"Its first overt acts^" said Mr. Giddings, "were put forth in Con-
gress by subjecting the people of the free States to gag rules; by
striking down the right of petition; by arraigning and publicly
censuring representatives for the faithful discharge of duty; by
annexing, unconstitutionally, slave territory and extending and
strengthening the encroachments of slaver3^" Continuingat some
length, and formally presenting the banners to Col. Buckley, Mr.
Giddings said: "Bear in mind that you go forth to fight the battles
of the human race for all coming time; and should the roar of can-
non, the rattling of muskets, the clashing of sabres, the din and
smoke of battle surround you, remember the cause in which you are
engaged, and be assured that if you fall, we who are left will care
for your widows and children. Your heroic deeds shall be
enshrined in our memories, recorded in our history, admired by
coming generations and approved by a holy and just God." •
Col. Buckley's Response. — After thanking the ladies and Mr.
Giddings for the beautiful emblems, Col. Buckley, said: "Sir, you
have spoken in high commendation of my command. I can assure
you that I feel honored in having command of such a regiment. It
will be my pride and ambition, w^ith my fellow^ officers, to make it,
in all things pertaining to a well-drilled and well-disciplined regi-
ment, one of the best in Ohio. And now, fellow-soldiers, in the
presence of this assembly, and before high heaven, let us sw^ear
upon the altar of our country, to defend this flag so long as there
be one true heart and strong arm to hold it to the breeze."
OFF FOR THE FRONT.
January 17, 1862, the regiment was sent to Cumberland, Md.,
the brigade to which it was attached — commanded by Col. K. B.
Tyler, of the Seventh Ohio (a Ravenna boy) — was assigned to Gen.
Lander's division, which, on his death, March 1, 1862, passed to the
command of Gen. Shields. Being a part of the Army of the Poto-
mac, the 29th participated in the battle of Washington, March 23,
1862, defeating the rebels under Stonewall Jackson; the battle of
Winchester, Maj^ 25, the battle of Port Republic June 9, (several
being captured by the rebels); the battle of Cedar Mountain, Au-
gust 9, 1862; second battle of Bull Run August 30, 1862; Antietam,
September 17, 1862; battle of Chancellorsville May 1-4, 1863; battle
of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863.
In September, 1863, after aiding in quelling the New York draft
riots, the Twenty-ninth was transferred to the Army of the Ten-
nessee, and, under Gen. Hooker, participated in the battles of
Lookout Mountain, November 24 and 25, Mission Ridge, November
26, Ringold, Ga., November 28. Re-enlisting as veterans, Decem-
ber 11, 1863, after a home furlough of 30 days, the regiment returned
to the front, taking an active part in the Atlanta campaign, at Dug
Gap, Ga., May 7, 1864; at Dallas, Ga., May 29, 1864; at Pine Knob,
Ga.. June 19, 1864; at Peachtree Creek, Ga., July 20, 1864; and, after
the fall of Atlanta, making the famous march from "Atlanta to
the Sea," and after the capture of Savannah and Charleston,
remaining in South and North Carolina (taking a hand in the battle
of Averysville, N. C, March 16, 1865), until the close of the war. on
April 29 proceeding via Richmond to Washington, and on June 10,
1865, taking part in the grand review, in the capital of the Nation
it had lielped to save.
AKRON IN THE TWENTY-NINTH,
361
From Washington the regiment was sent to Louisville, Ky,,
where, Col. Jonas Schoonover commanding, it remained about one
month, when it was returned to Cleveland, and at Camp Taylor,
July 22 and 23, 1865, the men, 428 in number, were paid off and duly
mustered out of serviceman}' having been in continuous service for
over four years.
r^OL. DAVID W. THOMAS.-born
V-> in Millersburg-, O., March 9, 1841 ;
came with father to Akron in 1843 ;
educated in Akron public schools ;
at 16, went to Tallniadge and learned
the carriag'e blacksniithing- trade
with Oviatt & Sperry ; in April, 1861,
enlisted in Co. G, 19th O, V. I., for
three months, participating- in the
battle of Rich Mountain and serving
till end ot term. In October, 1861,
enlisted in Co. H, 29th O. V. I. for
three years, taking- part in the battles
of Winchester, Port Republic, Cedar
Mountain, Chancellorsville (where
he was slightly wounded by a frag-
ment of shell) and Gettysburg ; then
went to New York City to quell the
draft tiots there ; from thence to the
sovithwest, being at Wauhatchie and
L/Ookout Mountain. Re-enlisting as
veterans, in December 1863, reg-iment
joined Sherman in his Atlanta Cam-
paign and on his "March to the Sea."
Promoted by regular g-radation, at
Savannah, he was assigned as Cap-
tain to Co. A, (the post of honor) and
as such mustered out at Louisville,
Ky., June 22, 1865. Returning home
engaged with father in lumber and
building- business, and on death of
father, in 1872, with Charles Miller,
R, N. Kratz and others, now being
President of The .Thomas Lumber &
Building Company, organized in 1887.
In 1876 Capt. Thomas was elected
Colonel of the 9th O. N. G., afterwards
consolidated with the 8th Regiment,
as elsewhere related; is an active
COL. DAVID W. THOMAS.
meuiber of the G. A. R. organization,
at its annual encampment in 188(),
being elected Department Command-
er. Sept. 11, 1868, was married to Miss
Alice Hale— who died Jan. 4, 1880,
leaving four children — George H,,
James A., Frank and Elizabeth, Dec.
18, 1884, Col, T, was again married, to
Mrs, Isabella Gage, widow of the late
Alden Gage, and daughter of the late
Charles Webster, founder of the Web-
ster, Camp & Lane Machine Com-
pany.
AKRON IN THE TWENTY-NINTH.
Following is a list of the soldiers furnished by Akron, Middle-
bury and Portage township, so far as the present available docu-
ments w^ill furnish them:
Lewis P, Buckley, Augustus Belden, S, H, Beatty, Thomas J.
Bare, Levi J, Baughman, Solomon J. Baughman, Lester P. Burke,
Charles Bedell, Henry Curtis, Christian Conrad, John Capen,
Thomas Cummings, John Cephas, Charles H, Edgerly, Alexander
French, Jacob Fritz, A, J, Fulkerson, William Fisher, Charles
Foster, Dudley Fisher, Stephen Griffith, George W. Gibson, John
juiiii xxugj^cLL, i-'xanjus jr. \^, jriuiiipiiicy , xvutswcn ixuiiiiiciii, jijiin
Helfinger, William Hawk, George Hamilton, S, J, lies, Morgan
Johnson, John Kelley, John A, Kummer, Jehial Lane, Jr., Joseph
362 AKKON AND Sl'MMIT COUNTY.
Ivoomis, Richard Lewis, Joseph Litnric, Byron Lowe, W. C. Lantz,
W. L. Lowe, William Lane, Jehial Lane, Sr., John McNeil, G. F,
Mest, George Montenyohl, Frank Metzler, J. H. McDonald, B. F.
Manderbach, John Madden, Charles H, Paine, Elisha H, PurselU
Herman Ridder, Hiram Root, Jacob Rhodenbaugh, Orson H,
Remington, John Rowland, Charles A. Rotart, DeWitt C. Stephens,.
George Sherbondy, James B. Storer, James K. P. Souers, Ezra
Spindle, Daniel Shaff, John Steese, Charles Sherbondy, Jacob
Scholberger, James Treen, John Treen, George Treen, James Treen,
Jr., C. T. Tooker, William H. Tooker, David W. Thomas, Charles
Upham, Valentine Viers, William Wirt, Carroll W. Wright, John F.
Weidle, Josiah J. Wright, John Watson, Lewis Wagner, Samuel S,
Wood, George Wells, William Woodward, J. L. Wagoner, John G.
Wait, John Whitney, George Welch, Samuel Winkleman, John C
Weidley, Frank O. Weary, musician Co. G, Charles Young, Conrad
Zittle.
CASUALTIES TO TWENTY-NINTH.
It will not be possible to give all the casualties to Akron and
Summit County boys, in this and other regiments, but the fol-
low^ing in regard to members of the T^venty-Ninth, may properlj'
be given here: William Palmer Williamson, brother of the late
Judge Samuel C. Williamson, then second lieutenant of Company
G, was killed at Winchester, Va., March 23, 1862, being the first
Summit County boy to lay down his life in defense of the Union.
His body was sent home by his comrades, and interred in Akron
Rural Cemetery. Capt. Myron T. Wright, Company D, wounded
in same battle; again wounded at Peach Tree Creek, Ga., July 20,
1864; promoted to major, October 29, 1864; mortally w^ounded at
Savannah, Ga., December 19, 1864, dying January 7, 1865; pro-
moted to lieutenant colonel January 18, 1865, eleven days after
his decease. Corporal Augustus Belden, killed by guerrillas, May
30, 1862; Lieut. James H. Grinnell, Company D, wounded in arm
at Port Republic, Va., June 9, 1862; Capt. Josiah J. Wright,
Company G, w^ounded in shoulder, at Cedar Mountain, Va.,
August 9, 1862; Capt. Jonas Schoonover, Company H, w^ounded at
Cedar Mountain, August 9, 1862, and again at Chancellorsville, Va.,
May 1, 1863, promoted to major at Savannah, January 18, 1865, to
lieutenant colonel, January 28,' 1865, and to colonel, July 25, 1865;
James B. Storer, promoted from sergeant to sergeant major,
March 14, 1862, and to adjutant, January 20, 1863, wounded at
Rocky Face Ridge, Ga., May 8, 1864, by minie ball, in spinal
column, from w^hich ever since he has been a constant sufferer;
Valentine Viers, Company D, wounded at Winchester, Va., March
23, 1862; John F. Weidle, Company G, lost a leg at Chancellorsville,
Va., May 2, 1863; John Rowland, killed by guerrillas. May 3, 1862;
Alexander C. French, Company G, killed at Cedar Mountain, Va.,
August 9, 1862; John A. Kummer, Company G, wounded at
Gettysburg, July 2, 1863; Thomas C. Bare and John W. Steese,
Company C, Ellis T. Treen and William C. Lantz, Company G,
killed at Dug Gap, Ga., May 8, 1864; Lieut. B. F. Manderbach,
Company G, wounded near KenesaAv, Ga., January 28, 1864.
Corporal Hammond W. Geer, wounded at Dug Gap, Ga., Maj^ 8,
1864, and discharged for disability, at Nashville, May 27, 1865.
Among the Twenty-Ninth boys captured by the rebels at Port
Republic, June 9, 1862, were Lieut. Thomas W. Nash, Company H;
CASUALTIES, PROMOTIONS, ETC.
363
Sergt. W. F. Chamberlin, Company H; Conrad Zittle, William
Fisher, John A. Kummer, Hammond W. Geer, William Wirt, John
Gross, DeWitt C. Stephens, Company G; at Strasburg, Va., May
25, 1862; Ferris Townsend and Newrton P. Humiston, Company G;
at Cedar Mountain, August 9, 1862, Sergeant Orson H. Reinington,
Company H.
pAPT. JOSIAH J. WRIGHT,- born
^ in Swanton, Vt., September 19,
1821 ; educated in district school ; in
boyhood, when so stnallas to reqinre
a block to stand on while blowing-
and striking", working as black-
smith's assistant ; at 15 became clerk
in country store ; in 184() came to
Ohio, working on farin at 50 cents
per day ; for a time attended Twins-
burg Institute; then taught school
winters and worked at blacksmithing
summers. After marriage to Miss
Margaret A. Waite, of Brecksville,
August 21, 1842, Mr. and Mrs. Wright
jointly taught school one year in
SouthBloomfield,Pickawa)'COunty,0.
For many years Mr. Wright was a
successful and popular auctioneer
and commission merchant ; in 1851
removing to Akron, where for several
years he officiated as constable, mar-
shal and general detective. In the
war of the Rebellion Capt. Wright
took a prominent part, serving as
captain of Co. G, 29th O. V. I., until
discharged October 1, 1862, on account
of wounds received at Gedar Moun-
tain August 9, 1862; on partial
recovery engaged in recruiting ser-
vice ; in 1863 again entering the army
as second lieutenant of Co. K, 129th
O. V. I., serving till discharged for
disability in March, 1864 ; again
engaged in recruiting, and again, in
Spring of 1865, entered the army, first
as a private, soon being commis-
CAPT. JOSIAH J. WRIGHT.
sioned captain of Co. D, 197th O. V. I.,
serving till discharged, at close of
the war, August 6th, 1865. After the
war Capt. Wright officiated for some
time as auctioneer and private detec-
tive, and later, for several years, as-
editor and publisher of the ^Ikron
Commercial and its successor, the
People's Monthly.
Among the Twenty-Ninth boys who died in the service,
besides those mentioned above, \vrere: Stephen J. lies. Company
D, at Cleveland, O., May 8, 1864; George Sherbondy, Company G,
at Aquia Creek, Va., April 23, 1863; William Wirt, Company G, at
Nashville, Tenn., June 30, 1864; Charles D. Hine, Company G, died
at Middlebury, O., March 31, 1863; Newton P. Humiston, Company
G, died in rebel prison, July 28, 1862; Joseph Loomis, Company G,
died at Cumberland, Md., February 26, 1862; Morgan Johnson
Company G, died February 26, 1864.
PROMOTIONS IN TWENTY-NINTH.
We cannot give all the promotions that occurred, from time to
time, during the war, but may here very properly mention the
following: On the resignation of Capt. Pulaski C. Hard, of
Company D, March 21, 1862, First Lieutenant Myron T. Wright
was promoted to captain, and major, on the resignation of Major
364 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
John S. Cleiiinier, December 25, 1862. James B. Storer was pro-
moted from sergeant of Compan}' H, to sergeant major, Februar}^
13, 1862; to second lieutenant. Company F, April 13, 1862; to first
lieutenant and adjutant, January 20, 1863. On the promotion of
Captain Clemmer, of Company G, to major, December 31, 1861,
Second Lieutenant Josiah J. Wright was promoted to captain,
over First Lieutenant James Treen, Sergeant Wilbur F. Chamberlin
being promoted to second lieutenant. On the discharge of Captain
Wright, on account of w^ounds received at the battle of Cedar
Mountain, Va., August 8, 1862, Lieutenant James Treen \\ras pro-
moted to captain, and on his resignation. May 23, 1863, Lieut.
Wilbur F. Chamberlin was promoted to captain; Benjamin
F. Manderbach, of Company G, being appointed corporal,
December 22. 1863; sergeant. May 9, 1864, first sergeant July 1, 1864,
and first lieutenant, April 4, 1865.
As soon as able, after his discharge as captain of Company G,
29th regiment, Capt. J. J. Wright voluntarily engaged in the
recruiting service, in the Summer of 1863 again entering the army
as second lieutenant of Company K, 129th O. V. I., serving until
-again discharged for disability; in March, 1864, again recruited
part of a company, but on account of the sickness and death of
his little son, yot being present at the organization of the
company, in Columbus, failing to secure a commission, he pluckily
re-entered the service as a private, but on account of his experi-
■ence was placed on detached duty under Major Skiles, at Tod
barracks, and in the Spring, 1865, w^as commissioned as captain of
Company D, 197th O. V. I., in w^liich capacity he served until his
final discharge at the close of the war, at Columbus, August 6,
1865. David W. Thomas, from first sergeant of Company C, w^as
promoted to sergeant major of the 29th, December 13, 1864; to first
lieutenant of Company H, on the resignation of Lieut. Andrew J.
Fulkerson, January 6, 1865, and to captain of Company A, April 10,
1865. Alvin C. Voris was elected second lieutenant of Company H,
on its organization, but promoted by Gov. Dennison to lieutenant
colonel of the 67th regiment O. V. I., October 2, 1861, Henry Mack,
of Bath, succeeding him as second lieutenant. Thomas W. Nash
was promoted from first sergeant of Company H, to second
lieutenant, October 2, 1862; to first lieutenant of Company E, May
25, 1864, and to captain of Company B, October 12, 1864, and as
such mustered out of service July 13, 1865. William Palmer
Williamson was promoted from sergeant major December 21, 1861,
to second lieutenant of Company G, and as such ^vas killed in
the battle of Winchester as elsewhere stated, March 23, 1862.
THE SIXTY-FOURTH O. V. I.
This regiment was recruited under the auspices of United
States Senator, John Sherman, being organized at Camp Buck-
ingham, near Mansfield, the home of the Senator, in November,
1861, and was a part of what was knoAvn among Ohio troops as the
""Sherman Brigade." Company G, of this regiment, was largely
composed of Summit County men, whose names will appear in
the roster of the several towtiships to which they were accredited,
among whom were Dr. Samuel Neeper, of Mogadore, Dudley C.
Carr, and Robert S. Chamberlin, of Springfield; Alonzo Hancock,
of Boston; Wilbur F. Sanders, Esq., of Akron, now of Montana;
THE SIXTY-FOURTH O. V. I. 365
Newton Atwood, Homer \V. Bass, Addison M. Bloom, George
Bargold, Joseph F. Gilbert, John Huffman, Shem Lewis, Joseph
Osborn, Alfred Rhodes, John Schoenberger, Duncan Thon-pson
and Benjamin WooUey, all of Akron.
Of these, Messrs. Neeper and Hancock were successivel}'
captain of the company, Messrs. Carr and Chamberlin succ-es-
sively sergeant major of the regiment, w^hile Mr. Sanders w^as
adjutant of the regiment from its organization until his resigna-
tion August 10, 1862; Addison M. Bloom being principal musician
from organization untilexpirationof his term of service, June28, 1862.
THE SIXTY-FOURTH IN BATTLE.
The Sixtj' -Fourth was also one of the lighting regiments of the
w^ar, having participated in the foUoAving named battles: Shiloh,
Tenn., April 6-7, 1862; Siege of Corinth, Miss., April 30, 1862; Stone
River, Tenn., December 31, 1862, January 1, 1863; Chickamauga,
Ga., September 19-20, 1863; Chattanooga, Tenn., November 25, 1863;
Rocky Face Ridge, Ga., May 5-9, 1864; Resaca, Ga., May 13-16,
1864; Adairsville, Ga., May 17-18, 1864; Dallas, Ga., May 25 to June 4,
1864; Kenesaw Mountain, Ga., June 9-30, 1864; Peach Tree Creek,
Ga., July 30, 1864; Siege of Atlanta, Ga., Jul^^ 28 to September 2,
1864; Jonesboro, Ga., August 31, September 1, 1864; Lovejoy
Station, Ga., September 2-6, 1864; Spring Hill, Tenn., November 29,
1864; Franklin, Tenn., November 30, 1864; Nashville, Tenn.,
December 15-16, 1864.
The regiment, having re-enlisted as veterans, June 1, 1864,
after repulsing Hood's army at Franklin and Nashville, and engag-
ing in the pursuit of the rebel army through Tennessee, \vas
assigned to duty in Texas, w^here, at Victoria, the surviving mem-
bers of the regiment, 238 in number, were paid off and mustered
out of service December 3, 1865.
CASUALTIES AND DEATHS IN CO. " G."
Killed in battle: Daniel Bitterman, at Chickamauga, Ga.,^
September 20, 1863; Sergeant Andrew Tousley, at Lovejoy Station,
Ga., July 1, 1864; James Sammans, at Rocky Face Ridge, Ga., May
9, 1864. Deaths from wounds receii^ed in battle: Corporal
Jacob Boone, w^ounded at Chickamauga, Ga., September 20, 1863,
died October 16, 1863; Sergeant Duncan Thompson, w^ounded at
Rocky Face Ridge, Ga., May 9, 1864, died June 28; Corporal Benja-
min McCoy, wounded in same battle, died May 9, 1864; William
Coulter, wounded at Resaca, Ga., May 14, 1864, died May 16; Cor-
poral Joseph Wagner, lost by explosion of steamer Sultana, near
Memphis, Tenn., April 27, 1865. Wounded in battle: Sergeant
Thomas L. Thompson, at Pine Knob, Ga., September 20, 1863;
Sergeant Jonathan Palmer, at -Kenesaw Mountain, Ga., June 27,
1864; Sergeant Solomon Babb, Sergeant James L. Hall and Henry
Mellinger, at Rocky Face Ridge, Ga., May 9, 1864; Jacob Jakes, at
Franklin, Tenn., November 30, 1864; Walter Rambo and Sergeant
Nathan M. Wells, at Spring Hill, Tenn., November .29, 1864.
Deaths from disease ivhile in service: Samuel Moody, at
Lebanon, Ky., January 19, 1862; at Bardstown, Ky., February 9,
1862, Andrew^ Spencer; February 22, Luman Bigelow; March 4,
Samuel McCoy; March 9, Jonas D. Ingraham; at Lebanon, Ky.,
366
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
March 9, 1862, Sergeant John F. Oviatt; April 1, Benjamin WooUey;
April 4, Samuel Lutz; at Nashville, Tenn., April 7, 1862, Alexander
Thomas; May 20, Joseph F. Gilbert; December 11, 1864, John and
William Nash; at Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., May 7, 1862, Michael
Bower; at Chattanooga, Tenn., December 9, 1863, Sergeant Ransom
J. Ellsworth; at Louisville, Ky., February 16, 1864, James Sanborn.
/^APT. AARON P. BALDWIN,—
V^ born in Akron, Jan. 28, 1838;
educated in public schools ; at 14
entered store of P. D. Hall & Co. as
clerk ; in 1859, with father, under firm
name of James Baldwin & Son, en-
gaged in hardware business ; in
October, 1861, enlisted in Sixth Ohio
Battery, L. A., organized at Mans-
field, under the auspices of the Hon,
John Sherman, being commissioned
second lieutenant; served through
the war in the Army of the Cumber-
land ; after battle of Mission Ridge,
Nov. 24-25, 1863, promoted to first
lieutenant and to captain during the
Hood campaign in Tennessee, in No-
vember and December, 1864. After
valiant service at Pittsburg, Shiloli,
Perrysville, Stone River, Chatta-
nooga, Lookout Mountain, Atlanta,
Jonesboro, Spring Hill and Nash-
ville, was inustered out at Columbus,
O., Sept. 1, 1865, for gallantry at
Spring Hill, being tendered a coin-
mission in the regular army, bj-
corps commander. Gen. D. S. Stan-
ley, which he declined. On return
home formed partnership with the
late Henrj' W. Wetmore, under the
firm name of Wetmore & Baldwin, in
1867 being joined by David R. Paige,
Jr., under firm name of Wetmore,
Baldwin & Paige. Retiring from
firm in 1869, was appointed general
agent of the Akron Iron Companj-,
serving in that capacity' till April 1,
CAPT. AARON P. BALDWIN.
1886, since which tiine he has been its
efficient General Superintendent.
Capt. Baldwin is a prominent mem-
ber of the G. A. R. having officiated
as Post Cominander; Q. M. Gen.
Dep't. of Ohio, and upon staif of
National Commander. Nov. 10. 1863,
was married to Miss Celia Ayres,
of Akron, Avho has borne him four
children — James A., John Sherinan,
Susie and Mary Alice.
THE SIXTH INDEPENDENT BATTERY.
One of the most efficient light artillery- organizations of the
w^ar ^vas the Sixth Ohio Independent Battery, attached to the
Sherman Briga le. The battery, consisting of two sections, was
provided w^itli four ten-pound Parrott and two six-pound bronze
Rodman guns, w^ith horses and other equipage to match. One sec-
tion of this battery w^as recruited in Akron, the roster, on organiza-
tion, at Camp Buckingham, November 20, 1861, being as follows:
Oliver Hazard Perry Ayres, Myron Ayres, ' Aaron P. Baldw^in,
Frederick \V. Beebe, E. J. Baird, Joseph Bergdorf, James Brandon,
Thomas Creveling, George Chitty, J. R. Cady, Willard Corey, B.
Curtis, George W. De Bell, William Dales, Abner Danforth, James
Earl, D^vid H. Evans, Elijah Everett, Henry Frizzelle, Joseph
Fisher, Peter Field, James H. Galbraith, A. K. Goodrich, Bird
Green, John Hogan, M. S. Hoskin, Thomas Huston, John Johnson,
James Irvin, Ira Jones, Silas O. Kimberk, Patrick Kirwin, John
Kieley, John Limric, George Loomis, James A. Mopdy, James
THE SIXTH OHIO BATTERY.
367
McKnight, W. H. Mathews, Venning McDonald, J. McBride,
Daniel McNaughton, L. J. Mix, Eleazer H. Neal, Michael Phenia,
Henry A. Parker, J. K. Rogers, John Randolph, Henry Randolph,
William Randolph, Freeman Robinson, J. W. Reed, George W.
Smetts, Michael Stephens, L. Swindeman, Henry Shewey, John
Smith, James Spelman, Thomas W. Screen, Benjamin Stroker,
Kzra Trj^on, Charles Toy, Elias W, Turner, Gustave Thrise, Har-
rison Trisselle, Ezra Whitney, J. M. Walton, Edgar Whitney,
Jonathan Welker, John C. Weber, John Wagoner, George Wey-
gandt, J, A. White, J. E. Whitney, C. Weeks.
The following Akron and Middlebury boys were subsequently
lidded to the battery: George W. Barber, George Boyd, Samuel T.
Brandon, George Case, Frank C. Chapman, Seth Coney, George
Chamberlin, John Earl, B. French, Anselo French, Edward Fitz-
patrick, Thomas Fisher, George Hart, Thomas Irvin, Patrick Irvin,
William W. Kilbourn, Reese Kidder, John Kramer, Lucas Libis,
William Morley,John Madden, Daniel McGinnis, Daniel McGreevey,
Henry Morrill, John Peck, William Strapp, Robert Treen, Newton
Thayer, Charles M. Waite, John Wilder, Henry Worden, William
P. Warren.
TOHx\ C. WEBER,-son of Florence
J and Margaret (Stei nbacher)
Weber, was born in Monroeville, Ohio,
August 20, 1844, removing- with par-
ents to Akron the following October;
educated in Akron union schools; at
17, enlisted in Sixth Ohio Battery,
organized at Camp Buckingham,
near Mansfield, October 9, 1861, serv-
ing till October 24, 1864, being among
the j'oungest, if not the youngest
soldier sent to the war by Summit
count}-. The accompanying portrait
is reproduced from an ambrotype
taken on the field of Shiloh. after the
battle, and its youthful lineaments
can scarcely now be traced in the
broad-faced, middle-aged, business
man- John C. Weber — of the present
daj-. Soon after the close of the war,
Mr. Weber removed to Cleveland, and
engaged in brewing, returning to
Akron 1885, as a member of the firm
of Jahant & Weber, in the stove and
furnace trade. June 11, 1874, Mr.
Weber was married to Miss Emeline
Oberholtz, of Akron, who has borne
him four daughters and one son
Eva F.. born April 11, 1875; C. Irene,
born September 25, 1876; Susannah
JOHN C W EHLK
M.. born March 20, 1878; Bertha T.,
born Januarj^ 26, 1880, and Florence
C, born September 11, 1882.
In the organization of the battery. Captain CuUen Bradley, an
experienced U. S. Army Artillery officer, was placed in command,
w^ith O. H. P. Ayres as senior first lieutenant and Aaron P. Bald-
win as senior second lieutenant; George W. Smetts as first sergeant;
George W. DeBell, third; Edgar Whitney,fifth; Ezra Tryon, seventh;
J. K. Rogers, fourth corporal; James Earl, fifth; J. M. Walton,
seventh; Henry Frizzelle, eighth; E. H. Neal, eleventh; James^A.
Moody, blacksmith; John Kieley, w^heelwright, and F. W. Beebe as
company clerk.
368 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
The Sixth Ohio Battery was in some of the hardest fought bat-
tles of the war-Stone River and other battles about Mufreesboro^
Chickamauga, etc.; re-enlisted as veterans December 12, 1863,
and on going to the front again, after a short visit home, took an,,
active part in the Atlanta campaign, being almost constantl}'
engaged during the 120 days of that sanguinary contest, and being
very highly complimented by Gen. O. O. How^ard for its accurate
firing before Kenesaw. The battery w^as re-equipped at Atlanta^
afterguards, under the command of Captain A. P. Baldwin, partic-
ipated in the battles of Franklin and Nashville, on the second daj''
of the latter, in front of Overton's Hill, eight miles from Nashville,
silencing Sandford's Mississippi rebel battery. Pursuing the
retreating rebels to the Tennessee River, the batterj'^ marched to
Huntsville, Ala., and from thence started for Bastport, Miss., but
before reaching that point was ordered back to Huntsville, where
it remained until the close of the war, being mustered out Sep-
tember 1, 1865. Losses during the w^ar: Deaths from wounds, 16;
disease, 26; discharged for w^ounds, 4; disease, 30; by expiration
of term, 21; re-enlisted as veterans, 66. Among the deaths was
that of Lieut. O. H. P. Ayres, July 8, 1864, from wounds received in
the Atlanta campaign. Lieut. George \V. Smetts was severel}^
w^ounded at Chickamauga, and several other casualties to Akron
boys occurred during the war, of which we cannot here definitely
speak; among the deaths from disease while in the service being
James and Samuel T. Brandon and Ezra Whitnej^.
THE HUNDRED AND FOURTH O. V. I.
Company H, and parts of several other companies of this regi-
ment, Avere recruited in Akron, the regiment being organized at
Camp Massillon, August 30, 1862, and leaving for the front Septem-
ber 1,1862. Companj^ H entered the service w^ith the following
Akron and Summit county boys as officers: Captain, Walter B.
Scott; first lieutenant, Hobart Ford; second lieutenant, Samuel F.
Shaw; hospital steward, Milton C. Wilcox; orderly, Benjamin L.
Robertson; sergeants — first, Abraham Paulus; second, Oscar C.
Jackson; third, Lyman J. Adair; fourth, James Gillingham; cor-
porals— first, George Q. Folsom; second, Charles M. BroTvn;
third, Adolphus French; fourth, William Dunn; fifth, Louis
Stair; sixth, William Rinehart; seventh, Jacob HoUinger; eighth,
Almeron C. Francisco; fifer, Thomas E. Robertson; drummer,
James E. Boardman; teamster, John Mann; Asa S. Marriner, of
Akron, being lieutent colonel of the regiment, until his discharge,
January 2, 1863.
The names of the Akron, Portage and Middlebury boj's, con-
nected with the 104th, so far as the w^riter has been able to compile
them, are as foUow^s: Byron Allen, Daniel Allen, George Arnold,
James E. Boardman, Charles Brown, Dennison Babcock, Samuel
B. Bailey, John Bellows, Willard H. Bass, James Bean, Rice
Brockway, Simon Bonfield, Frank Buchtel, P. H. Cahill, Robert
Cahill, Thomas Charlton, Frank C. Chapman, Albert Coon, James
H. Cassidy, Henry E. Cahill, Williain Dunn, Elbridge Delong,
Jacob Denaple, Delos Doty, Patrick Dunn, Adolphus French,
Hobart Ford, Paul Field, Edwin A. Farmer, Silas Fisher, George
W. Folsom, James Gillingham, Theodore Gambie, Allan J. Goodhue,
John HoUister, Eli Hope. Oscar C. Jackson, John Jackson, Noble
THE HUNDKKD AND FOURTH O. V. I. 369
M. Jewett, A. Jackson, Albert Lepper, Denis J. Long, William
Lambrecht,Jay Maranville, Perry G. Marshall, Ithiel J. Mills, Albert
Malone, John McAllister, Asa S. Marriner, John Mann, Daniel
McGreevey, James McNeal, George W. Painton, George H. Payne,
Alburtis Paine, Abraham Paulus, Stephen Palmer, Benjamin Post,
Benjamin F. Putt, Thomas E. Robertson, Benjamin L. Robertson,
William Rinehart, Joseph Rhodes, Krastus N. Root, Joseph Rothe,
John Stroker, William Schroeder, Walter B. Scott, Burtis Smith,
Samuel F. Shaw, B. W. Smith, Louis Stair, Theodore Stearns,
Matthew Shouler, Albert Schultz, William Shouler, Charles Tifft,
Enoch Thompson, George W. Viers, Daniel M. Viers, Milton C.
Wilcox, Hugh M. White, Jerome Wellman, J. F. Whitney, Stephen.
Washburn, Jerome Williams.
HEADING OFF KIRBY SMITH.
The first active duty of the 104th was, as the out-post of the
Union forces, in repelling the rebel Gen. Kirb}^ Smith's attempted
attack on Cincinnati, in September, 1862, its first skirmish with
the enemy being at Fort Mitchell, near Covington, Ky., September
10, 1862, the regiment losing one man killed and five wounded, the
only Union blood spilled in defense of Cincinnati. September 12,
the regiment started on its first march in pursuit of the fleeing
rebels, reaching Lexington on the morning of October 15, but a
few minutes after the rear guard of the rebel forces had evacuated
the city.
Remaining in Lexington, resting from its severe march, ^nd
perfecting itself in drill, (carrying off the honors in a competitive
drill w^ith other regiments there concentrated), on the morning of
December 6, the march was continued towards Richmond, Ky.,
which was reached in the evening of the 7th. December 27 the
march viras resumed, its objective point being Danville, where it
had some slight skirmishes with the enemj' in aiding to intercept
Gen. Morgan, who was then raiding in that vicinity.
From Danville the regiment \^as transferred to the State capi-
tal, Frankfort, where it performed provost duty until February 21,
1863, when it returned to Danville, in which vicinity it continued
to operate until September, when it was transferred to East Ten-
nessee, where it became a part of Gen. Burnside's army. After a
brief stay at Knoxville, the regiment was sent to Cumberland Gap
and aided in compelling the surrender of the rebel forces at that
point, the 104th being the first regiment to enter the w^orks and
receive the arms and stores of the surrendered rebels.
Returning to Knoxville, the 104th was on active duty during
the siege of that city by Gen. Longstreet, from November 17 to
December 4, 1863, suffering greatly from short rations and expo-
sure, and in a sortie to the south side of the Holston river, repulsing^
the enemy with great loss. Wintering in the vicinity of Knoxville,
the 104th took an active part in the Atlanta campaign, in 1864, in
the assault at Utoy Creek, August 6, losing 26 men and officers,
killed and w^ounded; participated in the battle of Jonesboro the
latter part of August; lost several men in its almost daily skir-
mishes w^ith Hood's forces near Nashville, in October and Novem-
ber, 1864; lost 60 men, killed and wounded, in the battle of
Frankfort, November 30, capturing eleven battle-flags during the
engagement.
24
370 AKROX AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
After much hard marching, and many severe skirmishes, the
104th was transferred to the Army of the Potomac in January, 1865,
operating at, and in the vicinity of. Federal Point, North CaroUna,
on March 4, making a forced march to Kingston, to reHeve Gen.
Jacob D. Cox, who was menaced by a superior force. Proceeding
from Kingston to Goldsboro, and from thence to Raleigh, the 104th
w^as highly complimented by Gen. Sherman for its soldi(5rly bear-
ing and efficienc}^ in drill, and on May 2, 1865, was selected by Gen.
Cox to proceed to Greensboro to receive the arms and stores of Gen.
Johnston's surrendered rebel army. Remaining in Greensboro as
guard, until June 17, the regiment w^as sent to Camp Taylor, at
Cleveland, where, on June 27, 1865, the surviving members, 640 in
number, were paid off and mustered out.
CASUALTIKS, DEATHS, ETC., IN COMPANY H.
Killed: Sergeant Oscar C. Jackson, by accidental discharge
of his own gun while advancing towards the enemy at Nancy's
Creek, Ga., July 17, 1864; Corporal Albert Schultz, February 20,
1865, at battle of Town Creek, N. C; Willard H. Bass, Daniel
Conrad and Burtis W. Smith, at battle of Utoy Creek, Ga,, August
6, 1864, the head of the latter being severed from his body by the
explosion of a rebel shell.
Wounded : Andrew A. Adair, wounded, and George H. Payne,
lost left arm at battle of Cartersville, Ga., May 21, 1864; Solomon J.
Bucher, November 28, 1864, at Columbia, Tenn.; Henry Cahill,
James H. Cassidy, Hobart Ford, wounded in heel at battle of Utoy
Creek, Ga., August 6, 1854, but continued on duty till mustered out
as captain at the close of the war, June 17, 1865; Curtis Gingerj'-
and John Kleckner, at battle of Town Creek, N. C, February 20,
1865; Lewis Heath, at Dallas, Ga., May 31, 1864; John Winklenian,
wounded and captured at battle of Franklin, Tenn., November
30, 1864.
Captured: Cyrus O. Osborn and John Stroker, at battle of
Danville, Ky., March 24, 1863; paroled and afterwards exchanged.
Deaths from disease: Eli Blocker, at Frankfort, Ky., March
4, 1863; William Conrad, at Beaufort, N. C, May 15, 1865; Eli Hope,
at Franklin, Ky., March 9, 1863; Jay . Maranville, at Strawberry
Plains, Tenn., June 12, 1864; Joshua Sellers, at Knoxville, Tenn.,
April 2, 1864; Captain Walter B. Scott, at Cincinnati, Ohio, April
24, 1863; William Rinehart, at Williamstown, Ky., October 22, 1862.
SOME HARD FOUGHT BATTLES.
Ohio's official Roster gives the following list of battles partici-
pated in by the 104th: Covington, Ky., September 10, 1862; Dan-
ville, Ky., March 24, 1863; Siege of Knoxville, Tenn., November 17
to December 4, 1863; Resaca, Ga., May 13-16, 1864; Dallas, Ga., May
25 to June 4, 1864; Kenesaw Mountain, Ga., June 9 to 30, 1864; Pine
Mountain, Ga., June 14, 1864; Lost Mountain, Ga., June 16, 1864;
Siege of Atlanta, Ga., July 28 to September 2," 1864; Utoy Creek,
Ga., August 5-6, 1864; Columbia, Tenn., November 24-29, 1864;
Franklin, Tenn., Novemh^er 30, 1864; Nashville, Tenn., December
15-16, 1864; Fort Anderson, N. C, February 18, 1865; Town Creek,
N. C, February 20, 1865.
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEENTH O. V. I. * 371
Companies C and G, and a portion of Company I, of the 115th
regiment, were composed of Summit county boys, most of them
being from the northern part of the county, and w^hose names will
duly appear in the rosters of their respective to^srnships, as given
in this work.
The original officers of Company C were as follow^s : John A.
Means, of Northfield, (then* in the midst of his first term as Clerk
of Courts of Summit county). Captain ; John Eadie, Jr., of Cuya-
hoga Falls, first lieutenant ; George L. Waterman, of Peninsula,
«econd lieutenant ; Robert Sears, of Stow, orderly sergeant ; Lewis
F. Derrick, of Cuyahoga Falls, second sergeant ; John C. Ely, of
■Cuyahoga Falls, third sergeant ; Alexander Forbes, of Northfield,
fdurth sergeant : Levi Boody, of Boston, fifth sergeant ; Arthur A.
Jones, of Stow, first corporal ; Ulysses L. Marvin, of Stow, second
corporal ; David Castetter, of Bath, third corporal ; Lucian Bliss,
■of Northfield, fourth corporal ; Charles \V. Way, of Northampton,
fifth corporal ; John Davis, of Tallmadge, sixth corporal ; John C.
Smith, of Tw^insburg, seventh corporal ; Frederick Bois, of Boston,
eighth corporal, the original muster rolls containing the names of
85 privates ; total, with officers, 101.
The original officers of Company G were as follows : Deming
N. Lowrey, of Cuyahoga Falls, captain ; Arthur L. Conger, of
Peninsula, first lieutenant ; Sumner Nash, of Bath, second lieu-
tenant ; Merchant S. Hurd, of Bath, first sergeant ; Eli Thompson,
of Twinsburg, second sergeant; Henry Doncaster, of Hudson, third
sergeant ; Marcus C. Tifft, of Cuyahoga Falls, fourth sergeant ;
Christopher Cook, of Cuyahoga Falls, fifth sergeant ; Eben ^A,
Butterfield, of Northfield, first corporal ; James Nesbit, of North-
field, second corporal ; James McElroy, of Northfield, third cor-
poral; Daniel Williams, of Cuyahoga Falls, fourth corporal;
Marcellus Risden, of Richfield, fifth corporal; Perry H. Alexan-
der, of Bath, sixth corporal; Joseph C. Freeby, of Cuyahoga Falls,
seventh corporal ; William McKinney, of Twinsburg, eighth cor-
poral ; the original roster containing the names of 80 privates —
total, w^ith officers, 96 men.
It is to be greatly regretted that no local ret^ord of the organi-
zation of Company I has been preserved, though it is believed that
the only officer in that company from Sum:nit county, viras Edward
Buckingham, late auditor of the county, who virent out as first
lieutenant, but w^as promoted to captain, . February 8, 1863, which
position he held until the close of the war.
The only names, found upon the assessors' returns, accredited
to Portage and Middlebury townships, as members of the 115th
regiment, were : George Adkins, Ed-svard Buckingham, George B.
Buckingham, Simon Bonfield, Lewis M. Carpenter, Michael Doyle,
Byron Gifford, Michael Kirw^in, William Limric, John McAllister,
Vincent A. Malone, Mills B. Purdy, Aaron Pardee, Jacob Randall,
Albert Shenkel, Harrison Shaaf, Enoch Thompson, John Jackson
T'ate, John Westerman, Benjamin K. Yerrick.
ORGANIZATION, PROMOTIONS, ETC.
The Hundred and Fifteenth was organized in Camp Massillon,
with 985 men, August, 1862, J. A. Lucy, colonel and A. W. Fitch,
major, and mustered into the service of the United States, Sep-
tember 18, 1862. In the absence of official records we are unable
372 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
to give the promotions in Companies C, G and I, though we learn
from private sources that the changes were comparatively few,
during their entire term of service.
October 4, 1862, the 115th w^as ordered to Cincinnati, not being
in time to take part in the " Squirrel Hunters " defense of the city^
but on its arrival, was divided by General Wright into two battal-
ions of five companies each, one battalion, under Col. Lucy being
assigned to provost duty at Cincinnati, and the other battalion^
under Lieutenant Col. Boone, was sent to Columbus to guard the
rebel prisoners confined in Camp Chase.
Karly in November, 1862, Lieutenant Colonel Boone's battalion
w^as ordered from Columbus to Maysville, Ky., and taken charge
of by Colonel Lucy, Lieutenant Colonel Boone taking command of
the battalion at Cincinnati, a month later proceeding to Covington^
Ky., where it performed provost duty until October, 1863, when the
entire regiment was ordered to report to General Rosecrans at
Chattanooga, Tenn.
On reaching Murfreesboro, a part of the regiment was mounted
and sent out to fight the rebel guerrillas then operating in that
portion of the country, the unmounted portion of the regiment, in
the Summer of 1864, being stationed in block-houses along the line
of the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad to guard against its
destruction by the guerrillas.
In August, 1864, Block-House No. 4, manned by part of Com-
pany B, w^as captured by the rebels. Block-House No. 5, manned
by the balance of Company B, was attacked at the same time but
was successfully defended, with a loss of three men killed and
seven >vounded out of a total of 40.
THE SULTANA DISASTER.
Soon after the foregoing affair, Company K, (mounted) sur-
prised and captured a large squad of guerrillas, w^ith a loss of one
man killed and three w^ounded. In the midst of the Hood demon-
strations against Nashville, in December, 1864, the rebel General
Forrest, of Fort Pillow notoriety, captured companies C, F and G^
respectively in charge of Block-Houses 1, 3 and 4, who were con-
fined as prisoners, at Andersonville, Ga., and Meridian, Miss., until
the beginning of the following April w^hen, w^ith others, they Avere
duly exchanged, at Vicksburg, Miss.
On the 25th day of April, 1865, when final victory over the
rebels was just perching upon our banners, some 2,000 of these
new^ly exchanged Union prisoners, and about 200 refugees, were
packed on board the steamer Sultana, to be transported to Cincin-
nati. Reaching Memphis during the night of the 26th, a few
hours Avere spent in taking on a supply of coal and after proceed-
ing on her way some eight or ten miles, between one and two
o'clock on the morning of the 27th, an explosion of one of her
boilers occurred w^ith terrible havoc to the boat and passengers,
the boat also taking fire and burning to the ^vater.
It -was more than surmised that the explosion was caused by
a shell, or other deadly missile, placed among the coal by enemies
of the Union, and of the brave boys who had fought and so ter-
ribly suffered in its defense. Be this as it may, fully one-half of
the passengers on the ill-fated steamer w^ere either blown to atoms
by the explosion, burned to death, or drowned, among whom were
UNSURPASSED GALLANTRY.
373
idome 80 members of the 115th, at least a score and a half being
Summit county men — ten from Cuyahoga Falls, including Cap-
tain Lowrey, and Lieutenants John Eadie and John C. Ely — but so
far as now remembered no Akron or Middlebury boys were lost on
that occasion.
After the capture of Block-Houses 1, 3 and 4 as above stated,
t)y order of General George H. Thomas, the garrisons were trans-
ferred from 5 and 6 to Murfreesboro. Number 7 'was surrounded and
daily assaulted for fifteen days, none of the men daring to appear
outside, though no casualities to its defenders w^ere reported.
December 9, 1864, Block-House Number 2, w^as attacked and a con-
tinuous lire from three rifled cannon was kept up from early morn-
ing till dark, killing two and wounding five men on the inside.
That night under cover of darkness, the garrison quietly evacu-
ated the Station and reached Nashville in safety.
A desperate attack on Murfreesboro, by General Buford, was
successfully repulsed after five hours of the most heroic fighting,
in which a battalion of the 115th played a conspicuous part, the
rebels sustaining a heavy loss, while the loss upon the Union side
was but one killed and three wounded.
y^APTAIN JOHN A. MEANS,—
^ born near Pittsburg-, Pa., Febru-
ary I, 1811 ; coniiTJon school educa-
tion ; learned trade of tanner and
currier ; November, 1833, came to
Ohio, teaching- school in Springiield;
1834 engaged in farming- in North-
field; in 1837 was deputy surveyor of
Portage county ; February 9, 1838,
as captain of Northfield Rifle Com-
pany, did special guard duty at the
execution of David McKisson, at
Ravenna, as elsewhere detailed, being
afterwards promoted to colonel of
the regiment ; elected clerk of Sum-
mit county in 1860 ; August, 1862,
leaving office in charge of his son
Nathan, entered the army, as captain
of Company C, 115th Reg-t., serving
till close of the war; detailed as
assistant topographical engineer,
department of the Cumberland, sur-
veying and mapping- a large district
of Middle Tennessee and fitting up
Soldiers' Cemetery, on Stone River
battlefield ; signal officer last battle
near Murfreesboro, Tenn.; (other mili-
tary services detailed elsewhere);
1869, re-elected clerk of courts, serv-
ing full term ; 1873-77 Akron's City
•Clerk. In 1837 Mr. Means was married
to Miss Eliza Chapin. who bore him
six children, two d3dng- in infancjs
William S. drowned while father was
in the armj- ; Rebecca (the first Mrs.
CAPTAIN JOHN A. MEANS.
Sumner Nash), died 1869; Nathan
(the eldest), died in Akron 1886 ;
Fvlvira, the youngest, married to Rev.
W. B. Marsh, now of Springfield,
Ohio. Mrs. Means dying in 1879, Capt
Means subsequently married Mrs.
L. C. Walton, with whom, in the 81st
year of his age, he is now happily
living- in Tallmag-e.
On being relieved from garrison and guard duty at Murfrees-
boro, and along the line of the railroad, between Nashville and
'^ullahoma, at the close of the war, the survivors of the 115th w^ere
paid off and mustered out of the service of the United States they
374
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
had so faithfully served for three full years, at Camp Taylor, near
Cleveland, July 7, 1865, 630 officers and mien.
THE VALLANDIGHAM EPISODE.
Captain Edward Buckinghain, of Company I, during a con-
siderable portion of his term, served as Provost Marshal of Cincin-
nati and Murfreesboro, acting in that capacity at Cincinnati during
the Vallandigham episode in May 1873, and the John Morgan raid
through Ohio, in July of the same year.
pAPT. EDWARD BUCKINGHAM,
^ — born in Watertown, Conn., July
15, 1835; moved with parents to
Middlebnry in 1844 ; at 18, engaged
as clerk in wholesale house in Cleve-
land, afterwards serving three years
as clerk in postofficeat Indianapolis,
Ind.; in August, 1862, enlisted in lloth
O. V. I., entering the service as First
Lieutenant, three months later being
promoted to Captain, and serving
until the end of the war, being for a
time Provost Marshal of Cincinnati
and of Murfreesboro, and again of
Cincinnati during the Morgan raid.
Returning to Akron, at the close of
the war, he was appointed Collector
of Internal Revenue for Summit
County, which position he held until
1872 when he entered upon the duties
of Auditor of Summit County, to
which responsible position he was
three times successively elected —
1871, '74, and '77, serving in all nine
years. In politics, Capt. Buckingham
was an uncompromising Republican,
but extremely tolerant of the opin-
ions of others. March 10, 1863, he was
married to Miss Frances Johnston,
daughter of Hon. John Johnston and
Mrs. Elizabeth (Newton) Johnston, of
CAPT. EDWARD BUCKIXCrHAN.
Akron, who bore him six children,,
four of whom are living- George E.,
John S., William J., and Huldah.
Capt. Buckingham died August 30,.
1881, at the age of 4(3 3-ears, I months
and 15 days.
Captain John A. Means, of Company C, was also a prominent
actor and participant in those stirring scenes. Mr. Vallandigham,
as the Representative from the Dayton district, had not only
vehemently opposed every measure introduced in Congress for
the subjugation of the rebels, his motto being: "Not a man, not
a dollar for the prosecution of the unholy abolition war," but was^
by his private utterances and public speeches, very greatly re-
tarding enlistments and encouraging resistance to the draft under
the various calls of President Lincoln for troops.
Major General Burnside, commanding in the Department of
Ohio, in view of the aid and sympathy that was being extended to
the rebels, in various ways, in certain portions of the Department,,
in General Orders, No. 38, among other things said :
"All persons found w^ithin our lines Tvho commit acts for the
benefit of the enemies of our country, will be tried as spies, or
traitors, and, if convicted, will suffer death. * * * The habit
of declaring sympathy for the enemy will not be allowed in this
Department. Persons coinmitting such offenses will at once be
THE MURDER OF LIEUTENANT WATERMAN. 375
arrested, with a view to being tried, as above stated, or sent
beyond our lines into the Unes of their friends. It must be distinctly
understood that treason, expressed or implied, w^illnot be tolerated
in this Department."
Learning that Vallandigham was posted for a public speech
at Mount Vernon, Friday, May 1, 1863, Gen. Burnside detailed
Capt. Means and Capt. Hill to attend the meeting, in citizens
dress, and report the character of the speech. A large crowd w^as
in attendance, both men and women having the lapels of their
coats and the bosoms of their dresses ornamented w^ith that rebel-
sympathizing emblem, the butternut pin.
Speaking from a platform, in the open air, Mr. Vallandigham
w^as very bitter in his denunciation of the Administration and the
military authorities, and w^as especially severe in his remarks
about Gen. Burnside's order above quoted, saying that he despised
and defied it and trampled it under his feet, and if any of Burn-
side's minions were present, let them go and tell him so.
Captains Means and Hill, (the latter having taken full notes of
the treasonable utterances), having made their report, Capt. Hut-
ton, of Gen. Burnside's staff, with a squad of regulars, was sent to
Dayton to make the arrest, the larger part of Co. C, 115th O. V. I.,
accompanying the expedition for patrol duty, though taking no
part in the arrest.
The detachment arrived in Dayton betAveen two and three
o'clock in the morning, and on arousing Mr. Vallandigham from
his slumbers and announcing their errand, that gentleman not
only refused to surrender but from his second-story bed-room
w^indow, at the top of his voice, shouted, "Asa ! Asa ! Asa !"
Avhich was evidently a pre-concerted signal for advising his friends
of impending danger, for presently the fire bells of the cit^^ began
to ring, and an excited throng of people soon made its appearance
upon the streets.
Capt. Hutton, fearful of an attempt at rescue, forced the doors,
and taking Mr. Vallandigham into custody', hastened to the station
and departed with him for Cincinnati, before the rapidly assembling
crowd was large enough to make any effective show of resistance.
Copperhead Mob — Martial Law. — Mr. Vallandigham's politi-
cal organ, the Dayton Empire, the following evening, gave such a
bitterly partisan, and highly colored version of the arrest, that
early in the evening a copperhead mob assaulted the office of the
Dayton /owri3a7, (Republican) not only breaking in and destroying
everything accessible, but finally setting fire to the building itself,
resulting in the destruction of several other buildings, the mob
almost wholly thwarting the efforts of the fire department, b}^ cut-
ting hose, crippling the engines and assaulting the firemen.
Gen. Burnside immediately proclaimed martial law in Mont-
gomery county, and appointed Major Keith, of the 117th O. V. I., as
provost marshal, with an adequate military force to secure order,
and conformity to law, among them being a portion of Capt. Means'
command. Company C.
A Dastardly Outrage. — While on dutj^ as provost guard at
Dayton, the "copperhead" element there w^as very vindictive and
as criminally annoying as it dared to be, one of its most dastardly
acts being the shooting of Lieutenant George L. Waterman, of
Peninsula, from the effects of which he died, September 9, 1863. Of
376 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Lieutenant Waterman Captain Means writes: "I want to say of
Lieutenant Waterman that he w^as one of the brightest young men
in our regiment; had the confidence of all who knew him, and was
a favorite in the company — his death being the result of just such
sentiments as Vallandigham & Co., taught to all -who would listen
to them."
Capt. Means adds: "Gen. Burnsides' Order, No. 38, did much to
stop the treasonable course pursued by Northern sympathizers Avith
treason, and the conviction of Vallandigham was the means of
bringing those people to respect and have a little fear of the lavr."
THE "SQIRREL HUNTERS."
In the Summer of 1862, the fame of John Morgan and Kirby
Smith, as rebel raiders, began to manifest itself in bold and success-
ful dashes into Kentucky, with the evident design of attacking and
capturing Cincinnati. So portentous had become the menace, that
not only was Cincinnati placed under martial law, and ever}^ able-
bodied male citizen required to aid in building and manning
defenses, and all newly formed and forming regiments in Ohio
ordered to the point of danger, (see history of 104th, O. V. I. above),
but Gov. David Tod also called for "minute men" from the border
counties to aid in repelling the invaders, saying: "The soil of Ohio
must not be invaded by the enemies of our glorious Government."
A few^ days later. Gov. Tod, through the press, appealed to the
patriotism of Northern-Ohio, as follow^s:
Columbus, September 10, 1862.
To the several Military Committees in Northern Ohio:
By telegram from Major-General Wright, Commander-in-Chief of
Western forces, received at 2 o'clock this morning, I am directed to send all
armed men that can be raised, immediately to Cincinnati. You will at once
exert yourselves to execute this order. The men should be armed, each
furnisned with a blanket and at least two days' rations. Railroad companies
are requested to furnish transportation for troops to the exclusion of all
other business.
David Tod, Governor.
A Wonderful Uprising. — To this appeal thousands of farmers,
mechanics and business and professional men in the northern part
of the State as promptly responded as those in the southern part
of the State had already done, the writer saying editorially, in the
Beacon of September 16, 1832: "Among the tw^o hundred, or more
'sharp-shooters,' -who left Akron and vicinity for Cincinnati, on
Wednesday last, was a fine squad from Tallmadge, among whom
we noticed Dr. Amos Wright and Hon. Sidnej^ Bdgerton," the
residence of the latter — then member of Congress from the Kigh-
teenth District — being at that time in Tallmadge.
Continuing the Beacon said: "Other towns in this neighbor-
hood, and indeed throughout the county, responded to the call of
the Governor, and although their services were happily not required
upon the 'bloody field of battle,' the expedition will have taught
the rebels the salutary lesson that after the '600,000 more' have
been mustered into the service and assigned to duty, there are,
as the razor-strop man would say, 'a few more left of the same
sort,' ready to take a hand in, if necessary."
THE "SQUIRREL HUNTERS " OF 1862. ' 377
A portion of the boys from here, were armed w^ith the old-style
Harper's Ferry muskets, the property of the State, then in posses-
sion of the local militia, others preferring to trust to their squirrel
rifles; added to which some of the boys buckled on the old-fash-
ioned sheath, or "cheese" knife furnished by the State to the
volunteer militia, in those "good old days."
A second squad of men, who left a day later, only proceeded as
far as Columbus, where they were ordered to "about face,'*" and^
return home until further orders. Gov. Tod, telegraphing to
Secretary of War Stanton, under date of September 13, as follows:
"The minute-men, or squirrel hunters, responded gloriously to the
call for the defense of Cincinnati. Thousands reached the city,
and thousands more were en route for it. The enemy having
retreated all have been ordered back. This uprising of the people
is the cause of the retreat. You should acknowledge, publicly,
this gallant conduct. Please order Quartermaster Burr to pay all
transportation bills, upon my approval.
"David Tod, Governor."
Organization, Roster, etc. — It is to be regretted that the
muster roll of the Summit County " Squirrel Hunters," has not
been preserved. The names of the Tallmadge contingent, thirteen
in all (including our present well-known citizen, Hon. Sidney
Kdgerton), is published in connection with the military history of
that township. But in the absence of authentic record, the
memory of certain of the "squirrels" themselves — treacherous at
the best — Avill have to be relied upon for the reproduction of the
few" others that can here be given.
So sudden was the departure, that there was no opportunity
for organization before leaving home. But on the cars, betw^een
Orrville and Crestline, officers were elected as follows: Daniel W,
Storer, captain; Charles K. Howe, first lieutenant; Wilbur F.
Sanders, second lieutenant; and J. Alexander Lantz, orderly
sergeant — other non-commissioned officers not remembered.
Among the Akron members of the "rank and file" w^ere: J.
Park Alexander, Henry E. Abbey, Milton Abbey, John W. Baker,
William Bell, Mills H.Beardsley, Williams. P. Babcock, William E.
Beardsley, Ohio C. Barber, Norman H. Barber, David Chambers,
George A. Collins, David Dressier, Henry C. Howard, Henry Hine,
Jacob Koch, Hiram A. Kepler, George W. Marriner, William B,
Raymond, James Rinehart, John K. Robinson, Major Erhard
Steinbacher, John H. K. Sorrick, George S. Storer, Charles Starr,
William Seiberling, George C. Weimer, Harvey Wells, John
Zwisler, Charles W. Huse, Delos Hart, William H. H. Welton,
Henry L. Montenyohl, Arthur F. Bartges. A number of persons
from neighboring towns responding as soon as the exigency w^as
made known to them, did not reach Akron until the order was
countermanded among them being Mr. Edward H. Viers of
Norton.
Legislative Testimonial. — At the following session of the
Legislature the appended resolution was unanimously adopted:
Resolved hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the State
of Ohio, That the Governor be and is hereby authorized and directed to
appropriate out of his conting-ent fund, a sufficient sum to pay for litho-
j^raphing and printing discharg-es for the patriotic men of the State who
378 • AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
responded to the call of the Governor, and went to the Southern border to
repel the invader, and who will be known in history as the ' Squirrel Hunters/
James R. Hubbell,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Peter Hitchcock,
President pro tern of the Senate.
Pursuant to this resolution, a handsome lithographed dis-
charge, eight by ten inches in size, was prepared, bearing upon
the upper right-hand corner a portrait of Gov. David Tod, and
upon the upper left-hand corner, a portrait of Adjutant General
Charles W. Hill, while upon the right-hand lower corner is the
figure of a hunter, with blanket strapped across his shoulders, and
powder horn on his right side, in the act of loading his gun to
shoot at a squirrel perched upon the limb of a tree in the left-
hand lower corner, the intermediate space showing the Great seal
of Ohio resting upon the National Flag. The document reads a&
foUow^s:
THE SQUIRREL HUNTER'S DISCHARGE.
Cincinnati was menaced by the enemies of oiir Union. DAVID TOD^
Governor of Ohio, called on the Minute-men of the State, and the Squirrel
Hunters came by thousands to the rescue. You, J. Park Alexander, were
one of them, and this is your HONORABLE DISCHARGE.
September, 1862.
Chakles W. Hill, Adj. Gen. of Ohio.
Approved by
David Tod, Governor.
Malcolm McDowell, Major & A. D. C.
Taxing to the utmost the thinking powers of some eight or ten
of those above named, only recalls about one-third of Captain
Storer's company, as above given, which is much to be regretted,
for the Squirrel Hunters of Ohio are entitled to high honors for
the prompt and prominent, though happily bloodless, part they
took — if not subduing the Great Rebellion itself, at least pre-
venting the rebels from subduing the Great State of Ohio.
SECOND OHIO CAVALRY.
This regiment was one of Summit county's favorites. Company
A being wholly, and one or two other companies partially, made
up of Summit county boys. The regiment Avas organized, under
special authority of Secretary of War Simon Cameron, in the Fall
of 1861, at Camp Wade, near Cleveland, being mustered in October
10th of that year, w^ith Charles Doubleday as colonel, and wa&
purely a Western Reserve regiment.
Company A was officered as follows: George A. Purington,
of Akron, captain; Dudley Seward, of Akron, first lieutenant;
Miles J. Collier, of Peninsula, second lieutenant; Henry O. Hamp-
son, of Akron, orderly sergeant; Augustus N. Bernard, then of
Middlebury, sergeant. These officers were subsequently promoted,
on luerit, as follows: Captain Purington promoted to major Sep-
tember 24, 1861, to lieutenant colonel June 25, 1863, and to colonel,
but not mustered as such, retiring from the volunteer service at
the end of the three years, to take a captaincy in the Regular
THE SECOND OHIO CAVALRY.
379
Army, being now major of the Third U. S. Cavalry, and after
extensive service in the Indian Territory, stationed at Fort Clark,
Texas, and one of the most efficient and highly honored officers in
that branch of the service.
/^OL. DUDLEY SEWARD,— born in
V^ Utica, N. Y., Jan. 14, 1819; edu-
cated in common schools ; in 18H5 en-
tered general store in Manchester, N.
Y., clerking- four years ; then worked
on farm Sixmniers and taught school
WiMers till 1842, when he came to
Ohio, first locating in Middlebur3-,
then Wadsworth, then Tallmadge
and finally in Akron. In Fall of
1847, was appointed Deputy by Sher-
iff Lewis >I. Janes, continuing also
through the two succeeding terms
of Sheriff William L. Clarke, and in
1852 he was elected Sheriff, serving-
two terms; in April, 1861, enlisted in
Co. G, 19th O. V. L, of which he was
sergeant. At end of three riionths'
term of service, with Geo. A. Puring-
ton recruited Co. A., 2d O. V. C, with
Mr. P. as Captain and Mr. S. as First
Lieutenant. He remained in the ser-
vice until October, 1865, being pro-
moted by regular gradation to col-
onel of the regiment, sharing in all
its marches and engagements, as
elsewhere fully detailed. Two years
after his discharge froin the volun-
teer service — meanwhile serving as
assistant clerk of the Ohio State Sen-
ate one term — he was appointed cap-
tain in the 8th U. S. Cavalry, serving
four years in the regular army, in
California, Oregon and the Territo-
ries. In 1873 was elected Justice of
COL. DUDLEY SEVV^ARD.
the Peace, which office he held until
his death May 24, 1882. Mr. Seward
was married Nov. 2. 1848, to Miss Lois
Clarke, daughter of Sheriff William
L. Clarke, who bore him three chil-
dren, two of whom are living — Louis
D., now practicing law in Akron, and
Mary C, now Mrs, John L. Taplin, of
Circleville.
First Lieutenant Dudley Seward w^as promoted to captain
September 30, 1861, to major September 18, 1862, to lieutenant
colonel May 9, 1864, to colonel June 20, 1865, Second lieutenant
Miles J. Collier was promoted to first lieutenant May 10, 1862,
afterwards mustered out, on consolidation, and commissioned as
major of the Twelfth Ohio Cavalr3\ Orderly Sergeant Henry O.
Hampson was promoted to second lieutenant July 22, 1862, and
resigned July 23, 1863. Sergeant A, N. Bernard was promoted to
second lieutenant December 20, 1861, to first lieutenant July 15,
1862, to captain February 17, 1863, transferred to Company K, and
mustered out November 29, 1864. Levi J.McMurray, then of Frank-
lin to\srnship, afterw^ards sheriff of Summit county, and a resident
of Akron, appointed sergeant on organization of the company, was
promoted to second lieutenant May 9, 1863, and mustered out of
the service at the end of three years, September 6, 1864. The
first three months of the w^ar, Messrs. Purington and Seward
w^ere members of the Nineteenth O. V. L, the former as orderly
sergeant and promoted to second lieutenant and the latter as third
sergeant.
Having been properly equipped and drilled at Camps Wade, at
Cleveland, and Dennison, at Columbus, in January, 1862, the regi-
ment was ordered to report to Gen. Porter at Platte City, Mo., and
380 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
at once proceeded thither. Scouting on the Missouri border, its
first real war experience was a brush with the notorious Quantrill,
who attacked them at Independence with about an equal force,
and whom they defeated in fifteen minutes, with a loss of five
killed and four wounded. At Fort Scott, Kansas, March 1, 1862,
the regiment, in addition to its sabers, w^as armed with navy
pistols and Austrian carbines.
Moving into the Indian Territory early in May, at Baxter
Springs, three regiments of loyal Indians, mounted on ponies, and
armed with squirrel rifles, joined the cavalry forces, the Se^nd
forming a part of the force that captured Fort Gibson in the latter
part of Jul3^ Early in August, 1862, the regiment went into camp
at Fort Scott, many men being on the sick list, and many of their
horses unserviceable. The latter part of August a forced march of
ten days w^as made by a part of the regiment, in pursuit of a large
force of rebel raiders and guerrillas, with almost constant
skirmishing.
Organizing a Battery. — About this time two officers and 150
men of the Second w^ere placed in charge of a light battery, and by
■order of the War Department w^ere afterwards constituted the
Third Kansas Battery, but on January 22, 1863, were organized as
the Twenty-fifth Ohio Independent Battery. In September, 1862,
the mounted portion of the Second, w^ith the battery, w^ent with
Gen. Blount's army into Missouri, fighting at Carthage and New-
tonia, Mo., Cow Hill, Wolf Creek, White River and Prairie Grove,
Ark., capturing the rebel forces at the latter place December 7,
1862. The exploits of the Second Ohio Cavalry, during its first
y^ear of service, properly written out, would make a good-sized
volume, and we must necessarily condense.
In Camp Chase for "Repairs." — Being by this time in need
of recruits, both of men and horses, the Second was ordered to
Camp Chase, w^here, during the Winter of 1862, '63 it was fur-
nished with fresh horses, new arms and equipments, and w^ith 60
recruits. Here the original 12 companies were consolidated into
eight, and four companies raised for the Eighth, w^ere added to the
Second.
Early in April, 1863, the consolidated regiment, superbly
mounted and drilled, went into camp at Somerset, Ky. Early in
June four companies accompanied Gen. Saunders on a raid into
East Tennessee, destroying a large amount of rebel stores and a
number of railroad and other bridges.
Chasing the Rebel Raider, John Morgan. — July 1, 1863, the
Second, as a part of Kautz's brigade, started in pursuit of the rebel
raider, Gen. Morgan, following him twenty-six days, through three
states, a distance of over a thousand miles, and sharing in the
capture of the rebel raiders in Ohio, near Salineville, in Columbiana
county, July 26, 1863, 336 men and 400 horses, with their arms and
equipage.
A Well-earned Furlough. — Returning to Cincinnati, nearly
the entire regiment was furloughed by Gen. Burnside in recogni-
tion of its "endurance and gallantr3^" Reassembling and refitting
at Stanford, Ky., on September 5th and 6th, 1863, the Second, with
other cavalry regiments, made a forced march to Cumberland Gap,
after the surrender of the rebel garrison proceeding to K>ioxville,
PART OF Sheridan's cavalry corps. 281
and from thence up the valley, joined the army at Henderson's
Station, September 25.
At the Siege of Knoxville. — Receiving orders to report to
Gen. Rosecrans, in charge of the Army of the Cumberland, after
marching thirty miles towards Knoxville, the Second ^was suddenly
ordered to "about face," on its return, taking part in an engage-
ment then in progress and soon afterwards participating in the
battles of Blue Springs, Blountsville and Bristol. On Longstreet's
advance, the latter part of October, the Second fell back to Russell-
ville, and then to near Cumberland Gap, where it had a lively
scrimmage vsrith Wheeler's rebel cavalry.
During the siege of Knoxville, the Second operated upon the
flank of the enemy, and w^hen the siege w^as raised went in pursuit
of the retreating rebels. December 2, a spirited engagement was
had with Longstreet's cavalry, at Morristown, and two daj^s later
the Second was the advance regiment of a brigade which attacked
and for two hours fought eighteen regiments of rebel troops at
Russellville, losing forty men, killed and wounded.
Re-enlisting as Veterans. — In the thickest of the battle, for
five hours, at Bean Station, on December 6, and almost constantly
under fire for the next five days, crossing the Holstein river, the
Second was almost continually skirmishing until January 1, 1864,.
when 220 out of 470 men then composing the regiment, re-enlisted
as veterans, and were sent home on veteran furlough.
In the Army of the Potomac. — Reassembling at Cleveland,
March 7, 1864, w^ith renewed health and spirits and with 130 new
recruits, the Second was again ready for duty. Going first to
Mount Sterling, Ky., so wide-spread had become the raiding and
fighting fame of the Second, it was soon afterwards ordered to
Annapolis, Md., where, on the 13th day of April, 1864, it was^
reviewed by Lieut. Gen. Grant and other prominent officers.
Remounted and newly armed and equipped at Camp Stone-
man, I). C, crossing the Potomac and the Rapidan with Ninth
Army Corps, under Gen. Burnside, the Second, 800 strong, had a
sharp engagement with Rosser's rebel cavalry, with slight loss.
In the Wilderness campaign, the Second covered the right flank of
the infantry, constantly on picket or skirmish duty, on May 28, 1864,.
at New^town, capturing rebel commissary stores and forage.
Under "Phighting" Phil. Sheridan. — By order of Lieutenant
General Grant, the Second w^as transferred to Sheridan's Cavalry
Corps, and assigned to the First Brigade of the Third Division.
Crossing the Pamunkey river, in the attack on the rebel fortifica-
tions at Hanover Court House, after a desultory fight, the brigade
dismounted for a charge. The Second occupied the center, sus-
taining the brunt of the shock, not only driving the rebels from
their front, but attaining and holding the crest and the court-house.
The next day a portion of the brigade, sent to divert the attention
of the enemy while the balance were engaged in destroying a rail-
road bridge on the South Anna river, on arriving at Ashland were
surrounded by Fitzhugh Lee's rebel cavalry, and after fighting
until sundown, our men withdrew, the Second covering the retreat.
Picketing and fighting on the right of the army from Hanover, C,
H., to Cold Harbor, the Second crossed the James, with the division
June 17, 1864, and on the 22nd moved on a raid to the Danville
382 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Railroad, fighting at Nottaway, C. H., Stony Creek and Ream Sta-
tion, with a loss of 100 men and five officers, killed, wounded and
missing. Late in July it did picket duty on the left of the army,
near the Weldon Railroad; early in August went to Washington
and from thence, a few days later, to the Shenandoah Valley.
At Winchester, August 17, at three o'clock p. m., the Union
troops were attacked by Early, and at sundown were obliged to fall
back, the second battalion and t^vo companies of the third battalion
of the Second Cavalry acting as rear guard for the entire division,
fighting the enemy in the streets of Winchester, in dense darkness,
for three hours. In the fights with Earl} on the 19th, 22nd, and
tvsro or three subsequent sharp encounters with the impetuous rebel,
the Second bore a conspicuous part, going with the division to
Boonesborough on the 26th, camping en route, on the battle-field of
South Mountain, and marching over the battle-field of Antie-
tam.
Plaudits of Secretary Stanton. — August 30, the Second
assisted in driving the enemy from Berrysville, Va.; in September
did picket duty on the left of Sheridan's army, frequently engaging
the enemy; September 13 went on a reconnoisance to Winchester,
w^here Early had his headquarters, drove in the rebel cavalry, and
w^ith the aid of a Nevi^ Jersey regiment, captured a rebel infantry
regiment, taking them to Berrysville, for which gallant exploit
the Secretary of War inade special commendatory mention.
The Second aided, by four hours hard fighting, in carrying a
line of hills between Opequan and Winchester; on Early's retreat,
joined in the pursuit; on the 20th drove Wickham's cavalry through
Front Royal; inarched and skirmished four days in Luray Valley;
fought against Fitzhugh Lee, at Waynesboro, the 29th, the Second
acting as rear guard, being cut off by rebel infantry, charging
through the line; fought and repulsed Rosser's cavalry at Bridge-
'water, and during Sheridan's march down the valley, being annoyed
by Rosser in the rear, turned upon hiin, and defeated him, captur-
ing eleven guns and eighty wagons; the Second, after fighting
from eight till eleven A. m., pursuing the enemy until three P. m,
Sheridan's Winchester Victory.^ — On October 17, the Second
shared in the battle of Cedar Creek, being in the saddle from daj''-
break until nine p. m.; occupied the center on the Valley Pike,
near Middletown, and aided in the shout of w^elcome to Sheridan, on
his arrival at the front, on his famous ride to " Winchester town,"
and participated in the charges w^hich turned defeat into victory,
the Second, with other troops, at nine o'clock at night, bivouacking,
supperless on the field of battle. Performing routine picket duty
for several w^eeks, on November 12, the Second \^ras attacked by
Rosser's division and driven in, the fight lasting all day, resulting
in the entire defeat of the enemy; was hotly engaged w^ith Early's
force at New Market, November 20; suffered terribly from cold en
route to Winter quarters, near Winchester, (28 of the boys having
their feet frozen).
The Last Raid of the War. — Remaining in Winter quarters
from December 23, until February 27, (except sending out an occas-
ional scouting detachment), the Second, w^ith Sheridan's other
cavalry, started on the last raid of the w^ar, on March 2nd capturing
the remains of Early's army, the Second alone capturing five pieces
of artillery w^ith caissons, thirteen w^agons and ambulances, seventy
TWENTY-SEVEN THOUSAND MILES. 283
horses and mules, thirty sets of harness, 350 stands of small arm»
and 650 prisoners, for which magniticent exploit it received the
thanks of the commander of the division. Gen. Custer, on the field.
Leading the advance, at Charlottesville, the Second captured
more artillery; in the campaign that closed the war, from March
27, until Lee's surrender, April 9, 1865, capturing eighteen pieces
of artillery, 180 horses, 70 wragons, large quantities of small arms
and 900 prisoners.
Again in Missouri.— After the surrender of Gen. Johnston to
Gen. Sherman, April 26, 1865, the Second, with Custer's division,
moved to the vicinity of Washington, and after the grand review,
was ordered to Missouri, remaining a month at St. Louis, when
it w^ent to Springfield to relieve State troops. Remaining there
until September 1, the Second was transferred to Cainp Chase,
w^here, on September 11, 1865, it was paid off and disbanded.
AKRON'S ROLL OF HONOR.
Following, so far as the writer has been able to compile them,
is a list of the brave boys furnished by Middlebury and Portage
townships (including Akron), for the invincible and almost omni-
present Second Ohio Cavalry:
Clinton Allen, Milton F. Abbey, Watson C. Atwood, Augustus
N. Bernard, Christopher Bartges, C. F. H, Biggs, Townsend C.
Budd, W. F. Ball, W. F. Benedict, James Brennan, Frank D.Bryan,
Henry E. Bryan, James H, Case, Joseph Cook, Gurdon Cook,
Augustus Curtiss, Jordan Cook, John W. Crosier, Lawson B, Doyle,
Abner Danforth, Edmund Foley, James B. Foote, Arthurton H.
Farnam, George H. Falor, John W. Gilpin, Theodore Gambie,
Marion Golden, Henry O. Hampson, George W. Hart, James
Housel, George Hanscoin, John Hanscom, George Hart, George H.
Henry, Carlton Jackson, James Kerns, Isaiah McNeil, Jackson
Maple, James M. Malone, William McCloud, Dustin Marble (leader
of band) David C. Mohtgomer}^ Daniel McNaughton, Eugene
Pooler, George A. Purington, George Richards, F. A. Remington,
John Roahl, Virgil Robinson, J. Gilbert Raymond, (musician)
Dudley Sew^ard, George S. Storer, E. W. Spelman, George Spel-
man, Christian Stroker, Henry H. Smith, Peter J. Smith, William
Shaffer, John Scanlan, Charles Tifft, David R. Townley, William
Turner, A. H. Thompson, James A. Viall, Benjamin F. Weary, W.
W. Wise, S. B. Watkins. Other Summit county boys, connected
with the Second, so far as they can now be ascertained, will be
found in the lists of their respective townships.
A GLOWING TRIBUTE TO THE SECOND.
Whitelaw^ Reid, late editor-in-chief of the New York Tribune,
now United States Minister to France, upon whose " Ohio in the
War" w^e have drawn largely for the data for this chapter, in
speaking of the glorious achievements of the Second Ohio Cavalry
said: "Its horses have drunk from, and its troopers have bathed
in, the waters of the Arkansas, Kaw, Osage, Cygnes, Missouri,
Mississippi, Ohio, Scioto, Miami, Cumberland, Tennessee, Holston,
Potomac, Shenandoah, Rappahannock, Rapidan, Bull Run, Matta-
pony, Pamunkey, Chickahominy, James, Appomatox, Black Water,
Nottaway, and Chesapeake. It has campaigned through thirteen
384 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
States and one Territory. * * * it has marched an aggregate
distance of 27,000 miles and has fought in ninety-seven battles and
engagements. It has served in live different armies — the Army of
the Frontier, of the Missouri, of the Potomac, of the Ohio and of
the Shenandoah — forming a continuous line of armies from the
head-waters of the Arkansas to the mouth of the James, and its
dead, sleeping where they fell, form a vidette line half across the
continent, a chain of prostrate sentinels two thousand miles long.
Even in their graves, may not these patriot dead still guard the
glory and integrity of the Republic for which they fell?"
FIRST OHIO LIGHT ARTILLERY.
This regiment, with 1,800 men and tw^elve batteries, w^as organ-
ized at Cleveland, under the militia law of 1860, and on the break-
ing out of the war. Col. James Barnett tendered its services to the
Government, under the three ^nonths' call, w^hich being accepted,,
the regiment reported at Columbus, April 22, 1861, and was^
assigned to duty in West Virginia. On the expiration of three
months, the regiment was reorganized for three years, Battery
A, with Charles S. Cotter, a Middlebury boj^, as captain, and
Battery D, with Andrew J. Konkle,of Cuyahoga Falls, as captain.
CAPTAIN COTTER'S BATTERY.
As before stated, Captain Charles S. Cotter, of Middlebury,.
recruited Company A, First Ohio Light Artillery, for the three
years' service, w^hich was mustered in at Camp Chase, Columbus,
September 6, 1861, immediately leaving for Louisville, K^^., receiv-
ing its equipment w^hile en route at Cincinnati, and was the first
Ohio Battery to report in that department. Moving with Gen.
McCook's Command to Green River, and froin thence direct to
Nashville, Tenn., it proceeded to Pittsburg Landing, (too late to be
of service in that action, April 7, 1862), participated in the advance
on Corinth; marched to Florence, Ala., to Battle Creek and Jasper,
Tenn., to Dechert, to Winchester, TuUahoma, Shelbyville, and back
to Nashville.
Accompanying Buell's army through Kentucky, a detachment
of the battery, aiding in the defense of Munfordsville, September
21, 1862, was captured with the garrison by the rebel Gen. Bragg.
The balance of the battery participated in numerous skirmishes
en route to Perrysville, Ky.; was actively engaged at Dog Walk;
marched through Danville to Crabb Orchard, and joined the retro-
grade movement of Buell's army, reaching Bow^ling Green, October
31, 1862, and Louisville November 7. In the disaster of Stone
River, December 30, 1862, the battery saved two of its guns from
capture, after reaching the Nashville Pike doing effective service
during the remainder of the battle, until the last gun Avas disabled,
and afterwards aided in working other batteries upon the field.
Battery A Reorganized. — After the capture of Murfrees-
boro, by the Union forces, January 3, 1863, the battery \\ras re-or-
ganized and re-equipped, and, as part of the Second Division of
the Army of the Cumberland, participated in the movements on
TuUahoma, Liberty and Hoover's Gap, in June, 1863, and accom-
panied McCook over Sand Mountain. At Chickamauga, Septem-
ber 19-20, 1863, the battery did most effective service, and when
cottkr's and konkle's batteries. 385
nearly surrounded, extricated its guns by a sudden change of front,
its loss on that eventful day being 17 men killed and w^ounded.
Entering Chattanooga with the army, it aided in its defense
until October 16, 1863, when, under Gen. Speer,it marched through
East Tennessee to Strawberry Plains, being almost constantly
engaged \vith the enemy's cavalry until January 30, 1864.
Re-enlisting as Veterans. — At Strawberry Plains, the bat-
tery re-enlisted as veterans, and left for home on a 30 days' fur-
lough. On again reporting at the fort, Battery A participated in
the entire Atlanta campaign, at the close of w^hich it took a lively
hand in the several engagements with Hood's rebel artny, at
Pulaski, Columbia, and other points, arriving at Nashville just in ,
time to haul the captured rebel artillery off from that hotly con-
tested field, December 16, 1864.
The battery was now sent to New Orleans, and thence to
Texas, being at Gallatin at the close of the war, and was mustered
out at Cleveland, 134 men, July 31, 1865. Of this battery Whitelaw
Reid, page 894 second volume "Ohio in the War," said: "Battery
A marched in the States of Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi,
Alabama and Georgia, 4,500 miles, and was transported by Govern-
ment 1,500 miles, making a total of 6,000 traveled; was in 30
skirmishes and nine heavy battles, and hurled from the cannon's
mouth at the rebels, 30 tons of ammunition, 25 tons of -which were
fired in the Georgia campaign of 1864, under Gen. Sherman."
Akron in Cotter's Battery. — Besides Captain (afterwards
Colonel) Cotter, Akron's representatives in Battery A, First Ohio
Light Artillery, so far as can be learned, vt^ere: Thomas Corwin
(or Kirw^in), James Courtney (mortally wounded at Chickamauga
September 20, 1863), Henry Geer (^vounded in saine battle), William
Hill, Henry O. Martin, Joseph S. Williams, Morgan M. Whitney;
the Middlebury assessor, also giving the names of Wellington
Brown, Jacob Demass, J. S. G. Slocum and William Yeomans, as
belonging to this battery.
Captain Konkle's Battery. — At the close of the three months
servuce, as above intimated. Battery D, First Ohio Light Artillery,
was recruited for the three years' service by Andrew J. Konkle, of
Cuyahoga Falls, who was made captain of the battery, w^ith Wil-
liam H.' Pease as first lieutenant. Captain Konkle afterwards being
promoted to major of the regiment, Lieut. Pease was promoted to
captain and Henry C. Grant to second, and afterwards to first,
lieutenant. The battery was mustered into the service of the
United States at Camp Dennison, Columbus, in September, 1861,
w^ith 150 men.
Plucky but Unfortunate.— In November, 1861, the battery
went to Mount Sterling, Ky., and, under Gen. William Nelson,
marched up the Big Sandy, to Piketon, at Joy Mountain, November
9, 1861, having a sharp skirmish w^ith the enemy and losing one
man, killed, going from thence, by steamer, to Louisville,
November 25, to Munf ordsville, November 29, and from thence to
Nashville, Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., Corinth, Miss., and on June
30, 1862, to Athens, Ala.
Leaving Athens July 30, 1862, the battery went with General
Nelson's command, Ha Columbia, Tenn., to Lebanon, Ky. In the
battle of Munfordsville, Ky., September 15-16, 1862, the batterj^ was
overwhelmed by the enemy, and all its men and material captured.
26
C86 AKRON AND SUxHMIT COUNTY.
Though unfortunate in this regard, they were more fortunate than
thousands of their fellow-soldiers, in that, instead of being
immured in a rebel prison, they were then and there paroled
and sent home, to Camp Chase, where they remained until
exchanged, in January, 1863.
After being dulj^ exchanged. Battery D, was re-organized and
newly equipped, going to Lexington, Ky,, the latter part of
January, 1863, and from thence, on April 18, to Mount Vernon, Ky.
June 13, 1863, with thirty-one men, thirty-four horses and two guns,
Lieut. H. C. Lloyd, under Col. Saunders, Chief of Cavalry, Third
Army Corps, went on a raid into Kast Tennessee, and though the
raid was generally successful — important bridges burned, a large
amount of ordnance and commissary stores destroyed and other
serious damage done to the enemy — the detachment from Battery
D lost both its guns and had one man killed by guerrillas.
In July, 1863, the battery marched with Gen. Burnside's army
to Cumberland Gap, and participated in its capture, during the
following two months, in connection with Col. Frank Woolford's
Cavalry, raiding through Kentucky. December 2, 1863, seven of its
men fell into the hands of the rebels, six of \ehom died in the
prison-pen at Andersonville, Ga. During the entire siege at
Knoxville, Battery D was effectively engaged, and immediately
after the siege was raised, the men re-enlisted and w^ere sent home
on a thirty-days' furlough. On the expiration of its veteran fur-
lough, its ranks were filled at Cleveland and the battery returned
to Knoxville early in 1864, moving with Sherman's army when the
march on Atlanta began, and participating in all the engagements
of that gloriously successful campaign; afterwards engaging in
the battles of Franklin and Nashville, and after driving Hood's
army across the Tennessee River, went with the Third Army
Corps to Wilmington, N C, and after the close of the war was mus-
tered out, 99 men strong, at Cleveland, July 15, 1865.
Akron's Members of Battery D. — Attached to Battery
D, First Ohio Light Artillery, were the following Akron and
Middlebury boys: Daniel Ackerman, George H. Brown, William
Delong, V^ersel Dreythaler, William Fink, Amos Griffith, Aaron
Hart, William Hill, Zebulon McAlpin, George Smith, Charles
Stair, r itiiel Stair, Timothy R. Sanford, James Sangster, Jr., D. R.
Townl< /.
THE FIFTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT O. V. I.
Thi.3 was a German regiment, organized by Col. Valentine
Bausenwein, at Camp Chase, in the Fall of 1861, leaving for the
front in February, 1862, taking part in the Fort Donelson, Tenn.,
affair, February 14, 15 and 16, 1862; Shiloh, Tenn., April 6-7, 1862;
siege of Corinth, Miss., April 30, 1862; Milliken's Bend, La., August
18, 1862; Chickasaw Bayou, Miss., December 28-29, 1862; Arkansas
Post, January 11, 1863; Deer Creek, Miss., March 21, 1863; Grand
Gulf, Miss., April 29, 1863; Big Black River, Miss., May 17, 1863;
siege of Vicksburg, Miss., May 18 to July 4, 1863; Lake Providence,
La., June 10, 1864; Fort Morgan, Ala., August 5-23, 1864. The
surviving original members, except re-enlisted veterans, were
mustered out January 14, 1865, balance September 16, 1865.
In this regiment, as per assessor's returns, Portage township is
credited with the following members of Co. B: Joseph Bergdorf,
THEY "FIT MIT SIGEL." 387
Thomas Dill, George Fry, L. F. Grether, Charles Henning, Henry
Kinehart, Joseph Schmidt, John Stark, Casper Treitinger, (Orderly
Sergeant), John D. Viers. Philip A. Bierwirth, recruited part of a
company for this regiment in September and October, 1861, and
was appointed first lieutenant January 8, 1862, but resigned
March 15, 1862, afterwards enlisted in the 107th, as elsewhere
stated. Of the others Joseph Schmidt was discharged for disability
at Camp Chase, August 8, 1862; Joseph Bergdorf, appointed
corporal, transferred' to Co. C, December 26, 1864, appointed ser-
geant May 11, 1865, mustered out September 16, 1865; Thomas Dill
discharged at Louisville, Ky,, for disability, September 19, 1862;
George Fry, mustered out on expiration of enlistment, January 14,
1865; Louis F. Grether, discharged for disability, at Camp Chase,
July 1, 1862; Charles Henning, mustered out at expiration of term
of service, January 14, 1865; Casper Treitinger, discharged for
disability at Mound City, 111., August 20, 1862; John D. Viers, trans-
ferred to Co. C, December 20, 1864 — veteran.
THE HUNDRED AND SEVENTH O. V. I.
This was also a German regiment, organized in August, 1862,
under a special order from Ohio's Patriotic Democratic War
Governor, David Tod, to "fight mit Sigel," Company I was in
part composed of citizens of Summit county, Richard Feederle, of
Akron, being «lected captain, W. F. Bechtel, of Akron, second
lieutenant, Captain George Billow, Akron's present Avell-known
funeral director, enlisted as private, being promoted the following
November to second lieutenant and soon after to first lieutenant
and finally to captain, in which capacity he served to the close of
the w^ar.
As show^ing the interest taken by the Germans of Akron, in
the recruiting of this regiment, we find in the Beacon of July 31,
1862, an announcement, that the Akron Liedertafel will give a
"War Fund Benefit Concert" on the evening of August 22, the
proceeds to be applied as a bounty fund to assist Lieut. Richard
Feederle and George Billow in raising their company for the 107th
regiment. Tickets $1.00 per couple.
Organized at Camp Taylor, near Cleveland, in August, 1862,
the first Avar experience of the 107th, was ij^i aiding the National
forces to repel the threatened attack of the rebel General Kirby
Smith on Cincinnati, in September. In November, the regiment
was transferred to Virginia and assigned to the Eleventh Army
Corps, commanded by Gen. Franz Sigel, taking part in the battle
of Chancellorsville. Being flanked in that battle, the 107th lost
220 officers and men, killed, wounded and missing. In the
Fredericksburg campaign, in the battles of Hagerstow^n, Boones-
borough, and other hard-fought contests in that vicinity, and in the
Gettysburg campaign, the 107th took an honorable part, losing
according to official report, 42 per cent of its men in the latter
sanguinary struggle.
Singular Fatality, — As w^ill appear elsew^here in this chapter,
at a public meeting held at East Liberty for the purpose of
encouraging enlistments, w^hile the 107th was being recruited, in
the Summer of 1862, the "copperhead" element of the neighbor-
hood .undertook to break up the meeting, and made the most
persistent efforts to discourage enlistments — six of the more
388
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
prominent offenders being taken before the United States Commis-
sioner at Cleveland, and mulcted in fines and costs to the
aggregate amount of about $600. Three of the younger men
implicated in the affair, being unable to procure bail, were placed
in "durance vile," and after sleeping over the matter one night in
jail, concluded that the quickest and safest way out of the dilemma
in w^hich they had unwittingly placed themselves, w^ould be to
enlist, and all three at the same time enrolled themselves in the
107th, under Capt. Feederle and Lieutenant Billow. It is but
simple justice to the memory of the boys in question, to saj^ that
they all made brave and patriotic soldiers, as is evidenced by the
fact that all three fell by rebel bullets, on the same day, two killed
and one mortally w^ounded, falling almost side by side, at the
battle of Gettysburg, July 1, 1863.
pAPT. GEORGE BILLOW,— born
^ in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany,
April 2, 1833 ; came to United States
with parents in 1844, settling on farm
near Sandixsky, O.; at 17 began learn-
ing Avagon-maker's trade, finishing
in Cleveland, later working in Akron
and Tallmadge, until August 1862,
when he enlisted as a private in the
107th O. V. I., a German regiinent, of
whose services a full account rs else-
where given, Mr. Billow, besides
being promoted by regular grada-
tion to the captaincy of Co. I, doing
duty as brigade commissary, and on
the staff of Gen. Foster, at Fernan-
dina, Fla., and later as local provost
marshal at Jacksonville. On being
mustered out, July 10, 1865, Ca'f)tain
Billow^ returned to Akron, engaging
in the grocer}^ business with Mr. C.J.
Kolb for about two years ; then took
charge of the co-operative grocer}^,
afterwards for a j^ear and a half
traveling and selling stoneware. In
1870, Capt. Billow moved to Hunts-
ville, Ala., and engaged in cotton
planting, but finding the speculation
unprofitable, in April, 187^, returned
to Akron. Here he established him-
self as an undertaker, which busi-
ness he is still successfully pursuing,
also officiating a's Notary and agent
CAPT. GEORGE BILLOW.
for ocean steaiuship transportation,..
dealer in foreign exchange, etc
Sept. 19, 1854, Capt. Billow was mar-
ried to Miss Marj-.Fink, of Akron,.,
who has borne him eight children —
Anna, George W., Charles Fernando,
Ida, Albert C, Jacob L., Edwin M.,.
and Claire.
Transferred to South Carolina, — In August, 1863, the 107th
was transferred to South Carolina, from thence, in February, 1864,
to Florida, and in December, 1864, back to South Carolina, where,,
and in Georgia, besides being for a w^hile employed in provost
duty, it took a lively hand in the closing scenes of the Avar, in that
vicinity, after the consummation of Gen, Sherman's celebrated
march from "Atlanta to the Sea," being finally mustered out July
10, 1865, at Charleston, 480 men.
The Akron contingent in the 107th, so far as is now ascertain-
able was: George Billow, William F. Bechtel, Philip A. Bierwirth,
Joseph Bimler, Joseph Decovey, Robert Deitzhold, Richard Feed-
erle, Frederick Fischer, Christian Fischer, Peter Ginther,. Theobold
PROMOTIONS, CASUALTIES, ETC. 389
Hassttian, Frederick Landenberger, Simon Lamprecht, John Laube,
John Ley, Adam Marsh, Conrad Metzler, Charles Remmy, Gordian
-Spreck, Jacob Weinert. The names of those from other parts of
the county will appear in connection with their respective town-
ships.
While in South Carolina and Florida, Capt. Billow had a
severe attack of typhoid fever and on his recovery was detailed as
brigade commissary, afterwards serving on the staff of Post Com-
missary Gen. Foster, at Fernandina, and still later acting as local
provost marshal at Jacksonville, afterwards returning to Fernan-
dina, where he remained until the close of the w^ar.
Lieut. William F. Bechtel, transferred to Company D, Oct. 21,
1862; Sergeant Philip A. Bierwirth, transferred to 16th New York
Cavalry as first sergeant; Joseph Decovey, appointed corporal,
October 18, 1863, promoted to sergeant November 24, 1864; Corporal
Peter Carl, died at McDougal hospital, New York Harbor, Septem-
l)er 28, 1863, of wounds received at Gettysburg, July 1, 1863; Jerome
Ansbach, appointed corporal December 12, 1862, killed at Gettys-
burg, July 1, 1863; Simon Lambrecht, appointed corporal, January
16, 1863; killed at Gettysburg, July 1, 1863; Gordian Spreck,
appointed corporal April 18, 1863, mustered out Avith company;
John J. Bussard, killed at Gettysburg, July 1, 1863; Robert Deitz-
hold, transferred to compan}^ K, 25th O. V. I., July 10, 1865; Chris-
tian Fischer, died August 2, 1873, at Newark, N. J., of wounds
received at Gettysburg, July 1, 1863; Frederick Fischer, captured
at Gettysburg, July 1, 1863, returned to company October 20, 1863,
and mustered out with regiment; Theobold Hassman, wounded at
Gettysburg, July 1, 1863, and transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps,
January 6, 1864; Frederick Landenberger, captured at Enterprise,
Fla., February 4, 1865, exchanged and mustered out at Camp
Chase, June 16, 1865; John Laube, discharged for disability, at De
Kamp hospital. New York Harbor, November 11, 1864; John Ley,
mustered out at Cleveland, August 2, 18G5; Conrad Metzler, died
at Jacksonville, Fla., May 10, 1864; Charles Remmy, discharged for
disability, at Hilton Head, S. C, May 14, 1865; Jacob Weinert,
discharged for disability, at Washington, D. C, November 26, 1862.
Besides the many minor engagements and skirmishes in which
the 107th participated, following is the official list of battles in
which the regiment Avas engaged during the war, as given in Ohio
Roster: Chancellorsville, Va., May 1-4, 1863; Gettysburg, Pa., July
1-3, 1863; Hagerstown, Md., July 11, 1863; John's Island, S. C, July
5-7, 1864; Deveaux Neck, S. C, December 6-9, 1864; Deveaux Neck,
S. C., December 29, 1864; Enterprise, Fla., February 5, 1865; Sum-
terville, S. C, March 23, 1865; Swift Creek, S. C, April 19, 1865.
THE THIRTY-SEVENTH O. V. I.
This was the third German regiment organized in Ohio, and
was principally composed of patriotic German citizens of Cleve-
land, Toledo, and Chillicothe, w^ith liberal accessions from Summit
and other counties in Northern and Western Ohio. October 1,
1861, at Camp Dennison, near Columbus, the regiment, 800 strong,
was mustered into service and duly officered, armed and equipped,
and placed in command of Col. E. Siber, an accomplished German
officer, of large military experience in Prussia and Brazil, the
390 AKRON AXD SUMMIT COUNTY.
minor officers being selected from those who had seen service
under the three months' call.
The regiment reported to Gen, Rosecrans in West Virginia,
early in October, 1861, operating in the KanaAvha Valley ; in January,
1862, went on a raid to Logan, C, H., after hard lighting capturing
the place and destroying war material — an officer and one private
killed; March, 1862, in a raid on the Virginia and Kast Tennessee
Railroad, lost one officer and thirteen men killed, tw^o officers and
forty-six men wounded and fourteen men missing, the National
forces retreating to Flat Top Mountain. At Wj^oming, C. H., in
April, 1862, a detachment viras ambuscaded and surrounded, but
fought their \vay out with a loss of two men killed and one officer
and seven men captured by the rebels; fought at Cotton Hill,
September 11, 1862. After infinite marchings and counter-march-
ings, scoutings, raidings, etc., the 37th participated throughout the
entire siege of Vicksburg — sharing in its disasters and successes —
from May 18 until Jul)' 4, 1863, with a loss of 19 men killed and 75
w^ounded, including its commander, Lieut. Col. Louis Von Bles-
singh; and taking part in the investment and capture of Jackson,
Miss., July 9-17, 1863, and the battle of Mission Ridge, November
25, 1863.
Re-enlisting as Veterans. — March 8, 1864, three-fourths of all
the men re-enlisted for another three years, and were sent home
on veteran furlough. Returning to the field, the 37th took part in
the three days' battle at Resaca, Ga., May 13-16, 1864; Dallas, Ga.,
May 25 June 4, 1864; Kenesaw Mountain, June 9-30 (including the
general assault, June 27th); successfully defended against Hood's
first sortie from Atlanta, July 22, and second sortie, July 28, 1864;
siege of Atlanta, Ga., July 28 to September 2,1864; Jonesborough,Ga.,
August 31 to September 1, 1864; marched with Sherman's invin-
cible army from Atlanta to Savannah, encountering several sharp
engagements with the enemy in South and North Carolina in the
north w^ard march of the victorious army; after the surrender of
Lee and Johnston marching to Washington ria Richmond, Va., and
participating in the Grand Review, at the National Capital, ^lay
25, 1865. After the review, the regiment was transported bj' rail,
to Louisville, Ky., and from thence, the latter part of June, to
Little Rock, Ark., where it remained until August 7, 1865, Avhen it
was mustered out, and transported to Cleveland, Ohio, where the
men were paid off and discharged.
Akron in the Thirty-Seventh. — Charles Groff, or Gropf, Co. D,
captured at Atlanta, Ga., July 22, 1864, returned to company Octo-
ber 2, 1864 — Veteran; Christian Koehler, mustered out with com-
pany, August 7, 1865 — Veteran; Benjamin Stroker, died at Walnut
Hills, Miss., July 10, 1863; William Sampsey, discharged at Flat-
Top Mountain, W. Va., for disability, July 1, 1862.
NINTH OHIO INDEPENDENT BATTERY.
This battery w^as organized at Camp Wood, near Cleveland,
October 11, 1861, w^ith Henry S. Wetmore, of Cuyahoga Falls, as
captain, John M. Hinde, of Cuyahoga Falls, as second lieutenant.
Captain Wetmore resigning December 12, 1862; John M, Hinde
promoted to first lieutenant August 3, 1862, resigned December 5,
1862; Henry A. Tallmadge, of Hudson, promoted to second lieuten-
ant August 3, 1862, to first lieutenant, September 11, 1862, resigned
NINTH INDEPENDENT BATTERY. 391
June 7, 1864; William H. James, of Cuyahoga Falls, promoted to
second lieutenant, May 9, 1864, to first lieutenant, November 16,
1864, resigned January 21, 1865; George W. Church, of Hudson,
promoted to second lieutenant, June 27, 1864, to first lieutenant,
February 10, 1865, mustered out with battery, July 25, 1865,
This battery was one of the most effective in the service,
taking part in the battle of Mill Springs, January 19, 1862, from a
hill cominanding the ferry on the Cumberland River, over which
rebel troops ^vere being transported, by its well-directed shots, at
a range of nearly two miles, setting fire to the steam ferry-boat and
compelling the speedy surrender of the rebel works. For this
gallant service Gen. George H. Thomas, with the approval of
Major Gen. Buell, presented the battery with two captured six-
pound bronze guns, fitted out with captured horses and harness.
The battery participated in the capture of Cumberland Gap; in
the retreat of the United States forces from the Gap, in September,
1862, the Ninth taking the advance in charge of a train of one hun-
dred wagons filled Avith ammunition, having several sharp
encounters with the enemy on the ^vay, the men running so short
of provisions as to be obliged to gather corn from adjacent planta-
tions for food, grating it by means of perforations in the bottoms of
their tin plates.
The Battery Re-equipped. — Arriving at Wheeling, W. Va.,
the citizens fed and treated them w^ith every kindness, and after
arriving at Covington, Ky., the battery was reclothed and
re-equipped with a complete new outfit of guns and horses, the
Ninth now being recognized by the War Department as a six-gun
battery and entitled to a full complement of officers. On October
19, 1862, sixty-six recruits were added to the battery, giving it a
total of three commissioned officers and 156 men.
Going from Covington to Nicholasville, Ky., in December,
after considerable scouting after John Morgan, and other rebel
raiders, the battery went to Nashville the latter part of January,
1863, remaining in that vicinity, with almost daily sharp brushes
with the enemy, until September 5, 1863, when it marched to
Tullahoma.
A Villainous Performance. — December 23, 1862, four mem-
bers of the battery, w^hile on a foraging expedition, in Lincoln
County, Tenn., were captured by rebel guerrillas, avIio tied the
hands of their prisoners behind their backs, and then deliberately
shot them and threwr their bodies into Elk River. Tw^o of
the men not being killed outright by the miscreants, managed to
loosen their bonds and swim ashore, one of them dying the fol-
lowing day — the other, James W. Foley, of Hudson, being perma-
nently disabled in the right leg.
This barbarous outrage having been duly reported at Head
Quarters of the Army of the Cumberland, General Order Number
Six, series of 1864, Avas issued, making an assessment on the neigh-
borhood in the sum of $30,00() for the benefit of the families of the
three men thus wantonly and inhumanly murdered.
February 22, 1864, forty-one members of the original organiza-
tion re-enlisted as veterans, and with Captain H. B. York and First
Lieut. Henry A. Tallmadge, were sent to Cleveland to recruit its
ranks. April 9, 1864, the battery reported at Tullahoma, Tenn.,
with 151 men and five commissioned officers, in May starting for
392 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Atlanta with Gen. Sherman, and after the fall of that stronghold,
participating in the march of that victorious military chieftain
through Georgia, and from Savannah through the Carolinas, and
from thence, on the final collapse of the rebellion, to Washington,
being mustered out at Cleveland, July 25, 1865.
So far as now ascertainable, Akron's representatives in the
Ninth Battery were as follows: Robert Cahill, Adam France,
Charles Gifford, Martin Heiser, F. A. Patton, Frederick Potter,
Caleb Williams, Thomas Williams, and Camden O. Kockwell, the
latter being corporal and acting clerk of the battery, afterwards in
1861, being commissioned as second lieutenant colonel of Heavy
Artillery, on the recommendation of the examining board at
Nashville.
THE SIXTY-SEVENTH O. V. I.
After the return of the Nineteenth O. V. I, from the three
months' service, 1861, Hon. Alvin C. Voris, then one of Summit
County's Representatives in the Ohio General Assembly, enlisted
as a private in the Twenty-ninth Regiment O. V. I., then being
recruited by Major Lew^is P. Buckley for the three year's service.
Before the organization w^as completed, how^ever, Governor
William Dennison tendered to him a second lieutenant's com-
mission >vith authority to recruit men for an entirely new^ regi-
ment, the recruits secured by him finally being consolidated with
others, raised in other portions of the State, into the Sixty-
Seventh Regiment, Avith Otto Burstenbinder as colonel and A. C.
Voris as lieutenant colonel.
The regiment was organized at Camp Chase and mustered
into the service of the United" States, December 22, 1861. With
such zeal did the officers and men enter upon the task of pre-
paring themselves for the arduous duties before them, that on the
19th of January, 1862, the Sixty-seventh was sent into the field in
Western Virginia. After several weeks of desultory service in
that vicinity, the regiment reported to Gen. Banks, at Winchester,
Va., March 22, 1862, where, on the 23d, (Lieutenant Col. Voris
meantime having been given entire command of the regiment), it
had its first brush with the enemy, driving the opposing forces
till past midnight as far south as Kearnstown.
Lying all night on its arms, the Sixty-seventh was the first
regiment to engage the enemy, commanded by Stonewall Jackson,
the next morning, and when the fight was fully on, being ordered
to support a battery of artillery, under the impetuous lead of Col.
Voris, crossed an open field, three-four,ths of a mile, on a double-
quick, exposed to the enemy's fire, forming his men on the left of
Gen, Tyler's brigade, within point-blank range of a rebel brigade,
protected by a stone-wall.
In the effort to so arrange his force that the stone-w^all would
not protect the enem3^ from his fire. Col. Voris, himself, was
wounded in the right thigh, notwithstanding which he seized the
colors from his hesitating color-bearer and, supported by two of
his men, he started forward, and after two or three w^ell-directed
volleys, ordered a charge, resulting in throwing the enemy into
disorder and compelling his precipitate retreat — one of the very
few instances in which the intrepid rebel leader, Stonewall
Jackson, was thus discomfited in his brief but brilliant military
THE SrXTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT O. V. I. 393
•career. The Sixty-seventh lost in this battle, 15 killed and 32
wounded.
Perils by Sea as well as by Land. — After marching up
and down the valleys and over the mountains, from the Potomac
to Harrisonburg, from Front Royal to Fredericksburg, from
Fredericksburg to Manassas, from thence to Port Republic,
Alexandria, etc,, on the 26th of June 1862, the Sixty-seventh
embarked on the steamer Herald, and the barge Delaware, to
re-enforce the army of Gen. McClellan, on the James. During the
night of the 30th, near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, in the
midst of a heavy storm and gale, the hawser, connecting the barge
with the steamer, parted, leaving the barge at the mercy of the
wind and the waves. Men, horses and camp and garrison
■equipage, were washed overboard and lost. It was more than an
hour before the steamer, in the darkness, could make connection
"W'ith the barge, which had, by this time, become an almost perfect
wreck.
Col. Voris was himself upon the barge at the time of the catas-
trophe, and to his coolness and good management was largely, if
not wholly, due the rescue of himself and the survivors of his
command, the Colonel himself losing all his military trappings,
and — the last one to leave the ^vreck — boarding the steamer sans
«word, sans hat, sans coat, sans everything, but shoes, stockings,
shirt, pants and vest.
, The Assault ox Fort Wagner, S. C. — Campaigning with
the Army of the Potomac until the evacuation of the Peninsula
the last of December, 1862, the Sixty-seventh was transferred to
North Carolina, and thence, on February 1, 1863, to Hilton Head,
South Carolina, and for several months endured all the hardships,
dangers and privations of that prolonged siege, taking a com-
manding part in the disastrous assault upon Fort Wagner, on
the night of July 18, 1863, with a very heavy loss, Col. Voris
himself being very seriously wounded in the side, necessitating
his return home for "repairs."
At Bermuda Hundred. — At the end of 60 days, Col. Voris
had so far recovered from the effects of his wound as to enable him
to rejoin his regiment. In February, 1864, the regiment re-enlisted
as veterans and returned to Ohio on furlough and to recruit.
Returning to the front, the 67th joined Gen. Butler's forces at
Bermuda Hundred, May 6, 1864. May 8, the regiment was sent to
guard the left flank of the Tenth Corps, while destroying the rail-
road from Chester Station to Petersburg. The regiment, with
a section of artiller3^ was stationed about eleven miles from
Petersburg, on the Richmond turnpike, with instructions to hold
that point at all hazards. On the morning of Maj^ 10, the rebels
made a general attack upon them, but the 67th maintained a solid
front against four successive desperate charges. A section of
artillery inadvertently falling into the hands of the enemy, w^as
recaptured by a portion of Company F. This lOtli day of May,
1864, was both a glorious and a sorrowful day for the Sixty-seventh,
for though gallantly maintaining its position against superior
numbers, seventy-six officers and men w^ere killed and wounded
during the battle.
Col. Voris, still suffering from his Fort Wagner wound, at the
close of the exciting conflicts of the day found himself so
394 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
prostrated that he sank helpless, and almost unconscious, to the
ground, and had to be assisted to his headquarters. Gen. Terrj^
complimented him and his command, by saying that if he had
10,000 such men as Col. Voris, and his 67th Ohio regiment, he could
march straight into Richmond with them. For this day's work^
also. Col. Voris was recommended for promotion as a Brigadier
General of Volunteers.
Winning a Magnificent Trophy.— May 20, 1863, the 67th was
designated, with other regiments, to recapture a portion of our line&
w^hich had fallen into the hands of the rebels, which w^as accom-
plished by a charge in w^hich the 67th lost sixty-nine officers and
men, killed and w^ounded. In this engagement the rebel General
W, H. S. Walker, \iras wounded and captured. Col. Voris relieving
him of his sword, which he still retains as a trophy. August 16,
at Deep River, four companies of the 67th charged the rifle-pits of
the enemy w^ith a loss of nearly one-third of their men, but cap-
turing the pits before the rebels could reload their guns. During
the balance of the Summer and Fall of 1864, the 67th was almost
constantly in action, "and it is said," says Whitelaw Reid, "bj^
officers competent to judge, that during the year it was under fire
two hundred times" and that "out of 600 muskets taken to the
front in the Spring, three-fifths were laid aside during the year on
account of casualties."
In at the Death of the Rebellion. — We cannot follow the
67th day by day, for want of space, but may say, briefly, that in the
Spring of 1865, it w^as actively engaged until the final collapse^
leading in the charge upon Fort Gregg, Petersburg, on April 2,
Col. Voris, being the first Union officer to enter the fort, nearly
one-fourth of the rebel garrison defending the fort being killed;
Col. Voris and the remnant of his regiment also sharing in the
glory of Appomattox, being rew^arded therefore by a stinging
w^ound upon his left arm from a flying fragment of a rebel shell.
Politico-Military Honors. — Brev. Brigadier General in 1864,.
and Major General in 1865, on the close of hostilities. Gen. Voris
was assigned to command the politico-military district of South
Anna, Va., and, with his regiment, to perform garrison and police
duty; for six months or more the General performed the arduous
and perplexing duties of the position so satisfactorily to all parties
as to call forth the following commendatory notice from the
Charlottesville Daily Chronicle, of strong rebel proclivities:
"Gen. Voris has conducted himself in command here in the kind-
est and most considerate manner, and has show^n himself an
energetic, faithful and just officer. He leaves Avith the best wishes
of our people."
Akron in the Sixty-Seventh. — Owing to the fact that the
29th O. V. I. was being recruited here at the time, the most of the
recruits furnished by Lieut. Col. Voris for the 67th, were raised
elsew^here, tw^o Akron boys, only, besides the general himself, being
members thereof — Charles W. Beecher and Jacob Alexander Lantz,
of Company C, commanded by Marcus M. Spiegel, a former
merchant of East Liberty, with relatives and friends in Akron,
promoted to lieutenant colonel of the 120th O. V. I., October 2, 1862,^
to colonel February 18, 1863, and afterwards killed in battle.
Corporal Jacob A. Lantz lost his right arm at the battle of Win-
chester, Va., March 23, 1862, and w^as discharged for disability June
WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE OF GENERAL VORIS. 395
30, 1862; Charles W. Beecher was discharged for disability Sep-
tember 16, 1863.
The Most Wonderful Case on Record. — The rifle ball by
w^hich Col. Voris was wounded, at Fort Wagner, split upon the
ring of his sw^ord belt, and as, on probing, only a small piece of the
ball was found, it w^as supposed that the larger portion had glanced
off without penetrating the bod^-. As the years passed by, after
the close *of the war, and his return to his professional duties, the
general began to experience an abdominal trouble, w^hich finally
developed into what was supposed to be an aggravated case of
stone in the bladder, and finally, despairing of his life, unless he
could get speedy relief, in the Fall of 1873 he submitted to a surgi-
cal operation, when, to the surprise of the surgeons, his friends
and himself, instead of a stone, three-fourths of an enfield rifle
leaden ball, weighing an ounce and one-eighth, was extracted from
the bladder. That the shot did not instantl}' kill him in the first
place was simply miraculous, and that he could have carried that
amount of lead in such a vital position for over ten years of a very
active life, without fatal results, and finally to withstand the effects
of so painful and critical an operation, not only evinces a remark-
able degree of pluck, but a most vigorous constitution. It is
supposed that the leaden missive, being checked by striking the
belt-ring, lodged in the integuments of the upper portion of the
bladder, gradually, by its own gravit}^ working its way through
into the cavity of the bladder itself, from whence it was, happily,
so skillfully and safely removed.
HOME GUARDS, HUNDRED DAY MEN, ETC.
During the earlier portion of the war, the old militia s^'stem
had fallen into utter neglect, so that w^hile tens of thousands of the
patriotic sons of Ohio had voluntarily gone to the front, the State
itself was virtually without organized military protection. Hence,
in many of the cities and villages of the State unofficial local
organizations were effected, composed of persons past military
age, and others w^ho, for any reason, had not entered the volunteer
service, who, under the general appellation of " Home Guards,"
took lessons in military tactics, supplied themselves w^ith weapons
of defense, etc. — scores of the Henry sixteen-shooters being pur-
chased by citizens of Akron about those days.
The " Akron Home Guard." — There is no available roster of
the " Akron Home Guard," but among the others, besides himself,
the writer recalls such " braves" as Arad Kent, James Mathews,
Joseph E. Wesener, David A. Scott, Charles A, Collins, Charles
Cranz, Edwin P. Green, Nathaniel \V. Goodhue, Newell D. Tibbals,
Jacob A. Kohler, James H. Peterson, J. H. Collins, Ferdinand
Schumacher, John H. Chamberlin, Allen Hibbard, Robert P.
Henry, John J. Hall, Charles B. Bernard, Justus Rockwell, Alfred
R. Townsend, Richard S. Elkins, Joseph A. Beebe, Henry Purdy,
George W. Manly, Morrill T. Cutter, Milton W. Henry, Charles
Webster, Sanford M. Burnham, Edward Oviatt, Samuel G. Wilson,
William L. Everett, Webster B. Storer, James B. Taplin, James M.
Hale, Daniel Farnam, Enoch Adams, Stephen H. Pitkin, George H.
Heifer, John W. Sabin, Jacob Chisnell, Emmit D. Dodge, Linus
Austin, Charles W. Bonstedt, Henry W. Howe, Daniel M. Heifer,
396 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
David G. Sanford, George L>. Bates, James Christy, Georgia
Thomas, Constant Bryan, ISrhard Steinbacher, George W. McNeil,
John L. Robertson, John H. Christy, J, Park Alexander, B. F.
Wheeler, Henry S. Abbey, John R. Buchtel, etc.
These, and others not now remembered, were drilled nightly,
for many months, in Union Hall (Henry's block), by Captain Arad
Kent and other experienced drill-masters, and it is safe to say that
if John Morgan had extended his raid into Summit county while
the "Akron Home Guard" was in existence, not a man would
have been left to tell the tale — an appropriate motto, for some of
us, being: " In Peace, Invincible — in War, Invisible."
THE HUNDRED DAY MEN.
The alarm along the border, in 1862, especially the Kirby Smith
demonstration against Cincinnati so gallantly thwarted by the
" Squirrel Hunters," heretofore spoken of, forced upon the people
of the State the necessity of a thorough revision of the military
laws of Ohio, and, on the recommendation of Governor Tod, the
Legislature, April 14, 1863, enacted a law not only requiring a full
enrollment and organization into companies, regiments, brigades,
etc., of all able-bodied male inhabitants, between the ages of 18 and
45, but also providing for the organization of volunteer companies,
battalions and regiments, w^ho were to hold themselves ready for
immediate call, such volunteer organizations to be armed and
equipped at the expense of the State, the members to provide
themselves with regulation U. S. uniforms, each company to draw
$200 a year from the State military fund, for rent, care of arms and
incidental expenses; to serve five years, and after that to be
exempt from further military duty in time of peace; such volun-
teer companies to be first called out by the sheriff or mayor, in case
of riot or insurrection, or by the governor, in case of invasion or to
prev^ent invasion; in case of call by the governor, to be paid the
same as volunteers in the United States service, when thus called
out, and to be treated as deserters >vhen neglecting or refusing to
march as ordered, and when called by sheriff or mayor, to suppress
riot, to be paid by county or city one dollar per man, for each day,
and a like amount for each night, w^hile performing such service.
FiETY-FouRTH BATTALION, O. N. G.— Under this law Summit
county furnished three volunteer companies, as follows: Akron,
Company A; Springfield and Green, Company B; Tallmadge,
Company C, which constituted the Fifty-fourth Battalion, Ohio
National Guard. Gov. Brough authorized the military committee
to recruit a full regiment in Summit county, but only the three
independent companies named w^ere ever organized.
Company A — Original Roster. — The Akron Company was
organized July 22, 1863, with one hundred members, as follows:
J. Park Alexander, Joseph H. Alexander, Watson C. Atwood, W, E.
Allen, C. P. Allen, F. C. Ackley, Charles B. Bernard, James K.
Butler, Charles W. Bonstedt, Mills H. Beardsley, John R. Buchtel,
John Pv. Bell, George H. Bien, N. H. Barber, James Burlison, James
N. Baldwin, C. A, Brouse, C. A. Baldwin, Williams P. Babcock,
W. G. Britton, Gates A. Babcock, George C. Berry, Morrill T.
Cutter, George W, Crouse, George W. Camp, John H. Christy,
Horace G. Canfield, Orion Church, J. M. Cobb, William H. Carter,
THE FIFTY-FOURTH BATTALION. 397
George A. Collins, F. C. Chapman, David Dressier, William L,
Everett, H. A. Grubb.Gottleib Geyer, C. W. Gunther, J. Goldsmith,
George D. Gardner, Charles R, Howe, Henry C. Howard, George
H. Heifer, John W. Hutton, John B. Houghton, Asa S. Hanscom,
H. Hine, Dwight A. Hibbard, Henry \V. Howe, L. A, Hastings, E. M,
Hastings, H. \V. Hawkins, H. W. IngersoU, W. H. Jones, Jacob
Koch, Hiram A. Kepler, R. Koehler, Jacob A. Kohler, A. Kibling,
William W. Kilbourn, T. G. Lane, Jehial Lane, Andrew McNeil,
Wells E. Merriman, Henry L. Montenyohl, Henry G. Mathews,
Henry E. Merrill, William McMasters, John L. Noble, Jacob Ober-
holser, N. Osborn, Edward Oviatt, S. E. Phinney, D. W. Purdy, J.
W. Rockwell, William B, Raymond, Wilson G. Robinson, Janies^
Rinehart, L. L. Risden, Charles P. Starr, George S. Storer, F. D.
Shaffer, D. G. Steese, William Sichley, Daniel W. Storer, George H.
Simmons, David Snyder, Henry M. Sanford, Newell D. Tibbals,^
John L. Taplin, Robert Turner, George Vogt, Henry C. Viele,
Andrew T. Wilson, George Wellhouse, George C. Weimer, John
Wolf, J. K. Weygandt, Henry W. Wetmore, A. A. Washburn, Daniel
Zeisloft.
Officers, Flag Festival, Etc. — ^The commissioned officers^
elected at the time of organization, Avere: William L. Everett, cap-
tain; Daniel W. Storer, first lieutenant; Chas. R. Howe, second
lieutenant, ^vith Edward Oviatt, as ensign. In speaking of the
organization of Co. A, election of officers, etc., the writer said, edi-
torially, in the Beacon of July 23, 1863: "The company is com-
posed of good fellows, and will be a credit to the town, and an
honor to the service, should it ever be called into the field." On
Friday evening, October 16, 1863, the young ladies of Akron held
a festival at Empire Hall, for the purpose of raising funds to pur-
chase a flag for the "Akron Guards," realizing the munificent sum
of $120. On Monday evening, October 26, 1863, Empire Hall was-
crow^ded with an interested audience, to w^itness the presentation
ceremonies, a dime admittance fee, for the benefit of soldiers' fam-
iliesy realizing over $50.
Presentation and Reception Speeches. — Everything being in
readiness. Miss Hattie Henry (then but nine years of age, now Mrs.
Clement A. Barnes) addressing the officers of the company, said:
Akron Guards: — To you I coxne, in the name of the young- ladies of
Akron, not to present to you the olive wreath, enibleniatic of peace, but
with the Flag- of Your Countrj% the ensign of war. To j^ou we look for protec-
tion while our fathers and brothers are fighting on the bloody field for the
salvation of our common country. * * * To you I present this flag as a
token of respect and love from those who have known you long and well..
Let it never be disgraced, and when you look at it in your qviiet drills at hoine,
may it remind you of your country's greatness, and also of its present peril..
And should you be called to the tented field, may it be your pride to protect
it from the foul touch of rebel foes, that it may, with you, be returned to-
greet the eyes of your lady friends. Accept it, then ; be faithful, trusty and
true, and may the God of Heaven bless you !
Captain Everett's Response.— Ladies : For myself and in behalf of
my brother officers and members of this company, I return you our sincere-
thanks for this honor conferred, and for this beautiful tribute of the interest
you have taken in us. To you and to all our ladies, are we and our country
indebted for the encouragement you have given our soldiers, and for j'our"
untiring labors for their welfare. Ensign, to you belongs the honor of bear-
ing this glorious emblem of our nation's liberty, and may the sight of its
beautiful folds ever inspire you, and each one of us, with a higher sense of
398 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
our duty to our country, and may it fill our hearts with the spirit of resist-
ance to all rebel foes, — aye, with a double contempt for all northern traitors,
till thej" are haunted south of the line by the ghost of their own grandfather,
Benedict Arnold.
A Genuine but Joyous Surprise. — At the close of Captain
Everett's response, Miss Maria Ackley, (now Mrs. James B. Storer),
confronted the three principal officers of the company, and pre-
sented each of them with a beautiful sword, in an appropriate
address, from w^hich we quote as follows:
Officers of the 'Akron Guarjj':— We meet you to-night, clothed in
the habiliments of war, with words of greeting and good cheer, and extend
to you a hearty welcome ! Selected by ^^our compatriots, as well for your
courage as your noble bearing, to instruct and educate them in the manual
of arms, and if need be, to lead them through scenes of danger and death, to
victor}' and to glory, it becomes yovx to gird yourselves well for the task that
you maj' acquit 5^ourselves like men. Officers, accept from us these swords.
Let them be drawn only in defense of the right, and may the God of Heaven
ever bless you and your command.
Kach oi the officers named briefly expressed his thanks for
the beautiful weapons, and on call. Ensign Edward Oviatt and
Corporal Newell D. Tibbals, each made stirring and highly patri-
otic speeches. James M, Hale sang an original song, to the tune
of "Yankee Doodle," with several capital hits at "the man over in
Canada;" the Glee Club sang the "Star Spangled Banner" and
other patriotic songs, etc.
PATRIOTIC ACTION OF WESTERN GOVERNORS.
Meantime the critical point of the war was rapidly approaching.
Grant's plan for giving the rebellion its death-blow, -was by hurling
against Richmond such an overwhelming force that it neither
could be defeated nor driven back. This, of course, with the large
contingent required by Sherman to reduce Atlanta and accomplish
his contemplated "march through Georgia," and to hold Hood and
other able rebel generals in check in the West, necessitated the
calling into the field every available experienced soldier, as w^ell
as the large number of new recruits that were then being raised all
over the country by draft and enlistment.
At the same time, of course, an adequate force ^was required to
garrison the forts surrounding Washington, and other exposed
points, both in the East and in the West, and to give the great
commander the benefit of the experienced soldiers thus occupied,
Gov. Brough conceived the idea of temporarily supplying their
places with the volunteer militia of Ohio and other w^estern states.
To this end, at his suggestion, a meeting of the governors of
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and low^a, was held at Washing-
ton, and on April 21, 1864, a tender w^as made to President Lincoln
as follows: Ohio, 30,000; Indiana, 20,000; Illinois, 20,000; Iowa,
10,000; Wisconsin, 5,000— total, 85,000 men— for the term of 100 days
from date of muster into the service of the United States; to be
clothed, armed and equipped, subsisted, transported and paid as
other United States volunteers; to serve in fortifications, or
wherever their services might be required, the entire number to
be furnished within twenty days from the acceptance of the
proposition.
PROMPT AND NOBLE RESPONSE. 399
President Lincoln, through his Ohio Secretary of War, Edwin
M. Stanton, promptly accepted the tender, on being advised of
-which, on April 25, 1864, Adjutant General R. B. Cowen, in Gen-
tiral Order, No. 12, called all of the regiments, battalions and inde-
pendent companies of infantry, of the Ohio National Guard, into
active service, to rendezvous at the nearest eligible places in their
respective counties, on Monday, May 2, 1864.
THE GRAND UPRISING IN OHIO.
While it w^as exceedingly difficult for many of the members of
these organizations to leave their families and business, so great
was the alacrity with which the men and boys of Ohio responded
that, at half-past seven o'clock on the evening of the day named,
Adjutant General Cowmen had received reports that more than
35,000 men w^ere in camp, clamoring to be sent forward.
On May 3rd Governor Brough, issued an address "To the
National Guard of Ohio," cordially thanking them for their noble
response to the call made upon them for the relief of the army,
and the salvation of the country. "This manifestation of loyalty
and patriotism," said the Governor, "is alike honorable to your-
selves and your noble State. In the history of this great struggle
it will constitute a page that you and your descendents may here-
after contemplate with perfect satisfaction. * * * Go forth,
then, soldiers of the National Guard, to the fulfillment of the duty
assigned to you. I have entire confidence that j^ou will meet all
its requirements with fidelity and honor. The prayers of the
people of the State will follow you; and may your return be as
glorious as your going forth is noble and patriotic."
The regiments were forwarded as fast as they could be made
ready, the first regiments leaving on May 5, the last on May 16 —
four to Baltimore, Md.; two to Cumberland, Md.; fourteen to
Washington; three to Parkersburg, W. Va. ; three to New^ Creek;
three to Harper's Ferry; one to Gallipolis, Ohio; tw^o to Camp
Dennison; two to Camp Chase; two regiments and a battalion to
Johnson's Island. In response to Gen. Brough's telegram to the
above effect. Secretary Stanton replied: "The Department and the
Nation are indebted to you more than I can tell, for your prompt
and energetic action in this crisis."
Summit County's Response. — On Monday, May 2, 1864, the
three companies composing the 54th Battalion, reported to Capt.
Everett, in Akron — Company A, 89 men; Company B, 88 men;
Companj' C, 88 men — total, w^ith chaplain, 266. Between the
organization and reporting for duty, a number of changes had
occurred, some having moved away, some alreadj^ gone into the
army in other regiments, and others being on the sick list, while
the family and business relations of a few made it necessary for
them to procure substitutes, the roster of Company A, as finally
made up, being as follows: William L. Everett, captain;
Daniel W. Storer, first lieutenant; Charles R. Howe, second
lieutenant; Edw^ard Oviatt, ensign; John E. Bell, first sergeant;
William B. Raymond, second sergeant; George A. Collins, third
sergeant; New^ell D. Tibbals, fourth sergeant; George W. Crouse,
fifth sergeant; Henry Ward IngersoU, first corporal; Andrew C.
Dunn, second corporal; Hiram A. Kepler, third corporal; T. G.
400 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Lane, fourth corporal; A. Kibling sixth corporal; F. D. Shaffer,,
seventh corporal (G. A. Bisbee, substitute); Henry G. Mathews,^
eighth corporal. Privates: J. Park Alexander (substitute, L, R.
Harper), Franklin C. Ackley, Watson C. Atwood, W. E. Allen,
Joseph H. Alexander, William J. AtAvood, Charles B. Bernard,
James K. Butler, Charles W. Bonstedt (substitute, J. Gilbert
Raymond, bass drummer), Mills H. Beardsley, Gates A. Bab-
cock, George C. Berry, John R. Buchtel (substitute, W. S, St.
John, fifer), James N. Baldwin, Cornelius A. Brouse, Charles A^
Baldwin, Williams P. Babcock, W. G. Britton, George H. Bien^
James Burlison, Morrill T, Cutter, John H. Christy, Horace
G. Canlield, Orion Church, William H. Carter, George W. Camp
(substitute, Henry E. Abbey), David Dressier, H. A. Grubb, C. W.
Gunther, J. Goldsmith, G. Guyer, Henry C. Ho^v^ard, George H.
Heifer (substitute, Clinton E. Heifer), John W. Button, H. W.
Hawkins, Charles W. Huse, John B. Houghton (substitue,.
Clarence L. Benjamin), Dwight A. Hibbard, L. A. Hastings,.
E. M. Hastings, (substitute, R. K. Moore), Asa S. Hanscom, H.
Hine, W. H. Jones, Jacob Koch, Jacob A. Kohler, Robert Koehler,
Andrew McNeil, William McMasters (snare drummer), Henry
E. Merrill, John L. Noble, Jacob Oberholser, N. Osborn, D. W.
Purdy, Wilson G. Robinson (substitute, Henry Crosby King),
J. Rinehart, David Snyder, Henry M. Sanford, William Sichlej^,
Dallas G. Steese, Charles P. Starr (substitute, A. G. Cross), Robert
Turner (substitute, D. Baughman), John L. Taplin, G. Vogt,
Henry C. Viele, Andrew T. Wilson, A. A. Washburn, Henry W.
Wetmore, George Wellhouse, George C. Weimer, John Wolf, J. K,
Weygant, Daniel Zeisloft — total 89.
Hundred and Sixty-Fourth, O. V. I. — ^On Thursday morning,
May 5, 1863, the 54th Battalion, 266 strong, reported at Camp
Taylor, w^here, the next day, it was consolidated with the Forty-
Ninth O. N. G. from Seneca County, the consolidated regiment
being organized and mustered into the service of the United
States May 11, 1864, as the Hundred and ^ixty-Fourth Regiment,
O. V. I., with John C. Lee, (late of Toledo) as colonel, Charles B.
Bernard, of Akron, (now of Cleveland,) as adjutant, and Rev. John
Peate, (then pastor of the First M. E. Church, of Akron,) as chap-
lain; in the new arrangement, the letters of the companies being
changed as follows, A to F; B to H; C to D.
On examination, by the proper officers at Camp Ta3dor, a
number of men from each company w^ere excused for disability,
and other causes, and their places filled from the fragmentary
companies reporting from Seneca county, but as to the exemptions
and substitutions thus made, we are now without data.
Tallmadge — Company D, 164th O. V. I. — Following is the
joster of Company D, reported from Fort Woodbury, Va., May 20,
and published in the Beacon, of May 26, 1864: Norman S.
Keller, captain; Francis M. Wright, Jr., first lieutenant; Thomas
E. Strong, second lieutenant; J. S. Upton, first sergeant; A. A.
Hine, second sergeant; S. E. Barnes, third sergeant; Dennis
Treat, fourth sergeant; J. D. Strong, fifth sergeant; W. H. Ash-
mun, first corporal; J. S. Sprague, siecond corporal; Robert Ellis,
third corporal; William Bell, fourth corporal; G. F. Lyman, fifth
corporal; Byron M. Allison, sixth corporal; S. W. Harris, seventh
corporal; W, B. Crane, drummer. Privates: L. H. Ashmun,.
EX-ROUTE FOR WASHINGTON. 401
C. E. Barnes, F. N. Barnes, Bruce Baldwin, William H. Bron-
son, P. Billman, J. Bowser, H. M. Camp, L. N. Camp, R. W, Clark,
Frank A. Clark, H. Cochran, Christopher Callahan, U. F. Cramer,
A. D. Crossley, J. Drake, William Denmead, ThomasDavis, J.
Derr, W. Derr, D. Evans, J. Evans, W. Engler, F. B. Fenn, F. F.
Fenn, S, P. Fenn, U. D. Fritz, J. Guingrich, R. Gettinger, Henry
Harris, G. E. Hitchcock, E. Hope, H, L. Hart, J. Jordan, C. A.
Lyman, Jeff. Limber, A. F. Means, John McNeal, W. Miller, Wil-
liam T. Owen, John Owen, Atkin Ogle, L. B. Pierce, L. B. Peck,
J. Palmer, S. B. Pettibone, R. Pettinger, George W. Rice, William
Ripley, L. Rickardo, J. Row^insky, John Roudebush, O. Sprague,
P. C. Shenkenberger, C. A. Sackett, B. W. Skinner, Lj^man S.
Stone, F. Sperry, B. Strohl, L. Stouffer, E. Shoemaker, O. S. Treat,
J. C. Treat, W. L. Thomas, J. E. Upson, H. C. Upson, N. L. Upson,
Daniel A. Upson, J. Umsted, Daniel Vogt, W. W. Wetmore, H.
Westover, George Young — total 88.
Green and Springfield — Company H. — From the same source
is also compiled the company jointly furnished by Green and
Springfield townships, as follows: Darius F. Berger, of Green,
captain; William J. Schrop, of Springfield, first lieutenant; D. J.
Mottinger, of Green, second lieutenant; N. N. Leohner, orderly
sergeant; Cj^rus W. Harris, second sergeant; Thomas Wright, Jr.,
third sergeant; Balsar Shriver, fourth sergeant; S. C. Marsh, fifth
sergeant; William Buchtel, first corporal; Aaron Swartz, second
corporal; F. G. Stipe, third corporal; S. Breckenridge, fourth cor-
poral; Jacob Long, fifth corporal; J. A. Thompson, sixth corporal;
W. A. Chamberlain, seventh corporal; Jacob Weaver, eighth
corporal; J. B. Kreighbaum, musician. Privates: J, B. Acker,
W. Bender, H. Brumbaugh, J. W. Chamberlin, W. W. Coale,
B. Chisnell, W. Cramer, E. Cramer, W. Dickerhoof, William
Finkle, J. Foster, L. Fasnacht, G. H. Fasnacht, D. French, H. Foust,
D. S. Foust, S. Foster, A. Fry, B. Goss, A. Grable, J. J. Grable, J.
Grable, Jr., Ezra Harris, G. W. Hart, L. J. Hartong, L. Hartong, H.
A. Henderson, W. G. Johnston, H. Jarrett, J. F. Kryster, M. Kline,
A. Koons, E. Kuhns, David Kline, J. P. Kepler, O. Long, I, Long,
W. D. Myers, J. J. Marsh, J. S. Miller, W. Miller, D. Pontious, N.
Pontious, M. Ritter, W. H. Rininger, L. Ream, G. D. Ream, G. W.
Ream, U. R. Sefner, J. M. Schrop, G. Sweitzer, William Steese,
John Smith, H. Shriver, D. Stamm, R. S. Stout, P. H. Stout, D. H.
Shutt, B. Strohecker, J. Staver, D. G. Shutt, Ira Spidle, Hiram B.
Smith, G. Shutt, J. T. Tousley, Robert Thompson, S. N. Weston, F.
Winkleman, H. Yerrick, A. Yerrick, Alfred .Yerrick — total 88.
Moist, Muddy and Merry. — On Saturday evening, May 14,
1863, the 164th left Camp Taylor for Washington via Dunkirk,
Elmira, Harrisburg and Baltimore, reaching their destination on
the 17th. In speaking of the departure of the regiment froni
Cleveland, the Herald said: "As they marched down Superior
street, at about 8 o'clock in the evening, the rain w^as descending
in sheets, with an occasional blinding flash of lightning, and the
boys w^ere drenched w^ith rain and covered w^ith mud from the
bottomless roads that formed the ' middle passage ' between the
camp and the city; yet they were in the best of possible spirits.
The w^hole column of about a thousand men tramped along,
singing as w^ith one voice ' Rally Round the Flag, Boys ' and marking
the close of each verse with terriffic cheers and yells."
26
402 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Defending the National Capitol. — "Ohio in the War," by
Whitelaw Reid, says of the 164th O. N. G.: "It took position in
the defenses on the south side of the Potomac, and, during its one
hundred days' service, garrisoned Forts Smith, Strong, Bennett,
Haggarty and other forts. The regiment was very thoroughly
drilled, both in infantry and heavy artillery tactics. During
Barly's invasion the regiment was kept on duty almost constantly
and every night w^as spent either on the advance or beside the
guns. At the expiration of its term of enlistment, the regiment
received the thanks of President Lincoln for the service it had per-
formed, and returned to Cleveland, Wa Baltimore, Harrisburg and
Pittsburg, where it was mustered out, August 27, 1864."
Sickness, Deaths, Etc. — Letters from members of the several
Summit county companies to the writer, and published in the
Beacon, Mrhile on duty in front of Washington, show that Captain
Everett's Company F occupied Fort Corcoran; Captain Keller's
Company D occupied Fort Woodbury, and Captain Berger's
Company H occupied Fort Woodbury, except about two week's
sojourn in Fort Strong in May and June.
Though no loss of life or limb occurred from actual contact
with rebel foes, yet, being in a strange climate, in the most sickly
season of the year, quite a number of sharp encounters with
disease were experienced, with five sorrowful fatalities. The first
of the 54th Battalion to die was a promising young member of
Company D, Henry L. Hart (son of the late Henry Hart of 985
East Market street) who, from over-fatigue and exposure to the
hot sun, in walking to and from and about the city, on the 24th of
May, was seized w^ith sudden illness, on his return to the fort in
the evening, dying the next day. The second death, that of
Christopher Callahan, of the same company, from a precisely sim-
ilar cause, occurred on Monday, June 6, young Callahan, having
visited the city on Saturday, performed guard duty on Sunday,
returning to the barracks sick, at 2 o'clock Monday morning, and
dying at 3:30 in the afternoon. T^vo deaths also occurred in
Company H, at Camp Strong hospital, Jacob S. Holtz, of Seneca
county, July 3, of typhoid fever, and Hiram B. Smith of Green
township, of congestion of the stomach, July 24.
The last death was that of Henry Crosby King, "Harry," as
he was familiarly called, only son of the late Henry W. and Mary
Crosby King, who was serving in Company F, as a substitute for
Wilson G. Robinson, as elsewhere stated, his death, from typhoid
fever, occurring on Thursday evening, August 11, 1864. The
remains of all of the boys were sent home to their respective friends
for burial.
Enthusiastic Welcome Home. — The muster-out day being
Saturday; and the boys being anxious to spend the Sabbath w^ith
their friends at home, the paymaster kindly consented to visit
Akron a week from the following Monday, to finish paying them
off. That the boys were most heartily welcomed home, b3^ the
people of their respective townships, goes without saying, for
though they had not participated in any such bloody scenes of
carnage as had laid so many of their comrades low in death, they
had, at the most critical period of the war, given to the L^nion
army an equal number of trained and experienced soldiers, while
THE nation's thankfulness. 403
at the same time affording ample protection to the National
<I^apital, and other Union cities menaced by the rebel army.
Many interesting reminiscences are rife among the boys of
their "brief but brilliant" army life on Arlington Heights, but
-want of space prevents their repetition here. The 164th Regiment
having thus subserved the purposes of its organization, the 54th
Battalion again became a distinct entity, and us such fulfilled its
■destiny, Newell D, Tibbals being elected as major and becoming
the commandant of the Battalion. /
The ladies of Akron organized a festival in honor of Company
F, which came off with great eclat, at the company's armory, on
Friday evening, September 2, 1864, with musical, oratorical, con-
gratulatory and gyratory exercises, and doubtless there were
similar manifestations of gladness, in the other localities inter-
ested.
State and National Thankfulness. — In March, 1865, the
Legislature of Ohio passed a joint resolution of thanks to the
National Guard, and authorizing the Governor to have litho-
graphed, printed and distributed to the Hundred Days' Men, an
appropriate testimonial, but so far as can be learned, no such
documents were ever received by any of the members of the 54th
Battalion, which is perhaps accounted for by the fact of the issu-
ance of a similar testimonial by President Lincoln, as follows:
THE UNITED STATES VOLUNTEER SERVICE.
[Picture of Eagle, Flags, Etc.]
The President's Thanks and Certificate of Honorable Service.
To Capt. Darius F. Berger, 164th Reg't Ohio National Guard: \
Whereas, The President of the United States has made the following'
Executive Order, returning- thanks to the Ohio VOLUNTEERS FOR ONE Hun-
dred Days, to wit :
Executive Mansion, )
Washington City, \
September 10, 1864. )
The term of One Hundred Da3^s, for which the National Guard of
Ohio, Volunteered, having expired, the President directs an Official
Acknowledgment to be made of their Patriotic and Valuable Services
<iuring the recent campaigns. The term of service of their enlistment was
short, but distinguished by memorable events. In the Valley of the
Shenandoah, on the Peninsula, in the operations on the James River, around
Petersburg and Richmond, in the battle of Monocacy, and in the intrench-
ments of Washington, and in other important services, The NATIONAL
OUARD OF Ohio performed with alacrity the duty of Patriotic Volunteers,
for which they are entitled to, and are hereby tendered, through the
Governor of their State, the NATIONAL THANKS.
The Secretary of War is directed to transmit a copy of this order to the
Oovernor of Ohio, and to cause a CERTIFICATE OF Their HONORABLE SER-
VICE to be delivered to the Officers and Soldiers of the Ohio National
■Guard who recently served in the Military force of the United States for
One Hundred Days.
Abraham Lincoln.
Now, Therefore, this certificate of Thanks and Honorable Service is
•conferred on Capt. Darius Berger, in token of his HAVING HONORABLY
Served as a Volunteer for One Hundred Days in Company H. 164th
Regiment of Ohio National Guards.
404 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Given under my hand at the City of Washington, this fifteenth daj' of
December, in the j^ear of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-four.
Abraham Lincoln,
By the President: President of the United States.
Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War.
Registered No. 33,430.
E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant General.
The Hundred and Twenty-Ninth O. V. I. — This regiment
was composed of material gathered from different parts of the
State, recruited for six months, and was organized at Camp
Taylor, near Cleveland, Ohio, August 10, 1863. Most of the officers
and a large number of the men, had already seen service, so that
the regiment, w^ithout spending any considerable time in drill, was
started for the front on the day of its organization.
Captain Josiah J. Wright, of Akron, having partially recovered
from the disability by reason of which he had received an honor-
able discharge from the old 29th, October 1, 1862, re-entered the
service as second lieutenant of Company K, of the 129th. At Camp
Nelson, Ky., the regiment was incorporated into the Ninth Armj"
Corps, and on August 20, 1863, started for Cumberland Gap, sharing
in the capture of that stronghold and the capture of over 2,200
prisoners, 14 pieces of artillery and an immense amount of all kinds
of war material, the brigade to which the 129th was attached being
assigned to garrison the Gap.
Sharp Fighting— Severe Suffering, Etc. — Picketing, scout-
ing, foraging, etc., in the vicinity of the Gap, until the morning of
December 1, 1863, on two hours' notice, the regiment started in the
direction of Clinch. River, the next day acquitting itself with
cre<Jit in a spirited engagement with Longstreet's corps. During
the entire month of December, the regiment Avas constantly on the
move, up and down Clinch River, -with an occasional sharp
skirmish with the enemy, suffering terribly from the inclemency
of the w^eather, and the fact that the regiment had left the Gap
w^ith no baggage whatever, rnany of the men being poorly clad,
and almost shoeless, with scarcely rations enough to sustain life,
and those only obtainable by foraging through a region whose
inhabitants had already been nearly eaten out of house and home
by the contending armies. About the first of January, 1864, the
regiment fell back to Cumberland Gap, where it remained until
the beginning of February, w^hen it started on a 130 mile march to
Fort Nelson, from w^hence it immediately proceeded to Cleveland,
w^here it w^as mustered out by companies from March 5 to 11, 1864.
Besides Capt. J. J. Wright, Akron w^as represented in the 129th by
Carroll W. Wright, (also an ex-member of the old 29th), M. C.
Clark, Dempster Gifford, Marshall Gillett and Marcus B. Wright.
The Hundred and Ninety-Seventh O. V. I. — This, the last
completed regiment sent into the field from Ohio, was mustered
into the service of the United States at Camp Chase, near Colum-
bus, March 28, 1865. After the expiration of his six months' service
in the 129th, as heretofore stated. Captain J. J. Wright, again
recruited a sufficient number of men to entitle him to a commission,
but at the time when the men w^ere forwarded to Columbus, the
captain was detained at home by sickness and death in his familj^.
"THE COLORED TROOPS FOUGHT NOBLY." 405
and was consequently not counted in on the organization. Later
he re-enUsted as a private, and proceeding to Tod Barracks, Colum-
bus, was detailed in Major Skile's office, but was soon found to be
so well up in military matters, that he was given a captain's com-
mission in the 197th regiment. Company D, then being organized.
The 197th was substantially a veteran regiment at the start, all
of the officers but five, and more than one'half of the men, being
experienced soldiers. April 25, 1865, the regiment proceeded by
rail to Washington City, w^here on its arrival, its fond hopes of
seeing active service were blasted, by the news of the surrender of
Johnston's army.
The regiment was attached to the Ninth Army Corps, on April
29, going into camp near Alexandria, Va., a few^ days later being
transferred to Camp Harrington, at Dover, Del., and on May 31, to
Havre de Grace, Md., and assigned to guard duty along the Baltimore
railroad. July 3, regiment w^as transferred to Fort Washington,
near Baltimore, in which vicinity it performed guard duty in
camps, hospitals, forts, etc., until July 31, w^hen it was mustered
out of service at Camp Bradford, near Baltimore, and immediately
transferred to Tod Barracks, Columbus, Ohio, where, on August 6,
1865, the men w^ere duly paid off and discharged. Several other
Summit county men were members of the regiment, among the
rest Sebra Manley, of Akron.
Fifth U. S. Colored Infantry. — Ulysses L. Marvin enlisted
as a private in the 115th O. V. I., in August, 1862; served as clerk
in office of judge advocate at Cincinnati, until commissioned first
lieutenant in the 5th U. S. Colored Infantry in August, 1863, as
part of the 19th Army Corps; participated in the Peninsular cam-
paign in 1864; commanded the skirmish line in the Burnside mine
explosion; promoted to captain during the -siege of Richmond;
wounded at Newr Market Heights, September 29, 1864; on resunjing
his duties, two months later, being assigned to the staff of Adju-
tant General Shurtliff, was sent to Fort Fisher, from thence to
Raleigh, N. C, and was at the final surrender of the rebel army.
Breveted major at the close of the w^ar for meritorous service, he
w^as made judge advocate on the staff of Gen. Paine, being
mustered out of service in October, 1865. The only names of
Akron's colored patriots credited to this regiment, found on the
assessor's books, are those of Absalom H. Brooks and John W.
Brooks (sons of our former well-known colored citizen John H.
Brooks), Gustavus Bdrington, (nephew of Mrs. Washington
Martin), orderly sergeant of Company F., and Owen Hailstock,
though the names of several others are found in other regiments
herein mentioned.
The Hundred and Fifth O. V. I. — George Tod Perkins was
among the very first to respond to his country's call for troops,
entering the service as second lieutenant of Company B, 19th O. V. I.
sharing the glory of its brief but brilliant campaign in West Vir-
ginia, in 1861, as elsewhere detailed. In August, 1862, he entered
the service for three years, as major of the 105th O. V. I., recruited
principally from Mahoning, Trumbull, Geauga, Ashtabula and
Lake counties, and being emphatically a Western Reserve regi-
ment. Mustered in at Camp Taylor, Cleveland, August 20, 1862, it
arrived at Covington, Ky., on the morning of August 22, being the
first regiment to leave the State under the call of August 4, 1862.
406 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
After many fatiguing marches and counter-marches through Ken-
tucky, and much skirmishing with the enemy, its first full taste of
the horrors of war was at Perrysville, Ky., October 8, 1862, "when
the victory w^as with the rebels, the 105th in its gallant defense^
under the lead of Major Perkins, losing, two captains killed, and
four other officers w^ounded, and 47 men killed and 212 w^ounded,^
many mortally. Space will not permit us to follow the 105th
through all its gallant war history. The Ohio Roster, besides the Per-
rysville affair, gives it the credit of participating in the battles of
Hoover's Gap, Tenn., January 24, 1863; Chickamauga, Ga., Septem-
ber 19-20, 1863; Chattanooga, Tenn., November 23-24, 1863; Mission
Ridge, Tenn., November 25, 1863; Kenesaw Mountain, Ga., June
7-30, 1863; Siege of Atlanta, Ga., July 28 to September 2, 1864. In
speaking of the Chickamauga affair, on September 20, 1863, White-
law Reid, in "Ohio in the War," saj's of the 105th: "At the word of
command the regiment sprangto its feet, executed the change of front
w^ith as much precision as though on parade, and started forward
with deafening yells on the double quick,' to what seemed certain
destruction. * * * This prompt movement of the 105th was
highly commended by Gen. Re3^nolds, at the time, and afterwards
by Gen. Rosecrans. Its gallant commander, Major Perkins, was
wounded in this charge and conve3'ed to the rear, and was rendered
unfit for duty for nearly four months." The other casualities, in that
conflict, were: one captain, mortally, and three other officers seri-
ously, wounded, and seventy-five men killed, wounded and
prisoners.
The I05th formed a part of Sherman's invincible army in its
march from "Atlanta to the Sea," and, as show^ing the hardships
to which it >vas subjected on that victorious march, Mr. Reid says
that when review^ed by Gens. Sherman and Schofield, at Goldsboro,
N. C, "full twenty-five per cent, of the men were barefooted ; they
were ragged and dirty; many in citizens' dress, and some in rebel
uniforms."
Major Perkins was promoted to lieutenant colonel, July 16,.
1863, and to colonel, February 18, 1864, and after participating in the
grand review, at Washington, May 14, 1865, was mustered out with
regiment at Washington, June 3, 1865, the regiment, starting at
Covington, Ky., and ending at Washington, including reconnois-
sances, counter-marches, pursuit of retreating rebels, etc., having
marched more than 4,000 miles without a single foot of railroad
transportation.
VARIOUS OTHER REGIMENTS.
Akron and Portage and Middlebury townships w^ere, accord-
ing to the assessors' returns for several years pending the war,,
represented in the following-named organizations, the achieve-
ments of which cannot be here given for want of space, but that
they all, like those already enumerated, played well their parts
upon the tragic stage of w^ar, may be taken for granted.
The Forty-second Regiment O. V. I. — Mustered in at Camp
Chase, near Columbus, Ohio, September and October, 1861, for
three years — James A. Garfield, colonel, Don A. Pardee, lieutenant
colonel, George K. Pardee, adjutant; Company A, Aaron Teeple,
(then of Franklin, now^ of Portage); Company B, Joseph Lackey,
second lieutenant, resigned July 5, 1862; Company E, Albert L_
VARIOUS OTHER REGIMENTS. 407
Bowman, second lieutenant, promoted from sergeant major, March
2, 1863, wounded July 16, 1863, at Jackson, Miss.; Company F,
Thomas C. Foote, killed at battle of Black River Bridge. May 17,
1863; Company G, James McGuire; Company K, Franklin C. May,
discharged for disability, June 16, 1863; Company A, Hial B. Hart,
discharged March 22, 1862, to accept position as hospital steward in
U. S. Army.
Eighty-fourth Regiment O. V. I.— Mustered in at Camp
Chase, June 10, 1862, for three months; mustered out at Camp Del-
aware, September 20, 1862. Akron members: William H. McMast-
ers, principal musician; Company H, Homer C.Ayres, first lieuten-
ant; Eliakim H. Hastings, sergeant; William W. Kilbourn, corporal;
Sylvester H. Beatty, Augustus T. Brownless, Julius G. Brownless,
George H. Horn, Henry Clay King, James M. Malone; Company
I, Alexander G. Maynes, first lieutenant.
The Hundred and Twenty-fifth O. V. I. — Henry Ward
IngersoU, Esq., on the expiration of his three months' term of
service in the original Ninteenth Regifnent, united with the Second
Ohio Cavalry, in September, 1861, as sergeant of the band. Return-
ing to Ohio after one year's service, on October 20, 1862, Mr. IngersoU
w^as given a captain's commission by Gov. Tod, for the purpose of
recruiting a company for the 125th regiment, then being raised by
Col. Emerson Opdycke, of Trumbull county. On consolidation of
fragmentary companies, in the final organization of the regiment
at Camp Taylor, near Cleveland, it w^as found that others outranked
Captain IngersoU, in number of recruits raised, and he was conse-
quently not mustered in under his commission, Mr. IngersoU
afterwards serving 100 days in the army of the United States, as
first corporal of Company F, 164th O. N. G., as elsewhere stated.
Hundred and Eighty-eighth O. V. I. — Mustered in at Camp
Chase, March 4, 1865, for one year, mustered out at Nashville, Tenu.,
September 21, 1865, and paid off and discharged at Camp Chase,
September 28, 1865. Akron contributed to this regiment: Jerome
B. Clark, Henry Dreese, Frank Elliott, Christopher Gugle, Daniel
Neal, Royal D. Potter, WiUiam Sichley, Elias W. Turner, ThosYiall.
Hundred and Seventy-seventh O. V. I. — Organized at Cleve-
land, Ohio, in October, 1864, with a liberal sprinkling of men from,
the northern part of Summit county, and after an arduous service
of nearly nine months, was mustered out at the same place, July
7, 1865. Akron's contingent: Company H, Frank Allen; Company
E, Jasper Oviatt; Company B, Clarence M. Peck; Company K,
Hubert C. Peck, Nelson Sherbondy, died in service.
Seventy-sixth Regiment O. V. I. — Organized at Newark,
Ohio, February 9, 1862, operating in the southwest, accompanying
Sherman in his famous "March through Georgia," and from
Savannah northward to Washington. Was mustered out at
Columbus, July 24, 1865, Akron boys in the 76th, Joseph Bargold,
John Fitzpatrick, Almon C. Goble, Alfred H. Goble, Charles Grubl),
Patrick Grubb.
Miscellaneous Regiments. — Akron also furnished men for
sundry other organizations, during the w^ar, as follows: Simon
Perkins, Jr., served as private in Company B, 19th O. V. I., for
three months in 1861, afterw^ards, by appointment of President
Lincoln, w^as captain and assistant quarter-master in the depart-
ments of the Ohio and Cumberland; 75th O. V. I., John C. DeWiit;
408 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
24th O. V. I., Augustus Feederle, Matt Feederle; 16th O. V. I., Dr.
Byron S, Chase, assistant surgeon, promoted to surgeon 58th Col-
ored Infantry, May 19, 1863; Frederick F. Falk, hospital steward;
25th O. V. I., Frank B. Adams, one year, discharged for disability;
124th O. V. I., Darwin L. Goble, died in the service; 4th O. V. I., F.
J. Raymond; 124th O. V. L, E. Wilhelm; 24th O. V. I., A. E. Stewart;
57th O. V. I., Solomon Bachman; 87th O. V. I., Benjamin Fowler;
7th O. V. I., Martin Remmell, transferred to Company G, 5th O. V. I.;
Lawrence Remmell, wounded at battle of Port Republic, Va., June
9, 1862, killed in battle of Ringold, Ga., November 27, 1863; 72nd O. V.
I., Company A., Thomas Rhodes, drafted, mustered out July 30, 1863,
near Vicksburg, Miss., on expiration of term of servace; 109th O. V.
I., Samuel S. Ward; 5th O. V. I., George Limric, Company H, one year,
mustered out June 5, 1865; James Frank, Company H, one year, mus-
tered out June 5,1865; 77th O. V.I.,Charles Cole; 76th O. V. I., Charles
R. Pierce, surgeon, entered the service January 9, 1862, for three
years, died January 28, 1863; 23dO.V. I., Clarence M. Peck, entered
the service May 22, 1861, mustered out on expiration of term; 89th
Ind. V. I., John Winkleman; 45th Ind. V, I., John Binker; New
York regiment, Conrad Fink; 24th N. Y. I., Donald Treat; 42d Pa.
V. I., Alfred H. Goble; 3d Cal. V. I., Milton Lane; 22d U. S. Colored
Infantry, Frank M. Hailstock; 27th U. S. Colored Infantry, Moses
Jones, James Morrison; 3d N. J. Art., Alfred Wade; 25th Ohio
Battery, James H. Golden, Henry Proctor; 22d O. B., William
Bloomfield. Stephen Bloomfield; 3d O. B., J. M. Hotchkiss; Shields
Battery, H. H. Remington, George H. Barber, Thomas J. Hudson;
10th O. Cav., Lester M. Biggs, Alexander G. Maynes; 6th O. Cav.,
George Bradley, Thomas Foley, Newton Thayer; 20th O. B.,
Charles J. Keck; 11th Mich. B., Cyrenus Smith; 4th Pa. Cav., Wil-
liam H. Galbraith; 15th O. V. I., James McNeil; hospital nurse,
Thomas M. Sawyer; teamsters, Jacob M. Demas, H. H. Geer,
George lies, Charles G. Cleveland, Horace Hill, George W. Fair-
banks; 3d Brig. Band, Newton E. Kent; chaplain, Rev. Robert
Koehler; 193d O. V. I., Eugene D. Smith, died in the service; 16th
N. Y. Calvary, Philip A. Bierwirth, first sergeant, mustered out in
August, 1865.
Undesignated Regiments. — ^The assessors' returns, for Portage
and Middlebury townships, for military purposes, for the years
1863, '64 and '65, in a number of instances failed to designate the
regiment and company to >vhich the soldier was attached, the list
of names thus found being as follows: John Benker, A. H. Bots-
ford, W. W. Buck, R. A. Cowles, Samuel Codding, Delos Condine,
Harry Clifford, William McCurdy, Arthur J. Perkins, Jacob
Randall, William Smith.
United States Regular Army. — Gilbert S. Carpenter (eldest
son of Judge James S. Carpenter), after three months service in
Company G, 19th O. V. I., enlisted in Company F, 18th U'. S. I., at
Columbus, September 14, 1861, as sergeant; promoted to first lieu-
tenant; wounded at Stone River, May, 1863; appointed quarter-
master and commissary November, 1863; June, 1864, in War
Department at Washington; in 1865 sent on secret service to Dry
Tortugas and later to Springfield, 111., with Mr. Lincoln's private
papers; promoted to captain December 20, 1866, and constantly on
duty in the far Northwest, until transferred to Fort Hamilton, New
York Harbor, in the Summer of 1889, now (1891) being on recruiting
PRESIDENT LINCOLN ORDERS A DRAFT. 409
<luty in Cleveland — a most excellent soldier and officer. Dudley-
Seward, after four years' service in the 19th O. V. I. and Second
Ohio Cavalry, entered the regular service as captain and brevet
major of the Eighth Regiment, U. S. Cavalry, serving in Oregon,
California, Arizona and other western wilds, between four and
five years. George A. Purington, after three months as a private
in Company G, 19th O. V. I., and three years as captain, major,
lieutenant colonel and colonel in the Second Ohio Cavalry entered
the regular army ds a captain in the Ninth U. S. Cavalry, and is
now major of the Third U. S. Cavalry, stationed at Fort Clark,
Texas, being one of the most experienced officers in the army, with
the brevet rank of colonel, for meritorious services in the late war.
Samuel C. Williamson (late Probate Judge of Summit county), at
the end of his three months' service as a private in Company G,
O. V. I., in October, 1861, enlisted in the 18th U. S. Infantry, serving
as sergeant until wounded at the battle of Stone River in May,
1863; after recovery promoted to second and subsequently to first
lieutenant; in January, 1867, being. commissioned as a captain in
the42dU. S. I. Other Akron U. S. boys: Oliver Perry Barney,
John Best, Martin Frank, Charles H. Hickox, George Ley, William
H. Martin, James O'Neil; Navy — Frank A. Allen, Patrick Cum-
mins, Patrick Delmore, Charles Fink, John Line, George Patterson,
Joseph Stadden, Joseph Tallman.
QUOTAS, DRAFTS. BOUNTIES, ETC.
After the War of the Rebellion was fairly on, with a fair
prospect of several years continuance, in order that each loyal
State, county and towrnship might furnish its fair proportion of
the physical sinews necessary for its suppression, a census w^as
taken, yearly, of all the male inhabitants, between the ages of 18
and 45, on which to base the quota of men to be furnished by any
given locality, under the several calls of President Lincoln, for
troops. The quota thus being determined — due credit being given
for previous volunteers, and all proper exemptions, for disability or
other cause, ascertained — a day w^as fixed for a draft, at which time,
unless the quota had meantime been filled by voluntary enlist-
ments, a sufficient number of names of the remaining inhabitants
of the township, subject to military duty, would be drawn to com-
plete the quota. In order to encourage enlistments and save any
given locality from the disgrace of a draft, the plan of offering
both private and public bounties was adopted. Pending the draft
of 1862, in addition to the $100 bounty offered by the General Gov-
ernment, bounties were raised in every township by individual
subscriptions, and on July 19, 1862, the commissioners of -Summit
county — John S. Gilcrest, of Springfield, Nelson Upson, of Twins-
burg, and George Buel, of Akron — pledged the count j^ to pay a
bounty of $50, to each non-commissioned officer or private, to the
number of 220, who should, within sixty days, volunteer to serve
in the 104th O. V. I. then being raised.
As a sample of the alacrity with which the people contributed
to this object, the Beacon of July 31, 1862, stated that between
three and four thousand dollars had alreadj'^beea raised in Portage
township, and the canvass not yet completed; that in Middlebury
five parties — John Johnston, James Irvin, David E. Hill, Frank
Adams and Kent, Baldwin & Co. — had agreed to pay $10 each, and
410 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
forty- four others from 50 cents to $2.00 each, to each and every
man to the number of ten who should volunteer within tw^enty
days; that at Cuyahoga Falls, Messrs. S. W. McClure and Thomas
W. Cornell had each agreed to pay ten dollars to each volunteer of
the township (being already in for about $200 each), and that the
people of the other townships w^ere making equally liberal contri-
butions to the praise-w^orthy object, the issue of August 28th,.
giving the names of 18 persons in Springfield, subscribing from 50
cents to $5.00 each, or an aggregate of $34.75, t6 each volunteer to
the number of fifteen; while 51 persons contributed sums ranging
from $1.00 to $50.00— or an aggregate of ^325.00 to be distributed
equally among all the volunteers from that township.
The First Draft.— Henry McKinney, Esq., then of Cuyahoga
Falls, was appointed drafting commissioner, and Dr. J. G. Stevens,
ofTwinsburg, examining surgeon for Summit county, by Governor
Tod, commencing at Hudson, August 25, 1862, for Hudson, Tw^ins-
burg and Northfield; Peninsula, August 26, for Boston, Richfield
and Bath; Cuyahoga Falls, 27th, for Northampton, Stow, Tall-
madge and Cuyahoga Falls; Akron, 28th, Copley, Coventry, Mid-
dlebury, Norton, Springfield and Portage; Manchester, 30th, for
Franklin and Green, for the purpose of hearing and passing upon
excuses of those who claimed exemption from military service
under the draft.
The day set for the draft to begin by Governor Tod, -was
Thursday, September 4, 1862, to be continued from day to day until
completed. As the day approached, the anxiety became very
great and the exertions to raise recruits largely increased, " War
Meetings" being held in the several townships and principal
villages and school districts of the county, addressed by such
speakers as S. W. McClure, Henry McKinney, George W. McNeiU
R. O. Hammond, John F. Earl, N. D. Tibbals, John R. Buchtel,
Charles B. Bernard, N. W. Goodhue, Jacob A. Kohler, L. V, Bierce^
Arthur F. Bartges, Edward Oviatt, Edwin P. Green, William H.
Upson, James S. Carpenter, S. A. Lane and others.
Resistance to the Draft. — By this time under the teachings
of such men as Clement L. Vallandigham, opposition to the draft
began to manifest itself, not only in the slums of New York City,
but also in many of the more benighted rural districts in Ohio—
notably in Holmes, Noble and MorroAv counties, w^here it became
necessary to reduce the recalcitrants to subjection to law^ and order,
by military force.
In Summit county, though there were several "copperheadish"^
localities, the only overt disloyal manifestation w^as at East Liberty,
on Thursday evening, August 21, at a meeting which was being
addressed'by Messrs. McKinney and McNeil. At this ineeting, by
concerted action, a disturbance was created, and every possible
effort was made to prevent enlistments and to break up the meet-
ing. The next day prompt measures were taken to suppress the
incipient local rebellion, and nine of the offenders were arrested,
and taken before the United States commissioner at Cleveland,
six of whom w^ere admitted to bail, and the remaining three, in
default of bail, were committed to jail. The latter, as elsewhere
stated, after sleeping over the matter one night in jail, experienced
a change of heart, and enlisted in the 107th O. V. I., all mnking^
DEALING WITH REBEL SYMPATHIZERS. 411
good soldiers, and all laying do^vn their lives on the field of Gettys-
burg. On the final hearing before the commissioner, on Monday
morning, August 25, the remaining six, on their promise to "sin
no more," in that direction, were let off on the payment of the costs,
about $350.00, and $120.00, to the Summit County Bounty Fund,
incidentals and attorney's fees making the total expense of the
experiment about $600.
A "Moist" but Wholesome Operation. — Apropos of this
opposition to the draft and enlistments in 1862, an earlier local war
incident \vill here be in order. Though, as heretofore stated, on
the breaking out of the war, party lines were abolished, and the
majority of the Democrats vied with the Republicans in their
fealty to the Government and the Union, there w^as an occasional
nest of "copperheads," as they were called, w^ho w^ere very violent
in their expressions against " Lincoln's Abolition War," and
"Lincoln's Dogs," as they contemptuously called the Union volun-
teers. Here, also, a definition of the term "copperhead" is in order.
The copperhead snake, like the rattlesnake, is a very poisonous
reptile, but, unlike the rattlesnake, instead of sounding an alarm
and boldly attacking its enemy, face to face, creeps noiselessly and
slimily upon him from the rear, and stings him in the heel. The
appropriateness of the application is obvious, for while the south-
ern rebels themselves were boldly and courageously fighting for
the dissolution of the Union, their northern sympathizers were
doing their very worst to accomplish the same object by discourag-
ing enlistments and withholding supplies for the prosecution
of the war.
In 1861, in the adjacent tow^nship of Sharon, in Medina county,
a number of this class of persons, on the evening of the Fourth of
July, after the day had been patriotically celebrated by the loyal
inhabitants of that town, in secret conclave adopted, and published,
a rebel-sympathizing pronunciamento, denouncing the "high-
handed, unconstitutional and illegal usurpations of the party in
poMrer, w^hich is subversive of sovereignty, freedom and independ-
ence," and a variety of other similar expressions, designed to
discourage enlistments in the U^nion army, and to encourage
enlistments in the rebel army, and resistance to the Federal
authority.
These resolutions having been published in circular form, by
the authors, and afterwards copied into the Beacon, and other
Union papers, had created considerable excitement, among the
soldier boys then just returning from the three months' service,
and those then recruiting and organizing under the three years'
call, and when, on Friday, August 23, 1861, W. F. Hess and two others
of the "Secesh Sharonites," as they \^ere called, were observed upon
the streets of Akron, advocating the doctrines of their resolutions,
they Avere confronted by the indignant boys in blue, and invited to
manifest their loyalty to the Government by weaving the stars and
stripes above their heads and hurrahing for the Union. Declining
to do this they were unceremoniously treated to a plunge bath in
the patriotism-inspiring waters of the Pennsylvania and Ohio
canal, immediately south of the Market street bridge.
Not the soldier boys alone, but a vast crowd, of both loyal
Democrats, as well as Republicans, participated in the renovating
process, several prominent members of the present Democratic
412 AKROX AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
organization taking a lively hand in the affair. Two of the men
thus submerged needed but a few minutes soaking to so far purify
them of their secession proclivities, as to cause them to w^ave the
starry emblem vigorously above their heads, and to loudly pro-
claim their love for the Union; but the ringleader — Hess — a man
of powerful frame and of herculean strength, held out fully half
an hour, when he, too, not only waved the flag, and shouted for
the Union, but also, before emerging from the canal, took a solemn
oath, administered by a notary public, to support the constitution
of the United States and of the State of Ohio, and to sustain the
Oovernment in its efforts to put down the rebellion.
A few local "suspects" were also invited to a similar manifes-
tation of their loyalty, about those days, all of whom readily, if
not cheerfully, complied, and though the methods employed were
irregular, and in many respects reprehensible, the proceedings
served a salutary purpose, in causing the element in question to
be more circumspect in the public expression of their disloyal
sentiments, though few of them, probably, ever permanently
reformed.
The Draft Postponed. — In order to give the draft commis-
sioners time to complete their examinations, and the various
recruiting committees an opportunity to fill their respective
quotas, if possible, Gov. Tod, by permission of Secretary Stanton,
postponed the draft until September 16, and again, on account of
the interruption to recruiting caused by the threatened invasion
of Ohio by Kirby Smith, and the flocking of the "Squirrel Hunters"
to Cincinnati, till October 1, on wrhich day the draft finally took
place.
Notw^ithstanding the liberality of the people of Summit county
in the payment of bounties, and the general alacrity with w^hich
enlistments were made, the ides of October found all of the town-
ships of the county, except Boston, Cuyahoga Falls, Middlebury
and Tallmadge, short of their respective quotas, as foUo^vs: Bath,
7; Copley, 27; Coventry, 49; Franklin, 57; Green, 26; Hudson, 8;
Northampton, 7; Norton, 40; Northfield, 7; Portage, 49; Richfield,
29; Stow, 1; Springfield, 42; Twinsburg 7.
Portage Township Prize Winners. — Gates A. Babcock, Cor-
nelius A. Brouse, George Bradley, William Burr, George Botzum,
Edward A. Barber, Anthony Blimm, Morrill T. Cutter, John
Chitty, Jr., George W. Crouse, Hezekiah S. Camp, John Cramer,
John Dunn, Henry Dreese, Samuel J. Davidson, Peter Evers,
James Flowers, Silas Fisher, Joseph Gonder, Daniel Graham,
Christian Grad, Conrad Gahn, William F. Hageman, Horace F.
Hickok, Andrew Koch, George Lalor, Lucas Libis, John Memmer,
Sylvester B. Mj^ers, Joseph Marsh, Nathan S. Means, Antony
Meyer, Jacob Miller, Hugh McFarland, Jacob Orth, Christopher
Overholtz, Adam Orth, Michael Paul, William A. Palmer, John
Rottammer, Samuel Rhodes, John Spelman, George Sechrist,
Jacob Smith, Reuben Sherbondy, Abraham Schaier, Algernon S.
Wheeler, Jefferson Wise, William Zedder.
Reporting for Duty. — In the Beacon of October 9, 1862, the
w^riter editorially said: "The draft falls with peculiar hardship
upon a number of persons, but all have promptly and cheerfully
made arrangements to either furnish a substitute or go them-
selves and this morning, accompanied by Commissioner McKinney,
GENERAL BIERCE AND THE "COPPERHEADS," 413^
they started for the rendezvous at Cleveland. * * * We feel
proud of our conscript soldiers from Suinmit county, whose
patriotic conduct, in cheerfully conforming to the requirements of
the Government, IS in striking contrast with the mutinous mani-
festations which have been made by some of the drafts in other
counties, aided by a few of Jeff Davis' emissaries who are still per-
mitted to pollute the soil of Ohio."
We have no means of ascertaining how many of the drafted
men above named rendered personal service, how many furnished
substitutes or ho^v many w^ere excused; though inquiry has
revealed the fact that William A. Palmer was excused for physical
disability by the examining surgeon, at Cleveland. George W.
Crouse was then County Auditor, upon whom devolved the duty
of preparing the tickets, and draw^ing them from the box, conse-
quently drafting hirrself, among the rest. Reporting with the rest,
at the rendezvous in Cleveland as stated, Mr. Crouse, in view of
the difficulty of leaving the office, proposed to furnish a substitute,
but ^vas confronted by an order from Governor Tod, that county
officers should be exempted from the operation of the draft, and
consequently returned to his official duties, doing his full share,
hoAvever, in the way of contributions to bounty and sanitary funds
and in 1864 giving to the Government 100 days faithful service in
front of Washington, as a member of Company F, 164th Regiment
Ohio National Guards. Edward A. Barber Avas excused on
account of a broken leg, but subsequently, besides having two
brothers killed in the army, furnished a substitute in anticipation
of the draft of March, 1865. James M. Malone served as a substi-
tute for Morrill T. Cutter; William Beatty for Cornelius A. Brouse;
Thomas Rhodes for his brother, Samuel Rhodes; Messrs. John
Memmer, Gates A. Babcock, Reuben Sherbondy, John Spelman,.
Joseph Gonder, and very probabl3^ others procuring substitutes in
Cleveland. The Cleveland papers of October 17, 1862, in a table
comprizing fifteen counties of Northern Ohio, said of Summit:
Number of men reported in camp, 292; number who furnished
substitutes, 133; number substitutes enlisted, 87; number exempted
by surgeon, 33; which would indicate that a little over 40 per cent,
took their chances under the draft, none of the principals, as indi-
cated in the table, having enlisted, while possibly some of them
procured substitutes before being assigned to regiments and mus-
tered in.
PROMPT ACTION OF MAJOR LUCIUS V. BIERCE.
Allusion has been made to Morro\v county, as one of the few^
localities of the State where resistance was made to the draft.
While the enrollment of those subject to military duty was being-
made, in certain portions of that county, in the Spring of 1863, the
opposition became very virulent, the manner of dealing w^ith w^hich
was thus described in the Beacon of June 4, 1863:
Our late Senator, Gen. L. V. Bierce, now assistant adjutant general
with the rank of major, received a telegram, on Wednesday last, from the
provost marshal of Morrow county, that his enrolling officer was meeting
with resistance, his life being threatened, if he proceeded with the enroll-
ment, and that he had been twice fired at. Major Bierce immediately made
a requisition on Gen. Mason, at Camp Chase, for a sergeant and a squad of ten
men, with a supply of ball cartridges and two days rations, and at 4 o'clock
P. M. started for the scene of operations. Reaching Gilead on the C. C. & C
414
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
R. R., 52 miles from ColumbUvS, he marched 14 miles on foot, captured three
of the ring-leaders, searched all the secesh houses in the neighborhood,
seized a lot of United States arms, and just at daylight started back with his
prisoners and booty, delivering his prisoners to the United States Marshal
at Mount Gilead, and ariving at Columbus at 11 o'clock A. M. The butternuts
of the neighborhood were evidently thoroughl)^ organized, for those pounced
upon blew their horns, and sent their women to arouse the faithful, but nary
a rescuer put in an appearance, the Morrow county rebellion being effectu-
ally squelched by the Major's prompt and vigorous action.
p EN. LUCIUS VERUS BIERCE,—
^J^ born in Cornwall, Conn., Aug.
4, 1801 ; at 15 came with father to Nel-
son, Portage county, O., soon after
entering Ohio University, at Athens,
also engaging in the study of the
law, later traveling, teaching and
studying three or four years in the
South, where, at Athens, Ala., in 1823,
he was admitted to practice, a year
later being admitted to the Bar in
Ohio ; from 1826 to 1837 was prose-
cuting attornej' of Portage county ;
in 1836 changed his residence from
Ravenna to Akron; in the Fall of that
j-ear was married to Miss Frances C.
Peck, a teacher in Ravenna, who bore
him one son — Walter — who died in
infancy. Mrs. Bierce dying suddenly,
of heart disease, June 23, 1839, Gen.
Bierce was again married, to Miss
Sophronia Ladd, a teacher in Akron,
Jan. 1, 1840, who bore him a daugh-
ter—Ella S., who died Dec. 11, 1864.
Taking a great interest in local mili-
tarj^ matters, he early became a brig-
adier general of militia, and in the
so-called Canada Patriot War, of
1837 39, became commander-in-chief
of the Patriot Arm5\ Gen. Bierce
served as State Senator from 1861 to
1863. In the War of the Rebellion,
besides raising several squads of re-
cruits for the artillery and navy. Gen.
Bierce served two years as assistant
adjutant general, with the rank of
major, in office of provost marshal
at Columbus ; in May, 1865, was sent
to Madison, Wis., to muster out
troops, and then to the command of
Fort Washburn, at Milwaukee, being
himself mustered out October 7, 1865.
GEx\. LUCIUS VERUS BIERCE.
Gen. Bierce was mayor of Akron
during the years 1839, '41, '44, '49, '67,
'68, and President of Akron's first
Board of Education, in 1847. He was
a prominent Mason, being elected
Grand Master in 1853. Gen. Bierce
died Nov. 11, 1876, Mrs. Bierce dying
April 24, 1882, having, on September
15, 1875, deeded their homestead, cor-
ner High and Market streets, to the
city, on condition that it should be
forever called "Bierce Park," and that
the city should pay them $1,500 a year
during their joint lives and $1,000 to
the survivor during life, the net cost
to the city thus being about $6,500.
A "BUTTERNUT" DEMONSTRATION.
Hess and his rebel-sympathizing compeers evidently took the
oaths and pledges alluded to with many mental reservations, for
in 1862 they had so far taken partisan form as to put distinct can-
didates in the field for both general and local civil officers, on plat-
forms of decided hostility to the government, while in 1863 they
placed in nomination for governor, against that tried and true
Democratic patriot, John Brough, the convicted and banished trai-
tor, Clement L. Yallandigham, supporting him and his incendiary
doctrines, both in their papers and upon the rostrum, with the
most bitter denunciation of the administration and the brave boys
who were fighting for the preservation of the Union.
A HOME "butternut" DISPLAY. 415
In the beginning of the war, the Union boys had nicknamed
the rebel soldiers " Butternuts," from the fact that the major-
ity of the southern people, and soldiers before being supplied with
gray uniforms, dressed in butternut colored clothing — a sort of a
yellow^ish brown— and, whereas the emblem of the old Jackson
Democracy was the hickory tree, emblematic of the inflexible cour-
age and firm tenacity of purpose which gave to Andrew Jackson
the sobriquet of " Old Hickory," the bastard democracy, ignoring
the Old Hero's hatred of treason, and to manifest their sympathy
with traitors, adopted the butternut tree as its emblem, carrying
butternut trees and boughs in their processions and wearing upon
the lapels of their coats and shirt fronts pins fabricated from the
central portion of the butternut shell.
A Unique Procession. — In the early Fall of 1863, during the
exciting gubernatorial campaign alluded to, headed by that life-
long and patriotic Democrat, John Brough, on the one hand, and
by Ohio's expatriated traitor, Clement L. Vallandigham, from his
safe retreat just over the border, on the other, the object of the
local .adherents of the " Martyr" Avas to make a big demonstration-
at the capital of " Abolition" Summit county. After several weeks
spent in scouring Summit, Portage, Medina, Wayne, Stark and
Holmes counties, said demonstration came off on Thursday, Octo-
ber 8, on the fair grounds, overlooking the city on the west, the
Grand Army coming in two divisions, from the southeast and the
southwest, the latter headed by the water-soaked " Captain " Hess.
The procession, mostly on horse back and in two-horse lumber
wagons, loaded promiscuously with men, women, boys and girls,
by actual count just 1,453 persons, one-third of whom w^ere possibly
voters. The horses and wagons were embellished with butternut
saplings and every species of anti-administration and anti-war
mottoes, but not a single National fla^, and nearly all the men and
women w^ore the butternut pin — the latter being especially promi-
nent in the disloyal display.
Though the speakers ^vere very bitter in their denunciation of
President Lincoln and Governors Tod and Brough, and the soldiers
then battling for the Union, they were quietly listened to by hun-
dreds of true and loyal men, including many soldiers then home on
furlough, and everything passed off peaceably, until the eastern
division of the procession, in passing along Howard street on their
return, commenced to jeer at the boys in blue, and to brandish the
huge clubs, butcher-knives and revolvers w^ith which many of
them were armed, w^ith an occasional volley of stones from the
wagons, at the crowd of spectators upon the sidewalks — one large
stone, evidently aimed at the writer, then editor of the Beacon,
hitting a now prominent Democrat upon the knee.
These wantonly hostile demonstrations were too much for the
furloughed soldiers, many of whom had been wounded by real
rebel missiles, and in spite of the efforts of many prominent citi-
zens to prevent a collision, the veterans "sailed in," unhorsing and
disarming their mounted assailants, stripping from horses and
wagons rebel-sympathizing emblems and mottoes, and relieving a
good portion of the crowd, both men and women, of their butternut
pins. At one time, at the corner of Howard and Market streets, a
serious and bloody riot was imminent, but, happily the affair ter-
minated without serious personal injury to either side.
416 . AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
Politically, the result of the campaign was, in Summit countj^,.
a Union majority of 2,276, exclusive of the vote of soldiers at the
front Avho cast 423 votes for Brough, to 11 votes for Vallandigham,
swelling the Union majority in the county to 2,688, w^hile in the
State the Union majority, exclusive of the soldiers' vote, w^as 61,752,
the 39,806 majority given by the boys in the field sw^elling the patri-
otic Brough's majority, over his unpatriotic and disloyal com-
petitor, to the grand total of 101,598.
Subsequent Calls, Drafts, Etc. — As the war progressed, calls
for additional troops became frequent and urgent, and the efforts
of our people to raise bount}^ money and recruits were correspond-
ingly increased. In 1863, how^ever, ow^ing to the fact that Ohio had
hitherto sent a larger proportion of men into the field for three
years, than other states, the requisition upon her was compara-
tively small, about 8,500 only. In the meantime, also, the govern-
ment had increased its offers of bounty to*$300 for new recruits,
and $400 for re-enlistments, ^rhile the local bounty, in Portage
tow^nship, raised by individual subscription, was at that time $150,
the recruit being permitted to choose the regiment in which he
should serve, with corresponding liberality in other portions of the
county and of the State, so that not only Summit countj^'s but
Ohio's full quota was made up previous to the day fixed for the
draft, October 26, 1863.
Under the call of October 17, 1863, for 300,000 more troops to
be raised by January 5, 1864, the special government bounties were
continued. President Lincoln closing his proclamation in these
words: "I address myself not only to the governors of the several
states, but also to the loyal people thereof, invoking them to lend
cheerful, willing and effective aid to the measure thus adopted,
v/ith a view^ to reinforce our victorious armies now in the field, and
bring our military operations to a prosperous end, thus closing"
forever the fountains of sedition and cruel war."
Portage Township up to Time. — The time for raising the
quotas having been extended, the Beacon of February 4, 1864,
announced that the quota of Portage township, 65, had been filled,
with a surplus in the bounty fund of $550.00 In the meanw^hile,
how^ever, an additional 200,000 men had been called for. This had
been rendered necessary, from the fact that the large number of
soldiers in the field then re-enlisting as veterans, were credited on
the quotas of their respective townships, thus reducing the 300,000
call in reality to about 100,000, w^hereas it was deemed necessary
to put the full 300,000 additional troops into the field. In announcing
this call Gov. Brough said:
Citizens of Ohio ! Shall we hesitate in complying with the requisition
laid upon us? Shall we falter in the g'ood work as the end draws near?
Shall we be lag'gard under the call to man an army sufficient in a single
season to strike the death blow to this rebellion? The loyalty of Ohio was
appealed to last fall at the ballot box, and her people returned a noble
response. The patriotism of the State is appealed to now; the answer must
not be hesitating- or uncertain.
Summit's Second Draft. — At the instance of Secretary Stanton,
Congress, by joint resolution, extended the special bounties of
$300, and $400 till April 1, 1864, thus postponing the draft under
the 200,000 call until that date, and afterwards until Saturday, May
7th, when the draft for Summit County came off at the provost
marshal's office in Cleveland. Green, Richfield, Northfield and
Sl'PPLEMENTAL DRAFT ORDERED. 417
Twinsburg, were found to be "out of the woods," and the rest of
the townships were found to be delinquent as follows: Bath, 2;
IJoston, 3; Copley, 14; Coventry, 1; Cuyahoga Falls, 5; Franklin, 11;
Hudson, 4; Middlebury, 4; Northampton, 13; Norton, 13; Portage,
11; Springfield, 2; Stow, 6; Tallmadge, 4.
Akron's Roll of Honor. ^Including Middlebury and Portage
tow^nships, Akron's Roll of Honor in this draft, was as follows:
Moses Huggins, Russell H. Kent, Martin Tobin, Oliver Perr}",
George Davis, 2nd, Thomas Maloney, George Morris, Standard \V.
Hase, Ezra Leonard, Eber Hawkins, Frank Edgerly, John Sud-
bottom, Foster Tarbell, John Pinkney, Horace Hill, Jacob ShuU,
Corwin Hamlin, Patrick Costole, George W. Fairbanks, Orlando
H. Wilcox, Thaddeus Schnell, Alvin Rice, Lucius Risden, Ezekiel
S. Phinney, John Franklin Weygandt.
In the previous drafts, fifty per cent more names than the
quotas called for were drawn, to provide for exemptions and rejec-
tions on final examinations, but in this draft, the exact number
called for only were drawn, so that all thus excused would have to
be made up by a supplemental draft, or under subsequent calls.
We have now^ no means of knowing how many of the above named
drafts were excused (except Alvin Rice excused for defective
vision) nor how^ many personally responded, but the probabilities
are that the most of them furnished substitutes, or purchased
immunity from service ^vith commutation money. The Govern-
ment had by this time provided, by law, that any person drafted, or
liable to draft, might purchase exemption by the payment of a
commutation of $300, the Government thus undertaking to procure
substitutes wherever they could be had. To make matters as safe
and easy as possible for each other, "pools" w^ere formed — a given
number paying a given amount, from $10 to $100, with the
understanding that if any member of the pool should be drafted,
he could draw the amount of $300 from the common fund, to be
used either as commutation to purchase exemption, or as a bount}^.
should he elect to go into the service himself. Geo, W. Fairbanks,
belonged to a pool of 45 members who chipped in $10 each, making
an aggregate of $450. Being the only member of the pool drafted,
after drawing his $300 from the fund, the remaining $150 was
equally divided among the members, "Wash" thus getting out of
the affair for the moderate sum of $6.66%.
Supplemental Draft. — To make up for those excused under
the last dra^t named, a supplemental draft was ordered to come off
early in June, 1864, Summit county's shortage being as follows:
Boston, 3; Copley, 8; Cuyahoga Falls, 3; Franklin, 6; Hudson, 4;
Middlebury, 1; Norton, 6; Northampton, 4; Portage, 7; Springfield,.
2; Stow, 1; all the other townships being full. The deficiencies,,
however, were promptly made up by the several recruiting and
county committees, mostly recruits obtained in Cleveland, and
Summit county was ag^in "out of the woods," the committees sent
to Columbus, to secure a fair distribution of credits, announcing
its success, and the fact that Portage toAvnship was for the time
being secure from conscription lightning by the following telegram
which will speak for itself:
Columbus, March 30, 1864.
To Tames Christy, Akron: The original Muster Rolls of the 29th are
received at Adjutant General's office today. Akron is credited with eig-htj--
six jnen. Hurrah ! J. J. HALL.
27
418 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
COUNTY, CITY AND TOWNSHIP BOUNTY TAX LAW.
In view of the fact that in the raising of local bounties, the
patriotic and liberal were almost w^holly the contributors, while
the unpatriotic and illiberal, though enjoying equal benefits of
protection to person and property, and the enhanced prices for
their produce caused by the war, contributed little or nothing, the
Ohio Legislature in March, 1864, enacted a bounty law^, the first
section of which, as follo^vs, explains itself :
The commissioners of the several counties, and the councils of several
cities, and the trustees of the several townships in this State, are hereby
authorized (if they deem the same expedient), in the year A. D. 1864, to levy a
tax upon the taxable property' of their respective jurisdictions, for the pur-
pose of raising a fund to paj^ bounties to volunteers who have enlisted
or shall enlist in the military or naval service of the United States
under either of the requisitions of the President in October, 1863, or Feb-
ruary, 1864, for 500,000 additional troops, in the ag-g-reg-ate not exceeding one
hundred dollars to each volunteer who shall have enlisted or may hereafter
enlist therein under the said requisitions, and to paj- and reimburse the
counties, cities, wards, townships and individuals, all monies paid, pledged
or subscribed b}^ them respectively, as and for bounties to volunteers
enlisted or who shall enlist under said calls within their respective jurisdic-
tions as aforesaid.
A number of the townships of the county availed themselves
of the provisions of this law, thus compelling the unwilling to
share w^ith the willing a small proportion of the extraordinary
pecuniary burdens forced upon them by the exigencies of those
troublous times.
SANITARY AND AID SOCIETIES.
It w^ill be utterly impossible to convey to the minds of the
present generation the magnitude of the Soldier's Aid and Sani-
tary operations, among the people of the Northern States, during
the war. Not only were the families of the soldiers at home to be
assisted, according to their several necessities, but the sick and
wounded soldiers themselves, in the hospitals, were to be nursed
and supplied with medicines, food, clothing, etc., suited to their
varied conditions. To this end Soldiers' Aid Societies \vere organ-
ized by the sympathetic and always patriotic women of almost
every city, village and township throughout the entire North,
through w^hich immense supplies were for^varded, monthly, or
oftener, each society endeavoring, as far as possible, to send its
contributions to those localities where its ow^n dear ones w^ould be
most likely to be the beneficiaries thereof.
Monthly reports of their contributions were published regu-
larly in the Beacon, comprising many columns of solid nonpareil
type, from w^hich, as a sample of the whole,' we quote as follows
from the Copley District No. 3, report for August, 1864: Member-
ship fees, $12.40; proceeds of dime parties, $11.60; grab parties,
$7.25; Mrs. W. B,, five pillow cases, two rolls bandages, outside for
one quilt, one roll of cloth, one roll of cotton batting, three bottles
of currant w^ine; Mrs. K., one quilt lining, batting and four blocks
for quilt, four rolls bandages, one pillow, six pounds dried apples;
Mrs. S., six bottles blackberry syrup, one roll old cotton, two
pounds cherries, etc., the list containing the names of 57 ladies,
with similar contributions, embracing shirts, drawers, dried beef,
cheese, soap, to\vels, books, papers, fans, pin balls, etc., filling two
good-sized packing boxes.
PATRIOTISM AND PLEASANTRY. 419
A similar detailed report of the Akron Soldiers' Aid Society
for the same month, summing up as follows: Two boxes sent to
Cleveland, containing-three shirts, thirteen pairs drawers, two boxes
lint, one pair socks, five towels, twrenty-five handkerchiefs, seven-
teen bundles rags, sixteen pounds dried fruit, one bag hops, two
packages of paper§, twenty-eight magazines, one bushel onions.
Two boxes sent to Hospital No. 1, Nashville, Tenn., containing
thirteen fans, twelve towels, two quilts, five pillows, sixteen maga-
zines, twenty-six handkerchiefs, eleven shirts, one bag hops, six-
teen pin balls, three pairs slippers, two quarts dried currants,
books, papers and rags.
Grand Wood and Provision Celebration. — As a further
sample of the spirit which animated all our people, and of their
•desire to assist the families of those w^ho w^ere fighting for them at
the front, a wood and provision celebration w^as organized, the
glorious outcome of which can be best imparted to the reader of
these pages, by what the w^riter then said of it, editorially, in the
Beacon of December 24, 1863:
" The wood and provision celebration, on Thursday last,
proved to be a most triumphant success. Notw^ith standing the
-awful condition of the roads, and the forbidding aspect of the
weather, the supplies began to arrive early, and at 11 o'clock,
under the marshalship of George D. Bates, Esq., and his wide-
awake assistants, the procession was formed at the corner of
Howard and Market streets, and, headed by the Akron Guards and
their fine band of martial music, proceeded up Market to Broad-
way, up BroadAvay to Mill, down Mill to HoAvard and down
Howard to Market, from whence the wagons proceeded to the sev-
eral places designated by the committee for depositing their
various contents.
Banqueting the Contributors. — " On delivering his dona-
tions, each man was furnished Avith a ticket which admitted him
to Tappan Hall, where the Ladies of the Soldiers' Aid Society had
prepared a magnificent dinner, consisting of roast turkey, baked
and stewed chicken, chicken pie, roast beef, pork and beans,
mashed potatoes, turnips, cabbage, pickles and relishes in great
abundance, bread and butter, pies, cakes, hot coffee, etc., etc. Not
only w^ere the 'multitude' abundantly 'filled,' but there remained
■'many baskets full' of choice provisions for those for w^hose benefit
the affair had been gotten up.
"The train consisted of from 80 to 90 Avagons, mostly from our
own township, though quite a number from Copley, Coventry,
Middlebury, Tallmadge, Northampton and other towns generously
united, not only in sw^elling the dimensions of the procession, but
ihe pile of supplies, also."
A list of the contributors, with the articles donated, and their
value, occupies fully a column and a half, which may be briefly
summarized as follows: Cash, $375; wood, 40 cords; coal, 15 tons;
potatoes, 200 bushels; flour, 8 barrels; meat, 800 pounds; apples,
25 bushels; cabbage, 100 heads; beets and turnips, 10 bushels;
w^heat, 7 bushels; corn, 9 bushels; beans, 3 bushels; chickens, 16;
orders for goods, $50; with dried apples, apple-butter, pumpkins,
etc., the aggregate value being between $700 and $800.
Patriotism and Pleasantry. — Illustrative of the genial good
nature w^ith which these contributions were made, and of the
420 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
devices made for augmenting them, we quote as folloAvs: " Mr^
William B. Raymond banteringly proposed to Mr. Jacob' Ober-
holser that he (Raymond) would contribute a barrel of flour if he
(Oberholser) would wheel it around the square in the procession
on a wheel-barrow^, which challenge was promptly accepted, and
duly executed. Messrs. James Mathews, George C. Berry and
David A. Scott each proposed to perform similar feats, if the flour
Avas furnished them, whereupon George W. McNeil, George Buel,
John Memmer, John L. Noble. John J. Wagoner, W. G. Robinson,.
William C. Allen, Charles R. Howe, Jacob Oberholser and others,
chipped in from one to two dollars each, and purchased the flour;
Mr. C. G. Auble, then clerking for Milton W. Henry and Jacob-
Oberholser, offering to "tote " a hog upon his shoulder, in the pro-
cession, if his fellow clerks would pay for it.
The hog was purchased and the four \\^heel-barrows, and their
plucky drivers, and the stalwart bearer of the " patriotic grunter,"
with festoons of red, white and blue ribbon depending from its
snout and tail, elicited rounds of applause along the line of march;
our late patriotic colored fellow-citizen, William D. Stevens, bring-
ing up the rear, with a pole across his shoulder from the end of
which depended a nice large ham labeled " The Union," and
underneath a lean and haggled ham bone labeled "The Southern
Confederacy Played Out."
1864— RECRUITING IN THK REBEL STATES.
The experiences of 1864 w^ere but a repetition of those of 1862
and 1863, only many times intensified, requiring the utmost exer-
tion and vigilance on the part of the various military committees
to secure correct enrollments and proper credits thereon, and to
fill the various requisitions for men. Not only ^vere the services of
from 90,000 to 100,000 National Guards accepted and faithfully
rendered, but on the 18th day 'of July, 1864, President Lincoln issued
another call for 500,000 more men, who, under the then recent act
of Congress, could enlist for one, two or three years, as they might
elect, and designating September 5, as the clay for holding the
draft in districts Avhose quotas had not previously been filled.
The same act authorized the procurement of recruits, for filling
the quotas of northern States, from the "contraband" and other
loyal inhabitants of certain of the southern States, the third section
reading as follows:
Section III. And be it further enacted, that it shall be lawful for the
Executive of anj^ State, to send recruiting- ag-ents into any of the States
declared to be in rebellion, except the States of Arkansas, Tennessee and
Louisiana, to recruit volunteers under any call under the provision of this
act, who shall be credited to the State, and to the respective sub-divisions
thereof which may procure the enlistment.
Giving the New Plan a Trial. — Under the provisions of
this act, the trustees of the several townships of the county met at
the Court House, on Friday, July 22, 1864, to devise u^ays and
means for carrying it into effect. Col. Simon Perkins w^as called
to the chair, and a resolution was adopted that, under the pro-
visions of the tow^nship bounty tax, heretofore spoken of, the
trustees of the several townships borrow upon their official bonds
the sum of $100 for each man wanted by their respective tow^nships,
John E. Hurlbut, of Richfield, being selected as Summit county's
OUR QUOTA AGAIN FULL. 421
agent to procure said enlistments, and preparations were immedi-
ately coinmenced for carr3dng this plan into effect, all the town-
ships reporting on the following Monday, and placing in the
hands of Col. Perkins the sum of $100 for each man needed to fill
their several quotas under the call.
In the meantime, however, it transpired that only one agent
for each Congressional District was to be appointed, and on
Saturday, July 23, the military' committees of the three counties
composing the Eighteenth Congressional District — ^Summit, Lake
and Cuyahoga — inet at Cleveland, and selected Mr, C. E. Wilson,
of that city, as such agent.
A Novel but Profitless Scheme. — At this meeting of the
military committees, a Doctor DeLaney, of Pittsburg, submitted a
proposition to fill the quota of the district for $100 per head, in
addition to the Government bount}^, the doctor to deposit $5,000, as
a guarantee for the faithful performance of his agreement, and the
bounty money not to be paid over until the recruits had been
accepted and mustered in. The contract was closed with the
doctor, and he and Mr. Wilson proceeded to Columbus, and obtain-
ing proper authority from Gevernor Brough immediately started
for the South, but with what result ma}^ be inferred from the
following paragraph from an editorial penned 1iy the writer, in the
Beacon of August 11, 1864:
Although we hav^e nothing- definite as to how the person who took the
contract of filling- the quota for this district in the rebel States, is getting"
along, we understand that the reg-ular constituted agent, under whom the
contractor was to operate has intimated that but little can be done from the
fact that other localities, represented there, were offering from $100 to $1,t()
greater bounties than he was authorized to paj\ We would again beg of
•our people to urge forward the matter of obtaining volunteers at home, and
■of laboring, one and all, for reducing the quotas to the lowest possible limit
by the .oth of September. A large number of volunteers can be obtained
w^ithin the time specified, if the people, en masse, take hold of the matter in
■earnest. Let it be done by all means.
At Work in Good Earnest. — Seeing the impossibility of secur-
ing our quota, (about sixty men), for Portage township, by the plan
indicated, a rousing meeting w^as held at Tappan Hall on Monday
evening, August 22, 1864, to take measures for securing the nec-
essary recruits at home. To this end it w^as resolved that every
enrolled man in the township should contribute $30 to a fund,
w^hich, with the amount provided by the trustees, would give each
recruit a local bounty of $400, in addition to the Government
bounty, and if the entire quota could not be raised by this means,
each man drafted, who had thus contributed his $30, should draw
the like sum of $4:(X) from said fund as a bounty to himself, or with
w^hich to hire a substitute. A w^eek later it was announced that
■Cuyahoga Falls, Richfield, Northampton and several outside tow^ns
had raised their full quotas, and that Portage to\\rnship had
recruited and mustered in about 40 men.
Other portions of the State being equally vigilant and suc-
cessful, the draft was deferred until September 24, 1864. Previous
to the day named. Portage and most of the other townships of the
county, had filled their quotas, and the others nearly so, the four or
five townships finally drafted, all furnishing the requisite number
of recruits before the examinations of the drafted men were com-
pleted, the Beacon of October 13, 1864, editorially saying:
■"Every township in this county has filled its quota and not a
422 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
drafted man from Glorious Little Summit has gone into the army.
Let us rejoice, not only that we are able to send our full proportion
of soldiers to fight the rebels in the South, but that we have also a
sufficient number of men still left to defeat the rebels at homer
through the ballot box, by a largely increased majority."
The draft throughout the State all passed off quietly, tho-igh
in the midst of a very heated Presidential campaign, and in spite
of the persistent threats of the "copperheads" that another draft
in Ohio should never take place, the entire draft for the State
being but 9,006 men, the excess of recruits raised in certain local-
ities giving to the State a small credit on the final call.
THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MORE!
December 19, 1864, Secretary' Stanton announced to the country,,
by telegram, that President Lincoln had issued a call for 3<X),(KX>'
men to make up for the deficiency occasioned by credits to the
several states under previous calls; the requisition to be filled by
February 15, 1865. Hon. Alphonso Hart, State Senator for Summit
and Portage counties, introduced a bill, which was passed into a
law, authorizing city councils and township trustees to levy a tax
to the extent of $200 on each recruit necessary to fill their
respective quotas, on anj^ call of the President subsequent to July
18, 1864, and to borrow^ mone}' U])on city and toAvnship bonds in
anticipation of the collection of such a tax.
The several quotas of Summit countj^ announced under thi»
call were: Bath, 24; Boston, 15; Copley, 24; Coventry, 16;
Cuyahoga Falls, 15; Franklin, 30; Green, 25; Hudson, 15;.
Middlebury, 6; Northampton, 9; Northfield, 14; Norton, 18; Portage,.
115; Richfield, 13; Springfield, 25; Stow, 10; Tallmadge, 12;;
Twinsburg, 3.
So great had been the strain upon the patriotic impulses and
pockets of the people, that there wAs, for a time, a disposition to-
let the draft take its course, and let those liable to be struck by it
either respond in person, or secure substitutes for themselves as
best they could.
Waking up at Last — Glorious Result.— But, fortunately,
there were a few "Never Saj^ Die" fellows in Akron, like vSimon
Perkins, John R. Buchtel, J. Park Alexander, George W. Crouse,
Charles B. Bernard, David L. King and others equally patriotic,
and similar resolute men in all the other townships of the county,
who determined to clear their respective townships, and, if pos-
sible the entire county, from a draft under the last call that would
probably be inade for troops, the rebellion being then upon it&
very "last legs." To this end, at a largely attended meeting at
Tappan Hall, early in Februarj^, 1865, a committee, consisting of
John R. Buchtel, George W. Crouse, J. Park Alexander and Charle»
B. Bernard, Avas appointed and given full authority to adopt such
measures as they might deem advisable for filling the quota of
Portage to^vnship w^ithout a draft.
The Assessment Plan Adopted. — A careful canvass of the
village and township w^as had, and an assessment made upon
every business and professional man, farmer and mechanic,^
according to his known or supposed ability to pay, w^hich several
parties were visited and kindly, but somewhat iniperatireh'r
A MAGNIFICENT OUTCOME. 423
invited to liquidate said assessments. Of course there were some
demurrers and pleas in abatement interposed, and some deep down
though not very loud, damnatory expressions indulged in, but as a
general thing all promptly "forked over" the amount thus
demanded of them.
Over Thirty-two Thousand Dollars Raised. — In less than
a w^eek, so energetic was the action of the committee, there was
over $32,000 in cash in the hands of its treasurer, Charles B.
Bernard, Esq. In the meantime it was found that by reason of
not having received proper credits, and by the blunders of the
enrolling officer in placing upon the list aliens and others w^ell-
know^n to be exempt from military duty, the quota for Portage
township, as given above, was fully double w^hat it should have
been.
Permission having been received from the provost marshal of
the State, on Saturday evening, February 18, to correct the lists on
w^hich the final assignments were to be made at 8 o'clock on the
following Monday morning, by telegraphic arrangement w^ith the
enrolling board a special train, with a large number of enrolled
men claiming exemption for alienage, disability, etc., proceeded to
Cleveland on Sunday afternoon, the final quota of the township
being fixed at 68, w^hich was still something like twenty more
than it properly should have been, the other townships of the
county remaining the same as stated above.
Entirely " Out of the Woods." — The draft, though not
formally postponed, was delayed to give such localities as w^ere
earnestly working to fill their quotas, by voluntary enlistment, an
opportunity to do so. The committee paid to each home recruit a
bounty of $500, and to outsiders such sums as might be agreed
upon, the Beacon of February 23, 1865, announcing that 54 recruits,
mostly citizens of Portage tow^nship, had already been mustered in
and the good w^ork still progressing favorably. Suffice it to say,
that the balance of the recruits needed were duly obtained and
mustered in, w^ith a surplus in the hands of the committee's treas-
urer of nearly $3,000, which, happily, not being needed for military
purposes, having been mostly contributed by the citizens of
Akron, was, with accrued interest, by request of the principal con-
tributors, subsequently paid over to the Board of Managers of the
Akron Library Association, as will be found stated in detail else-
where, thus inuring to the intellectual benefit of the survivors of
those of our citizens w^hose valor made such l)eneficient institu-
tions among us possible, and to their sons and daughters.
Other Townships AlvSO up to Time. — The assessment system
■was also adopted by the recruiting committees of most of the
other townships of the county, being generally acquiesced in,
though in certain localities creating considerable friction and bad-
blood, a frightful example of which is given in the chapter on
Stow^, by which two reputable citizens were deprived of life and
the third consigned to a felon's cell.
"Bounty Jumping" so extensively prevailed, where men, after
being accepted and duly credited and receiving their bounties,
would desert before arrival at the front, to repeat the operation,
under a change of name, in some other locality, it is very doubtful
if one-half of those recruited outside of their own proper
counties, ever reached the army, a condition of things large]3^
424 AKKOX AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
encouraged by the swarms of unscrupulous "Bounty Brokers"
that infested Cleveland, and the principal cities of Ohio and other
States, during the latter part of the war.
THE COLLAPSE OF THE REBELLION.
Summit's last quota was thus filled, and all her military obli-
gations to the imperiled Government fully canceled. We can
not definitely determine the exact number of men put into the field,
as a county, or as separate townships, for the reason that the
assessors' returns include but few of the original Three Months'
men or the Hundred Day men, nor any of the recruits mustered
in under the last call, nor the number of men that were obtained in
Cleveland and elsew^here, to fill our respective quotas, as above
detailed.
The Assessors' reports for 1865, purporting to give the names
of all then or previously in the service from their respective tow^n-
ships, foot up as follows: Bath, 71; Boston, 140; Copley, 124
Coventry, 77; Cuyahoga Falls, 107; Franklin, 118; Green, 108
Hudson, 105; Middlebury, 63; Northfield, 109; Northampton, 87
Norton, 73; Portage, 443; Richfield, 76; Springfield, 145; Stow, 83
Tallmadge, 120; Twinsburg, 108,— total for county 2,157. Allowing
one half of the last call to have been filled with home material, and
counting in the Three Months' men of 1861, the Squirrel Hunters
of 1862, and the Hundred Day men of 1864, we have an aggregate of
not far from 3,000 men — citizens of Summit county — while those
recruited elsewhere, would swell the grand total to at least 3,500,
to say nothing of the hundreds who, after serving their original
term of three years, re-enlisted as veterans, and were counted as
so many recruits, in making up quotas, under subsequent calls.
LITTLE SUMMIT IN THE VAN.
The official report, at the close of the war, shows the status of
the several counties of the State, in regard to the outcome of the
final call, in which Summit compares favorably with her sister
counties, as the following figures abundantly show: Summit —
quota 363. recruits furnished 316, deficit (after receiving proper
credit on former quotas) 4; Stark — quota 408, recruits 373, draft 5,
deficit 30; Wayne — quota 357, recruits 279, draft 3, deficit 45; Port-
age— quota 264, recruits 214, draft 25, deficit 5; Cuyahoga — quota
669, recruits 407, draft 13, deficit 249; Holmes — quota 197, recruits
157, deficit 70; Tuscarawas — quota 380, recruits 252, deficit 128;
Knox — quota 349, recruits 206, draft 8, deficit 144; sixty-five counties
showing an aggregate deficit of 2,827, sixteen counties an aggregate
surplus of 88 and seven counties coming out even, making a net
deficit in the State of 2,739.
Brief Special Mention. — Many of Akron's volunteer soldiers,
other than those mentioned in the foregoing sketch, deserve hon-
orable mention for their devotion and heroism during the long
and bloody struggle, but >vant of space and lack of proper data
forbids. Without disparagement to others, however, may be
mentioned the late Dr. George P. Ashmun,who entered the service
August 14, 1862, as surgeon of the 93d O. V. I.; captured, contrary
to all civilized rules of war, while caring for the wounded and
dying on the field of battle, and confined in Libby prison for
HONORABLE MENTION.
425
«everal months, resigning August 11, 1864; Dr. Charles R. Pierce,
enlisting as surgeon of the 76th O. V. I., January 9, 1862, and after
faithful service, both in camp and field, at the battles of Fort
Donelson, Shiloh, Milliken's Bend, Chickasaw Bayou and Arkansas
Post, dying in the service, January 29, 1863; Dr. C. F. H, Biggs
■(father of Akron's well-known boiler-maker, Lester M. Biggs),
entering the army as hospital steward of the Second Ohio Cavalry,
in August, 1861, accompanying the regiment in its various opera-
tions in Missouri and the Indian Territory, as elsewhere detailed;
•on account of excess of that class of officers, mustered out in Sep-
tember, 1862; immediately re-enlisted as private, though perform-
ing the duties of assistant surgeon for several months in 1864, in
Cavalry Corps Hospital at City Point, Va., appointed assistant
surgeon 4th Ohio Cavalry, in November, 1864, at Nashville, Tenn.;
mustered out w^ith regiment at close of the war.
TUDGK SAMUEL C. WILLIAM-
J SON, — born in Randolph, Portag-e
■county, Ohio, August 18, 1837 ; in
1854 entered preparatory school at
Hudson, graduating from Western
Reserve College in 1860; April, 1861,
enlisted in 19th O. V. I., serving three
months; Oct., 1861, enlisted in 18th U.
S. I., serving as sergeant till wounded
at battle of Stone River, in May, 1863.
After several months leave of absence
was promoted to second lieutenant
and sent to Detroit and Grand Rapids
as mustering and disbursing officer ;
subsequently promoted to first lieu-
tenant, and ordered on duty in the
Provost Marshal General's Depart-
ment, serving in Missouri till closing
of office ; then as post adjutant and
inspecting officer at Benton Bar-
racks and Fort Leavenworth, Kan.,
as assistant commissioner of musters
till Januarj^ 18(>7, when he was com-
missioned captain of 42d U. S. I., and
stationed at Hart's Island and Mad-
ison Barracks, N. Y., until consoli-
dation of regiment with the 6th,
when he was placed on waiting
orders and returned home. Here he
completed his law studies with Tib-
bals & McKinnej^ being admitted to
the bar in 1870. In October, 1875, he
was elected Probate Judge of Sum-
JUDGE SAMUEL C. WILLIAMSON.
mit county, and re-elected in 1878,
serving six years. At the close of his
second term, being in failing health,
he visited New Mexico, where he died
March 27, 1883, his remains now
reposing in the G. A. R. lot in Glen-
dale Cemetery. Jxxdge Williamson
never married.
Milton C. Wilcox, son of Curtis C. Wilcox, Esq., of 216 Union
street, enlisted as private in the 104th O. V. I., July 24, 1862; pro-
moted to regimental hospital steward August 30, 1862; discharged
at Knoxville, Tenn., February 20, 1864, to accept position of hospi-
tal steward in regular army; in April, 1864, appointed aide-de-camp
and private secretary to Governor William G. Brow^nlow, of Ten-
nessee, with the title of colonel; after the close of the war taking
an active part in adjusting the civil affairs of that State to the new^
order of things, particularly interesting himself in educational
matters, and is now^ a prominent and influential citizen of that
State.
426 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
THE MILITIA DURING THE WAR.
Under the act of April 14, 1863, for the reorganization of the
militia of Ohio, besides the independent companies, battalions
and regiments heretofore spoken of, the entire State was duly dis-
tricted, organized and drilled, preparatory to performing local,
State or National military dut3^, should their services be called
into requisition. We have no proper data for giving the rosters of
the several companies thus organized and maintained in Summit
county during the ^war, ready to take part in the great struggle, if
called upon (and many of whose members did do valiant service a»
volunteer soldiers under the several calls for troops), but the
original officers, for the companies, elected in July, 1863, as far as
reported, were as follow^s:
Bath, District No. 1: Henry Mack, captain, William Davis,
Jr., first lieutenant, B. M. Noble, second lieutenant.
Boston, No. 1: Joseph Drake, captain, Leander Beers, first
lieutenant, Daniel R. Tilden, second lieutenant; No. 2, L. F. Car-
gould, captain, E. S. Haskill, first lieutenant, James Edgerly, sec-
ond lieutenant.
Copley, No. 1: David Parker, captain, William Medsker, first
lieutenant, George W. Weeks, second lieutenant; No. 2, John Fran-
cisco, captain, Hiram King, first lieutenant, Jonathan Delong, sec-
ond lieutenant.
Coventry, No. 1: Wm. B. Doyle, captain, Edward H. Viers,
first lieutenant, Hiram B. Housell, second lieutenant; No. 2, Jacob
Hoffman, captain, Peter Stine, first lieutenant, Jacob Warner,
second lieutenant.
Cuyahoga Falls: William H. Hinde, captain, H. C. Lock-
w^ood, first lieutenant, George A. Waite, second lieutenant.
Franklin, No. 1: Samuel Wolf, captain, Oscar E. Brownell,
first lieutenant, Isaac Dailey, second lieutenant; No. 2, Lewis
Wagoner, captain, L. J. Wagoner, first lieutenant, Timothy Sulli-
van, second lieutenant.
Green, No. 1: William Y. Royer, captain, John J. Marsh, first
lieutenant, E. J. Semler, second lieutenant; No. 2, John F. Helnir
captain, Benjamin Chisnell, first lieutenant, Jonathan Foster,
second lieutenant.
Hudson, No. 1: RoUin Bosworth, captain, Z. R. Trowbridge,
first lieutenant, James H. Seymour, second lieutenant; No. 2, Car-
roll Cutler, captain, H. J. Bell, first lieutenant, William Wilder,
second lieutenant.
Middlebury: M. J. Housell, captain, T. S. Jones, first lieu-
tenant, Thomas H. Peckham, second lieutenant.
Northampton, No. 1: John C. Johnston, captain, F. L. Har-
rington, first lieutenant, George Chart, second lieutenant; No. 2r
James R. Brown, captain, AndrcAv J. Bean, first lieutenant, Norton
R. Hardy, second lieutenant.
Norton, No. 1: Peter Hunsicker, captain, William Betz, first
lieutenant, D . J. Waltz, second lieutenant; No. 2, J. B. Jones,
captain, Aaron Betz, first lieutenant, Alexander A. Mentzer, seoond
lieutenant.
NoRTHFiELD, No. 1: Albert Bliss, captain, J. H. Clark, first
lieutenant, J. B. Gallic, second lieutenant.
LATER MILITARY AFFAIRS. 427
Portage, No. 1: Josiah J. Wright, captain, Stephen J. Horn,
first lieutenant, Augustus T. Brow^nless, second lieutenant; No. 2,
Charles Miller, captain, Romas Halter, first lieutenant, Richard F.
Palmer, second lieutenant; No. 4, Vincent Nowatany, captain, E.
M. Hastings, first lieutenant, William Weston, second lieutenant.
Richfield: Hiram Hart, captain, P^. H. Rouse, first lieutenant,
Joseph Churchill, second lieutenant.
Springfield, No. 1: David W. Martin, captain, Cyrus Yerrick,
first lieutenant, John M. Fisher, second lieutenant; No. 2, S. L.
Stall, captain, G. W. Fulkerson, first lieutenant, William A.
McClelland, second lieutenant.
Stow: Hiram Gaylord, captain, J. A. Gross, first lieutenant,
Loten Hartle, second lieutenant.
Tallmadge: Norman S. Keller, captain, C. H. Sackett, first
lieutenant, L. H. Ashmun, second lieutenant.
TwiNSBURG, No. 1: D. W. Richardson, captain, Chauncey
Lane, first lieutenant, Alfred Ledsham, second lieutenant; No. 2,
Josiah Oviatt, captain, E. C. Herrick, first lieutenant, William
Chamberlin, second lieutenant.
MODERN MILITARY OPERATIONS.
Allusion has been made elsewhere to the early military
operations of Akron and Summit county, special mention having
been made of the " Summit Guards," organized in the latter
thirties, and maintained for several years, under the auspices of
the late Gen. Philo Chamberlin, Arad Kent and other enterprising
young business men of ancient Akron. In addition to a brief
history of nearly every regiment in which citizens of Akron so
gallantly served their country during the late war, includirJg the
independent companies of the Ohio National Guard, who rendered
their country such invaluable service for one hundred days in the
Summer of 1864, it is proper that the later and present militarj'-
status of the city and county should receive a passing notice in
this chapter. The companies forming the 54th Battalion O. N. G.,
as did all similar organizations throughout the State, partaking of
the general feeling of the people, that they had had a sufficiency of
military display, soon after the war lapsed into a condition " of
" innocuous desuetude," and the whole militia system of the State
being apparently about to fall into a general state of inefficiency
and dilapidation, the independent companies in question were, a
a year or two later, honorably discharged. A few^ years later, how^-
ever, realizing the importance of having conveniently at hand an
efficient number of thoroughly drilled soldiers to quell any dis-
turbances that might arise in any portion of the State, and to
prevent invasion from without, the Legislature, on the 18th day of
April, 1870, passed "An act to organize and regulate an inde-
pendent militia," providing that "for the purpose of creating
greater efficiency in the military system in counties having cities
or towns with a larger population than three thousand, it shall be
lawful for any members of the enrolled militia to embody and
organize themselves into independent companies, battalions,
squadrons, regiments and batteries, in manner and form and sub-
ject to the provisions and restrictions hereafter prescribed; pro-
vided that such organizations shall be of no charge or ejcpense
whatever to the State."
428 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUXTY.
It will thus be seen, by the italicized proviso, that so far as
the public, for whose l^enefit these organizations were to be main-
tained, was concerned, the new^ system was to be parsimoniously
economical. The act did provide, howev^er, that such companies
might have the use of the public arms of the State, on giving
Si properly secured l)ond, in double the value thereof, for the
return of the same, on demand of the governor or adjutant gen-
eral; that in addition to regular members, "contributing members"
not to exceed 150, or 45 per cent, of the voting population, might be
enrolled; not less than three days of public parade and drill to be
performed each year, with yearly encampment of not less than
three days and to be subject to the call of the governor to repel
invasions, or the sheriff or mayor to suppress riots, etc., to be paid
by the State in the former case, and by the county or city in the
latter, one dollar for each day, and a like sum for each night w^hile
thus on duty. Under this law each company had to uniform itself,
provide its own armory, fuel, lights, etc., in return, each active and
•contributing member being exempt from jury duty and work on
the public highways during continuance of membership, and
every active member serving five years to be thereafter exempt
from military duty in time of peace.
Porter Zouaves. — Under the inspiration of Mr. Henry Porter,
an ex-soldier of the late war, eighteen men, about one-half of wrhom
were veteran soldiers, and the remainder a younger class of men
without military experience, met in the room of the Akron City
Band, on Howard street, on Friday evening, October 15, 1875, for
the purpose of organizing a military company under the law^ in
question, Captain T. D. McGillicuddy acting as chairman of the
meeti^ig. Fifteen names w^ere enrolled at that meeting, each of
whom w^as appointed a committee to solicit recruits, and at the
second meeting, held in the rooms of the G. A. R., October 22,
twenty new names were reported, making 35 in all — veterans and
" kids" in about equal numbers. At this second meeting a prelim-
inary organization w^as effected, w^ith Bmmett F. Taggart as
president; Edgar W. Cubbison, secretary, and Ernest F. Pfleuger,
treasurer.
"Vets" Versus "Kids." — The third meeting was held at
Rentschler's Hall, Market street, on the evening of November 1,
1875. In the meantime differences had arisen and the officers
elected at the previous meeting, and several others, voluntarily
w^ithdrew, new officers being elected as foUovirs: Michael W.
Santry, president; Samuel D. Blocker, secretary; and Charles M.
Henry, treasurer, with Henry Porter as drill master, Alvin T.
Hawn, assistant drill master, the company assuming the title of
Porter Zouaves.
The "Bierce Cadets." — About this time Gen. Lucius V.
Bierce, became actively interested in the organization, and in
addition to his experienced military counsels, rendered the com-
pany such pecuniary assistance in the way of paying hall r^nt and
other expenses, that, by a nearly unanimous vote, the company
assumed the name of "Bierce Cadets," and under that title was
organized, November 13, 1875, with Michael W. Santry as captain;
James K. Polk Sours, first lieutenant, and Charles E. Carter,
second lieutenant, to whom commissions were issued by Governor
Thomas L. Young, December 8, 1875, Col. Adams Emerson, about
BIERCE CADETS, CITY GUARD, ETC. 42i^
this time succeeding Mr. Henry Porter, as drill master, under whose
training the cadets, though nearly all young men, averaging only
about 22 years of age, attaining a commendable state of proficiencj^.
"Akron City Guard." Meantime, the withdrawing mem-
bers, and others, mostly veterans of the late war, at a ineeting held
at Pendleton's Hall, on Howard street, on the evening of Noveml)er
4, 1875, effected a preliminary organization, with 37 names enrolled,
by the election of Emmett F. Taggart as president; Edgar W.
Cubbison as secretary, and Ernest F. Pfleuger as treasurer..
November 18, fourteen names were added to the roll — 51 in all —
and on the evening of November 12, the company elected military
officers as follows: David W. Thomas, captain; Alexander G.
Maynes, first lieutenant; T. D. McGillicuddy, second lieutenant,
and the title of "Akron City Guard" was unanimously adopted.
At a meeting held December 4, 1875, 52 members signed the inus-
ter roll, formally enlisting in the military services of the State for
five years, as foUow^s:
We, the undersigned, citizens of Akron, Summit county, Ohio, hereby
acknowledge that we have enlisted as volunteer soldiers in the service of the
State of Ohio, to defend her borders and repel or prevent invasion; to pre-
vent and suppress riots and insurrections; to maintain the honor and integ-
rity of our State, and sustain the civil authorities whenever and wherever
we maj^ be called to duty, within the intent of the act aforesaid, and for
these purposes, as well as to sustain our own good name and credit, and
to reserve and secure a just immunity from ordinarj^ militia service, we have
signed this enrollment, and now pledge ourselves to the State, and to each
other, that we will diligentl}^ strive to secure the greatest practicable correct-
ness and efficiency in drill and discipline, and that we will perforin our duty
faithfully, for a period of Gve years, unless sooner discharged by competent
authority, and we hereby petition to be organized as a company of infantry,.
"O. N. G. M."
Fifty-two names, w^ith their respective ages at that time, w^ere
attached to the foregoing application, as follows: D. W. Thomas,
•34; A. G. Maynes, 40; T. D. McGillicuddy, 40; L. H. Walcott, 37;
Louis Fischer, 22; M. W. Cramer, 22; F. G. Harrington, 26; F. O.
DeLong, 23; Alfred F. Koons, 25; Avery K. Spicer, 35; S. C. Wilson,
30; George M. Clause, 26; George P. Brodt, 25; E. F. Taggart, 29; J.
W. Kolb, 25; H. H. Bickel, 27; H. C. Peck, 28; E. W. Weise, 31; G.
R. Smetts, 22; R. O. Church, 25; D. L. Pursell, 30; J. Beckhardt, 27r
Andrew C. Getz, 32: John M. Roberston, 27; George Mitten, 40;
George W. Kummer, 24; Amos Brown, 34; William Markwalder,.
30; Jacob Markwalder, 27; Charles H. Miller, 32; T. F. Homer, 30r
A. H. Vordeman, 37; William Pence, 45; William Barrett, 25; Aaron
J. Hart, 32; S. C. Haines, 28; Charles W. McCune, 38; G. A, Reichler,
30; E. A. Stoffer, 26; Charles Yost, 35; Francis A. Allen, 33; D. C.
Smith, 36; Martin Shank, 28; M. H. Smith, 35; Allen Walker, 35; I.
H.Allyn,24; Thomas M. Schlabach, 35; William Richards, 23; J.J.
Foust, 25; J. W. Hillier, 28; Henry Cruse, — ; FrankGrafton, 25.
Average age, 30.
PERMANENT ORGANIZATION.
Some technical informalities in the previous organization of
of the company having been discovered, on the evening of January
3, 1876, a new election was had, resulting as follow^s; D. W.
Thomas, captain; T. D. McGillicuddy, first lieutenant, (Lieutenant
Maynes declining a re-election); Richard P. Marvin, Jr., second
lieutenant; W. A. Noble, secretary, and J. Beckhardt, treasurer^
430 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Both the Bierce Cadets and the City Guard were reasonably
prosperous, considering the limited encouragement extended by
the city and State authorities and the many expedients, besides
the revenue from contributing members, that had to be resorted to
in raising the wherewithal to pay their current expenses.
A Taste of Active Service. — In the early Spring of 1876, a
strike among the coal miners of the Tuscaraw^as Valley necessitat-
ed the calling out of several companies of the Ohio National Guard
of the vicinage to quell the riotous proceedings among the strikers.
The Akron City Guard — having meantime been provided with
new Springfield breech-loading rifles — by order of Capt. Thomas,
assembled at their armory at 7:30 A. m. on Tuesday morning, May
16, 1876, in response to the following official requisition:
Sheriff's Office, Summit County, )
Akron, Ohio, May 16, 1876. )
To Capt. D. W. Thomas, Akron, Ohio :
You are hereby ordered to report 3^our full command, "The Akron City
Guard," to me, before 12 o'clock M.,on the 16th day of May, A. D., 1876, at the
Franklin Coal Mines, in Franklin township. Summit count}', Ohio, to aid the
civil authorities in suppressing threatened violence and supporting the laws
in Summit county.
L. J. MCMURRAY,
Sheriff of Summit Countj', Ohio.
Some changes of membership having meantime occurred, 45 of
the 48 members then on the muster roll enthusiastically responded,
as foUoAvs: Capt. D. W. Thomas; first lieutenant, T, D. McGilli-
cuddy; second lieutenant, Richard P. Marvin, Jr.; first sergeant,
K. F. Taggart; second sergeant, T. F. Homer; third sergeant, E. A.
Stouffer; fourth sergeant, L. H. Walcutt; fifth sergeant, T. M.
Schlabach; first corporal, Amos Brown; second corporal, J. W.
Hillier; third corporal, A. C. Getz; fourth corporal, A. H. Vorde--
man; fifth corporal, F. G. Harrington; sixth corporal, I. H. Allyn;
seventh corporal, H. Mealy; eighth corporal, William Pence, and
privates F. W. Baker, A. A. Bartlett, G. M. Clause, F. O. De Long,
J. J. Foust, L. F. Fischer, Z. S. Fralick, Frank Grafton, William
Hawk, A. J. Hart, A. F. Koons, J. W. Kolb, G. W. Kummer, John
Limric, William Markwalter, Charles Miller, Samuel McCoy, H. C.
Peck, D. L. Pursell, William Richards, George R. Smetts, M. H.
Smith, M. Shank, A. K. Spicer, D. C. Smith, George Shenkel, L.
Stair, S. C. Wilson, and Charles Yost, all the other members being
absent from town except one, who was dismissed from the company
for failure to report for duty as ordered.
A Thirty Days' Campaign.— Donning their accoutrements,
and receiving from Sergeant Taggart twenty rounds copper-shelled
cartridges each, the company marched to the Union depot, where
amid the cheers of a multitude of friends, it embarked on the C, A.
& C. for the Franklin coal chutes, eight miles south of Akron,
reaching its destination at 11:30 A. m. A detail of eight men viras
stationed at the chutes, and the balance of the men marched to the
mine, a mile and a half to the eastward, around which, under the
name of "Camp Thomas," a cordon of sentinels w^ere posted and
regular army discipline maintained for the period of 32 days.
Though there tsras much bad blood, many dire threatenings,
and some hostile and savage demonstrations, on the part of the
A THIRTY days' COAL-MINE CAMPAIGN. 431
striking miners, both towards the new men that were introduced
to work the mine, as w^ell as towards the soldiers themselves, for-
tunately there were no serious collisions and no special damage to
<iither person or property.
The nearest approach to a fatal conflict was during the second
week of the campaign. Sheriff McMurray having received w^hat
he regarded as reliable information that a force of some 250 strikers
were intending to overpower the Guard, on a given night, and
drive out the new men Mrho had gone to w^ork in the mines,
mounted a fleet horse and, a la Sheridan, rapidly rode from Akron
down to Franklin tow^n, eight miles a^vay, to notify Capt. Thomas
of the anticipated raid. A strong picket line was established, with
instructions to shoot, to kill, whoever might attempt to force the
lines. During the night, there wras a rapid discharge of fire-arms
from the neighboring thicket, and two men came running towards
the camp, but happily obeyed the order to halt, before being fired
upon by the pickets, and, being marched into camp, at the point
of the bayonet, proved to be one of the new miners, w^ho had ven-
tured outside the line, accompanied by a friend, w^ho w^ere being
chased by the strikers, but fortunately for themselves, the strikers
kept at a wholesome distance from the picket line.
Sunday Visitors to Camp Thomas. — During their stay in
Camp Thomas the brave soldier boys received frequent visits from
home friends — especially on Sundays — " armed and equipped" with
<;very variety of toothsome family edibles to sweeten the plain and
wholesome, but somewhat monotonous, rations prepared by the
company cook, in the improvised camp kitchen, alias the mine
naule shed; the first Sunday in camp bringing some 300 visitors,
men and women, and second Sunday about 500, including the
Akron City Band.
Notw^ithstanding the strict military discipline maintained, and
in spite of much rainy and disagreeable weather, the boys man-
aged to enjoy themselves hugely, but want of space forbids the
repetition, here, of the many pranks that w^ere practiced upon each
other, and the many novel pastime expedients that were resorted to.
At Silver Creek Mine, also. — On May 31 Sheriff McMurray
ordered Captain Thomas to withdraw from the Franklin mine all
of his command, except one commissioned officer, one sergeant,
three corporals and twenty privates, which w^as accordingly done,
leaving Lieutenant Richard P. Marvin, Jr., in command of the men
retained in Camp Thomas.
Meanwhile the Mount Vernon Guard, in charge of the Silver
Creek Mine in Wayne County, had themselves become so "restive"
that Adjutant General Wikoff deemed it advisable to order them
home, but not wishing to leave the mine unprotected, issued the
following order:
Adjutant General's Office, )
Columbus, Ohio, June 7, 1876. \
Captain D. W. Thomas, Akron, Ohio:
Send an officer and twentj^ men of your command to report to the
Sheriff of Wayne county, at Silver Creek Mine, to relieve Captain Wood's
company on duty there, under order of said Sheriff.
By order of the Governor.
A. T. WlKOFF,
Adjutant General of Ohio.
432
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
The men who had recently been withdrawn from the Franklin
mine, in command of Lieutenant McGillicuddy reported at the
Silver Creek mine, and -were formally placed in charge thereof
by Sheriff Jacob R. Bawman, on the evening of June 8, the
detachment being received in military style by a detachment of
the Mount Vernon Guard, w^hom they were about to relieve.
PAPT. TIMOTHY D. McGILLI-
vy CUDDY —born in Louisville.Ky.,
December 1,1835; moved with parents
to Cleveland, where he graduated
from Central Hig-h school in 1854; in
1856, went to Hannibal, Mo., and
eng'aged in railroading; in April,
1861, enlisted in Co. B, Marion Battal-
ion, U. S. Reserve Corps, and elected
first lieutenant; served under Gen.
Nat. L,yon, in all eng'agements in Mis-
souri, from the capture of Camp
Jackson, May 10, to the surrender of
Lexington, September 9, 1861; organ-
izing another company was commis-
sioned captain of Co. K., 5th M. V. I.,
October 5, 1861; was with the Army
of the Tennessee, from the capture of
Fort Henry to the fall of Savannah;
was sick with typhoid fever at Cor-
inth, Miss., from June to October,
1862, and severely wounded in an
eng-agement with Roddy's rebel cav-
alry, March 23,1864; commanded reg-i-
ment on the March to the Sea; mus-
tered out at Savannah, January 1,
1865; at close of war, settled in Akron ;
November 13, 1867, was married to
Miss Frances L. Carter, only daugh-
ter of Dr. Israel E. and Mary (Wil-
liamson) Carter, who has borne hitn
one child — Kate Leora; is a charter
member of Buckley Post, G. A. R.;
X2K^Z5o
CAPT. TIMOTHY D. MCGILLICUDDY.
Post Commander, 1873 to 1879; assist-
ant quartermaster g'eneral, 1875; jun-
ior vice department commander, 1876;
judge advocate general, 1879; assist-
ant adjutant general 1880, district
mustering- officer, 1882; district
inspector 1884, '85, deleg^ate to national
encampments, 1870-75, 1883-85^6.
The Miners' War Ended. — Both the mines in question having^
at length been supplied Avith new operatives or the return of the
old ones, the strike wras at length declared off, Lieutenant Mar-
vin's detachment being formally w^ithdrawn from the Franklin
mine, by Sheriff McMurray, June 18, Lieutant McGillicuddy's
command being relieved from further duty at Silver Creek two
days later, by the following complimentary order from Sheriff
Baw^man:
WOOSTER, OHIO, June 20, 1876.
Lieut. T. D. McGillicuddy, Commanding Akron City Guard, Silver Creok,
Wayne County, Ohio:
Grateful for faithful services, but yovir services being- no longer
required, you and your command will consider yourselves released from
further duty, from and after this date. Very respectfully, your obedient
servant,
Jacob R. Bawman,
Sheriff of Waj'ne County, Ohio.
"Skirmishing" for Their Pay. — Having been ordered out by
State authority, the guard, of course^ looked to the State to pay
them for the services they had thus rendered. Considerable
SEEKING REGIMENTAL HONORS. ' 433
correspondence ensued between Captain Thomas and Attorn e}-
General Wikoff, the outcome of which w^as the receipt of the fol-
lowing ">vet blanket" from the latter officer by Captain Thomas:
Columbus, Ohio, July 14, 1876.
Captain D. W. Thomas:
Sir : — I find it impossible to pay your company in advance of an appro-
priation by the General Assembly. I therefore return all the papers to j-ou
by mail, to-day. Very respectfully,
A. T. WlKOFF,
Adjutant General.
To say that the boys were indignant would be drawing it very
mild, indeed, many of them having given up their own more
lucrative ^vork, in the very busiest season of the year, to attend to
the business of the public at one dollar for each day and a like
sum for each night of service, and very properly feeling that the
pittance thus faithfully earned ought to be promptly paid. But
Lieutenant "Dick" Marvin seems to have been adequate to the
situation, for, after visiting the Governor and Adjutant General at
Columbus, and certain interested parties in Cleveland, the money
was forthcoming, and on the evening of July 24, 1876, the men
were paid off, amounting in the aggregate to $2,700,
ATTEMPT TO ORGANIZE A REGIMENT.
Up to this time the tw^o companies — the "Bierce Cadets" and
the "City Guard," — had pursued a course of friendly rivalrj'-, and
though, as their name implies, the former were composed of a
younger class of men, they were, under the skillful training of
Col. Adams Kmerson, rapidly perfecting themselves in drill and
military tactics, both companies taking a prominent part in one of
the most imposing civico-military demonstrations ever witnessed
in Akron, the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of
American Independence, July 4, 1876. As there were now six
thrifty independent military companies in this immediate vicinity,
it was, on consultation, deemed expedient to organize a regiment,
and papers for that purpose were duly prepared and forwarded to
Columbus, by Capt. Thomas, and on July 10, 1876, an order was
issued at State Headquarters, for the organization of the Ninth
Regiment, Ohio National Guard, to be composed of the following
companies: Akron City Guard, as Company A; Bierce Cadets, as
Company B; Cuyahoga Falls Light Guard, as Company C; Wads-
worth Light Guard, as Company D; Orrville Guard, as Company
K; West Salem Guard, as Company F.
The adjutant general's order also called for a convention of
delegates from the several companies named, to be held in the
armory of the Akron City Guard, on July 14, to put in nomina-
tion candidates for field officers.
Bierce Cadets Put in a Demurrer. — Though the arrange-
ment of the companies was satisfactory to all of the others, a
remonstrance w^as interposed by the Bierce Cadets, who, by virtue
of priority of organization, claimed that the Cadets were entitled
to the post of honor— the right of the regiment — and consequently
to the letter A, in the organization of the regiment, the Guard
claiming the first position by reason of the previous military
28
434 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
experience of the majority of its officers and members, and its
late rendition of valuable service to the State as above set forth.
The Order for a Regiment Revoked. — So warm was the dis-
cussion over the matter by the two companies, and their respective
friends, and such a pressure, pro and con, was brought to bear
upon the adjutant general on the subject, that on the day set for
the convention that officer revoked the order for the formation
of a regiment, and the project was for the time being dropped.
The Question Submitted to Arbitration. — The members of
both companies, still being desirous of regimental relations,
finally agreed to submit the matter in dispute to three arbitrators,
the City Guard choosing Captain Arthur L. Conger, the Cadets
choosing Robert S. Paul, Esq., and those two selecting Major
Ulysses L. Marvin.
The Board of Arbitrators, after hearing the statements and
claims of the two companies and arguments, pro and con, decided
that the order of precedence in the formation of a regimental line,
did not depend upon the letter of the company, but upon the
seniority of the commander, and consequently affirmed the action
of the adjutant general in giving to the Guard the letter A in the
order for the organization of the Ninth Regiment, O. N. G.
Under the supposition that this decision w^ould entitle them
to the right of the regiment, when on duty, the Cadets acquiesced
therein, and the Ninth Regiment was duly organized, March 1,
under a new order issued from State Headquarters February 21,
1877, w^ith David W. Thomas, of Company A, as colonel; D. Mitchell,
of Company F, as lieutenant-colonel; W. Randall, of Company D,
as major, and Dr. W. C. Jacobs, of Akron, as surgeon. The eleva-
tion of Captain Thomas to the colonelcy, and his selection, in turn,
of Lieutenant McGillicuddy as regimental adjutant, provided for
the promotion of Second Lieutenant Richard P. Marvin, Jr., to the
captaincy. Sergeant Kmmett F. Taggart, as first lieutenant, and
private Henry H, Brown as second lieutenant of Company A.
• TROUBLE IN THE CAMP.
Matters and things moved along harmoniously until the occur-
rence of of the first Regimental Encampment, w^hich commenced
on the 2nd day of October, 1877, at Fountain Park, in the cit}^ of
Akron, the regiment also volunteering to do guard duty for the
Summit County Agricultural Society's Annual Fair, then being
held on the same grounds. Having established company and
regimental headquarters in convenient localities, and organized
the guard in accordance w^ith military usage, at the proper time
the several companies w^ere ordered on regimental dress parade,
not only for practice in military tactics for their own benefit, but
also for the gratification of the assembled thousands who were in
attendance upon the fair. Captain M. W. Santry, of the Bierce
Cadets, reporting with his command upon the parade ground, was
ordered, by Adjutant McGillicuddy, in accordance with instruc-
tions from Colonel Thomas, to take position on the left of the
regiment. Thereupon Captain Santry ordered his company to
"about face," and marched back to company headquarters. Col-
onel Thomas then, through Sergeant-Major Albert A. Bartlett,
ordered Captain Santry to report at once on the parade grounds.
THE CADETS DISHONORABLY DISCHARGED. 435
Instead of reporting with his company, however, he presented
liimself in person with the inquiry: "Colonel, do you wish to see
me?" "No, sir!" replied Colonel Thomas, "Consider yourself
under arrest!"
Returning to company headquarters, First Lieutenant J. K. P.
Sours being officer of the guard for the day. Captain Santry
directed Second Lieutenant Charles E. Carter to march the Cadets
to their armory, which was accordingly done.
Dismissed for Insubordination. — The action of Captain
Santry and his command, being duly reported to State Headquar-
ters, by Col, Thomas, statements and explanations on both sides
were submitted to the governor and adjutant general. Captain
Santry claiming, as may be inferred from the occurrences of the
3"ear before, as stated above, that the Bierce Cadets being the first
company organized, and himself the senior captain of the regi-
ment, he and his company were entitled to the post of honor — the
right of the regiment — and that on being ordered to the left he
w^as justified in declining to accept the position. Adjutant
General Charles \V. Karr, without attempting to pass upon the
question of the military propriety or impropriety of Col. Thomas'
■order, placing the Bierce Cadets upon the left of the regiment,
TiotAvithstanding the seniority of the company and its commander,
held that the order having been given it should have been obeyed
by Capt. Santry, leaving the question at issue to be adjudicated by
higher military authority on appeal, and issued the final order in
the premises as follows:
Adjutant General's Office,
Columbus, O., November, 21, 1877.
Special Orders No. 271.
I. It appearing-, by official reports, that during- the encampment of the
Ninth Regiment of Infantry O. N. G., held at Akron, Company B. of said reg--
iment marched out of camp to its armory, against, and in violation of the
orders of the Colonel commanding the regiment, and the reason for such
action, as stated in writing, by the captain of said company, having received
due consideration, and it being found that such action, by said coinpany,
was without sufficient cause to warrant it, but that such action was mutinous
and a breach of discipline which cannot be overlooked without manifest
injury to the service, said company is herebj^ disbanded, and all its officers
and enlisted men discharged from the service of the State.
II. First Lieutenant Sours having taken no part in the action of the
companj^, as above recited, is hereby honorabl}' discharged from the service
of the State, and he is hereby directed to take charge of all arms and other
State propert}^ now in use by this company, subject to such further
instructions as he may receive from this office.
III. Col. D. W. Thomas is hereby- charged with the promulgation of
this order to the regiment.
By order of the Governor.
Chas. W. Cakr, Adjutant General.
SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF COMPANY A.
The space at our command will not permit a minute detail of
either regimental or company operations in the intervening ye^rs,
but it may be generally stated that amid the inevitable vicissi-
tudes of prosperity and adversity incident to local military life,
the Akron City Guard has ever held the highest rank, both in local
social circles and among the military authorities of the State.
Ever ready to aid in all civic displays, like the Fourth of July,
436 AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Decoration Day, etc.. the Guard has taken a just pride in main-
taining its superiority of discipline and drill, on parade at home
and at the annual encampments, and has also held itself in readi-
ness to respond to all calls for the maintenance of the peace, both
at home and in distant portions of the State. During the railroad
riots of July, 1877, in which Pittsburg was so great a sufferer, the
O. N. G., of Zanesville, Circleville, Mount Vernon and Springfield
■were ordered to report along the line of the Baltimore & Ohio,,
in the central portion of the State, and Akron to hold itself in
readiness to act, on a moment's notice, wherever its services might
be needed.
THE NINTH MERGKD IN THE EIGHTH.
In August, 1878, by reason of the depletion of several of the
companies of the two regiments, by discharges, removals and
otherwise, the Kighth and Ninth Regiments of the Ohio National
Guard were consolidated, under the title of the Eighth; Company
A, of the Ninth becoming Company B of the Eighth. The com-
panies composing the regiment being as follows: Homeworth,
Company D; Alliance, Company E; Waynesburg, Companj^ F^
Beach City, Company G; Wadsworth, Company H; Canton, Com-
pany I ; Medina, Company K. Col. David W. Thomas, by virtue of hi&
rank, became the colonel of the Eighth, with Hiram Reed as lieu-
tenant colonel and George R. Gyger as major, the regimental staff
selected by Col. Thomas, being William C. Jacobs, Akron, surgeon;
Thomas J. Reed, Massillon, assistant surgeon; T. D. McGillicuddj^,
Akron, adjutant; Joseph A. Meyer, Canton, quartermaster; John
C. Kauffman, Orrville, chaplain. Col. Thomas tendering his res-
ignation, Capt. Arthur L. Conger was elected to the colonelc}" of
the regiment, July 25, 1881, Lieutenant Emmett F. Taggart being
appointed as his adjutant, the present regimental organization
(September, 1891) being: George R. Gyger, Alliance, colonel; C.
V. Hard, Wooster, lieutenant colonel; Emmett F. Taggart, Akron,
major; Charles \V. F. Dick, Akron, junior major; Albert A. Bartlett,
Akron, adjutant; Emmer C. Farquhar, Damascus, surgeon; James
Taggart, Wooster, quartermaster; John C. Kauffman, chaplain;
Alexander W. Maynes, sergeant major; Richard Le^vis, drum
major; William R. Palmer, leader. The regiment is now^ (1891)
composed of the follow^ing companies: Co. A, Bucyrus; Co. B,
Akron; Co. C, Polk; Co. D, Wooster; Co. E, East Palestine; Co. F,
Massillon; Co. G, Wadsworth; Co. H, Upper Sandusky; Eighth
Regiment Band, Akron.
The Garfield Obsequies. — On the occasion of the melan-
choly but imposing funeral ceremonial, in honor of the murdered
President, James A. Garfield, September 19, 1881, Company B was
present in full force, and was given the post of honor, in guarding
the Catafalque, beneath the beautiful canopy of which rested the
honored remains, and preventing the multitude from trespassing
upon the large platform reserved for members of the cabinet, and
other distinguished civil and military gentlemen in attendance,
and also in the procession, between Monumental Park and the
cemetery, the fine military bearing of the company eliciting
general complimentary remark.
Executions at Wooster and Ashland. — December 30, 1880, on
the occasion of the hanging of John Callahan, for the murder of
John Torney, at the Wayne county fair, October 3, 1879, Company
DOUBLE EXECUTION — EXCITING EPISODE. 437
B, by request of Sheriff Stouffer, together with the Wadsworth
Guard, were present to maintain order, receiving the highest
encomiums of the people of Wooster for their soldierly bearing and
the manner in -which they discharged the duties of the occasion;
the execution taking place in the corridor of the jail.
The double execution of George Andrew Horn and William
Henry Gri-bben, for the murder of Harry Williams on the morning
of March 24, 1883, took place at Ashland, May 16, 1884. The con-
struction of the jail was such that the gallows had to be erected
in a stockade inclosure upon the outside. As the day of execution
approached reports came to the ears of the civil authorities of an
intention on the part of contiguous city and village roughs and
of the rural populace, to witness the hanging, in spite of the law
against public executions.
To uphold the law, and preserve order. Sheriff Isaac Gates
invoked the aid of the military, nine coinpanies, by order of the
Governor, responding to his call, as foUow^s: Company B, Akron
Guard, lirst lieutenant, W. A. Noble, commanding, 37 men; Com-
pany C, Youngstown Guard, 45 men; Company D, Wooster City
Guard, 50 men; Company K, Kast Palestine Grays, 44 men; Com-
pany F, Beach City Blues, 35 men; and the Wadsworth Guard, 27
men, of the Eighth Regiment; Kirby Light Guard, Second Regi-
ment, UpperSandusky,41 men; Richwood Guard, Company G, Four-
teenth Regiment, 32 men; and the Ashland Guard, Company D,
Sevententh Regiment, 46 men; total 356 men. The entire force w^as
commanded by Col. A. L. Conger, of the Eighth, ably assisted by
Lieut. Col. Finger and Major Gyger, and their faithful subordi-
nates, among the most efficient of Avhom, without disparagement
to others, ^vas Akron's one-armed veteran, Sergeant-Major, Albert
A Bartlett.
The Crowd Massing for the Fray. — "Between the hours of
10 o'clock in the forenoon and two o'clock in the afternoon," read
the sentences, but Sheriff Gates concluded that, in view^ of threat-
ened trouble, an early execution would be desirable, for as early as
nine o'clock, and before the preliminary exercises had been com-
pleted on the inside, the court house square -was surrounded by
an excited crowd of at least 10,000 people, many of them of the
roughest element of Ashland and surrounding counties. The jail
and court house were located on the public square, containing
about three acres of land, which was surrounded by an iron picket
fence, on the inside of which, on every side, the soldiers w^ere sta-
tioned, to keep the crow^d from approaching the jail, or the stockade
on the west side, which w^as about thirty feet from the sidewalk.
As the privileged spectators — largely in excess of the legal allow-
ance— were admitted to the stockade, about 9:30, the crowd,
before boisterous and threatening, became furious, claiming as
good a right to witness the execution as those Avho were being
admitted to the inclosure
Earlier in the morning, a squad of soldiers had discovered,
stowed aw^ay in a box car at the depot, a gang of nineteen roughs
from a neighboring county, with a liberal supply of ropes, chains,
grappling-hooks, etc., evidently intended to be used in tearing down
the stockade and making the ghastly scene public, capturing the
entire gang and their outfit and turning them over to the civil
authorities. Shout after shout, and yell after yell, were raised:
438 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
"Down with the fence! Down with the stockade!" etc. Chains
and ropes were thrown over the iron pickets, and attempts made
to tear down the fence; revolvers were brandished and fired, rocks
and other missiles were Imparled at the soldiers and against the
stockade, several of the officers and men being quite severely-
injured thereby, but bravely standing their ground and keeping
the mob at bay, at the point of their swords and 'bayonets,,
resulting in many bloody fingers and other flesh wounds to the
foremost of their assailants.
The fence on the south side of the square was at length torn
do^vn, and the detached iron pickets used as offensive weapons hy
the whisky-infuriated mob. Col. Conger now gave the order to
load, which w^as instantly obeyed all along the line, the colonel
personally passing between the soldiers and the rioters, and pro-
claiming in a calm but loud voice, that if their riotous demonstra-
tions did not cease at once he should give the order to fire; that
this \vas positively the last warning, and that if any were killed or
w^ounded they alone w^ould be responsible. This served, for a time^
to diminish the turbulence, and to cause the peaceably disposed
portion of the crowd to withdraw, but the more desperate made
several subsequent attacks upon the soldiers, though they bravely
w^ithstood the temptation to fire, even \srithout orders, and on an
intimation, about 11 o'clock, that the execution was over, the
demonstration in a measure ceased, though after the guard had
been partially w^ithdrawn, several boards were wrenched from the
stockade, giving the crowd a view^ of the gallows on which the
two murderers had expiated their crime, all afterwards quietly
falling into line to view the remains of the dead malefactors,
which, enclosed in plain and inexpensive coffins, had been placed
in the yard outside of the jail, for the gratification of a morbid
public curiosity. All of the soldiers participating in the affair
w^ere highly commended by the Ashland civil authorities. Com-
pany B receiving especial mention for the bravery of its men and
the coolness of its officers, while Col. Conger \sras justly praised
on every hand, not only for his undaunted courage in facing the
blood-thirsty mob, but especially for his forbearance, under the
most trying and exasperating provocation, thus preventing the
great destruction of life which the order to fire upon his assailants
w^ould have involved.
ANNUAL ENCAMPMENTS.
Company B has alw^ays borne a conspicuous part in the
annual encampments of the regiment, as follows: 1877, October
2-5, at Fountain Park, Akron, already alluded to; 1878, at Myers'
Lake, near Canton; 1879, (brigade) at Rocky River, near Cleve-
land, three regiments and t^vo battalions, in command of Col.
Thomas, of the Kighth, the ranking colonel of the brigade; 1880, at
Gaylord's Grove, near Cuyahoga Falls; 1881, at Peninsula; 1882^
encampment ordered to be held at Minerva City ^vas abandoned
on account of severe illness of the w^ife of Col. Conger; 1883, on
Fair Grounds at Canal Dover; 1884, (brigade) at Woodland Heights,
Cleveland; 1885, Myers' Lake, near Canton; 1886, (brigade) at
Mount Vernon; 1887, at Galion; 1888, with entire force of Ohio
National Guard in State encampment at Columbus; 1889, encamp-
ment ommitted on account of attendance at inauguration of
COMPANY 'b" among THE VERY BEST. 439
President Harrison on March 4 of that year; 1890, encampment
in Massillon; 1891, at Myers' Lake, near Canton.
The Sixth Battery, with hired teams for the haulage of its
guns and other encampment paraph^ftrnalia, marched the entire
distance from Akron to Camp J. H. Wade, at Rocky River, in 1879,
creating no Httle surprise and enthusiasm among the farmers and
villagers along the route by their war-like appearance and
soldierly bearing. Speaking of this encampment, the Cleveland
Herald said: " Col. 'D. W. Thomas, the popular commander of the
Eighth Regiment, has everything arranged neatly at his head-
quarters, and will courteously receive and entertain visitors;" the
Z/eac/er saying: "Company B, of the Eighth, under command of
Captain Bro-svrf, is one of the best drilled companies of the brigade,
their turn at Erie street being greeted w^ith loud applause."
Radical Change of Materiel.^ — It \vill be remembered that
in the beginning, in 1875, the majority of the members of the
Akron City Guard were old soldiers — veterans of the late war — the
average age being 30 years, no applicant being at that time
received under 21 years of age. Gradually a change has been
effected in the materiel of the company; the veterans have nearly
all voluntarily retired, and to-day — nearly one-half of the members
of the company being under t^venty-one, at the time of enlistment
— the average age is less than 22, about the average of the soldiers
who fought our battles, and won our splendid victories in the late
w^ar. The morale of the corps is now, also, most excellent, and its
ranks will doubtless be kept filled with the very best young blood
of the, in all respects — military as well as industrial and com-
mercial— Tip-Top City of Ohio.
Other Points of Excellence. — The company maintains a
rifle corps, which in its target practice, holds unquestioned suprem-
ac3^ over all other teams it has come in contact with, since its
organization over twelve years ago, and the company to-day
divides with the Wooster City Guard the honor of being the best
drilled and most efficient in the Eighth Regiment — each company
having its points of superiority, and the rivalry between the two
companies, though spirited, being perfectly friendly.
Invaluable Assistance. — Company B has at various times
had the advantage of having, as drill masters, gentlemen w^ho were
trained soldiers. The first of these, outside of the organization
itself, was Lieutenant E. M. Weaver, Jr., Second U.S. Artillery, then,
from 1877 to 1880, on detail as military instructor at Western
ReserveCollege, a mostexcellent drill-master and disciplinarian. In
the Fall of 1877, through the efforts of Captain Dick, Lieutenant
Alfred B. Sharpe, 22d U. S. Infantry, then giving military instruc-
tion at Wooster University, mfide weekly visits to Akron, for the
purpose of drilling Company B. A thorough gentleman, as well
as soldier, both by his correct bearing, his intelligent and compre-
hensive lectures, and his thorough discipline, he imbued all of the
officers and members of the company with his own true military
spirit, and the cessation of his visits, in July, 1888, left the com-
pany, in point of excellence of drill, and acquaintance with the
varied duties incident to active military service, equal to the very
best in the State, a pre-eminence which under Captain Br^^an's
skillful handling it still maintains.
440
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
FREDERICK C. BRYAN —son of
Judoe Constant and Susan (Bar-
nuni) Bryan ; born in Cleveland, Jul}'
16, 1838 ; educated in Akron Public
schools and Western Reserve Col-
lege, g'raduating' with degree of A.
B., in 1878 ; reading- law with father,
and in office of Attorney Gen-
eral Jacob A. Kohler, was graduated
from Cincinnati Law College, with
the degree of L L. B., in 1881 ; work-
ing as reporter on Akron DAILY
Beacon in 1879, '80, and on Sunday
Gazette 1881-83, in June of the latter
year, in connection with his brother,
Isaac Jennings Br5^an, purchased
the latter paper, of which he Was
manager and editor-in-chief until
April,1885,continuing at the same time
the study and practice of the law.
Since 1885, in connection with Dayton
A. Doyle, Esq., he has been in contin-
uous practice. Julj^ 31, 1883, enlisted
in the Akron City Guard, Companj-
B., 8th Infantry, O. N. G.; appointed
First Sergeant August 12, 1885 ; com- Elections in 1889, U. S. Census Enu-
missioned First Lieutenant, June 30, merator for the City of Akron, for
1886, and Captain, April 17, 1888 ; was 1890, and Law Instructor in Buchtel
first secretary of Akron Board of College in 1891.
FREDKKICK C. BKYAX.
PRESENT ROSTER OF COMPANY B.
Captain, Fred. C. Bryan; first lieutenant, George H. T, Dunn;
second lieutenant, George C. Conger; sergeants, Fred. H. O'Brien,
Newell L. Tibbals, Fred. H. Cole, Arthur E. Limric, Harry B.
Dodge; quartermaster sergeant, Charles E. Gostlin; corporals,
Harry J. Spindle, Emery F. Morrison, James F. Donovan, George
W. Alden, Harrison D. Cole, Arthur J. Durant, Frederick W. Wolf;
musician, Reeves A. Lodwick ; wagoner, Samuel E. Bell ;
privates, Edwin G. Acker, Frank P. Allen, Frank C. Botzum, Clif-
ford D. Burnham, Lawrence Clark, Harry W. Cleveland, Arthur J.
Cogswell, John Diehl, Amil E. Gammeter, Harry C. Gammeter,
William H. Griffiths, Arthur Hall, George L. Barter, Edwin P.
Hulse, James H. Jackson, Llewellyn W. Jones, Harold E. Joy,
Albert Kimpflin, Warren A. Kohler, Harry L'Hommedieu, Arthur
Linney, James R. Mays, Harry McCune, William Means, George
Memmer, Walter H. Montenyohl, Frank C. Palmer. Edward D.
Reed, Archer L. Root, Edward S. Rose, Arthur E. Royer, William
F. Walters, George E. Warner, Richard M. Webber, Fred. Woods,
Samuel Woods, Herbert A. Zimmerman.
FULL LIST OF OFFICERS FROM BEGINNING.
Captain: — David W. Thomas, elected November 12, 1875;
Richard P. Marvin, Jr., March 19, 1877; Henry H. Brown, July 23,
1877; W. Acker Noble, December, 2, 1884; Charles W. F. Dicks, May
19, 1886; Fred C. Bryan, April 10, 1888.
First Lieutenant. — Alexander G. Maynes, November 12, 1875;
T. D. McGillicuddy, January 3, 1876; Emmett F. Taggart, April 4,
1877; Edward A. Stouffer, September 13, 1881; W. Acker Noble,
July 7, 1883; Albert A. Bartlett, December 2, 1884; Charles W. F.
THE SIXTH OHIO BATTERY. 441
Dick, November 3, 1885; Fred C. Bryan, May 19, 1886; Ira I. Morri-
son, April 10, 1888; George H. T. Dunn, 1890, Lieut. Ira I. Morri-
son, having been promoted to inspector of rifle practice on Col.
Oyger's staff.
Second Lieutenant: — T. D. McGillicuddy, November 12, 1875;
Richard P. Marvin, Jr., January 3, 1876; Henry H. Brown, May 7,
1877; Richard P. Marvin, Jr., July 23, 1877; Edward A. Stouffer,
January 21, 1878; W. Acker Noble, September 13, 1881; Frank Allen,
July 31, 1883; Albert A. Bartlett, May 27, 1884; Hubert C. Peck,
December 2, 1884; Ira I. Morrison, November 11, 1885; William A.
Oostlin, April 10, 1888; George C. Conger, May 17, 1891.
First Sergeant: — J. B. Collins, A. G. Maynes, E. F. Taggart, E.
A.^ Stouffer, George \V. Kummer, Amos Brown, W. A. Noble, J. K.
P. Sours, H. C. Peck, John B. Benn, F. C. Bryan, Wm. A. Gostlin,
Oeorge Dunn, Fred H. O'Brien.
INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT HARRISON.
Company B, 45 members strong, were present at the inaugura-
tion of President Benjamin Harrison, on Monday^ March 4, 1889, in
which thej'^ bore a conspicuous part, a portion of the boys also
attending the inauguration ball.
On the eve of their departure for Washington, Capt. Bryan
received the follow^ing letter from Col. Gyger, which speaks for
itself:
Alliance, Ohio, Februarj^ 26, 1889.
The Colonel Commanding- desires to compliment Company B, upon
their excellent condition, as shown by the report of the inspector of February
7, 1889, made by Col. C. V. Hard.
The officers and members have cause to be proud of their organization.
It stands foremost among the model military companies of the State, and is
a credit to the city of Akron, the Eighth Regiment, and the Ohio National
Ouard. Very respectfull}',
To Capt. F. C. Bryan, GEO. R. Gyger,
Com'd'g Company B., Akron, Ohio. Col. Eighth Regt. O. N. G,
Company B was also honored with an invitation to participate
in the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the inaugu-
ration of President George Washington, at New York, April 30, 1889,
but because of their having so recently helped to inaugurate the
new president, they were obliged to decline the honor.
SIXTH BATTERY LIGHT ARTILLERY.
The Sixth Battery, Ohio National Guard, of which body
Akron is so justly proud, was organized November 27, 1877, with
sixty members, the commissioned officers being: Joseph C.
Ew^art, captain; Thomas F. Wildes, first lieutenant; John H.
Campbell, second lieutenant. Captain Ewart by unanimous choice
of the battery holding that position until elected major of regi-
ment, August 20, 1891; First Lieutenant James D. Chandler at
that time being promoted to the captaincy.
First Regiment Light Artillery O. N. G. — In 1886, regi-
mental relations w^ere established with seven other batteries in
different portions of the State, under the above title, and is the
only Light Artillery Kegiment in the State, or even in the United
States, excepting those connected with the Regular Army. The
442
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
alphabetical order of the eight batteries comprising the regiment
is as follows: A, Cleveland; B, Cincinnati; C, Zanesville; D,
Toledo; E, Springfield; F, Akron; G, Marietta; H, Columbus.
Louis Smithnight, of Cleveland, is colonel of the regiment.
JOSEPH C. P:WART— son of
J Robert L. and Martha (Lemnion)
Ewart, born in Springfield, March 25,
1841 ; educated in Spring-field district
schools and Akron High school ;
August, 1861, enlisted in 29th regi-
ment O. V. I. ; discharged for disa-
bility, April, 1862 ; re-enlisted August
1862, in 4oth O. V. I., served to July 1,
1865, and mustered, out with regi-
ment ; after war, worked one year at
sash making, etc., with the Weary
Snyder & Wilcox Manufacturing Co.;
then nine years in shipping depart-
ment of Aultman, Miller & Co. ; in
1875, with Henry E. Merrill, com-
menced the manufacture of roofing
tile, the pioneer works of its class in
the United States; in 1882, bought
out Mr. Merrill and Idter associated
with himself, Mr. Charles E. Howland,
under the firm name of J. C. Ewart
& Co., greatly enlarging their works,
and now doing a large and profita-
ble business. Mr. Ewart is also inter-
ested in several other industrial
enterprises, being president of the
Akron Vitrified Pressed Brick Co.,
(works at Independence) present cap-
ital $100,000. March 30, 1881, Mr.
Ewart was married, to Mrs. Helena
E. Phillips, who died November 16,
1887 ; was again married, April 23,
1890, to Miss Flora B. Cook, of Akron.
Since the war, Mr. Ewart has taken
JOSEPH C. EWAKT.
great interest in local militarj- aflfairs,
having, in 1877, organized the Sixth
Battery, Light Artillery, now Battery
F., First Regiment Light Artillery O.
N. G., of which he held the position
of Captain from its organization
until his promotion to the position
of Major of the regiment, August 20,
1891, which office he still holds.
Present Status of Battery F. — ^For nearly fourteen years,
both as an independent organization, and in its regimental rela-
tions. Battery F has maintained a high standard of military effi-
ciency, and in point of drill and facility of action, is unsurpassed
by any other similar body in the, State. Ever ready to aid in all
public demonstrations, its occasional calls upon the public in the
way of patronizing their festivals for the replenishment of their
finances, are liberally responded to, though still, besides the large
amount of time given to routine duty and to public and private
drills, parades, encampments, etc., the members are subjected to
quite heavy cash expenses, the State allowance for the care and
repair of guns and other military paraphernalia, being but $200
per year w^hile the county pays the rent of armory, only.
The present headquarters of Battery F is at Columbia Hall
immediately south of the City Building, on Main street, the present
outfit consisting of two three-inch bronze guns, and two three-inch
rifle steel guns, with ammunition carriages, harness, saddles, etc.,
to match.
The present organization of the Battery (August, 1891) is as
follow^s: Captain, James D. Chandler; surgeon, Henry M. Fisher;
THE GERMAN GUARDS. 443
senior second lieutenant, Julius N. Baxter; junior second lieu-
tenant, John W. Payne; sergeants, Peter Pfeifer, Clarence F.
Ames, G. T, Casey, G. F. W. Clause; quartermaster sergeant,
Alfred J. Pine; corporals, Ervin M, Capron, J. G. Dague, Eli Hutz,
William Irvin, W. E. Crissick, Geo. W. Stein; trumpeters, Toni
Werne, George H. Stanton, William A, Kellam, Frank C. Sprankle;
privates. Turner Alexander, Alvin Alexander, Morris Binesderfer,
Mandes Baughman, Ralph C. Brandon, Frank R. Brown, Harry S.
Brandon, William Belke, William A. Cochran, William Craw^ford,
Frank M. Cass, William H. Collar, A. C. Clark, Thomas H.
Datcher, William A, Dickson, Charles C. Dorsey, Brace W. Duley,
U. S, Englehardt, Daniel W. Fasig, Monroe Fasig, Ira A. Fouse,
George Falk, Daniel Gossett, Urias Gorman, Clarence M. Hill,
Enoch T, Jones, John P. Kirnberk, Philip Koch, L. H. Klopfen-
stein, Lucas Libis, Stephen Libis, Frank A. Limbert, William
McNeal, James D. Morton, John P. Nickol, Daniel A Roberts, Peter
Schweitzer, Charles A. Sentemore, John Seegar, Ezra M. Scott,
George F. Shook, William F. Wyatt, Grafton S. Whittier, R. F.
Whittlesey, Alfred Wegmiller, George A. Weidley. Total, 66.
BATTERY F AT THE CENTENNIAL.
In the grand military display at the centennial celebration of
the inauguration of President George Washington, held in the
city of New York, on April 30, 1889, Battery F elicited w^arm com-
mendation from both the managers of the celebration, and the
press of New^ York city, as well as of the people w^ho w^itnessed its
splendid tactical maneuvers and military evolutions.
GERMAN GUARDS— COMPANY BUCHTEL.
This company, organized June 15, 1883, started with a mem-
bership of about twenty-five men, increasing its number to forty-
five by January 1, 1884, and at present numbers sixty uniformed
men. It is an independent company, composed entirely of men
who were honorably discharged from the German army, part of
them being in active service during the Franco-German war of
1870-71.
American citizenship is a prerequisite to admission to mem-
bership in the company, which is also a beneficiary society, as well
as a" military organization, aiding its members in time of sickness,
and their families in case of death.
The uniform of the company is that of the German Army, and
w^as imported from Germany, imparting a very imposing appear-
ance to the company when on parade. The company is armed
with the Brown gun — a breech-loading needle rifle — funds for the
purchase of uniforms and arms being raised by popular sub-
scription, Hon. John R. Buchtel being the largest contributor, his
original donation being $500, in consideration of which the name
of "Company Buchtel" was unanimously adopted.
The German Guards, composed of the most highly respected
and patriotic citizens of Akron, have always taken part in all the
important civic and military displays in Akron, since their organ-
ization, eliciting the very highest encomiums for their perfection
of drill, accuracy of movement and soldierly bearing. The officers
from the beginning have been as follows: Paul E. Werner,
444 AKROX AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
captain; Hans Otto Beck, first lieutenant; Henry Klages, second
lieutenant; sergeants, Carl Schoenduve and Gustave A. Groesel;
surgeon, L. S. Ebright.
BUCHTEL COLLEGE CADETS.
In 1886, under the auspices of the Professors Charles S. How^e
and Tracy L. Jeffords, and through the liberality of Hon. John
R. Buchtel and Messrs. Ferd. and Adolph Schumacher, a full
company, consisting entirely of college students, was organized
uniformed, armed and thoroughly drilled in military tactics.
This splendid company, with Alexander W. Maynes as its first
captain, became not only a credit to the college, but the pride of
our citizens, appearing in public on memorial days and on several
festive occasions; a squad of twenty on Commencement Day, 1887,
escorting President Buchtel from his house to the College, and,
in his invalid chair, carrying him up three flights of stairs to the
chapel, on his offer to contribute $1,000 towards the building of the
Crouse gymnasium, if they would do so. By reason of changes in
the faculty and among the students, the military feature not
being included in the curriculum, the organization has been in a
comatose condition since 1889, w^ithout any immediate promise of
revivification. »
AKRON'S MUSICAL ORGANIZATIONS.
From an early day Akron has been noted for the excellence of
its musical organizations, both vocal and instrumental. It is not
noMT ascertainable just w^hen the first instrumental band w^as
organized here, though it was certainly more than half a century
ago, and to the late Henry S. Abbey, Akron's pioneer jeweler, must
be awarded the honor of being its pioneer band director, also.
The Akron Brass BAND.-<*-This band, under the lead of Mr.
Abbey, led the jollification festivities on the occasion of the erec-
tion of the new county of Summit, in March, 1840, and on the
following Fourth of July competed in friendl}^ rivalry w^ith the
superb band accompanying Cleveland's crack military company
— then as now the "Cleveland Gra3^s" — as guests of the Summit
Guards, the Beacon in its account of the visit saying of the
two bands:
On the evening- of the 3rd, the Cleveland and Akron Bands gave a con-
cert, at their quarters, where the elite of our village and the neighborhood
did not fail to be present and enjoy the sweet and enlivening strains, made
doubly so by the coohiess and stillness of the evening.
A month later, August 5, 1840, at the celebration of the com-
pletion of the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal, the Akron band w^as
very highly complimented by the many distinguished visitors
from abroad, for its excellent music in leading the procession and
during the after festivities of the day and evening.
In referring to a concert about to be given by the band, about
this time, the Beacon editorially said:
All who can be moved by concord of sweet sounds will certain!}^ be
there. Let us all turn out, 5'oung and old, and give them a benefit. The3^
deserve it for their perseverence in getting- up a band which is a credit to
our town, and should therefore be liberally encouraged by our citizens.
Akron's musical organizations. 445
Reorganization. — Finding that his business cares precluded
his longer acting as its leader, Mr. Abbey, about 1848, turned the
organization over to Mr. George I^aurie, a book seller and stationer,,
who reorganized and somewhat enlarged the band, though Mr.
Abbey contined his membership therewith for several years there-
after. Mr. Laurie, a few years later, was succeeded as leader by
Mr. Horace B. Horton, inventor of the Melopean, then being quite
largely manufactured by himself and the late Bradbury T. Blod-
gett, the business being continued, in later years, by Ira Rose,^
James F. Scott, Horton Wright, John W. Baker and others.
Cutter's Quadrille Band. — In the meantime, about 1845, Mr.
Morrill T. Cutter, Akron's veteran shoe merchant, had organized
a Quadrille Band, of from six to ten members, which for fifteen
years was in almost constant demand, in furnishing music for
quadrille and other social parties, festivals, etc., in Akron and
neighboring villages and towns, and attained more than a local
reputation, as being one of the best equipped and most thor-
oughly trained quadrille bands in Northern Ohio.
Keating's Orchestra. — John Keating, a most skillful musi-
cian, a few years later became the leader of an orchestra that
for a number of years, and until failing health compelled Mr,
Keating's relinquishment of the leadership thereof, Avas justly the
delight of terpsichorean circles.
Marble's Brass Band. — About 1860, Prof. Dustin Marble, wha
had settled in Akron for the purpose of giving musical instruc-
tion and organizing bands, orchestras, etc., became the leader of
the Akron band, and from thenceforth for nearly twenty years,,
though many changes of membership occurred, Marble's band
sustained almost a National reputation, as one of the best musical
organizations in the country, the Professor, though severing his
connection w^ith the band several years ago, still giving musical
instruction ^vheneverhis services are-called into requisition.
Babcock's Band. — Next in order comes Babcock's Band^
organized in the middle sixties under the leadership of Prof. Wor-
den Babcock, and which had a highly prosperous career of some
ten years. After an absence of three or four years, returning
to Akron Mr. Babcock reorganized his band about 1881, which, in
1883, enlisted under the militia laws of the State, as a part of the
Ohio National Guard, under the legal title of the
Eighth Regiment Band. — Mr. Babcock was succeeded the
same year in the leadership by Prof. Charles E. York, a very
competent musician, Avho continued as its conductor until his
removal from the city, in the spring of 1888, Avhen Mr. William
R. Palmer was elected as its leader.
The Eighth Regiment Band has at present 29 names upon it&
muster roll, the organization receiving the same allowance from
the State, and being subject to the same laws, and entitled to the
same benefits as other companies and members of the Ohio
National Guard, its present officers and members being as follows:
William R. Palmer, leader; Richard Lew^is, drum major; S. Sam
Miller, quartermaster; George Davis, Grant Kirn, Samuel E. Dice
and Charles A. Wilhelm, sergeants; Alphonso Kimpflin, president;
Edmund Hartz, vice president; George G. Smith, secretary; Grant
Kirn, treasurer; George Davis, Grant Kirn and Charles A. Wilhelm,^
446
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
trustees; Charles Austgen, Marshall Caine, James Flowrer,
August K. Freund, John C. Funk, Joseph Goldsmith, Jacob
Hartz, John Hartz, Leroy Henry, John Keatz, Charles W. Lantz,
Sidney Morey, Bruce Miller, Cyrus L. Manderbach, Frank Nolte,
Joseph Palmer, Adam Rank, William H. Shoke, William Worth-
ington, Herbert A. Zimmerman.
The Great W^estern Band. — Twenty-five Men. — For many
years a very proficient and popular organization, w^as con-
solidated -with the Eighth Regiment Band in September,
1891, with George L. Humphrey, as band master and William R.
Palmer as his assistant, thus proving one of the strongest musical
bodies in Ohio or else^vhere.
Other musical organizations of the city, are now (September
1891), briefly as follows:
The Turner Band, 25 men, Levi Pinn, drum major; John
Kolla, leader; Frank Voke, president; Frank Cox, treasurer and
business manager; The Metropolitan Band 10 to 12 men, Sidney
Morey, director; Andrew Fritz, leader; Symphony Orchestra, five
to twenty nmn, George L. Humphrey, leader; North Hill Band, 18
men, Charles W. Lantz, leader and director; Lantz's Orchestra,
five to fourteen men, Charles W. Lantz, leader; Mustill's Orches-
tra, five to ten men, Sidney Morey, director; Italian Orchestra, five
to eight men, Hiram L. Morey, leader; Edwards' Orchestra, five to
eight men, William H. Brady, leader; Thomas Edwards,
prompter; Roman Orchestra, two to six men, Joseph A. Rivello,
leader.
West side Howard Street, from Market south. — From photo by S. J. Miller, 1855.
CHAPTER XVIII.
ANCIENT AND MODERN AKRON CONTRASTED— EARLY BUSINESS AND INDUS-
TRIAL STATUS — WHAT HORACE GREELEY THOUGHT OF US IN 1843 —
GREELEY A TRUE PROPHET — THE BOOM THAT CAME TO STAY— FROM VIL-
LAGE Tp CITY— ENLARGING OUR BORDERS — AKRON'S WATER SUPPLY —
IMMENSE CEREAL OPERATIONS— A TRULY "LIVE DUTCHMAN" — THE OAT
MEAL INDUSTRY — AN IMMENSE PLANT — TERRIBLE CALAMITY — SPEEDY
RECOVERY THEREFROM — OTHER MILLING OPERATIONS — LOCO-FOCO
MATCHES— FIRST MADE BY THE WRITER, IN 1838— MODUS OPERANDI— THE
LOCO-FOCO PARTY, WHY SO CALLED— THE BARBER MATCH COMPANY—
• THE LARGEST OF ITS CLASS IN THE WORLD— HEAVY MINING MACHINERY,
STOVES, ETC.— REAPERS AND MOWERS FOR THE MILLION— KNIVES AND
SICKLES— RUBBER GOODS, PAPER-MAKING, ETC.— LEADING THE WORLD IN
SEWER PIPE AND STONEWARE— A WONDERFUL INDUSTRIAL EXHIBIT.
ANCIENT AKRON.
THE origin and early history of Akron, its growth, successes,
reverses, etc., were pretty fully given in the earlier chapters
of this wrork. Though from the beginning it had fully maintained its
standing as one of the most enterprising and prosperous inland
villages in Ohio, its population in 1860, as shown b}' the census of
that year, was only 3,520 souls.
What Horace Greeley Said of Us. — In 1843, after a personal
visit to Akron, Horace Greeley, in publishing a description of the
town in the New York Tribune said: "This place, with a popu-
lation of 2,500, has five woolen factories, an extensive blast furnace,
a machine shop, a card manufactory, nine dry goods stores and
about as many other stores, two weekly newspapers, four large
flouring mills, a court house, four churches and tw^o more being
erected. The present water-pow^er, including the surplus water of
sixteen locks on tw^o canals, is adequate to impelling sixty-two
runs of stones. Besides this, there is considerable w^ater-poAver and
manufacturing at the small village of Middlebury, onlj^ a mile and
a half east, on the canal, and destined to form a portion of the
same city."
Other Early Statistics. — Four years later, Howe's History
of Ohio says of Akron: "Its population in 1827 was about 600
[less than 400 in fact]; in 1840, the number of inhabitants was
1,664, since v^hich time it is estimated to have doubled. It has
eight churches, twenty stores, ten groceries, four drug stores, two
book stores, four woolen factories, two blast furnaces, three cupola
furnaces, one carding machine manufactory, five flouring mills,
one insurance company, one bank, two newspaper offices, and a
great variety of mechanical establishments."
During the next ten years, there -were rhany changes — an
increase in some departments and a falling off in others — the
increase in population being quite rapid, the census of 1850 plac-
ing it at 3,254, a gain of nearly one hundred per cent, in the ten
years, the gain from 1850 to 1860 being but 266, an increase of a
fraction less than eight per cent.,. the census of that year placing
it at 3,520.
448
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
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MODERN AKRON. 449
But, in the early sixties, "a change came o'er the spirit of our
dreams." Increased railroad facilities, and the increased activity
given to commerce, manufactures, agriculture, etc., by the War,
brought a decided " boom " to Akron, the results and magnitude of
which are briefly attempted below:
Akron remained an incorporated town, or village, until Janu-
ary, 1865, an enumeration taken by Recorder Henrj^ Ward Inger-
soll, reported on the 14th day of December, 1864, showing the
number of inhabitants of the village to have been 5,066, an
increase of 1,546 in four years. By resolution of the Council,
adopted December 25th, 1864, the State officials were requested
to advance the village to a city of the second class, w^hich was
accordingly done by Governor John Brough, Secretary of State
William Henry Smith and Auditor of State James N. Goodman,
January 21, 1865.
City Organization. — The newlj^ constituted City of Akron
was divided into three w^ards, the first election on Mondaj^, April 3,.
1865, resulting in the choice of James Mathews as Mayor, and the
following councilmen: First ward, Charles W. Bonstedt, one
year, and George W. Crouse, two years; Second ward, John E,^
Bell, one year, and Henrj^ W. Howe, tw^o years; Third ward, J.
Park Alexander, one yean Lewis Miller, two years; Lewis Miller,,
on organization, being elected president of the Council, and Jere-
miah A. Long, clerk. One-half of the councilmen being elected
for one year only, at the election in April, 1866, John J. Wagoner
succeeded Mr. Bonstedt in the First ward, Joshua H. Collins, Mr.
Bell in the Second, and George vSechrist, Mr. Alexander in the
Third.
Horace Greeley a True Prophet. — September 6, 1865, by
action of county commissioners, the territory lying north of
Exchange street, between the original east line of the corporation
(about on the present line of Fir street) and the then west line of
Middlebury township (at the junction of East Market and Middle-
bury streets) Avas duly annexed to the cit}^ of Akron.
By the authoJ-ity of an ordinance passed by the council of
the village of Middlebury, August 24, 1871, and a like ordinance
passed by the city council of Akron, February 5, 1872, the question
of annexation was submitted to the legal voters of the two corpo-
rations, on the first Monday of April, 1872, resulting as follows:
Akron, for annexation, 1,042; against, 6. Middleburyfor, 14();against,
26. By resolution of each council respectively, commissioners
were appointed to arrange the terms of annexation as follows:
Akron, George W. Crouse, William T. Allen, and David L. King:
Middlebury, Mendal Jewett, Frank Adams, and George F. Kent.
Terms mutually satisfactory to the joint commission being
agreed to, ordinances of approval were duly passed by Middlebury,.
April 19, and by Akron, April 24, 1872, and the annexation was
complete. May 27, 1872, the Middleburj^ accession was designated,
by ordinance, as the Sixth ward- wards Four and Five having
been created by ordinance passed March 9, 1871.
Subsequent Accessions. — By ordinance passed October 28, 1872,.
a small section of territory lying south of East Exchange street,
and between the two original corporations of Akron and Middle-
bury was formally annexed to the city.
29 ,
450
AKROX AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
By an ordinance passed February 18, 1882, the annexation of
certain portions of Portage and Tallmadge townships, known as
the "Old Forge" district, was duly authorized, w^hich territory, on
the consummation of the annexation proceedings was, by ordi-
nance passed March 1, 1886, attached Jo the Sixth ward.
South side East Market Street, from Howard to Main, the "'Old Stone Block,
Ohio Exchange, etc., 184,5.— Drawn from memory by the author.
South side Market Street, Howard to Main, 1891. -Photo by Walter B. Manning.
AKRON S WATER vSl PPLY.
451
Akron City Building, South Main and
Quarry Street.
By ordinance passed March 15, 1886, certain described lands in
'Cov^entry township, upon the south, embracing 222.62 acres, and
^'ertain described lands in Portage township, upon the north and
Avest, embracing 467.80 acres, Avere also, by subsequent proceed-
ings, duly annexed, and are now embraced within the corporate
limits of the city of Akron,
Akron's Present Population.
— By the official census for 1890,
the population of the city of
Akron is as follows; First ward,
3,793; Second ward, 3,531; Third
ward, 5,045; Fourth ward, 6,716;
Fifth ward, 5,194; Sixth ward,
3,322; total, 27,601. This, with
the dense suburban population
on the immediate unannexed ter-
ritory, together with our rapidly
increasing inside population
makes us, in this year of grace,
1891, a city of considerable over
30,000 inhabitants. The popula-
tion of Portage tow^nship, exclusive of Akron, in 1840 w^as 2,382; in
1880, after annexation or sundry portions of its territory to the city,
as stated, 2,580, the census of 1890 show^ing a total of 2,659.
Akron's Water Supply. — Though eminently a water town —
Avith the never-failing living Avaters of Summit Lake, a short dis-
tance south of the city limits, and the pellucid Little Cuyahoga
river traversing its entire breadth from east to west, upon the nqrth
and though a large number of springs of the very purest w^ater
were found gushing spontaneously from its innumerable hills
and bluffs, Akron cannot be said to have been well-watered until
a comparatively recent date.
The first attempt at "\vater w^orks," for any portion of the town,
was by Dr. Eliakim Crosby, in 1836, by bringing the waters of a
large spring from the foot of Perkins' hill, in a continuous cement
pipe, to his own house, where the Catholic parsonage now stands,
with branches running to the houses of some of his near-by West
Hill neighbors. The scheme worked well for a year or two. when
it was found that an accumulation of fungus vegetation had filled
the pipe its entire length, and the scheme had to be abandoned.
The Akkox Cold Sprlng Company. — In the early forties the
Akron Cold Spring Compan}'^ was incorporated and organized, for
the purpose of bringing the waters of a large spring, known as
"Cold vSpring," from the eastern slope of what is now^ called
"Spring Hill," on the Portage road, aboiit a mile and a half along
what is now Aqueduct street, and West Market street, in four-incli
cast-iron inains, with lead service pipes to the several residences
along the route, these cast-iron mains, after ijiearly half a ctenturA-'s
serA'ice, being replaced b}^ wrought-iron pipes in 1891.
''This is the \'ery softest and purest water in the cit3% and is still
used for domestic purposes b}' many of the inhabitants of that
portion of the city, even among those who patronize the City
Water Works for stable, lawn and street sprinkling purposes.
The present officers of the company are: Directors: J. A. Long,
452
AKROM AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Lorenzo Hall, S. E. Phinney, George A. Keinpel, A. M. Armstrong;
president, A. M. Armstrong; secretary, Philander D. Hall, Jr.
Howard Strret Water Company. — There was orginally a
superb spring of water, on the premises of the late George \V.
Bloom, where the office of the Schumacher Milling Company now
stands, corner of Broadwaj^ and Mill streets. March 14, 18(io,
Morrill T. Cutter, Hiram Viele, William G. Raymond, James M,
Hale and Lorenzo Hall, directors of the duly incorporated Howard
Street Water Company, b}'^ a grant from council, were permitted to
lay pipes through the streets of Akron, and did so use a part of
Mill, Howard and Market streets.
These w^orks were quite convenient to those interested for
several years, but paving, sewering, etc., at length so interfered
with a free flow of Avater and the extension of the system, that the
project was abandoned.
City Water Works. — Sometime in the latter sixties, the
question of city w^ater w^orks for fire protection and for manufactur-
ing and domestic purposes, began to be agitated, and on December
27, 1871, an ordinance was passed as follows:
Section 1. Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Akron^
That water works for the purpose of furnishing' said city and the inhabitants
thereof, with a supplj- of water, are hereb}" ordered to be built and con-
structed.
This was supplemented by an ordinance passed January 8,
1872, authorizing the election of a board of three w^ater works
trustees, and at the ensuing April election a non-partisan board
w^as elected as foUow^s: John R. Buchtel, Alexander H. Commins
and Charles Cranz. Expert hydraulic engineers, w^ere emplo3'ed,
and estimates made from various points of possible supply, but
various hindrances intervened, and the scheme w^as never con-
summated, the ordinance being repealed March 29, 1876.
Akron Water Works Company. — July 1, 1880, an ordinance
was passed granting to M. S. Frost & Son, and their associates, the
privileo-e of usingf the streets, alleys and public grounds of the city
for the laying of pipes, etc., for
the purpose of supplying the
people of the city with water in
accordance with certain proposi-
tions which had been made by
said compan)\
The works were accorditigly
built, the suppl}^ being obtained
from a large w^ell upon the Mal-
lison farm, on Wooster avenue,
with a reservoir upon Sherbondj^
Hill in the west part of the cit}".
The works were completed* and
put in operation early in 1881, but
as the years passed by the suppl}^
from the well w^as found to be
inadequate to meet the increas-
ing demand, and the small Lake to the southward, known as
Manning's pond, was purchased and utilized, and subsequenth^
an arrangement made with the State by w^hich the waters of
Akron Water Works Pumping Station
—1891.
CHANGES Ii\ A THIRD OF A CENTURY.
453
Sunittiit Lake, still further south, are used as occasion requires,
and with other more recently added wells, both in point of quantitj"^
and quality Akron's water supply is equal to that of any other
city in Ohio; its fire protection being almost perfect, its waters
also being quite largely used as the motive power for driving ele-
vators, church organs, coffee grinders, printing presses, pumps, etc.
IVest Market Street, from Howard, shovviiiji old City Mill, old U ooden Bridge
over Canal, and the original and then only Sidewalk on West
Hill.- From photo by S. J. Miller, lSi8.
West Market Street, from Howard, 1891.— From photo by George E. Hitchcock.
454 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
The present officers of the Akron Water Works Company are:
President, Frank Adams; vice president, George W. Crouse; secre-
tary and treasurer, Horace C. Starr; mechanical engineer and
superintendent, Kdward A. Lawton; civil engineer, Joseph
Flannery. Capital stock, $250,000. The company has now^ about 30
miles of street mains, 1,600 private and public takers, and about
200 street hydrants, or fire plugs, and the system is being rapidly
extended.
Cereal Operations. — It -will be remembered that in its earlier
history, milling w^as Akron's chief industry, which, "while not ver\'
materially augmenting the industrial population, yet by furnish-
ing a ready market to the surrounding farmers for their grain,
greatly enhanced the commercial and financial interests of the
village and county. The famous Old Stone Mill, built by Dr,
Crosby and others in 1832, w^as the pioneer, followed by the ^tna,
by William B. Mitchell and Samuel A. Wheeler in 1838; the Center
Mill, by Joseph A. Beebe and William E. Wright, in 1839; the
Cascade Mill, by William B. Mitchell, in 1840, and a few years later
by the City Mill, by Gen. Geo. W. McNeil and others; the Ayliffe
Mill, (afterwards the Carter & Steward Oatmeal Mill); the Pearl
Mill, l3y William G. Raymond, Abraham Fulton, A. M. Barber and
others, (now the How^er Oatmeal Mill); the Perkins Mill, (now
the Allen Mill), etc., Akron flour, both under the old and new pro-
cesses, ever having maintained a high standing in Ne\sr York and
other Eastern markets.
A Truly "Live Dutchman." — But it was reserved to Fred.
Schumacher,, to bring to Akron its chief renown as a milling center.
Coming hither in 1851, Mr. Schumacher, in company with Mr.
Theodore Weibezahn, opened a small notion store in Hall's blocks
fronting on West Market street. Withdrawing from that business
in August, 1852, Mr. S. started a small family supply store, where
the First National Bank now stands, afterwards removing to the
larger room across the street, next to Empire House, where, for a
number of years he did a profitable business, with Mr. Charles W,
Bonstedt as his chief clerk.
In 1859, Mr. S. commenced the manufacture of oatmeal, on a
small scale, in a frame building at the foot of Howard street,
w^hich had originally been used for a woolen factory, but later by
ex-Sheriff Thomas Wilson, in the manufacture of mineral paint.
This, undoubtedly the pioneer oatmeal mill in America, was
appropriately named " The German Mill." Its products finding a
ready sale, Mr. S. soon added the manufacture of pearl barley, for
which, in 1863, a separate extensive mill w^as built on South Sum-
mit street, near the Union depot, which was named the " Empire
Barley Mill." In 1872 the orginial German Mill was destroyed by
fire, a new German Mill being built near the Empire Mill on
Summit street. Sundry additions w^ere made from time to time, a
large elevator for the storage of grain having been erected in 1879,
Mr. S. having in the meantime bought and refitted w^ith modern
machinery, the Cascade Mill, near Lock Fourteen, Ohio Canal,
originally built by Mr. William B. Mitchell? in 1840.
Terrible Calamity. — Other mills w^ere added to the original
plant on Summit street, including the celebrated eight story
"Jumbo" mill, a large drying house, fronting on Broadw^ay, and
the splendid office building on the corner of Mill and Broad vva^v
IMMKXSE MILLING OPERATIONS,
455
the whole with several small dwelling houses, mostly owned b}^
Mr. S., covering the entire square, bounded by Summit street upon
the east, Mill street upon the north, Broadway street upon the
west, and Quarry street upon the south. These immense mills,
filled throughout with expensive machinery, were being driven to
their fullest capacity to meet the demands of the wonderful busi-
ness which the energetic push of Mr. S. had thus built up, when,
on the night of March 6, 1886, the entire plant, except the original
Empire Barley Mill, with their valuable contents, were destroyed
by fire, involving a loss to Mr. S,, over and above insurance, of
$600,000, besides a prospective serious interruption to his business.
ALEXANDER H. COMMINS,— eld-
-^ est son of Dr. Jedediah D. Com-
tnins, was born at Lima, Living'ston
county, N. Y., June 21, 1815; removed
with parents to Akron in 1832, enter-
ing- Western Reserve College, at
Hudson; on leaving college, entered
his father's drug store in Akron,
following that business until 1845,
when, with Col. Simon Perkins, Jesse
Allen and others, he became a mem-
ber of the Perkins Company, erecting
the brick btiilding on Canal street,
now known as the Allen Mill, and
engaged in the manufacture of
woolen cloths, satinets, etc., some
ten years later converting it into a
flouring mill. In 1867, in company
with Albert Allen, purchased the
old stone mill — Akron's pioneer
manufacturing plant — now owned
by the American Cereal Com-
pany. The firm of Commins & Allen
was phenomenally successful, and so
harmonious that by will Mr. C. gave
Mr. A. control of his entire business
and estate, and in case of the death
of his wife, the guardianship of their
children, without bond or appraisal.
October 8, 1860, Mr. Commins was
married to Miss Addie H. Starks, of
Buffalo, N. Y., who bore him nine
children, seven of whom — five daugh-
ters and two sons, are still living —
Cora, Catharine B., now Mrs. H. F.
Smithers, Qertrude P., Addie H.. A.
Dais5^, Alexander H., and Augustus
J. Mr. Commins died August 17,
1880, aged 65 years, one month and 26
days, Mrs. Commins dying June 29,
1884, aged 48 years, 4 months and 12
days.
The F. Schumacher Milling Company. — In the meantime, so
popular had become the oatmeal and other cereal products manu-
factured by Mr. S., other similar mills had been started in Akron
and elsewhere, one of the largest of which, that of the Akron
Milling Company, in connection with the old stone mill, was just
fairly getting into operation.
Between this company and Mr. Schumacher, a consolidation
was effected, by which the several inilling properties of both were
brought together under one corporation — The F. Schumacher Mill-
ing Company — with an authorized capital stock of tvv^o millions of
dollars, the business thus being carried right along with ])ut a
comparatively slight interruption; the officers of the company
being Ferd. Schumacher, president; I^ouis Schunuicher, vice-
president; F, Adolph Schumacher, secretary; Hugo vSchumacher,
treasurer.
456
AKKOX AXD SUMMIT COUNTY.
A LBKRT AI.LEN— son of Levi and
-^ Phtx?be (Spicer) Allen, was born
in Coventry, March 12, 1827; raised on
farm with common school education;
on attaining; his majority learned
the millwrighting' trade at which he
worked about nine years, in 1856 con-
verting- the Perkins Woolen Mill, on
Canal street, into a flouring- mill for
J. & J. Allen & Co., on its completion
assuming the inanag-ement of the
mill, and ablj- filling' the position for
about ten j'ears. In 1867, in connec-
tion with Mr. Alexander H. Coin-
inins, he purchased the Stone Mill,
the firm of Commins & Allen doing-
a phenomenally successful business
until the death of of Mr. C, in 1880.
the firm name continuing-, with Mr.
Allen as exectitor of Mr. Commins'
larg-e estate, until it was nierg-ed in
The F. Schumacher Milling- Company,
April 5, 1886. of which company Mr.
Allen was a director and the vice pres-
ident until the time of his death, Sep-
tember 25, 1888, at the age of 61 years, 6
months and 13 days. Mr. Allen,
though never married, enjoyed the
comforts of a fine home on Bowery
street, Avith his sister, Miss Cynthia
Allen, as his housekeeper, rearing
and educating his niece. Miss Minnie
E. Allen, now wife of Henr3^ M. Stone,
Esq., of Denver, Col. Mr. Allen was
an ardent Republican and a zealous
metnber of the Disciple church, in
ALBEKT ALLEX,
his will, after devising 20 per cent of
his large estate to his sister, Cyn-
thia, bequeathing 10 per cent of the
residue (about $10,000) to Hiram
College; 10 per cent to Christian
Foreign Missionarj^ Society, and 10
per cent jointly to the General Chris-
tian Home Missionarj' Society and
the First Disciple church, of Akron,
besides having pledged the payinent
of $1,000 to Buchtel College.
MINER J. ALLEN,— son of Levi
and Phcebe (Spicer) Allen, was
born in Coventry, November 11, 1829;
edixcated in township district
schools; worked at farming until
1867, w^hen he moved to Akron, as
traveling and local grain buyer for
Commins & Allen, in 1884 taking a
one-fifth interest in the Akron Mill-
ing Company, which in 1886, was
merged into The F. Schumacher
Milling Compan}', of which he was
a stockholder and director. June 1,
1876, Mr. Allen was married to Miss
Frances C. DeWolf, daughter of
Samuel and Margaret (King) DeWolf,
of Vernon, Trumbull county, who
has borne him four children — Albert
Mark, born August 26, 1877. Miner
Wicliffe, February 24, 1879; Margaret
Phcebe, February 11, 1882, and Chris-
tina Cynthia, August 22. 1883. Politi-
callj', Mr. Allen has been a life-long
Republican, and active in public
affairs, but not an office seeker,
though, while a resident of Coventry
Avas several years a member and
clerk of local school board. Both
Mr. and Mrs. Allen are devoted mem-
bers of the First Disciple church, of
Akron.
THE AMERICAN CEREAL COMPANY.
457
The Gerirjaii mill, the elevator and the dr^'ing house, together
Avith the office building, have been rebuilt, a second larger elevator
•erected, and it is coniidently expected that the entire burned plant
will be rehabilitated in the near future, and the cereal works of
"the Schumacher Milling Company maintain their standing as the
very largest and best establishment of their kind in the world.
JOHN H. HOWER, born in Stark
J connty, Februar}^ 22, 1822; educat-
<?(1 in common schools ; from 18 to 30
working- on farm summers and teach-
ing- winters ; five years in trade and
two years in pottery business in
Doylestown, Wayne county ; orig-inal
member of Excelsior mower and
reaper firm at Doylestown. retaining
his interest therein until 1875 ; one of
the org-anizers and vice-president of
the J. F. Seiberling Company, of
Akron, in 1865 ; in 1879 bought an
interest in the Turner Oat Meal Mill,
purchasing Mr. Turner's interest in
1881, and, with his three sons,
forming the Hower Company, (fully
described elsewhere), officered as
follows : John H. Hower, president
Hai^ey Y. Hower, vice president ; M.
Otis Hower, secretarj^ ; Charles H.
Hower, treasurer. Mr. Hower is also
one of the corporators and president
of the newly organized Reed and Rat-
tan Companj', and also largely
interested in several of the other lead-
ing industries of the cit3^ Married,
in 1852, to Miss Susan Youngker, of
Doylestown, three children, onlj-, as
^bove, having been born to them.
In earljr manhood a Democrat in pol-
itics, Mr H. has been an ardent
Republican since the organization of
that party, the familj^ being zealous
members of the F)nglish Lutheran
Church, of Akron, of which Mr. H.
lias officiated as trustee for many
years.
JOHN H. HOWER.
*
The Hower Oatmeal Mills. — What was formerly the Pearl
>[ill, corner of Canal and Cherry streets, was converted into an
oatmeal mill, in the latter seventies, by Mr. Robert Turner, a prac-
tical miller, the present proprietors, the Hower Company, succeed-
ing to the business in 1880. The officers of this corporation are:
John H. Hower, president; Harvey Y. Hower, vice president; M.
Otis Hower, secretary, and Charles H. Hower, treasurer, the three
latter being sons of the former. Large additions have been made
to the works, increasing the capacity from about 2,00() pounds, in
1880, to nearly 30,000 pounds of bulk and package cereal goods, in
1888, for which a rapidly increasing sale is being found in every
portion of the United States.
American Cereal Company, — Since the foregoing was pub-
lished in serial form, most of the principal oatmeal mills of the
458
AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
United States, in June, 1891, united in the organization of The
American Cereal Company, with a capital of $3,400,000, the F.
Schumacher Milling Company and the Hower Company selling
their entire plants to, and the several members thereof becoming
stockholders of, the new company, with Mr. Ferd. Schumacher as-
its president, and its principal office in Akron.
Fifty-Fourth Battalion, O. N. G., starting for tlie defense of Washinjiton,
May, 1864. View of North side of Market Street, from Main to
High, the Sale Stable, beyond the bridge of the old
P. and O. Canal, on present site of
Academy of Music.
North side Market Street, from Maih/o Iligli. 18!tl. Plu^to b^- Walter^. Mantiij,!^.
alter B. Manning. q i
THE MATCH INDUSTRY.
459
The Allen Mills.— In the middle forties a substantial brick
mill was erected on Canal street, south of Cherry, for the manu-
facture of satinets, by the Perkins Company, composed of the
late Simon Perkins, Jedediah D. and Alexander H. Commins, Jesse,
Jacob and Hiram Allen, etc. Some years later this plant was con-
verted into a flouring mill by the Perkins Company, and is xiow
ow^ned and operated by Allen & Co., composed of Frank H. Allen, of
New York, and Victor J. Allen and William A. Palmer, of Akron.
Supplied w^ith the very best of modern machinery and processes,
the various grades of family and bakers' flour manufactured by
this firm, find a ready and extensive sale both at home and in New
York and other eastern markets.
MARTIN HOUSTON CRUMRINK,
— born in Gettysburg-, Pa., May 16,
1824:, when six months old removing
with parents to Carroll county, Ohio;
educated in district schools; com-
menced to learn trade of marble
cutter at Cadiz, Harrison county; in
September, 1851, going to Massillon
and finishing' his trade with Uhl,
Myers & Co. In September, 1853,
went to Wheeling, Va., and in Janu-
ary, 1854, to Salisburj^, N. C, and
lattjr to Milton, where he did the
carving and lettering- on the Patrick
Henry monument. In 1857 he re-
turned to Massillon, and with Mr.
Quinc5^ W. Reeves, bought out his
old employers, the firm of Reeves &
Crumrine, continuing until June, 1863,
when Mr. C. sold his interest to his
partner, in September establishing-
the extensive marble and granite
w^orks in Akron, which he has since
so successfully^ conducted. Januarj^
27, 1868, he was married to Miss Olive
C. Henry, eldest daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Milton W. Henry, of Akron.
They have five children — Harriet G.,
Josephine, Henry C, Walter R. and
Ralph Milton. Mr. Crumrine has
MARTIN HOUSTON CRUMKINE.
filled the position of Master, in
Akron Lodge, No. 83, F. and A. M.,
and various offices, including- two
terms as Eminent Commander of
Akron Commandery, No. 25, Knights
Templar.
The Seiberling Milling Company. — Capital $200,CXX), five-story
brick mill, located in the Sixth ward, on the site of the old Cuj^a-
hoga blast furnace, erected in 1817. It is first-class throughout, with
a capacity of 1,000 barrels of flour per day. The officers of the com-
pany are: President, John F. Seiberling; secretary, Lucius C.
Miles; treasurer, Frank A. Seiberling.
South Akron Flouring Mill. — This mill, together with a
sawmill, at the head of the canal basin, in South Akron, is now
owned and operated by the Brewster Coal Company, as a custom
feed mill, the new process appliances, for manufacturing flour,
never having been introduced. It is nevertheless, capable of doing
good work in the particular line of grinding indicated, and is a
very great convenience to its patrons.
Friction Matches. — In the boyhood days of the writer, the
only mode of striking light for candle, pipe or cigar, was from a
live coal plucked from the domestic hearthstone, or from a splinter
or paper lighter ignited therefrom, while the "raking up" of the
460
AKROX AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
South side of East Market Street, between Main and High, Tappan Hall,
Trussell Block, etc,. 185.5.— From photo liy Akron's pioneer
photographer, Samuel J. Miller.
South side of Market Street, Main to High, 1891. -Photo by Walter B. Manning.
THE IMPROVEMENTS OF HALF A CENTURY. 461
embers in the old-fashioned fire-place, on retiring to bed, was the
only assurance of a warm breakfast in the morning. And the
writer well remembers the first device in the match line ever
invented, which consisted of slips of pine about three inches long
and one-eighth of an inch square, one end coated with brimstone
and other chemicals, and ignited by thrusting the prepared end
into a small bottle of aquafortis, the price of the little round box
containing the bottle, and twenty-five matches, being tw^enty-five
cents— one cent a-piece.
Next came "Lucifer" matches, thin basswood slips, coated at
one end with composition to be ignited by drawing through a
folded piece of sand-paper. These, about fifty in a box, retailed at
about twelve and a half cents.
Loco-Foco Matches.— Next, about fift3'-five years ago, came
the "Loco-Foco" match, for the manufacture of which, in Akron^
the writer claims to be the pioneer, the following advertisement
appearing, vmder date of May 19, 1838, in the little paper published
by him at thattinae:
" Loco-Foco Matches, manufactured b}^ S. A. Lane & Co., for sale
by the gross, dozen or single bunches. Inquire at the Buzzard
office."
The operative force of the concern was one man, and the
"works" y^eve in a dismantled 12x15 blacksmith shop, where
Assembly' Hall now stands, the "Co." being Dr. James R. Milti-
more, who, with his wife, ^vas drowned in Lake Brie, on the occa-
sion of the burning of the steamer Erie on the afternoon of August
9, 1841.
As a contrast to the present lightning mode of manufacture, a
brief description of the process then in vogue will be in order. It
being deemed unsafe for any tw^o matches to come in contact with
each other, they were made in cards or combs in this wise: First,
straight-grained tw^o-inch pine plank, after being smoothly planed
by hand, (there Avere no planing machines in those days), were
saw^ed into lengths of five inches. Then, b}' a fine single-blade cir-
cular saw, they were sliced up into cards, scant eighth of an inch
thick. Then by a gang of eleven fine, nicelj^ adjusted saws, the
ends of the cards in question, a dozen or so at a time, w^ere slit into
the form of a comb, with twelve teeth each, about two inches in
length. Then the cards were sawed in two in the center, leaving a
half inch back to each comb. Then the combs, a dozen at a time,,
w^ere dipped into melted brimstone, and afterwards, each separatel3%
into the phosphorus composition. Now for the packing. Placing
a long strip of paper, three inches wide, upon the packing table,
one card of twelve matches was placed thereon and a turn made,
then another card and so on until twelve cards, or 144 matches,
were inchided in the package. CarefuUj" folding down the ends,,
the package, called a "bunch," was inclosed in a printed wrapjjer;
twelve bunches, or one gross of matches, placed in another printed
wrapper; and twelve of those, or a great gross, in still another
printed wrapper, when the matches were ready for the market.
The matches thus prepared sold at the following prices:
Great gross, 144 bunches, of 144 matches each, $7.00; small gross,
12 bunches of 144 each, $1.00; single bunch, 144 matches, one-
shilling.
462
AKKOX AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
West side of Howard vStreet, from Market to Stone Mill Barn, present site of
Cereal Mills.— From photo by B. F. Battels, 1870.
West side Howard Street, from Market to Mill. 1"
From photo \}y Geo. E. Hitchcock.
SOME EARLY MERClIAxNTS.
463
MORRILL T. CUTTER, born in
Jeffrey, N. H., October 6, 1826;
raised on farm ; educated in com-
mon schools ; came to Akron in
November, 1844, engaging- in the
shoe business with his vincle, John
M. Cutler, Akron's pioneer read}-
made boot and shoe dealer ; a
5'ear later becoming a partner ;
in 1853 formed a partnership with
the late Charles R. Howe, which
continued 17 years, the firm of Cut-
ter & Howe, in 1865, erecting the
three storj^ brick block on Howard
street, now occupied by Mr. C; in
1873, as a member of the firm of
Whitney, Glasser & Co., engaged in
the manufacture of boots and shoes
in Cleveland ; in 1880, returned
to Akron and resumed bvisiness
at the old stand, where he still con-
tinues. Mr. Cutter is a fine instru-
mental musician, not only plaj^ing
with several of the earlier bands,
but also for many j-ears, conducting
that most excellent orchestra
known as "Cutter's Quadrille
Band." As a member of Co. F,
164th, O. V. L. Mr. C. served 10(J days
before Washington, in 1864, at the
request of Col. John C. Lee, while
in Cleveland, organizing a regi-
mental band from members of the
several companies, and is now a
member of Bucklej^ Post, No. 12,
G. A. R. In June, 1847. Mr. Cutter
MORRILL T. CUTTER,
was married to Miss Percis Ann Mon-
roe, of Chicopee, Mass., who died No-
vember 23, 18iXJ.
LORENZO HALL.
T ORENZO HALL,— son of Richard
-L^ and Sally (Hurlburt) Hall, was
born at Bridgeport, Conn., February
22, 1812; common school education; at
15, at solicitation of directors taking
charge of school in his own district,
and teaching elsew^here five or six
years ; followed farming on farm
ceded to his great great grandfather
in 1639; in 1836 came to Akron, sell-
ing, goods for his brother, Mr. P. D.
Hall, in store and bj^ peddling in
neighboring country towns;
returned to Connecticut (the entire
distance on horseback), and carried
on, farm until the death of his
brother Orlando, in 1858, when he
became his successor in the mer-
cantile business here, as a partner
in the well-known firm of Hall
Brothers, the oldest continuous
business house in Akron, founded
by Mr. P. D. Hall in May, 1835. March
26, 1846, Mr. Hall was married to Misa
Mary J. Hubbell, of Trumbull, Conn.
They have two sons — Frank L., born
July 5, 18.50, now a member of the law
firm of De Forrest, Weeks & Co., in
New York Cit}*, and Philander D.,
born Januarj^ 10, 1854, now, after sev-
eral years spent in travel in Europe
and California, filling his father's
place in the store. Mr. Hall, through
impaired circulation of blood, being
obliged to submit to the amputation
tion of his right foot. May 1, 1887.
464 AKK'ON AXD SUMMIT COUNTY.
Iti the light of the present prices, one cent or less per hundred^
at retail, the prices above named would seem rather steep, but
Avhen the labor of preparing the cards, the slow process of dip-
ping, and the extra care in wrapping and packing, coupled with
the fact that phosphorus (now worth perhaps 75 cents per pound)-
then cost $7.50, it is little wonder that the proprietors of Akron's
pioneer match factory, never became luillionaires, but, on the con-
trary, abandoned the business as nonprofitable in about one year^
The Loco-foco Party. — Apropos of the loco-foco match, a
word as to how the Democratic part3' of fiftj^ years ago came to
be called the "Loco-Foco Part3"," uiay be of interest. Tamman}"
Hall, then as now, was the headquarters of the Democratic clubs
and societies of New York City. Then, as no\v, too, there v^rere
. factions, schisms and exciting controversies among the faithful,
for political and official ascendency. One night, in the midst of a
heated controversy, Avhen an important vote w^as about to be
taken, the part}^ that was about to be worsted, by a preconcerted
movement turned off all the gas, leaving the crowd in total dark-
ness, and unable to proceed with the business in hand. At this-
juncture a member of the opposite faction, w^ho happened to have
a bunch of loco-foco matches in his pocket, struck a light, turned
on the gas, and the business of the meeting went on. The suc-
cessful faction Vk^ere thenceforth called Loco-Focos — the appel-
lation finally attaching to the entire party, to w^hich it tenaciously"
clung for over twenty years.
The Barber Match Company. — But it was left to Mr. George
Barber, an early resident of Middlebury to found w^hat has since
grown to be, not only one of Akron's most prosperous and profit-
able industries, but one of the most extensive and complete
establishments of its kind in the United States. Mr. Barber
commenced making matches in 1845, in a small barn in Middlebury ,^
later, after several removals, occupying the old Raw^son & Goodale
woolen factory, on the site of the present woolen and felt
works in the Sixth ward. These matches were what w^ere known
as the block or split match, the splitting, as well as the dipping,
being done by hand. It was pretty "hard sledding" the first few^
years, there then being no railroad communication with the outer
w^orld. But labor-saving devices were invented, railroads were
built, a demand created, additions were made to the plant from
time to time, and later on, under the inspiration of the son, Mr.
Ohio C. Barber, the Barber Match Company was formed and the
works, in 1871, removed to Akron, proper, on the w^est side of
South Main street, the present plant covering something over five
acres of land, with over 100,000 feet of floorage, giving emploj^ment
to from 450 to 500 men, boys and girls, and with a daily mechan-
ical and operative capacity of nearly 100,000,000 of matches.
The Diamond Match Company. — The Barber Match Companj^
is now a component part of the larger corporation — The Diamond
Match Company — with other quite extensive w^orks in different
sections of the country, of Avhich company, with its principal
offices in Chicago, Mr. Ohio C. Barber is president, and Mr. John
K. Robinson, also a native Akronian, is treasurer and manager.
The Webster, Camp & Lane Machine Company. — In May,
1848, the late George D. Bates, Charles Webster and James B. Tap-
lin, under the firm name of G. D. Bates & Co., started the "Globe
INDUSTRIAL AKRON.
465
Foundry," on the southeast corner of North Main and Tallmadge
streets, and engaged in the manufacture of stoves and milling and
other machinery, on a small scale. Two or three years later Mr.
Bates retired, Webster and Taplin continuing until 1855, when Mr.
William Camp was added to the company, under the firm name of
Webster, Taplin & Co., this firm, a year or two later, engaging, to
a limited extent, in the production of the "Akron Mower," being
therefore the pioneers in what has since grown to be Akron's
greatest industry.
pHARLES WEBSTER, — born in
^ Litchfield, Conn., September 3,
1810 ; when three jears old moved
with parents to the city of Hartford ;
educated in city public schools ;
learned the carpenter's trade ; after
working several years in Connecticut
and Massachusetts, came to Ohio in
1835, settHng in Akron, working' at
trade and millwrighting on several
of Akron's early flouring mills until
1848, when, in connection with the late
George D Bates, and Mr. James B.
Taplin, he started the Globe Foundry
and Machine Shop, since incorpora-
ted into the Webster, Camp & Lane
Machine Company, in which Mr.
Webster was a large stockholder, and
for many years its president. While
active in all public enterprises. Mr.
Webster was never an office seeker,
though twice honored with a seat in
the village council— 1849 and 1862.
April 30, 1833, Mr. Webster was mar-
ried to Miss Martha A. Atherton, of
Hartford, Conn., eight children hav-
ing been born to them, one of
whom, onlj^, is now living — Isabella
P., born in Akron. June 15. 1838, and
married September 20, 1865, to the late
Alden Gage, cashier of the Bank of
Akron, who died November 12, 1875,
CHARLES WEBSTER.
their only child, Martha, dying at
eight months of age. Mrs. Gage was
again married, to Col. David W.
Thomas, December 18, 1885. Mr.
Webster died September 15. ISIX), aged
80 years and 11 daj^s.
In 1860 the shops were destroyed by fire, after which Mr. Tap-
lin retired, selling his interest to Mr. Lorenzo B. Austin, the firm
name then being changed to Webster, Camp & Co. In January,
1869, Mr. Julius S. Lane took an interest in the business, and on
February 1st, 1869, a stock company was organized under its
present title — The Webster, Camp & Lane Machine Company —
with an authorized capital of $1(K),000, of which company for man}^
years Mr. Charles Webster was president; Mr. William T. Allen,
treasurer; Mr. Sanford M. l^urnham, secretary; and Mr. Julius S,
Lane, superintendent.
In addition to general inachinery, a specialty is made of Lane's-
Band Friction Hoist, and other heavy machinery for mining and
haulage purposes. The present officers of the company (1891) are:
John McGregor, president and treasurer; Stephen H. Pitkin, secre-
tary and general manager, and James W. Chamberlin, superin-
tendent. Men employed, 150 to 200.
Taplin, Rice & Company. — Mr. James B. Taplin, the founder
of this company, a carpenter and millwright, settled in Akron in.
30 ^
466
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
1834. On withdrawring from the firm of G. D. Bates & Co., as
above stated, in connection with Mr. Alvin Rice, a practical
moulder, and Mr. Hobart Ford, under the firm name of Taplin,
Rice & Ford, in 1861 established similar w^orks a short distance
south of the Union Depot fronting on Broadway. In 1867 a stock
company Tvas organized, and in addition to general machinery,
mill gearing, etc., began the manufacture of stoves, their extensive
variety of cooking and parlor stoves, ranges, heaters, etc., finding a
ready market in every portion of the great West, several consign-
ments of their celebrated Climax heaters having recently been
made to China. Present officers (1891): James B. Taplin, presi-
dent, and Henry Perkins, secretary and treasurer. Capital stock
$150,000. Hands employed, 150.
HENRY PERKINS, -born in Akron,
April 8, 1842; educated in Akron
public schools; in 1861 entered the
service as clerk under his brother.
Captain Simon Perkins, Jr., assistant
quartermaster for the Army of the
Cumberland, following the fortunes
of the armj^ through the entire war.
On his return home served as clerk
in charge of the Lake Shore office of
the Cleveland Rolling Mill Company
for five years; in 1870, became secre-
tary and treasurer of Taplin, Rice &
Co., whose extensive Machine and
Stove works are elsewhere noticed,
both of which positions he still
holds. Mr. Perkins is prominent in
Masonic circles, joining Akron
Lodge No. 83. F. & A. M., in 1872; in
1877, became a charter member of
Adoniram Lodge No. 517, aftCKwards
becoming its Master; in 1875 became
a Roj^al Arch Mason and member of
Washington Chapter No. 25; in 1877
became a Knight Templar in Akron
Commanderj' No. 25; entered the
Grand Commandery in 1884, and
elevated to the highest office in its
gift; in 1878, took the several degrees
in the A. and A. S. Rite, Ohio Consis-
tory, and is now a member and min-
ister of the State of the Northern
Ohio Consistory. October 20, 1868,
HENRY PERKINS.
Mr. Perkins was married to Miss
Emma White, of Cleveland, then and
now one of the finest and most popu-
lar singers in Northern Ohio. They
have one child, Miss Lillian White
Perkins, born Januarj^ 12, 1868, still
residing with her parents.
The Buckeye Reaper and Mower WorKvS. — Largely through
the influence of Hon. John R. Buchtel, a native of what is now
Summit county, a branch of the already popular Buckeye Works
of C. Aultman & Co., of Canton, was established in Akron in 1864,
but under the separate and distinct corporate title of Aultman,
Miller & Company, of which, at the present time (1891), Hon.
George W. Crouse is president; Hon. Lewis Miller, general super-
intendent; Ira Miller, secretary; and R. H. Wright, treasurer.
These works, w^ith a floorage capacity of over 700,000 square
feet, are among the very best class in the w^orld, the most of the
devices from which their various machines are made being the
invention of Superintendent Miller himself. These works employ
an average of 800 men and have turned out this year (1891) 10,000
HARVESTING MACHINERY.
467
self-binder harvesters, and 16,000 self-rakes, droppers and mowers —
26,000 machines in all. The capital stock of the company is $1^
000,000. Surplus $1,500,000.
IRA M. MILLER,— eldest son of
A Lewis and Mary V. (Alexander)
Miller, was born in Canton, Ohio,
August 24:, 1856, removing- with
parents to Akron in 18<>4 ; educated
in the public schools of Canton and
Akron and at the Ohio Wesleyan
University, at Delaware ; after grad-
uating- from the latter institution,
entered the employ of Aultman, Mil-
ler & Co.. manufacturers of the cele-
brated Buckeye mowers and har-
vesters, fully described elsewhere,
and of which extensive corporation
he is now the able and efficient sec-
retar3% being also pecuniarily and
officially connected with several
other business enterprises in Akron
and elsewhere. October 19, 1886, Mr.
Miller was married to Miss Cora
Wise, daughter of Jacob and Jennie
S. (Stadden) Wise, of Akron. Mr. and
Mrs. Miller are the parents of one
daughter — Margaret, born July 20,
1887^ Family residence, 605 East
Market street.
JOHX FRANKLIxX SEIBERLING.
JOHN FRANKLIN SEIBERLING,
J —born in Norton, March 10, 183-1 ;
•educated at Western Star Academy ;
1856-58 druggist in Akron; 1858, '59,
while running saw mill in Norton,
invented "Excelsior" mower and
IRA M. MILLER.
reaper, with "dropper" attachment;
in 1861 established works at Doyles-
town (still running) ; in 1861 started
similar works in Massillon ; in 1865
organized the J. F. Seiberling Coin-
panj^ in Akron ; withdrawing from
coinpany, in 1869 commenced build-
ing his now popular "F)mpire"
machine ; in 1871 organized the
Akron Straw Board Company, in the
Sixth ward, successfully conducting
same until its sale in 1887; in 1883
organized the Seiberling Milling
Company, erecting the six-stor}^
brick flouring mill described else-
where ; in 1889 exchanged Acad-
emy of Music block for controlling
interest in Akron Electric Street
Railwaj^ ; has numerous other
industrial miningandfinancial inter-
ests in Akron and elsew^here ; has
been a member of School Board, and
for many years trustee of English
Lutheran Church, and is among the
most benevolent and liberal of
Akron's many public-spirited citi-
zens. Married September 6, 1859, to
Miss Catharine L. Miller, of Norton.
They are the parents of nine children,
all living : Anna E., Frank A.,
Charles W., Cora D., Hattie M., Grace
I., Kittie G., Mary B. and Ruth.
Empire Reaper and Mower Works.— In 1865 works of the J.
F. Seiberling Company were established in Akron, opposite Union
Depot, for the manufacture of Excelsior reapers and mowers, the
468
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
special feature of the reaper being the self-dropping attachment
invented by Mr. John F. Seiberling in 1858. Kxtensive shops were
erected and a large business established, but during the financial
crisis of 1873 the affairs of that corporation passed into the hands
of assignees for liquidation.
Some time previously, however, Mr. Seiberling had with-
dra^vn from the company, and had commenced, on a small scale,
the manufacture of an improved machine of his OAvn invention,
which he called the "Bmpire,"
On the sale of the old Excelsior plant, Mr. Seiberling became
the purchaser, christened it the " Empire Works," organized a
stock company under the title of J. F. Seiberling Sc Co., with John
F. Seiberling as president; Frank A. Seiberling, secretary and
treasurer; and Charles W. Seiberling, superintendent; capital
stock $600,000. The company employ 300 hands, and have this
year (1891) turned out 7,000 machines, about half-and-half self-
binding harvesters and mow^ers.
TEREMIAH A. LONG, — born at
) Albany, N. Y., April 10, 1837;
common school education ; at 14
clerk in lumber j'ard ; 1855 came to
Akron, teaching- school eleven terms,
with varied employment dtxring
vacations ; 1864 to 1869 book-keeper
for Aultman, Miller & Co. ; 1869
appointed secretary and treasurer of
Akron Iron Company, which has
quadrupled its capital and business
vinderhis management; is also vice-
president of the Falls Rivet and
Machine Company, at Cuyahoga
Falls. Though not himself in the
army, Mr. Long was active and
liberal in securing enlistments, pro-
viding bounties for recruits and fur-
nishing sanitary supplies during
the late war. Republican in politics,
though not an office-seeker, Mr.
Long, besides vservice on Central
Committee, was Akron's first city
clerk, 1865-67, and member of City
Council from 1867 to 1869. November
10,1859, Mr. Long was married to Miss
Mary A. Falor, daughter of the late
George A. Falor, one of the pioneer
settlers of Coventry township, Mrs.
Long being a most active promoter
of all the benevolent enterprises of
the day. Thirteen children have been
JEREMIAH A. LONG.
born to Mr. and Mrs. Long, seven of
whoin are living: Ludie B., married
to Henry A. Robinson December 18,
1889 ; Celia R., married to Harry J.
Stambaugh, March 23, 1887; Binnie
A., John H., George A., Marj^ A. and
Lloyd G.
The Akron Rolling Mill. — These works, owned and operated
by the Akron Iron Company, in the south part of the city, were
established in 1866. The present officers (1891) are Hon. Lewis
Miller, president; Jeremiah A. Long, secretary and treasurer;
Capt. Aaron P. Baldwin, general superintendent, and Edward B.
Miller, assistant superintendent. These mills employ some 400
men and are run day and night, the excellence of their product for
commercial and agricultural purposes, creating for it a ready sale,
while their great specialty, hot polished shafting, has attained a
high degree of popularity among machinists and manufacturers.
Capital stock $400,000.
THE RUBBEK GOODS TRADE.
469
The Akrox Rubber Works. — In 1870 the manufacture of fire
hose and other rubber goods was commenced in Akron by Dr.
Benjamin F. Goodrich, Harvey W. Tew and others, the com-
pany being incorporated in 1880, under- the title of the B. F.
Goodrich Company, Avith a capital of $200,000, since increased
to $750,000. In the meantime the original works, located on Rub-
ber street, west of South Main street, south of the Ohio Canal
basin, have been greatly enlarged, and the manufacture of fine
hard rubber goods added to the business, under the separate
corporate name of the Goodrich Hard Rubber Company, with a
capital of $300,000. Officers of the former company: George T.
Perkins, president; George W. Crouse, vice president; Richard P.
Marvin, Jr., secretary; Henry C. Corson, treasurer ; Frank H.
Mason, superintendent; of the latter company, George T. Perkins,
president ; Henry C. Corson, vice president and treasurer ;
Richard P. Marvin, Jr., secretary; George Pellinger, superin-
tendent. About 700 skilled Avorkmen are employed and the quality
•of the goods turned out is second to none manufactured in the
United States.
DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
GOODRICH.— born in Ripley,
N. Y., Novenibipr 4, 1841 ; educated in
schools of Fredonia.N. Y., and Austin-
biirg-, O.; graduated at Western Medi-
cal Colleg'e, Cleveland, February, 1861;
entered the army as hospital steward
of 9tli N. Y. V. C; promoted to assist-
ant surg^eon in Spring of 1862, serving-
till September, 1864, part of time in
charge of hospital at Aquia Creek ;
18(55 engaged in real estate business
in New York City ; 1870, with H. W.
Tew, of Jamestown, N. Y., established
first rubber factory west of Allegheny
Mountains at Akron, under firm
name of B. F. Goodrich & Co.; June,
1880, stock company— the" B. F. Good-
rich Comi)any" — was organized with
Dr. Goodrich as president, Alanson
Work, vice president, and Col. George
T. Perkins, secretary and treasurer ;
later a second company for the
manufacture of hard rubber goods
being organized, styled the "Good-
rich Hard Rxibber Company," with
the Doctor also as its president. [See
history of works elsewhere]. Dr.
Goodrich was tuarried to Miss Mary
Marvin, daughter of Judge Richard
P. Marvin, of Jamestown, N. Y., Nov-
ember 4, 1869, and died at Manitou
Springs, Col., August 3, 1888. He
was an intelligent and public-spirited
citizen and member of Akron City
DR. BENJAMIX FRANKLIN GOODRICH.
Council for the years 1880, '81, the
first year as its president. Dr. Good-
rich was the father of three children
—Charles C, born August ,3 1871,
now in Harvard College; Isabella,
pvtpil in Miss Porter's School, Farm-
ington, Conn., and David M., a pupil
in St. Paul's School, Concord, N. H,,
Mrs. Goodrich, at present, residing in
Cambridge, Mass.
Akron Knife Works. — As the demand for reapers and mow-
ers increased, and their manufacture became a leading industry in
the United States, separate establishments for the manufacture of
knives, sickles, guard plates, sections, spring keys, etc., became a
necessity, resulting m the founding in Akron, in 1868, by the Whit-
man & Miles Manufacturing Company, of extensive shops
470
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
COL. A. L. CONGER
MRS. A. L. CONGER.
pOL. ARTHUR LATHAM CONGER— born in Boston, Ohio, February 19.
^ 1838; common school education; in boyhood worked on farm and in
brick-yard; boated on canal two years; taught school two years; July, 1862,
enlisted in Company G, 115th, O. V. I., on organization being- elected second
lieutenant, and successively promoted to first lieutenant and captain^
serving nearly three j^ears in the Army of the Cumberland, mostly on
detached duty, assistant adjutant general and provost marshal at Coving-
ton, Ky., member of Court Martial, assistant inspector of railroad defenses
and recommended by Genertil Thomas as captain and comtnissary of sub-
sistence. At close of war, engaged in farming, meantime, November 1, 1864,
having been inarried to Miss Emily Bronson, youngest daughter of Hiram
Volney and Ruth L. (Ranney) Bronson, who was born in Peninsula, Maj'
7, 1843, and whose portrait is herewith given. In 1866, Captain Conger was
elected treasurer of Summit County, and re-elected in 1868, ably serving four
years, also officiating as treasurer of the citj- of Akron and Portage township,
Mrs. Conger acting as deputy during entire term; in 1870 became a stock-
holder and director in the Whitman & Miles Manufacturing Company, and
its vice president in 1876, and is now president of the Whitman & Barnes
Manufacturing Company, the most extensive manufacturers of reaper and
mower knives in the world; is president of the Akron Steam Forge Com-
pany, of the Diamond Plate Glass CoiTipan3r, of Kokomo and Elwood, Ind.,
and of the Hartford City (Ind.) Glass Coinpany, andpecuniarilj^and officiall}'
connected with several other industrial enterprises in Akron and elsewhere,.
one of the most important of which is the American Tin Plate Compan}', at
Elwood, Ind., organized September 10, 1891, with a capital of $300,0(X), of which
Col. Conger is the president. Col. Conger has also served on County, State
and National Republican Coininittees, twice chairman of State Central Com-
mittee, once chairman of State Executive Committee and eight j^ears inem-
ber of National Committee; is also prominent in Grand Army and local
military circles, being department coinmander of G. A. R. in 1884, and
colonel of Eighth Regiment, O. N. G., from July 1881 to July 1888. Colonel
and Mrs. Conger are prominent members of St. Paul's Episcopal Churclu
Four children have been born to them — Kenyon Bronson, Arthur Latham
Jr., and Latham Hubbard, living, and Erastus Irving, deceased.
CAR AXLES, BELTING, ETC. 471
south of the Buckeye Works, as a branch of the original
separate manufactory of that class of goods, the Whitman
«fe Barnes Manufacturing Company, of Fitchburg, Massachu-
setts. Similar branches at St. Catharines, Ontario, Syracuse, New
York, and Canton, Ohio, are all consolidated under the title of The
Whitman & Barnes Manufacturing Company, with a capital of
$2,000,000, of which corporation the present officers are: President,
Colonel Arthur L. Conger; vice president, George E. Dana; treas-
urer, Charles E. Sheldon; assistant treasurer, W. W. Cox; chair-
man, George Barnes; secretary, James Barnes; general superin-
tendent, J. A. Bining. The Akron Avorks employ about 200 men,
its annual product, amounting to over half a million of dollars,
finding a ready market in every part of the United States, as well
as in England, France, Germany, and other foreign countries,
where American-built reapers and mowers are being rapidly intro-
duced.
The Akron Steam Forge Company.— This establishment,
founded in 1865, was at first located at the southeast corner of
South Broadway and Quarry streets, but being cramped for room,
w^as, in 1873, removed to its present location, embracing some ten
acres of land, in the northeast portion of the city, known as the
"Old Forge" — the pioneer ^vrought or bar-iron manufactory of
the Western Reserve being established at that point, by Asaph
Whittlesey, of Tallmadge, and Aaron Norton and William Laird,
of Middlebury, in 1817, as detailed in another portion of this work.
The present company wras incorporated in 1879, with an
authorized capital of $100,000. In addition to every description of
general forging, Hammered Car, Truck, and Driving Axles, and
Shafting, are specialties of this concern, for the prompt produc-
tion of which the works are supplied with the very best of modern
tools and machinery. Present officers: Col. Arthur L. Conger,
president, John McGregor, secretary and treasurer, and Charles
Rawson, superintendent. Hands employed, 40^
The Akron Belting Company.— This company was incorpor-
ated in 1885, its present officers being: George W. Crouse, presi-
dent; Alfred M. Barber, vice president; Sumner Nash, secretary
and treasurer; Webster Thorp, superintendent. Leather belting,
from the lightest used to the very heaviest required, all of superior
quality, is manufactured by this company. Plant 90x ICO three-
story brick, 138, 140 North Main street. Authorized capital, $35,-
000. Hands employed, 22.
The Selle Gear Company, — This is a comparatively^ new
enterprise in Akron, located in a new and handsome four-story
brick shop, with boiler and engine room attached on Chestnut
Street, between South High and Broadway, a few rods north of
the Akron Iron Company's rolling mill. Their specialty is the
manufacture of the Selle Platform Truss Gears, for omnibuses,
three spring wagons, trucks, etc., a large sale for which in all parts
of the country has already been established. The company was
incorporated September 25, 1886, with an authorized capital of
$100,000. Present officers: George W. Crouse, president; Frank M.
Atterholt, vice president; William C. Parsons, secretary and treas-
urer; Charles Knapp, superintendent. Operating force, from 40
to 50 men.
472
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
WILLIAM C. PARSONS -son of
Kdward and Clementine (Janes)
Parsons, was born in Brimfield,
-ttr Portage Co., February 1(| 1841. In
^'l^ boyhood worked on iaxfi^ and at-
tended district school, on approach-
ing majority entering Western Re-
serve College, at Hudson, froin which
he was graduated in 1863, meantime,
in 1862, under Prof. Young as cap-
tain, and Prof. Cutler as first lieu-
tenant, with some thirty-five or forty
other students enlisted in Company
B, 85th O. V. I., serving four months;
in September, 1864, enlisted in Bat-
tery A, 1st O. L. A., being afterwards
assigned to Battery E, in the battle
of Nashville, December, 1864, serving
as No. 6 at the gun, and holding the
position of 12th corporal. Soon after
the battle, the battery was mounted
as Flying Artillery and sent to
Chattanooga, remaining there till
June, 1865, when it was returned to
Ohio and mustered out of service at
Camp Dennison. Before graduation
taught one year; after graduation
taught in Institute on Brooklyn
Heights, Cleveland ; after war, tutor
two years in Western Reserve Col-
lege. August 12, 1867, accepted posi-
tion in office of Aultman, Miller &
Co., which he filled 20 years, spending
the Summers of 1873, '74, '75 in
Gerinany, in interest of company.
In 1887, became secretary and treas-
WILLIAM C. PARSONS.
urer of the Selle Gear Company,
elsewhere noted, which he is success-
fully managing. December 31, 1868,
Mr. Parsons was married to Miss
Sarah Day Sej'niour, only daughter
of Prof. N. P. Seymour of Hudson,
who has borne hiin six children —
Katharine Seymour, William E.,
Harriet Day, Sarah (dying in infancy)
Charles Seymour and Robert.
The Thomas Phillips Company. — The manufacture of paper,
all rope flour sack pg,per and flour sacks \sras begun in Akron by
Thomas Phillips & Co., on West Kxchange street, in 1872, and has
grown to be one of Akron's most important and successful
industries. The present company was incorporated in 1887, with
an authorized capital of $150,000. With some 20,000 feet of floorage,
and with the very best of paper making and printing machinery,
every description of paper bags, flour sacks, wrapping papers,
printed complete, in plain or fancy colors, to the extent of about
1,000 tons per annum, are made here. Number of hands employed
about 50. Present officers (1891): President, George W. Crouse;
secretary, treasurer and general manager, Clarence Howland.
Though entirely destroyed by fire February 18, 1891, the works
"were at once rebuilt, and it is now the largest complete establish-
ment of its kind in the world.
Twine and Cordage Works. — The advent of the twine-binder
grain harvester having created an immense demand for the
particular kind of twine used therefor, in 1885 the Akron Twine and
Cordage Company viras organized, and suitable works erected on
Hill street, east of the C, A. & C. and x^. Y., P. & O. Railroads.
While binder twine is the specialty of these works, all 'other kinds
of r(ipe and cordage are made, both for the trade or on orders.
Capital stock $100,000; surplus $20,000. Spindles run, 125; hands
employed, 85 to 100. Present officers: George W. Crouse, presi-
dent; Ira M. Miller, vice president; R. H. Wright, secretary' and
treasurer.
THE VARNISH TRADE.
473
pDWARD GEORGE KUBLER —
-L-^ born in Munich, Germany, Feb-
ruarj- 26, 1846; educated at Munich
and Xurnberg-, Bavaria, in the higher
classes of the Polytechnic school.
In the war of 1866 enlisted in the
army, serving- during- the war.
In August, 1869, came to the United
States, engaging in busineSvS in
New York City; in February, 1878,
came to Akron, and started what
has ever since been known as the
Akron Varnish Works, six months
later associating with himself, Mr.
J. Martin Beck. This is one of the
most successfvil of Akron's many
prosperous industries, Mr. Kubler
looking after the outside interests of
the concern. Mr. Kubler is also
director of the European Department
of the Gilson Asphaltum Company,
of St. Louis. Mo., of which himself
and Mr. Beck are stockholders. Mr.
Kubler is in possession of his family
record since 1467, the successive gen-
erations of the family all being
prominent citizens of Southern Ger-
many, Mr. Kubler being the only one
that has ever emigrated. In 1873, Mr.
Kubler was married to Miss Emili
EDWARD GEORGE KUBLER.
Dushard, who was born at Henepin,
111., April 16, 1848. They have three
sons and one daughter, the family
residing in Europe, pending the
education of the sons.
J. MARTIN BECK.
MARTIN BECK, — born in the
town of Selb, Bavaria, Germanj',
October 14, 1843 ; at 14 entered whole-
sale grocery and drug house as an
apprentice, serving four years, not
J.
onl}- without compensation, but pay-
ing over $300 to learn the business ;
passing a regular examination, he
came to the United States and to
Akron, in August, 1862 ; first entered
the employ of M. W. Henrj^ & Co., of
which firm his half-brother, John
Wolf, was a partner ; remained six
j^ears, when he entered the service of
E. I. Baldwin & Co., of Cleveland for
one j^ear. Being in rather poor
health, went to Europe in the Spring
of 1869, returning to Akron in the
Fall, entering into partnership with
John Wolf and H. J. Church, under
the firm name of Wolf, Church &
Beck, which relation continued until
1878, when he sold out to his partners
and forming a partnership with Mr.
E. G. Kubler, established the Akron
Varnish Works, the first and then
the only works of the kind in
Summit countj^, and now among the
most prosperous in the United States.
January 12, 1871, Mr. Beck was mar-
ried to Miss Kate J. Buchtel, daugh-
ter of William Buchtel. Esq., of
Akron, and they are now the parents
of four children — Williatn B.. Edward
M., Martha Louise and Carl F.
The Kubler & Beck Varnish Works. — In 1878 Messrs. E.
George Kubler and J. Martin Beck commenced the manufacture
of varnishes, japans, etc., of every variety and of superior quality,
474 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
on a small scale, on North Bo\srery street, a few" years later build-
ing extensive brick shops on West State street where they are now
located, the firm enjoying a lucrative and grow^ing trade in every
portion of the United States.
The King Varnish Company. — The works of this company,,
established in 1882, are located in a handsome six-story brick
block, 50x60 feet in size, with a fire-proof melting house, 30x70,
attached, a few rods north of West Market street, on the Valley
railway, w^ith a frontage on Canal street. Standard coach, cabinet
and railway varnishes, japans, dryers, shellacs, etc., of all grades
and qualities demanded by their rapidly increasing trade. Work-
ing capital, $200,000. President, David L. King; superintendent^
Andrew M. Armstrong.
This company, meeting with financial disaster, made an
assignment January 14, 1889, the .works being subsequently pur-
chased by Hon. David R. Paige, who associated with himself Mr,
John H. McCrum, under the firm name of D. K. Paige & Co., the
ne^v firm, under the management of Mr. McCrum, now (1891)
enjo3^ing a high degree of prosperity.
The Miller Match Company. — This company commenced
the manufacture of "Anti-Monopoly Parlor Matches" in 1879, in
the buildings formerly occupied by Mr. Louis Chevrier for the
manufacture of chains, west of the B. F. Goodrich Hard Rubber
works, in the south part of the city. The company was incorpo-
rated in 1885, with an authorized capital of $100,000. It is sup-
plied w^ith modern improved machinery, and, its products being of
the very best, it is doing a lucrative business which is being rap-
idly extended. Present officers: Col. Arthur L. Conger, president;
Harvey F. Miller, secretary and treasurer; S. Sainuel Miller, super-
intendent.
The Miller Chain Works. — In 1869, a chain manufactory was
established in the buildings originally erected by the Akron Barrel
Company, by Mr. Louis Chevrier. After the death of Mr. Chev-
rier, in 1877, the works were operated for a short time by other
parties, w^ith indifferent success, but passing into the hands of the
present company, in 1879, have, by the introduction of modern
methods, been made a grand success, their wares finding a ready
sale in every portion of the country. These works are owned
and operated by the Miller Match Company, organized as above,-
th^e joint establishment — matches and chains — giving employ-
ment to over 100 hands. [Since the above was published, in
1888, both the Miller Match and the Chain Works have been sold
to the Diamond Match Company, and the w^orks closed.]
The Baker McMillen Company, successors to Baker, McMil-
len & Co., Ash and Bowery streets, established in 1870; incorpo-
rated July 2, 1890; capital, $120,000. This company manufactures
enameled knobs, handles, pail woods, clay, ^vood and cob smoking
pipes, etc., and is one of the busiest hives of industry in the city,
employing from 85 to 100 hands, and turning out many millions of
pieces per year, the pail-wood machine averaging one wood per
second, and others in proportion. Directors: John C. McMillen,
president; John W. Baker, vice president and manager; John
W. Noble, secretary and treasurer; Charles F. Shutt, superin-
tendent; John B. Wright.
THE SEWER PIPE INDUSTRY.
475
Diamond Fire Brick Works, — J. Park Alexander, proprietor,
Canal street, south of Market; established in 1866; the pioneer fire
brick works in Northern Ohio. Mr. Alexander operates under a
patented invention of his own, in the use of ground silicious white
'pebble as the principal ingredient of his appropriately named
"Diamond Fire Brick," claiming for his brick immunity from
shrinkage, and greater resistance to powerful heat than can be
obtained from the use of the best of fire clay alone. Hands
employed 20. Yearly product 1,000,(XX) brick.
Akron Fire Brick Company. — Works 105 Bank street. Sixth
ward. Established in 1873 by Byron M. Allison and Delos Hart.
Mr. Hart retiring in 1877, Mr, Allison continued alone until incor-
poration of company, March 30, 1882, Standard fire brick, special-
ties, etc. Capacity of works 10,000 per day. Capital stock $50,000.
Officers: C. A, Allison, president; B. M, Allison, secretary, treas-
urer and manager,
THE SEWER PIPE INDUSTRY,
Vitrified Sewer Pipe, — One of the most extensive and impor-
tant of Summit County's past and present industries, is the manu-
facture of sewer pipe, a brief history of w^hich is as follows: In
1847, the late Edwin H. Merrill and his brother, Calvin J, Merrill,
commenced the manufacture of stoneware, bottles, tobacco pipes,
etc, on the site now occupied by the Akron Stonew^are Company,
on Bank street. Sixth ward, afterwards inventing and manufac-
turing a stone pump, which attained considerable popularity in
those early days.
DAVID E. HILL,— born in Gow-
anda, Cattaraug-us county, N.
Y., May 25, 1825, of Eng-lish-Scotch
Ancestry ; at 18 came to Middlebury ;
after working several years in ma-
chine shop, with others engaged in
manufacturing the old-fashioned fire
engines ; 1847 to 1849, traveled for
McMillan & Irish, manufacturers of
w^oolen machinery, in the Spring of
the latter year becoming' interested
in what is now the Akron Sewer Pipe
Company, the pioneer of this now
large industry in the United States,
Mr. H. being the organizer and lead-
ing spirit of the American Sewer
Pipe Co., with an annvial output of
5,000 car-loads, or 60.000 tons. An
original anti-slavery man, Mr, Hill
has been, from its organization, an
earnest member of the Republican
party, and active in public affairs,
from the age of 21 being almost con-
tinuously in the council or school
board of the old village of Middle-
bury until its annexation to Akron,
in 1872; was county commissioner
from- 1862 to 1868, and Sixth ward
member of Akron city council four
years— 1875, '76, '77, '78, June 5. 1848,
Mr. Hill was luarried to "Miss Harriet
Louisa McMillan, daughter of the
late C«l, Reuben McMillan, who has
borne him three children — David W.,
DAVID E. HILL,
born March 15, 1850, married to Miss
Grace Perkins McCurdy, of Akron,
September 6, 1877, died Januarj- 30,
1880. leaving one child, Eva C, Hill ;
Cora F., born July 10, 1852, died Feb-
ruary 6, 1874 ; and Georg-e R., whose
portrait and biography are elsewhere
given.
476
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
In 1849, the late Col. Reuben McMillan, David E. Hill and Rob-
ert Foster, converted the famous old "Black Mill" into pottery
works, under the firm name of Hill, Foster & Co. In 1851, Mr.
Foster retired, being succeeded by Edwin H. and Calvin J. Merrill
and Mr. Hezekiah Camp, the firm name being changed to Hill,
Merrill & Co., this firm also engaging in the manufacture of the
smaller sizes of sexangular water pipe, formed in moulds, the ori-
fice being bored out by machinery adapted to that purpose w^hile
the section was yet in the mould.
About two years later, Messrs. David E. Hill and Calvin J.
Merrill got up improved patterns of the rude machinery then in
use in England for the manufacture of sewer pipe, a part of the
original "Black Mill" plant being devoted to that branch of the
business by Hill, Merrill &c Co., the clay especially adapted to this
business being found in almost inexhaustible supply, w^ithin the
city limits.
In 1855, Hill, Merrill & Co. w^ere succeeded by Merrill, Powers
& Co. — the tw^o Merrills, Henry G. Powers and Frank Adams.
About 1858 the Merrills retired, Mr. Hill again taking an interest in
the business, the firm name being changed to Hill, Po\vers & Co.
A year later, Messrs. Hill and Adams became the sole owners,
under the firm name of Hill and Adams, by whom the business
was greatly extended, and the capacity of the w^orks doubled. In
1868, with David E. Hill, Frank Adams, David L. King, Lorenzo
B. Austin and Ozias Barber as stockholders, a stock company was
organized under the title of the
Hill and Adams Sewer Pipe Company. — Under this arrange-
ment, the business was still further greatly extended, a new two-
story brick shop 50x240 feet being erected on the opposite side of
the river, below the bridge, and supplied with first-class machin-
ery, w^ith drying facilities, kilns, etc., to match. These works wer^
the first of their kind west of New York, and the second in the
United States, and from the excellence of the material used, and
their superior workmanship, gave to Akron its firmly grounded
reputation of furnishing the very best sewer pipe produced in the
world.
r^ EORGE R. HILL,— son of David
^-J E. and Harriet Louisa (McMillan)
Hill, was born in Middlebury (now
Akron Sixth ward), April 3, 1855. He
was educated in the Middlebury pub-
lic schools and under the private
tutelage of Prof. Aug-ustus N. Ber-
nard. Early trained to business, in
the extensive Sewer Pipe Works of
his father, he is now secretary and
treasurer of both The Akron Sewer
Pijje Compan)'^ and The Hill Sewer
Pipe Coinpany, and secretary of The
American Sewer Pipe Company; is
also officially and pecuniarily inter-
ested in a number of other industrial
enterprises in Akron and elsewhere,
and is one of the rising young- busi-
ness men of Akron. June 4, 1884, was
married to Miss Alice A. Hinman,
in Cleveland. They have no children.
GEORGE R. HILL.
THE SEWER PIPE INDUSTRY.
477
The Akron Sewer Pipe Company. — In 1871, Mr. Hill retired,
and the company -vsras reorganized, under the above title, w^ith a
paid up capital of $175,000, of which corporation Mr. Frank Adams
was president, and David L. King, Esq., secretary and treasurer.
Under this administration, the works "were highly prosperous, a
large demand being created for their w^ares, for sewer and drainage
purposes, in all of the principal cities and villages of the country,
east, w^est and south.
Messrs. King, Adams and others, having subsequentl3^ dis-
posed of their respective interests in the business, the present
members of the company are David E. and George R. Hill, James
Viall, L. S. Ebright and John Harrison, with David E. Hill as
president and George R. Hill as secretary and treasurer. Capacity
1200 carloads per year. Hands employed, 125,
The Hill Sewer Pipe Company. — This corporation, of which
Mr. David E. Hill is president and general manager; George R.
Hill, secretary and treasurer, and James Viall, superintendent,,
was incorporated in 1873, with a capital of $80,000. It is located at
1175 East Market street. The senior member of the company has
been connected w^ith the sewer pipe business from its very incip-
iency, and to his energy and influence is very largely due the
success and magnitude of this important industry in Akron and
Summit county, and the great advancement in sewer sanitation in
the principal cities of the United States in the past quarter of a
century. Capacity of works, 600 car loads per year. Men employed
sixty.
TAMES VIALL,— born in Middle-
J bury (now Akron Sixth Ward),
January 15, 1828 ; educated in district
schools ; at 13 went on canal as driver,
becoming- steersman at 15, and from
1846 to 1865, ran a line-boat between
Pittsburg and Cleveland. In 1865 Mr.
Viall bought the William Owens
pottery, a short distance east of
Middlebury, and engag^ed in the man-
ufacture of stoneware, in 1876 selling;
a half interest to George Markle.
and in 1889 selling remaining' inter-
est to John Inman. In 1865, also, in
company with Mr. John B. Woods,
commenced mining and grinding
clay, in which business, as a member
of the Middlebury Clay Company, he
still has an interest. In March, 1873,
with David E. Hill and others, incor-
porated the Hill Sewer Pipe Com-
pany, of which he is superintendent,
that company having- also recently
erected extensive sewer pipe works
at Hunting-don, Pa. Mr. Viall was
also for several years eng-aged in the
grocery trade, in company with Mr.
Moses J. Huggins, the only represen-
tatives in that line at that time in
Middlebury. Mr. Viall is also a
director in the Klag-es Coal and Ice
Compan3\ January 29, 1850, Mr. Viall
was married to Miss Mary Davis, also
JAMHa VIALL.
a native of Middlebury. He has
always been an ardent Republican,
and was for several years councilman
of the incorporated village of Middle-
bury, serving as such at the time of
its annexation to the city of Akron
in 1872.
478
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
The Buckeye Sewer Pipe Works. — The firm of Kent, Baldwin
& Co., successors of the old firm of Irish, McMillan & Co., manu-
ufacture s of w^oolen machinery, w^here the Hill Sewer Pipe Works
are now located, about 1868 built ne>v brick shops at 991 to 999
East Kxchange street. The machinery of these shops having been
removed to Chicago in 1872, the Buckeye Sewer Pipe Company
was incorporated, Avith a capital of $100,000, and the plant corre-
spondingly enlarged to fit the new business; its appointments all
being first class, and its product averaging about 1,000 car loads
per year, equal to the very best; men employed, 55, Present
officers: Jonathan H. Brewster, president; Joseph A. Baldwin,
secretary and superintendent, and Harry H. Gibbs, treasurer.
JOSEPH A. BALDWIN,— born in
J Goshen, Conn., December 6, 1820 ;
came to Summit county, Ohio, in 1837,
and to Middlebury (now Akron), in
1841 ; was in employ of Kent, McMillen
& Co., merchants, then in partnership
^with Mr. Roswell Kent, under the firm
name of J. A. Baldwin & Co. ; next
with McMillan, Irish & Co., and
Kent, Baldwin & Co., manufactur-
ers of woolen machinery, leaving',
ing-, in 1872, to engage in the manu-
facture of sewer pipe, under the cor-
porate name of the Buckeye Sewer
Pipe Company, of which he has been
continuously the secretar5r and gen-
eral manager. February 9, 1853, Mr.
Baldwin was married to Miss Marj^
A. Kent, daughter of the late Alson
Kent, of Middlebury, who has borne
hiin two children — Alson, born in
1856, died in 1867, and Nellie L., born
in 1859 and married in 1883 to Harry
H. Gibbs, now treasurer of the Buck-
eye Sewer Pipe Co. Mr. Baldwin has
been at different times member of
boards of education and of councils
of both the village of Middlebury and
the city of Akron ; was for many
years a member and trustee of the
Congregational Church in Middle-
JOSEPH A. BALDVVI.X.
bury, and for several years past a
member and trustee of the First Con-
gregational Church in Akron, and
in politics an earnest and influential
Republican.
Robinson Brothers & Company. — This company, located near
the "Old Forge," and contiguous to all the railroads running
through Akron, was established in 1879, with an authorized capital
of $300,000,-its main shops being 50x240 and 50x160 feet, two stories
high, with boiler and engine room 40x60 feet; machinery, kilns,
etc., of the very best. Present stockholders and officers: Henry
Robinson, president; Thomas Robinson, vice president; Byron W.
Robinson, secretary and treasurer; BUen Robinson, Henry B.
Manton, Irvin R. Manton, John F. Townsend; Byron W. Robinson
and Henry B. Manton, superintendents. Caliber of pipe manu-
factured from two to twenty-four inches; capacity of works, 1,000
car loads per year; men employed, 75.
The Summit Sewer Pipe Company. — This company, located
at foot of Miami street, on line of C, A. & C. and N. Y. P. & O.
railways; incorporated July 17, 1889; capital, $100,000; size of
buildings 70x200, and 70x90 feet; capacity, 1,500 car loads per year;
THE STONEWARE INDUSTRY. 479
hands employed, 60; officers, (1891) Joseph A. Baldwin, president;
Jonathan H. Brewster, vice president; Edwdn H. Gibbs, secretary
and treasurer; George T. Whitmore, general manager; 65 men.
Other Sewer Pipe Works. — Two other sewer pipe manufac-
tories, at Tallmadge and Cuyahoga Falls, and one at Barberton
are mentioned elsewhere, and it is safe to say that with its superior
material, and the long and ripe experience of those engaged in its
manufacture here, the sewer pipe industry 6f Summit county,
both as to quality and quantity, leads the world, each establish-
ment having its own clay-bed in such close proximity that its
■daily necessities are daily supplied by its own teams, thus obvi-
ating the expense of railroad transportation, extensive storage
facilities, or large money outlay for its raw material.
American Sewer Pipe Company.— This is an incorporated
association, composed of the five Akron corporations above
named and Mr. George P. Sperry, of Tallmadge, each having a
representative on the Directory, which is composed of the fol-
lowing gentlemen: David E. Hill, George R. Hill, Joseph A.
Baldwin, Byron W. Robinson and George P. Sperry, with Mr.
David E. Hill as general manager. The objects of the association
are the proper regulation of sales, according to capacity, and
mutual protection against competition from manufacturers of
inferior wares in other localities. The companies forming this
association have an aggregate capital of three-quarters of a
million of dollars, give employment to from 400 to 500 men, w^ith a
combined outptit of nearly 4,000 car loads of pipe per year.
THE STONEWARE OR POTTERY TRADE.
This has been a leading industry in Summit county from an
early day. Unsurpassed in the quality of its potters' clay, its
wares find a ready sale in every part of the great West, and other
portions of the country. Allusion is made elsewhere to the
potteries of Springfield and Mogadore, where the business origi-
nated, and to the establishment of works in what is now the
Sixth ward, in Akron, by. the late Edwin H. Merrill, in 1847. The
late Enoch Rowley, of the Sixth ward, was also a pioneer in the
manufacture of stoneware within the present limits of the city,
where the majority of the ware now manufactured in the county
is produced, though wholly dependent upon the clay-banks of
Springfield for the raw material.
The Whitmore, Robinsons & Co. — This company was incor-
porated in September, 1887, with a capital of $200,000, the present
members of the company being: Richard Whitmore, president;
Henry Robinson, vice president; Byron W. Robinson, secretary;
Thomas Robinson, treasurer; Mrs. William Robinson and Mrs.
James B. Manton.
The company manufacture Akron stoneware, Rockingham
and yellow^ ware and fine glazed stoneware. Their works are at
the southeast corner of East Market street and Case avenue, con-
sisting of a three story brick block, with other buildings attached,
giving an aggregate floorage of nearly 100,000 square feet.
The manufacture of Rockingham and yellow w^are, wras com-
menced in Middlebury, on a small scale, about 1850 or 1851 by
Enoch Rowley and Edwin and Herbert Baker; some two or three
years later Mr. Thomas Johnson becoming associated with Mr.
480
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Rowley in the business. February 6, 1857, Richard Whitmore and
the Messrs Robinson succeeded Mr. Rowley, under the firm name
Johnson, Whitmore & Co., afterwards, in 1862, changed to
Whitmore, Robinsons & Co., thus continuing until incorporated
as above stated. It is one of the most extensive and complete
establishments of its kind in the United States, its wares finding
a ready sale in the principal markets of the country, both East
and West. Capacity 600 car loads per year; employes, 100.
EDWIN H. MERRILL. — born in
Painesville, Ohio, February 9,
1808 ; in boyhood attended school
Winters and in Summer worked at
potter's trade with father ; at 22 came
to Springfield, and after working- a
short time for other potters, about
1835 started business for himself,
inventing machinery for the inanu-
facture of beer bottles, on which he
secured letters patent, also soon
afterwards cominenced the inanu-
facture of tobacco pipes by machin-
ery ; in 1847 moved to Middlebixry,
wherein connection with his brother,
Calvin J. Merrill, the manufacture of
water pipes and stone pumps was
added ; froin 1851 to 1856, as member
of the respective firms of Hill, Mer-
rill & Co. and Merrill, Powers & Co.,
engaged in the manufacture of vit-
rified sewer pipe, the beginning of
the presen immense sewer pipe in-
dustry of Akron and vicinity, and
the first of its kind in the United
States. In 1860 Mr. Merrill removed
his bottle, pipe and stoneware works
to the corner of South Main and Cen-
ter streets, where, as The E. H. Mer-
rill Co. incorporated in 1887 it is one
of the leading establishments of its
kind in Summit county. Mr. Merrill
was married, in 1838, to Miss Emily
Gleason, of Bedford. They had seven
EDWIN H. MERRILL.
children, two only of whom are now
living — Henry E., president of the
above named company, and William
G., engaged in the potterj^ business
in Hampton City, Virginia. Mr.
Merrill died January 25, 1888, aged 79
years, ll months and 16 daj'S. Mrs.
Merrill still survives.
The E. H. Merrill Company.— The "Akron Pottery" was
founded by Edwin H. Merrill and Henry E. Merrill (father and
son) in 1861 corner of South Main and State streets. In addition
to its large yearly output of Akron stonew^are, this firm are exten-
sive manufacturers of beer and ink bottles, smoking pipes and
other specialities, by machinery of their own invention. Their
present shops consist of tw^o two-story brick buildings, 30x60 and
70x100 feet, with frame wrarehouse, sheds, kilns and storage yards
to match. In 1880. Mr. Frederick W. Butler took an interest in
the business ,and in 1887 the firm was incorporated, as above, with
Edw^in H. Merrill as president; Henry E. Merrill, superintendent
and Fred W. Butler secretary. The elder Merrill having since
deceased, Henry E. Merrill is now both president and superin-
tendent of the company. Capital stock $50,000. Capacity, three
car loads per week.
The Ohio Stoneware Company (successors to William
Shenkle), 115, 117 and 119 Fountain street, incorporated July 12^
THE POTTERY TRADE. 481
1881. Capital $12,000. Present officers : President, George A.
Parker; secretary, Harry A. Gibbs; general agent, Edwin H.
Gibbs. Capacity, three car loads per week. Hands employed, 20.
The United States Stoneware Company (successors to F. J.
Knapp), east of Fountain street, incorporated August, 1885. Capital
$25,000. Jonathan H. Brewster, president; superintendent and
treasurer, James M. Wills; George A. Laudenslager, secretar3\
Capacity, four car loads per week; 35 to 40 employes.
Arthur J. Weeks, successor to F. W. Rockwell & Co., formerly
Johnson, Rock\v^ell & Co. (founded by Johnson Sc Baldwin about
1860), corner East Market and Arlington streets; manufacturer of
Akron stoneware; capacity of kilns 600,000 gallons per year.
Akron Stoneware CoxMpany, Bank street, incorporated March,
1879. Capital $50,000. President and superintendent, Lycurgus
K. Force; secretary and treasurer, Russell H. Kent. Building
225x48. Capacit}^ 1,200,000 gallons per year. Hands emploj^ed, 40.
MARKI.E & Inman, (George Markle and John H. Inman), south
of East Market street, extended. Established in 1869. Capacity
1,200,000 gallons per year. Hands employed 20.
Cook, Fairbanks & Co., (John Cook and William Fairbanks),
manufacturers and w^holesale dealers in Ohio stone\^^are, 224
Arlington street. Established January, 1877. Capacity, 700,000
gallons per year. Hands employed, 20.
Frederick H. Weeks, late Weeks Brothers, Akron Pottery
Works, on Valley Railway, south of Strawboard Works. Estab-
lished in 1882. Capacity, 750,000 gallons per year.
The Akron Queensware Company, manufacturers of line
queensware crockery; w^orks and office corner of Hart street and
Valley railway. Sixth ward; incorporated July 3, 1890; capital
$50,000; Charles C. Bates, president; Frank P. Tinker, secretary
and treasurer; T. B. Coxon, superintendent; Mandus M. Hunsicker,
assistant superintendent; James A. Swinehart, manager; Albert
B. Tinker, attorney; capacity, one kiln glazed ware per da}^; hands
employed 45.
Akron Stoneware Agency. — For the purpose of equalizing
the manufacture, and securing uniformity of quality and benefits,
according to capacity, an agency wras established in 1883, through
w^hich sales of all the w^are manufactured by the above named
potteries, except that of the United States Stonew^are Company, is
sold, the officers of the agency being James M. Wills, president;
Henry S. Belden, vice president; Russell H. Kent, secretary;
Arthur J. Weeks, treasurer; William Fairbanks, superintendent.
Office in the Whitmore, Robinsons Sc Company's block, corner
East Market and Case avenue.
The American Marble and Toy Manufacturing Company. —
In 1884 Mr. Samuel C. Dyke commenced the manufacture of toy
jugs, which being placed upon the market, soon created such a
demand that within three years about 30,000 were turned out daily,
later the manufacture of marbles being added, and Mr. Harvey F.
Miller admitted to a partnership in the business. In 1889 Mr. A.
L. Dyke established similar works on West State street, which also
achieved a high degree of success. July 31, 1891, the two estab-
lishments were consolidated, under the above corporate title, with
a capital of $100,000, with Burdette L. Dodge, Jacob A. Kohler, Ira
81
482
AKROX AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
Xorth Howard Street, from Market, with old ^55tna Mill in the distance.
From photo 1)\- S. J. Miller, ISfiS.
West side Xorth Howard Street, 1891.— From i)lioto by Walter B. Manning.
ROOFING TILE, PAVING BRICK, ETC.
483
M. Miller, Frank M. Atterholt, A. L. Dyke and Rolin W. Sadler as
directors; Ira M. Miller, president; Jacob A. Kohler, vice president;
Burdette L. Dodge, secretary and treasurer; Samuel C. Dyke,
superintendent.
pHARLES E. HOWEAND, -fourth
^ son, fifth child, of Enos and
Susan C. (Murph}^) Howland, was
born in Fort Ann, Washing-ton
county, New York, November 29, 1860,
removing- to Fort Edwards, New
York, in 1869; educated in Sandj- Hill
(N. Y.) Academy, and Fort Edwards
■Collegiate Institute, studying book-
keeping in Oberlin, Ohio; in Septem-
ber, 1879, came to Akron as book-
keeper for Thomas, Phillips & Com-
pany, manufacturers of manilla
papers, paper flour sacks, paper
bags, etc., which position he ably
filled eight years, resigning in Sep-
tember, 1887, and associating himself
with Captain Joseph C. Ewart, under
the title of J. C. Ewart & Company,
in the manufacture of roofing tile,
an account of which is given else-
where, Mr. Howland officiating as
book-keeper for the firm. He is also
director in the Thomas Phillips
Company; and in the Akron Vitrified
Pressed Brick Company; stockholder
in The American Cereal Com-
pany, and member of firm of How-
land & Company, proprietors of Col-
umbia Hall. April 16, 1882, Mr.
Howland was married to Miss Clara
E. Hollinger, of Akron.
CHARLES E. HOWLAND.
Roofing Tile Works. — J. C. Ewart & Company (Joseph C.
Ewart and Charles E. Howland), manufacturers of vitrified roof-
ing tile, are rapidly extending their works and business. These
works, located on Brook street, in the south part of the city, east
of railroads, were established in 1875, different forms and colors of
tiles, to suit the diversified tastes and requirements of their cus-
tomers, being made; many public as well as private buildings in
the various cities of the country being covered therewith, among
the more prominent being New York's splendid new Capitol build-
ing, at Albany; Cincinnati's magnificent new museum, and Van-
derbilt's elegant Railroad Men's Library building in New York
city. Hands employed, 75 to 80.
The Akron Paving Brick Company. — On East Market street;
capital, $40,000; incorporated February 19,1891; capacity 20,000, to
30,000 bricks per day; Frederick Horix, president; Charles Pari-
sette, secretary, treasurer and superintendent; hands employed,
15 to 20.
The Akron Vitrified Pressed Brick Company, manufacturers
of vitrified plain and ornamental pressed brick; office 22 South
Howard street; w^orks on Valley railwaj^, in Independence town-
ship, Cuyahoga county; incorporated April 29, 1890; capital,
$100,000; Joseph C. Ewart, president; George W. Crouse, vice
president; Erastus R. Harper, secretary; Walter A. Folger, treas-
urer; capacity of works, 25,tX)0 daily; hands employed, 70.
484
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Other Brick Manufacturers. — McCausland Brothers [James C
and John J.], Tallmadge Ave.; John Bailey, Portage Path road;
Cooper Brick Company [Samuel, Joseph and William M. Cooper],
Spicer Extension; Hugill & Briggs [Joseph Hugill and Elijah C.
Briggs], Washington street Extension; Frederick H. Weeks, east
of City limits, on A^alley Railway; Akron Vitrified Pressed Brick
Company, office 122 Howard; Akron Paving Brick Companj^ 919^
923 East Exchange.
North side Market Street, from Howard to Main, 1891.— Photo by Walter B. Manning..
THE LUMBER AND BUILDING BUSINESS.
Previous to 1840 Akron had depended for lumber, lath, shin-
gles, sash, doors, blinds, etc., chiefly upon local sawmills and hand
manufacture]" oak, white-wood and black w^alnut being the only
timber used for building purposes in those early days. As early,
however, as 1832, the late Smith Burton, father of the Rev. Nathan
S. Burton, established a sash factory on the east side of the stone
bridge on East Market street, in what is now the Sixth ward,
driven by the waters of the Little Cuyahoga river. Here, in 1836,
our w^ell-known citizen, Mr. David G. Wilcox, commenced work as
an apprentice. Dr. Burton himself also serving an apprenticeship
in his father's establishment. But carpenters claiming that
machine-made sash were inferior to those made by hand, the busi-
ness of the factory did not attain to any very considerable
proportions.
In 1836 James Bangs, father of the late Elisha N. Bangs, com-
menced the manufacture of pine shingles, by hand, on his
own premises, north of Tallmadge street, between Howard and
Main, importing his blocks or " bolts " from Canada, vda lake and
THE LUMBER AND BUILDING BUSINESS.
485
canal. A few years later, Mr. Samuel G. Wilson, succeeded to the
shingle making business, establishing himself on Main street,
south of Howard, ^t^here he added a small stock of Michigan pine
lumber, lath, etc., Mr, Wilson soon afterwards associating witlj
liimself Mr. Justus Rockwell, this being the pioneer of the immense
lumber business done in Akron to-day, though Mr. Webster B.
Storer, also established a lumber yard about the same time, north
of Market street, selling out to Mr. Wilson.
DAVrn GILBKRT WILCOX.
DAVID GILBERT WILCOX.
DAVID GILBERT WILCOX,— born in Manlius, Onondag^a county, N. Y.,
February 5, 1821 ; mother dying- when he was but four months old,
raised by grandparents in Charlestown, Montgomery county, N. Y.; at 15, in
18;-{(), came to Middlebur}^, as an apprentice in the sash factory of his uncle,
Smith Burton, in 1842 becoining a partner with his uncle and others under
the firm name of Burton, Davis & Co., continuing two years ; was proprietor
of Akron's pioneer planing- mill, on the present site of the Diamond Fire
Brick works, from 1856 to 18(>4, when he, with others, organized the Weary,
Snyder, Wilcox Manufacturing Company, as at present located. September
28. 1842, Mr. Wilcox was married to Miss Hannah C. Whitney, daughter of
William H. Whitney, Esq., of Uniontown, Stark county, Ohio, who has borne,
him ten children, eight of whom survive — Ida, now wife of Rev. Theron R.
Peters, corresponding secretary and superindent Minnesota State Missions,
at Minneapolis; John F., proprietor of planing mill, corner Eleventh and
Ramsey streets Minneapolis, Minn.; Frank E., superintendent of brother's
planing- mill, in Minneapolis; Nathan B., carpenter and millwrig-ht. Rapid
Citj', Dakota ; Helen, wife of Rev. James A. Brown, pastor of Baptist Church
at Bedford, Ohio; DeWitt G., physicitm and surgeon, proprietor "Wilcox
Private Hospital," 173 Lexington avenue, Buffalo, N. Y.; Grace, wife of James
I. Dissette, secretary and treasurer of Indianapolis Foundry Co., 57 to 97 Bates_
street ; and Anna M., teacher in Prof. S. S. Curry's School of Expression,
Boston, Mass. The two accompanj'ing portraits represent Mr. Wilcox as he
was at 30, and as he is at 70 years of age.
The Weary, Snyder. Wilcox Manufacturing Company. —
About 1845, Mr. David Miller, of Wadsworth, established a sash,
<loor and blind factory on the present site of J. Park Alexander's
486
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Fire Brick Works, driven by the surplus water of the Cascade mill-
race. Mr. Miller was killed by the falling of the porch of Mr.
Charles Cranz's new brick house, on the corner of Park and Pros-
pect streets, burned on the night of September 26, 1849, Mrs. Miller
continuing the business until 1856, when Mr. David G. Wilcox suc-
ceeded to the business, continuing until 1864, when a partnership
was formed between Mr. Wilcox, and Messrs. Simon B. Wearj^,
Jacob Snyder and Andre^v Jackson, under the firm name of Weary,.
Snyder & Co., and the machinery removed to North Main street,,
w^here a planing mill and lumber and general building was added
to the business.
East .side of Howard Street, from Mill to Market, 1891.— From photo I)y li. F. [3atteb
In 1866 or 1867 a stock company was organize 1, with $75,0(K>
capital, the present officers of the corporation being: President,
Ferd. Schumacher; secretary and treasurer, Burdette L. Dodge;
and Simon B. Weary, superintendent and general manager. Lum-
ber, lath, shingles, doors, sash, blinds, flooring, ceiling mouldings,
etc. Hands employed, about 25. Lumber handled, 3,000,000 feet
per year.
William B. Doyle.— About 1851 Messrs. Nathaniel Finch and
John H. Dix established a planing mill a few rods below the .Etna
mill, on the Ohio Canal, the first of its kind in this section of the
country. This mill, with the JEtna mill, was destroyed by fire on
the night of November 1, 1853, whereupon a new planing mill was
built on the site of the burned foundry and stove works of
THE LUMBER AND BUILDINCJ liL'SINESS.
487
JACOB SNYDERr born in Colum-
bia county, Pa., March 12, 1823;
learned carpenter's trade, and during
minority received an academic edu-
cation; at 22, entered Dickinson Col-
lege, taking three years' general
course, and also course in theoreti-
cal architecture; then for two years
engaged in contracting- and practical
architecture at his old home; in 185.3,
came to Akron, engaging for a time
in grocery trade; in 1855, resumed
business of contracting, building
and architecture; in 1864, became a
member of the Weary, Snyder &
Wilcox Manufacturing Company, of
Which he was president at the time
of his death, though since 1870
devoting his entire time to architec-
ture upon his own account, making
a specialty of Chureh and Sabbath
School architecture, his designs
being very largely adopted in Ohio
and other Western and Southern
States. Mr. Snyder for several years
served as a member of the Akron
Board of Education, trustee of Por-
tage Township, Superintendent,
teacher and historian of Sabbath
School and upon the official Board
of the First M. E. Church, of Akron.
May 21, 1849, Mr. Snyder was married
to Miss Mary A. Rinehart. a native of
JACOB 8XYi)EK.
Cumberland county, Pa., who bore
him four children, only one of whom
is now living- Nellie M., wife of Mr.
Hurdette L. Dodge, of Akron. Mr.
Snyder died, universally lamented,
December 29, 1890, aged 67 years, 9
months and 17 days.
SIMON B. WEARY.
SIMON B. WEARY, -born July 29,
1823, in Marlboro, Stark county;
raised on farm with log-cabin educa-
tion ; in 1841 learned carpenter's
trade ; in Fall of 1847 came to Akron ;
in May, 1848, went to Sheboygan, Wis.,
where he worked at his trade until
1851, when he returned to Akron, fol-
lowing trade until 1853, when he
established sash, blind and door fac-
tory in the building afterwards
known as the "German Mill," the
original of Ferd. Schumacher's
))resent immense oatmeal plant ; in
18.5() resumed trade; in 1858 estab-
lished sash, blind and door factory
in upper part of W. B. Do3le & Co.'s
planing mill ; in 1864 consolidated
with Mr. David G. Wilcox in the same
line of business upon the Ohio Canal
and with Mr. Jacob Snyder, architect
and builder, and others, organized
the Wear}', Snyder & Wilcox Manu-
facturing Company, still doing a
large sash, door, blind and lumber
business on North Main street, with
Mr. Weary as general manager, Mr.
Ferd. Schumacher as president and
Mr. Burdette L. Dodge as secretarj-
and treasurer. Mr. Weary has been
twice married and is the father of
three children — Frank O., one of
Akron's best known architects, whose
portrait appears elsewhere in this
volume ; Edwin D., designer in An-
drews & Co.'s extensive special fur-
niture factorj' in Chicago, and Flora
C, now wile of James G. Moore, an
employe of the Whitman & Barnes
Manufacturing Company, Akron.
488
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
P. Tallman & Co., on South Howard Street, Mr. Simon B. Weary
occupying the upper story as a sash, door and blind factory, from
1858 to 1864. Wilson and Rockwell had, meantime, bought out
Finch Sc Dix and consolidated the two branches of business, Mr.
Rockw^ell having also been superseded in the firm by Capt. William
L. Everett, Mr. Wilson also subsequently buying out Capt. Everett.
In August, 1865, William B. Doyle, Daniel Farnam and John H.
Dix associated themselves with Mr. Wilson, under the firm name
of W. B. Dojde & Co., greatly enlarging their lumber and building
operations. A A'^ear or so later Mr. Wilson was succeeded in the
firm by Hon. John Johnston, In 1873 Mr, Johnston retired from
the firm, Messrs. Doj^le, Farnam and Dix continuing together until
the death of the latter in 1886, and in April, 1888, Mr, Farnam
retired, Mr, Doyle becoming sole proprietor of the business. Num-
ber of hands employed, 20 to 25, Lumber handled, 1,000,000 to
2,000,000 of feet per year, Mr. Doyle dying August 6, 1890, the bus-
iness is now being conducted by his eldest son, and executor, Day-
ton A, Doyle, Esq,
WIIXIAM B. DOYLE— born in
Franklin county, Pa., March ii,
1825 ; raised on farm with but limited
education ; at 13 apprenticed to
cabinet trade, serving- three years ;
in 1842 came to Akron, most of the
waj^ on foot ; worked a few months
as journeyman and in Fall bought
out his emploj'ers ; several years
later sold out his business and
engaged in slaughtering and selling
meat, which he followed about 15
3^ears ; then moved upon farm pre-
viously purchased in Coventry, con-
tinuing four years, selling farm and
stock for $16,000 ; then, in" company
with Messrs. Daniel Farnam and
John H. Dix, under the firm name of
Wm. B. Doyle & Co., bought the
lumber and manufacturing business
of S. G. Wilson for the consideration
of $35,000. Mr Dix dying in 1886 and
Mr. Farnam retiring in 1888, Mr.
Dojde became sole proprietor of the
business, handling from 1,000,000 to
2,000,000 feet of lumber per year, Mr.
Dojde also being the owner of a fine
lOJ-acre farm adjacent to the city
limits, and much valuable property
both within and without the city.
Mr. Doyle was four times married:
In 1845 to Miss Phoebe Budd, of
Akron, who died in 18.50 ; October 30,
1855, to Miss Harriet Sage, of Monroe
county, N. Y., who died November 6,
WILLIAM B. DOVLE.
1862; of their two children, one only,
Dayton A., surviving; June 9, 1807, to
Mar}' Ann Lantz, of Akron, who died
in 1875, leaving three children — Wil-
liam B., Jr., Delia and Dean L. ; Jan-
xiarj' 16, 1877, to Mrs. Louisa Baird, of
Mogadore, Ohio, who bore him one
child — Anna. Mr. Do3de died August
6, 1890, aged 65 3 ears, 5 months and 1
day.
The Thomas Bi^ildixg and Lumber Company. — Works west
side of Ohio Canal, south of West Market street, established in
18B3 by the late George Thomas. After the death of its founder,
other parties operated the works for several years with indifferent
success, Col. David W. Thomas succeeding to the business in 1877.
January 1, 1888, a stock company was organized, under the above
title, with a capital stock of $100,000, the extensive lumber business
THE JLUMBEK AND BUILDING BUSINESS.
489
DANIEL FARNAM,-born in Essex
county, N. Y., April 8, 1816 ; re-
moved with parents to Vermont in
1817, and to Ohio in 1831, settling- in
Marion county, afterwards removing
to Hardin county. In 1836, Mr. F.
came to Akron, working- awhile in
saw-mill, then for six years in pow-
der-mill; then took an interest in
linseed oil mill, the powder and oil
business beiagf consolidated three
3^ears later ; three years still later sell-
ing out and buying a farm in Hardin
county, two jears afterwards rented
farm and became superintendent of
Xenia powder works, and two and-
a-half j^ears later returned to Akron,
and again took an interest in the
powder works here. In 1865, sold out
his powder interests and becaine
a partner of the lumber and build-
ing firm of W. B. Doyle & Co., in
which business he continued un-
til 1888. December 23, 1843, Mr.
Farnam was inarried to Miss Lydia
Todd, a native of Seneca county, N.
Y.,who has borne him seven children,
six of w^hom are now living — Harriet,
now Mrs. H. D. Cole, of Akron ;
George D., now living in Colorado ;
Abbie T., now Mrs. Andrew B. Reed,
of Cedar Rapids, Iowa ; Frances J.
and Carrie, still at home ; and Marj^
E.. now Mrs. Duane C. Abbott, of Ak-
FRAXK ORLANDO WEARY.
pRANK ORLANDO WF;ARY,—
-'- born at Shebo3^gan, Wis., Sep-
tember 12, 1849 ; came to Akron with
l^arents in 1851 ; educated in Akron
schools ; at 14, in 1863, entered as
drummer boy in Co. G, 29th O. V. I.,
a jear later being appointed major
of regimental drum corps, following
the fortunes of the regiment from
DANIEL FARNAM.
ron. Mr. F. has been an active and
influential member of the Baptist
Church for over 50 years ; as a Whig-
voted for Gen. William Henry Harri-
son, in 1840, and as a Republican for
Gen. Benjamin Harrison, for presi-
dent, in 1888.
Lookout Mountain to Atlanta, Savan-
nah and " on to Richmond ;" on dis-
charge resumed his school studies,
which he soon had to relinquish on
account of his failing health ; in 1868
began the study of architecture in
the office of Heard & Blythe, Cleve-
land, remaining- two years, finishing-
studies in Boston, Mass., in 1870, '71 ;
after the great Chicago fire, October
9, 1871, spent three years in helping-
to rebuild that city ; in 1875, returned
to Akron, where he has since prac-
ticed his profession with phenomenal
success in connection with Mr. Georg^e
W. Kramer, their home work includ-
ing Memorial Chapel, High School,
Hotel Buchtel, Arcade, Beacon,
Paig^e, C. A. & C. depot, Akron Sav-
ings Bank, and numerous other fine
blocks, and abroad fine courthouses,
jails, churches, business blocks, etc.,
in various other counties in Ohio,
and in the States of California, Color-
ado, Iowa, W^isconsin, Illinois, Indi-
ana, Alabama, New York, etc. April
6, 1881, Mr. \V. was married to Mrs.
Jennie Wise Hane, of Canton, who
has borne him one son — Earl D.
Weary, born October 11. 1882. Mr.
W. is a member of Buckley Post, G.
A. R., and a number of other bene-
ficial and social organizations.
490
AKKOxV AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
theretofore, for several years, carried on by Mr. Wni. Buchtel, being^
merged in the new organization. Directors: David W. Thomas,
William Buchtel, Arthur L. Conger, U. Grant Frederick, Charles
S. Sheldon, William C. Jacobs, Louis Wilhelm; D. W. Thomas,
president; C. E. Sheldon, vice president; Wm. Buchtel, treasurer^
U. G. Frederick, secretary.
ANDREW JACKSON,-8on of
James and Sarah (Stout) Jack-
son, born near Canal Fulton, Stark
county, June 22. 18.33; raised on farm;
educated in district schools and
Greensburg' Seminary; learned car-
penter's trade with brother, Robert
Jackson, in Akron; taug-ht school
four years at Greensburg- and Dojdes-
town; 1864 to 1866, member of firm of
Wear3^ Snyder & Co., builders and
lumber dealers; then, with Mr. Wil-
liam Buchtel, commenced dealing in
Michigan pine lands and lumber,
five 3^ears later Jackson & Buchtel,
selling a one-half interest to John H.
Hower and the late Charles Miller,
the firm of Jackson, Buchtel & Co.
continuing till 1875, after which Mr.
Jackson carried on an extensive
lumber and building business alone
until March, 1889, when he associated
with himself Mr. A. E. Lyman; under
the firm name of A. Jackson &
Lyman, adding a planing mill to
their works. Mr. Jackson is also a
stockholder in the People's Savings
Bank; has served two terms on Akron
Board of Education and several years
on the Official Board of the First M.
E. Church, of Akron. March 15, 1859,
Mr. Jackson was married to Miss Lucy
A. Wright, of Spring-field, who has
ANDREW JACKSON.
borne him seven children - Henry
Thoburn and Bessie died in infanc)-;
Lucy Ellen, athome; Thomas Wright,
now a student at Jefferson Medical
College; James Herbert, now assist-
ing in father's office; Andrew and
Rutherford B. Hayes, now students in
Akron schools.
Jackson & Lyman. — ^Andrew Jackson and Alfred Lyman — deal-
ers in lumber, sash, doors, blinds and all kinds of building materi-
als, West Exchange street and Ohio Canal; established in 1866;
number of hands employed, 25 to 35; lumber handled per year,,
3,000,000 feet. Planing mill immediately south of office on Orleans
Avenue, east of canal basin.
Solon N. Wilson. — Dealer in all kinds of pine and hemlock
lumber, dressed and in the rough, and contractor and builder, 888
South Main street. Established in 1867. Hands employed, 4 to 10.
Lunil)er handled, 1,500,000 feet per year, Mr. Wilson also 3^earl3^
filling many contracts for buildings in Akron and elsewhere.
The Hankey Lumber Company. — Successors to the late Simon
Hankey and Charlotte A. Hankey, (established in 1873), planing
mill and wholesale and retail dealers in lumber and all kinds of
building material, 1036 South Main street; incorporated March 3,
1889; capital, $100,000; hands employed, 36 to 40; lumber handled
per year, 3,000,000 to 5,000,000 feet. Directors : Charlotte A. Hanke3^
president; William S. Hankey, vice president; Jonas F. Stuver,
secretary; Frederick H. Weeks, treasurer and manager; George
W. Seiber.
THE LUMBEK AND BriLDINXJ Bl'SINESS.
491
SOLON N. WILSON— son of An-
drew and Lurancy (Thomas)
Wilson, was born in Cuyahoj^a
county, Ohio, October 19, 1843; re-
ceived an academic education, after
one year at Oberlin Colleg'e, enlistinjr
in the 150th Regiment, O. N. G.,
organized at Camp Taylor, near
Cleveland, and sworn into service
May 5, 1864, for 100 days, under the
call of Governor Brough, as else-
where stated. The reg-iment did
garrison duty at Forts Lincoln,
Saratoga, Thayer, Bunker Hill, Slo-
cum, Totten and Stevens, in front of
the National Capital, participated in
the fight with Early's Rebel Corps,
in his attack on Washington, July 10
and 11, 1864, being mustered out in
Cleveland, August 23, 1864, having
served 111 days. On returning from
the army Mr. Wilson took charge of
the home farm, owning a place on
becoming of age, when he went to
Kent and engaged in the lumber
business for three years, then came
to Akron, where, as lumber dealer
and contractor, he has continued
ever since. January 15, 1868. he was
married to Miss Alice E. Botsford,
of Middlebury, (now Akron Sixth
Ward), who died January 14, 1870.
June 20, 1872, was again married, to
Miss Nannie C. Albertson, of Millers-
SOLOX N. WILSOX.
burg, who has borne him three child-
ren— Lena L.. Ralph B. and Ross "A.
Mr. Wilson is secretarj' and treas-
urer of the Long Lake Park Com-
pany, and pecuniarily and officially
connected with a number of the most
important business enterprises of
Akron and vicinity.
SIMOX HANKEY.
SIMON HANKEY, son of Jacob
and Elizabeth (Yerrick) Hankey,
was born at Canal Fulton, Stark
county, December 25, 1840, at 14 re-
moving with parents to Coventry;
raised on farm with common school
education; removed to Akron in 1869,
and established the planing mill and
lumber yard now carried on by the
Hankey Lumber Companj^ at 1,036
South Main street. Active in public
affairs, Mr. Hankey ably represented
the Fifth ward in the Citj' Council
during the years 1875 and 1876.
February 17, 1859, Mr Hankey was
married to Miss Charlotte A. Man-
derbach, of CoVentr3% who bore hiin
five children, three of whom are still
living — Mary Ellen, now wife of
Charles A. Guth. of Decatur, Ala.;
Bertha A., now Mrs. Frederick H.
Weeks, treasurer and manager of the
Hankey Lumber Compan}', and Wil-
liam S., vice president of said com-
pany, Mrs. Hankey being its jjresi-
dent. February 12, 1885, while driv-
ing with a friend, by the sliding- of
his sleigh against a telegraph pole,
in turning from West Mill into Ash
street, Mr. Hankey was so badlj^ in-
jured as to cause his death* a few
hours later, the same evening, at the
age of 44 years, 1 month and 18 days;
Mrs. Hankey continuing the business
on her own account until the organi-
zation of the Hanke}' Lumber Com-
pany as elsewhere stated.
492
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
The Akron Building & Cabinet Company, successors to the
Akron Contracting & Cabinet Co., 210 to 220 Cherry street, manu-
facturers of office and bank furniture, fine cabinet work, etc.;
incorporated January 3, 1889; authorized capital, $100,000; directors,
Daniel A. Jatnes, president; Orlando L. McMillen, vice president;
Othello W. Hale, secretary and treasurer; William F. Pickton,
D. A. James. Average employees, 70.
DANIEL A. JAMES,^born iii Paris,
Portag-e county, Ohio, October
13, 1846; coninion school education;
learned cabinet maker's trade in
Ravenna; in 1866 came to Akron and
worked for Miller, Thomas & Com-
pany, until 1875, when he started the
business of manufacturing office and
•church furniture and interior decor-
ations, building- up a large and
profitable trade, developing into the
extensive works of the Akron Build-
ing and Cabinet Coiupany, at 210 to
220 Cherry street, incorporated in
January, 1889, with a capital stock of
$100,000, of which organization Mr.
James is president. In politics Mr.
James is an earnest Republican, and
in religion an active and influential
Baptist. August 8, 1871, Mr, James
■was married to Miss Carrie F.
Thomas, daughter of the late George
and Mary (Caldwell) Thomas, who
died December 22, 1886, leaving no
children. Februar}^ 27, 1879, he was
again married, to Miss Louisa J.
Thomas, (sister of the former Mrs.
James), who has borne him three
•children — Bessie Louisa, born Janu-
uary 1, 1880; Carrie Thomas, born
August 9, 1882, and Arthur Henry,
born March 4, 1885.
William A. McClellan, planing mill, contractor, builder, etc.
Shop and office, 305 W^ater street, (Lock Two Ohio Canal). Num-
ber of hands emploA^ed 6 to 20. Established in 1880.
EwiNG & HoLLiNGER, (Lewis D. Ewing and Harvey M. Hol-
linger), planing mill; contractors, and dealers in mantels, grates,
etc.; works, 121 Kirkwood street; main building, 44x50; 25
emploj^es.
Boating, Boat Building, Etc. — Fifty years ago, boating upon
the Ohio Canal held sway, not only on the score of profit, but on
the score of "honor" also. Then the commander of the "Line
Boat" — combined passenger and freight — was of vastly more con-
sequence than the commander of an ocean Cunarder is now.
Indeed the writer, while temporarily sojourning in Ravenna, in
the Spring of 1835, was advised by the late Dr. Asa Field, on learn-
ing of his intention of settling in Akron, to secure, if possible, a
situation in one of the ware-houses upon the canal from which he
could. eventually work up to the command of a line boat! Disre-
garding the kind-hearted doctor's advice, the writer has ever since
remained to "fortune and fame unknown."
As narrated in the first chapter of this w^ork, the first boat to
navigate the waters of the Ohio Canal — the "Ohio" — was built in
Akron, on the east side of the basin, in 1827. Though other boats
THE BOAT BUILDING INDUSTRY
493
OTHELLO W. HALE,"born in
Bath, April 1, 1841; raised a
farmer; at 15 went with family to
Hudson, where he prepared for col-
lege, but owing to his father's declin-
ing health, returned to Bath in
1859 and took charge of fariu. In the
temporary absence of his father in
1861.' Othello enlisted in the 29th O.
V. I., under Captain Jonas Schoon-
over, going w^ith regiment to Camp
Giddings, where, being under age, at
the urgent request of his father, then
in poor health, he was discharged,
and returned home, the father dying
the following January. September
23, 1862. Mr. Hale was married to Miss
Elizabeth Hanson, of Hudson, who
bore him two children, one of whom
Herbert C, born March 15, 1874, is
now living- at home. In 1868 Mr.
Hale sold his Bath farm and pur-
chased another in Edinburg, Portage
county; two years later, selling there
and engaging in the lumber business
at Corry, Pa., going from there to
Huntington, W. Va., where he not
only lost all his property, by the re-
verses of his firm in the panic of 1873,
but buried his wife, who died June 6,
1874, leaving a babe a few days old
which died one month later. Rettirn-
ing to Akron, made his home with
his sister, Mrs. David S. Alexander,
until his marriage, November 26,
1878, with Mrs. L. Emma Cozad, of
WILLIAM H. PAYNE.
WILLIAM H. PAYNE,— youngest
son of Willis and Phcube
(Bronson) Payne, was born in Lorain
count3% O., August 10, 1822 ; common
school education ; from 1845 to 1864,
OTHELLO \V. HALE.
Cleveland, a widow with one son -
Henry Irving*, born September 22,
1872. They have one child. Blanche
E., born December 14, 1881. Februar}^
10, 1879, Mr. Hale entered the county
clerk's office as deputy for Clerk
Sumner Nash; was elected clerk of
courts October, 1884, and re-elected
in 1887, being in continuous service
as deputy and principal 12 years. Mr.
Hale is now secretarj- of the Akron
Building and Cabinet Company.
worked at boat building in Boston
township, in the latter j'ear remov-
ing to Akron, and pvxrchasing the
boat yard of Mr. Webster B. Storer,
at Lock Three, which he carried on
six years, during that period build-
ing 42 boats ; in 1873 establishing his
present yard at Lock Two, having
built in all about 150 boats. A
Republican in politics, besides fill-
ing several local offices in Boston
township, Mr. Payne represented the
Third ward in Akron city council,
during the years 1867, '68. February
22, 1845, Mr. Payne was married to
Miss Julia Janes, of Peninsula, a
native of Vermont, niece of the late
Sheriff Lewis M. Janes, who has
borne him four children, three of
whom are still living — Martha E.,
wife of Mr. George S. Scott, member
and assistant manager of The Paige
Brothers Company, wholesale and
retail hardware dealers in Akron ;
Amy L., at home, and Charles H.,
(who married Miss Martha Storm, of
Knox county), now shipping clerk
for The Paige Brothers Co. Mr. and
Mrs. Payne are members of St. Paul's
Episcopal Church, and active pro-
moters of all the benevolent enter-
prises of the day.
494
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
"were built at different points in the village, Akron did not become
a boat-building center for several years — the villages of Peninsula
and Boston almost entirel}' monopolizing the canal boat building
trade of the State for many years.
Southeast Corner Main and Mill .Streets, Hotel Biichtel. 1891.
Photo by B. F. Battels.
In the Spring of 1835, Mr. Joseph Perkins furnishing the land,
Capt. Richard Howe the lumber, Mr. Seth Iredell the money, and
Mr. Ansel Miller the labor, a dry dock was built at the head of
Lock Three, which was at first occupied by John Langdon and
John Waterman, but the next season by a man named Stevenson,
whose'given name is not no\^ remembered, altogether for making
repairs. In 1836, '37, Mr. Harvey Allen leased the yard and built
some three or four boats for Col. Robert H. Backus, the then proprie-
tor of the Stone Mill, w^hich the w^riter, in the then line of his
profession, had the honor of painting, lettering, ornamenting, etc.
In 1838, Messrs. Webster B. Storer, and Jacob Barnhart took
possession of the yard and entered vigorously into the build-
ing of new boats, Mr. Ansel Miller succeeded Mr. Barnhart in 1839;
the firm of Storer & Miller continuing 18 years and Mr. Storer
running the v^^orks one year longer. Besides repairs, an average
of six or eight new boats per j'-ear were turned out, as high as 12
being built in 1846, from 20 to 30 hands being employed, Mr. Jacob
Black remembering that at one time as high as 42 men were em-
ployed; prices of new boats ranging from $1,200 to $1,600.
Mr. Storer was succeeded by Mr. William H. Payne, who a few
years since established a new^ yard above Lock Two, the original
yard passing into the hands of Mr. Joseph W. Foster, in each of
OTHER MANUFACTURES,
495
Avhich, besides repairs, from one to three new^ boats are now built
per year, the excursion steamer " City of Akron," having been
turned out of the Lock Two yard.
The Portage Strawboard Company. — In March, 1882, the
Portage Strawboard Company was organized by Akron capitalists,
and works established in the suburban town of New Portage, five
miles south of the city, between the C, A. & C. and the N. Y., P. &
O. railroads, two years later erecting similar and larger Avorks at
Circleville, Pickaway county. Capital stock, $1,000,000; officers:
Ohio C. Barber, president; Thomas W. Cornell, vice president;
William McFarlin, secretary and treasurer; office at First National
Bank, Akron. Capacity: Portage mills, 25 tons finished board per
day; Circleville mills, 50 tons, the two mills consuming 150 tons of
straw per day. Hands employed: Portage, 110; Circleville, 340.
Of the product of these mills the Barber Match Company alone
consumes five tons daily in the manufacture of match boxes; the
entire Diamond Match Company nine tons per day. [These works
are now^ merged in and are part of the American Strawboard Com-
pan}^, described in the chapter on the new manufacturing city of
Barberton, with a capital of $6,000,000, of which Mr. Ohio C. Bar-
ber is president.]
TAMES C. McNEIL, — born inOnon-
J daga county, N. Y., May 8, 1836 ;
came with parents to Ohio in 1838,
settling in Coshocton covmty, in 1847
coming to Akron to live with his
brother, the late Gen. George W.
McNeil ; educated in Akron public
schools ; learned machinist's trade
with Webster & Taplin, serving three
3-ears ; worked six years for Cleve-
land & Mahoning R. R. Co., three and
a half years in shop and two and a
half 3'ears as engineer on road ;
returning to Akron had charge of
machinery in Akron Barrel Factorj^
two and a half jears, when, with Mr.
Robert L. Moffatt. he established the
Akron Boiler Works ; on the retire-
ment of Mr. Moffatt, four j^ears later,
Mr. McNeil becoming sole proprietor
of the works, which he successful 1}'
and profitably conducted until his
death, November 2G, 1885, at the age
of -49 years, 6 months and 15 days —
the McNeil Boiler Company, organ-
ized in 1888 and re-organized in 1890,
now being one of the inost extensive
and prosperous of its class in Ohio.
Mr. McNeil was an earnest Republi-
can, and active in all city improve-
ments, and especially in the organi-
zation of its present excellent Fire
Department, of which he was Chief
from 1866 to 1869. April 6, 1859, Mr.
JAMES C. M'NEIL.
McNeil was married to Miss Marj--
Gale, youngest child of the late Col.
Justus and Mrs. Sarah (Hyde) Gale,
who bore him two children— Grant
C, born September 25,1864, now a suc-
cessful manufacturer in Akron, and
Sarah Gale, born November 25, 1868,
still residing with her mother.
The J. C. McNeil Company, (successors to the Akron Boiler
Works, established by the late James C. McNeil and Mr. Robert
L. Moffat in 1866.) manufacturers of all kinds of steam boilers,
transportation and storage oil tanks, McNeil's fire oat-drying pans,
etc., near South Main street railway station; buildings 60x160 and
496
AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
40x152 feet; hands employed, 75; incorporated February 28, 1888;
capital, $62,700; Arthur M. Cole, president; George C. Berry, vice
president; John B. Campbell, secretary and treasurer; Herman H,
Prange, superintendent.
The Akron Tool Company, manufacturers of the Kraus
Combined Cultivator and other specialties, 238 North Union
street incorporated, September 21, 1889; capital $100,000; Hiram
Kendall, president; George W. Crouse, vice president; Horace M.
Houser, secretary; Charles A. Bowen, treasurer and superin-
tendent; buildings 50x150 and 70x140 feet; hands employed 45.
The Akron Woolen and Felt Company, on the site formerly
occupied by the original strawboard works, in the Sixth ^vard,
manufacturers of paperinakers' felts and jackets; incorporated
July 7, 1888; capital $100,000; hands employed 55; Ohio C. Barber,
president; Frank M. Atterholt, vice president; Duncan M. Fuller,
treasurer and manager; H. Granger Fuller, superintendent and
secretary pro tern.
T ESTER M. BIGGS,— son of Dr. C.
-L' F. H. Biggs, born in Middle-
bury, (now Akron Sixth Ward) June
25, 1843; common school education;
in 1860 drove team on canal; in 1861
enlisted in Company A, 2nd O. V. C,
serving in Indian Territory, Texas,
etc.; discharged September 25. 1862;
re-enlisted October 14, 1862, in Com-
pany 1, 10th O. V. C; wounded in left
shoulder at Lovejoy's Station, Ga.; in
right leg at Sisters Ferry, S. C; pre-
sented with hunting case gold watch
inscribed: "Presented to Sergeant L.
M. Biggs, for distinguished oravery
at Waynesboro, Ga., December 4,
1864, by Captain W. H. Day, A. D. C.
Kilpatrick's Cavalry;" 22 months
color sergeant at General Kilpat-
rick's headquarters; commissioned
lieutenant of volvmteers by President
Lincoln, and assigned to U. S. C. T.
at Macon, Ga. ; di scharged July 24, 1865 ;
now member of Buckley Post, G. A.
R. At close of the war worked four
years in Buckeye Works of Aultman,
Miller & Company., and fifteen years
in Boiler Works of J. C. McNeil;
November 11, 1885, established Sum-
mit City Boiler Works, employing
three men, now (1891) employing 80
men, his w^ork going to every portion
of the United States, to Canada,
LESTER M. BIGGS.
Mexico. South America, Japan and
China. January 1, 1867, Mr. Biggs
was married to Miss Esther Sher-
bondy, daughter of Levi Sherbondy,
of Akron, who has borne him one
child— Lester E. Biggs, born Novem-
ber 1, 1877.
Summit City Boiler Works. — Lester M. Biggs, corner Case
avenue and River streets, manufacturer of steam boilers; rotary
globe bleachers, smokestacks, oat dryers, etc., established Janu-
ary 1, 1886. Hands employed, 75 to 80. Product, $40,000 to $50,000
per year. Larger shops are now [September 1891], being built on
the Hart Allotment, by which the capacity of these works will be
nearly if not quite doubled.
AKRON S MANUFACTURES.
497
The Drop Hammer Forging Company, manufacturers of all
kinds of drop-hammer forgings, picket fences, the Belden garden
hoe, etc.; 212, 214 River street. Sixth ward; incorporated March 17,
1890; capital $15,000; size of buildings 50x100; hands emploj^ed 15;
Joseph Cook, president; Frank M. Belden, vice president; Joseph
D. James, secretary and treasurer; M. F. Christensen, super-
intendent.
HERBERT P. HITCHCOCK,— son
of Lucius W., and Eleanor (Wol-
cott) Hitchcock, was born in Tall-
niadge, July 18, 1841 ; raised on farm ;
educated in common schools, and
Tallmadg-e Academy ; from 16 to 17
clerk in store of Starr Bros. & Co.,
Elyria ; 17 to 20 worked on father's
farm ; 20 to 28. filled various positions
upon the A. & G. W. Railway (now N.
Y. P. & O.) ; in 1860, established him-
self in the insurance business in
Akron, commencing' with a single
company and increasing from time to
time until now he conducts one of the
largest insurance agencies in North-
ern Ohio, representing an aggregate
capital of $100,000,000, Mr. H. also act-
ing as special agent and adjuster for
several companies some 15 years,
being then given a department as
general agent and manager, which
he held until his resignation, on
account of press of other business,
February 1, 1890. He is also a stock-
holder, director and secretary of the
Werner Printing and Lithograph-
ing Company ; president Diamond
Drill & Tool Company, and pecuni-
arily and officially connected with
several other important industrial
HERBERT P. HITCHCOCK.
and financial enterprises in Akron,,
and elsewhere. August 16, 1863, Mr.
Hitchcock was married to Miss
Charlotte E. Upson, of Tallmadge,
who has borne him two children —
Rena E., died at 8 years of age, Eva
P., born August 27, 1876, still at home.
The Diamond Drill and Tool Company, 226 South Howard
street, manufacturers of the Diamond twist drill, machinists' tools,
etc.; established in 1889; hands employed 35; Herbert P. Hitchcock,
president; Charles E. Sheldon, vice president; John G. Raymond,
secretary and treasurer; Peter J. Hoenscheid, superintendent.
The D. F. Morgan Boiler Company, manufacturers of steam
and hot water heating apparatus; ^vorks near South Main street
railway station; buildings 50x100 in size; capacity, six boilers per
day; hands employed 20; incorporated March 17, 1890; capital
$100,000; D. F. Morgan, president: Charles E. Sheldon, vice pres-
ident; Charles T. Buell, secretary and treasurer; D. F. Morgan,
manager.
Enterprise Manufacturing Company. — Established in 1881.
Incorporated in 1886. Metal and rubber baits, flies, floats, etc.,
with or without luminosity; crystal and metal harness rosettes,
luminous and otherwise; and other specialties. Shops, 139 Ash
street, 30x60 and 60x75, two stories. Hands employed, 80 to 90.
Officers: Ernest F. Pflueger, president; Col. Arthur L. Conger^,
vice president; Ernest A. Pflueger, secretary and treasurer.
32
498 AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Akkox File Works. — Theodore Gorner and Adam Platitz,
proprietors. Shop east of Buckeye Works, between Middlebury
and Carroll streets. Established in 1868 by Matthias Harter. After
several changes, the present firm was formed in 1877. Every
description of files recut and made to order. Product from $3,.')0()
^to $4,000 per year, their wares finding a ready sale among the
manufacturers and dealers in Akron, and other points in Ohio.
Plows and Farmers' Goods. — Frank D. Howard, Foundr3%
and dealer in Agricultural implements^ southwest corner of Mill
and High streets; established in 1869. Standard and reliable
goods, only, handled.
Townsend C. Budd. — Foundry and Machine works, east of
Bank street, north of Case avenue. Sixth ward; manufacturer of
potters' supplies, steam fittings, and all work pertaining to the
trade. Established in 1884. Buildings 40x60, 30x46, 40x50 and
30x45; hands employed, 12.
The Akron Hardware Company, Stanton avenue and Getz
street; shops 32x128 and 32x80, two stories, Avith one story
engine house; manufacture specialties in hardware and patented
crystal harness and carriage trimmings. Incorporated April 11,
1889. Capital stock, $50,000. Hands employed, 60 to 75. Officers:
Emmon S. Oviatt, president; James T. Diehm, vice president; Henry
C. Searles, secretary; Henry C. Viele, treasurer; Millard F.Ander-
son, superintendent.
The Star Drilling Machine Co., Washington street, manu-
facturers of portable well and mineral drilling machinery, drilling
tools, engines, etc., employing from 35 to 50 men; incorporated
July 20, 1889; capital, $50,000; Arthur M. Cole, president; Herbert
W. Cole, secretary and treasurer; John W. Miller, superintendent.
The Absolute Chemical Co. — No. 1080 East Market street,
manufacturers of the absolute parasite exterminator; organized
December 19, 1890; capital, $50,000; Richard J. Cunnington, presi-
dent; Stephen H. Barron, vice president; William E. Roth, secretary;
Albert B. Cunnington, treasurer; James H. Case, chemist. Build-
ings, 20x60 two stories, 30x65 one story; hands employed, 4.
The Akron Chemical Company. — Manufacturers of paints,
fillers and printing inks; incorporated January 13, 1890; capital,
$25,000; works on West State street; officers: Frank A. Wilcox,
president; J. Martin Beck, vice president; Charles L. Brov^rn, sec-
retary and treasurer.
The Akron Heating and Ventilating Company, manufactur-
ers of apparatus for heating, ventilating and cooling — the Akron
Blast System for churches, schools, public buildings, etc.. South
Broadway; incorporated November 30, 1889; capital $75,000; hands
employed, 25; George W. Crouse, president; Ferd. Schumacher,
vice president; Julius O. Simmons, secretary and treasurer; Her-
man Eichoff, superintendent.
The Akron Light, Heat and Power Company, Manufactur-
ers of fuel gas for cooking, heating and illumination; works corner
Bank and Valley Ry., Sixth ward; incorporated July 14. 1888; capi-
,tal, $200,000; officers: Gordon W. Lloyd, president; Ferd. Schu-
macher, vice president; Ernest F. Lloyd, secretary; F. Adolph
Schumacher, treasurer; James W. Lane, superintendent; Olaf N.
Guldlin, engineer. Miles of pipe now^laid (July, 1891), seven; hands
employed, 10.
AKRON S MANUFACTURES.
499
ARTHUR M. COLE. — born near
-^ Everett, July 6, 1850 ; educated
in common schools and commercial
college ; several years clerk in
father's store at Peninsula, then
entered upon the study of medicine,
|rraduating- from the medical depart-
ment of Wooster University at Cleve-
land, in 1874, '75, afterwards attend-
ing- two courses of lecturers in Cleve-
land, and one course at the college of
Physicians and Surgeons in New
York. Practicing- successfully in
Peninsula two years, on the death of
his father engaged in merchandising,
which calling, in connection with his
brother, Herbert W., he followed
until his election as treasurer of
Suinmit county, in 1882, which office
he ably filled for two consecutive
terms of two years each. Dr. Cole
was marrried to Mrs. Eucy J. Trus-
cott, of Cleveland, January 20, 1876,
who, besides the two children she
brought to him, Harry and Jessie
Truscott, has borne him two sons
—Samuel Jackson, born May 30, 1878.
and Edmund Herbert, born Novem-
ber 26, 1882. While yet officiating as
treasurer, Dr. Cole organized the
Akron Twine and Cordage Works,
now one of the most successful
industrial institutions in the citj^ of
which coinpany he was secretary,
treasurer and inanager, till inerged
ARTHUR M. COLE.
in the National Cordage Company
of New York City, January 1, 1891,
being also president of the J. C.
McNeil Boiler Company, and for a
time of City National Bank of Akron,
and president of several other busi-
ness and industrial corporations in
Akron and elsewhere, and an active
and influential member of the Akron
Board of Trade.
HERBET W. COLE.
HERBERT W. COLE, — son of
Ediuund and Ann L. (Boies)
Cole, was born at Peninsula, Summit
county, Ohio, February( 22, 1857 ;
educated in village schools and at
Oberlin College; taught school at Old
Portage,Boston and Chittenden's Cor-
ners ; in 1878 admitted to partnership
in store of brother, at Peninsula, un-
der the firm name of A. M. Cole &
Bro., continuing until 1884, on
November 4, of tfiat year, entering
the count J- treasurer's office as
deputj^ treasurer, under his brother,
Dr. A. M, Cole, county treasurer from
September 1, 1884, to September 1,
1888 ; then organized the Akron
Wholesale Grocery Company, with a
capital of $100,000, serving as its sec-
retary and treasurer from September
10. 1888, till January 1, 1890; July 20,
1889, organized the Star Drilling
Machine Company, with a capital of
$.50,000, of which company he has
been secretar}^ and treasurer from
the Deginning ; is also a stockholder
in The Akron Silver Plate Company,
and The Barrett Elevator Company
of Cleveland. August 7, 1890, Mr,
Cole was married to Miss Leota M.
Townsend, of Akron. They have one
child, Helen Louise, born June 4, 1891..
500
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
j»>n^
THOMAS A. EDISON.
MRS. THOMAS A. EDISON.
THOMAS A. EDISON, — the greatest inventor of his own or any other ag-e
in the world's progress, is entitled to a prominent position in this work,-
not only because of the many advantages which have accrued to Akron
from his inventions, but especially because of his alliance, by marriage, with
the family of one of our own fcest-known, most enterprising and most pro-
lific inventors. Thomas Alva Edison was born at Milan, Erie county, Ohio,
February 11, 1847 ; reinoving with parents to Port Huron, Mich., at seven
years of age, his only education, except two inonths at school, being imparted
by his mother, though when quite young becoming an extensive reader, par-
ticularly of historical and scientific works. Froml2to 16 years of age j'oung
Edison was train-boy upon the Grand Trunk Railway, between Port Huron
and Detroit, besides selling apples, magazines, etc., establishing a weekly
paper, printed entirely by himself upon the train, entitled "The Grand Trunk
Herald," which he sold to passengers, at the same time, also, at every oppor-
tunity, familiarizing himself with the workings of the locomotive, and the
electric telegraph, fitting up in the caboose a chemical laboratory, in the
furtherance of his advanced ideas for the improvement of the latter, later
transferring his laboratory from the caboose to the basement of his father's
house, in Detroit, also taking lessons in practical telegraphy, which he fol-
lowed for several years, at different points, with but indifferent satisfaction
to his employers, owing to the pre-occupation of his mind with the inventive
theories, which, having since been practicall}^ solved, have brought to him
the world-wide fame which he now enjoys. Mr. Edison was married at New-
ark, N. J., in 1872, to Miss Mary Stillwell, who died in 1883, leaving three chil-
dren— Marion E., Thomas A., Jr., and William L.
MiNA Miller, daughter of Lewis and Mary V. (Alexander) Miller, was
born in Akron, July 6, 1865 ; after graduating from the Akron High School,,
for a time attending Mrs. Johnsotrs academy, in Boston, Mass., followed by
a European tour, becoming an accomplished musician, and familiar with a
number of modern languages. I'leeting with Mr. Edison, while visiting with
mutual friends, in the East, and later at Chautauqua, a marriage eng*agement
ensued, which was consummated at the home of her parents, in Akron, at 3
o'clock P. M., February 24, 1886. After a few months' sojourn at their winter
villa, near Fort Meyers, Fla., Mr. and Mrs. Edison returned to the familj^ home^
"Glenmont," at Llewellyn Park, N. J., where they still reside. Thej^ have
two children— Madeline, born May 31, 1888, and Charles, born August 3, 1890.
AKRON S MANUFACTURES.
501
The Akron Electric Company, manufacturers of electric
motors and other electrical apparatus and supplies; Ira street, near
South Main street railway station; incorporated January 19, 1891;
capital, $100,000; Frank A. Wilcox, president; Ed. B. Miller, vice
president; William B. Doyle, secretary and treasurer; Willis D.
Chapman manager. Building, 40x105 feet; 25 employes.
EDWARD B. MILLER, — son of
Lewis and Mary V. (Alexander)
Miller, was born in Canton, Ohio,
February 15, 1859, removing' with par-
■ents to Akron in 1864 ; educated in
Akron public schools, with a two
3"ears' course at Ohio Wesleyan Uni-
versity in Delaware, and two years at
Stevens' Institute of Technology at
Hoboken, N. Y. After completing-
liis studies, spent nearly a year in
Europe, on his return entering the
^employ of Aultman, Miller & Co. in
the Buckeye Reaper and Mower
Works, afterwards spending six
months in Mexico as engineer of the
Akron Silver Company's mining
plant located there. He is now
superintendent of the rolling mill of
the Akron Iron Company, one of the
most successful of Akron's innumer-
iible industrial enterprises. Mr.
Miller is still unmarried and resides
Avith his parents, at Oak Place in
Akron.
EDWARD B. MILLER.
ROBERT A. MILLER.
ROBERT A. MILLER. — son of
Lewis and Marj- V. (Alexander)
Miller, was born in Canton, April 11,
1861, the day that Fort Sumter, in
command of Col. Robert Anderson,
was bombarded b}' the rebels— hence
the name ; removed with parents to
Akron in 1864; educated in Akron
public schools, and at Eastman's
Commercial institute at Poughkeep-
sie, N. Y., where he remained three
3^ears ; on concludinghis studies was
book-keeper in the Akron Iron Com-
pan3''8 office, at Buchtel, in the Hock-
ing-Valle}'; on the sale of the works,
there, became assistant superintend-
ent of the Buckej^e Reaper and
Mower Works, of C. Aultman & Co., in
Canton, on the death of his uncle, Mr.
Jacob Miller, in 188^), becoming the
superintendent and general mana-
ger of the works. January 25, 1887,
he was married to Miss Louise Igoe,
of Indianapoli.'*, Ind., who has borne
him two children- -Robert Anderson
Miller, Jr., born Jidy 21, 1889, and
Alice Rachel, born March 6, 1891.
502 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
The Akron White Sand and Stone Company, on Portage
road, west of city limits, miners, manufacturers and shippers of
pure silica sand, for plate, flint and all other kinds of glass, iron and
steel works, furnaces, potteries, fire brick, etc.; incorporated in 1891 ;
capital, $100,000; Harvey F. Miller, president; Arthur M. Cole, vice
president; Lee K. Mihills. secretary and treasurer; James L.
Butler, superintendent.
The Akron Reed and Rattan Company, manufacturers of
baby carriages, baby jumpers, reed and rattan furniture, novelties,
etc.; works, 212, 214 North Union street; size of building, 40x100
feet, four stories; engine house, 16x30; incorporated August 1, 1889;
capital, $50,000; John H. Howler, president; Charles H. Hower, sec-
retary and treasurer; hands employed, 30.
The Akron Silver Plate Company, works on Bluff street;
building, 40x 110, three stories, Aving 38x40; manufacturers of cask-
et hardware and other silver plated goods; incorporated January
23, 1890; capital, $100,000; directors: Arthur M. Cole, president;
Wilson B. Cannon, secretary and treasurer; L. H. Williams, super-
interjdent; Joy H. Pendleton. Capacity of w^orks, 400 pairs of cas-
ket handles per day; hands employed, 45.
The Cohn Manufacturing Company, established in 1889;:
incorporated September 15, 1891; capital, $20,000; manufacturers of
a>vnings, tents, flags, oiled clothing, horse goods, etc.; incorpora-
tors: Solomon H. Cohn; James McBride, John McBride, Oscar
H. Cooley, James H. Greenw^ood, and George M. Anderson. Shop
near South Main street railw^ay station, building, 40x80; hands
employed, 18.
Smith Brothers (Simon C. and Joseph S.), chemists, and man-
ufacturers of flavoring extracts, perfumes, and paper boxes; build-
ings, 30x40 — 60x116; 30 to 35 employes; located on South High
street, west of rolling mill.
Akron Cart Works, 806 South Broadway, Ferdinand Seller
proprietor, manufacturer of road carts, wagons, etc.; building-
20x30, two stories; eight hands employed.
Root-Tea-Na-Herb Company, Arcade Block, manufacturers of
patent medicines; George W. Wright superintendent; Charles E,
McMillen, secretary; eleven employes.
Polishing and Plating Works. — Corner Broadway and
Church streets. George W. Smith, proprietor. Nickel and copper
plating, polishing, etc.; hands einployed, from 10 to 15.
The Brigger Belting Company, manufacturers of patent
wove oak leather belts, and best oak tanned leather belts; near
South Main street railway station; buildings, 40x80 feet, tw»
stories; incorporated in 1890; capital, $25,000; Josiah Miller, presi-
dent; Curtis C. Sherbondy, vice president; Herbert R. Whiteman,^
secretary and treasurer; men employed, eight.
The Baker, McMillen Company, successors to Baker,
McMillen & Co., established in 1870, Ash and Bowery streets;
manufacturers of enameled knobs, handles and pail w^ood, wood
and clay pipes, etc.; incorporated July 2, 1890; capital, $120,000;^
number of hands employed from 85 to 100; directors: John C,
McMillen, president; John W. Baker, vice president and superin-
tendent; Charles Schutt, assistant superintendent; John L. Noble^
secretary and treasurer; John B. Wright.
AKKON S MANUFACTURES.
503
pRANK A. SKIBERLING,- eldest
-*^ son of John F. and Catharine L.
(Miller) Seiberling-, was born on a
farm near Western Star, October 6,
1859 ; at two years of ag-e moved with
his parents to Doylestown and at six
to Akron ; first attending- school in
building, still standing-, next south
of Congregational Church, on High
street, I. P. Hole then being superin-
tendent of Akron schools ; at close
of first year's course in high school,
entered Heidelberg Colleg-e, at
Tiffin, remaining two years ; at close
of Junior year left college to assist
his father in business, having just
started, inanufacturing the Empire
Harvester in the old " Hawkins Rake
Factory," on South Main street, on
the organization of the Seiberling
Company, in 1884, becoming its secre-
tary and treasurer, which position he
has since continuously held, besides
being director and vice president of
Akron Twine and Cordage Co., and
the Werner Printing and Lithograph-
ing Co., and treasurer of Akron
Straw Board Co.; treasurer of the
Seiberling Milling Co., Superior
Mining Co., Canton Street Railway
Co., Zanesville Street Railway Co.,
secretary and treasurer of the Akron
Street Railway Co. and president of
FRANK A. SEIBEKLIxXG.
Manufacturers' Mutual Fire Insur-
ance Association. October 12, 1887,
was married to Miss Gertrude F.
Penfield, of Willoughby. They have
two children — John Frederick, born
July 26, 1888; Irene Henrietta, born
February 24, 1890.
CHARLES W. SEIBERLING.
pHARLES W. SEIBERLING,—
^ second son of John F. and Cath-
arine L. (Miller) Seiberling, was born
near Western Star, in Norton town-
ship, January 26, 1861, removing with
parents to Doylestown in the Spring
of that year, and four years later to
Akron; attended Akron public
schools until 1878; then entered
Oberlin College, where he took a twoi^
years' eclectic course ; then returned '
home and asstimed the position of
yard foreman of his father's extensive
Empire Reaper and Mower Works,
described elsewhere. On the incor-
poration and organization of the
J. F. Seiberling & Co., in 1884. he was
elected a director, and promoted to
superintendent of the works, which
position he is still ably filling. He
has also been connected with the
Selle Gear Companj^ and several
other manufacturing enterprises in
Akron ; is a director in the Akron
Street Railroad Conipanj', and largely
interested in the South Akron Land
Syndicate.
504
AKROX AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
The Schumacher Gymnasium Company, successors to the
Dempsey Machine Co. and the Howard Manufacturing Co., manu-
facturers of all kinds of gymnasium apparatus. West State street;
incorporated July 13, 1890; capital, $45,000; officers, Ferd. Schu-
macher, president; Joseph C. Ewart, vice president; F. Adolph
Schumacher, secretary and treasurer; Theodore Peterson, superin-
tendent; buildings, 40x60, three stories and 40x80 and 40x40, two
stories; hands employed, 30.
T OUIS SCHUMACHER, — son of
-»— ' Ferdinand and Hermine Schu-
macher, was born in Akron, August
28, 1852 ; attended Akron public
schools till 1868, when he was placed
in a private school at Braunschweig,
Germany, subsequently spending-
two years at the Politechnicum, at
Hanover, Germany. On completion
of his studies, he entered the office of
his father, and has since been actively
engaged in the milling business,
being a stockholder in, and vice
president of. The F. Schumacher
Milling Company, until it was merged
in the American Cereal Company, in
June, 1891, in which company, the
most extensive manufacturers of oat-
meal and other cereal products in the
United States, he is also a stock-
holder. March 3, 1886, he was married
at Pittsburg, Pa., to Miss Dora Schu-
luacher, of Akron, their familj' domi-
cile being at 224 Fir street. Thej-
have no children.
LOUIS SCHUMACHER.
HUGO SCHUMACHER.
HUGO SCHUMACHER. - eldest
son of Williain Schumacher,
was born in Saxony, German}', June
14, 1853 ; when six j^ears old came
with his parents to the United States,
settling in Akron ; attending the
public schools here until 1865, he
was placed in a private school at
Braunschweig, Germany, where he
remained three years. On his return
to Akron, in 1868, he entered the mill
of his uncle, Ferd. Schumacher, as a
packer, continuing until 1871, when
he became head book-keeper and
cashier, and now holdingthe respon-
sible position of treasurer of the F.
Schumacher Milling Company,
organized 1886. Mr. Schuiuacher is
also president of the Akron Building
and Loan Association ; secretarj'^ of
the Akron Electric Company, and
vice president of the Millers' Mutual
Fire Insurance Coiupany of Canton.
May 12, 1875, he was married to Miss
Alice Amelia Wills, daughter of Mr.
Thomas Wills, for nearly twelve'
3'ears the able superintendent of
Akron's beautiful Rural Cemeterj-.
They have one child — Ferdinand
Hugo, born December 3, 1880.
Akron's manufactukes.
505
HARVEY y; HOWER— eldest son
of John H. and Susan(Young-ker)
Hower, was born in Doylestown,
Wayne county, October 16, 1855 ;
•edvicated in Doylestown and Akron
public schools, and at Sniithville
Normal Academy; on completion of
studies worked in shop and field for
J. F. Seiberling- & Co., of the old
Excelsior Works, and two years in
the Buckeye Works of Aultman,
Miller & Co. ; in spring- of 1879, with
other members of family, took an
interest in the oatmeal business of
Robert Turner & Co., in 1881 buying
out Mr. Turner, and with his father
and two brothers, Otis M. and Charles
H., org-anizing the firm of Hower &
-Co., incorporated as " The Hower
•Coinpany," January, 1888,with Harvey
Y. Hower as its vice president, and is
now a stockholder in the American
■Cereal Company, in which the Hower
Company was merged in June, 1891,
^nd its local manag-er of the Hower
Mill ; is also a stockholder of the
Akron Reed and Rattan Co. Nov-
•ember 2^), 1877, Mr. Hower was inarried
io Miss Helen M, Stone, sister of City
HARVEY Y. HOWEK.
Marshal S. M. Stone, born in Lock
Haven, Pa., June 25, 1856. They have
four children— John Frederick, born
October 21, 1879; Harvey Burt, born
June 2, 1881; Lloyd Kenneth, born
March 30, 1863; Louie Stone, born
October 12, 1885.
MILTON OTIS HOWEK.
MILTON OTIS HOWER,— second
son of John H. and Susan
(Youngker) Hower, was born in
Doylestown, Wayne county, Ohio,
November 25, 1858 ; removed with
parents to Akron in 1866 ; educated
in Doylestown and Akron public
schools ; one of the incorporators
of The Hower Company, oatmeal
manufacturers, corner Cherry and
Canal streets, and secretary of same
from its org-anization, until merged
in The American Cereal Company,
in June, 1891, of which company he is
a stockholder ; is also a stockholder
in the Akron Reed and Rattan Com-
pany ; member of Akron Board of
Trade ; director of Akron Light, Heat
and Power Company, and active in
the proinotion of all private and pub-
lic enterprises. Mr. Hower was mar-
ried November 16, 1880, to Miss
Eugenia Bruot, daughter of James
F. and Rosalie (Gressard) Bruot, of
Akron. They have one child, Grace,
born September 23,1881. Familj- resi-
dence, 204 South Forg-e street.
The HiMPHKEY Tltkbine Company, South Broadway, manu-
facturers of hydraulic and power transmitting machinerj^ etc.;
incorporated June 15, 1889; capital, $50,(X)0; officers: John Hum-
phrey, president; Oscar H. Coolidge, vice president and treasurer;
George L. Humphrey, secretary; Arthur G. Humphrey, business
manager; hands employed, 15.
506
AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
pHARLKS H. HOWER— third son
^ of John H. and Susan (Youngker)
Hower, was born in Akron Aug'ust
31, 1866 ; was educated in Akron pub-
lic schools and at Oberlin Colleg-e ;
at 17 commenced traveling for the
oatmeal firm of Hower & Co., which,
thoug-h probably the youngest
"drummer" upon the road, he suc-
cessfuU}^ followed until the incorpo-
ration of the Hower Companj', in Jan-
uary, 1888, in which company he was
a stockholder, director and treasurer
until the transfer of the plant to the
American Cereal Company, in June,
1891, in which company he is also a
stockholder ; was one of the incor-
porators of The Akron Reed and
Rattan Company, elsewhere written
of, and its secretary and treasurer.
September 27, 1887, Mr. Hower was
married to Miss Nellie E. Long,
daughter of Mr. Elias Long, (late of
Akron, now of Tacoma, Wash.,) who
was born in Copley December 6, 1868.
Mr. and Mrs. Hower have one child —
Helen M., born July 23, 1888,
CHARLES H. HOWER.
CTEPHEN SAMUEL MILLER,—
*-^ son of Charles and Hannah
(Bechtel) Miller, was born in Norton
township, February 7, 1856, moving-
with parents to Akron in 1867 ; was ed-
ucated in the public schools of Norton
and Akron ; on leaving school, being
of a mechanical turn of mind, besides
assisting his father and brothers in
their various manufacturing opera-
tions, became a stockholder and
superintendent of the Miller Match
Company, svxccessfullj' managing
the works until their sale to the
Diamond Match Companj-. in 1890 ;
has also been foreman of the binder
department of the Buckej^e Reaper
and mower works of Aultman, Miller
& Co., since 1886 to the present time ;
is also a stockholder and vice presi-
dent of The Akron Globe Sign Com-
pany, elsewhere written of.
STEPHEN SAMUEL MILLER.
The Akron Novelty Manufacturing Company, North
Howard street, manufacturers of center tables, stands, easels^
screens, wooden specialties, etc.; incorporated October 13, 1890;:
capital, $25,000; directors: Benjamin S. Cook, Newton I. Winkle-
man, Julius Frank, Harvey F. Miller, John J, Firestone; president,
Benjamin S. Cook; secretarj^, treasurer and manager, William W.
Heib; employes, about 25.
Akron's manufaciures.
507
A LBERT J. PITKIN —son of Rev.
^ Caleb Johnson and Elizabeth
J. (Bancroft) Pitkin, was born in
Northampton township, March 22,
1854; in childhood went with parents
to Illinois, living- successively at
"Winchester, Troy and Vandalia; at
11 went to live with grandfather,
Deacon Gerrod P. Bancroft, at Gran-
ville, Ohio, attending- the High
School there; in 1870, entered Akron
High School, living with his uncle,
Judge Stephen H. Pitkin; in 1871,
entered shop of Webster, Camp &
Lane Machine Company, serving
under his brother-in-law. Superin-
tendent Julius S. Lane, three years
as apprentice and one j^ear as jour-
neyman; then worked one year in
Akron Railroad Shops, in 1876 accept-
ing" a position in the drafting rooms
of the Baldwin Locomotive Works in
Philadelphia, reinaining four and a
half years; in September, 1880. ac-
cepted a call from Rhode Island
Locomotive Works, at Providence,
serving as mechanical eng-ineer
until January 1, 1882, when he as-
sumed a similar position in the
Schenectady (N. Y.) Locomotive
Works, of which he was made super-
intendent in 1884, having, during
his incumbency, more than doubled
the capacity and output of the
ALBERT J. PITKIN.
works. September 6, 1878, he was
married to Miss Carrie M. Lane, only
daughter of Sheriff Samuel A. Lane, of
Akron, who has borne him five child-
ren, four of whom are now living-
Agnes Belle, Arthur Frederick. Eliz-
abeth Bancroft and Albertina Lane
STEPHEN H. PITKIN.
eTEPHEN H. PITKIN, -son of
«^ Rev. Caleb J. and Elizabeth
(Bancroft) Pitkin, was born at Troy,.
111., October 26, 1860 ; educated in
high schools of Monticellp, 111., and
Akron, Ohio. In the Suiniuer of 1877
entered the works of the Webster,.
Camp & Lane Machine Company,
and after a three years' apprentice-
ship, together with a special course
in drawing and engineering, entered
the drafting department of the com-
pany, later becoming assistant sup-
erintendent of the works, and on the
resignation of Mr. Julius S. Lane, as
superintendent, in September, 1885,.
was made a director and appointed
mechanical engineer of the com-
pany, and on a reorganization of the
comxiany, in 1887, was elected secre-
tary and general inanager, which
responsible position he is still ablj'-
filling. February 27, 1884, Mr. Pitkin
was married to Miss Ada M. Maltb}-,.
of Cleveland. They have one child —
Marian Maltby, born March 30. 1887.
508 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
The Western Linoleum Company, near South Main street sta-
tion; incorporated January 1, 1891; capital, $200,000; size of building
67x487 feet; men employed, 50; officers: Arthur M. Cole, president;
William D, Hoover, secretary and treasurer; Charles Tt;mpleton,
general superintendent.
The Globe Sign Company, manufacturers of every description
of advertising signs, streamers, banners, yard sticks, shoe size
sticks, advertising rulers, barrel gauges, etc.; near South Main
street railway station; incorporated February 25, 1890; capital,
■$50,000; officers: John Grether, president; S. Sam. Miller, vice
president; Prank Reifsnider, secretary; William B. Gamble, treas-
urer; Horace G. Bender, superintendent; building, 40x100 feet;
hands employed, seven.
The Akron Cigar Company, 437 East Center street; incorpo-
rated in March, 1890; capital, $25,000; officers: W. H. Nees, presi-
dent; John Metlin, vice president; Howard E. Sears, secretary and
treasurer.
The United States Baking Company. — November 3, 1885, the
Akron Cracker Company was incorporated with Monroe Seiber-
ling as president, Henry M. Motz as vice president, and Charles
Wilhelm, secretary, treasurer and manager, in 1887 employing
from 20 to 30 hands and consuming 25 barrels of flour per day.
The w^orks were subsequently merged in, and are now a branch of,
The United States Baking Co., with headquarters at Pittsburg,
the Akron branch, under the superintendency of Mr. Charles
Wilhelm, employing 36 hands, and working up 40 barrels of flour
per day; w^orks, 143 to 149 North Howard street.
The Klages Coal and Ice Company. — Established in 1879,
incorporated in 1888; John R. Buchtel, president; Paul E. Werner,
vice president; August Blessman, secretary; Henry Klages, treas-
urer and general manager; yards and office corner East Mill and
Prospect.
American Tin Plate Company, Elwood, Ind., incorporated
September, 1891 ; capital $300,000, among the directors being
Arthur L. Conger, William Z. McDonald and Monroe Seiberling —
A. L. Conger, president.
Seaman Manufacturing Company, South Main street, incor-
porated September 10, 1891; capital $20,000; incorporators. Alfred F.
Tame, Benjamin Seaman, George Billow, Lucius W. Houghton,
Willis E. Pettit, George A. Wheeler, Alfred S. Tame. Specialties
blinders and other harness goods; hands to be employed 25.
Akron Soap Company,, manufacturers of superior quality of
laundry and toilet soaps, 186'North Case avenue; officers: Linus
H. Williams, president; R. E. Abbott, secretary and treasurer; and
Adam Duncan, superintendent.
OUTSIDE INVESTMENTS.
In addition to the local industrial enterprises above men-
tioned, Akron capitalists are largely interested in similar opera-
tions elsew^here, a few only of which can be here enumerated: The
Diamond Plate Glass Co. of Chicago, with plants at Kokomo and
Elwood, Ind.; the Hartford City (Ind.) Glass Co.; the American
Crayon Co., Sandusky, Ohio; The Charleroi (Pa.) Plate Glass Co.;
AKRON S INDUSTRIES.
50i>
The Paige Tube Co., Warren, Ohio; The Nevacker Sprinkler Co.r
Warren, Ohio; The Zanesville Street Railway Company; The
Elwood (Ind.) Land Co.; The Canal Dover (Ohio) Brick Co.; The
Canadian Copper Co.; The American Strawboard Co., Chicago;.
The Diamond Match Co., Chicago, etc.
JOSEPH HU GILL,- born in York-
shire, England, September 1, 1834,
at 14, apprenticed to trade of stone
mason, serving- , three years; then
came to Cleveland, Ohio, later going
to Canada, working at his trade on
the Grand Trunk Railroad two years,
then as contractor on stone work
upon the Buffalo and Lake Huron
Railroad; in 1858 went to California,
working at trade in Placerville one
year, at mining one year; in 1860
going to Nevada and building the
county buildings in Carson City, and
later doing the stone work on the
Gould & Curry Quartz Mills; in 1864
returned to Cleveland, and thence to
Hamilton, Canada, where, September
8, 1864, he was married to Miss Sarah
Wells, a native of South Dumfries.
Brant county, Canada. In the spring
of 1866, they came to Akron, where
Mr. Hugill has since conducted an
extensive business as contractor and
builder in stone and- brick, in 1872
purchasing a tract of land within the
city limits, which furnishes him with
an inexhaustible supply of building
material, Mr. Hugill also being the
official contractor of the city on side-
walks, with quite large interests in
iZt'
JusEI'H HLjuILL.
several incorporated industrial
enterprises in Akron and elsewhere.
Mr. and Mrs. Hugill have had four
children — William Edgar, died at 20
years of age; Franklin Wells, died at
20, his twin, Minnie Adella, djdng at
7, and Rhea Daisy, still living.
Contractors, Carpenters, Plasterers, Stone and Brick
Masons, Etc. — Alexander Brothers (Hudson S. and Alvin D.), 367
Carroll; Thomas R. Bridge, 206 South Maple; James Brown, 121
Arch; B. Frank Buchtel, 140 South Balch; Thomas Brady, 213
Wabash avenue; Alexander M. Brooker, 120 West North; Alfred
W. Barnes, 115 Lincoln; Barnett & O'Marr (William Barnett and
Daniel O'Marr), 104 East Cedar, 342 West North; Noah A. Carter,
109 Adolph avenue; Crisp Brothers (George and John), 241 John-
ston; J. H. Derhamer & Sons (Joseph H., Daniel J. and William
H.), 112 AUyn; Thomas A. Dixon, 605 Spicer; Dayton A. Doyle,
executor, 123 South Main; William Downing, 418 Perkins; Lewis B.
Ewing, 121 Kirkwood; John M. Gobel, 357 West North; Fred. R.
Gafkey, New Portage road; Gayer Brothers (Jacob M. and William
F.), 310 Sumner; John W. Hall, 107 Cross; Hiram C. Henry, 204
Torrey; Theodore F. Homer, 140 Silver; Cyrus H. Hogarth, 435
Perkins; John G. Haury & Co., 705 South Broadway; Harvey M.
Hollinger, 123 Kirkwood; Joseph Hugill, 114 South College; A. F.
Hunsicker, 165 North Broadway; William J. Humes, 105 North
Balch; John W. Hutton,584 West Exchange; A. Jackson & Lyman,
116 West Exchange; Jones & Parker (William H. Jones and
Thomas M. Parker), corner West State and Ohio Canal; Lambacher
& Brodt (Christian Lambacher and Charles J. Brodt), 127, 212 Grant;
William A. McClellan, 305 Water; Robert McElhinney, 111 Pearl;
510 AKRON AND vSUMMIT COUXTY.
Daniel McGarry, 206 Locust; John P. McGarrj^ 208 Locust; Peter
Leiser, 516 Kast Exchange; August C. Miller, 503i/^ East Exchange;
William McNeal, Lock 3; Cornelius C. Misnor, 121 Bates; Joseph
M. Morrette, 303 Bell; George T.Rankin, 209 South Forge; Michael
Riley, 123 Merriman; William H, Payne, 121 Grant; Robinson &
Caine (Henry Robinson and Robert N. Caine); The Akron Build-
ing and Cabinet Co., 208-220 Cherry; The Thomas Lumber Co., 216
West Market; The Akron Lumber Co., 216 West Buchtel avenue;
Solon N. Wilson, 888 South Main; Jacob Waldvogel, 421 East
Buchtel avenue; Samuel Wall, 421 Park; Louis Wilhelm & Sons
(Louis B. and Albert D.), 204 East Cedar; William Windsor & Sons
<John T. and William J.), 329 South Arlington; Frank Wolf, 601
North Howard; Wolter & Seybold, (Henry Wolter and Jacob Sey-
bold), 140, 163 Sherman; Casper Zintel, 185 Merriman.
Cooper Shops. — Garahan, Stein & Co. (B. Garahan, Michael
Stein, Philip Stein, and Daniel Gilletly), rear Allen Mills, near
Ohio Canal; Jacob Lapp, 1222 East Market; George Roth, Akron
Tank Works, 353 South Main; The F. Schumacher Milling Com-
pany, office 400 East Mill.
Harness Makers. — Eugene Berrodin, 1212 South Main;
Edward Colloredo, 117 South Main; George B. Crippen, 708 South
Main; Amos M. Fishburn, 178 South Howard; Charles M. Hauff,
531 South Main; John L. Johnson, 120 South Main; Charles A.
Pelton, 1137 East Market; Jacob W. W. Powell. 122 North Howard;
Christian Reinhold, 409 South Main; Lewis E. Seiberling, 358i/^
South Main; Henry Theiss, 206 West Market.
Merchant Tailors. — Adam Breiner, 531 South Main; George
M. Evans, 110 East Market; Albert D. Kinzel, 149 South Howard;
J. Koch & Co., 125, 127 South Howard: Charles J. McGuckin, 128
South Howard; William F, Moran, 233 South Howard; Herman
W. Moss, 135 South Howard; William Schroeder, 132 South How-
ard; Shelhart & Hack (John E. Shelhart and Charles H. Hack),
179 South Howard; Joseph S. Sourek, 144 South Main;, Lewis N.
Swigart, 237 South Howard; Richard M. Webber, 207 East Market;
William A. Weiss, 1065 South Main.
Painters and Paper Hangers.— Angelo Andrew, 314, 316
East Mill; Berry & Son, 209, 211 East Mill; Brouse & Co., 216 East
Market; Warren H. Billings, 704 South Broadway; Galen E.
Brown, 215 Sherman; Frank G. Crippen, 708 South Main; EdAvin
H. Danforth, 309 East Mill; John S. Fetherson, 1471/2 Crosby;
Orlando Flickinger, 100 South Arlington; Gregory J. Gonder,
Windsor Hotel; Albert M. Hamm, 213 East Market; Hasler &
Gonder (Washington S. Hasler and W. H. H. Gonder), 301 South
Main; Louis Laumann, 604 East Exchange; Frank F. Leach, 172
Benjamin; Porter & Anderson (Harvey N. Porter and Edw^ard B.
Anderson), 214 West Market; DeForest Robinson, 210 East Market;
Frank G. Stipe, 1212 South Broadway; William H. Steller, 218
South Maple; C. C. Stutzman, 103 Allyn; Theodore Talcott, 122
Bartges; George P. Tompkins, 159 Gale.
Machine and Repair Shops, — William Eberhard, 104 Sherman;
C. Burt Cushman, 225 West Market; Henry W. Harold, 322 South
Main; Townsend C. Budd, rear 103 Bank; John K. Williams, corner
Canal and West Mill; The Schumacher Gymnasium Co., 103 West
State; Taplin, Rice «fe Co, 301, 403 South Broadway; Webster,
Camp & Lane Machine Co., 133, 145 North Main.
Akron's industries. 511
Architects.— Weary & Kramer, (Frank O. Weary and George
W. Kramer,) Savings Bank building, corner Mill and Main;
William P. Ginther, room 19 Arcade block, Howard street; Charles
Henry, 204 Quarry street; Kdward J. Putnam, 321 East Market.
Bakers. — Akron Cracker Co., 143, 149 North Howard; Albert
Funk, 312 Spicer; William Goldsmith, 525 East Exchange; Gerard
Hansen, 349 South Main; Ernest Hohlfeld, 166 Grant; Fred Kulke,
706 South High; Shepherd B. Lafferty, 106 South How^ard; Herman
Langer, 347 West North; Almond C. Lodwick, 106 North Howard;
Charles Loewing, 707 South Main; Morris E. Pond, 204 East
Market; Andrew Ruof, 551 W. Market; Joseph Schwindling, 1009 S.
Bowery; Ernest F. F. Sommer, 404 Bartges; Jacob Steinert, 1219
S. Main; F.Victor Strobel, 113 E. B'urnace; U. S. Bakery, N. Howard.
Blacksmiths. — Akron Carriage Works, corner Main and Buchtel
avenue; William A, Allen, Lock Seven, Ohio Canal; John Angne,
Q43 South Main; Robert Baird, 118 North Main; Ball & Wilson
(George W. Ball and George E. Wilson), 613 South Main; Charles
A. Brent, 1125 East Market; Eberhard & Son (Gustave A., and
William G.), 520 South Main; William F. Farwell, 192 South Case
avenue; Flanagan &Tryon (Joseph Flanagan and Robert Tryon), 129
South Main; James B. Grue, 148 North Case avenue; Harpham &
Lutz (David C. Harpham and William Lutz), 104, 106 South Arling-
ton; John Heppart, 705 East Market; Thomas F. Hunt, 1060 East
Market; Thomas P. Howland, 134 North Main; William H.
Kennedy, 619 East Mill; James A. Moody, 108 Carroll; W.
Harry Morris, 165 South Main; Christopher W. Riley, 154 North
Howard; George E. Rittenhouse, 193 North Howard; James S.
Robinson, 124 North -Howard; Thomas J. Santom, 108, 110 East
Exchange; Felix Sell, 240 South Howard; P. H. Spicer, 157 South
Main; George Tait, corner Ash and Canal; Henry Vader, 101
South Valley; William E. Waltz. 254 West Market.
Barbers. — Lester Akins, 11211/^ South Main; Bissonet & Vor-
Averk, (George E. Bissonet and George Vorwerk), 227 South How-
ard; John Connors, 626 South Main; Joseph Curran, 1190 East
Market; Mrs. Louisa Davis, 213 East Mill; James O. Evans, 264
West Market; Robert E. Fay, 5251/2 North Howard; John E. Erase,
248 West Market; Jacob H. Goodyear, 119 North Howard; Hamlin
& Hale (Frank B. Hamlin and George W. Hale), 158 South Howard;
Thomas Hayes, 1062 South Main; Holmes & Gossett (Lewis
Holmes and Daniel M. Gossett), 170 South Main; George Isen-
mann, Empire House; Richard H. Jones, 111 West Market; Adolph
A, Ley, 614 South Main; Linder & Freeman (James Linder and Fred-
erick D. Freeman), Hotel Buchtel; Washington Martin, 169 South
Howard; Orlando M. Maxwell, 1053 South Main; John S. McCon-
nell, 302 East Mill; Medsker & Wolfsperger (William C. Medsker
and John H. Wolfsperger), 1056 South Main; M. P. Morr, Windsor
Hotel; Phenix H. O'Neil, 235 South Howard; M. Bradford Peebles.
712 Bowery; Gustave Lauvin, 246 South Howard; Henry Schafer,
418 East Center; George W. Shaffer, 405 East Exchange; Charles
C. Sherwin, 140V2 Bartges; Seibert & Heddesheimer (Louis E.
Siebert and Jacob Heddesheimer), 405 East Center; Nicholas Simon,
514 South Main; Taggart & Stauer (John S. Taggart and David
Stauer), 107 East Market; Frank W. Wagner, 157 Grant; Joseph
AVinum, 154 South Howard; Charles E. Wycuff, 121 North Howard;
Mrs. Mary Yeomans, 1139 East Market.
512 AKKON AND SUMMIT COL'XTY.
COMMERCIAL MATTERS.
It will be impossible, of course, in the space allotted, to give a
minute history of all the mercantile establishments that have
existed, for longer or shorter (mostly shorter) periods in Akron,
during the past 65 years. Of the earlier merchants one, onlj^, is
now in business here, Mr. Philander D, Hall, who established him-
self on the present site of Hall Bros.' store, corner of Howard and
Market streets, in May, 1835. Next, in priority, Mr. Frank J, Kolb,
1840, foUow^ed by Mr. Joseph K. Wesener, who commenced in
Akron as clerk for A. Hibbard &, Co. in 1846, and as proprietor in
1849; Major Erhard Steinbacher, 1851; Jacob Koch, as clerk for
Koch & Levi, in 1854, and as proprietor in 1864; John Cook &
Sons, established by the senior Cook in 1855; Cornelius A. Brouse,
in 1859; C. W. Bonstedt for himself in 1862, now conducted by his
sons; John B. Houghton, 1862; John Wolf, 1862; George C. Berry,
1866.
Wholesale Dealers. — Though many of our merchants, in the
past, have done more or less jobbing and wholesaling in their sev-
eral departments, to retail dealers both in the city and in adjacent
tow^ns and counties, very fe'w exclusively wholesale establishments
have, until recently, been attempted here. Some twelve or fifteen
years ago Messrs. CoUett & Carr conducted a ^wholesale grocery
and confectionery business, at first in the postoffice block and
afterw^ards in their own newr building on the opposite corner,
south, but failed of success.
Major Erhard Steinbacher, however, has for many years
done quite an extensive jobbing trade, in. connection with hi&
large retail drug and grocery business at 104 East Market street.
The Akron Wholesale Grocery Company.— With the whole-
sale trade already established on South Howard street, bj^ Mr,
Cyrus Miller, as a nucleus, a stock company, under the above title,
was incorporated and organized, Sept. 7, 1887, at 150 and 150V2
South Main street, with an authorized capital of $100,000, with T.
W. Cornell as president, Cyrus Miller, vice president and Herbert
W. Cole, secretary and treasurer. This company, though attaining
to a trade of nearly $300,000 the first year, for private reasons went
into liquidation in 1889.
Miller & Roche. — (Cyrus Miller and William Roche), 186
South Howard street. Mr. Cyrus Miller, for many years one of
the most successful grocers of Akron, some eight or nine years
ago converted his retail store into an exclusive wholesale house,
in 1887 merging his establishment in the Akron Wholesale Grocery
Company above noticed. In 1888 Mr. Miller re-established himself
on How^ard street, associating with himself Mr. William Roche,
under the firm name of Miller & Roche, now, in addition to their
extensive retail city and country trade, also doing a large and rap-
idly increasing wholesale business.
Weeks & Kingsbury. — (George W, Weeks and Alfred T. Kings-
bury) successors to J. M. Fraze, now located in Albert block on
South Main street, dealers in china, cutlery, crockery, silverware,
glassw^are, etc., in addition to a highly satisfactory retail trade are
also quite extensive jobbers of the several lines of goods in w^hich
they deal.
Akron's mercantile status.
yRHARD STEINBACHER.-borii
JLL in Bavaria, Germany, March HO,
182.T; educated in common schools
and at Heidelberg- College; in 1844
came to United States, remaining two
years in Akron and Cleveland, then
returning to Europe; in 1847, returned
to Akron; in 1849, went overland to
California, returning via Panama in
February 1851; engaged in the drug
and grocery trade in partnershi])
with George Weimer, in frame build-
ing where First National Bank now
stands, building his present three
storj^ brick block, 104 East Market
street, in 1851, '52, of which, since 18(j5.
he has been the sole proprietor. At
the breaking out of the rebellion,
Mr. Steinbacher held the position of
Major in the State Militia, and in
ad4ition to being a " Squirrel Hunter "
in 1862, was verj^ active in promoting
enlistments and providing supplies
for the Union army during the war;
has held the position of president of
the Citizens' Saving and Loan Asso-
ciation since its organization in 1872;
is also a stockholder in the First
National Bank, and from its begin-
ning a stockholder and director in
the Akron Iron Company. In April
18.53, Mr. Steinbacher was married to
Miss Ph(Ebe Potter, of Suffield, Ohio,
BENJAMIN F. WHKKLEK.
T3ENJAMIN F. WHEF:LER, born
-D in Salem, Mass., June 9, 1808;
removing with parents to Rochester,
N. Y., in 1817; at 11 years of age
entered drug store, and two years
later dry goods store, clerking for six
years, then for a time worked at cabi-
net-making. July 11, 1829, was mar-
ried to Miss Eliza Miles, a native of
Vermont ; in 1836, moved to Ohio, set-
38
erhard .steinbacher.
who bore him four children -Marie
Louise, died in infancy, Kate L. (now
Mrs. George N. Tyner, of Holj^oke.
Mass.), Edward E., died April 29, 1887,
and Georgia Belle (now Mrs. George
L. Stewart, of Akron); Mrs. Stein-
bacher dj'itjg Januarjr 26, 1890, aged
58 3'ears.
tling at Franklin Mills (now Kent),
Portage count), coming to Akron in
the Spring- of 1841. Here for several
3"ears he worked at painting, then
opened a grocerj^ and provision store,
which he successfullj^ conducted
some ten years; then clerked for his
son-in-law for a few years ; then, dur-
ing the war, engaged in buying- and
shipping- grain, and at the close of
the war, entered the emplo}- of Mr.
Ferd. Schumacher, as grain bujer,
which business he still follows. His
wife died in 1844, leaving him three
children — Sarah H., (now Mrs. Jona-
than Starr, of Akron); Julia, (now
Mrs. M. Simpson, of Michigan); and
Henry F., of New York Cit3^ October
30, 1845, Mr. Wheeler was again mar-
ried, to Miss Catharine Butts, of
Columbiana county, who has borne
him three children — Ollie L., (now
Mrs. W. H. Thompson, of Meadville,
Pa.); Minnie E., (now Mrs. M. L. Hayne,
of Akron), and Harry E., of Akron.
A stanch temperance man for over
half a centurjs Mr. Wheeler has also
been a zealous member of Summit
Lodge, No. .50, I. O. O. F., since 18.51—
treasurer, three terms ; secretary,
one; Noble Grand, one; permanent
secretar)^ 17 ; is a Past Grand, a Past
Patriarch, and has been representa-
tive to grand encampment three
times.
514
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
JOHN BENJAMIN HOUGHTON,
J born in Attleboro, Bucks connt}-,
Pa., January 31, 1883; losing- his
father when four months of age, and
his mother soon after, was adopted
by his uncle, John Houghton, of
Stark county, Ohio, with whom he
lived, working on farm and attending
district school, until»1851, when he
entered store of P. D. Hall & Co.,
of Akron, as salesman, where he
remained three years ; in 1855, went,
in company w^ith Mr. Charles A.
Sumner, then a merchant in Akron,
to Baraboo, Wis., remaining' there
seven j'ears ; in 1862, returned to
Akron and established himself, as a
wholesale and retail dealer in gro-
ceries, and provisions, at No. 113 East
Market street, which buisness he is
still successfully conducting-. April
14, 1857, Mr. Houghton was married
to Miss Nellie E. Sumner, daughter
of Col. Julius A. Sumner, of Akron,
who bore him four children, two of
w^hom, only, are now living — Harry
B., born September 5, 1858, married to
Miss Lottie M. Merriam, of Akron,
March 14, 1883, and now book-keeper
in Citizens' Savings and Loan Asso-
ciation, of Akron; and Delia L.,
JOHN BENJAMIN' HOUGHTC'N.
born June 10, 1868, and married, June
19, 1890, to William G. Good, boot and
shoe merchant, in Akron. Mrs
Houghton died January 29, 1889, ag-ed
50 years and 4 days.
CORNELIUS A. BROUSE.
pORNELIUS A. BROUSE,— son of,
^ William Brouse, born in Chip-
pewa, Wayne Co., Ohio, June 3, 1837,
at five years of age moving \vith par-
ents to Wadsworth, Medina Co.: edu-
cated in Wadsworth schools, Wtdtern
Star Academy, and at Berea ; raised
to farm life, from 14 to 18 running-
engine in his father's mill ; at 21
came to Akron, as clerk for J. E.
Wesener & Co.; four years later
becoming a partner, the firm after-
wards changed to Wesener, Brouse
& Co., continuing five years. On dis-
solution, formed a partnership with
Mr. David L. Wall, under the firm
name of Brouse & Wall, continuing-
six years ; then associated with him-
self his brother, Myron D. Brouse^
under the firm name of Brouse & Co.,
which is now one of the most exten-
sive and prosperous dry goods firms
in the city. October 14, 1863, Mr.
Brouse was married to Miss Kate
Wesener, of Akron, who has borne
hiin four children — Adelaide L., Cor-
nelia A., Edwin W., and Marian M.
Mr. Brouse is a member of the First
Congregational Church of Akron,
and trustee of the society, and in
politics an earnest Republican.
AKRON S MERCANTILE STATUS.
515
ALFRED M. BARBER— born in
Bath township October U, 1830;
lowing his father when two years old,
and raised on farm with but limited
educational advantages, Mr. Barber
is emphatically a self-made man.
October 6, 1857, was married to Miss
Sarah Vansickle, of Bath ; after mar-
riage remained on farm one year, in
January, 1859, removing' to Akron,
buying the Pearl Mill (now the
Hower Mill), with which he was con-
nected ioxir years ; then engaged in
the grain and produce business,
Avhich has become very extensive, his
transactions amoxinting to over $1,-
500,000 per year ; in 1880 completed the
elegant brick block corner of Howard
and Cherry streets, and rebuilding it
after its partial destruction by fire in
1890. Mr. B. was an original member
and director of the Bank of Akron ;
is now vice president of the City
National Bank of Akron, and of the
Akron Belting Company ; a stock-
holder in the American Cereal
Compan5% and in several other
important industries both in Akron
and elsewhere, and besides the prop-
erty, above spoken of, and his fine
residence, corner North Prospect and
Park streets, is the owner of a fine
280-acre farm and other lands in
ALFRED M. BARBER.
Copley township, three miles west of
Akron city limits. Though having
no children of their own, Mr. and Mrs.
Barber have cared for and educated
several children of relatives, and are
liberal contributors towards the
various church and other benevolent
enterprises of the da3\
JACOB KOCH.
TACOB KOCH, son of Henry and
J Mary (Loeb) Koch, was born in
Ba?rstadt, Bavaria, Germany, May 29,
1840; in 1841 came with parents to
America, settling in Philadelphia; in
1845, his father was lost on a sailing
vessel, which foundered at sea be-
tween Philadelphia and Savannah,
Ga.; in 1846, came with mother to
Cleveland, attending the public
schools in that city until 1854, when
he came to Akron, as clerk in the
clothing store of Koch & Levi, among
the earliest dealers in ready made
clothing in Akron, the senior member
of tlie firm being his uncle; in 1864,
took his uncle's place in the firm,
Mr. Levi being succeeded in 1878, by
Mr. Louis Loeb, under the firm name
of J. Koch & Company, which in 1883
moved into their present commodi-
ous double store, in the Mathews
Block, on South Howard street. Mr.
Koch was a "Squirrel Hunter" and
responded to the call of Governor
Brough, in 1862, for troops to repel
the threatened invasion of Ohio, by
the rebel General Kirby Smith; as a
member of the 54th Battalion O. N.
G., served in the 164th O. V. I., in
front of Washington, 100 days in 1864,
also for a time served as one of the
trustees of the De Roo Hospital Fund,
of the city of Akron. March 13, 1878,
Mr. Koch was married to Miss Leah
Hexter, of New York City, who died
in New York, September 3, 1878.
516 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
The Jones Wholesale Grocery Company, at 150 and loOV^
South Main street, incorporated December 23, 1889, paid up capi-
tal of $30,000, is now covering a territory of several hundred square
miles in extent, with a lucrative and daily increasing trade. Pres-
ent officers: Directors — R. M. Fillmore, George B. Clarke, Frank
A, Wilcox, John Kreuder and Cyrus Miller; president, R. M. Fill-
more, vice president, Cyrus Miller; secretarj'^, F. A. Watkins;.
treasurer, George B. Clarke, Mr. John Lloj^d Jones, one of the
organizers of the company, having disposed of his stock to his
associates and returned to his former home, Rome, N. Y. •
Herrick &c Son. — (Burke C. and Oakley C.) successors to Her-
rick & Cannon, dealers in crockery and glassware, 108 Howard
street, established in 1868, have for several years done quite an
extensive importing and jobbing trade, which is from year to j^ear
rapidly extending.
The Faige Brothers Company.— (Successors to Faige Broth-
ers, established in 1867) 146 and 148 South Main street, jobbers in
hardware, factory and railroad supplies, windoAV glass, powder,
cutlery, Taplin, Rice & Co.'s stoves, etc.; incorporated April 1,
1889; capital, all paid in, $75,000; volume of business in 1890, $200,-
000; officers: Albert T. Faige, president; J. Ed. Good, vice presi-
dent; Theodore Butler, general manager; George S. Scott, assist-
ant manager; Frederick W. Beebe, treasurer.
The Akron Shoe Company. — Albert block. South Main street,-
wholesale and retail dealers in boots, shoes and rubbers; incorpo-
rated February 4, 1891; capital stock, all paid in, $20,000; directors:
Charles J. Knapp, Horatio T. Willson, John R. Farst, Joseph H.
Spuller, John T. Donahue; president, Horatio T. Willson; general
manager, Joseph H. Spuller; secretary and treasurer, John T. Don-
ahue; volume of business, 1891, about $50,000.
OTHER HOME BUSINESS MATTERS.
Space in this work will not admit of separate mention, by
name even, of all of Akron's present industrial, commercial and
other business operations, a few^ of the more prominent of which
under their respective heads are:
Dry Goods. — Hall Brothers (Fhilander D .and Lorenzo Hall),
corner How^ard and Market streets, established in 1835; Brouse «&
Co. (Cornelius A. and Myron D. Brouse), corner of Market and
Main, established in 1859; John Wolf, corner Main and Market,
1870; O'Neil & Dyas (Michael O'Neil and Isaac J. Dyas), 134-138
South Main, 1877; Murray & Watt (William M. Murray and Robert
Watt), Arcade block. South Howard street, 1880; Kline Bros. (Clin-
ton W. and Oliver J. Kline), 517-521 East Exchange, 1884; Myers &
Folsky (Samuel Myers and Abraham Folsky), Arcade block, South
Howard street, 1885; John W. Fayne, 621 South Main street, 1886;
Wendel Mangold, 148 South Howard street, 1887; Dague Brothers
(William C. Dague, J. Wilson Dague, Gabriel C. Dague, J. Melvin
Dague, Josiah K. Winch), 114 East Market street, 1891; George
Flower, 605 North Howard street; Horace G. Griffin, 1188-1190 East
Market street; Mrs. Elizabeth German, 103 North Arlington
street.
Akron's mercantile status.
517
BURKE C. HKKRICK,--born in
Twinsburcv. October 2o, 1829;
educated at Twinsburg- Institute,
graduatiniif at 18 j-eara of age ; taught
school ten Winters, working on
father's farm and in steam mill Sum-
mers ; married February 4, 1858, to
Miss Hannah C. Cannon, of Streets-
boro. who has borne him three
•children -Oakley C, Winnifred C.
^nd Victor M.; March 1, 1858, engaged
in mercantile trade with his brother
Earl, at Newberrj-, O., under firm
name of Herrick & Bro.; in Septem-
ber, 1858, by reason of failing health,
«old interest in store and purchased
farm in Twinsburg ; March 1, 1868,
with his brother-in-law, W. B.Cannon
■established in Akron the well-known
wholesale, retail and importing crock-
ery house of Herrick & Cannon, their
business transactions extending all
over Northern Ohio and Pennsyl-
vania. In August, 1887, Mr. Herrick
bought out Mr. Cannon and associ-
ated with himself his son Oakley,
under the firm name of Herrick &
Son, and besides the immense amount
of American wares handled, thej^ are
now importing about 200 crates of
crockery yearly. Mr. Herrick has for
many years been president of the
Summit County Bible Societ3% the
Free Medical Dispensary- and the
HUKKE C. HEKRrCK.
Mercantile Association ; secretar)" of
the Summit County Sunday School
Union ; treasurer of the Y. M. C. A.,
Board of Charities and Board of
Trade; trustee of the First M, E.
Church of Akron, and is prominent
in church, Sunda}'^ school and benev-
olent work.
WILSOX v.. KOHIXrtOX.
V\^ILSON G. ROBINSON,— eldest
»V Hon of John C, and Margaret
(KelU) Robinson, was born near
Middlebiirj' (now Akron's Sixth ward)
March 20, 1838 ; educated in schools
of neighborhood and High School in
Akron ; raised a farmer ; at 19, com-
menced clerking in book and sta-
tionery store of Mr. Augustus
Sawyer, in Akron, four years later
buying out Mr. Sawyer, and for the
past thirty years conducting the bus-
iness with phenomenal success. In
August, 1879, with others, established
the Akron Telephone Companj^ to
operate the Bell telephone in Akron,
Youngstown, Canton, Massillon and
Springfield, being elected president
of the company. Mr. Robinson has
also ably filled the position of inan-
ager of the Academy of Music since
its erection in 1869; being also inter-
ested in a number of the industrial
enterprises of Akron and vicinity.
January 1, 1861, Mr. Robinson was
married to Miss Mary E. Buckingham
of Middlebury, a native of Waterbury,
Conn., sister of the late Capt. Edward
Buckingham, who bore him one
child — Tiessie, who died at eight
months of age, Mrs. Robinson dying-
May 22, 1886, at the age of 47 years.
518
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Books and Stationery. — Wilson G. Robinson, 131 South How-
ard street; Chandler, Findley & Co. (James D. Chandler, Alvin I.
Findley and Julien J. Holloway), 119 South Howard; Akron Print-
ing and Publishing Co., corner Main and Mill; A. L. Dyke, 147
South Howard; Foster Brothers, 167 South Howard.
Watches, Jewelry, Etc.t— J. B. Storer & Co. (James B. Storer
and Dwight A. Hibbard), 116 South Howard; Orson H. Reming-
ton, 133 South Howard; George J. Nieberg, 179 South Howard;.
Charles M. Hibbard, 173 South Howard; Frank & Laubach (Will-
iam J. Frank and William F. Laubach), 130 South Howard; D. H,
McBride Co. (D. H. McBride, president, and E. C. McBride, secre-
tary and treasurer), 120 South Howard; Jackson & Hale (George
W. Jackson and John T. Hale), 207 East Mill; George S. Dales,
corner Mill and Howard; Robet-^ D. Nelson, 624 South Main.
Northeast corner Mill and Broadway— Windsor Hotel — Ferd.
Schumacher, owner— George M. Cadwell, proprietor — 1891.
The Windsor Hotel, northeast corner of Mill and Broadway,
This hotel has a history. The main building was originally the
Methodist church, standing at the corner of South Broadwaj'^ and
Church streets. On the completion of the present elegant church
structure, the old building w^as purchased by Mr. Ferd. Schumacher,
moved to the corner of Mill and Summit streets, and fitted up into
a temperance hotel, under the title of the "Cascade House," for
several years kept by that model landlord, Mr. R. N. Downey,
formerly of the Eriipire. To make room for his celebrated "Jumbo"
mill, erected in 1884, Mr. Schumacher again removed the building^
to its present location, veneering it with brick, and making exten-
sive additions and improvements, and changing its name to the
"Windsor." Present proprietor, (1891), George M. Cadwell.
Grain Dealers. — Alfred M. Barber, 150 South Howard street;
Iv. Kryder & Sons (Levi, Charles M., Frank L. and J. Harvey Kry-
der), 112 South Main; John Kreuder, 224 East Market; Baldwin &
Bisbee (James N. Baldwin and George A. Bisbee), 177 South Main;
The Seiberling Milling Company, 1222 East Market street; Dick &
Peterson (Charles W. F. Dick and J. Edward Peterson), 126 North
Main.
Akron's mercantile statuvS.
519
ALBERT T. PAIGE,- born in Mad-
ison, Lake county, Ohio, March
19, 185() ; moved with parents to
Painesville in 1860; educated in
Painesville public schools ; from 18()(j
to 1873 was employed in City National
Bank of Cleveland ; in 1873 came to
Akron and entered into the hard-
ware business with his brother, Hon.
David R. Paige, under the firm name
of Paige Brothers, and is now presi-
dent of the Paige Brothers Company,
of Akron ; is also treasurer and gen-
eral manager of the Paige Tube
Company, of Warren ; was one of the
four original purchasers of the land
at Barberton, and interested in nearly
all the industrial enterprises of that
rapidly growing little citJ^ In 181X) Mr.
Paige built Albert Hall on South Main
street, Akron, the finest block in
Akron and the finest hall in Ohio.
Mr. Paige was also for several years
treasurer of the Summit County
Agricultural Society, largely contrib-
uting by his labor and influence in
making it one of the most prosperous
and popular in the State. May 2.5,
1875, Mr. Paige was married to Miss
Carrie J. Adaius, of Painesville, who
ALBERT T. PAIGE.
died January 23, 1881, leaving one son,
Albert Adams Paige, born March 7,
1876, now (1891) at school in Paines-
ville.
GEORGE VI ALL.
C^EORGE VIALL. only child of
J Thomas C. and Mahala (Atwood)
Viall, was born in Middlebviry (now
Akron Sixth ward) March 12, 1834;
educated in Middlebury public
schools ; at 19, engaged in the gro-
cery business at Old Forge, continu-
ing a year and a half ; then pur-
chasing a boat, followed boating-
threfe Summers ; then three years in
grocery business in Middlebury ;
then three years in same business in
Tappan Block ; then eight years in
stoneware business, and nine years
in general merchandise in Middle-
bury ; one of the incorporators and
secretary and treasurer of the Middle-
bury Clay Company ; and is now the
representative of the United States
Life Insurance Company, and the
Cleveland Mutual Accident Insur-
ance Company, in Akron and viciiiitj'.
Mr. Viall served two terms in the
Middlebury Village Council, and in
various other ways has ever been
active in public affairs. August 24,
1857, Mr. Viall was married to Miss
Maria Reepsumer, a native of Trum-
bull Co., Ohio, who bore him three
children, only one of whom is now
living — Nannie L., now Mrs. Frank
Comstock of Akron ; also raised from
childhood Edward F.Carl, now a sales-
man in store of Brouse & Co. Mrs.
Viall dying February 17, 1877, Mr V.
was again married, to Mrs. Jennie
(Thompson) Sweeney, December 7,
1887.
520 AKKOX AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
China, Glassware, Etc. — Berry & Son (George C. and Charles
W. Herry) 209, and East Mill; Herrick & Son (Burke C.and Oakley
C. Herrick), 108 South Howard; Weeks & Kingsbury (George W.
Weeks and Alfred T. Kingsbury), 140, 142 South Main: Hall
Brothers (Philander D. and Lorenzo Hall), corner Howard and
Market.
Clothing, Hats, Caps, Etc. — J. Koch & Co. (Jacob Koch and
Ivouis Loeb), 125, 127 South Howard; New York Clothing Company,
George Hirsch. manager, 110, 112 East Market; Greenwood Broth-
ers (Julius H. and Marcus G.), 122 South Howard; Kraus&Holdstein
(Henry Kraus and John Holdstein), 134 South Howard; Morris
Price,'l09 South Howard; B. Heskins, 205 East Market; Abraham
Polsky, 1140 East Market.
Confectioners. — Becker & Auman (Adolph Becker and Fred
A. Auman), 143 South Howard; Bluinenstein Brothers (George
and Charles), 121 East Exchange; Everett B. Cahoon, 132 South
Balch; Caswall & Alderfer (Richard M. Caswall and Elmer J.
Alderfer), 175 South Howard; Lewis Creveling, 120 West Exchange;
A. L. Dyke, 147 South Howard; David C. Hanna, IIO1/2 South Main;
George T. Hawkins, 720 South Main; Valentine Hummel, 717 South
Main; Fred Kuhlke, 706 South High; Shepherd B. Lafferty, 106
South Howard; Nicholas Laskaris, 160 South Howard; Almond
C. Lodwick, 106 North Howard; Antonio Masino, 215, 2151/2 East
Mill; Masino Brothers (Gerard and Antonio), 172 South Main;
Morris E. Pond, 204 East Market; John D. RampaneUi, 205 East
Mill; William Ransom, 313 East Mill; Joseph A. Rivello, 608 South
Main; William Shauf, 358 South Main and 138 South Howard;
Charles C. Sherwin, UOVg Bartges; J. F. Smith, 621 East Mill; F.
Victor Strobel, 113 East Furnace; Glen S. Williamson, 406, East
Market; John B. Williard, 210 West Exchange; Mary Yeomans &
Son (Harry), 1183 East Market.
Hardware. — Akers & Pouchot (Henry A. Akers, Charles A.
Pouchot, Charles E. Akers and Daniel C. Harpham), 1086 East
Market; Louis Bickel, 615 South Main; Gulliford & Co. (Samuel
F. Gulliford and N. W. Gulliford), 902 Bowery; John S. Herrold,
530 South Main; Inman Brothers, 1176 East Market; Austin M.
Jackson, 532 South Main; George A. Kempel & Co., 168 South
Howard; Sorrick & Harter (Oliver A. Sorrick and Josiah J. Har-
ter), 100 North Howard; The Paige Brothers Company, 146, 148
South Main; Williams & Rohrbacher (Alton J. Williams and Alta
C. Rohrbacher), 170 South Howard; John Gross, 617 South Main.
Ladies' Furnishing Goods, Millinery, Etc. — Durr & Beck
(William Durr and Miss Christina Beck), 129 Howard; A. M. Feltus
& Co., 152 South Howard; Joseph W. Little, 139 South Howard;
John W. Payne, 621 South Main; Isaac J. Frank, 115 South How-
ard; Mrs. Melvin E. Foster, 171 South Howard; Miss F. Cheyney
Smith, 152 South Howard; Miss Annie W. Lees, 133 South Howard;
Mrs. Margaretha Briel, 125 East Exchange.
Notions and Novelties. — Alfred W. Cogswell, 123 South
Howard; L. R. Frank, 132 South Howard; Foster Brothers, 167
South Howard; Perry R. Sinith (Jacob J. Brasaemie, manager),
118 South Howard; Herman Fischer, 405 East Exchange; George
S. Dales, 100 Mill; Horace G. Griffin, 1188, 1190 East Market;
Wendel Mangold, 143 South Howard.
AKRON S MERCANTILE STATUS,
521
Abstracters of Titles. — William H. Evans, 116 South How-
«rd; Paul Brothers, 147 South Howard; Wilcox & Noah; 404 South
High; Summit County Abstract Company, 324 East Mill.
Carriage and Wagon Makers. — Collins Buggy Company,
corner South Main and Church streets; John Heppart, 701-705
East Market; Akron Carriage Works, Adolph Bonstedt, proprietor,
corner South Main and Buchtel ave.; William A. Allen, 204-208
Cherry; John Angne, 943 South Main; John A. Funk, rear 522
South Main; Harpham &. Eutz (David C. Harpham and William
Lutz), 104, 106 Arlington; Christopher W. Riley, 154 North Howard;
G. A. Eberhard & Son (Gustave A. and William G.), 522 South
Main; James A. Moody, 108 Carroll; W. Harry Morris, 165 South
Main.
Stoves and Tinware, Tinners, Etc. — May & Fiebeger (Rudolph
May and Frank Fiebeger), 114 North Howard; Akers & Pouchot,
1017 East Market; John Gross, 617 South Main; Guilliford & Co.,
902 Bowery; Austin M. Jackson, 532 South Main; Jahant & Weber
(Augustus Jahant and John C. Weber), 166 South Howard; Smith
.& Hamlin (Eli Smith and Byron S. Hamlin), 174 South Howard;
Sorrick & Harter (Oliver A. Sorrick and Josiah J. Harter), 100
North Howard; The Paige Brothers Company, 146, 148 South Main;
Akers & Harpham (Alfred Akers and William Harpham), 628 East
Mill; Thomas A. Bowers, 2161/2 South Maple; Kasch Brothers
(Fred C. and George F.), 148 South Main; W^illiam Kasch, 708 South
Bowery; W. D. Rowland, 1201 South Main; James Rutherford,
151 South Main; Eugene Waters. 433 East Center; Frank A. Wells,
201 St. Clair.
r^KORGE W. WEEKS, — born in
vJ Wadsworth, Ohio, November 24,
1831, removing' with parents to Copley,
in June, 1832; educated in district
schools and bred a farmer ; at 18
went to Iowa, near Burlington ; in
1854 went to California, the next year
returning to Copley, engaging in
farming'; in 1864 engaged in teaching,
at Copley Center ; in 1866 resumed
farming- ; in 1872 was elected clerk of
courts for Suminit county, and
re-elected in 1875, serving- six years ;
February 1, 1880, eng-aged in the
furniture business with Mr. Alfred
Baldwin, under the firm' name of
Baldwin & Weeks, continuing two
years ; in 1883 helped to organize the
City National Bank,of Akron, becom-
ing its cashier, four months later
selling his interest in the bank, and
in 1884 engaging- in the oil trade at
Bradford, Pa., though continuing^ his
residence in Akron ; in 1888 bought
the Crocker}' store of Mr. John M.
Fraze, in Barber's Block, on Howard
street, the foil wing year admitting
to partnership his son-in-law, Fred.
T. Kingsburj% under the firm name of
Weeks & King-sbury, in March, 1891,
removing to Albert Block, Main
street, where they now have one of
the handsomest crockery stores in
Northern Ohio. Februarj^ 3, 185(5, Mr.
GEORGE W. WEEKS.
Weeks was married to Miss Mar}' A.
Coon, of Copley, who has borne him
six children — Vira E., born November
10, 1857 (now Mrs. Bert T. Wills);
George W., born February 22, 1859;
Leavitt A., born April 26, 1860 ; Ollie
M., born Aug-ust 5, 1862, (now Mrs.
Fred. T. King-sbury); Irving- H., born
May 24, 1864 ; John L., born July 12, 1865.
522
AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
WILLIAM M. MURRAY, -born at
Ayr, Scotland, Januarj^ 31,1843 ;
educated in Ayr Academy ; appren-
ticed to the dry goods busineSvS in
Ayr, in 1859, serving four j^ears, con-
tinuing in same house as salesman
five years longer ; then one j^ear in
same business in Glasgow ; then
went to Buenos Ayres, South Amer-
ica, remaining there, as salesman,
four and a half 5'^ears ; returning to
Ayr in 1874, in September of that year
engaged with Brown, Thompson &
McWhirter, extensive dry goods
merchants in Hartford, Conn., with
whom he remained two years ; then,
in 1876, returned to Buenos Ayres,
where March 14, of that year, he was
married to Miss Anita Johnstone,
daughter of the late Ninian John-
stone, Esq., of the Estancia de las
Ninas, Chascomus, Buenos Ayres ;
after marriage sailed to New York,
via Brazil, and returning to Hartford
held the position of floor walker
with his old employers four years,
when, in 1880, he came to Akron as a
member of the dry goods firm of
Murray, Hardie & Watt, locating in
the Barber block, corner of Howard
and Cherry streets, five years later
removing to their present commo-
dious quarters in the Arcade. Mr.
Hardie retiring in 1889, the firm is
WILLIAM M. MUKKAV.
now Murray & Watt, and is one of the
most extensive and prosperous of its
class in the city. Mr. and Mrs. Mur-
ray are the parents of four children —
David Cowan St. Clair, born April 6,
188(); Edith Anita, born August 5,
1885 ; Ninian Johnstone, born May 19,.
1887, and Margaret Junita, bori;i
September 15,1889.
ROBERT WATT.
ROBERT WATT, born at Star
farm, near Cupar, Fifeshire,
Scotland, December 25, 1853; educated
in parochial school atScotlandwell,iii
Kinrosshire; December 1868, appren-
ticed to dry goods trade for four
years, at Leslie, Fifeshire; at end of
apprenticeship, served in same busi-
ness in Glasgow tw^o years; then
came to the United States, arriving
at Hartford, Conn., September 6, 1874,
engaging with the dry goods firm of
Brown, Thompson & McWhirter, two
years afterwards, for a time, clerking
in Trenton, N. J., and York, Pa.
About March 1, 1880, arrangements
were made with William M. Murraj^
and William Hardie, to open a dry
goods store in Mr. A. M. Barber's
new block, 152 South Howard street,
under the firm name of Mixrraj^
Hardie & Watt, afterwards, on the
completion of that structure, remov-
ing to Arcade Block, on the opposite
side of the street. Mr. Hardie with-
drawing in 1889, the firm is now Mur-
ray & Watt, and the "Boston Store"
is now one of the leading dr5' goods
houses in the cit3^ November 5. 1884,.
Mr. Watt was married to Miss Lizzie
Johnston, of Akron, who has borne
him three children — John Johnston
Watt, born August 27. 1885; Robert
Kidd Watt, born February 10, 1887;
Elizabeth Watt, born October 28, 1890,
AKRON S MERCANTILE STATUS.
523
Musical Instruments, Piano Tuners, ETC.--Oscar G.Brownell,
167 South Main; Charles S. Burnham, 111 Spruce; George S. Dales,
100 East Mill; Miss Maud I. Daman, 104 Bell; Miss R. B. Drew,
316 East Mill; G. Philip Goettman, 100 East Exchange; Richard
Griffiths, 110 North High; Valentine Hummel, 719 South Main;
Charles Klein, room 33 Arcade, John Kratz, 232 South Howard;
William T. McCague, 116 Adolph Ave.; Mrs. Peter J. Moersch, 436
Perkins; William J. Payne, 413 East Exchange; Prof. Gustav
Sigel, 125 Crosby; Prof. Oscar Werner, room 14 Arcade; Glenn S.
Williamson, 406 East Market; Prof. Claus Wolfram, 74 East Mar-
ket; William J. Brownell, 167 South Main; Lucius McBride,
Arcade; William K. Randall, 206 East Mill; W. L. Reading, 103
Vine; James Jackson, 114 Vine; James F. Scott, 121 North Summit;
E. J. Simpkins & Co., 218 East Market; Horton Wright, 141 Ash.
Picture Frames, ETC.^Chandler Findley & Co., 119 South
Howard; A. W. Cogswell, 123 South Howard; E. H. Danforth, 309
East Mill; Foster Brothers, 167 South Howard; J. E. Glatthar, 619
South Main; A. E. Royer, 173 South Howard; John F. Viall. 1138
East Market.
Clarendon Hotel, northwest corner of South Main and
Exchange streets. This building was erected in 1836, by Thomas
P. May, of Cleveland, and
'Squire Jacob Brown, of
Akron, and in the early
days w^as designated as
"May's Block." The first
floor, as now, was devoted
to mercantile uses, the
second floor to offices, and
the third as a public hall.
Some years later the prop-
erty was purchased by
Akron Lodge, No 83, F. &
A. M., who converted the
upper story into a lodge
room, the other two stories
being for several years
used as a carriage manu-
factory by Mr. Charles A.
Collins. About 1881, the
property was purchased by Mr. Ferd. Schumacher, and remodeled
into its present elegant form, and has since been kept as a strictly
temperance hotel, the present proprietor (1891), being Mr. George
Kyte.
Groceries and Prov^isions. — Frank B. Adams, 101 Locust; Fred
W. Albrecht, Buchtel Avenue and Center; George D. Anger, 508
East Thornton; Ferdinand A. Ball, 1121 South Main; William Bar-
nett, 805 South Main; William Beck, 300 Wabash Avenue; Arthur
F. Berger, 162 West Market; John J. Bergman, 142 Grant; William
Bittman & Son (William and William J.), 212 East Market; Adam
Bohl, 301 Sherman; C. W. Bonstedt's Sons (Adolph, Victor E.,
Herman and William H.), 558 East Market; Frank H. Booth, 553
West Market; Byrider & Atwood (John Byrider and Charles E.
Atwood), corner Sumner and East Buchtel avenue; Peter P.
Cherry, 1205 South Main; Clayton & Son (Mrs. Rebecca Cla^'ton
Clarendon Hotel.
524 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
and John W. Corbett), 220 Furnace street; Henry B. Cook, 216 Bluff
street; J. Cook & Sons (John Cook, deceased, John J. and William
H. Cook), 111 East Market, established in 1855; William W. Crooks,
196 Upson street; Abner Danforth, Viaduct; Jacob Dettling, 108
Kast Voris; John W. Dice, 600 East Exchange; Andrew G. Diehm,
402 East Exchange; Theodore S. Eberhardt, 108 Wooster avenue;
Frederick W, Ewald, 152 Cuyahoga: Lester H. Farrand, 355 West
Market; William Fink, Jr., 221 East Exchange; George E. Flower,
605 North Howard; Samuel B. Foster, 1066 South Main; Frain &
Manbeck (Charles P. Frain and Charles D. Manbeck), 916 East
Market, 1887; Evelyn L. Gibbs, 800 East Exchange; Thomas T.
Gibbs, 318 Washington; Werner Gille, 351 South Main; Horace G.
Griffin, 1188-1190 East Market, 1879; James A. Gross, 251 West
Market; Byron F. Grove, 624 East Mill; Henry Gugenheim, 162
South Howard; George Guth, 212 East Market; Joseph Hackett, 162
East South; Romanus B. Halter, 10631/2 South Main; Hanson &
Caswall (Frank Hanson and Robert T. Caswall), 156 North How^-
ard; Edward Harrison, 216 South Maple; Edwin C.Hart, 198 North
Broad^vay; Haynes & Rowley (S. Shepherd Haynes and John M.
Rowley), 213 East Market, 1889; John C. Herbruck, 1057 South
Main; Samuel W. Hixon, 208 West Exchange; Elijah H. Hoffman,
249 West Market; John B. Houghton, 113 East Market, established
1862; Valentine Hummel, 719 South Main; Inman Brothers (Sid-
ney C. and Charles T. Inman), 1184 East Market, 1867; William
Kauffman, 601 West Exchange; Charles A. Kempel, 336 Wooster
ave.; Emanuel H. Killinger, 602 South Main; Kline Brothers
(Clinton W. and Oliver J. Kline), 517-521 East Exchange; Matthias
Klink, 920 Bowery; James L. Kohler, 1097 South Main; F. J. Kolb
& Son (Frank J. and John C. Kolb), 146 West Exchange; Ransom
B. Koons, 801 Bowery; Alchia A. Koontz, 598 West Exchange;
Charles Kramer, 500 Jackson; Charles F. W. Marquardt, 600 North
Howard; Charles W. McCune, 625 South Main; Michael McFar-
land, 208 East Thornton; A. Miller «& Co., 5031/2 East Exchange;
Mrs. Barbara Miller, 411 McCoy; Miller «& Roche (Cyrus Miller and
William Roche), 186 South Howard, 1888; Elias MiUhoff, 968 South
Main; Mitchell & Reid (Charles E. Mitchell and Frank W. Reid),
437 East Center; Murdock Sc Rinker (Charles M. Murdock and
George W. Rinker), 536 South Main; WiUiam E. Musser, 616 Sum-
ner; Ed J. Mustill, 525 North Howard; William Myers, 127 North
Howard; Nelan Brothers (William and Daniel Nelan), 301 East
Mill; Robert Neugart, 714 Bowery; John Quilhot, 324 East North;
John F. Rech, 1074 South Main; I. Reder & Co., 142 South Howard;
Thomas Reinecke, 618 West Cedar; James D. Ritchie, 1129 South
Main; Joseph A. Rohner, 511 East Thornton; Roth & Shaffer
<WiUiam C. t^oth and Samuel Shaffer), 1134 East Market, 1884;
Andrew Ruof, 551 West Market; John Russell, 1136 East Market,
1887; Burton I. Sanford. 621 West Market; George G. Shaffer, 266
West Market; G. Theodore Schell, 175 Wooster ave.; Henry Schu-
bert, 628 South Main; Andrew Seidel, 134 Sherman; Leopold Seid-
man, 827 South Main; Peter G. Shaffer, 121 Hill; Walter J. Sher-
bondy, 176 Wooster ave.; Casper Simon, 517 West Exchange; Will-
iam T. Sweeten, 829 South Main; Tanner & Co. (Perry E. Tanner
and J. W. Leininger), 114 S. Howard; Joseph Thomas, 239 Johnston;
Wm. H. H. Welton, 112 W. North; Jacob Wise, 209 E. Market, 1885;
Young Brothers (Marshall A. and Edwin J. Young), 1058 S. Main.
AKRON S MERCANTILE STATUS.
525
Plumbers.— Charles M. Ginther, 153 South Main; Hill &
Cahill, (John E. Hill and Henry P. Cahill), 203 East Market; Kraus
& Oberlin, (John V. Kraus and Charles M. Oberlin), 204 East Mill;
Whyler &Roussert (George A, Whyler and Louis Roussert) 322
South Main.
Photographers.— Benjamin F, Battels, 106 East "Market; F. E,
Courtney, Arcade block; Charles E. Groesel, 601 South Main;
George J. Snook, 186 South Howard; Theodore H. Wolfram, 141, 143
South Howard; George E. Hitchcock, 100 South Howard.
Hats, Caps, Furnishing Goods, Etc. — George Byrider & Co,
(George & William A. Byrider). 100, 102 East Market; William K.
Eichenlaub, 141 South Howard; David Ferbstein, 191 South How-
ard; Herman & Hollander (Henry Herman and Joseph, W. Hollan-
der), 185 South Howard; Charles H. Myers, 619 South Main; New
York Clothing House, 110, 112 East Market.
Furniture Dealers. — Dodge & Plumer (Burdette L. Dodge and
George W. Plumer), 124, 126 South Howard; L. A. Barmore. 154,
156 South Main; Kasimer Gintz, 176 South Howard; George E.
Kratz, 108 East Mill; Edward E. Horn, 303,305 East Mill; William
J. Coney, 224 South Howard; Mahaffey & Wells (James Mahaffey
and William Wells), 219, 221 East Market; George M. Kempel, 14^
South Main.
BURDETTE LYNDE DODGE,—
son of Parker and Mary Malvina
(Lynde) Dodge, born in Penfield,
Monroe county, N. Y., June 19, 1853;
moved with mother and sister to
Rochester in 1856, and to Akron in
1862; educated in public schools,
Wilder's commercial colleg'e and
Buchtel Colleg'e; beginning- with
1867, clerked for F. McNaughton six
months and Hall Brothers three and
a-half years; book-keeper for the
Weary, Snyder & Wilcox Manufac-
turing Company, two and a-half
years; book-keeper and cashier for
G. C. Berry & Company, five years;
book-keeper for Second National Bank
one year; January 27, 1879, with Mr.
Charles Klinger, engaged in furni-
ture business, in 1886, with Mr.
Klinger, B. L. Marble and A. L.
Shattuck, organizing the Marble &
Shattuck Chair Company, of Bedford,
with Mr. Dodge as secretary and
treasurer; dissolving with Mr.
Klinger, March 17, 1887, associated
with himself Mr. George W. Plumer,
of Franklin, Pa., under present firm
name of Dodge & Plumer; was secre-
tary and treasurer of Akron's first
street railway company; is now sec-
retary and treasurer of the Weary,
Snyder and Wilcox Manufacturing
Company, vice president and gen-
eral luanager of the Akron Security
and Investment Company, director
of The J. C. McNeil Boiler Company,
and stockholder in the Akron Woolen
and Felt Company, the Selle Gear
Company, the People's Sav^ings
BUKDETTE LVNDE OODGE.
Bank, secretary and treasui'er of the
American Marble and Toy Manufac-
turing Coinpanj^ Akron, and the
Cleveland Printing and Publishing
Company. May 21, 1878, Mr. Dodge
was married to Miss Ella M. Snyder,
who has borne him four children —
Anna, born May 21, 1880; Grace, De-
cember 6, 1881; Ira Jacob, June 23,
1884; Burdette Howard, April 14, 1887.
52(3
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
MICHAEL O'NEIL,— born in Ire-
land December 12,1850; in 1851
came to Ainerica with parents, vset-
tling- in New York City ; at 16 entered
broker's office as messenger boy ; in
1868 became book-keeper in whole-
sole dry goods house in New York,
remaining until 1873, when he
engaged in the retail dry goods busi-
ness at Lancaster, Ohio ; in 1876
came to Akron, and in connection
with Mr. Isaac J. Dyas, under the
firm name of O'Neil & Dyas, engaged
in the wholesale and retail dry goods
business at 114 East Market street.
Finding that store inadequate to
accommodate their rapidly in-
creasing trade, a fine four-story stone
front store was built by the firm on
South Main street, into which they
moved in February, 1889, the entire
structure, together with an immense
stock of goods, being destroyed by
fire on the night of October 28, 1889—
total loss over $250,000, insurance
$109,000. Business was immediately
resumed at the old stand on Market
street, the burned block having since
been replaced by a still handsomer
structure, which is now occupied by
the firm, and is the most extensive
MICHAEL O'NEIL.
and coinplete establishment of its
kind in the city. July 16, 1884, Mr.
O'Neil was married to Miss Patience
J. Mahar, of Cleveland. They have
four children — William F., Augus-
tine, Patience and Thomas.
ISAAC J. DYAS.
ISAAC J. DYAS,— born in Parish
-I- Athboy, Ireland, December 22,
1849 ; primary education in national
schools ; at 13 entering RanelagH
College, at Athlone, remaining a year
and a half, then attended Santry Col-
lege, Dublin, the same length of time;
served a four years' apprenticeship
at the dry goods trade with Thomas
Drury & Co., Dublin. In 1870 came
to the United States, serving a year
and a half as salesman with A. T.
Stewart & Co., in New York, and about
three years as salesman with Tiino-
thy Brothers, of Nashville, Tenn. In
1877, came to Akron, entering into
partnership with Mr. Michael O'Neil,
and under the firin name of O'Neil &
Dyas, opening a dry goods store in
Woods' Block, 114 East Market street.
Their business outgrowing the room
there available, the firm built a fine
four story stone front store on South
Main street, which, with an immense
stock of goods, was destroj^ed by fire
on the nig-ht of October 28, 1889, at a
loss of $2oO,000, about half covered by
insurance. Returning to their former
quarters, they immediately began to
rebuild the burned structure, into
which they inoved on the anniversary
of the fire, it" being one of the most
extensive and complete establish-
ments of its kind in the city. June
20, 1880, Mr. Dyas was married to Miss
Lutheria S. Weber, of Akron, who
has borne him four children — Mary
H., John W., Carl E. and James F.
AKRON S MERCANTILE STATUS.
527
Boots and Shoes.— M. T. Cutter & Co. (Morrill T. Cutter,
Charles B. Reid and Benjamin F. Andrev^rs), 110 South Howard
street, established in 1857; S. E. Phinney & Co. (Sylvanus E. Phin-
ney, John H. Wagoner and Frank L. Koplin), 117 South Howard
street, established 1866; Charles A. HoUoway, 623 South Main,
1876; Charles A. Wightman, 159 South Howard, 1884; Frank Wer-
ner, 128 South Howard street, 1880; A. L. Bowman & Co., 109 East
Market, 1886; Charles R. Solomon, 106 East Market, 1888; E.
W. Brinkman, 121 South Howard, 1888; James N. Miller, 608 South
Main, 1890; Charles C. Myers, 619 South Main; V. M. Ryan,
1178 E. Market; Alfred K. Swigart, 1062 S. Main; Akron Shoe Co.,
144 S. Main, 1891; Good & Co. (Jacob and William G. Good), 145 S.
Howard and 1174 E. Market, 1889; Henry Schmiedel, 507 E. Exchange.
Drugs and Medicines. — Erhard Steinbacher, 104 East Market,
established in 1851; S. E. Allen, 193 South Howard; W. W. Alexan-
der & Co. (William W. Alexander and William H. Diehl), 219 South
How^ard; A. C. Armstrong — Andrew^ M. Armstrong, manager — 151
South Howard; Clinton E. Heifer, 113 South Howard; J. M. Laffer
& Co. (James M. Laffer and John A. Sharpe), 630 South Main;
Augustus Warner, 208 East Market; Inman Brothers (Sidney C.
and Charles T. Inman), 1184 East Market; Byrider & Atwood (John
Byrider and Charles E. Atwood), 100 Sumner; Davis & Blocker
(William P. Davis and Henry C. Blocker) 111 North Howard.
West side of Main Street, l)ctween Mill and Market, 1S91.
Photo by George E. Hitchcock.
528 AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Fruit Dealers, Etc. — James A. Gross, 251 West Market r
Henry Gugenheim, 162 South HoAvard; Klisha C. Kimberk, 141
North Howard; Nicholas Laskaris, 160 South Howard; Antonio
Masino, 215 East Mill; Masino & Brother (Gerard and Antonio),
172 South Main; John D. Rampanelli, 205 East Mill; William Rich-
ards, Merriman street.
»
Real Estate Agents. — John H. Auble, 114, South Howard;
Jacob I. Bachtel, 188 South Howard; Arthur F. Bartges, room 4,
Academy of Music; Philip P. Bock, 143 South Howard; Ferdinand
J. Creque, room 18, Arcade; Cassidy & Buckmaster, 710 South
Main; Adam Eckler, 709 South Main; Charles Esselburn, room 6,
Academy of Music; William H. Evans, 116 South Howard; Albert
W. Foster, 119 South Howard; Isaac C. Gibbons, rooms 3 and 4
Beacon Block; Hart & Cook, 1184 East Market; William Hilbish,
151 South Howard; E. P. HoUoway & Son, 182 South Howard;
Charles F. Ingersoll, 619 South Main; Pryce M. Morris, 706 South
Main; Motz & Myers, 136 South Howard; George A. Myers, 113
South Howard; William Richards, Merriman; Rowlen & Hall,
room 2 Arcade; Curtis C. Sherbondy, 130 South Howard; N. R.
Steiner & Co. (Dr. A. M. Cole and C. W. Seiberling), 233 South
Main; Mansfield Sumner, 1174 East Market; Wilcox & Noah, 404
South High; Harry J. Shreffler, 209 East Mill.
Coal Dealers. — Brewster Coal Company, 900 South Main;
Childs & Pixley, (O. D. Childs and Wilson H. Pixley), corner North
Howard and Ridge; Wallace W. Clark, 865 Bowery; J. H. Derhamer
& Sons, (Daniel J. and William H.), 204 River; Dickson & Son,
(William H. and Walter D.), corner East Exchange and Washing-
ton; Will A. Heifer, 859, 863 Bowery; Robert Irvin, near Case ave-
nue; Oliver S. Jacobs, 200 South Howard and 302 East Exchange;
Lake View Coal Company, (George F. Stambaugh, agent), foot North
High and corner Market and Case avenue; Loomis Brothers (Harrj'
E. and James P.), 112 South Howard and corner ExcViange and
Broadway; Harry E. Loomis, 112 South Howard; Thomas W.
McCue & Son (C. Clifton), 619 East Mill; Standard Coal Company,
336 South Main; The Akron Coal Company, 112 South Howard;
The Excelsior Coal Company, general office, (John J. Wagner,
manager and Charles F. Wagner', secretary), 116 East Market, retail
office, Dr. William Sisler in charge, 701 South Broadway; The
Klages Coal Company, Henry Klages, manager, corner Mill and
Prospect; The Superior Mining Company, William Hard^^, presi-
dent, office 207 East Mill.
Hotels. — Hotel Buchtel (Frank Wood, proprietor), corner East
Mill and South Main; Empire (William C. and Clarence M. Bry-
ant), corner East Market and North Main; Windsor (George M.
Cadwell), corner East Mill and South Broadway; Clarendon
(George Kyte), corner South Main and East Exchange; Arlington
(Nicholas Huber), corner West Market and North Canal; Main
Street House (Adam G. Ranck), 244 North Main; Rostock's Hotel
(Max Rostock), 149, 151 North Howard.
Funeral Directors. — Captain George Billow, corner Howard
and Mill; Charles T. Parks, 340 South Main; John F. Viall & Son,
(Arthur G.), 1138 East Market; Hogan & Kasson, (Jerry P. Hogan
and Harvey A. Kasson), 215 East Market.
akkon's mbkcantile status. 529
Insurance Agents. — Frank K. App & Harvey S, App, room 2,
Beacon Block; John H, Auble, 114 South Howard; Jacob 1. Bach-
tel, 188 South Howard; Philip P. Bock, 143 South Howard; Cassi-
dy & Buckmaster (Frank D. Cassidy and Warren Buckniaster),
710 South Main; Joshua H. Collins, 215 South Howard; Clarence
D. Crumb, Albert Block, South Main; Adam Eckler, 709 South
Main; Charles Esselburn, room 6, Academy of Music; William H,
Evans, 110 South Howard; Albert W. Foster, 119 South Howard;
Isaac C. Gibbons, rooms 3 and 4 Beacon Block; Hart & Cook
(Charles S. Hart and Joseph Cook), 1184 East Market; David
Herberich, 2178 South Broadway; William Hilbish, 151 South
Howard; Herbert P.Hitchcock, 200, 202 East Market; Emanuel P.
Holloway & Son (Rolin W.), 182 South Howard; Robert S. Iredell,
room 3 Arcade; Richard H. Knight, 145 Dayton; John Memmer,
Akron Savings Bank Building; Pryce M. Morris, 706 South Main;
Motz & Myers (John Motz and Leonard N. Myers), 146 South How-
ard; Ferdinand Mueller, 188 South Howard; Charles L. Reifsnider,
Postoffice Block; Rowlen & Hall (William H. Rowlen and William
C. Hall), room 2, Arcade; Curtis C. Sherbony, 130 South Howard;
Harry J. Shreffler, AyHffe Block, 209 East Mill; Fred E. Smith, 111
South Howard; The Akron Brokerage Company, Albert Block,
South Main; The Summit County Abstract Company, 3241/2 East
Mill: George Viall, 1143 East Market; Charles Watson, 115 Sher-
man; Wilcox & Noah, 406 South High; Judson E. Wolcott, 117
Adams; Benjamin D. Wright, secretary Underwriters' Association,
room 5 Arcade.
Meat Markets.— Charles Ball, 1203 South Main; Amos J.
Barder, 1180 East Market; John P. Barder, 130 Johnston; Herman
Bartels, 404 East Exchange, 160 Grant; George C. Beck, 1201 South
Main; Albert R. Boder, 115 North Howard; Mrs. Wilhelmina
Bolte, 703 East Exchange; Jacob Brodt, 616, 620 South Main; John
D. Campbell, 230 South Arlington; Ezra Crawford, 1311 South
Broadw^ay; Abner Danforth, on Viaduct; William Delashmutt,^
9OII4 Bowery; Philip Deibel, 609 South Main; John Ellery, 1062
South Main; George F. Freker, 103 Wooster Avenue; Thomas T.
Gibbs, 318 Washington; Jacob W. Giebenrath, 514 West Exchange;
Hartman Brothers (George and William T.), 260 West Market;
Haverstick Brothers (Calvin and Chauncey R.), 200 Adams; Hiram
Jackson, 206 W^est Exchange; William Kauffman, 601 West
Exchange; Kempel & Horst (Casper L. Kempel and John R. Horst),.
190 South Howard; Klein Brothers (Adam and John), 552 West
Market; Kline Brothers (Clinton W. and Oliver J.), 517, 521 East
Exchange; John Klink, 729 East Exchange; Matthias Klink, 920
Bowery; John Koch, 526 West Exchange; Adolph KuU, 214 Sher-
man; Lahr & Reimer (E. Grant Lahr and Owen Reimer), 5171/2 East
Exchange; Fred Laub, 131 North Howard; William McKeal, 513
North Howard; Mueller Brothers (Gustave, Henrj^ and William),
519 North Howard; Pierce & Company, 310 West State; W. J.
Powell & Company, 801, 803 South Main; George Schaffer, Jr., 268
West Market; August Schell, 100 Wooster Avenue; Philip Schling-
man, 222 East Market; Schoeninger Brothers (Christian and Fred-
erick), 214 East Market; Adam Schultz, 433 East Center; James
F. Smith, 974 East Exchange; Spicer Brothers (King A. and Ernest
H.), 623 East Mill; W. Henry Sprain, 918 East Market; Walker
Firothers (WiUiam P., Henry and Alfred P.), 210 West Market.
84
530 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
Civil Engineers, Surveyors, Etc. — George Paul, Robert S.
Paul, Hosea Paul, T. Dwight Paul, Edward J. Paul, office 147
South Howard; Charles E. Perkins, County Surveyor, office Court
House; Sherman G. Swigart, 119 Ho^vard.
MISCELLANEOUS TRADE AND TRAFFIC.
In a work of this kind it will be impossible to mention in
detail, or even by name, all who are actively participating in the
rapidly increasing industries of our goodly city. Indeed, so rapid
and so numerous have been the accessions, since the serial publi-
cation of these chapters ceased, two years ago, that the \vriter
fears that some important branches ma3'^ be inadvertently over-
looked. Enough has been given, how^ever, to make every true
Akronian feel proud of the wonderful displaj^ — a variety so infinite
theft depression in any one branch, however important it may be,
w^ill scarcely be felt, amid the general prosperity.
' In addition to those already named, other branches of bus-
iness in Akron at the present time may be summarized as follows:
agricultural implements, 7; artists, 5; bill posters, 1; bath rooms,
8; bed spring manufacturers, 2; bicycle dealers, 4; billiard rooms,
4; blasting powder dealers, 3; butter and cheese manufactories, 1
(Samuel C. McNeil, 102 South Howard); boarding houses, 29; boot
and shoe makers, 32; bottling w^orks, 3; breweries, 2; bre\very
agencies, 4; brick agency, 1; broom makers, 3; building movers, 2,
business colleges, O. S. Warner and Peter Hammel, 2; cabinet
makers, 3; wholesale butchers, 4; carpet dealers, 5; carpet cleaners,
1; carpet weavers, 9; carriage hardware, 1; carriage painters and
trimmers, 3; barrow^ makers, 1; w^holesale cigar dealers, 4; cigar
makers, 10; cistern builders, 1; collectors, 2; commission mer-
chants, 3; graders, 3; curry comb makers, 1; dancing teachers, 1;
dining halls, 9; draymen, 9; dress makers, 34; dyers and scourers,
2; dynamo makers, Ij; electric supplies, 2; electrotypists 1;
embossing, 2; express companies, 5; expressmen, 19; fish markets,
1; florists, 9; passage agencies, 10; dealers in furnaces, 5; ginger
ale makers, 3; gun and locksmiths, 2; hides and pelts, 2; horse
dealers, 2; ice dealers, 2; insurance companies represented, 186;
lager beer bottlers, 7; laundries, 13; leather and findings, 2; lime,
plaster, etc., 6; liquors, 6; livery stables, 18; loan agents, 15;
mantels and grates, 3; map and atlas publishers, 2; mattress
makers, 5; marble Avorks, 2; market gardeners, 8; milk depots, 14;
mineral w^ater, 3; mitering machines, 1; moving wagons, 3; news
dealers, 7; nurses, 11; nurserymen, 2; oculists and aurists, 3; oil
filters, 1; oil dealers, 4; paints, oils, etc., 16; paper boxes, 1;
pattern makers, 3; pension attorneys, 3; pork packers, 2; pretzel
bakers, 2; proprietary medicines, 4; pumps, 2; railroad ticket
brokers, 2; restaurants, 12; roofers, 7; rubber stamps, 2; saloons,
127; second hand goods, 4; seed dealers, 5; sewing machine
dealers, 4; shirt makers, 3; sign wrriters, 4; soap makers, 3; soda
w^ater makers, 3; stenographers, 1; stone quarries, 4; tailors, 9;
teaming, 4; telegraph companies, 2; telephone exchange, 1; tinners,
13; tobacco and cigars, 34; transfer lines, 3; umbrella repairs, 2;
upholsterers, 5; wall paperers, 6; w^hitew^ashers, 3; sand dealers, 1;
hairdressers, 1; Avindow screens, 3; w^ood engravers, 3; wrapping
paper, 1; w^ind mills, 1.
PORTRAITS AND BIOGRAPHIES.
531
PLORENCE WEBER —born in Sin-
grest, County of Maureniutier,
Department of Du Pas Rhein, in the
then King'doni of France, now Alsace,
Gerniany,Oct. 10,1815; came toAmerica
with parents in 1832, settling in Liver-
pool, Medina county, on farm ; edu-
cated in district schools; in 1834 came
to Akron, clerking in grocery stores
•of James Mason, at Locks 4 and 16,
on Ohio Canal ; in 1838 went to Nor-
walk, Huron county, as clerk in hotel
of J. W. Eichert, later, in partnership
with Mr. E., opening hotel in Monroe-
ville, same county; in 1843 was mar-
ried, at Tiffin, to Miss Margaret Stein-
bacher, sister of Major E. Steinbacher,
-of Akron ; in October, 1844, bj^ ox
team, moved to Akron and engaged
in grocery business on present site
of Arlington Hotel, West Market
street, where he was twice burned
out ; then bought a property on
North Howard street, and fitted it up
into a hotel, which, as the American
House, he kept for nearly 25 years,
when he removed to a sinall farm,
adjoining the city limits on the west,
from 1871 to 1874 ably filling the office
•of justice of the peace for Portage
township. Mr. and Mrs. Weber were
the parents of four children — John
"C., now of the stove and furnace firm
"C^:::^"
FLORENCE WEBER.
of Jahant & Weber, Akron, born
August 20, 1844; Margaret C, born
June 2, 1846 ; Mary A., born August
15, 1850, and Lutheria S. (now Mrs.
Isaac J. Dyas), born March 27, 1859.
Mr. Weber died October 2, 1885, aged
69 years, 11 months and 22 days.
WOLCOTT W. HITCHCOCK.
WOLCOTT W. HITCHCOCK,— son
of Lucius W., and Eleanor
<Wolcott) Hitchcock, was born in
Tallmadge, September 14, 1827 ; raised
■on farm and educated in Tallmadge
public schools. March 23, 1854, Mr.
Hitchcock was married to Miss Sarah
Jane Moore, daughter of the late John
Moore, of Springfield, settling upon a
farm in the west part of Portage
township, which he successfully cul-
tivated until his sudden death, from
congestion of the brain, March 16,
1871, at the age of 43 years, 6 months,
and 2 days. In early tnanhood Mr.
Hitchcock united with the Congre-
gational Church in Tallmadge, and
during the remainder of his life was
active in church and Sunday school
work, and in all the benevolent
enterprises of the day. In politics he
was an ardent Republican, earnestly
espousing the cause of the oppressed,
and liberally upholding the govern-
ment in suppressing the great slave-
holders' rebellion. When stricken
with the fatal disease, Mr. Hitchcock
was serving as a regular juror in
Common Pleas Court, which placed
upon its journal a resolution testify-
ing to his worth, and sympathizing
with his friends in their great loss.
Mrs. Hitchcock, though still retain-
ing the family farm, now resides in
Akron. She has no children.
532
AKRON AJSID SUNNIT COUNTY,
GEORGE BARBER,— was born in
Connecticut, January 27, 1805,
removing- with his parents to Onon-
daga county, N. Y., at one year of age,
where he remained until 21, attending
district school and learning the coop-
er's trade. On attaining his majorit}^
he came to Ohio and engaged in
selling clocks, after a few years
travel through the State finally set-
tling down in Middlebury. Work-
ing at his trade until 1845, he
began the manufacture of matches,
being among the first to engage in
that business in the west. Owing to
lack of distributing facilities, in 1852
traded his factory for a hotel and
was appointed postmaster for Middle-
bury, under Pierce's administration.
Tiring of hotel-keeping in about one
year, he again embarked in the match
business, first by hand, in a small
barn, but increasing his facilities
from time to time to such an extent
that for some years previous to the
repeal of that portion of the internal
revenue law, the stamps require'd to
legalize the output of the concern
amounted to over $2,000 per day. Mr.
Barber was married to Miss Eliza
Smith, of Canton, Ohio, April 1, 1835,
who bore him eight children, four of
whom are still living — Ohio C. Barber,
now at the head of the largest match
;'"^'V^»
m ; ( 'Am
GEORGE BARBER.
manufactory in the world, who^e-
portrait and biograph)^ appear else-
where; Henrietta Eleanor, now Mrs.
John K. Robinson, of Chicago; Cath-
arine and Josephine, still at home.
Mr. George Barber, died April 12,
1879, a!; the age of 74 years, 2 months
and 15 days. Mrs Barber, born Janu-
ary 15, 1817, still survives.
JOHN KELLY ROBIxN'SON.
JOHN KELLY ROBINSON, — son
J of John H. and Margaret (Kell)^
Robinson, was born in Springfield,
near Middlebury, May 26,1842 ; raised
on farm ; educated in Middlebury
public schools and Akron High
School ; for a time clerked in book
store of his brother, Wilson G. Rob-
inson, also learning telegraphy under
Akron's veteran operator, William
C. Allen, stationed in same room ;
went as a "Squirrel Hunter" to the
defense of Cincinnati from the
threatened attack of the rebel gen-
eral, Kirby Smith, in September,
1862 ; the same year starting out on a
peddling wagon for the sale of
matches, manufactured in Middle-
bury by George and Ohio C. Barber ;
in 1863, was admitted to a partner-
ship in the business, on the organi-
zation of the Barber Match Companj-
in 1865, becoming its general agent,,
afterwards becoming its president.
On sale of works to the Diamond
Match Company, in 1881, removed to
Chicago, as general manager of the
Chicago branch, now being treastirer
of the company. January 15, 1869,
was married to Miss Henrietta
Eleanor Barber, daughter of George
and Eliza (Smith) Barber, born
August 29, 1848, who has borne him
five children — Margaret Elizabeth,
born January 15, 1869 ; Mar}^ Frances,
born December 14, 1870 ; Laura Barber
born October 27, 1872 ; John Kelly, Jr.,
born October 15, 1879 ; Eleanor, born
July 28, 1887.
PORTRAITS AND BIOGRAPHIES,
533
OHIO C. BARBER —son of Georg^e
and Eliza (Smith) Barber, was
born in Middlebury (now Akron).
April 20, 1841; educated in Middle-
bury Union Schools ; at 16 beg'an
traveling- in the interest of his father,
the pioneer match manufacturer in
the West ; in 1862 assuined manag-e-
inent of business ; in 1865 organized
the Barber Match Company, with
George Barber as president, O. C.
Barber, secretary and treasurer, and
John K. Robinson as general agent;
in 1881 consolidated with 28 other
similar establishments, East and
West, under the name of the Dia-
mond Match Company, which now
has a capital of $6,000,000, with Mr.
Barber as its president; also organ-
ized thePortageStrawboardCompany,
with extensive works at New Portage
rand Circleville, now, with 22 other
similar works, merged in the Ameri-
can Strawboard Company, with $6,-
•000,0(X) capital, with Mr. Barber as
president ; is also president o f
National Sewer Pipe Company, at
Barberton (capital $300,000); of Paige
Tube Company, Warren, ($.500,000);
Neracher Automatic Sprinkler Com-
pany, Warren, ($150,000) ; Creedmoor
Cartridge Company, Barberton, ($50,-
000) ; Sterling Boiler Company, Bar-
berton. ($500,000) ; American Alumi-
num Company, Barberton, ($200,000),
iind largelj' interested in several
OHIO C. BARBER.
Other industrial enterprises in Akron
and elsewhere. Mr. Barber has
served as member of City Council,
member of Board of Trade, and is a
liberal promoter of the educational,
religious and benevolent enterprises
of the day. October 10, 1866, he was
married to Miss Laura L. Brown, of
Akron, who has borne him two chil-
dren— Anna Laura and Charles H.,
the first named,- only, is now living.
JOHN h\ VIALL.
JOHN F. VIALL,— son of Bennett
J and Wealthy (Arnold) Viall, born
in Chautauqua county, N. Y., April 30,
1825; came with parents to Ohio in
1830, living on a farm in Springfield
two 5'ears, the father building saw^
and woolen mills in Middlebury,
which he carried on several years,
the son remaining at home until 22
j'ears of age. He then learned the
cabinet-maker's trade, which, on his
own account, and in partnership
with others, he followed until 1866,
when he engaged in the undertaking
business, which, in connection with
his son, Arthur G., under the firm
name of Viall & Son, he is now suc-
cessfully pursuing. November 4,
1847, Mr Viall was married to Miss
Cornelia C. Wheeler, a native of
Tallmadge, who has borne him seven
children, five of whom are still living-
— Frances,nowMrs.WilliainObendorf,
of Akron ; Edwin W., now in emploj^
of the American Strawboard Corn-
pan}^, at Noblesville, Ind.; Laura C,
wife of Charles B. Macey, of the latter
place ; Arthur G., associated with his
father in Tiusiness as above stated,
and Otis K., at home. A thorough
Republican in politics, but never an
office-seeker, Mr. Viall has neverthe-
less filled several minor offices —
assessor, constable, etc., and was for
many years secretary of the Middle-
bury Cemeterj' Association.
534
AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Northeast Corner Mill and Main Streets, Beacon Block, 1891.
Photo by B. F. Battels.
"THE ART PRESERVATIVE OF ALL ART.'
Full mention has already been made of the several newspaper
establishments of the city and county, from the earliest settle-
ment to the present, but the facilities for job, book and commer-
cial printing, bookbinding, blank book manufacturing, etc., have
not heretofore been adverted to, and come properly within the
scope of this chapter.
The Akron Printing and Publishing Company. — Starting in
1839, with a single medium sized hand press, for both new^spaper
and job work, this establishment, though several times totally
destroyed by fire, has fully kept pace in its commercial and
mechanical departments with the growth of the village and city,
until it is now one of the best equipped of its class in Ohio.
Located on the northeast corner of Mill and Main streets, opposite
the Hotel Buchtel, the equivalent of six full stories, 38x90 feet,
are occupied w^ith machinery, merchandise and material, for the
prosecution of the immense business which it has built up.
George W. Crouse, president, Kenyon B. Conger, vice president,
Ira M. Miller, secretary, Thomas C. Raynolds, business manager,,
and Col. A. L. Conger are the directors.
"THE ART PRESERVATIVE.
635
TZENYON BRONSON CONGKR.-
-I^ son of Arthur L. and Emily
(Bronson) Conger, was born in Pen-
insvila, Summit countj', Ohio, April
26, 18(56; at two years of age removed
with parents to Akron; at 10, entered
the preparatory department of Buch-
tel College, and in 1883 entered Ken-
yon College, at Gambier, Ohio, where
he remained until the Junior year.
Impaired health, resvilting from a
severe fall, compelling- him to relin-
quish his studies, he went abroad
for a year and a-half, traveling in
England, France, Germanjs Italj-,
Egypt, Palestine, Turkey and Spain.
Returning- to America in the fall of
1887, he entered the Sophomore elates
of Harvard University and remained
there two years, when he left college
to go into business with his father.
Mr. Conger possesses rare business
ability, and though now but 25 years
of age, is vice president of the Akron
Printing and Publishing Company,
and a director in the Whitman &
Barnes Manufacturing Company.
He belongs to Akron Camp, Sons of
KEN YON BKONSON CONGER.
Veterans, is a member of the Loyal
Legion and a member of St. Paul's
Episcopal Church.
GEORGE W. KUMMER.
r^EORGE W. KUMMER, son of
^J^ Jacob and Rebecca Kunimer,
born at Allentown, Pa., July 6, 1851,
at three years of age moving with
parents to Norton, Summit county.
Ohio; boj'hood spent on farm, with
limited educational advantages; at
19 entered BEACON office, as an ap-
prentice to the printer's trade, and.
being- studious and diligent was
rapidly advanced to advertising
solicitor, book-keeper, reporter, city
editor, and managing editor of the
Akron DAILY BEACON. Failing
health requiring a change of climate,
after nineteen years of faithful ser-
vice with the Beacon Publishing
Company — besides officiating a»
special correspondent for the leading-
daily papers of New York, Boston,
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, St.
Louis, etc., — in 1889, Mr. Kumnier
removed to the Pacific coast, and is
now the secretary and treasurer of
the Puget Sound Fire Clay Com-
jjany, manufacturers of sewer pipe,
tire brick, terra cotta, etc., at Seattle,
Washington; his newspaper work in
Akron undoubtedly doing more for
the advancement of her industrial
interests than that of any other one
member of the newspaper fraternity.
March 28, 1874, Mr. Kimimer was
married to Miss Jennie N. Robinson,
of Akron, who has borne him three
children Ruby Grace, born Novem-
ber 2, 1875; John Alfred, March 1, 1885;
and John Wesley, January 30, 1888.
536 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
The basement, including a 20-foot annex, under the pavement,
the entire length of the building, is occupied by its 75-horse power
engine, boilers, electric d3^namo for lighting the entire building,
thirteen large and small cylinder job and book presses, t^vo per-
fecting daily and weekly nfews presses, bronzing machine, stereo-
t3^ping machine, and the various appliances for doing work in the
most approved and expeditious manner; the whole under the
superintend ency of Mr. Fred A. Lane.
The stationery department, counting room and office, cover
the entire first floor. A full line of papers and commercial and
general stationery, school books and blank books, largely of its
ow^n luanufacture, can here be found.
On the second floor, besides the three rooms rented to other
parties, is a commodious and w^ell-fiUed stock room, and the edi-
torial office of the American Farm JVeirs, under the management
of Mr. J. M. H. Frederick.
The entire third floor is occupied by the job department, about
two-thirds to type-setting and the balance with stock, paper cut-
ters, etc., Mr. Samuel F. Ziliox, foreman; all under the superin-
tendency of Mr. Francis C. Whittier.
The entire fourth floor is devoted to bookbinding and blank
book manufacturing, under the supervision of Mr. John P. Bren-
nan, this department being supplied with every approved mod-
ern appliance, ruling machines, paper cutters, presses, folding
machines, stitching machines, etc.
On the fifth floor are the editorial rooms and the news compo-
sition room; the latter, occupying about tw^o-thirds of the floor,
being equipped with first-class material throughout, under the
superintendence of that thoroughly practical printer, Mr. Dan
Hill; managing editor, Mr. Elnaer E. Paine.
Horace G. Canfield. — Mr. Canfield is one of the oldest job
printers in the city, having learned his trade with his father, the
late Horace Canfield, one of Summit county's pioneer printers,
who established the Ohio Review, at Cuyahoga Falls, in 1833, and
the American Democrat, in Akron, in 1842. Mr, Canfield has
been continuously in business for 35 years, and though not as
extensive as some of the other offices of the city, his rooms in the
Academy of Music building are well supplied with material and
machinery from -w^hich many thousands of dollars worth of com-
mercial and general job work are neatly and tastefully turned out
yearly.
After the foregoing was first published, on August 1, 1889, Mr.
Canfield sold his establishment to the Akron Engraving Com-
pany, elsewhere noticed, Mr. Canfield continuing in the service of
that company as foreman of the printing department.
The Werner Printing and Lithographing Company — Estab-
lished by Mr. P. E. Werner in 1875, is now one of the largest and
most perfect establishments of its kind in the United States, if
not in the world, its fine tw^o-story brick buildings, corner Union
and Perkins streets, covering an area of more than three acres,
w^ith ov er 137,000 square feet of floor space, and its machinery and
ajDpointments being of the most substantial and practical charac-
ter. Under one roof and one management, printing in all its
branches, bo )k-making, lithographing, wood and metal engraving,
"THE ART PRESEKV'ATIVE."
537
^lectrotyping, embossing, etching, etc., is systematically carried
on, its products going not only to every portion of *the United
States, but to almost every civilized country on the globe. The
company was incorporated in 1886, its present officers being: P. K.
Werner, president and treasurer; H. P. Hitchcock, secretary; capi-
tal, $500,000; printing machines in use, 70; other machines, 300;
hands employed, 500.
pAUL E. WERNER,— born in Wur-
-*• temberg-, Germany, May o, 1850 ;
<;anie to America in Summer of 1867,
and to Akron the same Fall ; occu-
pied positions as clerk for Jacob B.
Dussell and E. Steinbacher, and book-
keeper with Camp, Long- & Co., and
Miller, Thomas & Co.; in 1874, pur-
chased the Akron Germania, and in
•connection therewith, in 1878, started
the Sunday Gazette, and the Akron
<laily and weekly Tribune; in 1884,
disposed of his newspaper interests,
but continuing- the general printing,
binding and engraving business, in
1886, he organized the Werner Print-
ing & Lithograph Company, now one
of the most complete and extensive
■establishments of its class in the
United States, more fully described
elsewhere, of which Mr. Werner is
president and treasurer. Mr. Werner
is captain of Company Buchtel,
•German Guards ; member of Adon-
iram Lodge F. & A. M.; president of
Germania Central Association of
Summit county; was member and
•clerk of Board of Education 1877 to
1879 ; member of Public Library
Board of Control, 1875 to 1881; is
president of the Akron Germania Co.
and director of the Klages Coal and
Ice Co. February 22, 1873, was mar-
ried to Miss Lucy Anna Denaple, of
Akron, who has borne him three
PAUL E. WERNER.
sons — Edward Paul, born September
2, 1875, Frank Albert, born April 15,
1877, both now cadets at Kenyon Mil-
itary Academy, at Gainbier, Ohio,
and Richard Marvin, born May 22,
1878, now at home.
The Akron Engraving Company, incorporated May 29, 1888;
<!apital, $25,000. This company, as its name indicates, originally
•confined its operations to artistic designing, and wood, metal and
photo engraving, etc., but in August, 1889, bought out the veteran
job printer, Mr. Horace G. Canfield, in the Academy of Music
building, and are now doing a general engraving and printing busi-
ness, with from 15 to 20 employes. Present officers: Erastus R.,
Harper, president; Marv. \V. Cramer, vice president; Wallace L.
Carleton, secretary and treasurer; George G.Welton, superintendent.
Capron & Curtice (Orion D. Capron and George L. Curtice),
general job and book printers; established in 1891; 142 South
Howard street. Hands employed, 16 to 20.
Frank P. Allen, general job printer, 1055 East Market street.
George C. Jackson & Company (George C. Jackson and W.
H. Denham), job printers, basement Schumacher office, corner
Mill and BroadAvay.
538
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
In this connection, and in these modern days, very properly
coming within the scope of the above quoted heading, "The Art
Preservative of All Art," stands the Art of Photography, for over
a third of a century ably represented by the gentleman, whose
portrait and biography is here given.
T3ENJAMIN FRANKLIN BAT-
■D TELS, — son of Caleb and Juliana
(Hard) Battels, born in Wadsworth,
O., April 21, 1832 ; raised on farm ;
educated in common schools, in turn
teaching- school several Winters; irt
1852 learned photoufraphy, first locat-
ing in Wadsworth, and later, the
same ^^ear, in Bucyrus, Ohio. In the
Winter of 1835, Mr. Battels came to
Akron, and opened a gallery on third
floor, 106 East Market street, where,
for over a third of a century by the
useof constantly improving- methods,
by himself and others, he has done
a leading and lucrative business.
Mr. Battels is also interested in sev-
eral other important business enter-
prises ; is a prominent member of
the Masonic order, and largely pro-
motive of the benevolent operations
of the day. January 16, 1858, Mr.
Battels was married to Miss Sarah
M. Edgerly, only daughter of the
late Samuel Edgerly, one of Summit
county's pioneer hotel keepers, and
a charter member of Akron Lodge
No. 83, Free and Accepted Masons,
as elsewhere stated. Mrs. Battels
was one of the founders of Buckley
Relief Corps, auxiliary to G. A. R.,
having by promotion risen to the
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BATTEI/S.
position of Department President
Woman's Relief Corps of Ohio, and
is now one of the most influential
members and officers of the Depart-
ment. Mr. and Mrs. Battels have no-
children.
FINANCES, BANKS, ETC.
As noticed in chapter one, of these papers, as early as Decern
ber 18, 1835, a petition signed by James \V. Phillips, Richard Howe,
Erastus Torrey, Samuel A. Wheeler, Justus Gale, Simon Perkins,.
Jr., Jedediah D. Commins and Reuben McMillan, was presented to
the Legislature for a bank charter for Akron. Whether it was
granted is not now remembered, though it is certain the bank was
never organized.
About 1845, the Bank of Akron, a branch of the Ohio Safety
Fund system, was organized with an authorized capital of $50,-
000, and with William S. C. Otis as president and John W. McMillen
as cashier. This pioneer bank w^as a very great convenience to the
business men of the village, but unfortunately it became involved
in the financial embarrassments of the "Akron Branch" railroad,
elsew^here alluded to, and went into-liquidation about 1857.
In 1855, with the late Gen. Philo Chamberlin as a silent
partner, the late Mr. George D. Bates opened a private bank on the
west side of Howard street, at or near the present site of Dodge &
Plumer's furniture warerooms, afterwards purchasing the old
Akron Bank stand on the opposite side of the street, and where,
under the name of Bates & Co., the business w^as continued until
1863, when it was merged in the Second National Bank, as here-
inafter set forth.
BANKS, FINANCES, ETC.
539
GEORGE D. BATES, — born at
Brandon. Vt.. November 11, 1811,
early left an orphan, at 17 came to
Solon, Ohio, working' on farm ; about
1836. opened a g-enereil store at
Franklin Mills (now Kent); some
eight or ten years later removing to
Akron and eng-ag-ing in the foundry
business, in 1^8, with Charles Web-
ster and James B. Taplin, under the
firm name of G. D. Bates & Co., estab-
lishing the '' Globe Foundrj^," now
the Webster, Camp & Lane Machine
Works ; retiring from the firm two or
three j'ears later, Mr. Bates engaged
in railroad building with Mr. J. H.
Pendleton, near Cincinnati, for some
years ; about 1855, in connectian with
the late General Philo Chamberlin,
under the firm name of G. D. Bates &
Co., opened a private bank in part of
the building now occupied by Dodge
& Plumer ; two or three years later
purchasing the old bank of Akron
stand, and in 1863, organizing the
Second National Bank of Akron, of
which he was president until his
death, July 25, 1887, at the age of 76
years, 8 months and 14 days. Mr.
Bates ably served as Mayor of Akron
in 1864, '65, and for several years offi-
ciated as chief of the Village Fire
Department. January 10, 1840, Mr.
Bates was married to Miss Anna
Maria Warner, of Franklin, Portage
Co., who died December 4, 1841 ; June
22, 184.5, was again married, to Miss
(;e()rge n. bates.
Alice Maria Baker, of Olean, N.Y., who
died September 19, 18.53, of the three
children born to them, one onl3% now
Mrs. Emma Bowman, of Akron, sur-
viving. April 4. 1856, Mr. Bates was
again married, to Miss Mary Ann
Mathews, of Akron, who died August
12, 1885, leaving two children — Jennie
(now Mrs. Frank S. Newton), and
George D. Bates, Jr., now Paj'ing
Teller of the Second National Bank
of Akron.
In 1859 ex-County Treasiirer Houston Sisler, John R. Buchtel
and Daniel P. Eberman opened a private bank in a room immedi-
ately east of the present First National Bank, under the name of
the "Exchange Bank." This arrangement continued until the
death of Mr. Sisler, June 30, 1862, soon after which Mr. John B,
Woods and George Steese became associated Tvith Mr, Eberman
in the business, Mr. Buchtel retiring. In 1866 Mr. Woods retired,
and soon afterwards the business w^as closed, Mr. Eberman some-
time later carrying on a brokerage business in the corner room of
the Empire Hotel, but without making it a financial success for
either himself or his patrons.
In 1863 the First National Bank of Akron was organized with
a capital of $100,000, with Thomas W. Cornell as president, Milton
W. Henry as vice president, and William H. Huntington as
cashier, foUow^ed by Hiram G. Fuller as cashier, and, in 1876, by
the present incumbent, William McFarlin, the present vice presi-
dent being Edward Oviatt, Esq. In 1868 the franchise of the First
National Bank of Cuyahoga Falls, with a capital of $100,000, was
purchased and the total capital increased to $250,0(X), but for
economic reasons has since been reduced to $100,000. Surplus
$32,000. John B. Wright, assistant cashier.
In 1863 the Second National Bank was organized, taking the
place of the private bank of Bates & Co., with a capital of $1(X),(X)0,.
George D. Bates, president; Joy H. Pendleton, vice president, and
540
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Edward D. Childs, as cashier, follow^ed by Alden Gage, Charles K.
Collins, Albert N. Sanford, etc. Its founder, Mr. Bates, having
deceased, July 25, 1887, in March, 1888, the bank was removed to
the rooms of the Bank of Akron in the Academy of Music building,
the two banks being united with a capital of $275,000, and a surplus
of $22,000. Present surplus (1891) $35,000. Present officers: Joy
H. Pendleton, president; John F. Seiberling, vice president;
•George T, Perkins, cashier; Walter A. Folger, assistant cashier.
JOHN B. WOODS,— son of Samuel
J and Sophia (Boal) Woods, was
born in Springtield township, Decem-
ber 17. 182,3, when two years old
removing with parents to Uniontown,
Stark Co.; educated in common
schools of Uniontown and Darrow-
street, in the latter place under the
tvitorag'e of Prof. John Haselton,
former principal of Hudson Academy;
in boyhood clerked in father's store
and at 18, on death of father, for two
years aided administrator in settling^
estate ; in Spring of 1844, with almost
no capital, commenced merchandis-
ing- in Uniontown, on his own
account soon afterwards also estab-
lishing a tannery, in both of which
branchevS he speedily built up a large
and lucrative business, with three
branch stores in neighboring towns ;
in 1850, bought the Milheim flouring
inill, and in 1856, leased the Tritt mill
which he successfully ran for sev-
•eral years. By reason of failing
health in September, 1860, sold out
his Uniontown and milling interests
and moved to Akron, building the
fine three story brick block, corner
Market and Main streets, in 1862;
•establishing Exchange Bank in 1864 ;
City Bank in 1867, and City National
Bank in 1883, of which Mr. Woods
was president until his resignation
JOHN B. WOODS.
in October, 1890. Mr. Woods was
married to Miss Susan Willis, of
Harrisburg, Stark Co., March 26, 1848,
who. has borne him six children —
Emil}^ Jane (now Mrs. Robert L.
Andrew, of Akron) ; Frank, deceased ;
Perry, now of Cleveland ; John B., of
Akron ; Albert T., physician at Loyal
Oak, and Marj^ H., at home.
In 1867 Messrs. John B. Woods, Milton Moore and Sylvester H.
Thompson started a private bank in the room formerly occupied by
the Exchange Bank, on Market street, under the title of "The City
Bank," the firm name being Woods, Thompson & Co., Mr. Virgil
M. Thompson, of Stow, afterv^ards succeeding Mr, Moore in the
business.
June 1, 1883, the "City National Bank" was organized, the
firm of Woods, Thompson & Co. being merged therein, the new
institution being located at 102 South Howard street. Original
-capital $100,000, since increased to $200,000, with a surplus of $40,-
•000. Present officers: George W. Crouse, president; Alfred M.
Barber, vice president; Nelson C. Stone, cashier.
In 1872 the Citizens' Savings and Loan Association was organ-
ized, at 111 South Howard street, with Erhard Steinbacher as pre-
sident, William Buchtel, vice president, and William B. Raymond,
treasurer. Present officers : E. Steinbacher, president ; John
Wolf, vice president; Henry C. Viele, treasurer, Mr. Raymond hav-
ing deceased. Capital of bank $100,000; surplus $70,000. This
BANKS, FliNANCES, ETC.
541
bank now has a branch in the Sixth Ward, in charge of Mr. Henr3^
Feuchter, which is a very great convenience to the people of that
portion of the city.
npHOMAS W. CORNELL, — born
*- January 8, 1820, in Dutchess
county, N. Y.; raised on a farm and
educated in common schools ; at the
age of 22, with but little capital, be-
gan business for himself, being- for
some time connected with a brewerj-
in Auburn, N. Y.; in December. 1855,
purchased a distillery at Cuj^ahoga
Falls, which he successfully and
profitably conducted some eight
years; in 1863, reinoved to Akron,
beingone of the original stockholders
of the First National Bank, abl)^ fill- "
ing- the office of president of the
bank from its organization to the
present time ; capital stock of bank,
$100,000; present surplus $32,000; in
1865, purchased controlling interest
in the Akron Gas Company', filling-
the office of president till the trans-
fer of the works to other parties
August 1, 1891,and largely interested
in many other industrial andfinancial
enterprises in Akron and elsewhere.
Early left a widower, Mr. Cornell has
had no family during his 36 years'
residence in Summit countj^ but, in
a quiet way, is lavishl3' liberal 'in
AAKON WAGONER.
AARON WAGONER, — son of
■^ Georg^e Wagoner, was born in
Franklin township, September 19.
1844; worked on farm and attended
schools of neighborhood, until Fall
of 1862, when he enlisted in Company
B, Sixth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry ;
soon after enlistment was elected
corporal, then promoted to sergeant.
THOMAS W. CORNELL.
contributing to the educationaL
religious and benevolent enterprises
of the day.
finally reaching the rank of second
lieutenant, in command of conipan)'..
This regiment was with Sheridan, in
the Army of the Potomac, took part
in the battles of the Wilderness, on
the raid to Richinond, Appomattox
Court House, and all the engag-e-
ments of the'army. At Aldie Lieut.
Wagoner was wounded and for sev-
eral months disabled for active ser-
vice, being mustered out as second
lieutenant, in 1865. After the war he
caine to Akron where he engaged
as salesman in the dry g-oods store
of Oberholser, Keller & Co., eighteen
inonths later becoming their book-
keeper, continuing' four and a half
years, when the firm dissolved. In
1872, entered Cit)' Bank as teller, con-
tinuing until his election as count}'
auditor, in 1880, which position he
held for two consecutive terms of
three years each ; in Spring of 1890,
was elected councilman from the
First ward, and is now a stockholder
and the cashier of the Akron Savings
Bank. April 30, 1868, Mr. Wagoner
was married to Miss Amanda Stiiith,
of Franklin township, who has borne
him two children — Mabel Blanche,
born September 29, 1870 ; George
Edward, born Januarj^ 31, 1872, now
book-keeper in bank.
542
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUXTV.
WILLIAM McFARLIN, — son of
Moses and Elenora (Wood-
ruff) McFarlin, was born in Bath,
Januar}^ 16, 1843 ; moved with parents
to Brooklj'n Villag-e, Cuyahog'a
county, in 1850, back to Bath in 1854,
and to Akron in 1860 ; educated in
Brooklyn normal and Akron hig-h
school ; taught school two Winters ;
in April, 1863, entered the army as
chief clerk under Col. Crane in
charg-e of military railroads, Depart-
ment of the Army of the Cumber-
land, continuing until October, 1865.
In April, 1866, became teller in bank
of D. P. Eberman & Co.; April, 1867,
teller and assistant cashier in First
National Bank of Akron, of which he
has been cashier since January, 1878 ;
secretar^^ and treasurer of the Akron
Gas Company from 1871 till August
1, 1891 ; secretarj^ and treasurer of
Portage Strawboard Company from
its organization in 1882, till merged
in the American Strawboard Com-
panj^ in 1889; is vice president and
treasurer of National Sewer Pipe
Company at Barberton, and also
pecuniarly and officially connected
with the Creedmoor Cartridge Com-
pany at Barberton.; Barberton White-
ware Companj'; Akron Woolen and
Felt Company, and a number of
WILLIAM MCFAKLIX.
other industrial operations. Decem-
ber 31, 1873, Mr. McFarlin was married
to Miss Julia Ford Henr}^ third
daughter of Milton W. and Abigail
(Weeks) Henry, of Akron. They have
three daughters — Anna, Bessie and
Laura.
WILLIAM BUCHTEL.
WILLIAM BUCHTEL, -born in
Green township, December 23,
1822; educated in district schools;
raised to farm life, at 22 purchasing
his father's farm, 106 acres, and
engajfing largely in wheat growing;
in 18o6 rented his farm and engaged
in milling, in Springfield township;
served in 164th Regiment, O. N. G., in
defense of Washington during the
late war, receiving an honorable
discharge in the fall of 1864; after the
war, for many years, engaged in the
lumber business, first as a member
of the firm of Jackson, Buchtel & Co.,
and later under the firm name of
William Buchtel & Sons, handling',
during that time, over 20,000 acres of
Government and State pine lands in
Michigan; is now president of the
Akron Savings Bank; vice president
of the Thomas Lumber and Building-
Company; treasurer of the Akron
Building and Loan Association, and
owner of the finest hotel building in
Northern Ohio — the Buchtel — corner
Main and Mill streets. Mr, Buchtel
was married to Miss Martha Hender-
son, of Sprin^eld, March 7, 1842,
four children having been born to
them as follows: James H., John D.,
William M., and Catharine Jane. Mrs.
Buchtel dying December 17, 1884,
Mr. B. was again married, to Mrs.
Nora Sackett \Vilcox, in Cleveland,
December 3, 1885.
IJANKS, FINAAXES, ETC.
543
In Jul3% 1870, the Bank of Akron, a private institution, was
■organized with a capital of $200,000, in the Academy of Music
building; Col. George T. Perkins, president, and Alden Gage,
■cashier. Mr. Gage dying November 12, 1875, Mr. George W. Grouse
Avas elected president of the bank, and Col. Perkins cashier.
After a successful run of nearly 18 years, this bank was consoli-
■dated w^ith, and merged in, the Second National Bank of Akron, as
above stated, in March, 1888.
Akron Savings Bank, corner of Main and Mill Streets. -From Architects'
design, by Weary and Kramer, 1891.
The Akron Savings Bank, organized April 1, 1888. Capital
«tock $200,000. Officers: William Buchtel, president; Charles K.
<jrrant, vice president; Aaron Wagoner, cashier; Charles J. Butler,
teller. This company is now located in its own splendid six-
story fire-proof building on the northw^est corner of Main and Mill
streets. It has also established a branch in the neighboring village
of Cuyahoga Falls, in charge of Mr. A. B. Clarke.
544 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
The Peoples' Savings Bank, No. 706 South Main street-
Capital, $100,000; paid in, $50,000; incorporated October 9, 1890;
began business December 8, 1890, with Jacob A. Kohler as pres-
ident; Charles Parisette, vice president; J. M. Laffer, treasurer, and
Claude Clark as cashier, is now also one of our solid institutions
and a very great convenience to the people of the south portion of
the city. Surplus, September 1891, $5,000.
It will thus be seen that Akron has a banking capital and
surplus of over $1,000,000, all in the hands of enterprising but con-
servative men, and it is safe to say that, while giving all proper aid
and accommodation to commercial and manufacturing enterprise,
the banking institutions of the city of Akron are among the most
reliable and substantial of their class in Ohio.
The Akron Building and Loan Association, office 404 South
High ; organized October 3, 1888; capital, $1,000,000, soon to be
increased to $5,000,000. Officers: Hugo Schumacher, president;
William B. Gamble, vice president; Andrew H. Noah, secretarj^;
William Buchtel, treasurer; Frank M. Atterholt, attorney.
The Akron Security and Investment Company. — Negotiators
of commercial and mortgage loans, municipal and corporation
bonds, etc. Incorporated April, 1890; authorized capital, $25,000,
all paid in; first year's transactions, over $800,000; present officers:
R. H. Wright, president; B. L. Dodge, vice president and general
manager; Walter A. Folger, secretary and treasurer; F. M. Atter-
holt, attorney.
The William H. Evans Building and Loan Association, incor-
porated July 28, 1891; capital stock $1,000,000; 116 South Howard
street; officers; Aaron P. Baldwin, president; John C. Wel)er, vice
president; William H. Evans, secretary, George W. Crouse, treas-
urer; Albert B. Tinker, attorney.
The Home Building and Loan Association. — Incorporated
in 1891; directors: Henry Perkins, Arthur M. Cole, Charles W. Sei-
berling, Paul E. Werner, N. R. Steiner, C. C. Davidson, J. A. Long,
W. W. Leonard, W. D. Hoover, J. M. Beck, I. J. Dyas, L. S.
Sweitzer, M. Otis Hower, J. V. Cleaver, S. E. Allen; Henry Per-
kins, president; Paul E. Werner, vice president; W. C. Hall, secre-
tary; H. C. Viele, treasurer; H. T. Willson, attorney. Office in
Akron Savings Bank block on Mill street.
Summit County Abstract Co. — Incorporated May 1,1891; cap-
ital stock, $30,000; abstracters of titles of real estate; Charles R.
Grant, president; Julius Lembeck, secretary; Emory A. Prior,
treasurer and attorney; Charles H. Howland, manager, 324 East
Mill.
AKRON'S MEDICAL TALENT.
Akron Physicians.^ — Among the earlier physicians of Middle-
bury and Akron, were Doctors Titus Chapman, Elijah Hanchett,
Joseph Cole, Theodore Richmond, Horace A, Ackley, E. F. Bryan,
Eliakim Crosby, Dana D. Evans, Wareham West, Williarn T. Hun-
tington, Edwin Angel, Elijah Curtis, Elias L. Munger, A.
Kilbourn, Mendal Jewett, William P. Cushman, Elias W. Howard,
Stephen H. Coburn, Samuel W. Bartges, John W eimer, William
Bowen, George P. Ashmun, Byron S. Chase, Charles R. Pierce,
Thomas M, Leight, Warren J. Underwood, Henry C. How^ard, O. E.
Brownell, A. F. Chandler, J. K. HoUoway, Albert C. Belden,
Akron's medical status.
445
Oeorge G. Baker, Daniel A. Scott, Alexander Fisher, and others.
Portraits of Doctors Cole, Crosby, Jewett, Howard, Coburn, Bartges,
Bovven, Chase, Underwood, Belden and Scott, with appropriate
biographies, will be found elsewhere.
DR. SAMUEL W. BARTGES, -born
in Mifflinsburg-, Pa., April 19,
1814, removing' with parents to Colum-
biana county, Ohio, in 1832 ; at 17 or
18 embarked in trade in Georgetown,
also officiating as postmaster; at 23
began the study of inedicine, opening-
an office in Akron in 1842, soon build-
ing up an ex'tensive practice in Sum-
mit and adjoining counties. March
18, 1835, Dr. Bartges was married
to Miss Catharine A. Crump, of
Columbiana count}^ who bore him
three children — Arthur F., now prac-
ticing law in Akron ; Mag-gie, still
residing with her mother, and Bell,
now Mrs. Henry E. Merrill, of Akron.
Dr. Bartges was a large dealer in real
estate, there being two large addi-
tions to the city bearing his name —
Bartges' addition in the south,
through which runs the street named
in his honor, and Bartges-Mallison
addition, west of the Canal and
south of Wooster Avenue, his trans-
actions embracing over 300 deeds
executed to him, and over 1000 deeds
executed by him and his wife. Dr.
Bartges was a member of the M. E.
Church, a prominent member of
Akron Lodge, No. 83, F. & A.
DR. STEPHEN H. COBUKN.
DR. STEPHEN H. COBURN,—
born at Hillsdale, Columbia
county, N. Y., December 29, 1809 ; in
early life studied medicine and
licensed to practice in Massachusetts,
later practicing a number of years in
36
DR. SAMUEL W. BARTGES.
Masons, (of which he was at one time
WorshipjFul Master), and of Akron
Commandery, No. 25, Knights Teiup-
lar, by whom he was buried, his
death occurring November 24, 1882, at
the age of (38 years, 7 months and 5
days.
Ghent, Columbia county, N. Y.; in
1848, removed to Akron, being the
pioneer of the Homoeopathic school
of medicine here, which he continued
to practice for many years, being
professionally associated, at different
times, with Dr. Wheeler, Dr. N,
Schneider, now of Cleveland, Dr.
Terry, now of Ithaca, and his nephew,
E. S. Coburn, now of Troy, N. Y. Dr.
Coburn was also interested in a num-
ber of business enterprises in Akron,,
being one of the organizers, in con-
nection with the late William T.
Allen and Ralph P. Myers, Esq., now
of Cleveland, of the Akron Stove
Company, of which he was for many
years the president ; also from time
to time largely investing in real
estate in and about Akron, Coburn's
Addition being- a well-known portion
of the city. May 15, 1839, Dr. Coburn
was married to Miss Adeline Myers,
of Sand Lake, N. Y., who died in
Akron March 27, 1887, leaving one
daughter — Frances, (now the wife of
Hon. Jacob A. Kohler, of Akron). Dr.
Coburn died at his residence, 801 East
Market street, June 12, 1888, at the age
of 78 years, 5 months and 13 days.
516
AKRON AXU SUMMIT COUNTY
DR. WARREN J. UNDERWOOD,
— born in Dillsburg-, York Co.,
Pa., March 20, 1840; common school
education, in his later teens teaching-
school winters ; in 1860 beg-an the
study of medicine, graduating- from
Jefferson Medical College, Philadel-
phia, in 1864 ; August 10, 1862, entered
the arnij^ as medical officer of the
19th P. V.M., afterwards officiating as
assistant surgeon in hospital, also at
Chatnbersburg and Camp Curtin, and
later as surgeon of the 151st P. V. I.
In the Spring- of 1864 came to Ohio,
practicing three years in Canal
Fulton, when, in August, 1867, he
came to Akron, where he w^as in con-
tinuous and successful practice until
his death, June 9, 1890, at the age of
50 years, 2 months and 19 days. Dr.
Underwood was a member of the
Summit County Medical Society, of
the Union Medical Association of
Northeastern Ohio, of the State Medi-
cal Society, and of the American
Medical Association. In December,
1864, he was married to Miss Harriet
Shoemaker, of Harrisburg, Pa., who
died December 9, 1873, having borne
him three children, one of whoin,
only, now survives — Edward S., now,
practicing medicine in Akron,
having- graduated from his father's
DR. GRIN D. CHILDS.
DR. ORIN D. CHILDS,— son of
Dennis and Frances A. (Straw
Childs, born in Moreton, Vt., Feb
ruary 28, 1840 ; in Fall of 1855 removed
with parents to Omro, Winnebago
county, Wis. ; worked on farm till
21 ; educated in Omro district and
DR. WARREN J. UNDERWOOD.
alma mater, Jefferson Medical Col-
lege, Philadelphia. February 28, 1887,
Dr. Underwood was again married,
to Mrs. Frances C. Pizzala, of
Brooklyn, N. Y. Dr. Underwood
represented the Second Ward in the
Akron City Council in 1878, '79, and
was examining surgeon for pensions
from 1873 until the organization of
the examining board in 1889, of which
he was elected president.
hig-h schools ; taught four terms,
first term pupils ranging- from four
to 25 years, and so turbulent that
school had not been taught "entirely
through either of four preceding-
terms ; in Spring of 1864 began study
of medicine(homoeopathy)inOshkosh,
Wis.; February, 1865, enlisted for one
year in Company D, 49th Wis. V. I. ;
mustered out November 1, 1865 ; then
entering Cleveland Homceopathic
Medical College, graduating there-
from in Spring of 1867 ; at once open-
ing- an offtce in Akron, where he has
built up a large and lucrative prac-
tice. Dr. Childs is a member of the
Summit County Clinical Society and
the N. E. O. Homceopathic Medical
Society, in both of which he has
served as president ; member and
ex- vice president Ohio State Homoeo-
pathic Medical Society ; member of
American Institute of Homoeopathy;
member of Railway Surgeons' Asso-
ciation ; trustee of Cleveland Medical
Colleg-e ; has served as professor of
anatomy in Women's Homoeopathic
Medical College, Cleveland, his entire
aspirations and energies having-
been given to the successful estab-
lishment of the homoeopathic prin-
ciple of medicine. Dr. Childs was
also an orig-inal member of the
Akron Y. M. C. A., and two years its
president.
Akron's medical status.
547
DR. ABNER E. FOLTZ— born in
Wayne township, Wayne county,
Ohio, January 29, 1840 ; educated in
district schools and Sharon Acad-
■emy ; learned trade of carpenter ;
1857 to 1862 taug'ht school. In Aug-ust,
1862, enlisted in Company 1, 102d O. V.
I., (five brothers in same company
serving till close of the war) ; read
medicine with brother. Dr. W. K.
Foltz, in Sharon, Medina county,
graduating from Charity Hospital
Medical College, Cleveland, (now
Medical Department of Wooster Uni-
versity), in Spring of 1868 ; same
Summer began practice at Ashland,
one year later removing to Akron,
where he has since been in continu-
ous practice, giving- especial atten-
tion to diseases of the eye and ear.
Dr. Foltz is a member of the Summit
•County Medical Society ; of the
Union Medical Society of North-
•eastern Ohio, and of the State Medi-
cal Society, and has for nearly twenty
years, by appointment of county
commissioners, been the official
physician of the county jail, never
having lost a patient from that
unwholesome institution. October
6, 1870, Dr. Foltz was married to Miss
Frances C. Bowen, daughter of the
DR. ABNER E. KOLTZ.
late Dr. William Bowen, whose
portrait and biography appears else-
where. They have one son — Esgar
Bowen Foltz, born June 7, 1873, a
graduate of Akron High School, class
of 1890, '91. The entire Foltz family,
brothers and sisters, eight in num-
ber, are all still living, and now resi-
dents of Akron.
The present resident physicians of Akron are : Isaac J.
Baughman, 224 East Exchange; Ada F. Bock, 800 East Market;
James P. Boyd, 143 South Summit; Frederick B. Callin; Rollin B.
Carter, 106 Adolph Ave.; William E. Chamberlin, 158 South Broad-
way; Orin D. Childs, 402 East Market; J. Vale Cleaver, 191 South
, Howard; Eli Conn, 188 South Howard, Homer E. Conner, 148 South
Howard; Kate W. Cory, 101 South Broadway; Cassius C. Davison,
1184 East Market; Leonidas L. Ebright, 1176 East Market; Emery
& Kohler (William J. Emery and Albert A. Kohler), 207 East Mill;
Henry M. Fisher, 193 South Howard; Abner E. Foltz, 156 South
Broadway; Foltz & Foltz (William K. and Kent O. Foltz), 181
South Howard; AlvinK. Fouser, I6IV2 South Broadway; Hitchcock
& Welty (Elizur Hitchcock and Cullen F. Welty), 116 East
Exchange; Luther M. HoUoway, 706 South Main; Albert Hoover,
Akron Savings Bank Block; Elmer K, Hottenstein, Windsor
Hotel; Elwyn Humphrey, 167 South Howard; Clarence M.
Humphrey, 1007 South Main; Jacobs & Jacobs (William C. and
Harold H. Jacobs), 603 South High; John A. Knowlton, 119 South
High; Katharine Kurt, 110 North Broadway; Edward O. Leberman,
106 Wooster Ave.; J. L. Lee, 186 South Howard; Leonard & Under-
wood (Wellington W. Leonard and Edward S. Underwood), 305
South High; Byron B. Longhead, 206 East Mill; Orrin A. Lyon,
1062 East Market; Cyrus L. Manderbach, 100 East Mill; Thomas
McEbright, 176 South High; Charles W. Millikin, 1176 East
Market; William Murdoch, 163 South Broadway; Charles B.
Norris, 404 East Exchange; H. W. Pierson, 224 West Exchange;
Sumner Pixley, 313 Carroll; James W. Rabe, 321 East Market;
Ellis D. Read, 151 South Howard; Frank C. Reed, 1140 East Mar-
ket; Margaret Rimel, 210 East Market; James W. Rockwell, 125
548
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
South High; Darius Rowe, 128 South Howard; John H. Seiler, 505
East Market; Jame^ L. Shirey, 208 East Market; John C. Shuman,
145 South Howard; Samuel H. Sturgeon, 139 South Howard; Loui&
S. Sweitzer, 112 West Exchange; Horace D. Taggart, 221 East Mar-
ket; Herman C. Theiss, 100 North Howard; L. P. Waldron, IIT
South Howard; James A. Williams, 419 East Mill.
DR. ELIZUR HITCHCOCK,— born
in Tallmadg-e, August 15, 1832 ;
raised on farm, attending- schools of
the neighborhood until 18, when, in
1850, he entered Western Reserve Col-
lege, remaining two years, and then
entered Yale College, from which he
was graduated in 1854 ; taught school
in Tallmadge and Gustavus four
years, meantime commencing the
study of medicine in Kinsman, grad-
uating, after having taken a course at
Ann Arbor, Mich., from the medical
department of Western Reserve Col-
lege at Cleveland. After two years
practice at Mecca and Orwell, Dr.
Hitchcock entered the army as
surgeon of the 7th Regiment O. V. 1.,
serving seven months ; then located
in West Williamsfield, where he prac-
ticed six years ; then, after spending
a brief period in Bellevue Hospital,
in 1870 located in Akron, where he
has since enjoyed an extensive
and lucrative practice. He is a mem-
ber and has served as president of
the Summit County Medical Society;
is also a member of the Union Medi-
cal Association o f Northeastern
Ohio, and of the G. A. R. and Loyal
League. Dr. Hitchcock was married
to Miss Hattie Reed, of Mecca, Nov-
ember 24, 1861, who died May 24, 1864,
leaving one child — Gertrude, born
November 9, 1862, now Mrs. D.J. Diehl,
New York City. November 30, 1864,
Dr. H. was again married, to Miss
Lucretia Kellogg, of West Andover,
who has borne him two children —
DR. ELIZUR HITCHCOCK.
Halbert Kellogg, now electrical
engineer of Akron, born October 15,
1865, and Lucius Wolcott, born Decem-
ber 2, 1868, artist at Paris, Julien Art
School.
Dentists. — Doctors James H. Peterson, 106 East Market;
Samuel D. Stewart, 101 East Market; John W. Lyder & Son
(Frederick H.), 204 East Market; Mason Chapman, 324 East Mill;
Eucien G. Thorp, 118 North Howard; Chamberlin & Brockway
(Frederick N. Chamberlin and Casper L. Brockway), 223 East
Market; Eambert T. Brown, 1138 East Market; Will B. Conner,
room 4 Arcade Block; Fitzgerald & McNeal (J, Edgar Fitzgerald
and James E. McNeal), 100 South Howard; J. Burt Hill, 1184 East
Market; Jesse W. Hillinan, 125 South Howard; William J. Hotten-
stein, Windsor Hotel; Frank W. Knowlton, 217 East Market; John
H. Eaney, 131 South Howard; George B. Williamson, corner Main
and Exchange.
Veterinary Surgeons. — Doctors Joshua H. Collins, 215 South
Howard; E. R. Barnett, 108 East Furnace; Charles Chrisman, 115
South Main.
AKRON S MEDICAL STATUS.
549
DR. ALBERT C. BELDEN— born
in Castile, N. Y., September 14,
184o; removed with parents to Bureau
<iounty, 111., when young-; educated at
Dover Academy, and at Poughkeep-
sie, N. Y.; at 17, in 1863, enlisted in
Company I, 64th 111. V. I., serving- till
close of war, then began the study of
Medicine with Dr. Thompson, at
Princeton, 111., graduating from
Bellevue Medical College, New York
City, in 1875; came to Akron in 1876,
a year or two later commencing
practice with Dr. A. K. Fouser, con-
tinuing till September 1, 1880, when
he formed a partnership with Dr.
William C. Jacobs, which continued
until his sad death, December 20,
1890, the result of a fracture of the
skull at the base of the brain, from
an accidental fall in his office,
December 11, 1890. Dr. Belden's
prudence and forethotight for the
comfort and welfare of his family is
evinced by the fact that at the time
of the fatal casuality he was carrying
life and accidental insurance to the
amount of $105,000. He was a meinber
of the various medical associations,
county, state and national, a member
of the local pension board and sur-
geon of the N. Y., P. & O. and Valley
railroads, member of Buckley Post
DK. ALBERT C. BELDEN.
G. A, R., and oldest ranking surgeon
of Ohio National Guard. May 6, 1874,
Dr. Belden was married to Miss
Hannah Mosser, of Breinig-sville,
Pa., three children having been
born to them — Jessie, born Febru-
ruary 25, 1875; Ida, born July 3, 1876;
Edna, born August 20, 1877.
DR. WILLIAM K. FOLTZ.
DR. W
Mi
15. 1829;
count}',
district
ILLIAM K. FOLTZ,- born in
fflin county, Pa., November
came with parents to Wayne
Ohio, in 1831; educated in
schools; learned carpenter's
trade with father; at 18 began teach-
ing, continuing three years; in 1851
began study of medicine with Dr. C.
F. Stauber, in Wooster, continuing-
two years, then alternating two years
between teaching and attending
Heidelberg College, at Tiffin; in 18o5
began the practice of medicine at
Lafaj'ette Center, Medina county, in
1856 removing to Sharon, where he
remained till 1867, meantime gradu-
ating- from Eclectic Medical Colleg-e,
Cincinnati, February 2, 1859. In 1867,
in addition to his practice, engaged
in drug business in Ashland, until
burned out April 14, 1877, the follow-
ing- A ug-ust removing to Akron where
he has since continuously practiced.
Dr. Foltz is a inember of the Ameri-
can Pharmaceutical Association; the
Ohio State Eclectic Medical Associa-
tion, the National Eclectic Medical
Association and the Akron Scientific
Club. May 12, 1856, he was married
to Miss Carrie L. Lehman, a native of
Wa5aie county. They have one son,
Kent O. Foltz, born February 16, 1857,
now practicing medicine with his
father, under under the firm name of
Foltz & Foltz.
550
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
DR. ELWYN HUMPHREY — son
of Isaiah and Almira fWaite)
Humphrey, was born in Twinsburg-,
Summit count5^ Ohio, May 29, 1836;
after receiving' a common school and
academical education, he studied
medicine, g-raduating from the medi-
cal department of Western Reserve
College, in 1865, his hoine being then
at Peninsula, where he successfully
practiced medicine and surgery for
more than twenty years. In the
Spring of 1885 Dr. Humphrey moved
to Akron, Avhere he is now enjoying
an extensive and lucrative practice.
Deceinber 20, 1857, Dr. Humphrey was
married to Miss Mary Holcomb,
daughter of Sherlock and Mary
(Richardson) Holcomb, of Hudson,
■who has borne him four children — •
Clarence M., born December 30, 1858,
now a practicing physician in South
Akron ; J. Lawrence, born September
13, 1860, died June 6,1861 ; Lillian May,
born May 19, 1862, and Sybil Beulah,
born October 27, 1868, both daug-hters
now living with their parents in
Akron. Dr. Humphrey is a member
of the Northeastern Ohio Union
Medical Association.
DR. ELWYN HUMPHREY.
Residence of Col. Arthur L. Conger, "Irving Lawn," Ash Street,
completed and occupied in 1890.
AKK()N LAWYERS, ANCIENT AND MODERN.
551
AKRON'S LEGAL STATUS.
Attorneys- at-Law, — ^Among the early lawyers of Akron were:
Wolsey Wells, Gregory Po\srers, Alvah and Seneca L. Hand, Wil-
liam M. Dodge, Harvey H. Johnson, Lucius V. Bierce, David K.
Cartter, George Bliss, John C. Singletary, William S. C. Otis, Wil-
liam W. Gaston, James D. Tayler, Charles G. Ladd, Roland O.
Hammond, George Kirkum, Henry. W. King, Frederick S. Han-
ford, Rufus P. Spalding, Daniel R. Tilden, Henry McKinney,
Samuel W. McClure, John A. Pleasants, Charles A. Baldwin,
Daniel B. Hadley, Charles Rinehart, Stephen H. Pitkin, Wilbur
F. Sanders, N. W. Goodhue, Thomas F. Wildes. Charles B. Ber-
nard, and the late Judge James S. Carpenter, portraits, w^ith brief
biographical sketches of Messrs. Carpenter, Goodhue, Sanders,
Pitkin, McClure, McKinney, Spalding, King, Hammond, Ladd,
Singletary, Bliss, Cartter, Bierce and Dodge, appearing elsewhere
in this volume.
After the portrait and sketch of Judge Carpenter were printed,
in the earlier part of this work, w^hile walking along the old
"Chuckery" race, near Cuyahoga Falls, on August 13, 1891, by a
misstep he was precipitated over the embankment, striking upon
his head on the rocks some twelve feet below, fracturing his skull,
from the effects of which he died the same evening, a;^ed 85 years,
11 months and 26 days.
HON. GEORGE BLISS,— born at
Jericho, Vt., January 1, 1813; came
to Ohio in 1832 ; graduate of Granville
College ; studied law in Akron, witli
David K. Cartter, late chief justice of
the supreme court of the District
of Columbia, and after admission to
the bar was law partner of Mr. Cartter
for several years ; was mayor of
Akron in 1850; March 15, 1851.
appointed by Gov. Reuben Wood,
president judge of Court of Common
Pleas, on the election of Judge Ben-
jamin F. Wade to the U. S. senate,
ablj- filling the position until the
taking effect of the new constitution
in February, 1852 ; member of con-
gress from the 18th Ohio district,
1852-54, and, (having moved to Woos-
ter), of the 14th district in the 38th
Congress. Both at the bar, on the
bench and in congress. Judge Bliss
was shrewd, logical and profound ;
in private life sympathetic, social,
genial and witty. Judge Bliss was
married January 16. 1856. to Miss Sarah
J. Fish, of Williamstown, N. Y., who
bore him five children — Florence,
born September 9, 1857 ; George, Jan-
uary 16. 1859 ; Charles F., November
2,1861 ; Leon, February 6. 1863; Junius,
September. 1867. Judge Bliss died in
Wooster, October 24, 1868, his family
subsequently removing to Brooklyn,
HON. GEORGE BLISS.
L. I., where they still reside. All
having been liberally educated, the
children of Judge Bliss are doing
well in life — George and Junius, in
commercial business, Charles prac-
ticing law. and Leon studying- for
the same profession. Judge Bliss
was a younger brother of our well-
known pioneer citizen. Ambrose W.
Bliss, Esq., of Northfield.
Akron's present practicing attorneys, individual and firms
are: George M. Anderson, present City Solicitor, room 2 city
building; Johnson A. Arbogast, 209 East Market; Baird & Voris
552
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
(Charles Baird and Kdwin F. Voris), 108 East, Market; Arthur F.
Bartges, Academy of Music Building; John H. Campbell, 209
East Market; Frank D, Cassidy, 710 South Main; Newton Chalker,
130 South Howard, Jeremiah Deline, Arcade Block; Doyle «&
Bryan (Dayton A. Doyle and Frederick C. Bryan), room 3 Academy
of Music; Green, Grant & Seiber (Edwin P. Grreen, Charles R.
Grant and George W. Seiber), Akron Savings Bank Block, corner
Mill and Main; John J. Hall, Commercial Block, 209 East Market;
Erjiest C, Housel, 109 South Howard; Calvin Pease Humphrey,
116 East Market; Henry Ward Ingersoll, 110 South Howard; Adam
E. Kling, room 13 Arcade Block; Kohler & Musser (Jacob A.
Kohler and Harvey Musser), rooms 1 and 13 Arcade Block; Marvin,
Atterholt, Slabaugh & Marvin (Ulysses L. Marvin, Frank M. Atter-
holt, Watson E. Slabaugh and David Leslie Marvin), rooms 7 and
8 Academy of Music; Eee K. Mihills, 110 South Howard; Nathan
Morse, 110 South Howard; Otis & Otis (Edward P. and Ellsworth
E. Otis), Arcade Block; Oviatt, Allen & Cobbs (Edward Oviatt,
George G. Allen and Charles S. Cobbs), 102 North Howard;
George K. Pardee, 112 South Howard; James D. Pardee,
127 South Howard; Wilson H. Pixley, 113, 115 East Market;
James M. Poulson, 119 South Howard; Emory A, Prior, room
6, Arcade Block; Rogers and Wilhelm (Samuel G. Rogers
and Andrew J, Wilhelm), 111 South Howard; Olin Iv. Sad-
ler, 233 Carroll; Rolin W. Sadler, Paige Block, 146, 148 South
Main; Henry C. Sanford, room 6, Arcade Block; William
H. Sanford, room 6, Arcade Block; Henry K. Sauder, Court House;
James W. Scott, 127 South Howard: Louis D. Seward, 113, 115 East
Market; Rial M. Smith, room 6, Academy of Music; Edward W.
Stuart, probate office. Court House; Frederick H. Stuart, Court
House; Frank B. Theiss, 100 North Howard; Tibbals & Frank
(Newell D. Tibbals and John C. Frank), room 1, Academy of Music;
Tinker & Waters (Albert B. Tinker and Frank A. Waters), room
11, Arcade Block; Theodore W. Wakeman, 146, 148 South Main;
Lorenzo Dow Watters, 113, 115 East Market; Welsh & Sawyer
(James Welsh and Wm, T. Saw^yer), 113 S. Howard; Horatio T.
Willson, room 2, Arcade Block; George M. Wright. 103 E. Market.
HON. DAVID K. CARTTER,-born
ill Jefferson county, N. Y., June
22, 1812 ; academic education ; from
12 to 14 worked in printing office of
Thurlow Weed in Rochester ; studied
law in Rochester and admitted to
bar at 20 years of age ; came to
Akron in 1836, forming a partnership
with Alvah Hand, Esq., under the
firm name of Hand & Cartter, and
later with George Bliss, Esq., as
Cartter & Bliss, a very strong legal
team ; in 1845 removed to Massillon
forming a partnership with Hon. H.
B. Hurlbut, as Cartter & Hurlbut ; in
1848 was elected to Congress, as the
candidate of the Democratic part3',
and was re-elected in 1850, serving
four jears ; in 1853 removed to Cleve-
land, espoused the Free Soil cause
and entered heartily into the organi-
zation of the Republican party; a
delegate to the Chicago convention, HON. DAVID K. CAKTTER.
AKRON LAWYERS, ANCIENT AND MODERN.
553
in 18(50, securing- the transfer of a
sufficient number of votes of the
Ohio delegation froin Salmon P.
Chase to Mr. Lincoln, to secure his
nomination over William H. Seward;
in 1861, was appointed by President
Lincoln as Minister to Bolivia, abl}''
filling- that position a year and a half ;
in 18(S, was appointed Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court of the District
of Columbia, which important office
he continuously held nearly a
quarter of a century, his death
occurring April 17, 1887, aged 74
years, 9 inonths and 25 days. Judge
Cartter was married to Miss Nancy
H. Hanford, of Monroe county, N.
Y., in 1836, who has borne him two
sons — David and William, both of
whom entered the army, during the
war, the foriner dying in service, the
latter now a prominent physician and
surgeon, and the owner and manag'er
of an extensive ranch in Kansas.
Mrs. Cartter still resides in Wash-
ington.
HON. CHRISTOPHER PARSONS
WOLCOTT,— born in Wolcott-
ville. Conn., December 17, 1820; mov-
ed with parents to Steubenville, Ohio,
in 1833; graduated at Jefferson
College, Pa., in 1840; read law with
Tappan & Stanton in Steubenville ;
on admission to the bar, in 1843,
commenced practice in Ravenna, in
partnership with Gen. L. V. Bierce,
in January, 1846, reinoving to Akron
and forining a partnership w^ith
William S. C. Otis, Esq., and on the
removal of the latter to Cleveland
becoming associated with Hon.
William H. Upson, under the firm
naine of Wolcott & Upson, which ar-
rangement continued until his death.
On the death of Attorney Gen. F. D.
Kimball, in 1856, Gov. Chase appoint-
ed Mr. Wolcott to fill the vacancy, to
which office he was subsequently
twice elected, the period of his
incumbenc}^ being the most impor-
tant in the history of the State,
covering the Breslin Treasury
defalcation and the Wellington
Rescue Fugitive Slave Law episoda
his arguinent before the Supreme
Court of the United States, in Janu-
ar3\ 1861, against the return of the
fugitives and the extradition of the
rescuers, on the demand of the
Governor of Kentucky, being, by
order of the Court, spread in full upon
the records of that court. In May,
18()2, at the urgent request of Secre-
tary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, he
assumed the arduous duties of
Assistant Secretary of War, Mr.
Stanton in calling him to the i)osi-
tion, saying: "I know I ought not to
ask it of you, and fear the work will
HON. CHRISTOPHER PARSONS WOLCOTT.
kill you, but I do not know where to
look for aid, and if I do not have it
now, I must give up myself." The
prophecy was only too true. Enter-
ing upon the duties of the position
with his customary energy and vigil-
ance, saying, when remonstrated
with by friends, " Why can I not give
myself to my country as thousands
of soldiers are doing every day," his
health soon gave way under the
strain, compelling his resignation the
February following, Mr. Wolcott,
after nearly two months of intense
suffering, dying at his home in Akron,
April 4, 1863. Mrs. Wolcott, sister of
the late E)dwin M. Stanton, still
survives, residing at Sewickly, Pa.
HON. HENRY MrKINNEY,— born
in Canfield, (then Trumbull,
now Mahoning county), October 9,
1828 ; father of Scotch and mother of
Connecticut revolutionary stock;
boyhood spent on farm, clearing
land, splitting rails, chopping wood,
etc.; educated in district schools.
Farmingtoii Academy and Twins-
burg Institute ; studied law with
Judge J. W. Tyler, of Garrettsville,
and Judge S. W. McCltxre, at Cuya-
hoga Falls, and after admission to
the bar, in 1850, entering into partner-
ship with the latter, holding that
relation 15 years ; elected prosecuting-
554
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY
attornej' of Svimniit county in 1856,
and re-elected in 1858, serving- four
years ; removed to Akron in 18(34,
forming partnership with Judge N.
D. Tibbals, which existed eight
years ; appointed draft commissioner
for Summit county, by Gov. Tod, in
1862, serving during- the war ; in 1869
w^as elected state senator for Sum-
mit and Portage counties, serving
two years ; in 1873 removed to Cleve-
land ; in 1880 elected judge of Cuya-
hog-a county Common Pleas Court,
and re-elected in 1885, two and a half
years later resigning that honorable
position and resuming the practice
of the law. Judge McKinney was
married in 1854 to Miss Henrietta
Maria Stull, of Warren, who died in
March, 1870, leaving three children,
the Judge marrying for his second
wife Miss Adelaide L. Remington,
of Rutland, Vt., in 1872.
HON. WILBUK F. SANDERS.
HON. WILBUR F. SANDERS,—
born in Leon, N. Y., May 2, 1834;
September, 1854, came to Akron, teach-
ing in High School and reading law
with Upson & Edgerton ; admitted
to bar in 1856; October, 1861, enlisted
in the army, recruiting Company " G,"
64th O. V. I., and mustering in Sixth
Ohio Battery, both part of Sherman's
Brigade, organized bv Hon. John
Sherman, at Camp Buckingham, near
Mansfield ; elected second and then
first lieutenant of Company " G," on
organizatioti of regiment was selected
adjutant, and on assuming command
of the Brigade, by Col. Forsyth (of
the regular army), was appointed A.
A. G.; in winter of 1861, '62 assisted in
constructing defenses to railroads
from Nashville to Decatur and Stev-
enson, and thence back to Nashville,
foi'ming that triangle of transporta-
tion so efficient in supplying the
troops in the center of our army of
HON. HENKY M'KINNEY.
advance. Failing health compelled
his resignation m Suinmer of 1862.
but in 1863 was lieutenant of Akron's
contingent of "Squirrel Hunters,""
so expeditiously gathered at Cincin-
nati, to repel the threatened invasion
of Ohio by the rebel general, Kirby
Smith ; the same fall accompanied
his uncle, Hon. Sidney Edgerton,^
Chief Justice of the territory of Idaho^
to Bannock City, in what was in 1864
organized as the territory of Mon-
tana, with Judge Edgerton as Gov-
ernor. That portion of Idaho being
overrun with highway robbers and
murderers, Mr. Sanders, well quali-
fied therefor by his legal as well a»
military experience, organized the
merchants, miners and other citizens-
into a vigilance committee, of which,
he was the prosecuting officer, andi
by hanging some fifty of the despera-
does, and banishing many others^
quiet and peace was restored, which
has ever since been maintained. He
has officiated as president of the
Mining Exchange, and of the Union
League ; Grand Master, F. & A. M.;
U. S. Attorney under President Grant;:
eight years as member of the terri-
torial legislature ; twenty -five years
president of Montana Historical Soci-
ety ; president board of trustees Mon-
tana Wesleyan Universitj^ ; w^as
Republican candidate for delegate
to Congress in 1864, '67, '80, '86, but
defeated ; and in 1890 was unani-
mously elected United States Senator
from the newly organized State of
Montana, his term expiring in 1893.
October 27, 1858, Mr. Sanders was mar-
ried to Miss Harriet P. Fenn, of Tall-
madge, who has borne him three
children — James, now a lawyer in
Helena; Wilbur, mining engineer;
Lewis, now a student in Columbia
College.
AKRON LAWYERS, ANCIENT AND MODERN.
555
p EN. RUSSELL A. ALGER —born
vJ in Lafayette, Medina county, O.,
February 27, 1836; raised to farm life;
educated in district schools and
Richfield Academy, working- for his
board, teaching- school the last two
winters of his course ; 18o7-o9 read
law in office of Wolcott & Upson, in
Akron, and admitted to the bar by
Supreme Court at Columbus, prac-
ticing a short time in Cleveland ; in
1860 engaged in lumber business at
Grand Rapids, Mich. ; in August,
1861, enlisted as private in Second
Michigan Cavalry, being mustered in
September 2, as captain ; promoted to
major April 25, 1862 ; wounded and
taken prisoner at Booneville, Miss.,
July 1, 1862 ; promoted to lieutenant
colonel February 28, 1863 ; wounded
at Boonesboro. Md., July 8, 1863;
resigned and honorably discharged
September 20, 1864, after having par-
ticipated in 66 battles and skir-
mishes ; brevetted brigadier-general
for gallantry at Trevillian Station,
Va., June 11, 1864, and major-general
June 11, 1865, for gallant and merit-
orious services during the war. On
retiring from the army Gen. Alger
engaged in the lumber and shipping
trade at Detroit, in which he has
accumulated a fine fortune, which he
is dispensing with a liberal hand, in
the promotion of private and public
enterprises and the various religious,
GEN. RUSSELL A. ALGEK.
benevolent and patriotic schemes of
the day. In 1884 Gen. Alger was
elected governor of Michigan, ably
servi^ng two j^ears, and declining a
re-election ; in 1888 received 142 elec-
toral votes for president in the Chi-
cago Convention. Gen. Alger in 1890,
'91 was national commander of the
Grand Army of the Republic, and one
of the most popular and successful
leaders that patriotic order has ever
had.
KGLIN W. SADLER.
ROLIN W. SADLER,— born in Cen-
terville,St. Joseph county, Mich.,
July 7, 1856; at the age of eleven re-
moving to Brj-an, Ohio, and two
years later to Wauseon; in 1871
entered Baldwin University and a
year later Mt. Union College, from
which he graduated in 1874. After
teaching two years, as principal of
schools at Reading, Mich., and Bed-
ford, Ohio, in 1876 he entered the
law office of Edgerton & Kohler, as
student, being admitted to the bar
in 1878, since which time he has been
in a continuous and phenomenally
successful practice in Akron, for
several years in partnership with
Hon. Jacob A. Kohler, but since
January, 1887, upon his own ac-
count. September 15, 1880, Mr.
Sadler was married to Miss Carrie M.
Comstock, of Bedford, who has borne
him two children — Edna Dean, born
December 4, 1882 and Alden Howard,
born March 20, 1886. In addition .to
his law business, Mr. Sadler is a
stockholder in the Akron Savings
Bank, The F. Schumacher Milling-
Compan5% the Akron Tool Company,
the Enterprise Manufacturing Com-
pany, with other material interests
in Akron and elsewhere.
556
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
TNJEWTON CHALKER— son of
-1-^ James and Eliza (Hyde) Chalk-
er, born at Southington, Ohio, Sep-
tember 12, 1842; educated in district
schools and at Western Reserve Semi-
nary, Farming'ton, Ohio, teaching
school winters from 16 to 20 years of
age; June, 1862, enlisted in Company
B, 87th Regiment O. V. I., serving till
the following October; in 1863, entered
Allegheny College, at Meadville,
graduating in June, 1866; same Fall
elected principal of Dixon (111.) Semi-
narj?^, serving one year; the next
year filling the position of superin-
tendent of the Darlington (Wis.)
Union Schools; August 1868, entered
Law Department of Albany (N. Y.)
University, graduating in June 1869.
Soon after graduation, Mr. Chalker
opened a law office in Cameron, Mo.,
where he remained five years, on
August 14, 1874, establishing an office
in Akron, enjoying a reasonably suc-
cessful and lucrative practice to the
present time. Mr. Chalker's parents,
James and Elizabeth (Hyde) Chalker
are among the most highly respected
NEWTON CHALKER.
citizens of Trumbull county, Mr.
Chalker, himself, still remaining un-
married.
DAVID LESLIE MARVIN.
DAVID LESLIE MARVIN,-son of
Judge Ul Jesses L. and Mrs.
Dorena (Rockwell) Marvin, was born
at Kent, Ohio, November 17, 1862,
reinoving with parents to Akron in
1867 ; educated in Akron public
schools and at Kenyon College, at
Gambler ; in November, 1882, was
appointed an exaininer in the U. S.
Pension office, at Washington, by
faithful service, earning a promotion
to second grade ; resigned in June,
1884, to engage in newspaper work
during centennial cotton exposition
at New Orleans ; spending the year
1885 in Chicago, February 9, 1886, was
elected assistant engineer of the
board of public works of Ohio, and
re-elected in 1888 and 1890 ; while fill-
ing this position spent his evenings
and other spare moments in read-
ing law, being admitted to the
bar in December, 1889. February 15,
1891, resigning his position as assist-
ant engineer, began practice in Akron
as junior inember of the law firm of
Marvin, Atterholt, Slabaugh &
Marvin, the public works superin-
tendents, on his resignation, adopting
a resolution, expressing their regret
"to part with him, both as a friend
and as an official," and that "he has
discharged his duties with marked
abilitj^ and fidelity, and manifested
uniform kindness and courtesy in all
his relations with us." Mr. Marvin
was married May 16, 1888, at Shelby,
Ohio, to Frances Saxe Fish. Mr. and
Mrs. M. are members of St. Paul's
Episcopal Church, Mr. M. being in
politics a stanch Republican ; is a
member of Ohio Commandery of the
Loyal Legion ; Cleveland Lodge, B.
P. O. E.; Columbus Lodge. K. of H.,
an;d lola Chapter, P. S. I. Upsilon
Fraternity.
AN APPROPRIATE CONCLUSION.
557
AKRON'S ORIGINAL PROPRIETORS.
JUDGE LEICESTER KING, — born
J in Suffield, Conn., May 1, 1789;
married to Julia Anne Hunting^ton,
October 12, 1814 ; after short residence,
as merchant, in Westfield, Mass., went
to Natchez, Miss., but declining-
bright prospects of business there,
because of abhorrent impression in
regard to human slavery, in 1817,
settled, as merchant, in Warren, Ohio ;
in 1831, with Gen. Simon Perkins and
Dr. Eliakim Crosby, laid out North
Akron, and constructed the Cascade
Mill race, giving to Akron its start as
a manufacturing- center ; Associate
Judge of Trumbull County one term
of seven years ; State Senator, two
terms, 1835-39; large proinoter of
Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal ; in
1842 Liberty candidate for Governor
and renominated in 1844 ; Liberty
nominee for Vice President in 1848,
but resigned in favor of Charles
Francis Adams, Free-Soil candidate ;
ever promotive of Akron's growth
and prosperity, in 1836 erected a
barn with the intention of establish-
ing his home on the grounds now
occupied by Hon. Lewis Miller. Mrs.
King dying in 1849, June 10, 1852,
Judge King was again inarried, to
JUDGE LEICESTER KING.
Mrs. Calista M. Howard, eldest daugh-
ter of Dr. Crosby, who still survives ;
the Judge himself dying at Bloom-
field, Trumbull County, September
19, 1856, aged 67 years, 4 months, 18
days ; five of his seven children sur-
viving him.
As a fitting close to the foregoing chapters, delineating Akron's
comparatively brief, but remarkably prosperous career, the accom-
panying portrait and biography of Judge Leicester King, may very
properly be here given. In addition to his hearty co-operation
with General Simon Perkins and Doctor Eliakim Crosby, hereto-
fore alluded to, in the founding of what, in an early day, wa»
known as North Akron, the building of the Cascade mill race,
and the construction of the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal— freely
appropriating his own private funds in their promotion — Judge
King at the same time gave substantial aid to many private enter-
prises— notably the building of the Cascade Mill, by Mr. William B,
Mitchell, in 1840, and the Empire Hotel, by Mr. William H.
Burroughs, in 1844, '45. Like his co-partners, also. Judge King was
extremely liberal in regard to deferred payments on lands pur-
chased from him, on w^hich the purchasers had made substantial
improvements, thereby enabling many persons, during the several
early panics w^ritten of, to retain their humble homes, which, under
a less lenient creditor, would have been ruthlessly sacrificed. Judge
King, and his early associates, Messrs. Perkins and Crosby, should
ever be held in kindly remembrance by those who now enjoy, or
may hereafter enjoy, the fruits of their w^ise labors in w^hat, in the
beginning, w^as a very forbidding locality.
CHAPTER XIX.
SUMMIT COUNTY'S TORXADOES— THE STOW DISASTER OF OCTOBER 20, 1837—
DWELLING HOUSE DEMOLISHED AND FOUR PERSONS KILLED— OTHER DAM-
AGES IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD — PREVIOUS AND SUBSEQUENT STORMS— THE
SHARON, COPLEY AND SPRINGFIELD BLOW OF APRIL 8, 1890, LEAVING
DEATH AND DESTRUCTION IN ITS TRACK — AKRON'S FRIGHTFUL BUT FORTU-
NATE VISITATION, MAY 10, 1890, ETC.— BARBERTON'S FATAL CALL, DECEMBER
23, 1890.
AKRON'S FAVORABLE LOCATION.
AKRON and Summit county seem to have been phenomenally
exempt from the terrible storms, devastating floods and
destructive whirlwinds so largely prevalent in the west and south,
and of not infrequent occurrence in the State of Ohio. Located
as it is, upon a summit, Akron cannot suffer greatly from floods,
except from cloud-bursts, or the giving away of the banks of
Summit Lake, or the State reservoirs immediately to the south of
us, the danger from which is very remote indeed.
Numerous gaps in the primeval forests, strew^n w^ith broken-
off or uprooted trees of large growth, however, indicated to the
early settlers that in the creation of these extensive "windfalls,"
as they w^ere called, very furious tornadoes must have previously,
from time to time prevailed, w^hile w^ide-apart localities have
occasionally been thus visited since the settlement of the country
began — the course of such storms being generally from wrest to
east with occasional divergence from both southw^esterly to north-
easterly and from northwesterly to southeasterly.
THE GREAT STOW CALAMITY OF 1837.
Though both orchards as well as forests had been prostrated,
fences, roofs and chimneys blow^n away, ^vith occasional loss of
poultry and other farm stock, by these severe w^ind-storms, the
first tornado in w^hat is now Summit county, involving the loss of
human life, occurred in the township of StoAV, on the night of
October 20, 1837, just north of w^hat is no\sr know^n as Silver Lake,
a full description of which is given in the chapter devoted to Stow
township in this volume, and need not be given in detail here.
It may be said generally, how^ever, that the storm in question
occurred in the darkness of the early morning (about 4 o'clock), with
no eye-witnesses to testify of its apearance w^hen approaching or
or departing. Striking the ground near Gilbert's Corners, on the
w^est, or diagonal road from Cuyahoga Falls to Hudson, pursuing
a northeasterly course, and evidently scooping up a considerable
portion of the w^ater, sand, \^eeds, etc., of the intervening pond
(now know^n as Crystal Lake), it entirely demolished the substan-
tial story and a-half frame house of Mr. Frederick Sanford, on the
present site of Mr. William L. Hanford's residence, on the East
and West Center road, killing four out of six of its inmates — Mr.
Sanford, his tw^o sons, Charles and Norman, and his mother-in-law,
Mrs. Mary Collins, some of their lighter household effects being
SUMMIT county's TORNADOES. 559
found some five miles from the scene of the fatal disaster, consid-
erable other damage also being done to other property in the
immediate neighborhood.
THE SHARON, COPLEY AND SPRINGFIELD TORNADO.
Betw^een six and seven o'clock, on the evening of Tuesday,
April 8, 1890, a fearful and fatal storm, assuming the proportions
of a destructive tornado, passed over the townships of Sharon,
in Medina county, and Copley, Coventry and Springfield, in Sum-
mit county, its course unlike most of the other similar storms
occurring in this vicinity, being from northwesterly to south-
easterly.
The storm struck the ground in the w^est portion of Sharon
township. It w^as seen approaching, and many people sought
safety in cellars, thus escaping serious personal injury, but all
were not so fortunate. The first building destroyed w^as the large
barn of Mr. James Hartman, next the house and barn of Uriah
Werstler, of Wads\^rorth, occupied by his son-in-law, Jacob Durr,
were razed to the ground; next the fine barn of Washington Crane
was completely destroyed, together with the roof of his horse shed;
next the large barn of R. M. Brow^n, \sras demolished. Here, near
the center of Sharon, the tornado seemed to rise, doing but slight
damage in and about the village itself — unroofing the Methodist
church, blo^ving do^vn chimneys, etc.
Rising and falling, playing sad havoc with forest trees, sugar
groves and fruit orchards, a mile southeast of the Center, the new
bank barn and w^agon house of Mr. Christian Wall were completely
demolished, a fine lot of timber, shrubbery, etc., in front of the
house of Mr. James T. Hammond, torn up; the house of Mr.
Reason Wall twisted from its foundation; the barn of Mr. Frank
Bramley being carried aw^ay, and Mr. Bramley deposited among
the falling timbers several rods a^vay, w^ith serious internal
injuries, eight horses remaining standing in their stalls unhurt.
The house of Mr. Bramley Avas also whirled into the air, falling a
mass of ruins a short distance from the foundation, caught fire
from the kitchen stove and was entirely consumed.
PloAving its \vray through a dense piece of timber, the tornado
next struck the house and barn of Mr. Hughes Frank, on the east
line of Sharon tow^nship. Hearing the storm coming, Mr. and
Mrs. Frank started for the cellar, but before reaching it, the build-
ing w^as lifted from its foundation, and, amid breaking and falling
timbers, both of them were hurled several rods aAvay, the wreck of
the two buildings being scattered along the track of the tornado
fuUj'^ 300 yards. Mr. Frank was killed outright, and Mrs. Frank
"was so badly injured that her life was for several months
despaired of, and she is even now^ but the wreck of her former
self. A favorite dog of Mr. Frank's Avas also, instantly killed.
Mr. Henry Wall's new 40x80 barn, a short distance southeast
of Mr. Frank's, was completely demolished, a yearling heifer being
killed and Mr. N. L. Fulmer, who w^as milking a cow in the yard,
was carried 150 feet aw^ay and deposited in a wheat field, seriously
injured.
SPRINGFIELD NEXT VISITED.
While the heavy rain, hail, thunder, lightning and furious wind
accompanying the storm, continued to rage, doing considerable
560 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
damage in Akron and other points, along its track, the tornada
proper, after leaving Mr. Wall, lifted itself into the upper air, and
passing over the eastern portion of Copley and the northern por-
tion of Coventry, again struck the earth in the township of Spring-
field, about a mile and a half south of the White Grocery. Leveling
fences, trees, etc., on the premises of Mr. William H. Jones, on the
Massillon road, the two-story residence of Mr. Scott Sweitzer,
a short distance to the southeast, was entirely demolished. Mr.
and Mrs. Sw^eitzer, with their two children, ^vere on the cellar
stairs, seeking a place of safety, and though suddenly dropping to
the bottom of the cellar, as the stairs were wrenched from under
them, they escaped w^ith serious, but not fatal, injuries. They also
lost their barn, hog pen, chicken coop, carriages, chickens, pigs,
etc. A quarter of a mile further on the log house occupied by Mr.
Henry Kobinson was unroofed, and about the same distance
beyond, the Washington Rhodanbaugh house was unroofed and
the barn blown doAvn. Passing over or around Springfield Lake,
the storm again took a southeasterly course, destroying Elias
Kurtz's orchard, racking his house and partially unroofing his
barn; next racking the house, unroofing the barn, uprooting the
fruit trees, and prostrating the fences upon the farm of Eli Funk;
then mowing down a large tract of heavy timber for Mr.
George Wise; next totally demolishing the barn of Mr. Abraham
Heimbaugh, killing several cattle; blow^ing away the log house of
a Mr. Callahan; twisting from its foundation the house of Mr.
Elias Lilly, unroofing the house and barn of Milton Pontious;
blowing away the barn and sheep shed of Mr. Andrew^ Falor, and
pursuing its course of devastation some distance into Stark
county.
AKRON'S GREAT VISITATION, MAY 10, 1890.
During the afternoon of Saturday, May 10, 1890, Akron was
visited with a succession of very heavy showers, with quite a stiff
southwesterly breeze. After a short respite, and a partial clearing
up, about 5 o'clock, a half hour later, two dense black clouds from
the south^vest and northwest, respectively, -were observed rapidly
approaching each other, with angry roars near the southwesterly
corner of the city. On coming in contact, like tw^o mighty giants
\*^restling, they seemed to engage in a nearly stationary, but fear-
ful struggle for a moment, w^hen, having assumed the shape of an
immense rapidly rotating inverted cone, with a madly terrific roar,
it rushed city-ward, first striking the ground a little east of the
Ohio Canal, just south of West Thornton street, and pursuing its
course of dev astation diagonally through the entire city, made its
exit at the northeast corner in the vicinity of the "Old Forge."
The first building struck was the small frame house of Mr.
Wilson Kiplinger, south of Thornton street. The house was
entirely demolished and the inmates, furniture, stove, etc., pro-
miscuously piled together, a fire soon starting from the burning
coals, but fortunately the family, though some what bruised and
burned, escaped without serious bodily injury.
Slightly lifting, but still uncomfortably near the surface, the
storm crossed Thornton street; besides other slight damage to
trees and fences, uprooting ten large apple trees on the lot of W.
S. Youtz, about the same number on the lot of William Fink, sev-
eral large trees and the grape arbor of Thomas B. Moore, corner of
SUMMIT county's TORNADOES. 561
Coburn and Thornton streets, badly damaging the houses and
trees of E. CoUoredo and J. L. Serfass, west side of Coburn, and
the premises oi Felix Sell, Charles H. Jennings, John Stutz, S. B.
Foster and Louis B. Stahl, east side Coburn; John H. Campbell,
George Pellinger, Oliver P. Falor, Samuel Steffe, Mrs. Mary
Winkleman, Fire Station No. 4 and other property on South Main,
north of Thornton; of F. G. Stipe, Charles Criss, Frank Miller and
others on South High, Broadway and Fair streets.
GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS AGAIN.
Leaving a large amount of valuable property, between Main
street and the railroads comparatively uninjured, the tornado
began to get down to earnest w^ork again on the east side, leveling
huge trees and seriously- damaging buildings near the intersection
of Washington and Cross streets, and for half a mile along Wolf
Ledge, and another half mile northeasterly' its ravages w^ere
almost unintermitted as the following list of casualties will show:
One-story house of Dominick Gritter, 404 Cross street, partly
unroofed, w^indows blown in and Mrs. Gritter slightly injured; barn
of M. F. Kearns blown down and contents scattered; two houses of
John Van Alt, Washington and Cross, badly damaged; house of
John Bruegger, 207 Washington street, twisted from its foundation
and badly w^recked; house of Peter Austgen, 406 Cross street,
turned half around and badly shattered; August Schaffer's shoe
shop, 178 Grant street, turned upside down; house belonging to
Julius Loepke, occupied by Mr. Schaffer's family, and by Frank
Wagner, as a barber shop, lifted from its foundation, turned partly
around and thrown against Turner Halle, adjoining on the north,
w^hich w^as also badly wrecked, roof partly torn off, w^indow^s
crushed in, siding broken by flying timbers and interior deluged
with water; here also a horse hitched to a w^agon was instantly
killed by a displaced electric w^ire falling across its neck; on the
east side of Grant street, the house of Anthony Mennel w^as turned
oyer and other damage done, as shown in the accompanying cut.
''^%^^'^:^
Overturned House of Anthony Mennel. 175 (Jrant Street.
36
562
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
V^iew of Havoc on East side of Grant Street, looking towards Turner Halle.
The kitchen of Jacob Neubauer, Grant and Cross streets, was
blown away; house of Gebhard Hermann, 505 Cross street, badly
w^recked, the kitchen in Avhich nine persons were eating supper,
torn from the main building and rolled over and over, 50 yards,
the clothes of a 12 year old girl taking fire and quite seriously
burning her, before Mr. Hermann could extricate himself from the
w^reck to extinguish the flames; Mrs. Hermann and one or tw^o
other children also being slightly injured, the entire family, how^-
ever, miraculously escaping with their lives. The house of Louis
Leffler, 507 Cross street, and other contiguous property, was also
seriously damaged, the above cut illustrating the condition of
things in this vicinity as shown by the camera the following day.
Rear of Mrs. Margaretha Burkhardt's Brewery, looking towards Turner Halle.
SUMMIT COUNTY S TORNADOES.
563
The tornado nowr leaped diagonally across Wolf Ledge, and dip-
ping into the gorge, struck the brewrery of Mrs. Margaretha
Burkhardt, 154, 156 Sherman street, totally demolishing the barn,
-wrecking the dormitory, ice house, etc., and partially unroofing
the brewery as shown in part by the preceding and following cuts.
Wreck of Dormitory anrl other damajtie at Mrs Margaretha Burkhardt's
Brewery, Sherman Street.
From the brewery, driving across several acres of unoccupied
-territory, prostrating a number of immense forest trees in its
•course, its next point of attack was upon the east side of Sumner
street, badly shattering the house of Harry R. Sanford, at 517, and
that of Charles Walter, adjoining upon the north, blowing off part
of the roof, crushing in w^indows, etc., and completely demolishing
the barns and outhouses in the rear of both. The houses of John
Miller and Mrs. Odell, on this street, were also seriously damaged.
On Sterling Court, the house of Edward Esker was twisted on
foundation, and a house belonging to Mr. John Memmer seriously
<iamaged.
Residences of Otto Miller and Fr.ink Kuntz, 306 and :502 Allyn Street.
564
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
On AUyn street, south of Wheeler, sad havoc was accom-
plished. The house of Frank Kuntz, facing east, was lifted
forward from its foundation several feet and canted over toward
the south, while the house of Otto Miller, adjoining on the south,
had the kitchen entirely demolished and the main building
thrown from its foundation and canted over towards the north, as
shown by the foregoing view; Charles S. Wilhelm's house on the
south, also being considerably damaged.
Directly opposite, on AUyn street, a new unoccupied house,
belonging to August C. Miller, was entirely destroyed, as was also
the somewhat smaller structure of F. Allen Coup, the ruins of
both of which are shown in the following cut:
Residences of August C. Miller and Allen Coup, on Allyn Street,
as left by the storm.
Passing on from here, besides toppling over many chimneys,
and leveling innumerable fences, trees, outbuildings, etc., on and
near Brow^n street, the residences of Charles G. Angne, 206, Dr.
Elwyn Humphrey, 208, Hiram N. Henninger, 210, and John Klinger
314, were more or less seriously damaged, the barn of Dr.
Humphrey being entirely destroyed. On Wheeler street, the
house ol George Roussert, ^vas moved several feet on its founda-
tion and badly wrenched; the house occupied by A. J. Christman,
117 Kling street; the houses owned by Frank How^e, occupied bj^
D. Bart Curran, 115, George A. Rost, 113 and Thomas Gilligan, 211
Kling street were quite badly damaged, every virindow of the latter
being blow^n in, and a large hole made in the roof.
Remorselessly rushing on, the large two-story frame building of
Mr. Orin C. Baker, northeast corner Brow^n and Exchange streets,
the first floor occupied as a grocery store, and the second story as
a family residence, w^as instantly leveled to its foundation, as graph-
ically told by the engraving on the opposite page.
Hearing and seeing the terrible storm approaching, the
inmates of the building rushed frantically to the cellar, the crash
coming almost the instant they reached the foot of the stairs, one
w^all, 20 feet square, being blow^n 50 feet away, many of the timbers
of the building being carried at least 100 feet, and large adjacent
trees ruthlessly laid low. The house of Charles Ingham, south-
\srest corner Brown and Exchange streets, w^as also badly
damaged. The house of Wilhelmina Bolte and Albert Funk, 703
East Exchange, badly damaged in roof, and barn in rear, with a
fine buggy, were entirely destroyed, and a horse so badly injured
SUMMIT COUNTY S TORNADOES.
565
that it had to be killed. The house occupied by Kdwin S. Har-
rington, 707 East Exchange, was moved from its foundation and
the rear crushed in, but the inmates took refuge in the cellar and
escaped unharmed. The houses of Howard A. Falor, Mrs. Susan
Bowers, James K. Chapman and Arthur E. Myers, were seriously
injured, the latter, in process of erection, being blown flat down.
The Fine Two-story Frame Grocery Store of Orin C. Baker, 701 East
Exchange Street, after the storm.
Thomas H. Thompson, wife and two children, on Nash street,
northeast of Baker's grocery, heard the storm coming and fled to
the cellar, but had scarcely reached it before the house was lifted
from its foundation and dumped in the yard, an irreparable ruin.
On Vine street the nursery of Lucius Rose was largely damaged,
including the prostration of his large w^ind-mill, and sad havoc
made with the roofs, chimneys, windows, trees and out buildings
of John Rawlins, Henry Stocker, A. L. Dickinson and others. The
fine orchard of Lee K. Mihills, Esq., 133 Brown street, was largely
destroyed, one tree falling on top of the house, while similar
destruction was visited upon the orchard of Nathan Morse, Esq.,
215 Spicer street.
At 302 Spicer street, the one-story house of Miss Lena L. Kling
w^as almost entirely unroofed and a large tree in the front yard
prostrated; an unoccupied house across the street had a great
hole torn in its side, while the remnants of a frame barn strewed
the back yard. Philip Webber's two-story barn, 307 Spicer, was
neatly tipped over upon its side, and the houses of J. T. Powell and
H. T. Wilison seriously injured.
On Vine street, the house of William Stein was unroofed and
otherwise damaged, John Spicer's new barn was tipped over on its
side, and Henry Strunk's house was badly shattered, both outside
and inside.
Leveling intervening outhouses, trees, fences, etc., the next
serious damage to buildings wras at the w^orks of the Ohio Stone-
w^are Company, 115 to 119 Fountain street, the building, a two-story
brick, 60x100 feet in size, was struck broadside on, blowing off the
566
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
entire upper story and a portion of the lower walls and one of the
stacks, and but for the fact that the workmen had all just started
for their respective homes, serious loss of life would have been
inevitable. FoUow^ing is a view of the wreck the day after the
sto^*^' •
Ruins of The Ohio Stoneware Company's Works, Fountain Street.
A few rods northeast of the demolished pottery stood the fine
brick barn of Mr. Frank J. Knapp. Mr. Knapp was in the barn
grooming his horses when the storm struck. Hearing it comings
he pressed himself against the wall, thus escaping personal
injury from the shower of brick and timber that came pouring
down, though the horses were somewhat injured thereby. The
following cut only partially tells the story, for in addition to the
brick barn, a small frame barn, and large hennery were entirely
blown away, together with some 25 or 30 fine chickens, Avhile the
slate roof and chimneys upon Mr. Knapp's house were also
seriously damaged.
Kuins of Frank J. Knapp's Fine New Brick Barn, and other near-by damage
SUMMIT COUNTY S TORNADOES.
567
Leaving Fountain street, the storm struck the south end of
Ivouis Benson's house, 342 Carroll street, cutting off several feet of
the gable, then bounding over the house of Edward Osterstock,
stripping off its chimney only, it utterly demolished the house of
Malvern S. Irish, at 3o0 Carroll street, the structure being hurled
from its foundation 30 or 40 feet, and entirely disintegrated, timber
from timber. Mr. and Mrs. Irish and their two boys were seated
at the supper table, and hearing the storm coming, Mrs. Irish and
the two bo3's started for the cellar, followed none too soon by Mr.
Irish, who was at first rather inclined to scout the idea of danger,
for while yet on the stairs the crash came, a heavy beam knocking
liim down and falling across his thighs, imprisoning him in the
wreck. Both Mr. and Mrs. Irish w^ere pretty badly shaken up,
physically and mentally; but providentially escaped serious injury,
while the boys came out entirely unharmed.
Passing down Carroll street, leveling all telephone and electric
light poles and twisting off a tw^o-foot solid elm tree, veering to
the north and crossing the street, the house of Walter K. Frick, at
355, was unroofed, and otherwise seriously damaged. Slightly
damaging the house of Mr. Jacob C. Whitmore, 357, the next house
to seriously suffer was that of Mrs. Eliza Jewell, 361, the front of
w^hich Avas crushed in and the building moved several feet from
its foundation, Mrs. Jewell and her son George wisely seeking
safety in the cellar. Leaving the t^^o intervening houses unscathed,
the house of Mr. Alvin D. Alexander, 367, was next struck, and,
twisted from its foundation, and badly shattered, was careened over
towards its near neighbor upon the east, Mrs. Alexander and her
child, alone in the house at the time, escaping with but slight injury.
The house of Mrs. Kate O'Connell. upon the east, was also badly
shattered, and throw^n from its foundation, in an opposite direc-
tion from that of its neighbor, as seen in the accompanying cut.
Af/fpi mttnifo c/»>',//f. .-»r-«K^iu:-."5(i(.ii(4.K.c'itti:;^>iuu
W7 and 369
Kesideiices of Alvin I). Alexander and Mrs. Kate O'Cotniell
Csfrroll Street, after the storm.
Sweeping across the open space between Carroll street and
Buchtel avenue and East Market street, fences, trees, sheds,
chimneys, etc., were blown away, the houses of William Spafford,
616, Joseph Moon, 622, Patrick Flanagan, 626, Aaron N. Straw,'
630, Buchtel avenue; and the green houses of Henry H. Brown, oppo-
site, were slightly damaged, while the fine residence of Rober
568 . AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Watt, at the junction of Buchtel avenue and Kast Market street, was
partially unroofed and otherwise seriously injured. Crossing East
Market street, prostrating several fine apple trees in the orchard
of Mr. N. B. Stone ; twisting off the chimneys from the houses of
councilman Charles S. Hart and others, partially unroofing the
house of Mrs. Mary Cotter and some^vhat damaging the house of
Mrs. George Barber, the storm, sweeping northward through
"Cotter's woods," and after doing considerable damage to chim-
neys, out-buildings, fences, trees, etc., on Hazel, Upson and Je\vett
streets, lifted itself from the valley and took its w^ay towards Tall-
niadge, though without doing any material damage in that direc-
tion, after leaving the city limits; the track of the tornado,
diagonally through the city, being fully two and a half miles in
length, though scarcely averaging more than 100 feet in width.
It has not been attempted in this sketch to mention, in detail,
all the minor effects of this disastrous visitation, but only to give
its more salient features. The aggregate losses were probably
from $30,000 to $50,000. A considerable portion of this loss —
orchards, shade trees, etc., w^as irreparable by immediate money
expenditure, while many of the other sufferers, though seriously
inconvenienced, were able to repair their ow^n damages w^ithout
serious pecuniary embarrassment. Another portion, however,
w^ere less fortunately situated, depending w^hoUy upon their dailj''
labor for daily bread. For the benefit of this class, a relief fund
of some $10,000 was raised, and distributed by a committee pro
rata, according to losses and necessities, thus mitigating to a large
extent the unfortunate visitation — though extremely fortunate in
that no loss of human life or serious bodily injury was occasioned
thereby.
THE BARBERTON DISASTER.
In Akron's young and vigorous suburb, Barberton, adjoining
the village of New Portage, elsewhere written of, w^as being
erected, in the fall of 1890, by the Creedmoor Cartridge Company,
a three story brick factory, 40x150 feet in size. The walls had been
nearly completed and the workmen were engaged in placing upon
them the timbers for the roof, when, at about 3:30 o'clock p. m.,
Tuesday, Deceiuber 23, 1890, a high wind, over the middle portion
of Summit county, from the southwest, assuming the form of a
tornado as it approached the building in question, crushed in
both side walls, down to the first story, taking down w^ith them
and the falling timbers, several of the workmen, one of whom,
John Triplett, of Coventry, was instantly killed, and five others
more or less seriously injured. The injured were : Louis Navel, of
Millersburg, spine injured and left arm broken; Frank Mallory, of
Lafayette, left shoulder dislocated and left arm injured ; Horatio
Leib, of New Portage, right arm injured; Isaiah Lower, New-
Portage, back hurt, back of head badly bruised and injured
internally; T. F, Homer, Akron, back badly injured. John Triplett,
the man who was killed, Avas blown entirely clear of the building,
having a sheer fall of about 45 feet, breaking his neck, badly tear-
ing the scalp on the back of his head, and inflicting a frightful
gash over the right eye. He was 28 years of age, and left a wife
and two children to mourn his fearful death. Mr. Ohio C. Barber,
one of the proprietors of BarbeTton, with his characteristic liber-
ality, promptly contributed $500 for the benefit of the sufferers.
CHAPTER XX.
AKROX'S FIRST, LAST AND ONLY HOMICIDE— THE SIXTH WARD WIFE-
MURDER —TERRIBLE BRUTALITY OF A WHISKEY-SELLING, WHISKEY-
DRINKING FIEND—" WATT " HENRY'S FATAL ASSAULT UPON HIS WIFE,
BRIDGET HENRY -HORRIBLE SUFFERING AND DEATH OF VICTIM— AN
EXCITED POPULACE— LYNCH LAW TALKED OF— ARREST, TRIAL AND CON-
VICTION— MURDER IN THE SECOND DEGREE— IMPRISONMENT FOR LIFE, ETC.
AKRON'S FIRST REAL HOMICIDE.
'THROUGH many deaths have resulted from sudden quarrels
-■- between both sober and intoxicated parties, or from gross care-
lessness in the handling of fire-arms or deadly poisons, during the
half century, and over, of Akron's existence, the case in hand is the
only instance in w^hich a person has ever been put upon trial for
wilful and premeditated murder, committed within the limits of
the city, during its entire history.
PARTIES TO THE TRAGEDY.
Walter Henry w^as born in Ireland, about the year 1848, but
about the time of attaining his majority immigrated to the United
States, settling in Middlebury, where he already had several rela-
tives. There, on the 21st day of January, 1878, he w^as married to
Miss Bridget Doyle, of the same nationality as himself, (several
years his senior), and a sister of Mr. Thomas Doyle, a moulder,
then and now in the employ of Taplin, Kice & Co., and residing on
Adams street. They soon afterw^ards engaged in saloon keeping
at No. 143 Water street, the property of the twain, both real and
personal, being vested in the w^ife. The saloon and family resi-
dence were in the same building, Mrs. Henry, in addition to her
household duties, also assisting in the saloon, as occasion required.
The character of the husband may be inferred from the fact
that he kept, in spite of the remonstrances of his wife, a savage
bull-dog in a small enclosure adjoining the saloon, to pit against
any similar quadruped that his bibulous customers might pro-
duce, for which disgraceful pastiine, on complaint of neighbors, he
was brought before the writer, as ma3''or, in July, 1881, and fined.
His Own " Best Customer." — In the whisky-drinking line,
"Watt" at length became one of his own "best customers," so far
as the quantity of liquor drank was concerned, often becoming
grossly intoxicated in his ow^n place, and frequently going the
rounds of the other saloons in the city and neighborhood on a gen-
eral spree, usually winding up by the most brutal abuse of his
wife, cursing, beating, kicking, etc., often having been heard to
threaten her life by neighbors, too timid to interfere for her pro-
tection.
The Fatal Assault. — On the 18th day of December, 1881,
"Watt," after getting pretty "full" at his own place, made the
rounds of the city in the buggy of an equally breezy companion.
Returning late in the evening, he immediately began to abuse his
570 AKKOX AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
wife, Avho remarked that when she next sa^v the man w^ho had
taken him away, she would tell him what she thought of him. At
that " Watt " knocked Mrs. Henry do>vn with liis list, and, w^hile
she begged him most piteously not to kill her, as heard by several
neighbors, he began kicking and stamping her with his heavy
boots, terribly bruising her about the head (nearly severing one of
her ears), shoulders, sides, chest, (breaking three ribs), arms, legs
and abdomen, (producing frightful external and internal w^ounds,)
left her insensible upon the floor, and turning the key in the door,^
spent the balance of the night in a neighboring livery stable.
The Injured Woman'vS Story. — Recovering consciousness, Mrs,
Henry crawled to her bed, where, \vithout undressing, she
remained alone, without light or fire, all night. The next morning,
about eight o'clock, a neighbor, Mrs. Phoebe Barlovi', called at the
door, and, finding the door locked, with the key upon the outside,
turned the key and went in. On entering the bed-room, and find-
ing the injured woman thus lying upon the bed, with both eyes
blackened and swollen, and her ears, neck and hair covered with
clotted blood, she inquired:
"Mrs. Henry, who has done this to you?" Mrs. Henry
replied: •' Watt has done it. I am pounded to death."
Though able to be up and to walk about the house, a part of
the time for several days, she repeatedly stated that she was going
to die; that Watt had pounded her to death, as he had so often
threatened to do. Mrs. Henry lingered, in constant agony, until
10:30 on Christmas night, just one week, when death came to her
relief.
Post Mortem Examination. — An autopsy was held upon the
body of the deceased by Dr. L. S. Ebright, at the request of Acting^
Coroner Almon Brown, the doctor testifying that the body and
limbs, as well as the head, internally, presented a horribly bruised
and lacerated appearance, while internally, as above stated, three
ribs were found to be broken, and other organs fatallj'^ injured;
Coroner Brown finding that the deceased came to her death by
reason of blows and kicks inflicted upon her by her husband,
Walter Henry.
The Popular Excitement, — The reports, during the week, of
Henry's brutal assault upon his \vife, and of her terrible sufferings,
caused the utmost indignation among the people of the neighbor-
hood, and when it w^as known that Mrs. Henry w^as dead, there was
a decided inclination towards inflicting summary punishment
upon him, at the hands of "Judge Lynch," but better counsels
finally prevailed, the law was permitted to take its course, and the
brutal uxorcide was immediately taken into custody, by the city
officials, and lodged in jail.
A Nearly Fatal Panic. — On Saturday, December 27th, on the
affidavit of Thomas Doyle, brother of the murdered woman, the
prisoner was brought before Acting Mayor Lewis D. Seward, on
the charge of wilful and premeditated murder, but was immedi-
ately remanded to jail to await a preliminary examination on the
following Monday at 10 o'clock a. m.
At the appointed hour, nearly a thousand people being
assembled at the city building to hear the trial, an adjournment
was had from the Mayor's office (then in the second story) to the
Council Chamber, which was at once filled to its utmost capacity
Akron's only homicide. 571
by the surging crowd. Soon a cracking noise was heard and
pieces of niortar and brick began to fall from the ceiling and walls.
The cry was immediately raised that the building was falling, and
a stampede for the stairs took place, severely squeezing a number
of persons, before the building was cleared, though fortunately no
lives were lost or bones broken. An examination disclosed the
fact that one of the arches supporting the armor3^ floor belo\v had
caved in, from the unusual strain thrown upon it by the jostling
crowd above, and that it was, indeed, almost a miracle that the
entire structure did not collapse with a destruction of life fearful
to contemplate.
The Prisoner Fully Committed. — On the subsidence of the
excitement above alluded to, an adjournment was had to the
county court room, where the examination was proceeded with.
Prosecuting Attorney Charles Baird, assisted b}" Edwin F. Voris,
appearing for the State, and Jacob A. Kohler and Rolin W. Sadler
for the defense. Some six or eight witnesses w^ere examined on
the part of the State, who were rigidly cross-examined by the
defendant's counsel, but no witnesses were introduced on the part
of the defense, and at a late hour in the afternoon, the prisoner was
remanded to jail to await the action of the Grand Jury.
INDICTED FOR MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE.
At the January term of the Court of Common Pleas, for 1885,
the Grand Jury, with Mr. Nicholas E. Vansickle as foreman,
returned an indictment, carefully drawn by Prosecuting Attorney
Charles Baird, which, omitting preliminaries, was as follows: "That
the said Walter Henry, in and upon one Bridget Henry, then and
there being, unlawfully, feloniously, purposely and of deliberate
and premeditated malice, did make an assault, in a menacing
manner, with intent her, the said Bridget Henry, unlawfuUj^, felo-
niously, purposely and of deliberate and premeditated malice, to
kill and murder, and that the said Walter Henry, with both his
hands and feet, the said Bridget Henr}^ to and against the floor of
the house of the said Bridget Henry there situate and being, then
and there unlawfully, feloniously, purposely, and of deliberate and
premeditated malice, did cast and throw, with the intent aforesaid
and that the said Walter Henry, with both hands and feet of him
the said Walter Henry, then and there, while the said Bridget
Henry was lying upon the floor, as aforesaid, the said Bridget
Henry, in and upon the head, stomach, back, chest, sides and limbs
of her the said Bridget Henry, then and there unlaAvfully, felo-
niously, purposely, and of deliberate and premeditated malice, did
strike, beat and kick, with intent aforesaid, thereby then and there
giving to the said Bridget Henry, as well as by the casting and
throwing of her, the said Bridget Henry, to the floor as aforesaid as
also by the striking, beating and kicking the said Bridget Henry, in
and upon the head, stomach, back, chest, sides and limbs of her, the
said Bridget Henry, with both the hands and the feet of him, the
said Walter Henry, in manner aforesaid, several mortal bruises, the
said Bridget Henry from the said 18th day of December in the year
aforesaid, until the 25th day of December in the year aforesaid, did
languish, and languishing did live, on which said 25th day of
December, in the year aforesaid, the said Bridget Henry, in the
county aforesaid, of the said mortal bruises died. And the jurors
572 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do say that the said Walter
Henry, in the manner and by the means aforesaid, unlawfully,
feloniously, purposely and of deliberate and premeditated malice,
did kill and murder her, the said Bridget Henry, contrary to the
form of the statute in such case made and provided, and against
the peace and dignity of the State of Ohio."
TRIAL IN COMMON PLEAS.
On being arraigned, under the above indictment, the defend-
ant entered a plea of not guilty, and the trial was set for Monday,
March 2, 1885. At 8:15 a. m. on the day named, Judge Edwin P.
Oreen occupying the bench, the prisoner was brought into court,
and seated beside his counsel, Messrs. Kohler and Sadler, Prose-
<:utor Baird being assisted by Gen. A. C. Voris, on the part of the
State.
The entire day was consumed in empanelling the jury, w^hich,
as finally accepted and sworn, was as follows: E. A. Osborn,
Hudson; H. E. Cahill, Sixth ward; James Miller, Bath; James P.
Martin, Fourth ward; James L. Porter, Coventry; L. C. King, Bath;
Simon C. Marsh, Coventry; Alvin Rice, Third w^ard; E. H. Bishop,
Stow; J. B. Creighton, Fourth ward; Emory E. Lew^is, Hudson;
Samuel Findley, Third w^ard.
Mr. Baird's Statement to Jury. — On the coming in of the
Court, on Tuesday morning, Prosecutor Baird stated the case to
the jury, on the part of the State, saying substantially, that the
prisoner, Walter Henry, had been indicted by the grand jury for
the crime of murder in the first degree, for killing his wife,
Bridget Henry, by knocking her dow^n Avith his fists, kicking and
jumping upon her while she w^as down, from ^vhich injuries she
died on the 25th day of December, 1884. That he expected to show,
by evidence, that Henry had repeatedly abused his wife by
knocking her down, kicking her, and calling her the most indecent
names: that on December 18, Henry went away and came back
intoxicated; that the blinds were pulled down, and those in a
stable near by heard a terrible racket in the Henry house and
heard Mrs. Henry screaming "For God's sake, Watt, don't kill me!"
We expect to show that Henry kicked the prostrate woman all
over, from head to foot; we expect to sho^v, by post mortem exam-
ination, the terrible condition of the woman as found by the
physician, and we claim that the injuries inflicted upon her, by
her husband, ^were the cause of her death, and expect to show that
Henr}^ hated his wife and that what he did was through malice.
Mr. Sadler's Statement. — ^At the conclusion of Prosecutor
Baird's statement, Mr. Sadler, one of the attorneys for the defense,
addressing the jury said that Mr. Henry was on trial for his life;
that he had pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder in the first
degree. He told of Henry having lived in Akron for a long time;
that he and his w^ife had kept a saloon on Water street, and that
both had been addicted to drink. He told of the drunken condi-
tion of Henry on the day of the affray; how he had been upon a
prolonged spree and knew nothing of the affair. "We presume,"
said Mr. S., "that the State will be able to prove that the beating
took place; they may prove that Mrs. Henry died from those
injuries; but, even if they do prove this, they can't prove that
there w^as any malice or premeditation in the affair. We expect
akrOxN's only homicide. 573-
to show how Henry sobered up before his wdfe died, and nursed
her, and exhibited much anxiety for her recovery — even going for
a doctor sev^eral times. And w^e claim," concluded Mr. S., "that no
greater verdict than manslaughter can be brought against him."
Argument of Gen. Voris. — There were sixteen witnesses
examined on the part of the prosecution and fifteen on the part of
the defense, the evidence being concluded about the middle of the
afternoon on Thursday. After a brief recess. Gen. Voris opened
the argument on the part of the State; reading from the statutesr
and from various authorities defining the different degrees of
murder and the penalty attached to each, and as to what consti-
tutes malice; the General, referring to the defense made, that
Henry was so intoxicated at the time of the assault as to not know
w^hat he w^as doing, said that in laAv, intoxication is no palliation
for crime. The man w^ho voluntarily assumes a position or con-
dition by which he takes the life of another cannot be held excus-
able
There could scarcely be a conviction for homicide, if drunk-
enness were a valid excuse; voluntary drunkenness is no defense
for guilt; reading a decision from the Supreme Court that drunken
malice is just as great as sober malice. Then turning to the jury
the General said that from the evidence they had heard they
should find a verdict against the prisoner for murder in the first
degree. The General followed the testimony from beginning to
close, picturing, as he called it, the brutal depravity of the man,,
as shoAvn by the evidence; knocking his w^ife down, kicking her,
dragging her by the hair of her head, his threats and vile epithets,
and made an eloquent and thrilling appeal to the jury to protect
the community from such brutality and malice, by consigning the
defendant to the fate he so justly merited.
Mr. Sadler's Argument. — Mr. Sadler, after briefly calling the
attention of the Court to the law^s of Ohio on the several degrees of
murder, and agreeing with Gen. Voris that intoxication is no
excuse for crime, but denying that intoxication was an aggravation
of the crime committed, argued that there could legally be no verdict
for murder in the first or second degree, unless the evidence showed
that Henry intended to kill his wife. He hoped that the jury did
abhor intoxication and regarded the saloon business with detesta-
tion; but they were selected because of theii intelligence, and the
defendant felt safe in their hands, believing they would decide in
accordance w^ith the laws of Ohio. The thing you are sworn to
try is, whether that man (Henry), is guilty of the crime he is
charged w^ith. They could not render a verdict of guilty because
public opinion thought the man ought to be hung. We expect
you to find that on the 18th day of December Walter Henry
inflicted wounds on his w^ife from which, a week later, she died.
This we admit the State has proven. Our client is already con-
victed of manslaughter, and that is all he can be convicted of
under the laws of Ohio. Mr. Sadler continued at length, contro-
verting Gen. Voris' hypotheses, arguing the want of motive,
critically dissecting the testimony, enlarging upon the kindness of
the prisoner, after having sobered up, and closing with an earnest
appeal to the jury to lay aside all prejudice, and, under the charge
of the Court, render the only verdict which the law and the evi-
dence warranted — that of manslaughter.
574 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Mr. Kohler'.s Plka. — Mr. Kohler followed his colleague in an
eloquent plea occupying about two hours, premising that from the
able manner in which both sides had already been presented,
there was really but little more to be said. Mr. Kohler, in a calm,
conversational manner, defined the different degrees of homicide
and advised the jury that, though indicted for murder in the first
degree, they could find a verdict for either first or second degree
or manslaughter, as the evidence might w^arrant. He animad-
verted upon the evils of intemperance and commiserated the
inebriate. He spoke of Henry being an honest, hard-working man
until he went into the saloon business w^ith his w^ife, when they
began to lead a cat and dog life. I think it has been shown that
she was drunk at the time the injuries were inflicted. I can
imagine how often he recovered from his drunken stupor, got up
a quarrel, knocked her down and beat her in a horrible manner,
but I cannot believe that this man intended to kill his wife,
because if he did he had plenty of chances; there were weapons at
hand by which he could have accomplished it, Mr. Kohler closing
by saying that if they had a reasonable doubt they were bound to
give the prisoner the benefit of the doubt.
The Closing Argument. — No mere synopsis w^ould do justice
to the closing argument for the State, by Prosecuting Attorney
Charles Baird, like that of Mr. Kohler covering about two hours.
Like his predecessors, Mr. Baird spent some time in going over the
laAvs relating to homicides, defining malice, intent, etc. He
revie^ved the lives of these people, of the threats and assults
w^hich had been made by the defendant against and upon his
w^ife; of the time w^hen she ran out of the house, to>vards a group
of men, screaming for protection, followed by Henry, w^ho knocked
her do>vn, and Avhen she attempted to rise grabbed her by the
hair of the head and pulled her down again, kicking her with his
heavy boots so as plainly be heard in the stable some distance
away; and detailed at length the revolting scene of that fatal
night, as developed by the evidence, and the ghastly sight presented
by the injured woman to her neighbors and the physicians in
attendance, and of his leaving the house to sleep in a neighboring
barn after the infliction of those injuries; cursing her in his sleep,
and the next morning, when asked w^hy he had so horribly beaten
his Avife, saying: " I guess I have finished her this time." Never
before in the history of our country has so foul a murderer been
tried for his life. His declaration the next night, w^hen asked by
a party froin whom he tried to borrow a quarter, w^hy he did not
go to his ow^n place and get it: "If I go in there I will kill some-
body," showed the maliciousness of the man.
Mr. Baird then went through with the horrible details of the
fatal assult, the atrocity of which dre\^ tears from many an eye
unused to weeping, saying "the man who would do this horrible
thing ought to die. I know^ how^ men shrink from hanging a
fellow-being. If this man intended to kill this woman when he
jumped upon her w^ith his heels, he then and there forfeited his
life and you do not deprive him of it. I ^vant you to think of that
w^oman lying prostrate there upon the floor, saying to him: 'For
God's sake Watt, don't kill me !' thrice repeated, each time groov-
ing fainter and fainter. With your verdict, gentlemen, under the
evidence and the charge of this Court, w^e will be content.
Akron's only homicide. 575
Judge Green's Charge. — Judge Green's charge was of consid-
erable length, after complimenting the jury for the close attention
which the}' had given to the evidence and the arguments of coun-
sel, explaining in full the law and rules wrhich should govern them
in their deliberations and arriving at their verdict. The several
degrees of murder and as to what constituted a reasonable doubt
were clearly expounded; deliberation, premeditation w^ere lucidly
explained. The law fixes no definite length of time. A purpose
maliciously to kill, deliberated upon before the act is committed,
however short the time, constitutes murder in the first degree.
Malice is any unlawful act done for the purpose of injuring
another. The defendant, in his plea of not guilty, sets up the
defense of drunkenness. His condition before and after the act,
only so far as it throws light upon the question as to w^hat w^as his
condition at the time the act was committed that produced death,
should have no weight in this case; only his condition at the time
the act was committed, is to be of weight. You must be satisfied,
by a fair preponderance of evidence, that he is not responsible;
that is, the evidence, all considered, must fail to satisfy you,
beyond .a reasonable doubt, of his guilt by reason of his want of
responsibility. It is not claimed, and it is not law, that drunken-
ness is an excuse for crime. Crime, Avhen all the acts of hand and
mind w^hich constitute it actually exist, is not the less criminal, or
the party the less guilty, because he was intoxicated when he com-
mitted it. If you find that the prisoner had the purpose in mind
to kill his wife, prior to the act, and then got drunk, and w^hile so
drunk did what he before that time premeditated, and with delib-
erate malice had resolved to do, the fact that he was drunk at the
time he did the deed would be no defense. I say to you that this
defense of drunkenness, under the rules w^hich I have given you,
is a legitimate defense, and if established to your satisfaction by
the proof, the defendant is entitled to the benefit of the doubt.
Verdict of the Jury. — The jury retired at 9:30 a. m. on Satur-
day, March 7, 1885. After deliberating until 3:30 p. m. they asked
the court to re-charge them in regard to the two degrees of murder
and manslaughter, which was accordingly done, and at 5:20 they
announced their agreement and their verdict as follows:
We, the jury empanelled and sworn to well and truly tr}^ and true
■deliverance make, between the State of Ohio and the prisoner at bar, Walter
Henry, do find the said Walter Henry not guilty of murder in the first degree,
but we do find him guilty of murder in the second degree.
Samuel Findley, Foreman.
The Popular Verdict. — The court room had been crowded
throughout w^ith the most intensely interested and excited specta-
tors, so large a portion remaining in and about the building all
day long, while the jury w^ere out, that every available space was
immediately occupied as soon as the agreement- of the jury was
announced. The great majority of the crowd who had heard the
harrowing tale, as disclosed by the evidence, felt that the verdict
should have been for the higher degree, but those who had care-
fully studied the bearings of the law^, held with the jury for the
lesser degree, w^hile the counsel and friends of the defendant, of
course, felt that a verdict of manslaughter, with a limited term of
imprisonment, w^ould have been sufficient.
576 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Imprisonment for Life. — On Tuesday morning, March 10,.
1885, Judge Green proceeded to sentence the prisoner as follows:
" Walter Henrj' : Yoix were indicted bj^ the grand jurj^of this countj-.atid
by said indictment were charged with purpose!}', of deliberate and premedi-
tated malice, murdering Bridget Henry, j^our wife. Upon this charge jou
were put upon your trial before a jury so well selected that against no one
of the jurors comprising it had your counsel the least objection, and the
result of this tritil, conducted on your behalf bj^ able counsel, satisfies me
that you had a fair and impartial trial ; that said verdict of murder in the
second degree was a verdict rendered by the jury in strict conformit}' to law
and evidence as they heard it after they were sworn as jurors, and was in no
jot or tittle influenced bj^ outside opinion; and for this you certainly have
great reason to be thankful, as you must know, what every unprejudiced
mind, upon reading or hearing the witnesses detail the manner in which j^ou
assaulted your wife, and which assault caused her death, would at once saj^
how you ought to be punished. And so would each of said jurors, as men,,
have said ; but as jurors they patientlj^ listened to all the evidence, all
that was vxrged in your favor, the charge of the Court, and then, under their
oaths returned their verdict.
With this verdict we are satisfied. It was the least you could have pos-
sibly anticipated ; and yet, from your standpoint, with all your knowledge
of the facts, you might well say that the jury erred on the side of mercy, and
in a manner exercised the pardoning power. The statute for the offense of
w^hich you have been convicted leaves no discretion for me, but prescribes
the exact penalty, and there is nothing for me to do but to pronounce the
judgment which the law has provided. The judgment of the law and the
sentence of the Court is, that you be taken hence to the jail of the county
and there safely kept, and that, within thirty days, you be taken to the pen-
itentiary of the State, and there confined and kept at hard labor during the
period of your natural life, and that you pay the costs of this prosecution.
It is no part of this sentence that you be kept any portion of said time in
solitar}^ confineinent."
In the Penitentiary — The Costs, Etc. — The prisoner was
taken to the penitentiary by Sheriff William B. Gamble, on Wed-
nesday, April 1, 1885, where, so far as the w^riter is advised, he is
as docile and tractable as the average inmate of that institution.
As the legal heir of his murdered wife, he inherited her propertj'^,
the estate being administered by John H. Auble, Esq., from whom
the prosecuting attorney received the amount of costs of prosecu-
tion, amounting to $363.50, it being one of the very few cases, in
the history of the county, in which the State has ever been reim-
bursed in the amount of costs paid for the conviction of criminals
sentenced to her model penal institution.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE " IKKEPREBvSIBLE CONFLICT "—THK INFAMOUS FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW —
EVERY MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD A "BLOOD-HOUND" — DASTARDLY
ATTEMPT TO KIDNAP AKRON'S WELL-KNOWN BARBER, "JIM" WOKTHING-
TON— MARSHAL J. J. WRIGHT FOR ONCE "TAKEN IN AND DONE FOR" —
PROMINENT CITIZENS TO THE RESCUE— SLAVE-CATCHERS FOILED— INDIG-
NATION OF THE PEOPLE -"JIM'S" ESCAPE VIA THE "UNDERGROUND
RAILROAD" SAFE IN CANADA— OTHER FUGITIVES TAKE THE ALARM AND
FLIT TO gUEEN VICTORIA'S DOMINIONS, ETC.
PRELIMINARY.
TT being now nearly a third of a century since, by its own sui-
-*- cidal act of treason and rebellion, human slavery ceased to
exist? w^ithin the limits of the United States, though much of the
inhumanity and intolerance engendered thereby still linger, a
large proportion of the' present generation can have but a faint
realization of the tyrannous, oppressive and barbarous practices
of the slave power, on the one hand, and of the unselfish patriot-
ism, the unbounded philanthropy, the untiring energy and the
sleepless vigilance, of the friends of freedom, upon the other. For
many years after slavery was abolished in the northern states, there
was a tacit understanding that slaves escaping from those states-
where it still existed into any of the free states or territories, could
not be legally reclaimed, while the voluntary taking of a slave to
a free state by the master, absolutely made such slave a free man;,
it being conceded, at the same time, that the slave states had the
right, under the constitution, to enjoy the "luxury" of human
bondage within their ow^n bounds, without interference from
without.
Hence, in many of the northern states, especially those border-
ing upon the slave states, like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, etc.,.
considerable numbers of escaped slaves had found lodgment, and
settled down for life as permanent and industrious citizens.
THE ORDINANCE OF 1787.
In the adoption, by Congress, of w^hat is known in history as-
the "Ordinance of 1787," all the unsettled territory, then owned by
the United States, comprising the present states of Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, Michigan, and a part of Minnesota, was forever dedicated
to freedom, and those states were subsequently organized on that
basis. The purchase from France, for $ir),(X)0,0(]0, in 1803, of what
was designated "The Louisiana Purchase," embraced nearly all
of the present states of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Min-
nesota, the Dakotas, part of Colorado, most of Wyoming, the w^hole of
Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. On all of this territory
there w^as no restriction as to slavery.
Up to the year 1820, as a matter of amity, there had been added
to the original 13 states, an equal number of free and slave states,,
37
578 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
viz: Vermont in 1791, Ohio in 1802, Indiana in 1816, and Illinois in
1818, on the part of freedom, and Kentucky in 1792, Tennessee in
1796, Louisiana in 1812 and Alabama in 1819, on the part of slavery.
THE "MISSOURI COMPROMISE."
It had been fondly thought, in an early- day, that the South, as
well as the North, was tending towards emancipation, but when
the contrary \vas discovered, and that the tendency was tov/ards
extending the area of human bondage, a strong anti-slavery senti-
ment began to obtain in the North, so that in 1820, when it was
proposed to admit Missouri as a slave state, with the prospect that
the entire northw^est would thereby be subjected to the same fate,
the spirit of freedom in the North w^as fully aroused; immense
remonstrances w^ere sent in, and the northern senators and repre-
sentatives, of both parties (Whigs and Democrats), arrayed them-
selves against the measure, w^hilst an equally non-partisan stand
in its favor w^as taken by the several delegations from the southern
states.
The controversy waxed warm and warmer — red-hot, in fact —
in Congress, southern members threatening to secede from the
Union, on the one hand, and northern members hurling defiance
in their teeth, and daring them to " try it on," as soon as they had
a mind to, on the other hand. At this crisis came for\srard the
"great pacificator," Henry Clay, senator from Kentucky, with what
was aftervsrards known as the "Missouri Compromise," in w^hich it
was solemnly ordained, that, in consideration of the admission of
Missouri without restriction as to slavery', involuntary servitude,
otherwise than in punishment of crime, should be forever prohibited
in all other territory of the United States north of latitude 36°
30'. This quieted matters down, and for 30 years was treated as a
finality by both sections of the country.
THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW.
Under this arrangement new states w^ere admitted from time
to time — generally in pairs — as follows: 1820, '21, Missouri, slave,
Maine free; 1836, Arkansas, slave, Michigan free; 1845, Florida,
slave, Iowa, free; 1845, Texas (by annexation), slave.
Up to this time, it will be observed, the slave and the free
states exactly balanced each other, 15 each. When, therefore, in
the session of 1849, '50, California suddenly sprang into the arena,
in full panoply of free-statehood, with no eligible slave territory to
match, something " had to be did," or the slave power would lose
its grip. It wouldn't do, in this free country to let freedom get
ahead of slavery! So, when California asked for admission, with a
free constitution, the fiUibustering began. Under semi-barbaric
Mexico, slavery w^as impossible in all the territory which she had
recently ceded to the United States — California, Utah, Mexico,
Arizona, etc. But under the super-civilized sway of " Uncle Sam,"
it w^ould never do to doom the whole of said territory to perpetual
freedom! Oh, no!
So, not only was the " Wilmot Proviso," pending the negotia-
tions for the transfer, forever excluding slavery from the proposed
acquisition, after prolonged and exciting discussion, voted down,
but attached to the bill for the admission of California as a free
THE UxNDERGROUND RAILROAD. 579
state, was a provision for the organization of New Mexico and
Utah as territories, without any restrictions as to slavery, and also
the enactment of the world-wide infamous Fugitive Slave Law.
Tliis iniquitous law^ not only authorized the slave owner to
-enter and traverse any state or territory into which his slave had
theretofore fled, or might thereafter escape, but it attached heavy
penalties to the harboring or aiding, by so much as a night's lodg-
ing, or a meal of victuals, a fugitive slave; compelled the marshals,
deput}' marshals, district attorneys, judges, commissioners and
other officers of the United States, under heavy penalties and for-
feitures, to aid the claimant in the pursuit and reclamation of his
slave, and also compelled the citizens of said free states and terri-
tories, w^hen called upon, to act as a posse coniitatus, in making
arrests and otherwise aiding the slave-catcher in his nefarious
operations.
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD.
For many years, many humane and philanthropic persons in
the border states, had not only felt it a privilege, but a sacred duty
to succor and speed the fugitive on his way to freedom in Canada,
or in safe localities in the free States. As this assistance had to be
secretly rendered, though these philanthropists, in different locali-
ties speedily became known to each other, the rapidity and the
certainty, as well as the secrecy, with ^rhich a fugitive, and some-
times entire families, could be transported to places of safety,
caused the system to be known as the "The Underground Rail-
road."
Instead of being disheartened and subdued by the pains and
penalties imposed by the Fugitive Slave Law, and the vigorous
-campaign of "pernicious activity," immediately inaugurated by the
owners of escaped slaves, and their w^illing tools, in and out of
office, in the North, the friends of freedom put on renewed zeal
and diligence; the "lines" w^ere increased, the "stations" rapidly
multiplied and the "agents," "conductors," "engineers," etc.,
became aggressive and alert.
The Slave-Catchers in Akron. — -During the three or four
years immediately succeeding the passage of the law, many
former slaves were of course returned to their masters, w^hile
many free colored men and \vomen were also, through the cupidity
and greed of professional spotters, and the iniquitous looseness of
the law, consigned to life-long bondage in the extreme South. In
fact, the attempted execution of the law became simply a system
of kidnapping, with no pretense of a fair and open trial in the
localities where the apprehensions w^ere made, or otherw^ise. In
many instances, too, where arrests came to the knowledge of the
people before the kidnappers had had time to get off with their
victims, rescues w^ere made, sometimes resulting in serious and
bloody riots, and protracted and exciting litigation, both in favor
of the victim, and against those who opposed or refused to help
•execute the inhuman and very generally execrated law.
Though there were in Akron, and Summit county, several
well-known agents of the U. G. R. R., and plenty of others who
had aided the "panting fugitive" in his flight towards Queen
Victoria's Dominions — Canada — and though it w^as well under-
stood that several former slaves were residing here, and here-
abouts, the people of Akron were not brought to a full realization
580 AKRON AND SITMMIT COUNTY,
of the cruel and devilish enormity of the system, and the law in
question, until the Spring of 1854, the circumstances attending
which were as follows:
"Jim" Worthington. — Sometime in the early forties there had
come into Akron a tall, athletic and v^ery black young negro, who
called himself James Worthington. "Jim," as he soon came to be
known, was a barber by trade, and at once opened a shop for the
practice of his profession, and being a good "artist," and of an
enterprising turn of mind, soon became a general favorite, and did
a lucrative business, soon fitting up his shop w^ith fine mahogany
and plush upholstered chairs, large and attractive mirrors and
pictures upon the wall, with a striped pole in front about a foot in
diameter and 25 or 30 feet in height, surmounted by a large gilt
pine-apple, the artistical work upon which was executed by the
■writer, then exercising one section of his "versatile genius" as a
"House, Sign and Ornamental Painter."
"Jim" w^as not only popular, but seemingly very prosperous, so
much so that in the early fifties he had purchased a lot and erected
for himself a nice two-story house in what was then known as
" Spicer Town," the same building now^ being know^n as number 534
Kast Buchtel avenue.
In the meantime "Jim" had married a very handsome and
bright light-colored mulatto girl by the name of Maggie Bird^
whose brother, William Bird, also soon afterwasds opened a rival
tonsorial establishment, with appointments, including the striped
pole, fully as splendid as "Jim's."
Betrayed by His Wife. — From some cause, not now apparent,
but probably from the bitterness of the rivalry between her brother
and her husband, or possibly because of "Jim's" jealousy of his
handsome and much admired wife, soon after the completion of
the new house, "Mag," as she w^as called, left him, and to her
betrayal of his secret "Jim" attributed the attempt to relegate
him to the condition of "involuntary servitude" from which it was
claimed he had secaped some twelve or fifteen years before, which
attempt occurred something in this wise:
About the middle of May, 1854, a well-dressed, pleasant-appear-
ing stranger called at "Jim's" shop for a shave, and in the course
of his conversation, intimated that he wanted to buy a house and
lot in Akron, for a widow^ed sister, who was desirous of settling
here for the purpose of educating her children. Being then with-
out a wife, and perhaps thinking to make a good "spec" on his
investment, "Jim" took the stranger to his new house, with which
he expressed himself well-pleased, and after a full discussion of
of the terms, etc., and getting a w^eek's option, took his departure.
"Jim" little dreamed that it Avas himself, personally, instead of
his house, that was being exatnined.
Marshal J. J. Wright Victimized. — One of the most efficient
local rogue-catchers, and criminal detectives of that day, w^as our
present fellow-citizen, Capt. J. J. Wright, then marshal of Akron.
On returning home from the performance of his official labors, on
the evening of May 17, 1854, he was informed that the "Sheriff
from Chicago" wanted to see him on important business at the
depot, at 7 o'clock the next morning. Ever alert in the perform-
ance of his duty, Wright was promptly on hand; in fact most too
promptly, as the sequel proved, for the success of the ruse that
THE SLAVE-CATCHERS FOILED. 581
Avas attempted to be played upon him, for he was there at six
o'clock, fully an hour before the time designated.
He found there two men, one of whom was said " Sheriff from
•Chicago," and the other w^as a deputy United States Marshal from
Newark, Ohio. They informed Wright that they were after an
extensive gang who wrere making and circulating counterfeit
silver coin, one of whom Avas a barber by the name of Jim Worth-
ington, w^ho had sold a lot of spurious coin to a man who was
already in jail in Chicago, and they wanted to make the arrest as
•quietly as possible so as not to alarm the rest of the gang in this
vicinity, exhibiting at the same time what purported to be a war-
rant for "Jim's" arrest on that charge.
Having himself suspected that a part of "Jim's" prosperity
^was due to crookedness of some sort, and indeed having heard
rumors that he was handling the "queer," Wright readily ^vent
^long to show them the w^ay, and to aid in making the arrest, if
his services should become necessary.
Worthington's Arrest. — "Jim" was found in his yard and the
■"Sheriff from Chicago," without resistance, took hold of one arm
and the New^ark Marshall seized him by the other, at the same
time announcing the cause of his arrest, as it had been stated to
Wright. Jim declared hinself innocent of any such crime, and
•charged that it was a different scheme altogether, instigated by
his wife, and demanded to see General Bierce, and be tried in
Akron. He was told that he would have a hearing at Hudson,
Avhere some of his accomplices w^ere already in custody. He
declared that he had no accomplices, and had done nothing wrong,
iind insisted on seeing counsel which they promised he should
have, but took him direct to the depot, and refused to go further.
The Kidnappers Foiled. — B^^ this time Marshal Wright began
i;o surmise that he had been imposed upon, and started upon the
double-quick to find Gen. Bierce. In the meantime Mr. Bleazer C.
Sackett, a wide awake, old time Abolitionist, had come to the
-depot to take the train to Cleveland. Immediately divining the
situation, he started post-haste for the house of Christopher P.
Wolcott, Ksq., then living on Broadw^ay, near Market, and from
there to the residence of William H. Upson, Esq., near by, also
giving the alarm to others as he went along, so that in an incredi-
bly short space of time a large crowd of excited people, had gath-
ered in and about the station.
Messrs. Upson and Wolcott demanded to see the papers on
which the arrest was made and the pretended w^arrant w^as
exhibited, w^hich purported to have been issued by direction of U.
S. Judge Leavitt at Steubenville, to which place they alleged they
were going to take the prisoner for examination. But the paper
lacked every legal feature, having no apparent genuine signature,
rand no recitation of the proper filing of an affidavit, and the gen-
tlemen were told that they could play no such game as that in
Akron, and must release Jim at once. This they refused to do and
threatened to shoot any one w^ho should attempt a rescue.
An Infuriated Crowd. — The threat of the kidnappers to shoot,
infuriated the crow^d. Uncle Fred. Wadsworth (father-in-law of
the late J. A. Beebe) shook his cane in their faces and dared them
to try it on. Mr. E. C. Sackett declared that an exhibition of arms
Avould result in their being torn to pieces; Rev. N. P. Bailey (now
582 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. •
of Massillon) used some very emphatic language, doing full jus-
tice to the "Queen's English," though in a recent letter to the
■writer on the subject he says: "I didn't take off my coat, nor
knock anybody down, nor do any ministerial swearing."
Glad to Escape With Whole Heads. — Alarmed at the menac-
ing attitude of the crowd, who closed around them, the kidnappers
released their hold of Jiin, and edged backw^ards towards the cars,
which they w^ere permitted to board, and to depart without moles-
tation, though the indignation of the crowd was so intense that a
single -word from some of the more prudent present -would have
brought summary vengeance upon the heads of the perpetrators
of the dastardly outrage.
It transpired that the pretended "Sheriff from Chicago" was an
officer from Louisville, Ky.; that "Jim's" former master, (then hold-
ing the office of Sheriff, at Louisville,) was in Cleveland, engineer-
ing the matter, and that though they had genuine papers, under
the Fugitive Slave La^v, the counterfeit dodge w^as played to avoid
the popular clamor that an open arrest of a fugitive from slavery
w^ould naturally create in so Abolition-tainted a locality as the
Western Reserve; the discomfited master remarking, as he paid
the hotel bills for himself and his minions, in Cleveland, that the
Fugitive Slave Law didn't "amount to much in Ohio, anyhow."
Marshal Wright Exonerated. — Certain jealous-minded med-
dlers being disposed to charge Marshal Wright \vith having
knowingly participated in the arrest of "Jim" as a fugitive slave,
that officer addressed a note to United States Deputy Marshal
Dennis, at Newark, to w^hich he received the following reply:
U. S. Deputy Marshal's Office, )
Newark, O., June 12, 1854. S
J. J. Wright,
Sir : — Yours of the 9th inst. came to hand by last evening-'s mail, and in
answer I will state in writing, what I said at the depot after the negro was
set at liberty, that no blame should be attached to you, as everything, so far
as you were concerned, was done in good faith, and, as you had everj''
reason to believe, in the discharge of your duty as any officer who might be
called upon. I did not know there was a Deputy V. S. Marshal in your
place. No person ever directed me to you. Your being the Marshal of
Akron, is the only excuse I have to offer on that point. In haste,
P. H. Dennis.
And yet. Captain Wright, w^ho fought so gallantly, and suffered
so much, in the great struggle that knocked the shackles off from
the very last slave upon the American Continent, says that a streak
of meanness conies over him every time he thinks of the part he
unwittingly played in the capture of poor "Jim." But he has no
occasion, w^hatever, for feeling thus; for his very promptness, in
obeying w^hat he believed to be a call to official duty, was the very
means of thw^arting the designs of the kidnappers; for had he not
reached the depot an hour earlier than the time mentioned by the
" Sheriff from Chicago," they w^ould have arrived at the station
with their victim just as the train w^as ready to leave, and would
thus have got safely off with him. Singular, w^asn't it, that
though deceived into aiding in the perpetration of a wrongful act^
Mr Wright did precisely the right thing to prevent its successful
consummation.
"JIM" safe in CANADA. 583
Judge Vokis Kesponsible. — Section 7 of the Fugitive Slave
Law, among other things provides, that "Whoever shall harbor or
conceal such fugitive, so as to prevent the discovery and arrest of
such person, shall be subject to a fine not exceeding one thousand
dollars, and imprisonment not exceeding six months; and shall,
moreover, forfeit and pay, by way of civil damages, to the party
injured by such illegal conduct, the sum of one thovisand dollars,
for each fugitive so lost," etc.
Now, Judge A. C. Voris, then the law-partner of the late Gen.
Bierce, not having the fear of the minions of slavery, or of the slave-
hunting minions of Uncle Sam before his eyes, did both "harbor"
and "conceal" the said "fugitive," in the back attic of the story
and a-half house he then occupied on South Broadwa}^ for several
days, until his business matters could be properly arranged for a
protracted absence, after \vhich said Voris clandestinely turned
said fugitive over to an agent of the U. G. R. R., to be shipped
Canada-ward, where, at last accounts, he was living the life of an
industrious and respectable citizen. Judge Voris also confesses to
having, eight years later, " stolen a nigger" from the plantation of
Ex-President John Tyler, on the James river. Quere? As this
was before the taking effect of Mr. Lincoln's Emancipation Prccla-
mation, haven't the heirs of the Ex-President a valid claim against
the Judge for the market value of the article thus stolen by him.
Othek Fugitives Alarmed. — In 1836, there came to Akron,
from Columbus, one of the brightest and finest looking, middle-
aged colored men that the writer ever knew; a light mulatto, with
high forehead, intelligentcountenance andin every senseof the w^ord
a perfect gentleman, by the name of Edward Smith. He was a barber
by trade, and lived in Columbus some eighteen or twenty years,
and had, by his industry and frugality, become the owner of a
valuable lot upon which were two very comfortable tw^o-story
brick dwelling houses. As Columbus was then somewhat over-
stocked with barbers, having heard of the new and enterprising
town of Akron, he came here and opened a shop, bearing with him
the not inappropriate sobriquet of "The Emperor of the West,"
by which he had been known in Columbus. His wife, Mrs.
Sarah- Smith, was also a portly, fine-looking mulatto woman, and
both soon came to be very greatly respected by all the people of
Akron. They w^ere very prosperous, and with their earnings here,
and the rents from their Columbus property, bought the lot now
covered by the grocery store of Bittman & Son, on East Market
street, building for themselves a comfortable frame house on the
rear of the lot, fronting on the alley, and afterwards a small frame
building fronting on Market street, w^hich they rented for business
purposes.
Along in the middle forties "Uncle Ned," as he was familiarly
called, was stricken with apoplexy, and, after lingering a few-
months, died. Mrs. Smith thoroughly alarmed at "Jim's" narrow
escape, hastily placed her property matters in the hands of a
reliable agent, and joined the Canadian colony. Many other local
colored people also quietly flitted thither, either because they w^ere
escaped slaves, or because, having been born free, but v^r'ith colored
skins, they were fearful of being kidnapped into slavery, as had,
in several well authenticated instances, already been done.
CHAPTER XXII.
OLK OWX JOHX BROWN— "OLD OSSA\VATOM[E "— FREEDOM'S HERO AND
MARTYR BIRTH. BOYHOOD AND EARLY MANHOOD— THE PATRIARCHAL
FATHER OF 20 CHILDREN— EMBRYO PREACHER, FARMER, TANNER AND
REAL ESTATE SPECULATOR— SHEEP GROWER AND WOOL FACTOR— DISAS-
TROUS EUROPEAN ENTERPRISE— LIFE IN THE WILDER NESvS— REPEAL OF
THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE— " SQUATTER SOVEREIGNTY "—" BORDER RUF-
FIANISM" IN "BLEEDING KANSAS "—SYMPATHETIC SUMMITONIANS— FREE-
DOM AT LENGTH VICTORIOUS— GUERRILLA WARFARE ON THE "PECULIAR
IxXSTITUTION " — STUPENDOUS PROJECT IN BEHALF OF FREEDOM— CAPTURE
OF HARPER'S FERRY— DESPERATE RESISTANCE TO STATE AxND GOVERNMENT
TROOPS OVERPOWERED AT LAST — TRIAL FOR TREASON, INSURRECTION
AND MURDER— MOCKERY OF JUSTICE— CONVICTION, SENTENCE, EXECU-
TION—HEROIC TO THE VERY LAST— VERY LATEST WRITTEN COMMUNICA-
TION—GENERAL AND GENUINE MOURNING IN THE NORTH— "BODY MOULD-
ERING IN THE GROUxNTD," BUT " SOUL STILL MARCHING ALONG ! "
OUR OWN JOHN BROWN.
npHOUGH born in Connecticut, on May 9, in the first year of the
century, John Brown may be fairly claimed as a native of
Summit county, having emigrated to the township of Hudson, with
his father's family, as early as 1805.
Here, possessing in a marked
degree, the strong characteristics
of his energetic and enterprising
father, the late Owen Brown, of
direct Mayflower Puritanic descent,
John grew to manhood, inured to
frontier hardships and pioneer
privations and toil, but under the
advanced educational and thor-
oughly orthodox influences of the
enlightened and God-fearing
inhabitants of that town, in those
early days.
Possessing a sternl}^ religious
bent of mind, it w^as early designed
that he should become a minister
of the gospel, but that project w^as
finally abandoned on account of
an affection of the eyes which
interfered with the pursuit of his
theological studies ; w^hereupon
he devoted himself to the dual
calling of his father, farming and tanning, at the same time thor-
oughly qualifying himself in the art of surveying.
June 21, 1820, then just twenty years of age, he w^as married to
Miss Dianthe Lusk, of Hudson, by whom, during the tw^elve years
of their married life, he had seven children, six sons and one
daughter, Mrs. Brown dying on the 10th day of August, 1832.
JOHN BROWN.
JOHN brown's business LIFE. 585
About one year later, he was married to Miss Mary A. Day, of
Crawford county. Pa., by whom he had thirteen children, seven
sons and six daughters; thus being the progenitor of a grand
total oif twenty children, eight only of w^hom survived the tragic
death of the father, as hereinafter alluded to, December 2, 1859.
Farmer, Tanner, Etc. — In addition to tanning and general
farming and casual surveying, Brown became a great lover of cattle
and sheep, and, like his brother Frederick, became an expert in the
growing and handling of fine stock. Indeed, he was accounted to
be the best judge of wool in the United States, if not in the world,
being able to tell from the feel, the country, or section of country,
where given samples of u'ool Avere grown; an anecdote being rela-
ted of him that, while in England, as hereinafter related, thinking
to puzzle him, among other samples submitted for his inspection, a
soft tuft clipped from a snow^-white poodle was handed him, virhen
he instantly responded, "gentlemen, if you have any machinery
that will work up dog's hair I would advise you to use it upon this."
Continuing the farming and tanning business in connection
with his father, in Hudson, until about 1826, he removed to Rich-
mond, Craw^ford county. Pa., w^here he was engaged in the same
business, quite successfully, for about nine years.
Real Estate Speculator, — About the year 1835, Mr. Brown
returned to Ohio, and in 1836, in connection -with a Mr. Thompson,
of Pennsylvania, bought w^hat was know^n as as the Haymaker
farm, of between one and two hundred acres, in the w^estern por-
tion of what is now the village of Kent, for the consideration of
$7,000. Early in the Summer of 1838, this farm was surveyed and
platted by ex-County Clerk, Capt. John A. Means (now living in
Tallmadge), as the deputy county surveyor of Portage county, and
put to record October 22, of that year, as "Brown and Thompson's
addition to Franklin village."
It wras the expectation of the proprietors that a large manu-
facturing village would rapidly materialize at that point. Similar
operations further up the river, by the Franklin Manufacturing
Company, afterw^ards the Franklin Silk Company, together w^ith
the disastrous monetary and commercial revulsion of 1837-40,
compelled the abandonment of the scheme, and an alienation of
the lands in question, which w^ere soon thereafter relegated to
agricultural purposes, though in later years largely covered bj^ the
A. & G. W. R. R. shops, and quite a suburban population, of the
now prosperous and enterprising village of Kent; the only relic of
its projector now remaining being quite a large two-story frame
building, on the southeast side of the river, opposite the low^er
mill, erected for a boarding hotise, and now pointed out with pride,
to the visiting stranger, as the "John Brown House."
Sheep Husbandman. — On the collapse of his village annexa-
tion scheme, Mr. Brown, in 1839, took a drove of cattle over-land
to New England, bringixig back with him a small flock of choice
sheep, as the nucleus of the immense business in that line, in w^hich
he afterw^ards embarked. In 1840, in connection with Capt. Heman
Oviatt, a large land owner of Hudson and Richfield, he went quite
extensivel3^ into the sheep and wool business, removing his family
to Richfield in 1842, where he also established a tannery.
Subsequently, about 1844, he became associated with the late
Col. Simon Perkins, stocking his large farm, overlooking Akron,
586 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
on the west, with several thousand head of the very best fine-
wooled sheep that could be obtained, Mr. Brown, with his fam-
ily, residing in the same house now occupied by county surveyor,.
Charles E. Perkins, immediately south of the old Perkins home-
stead.
It being difficult to always make favorable contracts for their
yearly clips, so far from manufacturing centers, in 1846, Perkins &
Brown established an extensive wrool depot in Springfield, Mass.,
not only for the sale of their ow^n product, but also for the storage
and sale, on commission, of the product of most of the other fine-
w^ool groAvers in Ohio and other states, with the object of thereby
securing greater uniformity in prices, and consequently better
profits, than could be realized from individual hap-hazard con-
tracts with itinerant wool-buyers.
Brown was placed in charge of this enterprise, removing his
family to Springfield, and the firm of Perkins & Brown soon
became one of the best-known and most reliable fine-wool concerns
in the United States.
A Disastrous Project. — But at length differences began to
arise between Brown and the manufacturers in regard to prices.
Having practically a monopoly of the very finest grades of the
product, Brown placed his figures higher than the manufacturers
w^ere willing to pay, and after holding his accumulations for a
year or two without bringing the recalcitrant manufacturers to
terms. Brown chartered a vessel at Boston, transported his wool
(about 200,000 pounds), thither by rail, and shipped it to England.
Here he found there w^as no especial demand for the extra-fine
grades of wool of w^hich his cargo w^as composed, and after paying
storage on it for a considerable length of time, it w^as finally sold to
the agents of the New England manufacturers, at prices which
enabled them to re-ship and place it in their mills, at several cents
per pound less than they had offered for it before shipment.
This misadventure involved a loss to the firm of from $30,000
to $40,000, falling principally, if not w^holly, upon Col. Perkins,,
and the Springfield establishment Avas closed out and the firm
dissolved.
REPEAL OF THE " MISSOURI COMPROMISE."
By this time the slave extension propaganda began to pro-
mulgate the dogma that the provisions of the Fugitive Slave Law^^
authorizing the reclamation of fugitive slaves from the territories
of the United States, had virtually repealed the Missouri Com-
promise, so that slavew could not only be legally taken to, and
held in, the territory north of 36° 30' but that such territory could
be erected into slave states, should a majority of the inhabitants
so declare, on presenting themselves to Congress for admission.
This view w^as not only held by all the senators and represen-
tatives of the slave states, both Whigs and Democrats, but also by
some from the northern states. In January, 1854, Senator Stephen
A. Douglas, of Illinois — w^ith inordinate presidential aspirations —
introduced a bill for opening to settlement all the territory north
of Texas and west of Missouri, under the general name of
Nebraska, to which, on the suggestion of Senator Dixon, of
Kentucky, w^as attached a provision for the formal repeal of the-
Missouri Compromise.
RESISTANCE TO "BORDER RUFFIANISM." 587
In the Adirondacks, — In 1849 Brown retired from business
and speculative life, to a tract of wild land presented to him
by Gerritt Smith, in Essex county, in the northern part of the state
of New York, a portion of w^hich is now^ known as the "North
Woods," or "Adirondacks," so popular as a cool retreat from the
mid-Summer heats of the Kastern and Southern States.
Here, at North Elba, "the world forgetting and by the world
forgot," for four or five years he quietly, but wath characteristic
energy, grubbed out from his rugged acres a comfortable living
for his still rapidly increasing family — his older children by first
wife, being already in active business for themselves.
" Squatter Sovereignty." — In advocating his bill, Mr. Douglas
invented the phrase " Popular Sovereignty," the theory being that
the majority of the squatters upon the lands in question — whether
pros or antis — should be allowed to settle the question for them-
selves, thus stimulating rapid settlement from both sections, the
section coming in ahead to be the best " fellow^." The phrase
"Popular Sovereignty" was soon changed to "Squatter Sover-
eignty," in the fiery and exciting discussion which followed, the
infamy finally being accomplished, an amendment having, mean-
time, been adopted, designating the southern portion of the terri-
tory in question as Kansas, and the northern portion as Ne-
braska.
The Race for Life.— Now^, immediately commenced what
may literally be termed "a race for life" between slavery and free-
dom, Kansas being the arena. The border slave state of Missouri
at once threw into the new territory an immense horde of w^hat
were very properly designated as "Border Ruffians," while all
the other slave states contiguous to the Ohio and Mississippi
rivers, and some of the more remote, shipped in thousands upon
thousands of their "chivalrous sons," all armed to the teeth, and
several regular military organizations — notably that of Major
Buford, of South Carolina, inscribed upon his red flag, "South
Carolina and State Rights" — for the purpose of intimidating free
settlers and outvoting them, when conventions and elections were
to be held, and of forcibly ejecting the free state men from the
territory.
But the friends of freedem were by no means inactive, and
thousands from the adjacent states of Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois,
Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, w^ended their w^ay thither for peace-
able and permanent settletnent. In the Eastern States also, for
the double purpose of aiding their surplus population to obtain
independent homes, and to secure to the new^ territory the boon of
freedom. Emigrant Aid Societies were organized and thousands of
hardy, industrious and intelligent men were sent forwrard, sup-
plied with the means to establish for themselves comfortable
homes, and the endowment of schools, churches and adequate
local government.
These peaceable immigrants met with the most determined and
malignant opposition from the "border ruffians" — harrassed and
murdered while passing through Missouri; their houses and vil-
lages destroyed, and themselves killed or suVijected to the most
fearful indignities and outrages, accompanied by the most flagrant
and brutal usurpations and frauds whenever and w^herever elec-
tions, either local or general, w^ere to be held.
588 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
These outrages soon taught the free-State men to meet force
by force — -in short to fight the pro-slavery devil with fire — and
many very sanguinary battles ensued in various parts of the
territory, so that the dark and bloody ground came to be appro-
priately known as "Bleeding Kansas."
OLD OSSAWATOMIE.
Among others who had sought to better their physical and
pecuniary condition, and at the same time aid the cause of free-
dom, ^vere several of the sons and sons-in-law^ of John Brown.
They were not only stalwart and energetic in the improvement of
the lands upon which they had "squatted," but also vigilant and
determined in the exercise of their civil and political rights as
" Squatter Sovereigns." This subjected the Bro\\rn family to the
most malignant hatred of the border ruffian element, their crops
being destroyed, their buildings burned, and one of their number
being most ruthlessly murdered, and another driven into insanity
by cruel treatment while held as a prisoner.
These outrages upon the members of his own family, and the
-danger which menaced the cause of freedom itself, determined our
w^hilom fellow^-citizen, John Brown, to leave the seclusion of his
Essex county home and fly to the rescue. By his coolness and
bravery, he was soon accorded the leadership in repulsing the
various attacks of the pro-slavery forces, and in making raids
upon the camps and settlements of his blood-thirsty enemies, as
well. The remarkable skill w^ith w^hich he, w^ith a mere handful
of men, routed a large force of "border ruffians" at the settlement
of Ossa^^atomie, gave to him the sobriquet of "Old Ossawato-
mie," by >vhich name he is to this day better known than by any
any other.
FREEDOM VICTORIOUS !
The struggle continued for some three or four years. The
free-state settlers out-numbered the slave-state men at least t>vo to
one, but by incursions of armed bodies from Missouri at elections,
and by the connivance of pro-slavery federal and territorial officers,
the will of the majority was thwarted until 1859, when a delegate
convention held at Wyandotte, adopted a free-state constitution,
which was ratified by a vote of 10,421 to 5,530, though, by fillibus-
tering tactics in Congress, it w^as not admitted to the Union until
the w^ithdraw^al of the Southern senators to engage in the Slave-
holders' Rebellion, in January, 1861.
In the height of the bloody conflict, John Brown visited
Boston, Mass., where he had a conference with the prominent
friends of freedom and members of the Emigrant Aid Society,
from whom he received contributions of about $4,000 in money,
and nearly twice that amount of arms and other w^arlike supplies.
On his way back, in the Summer of 1856, he spent a few days
among his old friends in Summit county for a similar purpose.
At a small but enthusiastic meeting, to Avhom he gave a graphic
account of the bloody struggle, a committee was appointed to can-
vass the village in behalf of the good cause, of which committee it
•was the privilege, and the pleasure, of the w^riter to be a
member.
THE harper's ferry EPISODE. 589
Kifles, shot-guns, revolvers, pistols, swords, butcher-knives,
poAvder, lead, etc., with considerable contributions of money, were
thus gathered in, while it was more than hinted that two cases of
arms of a former independent military company, stored in a barn
in Tallmadge, and several similar packages of State arms, which
had been gathered in from other parts of the county, and stored in
the upper part of the jail, mysteriously disappeared about the
same time. Middleburj^, Cuyahoga Falls, Hudson, Tallmadge
and perhaps other towns in Summit County, also made liberal
contributions to the good work, all of w^hich aided in freeing Kan-
sas, Nebraska and contiguous territory from the curse of slavery,
and, possibly, in precipitating that infinitely more bloody conflict
w^hich resulted in the overthrow of the accursed institution
throughout the land.
HARPER'S FERRY— CAPTURING THE ARMORY.
By this time our old friend — alw^ays an ardent and conscien-
tious anti-slavery man — had become so intensely embittered
against the inhuman system, and the iniquities and atrocities of
its supporters, that he determined to devote the balance of his life
and energies for its extinction. Thus, for a time, he devoted him-
self to the project of providing the human chattels of the border
states — especially "Border Ruffian" Missouri — with the facilities of
escape and safe transportation to the true land of freedom —
Canada. In this ^vay, for a year or two, much w^as done towards
paying off the large indebtedness of himself and his familj' for the
great indignities and wrongs that had been inflicted upon them,^
as above set forth.
But, to the prolific mind of John Brown, it soon became
apparent that this mode of warfare against Amei-ica's most gigan-
tic curse, was puny in the extreme; that w^hile it might annoy
and inconvenience an occasional individual slaveholder, and se-
cure limited freedom to an occasional captive, it would do very
little towards accomplishing the great desire of his heart — univer-
sal emancipation.
In his humane, philanthropic and patriotic zeal, he truly
believed that the enslaved race needed but the advent of a bold
and determined leader, to instantly rally en masse, and gallantly
fight their ow^n way to freedom. Imbued with this thought,
sometime in 1858, he gathered around him a few "TVue Friends of
Freedom" at Chatham, in Canada, to whom he unfolded his plans^
at which secret gathering a Provisional Constitution w^as drawn
up and adopted, under w^hich Brown w^as designated as Com-
mander-in-Chief, Richard Realf , Secretary of State, and J. H. Kagi,
Secretary of War.
Retaining a portion of the Kansas contributions of arms and
other munitions of war, and having had fabricated a large number
of long-handled double-edged pikes, for the use of those negroes
unskilled in the use of fire-arms, in the Summer of 1859 Brow^n
established his headquarters at what was known as the Kennedy
farm, in Maryland, and within five miles of Harper's Ferrj^ Va.,
where one of the Arsenals of the United States w^as located. Here
had been quietly gathered the "sinew^s of w^ar" alluded to.
On the night of Sunday, October 16, 1859, about 10 o'clock,^
w^ith an "army" of seventeen white men and five negroes, Brow^n
590 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
took possession of the Government buildings, at Harper's Ferry,
within 50 miles of the National Capitol; stopped railroad trains,
captured a number of citizens, liberated several slaves and held
the to^vn nearly 36 hours. Though there were no symptoms of
any uprising among the slaves, or any evidence that they had
been advised of the contemplated raid for their deliverance, the
whole Southern country was immediately thrown into the utmost
•excitement and alarm.
The citizens of Harper's Ferry, during Monday afternoon, so
far recovered from their panic as to rally for their defense and the
expulsion of the invaders, and quite a number of sharp skirmishes
ensued, with several serious casualities on both sides, one of
Brown's men being shot down, while conveying, under a flag of
truce, a message from the Provisional Commander-in-Chief to the
mayor of the town. A company of militia, 100 strong, arrived
from Charlestow^n early in the afternoon, but were kept at bay by
the intrenched invaders. Other troops arrived from near-by
towns, both in Virginia and Maryland, during the afternoon, and
by night there were fifteen hundred armed soldiers surrounding
the engine house, but kept at bay by the handful of brave-hearted
men therein entrenched.
CAPTURED BY COL. ROBERT E. LEE.
Monday night, the Government at Washington sent a body of
U. S. troops, under the command of Col. Robert E. Lee (two years
later the commander-in-chief of the greatest insurrection known
to history), to subdue the insurgents. Refusing to comply with
Col. Lee's command to surrender, fire was opened upon the engine
house, and hotly returned by the intrenched party.
The "citadel" was at length stormed, Brown and his men
fighting to the last like tigers. Thirteen of the band, including
tw^o of Brown's sons, being either killed outright or mortally
w^ounded; Brown himself being very seriously "wounded by both
svi^ord and bayonet.
TRIAL— CON VICTION- SENTENCE- EXECUTION.
Brow^n and his six surviving follow^ers were taken to the Jef-
ferson County jail, at Charlestown, ten miles southw^est of Har-
per's Ferry. *Here they were indicted for inciting insurrection,
and for treason and murder. Conviction followed, as a matter of
course, the large array of evidence forwarded from Summit
county, and elsewhere, as to tendency to insanity in his family,
and of belief in the actual insanity of BtoAvn himself, upon the
slavery question, not proving of any avail. Brown w^as so weak
from his wounds, that he w^as obliged to lie upon a cot during the
trial.
He exhibited the utmost heroism and fortitude through-
out, boldly proclaiming his hatred of the slave-system, the right-
eousness of the act he had sought to perform, with the prediction
that the accursed institution w^as doomed to speedy overthrow.
The execution occurred at 11:15 a. m., on Friday, December 2,
1859. The martyr-convict w^as firm and cheerful to the last,
pleasantly conversing w^ith the sheriff and guard who bore him
from the jail to the scaffold, treating all concerned in the execution
HIS TRIUMPHANT DEATH— THE PUBLIC SORROW. . 591
with the utmost courtesy. His death was easy, the body being
lo\srered from the scaffold 35 minutes after the drop fell and
delivered to his wife, at Harper's Ferry, w^ho started with it the
same evening, for North Klba, w^here it was quietly interred, in the
presence of his surviving family, and a fe^^ sympathizing friends,
with appropriate funeral services, on Thursday, December 8, 1859,
Wendell Phillips pronouncing a fitting eulogy over his remains.
HIS LAST LETTER.
His life-long friend, Mr. Lora Case, still living hale and
hearty, in Hudson, at the age of nearly 80 years, wrote him a friendly
and sympathetic letter, after his conviction and sentence, to w^hich
he made the following characteristice reply, but a few moments
before his execution:
Charlestown, Jefferson Co., Va., /
December 2, 1859. j
Lora Case, Esq.,
My Dear Sir:— Your most kind and cheering letter of the 28th of Novem-
ber, is received. Such an out-burst of warm-hearted sympathy, not only for
myself, but also for those who have no helper, compels me to steal a
moment from those allowed me in which to prepare for my last great
change, to send you a few words. Such a feeling- as j'ou manifest makes
j^ou shine (in my estimation) in the midst of this wicked and perverse gen-
eration, as a light in the world, and may j'ou ever prove yourself equal to
the high estimate I have placed upon you. Pure and undefiled religion
before God, and the Father, is, as I understand it, an active (not a dormant)
principle. I do not iindertake to direct any more in regard to my children.
I leave that more entirely to their excellent luother, from whom I have just
parted. I send you my salutation with my own hand. Remember me to all
j^our and m)' dear friends.
Your friend, John Brown.
THE PUBLIC SORROW.
Though many deprecated the insane scheme, as they regarded
it, of attempting the overthro^v of so gigantic, and at that time so
thoroughly intrenched, an iniquity — backed as it then was by
the entire civil and military power of the government — Avith such
frail weapons, and such meager resources, yet having an unwaver-
ing belief in the honesty of his motives, and his entire conscien-
tiousness, coupled w^ith his unflinching bravery, the public mind,
everyw^here in the North, w^as filled with sincere sorrow^ at his
ignominious end; and with the most intense indignation at the
relentless vindictiveness w^ith which, while so severely suffering
from the bayonet wounds inflicted by United States soldiers in
effecting his capture, he w^as hurried through the merest mockery
of a trial to his death.
::;3PMemorial services were held in nearly all the principal cities
and towns in the Northern States. In Akron, on the day of execu-
tion, flags w^ere displayed at half mast; stores and other business
places were closed, the Court of Common Pleas adjourned — bells
w^ere tolled, and in the evening a very large meeting was held in
Empire Hall, in which feeling and appropriate speeches were
made by Judge James S. Carpenter, Attorney General Christopher
P. Wolcott, Gen. Lucius V. Bierce, Dr. Thomas Earl, Dr. Joseph
Cole, Wilbur F. Sanders, Esq., Nathaniel W. Goodhue, Esq,.
Newell D. Tibbals, Esq., and others, with an appropriate poem
from the pen of the late James Mathew^s, read by the w^riter of
592 . AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
this sketch, the exercises being exceedingly earnest and solemn
throughout; similar and equally solemn and impressive services
being held at Cuyahoga Falls, Hudson and other villages in Sum-
mit county.
WAS JOHN BROWN ACTUALLY INSANE?
Many anecdotes and traditions of his boyhood and early maii-
hood, are still rife among the people of Hudson, that, properly
\v^ritten out, Avould make interesting reading, but the scope of this
chapter will not admit of their publication here. Many of his
most intimate acquaintances, while maintaining unbounded faith
in his honesty of purpose, and his religious conscientiousness,,
entertained the belief that, from hereditary taint, he was in reality
insane. After his conviction and sentence, in Virginia, Prof.
Matthew C. Read, of Hudson, procured many affidavits to that
effect, from people who had known him intimately from his earliest
boyhood, ^vhich w^ere laid before the Virginia authorities, in the
hope of securing a commutation of his sentence. The affidavits
were presented, and an eloquent appeal made to Governor Wise, in
their support, by Akron's well-remembered talented attorney, Hon.
Christopher P. Wolcott, then attorney general of Ohio, and after-
^vards assistant secretary of w^ar, but Avithout avail. Slavery was
inexorable, and u-nimbued w^ith the attribute of mercy. The sys-
tem which could ruthlessly imprison a delicate and sympathetic
woman for teaching a slave to read the Holy Bible, or giving a pant-
ing fugitive a crust of bread while fleeing from bondage, had no
commiseration or clemency to besto^v upon the man, w^ho almost
single-handed, had insanely attempted the overthrow^ of the iniq-
quitous system itself. But the posthumous influence of John
Brown, the martyr, was far more potent for the dow^nfall of that
system, than was the influence, ^vhile living, of John Brow^n, the
emancipator, and the patriotic refrain, so enthusiastically sung by
our Union soldiers, both in camp and on the march:
John Brown's body lies mouldering in the ground,
John Brown's body lies mouldering in the ground,
John Brown's body lies mouldering in the ground,
But his soul goes marching along.
Glory! glory! hallelujah!
Glory ! glory ! hallelujah !
Glory ! glory ! hallelujah!
We'll conquer as we go !
did more to inspirit the Union soldier, upon one hand, and to
superstitiously dispirit the cohorts of treason, upon the other, than
any other one moral instrumentality, and in less than half a
decade from the date of his ignominious death, the end he thus
"madly" sought to accomplish, was most effectually consum-
mated through the "madness" of the very men who so mercilessly
clamored for his execution.
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE PATRIOT WAR -" HUNTERS'" LODGES— CAMPAIGN OF 1837, '38— PATRIOTS
DEFEATED— EXECUTION OF GENERAL VON SCHULTZ— BANISHMENT TO VAN
DIEMAN'S LAND— BURNING OF THE STEAMER " CAROLINE "—PROCLAMATION
OF PRESIDENT VAN BUREN — GENERAL SCOTT AND U. S. TROOPS INTER-
FERE—PATRIOT LEADER WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE CAPTURED— TRIAL
AND SENTENCE UNDER LAWS OF NEW YORK— GENERAL LUCIUS V. BIERCE
APPOINTED COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF— CAMPAIGN OF 1838, '39— INVASION OF
CANADA OPPOSITE DETROIT— BATTLE OF WINDSOR— BARRACKS CAPTURED
AND BURNED— BRITISH SURGEON KILLED AND HIS SWORD SECURED AS A
TROPHY— BURNING OF CANADIAN STEAMER "THAMES" — PATRIOTS DE-
FEATED BY BRITISH REGULARS — FLIGHT OF COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF BIERCE,
WITH THE REMNANT OF HIS ARMY— IGNOMINIOUS COLLAPSE -ARREST
AND TRIAL OF ALLEGED BURNER OF THE "CAROLINE," ALEXANDER
MCLEOD— RUPTURE BETWEEN ENGLAND AND THE UNITED STATES IMMI-
NENT.
AKRON IN CANADIAN REBELLION.
^"'HK prominent part played by citizens of Akron in the Canada
J- Patriot war of 1837-39, calls for a pretty full history of that
stirring episode in the international affairs of Kngland and the
United States. As early as 1836, it began to be whispered all
along the line, from Lake Ontario, on the East, to Lake Michigan
on the West, that the good people of Canada were getting very
restive under British rule, and, with a little encouragement and
aid from patriotic Americans, were ready to make an effort to
throw off the galling yoke, and establish an independent gov-
ernment of their own. This movement was inaugurated by one
William Lyon Mackenzie, of Scotch descent, and editor of the
Colonial Adi^ocate, a journal published at Niagara, in opposition
to the then governing party in Canada.
In 1828, Mackenzie had been elected to the provincial par-
liament, but was refused his seat on account of his disloyalty to
the Crown. He was four times successively re-elected to this posi-
tion, w^ith a like result, the government finally refusing to issue
another writ or order of election. In 1832, he visited England,
bearing a numerously signed petition of the Canadian reform
party, praying for redress of grievances, but without success.
Resort to Revolution. — Returning to Canada, Mackenzie
continued the agitation of his reform measures, with such marked
success, that in 1836 he was elected Mayor of Toronto. While
occupying this position he headed an armed force and demanded
of Gov. Head that he should call a convention to discuss Canadian
grievances and reform, w^hich demand was not acceded to. He
then determined to resort to open revolution, by seizing arms,
arresting the governor and his cabinet, and declaring Canada a
Republic. But his force w^as not strong enough, and the govern-
ment troops, under Sir Allan Macnab, as colonel of militia, drove
him from his position on Montgomery Hill, December 7, 1837, and,
after considerable severe skirmishing, and the capture of quite a
88
f394 AKRON AND, SUMMIT COUNTY.
number of his men, forced him to retire to Nav3' Island, in the
Niagara river, a short distance above the falls, and within the juris-
diction of the United States.
From this safe retreat Mackenzie issued a proclamation calling
for volunteers, and offering, as bounties, Canadian lands, in value
from $100 to $300, when the revolution should be successful. This
appeal, and the then munificent offer accompanying it, served to
very largely enthuse the patriotism of "Yankee Doodle" — both
native and adopted — and rally to his standard some six or seven
hundred recruits, with quite liberal contributions of money, arms,
ammunition and other army stores. Here, in comparative secur-
ity, Mackenzie directed his warlike operations, in the furtherance
of which he employed a small Buffalo steamer, called the "Caro-
line," for the transportation of his men and supplies from the
American shore to the Island, and from the Island to the Canada
shore, as circumstances might require.
Burning of the Steamer "Caroline." — Through this instru-
mentality a number of raids, of greater or less magnitude, were
made from time to time, resulting in the loss of several lives on
both sides, and the destruction of considerable property on Cana-
dian soil. To put an end to this annoyance, though the steamer
w^as owned by private parties, and when not in use, was generally
moored at her own dock in the harbor of Buffalo, Sir Allan Mac-
nab determined upon her summary destruction. Accordingly, on
the night of December 27, 1837, an expedition w^as sent out, in
command of Captain Drew, who, w^ith a picked squad of volun-
teers, and militia, crossed over to Schlosser, where the boat was
temporarily moored, overpowered the unarmed wratch, several of
w^hom were killed, cut the moorings of the steamer, tovt^ed her into
Canadian waters, set her on fire and cast her adrift, to float dow^n
the river and over the Falls of Niagara.
One of the alleged active participants in this affair was one
Alexander McLeod, who, a year or so later, being found on the
American side, was arrested by the authorities of the State of New-
York, and held to answer for both murder and arson. These
events caused the utmost excitement, both in the United States
and Canada, as well as in Great Britain. Macnab was Knighted,
and Capt. Drew was promoted by the British authorities, and the
United States government applied to Great Britain for redress,
upon the one hand, while the British government demanded the
release of McLeod on the other.
Voluminous correspondence between Secretary of State
Forsyth, and British Minister Fox, took place, and long and earn-
est discussions, in both Congress and Parliament, w^ere had, the
danger of a serious conflict between the tw^o governments at one
time appearing imminent. This w^as happily averted, however, by
the acquittal of McLeod on the final trial, the almost positive testi-
mony of his guilt being met \^ith such strong evidence, tending to
prove an alibi, as to thro\fc" a slight doubt into the jury box, and
thus save him from the fate which had previouslj^ been so
promptly, not to say ruthlessly, meted out to the brave Polander,
Von Schultz, as hereinafter detailed.
Public Meeting in Akron, — ^As showing the interest taken by
the people of Akron in these stirring events, we find in the Ameri-
can Balance, of January 11, 1838, the proceedings of a public
AKRON HIGHLY '''HONORED," 595
meeting held January 6, 1838, at the Methodist Church, presided
over by Justice Jacob Brown, and of which Arad Kent and Horace
K. Smith were secretaries; the meeting being opened with prayer
by Rev. Henry Carr, of the Baptist Chnrch. Alva Hand, Esq.,
one of Akron's leading lawyers at that time, offered, with a spirited
pn^amble, the following patriotic resolution:
Resolved, That as true friends of the great cause of liberty, as good and
worthy citizens of the United States, and as patriots, we cannot remain
silent when oppression stretches forth her hand to smite her victim; stand
unconcerned when we see our shores invaded by the armed bands of the
hostile slaves of despots whose tender mercies are cruelty and death; nor will
we remain idle and senseless when our country calls us to her defense.
This preamble and resolution, after spirited discussion, w^ere
unanimously adopted, whereupon Col. Justus Gale offered the
following, which was enthusiastically concurred in:
Resolved, That the attack, massacre, and destruction of the steamboat
Caroline, bj' British troops, when lying- in an American port, is an insult
upon the American flag, and an outrage too flagrant to be brooked by a free
and independent people.
Mayor John C. Singletary, Jr., then offered a series of resolu-
tions of so fiery a nature as to call out a somew^hat animated
debate, whereupon Constant Bryan, Esq., offered the follow^ing as
a substitute, which was accepted by the Mayor, and unanimously
adopted by the meeting:
Resolved, That the seizure of the steamboat Caroline, in American
waters, and the cold-blooded butchery of twenty-two of our fellow citizens,
is a high handed outrage, an atrocity unparalleled in the annals of civilized
warfare, demanding the most prompt interference of the National execu-
tive. ^
David K. Cartter (late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of
the District of Columbia) offered the following:
Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be signed by the chair-
man and secretaries, and published in the Anierictin Balance and other
papers of this county.
GEN. BIERCE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF — "HUNTERS" LODGES, ETC.
Early in 1838, at a meeting of representative patriots, in
Buffalo, Gen. L. V. Bierce, of Akron, Ohio, was chosen com-
mander-in-chief of all the patriot forces, and plans devised for a
vigorous campaign all along the line. To better facilitate their
operations, and secure the sympathy and co-operation of the
people of the States, a secret order was instituted under the name
of "Hunters," with lodges in all the principal cities and villages
of the several counties contiguous to Lake Erie, from Ogdensburg
to Detroit.
The emblem of the order was the snow-shoe, and, on being
initiated, its members took the most solemn and blood-curdling
oath, never to speak, write, indite or delineate, or by any sign,
gesture or device whatsoever, to disclose to any outsider the
character of the emblem itself, or the existence, aims and inten-
tions of the order it represented. Of course there were pass-words,
signs, counter-signs, signals, grips, etc , by which members could
gain access to lodges, recognize a fellow-Hunter on sight, secure
succor when in danger and prompt relief when in distress; the
596 AKRON AND' SUMMIT COUNTY,
newly initiated being especially enjoined to render every possi-
ble aid towards liberating their oppressed Canadian brethren from
the galling bondage in which they were held,.
It may well be ir^iagined that, among a people so universal!}^
patriotic as were the early settlers of the western states, these
lodges w^ould very naturally gather in and bring together, face to
face, the most diverse and incongruous elements of the community
in which they were instituted. For instance, \vhile engaged in
the publication of a paper specially devoted to the exposure of
crime, and the purification of the moral atmosphere, the w^riter,.
on being initiated into the order, at the instance of one of the most
highly respected and enterprising merchants of Akron, found him-
self in the presence of, and " cheek-by -jo^vl" with, the most notori-
ous counterfeiter of his time and several well-known gamblers,
together with village councilmen, justices of the peace, lawyers,
doctors, merchants, manufacturers, etc.
But, while a large proportion of the criminal and dissolute
classes identified themselves w^ith the Patriot movement, the
great majority of the members of these lodges were from the more
reputable classes of society, w^ho, heartily sympathizing with their
believed to be oppressed and suffering neighbors, were willing to
aid them to the extent of their pecuniary ability, and some of them
with their good right arms, and military prowess, if necessary, to
accomplish their object.
UNCLE SAM TAKES A HAND IN THE GAME.
The Winter of 1837, '38 and the ensuing Spring and Summer
w^ere attended by such w^ar-like preparations and demonstrations,
operated and directed ffom the American side of the line, that
sometime in October or November of that year, President Van
Buren issued his proclamation of neutralitj', warning all citizens
or residents of the United States against committing any acts of
hostility against the people or the government of Canada, assuring
them that he will not interfere in their behalf, if they are taken
prisoners "but that they will be left reproached by every virtuous
citizen, to be dealt with according to the policy of the government
whose dominion they have, in defiance of the known w^ishes of
their ow^n government, and w^ithout the shadow of justification or
excuse, invaded." Lieutenant General Winfield Scott had also
previously been ordered to the Niagara frontier, with an adequate
force of U, S. troops to enforce the neutrality law^s betw^een the tw^o
governments. In the meantime, however, some very stirring
scenes were being enacted in the vicinity of Prescott, opposite
Ogdensburg, on the St. Lawrence river.
BATTLE OF WIND MILL POINT.
On November 14, 1838, the patriot forces, under the command of
Gen. Von Schultz, intended to have attacked Prescott, but, by the
mismanagement of the steamer on which they had embarked,
they w^ere compelled to land at Wind Mill Point, a mile and a half
below^ the town. Here, in the stone wind mill and other stone
buildings, the command of Gen. Von Schultz, from 200 to 300 in num-
ber, remained over night. Early the next morning they were
attacked by the British troops, w^hich were several times repulsed^
PATRIOTS DEF'EATED — LEADERS EXECUTED. 597
Oen. Von Schultz, during the engagement, making a sortie, with
«ome fifty men, in the face of the wrhole loyalist force, and captur-
ing a cannon ^vhich was firing upon the mill. The battle lasted
about two hours, several casualties occurring on either side, the
British l(>ss being much the greater. On the 16th, having received
reinforcements, the British forces, to the number of about 300,
•completely surrounded the w^ind mill, and w^ith their heavy ord-
nance opened fire upon the mill and other stone buildings occupied
by the insurgents, w^ho -were at length obliged to abandon their
position and seek safety in flight. On emerging from the buildings,
they made a desperate rush to break through the British lines, but
being completely surrounded they w^ere all, with but a single
exception, taken prisoners. The one exception w^as a countryman
of the commanding general, a Pole, who escaped the vigilance of
the captors by donning the uniform of a British officer w^ho had
been slain. This defeat was a serious blow to the Patriots, but by
no means the end of the contest.
GEN. VON SCHULTZ HUNG.
Notwithstanding a large deputation of the most influential
citizens of Ogdensburg visited Canada, in behalf of the prisoners,
the Canadian authorities made short work of the matter by hang-
ing Gen. Von Schultz and several minor officers and transporting
the majority of his followers to the then supposed to be entirely
out-of-the-world English penal station, Van Dieman's Land, now
know^n as Tasmania, in the South Pacific Ocean, and one of the
most fertile and prosperous of great Britain's colonial possessions.
While these stirring events were taking place upon Canadian soil,
Oen. Scott was by no means inactive upon the American side of
the line. Notonly were inflocking recruits intercepted and prevent-
ed from joining the insurgents, and not onl}^ were arms and muni-
tions of w^ar, large contributions of which w^ere made by the
^'Hunters," and other sympathizers in the movement, seized and
confiscated, but the U. S. troops broke up their Navy Island
rendezvous, and also placed the instigator of the movement,
Mackenzie, under arrest.
The Canadian Government had already outlaw^ed the leader
of the rebellion, Mackenzie, and placed a heavy price upon his
head; but there being no extradition regulations, by w^hich that
government could demand his surrender, he was handed over to
the United States civil authorities, and, after considerable delay,
was tried for violation of American laws, by making war on Canada,
in the circuit court for the w^estern district of New York, convicted
and sentenced to twelve months imprisonment in the Rochester
jail. On the expiration of his sentence, Mackenzie w^ent to New
York City, where he became a contributor for the Tribune, his
writings being always interesting, and generally instructive. In
1849 the Canadian government published a general amnesty, where-
upon Mackenzie returned to Toronto, w^here he was soon after-
■wards elected to the colonial parliament, of which body he became
a useful and influential member, and on his retirement from that
position, he published a weekly journal entitled Mackenzie's
Message, until his death, August 26, 1861, the Message attaining
a very large circulation for those early days.
598 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
GENERAL BIERCE'S CAMPAIGN.
Notwithstanding the disaster to the eastern wing of the Patriot
army, the capture of Mackenzie, the summary execution of Von
Schultz and a large number of his subordinate officers, and
the expatriation of their followers, General-in-Chief Bierce decided
to strike a blow in the west, which, it was fondly hoped, would
turn defeat into victory, and result in the speedy disenthrallment
of the oppressed Canadians. Hitherto nearly all the efforts of the
patriots had been made in the vicinity of the Niagara and St. Law-
rence rivers, and it was supposed that not only less vigilance on
the part of the Canadian and United States authorities prevailed
in the west, but that, a footing once obtained upon Canadian soiU
the entire populace would not only welcome them with open arms,
but w^ould rise, en masse, and march with their patriotic deliverers
to the rescue of their less fortunate brethren in the east.
Accordingly, through the machinery of the Hunters' organiza-
tion, several hundred recruits were mustered in, and secretly
drilled in military tactics, and ordered to quietly rendezvous in
Detroit, the latter part of November, 1838. In this way some 40O
men, chiefly from Ohio and Michigan, had been, under the guid-
ance of faithful subordinate officers, quartered, as travelers and
individual citizens, in the smaller hotels, boarding houses and
private residences of Detroit, without attracting the attention of
the authorities, or of the general public.
The Battle of Windsor. — At length, everj'^thing being in
readiness, on the night of the 3rd day of December, 1838, the
men w^ere ordered to quietly assemble at a designated wharf on
the river, at the hour of midnight. In the meantime a small but
"daring" squad of "Hunters" had "seized" the steamer Cham-
plain, a Lake Erie passenger boat lying at a neighboring wharf,
the captain and crew^ of which, not being belligerently inclined,
were, on promise to remain silent in regard to the seizure until
daylight, permitted to go on shore.
Among those Tvho accompanied Gen. Bierce upon this expedi-
tion, and acting as his aide-de-camp, was a young printer by the
name of John H. Harmon, son of the veteran editor of the Western
Courier, the late John Harmon, of Ravenna, and an old personal and
political friend of General Bierce.
The Embarkation. — Of the 400 braise men who had been
armed, drilled, transported and subsisted from the Patriot fund,
137, only, reported on board the Champlain for duty, which num-
ber, including officers and those detailed to run the steamer, con-
stituted the entire force of the invading army. The steamer was
quietly landed on the Canada side, about four miles above Wind-
sor, at w^hich latter place w^as a military barracks, which was^
supposed to contain a quantity of military stores, and to be
guarded by about fifty British soldiers. Gen. Bierce's design was
to quietly surround and capture this barracks, without arousing
the garrison or the tow^n.
Approaching the barracks, just at day-break, a man w^as seen
running from the river towards the barracks, who it was surmised
had rowed across the river to give the alarm. He w^as brought
down by a shot from a patriot musket, and proved to be a Detroit
saloon-keeper, on the errand surmised. That shot, however,.
GENERAL BIERCE IN CANADA. 599
aroused lK)th the guards in the barracks and the sleeping town,
and the project of surrounding the barracks was thus foiled.
The Burning Barracks. — The British soldiers immediately
opened tire from the loop-holes of the braracks, which w^as kept up
until the patriots got so near the building as to be out of range of
their bullets. Gen. Bierce then ordered Harmon to set the barracks
on fire, which was accordingly done. The guards, finding their
barracks on fire, came tumbling out in a hurry, several being killed,
a number taken prisoners and others making their escape. Their
arms were taken away from those captured, who, after a short
detention, v^ere liberated, the patriots by this time thinking it
important to be looking out for themselves.
Steamer Thames Burned — Retaliation. — There was, at the
time, lying at the little wharf in front of Windsor, a small steamer
called the Thames. Though personal property, the boat was in
the employ of the Canadian government, and to avenge the burn-
ing of the Caroline, at Schlosser, by order of Col. Macnab, as here-
tofore detailed. Gen. Bierce ordered the Thames to be incinerated
also, w-hich was accordingly done by Mr. Harmon and three
others, bearing with them, for that purpose, brands from the still
burning barracks.
[In a recent conversation with our venerable citizen-farmer,
Webster B. Storer, an extensive boat builder in Akron, during the
palmy days of the Ohio Canal, I learn that the interior finishing of
the Thames was done by him previous to his coming to Akron, in
1836, her hull having been built on the river Thames, in Canada,
and towed to Cleveland for finish and the placing of her machinery.]
Anticipating that by this time the main body of British troops,
stationed at Sandwich, would be on the way to Windsor, Gen.
Bierce ordered Colonels Putnatn and Harvell (the former a grand-
son of old Israel Putnam, of revolutionary fame), to station them-
selves, with about 100 men, in an orchard, back of Windsor, then a
small hamlet of a dozen houses or so, only, to hold the bold Brit-
ishers in check, while the General himself, with his aid, and the
remainder of his men, about 30 all told, moved into Windsor to hold
the town itself,
British Surgeon Killed.' — After this disposition of the patriot
forces, and soon after the return of Mr. Harmon and his comrades
from firing the Thames, doctor Hume, a fine looking man, and a
surgeon in the British regular army, with the rank of major, rode
up to the town on a splendid and gayly caparisoned horse,
evidently ^vithout knowing who the invaders were. On approach-
ing the line, he was ordered to surrender by Capt. Scott. The
doctor, apparently not realizing w^hat was up, asked, "to w^hom
shall I surrender?" "To the Patriots," answered Capt. Scott. The
doctor, quickly dismounting, started to walk away, with an
emphatic expression against surrendering to rebels. Capt.
Scott immediately gave the order to fire, and the loyal non-com-
batant doctor instantly fell dead, pierced by a dozen bullets — an
act that at the time was considered not only very inhuman, but
nearly akin to wilful and deliberate murder; an opinion, I doubt
not, shared in by both Gen. Bierce and his aid, Harmon, w^ho, in
noticing this feature of the affair says: "Only part of our force
fired — the rest, among w^honi I was one — thinking it unnecessary
to go to the extremes with so brave a man."
60() AKROX AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Doctor Hume carried b}^ his side a magnificent surgeon's sword,
which \^as detached from his body and lianded to General Bierce,
^who retained it as a trophy, and, in after years during his life, he
delighted to exhibit it, when " fighting his battles o'er again," to
interested if not admiring listeners. This sword was, by will,
among other relics, bequeathed to Buchtel College by Gen Bierce, in
the following w^ords: " My sw^ord, captured from Major J. J. Hume,
of the British army, in the battle of Windsor, Canada West, Decem-
ber 4, 1838, and by me carried through the war of the rebellion
from May, 1863, to November, 1865, as Assistant Adjutant General
of the United States Volunteers." It is proper to remark, in this
connection, that Gen. B.'s services in the late war, were confined
entirely to routine work in the office of the adjutant general, at
Columbus, until after the close of the war, when, for a few months,
in the latter part of 1865, he was assigned to muster-out duty, at
Fort Madison, Wisconsin, and subsequently for a short time was
placed in command of Camp Washburn at Milwaukee.
The Final Battle. — As Doctor Hume fell, firing in the direc-
tion of the orchard was heard, and Gen. Bierce dispatched Mr.
Harmon, mounted upon the dead surgeon's horse, to ascertain the
situation there. Galloping hastily in that direction, a glance w^as
sufficient to enable Mr. Harmon to instantly divine the speedy
collapse of the expedition. The orchard was surrounded by about
400 Canadian soldiers, under command, as was afterwards learned,
of Col. John Prince, of Sandw^ich, and other experienced British
officers, whose sharp firing was playing sad havoc with the little
Patriot phalanx of about 100 men only, w^hile Col. Harvell, a large
framed, fine-looking Kentuckian, was evidently endeavoring, with
the Patriot flag in his hand — a white star in a blue field — to lead
the command in a hopeless retreat. Being wounded in the leg,
the brave Kentuckian faced about and commenced firing at his
pursuers, and vt^hen his ammunition wras exhausted, still defiantly
brandished his bowie-knife at them, until finally shot down in
his tracks. Thus ended the battle of the orchard, the balance of
the command being all either killed or captured.
The Flight for Life. — Riding rapidly back to Windsor, Har-
mon hastily reported to Gen. Bierce that "all was up," w^hen a
precipitate retreat of the thirt}' men who had held the town, w^as
begun. Supposing that the steamer Champlain was still at the
landing, four miles above, thej^ made their way thither in a body,
though presumably without any undue regard to military pre-
cision, or martial bearing. Col. Prince, and his command, evi-
dently not being aware of their presence'in the town, and suppos-
ing that the 100 men in the orchard comprised the entire Patriot
force, the fugitives w^ere not immediately pursued.
On arriving at the landing, the Champlain w^as found to be
nnn est, and the fleeing Patriots searched the shore of the river for
skiffs and canoes in Avhich to ferry themselves over to Hog Island.
A sufficient number for the purpose were found, but there
being a lack of oars, the butts of the guns were used as paddles to
propel them across. Reaching the Island, the party walked to the
other side. There a single canoe only could be found, in which
the men w^ere ferried across to the American shore, a few at a
time. Gen. Bierce was among the first to go over, his friends,
owing to the bad humor of some of the men at the failure of the
IGNOMINIOUS COLLAPSE. 601
expedition, and the whispered but distinctly audible threats in
which they indulged to\^ards the commander-in-chief, deeming it
unsafe for him to remain until the rank and file were all safely
across, as genuine patriotism would naturally have caused him
to do.
Capture by U. S. Troops. — The United States authorities,
under the proclamation of President Van Buren,in their endeavors
to maintain neutrality, had chartered the steamer Erie, and with
a Detroit military company, under the command of Major Payne,
of the United States Army, in cruising about the Detroit River,
overhauled the last batch to cross over, five in number, and took
them on board the steamer, Mr. Harmon being among the number.
On being hailed by the Major and ordered on board the steamer,
they quietly dropped their guns overboard, so as not to be found
with arms in their possession. Being captured in American
waters, and there being no positive proof that the men had been
in Canada, they w^ere set at liberty on reaching the wharf at
Detroit, Mr. Harmom being so kindly received by the citizens who
witnessed the arrival and discharge of himself and his fellow
prisoners, that he remained in that city to the time of his death,
in 1888.
The Fate of the 107. — Of the 137 men who went upon this
necessarily disastrous expedition, all but about 30 were either
killed or captured, the most, if not all of the prisoners, like those of
Gen. Von Schultz's command, being transported to Van Dieman's
Land, very few^ of w^hom, even after the promulgation of the gen-
eral amnesty, as above stated, ever returned to the United States.
This disastrous affair ended the contest, it being fully demon-
strated, on the one hand, that the people of Canada were not so
ripe for revolution and independence as had been represented,
and, on the other hand, that the government of the United States
would not stand idly by and permit its citizens to organize, either
publicly or secretly, military expeditions against the contiguous
dependency' of a nation with whom it was at peace. The "Hunt-
ers'" lodges incontinently disbanded, and the interest in Canadian
independence rapidly w^aned. It was said, how^ever, and generally
believed, in this vicinity, that the Canadian government had
offered a reward of £2,000 for the capture, and delivery w^ithin its
borders, of the American commander-in-chief of the defunct
Patriot Army, Gen. Lucius Verus Bierce. Whether true or not,
the w^riter has reason to know that the General firmly believed the
report, and for many years observed the utmost caution vt^hen vis-
iting any of the Lake cities, and even believed that secret emis-
saries were prowling about his own home, with a view to his
abduction and clandestine delivery into the hands of his enemies.
It is probable, however, that these rumors had no foundation in
fact, for, most certainly, so large a reward would have tempted
some of the reckless spirits of that rather reckless period, to make
the attempt to kidnap and spirit him over the border, though such
attempt, like his own wild attempt to conquer a populous and
well-protected province, with 137 undisciplined men, should igno-
miniously fail.
IN A POETIC MOOD.
Immediately after his return from Detroit, w^hich, in view of
the active part Uncle Sam's officers were playing in that vicinity,
602 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
■was somewhat speedy, Gen. Bierce prepared the following poetical
adaptation from Campbell's " Battle of Hohenlinden," for publica-
tion in a local paper, evincing not only the General's enthusiasm
for the "Lost Cause," but also a sort of shadow^y impression that
instead of suffering an ignoininious defeat, immortal glory had
inured to the Patriot cause from:
"THE BATTLE OF WINDSOR."
The sun had set on Erie's wave,
The snow-chid hills on which the brave
Reposed, were silent as the grave.
Or Soldier's tonibless sepulcher. '
No martial sound, nor busy hum.
No clarion clang, nor rattling drum
Gave signal that the time had come.
For daring feats of chivalry.
The soldier took his hasty meal,
Then fixed the deadly, burnished steel.
Which soon the tyrant's fate would seal.
When joined in war's dread revelry.
The Patriot band was soon arrayed,
Their hearts beat high, but not dismayed,
As each one drew his battle blade
And shouted, " death or victorj'."
Then foe to foe, in contest view;
Fierce flashed the fire, the rockets flew,
And death was revelling 'mid the few
Who bared their breast courageously.
The Patriot crv of deadly war,
"Remember Prescott!" sounds afar,
And lurid flames, and crashing jar.
Push on the dreadful tragedy.
The warrior foe in contest slain ;
The wounded strawed upon the plain,
Make fuel for the burning chain.
Of barracks burning rapidly.
Now fiercer grew the dreadful fight :
Now higher rose the lurid light.
And shouts, and groans, as morning light
Appeared, \verere mingled horribly.
Ah, dreadful sight ! As morn arose.
The mingled corse of friends and foes.
Bestrewed the ground amid the snows
That formed their only sepulcher. B,
GEN. BIERCE IN UNITED STATES COURT.
In Cleave's Biographical Encyclopaedia, in a sketch evidently
w^ritten by Gen. Bierce, himself, it is stated that "after the disaster
at Prescott, he led the remainder of his forces through Western
Canada, capturing Sandwich on his way, and burning the barracka
and taking Windsor. The main body of his forces, under General
Putnam, being defeated, he, with a force of 25 men, kept an attack-
ing force of 500 at bay until he succeeded in crossing over into
Michigan and was safe. He w^as tw^ice indicted in the United
States Courts for violation of the neutrality laws, and responded
to the indictments, but the matter was dropped, and he resumed
his law practice in Akron."
In his ow^n "Historical Recollections of Summit County," in
closing his account of the Battle of Windsor, he says: "Thus
terminated, as Gen. Bierce had foreseen it w^ould, after the fatal
expedition to Fort Wellington, the campaign of 1838, and the
Patriot War. * * * Soon, however, he was called before the
United States Court at Columbus, Ohio, to answer for a violation
A CARD FROM AIDE-DE-CAMP HARMON. 603
of the Neutrality Law of 1818, but with as pointed a charge as
Judge McLean could give, so popular was the the man and his
cause, that a grand jury could not be induced to indict him."
A CLOSING WORD FROM MR. HARMON.
Not finding Gen. Bierce's name mentioned in any of the news-
paper accounts of the Windsor affair, I addressed a note to Mr.
Harmon, after the foregoing was w^ritten, as to w^hether, for pru-
dential reasons, he adopted some other name, to which Mr. Har-
mon responded as follows: "In regard to Gen. Bierce, justice has
never been done in his case. He was in command throughout the
short campaign. There was jealousy on the part of Cols. Harvell
and Putnam, and they did not lose an opportunity to prejudice
officers and men. They were both killed in the Orchard Battle. I
Avas Gen. Bierce's Aid, and knew^ all the difficulties. Gen. Bierce
saw^, before leaving this side, the outcome, and tried to persuade
me to remain on the Detroit side. I resolved to go where he went,
and did so. He behaved nobly, and protected the men w^ho fol-
lowed him. Gen. Bierce did not sail under false colors. In cross-
ing from the Island w^e changed clothing, to save him from arrest
by the United States authorities. He did avoid arrest, and I w^as
taken by the U. S. Military, but released when my identity was
discovered."
THE END.
Thus has been collated, at some length, an episode in national
and international history, which, over half a century ago, very
largely convulsed the public mind of both Europe and America,
and in which Akron and Summit county bore a more conspicuous
part than any other county in Ohio, not only furnishing the
"Commander-in-Chief," as above related, but quite a large propor-
tion of privates also, w^ith a liberal supply of arms, ammunition
and money, in addition to the "moral" aid of public meetings,
resolutions, patriotic speeches, etc., as above set forth.
CHAPTER XXIV.
SECOND ADVENTIvSM— THE END OF THE WORLD PREDICTED— APRIL 4, 1843,
THE DAY OF DOOM— GREAT EXCITEMENT IN AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY
— THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH TWICE RENT ASUNDER BY ITS ERRATIC
PASTOR— MISCALCULATION IN DATES— FINAL CRASH POSTPONED ONE YEAR
— THE FAITHFUL STILL SANGUINE— ERECTION OF A TABERNACLE— FEET
WASHING ORGIES^ATTEMPT TO WORK MIRACLES -PELTED WITH ADDLED
EGGS— MADNESS AND SELF-MUTILATION -SPIRITUAL MARRIAGES— PROSE-
CUTED FOR ADULTERY— TABERNACLE BLOWN UP— THE END WILL NOT
COME — MILLER, ITS PATRON SAINT, "GIVES IT UP " — "A DELUSION FROM
THE FOUNDATION"— LOCAL ORGANIZATION GOES TO PIECES— A FEW STILL
STICK— JOINING THE SHAKERS, ETC. — WONDERFUL POWER OF HUMBUG!
SECOND ADVENTISM AND ITS FOUNDER.
/^NE of the most exciting episodes in the history of Akron and
^-^ of Summit County, was the reign of "Milierism," or "Second
Adventism," here, from 1841 to 1846, For the enlightenment of
the more youthful readers of these pages, a brief sketch of the
founder of this sect, and the reasons by which he was actuated in
the promulgation of his erratic doctrines, w^ill be in order.
William Miller w^as born in Massachusetts, in 1781, and was
bred to the occupation of a farmer. He was a volunteer in the War
of 1812, rising to the rank of Captain, serving mainly upon the
Canadian frontier. His education w^as quite limited, but being of
a religious turn of mind, he applied himself to a diligent examina-
tion of the Scriptures, and especially to a thorough study of the
prophecies, and by an ingenious combination of symbols, dates and
figures he evolved his theory that the Second Coming of Christ,
and the destruction of the w^orld, would occur in 1843. The precise
day w^as not at first named by him, but later on, either by himself
or his follow^ers, the time w^as fixed for April 4th of that year.
About the year 1833, Mr. Miller commenced to promulgate his new
doctrine in local talks and lectures; but his fame at length began
to spread, and the desire to hear him became so great, that his
farm labors were suspended, and his entire time and energies
devoted thereto, so that by the time fixed for the winding up of all
temporal affairs on earth, it was estimated that his followers, in
the United States, the Canadas and Great Britain, numbered not
less than 50,000 souls.
ADVENT OF "SECOND ADVENTISM" IN AKRON.
In the year 1839, a talented, but somewhat eccentric preacher,
by the name of James D. Pickands, was called to the pastorate of
the First Congregational Church of Akron, whose house of worship
—the first church edifice erected in the village — then stood upon
the Court House grounds, but was afterw^ards removed to the
corner of High and Quarry streets, where it later, for several years,
did service as a parochial school for the German Lutheran Society,
THE EVENT FAILS TO EVENTUATE. 605-
giving place, in 1889, to their present more imposing brick struct-
ure. About this time some of "Father Miller's" proselytes began
to preach the new doctrine in the west, a series of that class of
meetings being held in Akron in 1840, '41, resulting in a number of
accessions to the faith — some of them good and pure men and
women and sincere Christians, and some of them of rather a
doubtful status for either piety or morality.
Among those who began to investigate the subject was the
Congregational pastor, who, though not at first fully endorsing or
preaching the doctrine, became so "free and easy" in his pulpit
utterances as to alienate quite a large number of the members of
his church, who, after a vain endeavor to work a reformation in
his theology, or to accomplish his dismissal, themselves w^ithdrew^
and on the 8th day of June, 1842, organized the Second Congrega-
tional Church of Akron, being the same societj'^ that is now known
as the First Congregational Church of this city, building for
themselves a house of w^orship on North Main street, the same
building lately occupied as a livery stable by Mr. George Wulle.
From this time on, Mr. Pickands rapidly gravitated toAvards the
new faith, and finally, as "Time" approached its predicted "End,"
he was wholly en rapport with its most confident and most
earnest advocates.
A majority of the remnant of his congregation w^ere w^ith him,
and an effort was made to exorcise the minority and retain posses-
sion of the house for the promulgation of the new faith, but it was
found that this could not be done, inasmuch as the lot had been
donated, by General Simon Perkins, for the exclusive use and
behoof of the Congregational Church. Upon this discovery the
Adventists themselves withdre\v, holding their meetings in the
groves and Avoods, and subsequently building for themselves a
"Tabernacle" — a temporary structure, 30 by 60 feet, with plain
board seats and desk, and sawdust floor — upon the opposite side
of South High street.
GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT— NEW "COUNT."
Though many sincere believers in the doctrine, blindly follow-
ing their enthusiastic leaders, had made every preparation, regu-
lating all their worldly transactions to fit the date of the predicted
consummation of all sublunary affairs — some even distributing
their effects among their neighbors, and large numbers (as was
alleged) having provided themselves vt^ith "Ascension Robes," of
purest w^hite, in v^hich to mount to heaven with the rejoicing hosts
— the 4th of April passed without the realization of their hopes.
Father Miller and his numerous talented lieutenants set them-
selves to w^ork to revise the "tally sheets," to ascertain, if possible,
the cause of their discomfiture. It was finally found, by either the
Great Apostle himself, or some of his "lightning calculators," that
there had been just a year's mistake in the figures, and the end
w^ould surely come on the 23d day of April, 1844.
After the discovery of this perplexing blunder, and the due
correction of the "Time Tables," the Advent trains w^ere again
started, under a far greater head of steam than before, and at a largely
increased rate of speed. The local lights of the faithful, both
ministers and laymen, became extremely active, not only zealously
laboring "in season and out of season," Bible in hand, with their
606 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
unbelieving neighbors, on the streets, in their places of business,
and at their several abodes; not only holding enthusiastic nightly
meetings in their places of worship, and at private residences, but
calling the people together, en masse, in grove and camp meet-
ings, by extensive advertising, both by attractive posters and in
public prints. As a sample, the following advertisement is copied
from the Summit Beacon of August 9, 1843 :
SECOND ADVENT CAMP MEETING, IN SPRINGFIELD, NEAR
AKRON, AUGUST 17.
There will be a Second Advent Camp Meeting- (if time shall continue), to
begin oti Thursday, the 17th day of August next, in Spring-field, Summit
County, Ohio, about six miles southeast of Akron, on the Canton road, at the
same place occupied last 3'ear by a camp meeting. All who love the appear-
ing of our Lord, are earnestly requested to attend, prepared with tents, to
remain throughout the meeting. Boarding will be provided on the ground
for those who cannot bring their own provisions. The following named
ministers, among others, are expected to attend and preach: Brethren Fitch,
Sawin, Needhain, Poe, Baker, McCue, Sheldon and Pickands. Come up,
brethren and sisters, to the feast — let nothing hinder you. Remember the
time is short.
This call w^as signed by parties living in Springfield, Moga-
dore, Canton, Middlebury, Cuyahoga Falls and Akron, several of
\vhom are still living.
Of this meeting, Hiram Bowen, Esq., in the Beacon of August
23, 1843, editorially said :
The Millerites are holding a camp meeting in Springfield, six miles
east of this village. Great numbers of people are in attendance — it was esti-
inated that from three to five thousand persons were on the g-round on Sun-
da3^ last. We cannot learn that they are making many new converts to their
doctrines, most of the people attending throug^h mere curiositJ^
Meantime the unbeliever and scoffer were constantly poking
fun at their "terribly in earnest" and zealous neighbors, in vari-
ous ways, and especially in business adv^ertisements, Wilcox, Huse
& Co., of Middlebury, manufacturers of chairs, heading their
advertisement, " If Time Continues," and Harr3^ Pardee, in the
same line of business, giving a counter blast under the head of
" Time Continues ! "
The Beacon, of December 20, 1843, contains this item:
Father Miller lately visited Rochester, New York, where he devoted one
whole week to dealing out exhortations and admonitions in relation to the
awful destruction which awaits this sinful world, on the 22nd day of March,
next, according to the improved reckoning-, which 22nd daj^of March, Gentile
time, is equivalent to the 23rd daj^ of April, Jewish time. During- the whole
time of his sojourn there, he was listened to by congregations, dailj^ and
nightl}^, ranging between one and two thousand. He departed thence to
enlighten the good people of Lockport, and other cities, in relation to the
near approach of the consummation of all things.
The 22nd day of March, as well as the 23rd day of April, 1844,
came and Avent, like other similar days since the dawn of time,
and great w^as the grief and disappointment among the true and
earnest believers, w^hile equally great was the joy of the unbeliev-
ing but fearful multitude, that the predicted day of doom had
safely passed. At a meeting held in the Tabernacle, in Boston, on
the 4th day of June, 1844, Father Miller acknowledged that he had
made a great mistake about the end of the world. The time had
THE CRAZE RAPIDLY AND RABIDLY INCREASES. 607
gone by and he must confess that he knew nothing about it. Yet
notwrithstanding the failure of both his definite and proximate
prophecies, Father Miller still held to the belief that the end -would
come soon, and in a modified way, continued his labors, while his
local adherents, in Akron and elsewhere, not only contitiued their
labors, but were constantly promulgating new dogmas and
adding new^ features to their modes of public w^orship and their
private teachings and practices.
FATHER MILLER IN AKRON.
On the 13th day of August, 1844, Father Miller visited Akron
and addressed large crowds of people, assembled in and about the
Tabernacle, both in the afternoon and evening. His discourses,
delivered in a plain and unostentatious manner, w^ere mainly
devoted to the elucidation of the prophecies on which his calcula-
tions had been based, and which, though there had been some
slight error in his interpretations and computations, he still
believed to be substantially correct, and that the end was near at
hand, closing with an earnest exhortation to those still outside the
fold, to fly from impending wrath by an immediate preparation,
and a continuous watching and praying for the coming of the
Lord. Though this demonstration made no very great impression
upon the large audiences in attendance, the greater portion being
present from mere curiosity, it had the effect of very greatly stim-
ulating his adherents, and augmenting their zeal, in the propaga-
tion of their doctrines, resulting to some extent, in an increase of
their proselytes and members.
The Second Advent organs (of w^hich there w^ere many), also
took on new ardor and began to promulgate new^ data for the final
"Wreck of Matter and Crash of Worlds;" Brother Storrs, of New-
York, editor of the Midnight Cry and the Bible Examiner,
as w^ell as one of the most po\^erful preachers of the dogma, say-
ing, in a sermon published in the Examiner, early in October,
1844, that the ^vorld would positivelj" come to an end the 22nd or
23rd of that month, or be postponed fifty years; a speaker in the
Tabernacle, here, about the same time, assuring his hearers, that
they would "never see another cold Winter."
Baptism by immersion, if not at first considered an essential
elementof the Second Advent creed, at length came to be so regarded,
and about this time many of the old believers, and all of the new
converts, were duly submerged beneath the rather chilly waters of
the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal. A local paper (the Cascade
Roarer), of October 8, 1844, said: "Five persons were baptized
into the Millerite faith on Sunday last and several more on Mon-
day. The cause seems to be prospering in these diggings." The
next issue of the same paper (October 15, 1844), says: "The
Adventists are doing a splashing business in the immersion line,
having submerged some thirty or forty in the canal on Sabbath
last, and among the rest some six or eight children, from six to
ten years of age;" and in its issue of October 22, remarks: "Our
Second Advent friends have fixed upon this day as the very last —
or to-morrow as the extreme fag-end of time, and many of them
have acted accordingly, by stopping all kinds of business, settling
up their affairs, paying off their debts (strange infatuation !) giv-
ing away their provisions and effects, warning their neighbors to
608 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
prepare for the awiul day, and in sundry and various other Avays-
making themselves as supremely ridiculous as possible." In its
issue of October 24, the same paper says: " The Adventists of this
place have given us fifteen days longer, on account of one hour
which was not taken into the calculation of Brothers Miller, Storrs^
& Co.," the same issue announcing the miraculous cure of a young
lady in the family of one of the faithful, who had not left her bed
for four years, through the exercise of faith, and who immediately
commenced attending the meetings at the Tabernacle, in appar-
ently good health; also, that during family worship in another
family, there occurred an instantaneous restoration to conscious-
ness and health, of a child lying in its mother's arms, apparently
insensible from an acute attack of chill-fever.
Barly in November, 1844, Brother Storrs, in his Midnight
Crj^ makes a statement in which he says: "I confess that I have
been led into error, and have thereby led others astray, in advising
Advent believers to leave business entirely and attend meetings
only; though I have usually qualified that advice by excepting
business a bsolatelj^ necessary for present necessity^."
In commenting upon this, his neighbor, the New^ York True
Sun, pertinently said: "What compensation is the confession to
hundreds \^ho have been ruined in property and in mind by the
delusive prophecies of Brother Storrs and his associates? Confes-
sion will not restore the dead who have perished from exposure, nor
re-illumine with the spark of reason the darkened intellect; nor
clothe the naked and feed the hungry; nor relieve one jot or tittle
of the misery, wretchedness and despair which Millerism has
inflicted upon its victims." And apropos of the evils resulting
from the Second Advent delusion, the following, from an Akron
paper, of November 12, 1844, will be strongly confirmatory of the
Sun's remarks:
"More Millerism and Madness. — ^Last week Mr. Ira Viets, of
Cuyahoga Falls, having become a dupe to the Second Advent
doctrine that all earthly passions are sinful, and that the com-
mand: 'If thy member offends thee, cut it off,' should be taken
literally, most barbarously mutilated himself with a plane-bit and
mallet. He is no^v upon the to\vn, under the doctor's care, aw^ait-
ing the Second Advent, or the end of time, which it is thought
may soon take place for him, as it is somew^hat doubtful whether
he will escape the consequences of his rash act, even ^vith his life; "
the same paper in its issue of July 1, 1845, saying that Mr. Viets
was then confined in the county jail, " a perfect lunatic from the
delusive and inconsistent dogma of Millerism." And the writer
w^ill here add, that there were several others in this immediate
vicinity — notably w^omen — whose minds were permanently unbal-
anced, and their domestic relations seriously disturbed, and in
some instances entirely broken up, by the delusion.
The Holy Kiss — Feet-Washing, Etc. — The Augusta (Maine)
Age, in March, 1845, said of the Second Adventistt. of that vicinity:
"The 'Receivers,' as they style themselves, of the Millerite fallacies,
have discovered a new^ theory, which is that the day of grace has
been passed, and that w^e are all now in Eternity, and that the
aw^ful horrors of a general Judgment are soon to be manifested to
all eyes. Some of them take special pains to humble themselves,
and for this purpose wash and kiss each other's feet, creep upon
THE (iKKAT APOSTLE CilVES FT UP. (!09
the floor, etc., their coiuhict, in some instances, being revolting
in the extreme." The day of grace and Kternity theory, did not
ol)tain here, to any extent, hut the kissing, feet-washing and roll-
ing upon the floor — stricken down l)y the 'power of the holy
spirit' — tom -foolery was adopted by a portion of the local faithful,
though it is but simple justice to say, right here, that the more
intelligent and well-balanced among the believers drew the line
oji these practices, and that only the more infatuated, and the dis-
honest among them, participated in the well authenticated disgust-
ing powwows of this character that were for several months
indulged in. At all events, certain peculiar services were held
almost nightl3^ at which none but the most faithful of the faithful
were admitted, thoxigh there w^as sufficient leakage, from one and
another, to fully demonstrate the revolting nature of those secret
orgies.
FATHER MILLER GIVES IT UP.
Early in October, 1845, Father Miller published an address to
his deluded followers, frankly acknowledging his great error, in
predicting the end of the world, closing as follows: "For my
indiscretions and errors, I ask pardon, and all who have spoken
evil of me without cause, I freely forgive. My labors are princi-
pally ended.
Yet, notwithstanding the Great Apostle of Millerism — Father
Miller himself — frankly renounced, and wholly repudiated, the
doctrines which he had originated, and so long advocated, the
local "small fry" Adventists of the country still keep pegging
away, and though not pretending to designate any particular day,
or even month, or year, for the final "wind up," continued to
])romulgate new dogmas, and fulminate new prophecies, through
which to render themselves still more ridiculous, and to still
further disgust the public mind, as will be seen in what follows.
The "Simon-pures" of this vicinity — united in what they
denominated "The Advent Band," the very holiest of the holy, of
that extremely holy people. Among the very earliest of the con-
verts to the Second Advent faith was a Mrs. Oreen, a thoroughly
honest and sincerely pious lady, the wife of Col. Lyman Green,
for many years one of Akron's best known hotel keepers. Mrs.
Green, like many other honest and earnest christian women,,
became entirely infatuated w^ith the delusion, readily accepting,,
and conscientiously entering into, all the dogmas that w^ere from
time to time proclaimed, and w^ho, of course, became a devoted
member of the "charmed circle" — the Advent Band. Like many
of the other "ungodly" husbands, whose wives were thus dis-
tracted from their domestic and wifely duties. Col. Green tried
every possible argument, and made use of every possible mode of
persuasion, both w^ith Mrs. G. and her pastor, to restore her to her
family and her domestic duties, but in vain.
The Colonel then thought he would try wdiat virtue there was
in the law for the redress of his grievances. Accordingly criminal
proceedings w^ere instituted against her pastor, charging him with
assault and battery upon the person of Mrs. Green, in saluting her
with the holy kiss, w^ashing her feet, etc., in the exercise of his
brotherly devotions and his pastorly functions. The suit was
brought before the late Gen, Philo Chamberlin, then mayor of
89
CIO AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. .
Akron, December 13, 1845, Gen. Lucius V. liierce acting as attor-
ney for the State, the accused officiating in his own defense. The
witnesses were all, necessarily, members of the "Band," who,
disavowing all allegiance to human laws, refused to be sworn, but
linall3'^ consented to affirm, under the pains and penalties of per-
jury', to "Tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the
truth." Though the general fact was admitted that feet-washing
and the holy kiss were part and parcel of their devotions, the
testimony was so obscure, under the skilful management of the
defendant, as to the actual contact of himself and Mrs. Green, in
those peculiar modes of >vorship, and his plea so convincing to
His Honor, that he was triumphantly acquitted.
The Tabernacle Blown Up. — Ten days later, December 23,
1845, at about 8 o'clock in the evening, a loud report shook the
very foundations of the town, which Avas at first supposed to be the
explosion of one of the Austin Powder Company's mills, located
on Avhat is now known as Fountain Park — a sound that was quite
common to the people of Akron and vicinity, about those days. It
was soon discovered, however, that it was no poAvder mill explo-
sion, but the explosion of a keg of powder that some ungodly hand
had placed in or under the Second Advent Tabernacle, on South
High street, by which the front end, including the pulpit, had
been entirely blown out, and the balance of the structure, irre-
trievably wrecked.
In the Cascade Roarer, the writer, in speaking of this affair,
said: "No matter hoAv supremely ridiculous the conduct of any
individuals, or of any sect, may be, such acts of dire depravity
should by no means be countenanced. It is fostering a spirit of
mobocracy which may yet require a mighty and bloody struggle
to overpower. If w^e have laws, let us regard them; if they are not
sufficient to punish and protect, let us enact such as are. We hope
the perpetrators of this foul deed will not go unwhipped of justice.
The act cannot be of the slightest benefit to the community. The
persecuted fanatic always prospers; and this last act will only
cause these monomaniacs to increase their zeal and redouble their
diligence."
Attempt to Heal a Broken Leg by Prayer. — As was antici-
pated, the persecutions above recorded served only to "enthuse"
the deluded Adventists, w^hose proceedings were, if possible, more
disgusting and more reprehensible than before. In our own town,
a miracle was sought to be performed as follows: A middle-aged
lady, the wife of a former highly respected builder, and the mother
of one of our present most active and useful business men, and
in every way a most estimable woman, was a faithful attend-
ant upon all the meetings of the band. She was a very heavy
w^oman, and early in the month of January, 1846, on leaving the
private residence where a meeting had been held, late in the even-
ing, she either slipped or made a misstep and fell, very badly
breaking one of her legs. She w^as carried back into the house,
Avhere, notwithstanding a physician ^was called by an unbelieving
neighbor, it was sought by the faithful to re-unite the broken
bones through the efficacj'' of prayer, the grand master of ceremo-
nies, meantime, peremptorily commanding the suffering w^oman
to "rise up and Avalk." But though the prayers were vehement
and confident, and though the command to "rise up and walk"
"spiritual" marriages. 611
Avas authoritatively and unctuousU^ repeated, the broken bone
would not heal, and the crippled and suffering woman was, after
an hour or more of enforced torture, finally handed over to the
ungodly and mortal "saw-bones" who had been called, for a
reduction of the fracture and relief from pain.
Spiritual Marriages— Trial for Adultery. — Among the
many peculiar tenets of faith embraced and practiced by a portion
of this peculiar people, was that of spiritual marriages, and about
the middle of Februarj'^, 1846, a couple who had thus gravitated
together as " Spiritual Affinities," were arraigned before Justice
Henry Converse, and tried under "carnal" law, on the charge
of adultery. The pastor, though refusing to take the judicial oath,
on the ground that it would be an acknowledgment of the obliga-
tion of human laws, affirmed, under the pains and penalties of per-
jury, that the defendants came to his house February 17; informed
him that they were a brother and sister in the true faith, and had
been brought together by the spirit of God, in the bonds of spiritual
■matrimony; that the man had abandoned "his wife according to
the flesh," at Auburn, N. Y., about four months before, and that
the woman had deserted a carnal husband about the same time, at
Hamburg, Brie county, N. Y., preparatory to their present spiritual
union; that they had journeyed together from Hamburg to
Toronto, Canada, back again to the state of New York, and thence
to Cleveland, and finally to Akron, and that upon this open avowal
he had, in the fellowship of the Spirit, taken them into his house,
where they had slept together until their arrest under the charge
on which they were being tried; that such an association was
strictly in accordance with the doctrines and principles of the sect,
but that actual sexual intercourse was not tolerated under any
-circumstances. Mr. John Kidder, also testified that the connec-
tion between the defendants comported with the doctrines of the
Second Advent people, and explained the propriety of "Spiritually
sleeping together," by the trying test to which it w^ould put the
piety of those embracing and practicing the doctrine. Mr. Charles
Clapp, and Mr. William J. Hart, being called as Aivitnesses, refused
to "bow down to the Beast," either by swearing or affirming, and
were fined for contempt of court, the latter being committed to
jail for want of the virherewithal to pay his fine.
The defendants, claiming no justification except the direction
of the Spirit, and the w^arrant of Scripture, the carnal justice of the
peace, not seeing the evidence of either, and not acknow^ledging
any higher authorit}^ in such matters than the statutes and juris-
prudence of this wicked world, bound them over to the Court of
Common Pleas of Summit count^s in the sum of $200 each, to
answer to the charge of adultery, in default of which they were
committed to jail. The "persecuted" couple, w^ho were confined
in different parts of the jail, boasted, that like the walls of Jericho,
the walls of the jail would come tumbling down, in answer to the
prayers of the faithful, but the viralls aforesaid did not tumble, and
the deluded and lecherous twain were compelled to abide their
time, and suffer the penalties of outraged public sentiment and
violated law.
The principal headquarters of the local saints at this time, was
at the house of a Mr. Southwick, on South Summit street, near where
the new freight depot of the N. Y., P. «& O. R. R. now stands, where
612 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
most of the meetings were held, and where, not only the spiritualh^
separated wives and husbands found refuge, but where the same
class of persecuted saints from abroad, were also harbored and pro-
vided for — eight devoted women, who had, by direction of the
Spirit, separated from carnal husbands, arriving there in a single
week, during the month of March, in 1846, there being at one time
no less than fifteen in the neighborhood, from abroad, in search of
" Spiritual Affinities " among the other sex. It was from this
house that one of our m(^st respected Methodist citizens — long an
honored resident of Akron, often led to her neglected children, the
wifie and mother, who, solely through the Millerite delusion, was a
life-long care to the family, and, until her recent death, a confirmed
monomaniac. It was here, also, that the wife of Col. Lyman Green
w^as harbored, and encouraged in her disregard of her wifeh' and
motherly duties, and failing, through the law as above detailed,
to get from the leader of the delusion proper redress, the Colonel at
length became so exasperated, that, meeting Mr. Southwick near
the corner of Howard and Market streets, on the 13th day of
March, 1846, he proceeded to mete out justice on his own hook, by
most thoroughly pelting him with addled eggs.
This act, though fully recognizing the great aggravation which
inspired it, was, like the blowing up of the Tabernacle, severely con-
demned by the public press and the better portion of our citizens.
In speaking of the outrageous operations and practices of these
people at this time, the Beacon, of March 18, 1846, editorially said :
The little knot of demented fanatics in our midst, who have so long- dis-
graced themselves, and even putting- human nature to the blush by their
foolish and witless proceedings, seem to be drawing their affairs to a
crisis. Kissing and feet-washing has given place, as all supposed it would,
to the more intimate comniuniou; and under the guise of spiritual marriage,
husbands and wives are very unceremoniously exchanged. A few nights
ago eight strolling females, who had left respectable families and friends,
accompanied by one male biped, made their advent into our devoted town,
in the character and capacity of angels. They were cordiall3' welcomed by
the " Saints " of this village, and thereupon their usual feet-washing, kissing,
and other strictly spiritual performances were entered into with great gusto,
and all for the glory of God. A well-known citizen of our town, who has long
been demented in regard to these things, and whose fall manj' deeply
deplore, leaving home and wife and children, has gone forth, pedestrian-
w^ise, vmder the protection of one of these vestal visitors, on an angelic mis-
sion, in obedience to the divine injunction, taking neither script nor staff,
nor luoney in his purse, nor two coats, nor even a change of shirts.
Important Confession — Final Collapse. — The Cascade Roarer,
of March 24, 1846, contains the following:
Mr. Pickands, formerly the principal promulgator of Millerism in North-
ern Ohio, confessed, on Sabbath last, before that portion of the church that
dissented when feet-washing, etc., was introduced, that Millerism was a
humbug and a delusion from the foundation ; that he had been deluded and
that all who had embraced the doctrine were deluded, and that those who
continued to hold it were deranged.
Mr. Pickands not only renounced Second Adventism, and all
the other "isms" connected therewith, but abjured every other
form of religious belief; thenceforth devoting himself to worldly
pursuits; at first adopting the legal profession, reading law, and
being admitted to practice, but soon abandoning that calling to
take charge of a paper devoted to the wool growing interests, pub-
lished in Cleveland by the late S. N. Croodale, formerly of Akron,.
THJS KXD OF THB DELUSIOX.
613
and for several years afterwards officiating as collector and com-
piler of statistics for the Cleveland Board of trade; but during the
later years of his life residing with his sons, Henry and James,
then and now highly respectable and enterprising business men at
Cleveland and Marquette, Mich., at which latter place Mr.
Pickands died some ten or twelve years, ago.
The Conclusion. — On the collapse of the organization here,
several of the members sought and obtained admission into a fam-
ily of "Shakers" in the southern part of the State, Mr. Charles
Clapp, a former partner of the late Harvey B. Spelman, in the dry
goods trade in Akron, separating from a most estimable wife (sister
of Hon. Marvin Kent) among the number, and ^vho for the past
forty-five years has been a highly respected and useful member of
that society. The many other members of the Second Advent
<:hurch quietly accepted the situation, and though some became
confirmed skeptics and scoffers at every form of religion, the inost
of them soon again affiliating with other church organizations,
but some still holding to the doctrine of the speedy Second Advent
of Christ upon the earth, in its most literal sense, though fixing no
particular date for his appearance.
Thus is briefl}'- given a history of one of the most wonderful,
as well as one of the most exciting religious delusions of the Nine-
teenth Century, and especiall}^ proper among these chapters,
because of the very conspicuous part in the great " Spiritual Farce "
that was played by so large a number of the people of Akron and
Summit county. •
CHAPTER XXV.
MATTHEW CANFIELD READ,—
born in Willianisfield, Ashta-
bula county, Ohio, August 21, 1823;
at 12 removed with parents to Mecca,
Trumbull county ; worked on farm
and attended district schools till 18 ;
pursued preparatory studies in West-
ern Reserve Seminary, atFarming^ton,
and at Grand River Institute, in
Austinburg-; entered Western Re-
serve College in 1844, graduating in
1848, afterwards receiving the degree
of A. M. from his Alma Mater; taught
school in Columbus and Gustavus ;
read law with Chaffee &. Woodbury,
at Jefferson; was married, August
28, 1851, to Miss Orissa E. Andrews, of
Homer, N. Y., "who has borne him
four children — William H. A., a
member of the Toledo Bar ; Charles
P., a contractor and builder in Hud-
son ; Mary O., living at home,
and Janet A., recently teaching in
Asylum for Imbeciles at Columbus,
Ohio. At close of law studies, Mr.
Read took editorial control of the
Hudson Family Visitor (elsewhere
written of), at same time teaching-
one year in Grammar .School of West-
ern Reserve College ; then opened
law office in Hudson ; during the war
officiated as general relief agent of
United States Sanitary Commission,
Western Department ; at close of war
w^as deputy revenue collector, and
later assistant geologist on the
Geological Survey of Ohio; had
charge of archaeological exhibits of
Ohio at Centennial Expositions at
MATTHEW CANFIELD READ.
Philadelphia and New Orleans, and
for several j^ears held the position of
lecturer on Zoology and Practical
Geology in Western Reserve College ;
also, besides having tilled several
local officesT— township clerk, justice
of the peace, maj'or, etc. — in addition
to his law practice has been exten-
sively employed in the exploration
of luineral lands for private parties.
GEOLOGY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
BY MATTHEW C. READ, A. M.
A S the name indicates, this county is situated on the Summit, or
"^"^ divide, between the waters of Lake Erie and the Ohio River.
Akron, also, is the top — the Summit. From these names it has
been often assumed that here is the highest land in the State.
But this is a mistake. The door-sill of the Court House, at Akron,
is 452 65-100 feet above Lake Erie, and the highest land in the
county, in Richfield township, 675 feet. The highest hills of Rich-
land county are 910 feet above the J^ake, and the summit betw^een
the Scioto and Miami, in Logan county, 975 feet, w^hich is prob-
ably the highest land in the State. The surface of the county is
greatly diversified and has taken its final form as the result of
several causes.
CANYOX FORMATIOX. 615
When lifted above the ocean, to an elevation much above the
present level, it remained for a long succession of ages, subject
to serial erosion, until canyons were cut through the rocks to
the depth of over one thousand feet. One of these canyons is
now substantially occupied by the Little Cuyahoga, and by the
Cuyahoga from their junction to the Lake. Another commences
on the north line of Northfield township and extends southeasterly
through Mud Brook Lake, thence through Stow, Tallmadge,
Springfield and the eastern part of Green. A branch of the
main canyon passes through Akron, Summit Lake, and thence
along the chain of lakes through Coventry and Franklin, with
branches from Norton and Copley.
Owing to the erosions of these canyons, the rock surface
between them w^as disintegrated and a soil formed capable of sus-
taining a forest vegetation, but, from the want of a mingling of the
material, everywhere lacking in some t)f the mineral ingredients
of the most productive soil. The deep canyons produced such an
efficient drainage as seriously interfered with continued fertility
and left a barren rock surface in many places bordering the
canyons. This was the first chapter of the formative influences
producing the present topography.
The second filled these canyons, widened out the upper parts
of them into valleys, crushed the rock surfaces, pulverized the
fragments and commingled them w^ith the debris of all the north-
ern rocks. This work was done by Nature's great ice ploAV, coming
down from the frozen regions of the north, loaded with the
minerals of all the rocks of the north. Moving slowly over the
surface of the state, with the pressure of a mass of ice several
thousand feet in thickness, it left upon the surface of the north-
ern townships of the county a thick deposit of unstratified clay
drift containing fragments of all the local rocks mingled with the
load brought down by the glacier.
In the central and northern parts of the county, the waters
flowing from the retreating glacier carried away the most of the
clay, ground the residue into sand, and left the surface diversified
by swamps and lakes, the sites of immense masses of groutided ice
left by the glacier on its final retreat. The evidence is pretty con-
clusive that there were two such invasions of the ice, the last one
leaving its marked impression upon the topography of the
county.
Upon the withdrawal of the ice, lakes and lakelets, some of
large size, covered much of the surface. Water from the hills
silted up the bottoms of these lakes and deepened their outlets;
the renewed vegetation encroached upon their margins, and con-
verted all the shallower ones into swamps, sometimes bridging
the surface of the water and leaving buried lakes. This process
is continuous, and, unless checked by artificial means, all the lakes
will become swamps, the swamps will become drier and all, in the
end, become capable of tillage.
Since the drift, surface erosion has materially modified the
topography in other respects. The filling of the canyons diverted
many of the streams from their old beds and compelled them to
seek new channels. The most conspicuous instance is that of the
Cu3'ah()ga river, which has cut itself a new channel, mostly
through solid rock, from above Kent, in Portage county, to its
61G AKKCJX AXD SUMMIT COLXTY.
junction with the Little Cuyahoga. Other streams einpt^-ing
into tlie Cuyahoga have opened siniiUir l)ut smaller rock channels.
The time required for such results is verj- long, but not as
long as a superlicial observation would indicate. If the surface
wear of the running water alone did the work the time required
would be almost illimitable. The work accomplished by this
agenc3' is shown at Kent, Portage county', and b}' the rock chan-
nel above Cuyahoga Falls, where the suj)erticial action of the run-
ning stream has been the only excavating agency. At Cuyahoga
Falls, and ])elow, it has been an undermining process. The soft
argillaceous shale, under the sand rock, has rapidly disintegrated,
making an abrupt jjrecipice, at one time over one hundred feet
high, with a protruding overhanging rock which finally broke
down bj" its own weight, and this process, continued, carried the
falls up streatn many thousand times faster than would result
from surface erosion alone. Such is the mode of all rapid canyon
making.
STRUCTURAL GF:0L0GY.
Something about six hundred feet in thickness of the rocks of
the count}^ can be studied from their out-crops. The lowest is
J)evonian, the upper part of the Krie shale, of which about one
hundred feet is exposed in the valley of the Cuyahoga, from the
north line of the count}' to near Peninsula. It is a soft argilla-
ceous shale, ^vith thin bands of impure fossiliferous limestone, and
contains no valuable minerals.
There is a sharp transition from the Brie to the Cleveland
shale directly above it. This is a highly bituminous black shale,
lying in blocks and splitting easily into thin layers. It is exposed
in all the streams emptying into the Cuj'^ahoga, below^ Peninsula.
As it resists erosion, and the Brie below it is soft and friable, it uni-
formly produces a cascade or water fall in the streams \vhich cut
both these shales, the rapid erosion of the Erie undermining the
Cleveland shale, until the jirojecting mass breaks down and falls
into the chasm below, so that the falls are slowly but steadily
retreating up the stream.
This shale was made the base of the Waverly or sub-carbon-
iferous system, by Prof. Nevrberry, in his reports upon the
geolog}' of the State, l)ut Prof. Orton, the present State geologist,
unites it with the Erie and Huron shales, under the name of the
Ohio shales, and calls all Devonian. All the molluscous fossils
contained in it are regarded, by expert paleontologists, as car-
boniferous. These are sparingly' found, except in the upper
layer, w'here, in places, they are very al)undant. The weight of
evidence is decidedlj^ in favor of Prof. Newberry's classification.
This shale is remarkable for the large collection of monster fishes
obtained from it in neighboring counties, described by Prof. New^-
berry, in the Paleontology- of Ohio, and in Vol. XVI of the
monographs of the United States Geological Survey. Careful
search may lead to the discovery of interesting iish beds in this
shale in Sutnmit county. It contains so much carboniferous
matter that it could be profitably- mined and distille<l for petroleum,
if the supply from wells shoulcl fail.
Next above the Cleveland is found the Bedford shale, so called
from the fine exposure of it in the gorge at Bedford, Cuyahoga
county. In Summit it is more argillaceous than in Cuyahoga,
STKrCTL'RAL CiKOLOGY, 617
and therefore more easily' disintegrated. Its out-crop is generally
concealed In' its debris, covered with soil and vegetation, but in
some places, in Boston township, there are sand}' layers exposed,
which would make fine flagging.
Above this is the Berea grit, the same as the Independence, the
Berea and Amherst stone, called in the east the Ohio stone. It is,
in this county, about sixty feet thick, mostly in thick laj'ers, and
an admirable building stone. The quarries at Peninsula have
long been noted for the amount and excellence of their out-put,
and have furnished the best stone for oat mills obtainable in this
country'. Some of it is iiearlj' white, very hard, with a sharp grit
and can be quarried in almost any size desired. It rises above the
bottom of the valley, near the south line of Boston township, and
is found on each side of the valley, at an increasing height and
distance from the river, to the north line of the county. At
Brandywine there is a precipitous fall of the creek over its out-
crop, and it forms precipitous bluffs below on each side of the
stream. In places, the bluff on the north side is curious!}' covered
with calcareous tufa, deposited from the w^ater coming from the
soil above charged with lime, and flowing down the surface of the
bluff. The amount of stone that can be cheaply' quarried, from
exposures along the valley' of the Cuyahoga, is practically un-
limited.
Above this is the Berea shale, of about ten feet in thickness,
black, highly bituminous, containing coal fossils, and of no value
except to the geologist. It is a well defined geological land mark
extending to the Ohio river.
Next in the series is the Cuyahoga shale, taking its name
from the exposure of it in the Cuyahoga river below Cu3'ahoga
Falls. It is, in this county, about one hundred and seventy-live
feet thick, and composed mainlj' of soft argillaceous shale. Near
the top, below Cuyahoga Falls, it carries a band of impure lime-
stone w^hich makes a fair water lime, and Avas quarried for this
use in the building of the Ohio canal. It is the horizon of a thin
band of limestone found at Richfield, and in the neighboring
counties, rich in molluscous fossils. Near the middle there is
al)out twenty feet of very hard, fine-grained sandstone, which
resists erosion and has produced what is called the Big Falls in
the river. It is from this bed that the paving stone is taken in
Truml)ull county, successfully used in Warren, and to some extent
in Akron. The bed in this county is in thicker laj'ers, harder, will
resist abrasion better, and, although harder to quarry, will make a
more durable road-bed than the Trumbull count}' stone.
This shale, in the Cuj'ahoga Valley, carries abundant speci-
mens of "Cone in Cone," the character of which has been a puzzle
to geologists and paleontologists. Examined in place, it is seen
to be generally associated \yith l)ands of blue carbonate of iron,
and is probably' not organic, but a peculiar semi-crj'stallization of
clay.
Above this is the carboniferous conglomerate, a conspicuous
feature in the landscape at Cuyahoga Falls, at the Boston ledges,
antl at other places. It is about one hundred feet thick and the
surface rock in more than half of the county? Its quarries furnish
vast quantities of bridge and foundation stone, and some of them
furnish excellent building stone. At Wolf's quarry, near Akron,
618 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
and at a quarry near Cuyahoga Falls, it is colored red by iron
oxide, giving it a highly ornamental character as a building stone.
The quarries in Twinsburg are extensively worked, and some of
the rock is ground for use in the iron mills of Cleveland. It con-
tains many rounded pebbles of quartz, which, in places, and
especially near the base of the foundation, detract from its value^
but it contains an inexhaustible supply of material, accessible,
with little stripping, for all ordinary uses. Its fossils, so far a&
known, are all vegetable.
This is the base of the coal measure rocks, and should be care-
fully studied by all prospectors for coal; for it is certain that here
no workable coal will be found beneath it. It bordered the old
marshes, in which our lowest coal was deposited, and rose in many
places above the marshes, so that coal may be found at a low^er
level than the conglomerate, but never below it. A thin bed of
conglomerate is occasionally found above the coal, but this is the
debris from the true conglomerate, where it rose in bluffs above
the coal marshes, and was carried down and mingled with the
covering of the coal.
From twenty-five to fifty feet above the conglomerate, is the
normal position of coal No. 1, of the Ohio Geological Reports, the
interval being occupied by from two to six feet of fire clay, with
argillaceous or sandy shales below. The territory in which thi&
coal may be found, embraces substantially the w^hole of Franklin
and Green townships, the larger parts of Tallmadge, Springfield
and Norton, about half of Coventry, and the southwestern corner
of Copley.
The coal was originally deposited as peat, in a series of swamps,,
much like the marshes now^ covering the surface. It does not
form a continuous sheet over any large area, but lies in a series of
connected basins of very irregular shape. It is to the superior
quality of this coal, and its proximity to Akron, that this city is^
indebted, in a large degree, for its remarkable prosperity. Few
cities, even in the center of the coal fields, have had th6 advantage-
of a cheaper or better fuel. While this fact has been recognized^
and persevering search made for new deposits, it is by no means-
certain that all the coal in the count}' has yet been discovered..
The indications from the ordinary drill and sand pump are often
misleading. The diamond drill should be used for testing the
territory, and when the coal is found to be so thin as to be w^orth-
less, it may lead, by a channel sometimes tortuous and narrow, to-
workable deposits.
This coal, in the "sw^amps," or central part of the old marshes,,
reaches a thickness of from four to six feet. Ft is the same as the
old Brier Hill coal of Mahoning county, the standard of excellence
for all bituminous coals. An addition of a few hundred acres to
the known supply of this coal in the county, would result in so
many advantages as to justifj^ renewed search for it.
The normal cover of the coal is an argillaceous shale, generally
black, next to the coal, an<l above this a heavA^ sand rock from fifty
to seventy-five feet thick. This sandstone sometimes comes
down to the coal, and sometimes "cuts out the coal." This cutting
out of the coal, by the sandstone, may require a word of explana-
tion for the reader not conversant with geological literature. All
the rocks of the county are sedimentary, deposited in \vater.
OIL AND GAS POSSIBILITIEvS. 619
When clay alone was deposited above the coal, we know that the
water which brought it in moved with only a very slight current,
as it carried u'ith it nothing but clay. The sandstone above
shows a more rapid njovement of the water, w^ith force enough to
bring in sand and carry away the clay to quieter water. Some-
times the current was so rapid as to carry aw^ay the clay already
deposited, removing it doAvn to the surface of the old marsh, and
sometimes carrying away, also, the accumulation of carbona-
ceous matter w^hich w^as Avaiting its change into coal. This is the
cutting out of the coal by the sand stone.
The general dip of the rocks of the county is to the southeast
so that, in places in Green township, coal No. 1 is not less than tw^o
hundred and fifty- feet below the surface. It is probable, in many
cases, test borings have not l^een carried deep enough.
Above the sandstone, last mentioned, is a bed of shale and
sandstone from fifty to seventy feet thick, carrying a thin and
-worthless seam of coal, and capped with a thick bed of fire clay,
extensively mined in Springfield township. This is the under
clay of coal No. 3, two to four feet thick, of poor qualitj^, with four
feet of limestone above it, which, in places, carries a fair quality
of iron ore. There is an interval of about thirty feet between thi»
limestone and coal No. 4, in Green township, which is not of first
quality, but reaches a thickness of four feet and is capped with
four feet of limestone.
These two beds of limestone would furnish a large amount of
good material for road making, enough, supplemented by the
scattered granite boulders brought in by the drift, and the banks
of w^ater-Avashed gravel, to put all the roads in the county in good
condition. This is a work which w^ould promote the best interests
of the country and the city and deserves the careful consideration
of the county commissioners.
The coal horizons of the county, w^here the coal is either want-
ing, or too thin to work, furnish inexhaustible supplies of sewer
pipe and potters' clay, and have furnished the basis for most
important and profitable industries. But, as intimated above, our
peat marshes, so numerous in the countj^, represent the first stages
in coal making, and the same causes which resulted in the undef-
clay of the coal, have given us like under-clay, in our peat marshes.
The manufacturers of sewer pipe and pottery will soon turn to
these peat marshes for their best clay, which is thoroughly wash-
ed, will need no grinding, and can generally be mined more
cheaply than that now used. The peat, which fnust first be re-
moved, can be largely composted and used as a fertilizer, or dried
and used as a fuel, with which to burn the ware. When the
deposit in each locality is exhausted the marsh ^vill be restored
to its old condition of a lake.
GAS AND Oil..
It will be expected that in a geological sketch of the county,
something will be said about gas and oil. There is no doubt that
gas can be found in most of the townships of this count}', if
persevering search l)e made for it. The singular phenomena
occurring in Coventry tow^nship, w^here there have been repeated
explosions with a fissuring of the surface, as if by miniature earth-
quakes, indicate a constant escape of gas which, in winter.
■620 AKKOX AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
imprisoned b3' the frozen earth, has at times acquired a tension
sufficient to rupture the frozen coverings and cause explosions,
which the citizens compared to the explosion of cannons.
Gas and oil springs are to be found in various parts of the
count}', and the deep wells drilled in the Cuyahoga valley have in
several instances yielded gas. Further, all the well know^n hori-
zon of gas and petroleum are below the surface of Akron, and
ma}' be reached by drilling. But the horizon of the Mecca
oil, the Berea sandstone, is cut b}' the Cuj^ahoga valley and so
thoroughly drained that there is little chance of obtaining from it
any important yield.
The Huron shale which underlies the Krie, the latter being the
lowest rock exposed in the county, is an important horizon for the
hj'dro-carbons. But the sandstones which are found above it in
the productive regions, are wanting here, and the conditions fav-
oring a large production do not exist. Many wells drilled into the
Brie shale, in northeastern Ohio, have produced gas in consider-
-able quantities which has maintained a persistent flow^ for many
years.
Doubtless the same result can be obtained in this county, by
sufficient trials, without any reasonable hope of a supply sufficient
for the use of a city like Akron, but in many cases sufficient for
lighting and heating a few dwellings, or for the wants of a single
manufacturing establishment.
The important horizon, in Ohio, is the Trenton limestone,
which, according to the indications of the drill, is over 3,000 feet
below the surface at Akron. This rock furnishes large quantities
<:)f oil and gas, but, as far as is now shown, only along the summit
of anti-clinals, and in limited areas w^here the rock is of a peculiar
character. According to Prof. Orton's deduction, from test drill-
ings, there is a moderate anti-clinal in the Trenton and its cover-
ing rocks passing through Akron, and this, so far as it goes, is a
favorable condition. But the depth of the Trenton rock below the
surface places it practically beyond reach. While moderate sup-
plies of gas can doubtless be obtained from the shales, no great
fortunes, and no great "boom" can be secured b}'^ the search either
for gas or oil. • a
chaptp:k XXVI.
SUMMIT county's KAILKOAOS— ANCIENT ANO MODERN— FINISHED AND UN-
FINISHED-RISE, PROGRESS AND COLLAPSES-RESURRECTION, COMPLETION
AND SUCCESS HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS SUNK, BUT THE
PEOPLE BENEFITED THE FIRST LOCOMOTIVE IN AMERICA — SINGULAR
BOILER EXPLOSION LONGEST RAILROAD IN THE WORLD IN 1834, ONLY
13() MILES — WONDERFUL PROGRESS IN 60 YEARS — AKRON AxND SUMMIT
COUNTY IN THE VAN A TRULY INTERESTING CHAPTER.
BRIEF RKMINISCKNT HISTORY.
A T the beginning of the present century railroads w^ere wholly
-^"^ unknown, either in the Old. World or the New, and though
some rude tramw^ays had conie into vogue, for mining and grading
purposes, the longest railway in the United States, as late as 1827,
was that from the Mauch Chunk, Pa., coal mines to the Lehigh
river, twelve miles; the loaded cars being propelled by their own
gravity and the empty cars returned to the mines by mules; the
mules, in turn, being transported from the mines to the river in
cars constructed for that purpose.
But from this time on, railroad enterprise took a deep hold
upon the public mind and several short lines were constructed for
passenger travel in the Eastern States, propelled by horse-power^
the first locomotive to turn a Avheel, upon the American continent^
being a clumsy English affair, called the "Stourbridge Lion,"^
landed in New York in 1829.
FIRST AMERICAN-BUILT LOCOMOTIVE.
The first locomotive built in the United States, probably, was
called the "Best Friend," constructed at the "West Point Foundry
Shops" in the city of New York, in the Summer of 1830. It was
built for the Charleston, S. C, and Augusta, Ga., railroad, and was
transported from New York to Charleston by the ship Niagara, in
October of that year. The trial trip was made on a short section
of the completed road out of Charleston, November 2, 1830, running,
according to the Charleston Courier, "on the wings of the w^ind, at
the varied rate of fifteen to tw^enty miles an hour, annihilating
tiine and space, "and, like the renowned John Gilpin, 'leaving all
the w^orld behind.' "
SINGULAR B0ILF:R EXPLOSION.
The "Best Friend" was used in the completion of the road, a
Mr. Darrell acting as conductor and engineer of the construction
train, Avith negroes, only, as assistants. On the morning of June
30, 1831, while being ended about upon the turn-table, the negro
fireman becoming alarmed at the large amount of steam which w^as
blowing off, and wasted as he supposed, placed his hand upon the
lever of the safety valve, causing an explosion by which the boiler
f)22 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
was thrown twenty-live feet, Mr. Darrell severely scalded in the
back, the thigh of the safety-valve manipulator broken, and the
other negro assistant badly cut and bruised about the head and
face. This road was opened to travel in the Winter of 1833, '34, at
which time it was the longest continuous line of railroad in the
world — 130 miles — over which it w^as the pleasure of the writer to
ride on one of its earlier excursions, in January, 1834, the first
hundred miles west of Charleston, by steam, an all day trip, and
after remaining over night, at the head of the incline, where it was
proposed to place a stationary engine, making the last thirty miles,
on the downward grade to Hamburg, opposite Augusta, on hand-
cars propelled by negro power.
THE "GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY."
The first railroad scheme to attract the attention of any por-
tion of w^hat is now Summit county, was the project to build a
road from the Hudson river, through the states of New York, and
Pennsylvania, to the Portage summit on the Ohio Canal, at
Akron, under the above title, and in September, 1832, committees
were appointed all along the line to solicit funds to defray the
expenses of a survey, but nothing further w^as accomplished.
"AKRON AND PERRYSBURG RAILROAD."
In Akron's first newspaper — the Weeklv Post, — in its issue of
April 8, 1836, is a communication favoring the building of a rail-
road from Akron to Perrysburg, and citizens urged to subscribe to
the stock of the company, which had already been chartered, and on
the same date the Post published a notice that a stock book
"would be opened at the hotel of Lewis Humiston (corner South
Main and Exchange streets) on the 10th day of May, among the
names attached to the notice being, E. Crosby, R. K. Du Bois, J. W.
Phillips, Richard Howe, Harve^^ McCune and S. A. Wheeler, of
Akron. In the same issue, besides a strong editorial favoring the
project, was a communication from Charles Olcott, Esq., to the
people of Medina county, in which he guaranteed ten per cent,
yearly dividends, after the first year, on the amount of stock sub-
scribed. But the road was never built.
"AKRON AND RICHMOND RAILROAD."
In the Post of April 22, 1836, is a long communication from
Sidney Rigdon, then, next to Joseph Smith, the most prominent
man of the Mormon fraternity, at Kirtland, urging the project of a
railroad from Akron via Cuyahoga Falls, Hudson, Aurora, Bain-
bridge, Russell, Kirtland and Mentor, to the then prospective
commercial city of Richmond, at the mouth of Grand River, on
Fairport harbor, near Painesville, "for the purpose," in the lan-
guage of Mr. Rigdon, of "creating a competition between New
York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, which will be most favorable
to the west."
At a meeting held at Kirtland, June 10, 1836, the preamble and
resolutions adopted, among other things said:
Akron is becottiing a great central point, it being- at the junction of
the Ohio and Mahoning Canal, and the Akron and Perrysburg railroad,
thereby opening communication, via the Wabash canal, south to Cincinnati
and New Orleans, by water, and to Charleston, S. C, via the Charleston and
EARLY RAILWAY ENTERPRISES. 623
Cincinnati railroad, and also b}' canal and railroad to Pittsburgh and Phila-
delphia, thus imiting- the eastern communication from New York and other
places terminating at Buffalo, with the western line of communication
forming a junction at Akron, being- one of the most important links in a
chain of communication now presented to the public for their consideration
and co-operation.
' CLEVELAND AND PITTSBURG RAILROAD."
In this year, also (1836), the Cleveland and Pittsburg road was
chartered, but before anything of moment had been accomplished,
the panic of 1837 struck the country, and it, as well as the several
other schemes above mentioned, went into a protracted slumber,
from which some of theni have never yet been fulh^ aroused. In
the case of Cleveland and Pittsburg, however, March 14, 1845, the
Legislature of Ohio granted an amended charter, but so tardy were
the movements of its promoters that nearly six years were con-
sumed in its construction, cars running from Cleveland to Hudson,
for the first time, in the Winter of 1851. This road has al^vays
been ably managed, and has entirely escaped the almost universal
fate of the average American railroad — insolvency.
"THE AKRON AND CANTON RAILROAD."
February 21, 1845, a charter w^as granted for a road bearing the
above title, with a capital of $200,000, to be divided into 8,000
shares of $25 each, the company being prohibited from contracting
debts greater than the amount of stock subscribed, and not to
commence operations until $100,000 was subscribed, with
authority to extend the line to the Ohio river, if deemed desirable,
and to increase its capital to an amount sufficient to accomplish
that object. But though some preliminary work was performed,
this road was never built.
"THE AKRON BRANCH RAILROAD."
As the Cleveland and Pittsburg road neared completion, the
people of Akron, Cuyahoga Falls and other towns in Summit
county, became alive to the importance of a connection therewith,
at Hudson, and in February, 1851, largely through the efforts of
the late Col. Simon Perkins, an amendment to the charter of that
road Avas secured, authorizing the construction of a branch road
from Hudson, through Cuyahoga Falls and Akron to Wooster, or
some point on the Ohio and Pennsylvania railroad, or any other
road running in the direction of Columl)us; the amendment also
providing that this branch road might form a separate organization
under the title of the "Akron Branch of the Cleveland and Pitts-
burg Railroad."
The "Akron Branch" was organized March 11, 1851, with
Simon Perkins, Milton W. Henry, and John W. McMillen, of
Akron, Horace A. Miller, of Cuyahoga Falls, James Butler and
Henry N. Day, of Hudson, and John Carey, of Millersburg, direc-
tors. Col. Perkins w^as elected president, Henry N. Day, secretary,
and John W. McMillen, treasurer.
COUNTY AID INVOKED.
Though individual subscriptions were quite liberal, as it was
believed that the construction of the road would greatly inure
624 AKROX AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
to the benefit of the entire county, a special act of the I^egis-
lature was passed, on the 24th da^- of March, 18,51, authorizing the
county commissioners, with the consent of the legal voters, to
subscribe for $1(X),()00 of the stock of the company, and to borrow^
the money on bonds of not less than $100 each, at a rate of interest
not exceeding seven per cent.
This proposition was voted upon at the special election for the
adoption of the new State Constitution, on the 21stday of June, 1851,
with the following result:
For AJJain^st
Bath 78 102
Boston 4() 94
Copley 16() o6
Coventry 1()4 58
Cuj'ahog-a Falls 275 12
Franklin • ■ • • 95 170
Green 69 177
Hudson 2.58 20
Middlebury 5t) 72
Northfield 33 165
Northampton 93 57
Norton 175 40
Portage 737 3
Ricnfield 48 70
Spring-field 89 167
Stow 88 72
Tallmadge 31 114 ■
Twinsburg 3 156
Total Vote 2432 1605
1605
Majority for " 827
Pursuant to this authority County Commissioners Kdwin
Wetmore, of Stow, James W. Weld, of Richfield, and Hiram Wes-
ton, of Middlebury, "For and in the name of Summit County,"
subscribed for said amount of $100,000 of the stock of the road, and
on the 19th day of June, 1851, issued 100 bonds of $1,000 each payable
in 15 years, with 30 coupons attached, bearing interest at seven
per cent, per annum, payable semi-annually; at the same time, as
provided by the act in question, increasing the rate of taxation
sufficient to meet the interest as it accrued, and to create a sink-
ing fund for the final payment of the bonds at their maturity.
In the process of negotiating these bonds, and after about one-
half of them had actually been sold by Col. Perkins and Treasurer
McMillen, it w^as discovered that the bonds vv^ere defective in that
they did not show^ upon their face that they w^ere issued by the
authority of the State of Ohio, and, on the 17th of February, 1852, a
new^ and correct series w^as issued and the first ones taken up. A
portion of the bonds were paid by County Auditor S. M. Burnham
some two or three years before maturity, thus saving something to
the tax-payers in the amount of semi-annual interest paid thereon.
RAPID CONSTRUCTION.
With this aid the directors pushed the work so vigorously that
the road w^as completed to Cuyahoga Falls, bj^ June 1, 1852, and to
Akron July 4, the same year, and speedil3^ thereafter through to
Orrville and Millersburg.
K'KVKKSKS AM) KMvOKClANIZATIONS. fi25
There was, of course, considerable grumbling^ at the increased
taxation to pay the interest and princi])al of these bonds, 1)ut
though the cotinty, in common with individual stockhohiers,
never reahzed any (Uvidends, and in fact sunk the entire amount
of the stock itself, tlie tax-payers of county were well repaid for
the hivestment, there not being a foot of land in the entire county
whose value was not enhanced many fold the special tax paid
thereon, to say nothing of the greater impetus given to commercial,
manufacturing and agricultural operations by its construction.
"CLEVELAND, ZANESVILLE AND CINCINNATI."
At the March term, 1853, of the Court of Common Pleas (if
Summit county, the name of the " Akron Branch" was changed to
"Cleveland, Zanesville and Cincinnati Kailroad," with the view of
extending the road south from Millersburg to connect with the
Cincinnati, Wilmington and Zanesville at the latter place.
Embarrassments falling upon the company, the contemplated
extension was indefinitely postponed, and on the 2d day of Novem-
ber, 1864, by decree of Court, the road was sold by David L. King,
Esq., as special master commissioner, to George W. Cass and John
J. Marvdn, of Pittsburg, who in turn transferred it to the Pittsburg,
Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad Compatiy, Col. Perkins ))eing
continued as its general superintendent. July 1, 1869, the road
passed by lease into the hands of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com-
pany, and November 4; 1869, by deed to the Pittsburg, Mount Ver-
no0 and London Railroad Company, of which Gen. G. A. Jones, of
Mt. Vernon, was appointed general superintendent; Col. Perkins,
after faithful service as president and general superintendent for
nearly 20 years, retiring.
While Col. Perkins, by his zeal in the furtherance of the en-
terprise, assumed liabilities, w^hich, in the unforeseen embarrass-
ment that followed, imperiled his own splendid private fortune,
he will ever be held in grateful remembrance by the people of
Akron and Summit county, for the labor performed and the sacri-
fices made as the pioneer in the various railroad enterprises that
have placed them in the very front rank of progress and pros-
perity.
"CLEVELAND, XOUNT VERNON AND DELAWARE."
December 20, 1869, the name was again changed as above, by
tlie Knox county Court of Common Pleas, and the work of extend-
ing the line to Delaware was vigorously entered into by Superin-
tendent Jones, but was finally so far modified as to make Columbus,
instead of Delaware, the terminal point, the first through trains
being from Cleveland to Mt. Vernon, June 25, 1872, atid to Colum-
bus, November 23, of the same year.
"CLEVELAND, AKRON & COLUMBUS."
Default having been made in the payment of interest, pro-
ceedings in foreclosure, under the first mortgage, were begun in
Summit county Common Pleas Court, September 27, 1880, and
Gen. G. A. Jones appointed receiver.
July 13, 1881, William H. I'pson, Esq., as special master com-
missioner, sold the road, under a decree of Court, to H. W.
Smithers, J. M. Adams and J. A. Horsey, for the sum of $1,140,2<H).
40
626
AKROX AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
The purchasers under this sale, organized a company to operate
the road, under the name of the " Cleveland, Akron & Columbus
Railroad Company," to which company the property was delivered
by Receiver Jones, December 1, 1881.
This company operated the road up to April 23, 1882, when the
title was found to be invalid, and the sale set aside by the Di^rict
Court. April 24, 1882, Mr. George D. Walker was appointed receiv-
er, by the Court of Common Pleas of Summit countj^ operating
the road under its old title of "The Cleveland, Mount Vernon and
Delaware Railroad," with N. Monsarrat as general superintendent.
June 8, 1882, under the ne\\' decree. Master Commissioner
Upson again sold the road to J. M. Adams and others, for the sum
of $1,150,000. The validity of this sale was contested by the trustees,
under the second mortgage, but the sale was confirmed by the
District Court, and also, in October, 1885, by the Supreme Court of
Ohio, to w^hich the case had been carried on exceptions.
The purchasers, under the sale last mentioned, organized
under the name of the " Cleveland, Akron and Columbus Railw^ay
Company," taking possession of, and beginning to operate, the road
January 1, 1886, w^ith N. Monsarrat as president and general mana-
ger, by whom it is now being successfully managed and operated;
connecting A\dth the Cleveland and Pittsburg, at Hudson on the
north, and with the Pittsburg, Cincinnati and St. Louis, at Colum-
bus, on the south, the company, in addition to its large freight
business, running first-class passenger trains, with Pullman cars
attached, twice each v^ay, daily, between Cleveland and Cincinnati,
and by an arrangement with the Cincinnati and Muskingum Val-
ley Railway, running daily freight and passenger trains into
Zanesville, with facilities equal to those of that road itself.
The company, in 1887, also completed and opened its branch
road from Kilbuck to Dresden Junction, on the Pittsburg, Cincin-
nati and St. Louis Railroad, 34 miles, through a fine farming and
mining region. This branch road was projected and partially
built in 1871, '72, but finally abandoned by the original promoters.
Now, however, as the property of the Cleveland, Akron & Colum-
bus Railw^ay ^Company, it is confidently believed it will be a
valuable adjunct to that road, as w^ell as a great convenience to the
people of the region through which it passes.
AKRON "UNION" DEPOT.
On the completion of the "Akron Branch," in 1852, a small
passenger depot suited to the necessities of so small a road and so
inconsiderable a village, was
erected a few rods south of the
Mill street crossing. On the
advent of the "Atlantic & Great
Western" Railroad, as hereinaf-
ter detailed, that company pur-
chased from the former company
the right of way through Akron,
and also arranged for the joint
use of the passenger depot in
question.
As the population of the town,
and the business of the roads
Akron's original "Union Depot "-
1891. " Peace to its ashes."
-1852-
UNION AND OTHER DEPOTS. 627
increased, it was the intention of the managers to unite in the
construction of a union depot, which should be adequate to the
public needs, and also both a credit to the roads and an ornament
to the city. But the repeated embarrassments and changes of
management here written of, for a long time prevented the con-
summation of that desirable project.
In the Spring of 1888, however, Messrs. N. Monsarrat and C.
\V. Schaap, of the Cleveland, Akron & Columbus road, purchased
the fine homestead of the late George D. Bates, at the Kast Market
street crossing, and negotiations began for the organization of a
Union Depot Company. Two years passed in endeavors to secure
the co-operation of the New York, Lake Erie & Western road. But
the Erie officials insisted that they were but lessees and that
depot-building should be done by the proprietor company, the
New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio. The board of trade and a com-
mittee of the city council had several interviews with "Nypano"
officials at Cleveland, and the outcome of it all ^vas an announce-
ment that the Erie would unite with the C, A. «& C. in purchasing
the Bates property from Messrs. Monsarrat and Schaap, and go
ahead with the erection of a union depot. This arrangement,
however, was not carried out. The two roads differed on the
question of position of tracks and other details, and the result was
that the C, A. «& C. took the Bates property alone, and the Erie
began w^ork, in the Summer of 1890, on a depot of its own just south
■of the wooden building so long occupied by the two companies.
President Monsarrat, of the C, A. & C, opened negotiations with
the city council for the vacation to his company for depot purposes,
of the portion of College street, lying just east of the Bates prop-
ert}^. He agreed to build a depot to cost not less than $25,000, and
to bear his road's portion of the expenses of a bridge across Park
street. He asked leave, also, to Aviden the span of the East Market
street bridge, so as to admit more tracks, and gain better access
to the depot, agreeing to replace the old wooden bridge by a sub-
stantial iron structure. These arrangements were consummated
in due time, and in addition to the grant of a part of College street,
the city vacated to the C, A. & C. that portion of Railroad alley
lying between East Market and Mill streets, permitting the build-
ing of extra trackage there.
The Erie depot was pushed forward to completion in the
.,*..:■ ■,.^..u.:u.^^,...... :_:.::■:■.. Spriug of 1891, aud was occupied
July 1, of that year. It is a hand-
I some structure costing about
Jk ^^"^^^ $20,000, and as much of an orna-
^^^M^ '■' ment, as the old tumble-down
^^Mr ^^^ wooden depot was, for a genera-
A ipj^^f Fi^^L. tion, an eye-sore and reproach.
A^ ^^^^JSraftli^^aBJ^BI^ip The C, A. & C. depot which was
■,<^jW^il!«g-"-- '^__^^^^LgJmmL' ' built of pressed brick and in the
l^^ar^ieg^^^SjffljMBW^^EL:! Romanesque style of architect-
rg r-' 'WtS^^'^wSSESBSSSv *^ ure, cost about $30,000. It was
i^S^^gj' Z^^ -Wi^^^^^^ ^,:_2, ■ ■ finished in the early Summer of
New York. Pennsylvania & Ohio Kail- 1891, but the WOrk of widening
road Depot-firected in iHw). 'm. ^j^^ g^g^ Market street bridge and
of preparing the depot surroundings delayed occupancy until the
latter part of the season. The whole expense of the depot and of
628
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
New Union Passenger .Station, Cleveland,
Akron and Columbus and Baltimore
& Ohio Kailroads, East Market
Street— 1891.
the other itiiprovenients made idong; with it — excavation of the
east portion of the Bates property, building of retaining walls, new
tracks, etc., was fully $100,000.
In May, 1891, there was incorporated at Columbus the Akron
Union Depot Company. 'Its prominent projectors were. President
N. Monsarrat, of the C, A. & C, and Wm. Thornburg, president of
the Akron & Chicago Junction
Kailroad Company. The ccnii-
pany was the result of an agree-
ment by which the two lines are
to use the C, A. & C. depot in
common. The occupancy of this
depot l)y the A. & C. J. means
that all B. & O. trains through
Akron are to run into it, and it was
the expectation that the Valley
road, also the B. & O.'s property,
would eventually abandon the
W. Market street depot and have
all its trains run in from Old Forge to the C, A. & C. depot, to con-
nect with through B. Sc O. trains. A neat frame station was built
by the C, A. & C. in South Akron, near McCoy's crossing, in
the fall of 1890, to accommodate the rapidly growing population of
that part of the city. Another important move of the C, A. & C,
made in June of 1891, was the acquisition cfi several acres of land
in the tract of the South Akron Land Syndicate (Steiner & Co.)
It is the intention to cov^er this land with sidings, and being close
to the new shops built on the city's southern edge, it was expected
that they would add largely to the traffic of the road and be of ben-
efit to present and future manufacturing establishments in that
rapidly grow^ing suburb.
"THE ATLANTIC AND GREAT WESTERN."
In 1850, Hon Marvin Kent, an enterprising young business
man and large property ow^ner of the village noAv bearing his name
(but then called Franklin Mills), in view of the fact that the Cleve-
land & Pittsburg, then being built, had given that village the cold
shoulder, by running tvt^o miles to the northward, conceived the
idea of forming a direct line from New York to St. Louis, nearly
1,200 miles, by connecting with the Erie road, at Salamanca, on the
east, and by the Dayton & Hamilton with the Ohio & Mississippi,
at Cincinnati, on the west.
Having matured his plans, in the winter of 1850, '51, Mr. Kent
applied to the Legislature for a charter for a seemingly purely local
road, under the title of the "Coal Hill Railroad," changed previous
to its passage to the " Franklin and Warren Railroad." This char-
ter included among its incorporators the names of the following
Summit county gentlemen: Simon Perkins, Lucius \'. Bierce,
Harvey B. Spelman and Dr. Daniel Upson, the charter, written by
Mr. Kent himself, providing for a capital stock in any amount not
exceeding $2,000,000, Avith power to continue to the State line, on
the east, and in the southwesterly direction to connect w^ith any
other road in the State as may be deemed advisable; also to con-
solidate its capital stock with, and use the name of, an}' company
w^ith -wdiich it might connect.
ATLANTIC & GREAT WESTERN.
629
HON. MARVIN KENT, born in
Kcivenna, Ohio, September 21,
1810; academic education; bred a
merchant, at niajoritj' becoming- a
partner with liis father, Mr. Zenas
Kent, in the mercantile business at
Franklin Mills (now Kent) ; also for
man}' years engaged in milling, man-
ufacturing- the celebrated brand of
flour known as " Kent's Extra," and
carrjing- on quite an extensive tan-
nery- ; in 1850 Mr. Kent, with others,
established a window-glass factory
in Kent, and about the same time lie
inaugurated, and b}' his influence,
unstinted liberalitj- and indomitable
perseverance, consummated the
great enterprise \vhich has proved
so beneficial to the people of Portage
and Summit counties — the Atlantic
and Great Western Railway (now the
N.Y.,P.&0.),fullj' written of elsewhere,
Mr. Kent being its President for man j'
years, and also President of the Kent
National Bank since the death of his
father, in ISiirt. In the histor}- of
Portage count}' it is written : " In
early days the pioneers devoted them-
selves to the task of building- up a
town on the Cuyahoga with remark-
able energy ; not, however, until the
various enterprises were taken hold
of by the master hand of Marvin
Kent, did theories of progress, put
forward by the old settlers, assume
practical shape." Thus, to his aid
and fostering- care may properly be
ascribed the industrial and comnier-
HOX. NAKVIN KENT.
cial prosperity which the jjleasant
village bearing his name now enjoys.
In October, 1875, Mr. Kent was elected.
State Senator for Portage and Sum-
mit counties, ably serving- two years.
Deceinber 24, 1840, he was married to
Miss Maria, Stewart, daughter of Col.
William Stewart, formerly of Middle-
bury ; of the two sons born to them.
Henry L. Kent, born February 14,
1843, died suddenly, in New York City,
April 21, 1873; William S. Kent, born
August 21, 1847, is now a merchant in
Kent.
The company was organized June 19, 1851, with Mr. Kent as
president, and Dr. Daniel Upson, of TaUniadge, as one of the
directors, the name being changed to the "Atlantic & Great Western
Railroad Company," in 1854.
Skirmishing for Connections, — Being unable, after repeated
<ifforts, to secure from the Pennsjdvania Legislature, a charter for
a direct connecting link, because of the detriment it was supposed
the road would be to the commercial interests of Philadelphia, the
compan}' finalh- bought for $4(X),(K)() the existing charter of the
"I^ittsburg and Krie" road, with branching powers sufficient to
span the State, and to connect with the New York branidi at the
state line upon the east and the Ohio branch upon the west.
Subsequently the states of New York and Pennsylvania
authorized the organization of a company in each state, under the
same title as in Ohio, with a separate board of directors for each,
the three companies finally uniting under the general title of "The
Atlantic & Great Western Railway Company," with a central board
of directors and officers, with its headqiuirters at Meadville, Pa.,
the Ohio board being represented in the central board by Hon.
Marvin Kent and Dr. W. S. Streator, now a wealthy gentleman of
Cleveland,
Large Contract and Rapid Work. — The contract for the
entire line was awarded to Mr, Henry Doolittle and Dr. W. S.
630 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Streator, at figures aggregating nearly $7,000,000, and the work was
commenced, on the Ohio division, July 4, 1854, President Marvin
Kent removing the first earth, the people of Summit county hav-
ing promptly subscribed their full quota of $100,000 to the stock of
the company. Mr. Joy H. Pendleton, late president of the Second
National Bank of Akron, and Mr. William Doolittle, brother of the
principal contractor, w^ere sub-contractors for the construction of
the section between Urbana and i3ayton. The work was vigor-
ously prosecuted, and the grading pretty evenly distributed all
along the line, one of the conditions of the local subscriptions
being that the money should be expended in the counties where
raised.
Embarrassment,' Suspension, Etc. — Through financial compli-
cations the w^ork w^as practically suspended in 1855, and entirely
stopped in 1858. But its plucky president, and a few faithful
friends in both Summit and Portage counties, were so persevering
that European capitalists were finally enlisted in the enterprise,
one of whom, Mr. James McHenry, of London, entered into a con-
tract to complete the entire line, Mr. Henry Doolittle having died
in 1860, and Dr. Streator, the surviving partner, declining to com-
plete the work.
Work Kesumed — Completion of Road, Etc. — The work under
the new^ contract, w^as somevt^hat delayed by the breaking out of
the civil war, but in the spring of 1862, under the energetic and
somewhat extravagant management of the new^ chief engineer,
Thomas W. Kennard, of London, the work was pushed so vigor-
ously for^vard, that the chief engineer's palace car, with the officers
and directors on board, drove into Akron on the 17th day of April,
1864, and its final completion to Dayton was celebrated in that city,.
June 21, 1864, President Kent laying the last rail and driving the
last spike, as he had thrown the first shovelful of earth, nearly
eleven years before. In the meantime the capital had been
increased to $6,000,000, and on July 1, 1863, the entire Ohio division
had been conveyed by deed of trust to the attorney of the road,
William H. Upson, Esq., for the purpose of securing a loan of
$4,000,000, with which to finish and equip the road.
Prosperity, Adversity, Sale, Etc. — Space will not permit a
detailed history of the varying vicissitudes of the road during the
quarter of a century of its existence. Though at once entering into
a large passenger and freightage business, it was substantially at
the mercy of the connecting roads at either end, through whicli,
and a combination of other causes, the road in 1869 passed into the
hands of Judge Reuben Hitchcock, of Painesville, as receiver, who,
under a decree of the Court of Common Pleas of Summit county,
on the 26th day of July, 1871, sold the road to Gen. George B.
McClellan, Hon. Allen G. Thurman, and William Butler Duncan,
as trustees for certain creditors, at the follow^ing figures: New
York division, $655,000; Pennsylvania division and its various
branches, $600,000; Ohio division (subject to first mortgage lien of
$2,400,000), including its lease of the Mahoning branch, for $4,435,-
000— total, $5,690,000.
Further Complications — ^^Second Sale, Etc. — The new pur-
chasers organized under the title of "The Atlantic & Great West-
ern Railway' Companj'^," l)ut owing to innumerable complications.
THE VALI.EY RAILWAY, ETC. 631
in December, 1874, its affairs were again brought under the juris-
diction of the Court of Common Pleas of Summit county, and John
H. Devereaux was, appointed receiver, pending litigation extend-
ing more than live years, and involving many millions of dollars,
and participated in by the most eminent legal talent of both
Burope and America.
January 6, 1880, Keceiver Devereaux, as Special Master Com-
missioner, again sold the road, as a whole, to S. A. Strang, and K.
G. Rolsten, as trustees for the parties in interest, for the sum of
$6,(XX),()0(), the new owners, mostly foreign bond-holders, organizing
under the name of the " New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Kail-
road Company," which name it still bears, being now operated,
under lease, by the New York and Erie Railroad Compan3%
THE "BALTIMORE AND OHIO."
In the Spring of 1870, a proposition was made to extend the
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, from its intermediate connection, the
Pittsburg & Connellsville, from Pittsburg to Chicago, to run
through Akron, provided her citizens would subscribe for if3(10,00()
of its capital stock. A subscription book was opened and circu-
lated for signatures, authorizing David L. King, Lewis Miller and
Charles Brown to pledge and guarantee the re(]uired amount, the
subscriptions being pa^'aljle, 10 per cent, when the road should be
located through Akron, and the balance in monthly installments
as the work jjrogressed.
Through public meetings and the personal efforts of the gen-
tlemen named, an excess of the sum required sufficient to cover
all contingencies was raised, in sums ranging from single shares
to thousands of dollars, and high hopes were indulged in that the
road would be speedily built, but for reasons never satisfactorily
explained, in the Spring of 1871 the project w^as indefiniteh^ post-
poned. The Baltimore & Ohio, however, still kept its eye turned
Akronward and a revival of its old plan, though differing in detail,
has within the past year made Akron a point on a B. & O. New
York-Chicago line, as is told farther on in this chapter.
THE " VALLEY RAILWAY."
In 1869, largely through the influence of David Iv. King, Esq.,
of Akron, a charter had l)een obtained for the "Akron and Canton
Railway," which, no\v that the Baltimore extension scheme had
failed, speedily' developed into the larger and more important
enterprise of the "\'alley Railway Company," which was incorpo-
rated August 21, 1871, Mr. King being one of the incorporators.
The authorized capital of this company was $3,(KX),000, and the
road w^as to run from Cleveland via Akron and Canton to Bowers-
tow^n, on the "Pan Handle" road. Meetings were held, committees
appointed and stock subscriptions vigorously canvassed for, and
Akron's quota of $150,000 was speedily raised, the subscription of.
the entire county amounting to $191,7(K).
Organization, Construction, Etc. — The company was
organized at Cleveland, April 24, 1872, David L. King and
John F. Seiberling being elected directors for Summit
county, Mr. King also being elected vice president of
632 AKWUX AXD Sl'MMIT COL'.XTV.
the conipaii}'. May 10, 1872, P. H. Dudley, then city engi-
neer of Akron, was elected chief engineer of the road. The
surveys being completed, the contract for the entire line, between
Cleveland and Canton, was awarded to Col. Arthur L. Conger and
Mr. Nicholas K. X^ansickle, of Akron, February- 3, 1873, ground being
broken in Springtield township earlj' in March of that year. The
work was so vigorously prosecuted b^^ the contractors, that on the
loth day of August, 1873, Engineer Dudley' reported that the grad-
ing was about two-thirds completed, with all the bridges under
contract and part of them up.
Contract Caxcelleo, Work Stspexded, Etc. — Differences
arising 1)etween the directors and the contractors, the contract w^as
canceled and the work suspended May 14, 1874. September 25, 1874,
Mr. King was elected president of the road, the directors, as a con-
dition precedent to his acceptance of the position, individually
iissuming the entire liabilities of the company', then amounting to
about $150,(K)C), from \vhich, owing to the monetar}'- stringency
growing out of the panic of 1873, the}' were not fully relieved
until 1879.
President Krxo X^isirs Europe. — Failing, through the strin-
genc3' of the money market; to secure the necessary aid at home
to com{)lete the work, President Xing visited England in Febru-
ar}^ 1875, to interest the capitalists of London in the enterprise.
After many discouragements, Mr. King^ flnall}'^ .secured a highly
favorable proposition for the sale of the company's bonds, but,
unfortunatel3\ on the eve of closing the matter up, a report from
a committee of the House of Commons, inveighing against
American securities generally, and railroad securities especially,
Avas published, simultaneously with which came a cablegram
from America announcing the appointment of a receiver for the
Wabash & Western Kailroad, large blocks of whose bonds w^ere
held in Ivondon, and the proposition was withdrawn.
Success at La.st. — Returning home, President King brought the
merits of the line to the attention of Cleveland and New York
capitalists (the capital stock having been increased from $3,000,000
to $6,500,000) his negotiations linally resulting in placing the bonds
of the company with prominent capitalists of the two cities
named. The new contractors, Messrs. Walsh and Moj^nahan,
resumed work upon the road August 7, 1878, the first rail being
laid b}' President King at a point near the Old Forge, in Akron, on
the 26th day of Octol^er, 1878, at high noon. Track-laying was at
once proceeded with, in ])oth directions, as well as from Cleveland
southw^ard a few days later.
The First Through Traix. — Another misunderstanding occur-
ring between the directors and contractors, work was again tem-
porarily suspended January 25, 1879. June 3, 1879, a new contract
Avas entered into \vith Messrs. vStrong and Carey, who finally com-
pleted the road through from Cleveland to Canton in the Winter
of 1879, '80.
The first through train, with the directors, officers and other
friends of the road, left Cleveland at 9:30 a. m., January 28, 1880.
With brief stops at the several stations along the route, the train
reached Canton at 1 o'clock p. m. On the return trip, the run of
22 miles l>etween Canton and Akron was made in 38 minutes, and
SOME OTHKR KAILKOAD PROJECTS. 033
the entire trip froin Canton to Cleveland, 59 miles, in just two
hours, evincing the remarkable thoroughness of the grading, track-
laying and ballasting.
Regular trains, both passenger and freight.'commenced run-
ning February 2, 1880, and the road has proved itself a ver}^ valu-
able acquisition to the travel and transportation facilities of the
entire region which it traverses, as well as an enduring monument
to the enterprise and prosperity of the people of Summit count}',
and is one of the very few railway lines of the country that,
for nearly 20 years, remained continuously in the hands of its
original proprietors.
EviDEXx'Es OF Prosperity. — About 1884, the Vallej' Railway
extended its main line from Canton southward to Valley Junction,
on the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad, 26 miles, forming at that
point a connection with the Cleveland & Marietta Railroad. The
Valley Railway', proper, is therefore 75 miles in length, with 19
miles of branches and 35 miles of side-tracks (including a two
mile track completed in 1888 from Mineral Point to the extensive
coal mine now being developed by John F. Seiberling, Esq., and
other Akron gentlemen).
At the West Market street crossing of its costl}^ side track
running to the principal mills in Akron, a fine new passenger
depot was completed in 1888, which has proved a great conven-
ience to the people of the entire cit}'^ and vicinity, and, in addition
to its constantly increasing freight traffic, its passenger ])usiness
may be jutlged by the fact that four regular trains run dailj' each
way between Cleveland and Valle}' Junction, and an additional
daily train each way between Cleveland and Akron.
Baltimore & Ohio Gets the Valley. — Figuring for the
acquisition of the Valley road, to make it part of a system, or to
give access to Cleveland to an important road that had hitherto
been debarred from that city, began in the spring of 1889. For
some time it was generally believed that a Pittsburg syndicate,
composed of Andrew Carnegie and associates, had secured control
of a majority of the stock and expected to build an extension to
Pittsburg, making a competing line to the Cleveland & Pitts-
hurg. Such a plan reall}' was in contemplation, but w^hen the
details came out, of the long looked-for Valley deal, it was found
to be in the hands of the B. & O. Taintor & Holt, New York
brokers, bought up a majority of the stock and turned it over to
the B. & O., in the fall of 1889. Early in 1890 Thos. M. King, of the
B. iSc O., was elected president of the X'alley, on the resignation of
J. H. Wade.
SEVERAL OTHKK KAKEY ROADS.
In the chapter on Hudson township, is given sketches of the
"Clinton Line" eastward from Hudson, to the Pennsjdvania state
line, and the "Clinton Line Extension" westAvard from Hudson to
Tiffin, as links in "The Creat American Railwaj'," from the
Atlantic to the I*acific, and also of the "Hudson and Painesville
Railroad," commenced in 1852, '53. The stock of all these roads was
liberall}' subscribed for, by the people of Hudson, and elsewhere
along the line, and several hundred thousand dollars expended in
grading, masonry, etc., but tinally suspended in 1850.
634 AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
The "Clinton Line" was so named in honor of Gov. DeWitt
Clinton, the projector of New York's great water highway, the
Krie Canal, and ^vho, previous to his death, in 1828, had suggested
the plan of building a great continental railroad from the city of
NevkT York to the Missouri River. By reason of financial embar-
rassments, the three roads in question w^ere sold under decrees in
foreclosure, the Clinton Line being purchased, in April 1861, b}' John
P. Converse as trustee for the bondholders. Mr. Converse dying, Mr.
A. D. Kibbie was appointed trustee by the United States Court.
Attempts were made from time to time, under the authority of
the trustees, to revive the project, for the purpose of maintaining
their title to the road.
The Clinton Line Redivivus. — In the Summer of 1887, Prof. M.
C. Read, of Hudson, about the only person in the place w^ho had
faith that the road would ever be built, at the instance of Mr. D. M.
Yeomans, an enterprising capitalist and contractor of Kinsman,
Truml)ull county, and several other wealth^" gentlemen, spent sev-
eral months in an endeavor to secure from the original bond-
holders and their heirs and assigns, authority to convey, on a given
percentage, their claims to any company which would undertake
the construction of the road.
Having obtained authority from over two-thirds of the parties
in interest, to act as their agent to sell the road on the terms pro-
posed, Mr. Read was appointed by the United States Court, trustee
for all the bondholders, in the place of A. D. Kibbie, deceased.
The New York and Ohio Railway. — Mr. Yeomans, with four
associates, organized the New York and Ohio Railway Company,^
together subscribing $U)0,(XX) to its capital stock, having later, as
w^as alleged, placed a sufficient amount of its stock to make the
enterprise an assured success. In March, 1888, Mr. Read, as trus-
tee for the bondholders, entered into a contract w^ith the company
to transfer their several interests to the new organization, on the
condition of the construction of the road to Hudson w^ithin two
years from that date, and the company confidently expected to com-
plete the road within that year.
On the east it secured a favorable connection w^ith the Che-
nango sj^stem, and on the west, w^ith Cleveland by the Cleveland
and Canton road at Streetsboro, in Portage county. The company
hoped, in time, to make it the central link in the great Continental
Line projected by Prof. Henry N. Day, and his associates, in
1851, '52; the managers, while claiming that they could give a
a shorter route between Cleveland and Pittsburg to the traveling
public than at that time existed, believing that the transportation
of coal from the Pennsylvania mines might be made to yield a fair
rate of interest upon their investinent. For some reasons not now^
apparent, the w^ork upon this road was not prosecuted as contem-
plated, and in the Spring of 18JK) Mr. Yeomans sold his interest to
Benjamin F. Holmes, of New York City, president of the American
Live Stock Kxpress Company, who was then elected president of
the railway company-. The express cattle cars, forty-seven in
number, with the patents, were transferred to the railway com-
pany, and it is stated that Mr. Holmes is actively engaged in
maturing his plans for the speedy completion of the road, and the
construction of a large number of additional cattle cars, it being
understood that if the work is dehu^ed l)eyond the extended period
OUR LATER ACQUISITIONS. 635
of time granted by the trustee for the bondholders, he has an
arrangement for the sale, to other parties, who w^ill surely build
the road.
The Massillon Branch. — In the middle sixties a short line
of road was built from Clinton, in Summit county, to Massillon,
in Stark county, some eight or ten miles in length only, by the " Mas-
sillon and Cleveland Kailroad Company." This road was leased
to the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad Company,
June 22, 1869, the lease being assigned to the Pennsylvania Rail-
road Company, July 1, 1869, and by that company, in turn, to the
Cleveland, Mount Vernon and Dela\vare Railroad Company,
November 4, of the same year. It was operated by that company,
until its sale, as heretofore set forth, to the Cleveland, Akron and
Columbus Railw^ay Company, since w^hich time it has been opera-
ted by the Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne and Chicago. Betw^een one and
two miles only of this road is in Summit county, running through
the southwest corner of the tow^nship of Franklin, but is properly
here briefly mentioned as one of Summit county's railroads.
L/AKE Shore and Tuscarawas Valley. — This road, built in
the latter seventies, runs from Black River, in Lorain county, on
Lake Erie, in a southeasterly direction, cutting across the south-
w^est corner of Franklin township, and crossing the Cleveland,
Akron and Columbus Railw^ay at Warwick, a short distance south
of Clinton. Its length is 157 miles and its eastern terminus is
Bridgeport, opposite Wheeling, W. Va., on the Ohio river. This
road is moderately beneficial to the people of Summit county in
reaching points in Stark and other eastern counties of the State,
and in the shipment of coal and other products to points on Lake
Erie, west of Cleveland.
The " Cleveland and Canton Railway." — About 1880, a nar-
row gauge (three foot track) railroad w^as built from Bowerstown,
on the Pan Handle road, in Harrison county, to Cleveland, passing
through Canton, in Stark county, touching Summit at Mogadore
on the east line of the county, going from there to Kent, in Portage
county, and from thence northwesterly direct to Cleveland, passing
diagonally through Twinsburg, in Summit county. This road is
chiefly serviceable to the people of Summit county in affording
the village of Mogadore facilities for the procurement of its coal
and other supplies, and for the shipment of the large amount of
stoneware w^hich is yearly manufactured at that point; and as a
means of transporting from Twinsburg the products of its mag-
nificent quarries and its extensive dairies, and in bringing in mer-
chandise and other articles from abroad. This road was originally
named " The Connotton Valley Railway," but some two or three
years ago changed its title, as above indicated, and has since
brought its track to standard gauge, with first-class rolling stock
to match.
The "F*ittsburg and Western." — Early in 1881, Chauncey H.
Andrews, Esq., and other w^ealthy gentlemen of Youngstown,
projected what was then called the " Pittaburg, Youngstown &
Chicago Railroad." The company w^as organized March 18, 1881,
with Mr. Andrews as its president, at which time it was reported
that three-fourths of its authorized capital of $2,000,000 had been
subscribed. It was at first intended that the line should enter
Summit count3^ at Mogadore, passing westward down the Valley
636 AKKOX AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
of the Little Cu3'ahoga to the Sixth ward, in Akron, and from
thence along Wolf Ledge in the southern part of the cit}', westward
to its destination. But modifications and changes were made by
which, following the bed and banks of the defunct Pennsylvania
Canal from New Castle, Pa., passing through Ravenna, Kent and
Cuj'^ahoga Falls, it enters Akron at the Old Forge, its present
western terminus.
For several 3'ears this road has had an arrangement with the
Cleveland, Akron & Columbus RaiUvaj', by w^hich its cars are run
over the track of the latter from Cuyahoga Falls to Orrville, where
it connects with the Wheeling and Lake Erie road. The most
important move for Akron in the P. & W.'s history, was its lease
by the B. & O. road, in the Spring of 1891, w^hich made it an
important link in a New York-Chicago through line, under B. &
O. control, as is more full}' explained below in connection with the
histor}' of the Akron & Chicago Junction R. R.
"New Yokk, Mahoxixg axd Westerx." — In 1887, '88, a com-
pany figured in Wadsw^orth, Seville and Lodi, in Medina county
and other points west, under the above title, of w^hich Mr. Norvin
Green, of the Western Union Telegraph Company', was the presi-
dent. Mr. Green confidently said: "I believe that the company will
have no serious difficulty in raising funds for the early completion
of the line of road across the State of Ohio, eastward to the Penn-
sylvania line, near Youngstown, and westward through Indiana as
far as Fort Wayne."
"It is contemplated that this line of road shall form a part of
the long projected American Midland Railroad from New York to
Chicago, on or near the 41st parallel, and on which much work has
been done in various places." Work went on for some months at
various points on the survej^exl line of the N. Y,, M. & W., but the
funds expected bj'the projectors could not be secured v^dien needed.
Sul)-contractors and others levied on ties and other material at
Findla}', O., and one or two other places; and with the beginning
of litigation came the end of the project as far as the then exist-
ing organization was concerned.
PITTSBURG, AKRON & WESTERN.
In 1883, the Ohio Railroad Compan^^ was incorporated, at Col-
umbus, by W. A. Lj'nch, of Canton, and others, including Col. A.
L. Conger, Lewis Miller and David E. Hill, of Akron. The com-
l^an}' proposed to construct from Akron westward, to Chicago
Junction, or to some other good connecting point, the link that had
long been desired, to make a new^ east and west line. At Chicago
Junction the B. & O. road could be connected with, and at Akron
the Pittsburg & Western, leading directly to Pittsburg. It was
expected that the building of the link would materially shorten
the distance between New York and Chicago b}^ existing routes.
Considerable interest was aroused in the project in Akron and
Medina, and in the latter place, and in the townships of Medina,
considerable money and right of way was subscribed. Surve3's
were made and the route determined upon. Funds for construc-
tion purposes could not readilj^ be negotiated, however, and the
project lagged. Mr. Lj'nch, who was general counsel for the
PITTSBURG, AKRON & WESTERN. 637
c<)nii)aiiy, kept at work, however, and in the end his patience
and energy were rewarded with success.
The name of the company was changed November 10, 1883, to
the Pittsburg, Akron & Western Railway Company. That was
the chief event in the history of the enterprise for six years. In
October, 1889, new life was given to the "Lynch line" project, as
it was called, hy a consolidation of the Pittsburg, Akron & West-
ern Railw^ay Company and the Cleveland & Western Railroad
Company, the new^ compatiy taking the name of the Pittsburg,^
Akron & Western Railroad Company. The Cleveland & Western
w^as a narroAV gauge road, running between Delphos and CarcA'.'O.
Its principal owners were William Semple, an Allegheny merchant,
and James Callery, the latter for a time president of the Pitts-
burg & Western. This consolidation made Carey the western
terminus of the link from Akron westward, instead of Chicago
Junction. Arrangements for funds to begin construction work
had been consummated at length, and on March 17, 1890, mortgage
bonds in the sum of $3,630,000 were issued to the American Loan
and Trust Company, as trustees. An election of directors was
held about this time, resulting in the choice of D. E. Hill, A. L,
Conger, Lewis Miller, of Akron; James M. Semple, of Toledo, [tak-
ing the place of William Semple, Sr., of Pittsburg, then recently
deceased]; Chas. G. Milnor, of Pittsburg, [to take the place of
James Callery, deceased]; A. W. Jones, Youngstown; James
Schoonmaker and Josiah N. Davidson, Allegheny; James D.
Callery, Pittsburg. An election of officers resulted in the choice
of James D. Callery, president, in place of Wni. Semple, Sr.,
deceased; W. A. Lynch, secretary and general counsel; Chas. G,
Milnor, treasiirer; William Semple, general manager; James H.
Sample, chief engineer.
The contract for the building of the line from Akron to Care}',
Wyandot county, was let to W. V. McCracken, of New York, and
Wm. Semple, of Allegheny, under the firm name of 'McCracken &
Semple. Work began in the latter part of May, 1890, and on Jan-
uary 24, 1891, the track was completed to Silver street, Akron. The
right of way in Akron l)egins at Old Forge, runs along the old P.
& O. canal, almost to Summit street, crosses over to the north side of
the water w^ay, crosses North High street and North Main street,
striking North Howard street at the old Beebe property, thence
across North Howard street by bridge, spanning the valley of the
Ohio canal w^ith an immense trestle, then striking the north brow
of West Hill, out to Silver street, and thence on to Coplej^. From
Copley the line goes to Medina, and then on to Greenwich, New^
London and Plymouth.
Trains began running from Akron west, early in the Spring of
1891. The principal offices are in this city, for the present in the
old brick homestead of the Beebe family, the company purchasing
that property. C. W. Risley is superintendent and auditor, and W.
S. Taylor, general freight and passenger agent. The depot is to
be on the west side on North Main street, just east of the Beebe
property.
For the present the P., A. & W. runs no farther than Akron.
The capture of the Pittsburg & Western by the B. & O. dashed
the calculations of the P., A. &. W. Company, which had expected
to get to l^ittsburg over the P. & W., while the B. &c O. lease made
(V3H AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
the p. &c W. the eastern connection at Akron, of the Akron,
& Chicago Junction, the Pittsburg, Akron & Western's rival.
Plans are being laid, hoAvever, by which the P., A. & W. will get
an eastern outlet. Surveys have been made from Akron to Moga-
dore, from which place it is proposed to build to Youngstown.
Here the Pittsburg & Lake Erie will be connected with, and
access afforded to Pittsburg. Thence New York can be reached
by way of the Philadelphia & Eastern New York, and the Dela-
ware, Lackawanna & Western.
At Delphos the P., A. & W. connects with the P., Ft. W. «& C.
Koad and the Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City ("Clover Leaf").
With the latter it has close working relations, enabling it to reach
St. Louis, Kansas City and other w^estern points.
AKRON & CHICAGO JUNCTION.
In the Summer of 1890, Akron w^as headquarters for two rail-
road construction companies. They were rivals, too, each giving
out that it was to build the long expected east and west link. One
of these companies w^as McCracken & Semple, building the P., A.
& W., as sketched above. The other was Ryan & McDonald, who
had under contract the building of what w^as called the Akron &
Chicago Junction Railroad. Each of these roads depended upon
getting the P. & W. as an eastern outlet. Each affirmed that the
other would never be built; but each went so far in its operations
that when Fall came there were tv^^o lines well under way, and in
the Spring of 1891, both ^vere practically done, giving two links
w^here but one was needed.
The Akron & Chicago Junction Railway Company, which
w^as understood from the beginning to be an arm of the B. & O.,
w^as incorporated at Columbus early in the Summer of 1890. W^il-
liam Thornburg, who had been general manager of the Valley,
was, after its acquisition by the B. & O., elected president ; J. T.
Johnson, superintendent; and Henry M. Keim, auditor. Head-
quarters were established at Cleveland. The surveyed lines
started at Chicago Junction, in Huron county, on the B, & O., and
went east by way of Greenwich, Lodi, Creston, Sterling, Rittman,
Barberton and New Portage to Akron, making seventy-five miles
of, for the most part, straight road. On July 1, 1891, the line was
finished from Chicago Junction to Warwick, on the C, A. & C.
Negotiations had meantime been made w^ith the C, A. & C. for
right of way alongside the latter's track from Warwick to Akron;
and pending construction of the Warwick- Akron part, an arrange-
ment w^as made to run over the C, A. & C, betw^een Warw^ick and
Akron.
The Akron & Chicago Junction is kno^vn as the Akron Divis-
ion of the B. &c O. Trains began running on August 10, 1891, and
on that date Akron took on a new importance as a pivotal point on
a great east and west trunk line. The royal blue trains over the
B. & O., out of New York, run through this city, and all the fast
freight trains carrying New York and Chicago freight.
Akron thus became, also, the connecting point for B. & O.
passenger traffic from Cleveland to Chicago, coming over the
Valley. The route from Cleveland to Chicago, by Valley, Chicago
Junction and main B. & O. is ohlj^ thirteen miles longer than over
the Lake Shore.
AKRON AS A RAILROAD CENTER. 639
An important part of the B. & O's plans, that had Akron for
their point of gravitation, -was the acquisition of the Pittsburg &
Western. This took place in the fall of 1890. The B. & O. interest
had been for some time largely represented among the P. & W.
stockholders, and at the time indicated, enough more stock was
secured to put the B. & O. in control. Harry Oliver remained for
some time president of the P. & W,, but J. \V. Patton, of the B. «&
O., Avas made general manager. This stroke was the sensation of
a month in railroad circles, as it gave the B. & O. the desideratum
of years, a direct line westw^ard from Pittsburg. The connection
of P. & W. and A. & C. J. tracks, and of Valley tracks with both,
was made at Old Forge, w^hich thus became a most important
transferring point.
RAILROADS A PUBLIC BENEFACTION.
Other important lines to pass through Summit county are
being talked up, but as yet nothing can be said of them. The
large list already given — the completed and uncompleted — shows
that during the past half century, the people of Akron and of Sum-
mit county have been fully alive to the value of the railroad in all
matters of human enterprise and social progress.
Though fev/ of the local promoters of any of the roads named
have ever directly realized a penny upon the money thus invested,
all, individually and collectively, have been vastly benefited by
their construction. Without our railroads, and the speedy mode
of transportation afforded thereby, Akron would have remained
the little water-poAver village of less than 2,000 inhabitants that it
>vas forty years ago — if it had not retrograded — instead of the
magnificent manufacturing and commercial city of 30,000 souls
that it is to-day ; w^hile the farm lands of the county, instead of
commanding from $75 to $300 per acre as they now^ do, would
have been, like the most of the lands of the non-railroad counties
of the State, unremunerative and almost unsaleable at any price.
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE TOWNvSHIP OF BATH— EAKLY SETTLEMENT— INDIANS AND WILD BEASTS
THE WAR OF 1812 — PEKRY'S VICTORY ON LAKE ERIE ORGANIZATION,
NAME, ETC. — MANUFACTURES— GHENT AS A RAILROAD CENTER EARLY
AND MODERN CROOKEDNESS -LATTA'S TAVERN— PROPRIETOR IN LIMBO-
FORFEITS HIS BAIL- vSKIPS TO INDIANA BROUGHT BACK ON THE AFFI-
DAVIT OF HIS FORMER CAPTAIN "JIM" BROWN — FINAL ACQUITTAL— BATH
IN THE WAR OF THE REBELLION— FN COUNTY AND STATE AFFAIRS, ETC.
BATH TOWNSHIP— TOPOGRAPHY, ETC.
'T'HE Tow^nship of Bath, topographically considered, is far less
-*- attractive to the average agriculturist than the majority of
the townships of Summit county. The eastern portion of the
township, overhanging, and extending down into, the valley of the
Cuyahoga river, is largely composed of precipitous hills and deep
gullies, though occasional w^ell-tilled farms are found on the
broader plateaus of the bluffs, and in the intervening valleys.
The central and w^estern portion of the tow^nship, however, is^
well adapted to general agriculture, and especially to stock-growl-
ing, some of the finest cattle, sheep, etc., in the county being found
in that vicinity.
WATER POWER, MANUFACTURES, ETC.
About one mile south of the geographical center of the town-
ship, running from w^est to east, is a considerable stream of water
called " Yellow Creek," which, passing under the Ohio Canal,
empties into the Cuyahoga river, at w^hat w^as formerly known as
Yellow Creek Basin; afterwards, for many years, as the village of
Niles, and now, as a station for the Valley Railway, called Botzum.
In the original building of the canal, there was no berme-bank at
this point, the waters of the creek covering quite a large area upon
the w^est side ; and hence its original name. Yellow Creek Basin.
This stream, rising in the adjoining township of Granger, on
the w^est, and having quite a number of smart tributaries, on either
hand, as it passes through the township, with quite a rapid descent^
has furnished a large amount of motive power for manufacturings
operations, both at, and above and below^, the village of Ghent,,
consisting of grist and merchant flouring mills, saw mills, woolen
mills, planing, turning and bending mills, hub, spoke and felloe
factories, etc., a number of w^hich establishments, in spite of the
vicissitudes of time, fires, floods and other disasters, are still in
successful operation.
BATHS PIONEER SETTLERS.
It is not now^ know^n as to precisely when the first white people
took up their abode in what is now^ the towmship of Bath. It wia&
not ceded by the Indians to the United States until 1805, at the
treaty of Fort Industr3^ The township was surveyed into lots by
Col. Kial McArthur, in 18()o, who, in his field-l)ook, gave it the
BATH vS JJKCIINNING.
641
name of " Wheal field," the reason win' not hein^ now apparent, as
its topography and soil are not especially adapted to the raising of
w^heat. The first two permanent settlers in the townsliip were
Jonathan Hale, of Glastenhur}-, and Jason Hammond, of ISolton,
Connecticut. In June, 1810, these gentlemen, having exchanged
their Old Connecticut property with Ezekiel Williams and Thomas
Bull, of Hartford, two of the original proprietors of the township,
immediately started for their new possessions in what was then
called New Connecticut, where they arrived sometime in July ;
from twenty to thirty days then being required to make the
journey that can no\v be accomplished in about half as nlany
hours.
JONATHAN HALE, -Born in Glas-
I tenbxiry, Conn., April 23, 1777; mar-
ried to Mercy S. Piper. July 11, 1802;
moved to Ohio 1810, Mr. Hale, by
two-horse team, starting alone, June
12, and reaching' his purchase in
what is now Bath, July 13, being the
first bona fide settler in that town-
ship, though a squatter named Miller
had built a cabin and made some
improvements upon his land, for
which Mr. Hale, on taking posses-
sion, duly paid hiin; Mr. Hale's fam-
ily coming on with Mr. Jason Ham-
inond and famil}^ later the same sea-
son. In the War of 1812, both Mr.
Hale and Mr. Hammond were drafted,
but owing to the exposure of their
families to Indian depredations, were
permitted to return home. On organ-
ization of township, in 1818, it was
named Bath, at Mr. Hale's suggest-
ion. Mrs. Hale died October 16, 1829,
leaving six children — Sophronia,
William, Pamela, Andrew, Abigail
and James M., the latter only, now 76
years of age, surviving, and residing-
in Akron. Mr. Hale was again luar-
ried, Nov. 2, 1830, to Mrs. Sarah Cozad
Mather, a widow with three children
— George Mather, now living in Men-
tor ; Jane, now, as widow of her step-
brother, Andrew Hale, living on the
old homestead, and Betsey, now Mrs.
JONATHAN HALE.
Rogers, of Mt. Dora, Florida. The
second Mrs. Hale bore her husband
three children — Jonathan D., Mercy
A. and Samuel C, the latter, a resi-
dent of Cleveland, only, now surviv-
ing. Mr. Hale died May 14, 1854, aged
77 years and 21 days, his remains
reposing in the little cemetery upon
the old homestead.
Mr. Hammond's purchase consisted of lots 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30,
extending from the north and south center road eastward to the
township line, building for himself a house at or near what is now^
known as Hammond's Corners ; hence the name. Mr. Hale's pur-
chase consisted of lots 11, 12, 13 and part of 14, immediately north of,
but not running so far west as Mr. Hammond's ; Mr. Hale locating
in the valley, about one mile west of the river.
THERE WERE SQUATTERS IN THOSE DAYS.
From the most reliable sources available, it is probable that
Messrs. Hale and Hammond were preceded by Moses Latta, Aaron
Miller, Hezekiah Burdit, Gibson Gates, and Moses and Aaron
Decker, who had located themselves in the township as squatters,
41
642
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
most of them, probabl}^, the previous year; Aaron Miller having
built a cabin upon the purchase of Mr. Hale, and into which Mr.
Hale moved with his family, residing therein for several years, and
until the present brick structure now occupied b}^ his grandson,
Mr. C. O. Hale, was erected. Moses Latta squatted on a lot upon
the Smith road, a short distance east of what was afterwards for
many years known as Latta's Corners — so named from the some-
Avhat notorious Latta's tavern, erected, and for many years kept by
William Latta (presumably a son of Moses) — afterwards as Ellis's
Corners and now called Montrose.
WILLIAM HALE, Eldest son of
Jonathan Hale, born in Glasten-
bury. Conn., July 5, 1806, came with
parents to Bath in 1810, where, on a
portion of the old homestead, he
resided until his death, January 24,
1862, excepting- the years 1856, '57, '58, '59
and '60. spent in Hudson. November
13, 1828, Mr. Hale was married, to Miss
Sally C. Upson, of Tallinadge, who
died June 25, 1829. For his second
Av^ife Mr. Hale married Miss Harriet
Carlton, an orphan whose father was
killed in the War of 1812, and whose
mother died when she was born, who
was raised by her aunt, Mrs. Sarah
Cozad Mather, then the stepmother
of Mr. Hale. Five children were born
to them— Sarah C. Lucy E., Othello
W., Olivia H. and Josephine H.,
Othello, onl}', now living*, in his 51st
year. Mrs. Hale dying- August 7,
1854, Mr. Hale was ag-ain married, Feb-
ruary 15, 1855, to Miss Adeline R.
Thompson, of Peninsula, who bore
him three children — Herbert T.
(deceased), William B., now of St.
Paul, Minn., and Harriet A., now with
her mother at Oberlin, Ohio. At
his death, as above stated, Mr. Hale
WILLIA.M HALK.
was aged 51 jears, 6 months and 19
days. He was a man of sterling-
integrity, a conscientious christian
and highl}- respected by all who
knew him.
THE WAR OF 1812- PERRY'S VICTORY, ETC.
Though not so rapidly settled as many of the contiguous
townships, " Wheatfield," or as it had then come to be called,
"Hammondsburgh," is said to have furnished quite a number of
soldiers for the defense of the frontier against the combined forces
of the "Red-coats" and "Red-skins" in the War of 1812, but whose
names cannot now^ be ascertained. There are many yet living
w^ho distinctly heard the cannonading during the memorable
battle on Lake Erie, September 10, 1813, in which Commodore
Oliver Hazard Perry, with his comparatively small squad-
ron of hastily constructed and meagerly equipped ves-
sels, carrying but 55 guns and 490 officers and men, won
such a splendid victory over the British fleet of 65 guns and
502 officers and men, thus establishing the supremacy of
America on the Lakes, causing the immediate evacuation of
Detroit by the British forces, and very materially hastening the
close of the war, in favor of the stars and stripes. It is said that
the people of Bath very materially aided the authorities in the
THK BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE.
643
construction of two boats — which were built at Old Portage in the
Sumnier of 1813, and which, being floated dow^n the Cuyahoga
riv^er to Lake Erie, formed a portion of Perry's fleet in the above-
named naval engagement. Of this, however, there is now no
positive evidence available; but as it is undoubtedly true that sev-
<iral small vessels for the Lake trade were built at the point
named, about that time, and as most of the vessels in the victorious
fleet were of that character (though the squadron had been
organized at Erie, Pa.,) there is reasonable grounds for giving
credence to the tradition. That victory, w^ith the laconic dispatch
of Commodore Perry to Gen Harrison: "We have met the enemy
and they are ours — two ships, tw^o brigs, one schooner and one
sloop," has been commemorated in various ways — -the conferring
of gold medals, by Congress, upon Commodore Perry and his
Chief Lieutenant, Jesse Duncan Elliott; the erection by the govern-
ment of a suitable monument on Put-in-Bay Island over the
remains of those killed in the engagement; a fine marble statue of
the Commodore in the Central Park of Cleveland; while the anni-
versary has, for a third of a century, been annually celebrated in
the township of Bath, by the Pioneer Association of Summit and
Medina counties.
A NDREW HALE,^son of Jonathan
■^ Hale, first actual white settler in
Bath township, was born in that
township, December 5. 1811, and was
the lirst white child born in Bath ;
educated in pioneer township
schools and raised to farm life ;
April 12, 1838, was married to Jane
Mather, who bore him six children —
Pamela h. (Mrs. Charles Oviatt, now
living- in Florida); Sophronia Jane,
(Mrs. S. J. Ritchie, of Tallmadg-e);
•Clara, (Mrs. L. H. Ashmun, of Tall-
madg-e); Charles Oviatt, now resid-
ing- on the old homestead; Alida
(Mrs. Truman Humphrey, of Rich-
field); and John P., now a jeweler in
Akron. Mr. Hale was a life-long-
member of the Congregational
•church, a thorough-going Republi-
can, a genial and accommodating-
neighbor, a great lover of music,
unostentatious, generous, and in its
broadest sense a strictly honest man.
For three years before his death Mr.
Hale was a great sufferer from a
neuralgic affection of the head, his
death occurring, upon the farm
ANDREW HALE.
where he was born, July 29, 1884, aged
72 years, 7 months and 25 days. Mrs.
Hale, now ()9 years of age, is affection-
ately cared for by her eldest son, C.
O. Hale, at the old family homestead.
INDIANS, WOLVES, BEARS, ETC.
When first opened for settlement, remnants of the several
tribes of Indians, who had originally inhabited the neighborhood,
still lingered in the vicinity, mingling quite freely among the
whites, and there exists to this day, within the limits of Bath, the
remains of mounds, forts, villages, altars, etc.; while flint spear
and arrow heads, stone hammers and axes, mortars, pestles, pottery-
w^are, etc., are still occasionally found on the hills and in the
valleys of the township. It does not appear that there were any
644
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
of those deadly feuds between the Indians and the whites of Bath^
that were experienced by the early settlers of many of the contigu-
ous tow^nships, though, after the breaking out of the war, the
Indians generally fraternizing with the British, there was very
great anxiety, and some very narrow escapes from collision and
disaster. After the battle upon Lake Erie, and the subsequent
capitulation of Detroit, how^ever, the "Noble Red Man" was no
more seen within the limits of the tow^nship.
Kvery species of ^vild beast was also very plenty on the advent
of the earlier white settlers of the township, many of virhom
proved to be very expert hunters, and many thrilling" hair breadth
'scapes " v^rere formerly, and perhaps, are still to be found in the
traditionary lore of the tov^nship. Wolves, bears and catamounts
were sufficiently numerous to keep the inhabitants constantly on
the qui vive for the safety of both their stock and themselves.
The writer has often listened with the most intense interest to the
graphic stories of the late venerable William Cogswell, and other
old timers, of their encounters w^ith the denizens of the forest,
w^hich, if they could be correctly put in print, would make mights"
interesting reading.
RICHARD ENGLISH PARKER,—
born in Northampton, March 9,
1811, and said to be the first male
white child born in that township ;
at 14, witnessed the laying- of the cor-
ner stone of the first lock built upon
the Ohio Canal ; in 1825, drove team
and otherwise assisted in building-
the canal ; at 21, bought a farm and
built a cabin on the north line of
Copley. April 18, 1833, Mr. Parker
was married to Miss Martha M. Rich-
ardson, of Bath, who bore him nine
«*hildren, all of whom are still living
— Henry A., Hartwell A., and Frank
W., of Akron; David L., of Coplej' and
Perry R., of Bay City, Mich.; Mrs.
Dora S. Trumbull, of Orangeville,
Trumbull county ; Mrs. Phcebe M.
Low, of Granger, Medina county ;
Mrs. Mary L. Harris, of Copley, and
Mrs. Cordie M. Stadler, of Akron. Mr.
and Mrs. Parker lived happily
together over half a century, celebra-
ting their golden wedding- anniver-
sary April 18, 1883, in Akron, having
removed thither in 1871. Mrs. Parker
died August?, 1884, aged 69 years and
17 days, Mr. Parker survivinghis com-
panion four j^ears and one week,
dying August 14, 1888, aged 77 years.
RICHARD ENGLISH PARKER.
5 months and 5 days. Mr, Parker
was a successful farmer, a model
husband and father, and a liberal
and patriotic citizen, in politics a
stanch Republican, and in religion a
sincere and earnest Universalist.
ORGANIZATION, NAME, ETC.
The township was not organized until 1818, eight years after
the first regular settlement was made, having previously been
attached to Northampton. There is no record, or even authentic
tradition, of the organization now available, other than that Dr.
Henry Hutson was elected justice of the peace, and Eleazer Rice,
constable. An undated tally-sheet in the possession of Mr. James
bath's civil status. 645
]>!. Hale, announcing Jonathan Hale as a trustee, and Jason Ham-
mond as supervisor. At this first regular "Town Meeting," as,
following the good old New England custom, local elections were
called, the question of a permanent name for the township was
considered. As before stated, by reason of the Hammond element
and influence, the original name of " Wheatfield " had gradually-
been superseded by that of "Hammondsburgh." This was dis-
tasteful to many, both on account of its length, and on personal
grounds, and quite a number of other names were mooted and
urged with considerable spirit, until Mr. Jonathan Hale, really the
first regular settler in the township, getting out of patience, and
being a little waggish, withal, exclaimed: "O, call it Jeru-
salem, Jericho, Bath, or anything but Hammondsburgh !" A
motion was thereupon immediately made to call it Bath, w^hich
was carried by a large majority, and Bath it has remained«to the
present day, and is, alphabetically, the leading township of the
county, being first upon the roll-call at all political and other con-
ventions of Summit county.
BATH IN COUNTY AND STATE AFFAIRS.
The industrial, commercial, educational and religious history
of Bath, has already been pretty fully written up by others, and
may very properly be passed in this series of papers, w^ith the
remark that in point of agricultural achievements, manufacturing
enterprises, and educational and moral worth, Bath stands fully at
par with the average of the townships of Summit county, though
in the remote past subjected to certain malign influences tending
to somewhat becloud her fair fame and name, to be more fully
alluded to hereafter. In county and State affairs Bath has had a
fair representation, indeed, as follows:
Peter Voris, in 1843, was elected county surveyor, the duties of
which important office he successfully performed for one full term
of three years.
In 1847 Mr. Voris was chosen as one of the two representatives
Summit county was that year entitled to in the State Legislature,
and, in connection with his colleague, Capt. Amos Seward, of
Tallmadge, served his constituents thoroughly and w^ell.
In the Spring of 1850 Mr. Voris was, by Governor Seabury
Ford, appointed associate judge of the Court of Common Pleas,
to fill the v^acancy occasioned by the resignation of Judge Samuel
A. Wheeler, of Akron, which office he held until the taking effect
of the new constitution, in February, 1852.
Under the new constitution Summit county's first probate
judge was Charles G. Ladd, brother-in-law and law-partner of the
late L. V. Bierce, elected in October, 1851. Judge Ladd being taken
sick, between the election and the time fixed by law for entering
upon the duties of his office, Alvin C. Voris, son of Judge Voris, of
Bath, was appointed deputy clerk by Judge Ladd, and organized
and very acceptably performed the Probate business of the county
until the date of Judge Ladd's death in August, 1852, having pre-
viously served as deputy county clerk for about two years.
Roland O. Hammoxo, a native of Bath, though then residing
in Akron, on the death of Judge Ladd, in August, 1852, was
appointed by Gov. Reuben Wood to fill the vacancy until the ensu-
ing election in October, making a very prompt and remarkably
646
AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
efficient officer during his brief incumbency. Mr. Hammond also-
officiated as postmaster of Akron for four years, under the admin-
istration of President James Buchanan.
JOHN McFARLIN —born in Bristol.
J Ontario county, N. Y., July 27.
1805 ; came to Ohio with parents
when a bo3% settling in Sharon ; edu-
cation limited ; married to Miss
Azubah Lowe, born in Canandaigua,
N. Y., August 2, 1812, and settled on
farm on west line of Bath, about 1830,
live children having- been born to
them — Anthony, Adeline, Emily
Eliza, Jane and Harriet, the former
only now surviving, and now occupy-
ing the.old family homstead. Mrs.
McFarlin dying . October 11, 1862,
Mr. M. was again married, to Miss
Elsie A. Codding, of Granger, Octo-
ber 13, 1863, who bore him one child,
Jessie E., born February 20, 1865, and
died March 21, 1869. Mr. McFarlin
died September 14, 1877, aged 72 years,
1 month and 17 days, Mrs. McFarlin
now residingin Medina. Mr. McFarlin
was a thrifty farmer and public-
spirited citizen, having been a justice
of the peace for many years, and
twice elected by the people of his
county to the responsible office of
county commissioner — first in 1858,
serving three years, and again in
1864:; during his second term of three
5'ears, amid much opposition, join-
ing heartily with the other mem-
JOHN M'FARLIN.
bers of the Board in the erection of
the present elegant and extensive
Infirmary buildings, which are at
once a credit to the county and their
projectors.
John McFarlin, one of the pioneers and most substantial citi-
zens of Bath, served as county commissioner from 1858 to 1861,.
and again from 1864 to 1867, six years in all.
Alvin C. Voris, in 1859, though then permanently located in
Akron, was elected, in connection with Jud'ge Sylvester H. Thomp-
son, of Hudson, to represent Summit county in the State Legis-
lature, holding that office two years. In 1861, that gentleman
entered the army as lieutenant colonel, of the 67th Regiment, O,
V. I., which he personally recruited, serving through the war,,
and w^inning for himself the title of Brevet Major General of Vol-
unteers. This whilom Bath boy was also a member of the Con-
stitutional Convention of 1873, in the deliberations of which he
bore a conspicuous and honorable part. In November, 1890, Gen.
Voris was elected judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Sum-
mit, Medina and Lorain counties, which position he is now al)ly .
filling.
GrenvIlle Thorp, one of Bath's brave soldier boys, who lost
an arm in the service, was elected recorder of Summit county,
October, 1870, for three years, but died before the expiration of his
term, in February, 1872.
Hiram H. Mack, of Bath, ably represented his county in tlie
State Legislature from 1873 to 1875, and again from 1877 to 1879.
J. Park Alexander, born, reared and educated in Bath town-
ship, besides long service as member and president of the city
BATH S ROLL OF HONOR.
e47
council of Akron, ably served ihe people of Suniniit county as their
representative in the State I^egislature from January 1, 1882, to
January 1, 1884, and as State senator from the Summit-Portage-
Geauga-Ashtabula district, from 1887 to 1891.
Sumner Nash, of Bath, besides his honorable war record,
faithfully and efficiently served the people as clerk of courts six
years, from 1879 to 1885, while
Othello W. Hale, another Bath boy, "held the fort" in the
clerk's office, not only as Clerk Nash's deputy for six years, but
also as princiipal from February, 1885 to February, 1891, six years.
Charles Oviatt Hale, as this chapter goes to pres-s (October,
1891), is the regular Republican nominee for representative to the
State Legislature, to which position he will undoubtedl}' be elected.
pHARLES OVIATT HALE, — son
^ of Andrew and Jane (Mather)
Hale ; was born in Bath, March 14,
1850, on the farm upon which his
grandfather, Jonathan Hale, the first
bona-fide inhabitant of that town-
ship, settled in 1810, of which farm,
consisting- of 200 finely kept and cul-
tivated acres, he is now, by inherit-
ance and purchase from other heirs,
the sole owner, and entirelj^ free from
debt ; besides attendance upon the
schools of the neighborhood, Mr.
Hale attended the preparatorj- school
in Oberlin, commercial college, etc.,
two or three winters, and two winters
at Hudson ; an extensive reader, and
thoroughly posted in public affairs,
as well as an earnest Republican,
Mr. Hale has never missed voting- at
a State or National election since
attaining his majority, though living
four miles from polling place, and
very rarely, if ever, absent from party
caucuses, and has probably repre-
sented his township in more county
conventions than any other man
of his age in the county ; has
officiated three j^ears as township
trustee and several years as school
director, and is now (October 1891)
the duly nominated candidate of hie
CHAKLKS OVIATT HALK.
party for Representative to the State
Legislature for Summit countj-. May
20, 1875, Mr. Hale was married 'to Miss
Pauline Cranx, of Bath, previously,
for five jears, a teacher in Akron
public schools. They have no chil-
dren.
BATH'S MILITARY RECORD.
Besides doing her full duty in defense of the frontier, in the
War of 1812, in proportion to the meagerness of her population,
Bath is said to have furnished quite a number of soldiers for the
Mexican War of 1846-48, but whose names and records are not now
ascertainable, though the quite general sentiment of this section
of Ohio against the justice of that war was not conducive to patri-
otic ardor nor military enlistments.
In the War of the Rebellion, also, Bath was fully abreast with
her sister townships of the county, in her allegiance to the old
flag, as the foUow^ing substantially accurate roster, compiled from
the assessors' returns of 1863, '64, '65, and the recollection of Messrs.
P. H. Alexander, Sumner and Thomas W. Nash and others, abun-
dantly demonstrates:
648 AKKOX AMJ SLMMIT COUXTV.
Perrj^ H. Alexander, Nathaniel Averill, Benjatiiin Allnian,
Byron Albro, Edward Baird, Jacob Buck, Lester Bruno, Edward
Bishop, John M. Bissell, Ebenezer Baird, Ebenezer Bissell, Rich-
mond Bissell (died in service), George A. Bisbee, Henry Bruno,
R. N. Brinsley, Thomas Barne3% John Cox (died in Anderson-
ville prison), David Castetter, John Carver (died in service),
Orlen Capron, Alfred Capron, Henry Cover, Ira Capron, Theo-
dore Craig, David Conrad, John Davis, Thomas Davis (killed
in battle), William Davis, Jr., Willard Dennison (died in service),
George D. J)amon, Cassius Evans, James L. Ferguson, Arthurton
H. Farnam, Reuben Farnam, Darwin Farnam, Orrin C. Fields,
Edward Foley, Everett Foster, Lewis Harris (killed in battle), John
S. Harris, Lyman Hale, Merchant S. Hurd, Harvey Hopkins,
George Harris (lost on Sultana), Reuben Hickox, Smith Hancock,
Othello W. Hale, Samuel Hale, George Hines, Henry Ingraham,
Wesley Johnson (died in service), Chipman Johnson, Philetus
Johnson, Andrew Johnson, William Johnson, David B. Kittinger,
Charles H. King, Calvin Kent, William Lutz, Noah Lenhart, Will-
iam Long, William H, Liggett (died in service), Benjamin F*. Lee
(killed in battle), Charles Loomis (died in service), Henry Mack,
Isaac Miller, Luther A. Miller, Henry Morrill, Roswell More, John
R. More, Perry S. Moore, Samuel Marshall, Lester Moore, Thomas
W. Nash, Sumner Nash, Dr. E. K. Nash, Joseph Pierson (died in
service), Silas Payne, Lorin L. Porter, Harmon Prior, Russell Phil-
lips, James Pierson (died in Andersonville prison), Elisha Pursell,
Galen Richmond, James Randall, Charles Robinson (killed in
battle), Ciiarl'^s Richmond, Norman Salisbury (died in service),
F'ranklin J. Smith. James Stanbridge, Joseph Scanlin, Adam
Stoner, Philenus Smith, William Stoton, William H. Spears>
Ephraim Sutton, Williatn Sherman, Richmond Shaw, John Spears,
Thomas G. Trembath, Edward Te\vksbury (see also Copley), Gren-
ville Thorp, H. Thompson, James Turner, Robert Volentine, Peter
White, George W. Worden (died in service), W. W. Williamson, S.
A. Waite, George H. Youells, Adam Zealy, Jacob Zimmerman.
BATH AS A RAILROAD CENTER.
In 1833, the Clinton Line Extension Railroad, from Hudson to
Tiffin, was organized, with Prof. Henry N. Day, of Hudson presi-
dent, and Hon. Van R. Humphrey as one of the directors. From
Hudson the line extended southwesterly through Northampton
and Bath, crossing the Cuyahoga Valle}'^ near the residence of the
late James R. Brown, in Northampton, and running up the Yellow
Cre»ek valle3s through the township of Bath.
About $7(),01X) were expended in grading the road between
Husdon and Ghent, a large quantity of stone for bridging the
creek flowing into Yellow Creek from the north, were hauled upon
the ground. Quite a business boom, in fact; was created in and
about Ghent; manufactures Avere stimulated, stores multiplied,
hotels flourished, etc.; the northernmost of the two hotels, then
existing there, near w^here the road was laid, being rechristened
the " Railroad House."
But alack! and alas! for the metropolitan hopes of the confid-
ing Ghentites, and the local subscribers to the capital stock. In
1856, the bottom fell out of the Clinton Line Extension, and the
various other "lines" that were to form the Great Through Line
bath's moral status. (549
loetween Philadelphia and Council Bluffs, and the work was never
completed. But amid the multiplicity of surveys now being made
(1891), and new roads now being projected, it is not improbable that
the early hopes of the good people of Bath, as a railroad center, may
yet, ere long, be realized.
EARLY CROOKEDNESS— WILLIAM LATTA. ETC.
In its early history, the fair reputation of Bath was somewhat
smirched by the depredations of the gang of " crooks," whose princi-
pal theater of operations was in the valley of the Cuyahoga, upon
its eastern border. The labj'rinthine and heavily timbered hills
and gullies of the eastern portion of the township were admirably
adapted to clandestine mintage and banking, and the concealment
of horses, sheep, and such other animals or property, as it might be
deemed advisable to place in hiding.
In the southern central part of the township, also, L,atta's Tav-
ern w^as one of the chief resorts and marts of the fraternity, its
proprietor, William Latta, being one of the principal lieutenants of
the "great captain," w^hose biography will be found in full in
another chapter of this history. This man, Latta, w^as a fine speci-
men of phj^sical manhood, tall, w^ell-proportioned, pleasant featured
and, though of quite a limited education, was singularly urbane
and persuasive in his manners and conversation, always su-
perbly dressed, with ruffle-shirt front, gold watch, elaborate fob-
chain, seals, etc. Beside the regular traveling custom of the time,
this house was well "patronized" by the most influential members
of the fraternity, alwaj^s well dressed and w^ith plenty of money
which was liberally dispensed in the way of "treats" to the local
frequenters of the hotel. It is, perhaps, scarcely to be wondered at,
that many of the really honest, and hard-working, but illy remu-
nerated, 3^eomanry of the neighborhood, should have yielded to the
blandishments of these seeming gentlemen, or to have been
drawn into their nefarious schemes and practices. Hence, w^hen
a united effort was made, by the authorities of Portage, Medina
and Cuyahoga counties, in the middle and later thirties, to break
up the gang, it is not at all singular, that quite a large num-
ber of the citizens of Bath should have been seriously implicated.
It is but justice to the township, however, to say, that in consider-
ation of their having been the victims of malign and adverse
influences, rather than inherentl}-^ dishonest, and of the valuable
information imparted to the officers in regard to the leaders of the
gang, the most of those who had been taken into custody, or placed
under surveillance, were not proceeded against, and thenceforth
led honora])le lives in the several communities where they resided.
A MIDNIGHT ADVENTURE.
Of course, there w^ere exceptions to this rule, in w^hich the
evil-doers were either brought to merited punishment or driven
out of the State, and even at a later date some very serious
offenses were perpetrated and the w^rong-doers duly punished or
forced to leav^e the neighborhood. But ever, and alw^ays, the
majority of the early inhabitants of Bath were honest, and ready
toco-operate Avith tlie authorities in the detection and punishment
of crime. Without disparagement to others, among the most
active, in this direction, were Mr. Peter Voris (father of judge A. C.
650
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Voris) and Mr. John Alexander (father of Hon. J. Park Alexander),
Many laughable, as well as perilous, incidents might be men-
tioned, did space permit, but this one must suffice. In endeavor-
ing to trace a stolen horse, which was supposed to be temporarily-
concealed in the jungles of Eastern Bath, Marshal Mills procured
the assistance of Mr. Alexander, whom he stationed at the ford
near Yellow Creek basin, while Mills himself kept guard over the
ford at Old Portage. About midnight two men, riding one horse,
approached the lower ford, and were requested by Mr. Alexander,
to set him across the river. Refusing to do so, with many oaths
and abusive epithets, Mr. Alexander seized the rein of the bridle,
whereupon the fellow in the rear slipped off the horse, on the
opposite side, and ran into the bushes. The other one started to
JOHN ALEXANDER, JR.,~born in
J Washing-ton county. Pa., Novem-
ber 18, 179^) ; common school educa-
tion ; raised a farmer; married, Sep-
tember 16, 1828, to Miss Mary Scott ;
came to Ohio in February. 1831, set-
tling- on a farm near the southeast
corner of Bath township, among the
few permanent residents of the town-
ship, at that time, being the Hales,
the Hammonds, the N ashes, the Bald-
w^ins, the Millers, and later. Peter
Voris, with his large family of iiojs,
including Judge Alvin Voris, now of
Akron. Mr. Alexander was a man of
great energy and courage, largely
aiding the authorities in breaking up
the strong and influential gang of
counterfeiters and horse thieves then
infesting the valley of the Cuyahoga ,
fully written of elsewhere, and
though often warned that if he did
not leave the township he would be
killed, he lived to see the disreputable
gang entirely eliminated from the
valley. He was an earnest supporter
of the church, the school and all pub-
lic improvements. Mr. and Mrs.
Alexander were the parents of seven
children— David S., born July 7, 1829,
died November 17, 1890; Joseph H.,
born March 11, 1832, now residing in
Kansas ; John Park, whose portrait
and bio^aphy are given elsewhere;
ft
JOHN ALEXANDER, JR.
and William G., of Toledo, born
November 12, 1839, the other three
dying in infancy. Mr. Alexander
died September 25, 1855, at the age of
55 3'ears, 10 months and 7 days ; Mrs.
Alexander, born February 14, 1799,
dying June 29, 1878, aged 79 years, 4
months and 15 days.
follow, w^hen Alexander, stepping quickly to the other side of the
horse, caught him as he struck the ground,. In the tussle which
ensued, Alexander finally settled his man by a few vigorous blows
upon the head with a solid hickory cane w^hich he carried. Being
obliged, in the melee, to release his hold upon the bridle, the horse
started back tow^ards the Basin, and Mr. Alexander went in pur-
suit of it. Having secured his horse he returned to gather up his
prisoner, but found him non est'. Alexander then mounted the
horse and joined Mills at the upper ford, whereupon the two
reconnoitred the river and canal as far north as Johnnj" Cake
Lock, which they reached just at day light. Suspecting that one
or both of the men which Mr. Alexander had encountered, might
be secreted about the grocery kept at that point, a search of the
ROUTIX(; OUT THE "CROOKS." 651
premises was made, and a fellow was fished out of the loft w^ith a
"bunged" eye and a freshly bruised head. Though protesting that
he had got hurt by being squeezed between a boat and the lock,
the evening before, he was taken into custody and lodged in jail.
The captured horse, though not the one they were in pursuit of,
proved to have been stolen from a neighboring county, and the
man thus curiously arrested proved to.be the thief, and was duly
convicted and sent to the penitentiary.
WILLIAM LATTA IN LIMBO.
Though then a resident of Medina county, the grand jury of
Portage county, at the January term, 1834, through the efforts of
Prosecuting Attorney Lucius V. Bierce, found a bill of indictment
against Latta on the charge of counterfeiting, or of having coun-
terfeit money in his possession with intent to pass the same. To
this indictment Latta entered a plea of not guilty, and gave bail in
the sum of $1,000 for his appearance at the March term of court, to
answ^er to said charge.
Latta Forfeits His Bail. — At the March term, on his case
being called, Latta failed to appear, and his bail was duly declared
forfeited. On investigation it was found that Latta had disposed
of his interests at the Corners, closed up his business affairs, and
skipped to parts unknown. Though as diligent inquiries as the
condition of the country, and the facilities then in vogue, w^ould
admit of, were instituted, no trace of him could be found, though
in the latter part of 1837, after the arrest of Col. William Ashley,
as elsewhere stated, Latta clandestinely visited Boston, and recov-
ered that portion of the "assets" of the firm of Latta, Holmes &
Ashley, that w^ere not found by the authorities, when the latter
w^as arrested. These "assets" consisted of counterfeit plates as
follows: One $50 plate on the Mechanics' Bank of New York; two
$10's on the United States Bank, letters H. & G.; one $2, on the
Bank of Newport, R. I.; $1, $2, $3, $5, $10, and $50, on the Bank of
Toronto, together with some $40,000 of Toronto bills.
Latta Again in the Toils. — In 1838, after Ashley's conviction
and incarceration in the penitentiary, as elsewhere detailed, and
w^hile the great "generalissimo" of the fraternity, "Jim" Brown, was
under $10,000 bonds in Medina county, $9,00() in Portage county,
and $1,000 in Cuyahoga county ($20,0(X) in all), on similar charges,
the latter (whether in the interest of public justice, or to "curry
favor" with the officers, deponent sayeth not), gave Latta away,
informing the authorities of his whereabouts, and deposing, before
Justice Jacob Brown, to having seen the two $10 United States
plates in Latta's possession, and of Latta's telling him, ^vhile in
Boston, that he also had the other plates and the money above
spoken of. On this affidavit, a warrant \^as issued, and Constable
Warren H. Smith (brother of the late L. N. Smith), following the
clue given by Brow^n, w^ent to Indiana, secured Latta's arrest, and,
as he was unw^illing to come to Ohio w^ithout a requisition, lodged
hitn in jail, and returned home to procure one. This, it should be
remembered, was before there were any railroads or telegraph
facilities here, as no>v.
Latta's Extradition to Ohio. — Deputy United States Marshal,
Ithiel Mills, Esq., immediately, on Smith's return, went by stage to
^52 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Columbus, and, securing a requisition, proceeded b}'^ stage to Indian-
apolis, where he obtained, from the Governor of that State, a
warrant for Latta's extradition to Ohio. On his arrival at the
place where Constable Smith had left him, however, Mills found
that his bird had flown, having been released from jail under a
writ of habeas corpus. Anticipating another visit from the Ohio
officer, Latta w^ent into concealment, but by a little strategy, Mills
succeeded in tracing him to his lair, and bringing him safely to
Akron.
Here, on the testimony of " Jim " Brow^n, Justice Jacob Bro^vn
held Latta to bail in the sum of $15,000, in default of which he Avas
committed to jail, at Ravenna. This was the latter part of August,
1838. On the same testimony, the grand jury of Portage county-
found a bill of indictment against Latta, but, under one pretext
or another, the trial w^as postponed until the September term of
court, 1839.
Latta Again at IvIBERty. — In the meantime, as w^ill be seen
by a perusal of the chapter pertaining to that gentleman, "Jim"
Brow^n, had so succeeded in ">vorking" the witness against him, as
to be beyond immediate danger. Latta's case w^as called, a jury
empanelled and the preliminary^ statements of counsel made in
due form. Brown, the principal witness for the State, being called
to the stand, to the great surprise of the officers who had so inde-
fatigably worked up the case, peremptorily declined to ansvirerany
questions touching the accused, on the ground that doing so would
tend to criminate himself. This ended the trial and Latta was
accordingly set at liberty. The former charge, in which his bail
had been forfeited, having meantime been noUied, Latta imme-
diatel}^ disappeared, and so far as the Avriter is aware, was never
again seen in this vicinity, but was for many years thereafter
reputed to be pursuing the same dark and devious ways, so char-
acteristic of him here, in the State of Indiana.
EDUCATIONAL, RELIGIOUS, ETC.
Though not maintaining any academical or so-called high
schools within her borders, the educational facilities of Bath, ^\ath
a full complement of snug and well-equipped district school build-
ings, have alvt^a^^s been exceptionally good. In religious matters,
the Presbyterians for many years maintained a house of worship
at the center of the town, and the Methodists at Hammond's Cor-
ners, her people also having ready access to the United Brethren
^'Centennial" Church, on the Richfield line' upon the north, the
Disciple Church on the Granger line upon the west, and the
United Brethren Church at Montrose upon the south, her people
at the present time being among the most intelligent and moral
on the Western Reserve; maintaining, also, a most flourishing
Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, now such a potent factor in
promoting the intellectual, social and material interests of the peo-
ple of the rural districts of the country.
RETROGRADE IN POPULATION.
During the first twenty-five or thirty years after the first settle-
ment in Bath began, its growth in population was steady and
comparatively rapid, so that in 1840 its population was 1,425. For
POPULATION — OFFICIAL ROSTER, ETC.
653
the past twenty-five or thirty years, ho\\rever,o>ving to the changed
conditions of doing business — merging the small industries of the
villages and country places in the larger establishments in the
cities, and the irltroduction of agricultural labor-saving machinery,
by w^hich less human muscle is needed to accomplish the same
results as formerly upon the farm — to say nothing about that
formerly expended in the clearing of their lands — the population
of most of the townships of the Reserve has materially receded, the
decennial enumeration for 1890 giving to Bath a population of 990
souls only, a falling off of 435 in 50 years.
Present Official Roster (1891). — Trustees, John Hershey, A.
W. Shade, Robert Y. Robinson; Clerk, George Youells; Treasurer,
William H. Spears; Justices of the Peace, Henry Pardee, William
Davis; Postmasters, Bath (at Hammond's Corners), Siegel B..
Whitcraft; Ghent, Otis R. Hershey; Montrose, Samuel Briggs.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
BOSTON TOWxVSHIP—EARLY SETTLEMENT— ORGANIZATION, NAME, ETC.— PIO-
NEER INCIDENT AND EXPERIENCE— THE INDIAN'S PARADISE— MANUFAC-
TURING RE.SOURCES— MILITARY PROWESS— BOSTON IN COUNTY AND STATE
AFFAIRS — COUNTERFEITING HEADQUARTERS — THE GANG BROKEN UP —
"COL." WILLIAM ASHLEY'S ARREST, CONVICTION, IMPRISONMENT AND
DEATH— FULL HISTORY OF THE NOTORIOUS "JIM" BROWN— SUBvSEQUENT
EXCITING CRIMES, MURDERS, BURGLARIES, ETC. -MODERN BOSTON, MORAL
INTELLIGENT, ENTERPRISING.
BOSTON'S TOPOGRAPHY.
The township of Boston, like most of the tow^ns along the line
of the Cuyahoga river through Summit county, is largely broken
up into precipitous hills and deep gullies, though beyond these
bluffs, on either side, there are some fine farming lands, and occa-
sional fertile and tillable areas along the river bottoms.
The river is exceedingly tortuous through the entire town-
ship, and, a little north and w^est of the geographical center, it
makes an abrupt turn to the eastward, and circling around to the
north and w^est, enclosing some 18 or 20 acres of rich bottom land,
comes back to within about 50 or 60 feet of the point of divergence,
whence it again resumes its general northwesterly course to
Lake Erie.
The Village of Peninsula. — In making this peninsular cir-
cuit, there is a fall in the river of nearly eight feet, so that by
the erection of a low^ dam on the upper side, and tunneling through
the narrow^ neck of land indicated, a fine water powder is secured,
w^hich has been utilized for milling purposes for nearly three-
quarters of a centur3\ This eccentricity of the river has furnished
its very appropriate name for the flourishing village of Peninsula,
the principal business center of the township; a dam a short dis-
tance higher up the river furnishing a large volume of additional
w^ater-pow^er for manufacturing purposes, upon both sides of the
river.
•In the construction of the Valley Railway, the entire volume
of the water of the river has been let through the narrow^ neck of
the peninsula, east of the mill. The w^ater pow^er of the mill is
considerably improved thereby, w^hile the bottom lands of the
peninsula are less liable to overflow in case of freshet. This
arrangement also greatly facilitates the operations of the railw^ay,
and the making, harvesting and shipping of ice from the old bed
of the river, w^liich is amply supplied for that purpose, through a
small creek formed bj^ several large springs in the ledges to the
eastw^ard.
The Ancient Village of Boston. — A mile and a-half further
north is the original business point of the township, the village of
Boston. Here, too, by means of a substantial darn thrown across
the river, its waters have been used for milling purposes since
BOSTON S BEGINNING.
605
1821 ; at first upon the west side of the river, but after the con-
struction of the Ohio Canal, transferred to the east side; the
original improvement of this character in the tow^nship being
made here, in the year named, by Capt. Watrous Mather, who
afterward, in the early thirties, removed to Akron, erecting a
story and a-half frame house on Brown street, which is still
standing, and in which he died May 18, 1844, aged 66 years.
r^ EORGE STANFORD, - born in
^ Beaver count)% Pa., October 9,
1800 ; came with parents to Warren,
O., in 1802. and to Boston in 1800.
which township his father, James
Stanford, assisted Alfred Wolcott,
Sr., in survejuug the year previous,
and being the second faniil}- to set-
tle in the township, the 196 acre farm
on the east bank of the Cuyahog-a
river being- now occupied by the
grandson of the original proprietor,
George C. Stanford, Ksq. George
Stanford was married to Catharine
Carter, of Boston township, Januar}-
17. 1828, who died December 20, 1872.
aged 68 j'ears, having borne him
eight children, one or whom onl3%
George C, now survives. Mr. George
Stanford was a model farmer, ster-
ling citizen and a consistent mem-
ber of the Methodist church, being-
appointed bj^ the people of the town-
ship to man}- positions of trust and
for six years officiating as justice of
the peace. Mr. Stanford died March
7, 188;^, aged 82 years, 4 months and 8
days. George C. Stanford, born
April 18, 1839, was married to Miss
lyida Wetmore, daughter of William
Wetmore, Esq., one of Stow's pioneer
GEORGE HTAXFORD.
settlers, December 23, 1869. They
have three children — Ellen, born
February 6, 1871 ; Perkins W., born
May 2, 1874 ; Clayton J., born August
4, 1877. George C. was postmaster at
Boston from 1875 to 1885.
"Johnny Cake" Lock, — Near the south line of the township is
quite a hamlet known for many years by -the above "toothsome"
and "gustatory" appellation, from these alleged circumstances: A
short distance above the lock, at this point, Furnace Run, an incon-
si<lerable stream, ordinarily, empties into the canal, as a feeder.
In the spring of 1828, during a heavy freshet, so much sand was
w^ashed into the bed of the canal as to entirely impede navigation
for several days. This brought together a number of boats from
both above and below, with not only their crew^s but a consider-
able number of passengers to be subsisted, pending the making of
the necessary repairs. Commissary supplies running short on
''shipboard," and the inhabitants of the vicinity being sparse and
meagerly su^^plied with provisions, corn meal — ^" Johnny-cake
timber" — soon became the only edible obtainable, and Johnny
Cake it was, inorning, noon and night, until the blockade was
raised, and Johnny Cake Lock it has been ever since, though for a
number of years it was sought to change it to " Unionville," and
since the advent of the Valley Railway, a station and a post-
office have been established there under the official name of
'' Everett."
656
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Line Boat AND "Packet Navigation. — Previous to the advent
of railroads, in addition to the transportation of merchandise and
produce, canal passenger travel Avas considered the very acme of
spettd, comfort and convenience. For this purpose quite large bow-
cabins were fitted up in good style, with sleeping and table accom-
modations for from 12 to 20 passengers, w^ith corresponding culi-
nary accommodations at the stern; the midships, only, being
devoted to freight. Instead of every boat owner going upon his
own hook, as now, regular freight and passenger lines were estab-
lished, w^ith stations at convenient points for the care and
exchange of horses, no horses being carried upon any boat except
such as were then called scows. One of the most important of these
stations was Johnny Cake Lock, the largest land owner of the
vicinitj^, the late Alanson Swan, erecting commodious stables, a
grocery store and quite an extensive warehouse, so that for many
years "Johnny Cake" was regarded as quite a business emporiuinr
especially during the packet-boat era from about 1837 to 1852.
MR. HERMON BRONSON.
MRS. HERMON BRONSON.
MR. AND MRS. HERMON BRONSON, -were natives of Waterbury,Cotin.,
the former born December 17, 1774, the latter (Mary Hickox) December
17, 1777 ; were married in Waterburj^ Deceml)er 18, 1795 ; moved to Ohio in
1801, settling- in Cleveland, then a ver3' small hamlet, Mr. B. working- at the
carpenter's trade ; in 1812, he enlisted in the armj-, she returning to Waterbury
on horseback, with her four children, the joungest a babe. At the close of
the war they removed to Lorain countj^ and engaged in farming, in 1821
returning to Cleveland, and three years later, in 1824, locating at Peninsula,
Boston township. Here Mr. Bronson became a large land owner, and built,
and for many years successfullj^ conducted the pioneer saw and grist mills
at that place, besides liberallj^ promoting the various other industrial and
business enterprises of the village. Their children were — Julia, afterwards
Mrs. Pope ; Hannah, afterwards Mrs. White ; Rhoda, afterwards Mrs. Pajaie,
and later Mrs. Jacob Barnhart ; and Hiram Volnej, whose pprtrait and biog-
raphy will be found on another page. Mr. and Mrs. Bronson were both
liberal and public spirited, he having filled niany local positions of trust
and honor ; in 1835, organizing a Protestant Episcopal Church, btiilding at
his own expense, a comfortable house of worship (still standing), dedicated
by Bishop Mcllvaine, in 1839, as "Bethel Episcopal Church," the building
being reiuodeled in 1889, by his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Ruth Ranney Bronson,
and its name changed by decree of courts to " Bronson Memorial Church."
Mr. Bronson died December 18, 1853, aged 79 years and one day ; Mrs. B.
dying Februiary 18, 1858, aged 80 j-ears, 2 months and 1 day.
BOSTON S PIONEER SETTLERS.
657
Early Settlement, Pioneers, etc. — Boston township was not
settled as early as Hudson, and perhaps two or three otfier town-
ships of Suinniit county. The first actual settler is supposed to
have been Alfred Wolcott, Sr., the father of the late Hon. Alfred
Wolcott, ex-representative of Summit county in the State Legis-
lature. Mr. Wolcott w^as a native of Connecticut and had early
emigrated to Trumbull county. Being a practical surveyor, he
was sent by General Simon Perkins and others to survey the lands
owned by them, in what afterwards came to l)e known as Boston
township. This was probably in 1805, as in the early Spring of
1806, having in the meantime been married to Miss Hannah Craig,
of Youngstown, he erected a log cabin on the tract of 115 acres of
land, w^hich he had selected in the northeast part of the township,
and being a part of the same farm lately occupied by his son, Hon.
Alfred Wolcott. Mr. Wolcott's first selection w^as in the valley,
w^here Mr. George C. Stanford now lives, a short distance north of
the village of Boston, but was given up, at the instance of his
young wife, on account of the supposed unhealthiness of that
location. Two other men, Samuel Kwart and John Teale, accom-
panied Wolcott to the township, but of whose subsequent history
little is now^ known, except that Ewart died in Sandusky in 1815.
HON. ALFRED WOLCOTT,— son
of Boston's pioneer settler, Al-
fred Wolcott, Sr.; born in Boston,
Januar}^ 28, 1812; educated in district
schools. His father dying in 1835,
April 18, 1836, Mr. Wolcott was mar-
ried to Miss Mary Scovill, who was
born in Connecticut, in 1821; pur-
chasing- a farm in Northfield, soon
afterwards exchanging- with his
brother for the old homestead in
Boston, which, having greatly en-
larged and itnproved,he continuously
occupied until his death, March 17,
1891, aged 79 j-ears, 1 month and 19
days. In 1869 Mr. Wolcott was
elected, on the Republican ticket, to
the State Legislature, serving two
years; also served as assessor and
in man}' other positions of trust and
honor in his township. Mr. and Mrs.
Wolcott were the parents of six
children— Hon. Simon Perkins Wol-
cott, a graduate of Western Reserve
College, late senator for Summit
and Portage counties, now practic-
ing law in Kent; John M. Wolcott,.
furniture manufacturer in Grand
Rapids, Mich.; Anna M.. wife of Rev.
Lem. B. Bissell, Congregational
preacher in Monroe, Mich ; Alfred
Wolcott, Jr., gTj^duate of Western
HOiV. ALFRED WOLCOTT.
Reserve College, now practicing law
in Grand Rapids, Mich.; Charles
Fremont, farmer on the old home-
stead; Andrew A., enlisted in Com-
pany D, 29th. O. V. L, died at Alex-
andria, Va., September 4, 1862.
About simultaneously with the advent of Wolcott, 1806, came
James Stanford, Adam and William Vance and Abner Robinson,
the former settling upon the tract in the valley, which had been
rejected by Wolcott as above stated, and which has proved to be
one of the most fertile farms, as well as one of the most salubrious
locations in the township ; for it does not necessarily follow that
42
658
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY
high lands are always health}' and low lands always unhealthy ;
miasmatic vapors often rising above the habitations in the river
valley and invading those of the higher table lands on either side.
Organization, Name, etc. — ^From this time on, the settlement
of the neighborhood was quite rapid, the three present townships
of Boston, Richfield and Northfield being one, so that at the first
election of township officers, held by order of the county commis-
sioners of Portage county, January 15, 1811, at the house of Tim-
othy Bishop, there were about 30 voters present. There is some
discrepancy of opinion as to the naming of the township, Mrs. Eli
Gayldrd, of Stow, daughter of Alfred Wolcott, Sr., claiming that it
was named by her father, w^hen making the survey, as above
stated, while other accounts show that about 1807 Messrs. Wolcott,
Stanford, Ew^art, Teale, and a few others, held a consultation upon
the subject, at which Mr. Wolcott suggested the name of Wolcotts-
burg, and Mr. E^vart that of Ewartsville, neither of which cogno-
mens found favor with the majority, and that finally Mr. Stanford
proposed the name of Boston, w^hich was unanimously adopted.
HIRAM VOLNEY BRONSON,—
son of Hernion and Mary
(Hickox) Bronson, was born in Cleve-
land. December 12, 1811 ; removing
with parents to Peninsula, in 1824 ;
educated in schools of vicinitj- and
aided his father in conducting his
large farming- and milling' interests in
and about Peninsula. Mr. Bronson
was active in politics, first as a Whig
and later as a Repviblican, served
several years as justice of the peace,
was Peninsula's first postmaster,
serving eight years, was also Penin-
sula's first maj-or, and during the
War of the Rebellion was Deputy U.
S. Internal Revenue Assessor.
Thoroughly posted in affairs, Mr.
Bronson was authority in political
and historical matters, local, state
and national. June 7, 1835, he was
married to Miss Ruth L. Ranney, a
native of Boston township, daughter
of Comfort Rannej', one of the earli-
est pioneer settlers of that vicinity,
who bore three children— Lucy, born
May 1, 1838, now Mrs. P. H. Dudley, of
New York City ; Emilj^ born May 7,
1843, now Mrs. Col. A. L. Conger, of
Akron, and Hermon, born August 15,
HIKAM VOLXEY BRONSON.
1843, now residing in Cleveland. Mr.
Bronson died November 1, 1881, aged
69 years, 10 months and 19 days. Mrs.
Bronson still survives.
This initial election was only a temporary affair, the officers
elected holding only till the regular election on the first Monday of
the ensuing April. Alfred Wolcott and Moses Cunningham w^ere
chosen as justices of the peace; William Beers, clerk; Aaron
Miller, Andre\v Johnson and Timothy Bishop, trustees; Jonathan
Iddings and Isaac Bacon, overseers of the poor; Launcelot Mays,
treasurer, and James Jordan, constable.
At the April election the justices, trustees, clerk, overseers of
the poor and constable previously chosen, virere re-elected, John
Duncan being substituted for Launcelot Mays as treasurer, and
POPULATION, GROWTH, ETC.
659
additional offices filled as follows: Alfred Wolcott and James Stan-
ford, fence viewers; Moses Cunningham and William Beers, list-
ers; Aaron Miller, John Cunningham and James Stanford, super-
visors, and Robert Donaldson as an additional constable.
It will thus be seen that four of the parties above natned were
elected to t>vo positions each; viz: Alfred Wolcott, justice of the
peace and fence viewer; Moses Cunningham, justice of the peace
and lister; William Beers, clerk and lister; Aaron Miller, trustee
and supervisor; a proceeding that, even if lawful, would hardly be
sanctioned, in the general scramble for office in these latter days.
■LTRASTUS JACKSON,— born Sep-
-L> teniber 16, 1810, in the Province
of Upper Canada, 50 miles west of
Kingston, reinoving with parents,
in infanc}', to Western New York;
educated in common schools; minor-
ity passed on farm; in Winter of 1831,
'32 taug^ht school; in Spring- of 1832
came West, clerking one Summer in
store at Boston Village; in the Fall
returned to Western New York and
engaged in teaching-; in 1837, again
came to Boston; clerked in grocery
at the "Lock" through the Summer
and taught school the first Winter; in
Spring of 1838 went into grocery busi-
ness for himself, continuing four
years; in 1842, started a furnace,
which he ran two years; in 1844, in
company with Mr. John Cong-er, en-
gaged in brick making, supplying
brick for the Empire House, and
manj^ of the earlier business blocks
and private residencefe of Akron.
Mr. Cong-er dying- November 30, 1853,
Mr. Jackson continued the business
for two years in partnership with the
two sons of Mr. Conger, when he
withdrew and has since been suc-
cessfully engaged in farming,
having, in June, 1854, married the
widow of his former partner, Mrs.
Hannah (Beals) Conger, who was
born in Goshen, Mass., in 1805. In
ERASTUS JACKSON.
politics an earlj- Whig-, and later an
ardent Republican, besides serving
as township clerk five j'ears, justice
of the peace twelve years, and treas-
urer several years, Mr. Jackson was
postmaster of Boston from 1849 to
1853, and postmaster of Peninsula
from 1877 to 1885.
Pioneer Incident and Experience. — The settlement of the
township of Boston, proper, after its separation from Northfield
and Richfield, though not remarkably rapid, was steady, so that
on the organization of Summit county, in 1840, it numbered, as
shown by the census of that year, 845 souls, the census of 1880
giving the population at 1,225, an increase of a trifle over 50 per
cent, in 40 years, the census of 1890 show^ing a slight increase, the
total population of the township (including Peninsula, 562), being
1,273, a far better showing than the majority of the townships of
the county. The first male child born in the township was
Andrew J., son of James Stanford, born March 27, 1806; the first
female child being the daughter of Alfred Wolcott, Melinda, born
April 14, 1807. The first marriage in the township, on the 29th of
July, 1812, was William Carter to Elizabeth Mays; the first one to
die in the township being Mary Ann Post, daughter of Henry
Post, Sr., June 9, 1808. .
#
660
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
The township is rife with traditions of pioneer incidents and
adventures with Indians and wild beasts, both serious and com-
ical, too numerous and voluminous to be fully embodied in this
Avork. Boston and vicinity \^^as, however, previous to the advent
of the whites, a sort of Indian paradise: the bottom lands being-
planted to orchards, corn, etc., the hills and gullies abounding in
all kinds of game, and the river and smaller streams well stocked
with an almost infinite variety of fish. Here, also, were found, by
the early white settlers, the remains of Indian villages, dwellings,
forts, mounds, burial places, altars, idols, etc., some of which are
still visible, while innumerable relics of Indian life, labor and
sport, have been gathered up by their pale-faced successors to the
aboriginal domain.
LEWIS M. Janes,— born in Hart-
ford, Conn., Feb. 6, 1798, in early
manhood engaged in merchandising-
in Central New York and Montreal,
Canada ; in the early thirties moved
to York, Medina County, Ohio, and
about 1834 to Peninsula, where he
engaged in the lumber trade. In
1844, Mr. Janes was elected sherrff of
Summit county, which office he ably
filled two full terms, afterwards offi-
ciating as deputy for several of his
successors. In 1863, Mr. Janes was
elected a justice oi the peace for
Portage township, acceptably filling-
that position until his death by
drowning, on the occasion of the
sinking of the propeller Pewabic, on
which he and his son Edward P.
were passengers, bj^ the steamer
Meteor upon Lake Huron, on the
night of August 9, 1865. Mrs. Janes,
w^hose maiden name was Abby Phil-
lips Allen, was an invalid for many
years, her death occurring in Akron,
October 23, 1847, at the age of 50 years
and 15 days. They were the parents
of eight children — Thomas Mumford,
Martha Cornelia, Frances Henrietta,
Mary Mumford (wife of Rev. Abra-
LEWIvS M. JANES.
ham E. Baldwin), Lewis Frederick^
Elizabeth Louise, Edward Plyiupton
and Henry Dwight, the latter, only,
surviving, and with his wife and two
children residing in Plainfield, N. J.
BOSTON'S MILITARY PROWESS.
Of Boston's early inhabitants several were well known to have
participated in the Revolutionary War of 1776 to 1783, but unfor-
tunately their names and records are not noAV available, excepting
in the case of Mr. Henry Brown, who served during the entire
seven years' struggle, dying in Boston, October 17, 1837, in the
104th year of his age, and Mr. Simeon Tupper, 74, reported as a
pensioner by the census of 1840. In the War of 1812, also, Boston
took a lively interest, furnishing a number of soldiers for the pro-
tection of the frontier, but whose names are not now ascertain-
able. In the scrimmage with Mexico, in 1846-48, Boston does not
seem to have w^orked up any special enthusiasm, the names of
George Paige, wounded at Churubusco, William Mory, who died in
the service, Charles Parker and Frank Brannan, only having been
handed down as soldiers in that war.
boston's military status.
661
But in the War of the Rebellion Boston was " up and fully
dressed." Party lines, which had theretofore been tightly drawn —
with the Democratic part}^ generally ahead — were obliterated, and
the members of that party vied with their Republican neighbors
in responding to the several calls for troops during the existence
of that bloody struggle, as the complete roster given below abun-
dantly demonstrates:
PDMUND H. COLE, — Born in
J-^ Niagara County, N. Y., in 1824;
removed with parents to Ohio in
1832, settling- in Northampton town-
ship (near Hawkins' Bridge); edu-
•cated in district schools; afterwards
engaging in teaching, and later in
buying and shipping stock ; in 1856
dissociated himself with Frederick
^nd Thomas Wood, under the firm
name of Wood, Cole & Co., in the
mercantile business at Peninsula ;
in 1863 bought out his partners, suc-
cessfully continuing the business
until his death, Jan. 11, 1876 ; was
married November 15, 1848, to Miss
Ann L. Boies, of Peninsula, who bore
him four children— Arthur M. and
Herbert W., whose portraits and
biographies appear elsewhere;
Nellie, now wife of Dr.William Boers
tier, of Peninsula, and Fred. Hay-
den, now a member of the Akron Sil-
ver Plate Company. Enterprising
and energetic, Mr. Cole took a just
pride in forwarding the best interests
of his village and county — agricul-
tural, educational, etc.— for several
years acting as marshal of the
Count}^ Fair, and during the war
g-iving freely of his time and money
EDMUND H. COLE.
in securing enlistments, and the pro-
motion of the cause of the Union.
Mrs. Cole still resides at Peninsula,
the three sons all being now enter-
prising business men of the citj'' of
Akron.
BOSTON'S ROLL OF HONOR.
Robert L. Andrew, Emanuel R. Andrew, Angelo Andrew,
Robert Andrew, Isidore M. Bishop, Levi B. Boody, Jacob Barn-
hart, William H. Barnhart, Thomas Blackburn, Frederick W.
Boies, Charles E. Boies, Charles Bryant, Edward Brady, John
Cady, Rufus Cook (died in service), Simon Cook, Miles J. Collier,
James Cassidy, John C. Conger, Arthur L. Conger, Thomas Cody
(lost on Sultana), George Chamberlin, James Courtney (killed in
battle), William H. Chapman, Samuel Case, Adelbert B. Coe,
George Corp, George Cassie (died in service), James Dolan (lost on
Sultana), George H. Dotts, O. A. Davis, William Everhart (died in
service), William Emory, James N. Edgerly, Elijah Everett (died
in service), Amzi Eddy, Charles Felton, William Fields, Philetus
Foster, John G. Garrison (lost on Sultana), John Greenover, Joseph
Gould, E. Harrington, William V. Rowland, Asa D. Hatch, Darwin
R. Hall, Richard Hickin (killed in battle), Freeman Humes (lost on
Sultana), Edward S. Haskell, Wallace W. Humphrey, Alonzo W.
Hancock, John Halpin, John D. Hall, Andj-ew Hall, Adar H.
Johnson, Daniel Kilbow, Josiah A. Kellogg, Frederick W. Kellogg,
George C. Kellogg, Cyrus E. Kellogg, Albert A. Kellogg, Nicholas
662
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Knapp, Edward Lee, David Lee (died in service), William Long,.
William Lewis, Henry Livingston, Orson J. Mott, Amos Mott,
Oliver Mott (died in service), John Mott, Lorenzo Mott, RoUin H.
Morgan, Joseph McCleaf, Robert Mcllwain (killed in battle), Daniel
McAffee, John Mclntyre, Marvin Myers, Sylvester Miller, Peter J.
Murphy, James Mahan, James Moore, Charles Mead, Charles F.
Miles, Adam McLaughlin, James Martin, Charles Napp, Elmus
Noah (died in service), Andre^v Ozman, Willjam Patterson, George
Post, Samuel W. Perry, Clark Pierce, George H, Post, Sumner
Pixley, Benjamin F. Price, Luinan F. Pickle, Arthur H. Pickle, C.
Rannej', Irwin Richardson, Nathan E. Rose (died at home in 1864),.
Alvin C. Rose (killed at Five Forks), John Russell, O. C. Risden,^
John R, Richardson (died in service), Samuel Ready, William R.
Richardson, Henry Richardson, E. Robinson, Andrew Robinson^
William Robinson, M, R. Risden, Charles Scobie (killed in battle)^
Daniel Schoonover, James Seeley, Cyrus Singleton (died in service),
Perkins W. Stanford (died in Andersonville prison), Barney
Schoonover, John Scofield, William Smith, Benjamin Sovacool
(wounded in foot at Pittsburg Landing, carried to rear and not
heard from afterwards), Richard H. Snow, Eli N. Scofield, Isaac
Tupper (died in service), Joseph Timms, John Timms, John Trac}^^
William Van Orman, Ozro W. Van Orman, Francis Van Orman,^
George Van Orman, George L. Waterman (killed by rebel sympa-
thizers while doing guard duty at Dayton, Ohio, at the time of
Clement L. Vallandingham's arrest for treason, in May, 1863), H. H.
Wells, John Welton, Calvin Wilds (died in service), George L.
Wilson, AndrcAV Wolcott (died in service), Jerome O. Wing, George
Welton, Edward Whitney, John H. Zerly.
SIDNEY P. C O N G E R,— Born in
Vermont, Sept. 17, 1829; when a
boy coming' with his parents to Ohio,
settling in Boston township and
working at brickmaking ; also later
engaging largely in farming, dairy-
ing, etc. Nov. 6, 1853, Mr. Conger
•was married to Miss Bridget I. Cody,
of Boston, who died in lanviary, 1861,
leaving two children — Lucia Jean-
ette (now Mrs. Frank Warburton, of
Akron), and Sidney John, now a resi-
dent of Akron. April 10, 1862, Mr.
Conger was again married, to Miss
Rose Ann Mcllwain, of Boston, who
bore him three children — George C,
now a book-keeper in office of Whit-
man Barnes & Co., in Akron ; Marj^
Belle and Allie Blanche ; Mr. Conger
dying August 20. 1874, at the age of
44 years, 11 months and 3 days. Mr.
Conger was a prominent member of
Meridian Sun Lodge, No. 266, F. & A.
M.; was patriotic and liberal during
the War of the Rebellion ; active in
township and county affairs, filling
many local positions of trust, and
ably serving as county commis-
sioner, to fill the vacancy occasioned
SIDNEY P. COXGEK.
by the death of Commissioner Nelson
Upson, from May to December, 1866.
Mrs. Conger and her children now
reside in Akron.
MUNIFICENT MEMORIAL.
Col. Arthur Latliam Conger, now a citizen of Akron, was born
in Boston township, and was also one of her Union s )ldiers in the
MUNIFICENT MEMORIAL.
663
late war, his wife, Mrs. Emily Bronson Conger (daughter of the late
Hiram V. Bronson, deputy United States assessor during the
■war), being also a native of that township. Having been highly
prosperous in business, since the close of the bloody struggle, and
cherishing a high degree of affection for their native town, as well
as a strong sense of gratitude towards her patriotic soldiery, on the
4th day of July, 1889, pre-
beautiful granite monu-
w^hich is herewith given, a
dress being delivered by
donors, Kenyon B. Conger;
ment being done by their
Conger, Jr., a still younger
Conger, dressed in the uni-
of the Republic, and mount-
acting as orderly of the
The monument is of West-
stone being six feet two
ing over five tons. This is
base stones, on the upper
three foot square pedestal,
"Presented to Boston
tham and Emily Bronson
the bravery and patriotism
in the War of the Rebellion
1889;" the other three sides
141 soldiers as above given,
base are the names of four
in which her brave boys
Five Forks, Cedar Creek,
sur-base stands a hand-
shaft, of nearly
surmounted by
carved capitol,
somely execu-
badge on the
w^hole being sur-
finely propor-
a soldier, six feet
height, in fa-
standing at pa-
entire structure
Soldiers' Monument, presented to Bost
Township, bv Col. and Mrs. A.
L. Conifer, July 4, 188.9.
sented to the township a
ment, a representation of
very fine presentation ad-
the eldest son of the
the unveiling of the monu-
second son, Arthur L.
son, Master Latham H.
form of the Grand Army
ed on a fine Arabian pony,
dedication procession,
erly granite entire, the base
inches square, and w^eigh-
surmounted by tvt^o smaller
one of which stands the
thefrontbearingthelegend:
Township, by Arthur La-
Conger, to ccmmemorate
of the soldiers who served
1861-65 — erected July 4,
bearing the names of the
Immediately under the sur-
of the many engagements
participated: Nashville,
and Appomattox. On the
somely tapering square
twenty five feet,
a beautifully
with a hand-
ted Grand Army
front side, the
mounted by the
tioned figure of
and six inches in
tigue uniform,
rade rest, the
being a superb
patriotism of the
w^ork of art, and a monument not only to the
township, but to the liberality of its public-spirited donors, its
entire cost being over three thousand dollars.
Boston's Industries. — In addition to the quite extensive flour
and lumber mills at Boston Village, and the two saw mills and
flour mill at Peninsula, and similar mills in other parts of the
township, a large variety of other manufactures, broom handles,
cheese boxes, etc., have from time to time been carried on, while
in the earlier and palmy days of the canal, both at Boston Vil-
lage, Peninsula, and one or tAvo other points, large boat yards and
dry docks for building and repairing boats were operated, giving
employment to a large number of men ; but at present nothing
whatever is done in that line at the points named.
664
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
JOHN C. CONGER, born in Bos-
J ton villag-e, December 29, 1835;
educated in district schools ; on leav-
ing school served one season under
Lieutenant Kaynolds, upon the Uni-
ted States topographical survey of
the lakes ; returning home engaged
in farming and brick-making until
August, 1861, when he enlisted in
Company A., 2nd O. V. C, following
the fortunes of that patriotic regi-
ment until April 8, 1863. On receiving
his discharge from the army, for dis-
ability, Mr. Conger again engaged
in farming, continuing that occupa-
tion to the present time, upon his
finely improved 135 acre farm, adja-
cent to the village of Peninsula. Mr.
Conger has served as township clerk
and in other positions of honor and
trust ; is a meinber of Meridian Sun
Lodge, No. 266, and Summit Chapter
F. & A. M., and an active member of
Geo. L. Waterman Post, G. A. R. Sep-
tember 17, 1867, Mr. Conger was mar-
ried to Miss Eunice M. Stillman, who
was born in Hopkinton, R. I.,Januar5^
23, 1844, who has borne him seven
children — Fannie S., born December
26. 1868, married to Dr. W. O. Huston,
December 28, 1887 ; Luen J., born June
JOHN C. CONGER.
20,1870; Elmer B., born Februarys,
1875 ; Pamelia P., born March 24, 1877 ;
Mary G., born December 13, 1880;
John C, Jr., born December 9, 1873,
and Emily B., born October 28, 1886,
all now living in Peninsula.
Since the decadence of that interest, however, largely through
the advent of railroads, other elements of industry have been
developed, so that, as a whole, the township is fairlj'^ holding its
own at the present date (1891), if not slowly on the increase; large
shipments to Akron and Cleveland, and more distant cities. East
and West, of some of the finest building stone in the United States,
are now being made from the quarries here, together with most
excellent flagging, a fine quality of grindstones, etc.; immense ice
houses are here yearly filled with thousands of tons of the choicest
ice for the Cleveland market; cheese and butter factories dispense
thousands of pounds of their rich products to the various markets
of the country yearly; while a large number of private dairies, by
trains run for that special purpose, supply the good people of
Cleveland with a large proportion of their daily milk.
BOSTON IN COUNTY AND STATE AFFAIRS.
In county and State affairs, Boston has fairly divided the
honors and responsibilities writh her sister townships of Summit
county, during the nine-tenths of a century of its existence now
nearly accomplished.
Lewis M. Janes, Esq., an early prominent business man of
Peninsula, was Summit countj^'s second sheriff, elected in 1844,
and holding the position two full terms of two years each; also
acting as the efficient deputy of several of his successors. Mr.
Janes, besides being severely injured, in 1856, by a pistol shot, at
the hands of a party \v^hose property he was selling on legal pro-
cess, afterwards lost his life on the ill-fated steamer, Pewabic, on
Eake Huron, in August, 1865.
BOSTON S CIVIL SERVICE RECORD.
665
HON. SIMON PERKINS WOL-
COTT.-son of Hon. Alfred and
Mary (Scovill) Wolcott, born in
Northfield, January 30, 1837, in infancy
reaioving- with parents to Boston;
in boyhood worked on farm and at-
tended district school; spent several
winters preparing- for college, at
Hiram Eclectic Institute where Hon.
James A. Garfield was then a student,
finishing his preparatory' course
under Prof. Garfield, after his gradu-
ation from Williams College; gradu-
ated froin Western Reserve College
in 1862; studied law with Horace B.
Foster, Esq., of Hudson, and one
year with Hon. Newell D. Tibbals, in
Akron; admitted to the Bar in 1864,
locating in Kent, Portage county,
where he has since continviousl}^
resided. In addition to his law prac-
tice, Mr, Wolcott has officiated as
Mayor of Kent two terms; inember of
the Board of Education ten years,
and as state senator for Portage and
Summit counties, in the 65th and 66th
sessions of the General Assemblj^
1881 to 1885. July 17, 1866, Mr. Wolcott
was married to Miss Marj- Helen
Brewster, daughter of the late
Anson A. Brewster, of Hudson, who
HON. SIMON PERKINS WOLCOTT. -
has borne him three children — Nellie
Brewster Wolcott, born February 12,
1868; Jennie Brewster Wolcott, born
May 14, 1870; Duncan Brewster Wol-
cott, born May 9, 1873.
AUGUSTUS CUKTISS.
AUGUSTUS CURTISS, — born in
Boston township, February 17,
1836 ; moved with parents to North-
field in 184<); worked on farm till
1852; at house painting till 1855;
in gold mines of California 1855 to
1859 ; served in 2nd Ohio Cavalry
1861 to 1862, discharged at Fort
Leavenworth for disability received
at Carthag-e, Mo.; 1863 farmer and
dairyman in Stow ; 1864 bought tim-
ber farm in Portage township, three
miles north of Akron ; October, 1868,
elected sheriff of Summit county,
and re-elected in 1870, serving two
terms, followed for four years as
chief deputy of his successor. Sheriff
Levi J. McMurray, the most impor-
tant event of his own incumbency
being the execution of John H.
Hunter, for the murder of Mr. and
and Mrs. Robert Gargett, in 1872, as
elsewhere detailed ; Januaiy, 1877,
returned to his farm, superintending-
same until the Fall of 1884, when,
because of asthma, he went to New
Mexico, where, both as agent for the
Akron Live Stock Companj', and on
his own account, he has for the past
eight years followed the business of
growing cattle. November 23, 1865,
Mr. Curtiss was married to Miss
Helen A. Barnhart, daughter of the
late William Barnhart, Esq., of Penin-
sula, Mrs. Curtiss now sharing- ranch
life with her husband in the wilds of
New Mexico.
666 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Hiram Volney Bronson, on the inauguration of the Internal
Revenue system, during the war, was appointed deputy assessor,
by Assessor John E. Hurlbut, making a most faithful and efficient
officer throughout.
Sidney P. Conger, a substantial and level-headed farmer of
Boston, in May, 1866, was appointed county commissioner, to fill
the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Commissioner Nel-
son Upson, of Twinsburg, which position he very acceptably filled
until the foUow^ing December. Mr. Conger died in August, 1874,.
at the age of 45 years.
Arthur L. Conger, one of Boston's volunteer soldiers in the
War of the Rebellion, having, at the close of the war, returned to hi&
farm, w^as, in 1866, elected county treasurer, which office he filled
w^ith marked ability and satisfaction for two successive terms,-
afterwards, taking an interest in the Whitman & Barnes Manufac-
turing Company, of Akron, extensive manufacturers of reaper and
mow^er knives, sickles, etc., of which corporation he is still an
activp and influential member and officer.
Alfred Wolcott, Jr., the honored son of Boston's pioneer set-
tler, Alfred Wolcott, Senior, was, in 1869, elected to represent his-
native county in the popular branch of the Ohio Legislature, and
of his tw^o years' record in that body, his constituents have no
reason to be ashamed.
Simon Perkins Wolcott, eldest son of Hon. Alfred Wolcott, a
graduate of Western Reserve College, now practicing law in Kent,
Avas, in October, 1881, elected State Senator for Portage and Sum-
mit counties, and re-elected in 1883, serving his joint constituency
w^ith more than average ability and satisfaction.
Arthur M. Cole, also a Bostonian, " native to the manor
born," Avas called from his drugs and his dry goods, at the pleas-
ant village of Peninsula, by the voice of the people of Summit
county, in October, 1882, to become the custodian and disburser
of the public funds, being again invested with that important
trust for a second term in 1884, serving in all four years.
Robert L. Andrew, now a resident of Akron, served as mem-
ber of city council two terms — 1886 to 1890 — the last two years as-
president.
Angelo Andrew, also residing in Akron, has been for three terms
— 1887 to 1893 — a very efficient member of the board of education,
William H. Payne, for many years a resident of Boston, ha&
also been honored by a seat in the city council of Akron, since
residing there.
BOSTON'S CROOKEDNESS.
But though Boston's pioneer settlers w^ere among the most
worthy of New England's sons and daughters, and the great
majority of their descendants true scions of the original stock ;^
and though she has ever manifested commendable industry and
enterprise, and a ready alacrity in supporting the national flag
and the national honor; and though, as seen above, she has justly
secured some of the richest civil and political prizes virithin the
gift of the people of Summit county, the fact still remains that her
fair fame has been smirched, and her bright escutcheon sadlj'^
tarnished, by certain early adverse influences, the prevalence of
boston's wrong-doers. 667
many corrupt and demoralizing practices, and the perpetration of
numerous serious, and some most fearful, crimes within her
borders.
The barest allusion to most of the matters referred to above
can only be given here: viz., the counterfeiting operations of
"Dan" and "Jim" Brown, and their confederates, Taylor, Holmes,
Ashley, et al.— the burglarizing of Kdgerly's hotel, the store of
Wood, Cole & Co., and the dwelling house of Frederick Wood,
Ksq., in 1860; the Kerst wife-murder in 1861; the Washburn-
Peeples tragedy in 1871, etc., to the most of w^hich separate chap-
ters w^ill have to be devoted.
"Col." William AvSHLEY. — William Ashley was a native of the
state of Vermont, and though of good family, carefully reared and
well educated, early became associated w^ith an expert band of
counterfeiters in his native State. In the middle twenties Ashley
w^as arrested by the Vermont authorities, and placed under bonds
to answ^er to the charge of making and having in his possession,
with intent to pass, counterfeit bank notes. Forfeiting his bail he
fled to Canada, a year or two later floating over into the then wilds
of Ohio, making his first stop in Geauga county, where he soon
afterwards found himself in trouble, and eluding: the vigilance of
the officers, again took to wing, next, in the last' of the twenties, or
first of the thirties, alighting in the then congenial climateof Boston.
Here^ he became a favorite with, and a part of. Brown, Taylor,
Holmes, Latta & Co., though still carrying on some very impor-
tant "financial" operation upon his own hook.
In his prime, Ashley w^as a remarkably fine specimen of physi-
cal manhood, handsome of feature, majestic of stature, and of most
gentlemanly deportment. Though never in the military service,
his martial bearing spontaneously attached to his name the mili-
tary prefix of "Colonel."
"MovLXG ON Their Works." — Though spasmodic efforts had
from time to time previously been made, and though a few of the
subordinates and undergraduates of the gang had been arrested
and punished, no concerted and determined action, by the authori-
ties of Portage and contiguous counties, had been taken until 1837.
At this time Gen. Lucius V. Bierce, prosecuting attorney, George
Y. Wallace, sheriff, and Marshal Ithiel Mills, in co-operation with
similar officers in Cuyahoga and Medina counties, made a con-
certed effort to break up the gang, being ably seconded in their
efforts by local officers and citizens of the several townships
affected. Among the most active in "spying out the land" in
Boston township, and in furnishing the officers with "pointers,"
were Alfred Wolcott, Esq., James Stanford, Hermon and Hiram V.
Bronson, Lewis M. Janes, George H. Haskell, Esq., with others
whose names do not now readily recur to the writer.
"Col." Ashley Arrested. — In the latter part of the Suinmer
of 1837, the officers obtained such clews as enabled them to pounce
upon Ashley in the very midst of his "financial" labors, sur-
rounded by his entire counterfeiting paraphernalia, consisting of
bank-note plates, dies, presses, paper, ink, etc., with large quanti-
ties of bills in blank, and several thousand dollars fully executed;
Prosecuting Attorney Bierce afterwards presenting the writer
with a fine mahogany double cylinder copper-plate press, which
was preserved as a relic, and for use, .for several years, until finally
668 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
destroyed by fire. Ashley was taken into custody, and on being
arraigned before Jacob Brown, Ksq., of Akron, waived an exami-
nation and \vas held in the sum of $10,000 to answer to the Court
of Common Pleas of Portage county, in default of ^vhich he was
committed to jail at Ravenna. He was indicted at the September
term of the court, for having counterfeit money in his possession
w^ith intent to pass the same, to w^hich, on being arraigned, he
entered a plea of not guilty.
The hearing was postponed, by reason of the ill-health of the
accused, until the March term 1838, w^hen, after a full and fair trial,
Ashley w^as pronounced guilty as charged in the indictment.
SENTENCE— IMPRISONMENT— DEATH.
In pronouncing sentence upon "Col." Ashley, Judge Van R.
Humphrey, w^ho had personally know^n him for several years, w^as
greatly affected, remarking that passing sentence upon a fellow^-
being, under any circumstances, w^as truly a solemn duty; but in
this instance, where the court had been intimately acquainted
w^ith the prisoner for many years; a man w^hose intelligence and
address better fitted him to occupy a high seat in the counsels
of the Nation, than the cot of a felon's cell, and especially in view^
of the apparent frail condition of his health, the task w^as difficult
and painful in the extreme.
"Col." Ashley's naturally vigorous constitution had been
gradually undermined by the excesses incident to his peculiar
calling, and, from the time of his arrest, it w^as evident that quick
consumption had marked him for its own. Though he was sen-
tenced to seven years' imprisonment in the penitentiary, it w^as
thought to be almost, if not quite, impracticable to convey him
thither. But he w^as finally taken by Sheriff Wallace, by easy
private carriage, to Columbus, and delivered at the prison May 30,
1838, where he died June 10th, surviving his incarceration only
twelve days.
CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, ETC.
At Peninsula there are three handsome church edifices, the
Protestant Episcopal "Bronson Memorial Church" founded by Mr.
and Mrs. Hermon Bronson (>vhose portraits and biographies will
be found herein), on the west side, the Methodist Kpiscopal
upon the east side, and the Catholic, with a membership of 23
families. Rev. F. B. Doherty holding mass therein every other
Sabbath. The township is also thoroughly supplied -with
good school buildings and competent teachers, the Union or
graded system being liberally maintained at Peninsula, so that
notwithstanding the early adverse influences above and hereafter
alluded to, Boston township, for nearly half a century, has held as
high a rank in point of morality and intelligence, as any other
township in Summit county, or elsewhere.
PRESENT OFFICIAL ROSTER.
Boston's township officers for the current year (1891) are as
follows: Trustees, Hiram Lee, Anthony Pfaus, James Cassidy;
clerk, Jorgen Petersen; treasurer, Henry Kerst; justices of the
OFFICIAL KOSTER FOR 1891.
669
peace, Henry C. Currier, Joseph Drake; constables, Orrin Mark-
ham, Alfred Wolcott.
Peninsula Municipal Officers. — Mayor, H. C. Currier; clerky
Charles M. Petersen; treasurer, Henry Kerst; marshal, Brigham
Roswell; councihnen, Lorenzo Seeley, Michael Myron, Joseph
Simon, Conrad Kerst, John Tracy, D. P. Chamberlin.
Postmasters. — Frederick Wood, Peninsula; Thomas Smith,
Boston; Thomas Smith, Everett.
CHAPTER XXIX.
DARING BURGLARIES IN PENINSULA — SINGULAR DETECTION OF THE BURGLAR
—SON OF A FORMER WEALTHY RESIDENT OF PORTAGE COUNT Y— ARREST,
EXAMINATION AST) COMMITTAL— INDICTMENT BY GRAND JURY— INGEN-
IOUS ESCAPE FROM JAIL, AIDED BY A LUNATIC— ABETTING TREASON^
CONFINEMENT IN FORT LAFAYETTE— DISCHARGE BY ORDER OF SECRETARY
STANTON— DETAINED BY NEW YORK CHIEF OF POLICE -REQUISITION FROM
GOVERNOR TOD ON THE GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK FOR HIS EXTRADITION
—IN HIS OLD QUARTERS AGAIN— ENTERS A PLEA OF GUILTY— NINE YEARS
IMPRISONMENT — LEADER OF REVOLT IN PENITENTIARY — THOROUGH
REFORMATION — UNITED STATES MAIL CARRIER — HIGHLY RESPECTED
CITIZEN, ETC.
A MIDNIGHT RAID.
ON the night of July 12, 1860, a series of the most adroit burgla-
ries w^ere committed in the compact little village of Peninsula,
fourteen miles north of Akron, upon the Ohio Canal. Stephen
Edgerly \vas proprietor of the only hotel in the village at that
time, the "Edgerly House," later kept by Mr. Andrew R. Cassidy,
under the name of the " Cassidy House." Mr. Edgerly himself
w^as quite deaf, and consequently a good subject for burglars to
w^ork upon. But Mrs. Edgerly was in possession of all her facul-
ties, and generally a very wide-awake sort of a w^oman. Some
time during the night in question, Mrs. Edgerly heard the house-
dog sounding an alarm, and got up and let the dog out of the
house, and hearing nothing further from him soon w^ent to sleep
again. In the morning it \v'as discovered that Mr. Edgerly's sleep-
ing apartment had been entered and from $60 to $75 had been
extracted from the sleeping landlord's pockets.
On the opposite side of the river, at the west end of the
" Long Bridge," stood the store of Wood, Cole & Co. (Frederick
Wood and Thomas Wood, still living in Peninsula, and the late
Edmund H. Cole, father of ex-County Treasurer Dr. A. M. Cole).
In this store the clerk, Mr. Ransom Cole, was asleep on the coun-
ter, w^ith his w^atch in the pocket of his vest under his pillow.
Noiselessly entering the store, the burglar proceeded to rifle the
money drawer of its contents (about $30), excepting a couple of
counterfeit five-dollar bills, Avhich he seems to have been too
shrewd to appropriate. He then manipulated the clerk's vest out
from under his head, and transferred the watch and chain from
the clerk's vest pocket to his own, together w^ith about $20 in
money ; some $400 in cash, in another place, not being found by
the burglar. On getting outside the door the burglar seems to
have struck a light and examined his booty, as a w^orthless one-
dollar bill was thrown away, w^hile the mark made by lighting a
match w^as found upon the side of the store. Both the hotel and
the store had been entered by the front doors, the keys in the
locks being readily turned from the outside by means of burglars'
"nippers."
THE BURGLAR UNDER ARREST. 671
From the store of Messrs. Wood, Cole & Co. the burglar, >vith
rare good judgment, went to the house of Mr. Frederick Wood,
which he entered through a window which had been left unfas-
tened. Here, proceeding to the sleeping room of Mr. and Mrs.
Wood, he overhauled Mr. Wood's clothes, in the pockets of which
w^as a small sum of money which he confiscated, and also a $150
gold watch, with which, and his previous gatherings, he made a
successful retreat, not only from the house of Mr. Wood, but from
the village.
It w^as supposed at the time that the several victims must
have been chloroformed by the skilful operator, but my subsequent
acquaintance Avith him led me to believe that the lightness of his
step, the softness of his touch, and the celerity of his movements,
would render all such extraneous aids in the exercise of his
chosen "profession" entirely unnecessary. Mr. Wood and his
family had that evening attended the commencement concert at
Hudson, returning home an hour or tw^o after midnight, and itw^as
surmised that the thief got sight of his watch there, and foUow^ed
him to Peninsula after the close of the concert.
Tracing the Burglar. — Nearly a month elapsed without any
trace of the burglar, though the best skill and vigilance of our
local detectives had been put forth. In the meantime Messrs.
Wood, Cole & Co. had, in addition to efforts of the officers, and the
publicity which had been given to the affair through the news-
papers, issued a private circular, minutely describing the watches
w^hich had been stolen. One of these circulars fell into the hands
of a merchant by the name of Converse, at the center of Roots-
tow^n, in Portage county, Mr. Converse also being the postmaster
of that tow^n.
In the same tow^n, making his headquarters with his father-
in-law, a Mr. Bassett, about two miles south of the center, near
the Randolph line, Avas a young man of rather doubtful reputation,
by the name of Sobieski Burnett. He was the son of a former
highly respected resident of that neighliorhood, General Joel B.
Burnett, then, I believe, residing in Missouri, but now, if living, as
I think he is, a wealthy citizen of New York City.
Young Burnett had been so incorrigible, as a boy, that his
father had finally cast him adrift, and for a time he had been
received by General L. V. Bierce, an old friend of the father, as an
office boy, and embryo law student. This was altogether too tame
for his restless and "enterprising" turn of mind, and he drifted off
down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and into all the evil asso-
ciations at that time pertaining thereto; occasionally, however,
returning to Rootstow^n, and finally marrying a playmate of his
childhood, a Miss Bassett, with whose parents they were then
making their home as above stated. Having no visible business,
but always w^ell-dressed and seemingly flush of money, je\velry,
etc., young Burnett was more than suspected of being a "crook,"
and was generally pretty closely watched by the business men of
the vicinity whenever he visited their establishments.
" Putting His Foot in it." — Somewhere about the 9th day of
August, 1860, young Burnett visited the store of Mr. Converse, to
make some small purchases, and while there rather conspicuously
displayed the pretty little gold watch that he was carrying. Mr.
Converse remarked, "What a pretty locket you've got," whereupon
672 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
Burnett replied: " It's not a locket, but a watch," and proceeded
to exhibit it in detail to Mr. Converse, it being one of those then
very rare, and not very plenty, reversible pieces of mechanisrii,
that can be changed from open-face to hunting-case, and vice-
versa, at will. Burnett soon afterward leaving the store, Mr.
Converse proceeded to consult Mr. Wood's circular, and finding
that the description of the stolen watch precisely tallied with that
exhibited by Burnett, Mr. Converse immediately dispatched a
messenger to Peninsula to apprise Mr. Wood of the fact.
Early Sunday Morning Call. — Thereupon, on Saturday^
August 11, Mr. Wood drove to Akron and laid the case before the
writer, who was then sheriff of Summit county, who the same
evening dispatched his efficient deputy, Mr. Alfred R. Townsend,
accompanied by the late David A. Soott, with Mr. Wood, to Roots-
tow^n to investigate the matter. Arriving in the center of the
town late at night, they held a quiet consultation with Mr.
Converse, and becoming satisfied that they were on the right
track, they proceeded to the residence of Mr. Bassett, w^hich they
rather unceremoniously invaded just as the day was breaking
on Sunday morning.
Mr. Burnett and his wife, aroused from their matin slumbers
by the stir that w^as being made by the entrance of the officers,
had already arisen from their bed, though hardly in appropriate
costume for receiving visitors. Burnett ^^as immediately placed
in irons, the officers assisting him to dress, while the wife was
incautiously permitted to gather up her Avardrobe and leave
the room before the proper search was instituted. The missing
w^atches were, therefore, not found, nor anything else that could in
any Avay implicate him in the Peninsula robberies, but sundry
burglarious implements and other evidences of crookedness were
brought to light in the search.
The statement of the merchant in question in regard to the
peculiar make of the watch which Burnett had shown him was
sufficient to warrant his apprehension, and he was accordingly
brought to Akron and lodged in jail.
Preliminary Examination. — Warrants were issued by Justice
John W. Stephens, upon vvhich, on the 15th day of August, 1860,
a preliminary examination was, had. The testimony of Mr.
Converse, and other circumstances surrounding the case, were
deemed sufficient by Justice Stephens to hold the young man to
bail in the sum of $2,000 and $1,000 respectively, for both the Wood
and the Edgerly burglaries, and in default of bail he was remanded
to jail to await the action of the grand jury, at the coming Novem-
ber term of the court of Common Pleas. In the meantime other
indications of his guilt became manifest; other parties had seen
the watch described, in Burnett's possession; he had let slip sun-
dry damaging admissions; in short a very strong chain of circum-
stantial evidence was being formulated, link by link, tending to
prove his guilt beyond a peradventure.
Planning to Escape. — The grand jury, at the November term
of the court of Common Pleas, returned bills of indictment against
Burnett, in both of the cases in which he had been bound over to
court, and it was expected that his trial w^ould take place, in due
course, at that term of court. In the meantime there had, in Octo-
ber, been an election at w^hich Mr. Jacob Chisnell had been elected
PLANNING TO BREAK JAIL. 673
to succeed me as sheriff, his term to begin on the first Monday of
January, 1861. During the time that Mr. Burnett had been in jail,
several unsuccessful attempts had been made, by the prisoners, to
dig through and under the walls, necessitating, of course, consid-
erable expense to the county for repairs. After one of these
attempts, in the latter part of November, f ordered my jailer to
keep each prisoner confined to his own cell, instead of giving them
the customary range of the corridors, during the da}'; letting them
out a few-minutes, onU', morning and evening for exercise.
After a few days' confinement, Burnett sent word by the jailer
that he wanted to see me. On repairing to his cell, Burnett
inquired w^hy I was keeping him and his fellow prisoners in such
close confinement.
"Well, Burnett," T replied, "I'll tell you. It isn't because
we have an}' fears of you fello\vs breaking out of jail, as we do not
depend upon the strength of these soft sancistone walls for keeping
you, but upon the 'length' of our ears and the sharpness of our
eyes. But every few days you make the attempt, putting us to the
trouble and expense of repairs, and I am keeping 3'ou shut up
simply to keep 3'ou from mutilating the walls."
" Now, sheriff," said Burnett, "I want to make a bargain with
you. I am going to get my trial put over until the Januar}' term,
which vi'ill carry it beyond your time as sheriff. Now, if 3'ou will
give us the run of the jail again, I pledge you my irorr/ and honor
that there shall be no more attempts to break out, while I'o?/ are
sheriff. I won't try it myself, and I wont let any of the rest of the
fellows try it."
"Well, Burnett," I responded, "I'll do it," and calling to the
jailer for the keys, I then and there unlocked all the cell doors, and
as I was leaving the jail, Burnett sung out: "Now, boys, three
cheers for Sheriff Lane! " and the cheers were given with a will
indicative of sound lungs at least, I did not then live in the jail
myself, and though I had a very faithful jailer and turnkey — the
late Mayor John L. Robertson — it was my custom to personally
visit and inspect the jail two or three times a week, and when
passing through, Burnett would say: "All right! sheriff; no more
quarrying done while you are sheriff, but when that new chap
comes j/3 I'm going out!
And Out He Does Go. — Mr. Jacob Chisnell, hitherto a resident
of Green township, superseded ir»e as sheriff, on Monday, January
7,1861. Previous to this, Mr. Chisnell had had no experience in
the handling of criminals. On the day of his accession, both
myself and County Auditor Charles B. Bernard, Ksq., now of Cleve-
land, took occasion to warn the new incumbent on the slippery
character of. this particular prisoner, and to advise him of the fact
that Burnett had secured a continuance of his case for the express
purpose of taking advantage of his inexperience. "Never you
fear;" replied the new sheriff, "he'll have to be, smarter than I
think he is, if he gets away from tne! "
I immediately entered upon my new duties, as editor of the
Beacon, and gave the matter no further thought, until some ten
days later, when, on meeting Mr. Chisnell upon the street, I
inquired how he was getting along? "First rate," said he. "Why,
that man Burnett, that you cautioned me about, is a real clever
fellow^, and a perfect gentleman." " He'll be gentleman enough
43
674 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. ^
to get away from you, if you don't keep your eye 'peeled,'" I laugh-
ingly responded, and with another "never you fear," from Mr. C.
-we parted. About five days later Mr. Chisnell called into my office
quite early in the morning and in answer to my question, "What's
the news?" rather huskilj'^ replied, "Burnett's gone!"
How IT WAS Accomplished. — In the construction of the jail,
the floor betw^een the prison proper and what was then called the
"Debtors' Rooms," in the upper story, was coiuposed of ten-inch
square oak timbers laid side by side, with a covering of regular
matched flooring on top, and a sheathing of common sheet iron
underneath. The southeast cell of the upper tier, being unoccu-
pied at the time, had been unlocked and unvisited by the new
turnkey, Mr. Ben Chisnell, prisoners having free access thereto at
any time when not locked up in their own respective cells.
Burnett's wife and other Portage county friends were very
attentive to him, some of them visiting him almost everj^ day, and
some of whom, by reason of not being closely searched by the new
turnkej^ before entering the jail, had managed to convey to him a
long-handled tw^o-inch auger. Having wrenched off a section of
the iron sheathing in this unoccupied and unvisited cell, he had
leisurely twice bored off one of the timbers overhead, and through
the upper floor, making a hole about ten by eighteen inches,
through w^hich he would, of course, find no difficulty in elevating
himself to the room above, at his convenience.
Aided by a Lunatic. — At this time, the only inmate of the
upper jail ^'as a lunatic by the name of William Pierce, well
known to all old residents, and who was afterwards, until his
recent death, an inmate of the insane ward of our county infirm-
ary. His lunacy, at that time, being of a mild type, he was per-
mitted, during the day, to pass in and out as he pleased, and
busied himself in assisting about the kitchen, yard, stable, etc.
How Burnett finally escaped is best told by the lunatic him-
self. When questioned upon the subject Pierce said: "One day
I heard noise that sounded like the gnawing of a rat. It would
gnaw^ awhile, and then it would stop a while, and kept at it tw^o or
three days. But there was one thing curious about it, it did not
gnaw any during the night. Well, I thought a rat had got under
the floor and was trying to gnaw through, and I began to look in
the different rooms to see Avhere it would come out.
"By and by I saw^ virhat I thought was the rat's tooth coming
through the floor in the corner, there, but after w^atching it a few
minutes, I found it was the point of an auger, and pretty soon the
auger itself came through. I stooped down and said, 'hello, there!'
and some one below said 'Is that you, Pierce?' I said 'Yes, who
are you?' He said 'I'm Burnett. You keep quiet; don't say any-
thing, and I'll come up, by and by, and see you.' So he keep on
boring until he made a hole big enough to crawl through, and last
night, just at dark, he called to me to give him a lift. I reached
dow^n and took hold of his hands and helped him up through.
Then I asked him what he was going to do next? He said he
vvranted to get outside, if the coast w^as clear, and I told him I
would go dow^n and see. So I went doAvn, and the family were all
eating supper in the dining room. I came back up stairs and told
him if he Avas going, I thought he had better go then, and that
-when he got out of the back door he had better run. After he left,
AIDING AND ABETTING THE REBELS. 675
I looked out of the back window, and I saw^ him jump over the
fence north of the barn and start east across the commons, and he
did run like the devil!''
EFFORTS TO RECAPTURE THE FUGITIVE.
Though the escape was soon afterwards discovered, and a vig-
orous pursuit at once instituted, his tracks vsrere so carefully con-
cealed as for several days to entirely baffle the efforts of his
pursuers, it afterwards transpiring that a team, by preconcerted
arrangements with his friends, ^vas waiting in the gloaming to
rapidly carry him to some, previously provided, secure hiding
place.
Prosecuting Attorney, Henry McKinney, Esq., had, t^vo w^eeks
before the escape of Burnett, been succeeded in that office by
Newell D. Tibbals, Ksq. The new prosecutor was, of course,
deeply chagrined that so important a prisoner should have been
allowed to escape; in fact, he did his utmost to prevent it; for,
being in Randolph, late on the afternoon of the day of the escape,
he received a hint that a party of Burnett's friends had gone to
Akron to aid him to break jail. Mr. Tibbals hurried home to thwart
their game, but arrived a few^ minutes too late; it afterwards recur-
ring to hirrl that the fugitive must have passed him between Akron
and Middlebury, as he met a team driving very rapidly in that
xiirection, though it was too dark to recognize any of the party in
the wagon.
Prosecutor Tibbals also organized a posse, in Randolph, to
recapture the prisoner, who was supposed to be concealed about
the premises of his father-in-law. This house was placed under
surveillance, but it transpired that he had been concealed else-
w^here, and on being driven, late in the night, to his father-in-law's
residence to bid his >vife good bye, preparatory to leaving the
country, on discovering that the house w^as being watched, Bur-
nett was driven rapidly away, and on being closely followed up,
jumped from the wagon and secreted himself in a dense piece of
timber, thus finally making good his escape.
Giving "Aid and Comfort" to Rebels. — But the indefatiga-
ble prosecutor, was not to be thus baffled, and at once adopted a
system of tactics that ultimately secured the return and proper
punishment of the fugitive burglar. Through certain order-lov-
ing and patriotic citizens of Randolph and Rootstown, a strategetic
policy >vas adopted by which, from mysterious letters received and
mailed, as well as from words dropped by Burnett's friends, it was
soon ascertained that the fugitive w^as in "Egypt," or southern
Illinois, and, through Detective James Burlison, it was sought to
locate him with sufficient accuracy to "go for him;" but as he was
rather migratory in his habits, and as the first excitement of the
w^ar was then on, it was deemed inadvisable to incur the expense of
doing so upon an uncertainty. During the latter part of 1861, how-
ever, Prosecutor Tibbals learned that the young man had been
arrested by the government for giving aid and encouragement
to rebels, and that, with other prisoners of State, he w^as con-
fined in Fort Lafayette, in New York harbor. He immediately
arranged with J. A. Kennedy, Esq., chief of police of New York
City, to keep an eye upon him, and in case of his release from the
fort, to detain him until sent for.
676 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
In His Old Quarters Again. — Secretary of War, Edwin M.
Stanton, in the latter part of February, 1862, issued an order for the
release of all State prisoners confined in the several government
forts. On Saturday, March 1, 1862, about noon. Prosecutor Tib-
bals received a telegram from Chief Kennedy that the gentleman
w^as in his custody subject to requisition. He at once secured the
services of ex-Deputy Sheriff, but then Deputy U. S. Marshal,
Townsend, who at once started for N^w York, via Pittsburg and
Philadelphia (the A. & G. W. was not then finished), where he
arrived Monday afternoon.
Meantime Sheriff Chisnell went to Columbus to procure from
Governor David Tod a requisition upon the governor of New York.
This was received by Mr. Tow^nsend b}^ mail, on Tuesday, and on
Wednesday he went to Albany, where he secured the necessary
documents for returning the fugitive to Ohio. On Thursday after-
noon, with his prisoner securely ironed, he started on the return
trip, via the New York & Krie and Lake Shore route, arriving in
Akron Saturday noon, just one week after the receipt of Chief
Kennedy's telegram. Of course, Burnett w^as received with "open
arms" by Sheriff Chisnell, who did not thereafter take any consid-
erable amount of stock in his "gentlemanly" pretentions, but
exercised the strictest surveillance, over both him and those of
his friends who thenceforth called upon him.
Finally Pleads Guilty. — At the March term of coui-t, 1862,.
the case of the State of Ohio vs. Sobieski Burnett being called, the
attorney for the defense, General Lucius V. Bierce, moved for a con-
tinuance, on the ground of the absence of a material witness.
This moi^on was promptly overruled by Judge Stephenson Burke,
w^ith the remark that the accused had had ample time, during the
year or more that he had been out of jail, to hunt up all the testis
mony necessary for his defense. Thereupon Burnett changed his
plea from not guilty, to guilty, and was at once sentenced by Judge
Burke to nine years' imprisonment in the penitentiary.
This abrupt termination of the affair was somewhat of a sur-
prise to Prosecutor Tibbals, who had expected from General Bierce,
and his associates, a most stubborn resistance, at every point, to
meet which, by the most indefatigable labor, he had forged an
unbroken and irresistible chain of circumstantial evidence; trac-
ing Burnett from point to point, both before and after the commis-
sion of the burglaries in question, with other incriminating facts
that could not possibly have failed to w^ork a conviction i| spread
out before the court and jury. It Avas probabl}' a knowledge of
these efforts that induced the defendant's attorneys, on the failure
of their motion for another continuance, to so suddenly advise him
to change his plea from not gui^lty to guilty, a proceeding, too,
w^hich probably lessened the magnitude of his sentence, at the
hands of Judge Burke, by from one to three years, because of the
considerable expense thus saved to the county.
The Watches Recovered. — Burnett, when at first arrested,
acknowledged the robberies to his attorneys, Messrs. Bierce &
Baldwin, and to them confided the place of concealment of the
stolen watches. They went to Rootstown to get them, but the
first time failed to find them and returned to the jail for more
definite directions. The second effort was more successful, the
w^atchea, wrapped in cotton batting, and enclosed in an old oyster
Burnett's thorough reformation. 677
<"aii, having been buried near the barn of Mr. Bassett, the father-
in-law. These watches were placed in the safe of Messrs. Bierce
<k Baldwin, and after his escape from jail, restored to their ow^ners,
b_y General Bierce, upon their paying to him $40, to cover ejcpenses,
that being, as he alleged, the only compensation the}^ received for
their services in Burnett's defense — Burnett having probably ex-
pended the money stolen at Peninsula, previous to his first arrest,
as above stated.
Burnett's Life in Prison. — The prison life of Burnett seems
to have been of the "gentlemanly" order for a long time, insomuch
that he had gained over three-fourths of a year, under the prison
rules, for good behavior, which, had it continued, would have
secured his release in about seven years. Then an infraction of the
rules occurred, by which all the time he had thus gained was
forfeited. The prison records do not state the nature of the infrac-
tion, but there was, at that time, a report in circulation among his
Portage county acquaintances, that in a similar manner to that in
which he had been supplied with tools to w^ork himself out of jail,
here, he had been furnished, through the friends who had been
permitted to visit him, with a couple of revolvers, and that he had
headed an emeute which came very near liberating a large num-
ber of prisoners. It w^as also rumored that for this act, he was sub-
ject to the severest punishment known to prison rules — the pump
process — until all evidence of insubordination had been washed
out of him. Be this as it may, the entire score of previous good
behavior was, by that infraction of the rules, entirely canceled.
But from that time on, his conduct was exemplary, and he again
earned for himself a credit of about 90 days, his release from the
penitentiary being on the 17th day of December, 1870, just eight
years and nine months from'the date of his incarceration.
Burnett's Thorough Reformation. — Previous to going to the
penitentiary, Burnett had sworn dire vengeance against certain
prominent citizens of Rootstown and Randolph, who had taken an
active part in securing his arrest, and particularly those who had
been instrumental in effecting his recapture. As the time for his
release drew near, the threatened parties w^ere consequently some-
what fearful for the safety of their property and persons, when his
liberation should finally take place. But immediately, on gaining
his liberty, Burnett visited all of the persons he had threatened,
and frankly told them tliat he had enough; that they need have
no fears from him, for that henceforth he intended to lead
the life, of an honest man and a law-abiding citizen. And this
resolution, I am glad to learn, he has consistently adhered to,
being not only highly respected in that portion of Portage county
w^here he for many years resided, but having also, for a portion of
the time, been honored with an important public trust — that of
United States mail carrier — the responsible duties of which he
is said to have discharged w^ith the utmost fidelity. He is now
located in the western part of the State, and said to be doing well.
Both a Warning and Example. — The career of Sobieski Bur-
nett should serve as a warning to boys against waywardness and
w^rong doing, and as an example to those whose derelictions have
impelled them in the direction of a life of crime, to " right about
face," and earn for themselves that honorable position in society
that an upright life will always bring.
CHAPTER XXX.
THE PENINSULA UXORICIDE- HENRY KERST, THE WIFE MURDERER— CAUSES-
LEADING TO THE TRAGEDY — INTEMPERANCE AND ABUSE — DIVORCE
PRAYED FOR— SHOT TO DEATH ON THE PUBLIC HIGHWAY— GREAT EXCITE-
MENT—SEARCH FOR THE MURDERER— SHOOTS AT HIS PURSUERS— ARREST
AND PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION— COMMITTED TO JAIL -INDICTMENT AND-
TRIAL— THE INSANITY "DODGE" — MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE— MOTION
FOR NEW TRIAL OVERRULED — SENTENCED TO BE HUNG— WRIT OF ERROR^
DENIED— PREPARATIONS FOR EXECUTION— SUICIDE IN HIS CELL— GHASTLY
EXHIBITION— CORONER'S INQUEST, ETC.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
"LJENRY KERST, or "Kasch," as he was familiarly called, was a
-*■ ^ native of Germany, and with his German wife and several
children, had emigrated to America some time in the early fifties,,
settling in Peninsula, in this county. Kerst was a quarryman and
stone-cutter by trade, w^hich business he followed at Peninsula,^
but, after a few^ years, sought to increase his income by the sale of
Avhisky, at his house on the bank of the canal, in the south part of
the village, his w^ife, in addition to her household duties, aiding in
the sale of whisky as occasion seemed to require.
It soon became evident to the neighbors that "Kasch" w^as one
of his own best customers, being frequently intoxicated, and at
such times exhibiting great violence of temper, especially tow^ards
his ow^n family. Finally the wife sickened and died, and " Kasch "^
seemed to do better for a time, so much so that after a reasonable
period had elapsed, after the death of his wife, he secured a second
w^ife in the person of Miss Marian Wiman, or Viman, to whom he
"was married by Justice Merill Boody, at Peninsula, on the 18th
day of May, 1860.
THE BEGINNING OF THE TROUBLE.
For a few months the relations of Mr. Kerst and his new wife
seem to have been amicable and pleasant, but his drink habit
increasing upon him, he soon began to sharply criticise the con-
duct of wife number two — she didn't manage household matters
as economically as w^ife number one did; she didn't sell as much
whisky and didn't account to him for all money received for what
she did sell, etc. In short, he became very violent and abusive
towards her, threatening to kill her, her cries at one time, "Kasch
is trying to kiiil me," bringing a neighbor to the house to quiet the
disturbance; proceedings being instituted against him for assault
\vith intent to kill. Through the intervention of friends, and on
his promise of better treatment, Mrs. Kerst withdrew her com-
plaint, and, as on several occasions, after being driven away by
hie cruelty, returned to her wifely duties.
Divorce Proceedings. — But about the 1st of May, 1861, the
conduct of Kerst became so outrageously abusive that Mrs. Kerst
left him for good, taking refuge in the family of Mr. Frederick N.
THE MURDER, ARREST, ETC. 679
«
Boies, a short distance south of the village, on the upper road,
upon the west side of the river, and immediately instituted pro-*
ceedings for divorce on the charge of extreme cruelty, the court
granting her a writ of injunction restraining him from disposing
of certain property to which she looked for alimony, in case her
prayer for divorce should be granted.
The Fatal Day. — Thus matters stood on Tuesday, the I4th
day of May, 1861. Early in the afternoon of that day, accompanied
by Mrs. Boies, Mrs. Kerst went to the village to hold a consulta-
tion with her attorneys, Wilbur F. Sanders and Jacob A. Kohler,
Esqs., in regard to her suit for divorce. There she encountered
her irate husband, who \vas swaggering about the village carrying
a gun, which circumstance \vas not thought to have any special
significance, inasmuch as, beingtheti in the height of the excitement
at the beginning of the war, quite a number of persons had met
there for the purpose of forming a local military company, many
of them also carrying guns.
Lying in Ambush. — On leaving*the attorneys, Mrs. Kerst and
Mrs. Boies started for home. Kerst followed them, showering
upon his wife such abusive epithets and threats, that they turned
back to remain until his wrath should abate, or until they could
procure proper protection. Kerst soon afterwards departing in the
direction of his own house, the two women, about 4 o'clock, again
started for the Boies homestead. When about half waj', and nearly
opposite the residence of Mr. Lawson Waterman, Kerst suddenly
raised himself up from behind the fence, on the east side of the
road, and, resting his gun upon a rail of the fence, deliberately
tired at his wife, the charge — two bullets and several buck shot —
horribly shattering her left wrist and entering her body immedi-
ately below the breast bone. Both women turned and fled towards
the village screaming for help, Mrs. Kerst running about ten rods,
only, when she fell to the ground and expired in about twenty
minutes. '
The Murderer Arrested. — The utmost consternation and
excitement immediately prevailed, in and about Peninsula, and a
searching party for the capture of the rnurderer was at once
organized. The house of the murderer was thoroughly searched,
and the thicket and ravine, beyond, between the canal and the
road where the shooting occurred, Avere carefully explored, and at
length he was dragged from the thick jungle where he had hid-
den, but not until he had discharged his gun once or twice at his
pursuers, though fortunately without serious consequences.
Preliminary Examination. — Notwithstanding the desire of
several of those present to deal summary justice to the murderer,
better counsel prevailed, and the law was permitted to take its
course. Jacob A. Kohler, Esq., being present, as above stated, filed
an affidavit, before Justice Merrill Boody, and a preliminary hear-
ing was at once had, the witnesses examined, besides Mrs. Boies,
being T. B. Fairchild, Isaiah Humphrey, Dr. Elwyn Humphrey, Dr.
William E. Chamberlain, Wilbur F. Sanders, Jacob A. Kohler,
John Crissick, Jorgen Petersen and James Seeley.
After hearing the evidence in regard to the shooting, and the
previous and subsequent conduct of the accused. Justice Boody
held him to answ^er to the critne of deliberate and premedi-
tated murder, placing the mittimus in the hands of Special
680 AKRON AND SUMMIT COL'NTY.
Constable Richard P. Clark, who, within four hours from the com-
mission of his fearful crime, by private conveyance, safely lodged
the prisoner in the county jail, 14 miles distant. At the ensuing
term of the Court of Common Pleas, commencing May 28, 1861,
Judge James S. Carpenter on the bench. Prosecuting Attorney,
Newell D. Tibbals, Esq., brought the matter to the attention of the
grand jury, who returned an indictment of several counts, charg-
ing the defendant with malicious, premeditated and deliberate
murder.
PJvEa of Not Guilty. — Continuance. — On Monday, June 3d,
1861, the prisoner was brought into court by Sheriff Jacob Chisnell,
who, on hearing the indictment read by Prosecutor Tibbals,
entered a plea of not guilty. Counsel for the defense, consisting
of William McNeil, Esq., of Peninsula, and Lucius V. Bierce and
Charles A. Baldwin, Esqs., of Akron, then asked for a continuance of
the case until the next term of court, to enable them to properly
prepare their defense, which, owing to the short time that had
elapsed since the commission' of the crime, was granted by the
court.
The Final Trial. — At the following term of the court, with
Judges James S. Carpenter and William H. Canfield upon the
bench, the defendant was put upon his trial, on the 26th day of
November, 1861. After the jurj^ had been impaneled, another
motion was made for continuance on account of the illness of one
material witness, and the absence of another, on behalf of the
defense, but the court overruled the motion, and the trial pro-
ceeded, the "sick" witness, a daughter of the accused, residing in
Cleveland, being present and testifying in behalf of her father,
notwithstanding her alleged disability.
The Insanity Dodge. — The trial occupied nearly two weeks,
about 70 witnesses being examined, including several professional
experts on lunacy, and the case was very closely contested on both
sides, Hon. William H. Upson assisting Prosebutor Tibbals on
behalf of the State. The killing at the time and place, and in the
manner charged in the indictment, -was admitted by the defense,
the plea of insanity being interposed, and all the testimony on the
part of the defense being for the purpose of establishing that
theory. Defendant's daughter (and perhaps others) testified that
about twelve years before, he had been afflicted >vith sun-stroke in
Germany, and that five or six years later, after coming to America,
he had a similar attack, quite a number of witnesses testifying
that he had often acted in a strange and unusual manner, indicat-
ing that he w^as of unsound mind. Prosecutor Tibbals, on the other
hand, introducing a number of medical experts, who testified, from
professional examination, to their belief that the prisoner was
sane, among others Superintendent Kendrick, of the Northern
Ohio Hospital for the Insane, at Newburg.
In addition to the testimony thus adduced in his behalf, the
"insane" demonstrations of the defendant, throughout the trial,
were constant and unremitting, consisting mainly of facial con-
tortions, unintelligible mutterings and a seeming utter indifference
and oblivion to the proceedings that were being had, though at one
time, during the argument of Prosecutor Tibbals, while setting
forth the quarrelsome character of the defendant, and his brutal
and inhuman treatment of his wife, he so for forgot the role he
SENTENCED TO BE EXECUTED. 681
"was playing, that, in his anger, he sprang to his feet, and seizing
the chair upon w^hich he had been sitting, essayed to strike that
official down, but was was prevented from doing so by the court
constable who had the prisoner in charge.
Charge, Verdict, Etc. — At the close of the testimony for the
defense, the case was ably argued on both sides, occupying nearly
two full da^^s. Judge Carpenter charged the jury in a very clear
and impartial manner, lucidly expounding the law relating to
homicides, and the rule of applying evidence in such cases, par-
ticularly'^ in cases like the one on trial, where insanity is interposed
as the sole defense. The jury retired to their room at about 11
o'clock A. M. on Thursday, December 5, 1861, and in less than
three-fourths of an hour had agreed upon a verdict of
MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE.
Counsel for the defense immediately moved for a new trial,
because the verdict was not warranted by the evidence, and for
several other alleged reasons, mostly of a technical nature, which
motion, after full argument for and against, was overruled by the
court, on the 18th day of December, 1861. The defendant being in
court, was ordered by Judge Carpenter to stand up for sentence,
to which command no attention was paid. He was raised then to
a perpendicular by Sheriff Chisnell and his deputy, and held in
that position during the delivery of the sentence, and, in the
language of the newspaper reporter of the scene, "in the mean-
time keeping up the crazy dodge, but more success<fully imitating
a driveling idiot, or the stupid, maudlin appearance of a drunken
man."
The court room was crowded, and many believing his " insane"
demonstrations genuine, expressed great sympathy for the doomed
man, but after leaving the court room, and getting past the crowd
in the corridors, on his return to jail, he so far recovered his sanity
as to inquire of the jailer when he was to hang. After reviewing
the testimony, the fairness of the trial, the verdict of the jury and
the full concurrence of the court therewith, Judge Carpenter said:
"The history of your case is briefly this: You married the
victim of your crime about a year before her death. You did not
live happily together. Perhaps she had not all the art of soothing
your ferocious temper that a former Avife, who had follow^ed you
from Germany, had had. You complained that she was not as
obedient as the other; that she would not sell whisky at your
grocery like the other, and that she kept back the money. You
complained that she v^^as not as good a housekeeper as the other;
that your affairs were not as prosperous; that you were not as
happy with her as with the other. You grew abusive, violent,
and at length drove her from your house. * * * After repeated
interference of neighbors in her defense, she at length left you
and instituted proceedings for divorce. She was returning from
an interview^ with her counsel and a preparation of papers for
that purpose, to a neighbor's where she had taken refuge from
your violence, w^hen, having waylaid her path, with a gun you
had carefully loaded, you took deadly aim and fired upon your
•wife. She fled from you and fell dow^n and died, and her spirit
"went to her God and your God.
682 . AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
"The stormy out-bursts ot your temper, probably the result of
habitual license under intoxicating stimulants, easily suggested
your defense of insanity, a defense which you attempted to aid
before the jury by simulating paroxysms of the terrible visitation.
But the twelve jurors, while too humane to be indifferent to the
slightest indications in your favor, were too discerning and reflect-
ive to be the dupes of imposture.
"How vain, then, how utterly unavailing w^ill be all simula-
tions and dissemblings — all pretenses and self-deceivings — before
the God who looks upon the heart! Think, I beseech you, of your
crime. Think of your past life. Think how you will answer ta
Him who declared in His own great law for you, and for us all^
'Thou Shalt not kill.'
"And now, as you are soon to pass beyond the reach of human
pity, I pray you fly to Him whose pity is ever interceding, whose
atoning blood can blot out the hand-writing of your guilt, whose
arins are ever open to your repentant soul.
"The judgment of the court, and the sentence of the law is,,
that you be taken hence to the jail of the county, that you be there
safely kept by the jailer thereof, until Friday, the 25th day of
April, 1862, and that on said 25th day of April you be taken to the
place of execution, and there, on Friday, the said 25th day of April,
1862, between the hours of 10 o'clock in the forenoon and 3^
o'clock in the afternoon of said day, 3^ou, Henry Kerst, be hanged
by the neck until you are dead; and may He who is the Resurrec-
tion and the Life, stand by you in that hour of need."
Supreme Court Appealed to. — A carefully drawn bill of excep-
tions having been prepared by defendant's counsel, application
was made to the Supreme Court for the allowance of a writ of
error, which w^as argued before that body, at Columbus, on Satur-
day, January 4, 1862, by General L. V. Bierce in behalf of the con-
demned prisoner, and Prosecutor N. D. Tibbals on behalf of the
State — the latter's first plea before the Supreme Court. The appli-
cation was denied, the decision being announced by Chief Justice
Scott. Strong efforts were also made, by counse} and friends, ta
secure from Governor David Tod a commutation of sentence from
death to imprisonment for life. But, after a full review of the
case, Governor Tod declined to interfere, so that there was nothing^
left but to proceed with the preparations for the execution.
His own Executioner. — ^Sheriff. Chisnell was therefore getting
the necessary paraphernalia ready for carrying out the sentence of
the court upon the doomed man. The gallows — the same which
had originally been provided for the execution of James Parks, as
hereafter recorded — w^as stored in the loft of the jail barn, ready ta
be set up when the fatal day arrived. The rope, manufactured by
Nahum Fay, Esq., of Akron, had been procured, and the proper
assistants and witnesses had been provided, but the customary
provision for a "dead Avatch" had been neglected, and on the
morning of April 23d, two days before the execution was to have
taken place, it was found that the brutal uxoricide had taken the
law into his own hands, and had inflicted upon himself the just
penalty due to his terrible crime.
A Ghastly Spectacle. — When the fact became known through-
out the tow^n that Kerst had committed suicide, the excitement
was intense and hundreds of men and boys rushed to the jail to'
HIS OWN EXECUTIONER. 683
learn the particulars, and gratify a morbid curiosity of viewing the
body of the double murderer — Sheriff Chisnell very properly per-
mitting the body to remain in the position in w^hich it w^as found,
for several hours, to await the action of the coroner — and the dis-
torted features, the staring eyes, the protruding tongue, have doubt-
less haunted many sensitive witnesses of .the ghastly spectacle to
the present time.
How IT WAS Done. — The prison beds at that time were com-
posed of strips of heavy canvas, fastened, bj^ strong cords, to
hooks in the walls, about two and a half or three feet from the cell
floor. Kerst had unfastened his bed from the hooks, and laid it
upon the floor, at the back side of the cell. He had then made a
loop at the end of one of the cords, at the corner of the sacking,
and twisting the cord about his neck, slipped the loop over one of
the hooks, and, by simply lying down, had deliberately strangled
himself to death, an act that must have required the utmost cool-
ness of mind and strength of nerve to accomplish.
The Coroner's Inquest. — A messenger was sent to Cuyahoga
Falls, to notify Coroner Joseph T. HoUoway, who the same day
issued a warrant to Constable Merrick Burton to summon a jury
of inquest, w^hich Avas done accordingly. The jury after viewing
the body, and its surroundings, and hearing the testimony of
Sheriff Jacob Chisnell and Joel Honeywell, returned their verdict
as follows:
"We, the jury, do find that the deceased came to his death
by hanging or strangling himself with a small rope or cord, about
four feet long, which w^as by him fastened to a hook in the wall,
about three feet from the floor, evidently procured by himself from
his hammock in the cell of said jail."
Apropos of the death penalty, w^hile the writer, in his eight
years' experience, as sheriff of Summit county, w^as fortunately
spared the disagreeable duty of executing a human being — though
having one or two very narrow^ escapes — ^he w^as an early advocate
of the measure, recently enacted into a law, of having all the exe-
cutions of the*State performed in the State Penitentiary, thus
obviating the excitements, and frequent disturbances, and some-
times barbarous scenes, incident to local executions at county-
seats.
It is proper to state, in concluding this chapter, that the chil-
dren of the legally condemned, and self-executed w^ife-murderer,
are all highly honorable people, and greatly respected in the com-
munities in which they reside; the fearful crime of the father
doubtless being the result of indulgence in intoxicating liquors
rather than innate depravity — another, w^arning to all, especially the
young, to forever totally abstain from the use of every species of
intoxicating drinks.
«iS5©J<S>^©jiS>:©*^©?^S>^S>Sp
CHAPTER XXXI.
boston's last great sensation —the washburn-peoples homicide— an
irate husband's vengeance on the invader of his marital domain
—preparations for the bloody deed -confronting his victim in
his own house — victim flees for his life— avenger gives chase,
shooting as he runs— four shots take effect, two fatal— mur-
derer walks four miles to give himself up— magistrate fails to
comprehend the situation— walks back home again and yuietly
retires to bed— arrested on mayor's warrant— coroner's inquest
on victim — murderer committed to jail — indictment by grand
jury— hearing in court of common pleas -both hereditary insan-
ity and uncontrollable impulse urged in defense— exciting trial
—verdict, murder in second degree— imprisonmemt for life— still
doing penance— the convict's family— wife divorced and remar-
ried—children highly respectable young ladies, etc.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
T7ROM 1835 to 1838, there lived in Akron, with his family, a very
^ clever but rather eccentric man by the name of Ebenezer Sumner
Washburn, a native of Haddam, Conn., then about 40 years of age.
Though not college-bred, Mr. Washburn was w^ell educated, studi-
ous and of quite a literary turn of mind, often contributing articles
to the local press, and possessing considerable talent as a poet. Mr.
Washburn w^as, by profession, a teacher, and while in Akron taught
during the Winter season in one or more contiguous districts not
now remembered; in the Summer performing such convenient
manual labor as he could find to do in the village and among the
neighboring farmers.
In the latter part of 1838, Mr. Washburn rem«ived his family
into a cabin, standing between the canal and the river, a short dis-
tance south of "Johnny Cake Lock," near the north line of North-
ampton, and in the Winter of 1838, '39 was engaged in teaching a
school near w^hat is now^ known as the Mix farm, on the east side
of the river, ferrying himself over, morning and night, in a "dug-
out," or log canoe, generally accompanied by several of his ow^n
and neighbor's children, who were in attendance upon his school.
A Terrible Catastrophe. — On the morning of February ,14,
1839, taking w^ith him three of his own children and a 12-year-old
daughter of Mr. William Hardy, he started to cross the river in his
frail craft, which, from the turbulence of the current, owing to a
recent freshet, was capsized in the middle of the stream, and all four
of the children drow^ned, Mr. Washburn himself narrowly escaping
a similar fate.
This sad bereavement cast a deep gloom over the minds of
both Mr. and Mrs. Washburn, producing settled melancholy and
despondency in both, though he continued to teach for many years
in Bath and Richfield, where they afterwards lived, while Mrs.
Washburn continued to minister faithfully to the care and comfort
of their increasing and growing family.
A PATRIOTIC SOLDIER. 685
Vendruth Washburn. — To mitigate the sorrow of the bereaved
family for the loss of their little ones, other children were from
time to time born to them, among the rest, on the 7th day of Janu-
ary, 1845, a son, whom they christened Vendruth. This son grew^
vigorously, and being bright as a child, and sprightly as a lad^
though not taking very readily to his books, his father gave him
as good an education as his circumstances would admit of, at the
same time requiring him, as he grew older, to aid in the support of
the family, by performing such labor as could be found for such a
boy to do among the farmers of the neighborhood.
The Boy Soldier. — Thus matters stood at the breaking out of
the w^ar, in 1861. Though then but 16 years old, the heart of
young Washburn >vas at once fired Avith patriotic ardor, and
though considered rather too young to be received into the volun-
teer service, yet, being robust of stature, by representing himself
as 18 years of age, he secured enlistment in the regular army, w^ith
w^hich he served three full j^ears, afterwards going into the veteran
volunteer service, in which, after serving about six months, he was
taken prisoner, and being afterwards paroled returned home, but
making a most faithful soldier throughout.
That Middle Initial " D." — The reader will have noticed that
the name given to the boy in question, w^as "Vendruth," only.-
But, probably from the fact that the accent, in the pronunciation
of the name, w^as placed upon the last syllable, on his enlisting in
the army it was taken to be a double name, and he was accord-
ingly entered upon the army rolls as "V. D. Washburn," and for
the purpose of future identification as such honorably discharged
soldier, should circumstances make such identification necessary,
these initials were adopted and retained.
He Takes to Himself a Wife.— On the 5th da}^ of October,
1865, the ex-soldier boy, then but little more than 21 years of age,
applied to Probate Judge Stephen H. Pitkin, for a marriage license
for himself and Miss Ellen Elizabeth Kelly, a resident of the town-
ship of Boston, the marriage being solemnized the same day by
Justice Wm, L.,. Clarke, of Akron. The new^ly wedded couple estab-
lished themselves in a small single-room cabin in the northwestern
portion of Boston township, a short distance south of the residence
of the mother of the bride, and about three-fourths of a mile east
of the parents of the groom. Here they lived quietly and, so far as
is known, happily, until the Summer of 1870, two little girls, then
respectively four and two years old, having in the meantime been
born to thein ; the husband comfortably supporting his little family
by general labor among the neighboring farmers.
Trouble in Stork for Them.— Charles Peoples, a young sin-
gle inan of the neighborhood, and about the same age, or perhaps
a little older, also an ex-soldier, was own cousin to Mrs. Washburn,
and, working about from farm to farm, with no definite place of
abode, made the house of his friend a sort of headquarters, his
cousin, Mrs. Washburn, doing his ^vashing and mending, and
sometimes caring for him for days at a time when sick or unable
to secure employment.
Thus matters stood on the first of July, 1870, soon after w^hich,
from certain developments, Washburn became cognizant of the
fact that, taking advantage of his absence, and in spite of the rela-
tionship existing betw^een them. Peoples had criminally and
686 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
forcibly invaded the sanctity of his home. This knowledge very
naturally aroused within him a very deep sense of indignation,
and he deterinined to call the betrayer of his confidence, and the
despoiler of his domestic happiness, to account, for the great wrong
he had done to him and his.
Though Peoples had visited the house several times, nothing
had been said to him by Washburn about the matter up to Satur-
day, the 16th day of July, 1870. In the meantime, on Sunday, the
10th day of July, being already the owner of a revolver, he had pur-
chased a supply of ammunition at the grocery store of Mr. Daniel
Peck, in Peninsula, and returning home, had, in the presence of a
neighbor by the name of John H. Johnson, cleaned and loaded the
revolver therewrith. This, it w^as afterwards claimed by Washburn,
w^as done without any intention of using the w^eapon upon Peoples,
himself, but for the purpose of enabling his ^fe to defend herself
against the advances of her libidinous cousin, should he again
attempt to criminally assault her.
The Fatal Day. — On Saturday morning, July 16, 1870, Wash-
burn w^ent to the farm of Mr. James W. Lockert, in the northeast
part of Richfield, taking his oldest little girl along w^ith him as
far as the house of his parents, leaving her in the care of her
grandmother Washburn, until his return. Working through the
forenoon, and taking dinner at Mr. Ivockert's, he started to return
home between 1 and 2 o'clock.
Soon after reaching his mother's. Peoples came along, traveling
in the same direction. Washburn inquired of Peoples if he was
going to his house, and being answered in the affirmative, the two
men, w^ith the little girl, soon started on together. It does not
appear that their conversation, or their actions towards each other,
w^ere anything but cordial on the w^ay, no hint whatever having
been communicated to Peoples, by Washburn, in regard to his
grievances.
A Fearful Tragedy. — On arriving at the house, Peoples was
greeted kindly by his cousin, Mrs. Washburn, and the two men
seated themselves upon the lounge. Presently the nearest neigh-
bor, Mr. John H. Johnson, returning from the spring Avith a pail of
w^ater, came in and setting his pail upon the table, picked up an
accordion and, seating himself in the door, commenced playing on
it, the conversation becoming general; after a little all three tak-
ing seats outside the house and entertaining each other with
stories and incidents of the war.
A little later, Washburn requested Johnson to go home, as he
wanted to have a private talk w^ith Peoples, and Johnson, pleas-
antly remarking that he virould have gone before if he had told
him to, took up his pail of water and started. He had gone but a
short distance w^hen Washburn called him back and requested him
to take the children along, as had frequently been his custom; so
again setting down his pail of w^ater, he took the youngest child in
his arms and the other by the hand and started for his own cabin,
some fifteen or twenty rods distant.
On the departure of Johnson, Washburn and Peoples again
seated themselves upon the lounge. After some general conversa-
tion, Washburn accused Peoples of his perfidy and wrong doing,
w^hich accusation Peoples at first denied, but finally acknowledged,
and to Washburn's inquiry as to what he (Peoples), would do were
PLANNING HIS DEFENSE. 687
he in his (Washburn's), place, he replied that he would try and settle
it if he could, so as not have the affair become public. Washburn
then demanded, as his ultimatum for settlement, that Peoples
should leave the country, and never return, to which Peoples
demurred, and finally announcing, w^ith an oath, that he w^ould do
as he had a mind to, started from the lounge, when Washburn
raised his revolver, which he had previously taken from the nail
Avhere it was hanging behind the door, and fired. Peoples rushed
from the house and fled into the woods, Washburn following and
firing as they ran, both climbing over the fence in the rear of the
house in their flight. About thirty or forty rods from the fence
Peoples fell upon his face, and Washburn coming up placed the
muzzle of the revolver against the back of his head and sent a
bullet crashing through his .brain. The autopsy disclosed four
wounds; a flesh w^ound in the left hand, a flesh w^ound in the right
■ear, a fatal wound in the left breast and a fatal wound in the back
jjart of the head.
Another "McFarland Affair." — About a j^ear previous to
the events here written of, there had been enacted a domestic
tragedy in the city of New^ York, which had created intense excite-
ment, not only in that city, but through the entire country, the
parties to which were a shyster-lawyer by the name of Daniel
McFarland, his divorced wife (who, as Miss Abby Sage, had won
success and popularity as a w^riter), and Mr. Albert Deane Richard-
son, a writer on the New York Tribune, and w^ho had been one of
its most brilliant army correspondents in the War of the Rebellion,
and after the war had written a very graphic and popular life of
•General Grant.
McFarland had become extremely jealous of the attentions
bestowed upon his talented wife, by her many male admirers, and
at length became so unkind and abusive that a separation w^as
had, the oldest of their two children remaining w^ith the father and
the youngest with the mother. Temporarily migrating to Indiana,
she had, under the then free and easy divorce laws of that State,
secured a divorce from her husband, w^ith the custody of the
younger child confirmed to her, soon afterw^ards returning to New
York and resuming her literary labors.
In these troubles she had been especially befriended by Mr.
Richardson, w^ho, after her return from Ne^v York, became very
attentive to her, with a view^ to matrimony. This very greatly
exasperated the ex-husband, McFarland, who, going to the Trib-
une building on the 1st day of December, 1869, made a deadly
assault upon the unarmed victim of his w^rath, fatally shooting
him as he was fleeing for his life. Richardson, after lingering a
few hours, died from the effects of his wounds, but not until he
Tiad been married, by Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, to the lady, for
befriending whom, he had lost his life, and had executed a will
endowing her with such property as he possessed. McFarland was,
-of course, arrested, but admitted to bail, and after a delay of many
months, and w^ith full opportunity, by himself and through his
counsel and friends, for w^itness and jury mixing, was brought to
trial w^ith the anticipated result of a triumphant acquittal, on the
ground that the murderous attack and fatal shooting were done
tinder the influence of an "uncontrollable impulse," notwithstand-
ing the evident preparation he had made to accomplish that result.
688 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
On finding that he had probably killed his victim, Washburn
called to his neighbor Johnson, who, though hearing the shot&
had no conception of their fatal import. Being busy reading, in
his own cabin, he did not immediately respond to the call, when
Washburn, in a louder tone, called again. On going to the door
and inquiring what was wanted, Washburn replied, w^ith an oath^
"I have shot Charlie Peoples, and I want you to come over and
help take care of him," On going with him to where Peoples lay, in
the woods, some 40 or more rods from Washburn's house, and
speaking to him, there was but a single gasp before life wa&
extinct. Telling Johnson why he had killed Peoples, and request-
ing him to get another neighbor, by the name of Sutton, to help
take care of Peoples' body, said he was going to Peninsula to give
himself up, at the same time telling Johnson to take care of the
revolver, and not disturb the two remaining loads,
"Giving Himself Up," — On reaching Peninsula, Washburn
first went to the store of Justice Merrill Boody, who, at the
moment, was in the midst of a business transaction w^ith a gentle-
man from Cleveland, and inquired as to whether any money had
been paid in on a small judgment in his favor against his mother-
in-law. On receiving a negative answer, Washburn said that he
believed he would give himself up. Having been a good deal annoyed
about the judgment in question, and feeling a little provoked
at the interruption to his business transaction with the Cleveland
gentleman, and not having the remotest idea of what he wanted
to "give himself up" for. Justice Boody curtly replied, "I don't
want you — I wouldn't give two cents for you!"
Thereupon Washburn went to the office of Dr. Sumner Pixley
and on meeting the doctor exclaimed: "Here's another McFar-
land affair!" In reply to the doctor's question as to what he
meant, Washburn told him what he had done, and why and how-
he did it, and asked the doctor to advise him what to do. The doc-
tor advised him to go and give himself up to the authorities.
Washburn replied that he had already been to 'Squire Boody, but
that Boody said that he did not want him, that he wouldn't give
two cents for him, etc. The doctor then advised him to go back
home and attend to his own business.
Prompt Action by Mayor McNeil, — Washburn took the doc-
tor's advice, went home, ate his supper and went to bed, night
setting in about the time he left the village for his home.
Doctor Pixley spread the news of the homicide, as detailed to him
by the perpetrator thereof. In the meantime, too, Johnson had
summoned the neighbors, a number of whom had assembled about
the scene of the bloody tragedy, though, under the prevailing
notion that a dead body must not be removed from the place where
found, until the coroner has first viewed it, it was left in the woods
all night. Mr, Henry Crissick filed an affidavit before Mayor
William McNeil, of Peninsula, who placed his warrant in the
hands of Constable Otis W. Fitts, for the murderer's arrest. Sum-
moning a posse, the constable started for the scene of the murder,
arriving at the house of Washburn about midnight. He offered
no resistance, but begged the constable to allow him to remain
with his family until morning, when he would report at any place
that officer might name, which, had his request been granted, he
undoubttedly would have done.
THE PRISONER ON TRIAL.
A LAvSt Look at His Victim. — But that indulgence Constable
Fitts could not grant, and he accordingly dressed himself, and was
soon ready to start. Going with the officer and others to where the
body of his victim lay, by the light of a lantern, carried by one of
the party, he gazed for th^ last time, as he supposed, upon the
earthly remains of his former friend and comrade in arms, slain
by his own hand, without any audible expression of regret, or
visible emotion, the party reaching Peninsula about daylight on
Sunday morning.
Post-Mortem Examination,— Though the cause of the death
of Charles Peoples was abundantly apparent, from the repeated
declarations of Washburn, Mayor McNeil deemed it necessary to
hold a coroner's inquest over the remains. The body, therefore,
Avas removed, on Sunday morning, to the tow^n house in Penin-
sula, w^here, during the day, an autopsy was made by Drs. Sumner
Pixley and Elwyn Humphrey, to enable them to intelligently tes-
tify before the mayor, on the preliminary examination of the
prisoner, in regard to the nature and extent of the wounds, which
had been inflicted upon the deceased; Washburn inquiring after-
wards, of Dr. Humphrey, whether what he had suffered, from the
conduct of Peoples, would not be considered sufficient to drive
him insane?
PRELIMINARY HEARING, INDICTMENT. ETC.
In mayor's court, on Monday morning, July 18, a preliminary
examination was held before Mayor McNeil, who, after the exam-
ination of a large number of witnesses, held the accused, without
bail, to answer to the charge of willful and premeditated murder,
and on the same day he was duly committed to jail by Constable
Fitts. At the October term, 1870, of the Court of Common Pleas for
Summit county, Prosecuting Attorney, Jacob A. Kohler, Esq., laid
Mayor McNeil's transcript before the grand jury, which returned
a "True Bill," containing some live or six counts, charging the
prisoner with the premeditated and malicious murder of Charles
Peoples.
To this indictment, on its being read to him, in open court, by
Prosecutor Kohler, the defendant entered a plea of not guilty, and
being destitute of means to employ counsel. General Alvin C.
Voris and Hon. Henry McKinney were assigned to defend him on
the trial, which was set for Monday, November 7, 1870, Governor
Sidney Edgerton, being assigned to assist in the prosecution.
The Final Hearing. — ^At the time designated. Judge Wash-
ington W. Boynton presiding, the prisoner was put upon his final
trial. The 36 jurors originally summoned having been exhausted
without securing a full panel, several other venires were issued,
and three full days were consumed, and about 90 persons exam-
ined as to their qualifications, before twelve jurors satisfactory to
both the State and defendant were secured, the panel finally
agreed upon being as follow^s: Rees J. Thomas, Loten Hartle,
Nathan Swinehart, Edwin R. Newell, Melchiah Sherbondy,
Vincent G. Harris, Thomas Wright, Elias Rothrock, Isaac Winters,
Sylvester Van Hyning, Alpheus Myers, William T. Bell.
The Plea of Insanity. — The case was opened with a clear
and concise statement, by Prosecuting Attorney Kohler, giving
the main facts pertaining to the homicide, and the proofs which
44
690 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
would be offered by the State, General Voris making a compre-
hensive statement in behalf of the accused, from which, as show-
ing the theory of the defense, \v^e quote as follows:
"The subject of this awful visitation was born in this county,
in 1845, and has always lived in this vicinity, except the four years
of the late war, v/hen he, from the 16th to the 20th years of his age,
served as a soldier — three years in the regular army and one year
in a volunteer regiment. We shall prove that in October, 1865, he
was married to the lady sitting here, who is, unfortunately, but
innocently, the cause of the tragic death of Charles Peoples; that
two children, one little girl of four and another of two years of'
age, are the result of their union; that up to the time of his mar-
riage, the accused had filled the full measure of obligations to the
laws and to community, exhibiting nothing in his conduct of w^ay-
wardness more than usual in the history of American boys."
After commenting at length on the conduct of Peoples, and
the causes leading to the fatal event. General Voris concluded as fol-
low^s: " We expect to show that the seeds of insanity w^ere planted
in his system by the laws that gave him existence, and from maternal
and paternal ancestors; that in the Summer of 1863, while struggling
on the fated field of Chickamauga, he had a sun-stroke from which
he never fully recovered; that he was laboring under delusions
at the time of the alleged homicide; that whatever he may have
done on the 16th day of July last, and however atrocious his acts
may appear to have been, they v^^ere the offspring or product of an
insane mind, overpowered by the overwhelming miseries that
fiercely took possession of this unfortunate man."
Examination of Witnesses,— Witnesses in chief, on behalf of
the State, were introduced as foUow^s: Daniel Peck, Mrs. New^ell
Stocker, Miss Dustine Stocker, John H. Johnson, Lorenzo Seeley,
Dr. Sumner Pixley, Merill Boody, John Cole, Otis W. Fitts, Dr.
Elwyn Humphrey and Wallace Humphrey, a day and a-half being
occupied in their examination.
The w^itnesses for the defense were: Merrill Boody, Dr. Sum-
ner Pixley, Dr. William Bowen, J. B. Lambert, Harmon Graves, E.
S. Washburn (father of the* prisoner), Mrs. Elizabeth Washburn
(mother of accused), Ellen Elizabeth Washburn (wife of the
accused, but who, being objected to by the State, was ruled out),
Vendruth D. Washburn (the defendant). Dr. A. E. Ewing, Dr. Will-
iam Bowen, about the same time being consumed in the exami-
nation in chief and cross-examination as for the State.
Testimony in Rebuttal. — Though interposing the plea of
justifiable homicide, the entire effort of the defense was to establish
their theory of the mental unsoundness of their client, and his
lack of responsibility for the act ^which he had perpetrated. In
rebuttal, to controvert the insanity hypothesis, witnesses w^ere
introduced as follows: James W. Lockert, George Greenleese, S.
M. Campbell, John Cole, Dr. W. C. Jacobs, Sidney P. Conger,
Alexander Snow, Holland Sno\\r, Jane Kelly (sister of the defen-
dant's wife), Dr. George P. Ashmun, Dr. Thomas McEbright,
Charles Lemoin, Warren S. Wicks, John Chapman, William Chap-
man, Dr. C. F. H. Biggs, James Black, Peter Baumgardner, James
Brittain, A. J. Sovacool, V. C. Carpenter, M. B. Roach, E. D. Han-
cock, Henry S. Barnhart, Levi Newell, Patrick Agnew, Charles
Reed, Thomas Smith and J. C. Templeton.
ARGUMENTS OF COUNSEL — CHARGE, ETC. 691
Arguments of Counsel. — Testimony closed on Monday even-
ing, the seventh day of the trial. On Tuesday morning. Governor
Edgerton addressed the jury, on behalf of the State, for about two
hours in a full and candid review of the circumstances attending
the homicide, and of the evidence tending to show that the crime
was not only deliberately planned, but inexorably carried out;
giving especial emphasis to the increasing tendency and the
imminent danger of interposing the plea of insanity as an excuse
for the perpetration of the most flagrant and ruthless crimes.
Hon. Henry McKinney followed in a very lucid analysis of the
testimony bearing upon the mental derangement of the accused,
and of the effect that the real or supi^osed invasion of his marital
rights, w^ould be likely to have upon a sensitive mind, especially
a mind predisposed to insanity by hereditary taint.
General Voris followed his colleague, on the defense, by a full and
clear presentation of authorities on the subject of insanity and
its relation to crime, and in an earnest, eloquent and solemn
appeal to the jury for the acquittal of his unfortunate, rather than
criminal, client.
Prosecuting Attorney Kohler, closing on behalf of the State,
gave a brief but perspicuous review^ of the laws governing the
trials for homicide, the utter fallacy of the theory of insanity,
either hereditary or iftipulsive, as applicable to the case on
trial, because of the manifest planning and deliberation — the pro-
<!uring of the ammunition and the careful cleaning and loading of
the revolver, nearly a week in advance; the sending away of his
children: the pursuit of his wounded victim when he was fleeing
from his murderous fury, and the ruthless sending of a bullet
through his brain while already in the agonies of death; and of
his preconceived line of defense, by saying to one doctor, "there is
another McFarland affair," and inquiring of another, while return-
ing from holding an autopsy upon his victim, whether the treat-
ment he had received at the hands of the man he had slain
would be considered enough to drive him insane, etc., all pointing
to a most deliberate and malicious murder; closing with a most
powerful appeal to the jury to do full and impartial justice
between the accused and the State, to the end that her laws should
be vindicated and her citizens protected in their persons and their
lives.
Judge Boynton's Charge. — Judge Boynton occupied about an
hour in delivering his charge to the jury, carefully defining the
several degrees of homicide, and the law applicable thereto, and
especially when hereditary insanity or uncontrollable impulse is
interposed as a defense, closing as follows:
"In view of what was said to you by one of the counsel for the
defense, I deem it my duty to say that public sentiment is not the
law of the land. It may be made so by legislation, but until so
made it should be entirely disregarded in courts of justice. The
personal safety of the victim— the common welfare of the com-
munity, and the social order of the State, alike demand that the
law, as it is, should be strictly enforced. The result to be reached
by you should be controlled bv^ and arise from, an honest, careful
and dispassionate consideration of the evidence, and by that only.
That the accused took the life of Charles Peoples is conceded. If
he was insane when he fired the fatal shot, as I have before said
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
to you, you should acquit him. If not, and you are clearly satis-
fied of his guilt, it is your duty, equally solemn and binding, to so-
declare by your verdict."
The Verdict, Sentence, Etc. — Under the charge of Judge
Boynton, after a fe>v hours' deliberation, the jury returned their
verdict as follows: "We, the jury, impaneled and sworn to well
and truly try, and true deliverance make between the State of
Ohio and the prisoner at the bar, Vendruth D. Washburn, do find
him guilty of murder in the second degree. Kdwin R. Newell,
foreman,"
Counsel for the defense having achieved the main object of
their efforts, in reducing the verdict from the first to the second
degree, thus averting the death penalty from their client, inter-
posed no motion for a nevir trial, or arrest of judgment, by proceed-
ings in error, and on Mondaj^, November 21, 1870, the prisoner w^as^
brought into court for sentence. On being asked the usual ques-
tion by Judge Boynton as to whether he had anything to say why
the sentence of the law should not be pronounced against him in
accordance with the verdict, the prisoner passed up to the judge a
slip of paper, on which was written a request for a private inter-
view w^ith the judge. On reading it Judge Boynton said that he
could not grant the request, but that the prisoner, by himself or
his counsel, could make any statement he desired, whereupon
Washburn then said:
"I claim that justice has not been done me. I don't know
much about law, for I never read much, but I know that any man
would do just as I did under the same circumstances. There was
enough reason for my doing as I did. I have served my country
several years, but I don't know as the lives I have saved, and the
service I have done the government, and the sufferings I have gone
through, w^ill make any difference with what will be done wdth
me in this case. When I shot it w^as under an impulse that I could
not resist, and I don't think that I ought to be held responsible, for I
couldn't help it. I think I ought to have a new trial. This would
be right and fair, for the judge and jury that tried me would have
done just as I did. It is unjust to punish me for what I did."
Judge Boynton, continuing said: "However brave you may
have been in defense of the government furnishes no reason to
treat lightly the crime of which you stand convicted. The man
w^ho shoots another must suffer the penalty the law has affixed to
the crime. From the evidence offered in the case, it seems that
you were bent on killing Peoples. You got him into your house,
aw^ay from all help, closed the door, took down the pistol from
w^here it w^as hanging, and, as your victim Avas hitching along the
lounge towards the door, in the vain hope of escaping, you delib-
erately shot him, and follovsred him, shooting again and again. In
passing sentence upon you, the court has no discretion. The
statute prescribes the punishment for murder in the second
degree, of w^hich crime the jury have found you guilty, w^hich
punishment is imprisonment in the State's prison for the term of
your natural life. It is, therefore, the judgment of this court that
you be taken hence to the jail of the county, and thence, within
thirty days, to the penitentiary, there to be confined during your
natural life. It is no part of the sentence of this court that you be
put into solitary confinement."
IN PRISON — DIVORCE, ETC. 693
Conduct of the Prisoner.— The bearing of the prisoner in jail
Siad been generally pacific and amiable up to the finding of the
verdict of the jury and the certainty that a new trial would not be
granted. He then became somewhat ill-natured, and on going
from the jail to the court house to receive his sentence, stoutly
resisted Sheriff Curtiss and his deputy in their attempt to lock arms
Avith him. He also became a good deal agitated during the
•delivery of the sentence, by Judge Boynton, but quietly accom-
panied the officers back to jail.
In the Penitentiary. — From this time on, while awaiting
transportation to Columbus, the prisoner was somew^hat morose
and irritable, and on starting with him, on November 28, 1870, the
sheriff anticipated considerable trouble on the way, but was
happily disappointed, the prisoner, having evidently concluded to
submit to the inevitable w^ith the best grace possible, being per-
fectly quiet and amiable throughout the entire journey. The
total cost of the trial (exclusive of transportation fees), paid by the
state treasurer to Sheriff Curtiss, was $734.05.
His Prison Deportment. — For twenty-one years has Vendruth
Washburn been separated from the world by the gloomy w^alls
of his prison-house, and though he is reported by the prison
officers to have a clean record as to deportment and conformity to
prison rules, he is very restive under his protracted confinement,
as is evidenced by the earnest appeals that he has from titne to
time made to his counsel, and others, to intervene in his behalf in an
effort to secure a pardon, still claiming that, admitting his sanity
at the commission of the act for which he w^as convicted, he has
been sufficiently punished for visiting summary vengeance upon
the invader of his domestic rights and marital sanctities.
Petition For Divorce — Curious Answer. — The wife, Ellen
Elizabeth Washburn, remained true to her original marital rela-
tions for nearly four years, when, on the 7th day of October, 1874,
through her attorney, William McNeil, Esq., she filed her petition
in the court of Common Pleas, setting forth that ever since her
marriage to the said Vendruth D. Washburn, on the 5th day of
October, 1865, she had conducted herself toward him as a "faithful
and obedient wife;" and, after reciting the fact of his conviction,
sentence and incarceration in the penitentiary, asking that she
might be divorced, with custody of children, etc.
A copy of this petition, accompanied by the usual summons,
w^as duly served upon Washburn in the penitentiary, by the sheriff
of Franklin county. Washburn at once returned the copy of the
petition to County Clerk George W. Weeks, with the following
request endorsed thereon:
State Prison, Columbus, Ohio, )
October 27, 1874. )
Geo. W. Weeks, Esq. — Sir : I write a few lines which 1 request you to
read to the court in the presence of the plaintiff, Ellen E. Washburn :
I, V. D. Washburn, defendant , ask that the plaintiff above named with-
draw her petition for divorce. First, because she cannot obtain the divorce
without committing- the crime of perjury; she cannot truthfully affirm that
she has been a true and a faithful and obedient wife of Defendant V. D.
Washburn. Second, for her to obtain a divorce under suclbcircumstances as
exist in this case, and to marry ag-ain is for her to live in adulterJ^ Third,
if she persists in pressing the suit for divorce, it may compel me to reveal
that which will be seriously to her disadvantage ; it may bring- her to the
same humiliating position in which I am now placed. Fourth, I still have
694
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
80 great a degree of regard for the tnother of my children as to desire her
best good, and to desire that she commit no further crime. Fifth, I do-
therefore send her this soleinn warning — warning her to turn from sin and
from crime, and to escape temporal and eternal punishiuent before it is ever-
lastingly too late * * * before she drags herself and her own flesh and
blood down to the world of eternal woe. I have warned you, my once loved
wife. Beware! Beware! BEWARE!
V. D. Washburn.
Decree of Divorce Granted. — Yet, notveithstanding this
solemn warning, the petition w^as not w^ithdraw^n, and the decree
of divorce was duly granted, with the custody of the children, then
eight and six years old, respectivel}^ confirmed to the mother.
Mrs. Washburn was subsequently married to Mr. James Hall, of
Boston tow^nship, with whom she is still living. The tw^o daugh-
ters, noAV grown to womanhood, -with commendable perseverance^
in the face of poverty and the odium inseparable from the wrong-
doing and misfortunes of the father, have secured for themselves
a first-class education, with a view of teaching, and are both highly
respected by all who know them.
CHAPTER XXXII.
COPLEY IN EMBKYO— TOPOGRAPHY — THE BIG SWAMP—A GAMY LOCALITY —
DANGER AND DEATH THERE, TOO— EFFORTS AT RECLAMATION—EARLY
SETTLEMENT ORGANIZATION, ETC.— GROWTH, POPULATION, ETC.— BUSINESS
STATUS "SPIRIT" MANIFESTATIONS- PIONEER TEMPERANCE SOCIETY-
EDUCATION AND RELIGION — MILITARY RECORD — COPLEY IN PUBLIC
OFFICE— HER NEW RAILROAD— INSANE HOMICIDE, ETC.
THE STARTING POINT.
IDREVIOUS to the erection of Summit county, in 1840, Copley
-■- was part and parcel of Medina county, w^hich, though desig-
nated as a separate county, was legally associated with Portage
county until its ow^n distinct organization, in 1818. -Copley was
originally a part of w^hat w^as designated as Wolf Creek township,
embracing the present townships of Copley, Norton, Wadsw^orth,
Sharon, Guilford, and Montville. In the original survey, Copley
w^as officially known as "Township 2, Range 12, of the Western
Reserve," and is bounded on the north by Bath, east by Portage,
south by Norton and west by Sharon.
Topographical. — Though not bordered upon, or traversed by,
any considerable streams of water, like some of the tow^nships both
north and south of it, quite a large proportion of the tow^nship
originally was, and in fact still is, quite wet. Pigeon Creek,
Chocolog Creek and Wolf Creek traversing nearly its entire length
and breadth, from the north and w^est, culminating in a succession
of ponds and marshes, pretty generally known as Copley swamp,
but embracing about equal proportions of Copley, Portage and
Norton tow^nships.
Upon the confines of this swamp, on the west side, are three
quite extensive bodies of water, designated, respectively, Chocolog
Pond, White Pond and Black Pond, w^hich in the past have afforded
fine sporting grounds for the hunters and fishermen of the neigh-
borhood. White Pond, in later years, furnishing large quantities of
the very purest ice for the Akron market.
There Was Sport in Those Days. — Besides the several vari-
eties of fish and small game formerly abounding in and about the
ponds in question, the swamp, every Autumn, for inanj' years,
swarmed with myriads of pigeons, of w^hich thousands upon thou-
sands were captured and slaughtered annually by the surrounding
inhabitants. At an early day, also, larger game — w^olves, bears,
deer, w^ild-turkeys, etc., — was abundant, a circular hunt occurring
in December, 1821, in w^hich some 2(X) persons participated, sur-
rounding Copley sw^amp, and at a given signal marching towards
the center. The result of the day's ^vork, according to the recol-
lection of the late Julius A. Sumner, was the killing of 75 deer,
four bears and two wolves, and, according to the recollection of the
late Avery Spicer, (whose father. Major Miner Spicer, w^as one of
the chief managers of the hunt), 100 deer, 18 bears and two wolves,
besides a great variety of smaller game.
696
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
DR. BYRON CHAPMAN— son of
Ashbel and Polly (Lane) Chap-
man, was born near Skeneatteles, N.
Y., January 8, 1822; at the ag-e of 13, in
1835, came with parents to Ohio, set-
tling" in Coplej'; raised on farm with
common school education; at 22,
commenced the study of medicine
with his brother William, then prac-
ticing in Coplej', attending lectures
two terins in Cleveland Medical Col-
lege, from which he was g-raduated
in March, 1847. Dr. William Chapman
dying, soon after his graduation, he
took charge of his brother's patients
and has been in constant and suc-
cessful practice in Cople}' and vicin-
ity ever since. Deceinber 23, 1847, he
was married to Miss Matilda A. Dils,
of New Hudson, Oakland count3',
Michigan, a native of Cajniga county,
New York, who has borne him
two children — Willis D., whose por-
trait and biogfraphy w^ill be found
elsewhere, and Fanny P., widow of
the late Albert E. Heistand, now liv-
ing with her father in Cople3'.
Though an ardent Republican, Dr.
Chapman has never sought or held
office, excepting those of treasurer
of his township and of postmaster,
but has ever been active in promot-
ing the educational and moral inter-
DK. BYRON CHAPMAN.
ests of the county, state and nation,
being especially efficient in supplj'-
ing the government with the sinews
of war, during the great slaveholder's
rebellion.
For several j^ears after the writer came here, (1835), each
recurring Winter would bring to the Akron market a liberal sup-
ply of v-enison and wild turkey from the Copley swamp, and less
than thirty years ago a fine deer was driven from the swamp,
and after circling around toward New Portage, and again north-
ward toward Akron, was finally brought to bay and killed upon
what was then designated as the "Island," between Manning's
Pond and Summit Lake, but by whom is not now rememliered;
an occasional turkey having been gathered in in still later years.
There Were Perils There, Also. — Though there are many
quite extensive areas of solid land, called islands, in different por-
tions of the swamp, much of it was extremely soft and miry,
especially in the rainy seasons of the year. Thus it was quite haz-
ardous traveling through it, except in cold w^eather, and even then,
persons inexperienced in woodcraft were in imminent danger of
becoming lost, many instances occurring w^here parties, thus
becoming bewildered, have undergone considerable hardship
before finding their way out, the universal tendency, it is said, of
persons thus lost, being to travel in a circle, instead of in a straight
line in any desired given direction.
It is not now remembered that loss of life to anj'^ adult per-
son ever resulted from thus becoming bewildered in the swamp,
though some thirty years ago, the sad death of a six-year-old boy
occurred therein, under the following circumstances: Doctor
Henry Hetrick, since a resident of Copley, in 1861, lived near the
north line of Coventry, west of the canal. A little six-year-old son
of Mrs. Hetrick (formerly Mrs. Houck) was living with an uncle
near East Liberty, in Green township, some seven miles to the
NAME OF TOWNSHIP, SETTLEMENT, ETC. 697
southeast. On Friday, July 26, little Benny, being sent by his
uncle to Watch the barn door to keep the hogs out, while the farm
hands were in the field after a load of grain, being probably seized
w^ith a desire to see his mother, unnoticed by the family, started off
in the direction of her Coventry home. He seems to have traversed
the rather difficult route correctly, until within a few rods of his
mother's house, when, seeing a neighbor at his gate, being of a
timid nature, the little fellow climed over the fence, as if to reach
the house through the back lot. The supposition is that he was
unable to recognize his home from the rear, and wandered on,,
climbing into the road beyond, the last seen of him alive being on
Sherbondy hill, on the road to Loyal Oak.
The Search^Fouxd Dead. — The parents supposing that the
child was still at his uncle's, and the uncle supposing that he was
at his mother's, several days elapsed before it Avas known that he
was missing. Then a vigorous search was instituted by the fam-
ily and neighbors, which was kept up for about ten days, but
w^ithout obtaining any clue w4iatever, other than above indicated.
On Wednesday, August 14, some twenty days after his disappear-
ance, Curtis Robinson and Abner and William Scranton, -while
hunting in the swamp, found the dead body of the little wanderer
about eighty rods south of Black Pond, the child evidently having
followed the ditch leading from the pond to Pigeon Creek, until
he sank exhausted do\vn to death. The body -was in such a stage
of decomposition as to be recognized only by its clothing. The
parents were promptly notified, a coffin procured, and the remains
removed to the family residence, Avhere the funeral was largely
attended by sympathizing friends and neighbors on Thursday,
August 15.
EfforTvS at Reclamation. — An immense amount of time and
money have already been expended in the construction of public
roads through different portions of this swamp, and in ditching
and other efforts to utilize these swamp lands for grazing and
agricultural purposes, and several hundred acres have thus far
been reclaimed and put under cultivation. But owing to the
peculiar construction of the Ohio Canal, near the junction of Wolf
Creek and the Tuscarawas river, the full benefit of the reclamation
project b^' drainage has not yet been secured. Through the efforts of
Senator J. Park Alexander and Representative Henry C. Sanford,
the Legislature has authorized the construction of a culvert under
the canal, for the purpose of running said surplus water into the
Tuscarawas river, which, if successful, it is confidently expected
will add several thousand acres to the tillable and taxable lands of
the several tow^nships interested.
A "Lordly" Name. — In the distribution of the lands of the
Western Reserve, Township 2, Range 12, fell principally to one
Gardner Green, of Boston, Mass., and was at first called Greenfield,
but was afterwards changed by Mr. Green to Copley, in honor of
his wife, whose inaiden name was Copley, said to have been a
lineal descendant of Lord Copley, of England. Thus, though
largely Republican in politics, and eminently Democratic in
thought and habit, the good people of Copley can justly boast that,
in name at least, their township is a veritable " sprig of nobility."
When and by Whom Settled. — The first actual white settler
in the township, is believed to have been Jonah Turner, a native
698
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
of Pennsylvania, who, in 1814, located on "Stony Ridge," about
two miles w^est of Montrose. Turner was a member of Major Crog-
han's battalion, in the w^ar of 1812, and is said to have selected this
location while encamped near by, on the march of the battalion
from Pittsburg to Fort Stephenson, at Low^er Sandusky, in the
Summer of 1813, w^here, w^ith a garrison of but 150 men, and a single
cannon, such a gallant and successful defense was made against
500 British troops, and about the same number of Indians and six
pieces of artillery, under the veteran General Proctor— Major
Croghan being then but 21 years of age.
From the fact that the Indians of this vicinity vanished with
the breaking out of the w^ar, allying themselves -with the British
forces as above indicated, and the further fact that Copley was not
settled as early as many of the other townships of the county, no-
stories of collisions betw^een Avhite and red men, are to be found,
among the traditionary lore of this toAvnship.
T UT.HER H. PARMELEE.-son of
-L' Elisha and Roxa (Stanley) Par-
melee, natives of Goshen, Conn., was
born in Mt. Morris, Livingston connty,
N. Y., August 13, 1812; educated at
Batavia, Genesee county', N. Y.; at 17
engaged in clerking in Westfield,
Chautauqua county, N. Y.; February,
1832 came with familj' to Hudson,
Ohio, working on father's farm Sum-
mers and teaching school Winters;
in Spring of 1835, entered store of
Oviatt & Baldwin, at Copley Center,
as clerk; in 1838 formed mercantile
partnership with Leavitt Weeks, con-
tinuing until 1845, when he reinoved
to Akron, where he resided 10 years.
Maj^ 14, 1838, Mr. Parmelee was mar-
ried in Copley, to Miss Tamma In-
gersoll, daughter of Noah and Mary
(Stickels) Ingersoll, who has borne
hiin seven children — Helen E., wife of
George O. Rice, of Kent; Walter M.,
Caroline G., wife of A. L. Ewell, of
Kent; Luther H. (deceased); Mary H.,
wife Henrj^ C. Rea, of Kent; Frank H.,
of Kent, and Roxa S., wife of W. I.
Caris, of Kent; the family having
removed to Kent in the Fall of 18.55.
While a resident of Copley, Mr. Par-
melee served as township clerk,
assessor, trustee and meinber of
board of education, and since resid-
ing in Kent has held the offices of
township trustee, clerk, school
director, justice of the peace, mem-
LUTHER H. PARMELEE.
ber of the board of education and'
treasurer, village councilinan, re-
corder, treasurer, treasurer of union
school board, county commissioner,,
county coroner, cashier of the Kent
Savings and Loan Association and
treasurer of Portage and Summit
Pioneer Association.
It will be impossible to give the names of all the early settlers
in the tow^nship, but of those coming thither previous to 1820 w^e
may mention the following: George Hawkins, 1815; Lawrence
More, 1816; Allen Bosworth, 1817; Jacob Spafford, Nathaniel Davi»
and Jonathan Starr, 1818, and Chester Orcutt, 1819.
Copley w^as organized, as a distinct tow^nship, in July 1819, one
year, only, after the organization of Medina county, of w^hich it
w^as then a part. The election records are not now in existence.
, GROWTH, POPULATION, ETC. 699
and it is not remembered by any of the present residents of the
township who the original officers of the township were, though
it is quite certain that Mr. Jonathan Starr w^as the first town clerk,,
as well as the first justice of the peace (elected in 1820), though
Mr. Law^rence More, w^ho had been previously elected by the sev-
eral associated townships above named, continued to act until the
close of his term.
Growth, Population, Etc. — After its organization, settlement,
by sturdy and enterprising emigrants, mostly from New England,
but with a healthy mixture from New York, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey and other States, was quite rapid, so that, by 1835, the town-
ship was nearly, if not quite, as populous as it is now. The census of
184() gave it a population of 1,439, while that of 1880 made the
number but 1,337 (being a shrinkage, in the forty intervening years,
of 102 souls), while the census of 1890 credits the tow^nship with
1,321 , a loss of 16 during the decade — a condition of things accounted
for in the fact that the services of the timber-slasher and log-
burner are no longer needed; and in the still further fact that the
labor of the country has been largely transferred from the farm to-
the work-shop, for the fabrication of labor-saving agricultural
implements; aided, too, by the concentration of mercantile and
mechanical operations, that used to be done at tow^nship centers^
in the larger villages and cities.
Copley's Business Status. — Aside from the sw^ampy portion of
the township, described above, with the exception of a few stony
ridges in different localities, the land is of a gently rolling con-
formation, and of a general fertility equal to that of any other
township on the Reserve; and it is safe to say that its farms are as
well tilled and cared for, and its farm buildings as commodious
and carefully kept, as those of anj^ other community in'Ohio.^
Copley tnay, therefore, emphatically be called an agricultural
township, producing, in abundance, nearly every species of grain,,
vegetables and fruit known to this climate, as well as some of the
very best stock raised in Northern Ohio.
In the center^of the town is a hotel, store, postoffice, and sundry
mechanical establishments, though for reasons stated above, these
branches of business are on a much smaller scale than forty years-
ago. Though abounding in w^ater, Copley never possessed any
considerable amount of machiner^^-propelling water power, the
Zeigler Flouring Mill, on Wolf Creek, two miles south of the cen-
ter, originally erected by Allen Pardee, being the only permanent
establishment of the kind in the township. One or two grist mill&
also had an early brief existence, while quite an extensive steam-
driven flour mill, with three run of stones, was established at the
center about 1858, by the late John C. Stearns, and Darwin Clarke,
which, after a fairly successful run of about two j^ears, was unfor-
tunately destroyed by fire, and never rebuilt. Quite a number of
sawmills have also existed from time to time in the tow^nshii),
driven by both water and steam power, some of w^hich^ — notably
that of Mr. William C. Sackett, on the eastern line of the township
— did quite an extensive business for several years, but most of
them are now^ a memory only.
The manufacture of " black salts," or potash, was also Cj[uite an
industry in Copley, and surrounding townships, during the early
forest-slashing period, "asheries" being then quite common, the
700
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
product, in large, tight casks, finding a market in Pittsburg (by
w^agon), previous to the opening of the Ohio Canal, and afterwards
in Cleveland, Buffalo and other points further east.
" Evil Spirits" did there Abound. — The fabrication of whisky,
too, "was one of Copley's most prominent early "industries," some-
thing like a dozen distilleries having been erected at different
points within the limits of the township, some of them turning out
as high as 50 gallons per day, and one of them continuing in oper-
tion as late as about 1850.
Though some of these establishments were a source of consid-
erable wealth to their proprietors, and incidentally pecuniarily
beneficial to some of the neighboring farmers, it Avas early discov-
ered, by the more thoughtful inhabitants that they were sadly
interfering with the industrious habits of others, and rapidly
sowing the seeds or immorality and disorder in the community.
WILLIAM JOHNSTON.^son of
Cornelius and Elizabeth (Wil-
helm) Johnston; was born in Green
township, Aug'ust 3, 1815; raised a
farmer with such education as the
meag-er schools of that earl}' daj^
afforded; reinained with parents
until 29 3'ears of age; April 22, 1841,
was married to Miss Elizabeth G.
Moore, daughter of the late John
Moore, of Spring-field, and in April,
1844, located on lot 15 in Copley
township, where he continuously
resided until his death, November 23,
1885. Mr. Johnston was a great
reader, and thoroug-hly posted in af-
fairs, in politics orig-inally a Whig-,
and later a thorough-going Republi-
-can, and one of the most active and
influential members of that party in
his township and countj^. Besides
filling various township oflRces, Mr.
Johnston was a member of the County
Board of Infirmary Directors, from
1858 to 1861, three years. Mr. and Mrs.
Johnston were the parents of two
sons — Cornelius A., born July 16,
1842, now a successful farmer in Tall-
niadge, and John M., born August 13,
1844, now residing- upon the family
WILLIAM JOHNSON.
homestead in Coplej% the latter also
having ably served on the Infirmary
Board six years— 1882 to 1888. the last
two years as clerk of the board. Mrs.
Johnston still survives, residing with
her son upon the old homestead.
Early Temperance Movement. — Hence, as early as October,
1829, a temperance organization was effected, believed by some to
"be the first regular society of this kind in Ohio, although the sub-
ject was then being somewhat agitated in Hudson, Tallmadge and
several other towns upon the Western Reserve. The society was
called "The First Temperance Society of Medina Count3%" the
second, third and fifth articles of its constitution being, respect-
ively, as follows:
Art. 2. The object of this compact shall be the suppression of intem-
perance, by doing- away the unnecessar}^ use of ardent spirits.
Art. 3. The members of this society ag-ree not to use ardent spirits them-
selves, unless necessary for the promotion of, or restoration to, health, and
.also to discourage their use bj' others.
EDUCATIONAL — RELIGIOUS, ETC. 701
Akt. 5. The members of this compact shall make use of the means in
their power to prevent the intemperate use of ardent spirits; and shall use
their endeavors to disseminate a knowledge of intemperance upon individ-
uals and upon society generally.
This society increased in numbers quite rapidly, and through
its influence similar organizations were effected in contiguous
localities, considerably diminishing the use of distilled liquors and
the respectability of their manufacture and sale, though it was not
until the Washingtonian movement, originating in Baltimore in
1840, struck Ohio, a few years later, that the manufacture of "blue-
ruin" was entirely discontinued in Copley, since which time the
township will compare favorably, for sobriety and morality, with
any other community in the State of Ohio.
Lacteal Operations. — Some eighteen or twenty years ago, the
Cheese Factory system was inaugurated in Copley; one establish-
ment being located near the center or the town and another upon
its eastern border, upon the farm of Mr. William C. Sackett. The
patrons of the latter, being residents of both Copley and Portage
townships, it w^as denominated the "Summit Union Cheese Com-
pany," and for a time, under the superintendence of Mr. Sackett,
did quite an extensive business; but differences arising among the
stockholders in regard to its management, the business w^as aban-
doned some ten years ago and the large milk production of the
neighborhood is now^ daily distributed from wagons, among the
inhabitants of the rapidly gro>ving city of Akron.
At the present time there is very little cheese made in the
township, the private dairies of those w^ho do not sell their milk, as
above noted, being devoted to butter making, large quantities of
which, of a most excellent quality, find a ready maket at remu-
nerative prices.
Education and Religion. — It is a little difficult to determine,
at this late day, w^ho was the first school teacher in the township,
recollections being about equal in favor of John Codding and
Jonathan Starr. It is a fact, however, that Copley has been sup-
plied w^ith as good school houses, and as efficient teachers, from
the beginning, as any of its neighbors, while, for a good share of
the time, an academy, or high school, has been maintained at the
center of the town; the center, becoming incorporated as a separate
school district some 25 years ago, the school then being placed in
charge of Rev. John Encell, who made himself so efficient as an
instructor, and so popular as a citizen, that in 1865 he was selected
as Summit county's representative in the State Legislature, as
elsewhere noted.
In religious matters, Copley holds a fair average with her
sister townships. In the early forties, the Congregationalists and
Methodists jointly erected a church building, a short distance
south of the center, in which Sunday services have been held by
one or other of the societies, with slight interruptions, to the present
day. During a portion of the time, also, there has been a Metho-
dist society on the north line of the township, jointly maintained
by citizens of Copley and Bath, while A\'ithin the past few years,
a small but fine house of w^orship has been erected one mile east
of the center, at Boughton's Corners, by the society of the "Church
of God" (commonly known as "Winebrennarians"), the Disciples,
also, having erected a snug little church edifice at the center, and
702 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
the United Brethren a similar house of worship at Montrose,
^ short distance east of the corners, on the Copley side of the line,
within the past year or two.
Copley's War Record.— In the line of patriotism and military
-ardor, Copley's record is remarkably fine. Of her ex-Revolutionary
heroes, nothing can now be definitely learned. In the War of 1812,
Colonel Jonas Schoonover, in his contribution to Hardesty's Mili-
tary History of Ohio, gives the names of Copley's participants as
follows: Joel Thayer, Josiah Arnold, Chester Cole, Hezron Thomp-
son and John Beatty. In the Mexican War: Ezra and Noah
Tryon, and Otis, George and Elias Capron, w^hile in the War of the
Rebellion, a roster of one hundred and forty-one, is compiled
from Colonel Schoonover's list, and the assessor's returns for 1863,
"64, '65, as follows:
Lyman J. Adair, Andrew^ A. Adair, Ransom J. Arnold, Charles
F. Arnold, Samuel Arnold, Nathaniel Averill, Mervin H. Ayres
(died in service), James Andrews, Rice Brockway, Willard Bos-
worth, Leuas Ball, Benjamin F. Boughton, More Briggs, Jacob
Ballinger, Conrad Ballinger, Samuel Briggs, J. T.Barnett, Stephen
Bloomfield, W. H. Bloomfield, David Conrad, Daniel Conrad (killed
in battle), Albert Capron, Christopher Conrad, Joseph Chalfant,
Albert Coon, William Conrad, Marion Cogswell (died in service),
Ira Capron, Guerdon A. Cook, William S. Dale, Joseph De Long,
Thomas Dreuery, William H. Durant (died in service), Almeron
Francisco, Franklin A. Foster, Edward Foley, John H. Francisco,
John Fairbanks (died in service), Robert Fairbanks, Henry Fair-
banks, Robert Ferryman (died in service), Curtis Gingery, Stephen
Oriffith, Amos Griffith, Alma Griffith, James Griffith, Emanuel Ging-
ery (died in service). Freedom Green, Aaron Golden, George W. Hollo-
w^ay, Samuel Hoagland (died in service), Harvej^HuU (died in service),
IrvingHull, Martin Hutchinson, Amos Hutchinson, Dieterich Heath-
man (died in service), George Heppart, Sylvester Hull, Luther Hollo-
way, James Heathman, John Hatfield, A. Hoagland, William Hawk,
Oeorge Hogan, Enoch Hastings, E. Hamilton, John Jones, W. H.
Jones, Henry Keck, Hiram King, Martin Keller, Samuel King,
Samuel Kennedy, George Loomis, Benjamin R. Lee, John Mann,
William Medsker, Isaac Medsker, John Moore, Perry Moore, Robert
Mech, R. Mech, George Mann, Samuel Moore, Henry Null, Ira S.
Nash, Andrew Null, Charles P. Nash, Nelson D, Oviatt, Luman B.
Oviatt, Hartwell A. Parker, Henry A. Parker, Calvin R. Porter
{died in service), Gardner Pratt, Nathan Pursell, Edy Randall,
Walter Randall, Lebeus Robinson, Ezra Randall, Lester Robinson,
Charles Robinson, John C. Steans, Jr., Thurlow Scudder, A. A.
Stonebrook, William G. Stoughton, Irving Spafford, Leonard
Squires (died in service), N. J. Smith, J. W. Shonts, Arthur W.
Scudder, James W. H. Snyder, Martin Squires, Samuel Shanafelt
(died in service), Washington Shanafelt, Simon Starr, Charles W.
Stearns (died in service), Henry Stroel, C. J. Spelman, Seth Thomas,
Coral W. Taylor (died in service), Ed. Tew^ksbury, Mortimer Van
Hyning, Peter Weeks, Jr., Paul E. Wylie, David L. Winkler, Jona-
than Welker, George Welch, Orlow West, Jacob Winters, Harrison
Weeks, Mandred Weeks, George D. Woodruff (died in service),
Martin Welker, James Winkler (died in service), John Warner, Nel-
son Wager, Alvin West, William Wagoner, Robert Weeks, John
Yoey.
COPLEY IN PUBLIC OFFICE. 703
In addition to the ever efficient and active influence of the late
Chester Orcutt, James Hammond, Morgan D. Pratt, Dr. Byron
■Chapman, Vincent G. Harris, William C. Sackett, Esq., and others,
in promoting the agricultural and other industrial interests of the
-county, Copley has maintained fully an average standing with
her sister townships, in public office, since the organization of
Summit county, in 1840.
Jonathan Starr was a member of the first Board of County
Commissioners, being elected in April, 1840, to serve until the
ensuing regular election, and, in October of that year, re-elected
for the full term of three years, making a most efficient officer, for
nearly four years, in orgariizing the business machinery of the new
county, erecting the public buildings, etc. Mr. Starr, on the 18th
day of December, 1851, while visiting his son (the lately deceased
Jonathan Starr, Jr., of Akron), who w^as then clerking for Mr. P. D.
Hall, in looking through the new^ store building, then nearing
completion, accidentally fell through an open scuttle from the
second story to the floor belo^v, 13 feet, and was instantly killed.
William Johnston was not only a model farmer and patriotic
public-spirited citizen, but most efficiently filled the important
office of Infirmary director, from 1858 to 1861, three years.
Francis T. Husong, by appointment of the Board of Directors,
in June, 1861, became superintendent of the Infirmary, holding
the position, and ably performing its responsible duties, until
April, 1868, nearly seven years, during which time the main build-
ing of the present fine Infirmary edifice w^as erected, Superinten-
-dent Husong's services, in the planning and building thereof,
laying out the grounds, etc., being almost invaluable. In October,
1867, Mr. Husong, having in the meantime become a resident of
Akron, was elected a director of the Infirmary, which position he
^bly filled for three years.
I^Ev. John Encell, then a resident of Copley, as the nominee
■of the Republican party, in October, 1885, was elected to represent
Summit county in the State Legislature, which he ably and effi-
ciently did for two years.
George W. Weeks, Esq., was, in October, 1872, elected clerk of
Courts, and re-elected to that important office in 1875, retiring
therefrom, after six years' faithful service, in February, 1879, with
the public plaudit of "Well done, Good and Faithful Servant."
George W. Weeks, Jr., besides rendering valuable aid to his
father, during his six years' incumbency of the clerk's office, as
above stated, also efficiently served the people of Summit county
as deputy county auditor during the six years' administration of
that office, from 1881 to 1887, by Aaron Wagoner, Esq.
John M. Johnston was elected a director of the County
Infirmary in 1882, and so faithfully performed the duties devolved
upon him, that he w^as re-elected in October, 1885, serving six
jrears.
Dr. Mason Chapman, a native of Copley, for many years past
a resident of Akron, served as a member of City Council from 1878
to 1880.
Willis D, Chapman, also a native of Copley, now an accom-
plished civil engineer and scientist, served as city engineer in
Akron from 1886 until 1889, besides holding other positions of
xesponsibility, as stated elsewhere.
704 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Copley's Railroad Facilities, — One of the principal disad-
vantages \vith Avhich Copley has had to contend, is that
hitherto, since the advent of railroads into Summit county,
she has been thoroughly "inland," all her travel and transpor-
tation having to be done by teams, over mud roads, nearly
impassable several months in the year. Now, however, the com-
pletion of the new Pittsburg, Akron & Western Railroads
through the central portion of the township, from east to west^
w^ith the passenger station a few rods north of the center, will
give her people easy access to Akron, Medina and other desired
points, not only proving a great personal and public convenience,,
but, doubtless, very considerably increasing her dairy and other
business operations, and the general value of her real estate.
Present Official Status (1891). — Township trustees, C. C.
Frederick, R. R. Stimson and J. Quincy Adams; clerk, C. E.
Francisco; treasurer. Dr. Byron Chapman; postmaster, Henry
Harris.
COPLEY'S CRIMINAL RECORD.
Though some of her citizens became somewhat tainted with
the counterfeiting virus with which several of the neighboring
townships were so largely infected, in the early days, and though
one of her sons, then temporarily residing in Akron, figured in an
infamous crime some thirty years ago, she has been, almost,,
exceptionally exempt from flagrant crime, during her nearly three-
quarters of a century's existence, the only reallj^ exciting epi-
sode in her history being the insane killing of his son, by her
native-born, and hitherto highly respected citizen, Mr. Delos Bos-
w^orth, on the morning of March 3, 1891, a brief history of the sad
affair being as follows:
Delos Bosworth, a native of Copley, born January 11, 1818,.
was, in early and middle life, one of the most enterprising and
influential citizens of the tow^nship, March 16, 1841, he was mar-
ried to Miss Christina Wagoner, who, after bearing him three
children, died, September 3, 1855. April 8, 1858, he was again mar-
ried to Miss Abbie W. Whinery, of Columbiana county, ^who bore
him one son, John C, born December 25, 1860, who, grown to man-
hood, became the sole dependence of the family in the management
of the farm and household. For the last eight or ten years of his
life, Mr. Bosworth was "affected by a peculiar nervous malady,
w^hich not only very greatly impaired his physical health and
enterprise, but also very greatly weakened and deranged his mental
powers, involving serious financial embarrassment, by which the
family homestead w^as about to be sold for his indebtedness.
Though the son, John, was arranging for its purchase, and to secure
for his parents a comfortable home in their declining years, the
old gentleman, as is common in cases of mental derangement, con-
ceived the notion that the w^ife and son were largely responsible
for their troubles and determined upon putting them out of the
w^ay.
The Deed Partially Accomplished, — For some time he had
been carefully watched, lest he should do violence to himself, his
care-takers little dreaming of any immediate personal danger to
themselves, though frequent threats of that nature had been made.
Thus matters stood on the morning of Tuesday, March 3, 1891,
STRIKING THE FATAL BLOW. 705
the family having breakfasted as usual, Mr. Bosworth eating
quite heartily. John, having done the barn chores, the weather
being quite cold, had seated himself in an easy-chair, by the din-
ing room stove, and engaged in reading a paper, Mrs. Bosworth
being busy with her household duties. From having been some-
what broken of his rest during the night, and from the warmth of
the room, after having been out in the cold, John, at length,
dropped asleep in his chair. With insane cunning the demented
father now saw his opportunity, and instantly acted upon it.
Though the room was abundantly warm, he handed the empty
coal bucket to his wife, and requested her to get some coal, which
she at once proceeded to do, passing through the summer kitchen
and woodshed to the coal house in the rear. Noiselessly following
her to the ^woodshed, he secured an ax, and retraced his steps, as
he did so locking the door between the kitchen and the dining
room. Then, with the superhuman strength of a madman,
instead of the nerveless invalid that he really was, he raised the
ax and struck the fatal blow, the blade crashing through the skull
and up to the eye into the brain of his unconscious son.
Ax Attempt on Mrs. Bosworth's Life, Also. — On returning
with the bucket of coal, and finding the door locked, Mrs. Bos-
w^orth instantly divined the cause, and setting down the bucket,
she hurried around through the w^oodshed to the porch door open-
ing into the dining room, where she met her infuriated husband,
with the blade of the ax dripping with the warm life-blood of her
son. He rushed at her with the bloody weapon, but she evaded
him, and fled to the road screaming for assistance.
Attempt to Take His Own Life. — Attracted by the screams
of Mrs. Bosworth, neighbors were soon at the house, the first one,
Mr. Isaiah Jacoby, grappling with, and taking from, Mr. Bosworth,
a large, but not very sharp, pocket-knife, with which he was
attempting to cut his own throat. Though, of course,, totally
unconscious, the son continued to breathe several hours, finally
expiring at 2:13 p. m.
The facts of the killing were so patent that Coroner Brewster
did not deem it necessary to hold an inquest over the remains.
Police Sergeant Dunn, the same da}^ brought the unfortunate old
man to Akron, and placed him in an upper room in the jail, though
he was, the same evening, taken to the County Infirmarj^. A few
days later he was brought before Probate Judge, E. W. Stuart, by
w^hom, after proper hearing, he was adjudged to be insane, and on
account of Summit county's quota being full, at the Newburg
Asylum, he was remanded to the Infirmary, where, continuing to
grow feeble, and paralysis intervening, he died on Sunday evening,
March 22, 1891, his age being 73 years, 2 months and 11 days.
Though the loss of so promising a young man as was John C.
Bosworth, in so tragic a manner, is deeply mourned and regretted
by the entire community, the fearful wreckage of body and mind,
without any known moral or physical obliquity, of so prominent
and influential a native-born citizen as Delos Bosworth, is most
deeply deplored by the great majority of the people of the town-
ship, and by his hundreds of acquaintances in other portions of
the county.
45
CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE "STATE OF COVENTRY"— WHY SO CALLED— WHERE AXD WHAT IT IS— AN
ABORIGINAL "GARDEN OF EDEN"— EARLY WHITE SETTLEMENT — AGRI-
CULTURAL AND MINERAL RESOURCES, MILLING, MANUFACTURES, ETC. —
THE RESERVOIRS, WHEN AND WHY CONSTRUCTED -THE CELEBRATED OLD
STATE MILL— NEW PORTAGE THE ANCIENT METROPOLIS—" QUEER " FINAN-
CIAL OPERATIONS — HONORABLE MILITARY AND CIVIL RECORD — FRAT-
RICIDAL HOMICIDE IN 1837— TERRIBLE FAMILY AFFLICTION- DEATH OF
FRATRICIDE OF GRIEF, IN PRISON THE LEY-SVV^ARTZ-THOMAS TRAGEDY
OF 1878— IMPRISONMENT, PARDON, SUBSEQUENT GOOD CONDUCT, ETC.— IM-
PRESSIVE LESSON TO YOUNG MEN.
WHERE AND HOW LOCATED.
npHE township of Coventry is located immediately south of the
city of Akron, a narrow strip of the northern part being, in
fact, w^ithin the city limits, and that portion of its inhabitants
denizens thereof. On the east lies the township of Springfield, on
the south portions of Franklin and Green, and on the west the
township of Norton. The south line of the toAvnship is also the
south line of the famous "Western Reserve."
Unlike most of the townships of the Reserve, which w^ere laid
out with mathematical precision, five miles square, Coventry is
quite irregular in shape; that portion east of Portage Path extend-
ing about one-fourth of a mile further north than the portion on
the west side; of said Path, w^hile south of New Portage, follow^ing
the course of the Tuscarawas river, it trenches, in places, nearl3^ a
mile upon the fair proportions of Norton township, on the w^est. This
w^as owing to the fact that some twenty years elapsed between
the two treaties; that of Fort Mcintosh, in 1785, ceding to the
United States all the territory east of Portage Path and the Tus-
carawas river, and that of Fort Industry, in 1805, all the territory
w^est of those points; and to the variation in the lines of the two
sets of surveyors employed to lay the tw^o sections out.
Aboriginal "Garden of Eden." — Previous to the advent of the
wrhites, the territory embraced w;ithin the tow^nship of Coventry
must have been literally the Garden of Eden of the Red man. In
the first place, at or a little above the present village of New Port-
age, w^as the southern terminus of the Portage Path — a veritable
port of entry and dfelivery — being the head of navigation on the
Tuscaraw^as river, whence there vt^as constant passage to and
fro betw^een Lake Erie and the Ohio river; for be it remembered
that neither the Cuyahoga nor the Tuscarawas w^ere then the
diminutive rivulets that the denudation of the country of its tim-
ber, and the drainage appliances of civilization, have reduced them
to. In fact, for many years after white settlement began, this point
(New^ Portage) was regarded as one of the most favorable business
locations in Northern Ohio, flat-boats being built and freighted
writh such products as the neighborhood afforded for the Ohio and
Mississippi trade.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
707
JONAH ALLEN, — son of Jesse
Allen, Sr., was born in Tompkins
county, N. Y., October 14, 1798 ; came
to Coventrj^ with parents, in 1811, the
father officiating- as justice of the
peace in Coventrj^ township for many
years. Mr. Allen was married to
Miss Cynthia Spicer, sister of the late
Major Spicer, Maj^ 12, 1821, and estab-
lished a farm home for himself in
Coventr}', which he successfullj'- car-
ried on until his death, May 15, 1874,
.at the ag-e of 75 years, 7 months and
1 day, Mrs. Allen having- died Sep-
tember 11, 1860, aged 57 years, 3
months and 20 days. Mr. and Mrs;
Allen were the parents of five chil-
dren— Catharine, born November 5,
1822, aftersvards Mrs. Oren Beckwith,
who died January 23, 1855 ; Edward,
born August 18, 1824, died July 9,
1841 ; William, born February 18, 1827,
died November 28, 1886; John, born
October 20, 1829, still residing upon
the old homestead in Coventr}' ;
Cynthia, who died in infancj' ; the
surviving son, John, like the brother,
William, the father, Jonah, and the
grandfather, Jesse, being among
the most enterprising and honored
residents of Coventry township ; in
politics an ardent Republican, and
in religion an earnest supporter of
the Disciple faith. John Allen was
JONAH ALLEN.
married, December 9, 1857, to Ann
Morgan, of Newburg, Cuyahoga
county, who has borne him four
children^Emma C. (now Mrs. Henry
B. Sisler, of Akron), born November
2, 1858 ; Jesse M., now working in
Barberton, born April 6, 1864 ; Isham
F., born Jan 2, 1868; John R., born
March 23, 1871, now in Worthington's
hardware store, in Cleveland.
Besides the Tuscarawas river, Summit Lake, then consid-
erably larger than now, Manning's Lake, Nesmith's Lake, Long
Lake, and several other similar bodies of water in the vicinity,
afforded a great variety of fish, the adjacent forests being amply
stocked with game, while the gentle slopes surrounding the lakes,
w^ith the rich bottom lands of the streams, supplied them with
maize and such other products of the soil, as their rude implements
^nd limited knowledge and methods of husbandry could secure.
It is also certain, from modern developments and findings,
that the Tuscaraw^as Valley, and the neighborhood of the lakes,
was formerly the seat of quite a large volume of Indian manu-
factures and industry, such as the fabrication of canoes, and of
flint arrow-heads, spear-heads, hammers, axes, kettles, mortars,
pestles, and such other stone implements of warfare, sport, agri-
culture, domestic utensils, etc., as were then in vogue, though the
material from w^hich the most of them were made must have been
brought from a distance, as nothing of the kind is indigenous to-
the neighborhood.
Early Settlement, etc. — It is generally conceded that Daniel
Haines (General Bierce has it David), w^as the first white settler in
t;he township, having removed thither from Pennsylvania in 1806.
Mr. Haines built himself a log cabin on lot 4, a short distance south
of the present stone residence of Miss A. Louise Sumner, in the
northeast corner of the township. Though Mr. Haines and his
family w^ere the only w^hite settlers in the neighborhood for several
years, sharing with the Indians the bounties of both forest, lake
708
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
and stream, on which they had to largely depend for subsistence^
it does not appear that there was ever any trouble between them.
Though a few settlers had come to what was afterwards called
Middlebur}^, where a mill had in the meantime been erected, Mr.
Haines did not begin to feel cro\vded until about 1811, when the
Spicers, the Williams' and the Aliens came into the neighborhood,
Mr. Haines about that time selling out his cabin and improve-
ments to Mr. Jesse Allen (father of the late Hiram, Jacob, Jesse
and David Allen), Mr. Haines then settling upon or near lot 16,
about two miles to the southwest, where he resided until his death,
at a very advanced age, some 35 years ago.
LEVI ALLEN,^-second son of Jesse
Allen, one of the very earliest
of Coventry's pioneer settlers, was
born in Tompkins count}', N. Y.,
February 10, 1799 ; moved with par-
ents to Ohio, by ox team, in 1811, Levi,
then but 12 years old, walking- and
driving cattle and sheep most of the
way, arriving in Middlebury July 4.
At 21 Mr. Allen purchased the farm
now occupied bj^ Levi Allen, Jr., a
short distance south of citj' limits ;
in 1821, was married to Miss Phcebe
Spicer, daughter of. Major Miner
Spicer, who bore him six children —
Levi, Jr., born July 28, 1824, now living
on the old homestead, in Coventry ;
Miner S.. born July 29, 1825, died Decem-
ber20, 1825; Albert (whose portrait and
biography appear elsewhere), born
March 12, 1827, died September 25, 1888;
Miner J. (see portrait on another
page); born November 11, 1829;
Walter Scott, born March 24, 1834, died
September 13, 1834; and Cynthia A.,
born April 22, 1839. Mr Allen, though
not an office-seeker, ever took a lively
interest in public affairs, both local
and general, and for sixty j'ears was
an active and influential member of
the Disciple church. In 1868 Mr. and
Mrs. Allen gave up the care of the
LEVI ALLEN.
farm and removed to Akron, to reside
with their children, Albert and Cj-n-
thia, who kindly cared for theiu to
the end — Mrs. Allen dying January
10, 1875, aged 74 years and 29 daj'S,
and Mr. Allen passing away May 11,
1887, aged 88 years, 3 months and one
day.
From this time on, settlements became quite rapid, the Brew-
sters, the Bellows', the Triplets, the Falors, the Viers', the Cahows,
the Heathmans, the Nashes, the Roots, the Keplers, the Barters,
the Wagoners, the Rexes, the Dixons, and others of the pioneer set-
tlers, Avhose names are not noAV recalled, coming into the township
in rapid succession and speedily converting it from its primitive
■wilderness condition into thrifty lields, fertile meadows and fruit-
ful orchards.
Organization, Name, etc.^ — Coventry first came under town-
ship organization in connection with Springfield, under the juris-
diction of Trumbull county, in April, 1808, but at just what date it
was organized into a separate township, as a part of Portage
county, is not nowr kno^vn, nor who were its first officers, or w^hy it
was christened "Coventry." Jesse Allen was early and long a
justice of the peace, the names of the other justices of the peace,
previous to the organization of Summit county, in 1840, not being
FRATRICIDAL HOMICIDE. 709
now ascertainable. Since 1840, the law and justice of the township,
as appears by the record, has been dealt out by the following per-
sons: Isaac Fries, nine years; Joshua Clark, three years; Ralph
P.Russell, three years; Martin J. Housel, six j^ears; Taltnon Beard-
sley, twelve years; William High, twelve years; John R. Buchtel,
three years; Noah IngersoU, six years; John Tooker, three years;
Jacob France, six years; John Donner, three years; Henry Behmer,
three years; Jonathan H. Brewster, three years; Oliver P. Falor,
nine years; James Iv. Porter, six years; Houston Kepler, six years.
The "State of Coventry." — The township was, for many
years, and by some still is, called the "State of Coventry," that
cognomen having been obtained something in this wise: During
the building of the canal, there ^vas a disturbance betw^e.en the
w^orkmen and some of the citizens, w^hicli w^as likely to culminate
in a riot, when a neighboring justice of the peace, who had been
hastily summoned, with law-book in hand, proceeded to read the
Riot Act, and getting a little confused, concluded with: " There-
fore, in the name of the State of Coventrj^, f command vou to
/fisperse.^'
Early Homicide. — In the year 1838, there lived in the township
of Coventry, upon the upper road leading from Akron to New
Portage, a family by the name of Heathman, consisting of the
w^idow of Bennett Heathman, and five sons, John, Sylvester, Elijah,
Elisha and Bennett, and one daughter, Mary. One of the sons,
only, Elijah, w^as married, occupying a house in the same lot, and
but a few^ feet distant from the family residency, in w^hicli the
other four sons and the daughter, all grown up, resided with the
widowed mother Two of the sons, John and Sylvester, w^ere, un-
fortunately, somewhat addicted to the excessive use of intoxicat-
ing liquors; and on the 12th day of January, 1838, had spent the
day away from home, but how, or w^here, their time had been
employed, is not now remembered; the other brothers, Elisha and
Bennett, also being absent from home during the day. The first
■one of the brothers to return in the evening was John, considerably
under the influence of liquor. While he was eating his supper
Sylvester came in, also slightly intoxicated. John asked Sylvester
■where Elisha w^as, to w^hich question Sylvester made the evasive
reply that he had "gone up north," to which John immediately
replied "You're a d — d liar and the truth isn't in you!" at the same
time hurling his fork at Sylvester and slightly wounding him
upon the nose, accompanying the act with the threat if S3dvester
came up stairs that night he would "be the death of him."
The Fatal Blow. — The mother being temporarily absent from
the room, the sister, Mary, and the little six-year-old son of Elijah
^our present highly respected citizen, Mr. Alexander M. Heathman),
^were the only witnesses of the fatal affray, Mary's story, as told
before the coroner, and upon the trial, was about this: that almost
immediately after the above threat had been uttered, she heard a
rattling of knives and forks near the place where John had been
sitting at the table, and on looking that way, saw Sylvester seize a
chair and strike John a severe blow upon his side. The recollec-
tion of Mr. A. M. Heathman is that his uncle Sylvester, instead of
striking his uncle John with the chair, while holding it between
them, to prevent John in his anger from getting at him, only
pushed it against him somewhat forcibl3\ Be this as it may, on
710 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
the return of the mother, a moment after, on being hastily sum-
moned by Mary, John exclaimed, "Oh, mother, I am going to fall!"
and immediately sank to the floor. A strong smell of whisky was
at once observable, and at the same time a large quantity of blood
"was seen to be running from John's shoes upon the floor. The
almost frantic mother had scarcely time to kneel besides the pros-
trate form before it Avas evident to her that he had received a fatal
w^ound, and w^hen Sylvester, on comprehending what he had done,
also threw himself down beside the body of his brother, exclaim-
ing, "Oh, John! Brother John!" the poor mother said: "You may
call him now, but he cannot hear you, for you have killed him.'^
Sylvester then endeavored to secure the attendance of a phj^sician,
but before the latter could be got to the house John was dead,,
having lived less than half. an hour after the fatal blow vt^as struck.
It was found, on examination, that in addition to the whisky
that John had drank, during the day, he had brought home about
a pint in a junk bottle, in the right pocket of his pantaloons, the
force of the blow with the chair not only breaking the bottle, but
driving pieces of the glass into the groin and severing the femoral
artery, w^hich of course, would speedily result in death, w^ithout
instant attention from a skillful surgeon.
A Grief-Stricken Family, — Not only the mother, the sister,^
and the remaining brothers, Elisha, Klijah and Bennett, w^ere
deeply stricken with grief, at the dreadful calamity which had
befallen them, but Sylvester, also, w^as almost frantic with sorrow
at the fearful mischief he had wrought. He not only made no
effort to escape, but frankly told the story of the sad occurrence at
the coroner's inquest over the remains of his dead brother, and
voluntarily surrendered himself to the officers of the law.
Trial and Punishment. — On being brought before Justice
Thomas D, Viers, of the tow^nship of Coventry, the circumstances-
of the fatal affray w^ere briefly narrated by the distressed mother
and sister, and corroborated by Sylvester himself, whereupon he
w^as held by the examining magistrate to answer to the Court of
Common Pleas of Portage county for the crime of murder, and
duly committed to jail until the February term of court, 1838, w^hen
he w^as indicted by the grand jury for murder in the second de-
gree, and put upon his trial.
The case Avas conducted by Prosecuting Attorney Lucius V.^
Bierce, assisted by Rufus P. Spalding, Esq., then of Ravenna, on
behalf of the State, and the accused w^as ably defended by David
K. Cartter, Esq., of Akron, and Eben Newton, Esq., of Canfield-
The charge to the jury, \^as delivered by President Judge, Van R.
Humphrey, and, after Jbrief consultation, a verdict was returned
finding the accused
Guilty of Manslaughter. — Judge Humphrey thereupon
immediately proceeded, in a very impressive manner — animad-
verting upon the extreme folly and danger of indulging in intoxi-
cating liquors, and enlarging upon the fact that such indulgence
w^as the cause of more than three-fourths of the personal violence
and crime, the world over — to sentence the sorrowing fratricide
to one year's imprisonment in the penitentiary — the shortest
period alloAvable by law for the crime of manslaughter.
Died of Grief in Prison. — Immediately after receiving his
sentence, Sylvester was conveyed to the penitentiary at Columbus,.
Coventry's industries. 711
by Sheriff George Y. Wallace, where he was duly turned
over to the prison authorities on the 13th day of February, 1838.
Soon after his incarceration he w^as stricken down with sickness,
as was believed by those in charge of him from excessive grief,
from which he never rallied; dying in prison on the 17th day of
September, 1838, five months before the expiration of his term of
sentence. The entire original family are now^ dead, Elijah and
Elisha dying in Ohio many years ago, and later, Bennett, in Michi-
gan, and Mary, in Iowa, having, previous to her removal thither,
been married to Mr. David Lehman, of Pennsylvania; the mother
going to Iowa with her daughter, where, surviving nearly all her
children, she, too, died a few years ago at the age of about 100
years.
Agriculture, Mining, etc. — With the several lakes already
alluded to, and the Tuscarawas river traversing its entire width,
from east to west, and forming fully one-half of its w^estern bound-
ary, there was originally a good deal of what might properly be
called ^vaste land within the limits of the township. Added
to this, about the year 1840, the State of Ohio, finding the Summit
Lake, and other sources of supply, rather deficient in dry seasons,
established, by the erection of certain embankments from one
elevated point to another, a system of artificial lakes, called reser-
voirs, for the purpose of storing the waters of the contiguous
streams, and the surface waters of the neighborhood, thus con-
verting several thousand acres of the tillable lands of Coventry,
Green and Franklin to-wnships, into permanent bodies of water,
with which, by a judicious use of races, sluices, flood-gates, etc.,
the canal is kept properly supplied; these immense bodies of water
also furnishing fine fishing grounds, pleasure resorts, etc., for the
inhabitants of the surrounding country.
Though somewhat hilly in the south part, Coventry abounds
in fine farms, the primitive log cabin and barn having given place
to commodious frame and brick structures, w^hich w^ill compare
favorably with those of any other township in Summit county.
Portions of the township, during the past 40 years, have
yielded vast quantities of the very best bituminous coal, and
though several of the veins opened have been apparently worked
out, the supply is by no means exhausted. There are, also,
apparently inexhaustible beds of an excellent quality of peat, in
the vicinity of the lakes, which, in process of time, may become
valuable, but which now, by reason of the abundance of coal, can-
not be made available.
Manufactures, etc. — In an early day, before Akron was, and
■while Middlebury, even, w^as in its infancy, the village of New Port-
age, on the line between Coventry and Norton, was putting on metro-
politan airs. Being at the head of navigation, on the Tuscarawas
river, as elsewhere explained, quite a stroke of business is said to
have been done in the boating line; and quite a traffic established
w^ith Zanesville and other early towns on the Muskingum, Ohio
and Mississippi rivers, by which the inhabitants of the vicinity
were supplied with salt, sugar, molasses and other household
necessaries and luxuries.
In about the year 1821, also, a glass factory was established at
New Portage, on the Norton side of the line, by Colonel Ambrose
Palmer, in which quite a fair quality of domestic articles were
712
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
made, the late Talmon Beardsley, having had a bottle in his
possession, turned out of that establishment in 1822. The business,
however, did not prove remunerative, and was abandoned in a few
years, the proprietor afterwards embracing the Mormon faith and
emigrating to Utah. '
The northeastern portion of the township now being within
the corporate limits of the city of Akron, embraces quite a num-
ber of manufacturing and mechanical establishments, notably the
Roofing and Tile Works of J. C. Ewart & Co., in the B'ourth ward,
and the Brick Works of J. B. De Haven, in the Sixth ward, of R.
B. Walker, in the Fourth ward, and a large number of manufac-
turing establishments, erected south of the city limits within
the past three years, more particularly described in Chapter
XVIII of this volume.
ISRAEL ALLYN,— born in Groton,
1 Conn., December 24, 1790; raised
to trade of carpenter, with g-ood com-
mon school education ; in the War of
1812 served a short time as a soldier ;
Aug^ust 1, 1812, was married to Miss
Lucy Gallup, and in March, 1819, came
to Ohio, settling on a fartn in the
north part of Coventrj^, now occupied
b}' his two daughters, Luc3" R., and
Hannah S. Mr. and Mrs. Allyn were
the parents of seven children —
George H., born October 31, 1814, died
March 5, 1857; Israel M., born June
20, 1818. died May 13. 188.5; Abel G.,
born October i, 1820, whose portrait
and biographj' are given elsewhere ;
Lucy R., born September 15, 1822, now
residing on the old homestead in
Coventr}' ; Austin, born August 20,
1828, died April 1.5, 1871 ; Lydia, born
June 16, 1831. first wife of General
Alvin C. Voris. died March 16, 1876 ;
Hannah S., born August 1.5, 1833, still
residing with her sister Luc}^ on the
old homestead Mrs. Allyn, born
March 22, 1789, died July 2, 18.50, aged
61 j^ears, 3 luonths and 10 days, Mr.
Allyn dying May 7, 1873, aged 82
years, 4 months and 13 days. Mr.
Allyn was one of the most enterpris-
ing- farmers of his day, as evidenced
ISRAEL ALLYN.
b}^ his finely appointed home sur-
roundings, and nicel}- cultivated
fields, was patriotic and liberal in all
public affairs, and the recipient of
many local honors from his fellow
townsmen.
Milling Operations. — Previous to 1820, Benjamin Haines, a
son of Coventry's pioneer settler, Daniel Haines, erected a small
grist mill near Avhere the present north and south road, south of
Swartz's Corners, crosses the Tuscarawas river, traces of the dam,
race and mill foundation, being still visible. Another early, and
in those days very necessary, industry, was a distillery, erected by
Adam Falor, in the north central portion of the township, a little
south of where the Akron Iron Company's rolling mill now stands,
his son, Abram Falor, afterwards building a saw-mill upon what
has since been known as Falor's run, at w^hich, by a judicious
husbanding of the waters of the run, quite a business was done
for several years. Another early grist and saw-mill enterprise
w^as that of Daniel Rex, near the present feeder dam of the Tus-
carawas reservoir. John Buchtel, Sr., also, constructed a dam and
RESERVOIRS — STATE MILL, ETC.
713
race and commenced the erection of a mill in the eastern part of
the township, half a mile west of Wesley Chapel, but for some
reason not now apparent, it was never completed.
The present well-known mill belonging to the Brewster
Brothers, previously called Steese's mill, but still earlier known as
Wylie's mill, was built about 1835, by Mr. John Wylie, afterwards a
highly prosperous farmer in the township of Copley, recently
deceased. It has alwa3's been a good mill, and under its present
management, is supplied with the most approved modern machin-
ery, and, besides having an excellent run of custom trade, produces
annually a large amount of first-class flour for the general trade.
A 3EL G. ALLYN. — son of Israel
■^ and Lucy (Gallup) Allyn, was
born in Coventry Township, October
4, 1820; educated in district schools;
raised a farmer, working- on old
homestead until 1847, when he pur-
chased a farm a short distance
further west, which is now a part of
the city of Akron ; in addition to gen-
eral farming- making- dairying a
specialty in supplying the citizens of
Akron with milk. October 10, 1847,
was married to Miss Adeline Capron,
daughter of Ara and Eliza (Sweet)
Capron of Bath and Copley Town
Line, who bore him six children —
Addie, born July 23, 1848 (married
February 20, 186(), to Preston Barber,
of Akron, who died December 13, 1886);
Charles, born May 2o, 1851, now a
farmer in Summit, Greele}' county,
Nel)ra8ka, of which place he has
officiated as postmaster for several
years ; Ida, born Februarj- 15, 18,^4,
now wife of States A. McCoy, a native
of this county, now a prosperous far-
mer in Leonidas township (Mendon
P. O.), St. Joseph county, Mich.;
Leora, born Maj^ 14, 1860; Ettie, Jan-
uarj' 28, 1863, and Gertie, November
24, 1869, now a teacher in Leggett
school. Mr. Allyn is one of the solid
men of his native township, having
held several of its most responsible
ABEL G. ALLYX.
offices, and being for some or twelve
or fifteen years Coventry's member
of Board of Directors of Summit
county's highly prosperous Ag-ricul-
tural Society. Mrs. Allyn died
August 24, 1888, aged 59 years, 8
months and 3 days.
THE CELEBRATED OLD STATE MILL.
The construction of the reservoirs, as above stated, with their
several feeders, destroyed most of the minor mill-privileges of
both Coventry, Franklin and Green township^, A partial remedy,
however, was provided in the creation of quite a permanent water-
power in the southern central part of Coventry, at the point w^here
the water flows from the reservoir into Long Lake, from which, in
turn, it is fed into the canal a mile or so further north. There
had previously been a grist mill at this point, with rather a lim-
ited fall and power, but by whom erected is not now remembered.
Mr. Talmon Beardsley's recollection, however, was that at the time
the reservoir was projected, it \eas the property of the late Kbene-
zer Pardee, of Western Star, and that he drove so sharp a bargain
•with the board of public works, in their appropriation of private
714
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
property for the reservoir, that they paid him some $25,000 for the
mill and power in question, though Doctor John Hill, who sub-
sequently married the wido^v of Mr. Pardee, informed us that the
consideration w^as only $7,000, and that the State, by the subse-
quent elevation of its dams and embankments, now^ occupies con-
siderably more land belonging to Mr. Pardee's estate, than it orig-
inally purchased.
GEORGE ADAM FALOR,— born
July 17, 1798, in Lower Smith-
ville, Northampton county, Pa.;
removed with parents to Stark
county, O., in 1809 ; five years later
locating on what w^as later know^n as
the Thornton farm, now a populous
portion of the city of Akron;
remained with father till 25, when he
bovig'ht the well-known Falor farm,
in Coventry, which, in addition to
somewhat extensively plying" his
trade of stonemason, he successfully
cultivated for many years. Mr. Falor
was three times inarried, his wives
being" sisters, respectively named
Nancy McCoy, Rachael McCoy and
Mrs. Jane (McCoy) Wilson. Several
years before his death Mr. Falor, re-
tiring froin the active management of
his farm, took up his residence in
Akron, where he died of dropsy, June
29, 1868, aged 69 years, 11 months
12 days. Mr. Falor was the father
of 17 children, 13 of whom survived
him— Milo J., since deceas»ed ; James
M., Lucinda R. (now Mrs. John (lOtt-
walt); Hiram Silas, George W., now
deceased ; Oliver Perr}^, Mary Ann
(now Mrs. J. A. Long); Thomas J.,
William Wallace, deceased ; Henry
Clay (died at Massillon, December
GEORGE ADAM FALOK.
27, 1890); Martha Ellen (now Mrs,
Henry Acker); Lilly Annette, (now
Mrs. George L. Adkins); Perr3^ Tod^
now a resident of Michigan.
On the completion of the reservoir, the State either built a
new mill at this point, or enlarged or improved the old one, which,,
by increase of water and fall, was now one of the most permanent
mill privileges in this part of the State. Soon after its completion^
the State mill was leased, in perpetuity, to Mr. Theobold Baugh-
man (father of our well-known citizen, Mr. Harry Baughman),
w^ho successfully carried it on, until his death, in 1866, nearl}' a
quarter of a century.
This mill, during Mr. Baughman's lifetime, was a very popu-
lar place of resort for the farmers of the surrounding country, who,,
while awaiting the grinding of their several grists, w^ould, in turn,
grind out large grists of neighborhood gossip to each other, or
enter into friendly, but oftentimes spirited, discussions upon the
social, moral and political questions of the time, the conduct of
the war, etc.
The State mill w^as, also, for many years, quite a fishing and
pleasure resort, Mr. Baughman keeping quite a large number of
boats for hire, while the large shady grove east of the mill, bor-
dered by the clear and sparkling waters of the reservoir, furnished
delightful camping and picnic grounds^ — stabling and feed for
Coventry's business status.
715
horses, and also the most bountiful and toothsome meals for their
drivers, being provided by Mr. and Mrs. Baughman, when desired.
The State mill, after Mr. Baughman's death, though run by a
member of the family for some years, was not properly kept up,
though its ancient water-wheel is still running, its present lessee
being Mr. Robert Mitsell, a ride, westward, from the old Steese
coal bank, around the head of the reservoir, following its innu-
merable and shady s.inuosities, past the old State mill to Lockwood,s
Corners, being one of the most delightful drives in Summit county.
HIRAM SILAS FALOR,— born in
Coventrj-, March 22, 1829 ; com-
mon school education; harness
maker in Akron 15 years ; in 1860,
clerked in wholesale store in San
Francisco, worked in mines and
established pioneer harness shop in
Virg^inia City, Nev.; in 1861, org-a-
nized and as captain tendered Vir-
g-inia City Guards to the g-overnment,
but for lack of transportation facili-
ties offer declined; 1863 returned to
Akron, 5 years later removing to farm
in Coventry, where he has since
resided ; was several years foreman
of one of Akron's pioneer fire com-
panies ; deputy village marshal two
years ; secretary Summit County Ag-
ricultural Society two years and
assistant secretary two years ; mes-
senger in office of State Treasurer
Joseph Turney, at Columbus, 1880-84;
member of police force, in charge of
music hall during Ohio Centennial
Exposition in 1888 ; member of
Masonic order ;-{5 years ; filling all
the offices from the lowest to highest
in Summit Lodge, No. 50. I. O. O. F.;
was U. S. census enumerator for
Coventry in 1890. Mr. Falor was
married to Miss Bertha E. Agard,
July 4, 1854, who bore him four chil-
dren, two of whom, only, are now
living — Claude Emerson, now in
regular arm)', at Fort Sam Houston,
HIRAM SILAS FALOR.
Texas, and Minnie Florence, now
Mrs. Elmer C. Ellsworth, of Coven-
try. Mrs. Falor dying Januarj^ 4,
1873, Mr. F. was again married, to
Mrs. Ph(ebe A. Lutz, of Westfield,
Medina county, July 16, 1873. They
have two children — Hiram Garcelon,
born August 12, 1879, and Phipbe
Fannj', born March 6, 1881.
The Ancient Metropolis. — New Portage, in the early twenties,
before the Ohio Canal had been projected, or the c\iy of Akron
ever dreamed of, was regarded of so much business importance, as
to require the service of one or more lawyers, and here the late
Van R. Humphrey (father of C. P. Humphrey, Esq., of Akron),
afterwards, from 1837 to 1844, president judge of the Third Judi-
cial District, embracing Ashtabula, Trumbull, Portage and Sum-
mit counties, first huna: out his professional shingle.
Simultaneously with the building of the Ohio Canal, in 1826,
'27, a new impetus was given to the ancient metropolis, hitherto
nearly all on the Norton side of the line. Here the late Jared
Jennings (step-father of court-bailiff, Andrew McNeil) did, for
many years, quite an extensive mercantile and commission busi-
ness, another similar establishment being, also, carried on by a
party whose name is not now remembered. A commodious hotel
and other branches of business were also carried on, there being.
716
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
later, at this point, quite an extensive business done in the manu-
facture of friction matches, by Mr. George Strawhacker, still resid-
ing in the neighborhood. At the south end, also, in later years,
Mr. Jacob Welsh, now of Colorado, besides selling merchandise
and officiating as postmaster, carried on quite an extensive pot-
tery, a siinilar establishment having also been carried on upon the
canal, south of Summit Lake, between Akron and New Portage.
Within the past few years, Akron capitalists, established an
•extensive strawboard and straw lumber manufactory, mammoth
sewer pipe works and other important industries, upon the Nor-
ton side of the line, giving employment to a large number of men
and teams; so that, Avith the store, postoffice, railroad stations, and
other minor branches of business carried on there. New Portage is
now enjoying a higher degree of prosperity, than for the past forty
years.
JOHN BUCHTEL,^born in Mjers
J township. Center county, Pa.,
November 6, 1797 ; came with parents
to Ohio 1816, settling- in Coventry ; a
few 3^ears later removing to Green
township. January 18, 1821, he was
married to Miss Catharine Richards,
of Green township, who bore him
live children— three daughters and
two sons, the latter of whom, onlj^,
John R. and William, whose portraits
appear elsewhere, are now living.
Mr. and Mrs. Buchtel pluckil3' began
their marital life in a log stable,
until a more comfortable dwelling-
could be provided. After 13 years
residence in Green, they sold their
farm there and bought another in
Coventry ,where thej' happilj" lived for
41 years. In 1875, Mr. and Mrs. B. re-
moved to a small place just north of
Akron cit5' limits, where Mrs. B. died
July 9, 1882, aged 85 j^ears. Mr. B., now
in his 95th j^ear, and still in possession
of all his faculties, except good eye-
sight, is kindly cared for by his
youngest son, William, at 807 East
Market street. Mr. Buchtel has been
a consistent inember of the EvangeH-
cal church for nearly 50 years. In
JOHN BUCHTEL.
politics he was originallj- a Jackson
Democrat, but on the breaking out of
the slave-holdercs' rebellion, became
an earnest RepubUcan, to the prin-
ciples of which party he still gives a
vig'orous support.
Coventry in War. — There were, undoubtedly, quite a number
of ex-Revolutionary soldiers and pensioners among the early set-
tlers in Coventry, though only the names of Thomas Granger,
Lambert Clement and John Harrington, as such, have been handed
down. Nor are we much wiser in regard to the War of 1812, the
only name falling under the eye of the writer, iti that connection,
being that of Peter Buchtel (grandfather of Messrs. John R. and
William Buchtel, of Akron), though there must have been several
other defenders of the frontier among her pioneer settlers, before,
if not after, their coming thither. We are also entirely in the dark
in regard to the Mexican War.
But in the War of the Rebellion, Coventry, at first a little
tardy, finally most gallantly woke up to her whole duty in the prem-
ises. Up to July 24, 1862, Coventry had been credited with 26
COVENTRY IN WAR.
71T
recruits, but not responding so promptly to subsequent calls, was-
tw^ice subjected to draft, her quota, under the first draft, October,^
1862, being 69, the larger portion of w^horn w^ere supplied by volun-
tary enlistments, or by procuring substitutes before the draft took
place. In the second draft, her quota was one, only, which was, of
course, speedily secured. This makes a total of 96, but many of
the earlier enlistments being made outside of the townships \^rhere
volunteers resided, the town where they belonged not always
receiving the proper credit therefor, it is safe to say that Coven-
try's contribution to the Union army w^as fully one hundred men,
the assessors' returns for the j^ears 1863, '64, '65, giving the names
of 84 of her volunteers as follows:
JONATHAN H. BREWSTER,- sec-
J ond son of James G. and Martha
(Hassen)Brevvster, among the earliest
settlers of Coventry township, was
born January 11, 1834; educated in
district schools; raised a farmer, and
now lives upon same farm upon
which his grandparents, Stephen and
Lydia (Bellows) Brewster settled in
1811. A portion of the farin being
underlaid with coal, for a number
of years the Brewster Brothers car-
ried on quite extensive mining
operations, and are now proprietors
of the old original Wylie Flouring
Mill elsewhere described in this
chapter. They are also largely in-
terested in the Buckeye and Summit
Sewer Pipe Companies, (Mr. J. H.
Brewster being president of the
former and a director in the latter),
the United States Stoneware Com-
pany, and several other industrial
enterprises. In politics Mr. Brewster
is a stanch Republican, and though
his township is overwhelmingly
Democratic, he was once elected
justice of the peace, acceptably fill-
ing the office three years; was town-
ship real estate assessor for the
year 1870, and also held the impor-
JONATHAN H. BREWSTER.
tant position of county infirmary
director three full terms (9 years)
from 1866 to 1875, the last four years as
president of the Board.
Sylvester Adams, Christopher Beck (died in service), Urias H.
Buchtel, Benjamin F. Buchtel, Ephraim Bellows, Daniel Boyer,
Philip Burgy, W. F. Brown, William Buchtel, Henry Curtis, Har-
rison Crosier, Charles Clark, John W. Crosier, Alexander Camp-
bell, James Crosier, EdAvin N. Clough, Walter Clough, Peter Cro-
sier, Freeman Cormany, Lorenzo Crosier, James S. Dickson,.
Jacob^ Foster, Edward Farr, Aaron Farr (died in service), Jacob
Filtz, Daniel France, John Gougler, James Getz (died in service),
James B. Haynes, Jatiies Head, William D. Haynes, Solomon Hen-
line, John Holley, J. D. Heathman, George Heintz, William Havoc,
John Huffman, William Hartong, William H. Jones (died in ser-
vice), James Jones, David Kittinger, Levi Kittinger (died in service),
William Leach, George Ley, John Ley, Samuel McCoy, Benjamin
McCoy (died in service), John Male, Sr., Henry Mandebaugh, Adam
K. Marsh, Ephraim Marsh, Michael McQueeney, Eli Moore, John
Male, Jr., States A. McCoy, Henderson Mendenhall, Hiram Neil,
718
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Benjamin F. Pontious (died in service), Samuel Pipher, Jacob
Rosenbaum (died in service), Freeman Robinson, Henry Robinson,
L. B. Raber, Adam Rinehart, William Seigfried, Benjamin F. Stall,
Charles Steese, J. Shaffer (died in service), Joshua Sellers (died in
service), William Seigfried, Daniel Stetler (died in service), William
H. Tooker, Charles G. Tooker, William L. Turner, Charles D. Tift,
A. A. Triplett, Valentine Viers, Samuel Winkleman, Adam
Weaver, Jonathan Weaver, Oliver Wagner (died in service),
Oeorge Weyant, Elijah Yarnold, Abner H. Yonker.
r^EORGE W. BREWSTER,— fifth
^^ son of James G. and Martha
XHassen) Brewster, was born in Cov-
ventry, March 21, 1837; raised on
farm, with common school educa-
tion; in the middle fifties spent sev-
eral years in California, on his re-
turn eng'ag'ing' with his four brothers,
Stephen, Jonathan H., James G., Jr.
and Hiram, in coal mining-, and
later in milling-, manufacturing
sewer pipe, stoneware, etc. Mr.
Brewster was married, October 19,
1876, to Miss Marie L. Kent, daughter
of Josiah and Lucia (Miller) Kent,
pioneer settlers in Suffield, Portage
county, who was born June 1, 1843.
Four children have been born to
them — Georgie Marie, born Septem-
ber 20, 1877: Hiram Wallace, born
September 27, 1879, died May 4,1881;
Arthur Kent, born December 20, 1880,
and Bessie Bell, born December 20,
1883. During the War of the Rebellion
the Brewster brothers were most lib-
eral contributors to the various
bounty and sanitary funds, and
otherwise active in securing recruits
for the Union army, and averting
the draft. Though an active Repub-
lican from the organization of the
party, Mr. Brewster has never sought
GEO. W. BREWSTER.
office, but in 1890 the Republican
County Convention voluntarily, and
with great unanimit}^ placed him in
nomination for coroner, to which re-
sponsible position he was duly
elected for the term of two years,
and is still ably serving.
COVENTRY IN PEACE.
Hon. Charles Sumner, father of Miss A. Louise Sumner, and
brother of the late Julius A. Sumner, after a service of nine years
in the same capacity in Portage county, was appointed bj'^ the
Legislature of Ohio, one of the first associate judges of the new-
county of Summit, on its organization in 1840, and as all probate
business wras transacted by the Court of Common Pleas, mostly
by the associate judges. Judge Sumner rendered very faithful and
efficient service to the people of the newr county up to the time of
his death, June 19, 1845.
Jared Jennings, an early and successful business man of New^
Portage, on the Coventry side of the line, was, in 1849, elected
recorder of Summit county, filling that office very acceptably for
the period of three years.
Avery Spicer, one of the most thorough-going and prosperous
farmers of Coventry township, was, at sundry times, between 1849
and 1866, elected to the important office of Infirmary director,
Coventry's civil service record.
719
holding that position in all 13 years and 3 months, and it is no
disparagement to others to say that Mr. Spicer was as competent
and faithful an overseer of the poor, as Summit county ever had.
Noah Lxgersoll, Esq., father of Charles F. Ingersoll, of Akron,
and George W. Ingersoll, of Coventry, besides serving two full
terms, from 1859 to 1865, as justice of the peace, \sras the very care-
ful and pains-taking coroner of the county for two consecutive
terms from 1857 to 1861.
NOAH INGERSOLL, ESQ.,— son of
James and Mary (Hoyt) Ing-er-
soll; born in Stanford, Dutchess
county, N. Y., April 18, 1783; common
school education; raised on farm;
married to Miss Mary Stickels, April
3, 1814; soon after marriag-e removed
to Albion, Orleans countjs N. Y.,
where he filled many important local
official positions; in 1836 came to
Ohio, settling- on a farm in Copley,
afterwards removing- to Coventr)% the
last year of his life being spent in
Akron, his death occurring April 7,
1870, Mrs. Ingersoll having passed
awaj" some hve years earlier. Mr.
Ingersoll ably served as justice of
the peace for Coventry two consecvi-
tive terms — 18.59 to 1865, and was also
elected coroner of Summit county in
1857. and re-elected in 1859, holding
that important position two full
terms. Mr. and Mrs. Ingersoll were
the parents of seven children, five of
whom are now living — Mrs. Eliza
Folger, of Eljria; Mrs. Tamma Par-
melee, of Kent; Miss Mary Ingersoll,
of Akron, George W. Ingersoll, a
farmer in Coventry and Charles F.
Ingersoll, insurance and real estate
agent, Akron; the oldest son, Walter,
a resident of Detroit, dying inAugust,
NOAH INGERSOLL, ESQ.
1885, and a daughter, Caroline, in
June, 1842. In religion Mr. Ingersoll
was a consistent Congregationalist;
in politics a zealous Republican, and
in social life, upright, affable and
gentlemanly.
Jonathan H. Brewster, for three successive terms, of three
years each, from 1866 to 1875, was a prompt, humane and efficient
member of the Infirmary board, of which body he was president
from 1868 to 1872. '
Hon. John R. Buchtel, besides serving his native township
three years, from 1853 to 1859, as justice of the peace, was, in 1872,
presidential elector for the 18th Congressional District, composed
of Summit, Wayne, Medina and Lorain counties, casting his vote in
the electoral college for Ulysses S. Grant for president, and Henry
Wilson for vice president, though an ardent personal and denom-
inational friend of Hon. Horace Greeley, who that year accepted a
nomination at the hands of th^ Democratic party. Mr. Buchtel
w^as also appointed by Governor Hayes one of the original direc-
tors of the Ohio Agricultural College at Columbus, and was vet-y
active in. planning and constructing the buildings, laying out the
grounds and organizing that institution, while his liberal gifts to
the college in Akron, which bears his name, his open-handed
benevolence, his public spirit and indomitable enterprise are
well known to all.
.720
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Hiram S. Falor, born in Coventry, March 22, 1829, and now-
residing on a portion of the original family homestead, by appoint-
ment of council, served two years, 1853, '54, as assistant marshal
of the incorporated village of Akron, also served as deputy sheriff,
under Sheriff Seward, during the Parks murder trial in 1853-54;
and from 1880 to 1884, faithfully and efficiently performed the
responsible duties of messenger of the State treasury, in Columbus,
during the administration of Treasurer Joseph Turney, and retain-
ing the position tw^o months under " Uncle Jo's" Democratic suc-
cessor, Hon. Peter Brady.
T EVI ALLEN, Jr., son of Levi
-L' and Phoebe (Spicer) Allen;
among- the earliest settlers in Coven-
try, was born in that township, July
28, 1824 ; raised on farm, with common
school education ; in 1850 went over-
land to California, where, with varied
success at mining, merchandising-,
etc., he remained nearly 17 3'ears.
December 25, 1856, was married in
Sacramento City, to Miss Mary E.
Ware, born near Richmond, Va.,
March 24, 1830. Three children were
born to them— Marj^ E. P., born
August 16, 1858, now wife of Henrj-
Stone, Esq., Denver, Colorado ; Albert
W. H. and Alvin L. M. (twins), born
September 12, 1862, Albert dying
October 8, 1864, and Alvin Januar}^ 8,
1865. Mrs. Allen dying June 9, 1866.
Mr. Allen was again married, at Inde-
pendence, Cuyahoga county, Novem-
ber 4, 1868, to Miss Cornelia Knapp,
born in Cleveland. April 27, 1830.
Two children have been born to
them — Cornelia C. A., born January
13, 1871, and Albertina M. D., born
May 14, 1872, both now students in
Hiram College. Quiet and unosten-
tatious, Mr. and Mrs. Allen, success-
full}^ cultivating the old homestead,
are among the most substantial citi-
LEVI ALLEN, JK.
zens of Coventry township, Mr. Allen
being in politics an earnest Republi-
can, and both being members and
liberal svipporters of the first Dis-
ciples' church in Akron, Mr. Allen
having served as a m'ember of the
Coventry Board of Education some
12 or 14 years.
Joseph C. Hill, appointed county commissioner on the death
of Commissioner David C. Miller, in November, 1886, holding the
office one year, to the general acceptance of his constituents.
George W. Brewster was elected coroner of Summit county,
November, 1890, and is still serving.
Growth, Population, Etc. — In 1840, the population of the town-
ship w^as 1,308, rather over the average of the Reserve townships
of the new^ county, because, probably, of her contiguity to, and
constituting a part of, the village of Akron. For a like reason she
shows a larger proportionate increase than the general run of her
neighbors, the census of 1880 giving her 2;305 inhabitants, exclu-
sive of that portion lying w^ithin the city limits, and after con-
tributing another large slice of territory in 1886, the census of 1890
still gives her a population of 2,309.
Indian and Pioneer Traditions, — It would give the writer
great pleasure to make individual mention of each of the pioneer
residents of Coventry, and their w^onderf ul experience with savage
INDIANS AND INDIAN HUNTERS. 721
beasts and savage men, were reliable data available and did space
permit. These matters, however, have already been quite fully-
treated of by General Bierce and other history-mongers who have
preceded me; and besides, the object of this work is more partic-
ularly to record certain important events — civil, criminal, military,
etc. — during the past fifty or sixty years, though, of course, making
occasional allusions to matters and things still more remote.
There is a tendency, too, I fear, among local historians, to exag-
gerate; that is to say, the original story of prowess or adventures of
the early settler, handed down from generation to generation, is
not apt to lose any of its primitive Munchhausenish proportions by
frequent repetition, while the chronicler thereof is prone to add
such embellishments as his own more or less lively imagination
may suggest.
Apropos of this, in tVie latter part of the 18th century, the
region of the country about the lakes and the head-waters of the
Tuscarawas, was inhabited by the powerful Delaware tribe of
Indians, of which " Captain Pipe," as called by the whites, but whose
Indian name was "Hopocan," was chief, or king, who is celebrated
in history as the avenger of the slaughtered Moravian Indians at
Gnadenhutten, in the early Spring of 1782, by the burning and
torturing to death of Colonel William Crawford, on the upper San-
dusky, in June of the same year, with which fearful episode the
most of the readers of these sketches are probably familiar; Captain
Pipe also being an alleged participant in compassing the historical
defeat of Governor Arthur St. Clair, on the upper Wabash, in 1791.
Though, on the advent of the early w^hite settlers in Coventry,
in 1806-11, a remnant of the Delawares still lingered. Captain Pipe
had long since migrated to the "happy hunting grounds," and it
does not appear tbat there w^as ever any serious trouble between
the Indians and the whites, though possibly some " onpleasant-
nesses" might have resulted from a too free use of fire-water on both
sides of the color line.
The blood-thirsty character, therefore, attributed to one
Liverton Dixon, an early settler in Coventry, some of whose
descendants probably still live in the township, may be properly
regarded as largely apocryphal. A former historian represents
him as "an early Indian hunter and fighter, between whom and the
red-skins a deadly hatred existed which often led to the shedding
of blood." Several specific instances of Indian killing, in cold
blood, by Dixon, are reported, one as late as 1815. This, however,,
is scarcely probable, as, simultaneous with the breaking out of the
War of 1812, the Indians of this vicinity entirely disappeared, as
allies of the British troops, few of whom, if any, afterwards
returned, none certainly as hostile to the resident and victorious
white population. And as all the instances narrated purport to be
based on the say-so of the said Liverton Dixon himself, though
the writer would by no means undertake to impugn his veracity,
justice to his memory, as well as to his descendants, would war-
rant the belief that a portion, at least, of the tales attributed to him^
were due more to his love of romance than to the actual perpetra-
tion of the specific acts of innate savagery they import.
Fabricators of the "Queer." — In the late twenties and early
thirties, Coventry, like many contiguous towns, was more or less
infected with the counterfeiting mania, and besides the well-known
46
722 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
metallic operations of Jo. Keeler, elsewhere alluded to, illegitimate
paper was also dealt in to a considerable extent. Thus, in the
Spring of 1838, w^hen the raid of the officers of Portage, Medina and
Cuyahoga counties was made, one or more of the denizens of Cov-
entry, were included in the arrests made, in speaking of which an
Akron paper of the time says: *' The Western Keserve Real Estate
and Farmers' Bank is located near Lock One, south of New Port-
age, where a shanty is banking-house, tavern, meeting-house and
village." The " deposits " were taken possession of by the officers,
but as it transpired that the parties arrested v^ere not the real pro-
prietors of the plant, they were not proceeded against. Several
young men, in later years, got their fingers seriously scorched by
dabbling in the "queer," but happily escaping from the toils of the
law, and the evil influences by which they w^ere " roped in," have
since lived upright and honorable lives and are now among the
most respectable citizens of the tow^nship.
The Ley-Swartz-Thomas Tragedy. — On the night of Satur-
day, February 9, 1878, there occurred in the township of Coventry,
one of those terrific and fatal affrays, so frequently incident to the
excessive use of intoxicating liquors, and the holding of social
dances at places where such intoxicating liquors are kept for sale;
the fatal blow, too, in this instance, as so often happens, falling upon
a peaceable citizen, in no w^ay participating in the affray.
Near the Steese Coal Mines, in the middle southern portion of
the tow^nship, were two or three saloons for the accommodation of
thirsty miners and the bibulous farmers and farmers' sons of the
neighborhood. One of these saloons w^as kept by one Peter
Shaffer, a clever, good-natured German-American, who thought
it no harm to "turn an honest penny'" by selling beer, whisky, etc.
to his thirsty neighbors. Nor did he deem it at, all reprehensible
for him to give an occasional "shake down" in the dwelling por-
tion of his establishment, w^ith a view to such pecuniary benefits
as might accrue from the sale of refreshments to the boys and girls
in attendance.
The Origin of the Row. — There seem to have been at least
two classes, or factions, among the boys of the neighborhood, w^ho
were not on very friendly terms with each other, the enmity being
particularly strong between Charles Lej'^ and Samuel Pierce. On
the night in question, the Ley party were having a social dance at
Shaffer's, "Pete" himself being quite a skillful manipulator of the
fiddle and the bow. Soon after the festivities commenced, Pierce
came upon the scene. Getting into a w^rangle with Charles Ley,
the tw^o went outside to " have it out." There, according to Ley's
statement, he found that Pierce was backed up by two or three
companions, all of w^hom he soon placed /jors de combat, w^ith a
stove-poker, which he had thoughtfully taken along. Having
thus "cleaned out" the crow^d. Ley returned to the house, and the
festivities w^ere resumed.
In a short time the Pierce crowd, now augmented in number
to about fifteen, returned and commenced a furious attack upon
the house with bricks, stones, clubs, etc., breaking in the windows,
and, as was alleged, firing three or four shots through the door.
Thereupon the Ley crowd, consisting of Charles Ley, Joseph Ley,
Louis Ley and Wilson Swartz, arming themselves with poker,
rolling-pin, and such other weapons as w^ere available, sallied out,
UNFORTUNATE HOMICIDE. 723
-when a terrible conflict ensued, bricks, stones, clubs, billies, fence
rails, etc., promiscuously filling the air, and inflicting serious
■wounds and bruises upon the heads, limbs and bodies of those
engaged on both sides.
In the meantime, a peaceable, law-abiding miner, by the name
of Thomas Thomas, living near by, hastened to the spot to look
after his own son, who had left home in company with the Pierce
party. Coming within range of a club which Joseph luey was
plying promiscuously to the heads of the assailing party, Mr.
Thomas received two fearful blows upon tlie head, felling him to
the ground, and rendering him totally unconscious.
On finding that Mr, Thomas did not rise, hostilities soon ceased,
the injured man was removed to his home, and physicians sent for.
The trepanning process temporarily restored Mr. Thomas to con-
sciousness, his statement being that just as he was about to enter
the door of the house, Joseph Ley struck him on the head with a
slung-shot. Mr. Thomas soon again became insensible, in which
<;ondition he remained until February 14, when he expired.
Arrested for Manslaughter. — Joseph Ley and Wilson
Swartz were arrested on a warrant issued by Justice Henry Purdy,
who held them both to bail in the sum of $2,(X)0, each, for the crime
of manslaughter, one witness testifying that after Mr. Thoinasfell
from the blow or blows at the hands of Ley, Swartz had struck
him on the head w^ith a piece of fence-rail. Tlie respective fathers
of the accused, Mr. George Ley and Mr. John Swartz, going bail for
-them, they w^ere released from custody to await the action of the
grand jury.
At the May term of the Court of Common Pleas, 1878, the
grand jury returned a true bill of indictment against both of the
accused, charging them w^ith the crime of manslaughter.
To this indictment both entered a plea of not guilty, and,
through their counsel, demanded separate trials. Ley w^as first
arraigned for trial before Judge N. D. Tibbals and a traverse jury,
constituted as follows : George F. Kent, George Daily, John Harter,
W. H. Norton, W. A. Gaylord, A. V. Amerman, John F. Perry,
Timothy Erasmus, Harvey Warner, S. D. Miller, John M, Kirn and
Talmon Beardsley. The case was conducted, on the part of the
State by Prosecuting Attorney E. W. Stuart, assisted by C. P.
Humphrey, Esq., and on the part of the defense by H. C. Sanford,^
J. A. Kohler and George K. Pardee, Esqs. The trial commenced
June 13, and ended June 17, resulting in a verdict of guilty,
but with a plea from the jury for the sympathy of the court in
behalf of the accused.
Immediately on the rendition of the verdict, counsel for the
defendant moved for a new trial on the grounds: 1st, that one of
the jurors had formed and expressed an opinion previous to the
trial; 2nd, that the verdict was not sustained by the evidence; 3rd,
by reason of newly discovered evidence; 4th, for errors of law; 5th,
verdict contrary to law; 6th, error of court in charging the jury.
This motion, after full argument, pro and con, was overruled
bj'^ Judge Tibbals, and young Ley was sentenced to three years'
imprisonment in the penitentiary.
Defendant's counsel then moved for a suspension of execution
of the sentence, pending the application for a writ of error to the
Supreme Court, which motion was also overruled by Judge
724 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Tibbals. A very long bill of exceptions, covering many pages of
the record, was then prepared, which w^as duly signed by Judge Tib-
bals, though a hearing of the case was never had in the Supreme-
Court, by reason of the early pardon of the defendant. Young Ley
was conveyed by the writer, then serving as sheriff, to Columbus,
on the 30th day of July, 1878, and w^as pardoned by Governor
Bishop on the 6th day of the foUow^ing November, after a service
of three months and one Aveek, only.
Trial of Wilson Swartz. — On the 27th day of June, 1878, the
trial of Wilson Swartz, under indictment for manslaughter, as
above, was begun before the following jury: Washington M. Hef-
felman, David C. Gillett, Isaac B. Hargett, Curtis C. Wilcox, John
G. Caskey, Josiah Williams, William C. Steele, Kzra Tyron,
George W. Fairbanks, George C. Esty, Joseph M. Atkinson and
Jonas Schoonover. Counsel for prosecution and defense same as-
in previous trial. The trial lasted three days, the jury returning a
verdict of "not guilty of manslaughter, as charged in said indict-
ment, but guilty of assault and battery." No exceptions to the
verdict being taken by the defendant's counsel, Judge Tibbals
immediately sentenced him to 30 days' imprisonment in the county
jail, and the costs of the trial, and to stand committed until costs
were paid, which sentence was duly carried into execution.
A Spartan Mother. — While young Ley was awaiting trans-
portation to Columbus, (30 days being allow^ed the sheriff in which
to execute the sentence), a confidence operator by the name of
Louis La Rock, who, a year later, ^vas sent to the penitentiary for
horse stealing, called on Mrs. George Ley, offering, for $30, to aid
Joe to escape from jail. After hearing him through, Mrs. Ley
opened the door, saying: "Now, young man, get right out of my
house! If my boy escapes from jail he'll have to run away, and I
may never see him again; but if he goes to Columbus, w^hen he is
released from the prison, there, he can come home and be my own
good boy again as he alw^ays has been."
Coventry's Present Township Official Status (1891). — Trus-
tees, Frank E. Reninger, John Rose and Solomon Warner; clerk,
Simon P. Marsh; treasurer, William A. Warner; assessor, Thomas
Conlin; justices of the peace, James L. Porter, Houston Kepler;
constable, Gomer W. Thomas; township school board, sub-district
No. 1, George W. Brewster; No. 2, N. R. Steiner; No. 3, James L.
Porter; No. 5, Timothy Vaughn; No. 6, Samuel Kepler; No. 7,
Charles Jaquith; No. 8, Elias Cormany; No. 9, Houston Kepler;
No. 11, William Sours (president); No. 12, Allen Kiplinger; clerk,,
ex-officio, tow^nship clerk, Simon P. Marsh.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
CUYAHOGA FALLS — ORIGIXALLY CALLED " MANCHESTER " — MAGNIFICENT
WATER POWER^PIOXEER SETTLERS— EARLY ENTERPRISES, SUCCESSES AND
REVERSES— ALLEGED FRAUDULENT TRANSACTION— ONE YEAR A COUNTY
SEAT— PIONEER TEMPERANCE vSOCIETY OF OHIO— FIRST WHISKY "STRIKE"
ON RECORD— PIONEER CYLINDER PAPER MILL WEST OF THE ALLEGHANIES
—QUITE A COINCIDENCE— ORGANIZATION OF TOWN, TOWNSHIP AND VIL-
LAGE—EARLY AND MODERN NEWSPAPERS— MUSICAL, SOCIAL AND FRATER-
NAL—EARLY AND MODERN HOTELS— THE WOMEN'S CRUSADE OF 1858—
" SHINPLASTER " MILL AND OTHER BANKING OPERATIONS— EARLY INSUR-
ANCE COMPANY— FINE PLEASURE RESORTS— DESTRUCTIVE FIRES— SPLEN-
DID MILITARY RECORD— THE SULTANA DISASTER— BEAUTIFUL SOLDIERS'
MONUMENT— HONORABLE CIVIL SERVICE— LIGHT CRIMINAL CALENDAR-
EDUCATIONAL AND CHURCH MATTERS— PRESENT BUSINESS STATUS, ETC.
PRELIMINARY.
To give the full early history of Cuyahoga Falls, would largely
be anticipating the matters and things contained in the sketches
herein to be given of Stow and Tallmadge townships, the larger
portion of its territory, and all of its water-power, having been
■embraced -within the original limits of those two townships; that
north of the tow^nship line, (crossing the river a short distance
south of Portage street), belonging to Judge Joshua Stow, of Mid-
dletown, Conn., and that south of the line being a part of the 1,000
acre tract draw^n by Roger Newberry, of Windsor, Conn.
Though Judge Stow, w^hose portrait appears in the chapter
bearing his name, made several visits to Ohio, he never became a
permanent resident here. Judge William Wetmore acting as his
^gent for the sale of his lands, and the transaction of all business
relating thereto. Judge Wetmore afterwards, (about 1824), pur-
<:hased an undivided one-half interest in 120 acres of land covering
Judge Stow's portion of the w^ater-pow^er in question, thus becom-
ing a partner ^vith Judge Stow^ in sundry important business
enterprises to be hereafter written of.
Roger Newbery died in 1813, his Tallmadge lands thus coming
into the possession of his son, Henry, who, in 1814, came out to
view them, and was so well pleased with them, and the promise
they gave of future value, both in an agricultural and manufactur-
ing point of view, that he determined to remove thither for per-
manent settlement, though it was nearlj'^ 10 years before he finally
removed to Ohio, so that the improvement of both sections was
about simultaneous, in 1825.
Pioneer Mills, Name, etc. — As early as 1815, under some
arrangement with Judge Wetmore, as Judge Stow's agent, a dam
w^as thrown across the river, by Francis Kelsey and Isaac Wilcox,
^bout w^here the C, A. & C. Railroad bridge now is, at which point
a saw-mill was erected for the purpose of supplying the "navy
j-ard" at Old Portage with lumber. Judge Wetmore being com-
missary for the troops stationed at Old Portage during the War of
1812-15.
726 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Other milling operations — grist inill, linseed oil mill, etc. —
were also entered into, at this point, and quite a number of dwell-
ing houses were erected along the west bank of the river, several
of which are still standing, having for many years past been
known as the "Old Village."
This village was at first called "Manchester," probably after
the great English manufacturing town of that name, in view of
the manufacturing possibilities of the locality. Later, however^
when postal facilities were asked for, in about 1826, it being found
that there w^ere several other Manchesters in the State, at the sug-
gestion of the postmaster general, the name of Cuyahoga Falls
was adopted, the appropriateness of which is apparent, being
located at the more important of the numerous falls and rapids of
the Cuyahoga river, Mr. Henry Newberry being the first post-
master of the village.
The Name of Indian Origin. — The name of the river itself, is
from an Indian word, generally supposed to signify "crooked,"
because of the remarkably tortuous course of the stream, rising,
as it does, in Ashtabula and Geauga counties, and, after a south-
westerly course through Portage and Summit, to within about
two miles of Akron, turning abruptly to the north, and with an
almost infinite variety of zig-zag turnings and twistings — often
almost doubling upon itself, as at Peninsula — emptying into Lake
Erie, at Cleveland.
This meaning of the word, I am assured by Mr. D. E. Shongo^
of Salamanca, N. Y., an educated Seneca Indian, and a highly
accomplished civil engineer, is erroneous, Mr. Shongo giving the
real derivation of the name as follows: "'Cuyahoga' is a Seneca
Indian word, giving a geographical locality to the word o-vo-har
which means a 'jaw^,' or * jaw-bone.' The prefix *ca' is definitive
of position, from 'caia,' meaning (lying or existing, not living) on
'the ground.' 'Ga' is an affix, giving definite geographical locality
(not direction). So by prefix and affix we have 'Ca-yo-ha-ga,' the
geographical locality of the jaw-bone. In the pronunciation, c is^
hard like g or k; a is like the English in the word ah; j^is, like the
English e, and j^o is pronounced as in the English yeo; ha is a&
ah; ga is as gate, leaving off the te. The Senecas gave the river
and locality in the vicinity of Cleveland, the name of 'Cayohaga,'
because, in the long dim past, and before the advent of the white
man, a mammoth ja^v-bone, etc., w^as found along the sedimentary
deposits and morasses of the river, about five miles easterly of
Cleveland, at or near New^burg; from all accounts it must have
been the skeleton of the mastodon."
The Present Village. — Cuyahoga Falls, proper, was first laid
out in 1825, by Judge Elkanah Richardson, who had, in 1822, built
the house long known as the "Red House" and afterwards as the
"Peck House," on the west side of Front street, a little north of the
"Big Spring." A new survey, and an official plat, was afterw^ards
made, and duly recorded in the Records of Portage county, by Bird-
sey Booth, Esq., a small addition being later made thereto from
land lying east of the 210 acre tract of Stow and Wetmore, and
north of the Tallmadge line, by Joseph Hale, platted and recorded
in 1837 by Russell H. Ashmun, of Tallmadge, afterwards Summit
county's first county surveyor, as elsewhere stated.
PIONEER INDUSTRIES. 727
In the early Spring of 1825, Stow & Wetmore commenced
operations in the new^ village, the first step being the erection of a
log house on the east side of Front street, just north of where
Gilbert's livery stable now stands. In April of this year, William
Wetmore, Jr., superintended a gang of about 30 men- in constructing
a dam across the river, north of Portage street, which was com-
pleted in the following June, the company erecting at this point a
saw-mill, a grist-mill and a linseed oil-mill. The erection of this
dam destroyed the power at the old village and the works there
were abandoned, the dam and buildings being taken down and
removed.
Death of Judge Wetmore. — Judge Wetmore died at his resi-
dence, on the east margin of Silver Lake, October 27, 1827, his sons,
Henry, Ogden, William, Jr., and Kdw^in, succeeding to his property',
and the three former to his business interests, the firm of Stow &
Wetmores long continuing prominent in the manufacturing and
mercantile operations of the village.
In 1826, the year previous to the death of his father, William
Wetmore, Jr., erected the building on the northwest corner of Front
and Portage streets, for a dwelling house and store. It was so
used until 1828, w^hen the stock of goods was removed to the build-
ing now occupied by the Cuj^ahoga Falls Reporter, on the south-
west corner of the streets named. The original building was then
converted into a hotel, its first proprietor being Benjamin F. Hop-
kins, followed by Ezra B. Morgan, S. A. Childs, Ira Loomis, Henry
Cooke, A.W.Hall and perhaps others, under the title of the "Ameri-
can House," and by John F. Perry and John B. Perry, as the " Perry
House," the present proprietor, Mr. George Marvin, having made
important additions and improvements and changed its name
to " Clifford Inn."
Pioneer Paper Mill. — In 1830, Stow & Wetmores, in connec-
tion w^ith Mr. John Rumrill, a practical paper-maker, from Spring-
field, Mass., and still living at Cuyahoga Falls, over 90 years of age,
completed and equipped a large paper mill, near their dam, on the
east side of the river, the remains of which are still visible on the
bank of the river. This was the pioneer of the many subsequent
paper-making ventures rhade in the new^ village, and in the matter
of making paper by machinery (substantially as at the present
time), instead of by the old hand process, is believed to have been
the pioneer mill in Ohio. The first sheet of paper was run from
the cylinder December 8, 1830, by Mr. Rumrill, and it is related as
quite a coincidence that Mr. Henry Wetmore, the business inan-
ager of the firm, being at that moment about to start to Franklin
Mills to be married, took the first sheet of paper along to exhibit
as a trophy of the enterprise of his firm, to his bride and her
friends, Mr. Wetmore being that evening married to Eliza Bradford
Price, at the house of her uncle. Captain William H. Price, then
the only merchant there, and the owner of a large part of the land on
w^hich the village of Kent now^ stands. Mr. and Mrs. Wetmore are
still living, and in the enjoyment of a fair degree of physical and
mental vigor, the former 90, and the latter 81 years of age.
Mr. Newberry's Operations. — Lower down the river, Mr.
Newberry, during this time, w^as pushing a variety of manufactur-
ing enterprises, upon his property there. Coming to Ohio, in 1824,
he lived for about two years on the farm now owned by Hiratn
728
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
Gaylord, immediately south of Silver Lake, dividing his time
between his farm and his village operations. The first building
erected on his property was a log house, for the accommodation of
his workmen, in 1825, just north of the hotel of Mr. George L.
Bouys, on the east side of the river; a year later buying a two-
story frame building that was being erected for a store, corner Kast
Broad and Kast Front streets (still standing), "which he converted
into a dwelling house for his own use, and which he occupied
until the cotnpletion of his fine stone residence on the hill to the
eastward, in 1840, where he lived until his death, in 1854.
HENRY NEWBERRY, — born in
WindvSor, Connecticut, January
27. 1783 ; educated at Yale College ;
Avas for several years a merchant in
Hartford, where, October 9, 1803, he
Avas married to Miss Elizabeth Strong^,
born April 29, 1782. His father, Gen-
eral Roger Newberry,a Revolutionary
ffoldier, was one of the original pro-
prietors of Tallmadge, purchasing
b\' draft, in 1798, one thousand acres
in the northern part of the township.
On the death of his father, in 1814,
Mr. Newberry visited Ohio, and again
in 1818 and 1822, and in 1824 removed
his famil5'^ thither, being one of the
founders of the village of Cuj^ahoga
Falls, erecting dams and inills upon
the river, and engaging largelj' in
farming, mining and inanufacturing,
one of the present evidences of his
enterprise being the felegant brown
*<tone dwelling house directly east of
the covered bridge, still known as
the " Newberry house." He was the
first postmaster of Cuj^ahoga Falls,
and filled manj^ other important
official positions. Mr. and Mrs. New-
berry were the parents of nine chil-
dren—Elizabeth, the firvSt Mrs. E. N.
Sill, born October 28, 1804, died No-
vember 29, 1829 ; Mary Strong, born
September 13, 1808, died Deceinber 30,
1855 ; Fanny, the second Mrs. E. N.
Sill, born April 4, 1810, died February
14. 1849; Julia, Mrs. H. S. Holbrook,
born April 1. 1812; Almira, Mrs. Wil-
liam Fogle, born March 18, 1814;
HENRY NEWBERRY.
Eunice, Mrs. C. S. Sill, born Septem-
ber 18, 1815, died September 2, 1867;
Henry, count}- auditor of Summit
county, 1852 to 1854, born June 29, 1817,
died December 21, 1875; John Strong,
now a professor in Columbia College,
New York City, born December 22,
1822 ; Sarah E.. Mrs. J. P. Holbrook,
born February 8, 1825. Mr. Newberry
died December 5, 1854, and Mrs. New-
berry, November 24, 18.58.
In 1825 Mr. Newberry built the dam now (1891) used bj' the
Variety Works of The Turner, Vaughn & Taylor Co., erecting
thereon a saw-mill on the w^est side, and a linseed oil-mill on the
east side. The oil-mill being carried away b3^ a flood, in 1832, was
immediately rebuilt and for a w^hile ^vas run as an oil-mill, by E.
N. Sill and Ogden Wetmore, but after^vards converted into a paper-
mill by Prentiss Dow and John Kumrill, and later, for some years,
run by Prentiss and George Dow.
Magnificent Water-Power. — It is not the province of this
w^ork,even were data and space available, to present a detailed his-
tory of the many manufacturing and business operations — suc-
cesses and disasters — that have obtained in Cuyahoga Falls, during
the three-fourths of a century of its existence. With water-power
EARLY INHABITANTS. 729
— then the great desideratum of manufacturing operations — second
to no other point in Ohio, and with a population unsurpassed for
intelligence and enterprise, its prospects at the beginning, and for
a number of years thereafter, were bright and promising in the
extreme.
Located some 500 feet above the level of Lake Erie, with the
very finest of agricultural surroundings, it had within its corporate
limits, and immediate vicinity, an aggregate fall of about 150 feet,
furnishing at the low^est stage of water, fully 4,000 cubic feet per
minute. Only a part of this power, however, owing to causes to
be hereafter w^ritten of, has ever been utilized, though a large
variety of manufactures are now being driven by three other dams
besides those already nained, the five representing a total fall of
nearly 75 feet, as follows: Upper, or rolling mill dam, 15 feet;
Newberry, or Turner, Vaughn & Taylor dam, 10 feet; paper mill
dam, 18 feet; Prentiss, or sewer pipe dam, 20 feet, less 31/2 feet taken
by "Chuckery;" Hinde dam, 12 rods above old Chuckery dam,
15 feet.
Early ResidenTvS. — Among the earlier settlers in Cuyahoga
Falls, besides those already named, are recalled the following:
Rowland Clapp and Grant B. Turner, 1828, (died in 1881); John
RumriU, (still living); Colonel Asa Stanley, 1829; Elisha N. Sill,
1829, (died April 25, 1888, aged 88 years); John Eadie, George
Dailey, Oliver Dewey and Israel James, 1830; Oliver B. Beebe,
1831, (deceased); Major Charles W. Wetmore, Seth D. Wetmore,
1832, (both deceased); and earlier, or soon afterw^ards, Joseph T.
Hollowaj^, William A. Lawson, Preston Sawyer, Noah E. Lemoin,
Henry Orrin and C. H. James, Noah and Dr. Chester W. Rice, J.
A. Beebe, J. Blair, George H. Lodge, John Willard, S. D. Clark,
Alexander English, J. H. Reynolds, Thomas and Isaac Sill, Asa
Mariner, John Alexander, William Perkins, John Stouffer, Charles,
William and Henry A. Sill, Horace Canfield, Timothy Phelps
Spencer, Thomas Santom, R. H. Shellhorn, H. H. Smoke, B. Thal-
himer, William Turner, William H. Taylor, Charles Thornburg,
William H. Withey, George, Hiram S. and Almon Vaughn, Salmon
and Sylvester Loomis, Jabez and Charles R. Hamlin, Simon Brown,
J. Jenkins, John and Epaphroditus Wells, Abraham Yockey, Henry
Barger. John H. Brainard, Nathaniel Rose, William and James
Alley, Dr. Richard Fry, A. B. Gilespie, Samuel Goodrich, B. R.
Manchester, "Judge" Burgess, H. N. Pool, Isaac Cooke, S. A.
Childs, R. Chaffee, L. W. and Theodore R. Butler, David and
ApoUos Wadsworth, Cyrus C. and Livy L. Wilcox, Isaac A. Ballou,
Enoch Adams, and somewhat later, Asa G. and Henry W. Bill,
Hosea Paul, Henry and Orrin Cooke, Andrew Dailey, John B.
Harrison, Timothy L. and Horace A. Miller, George H. Penfield,
Sylvester Pease, William A. Hanford, Giles and Joshua L'Homm-
€dieu, William W. Lucas, Ezra S. and Samuel Comstock, A. R.
Knox, John Cochran, Captain Isaac Lewis, Martin Griswold,
Colonel J. P. Lee, William, Henry, Frank and Samuel Rattle,
Samuel W. McClure, Seymour Demming, William A. Taylor, Julius
A. and Dr. G. C. Upson, Dr. Porter G. Somers, R. S. Williams,
Charles Hunt, Shubel H. Lowery, Seth Ely, George Hubbard,
Robert Peebles, Henry E. Howard, Henry Plum, William, Samuel
and Thomas Wills, George and Henry E. Parks, Austin Babcock,
Edward Youmans, Stephen Powers, Esq., Sherman Peck, Joy H.
730 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Pendleton, George E. Clarke, J, M. Smith, Edwin Starr, James and
Charles W. Chamberlain, George A. Stanley, C. Reed, William H,
Van Tyne, Henry Holbrook, Thomas W. Cornell, Benjamin Phelps,^
F. S. and Dr. T. F. Heath, and many others whose names are not
readily recalled.
Early Business Matters. — Cuyahoga Falls, it will be seen by
a comparison of dates, was quite a smart manufacturing village
before Akron was ever dreamed of, and, in the early twenties, bid
fair to soon outstrip that ancient business emporium, Middlebury,.
and become the great manufacturing center of the Western Re-
serve. Her natural resources were adequate to the full realization
of this anticipation, but certain artificial schemes soon began ta
materialize, which served to retard the progress of both herself
and Middlebury, while favoring their mutual rival, Akron, which,,
like a full-armored gladiator, had suddenly stalked into the busi-
ness arena of the vicinage.
The first of these artificial schemes w^as the construction of the
Ohio Canal in 1825-27. Neither Middlebury nor Cuyahoga Falls
lying directly upon the canal, they could not, of course, reap the
full measure of its benefits of travel and transportation, the result
being the establishment along the line of sundry villages and
hamlets, as at Akron, Old Portage, Niles, Peninsula, Boston, etc.,
that drew off a large proportion of the business that would other-
wise have come to the earlier villages named.
The second scheme to militate against Cuyahoga Falls, was
the construction of the Cascade mill race from Middlebury to
Akron, by Dr. Eliakim Crosby, in 1832, thus, by the creation of a
considerable water power at that point, dividing the attention of
manufacturers between the two places, which otherw^ise w^ould
have been concentrated upon Cuyahoga Falls alone.
The third blow^ to the manufacturing interests and growth of
Cuyahoga Falls was the famous "Chuckery" project, described at
length in another chapter, by which more than one-half of the
immense pow^er above described, within her borders, w^as sought
to be diverted to "Summit City," by the "Portage Canal and Man-
ufacturing Company" in 1836, but which, through the ultimate
failure of that corporation, has remained substantially unimproved
and unproductive to the present time.
It is but simple justice to the people of Cuyahoga Falls, and ta
the memory of Mr. Henry New^berry, to state, in this connection,
that it w^as, and is, claimed that the diversion alluded to was
effected through absolute fraud, the late Hon. E. N. Sill, Grant
B. Turner, Esq., and Mr. Henry Wetmore, and other well-informed
old-time residents, now living, who were perfectly familiar with
Mr. Newberry's business and feelings, at the period named, hold-
ing to this opinion.
The fourth back-set to the prosperity of Cuyahoga Falls, wa&
the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal scheme, inaugurated in 1836,
and completed in 1840. This, it was supposed would greatly
benefit the village, by giving it communication with the outer
w^orld, in receiving its supplies of iron, coal, lumber, merchandise,
etc., and in shipping its manufactured products, to say nothing
about the matter of passenger travel.
To a certain extent this expectation was realized. But is was
found that being supplied with water from the river at Kent, and
CUYAHOGA FALLS AHEAD OF CHICAGO. 731
in turn, besides being used for navigation purposes, with nine
locks between Cuyahoga Falls and Akron, it was so largely utilized,
to augment the hydraulic privileges at Akron, that a shortage
of water in the river was created, that, in dry seasons, very
largely interfered with the manufacturing operation of the village.
This disadvantage was patiently endured, long after the use-
fulness of the canal to the people of Cuyahoga Falls had ceased, by
reason of the completion ^f the "Hudson Branch" railroad from
Hudson to Akron, in 1852, and until, by reason of the building of
the Mahoning Branch of the A. & G. W. R. R., navigation on the
canal was entirely suspended, w^hen the slow process of the law
for its formal closing was anticipated by the parties in interest
summarily draining off its waters at points both above and below
Cuyahoga Falls, in the Spring and Summer of 1868, since which
the wheels of the shops and mills upon the river, have had the
benefit of all the water the stream affords, though, of course, con-
siderably diminished, from early times, by the clearing up of the
timber lands contiguous to its sources and along its banks.
To THE Contrary, Notwithstanding. — Yet, in spite of all these
drawbacks, Cuyahoga Falls has been, and still is, a town of large
business resources and enterprise. Up to 1836 its population, as
well as the volume of its manufactures, were fully equal to, if they
did not surpass those of Akron, with even brighter propects for the
future. A newspaper description of the business of the town, at
that time, is as follows:
" Eight dry-goods stores, two drug stores, two groceries, one hat
store, one clothing store, four tailors' shops, one milliner's shop,
three shoe shops, one book store, one book-bindery, one printing
office, four blacksmiths' shops, two tin shops, two cabinet shops,
one pump shop, two paper mills, one flouring mill, two saw mills,
one oil mill, one tilt-hammer, ax and scythe factory, one w^oolen
mill, one stone saw mill, one planing mill, one chair factory, one
foundry, one engine and machine shop, and sundry other smaller
w^orks," placing the amount of goods sold during the year at
$407,000 and the sales of real estate at $200,000.
Ahead of Chicago. — In illustration of the life and business
activity of Cuyahoga Falls, at this period, it is related that while Mr.
Ezra S. Comstock, long a prominent business man of the Falls,
was, in 1836, prospecting for a location, after visiting several places
in this vicinity, having heard of a place called Chicago, thought
he would take a look at that town before locating. But he soon
returned to Cuyahoga Falls, saying that it was more of a business
place than Chicago, and always would be, locating here accord-
ingly.
The panic of 1837, however, added to the prospective loss of
one-half, or more, of its w^ater-pow^er, in the manner above set forth,
was a severe blow to its prosperity and growth. Values of real
estate rapidly diminished, contemplated business enterprises were
indefinitely postponed, mercantile failures ensued, and the general
effects of the panic, as at Akron and other points heretofore de-
scribed, were here felt in their fullest force.
A " Shinplaster" Mill. — Yet, the people of Cuyahoga Falls
pluckily struggled on. To partially remedy the stringency of the
money market, incident to the failure of a large proportion of the
banks of the country, and the suspension of specie payments by
r
732 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
all, following the example of many other towns, a quasi-bank was
organized, called the "Cuyahoga Falls Real Estate Association,"
the paper issued being in denominations of 25 cents to $5,00, a bill
of the latter denomination now in the hands of the writer, reading
thus: "Treasurer of the Cuyahoga Falls Real Estate Association:
Pay on demand, Five Dollars to William G. Oatman, or bearer.
Cuyahoga Falls, April 1, 1838" — bearing also upon its face the
legend: "Real Estate pledged by depd of trust to double the
excess of issue beyond the capital stock paid in, and stockholders
liable," and signed by Moses Thompson, president, and Ogden
Wetmore, cashier, the cashiership afterguards devolving upon
Birdsey Booth, Esq.
This "currency," loaned to merchants, manufacturers and
speculators, obtained quite a large circulation, and for a time all
seemed to be lovely for both those who issued and those who
handled it. But by and by, holders began to find it difficult to get
rid of it, and speculators began buying it up at a discount, and
presenting it in such considerable sums for redemption that the
institution soon found itself short of the v^herevv^ith for its redemp-
tion, its embarrassments being increased by the fact that many
borrowers were unable to meet their paper at maturity. Added to
all this, the rapid decline in value of real estate, and other prop-
e:rty, and their inability to realize upon their securities, compelled
the company to go into liquidation, bringing disaster to most of its
managers, and leaving considerable sums of its issues in the hands
of holders to be kept as relics of the financial crisis of 1837-44.
Subsequent Banking Operations.— During the existence of
the panic above alluded to, nearly all of the banks of the country
went by the board, the Western Reserve Bank, at Warren, and the
Oeauga Bank, at Painesville, being the only ones in Northeastern
Ohio to stand the pressure. The Ohio State Bank system, similar
to the present National Bank system, having been inaugurated in
the early forties, in 1845 the Summit county branch of the State
Bank of Ohio, at Cuyahoga Falls, w^as organized, with a capital of
$100,000, by Joseph Hale, Henry B. Tuttle, William Rattle, Horace
A. Miller, Charles R. Miller and others, Mrith Joseph Hale as presi-
dent and H. B. Tuttle as cashier. The stock of this bank was
bought, in January, 1851, by Elisha N. Sill, Samuel W. McClure,
Ezra S. Comstock, Charles Cjiirtis, and others, E. N. Sill becoming
its president and E. S. Comstock it cashier, James H. Stanley
succeeding Mr. Comstock as cashier in 1862. The charter of this
bank expiring in 1866, the First National Bank of Cuyahoga
Falls, with $50,000 capital, w^as organized by Thomas W. Cornell,
Elisha N. Sill, Chas. S. Sill, Henry Newberry, and others, Avith E.
N. Sill as president, and J. H. Stanley as cashier. In 1869 the
franchise of this bank w^as transferred to the First National Bank
of Akron, its stockholders organizing, as a private partnership,
■"The International Bank of Cuyahoga Falls," with the same offi-
cers as before, J. H. Stanley becoining its sole proprietor Sept. 1,
1881, but a series of losses sustained by "over-confidence in the
integrity of its customers" compelled its final suspension on the
26th day of October, 1886.
Another Shin-Plaster Era. — At the commencement of the
Civil War, all the gold, silver and copper currency of the country
disappeared as if by magic, so that, after shifting along for a time
BANKS AND FINANCES.
13S
Avith postage stamps for small change, another avalanche of mer-
cantile and personal shin-plasters flooded the country, until the
more reliable, and really very convenient, National Fractional
Currency scheme was adopted. Among those to avail themselves
of such private issues, was Mr. William A. Hanford, then exten-
sively engaged in the manufacture of paper at the Falls, Mr.
Hanford having kindly presented us with specimens of his entire
series, of the denominations of 50, 25, 10 and 5 cents, worded as
follow^s:
SUMMIT COUNTY BANK, pay the bearer FIVE CENTS when like
orders are presented in amounts of one or more dollars.
W. A, HANFORET.
Cuyahoga Falls, O., 1862.
Unlike the issues of 1837, '38, however, all of this scrip was
eventually fully redeemed by Mr. Hanford.
Present Banking Facilities. — In the Spring of 1891, The
Akron Savings Bank, of w^hich Mr. William Buchtel is president,
Judge Charles R. Grant, vice president, and Aaron Wagoner^
cashier, established a branch, in the old bank building in Cuya-
hoga Falls, in charge of Mr. Archie B. Clarke, which is proving a.
very great convenience to the people of that village.
HON. ELISHA NOYES SILL, -son
of Dr. Elisha N., and Chloe
(Allyn) Sill, born in Windsor, Con-
necticut, January 6, 1801, graduating-
from Yale College in 1820, and for
several years engaged in teaching;
in 1829 came to Cuyahoga Falls, for a
short time engaging- in manufactur-
ing, but in 1833 became the secretar}^
of the Portage Mutual Fire Insurance
Company, which position he ably
filled for over a quarter of a century.
Mr. Sill, besides serving Portage
county as representative, was the
first State senator for Portage and
Summit, after the erection of the lat-
ter, holding the position two years^—
1840 to 1842 ; was State fund commis-
sioner seven years ; president Sum-
mit County Branch of Ohio State
Bank, and its successors, the First
National Bank of Cuj^ahoga Falls
and the International Bank, from 1851
to 1869; and also a director in the
First National Bank of Akron. Octo-
ber 4, 1824, Mr. Sill was married, in
Windsor, to Miss Elizabeth Newberrj',
daughter of Henry and Elizabeth
Newberry, who died Noveiuber 27,
1829, leaving two sons — Alfred H. and
Ethelbert — both now residents of
Cuyahoga Falls. June 17, 1834, he was
again married to Miss Fanny New-
berry, sister of the first Mrs. Sill, who
died February 14, 1849, having borne
him two daughters — Elizabeth New-
HON. ELISHA NOYES SILL.
berry, born in 1838, now widow of the-
late Edward R. Sill, who with her
brother Ethelbert occupies the fine
old family homestead, and Mary, born
in 1841. who died in 1883. May 1, 1867,,.
Mr. Sill was again married to Mrs.
Laura (Dowd) Cooke, widow of the
late Henry Cooke, who died Septem-
ber 26, 1873, Mr. Sill himself dying
April 26, 1888, aged 87 years, 3 months
and 20 days.
PIONEER TEMPERANCE SOCIETY.
Though millions of gallons of whisky have since been made in
Cuyahoga Falls, and though still, like similar towns all over the
734 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
<:ountry, cursed AA^ith the beer and whisky saloon, and its natural
sequence, drunkenness and disorder, the community has, as a
"whole, been a model of sobriety and good order. Indeed, it may
safely be affirmed that Cuyahoga Falls is the pioneer town of the
Western Reserve, if not of the State, in organized temperance Tvork.
Howe's History of Ohio, published in 1848, claims for Gran-
ville, Licking county, the honor of organizing the first temperance
society west of the Allegheny mountains, July 15, 1828, and in this
w^ork, Copley is credited w^ith organizing a society in October,
1829, which was supposed to be the first in the State. But Stow
and Cuyahoga Falls claim, \srith positive assurance, that they are
entitled to the priority. A letter written, several years since, by
Dr. Orlando Wilcox, late of Hinckley, a resident of Cuyahoga Falls
from 1827 to 1831 (father of Orlando Wilcox, Esq., now a practicing
attorney at Cuyahoga Falls), states that in the Fall of 1827, the
temperance question was discussed by the Medical Association of
Portage county, of which himself and Drs. Joseph Cole, of Akron,
Amos and Philo Wright, of Tallmadge, Titus Chapman, of Middle-
bury, and Israel To^vn, of Hudson, w^ere members; that on return-
ing he presented the matter to Mr. Henry Wetmore, then in charge
of Stow & Wetmores' store, at Cuyahoga Falls, in ^vhich liquors
^^ere kept for sale; that at Mr. Wetmore's request he drew up a
constitution, to which seven names were then and there attached,
as follows: Henr}- Butler, Washington L. Butler, John J. Gaylord,
Henry Wetmore, Ogden Wetmore, Rev. David Bacon and Dr.
Orlando Wilcox; that in the latter part of December, 1827, Rev.
Oeorge Sheldon, of Franklin Mills (Kent), delivered a lecture on
temperance, at which Judge Stow was present, that gentleman
proposing that if a majority of the people of the township (Stow)
"would join the societj^ he would deed to the township any 160
acres of land a committee, appointed for that purpose, might
select, the proceeds to be devoted to the purchase of a pall and
bier, and for educational purposes. The requisite number of
signatures to the constitution (65) was obtained, and the lot duly
selected, but, for reasons not novt^ explainable, the convej^ance was
never consummated by Judge Stow^, though it has been known as
the "Temperance Lot" to this day. The next Fourth of July (1828)
there was a temperance celebration at the Falls, with Mr. Ogden
W^etmore as the orator of the day.
A Whisky Strike. — Apropos of this temperance movement,
Mr. Henry Wetmore relates that at the time of its inauguration,
Stow Sc Wetmores w^ere employing some thirty mechanics and
laborers, on their varied improvements upon the river, to w^hom
rations of grog w^ere regularly dealt out at stated hours of the day,
amounting to nearly a barrel a week. On the announcement that
no further rations of whisky would be supplied, the entire force
w^ent on a strike; but w^ithin a few days fully one-third resumed
work, and gradually others came back, or their places were filled
with new men, and with considerable improvement in the quality
and quantity of labor performed.
The first large building to be raised in Cuyahoga Falls, with-
out the help of grog, was the paper mills of Stow & Wetmores, in
1829, in the absence of su^cient local help, a number of recruits
coming over from Tallmadge to help elevate the heavy timbers
and the cause of temperance at the same time.
TOWN AND TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION. 735
Yet, notwithstanding the entire absence of whisky, in the rais-
ing of this building, Mr. William Alley received a fatal injury from
the falling of a heavy stick of timber, from the effects of w^hich he
died w^ithin a very few days.
Dr. Orlando Wilcox, who was a native of Berlin, Conn., and a
distant relative of Mr. Isaac Wilcox, one of the earliest settlers in
Stow, after a residence of 54 years in Hinckley, returned to Cuya-
hoga Falls, the scene of his early temperance labors, in 1885, where
he died April 3, 1886, at the ripe old age of 84 years.
Municipal Organization.— The town of Cuyahoga Falls w^as
incorporated, by an act of the Legislature, on the 5th day of March,
1836, the people of the village, prior to that date, being under the
legal jurisdiction of their respective original to w^nships, Tallmadge
and Stow^. The boundaries of the corporation were tixed by the
charter as follows: "Beginning at the northwest corner of the
towrnship of Tallmadge and running south, on the line of said
township 240 rods; thence east 240 rods; thence north to the north
line of lots one and two in said tow^nship of Stow; thence west
240 rods; thence to the place of beginning, and any addition that
may hereafter be platted and recorded."
It w^ill thus be seen that about an equal amount of territory
was taken from the two townships named, with power to add
thereto indefinitely, w^ithout resort to any further Legislative
action. The act of incorporation fixed the first Tuesday of the
ensuing April, as the day for electing municipal officers, but for
reasons not now apparent, due notice of the passage of the act,
Avas not received until that day had passed, and to avoid the possi-
bility of illegality, the organization was postponed to await the
further action of the General Assembly.
The next Winter — ^1836-37 — the act was amended, fixing the
time of holding the election "on the first or any succeeding Tues-
day of April next," the elective officers being mayor, recorder, and
five trustees; the treasurer, marshal and other necessary subordi-
nate officers to be appointed by the town council, when duly
organized.
The first election, therefore, was held on Tuesday, April 4, 1837,
with the following result: Mayor, Henry Newberry; recorder,
Grant B. Turner; trustees, O. B. Beebe, Asa G. Bill, Elisha N.
Sill, Henry Wetmore and E. B. Dennison; the council, w^hen
organized, appointing Ogden Wetmore, treasurer, and Sherman
Peck, marshal. The town, under this charter, continued for a
period of about 15 years, its successive mayors, during that time,
after Mr. Newberry, being Charles W. Wetmore, Hosea Paul,
Charles W. Wetmore, Birdsey Booth, Hosea Paul, Oliver B. Beebe
and Charles W. Wetmore.
Township Organization. — Excepting in strictly municipal
matters, the people of Cuyahoga Falls were still under the juris-
diction of their respective original townships, having to go to either
Stow Corners or the center of Tallmadge to vote for national,
state, county and township officers. To obviate this necessity, on
petition, the county commissioners, on the 5th day of March, 1851,
pursuant to authority, granted them by statute, created the town-
ship of Cuyahoga Falls, appropriating^for that purpose, from the
corners of the four original townships of Tallmadge, Stow, North-
ampton and Portage, territory described by metes and bounds,
736
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
covering an area of about two and a quarter miles, north and south,
by one and three-quarter miles east and west.
The first election in the new township was held April 7, 1851,
with the following result: Trustees, Horace A, Miller, Henrj^
New^berry, Jr., and Porter G. Somers; clerk, Grant B. Turner;
treasurer, Lucius Bradley; assessor, William H. Taylor; constables,
William W. Lucas and William J. Wilson; supervisor; Seymour
Deming.
HENRY WETMORE,- son of Judge
William Wetmore, one of the
earliest pioneer settlers in Stow town-
ship, was born in Hartford, Connect-
icut, February 10, 1801, coniing^ with
parents to Ohio in 1804 ; with such
limited education as the pioneer
schools afforded, young- Wetinore
aided his father on the farin and in
the mercantile and manufacttiring
operations at Cuyahoga Falls, de-
tailed elsewhere, later becoming a
member of the well-remembered hrm
of Stow & Wetmores, and erecting the
first mill in the West to manufacture
paper bj' cylinder machinery similar
to the process now in vogue. Decem-
ber 8, 1830, Mr. Wetmore was married,
at Franklin Mills (now Kent), to Miss
Eliza Bradford Price, niece of Cap-
tain William H. Price, then the only
merchant in that now enterprising
village. Mr. and Mrs. Wetmore, both
still living, the former 90 and the lat-
ter 80 years of age, have had two
children — Henry W., born November
16, 1834, died March 14, 1879, and
George Prentiss, born September 19,
1836, died August 23, 1869, the latter
having three sons, all now deceased.
Though never seeking- or accepting
HENRY WETMORE.
public office, Mr. Wetmore has ever
sought to advance the best interests
of his village and county, and both
he and his faithful companion are
very highly esteemed by all who
know them.
Corporation Abandoned. — A year or two later, it coming to be
thought that a double set of officers for the government of sub-
stantially the same people was unnecessary, and that the town-
ship organization would answer for all, at a meeting of the coun-
cil, held on the evening of April 30, 1853, it was voted "to commit
the interests of Cuyahoga Falls to the trustees of Cuyahoga Falls
township" after \vhich the council adjourned without date.
Municipal Functions Resumed. — The single to\v^nship govern-
ment, though for a time harmonious, did not in the end prove
entirely satisfactory, the urban portion of the inhabitants having
tastes and needs that the rural portion of the population could not
appreciate, and, on the petition of 215 voters of the township, the
county commissioners, on the 3d day of June, 1868, duly authorized
the organization of said township, under the name of the "Incor-
porated Village of Cuyahoga Falls," thus making the village and
the township co-extensive, but separate and distinct organizations.
The first election, of the village, was held on September 1, 1868,
with the following result: Mayor, William A. Hanford; recorder,
Porter G. Somers; treasurer, Henry C. Lockwood, trustees, T, F.
Heath, Charles Hunt, L. W. Loomis, W. M. Griswold and John
ONE YEAR A COUNTY SEAT. 737
Hinde; its successive mayors to the present time (February 1891;
have been: W. A. Hanford, October 19, 1865, to April 5, 1869)
Richard Blood, April 5, 1869, to April 4, 1870; C. P. Humphrey,
April 4, 1870, to April 15, 1872; Joshua L'Hommedieu, 1872, 1873;
H. B. Camp, 1874, 1875; George Rice, 1876, 1877; W. A. Hanford,
1878, 1881; J. C. Castle, 1882, 1883; A. B. Curtis, April 7, 1884, to May
28, 1884; Samuel Higgs, May 28, 1884, to April 6, 1885; C. D. Crum,
April 6, 1885. to August 31, 1885; Thomas F. Walsh, August31, 1885,
to April 6, 1886; John I Jones, April 6, 1886, till his resignation in
October, 1889, Mr. Samuel Higgs being appointed to fill the
vacancy, who, in the Spring of 1890, was elected for two years, and
is still serving. Other officers: M. J. Betts, Dr. J. D. Dodge, M. H.
Howe, George Marvin. C. P. Richardson and William Weaver,
councilmen; D. F. Felmly, clerk; Orlando Wilcox, solicitor; Ira B.
Goldwood, marshal; J. D. Dodge, health officer.
A Well-Remembered Institution, — One of the early and most
w^idely known institutions of Cuyahoga Falls, was the "Portage
Mutual Fire Insurance Company." It was at first organized at
Ravenna, in 1832, under a charter Avhich had been granted by the
Legislature of Ohio, in 1831. The officers then elected were, Wil-
liam Coolman, Jr., Cyrus Prentiss, Frederick Wadsworth, Edwin
Wetmore, Elias Smith, Charles Clapp, and George Y. Wallace, as
directors, and Samuel D. Harris, as secretary.
Under this organization no business was transacted, and a
year later, August 1833, a reorganization was had, with Henry
Newberry, Henry Wetmore, William Coolman. Jr., Edwin Wet-
more and George Y. Wallace as directors, Henry Newberry as
president, and Elisha N. Sill as secretary. Under this organiza-
tion the office of the company w^as located at Cuyahoga Falls. The
organization, as above given, w^as (Continued during the 25 years of
the existence of the company, except, that, on the resignation of
Mr. Newberry, as president, in 1839, Colonel Justus Gale, of Akron,
was appointed in his place, and on the death of Colonel Gale, in
1847, the late Frederick Wadsworth w^as elected to fill the vacancy.
Many millions of dollars of property ^vere insured, and hun-
dreds of thousands of dollars of losses were paid by this company.
The mode of procedure w^as about this: Instead of a given per
cent, in cash on the amount insured, being paid to the company,
so-called premium notes were given by the insured, for an esti-
mated sum sufficient to cover that particular policy's proportionate
amount of probable losses, during the lifetime thereof, assessment
bills on said notes being from time to time sent to agents for col-
lection from policy holders, to cover such losses as may have
accrued.
This arrangement worked smoothly enough for several years,
but makers of premium notes occasionally becoming insolvent,
and others, feeling that assessment bills were being presented
oftener and for larger sums than had been anticipated, refusing to
pay (resulting in a large amount of litigation), losses could not be
promptly met, legal embarrassments followed, by w^hich, in 1858,
the company w^as compelled to suspend operations, and go into
liquidation.
One Year a County Seat. — When the project of a new
county w^as first inooted by the people of Akron and Middlebury,
in 1833, the people of Cuyahoga Falls opposed the movement^
47
738 * AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
rather favoring the retention of the regular county seat at Ravenna,
with a half-shire arrangement at Cuyahoga Falls, or in the failure
of that project, of the removal of the county seat from Ravenna to
Franklin Mills (Kent), as the people of the latter place were
endeavoring to have done. When, however, the new county of
Summit was finally erected, in 18iO, Cuyahoga Falls put in her
claim to county seat honors, not only because of her superb manu-
facturing resources, and her more central location, but because of
her superior healthfulness, her better topographical features for
the building up of a large manufacturing and commercial city,
w^hile the opening of the Pennsylvania and Ohio canal, then near-
ing completion, would give her transportation facilities fully equal
to those of Akron, and vastly superior to those of "Summit City"
(Chuckery), also a vigorous competitor for the capitalistic prize.
The locating commissioners named by the Legislature, on
viewing the several locations, listening to propositions and argu-
ments in favor of each of the points named, decided in favor of
Akron, and buildings were commenced in the Autumn of that year
(1840). During the ensuing year, however, Hon, E. N. Sill, State
Senator for the Summit-Portage district, secured the passage of
an act reopening the question, and appointment of a committee of
revicAv, w^hich committee, in the Summer of 1841, after partially
sticking the stakes on the "Chuckery," finally located the build-
ings in Cuyahoga Falls, on the very handsome site now occupied
by the Congregational church, on the south side of Broad street,
between Front and Second. Legal hindrances intervening no
steps w^ere taken towards the erection of public buildings on the
site named, other than the donation of the land and the raising, by
subscription, of the requisite construction fund; the succeeding
Legislature again reopening the question, and providing for a
special election, at which the voters of the county should deter-
mine by ballot, where their county seat should be. The result, as
will be seen by a perusal of the chapter on that subject, was a plu-
rality of 1594, in favor of Akron, over Cuyahoga Falls, and a major-
ity over all of 1469, in a total vote of 4,487.
EDUCATIONAL MATTERS.
Mostly of Connecticut origin and antecedents, the people of
Cuyahoga Falls have ever given especial attention to the cause of
education. In addition to common district schools, as the popula-
tion increased select schools were from time to time established,
with varying success. The first of these, probably, -was by Mr.
J. H. Reynolds, who announces in the Ohio Revien^, of September
27, 1831, that he w^ill open a select school on the 29th inst. (place
not named), "tuition fee $2.00 to $2.50, according to branches
taught," Mr. Reynolds being recommended by Henry Newberry,
Elisha N. Sill, Henry Wetmore, Richard Fry and Ogden Wetmore.
In the Spring of 1836, Miss Sarah Carpenter (a sister of the late
Judge James S. Carpenter), established a seminary for girls, in the
school room attached to St. John's Church, which met witn a fair
degree of success, being succeeded, in 1840, by Miss Frances C.
Barron, and she, in turn, by Miss Eliza Deaver, the exact date of
the discontinuance of the school not being now^ ascertainable.
Miss Carpenter is still living (October, 1891) in Akron, now in the
97th year of her age.
EDUCATIONAL MATTERS.
739
Cuyahoga Falls Institute. — In the Fall of 1837, Rev. Roswell
Brooks, A. M., and Charles Clark, Esq., established the "Cuyahoga
Falls Institute," which was afterwards duly chartered by legisla-
tive enactment. This school was conducted in the Lyceum build-
ing, on the present site of the Congregational church, with Mr.
Brooks as principal, Mr. Clark teaching music and mathematics,
and Elethea S. Brooks superintendent of female department. In
the Summer of 1840, Mr. Brooks alone conducted the school, but
on his removal to Western New York, in the Fall of that year, Mr.
Clark resumed control, Avith a primary department, in charge of
an assistant, continuing until about 1848, virhen, by reason of
impaired health, the school was given up by Mr. Clark. Mr,
Clark is still living and has been for many years the very effi-
cient clerk of the Board of Education of the village.
r^RANT B. TURNER, ESQ.— born
^J^ in Blooming' Grove, New York,
■October 17, 1810, moving- with parents
to Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1818,
coming to Cuyahoga Falls in 1828 ;
■coiumon school education ; learned
printer's trade in office of Western
Intelligencer, Hudson; wavS four
years deputj^ sheriff for Portage
county ; studied law, practicing- that
profession for several years, a portion
of the time as a partner of Judg^e
James S. Carpenter and Samuel W.
McClure ; in 1856, in companj^ ' with
several other gentlemen, founded the
Variety Iron Works, under the firm
iiaine of Turner, Parks & Co., after-
wards changed to Turner, Vaughn &
Co., incorporated January 11, 1889, as
The Turner, Vaughn & Taylor Com-
pany, which has more than a national
reputation for the excellence of its
manufactures. April 30, 1835, Mr.
Turner was married to Miss Ada
Morley, of Canandaigua, New York,
w^ho bore him three children — Au-
g-usta, married to Mr. James M. Edson,
.an early merchant in Akron, and now^
Mrs. H. C. Lockwood, of Cleveland ;
Harriet, now Mrs. Charles S. Hanford,
■of Cleveland, and Alice, wife of Mr.
Clayton Whittlesy, but now deceased.
An invalid, from partial |)aralysis,
GRANT B. TURNEK, ESQ.
though for most of the time able to
be about, and in full possession of
his mental faculties, Mr. Turner was
not active in the business affairs of
his firm for several years previous to
his death, February. 21, 1891, at the
age of 80 years, -1 months and 4 daj'S,
Mrs. Turner dying May 18, 1891.
Cuyahoga Falls High School. — After the organization of
Cuyahoga Falls township, as above described, school district num-
ber one, and that part of district number eight lying within
the limits of the new tow^nship, were organized, on the 24th day of
April, 1854, as the "Cuyahoga Falls School District," of which Rev.
Levi L. Holden was appointed acting manager.
May 15, 1855, the Board of Education employed Mr. H. K.
Taylor as principal and Mrs. Taylor as assistant, at a joint salary
of $700 for forty weeks. In 1857, there was a total pupilage of 482,
w^ith seven teachers — one male and six females. The High
School at this time was in a building north of St. John's Church,
originally built for a house of worship by the Wesleyan Methodists,
740 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
and -which, since the removal of the High School to its present
location, has been occupied by one of the primary schools of the
village.
Mr. Taylor was succeeded, as principal, by Mr. L. H. Delano, in
1861, followed by Professor William I. Chamberlain (late president of
the lo-vva Agricultural College), in 1863; Mr. George McLaughlin,
in 1865; Mr. W. C. Rogers, in 1866; B. B. Tremlin, September, 1866
Virgil P. Kline, Esq., July, 1867; Edward R. Sill, September, 1869
Miss Almeda A. Booth, July, 1871; Mr. George L. McMillen, 1874
and by Professor Augustus N. Bernard, as superintendent and master
of the Union schools, in 1875. Mr. Bernard's incumbency con-
tinued until September, 1883, his successor being W. H. Rowlen,
for the term of two years, followed, in 1885, by Professor Frederick
Schnee, the present incumbent. Present enumeration (1891), 742;
present pupilage: Primaries, 370; Grammar School, 175; High
School, 65; total, 610. Besides the superintendent twelve regular
teachers, and one writing and one music teacher are employed.
The present fine three-story brick High School building w^as
commenced in 1866 and completed in 1871, at a cost, including heat-
ing apparatus, seating, etc., of $39,020.02; the stone and brick work
being done by Mr. George Allison, of Tallmadge, and the carpen-
ter work, plastering, painting, etc., by George Thomas & Son, of
Akron. The fine site, of twro acres of land, on a sightly elevation,
overlooking the village on the east, was donated by the late James
H. Cooke.
The Board of Education maintains its ow^n Board of Examin-
ers of teachers, seeking only to secure the very best, the branches
taught in the several departments being reading, spelling, Avriting,
arithmetic, geography, grammar, oral lessons, vocal music, draw-
ing. United States history, physical geography, natural philoso-
phy, algebra, Latin, German, etc., and the schools of Cuyahoga
Falls are now, as they ever have been under the present sj'^stem,.
in a high state of proficiency and prosperity.
CHURCH AND RELIGIOUS STATUS.
St. John's Episcopal Church. — A pretty full history of the
origin and history of St. John's Church, will be found in the chap-
ter on Stow, the Episcopal Church and society organized there, in
1830, under that title, being permanently located at Cuyahoga
Falls, in 1832; The present church edifice, on the southeast corner
of the public square, fronting on Second street, w^as erected in
1835, and consecrated as a house of worship, by Bishop Mcllvaine,
July 16, 1836. The first rector of the society, after its location at
the Falls, ^^^as Rev. William H. Newman, of Bristol, R. I., from
November 10, 1835, to January 18, 1837. Rev. Newman was suc-
ceeded by Rev. Zachariah Mead, of Virginia, w^ho, not finding
northern people and customs congenial, relinquished his charge,
after serving the parish about one month, and returned to Old
Virginia. Next came Rev. Mr. Cushman, w^hose term of service
was also very brief, follow^ed by Rev. Albert T. Bledsoe, who, after
a pastorate of about four months, resigned both the rectorship
and the ministry, to accept a professorship in the University of
Virginia.
Successive rectors since have been: Rev. Thomas B. Fair-
child, 1840 to 1844; Rev. Alvah Guion, about one year; Rev. David
CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS. 741
J. Burger, who died suddenly after a few months' service only;
Rev. Levi L. Holden, 1847 to 1867, two full decades; Rev. George
Bosley, 1867 to 1871; Rev. T. B. Fairchild, 1871, until his death,
March 8, 1879; Rev. George W. Williams, 1879 to 1884; Rev. J. W.
Cracraft, 1884 to 1891. The present membership (October 1891) of
St. John's Church is 175, the original church structure having
been recently remodeled and very greatly improved.
Congregationalism. — The Congregational Church, of Cuya-
hoga Falls, was organized February 14, 1834, by Revs. B. C. Bald-
en, of Middlebury, and J. C. Parmelee, of Tallmadge, with a
membership of five men and five women, Mr. Baldwin supplying
the pulpit until January 1, 1835, followed by Professor J. Longof West-
ern Reserve College until October, 1835; Professor Gregg until May,
1836; various ministers until November 23, 1836; Rev. Joel B3ang-
ton until May, 1838; Rev. William C. Clark being installed as the
first regular pastor of the church, October 24, 1838, his pastorate
continuing until April 5, 1847, nearly eight j'^ears and a half, when
he was dismissed at his own request on account of failing health.
After Mr. Clark's retirement the pulpit was chiefly supplied by
Rev. William C. Foster until October 12, 1847, at which date he
was installed as pastor, serving in that capacity until May 24, 1849,
Avhen he, too, was dismissed at his own request. From May 24,
1849, Rev. S. P. Leeds officiated as stated supply until June 23, 1855,
his dismissal also being at his own request. The pulpit w^as then
supplied by Professors H. B. Hosford and Henry N. Day, of Western
Reserve College, and Rev. J. L. Tomlinson, until May 2, 1858, when
Rev. Titus S. Clark, D. D., was ordained as pastor, his pastorate
continuing until June 1, 1862. Various supplies, chiefly members
of faculty of Western Reserve College, were followed by Rev. D.
M. Rankin, as stated supply from April 11, 1865, to April, 1866,
about one year. After about six months' varied supply. Rev.
Edgar V. H. Danner assumed the pastorate on the 26th day of
October, 1866, though not formally installed until January 3, 1867,
his incumbency — eminently satisfactory to both pastor and people
— covering a period of nearly 23 years and considerably more than
•one-third of the entire lifetime of the society, Mr. Danner dying
suddenly, March 25, 1889, from the effects of exposure at the inau-
guration of President Harrison. The pulpit has since been filled
by Rev. Charles E. Hitchcock. The present membership of the
church is 193.
The meetings of the Congregational Society were held for
about one year in the school house and afterw^ards in the Lyceum
building, near the* site of the present brick edifice, on the south
side of Broad street, between Front and Second, which w^as finished
and dedicated in the Spring of 1847, but which was greatly
enlarged and improved in 1870, at a cost of over $6,000.
Methodist Episcopals. — The Methodist Episcopal Society of
Cuyahoga Falls was originally the Stow appointment of the
Twinsburg Circuit, in May, 1830, the meetings being held in a
store building at the "Old Village," the presiding elder being
Rev. W. B. Mark, with alternate circuit preaching by Revs.
Thomas Carr and John E. Akin. The present church edifice on
the public square, fronting on I^ortage street, was commenced in
1836, but was not fully completed until 1840, the meetings, Sunday
school, etc., being meantime held in the basement. The house.
742 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
as originally built, was dedicated December 31, 1840, but enlarged
and internally remodeled in 1864. Like the other houses named,,
it is supplied with a first-class organ, the cost of which was $1,600^
and in its handsome tower is the only tow^n clock in the village,
the funds for the purchase of w^hich were contributed by the citi-
zens of the village generally. We cannot name the scores of
ministers w^ho have officiated in this church during the more than
half a century of its existence, many of w^honi were very able men^
several serving to the full limit (three 3^ears) allowed by the rules
of the denomination. Pastor from 1888 to 1891, Rev. M. W. Dallas,
D. D.; present pastor (October, 1891), J. W. Robbins, the present
membership being 267.
The Wesleyan Methodists, an off-shoot from the above society^
at an early date not now^ remembered, perfected an independent
organization, and built for themselves a small church edifice, on
the public square fronting on Second street, north of St. John's
Church, but not meeting with the encouragement anticipated, the
house was sold to the Board of Education for a High school, and
w^as so used until the completion of the present High school
structure, in 1872, and is now occupied by one of the primary
schools of the village.
The Disciples of Christ. — The Church of Christ, of Cuyahoga
Falls, the offspring of the very flourishing organization of that
denomination in Stow, was organized, as an independent church,,
March 27, 1881, the way for the movement having been prepared
by a series of meetings, under the auspices of the Ohio Christian
Missionary Society, held by. Elder T. D. Garvin, of Columbus, in
January, 1879, and in December, 1879, and January, 1880, in Apollo
Hall, and by a protracted meeting held by Elder C. C. Smith, of
Akron, December, 1880.
These special efforts, supplemented by the diligent and effi-
cient labors of Elder Leonard Southmayd, resulted in large addi-
tions to the present church in Stow. Many of these new accessions,
as well as quite a number of the former members, being residents
of Cuyahoga Falls, at their request. State Evangelist Elder R.
Moffat convened a conference, to consider the propriety and
practicability of organizing a church in Cuyahoga Falls. The
conference reporting in favor thereof, and the church in Stow-
formally assenting thereto, 57 members of the old were transfered
to the new organization w^hich was effected by Elder Moffat, on
the date above given. The first officers in the new^ society were:
A. S. Wheeler, William Southmayd, elders; O. M. Hart, John L
Jones and T. J. Ream, deacons ^ W. M., Griswold, treasurer, and
Charles Fillius, clerk. The society, after worshiping for some time
in a public hall, built for itself a snug little church upon the north-
east corner of the public square, fronting on Second street. The
present pastor is Frank Mantel, and the present membership
(October, 1891) is 65.
Catholicism. — The Catholics, also, have something of a fol-
lowing in and about Cuyahoga Falls, St. Joseph's Church having
been organized there about 1885, their handsome little brick church
edifice being located on the southeast corner of Second and Pool
streets. Present pastor, in connection with the Hudson and Pen-
insula societies. Rev. F. B.Dougherty; present membership (1891),,
about tw^enty-five families, or one hundred souls.
A STIRRING TEMPERANCE EPISODE.
743
JOSEPH T. HOLLOWAY. — com-
J nionly called " Father Holloway,"
was born in Sunbury, Pennsylvania,
Aug^ust 1, 1796 ; when quite a young-
man spent some time in the then
truly "Wild West," mostly among the
Indians of Western Missouri ; return-
ing to the home of his mother (his
father having been dead several
years), October 20, 1821, he was mar-
ried at Newbury, Pa., to Miss Susan
Hawk, with whom, packing their
treasures in a one-horse wagon, he
again started Westward, settling in
Uniontown, Stark county, working at
his trade of cabinet maker, in the Fall
of 1831, moving to Cuyahoga Falls;
here, in addition to successfullj'
carrying on his trade for several
years, he became a faithful local
Methodist preacher, doing a large
amount of missionary labor in the
rural districts, and especially in the
valley of the Cuyahoga, probably
officiating at more meetings, more
weddings and more funerals than
any other one minister in Summit
count3\ "Father Holloway" also
served as justice of the peace for
many years, and two full terms— 1848
to 1850 and 1861 to 1863 as county
coroner. Mr. and Mrs. Holloway were
the parents of eight children — Jo-
sephus F., now a successful mechani-
cal engineer and business man in
New York City ; Harriet, died in in-
fancy ; Mary E., married to Rev. Dil-
lon Prosser, died in June, 1855; John
Weslej^ well-known railroad master
JOSEPH T. HOLLOWAY.
mechanic in Akron ; Almira, now
Mrs. Henrj^ Hitchcock, of Cuj-ahoga
Falls; Eouisa H. (Mrs. H. C. Lock-
wood), died in 1865; Wilbur Fisk,
inventor and manufacturer, Cu3^a-
hoga Falls; Albert E., late of Akron,
deceased. "Father Holloway" died
August 22, 1878, aged 82 years and 21
days, the wife of his youth, and the
motherof his children, having- passed
away March 13, 1863. at the age of 62
years.
ORIGINAL TEMPERANCE CRUSADERS.
To the good women of Cuyahoga Falls is due the credit of
being the original Anti-Whisky Crusaders — not, indeed, with the
spiritual weapons employed in later years, by Mother Stuart and
her contemporaries — prayer and praise — but with such carnal
weapons as axes, hatchets, hammers, etc., Avielded by their oAvn
good right arms.
The Washingtonian reformation of the early and middle forties,
followed by the efficient operations of the Sons of Temperance for
several years, made Cuyahoga Falls, Akron and many other vil-
lages on the Western Reserve, practical prohibition towns. In
the early and middle fifties, however, the encroachments of the
beer and whisky traffic w^ere such as to produce serious alafm
among the good women of Cuyahoga Falls for the safety of their
husbands, sons and brothers, and a vigorous revival of the temper-
ance cause was inaugurated. Committees were appointed to visit
the various dealers and plead with them to abandon the traffic, but
w^ith only partial success.
An Army With Banners.^U was at length determined to
resort to sterner measures than "soft persuasion and mild elo-
quence," and on Saturday morning, March 6, 1858, a large volun-
teer force of w^omen, in solid phalanx, armed with hammers,
744 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
hatchets, axes, etc., started out to make an assault upon King
Alcohol, in his intrenchments. The first place visited was the
room of Captain Isaac Lewis, over the postoffice. On reaching
the top of the stairs, finding the door locked against them, they
battered it down and proceeded to demolish sundry jugs, bottles,
etc., removing a barrel of ale to the street below and emptying its
foaming contents into the gutter. Next the grocery and liquor
store of Joshua L'Hommedieu, on the lower floor of the same
building, was invested. Having heard of the intended raid, "Josh"
had removed his liquors from the cellar to a smoke-house in the
rear. But the crusaders w^ere equal to the emergency, and soon
Mrhisky, Otard brandy, and other liquors, were flowing in miniature
torrents tow^ards the Cuyahoga river.
Courteous Reception. — The next point visited was the place
of Mr. John Tifft, w^ho received his callers w^ith great courtesy,
placing before them a collation of doughnuts, pies, etc., pleasantly
turning over to them all the liquors he had left — part of a barrel of
beer — which they also poured into the street gutter. At Rock-
well's place nothing was found. Jones' variety store on the south
side of Broad street, near the covered bridge, had been "cleaned
and garnished " for their reception, by the removal of all liquors
to the rear of his store and covering them with rubbish. But the
w^omen were too keen-scented and sharp-sighted for the success of
this ruse, and Jones' two barrels of wrhiskN', and other liquors were
soon mixing with the pellucid waters of the Cuyahoga. The
saloon of " Hen" Lindsey, across the way, was next visited, a few
bottles only — said to have been filled ^vith water — being demolished,
his main stock in trade having been previously "spirited" away.
Reading the Riot Act. — At the American House, the proprie-
tor refused to give his visitors access to his liquor cellar and they
became so demonstrative that Justice Charles W. Wetmore was
called in to read the Riot Act, and admonish them to " disperse and
depart to their several homes and lawful employments." But they
didn't disperse " worth a cent," and were proceeding to batter dow^n
the cellar door, w^hen an armistice was brought about by the land-
lord pledging himself not to furnish any more liquors to the people
of the town.
The last place visited was Heath's drug store, the door of which
w^as barred against them, and forcible entrance prevented, by sim-
ilar assurances from the proprietors, as those made by the landlord
of the American, though it w^as stated that such arrangements had
been made, that had entrance to the store been effected, the dis-
charge of certain chemicals w^ould have made the visit anything
but agreeable.
Legal Proceedings Instituted. — Though these proceedings
were irregular and illegal in their nature, it is but just to say that
the great majority of the law-abiding people of the village sympa-
thized in the movement, the more so because of the proneness of
dealers themselves to disregard the laws regulating the traffic, by
furnishing liquors to minors and otherw^ise. Among the ladies
participating in the crusade was Mrs. Elizabeth W. Wait, wife of
Mr. George A. Wait, a dealer in millinery and fancy goods. Against
Mr. and Mrs. Wait, Mr. Joshua L'Hommedieu brought suit before
Justice Charles W. Wetmore for one hundred dollars damages for
the destruction of one barrel of brandy, the justice giving him a
MUSICAL, FRATERNAL, ETC. 745
judgment for $60. The defendants appealed the case to the Court
of Common Pleas, K. N. Sill and J. T. HoUaway going upon the
appeal bond. The trial of the case was postponed, from time to
time, until June, 1859, when it was marked "Settled at Plaintiff's
costs," said costs being collected from "Josh" on execution some
two or three months later, by the writer, then serving his second
term as sheriff.
Musical, Social, Fraternal, and Otherwise. — In society and
social matters, Cuyahoga Falls has always been fully abreast with
the most intelligent and refined of her Western Reserve contem-
poraries, the large number of her church and benevolent associa-
tions, and the various civic and beneficial organizations that have
existed, from time to time, indicating the fraternal instincts of
her people. Ever appreciative of good music, she has produced
several vocalists and pianists of more than local reputation,
while her general instrumental talent has always been of a high
order.
The original Cuyahoga Falls Band, organized in 1834, was one
of the best of its class in Northern Ohio. The original members
of this band were: Henry W. Bill, Elisha N. Sill, Charles W.
Wetmore, Theodore R. Butler, Charles C. Bronson, Cyrus C. and
Ivivy L. Wilcox, John H. Brainard, Reuben Upson, Lyman Sperry,
Horace Y. Beebe, Chas Thornburg, and Israel James, Mr. Bill
Toeing the leader. This band, too, had more than a local repute,
being called to Cleveland to aid in celebrating the 4th of July, in
1835, going from and returning to Old Portage by packet on the ,
Ohio Canal. The band also participated in the celebration of the
openingof the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal, in 1840, and about that
time made an excursion to Massillon, w^here they gave a concert
which was largely attended and highly appreciated by the music-
loving denizens of that lively town. Mr. Bill and Mr. Bronson
retained their musical skill and ardor to the end of their long lives,
as attendants upon the annual meetings of the Portage-Surhmit
Pioneer Association, at Kent, who have listened so delightedly to
the old-time music of the pioneer band, can testify.
In 1858, a most excellent band organization was effected, under
the leadership of Mr. Ethelbert Sill, and was for many years
known as "Sill's Band." The band, which had a continuous exist-
ence, under different leaders, for nearly thirty years, w^as reorganized
in 1885, under the name of the Cuyahoga Falls Brass Band, with
Mr. James Brown as leader, being in all respects a first-class
organization.
Anti-slavery, missionary, temperance and other reformatory
movements have in their "day and generation" received due atten-
tion from the good people of Cuyahoga Falls, w^hile all of the mod-
ern civic and beneficiary orders and associations, are fully repre-
sented among her people and may be briefly enumerated thus:
Star Lodge, F. A. M., No. 187; Howard Lodge, No. 62, 1. O. O. F.;
Enterprise Council, No. 234, Royal Arcanum; Security Coun-
cil, No. 51, National Union; Pavonia Lodge, 301, Knights of
Pythias; Eadie)Post,No.37,G. A.R.; Wood Camp, No. 66, Sons of Vet-
erans; Independent Order Good Templars, No. 59; Ladies' Relief
Corps, G. A. R.; Ladies' Relief Corps, Sons of Veterans; Knights
of Labor; Rebecca Lodge, L O. O. F., Elm. 227; Ladies' Aid,
No. 5; Protected Home Circle, Glen, No. 85; Pythian Sisterhood,
746
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Ivy Lodge, No. 8; Women's Christian Temperance Union; Ath-
letic Club; Public Library Association; Volunteer Fire Company.
SUMMER PLEASURE KESORT.
For the past twent}^ five years, Cuyahoga Falls and vicinity^
has been one of the best ktiow^ii pleasure resorts in Northern Ohio.
The river, with its deep gorges, its rumbling water- falls, its leaping
cascades, its over-hanging cliffs,
its caves and grottos, its shady
groves, its variegated shrubbery
and picturesque views, has ever
been a source of delight to lovers
of the beautiful in nature, both
savage and civilized.
As being more ready of access,,
from the surrounding heights,
the "Old Maid's Kitchen," a
large open cave in the north
bank of the river, overlooking
the "Big Falls," a mile or so
below the village, has for a
third of a century been the
resort for pleasure seekers, quite
an extensive hotel having fur-
nished refreshments and, danc-
ing facilities to visiting parties
for many years past.
Later, "Gaylord's Grove," over-
looking the river, on the w^est,^
opposite the "Old Village," fitted
up with appropriate buildings,
tables, swings, etc., with a large
number of row boats, and for
some years a handsome little
steamer, with a sailing range of
about one mile between Cuya-
hoga and Munroe Falls, has been
liberally patronized by Sabbath
school and other picnic parties
for many years.
Still later, a large amount of money has been expended at
Avhat is denominated "High Bridge Glens," at the head of the
gorge, in the south part of the village, in the construction of stairs,
suspension bridges, walks, etc., and in the erection of pavilions,
parlors, refreshment rooms, dancing halls, skating rinks, roller
coasters, etc., the stroll through the gorge, a hundred feet below
the surrounding surface, along the far-famed "Chuckery" race,
w^ith the tempestuous river roaring and foaming fifty feet below,,
on a hot Summer day, being invigorating in the extreme.
And, too, at Silver Lake, a mile to the north^ward, as described
in another chapter, thousands of people, daily, during the heated
term, congregate to enjoy the delightful shade of the grove, the
splendid sailing upon the lake, both by steamer and skiff, the
invigorating bath, and the general physical and social good cheer^
which there and thereabouts abounds.
View from lower dam, in the Glens, at
the Falls of the Cuyahoga.
A PICTURESQUE VIEW.
747
View in HIk'i Bridge CJIens, Cuyahoga River, below the Village of Cii5-ahoga Falls.
748 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
To these various resorts come parties from near and far, both
in carriages and on regular and special trains, from Akron, Cleve-
land, Canton, and other points, even as far south as Columbus, and
Cuyahoga Falls will, doubtless, for man^ years to come, maintain
her standing as one of the most picturesque and popular pleasure
resorts in Northeastern Ohio.
CUYAHOGA FALLS NEWSPAPERS.
In the Summer of 1833, Judge Stow made an arrangement
with Horace Canfield and Timothy Phelps Spencer, a couple of
enterprising young printers of Hartford, Conn., to remove to Ohio,
and start a newspaper and job printing office at Cuyahoga Falls.
Shipping their outfit in the early Autumn, via the Connecticut
river and Long Island Sound, to New^ York, thence Kiathe Hudson
river to Albany; and thence via the Erie Canal, Lake Erie
and Ohio Canal to "Boothsport" (Old Portage), the young printers
started by stage to Albany, and thence via the last named water-
ways to Ohio, reaching Cuyahoga Falls several weeks in advance
of their press and types. The intervening time was spent in fit-
ting up their office in a one-story building on the north side of
Broad street (still standing), east of Front, and in soliciting sub-
scribers and advertising for the *^ Cuvahoga Falls Witness."
In their prospectus, after premising that the Witness would
be devoted to "agriculture, manufactures, commerce, the arts and
sciences, news, politics, public morals, history, biography and other
objects of general utility," the publishers say:
A section of country combining- such great advantagfes as are possessed
by this vicinity, must present a strong inducement for tne settlement of a
numerous and industrious population. As a means of diffusing correct
information, enlightening public sentiment, and increasing' the prosperity
and happiness of the community, nothing as yet has been found more effi-
cient, or more cheaply obtained, than the circulation of periodical newspapers.
Before issuing the initial number, however, on consultation
w^ith prominent business men, the name of the paper >\^as changed
to " The Ohio Review."
Volume 1, number 1, bears the date of November 30, 1833. It
is a 24-column folio, the columns being 19 inches in length and
about two "ems" wider measure than the present columns of the
daily and weekly Beacon. Its opening editorial occupies nearly a
column and a half, in setting forth the principles by which it was
to be governed, but which cannot be repeated here.
Besides nearly two columns of local business advertisements,
there is an editorial setting forth the advantages — manufacturing
and otherwise — of Cuyahoga Falls; the report of a meeting at
Warren, favoring the construction of the "Cross Cut," or Pennsyl-
vania and Ohio Canal, and a communication from E. N. Sill, Esq.,
on the recent celebrated meteoric shower on the night of Novem-
ber 13, 1833.
Suspension of the "Rev^iew." — The paper seems to have run
along smoothly enough through the first year, and to have entered
upon its second volume, without any indications of the financial
distress incident to very many of the newspaper ventures in the
West, at that early day; having about six columns of advertise-
ments, and opening the new volume with a cheerful editorial view
of the situation for the village and for itself.
NEWSPAPER MATTERS. 749
Yet, notwithstanding its cheerful words, the next issue of the
Review, under Messrs. Canfield & Spencer, dated December 12,
1834, was the last, the cause for the suspension not being now^
apparent, those gentlemen at once going to Cleveland, Mr. Can-
field soon afterwards removing to Medina, and, in 1842, to Akron,
where he died December 9, 1853, Mr. Spencer remaining in Cleve-
land until his quite recent decease in that city.
The printing material remaining in Cuyahoga Falls, in June^
1835, the Review seems to have passed into the hands of H. T.
Townley and J. M. Bassett, afterwards being run by "An Associa-
tion of Gentlemen" — names not given — w^ith James Lowery as
printer. The exact date of its final discontinuance is not now
remembered, but a stray copy in the hands of Mr. Henry Wetmore,
dated April 13, 1837, is evidence that it was then running, and
may have continued several years longer.
In the meantime — 1838-40— several transient publications — the
Renovator, the Young Buzzard, the Telescope, etc., w^ere run for
longer or shorter periods, and possibly some others which have
passed from the public mind. During the Harrison-Van Buren
campaign of 1840, a spirited Whig campaign paper was published,
called the American Eagle, but by w^hom edited is not now
remembered,
"The True American." — During the county seat contest —
1840-42 — a vigorously conducted weekly new^spaper, under the
above title, was published, devoted generally to the business and
social interests of Cuyahoga Falls, and especially to the work
of securing the location of the seat of justice of the new county of
Summit in that village. The general editorial management of the
True American, according to the recollection of the w^riter, was
devolved upon Grant B. Turner, Esq., though it is quite probable
that Hon. E. N. Sill, S. W. McClure, Esq., and others, contributed
many of the able and incisive articles that appeared in its columns
during that extremely lively period. We are without further data
in regard to the beginning and ending of the True American, but
it did not long survive the final settlement of that vexed question,
in 1843.
"Cuyahoga Falls Reporter. — In 1870, Mr. E. O. Knox, a prac-
tical printer, commenced the publication of a handsome nine-
column folio, under the above title, which, being filled with
sprightly miscellany, general news, and crisp local happenings, as
w^ell as from the advertising facilities w^hich it furnished to the
business men of the village, has made-itself an indispensable neces-
sity to the people of Cuyahoga Falls and surrounding country. It
is now called the Cujvahoga Falls Reporter and Western Reserve
Farmer, and published in quarto form, enjoying a substantial
advertising patronage and a large circulation, both in Cuyahoga
Falls and surrounding tow^nships, the mammoth steam-driven
cylinder press, upon which it is printed, being in marked contrast
to the medium lever hand press upon which the Review was
printed 58 years ago. Mr. Knox dying March 7, 1891, the business
is now being successfully managed by his w^idow^, Mrs. Ellen
Knox.
The " Weekly Journal."— April 15, 1881, Frederick H.Duffy and
Frederick A. Douglass, a couple of enterprising youn^ printers of
Cuyahoga Falls, commenced the publication of a sprightly paper
750
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
under the above title, but as the venture did not prove remunera-
tive, the paper was discontinued on the 28th day of April, 1882.
This paper was independent in politics, though both proprietors
w^ere ardent Republicans.
pAPTAIN ISAAC LEWIS, — born
^ in Utica, New York, January 15,
1809 ; at two years of ag-e inoved with
parents to Deerfield, New York, at-
tending' common schools and work-
ing- on farm till 18, when he learned
the wagon-making trade, later going
to West Turin, Lewis county. New
York, where, March 2, 1833, he was
married to Miss Maria Swartz, in Sep-
tember of that 5^ear coming to Ohio,
and a few months later settling in
Cuyahoga Falls ; worked at trade
until 1841, when he commenced boat-
ing upon the Ohio canal, which busi-
ness he followed ten years, owning
and running, successively, the
^'Joshua Stow," the "Joseph S. Lake,"
the "Alice" and the "Cuyahoga;"
also owniHg a one-eighth interest in
the two packet boats, "Akron" and
•"Cleveland," himself running the
latter, between Cleveland and Akron,
the canal, up to 1851, being the most
popxxlar mode of travel in this vicin-
ity. In 1851, Captain Lewis engaged
with the "Akron Branch," now the C,
A. & C. R. R., as conductor, running
the first train into Akron, July 4, 1852,
and freighting the first lump coal bj^
rail to Cleveland, continuing on the
road between Hudson and Millers-
burg, five years. May 13, 1858, em-
barked in grocery trade in Cuyahoga
Falls, which he successfully carried
on over a third of a century. Captain
and Mrs. Lewis had three children
born to them — Richard Aimer, born
CAPTAIN ISAAC LEWIS.
July 10, 1836, died September 20, 1879;
Mary, born May 10, 1838, died July,
1840; Arthur Isaac, born December
10, 1849, in partnership with his father,
under the firm name of I. Lewis &
Son, until the death of Captain Lewis,
September 2, 1891, at the age of 82
years, 7 inonths and 17 da3^s.
The "Republican."— Early in September, 1882, Messrs. H. E.
Howard, W. O. Beebe, George P. Sperry, Charles F. Harrison and
Frederick A. Douglass filed the necessary papers with the secre-
tary of the State, for the incorporation of the "Akron and Cuya-
hoga Falls Printing Company," with a capital stock of $1,500 for
the purpose of publishing a Republican paper simultaneously at
Cuyahoga Falls and Akron, the material of the late Journal to be
used for that purpose. Though the paper was duly started by Mr.
Douglass on the 30th day of September, 1882, the company alluded
to was never organized, and Mr. Douglass, not being adequately
supported in his enterprise, discontinued the Republican on the
10th day of March, 1883, transferring his material and subscription
list to the Reporter, and himself taking the foremanship of that
office; Mr. Duffy, w^ith his brother Isaac S. Duffy, carrying on a job
printing office, in the village, under the firm name of Duffy
Brothers, as elsewhere stated.
Military Matters.— The early military history of Cuyahoga
Falls is necessarily blended with those of the several original
townships out of which it was carved — Tallmadge, Stow, Portage
CUYAHOGA FALLS IN WAR. 751
and Northampton, Besides the regular militia of the townships
named, in which the early inhabitants did "training" duty, sev-
eral independent companies have from time to time existed,
though we are without adequate data in regard to them. Her
Revolutionary prowess is also obscure, as is also that of the War
of 1812, and the Mexican War, though it is certain that those wars
w^ere participated in by some of the pioneer settlers of Cuyahoga
Falls.
But in the sanguinary struggle of 1861-65, for the preserva-
tion of the Union, Cuyahoga Falls manifested her patriotism and
her valor as only intelligent and high-minded freemen can do.
With the reverberation of the first gun fired at Fort Sumter,
party lines were abolished and both Democrats and Republicans
w^orked shoulder to shoulder in swelling the ranks of loyalty in
defense of the dear old flag.
A correspondent of the Beacon, under date of May 16, 1861,
said: "The war fever has not passed our place without showing
some signs of progress, 29 of our young men having enrolled them-
selves in the Akron company now in Camp Taylor, in Cleveland,
and a fund of over $4,000 has been subscribed for the benefit of
volunteers and their families. A rifle company is being formed in
w^hich many of our best and most prominent citizens are to be
found. It is to be organized under the law regulating the State
militia, and some sixty are already enrolled."
Through the kindness of Grant B. Turner, Esq., Mr. William
O. Beebe and others, in 1887, w^e were provided with the following
roster of the soldiers furnished by Cuyahoga Falls, during the prog-
ress of the war in question:
Robert Allen, George L. Allen, W. A. Allen, D. Ackerman, Jus-
tin E. Angel, W. O. Beebe, Richard Blood, Seneca Blood, Josiah
Brown, Jacob Bental, Oscar Brewster, Charles Buchanan, F. E.
Brainard, H. E. Brown, Lyman W. Boys, George Bitterman, Or-
lando Beardslej', M. H. Birzley, J. Birzley, Henry Bruner, Fred-
erick Bethel, Henderson Cowen, John Cowen, John C. Castle,
James Cook, J. C. Cook, Gurley G. Crane, Warren B. Crane, Fred-
erick Craig, Ira Culver, William Culver, Ransom B. Clark, Charles
E. Curtiss, W. E. Chamberlain, Henry Cochran, Anthony Coler,
Andrew H. Cowan, Horace Cochran, T. M. Crochan, Asa Clapp,
Dennis Condon, John Condon, George Dye, John Davis, Cornelius
Dunn, C. Downey, Lawrence Dunn, Menzo Diffendorf, Marsh
Daugherty, John Eadie, James Eadie, Henry Eadie, John Ely, M.
Evans, Henry Fogle, C. W. Faze, H. C. Grant, Robert Green, Ed-
ward Green, John Green, Prentiss Gill, William Gaylord, O. K.
Graham, R. A. Gray, Arthur Goodrich, A. Goble, Edwin Hoyt, Nel-
son Holcomb, William Hinde, John M. Hinde, G. P. Huddleston,
N. S. Harrington, George Holden, H. E. Howard, Dickinson Heach-
cock, Charles Hawn, Charles Herberth, George Husted, F. L.
Hitchcock, A. E. HoUoway, Isidore Hagle, Harry Ingalls, Harri-
son Ingalls, James W. Inskeep, Alonzo Inskeep, A. J. Konkle,
Demming Lowery, Charles Lewis, Nelson T. Lee, Henry Lindley,
Charles A. Lawson, John H. Lyons, John Lyons, F. Lyons, Wesley
Loomis, Lewis Mack, John Murphy, William H. Murphy, Gilbert
Morgan, Ely Moon, W. Moon, Gaston Moon, J. D. Marshall, John
McCullough, Henry McClelland, Charles Maloney, C. A. Maloney,
David McGrath, L.H. McAdams, George Musson, Nelson Marshall,
752
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
John McLeish, George Ne^vberry, Amaziah Nelson, James-
Nelson, Henry Ormsby, Christopher Post, Henry Patterson,
George F. Patterson, John Patterson, James J. Patterson, George
Paul, George M, Patterson, William J. Patterson, A. Prior, C. T.
Parks, William Pease, George Payne, S. B. Porter, William Pow^ell,
Rees Purine, F. B. Purine, Patrick Quinn, J. T. Rheams, John C.
Reid, Isaac N. Reid, Charles C. Reid, Richard Reid, George W.
Rice, Fritz Roethig, J. Shellhorn, Dwight Shumway, Edgar
Somers, William Shaffer, John G. Schnabel, A. H. Sill, A. L.
Somers, John H. She\\rey, J. Sapp, George Smith, C. J. Spellman,
Albert A. Squires, Charles Squires, William Searles, M. C. Tifft,
Horace Tifft, John Toseland, N. L. Upson, Amos Wills, C. A.
Wadsworth, Isaac J. Woods, Vincent Warner, John Williams, H.
F. Waters, H. S. Wetmore.
OLIVER B. BEEBE,— born in New
London, Connecticut, October
17, 1807 ; in childhood removed with
parents to Middletown, where, in ad-
dition to receiving- a good common
school education, he learned the
book-binder's trade. After working
some time as a journe3'man, and one
year for himself in Middletown, he
came to Cuj^ahaga Falls and estab-
lished himself as a book-binder and
stationer ; in 1848, embarking in the
dry goods trade, which he success-
fully conducted until his death, Sep-
tember 1, 1881, at the age of 73 3^ears,
10 months and 14 days. September
30, 1832, he was married to Miss Sarah
A. Babcock, of Middletown, who still
survives, having borne him four chil-
dren— Jane, Mary, William Oliver and
Robert, the eldest son, only, now sur-
viving, who, after several years' suc-
cessful business at Cu5^ahoga Falls,
as partner with, and successor to, his
father, is now a member of the dr}^
goods firm of Oberholser, Beebe &
Co., of Wooster, Ohio. Originally a
Democrat, Mr. Beebe was postmaster
of Cuyahoga Falls under the admin-
OLIVER B. BEEBE.
istration of President James K. Polk,,
but later, as a stanch Republican,
held the office of mayor and other
positions of trust and honor.
The assessors' returns for 1863, '64, '65 (found since the foregoing
list was compiled) show the following additional names, though
a number of those above given do not appear upon the returns in
question: Sheldon Alley, Julius Beck, Andrew Brock, Christopher
Cook, James Condon, Barney Conley, Lewis F. Derrick, Bd-svard
Damp, Henry Durstine, L. H. Delano, D. Douglass, Edgar C. Edsil,
James Etsmingher, Edw^in Farmer, Noah N. Faze, William Finkle,
Joseph Freeby, Amos E. Griffith, Harvey Hogue, Watson Hoyt,
Curtis A. Hall (died in service), Hiram Ingalls (died in service),
William H. James, John Jones, George W. Koons, John Lapp,
William Lyons, Frank Moore, Christian Maley, Wallace Perry,
Lawrence Pfeisterer, Charles Payne, Sherman Seymour, Frank
Thorp, George H. Wetmore, Daniel Williams, Samuel Weeks.
The Sultana Disaster.— On page 372 will be found a full
account of the destruction of the steamer Sultana, presumably
through rebel malevolence, by w^hich the lives of nearly 1,000
CASUALTIES DUKING THE WAR. 753
Union soldiers — exchanged prisoners of war — were sacrificed, the
folloAving Cuyahoga Falls boys being among the number: Captain
Demming N. Lowery, Lieutenant John Eadie, Corporal John W.
Eadie, J. C. Cook, 2d Lieutenant John C. Ely, Thomas Evans,
Robert Gaylord, C. Nealy, James J. Patterson and Isaac J. Woods,
a total of 10, probably not more than one-third of Summit county's
victims of the disaster in question.
Other Casualties and Deaths. — Seneca Blood, died at Knox-
ville, Tenn., May 10, 1864; Albert Buchanan, died April 16, 1863;
John Condon, died at Hazle Grove, Ky., Oct. 2, 1861; 1st Lieutenant
Gurley G. Crane, died at home, of disease contracted in the service,
April 27, 1865;, George W. Deering, of consumption, 1864; Charles
A. Downey, mortally wounded at Dalton, Ga., May 9, 1862; Henry
E. Eadie, died at Platte City, Mo., Feb. 19, 1862; Arthur K. Good-
rich, died at Murfreesboro, Tenn., Nov. .30, 1864; Edward Green,
died at Andersonville, July 17, 1864; Robert Green, shot by rebel
guard at Atlanta, July 1, 1864; Isidore Hagle, died at Hilton Head,
S. C, Oct. 22, 1863; George L. Holden, died at Cincinnati, Aug. 23,
1863; Hiram Ingalls, killed at Cold Harbor, May 31, 1864; John B.
Lj'ons, died at Louisville, Ky., Sept. 26, 1862; William Lyons, killed
at Murfreesboro, Dec. 28, 1864; David McGrath, died in Anderson-
ville prison; Charles E. Moon, died at Atlanta, Ga., July 9, 1864; 1st
Lieutenant John Murphy, wounded at Stone River and died at
Nashville, Jan. 9, 1863; F. B. Purine, killed at North Anna River,
Aug. 25, 1864; John Patterson, died in Louisville, Ky., March 14,
1862; John Shellhorn, died in field hospital, near Atlanta, Ga., in
1864; John G. Schnabel, died at Nashville, Tenn., May 4, 1865.
Quite a number of the ex-soldiers of Cuyahoga Falls have died
since the close of the w^ar w^hose names cannot be here given.
Munificent Tribute to Patriotism. — That the people of Cuy-
ahoga Flails duly appreciated the patriotism and heroism of her
volunteer soldiery, in the War of the Rebellion, is evidenced by
the splendid monument which she erected to their memory and
valor at the close of the war. The monument occupying a sightly
position in the village cemetery, consists of a finely wrought mar-
ble shaft, upon a triple sandstone base. It is ornamented with a
variety of military devices, the whole originally surmounted by a
life-like representation of the American eagle, standing upon a
globe, and gallantly sustaining and protecting the Shield of Liberty
and the Stars and Stripes. A few years later, by some means, the
wings of the eagle were broken, and the apex remodeled so that
the shaft is now a simy^le obelisk. On the squares of the shaft the
names of the soldiers of the township w^ho died in the service are
neatly inscribed, together with the regiment to vi^hich they
belonged, and the date and manner of their deaths. On the four
sides of the plinth sustaining the shaft, in relief, are patriotic and
w^ar-like emblems, as follows: East side, flag and anchor, repre-
senting the Navy; south side, stack of muskets, representing
Infantry; west side, cannon, representing Artillery; north side,
crossed swords, representing Cavalry, the front of the marble sur-
face bearing the Latin motto: " Dulce et decorum est pro patria
mori" — "It is sweet and honorable to die for one's country."
Meager Criminal Calendar. — Though the atrociously cruel
and ghastly murder of William Beatson by James Parks, on the
night of the 13th day of April, 1853, elsewhere fully detailed, was^
48
754 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
perpetrated within the corporate limits of Cuyahoga Falls, that
fearful crime should by no means be debited to that generally
peaceable and orderly v^illage; but, on the contrary, her people
should be credited with the promptness and energy with which
they entered upon the search for the body of the victim and the
apprehension of the murderer. While not entirely exempt from
the occasional disturbances incident to aggregated heterogeneous
humanity, especially where the traffic in, and use of, intoxicating
liquors prevail, no fatal collisions, so far as the writer is advised,
have ever occurred among her citizens.
The Wright-Parker Affair. — The nearest approximation
thereto, was the unfortunate affray, between Mr, William Wright
and Mr. Isaac Parker, on the 2d day of August, 1842. The exact
cause of the collision, except that one or both were inflamed with
liquor, is not now remembered, the result being that Mr. Parker
very narrowly escaped death from the discharge of a loaded musket
at the hands of Mr. Wright. At a preliminary hearing, before
Justice Charles W, Wetmore, Mr. Wright was bound over to court
to answer to the charge of shooting with intent to kill.
Summit county's first Prosecuting Atttorney, William M,
Dodge, Esq., at the September term, 1842, laid the transcript before
the grand jury, who returned a bill against Mr. Wright for shoot-
ing with intent to kill. Without any of the vexatious circumlocu-
tions incident to modern criminal proceedings, the case was
brought to trial at the same term, before fudges Van R. Humphrey,
Charles Sumner, Hugh R.Caldwell and Robert K. ]3uBois, and the
regular jury for that term, who, after a careful investigation
returned a verdict of guilty of shooting v/ith intent to wound, and
Judge Humphrey, with impressive remarks about the danger of
indulging in the use of intoxicating liquors, sentenced Mr. Wright
to imprisonment in the penitentiary for the period of four years.
After an incarceration of about one year, a numerously signed
petition was presented to Governor Wilson Shannon, w^ho finding
that his conduct had been exemplary during his confinement,
restored Mr. Wright to liberty and citizenship on the 14th day of
October, 1843. Mr. Wright returned to Cuyahoga Falls, and
though he never fully reformed from his intemperate habits, w^as
ever thereafter a law-abiding citizen, and the father of quite a large
familj^ of highly respectable sons and daughters.
The Birzley-Jackson Affray. — Mortimer H. Birzley, was one
of the patriotic young men of Cuyahoga Falls \i^ho served
in the Union army in the Civil War. But, alas! like too many
other young men, both in and out of the army, he had acquired the
habit of using intoxicating liquors to excess. Andrew Jackson,
<or "Tobe" Jackson as he is familiarly called) was a plantation
slave up to the breaking out of the w^ar, in the early portion of
w^hich "Tobe" was sent as a "contraband" to Akron, by the late Dr.
B. S. Chase, then assistant surgeon of the 16th O. V. I., afterwards
surgeon of the 53rd Mississippi (colored) Infantry. "Tobe" w^as
industrious and enterprising, and is now one of the well-to-do col-
ored citizens of Akron. In the early part of October, 1865, three
bibulous young residents of Cuyahoga Falls, being on a drinking
bout, in Akron, managed to pick a quarrel with "Tobe" who hap-
pened to visit the beer-selling grocery store where they were
carousing, and inflicted very serious injuries upon him, with their
PUBLIC BUILDINGS, LITERATURE, ETC. 755
iists, iron weights, etc. A few days later, and before "Tobe" had
fully recovered from his injuries, he was again assailed, upon the
street, by a portion of the same crowd, during which Mortimer H.
Birzley deliberately drew a revolver from his pocket and, at near
range, discharged its leaden contents into "Tobe's" body. Birzley
was immediately apprehended, and examined before Justice Wil-
liam L. Clarke, who held him to answer to the Court of Common
Pleas, on the charge of shooting with intent to kill.
At the November term. Prosecuting Attorney Kdward Oviatt
brought the matter to the attention of the grand jury. Three
indictments w^ere returned against the accused — two for shooting
with intent to kill, and one for shooting with intent to wound.
The defendant was arraigned on the 28th of November, 1865,
and entered a plea of not guilty on all three indictments. The next
day, how^ever, he changed his plea to guilty of shooting Avith
intent to Avound, which >vas accepted by Prosecutor Oviatt, and
the defendant ^vas sentenced by Judge Burke to two years' impris-
onment in the State Penitentiary.
Birzley w^as conveyed by Sheriff Burlison to the penitentiary
on the 5th day of December, 1865, and on the petition of a large
number of the most respectable people of Cuyahoga Falls, he was
pardoned by Governor Jacob D. Cox, on the 6th day of April, 1866,
his term of service being four months and one day, onl3\ Young
Birzley did not return to Cuyahoga Falls, after his release from
prison, but is still a resident of Summit county, and is represented
to have been exemplary in his conduct, industrious in his habits
and a good citizen.
Early Births, Marriages, Deaths, etc. — The first birth in the
"New Village" of Cuyahoga Falls is said to have been that of
Edw^ard Wetmore, a son of William Wetmore, Jr., in 1827, the
"boy" being now a gray-haired resident of Northampton township;
the first death a young son of the same family, about one year old,
in 1826; the first adult death the wife of Hon. Elisha N. Sill, and
daughter of Henry Newberry, Esq., in 1829; the first marriage, a
daughter of Deacon Jabez Hamlin to Washington Butler, given
name of the bride and date of marriage not now remembered.
Public Buildings. — ^Besidesthe churches and school buildings,
Clifford Inn, the hotel of George S. Buoys, and the several pleasure
resorts already alluded to, Apollo Hall, in the third story of the
brick block, on the southeast corner of Portage and Front streets, is
arranged with a fine stage, dressing rooms, etc., has a seating
capacity of about 500, with, in cases of emergency, standing room
for about 200 additional. Hitherto dependent upon chance accom-
modations for trustee and council meetings, caucuses, elections,
etc., in 1883 a fine two-story town hall, 45x80 feet, with basement,
was erected on the northw^est corner of Front and Broad streets at
a cost of about $10,000. First story. Council Chamber, School
Board, library (two rooms), band. Upper floor, one room, used for
caucuses, gymnasium, etc. Basement, fire department, mar-
shal's office and lock-up.
Lyceum, Library, etc. — At an early day a village lyceum w^as
organized, the Ohio Review of April 5, 1833, giving the officers
elected at the last meeting as foUow^s: President, Henry New^-
berry ; vice president, William H. Taylor; treasurer, Oliver B. Beebe;
secretary, Charles W. Wetmore; curators, Henry Wetmore, Timothy
756
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
P. Spencer and Dr. Richard Fry. The question for discussion
at the next meeting A^as: "Ought United States senators in all
cases to be bound by the instructions of their respective State
Legislatures?" But we are entirely in the dark as to the decision
of the judges on this important question.
Members w^ere requested to bring to this meeting such books-
as could be conveniently spared for the purpose of forming a
library, in accordance "with a late resolution of the society to that
effect. This "was the beginning of the fine public library, of prob-
ably 1,000 to 1,200 volumes, so highly enjoyed and cherished by the
people of the village at the present time.
HOSEA PAUL, SR.,— born at North-
tield, Vermont, April 6, 18(X);
common school education ; in early
life clerking- in drug store and study-
ing surveying; in 1833, at Canaan,
Vermont, of which village he "was
postmaster, he was married to Miss
Ellen Gamble, a native of County
Down, Ireland ; in 1834 inoved to
Ohio, living one year in Wadsworth,
then settling- in Cuyahoga Falls,
where he passed the balance of his
life ; for a time engaged in the inanu-
facture of tlour, later resuming his
profession of surve3'or and civil engi-
neer, doing much of the original sur-
veying, establishing grades, etc., in
the then new village of Akron ; also,
officiating as division engineer in the
building of both the C, A. & C, and
N. Y., P. & O. railroads. In October,
185.0, Mr. Paul was elected county
surveyor, on the Repvxblican ticket,
being- successively re-elected in 18.08;
'61, '64 and '67, continously holding
the office until his death, May 29, 1870,
nearly 15 j^ears, being also occupied
during part of 1863 and 1864 as assist-
ant U. S. engineer on militarj'' rail-
roads and fortifications, District of
Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Paul were
the parents of seven children — Har-
rison D., born August 3, 183.T ; George,
September 8, 1837 ; Mary, September
^'
HOSEA PAUL, SR.
0, 1839; Robert S., October .3, 1842;
Hosea, Jr., January 17, 184o; T. Dwight,
July 21, 1848; Edward J., November
30, 1851, all of whom have attained
and maintained honorable positions
in life. Mrs. Paul died November 9,
1889, aged 76 years and 18 days, the
age of Mr. Paul, at the tiine of his
death, being 61 years, 1 month and 23
days.
UNION FAIR ASSOCIATION.
In 1859, the Summit County Agricultural Society, needing
more extensive grounds than they "were then occupying, and the
management being at loggerheads in regard to location, the peo-
ple of Cuyahoga Falls offered the Society a bonus of $6,000 in cash
to locate in or near that village. The proposition not being accepted,
a number of the citizens of the village and contiguous townships
organized a "Union Fair Association," and handsomely fitted up
grounds a short distance north of the village, on the Hudson road.
The first meeting, September 1, 2, 3, 1859, was a decided success,
both in display and attendance, the receipts being some $600 above
expenses. A supplemental meeting w^as held October 28, the same
year, for a trial of speed between the then celebrated trotters,
Flora Temple and "Ike Cook." The weather proving inclement,.
POPULATION — CONFLAGRATIONS, ETC. 757
the attendance was slim, the expenses of this meeting eating up
the profits of the first, thougli the trot came off according to
programme, Flora winning the first and third heats — time, 2:28;
2:34; 2:33.
In 1860 — October 5, 6, 7 — there was a fine exhibition but slim
attendance, the receipts scarcely covering expenses. In 1861 —
September 23, 24, 25 — the display was also fine, with special attrac-
tions, in the military line, prizes being contested for by the Bath
Guards, Captain Schoonover; the Buckeye Zouaves, of Copley,
Captain Sackett, and the Cowles Tiger Zouaves, of Bedford, the
first prize, a silk banner, being won by the Bath Guards and the
second prize, a w^orsted banner, by the Copley Zouaves, the Bed-
ford Company being ruled out on account of being one member
short of the, stipulated number. The "Secesh" army was also
.represented* by a company of 75 or 80 mounted "fantasticals"
^Cuyahoga Falls boys), while the Tallmadge Artillery, Captain
Barnes, and the Young America Gun Squad, of Cuyahoga Falls,
furnished "thunder" for the occasion.
As a show^, this third fair was a success, but financially a fail-
ure, the expenses largely over-balancing the receipts. The war,
then fairly on, thenceforth engaging the public attention, no
further meetings were held, and the Union Fair Association of
Cuyahoga Falls, of 1859-61, is no^v a pleasant reminiscence, only.
POPULATION GRADUALLY INCREASING.
A writer on Cuyahoga Falls, in 1837, says: "The population
of the village is now, probably, about 1,250; three years ago it w^as
but 375." The decennial listings do not even proximately show^
the distinct population of the villasfe during the first half century
of its existence, for the reason that its inhabitants w^ere included
in the census returns of the several tovt^nships out of which it had
been formed. The census of 1870 gave the population of the
village and township at 1,861, and the census of 1880 at 2,294, a
gain of 433 in the ten years, the census of 1890 placing the number
at 2,614, showing a gain in the last decade of 320.
Cuyahoga's Fierce Fires. — While Cuyahoga Falls has never
been visited Avith any such sweeping fires, as have from time to
time devastated Akron, and other near-by tow^ns, yet many thou-
sands of dollars of valuable property, have been sacrificed, and
serious injury to her industries has been caused, by the devouring
element, during the past 60 years, as w^ill be seen by what follows:
In 1833, a large paper and paper-stock warehouse belonging to
Stow & Wetmores, on the east side of the river, was destroyed
with all its contents. Loss and amount of insurance if any, not
now^ remembered.
Sometime in the early forties, probably, the woolen factory
and the stone saw-mill, heretofore alluded to, standing on the west
bank of the river, north of the present w^orks of The Turner,
Vaughn & Taylor Co., w^ere burned to the ground, the factory
belonging to Ogden Wetmore and the mill to Henry Newberry;
amount of the losses is not now remembered. They were never
rebuilt.
In 1851, the large flouring mill of Stow & Wetmores, on the east
side of the river, north of Portage street, was totally destroyed,
believed to have been the work of an incendiary. Loss not stated,
758 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
On the night of November 25, 1853, the fine new paper mill of
J. M. Smith & Co., on the west side of the river, was entirel}^
burned. The mill, stock and machinery was valued at $20,000, but
about $5,000 -worth of machinery being saved, made the net loss^
about $15,000. The mill had been in operation but a fe^v days,
Mr. William A. Hanford, the "Co." of the firm, had made applica-
tion for insurance, and the papers were to have been executed the
next day, so that the loss was total.
For many years the bagging and twine factory of John Hinde
& Sons, in the south part of the village, (now know^n as the Glen
Wire Mill property,) Avas one of the most prominent of the varied
industries of Cuyahoga Falls, giving employment to a large num-
ber of hands, and consuming immense quantities of flax from the
farms of the surrounding country. This mill w^as destroyed by
fire about the year 1860, entailing a very heavy loss upon its pro- •
prietor, but it Avas at once rebuilt, and soon in running order again.
The exact date of the fire, losses, etc., and the causes of the final
decline of that industry are not now accessible to the w^riter.
On the morning of October 24, 1866, several business blocks on
Front street, including Gillett's grocerj'^ store, Tifft's meat market^
Dr. P. G. Somers' office, postoffice, Stead man's jewelry store, and
the fine stone block, known as the Bank Building, the lower floor
of w^hich w^as occupied by H. C. Lockwood, as a dry goods store,
were consumed by fire. The town having no fire engine of its
ow^n, sent a messenger to Akron, hunted up Mr. Thomas W^. Cor-
nell, then a recent comer from Cuyahoga Falls to Akron, who got
permission from Mayor Mathews for Akron's steamer to go to their
assistance. Engineer Julius S. Lane, and his faithful driver, Mose&
Cummins, with their new^ly purchased $550 team, \vere promptly
on hand, but not a livery man w^ould furnish an extra team to help
draw the steamer up the "Chuckery" hills. (Howard street exten-
sion had not then been made.) "Come on, boys!" exclaimed Cor-
nell, "we can double up on the hills," and some 18 or 20 Eagle Hose
boys, with hose reel, and others, actually made the run -with the
steamer, on foot, manning the ropes, and pulling for dear life on
heavier grades. Their progress was, of course, comparatively^
slow, and they were met about a mile from the village by a mes-
sage that the fire w^as under control.
The goods in the several establishments burned were mostly
removed, but the buildings were a total loss, amounting to many
thousands of dollars; but the saddest result was the death of Mr.
John M. Hinde, a young recently married man of 24, and a soldier
of the late war. Though young Hinde was troubled at times with
heart disease, he was among the foremost in trying to save the prop-
erty of those who were being burned out, and vi^hile thus engaged
in removing goods from Lockwood's store, he sank exhausted
behind the counter, and though afterwards found and carried into
the open air, and every effort made for his resuscitation, he did
not recover consciousness, and soon afterw^ards expired.
Handsomely Done. — Under the above heading the Beacon, of
October 24, 1866, said: "The citizens of Cuyahoga Falls, notwith-
standing their own severe loss by fire this morning, contributed
$105.00 to the firemen of this city, who so promptly turned out
w^ith steamer, hose, etc., to aid them in subduing the fire. Though
they were in readiness to start within fifteen minutes from the-
DESTRUCTIVE FIRES. 759
time of receiving the notice, and made all possible speed, the fire
had nearly spent itself before their arrival, the messenger to turn
them back meeting them about a mile this side of the village."
The west side paper mill of J. M. Smith & Co., burned as above
stated, in November, 1853, was immediately rebuilt by that firm,
and rechristened the " Phcenix." Passing into the possession of
Hanford & Yeomans, it w^as again burned at noon, on the 30th day of
October, 1867. Loss $25,000 to $30,000; insurance about $12,000. The
mill was again rebuilt by Messrs. H. & Y. and supplied with first-
class machinery and is now a part of the plant for some years
past operated by the Cuyahoga Paper Company.
About 1 o'clock on the morning of September 18, 1872, the large
machine shop of Alford, Pitkin & Co., successors to A. G. & H. W,
Bill, on the east side of Water street, was discovered to be on fire,
and owing to the stiff breeze that was blowing at the time, and the
Avant of proper fire-extinguishing appliances, was speedily con-
sumed. The main building was a two-story frame, 35x130 feet in
size, with office, blacksmith's shop and other small buildings
attached, all of w^hich, Avith their valuable machinery, tools, etc.,
were totally destroyed. Loss, $20,000; insurance, $3,000; net loss,
$17,000.
Nearly across the street stood the fine new^ brick "Empire
Mill" of Hanford Brothers, devoted to the manufacture of fine
cover papers, the structure being part tw^o and part three stories
high, above the basement, and all filled w^ith first-class machinery
and valuable stock. The wind, blowing briskly from the east, soon
carried the flames from the combustible machine shop to the mill,
and soon that, too, was being rapidly consume'd, and was totally
destroyed. Loss, $32,000; insurance, $14,000. At this fire, Thomas
O'Neil stumbled and fell, a large box falling on his leg, breaking
it above the knee, and Mr. James Peebles was overcome by heat
and carried to his home in an unconscious condition, but both
speedily recovered. This mill was immediately rebuilt, and, after
a great variety of vicissitude, together Avith the Phoenix, is now
owned by George Sackett, Esq., and has for several years past been
operated by the Cuyahoga Paper Company.
On the night of March 31, 1881, the three-story building of the
Falls Wire Manufacturing Company, was discovered to be on fire
in the roof, about 10 o'clock, by Marshal Richard Reid and Mr. C.
A. Vaughn. The alarm was immediately sounded, and though the
citizens promptly rallied, and fought the fire vigorously, the second
and third stories were destroyed, the lower stor^^ with its machinery
and a large (juantity of Avire ready for shipment being saved,
though in a somewhat damaged condition. The large new Avare-
house and annealing rooms were saved by the faithful Avork of the
** bucket brigade." Loss from $8,000 to $10,000, covered by insurance.
At this fire Mr. Carleton H. Reeve was quite seriously hurt, by
the falling of the ladder on w^hich he was working; Mr. Charles F.
Harrison injured in one of his eyes, and another man somewhat
bruised by a falling ladder, though fortunately none of the injuries
w^ere fatal.
On the evening of September 28, i882, the hollow-brick block
belong to the estate of George H. Lodge, the lower floor occupied by
G. C. Cook, groceries; A. Seadschlag, merchant tailor, and George
Martin, pretzel baker, and the upper floor by the Reporter office of
760 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
E. O. Knox; the offices of Dr. A. H. Bill, physician, and Dr. E. A.
Cramer, dentist, and the reading room of Mr. John H. Brainard,
together with a small dwelling house belonging to the same estate,
^were entirely consumed. Losses: Cook, $3,500, insurance, $1,000;
Knox, $5,000, insurance^ $500; Lodge block, $4,000, insurance, $2,500;
dwelling, $1,200, insurance, $700; Brainard, loss $100, no insurance.
Fearing a general conflagration, Mayor J. C. Castle solicited the
aid of the Akron Fire Department, which w^as promptly granted by
Mayor Lane, but o\^ing to the delaj^ in shipping steamer b}^ rail,
did not reach the Falls until the fire was under control, though the
run w^as made inside of twenty minutes when they did get started.
About 10:30 o'clock, on the night of July 1st, 1886, the Phoenix
Lumber Company's Planing Mill, opposite the Empire Paper Mill,
on the east side of the river, with all its machinery, lumber sheds,
piles of lumber, etc., w^as totally destroyed, the size of the mill
being 53 by 112 feet. The hollow-brick works belonging to the
estate of J. B. Harrison, occupied by J. T, Davis in the manufacture
of chains, and the dwelling house of Mrs. Edward Rockwell, were
also consumed, while the Empire Paper Mill, and the buildings of
the Sterling Chain Company, owned by Turner, Vaughn & Taylor
w^ere considerably damaged. The planing mill buildings w^ere
owned hy Mr. H. Snyder and the machinery by Mr. J. H. Murphy,
these gentlemen forming the lumber company in question. Their
joint loss was claimed to be $40,000, on which there was a total
insurance of $12,050 only. Harrison building loss, $3,500, insurance
not stated; Davis' loss, $500, no insurance; Mrs. Rockwell's loss,
$1,200, insurance $800; Turner, Vaughn & Taylor's loss, $150,
covered by insurance. This fire vv^as supposed to have been
caused by the firing off of Roman candles from a passing train on
the P., C. & T, Road, in anticipation of the approaching Fourth of
July.
At the hour of 6:30, on the evening of December 8, 1887, the
roof of the moulding department of the Falls Rivet Company w^as
discovered to be on fire near the cupola stack, from which it is
supposed the fire caught. The building was a story and a half frame,
32x120. Finding the fire beyond the control of the "bucket
brigade," and the capacity of the hose attached to the steam pump
of the engine belonging to the works. Chief B. F. Manderbach, of
the Akron Fire Department, w^as appealed to for aid, and in the
briefest time possible was at the scene of the fire with steamer No.
1 and its hose cart, fully manned. But by cutting away the sup-
ports and letting the foundry roof fall in, the 'danger to the main
■works was averted, and the services of the Akron "laddies" were
not needed, but their promptness in responding to the call for aid
was duly appreciated all the same by the owners of the works, as
Avell as by the citizens generally, the company contributing $20 to
the Firemen's Relief Fund as a token of such appreciation. In
addition to the foundry, a contiguous storage shed was burned.
Loss, $22,000, insurance, $13,000.
Many minor conflagrations have occurred during the period
covered by those above given, involving serious losses, which can-
not all be here enumerated, even w^ere full data at hand, but among
them may be mentioned in brief, barn of J. F. Perry, $700; house of
Orrin James, $500; house of Mrs. Duerr, $500; barn of John I. Jones,
$1,000; grocery of Callahan & Williams, $1,500.
CIVIL SERVICE RECORD.
761
Inadequate Fire Protection. — Cuyahoga Falls has never
been the owner of a tire engine. For several years past there have
been lines of pipe from the Variety Works and the Pearl Mill,
through the main business street upon the west side, driven by
pumps attached to the water-wheels of those establishmepts, which,
with the few hundred feet of hose they possess, has afforded par-
tial protection to a limited area, the defect in this partial system
being that, not having the pressure constantly on, valuable time is
consumed, after the fire is discovered, before a stream of water can
be had for its extinguishment in its incipiency.
Since the above was written this system has been considerably
extended and improved, with hydrants at convenient points,
hose and hook and ladder trucks, and a well organized fire com-
pany, paid for services when on duty, so that the property of the
village may now be said to be reasonably well protected.
TJEZEKIAH CAMP,— son of Keziah
and Seth Camp, born inWhite.«-
town, New York, Januarj- .3, 1797;
<>;'ood common school education ; in
1827 came to Ohio, teaching- in Can-
ton and Kendall, now a part of Mas-
sillon, hiter, in Trenton, Tuscarawas
county, engaging- in the coal trade,
being one of the pioneer operators in
that industry in Northern Ohio; in
1840, with William Philpot, opened
the De Haven mine in Spring-field,
Mr. Camp locating in Cleveland for
the sale and shipment of their prod-
uct on the Lakes ; in 1852, dissolving
with Mr. Philpot. removed to Middle-
bury, as a inember of the firm of Hill,
Merrill & Co., pioneer manufacturers
of water and sewer pipe in Summit
county, later locating at Cuyahoga
Palls, Avhere his onU' son, Mr. Horace
B. Camp, as senior member of the
firm of Camp, Thoinpson & Co., is
now extensively engaged in the saine
line of business. Deceinber 7, 1830,
Mr. Camp was married to Miss Abi-
g-ail Fosdick, of Kendall, born in New
Baltimore. New York, September 18,
1812, their only living child being the
son above mentioned. Mr. Camp
HEZEKIAH CAMP.
died Aug-ust 1, 1872, ag-ed 75 years, 6
inonths and 28 days. Mrs. Camp, in
full possession of both her physical
and mental faculties, still survives.
Street Lighting. — Hitherto for several years the streets of the
village have been lighted by gasoline vapor lamps, but as this
<:hapter closes (October, 1891), electric lighting is in full tide of suc-
cessful experiment.
Official Civil Record. — Without going back of the organiza-
tion of Summit county, in 1840, although Judge William Wetmore,
Judge Elkanah Richardson, and others living in, or largely inter-
ested in Cuyahoga Falls, had previously filled iiuportant official
positions in Portage county, and notwithstanding her original
opposition to the erection of the new county, the civil service
record of Cuyahoga Falls, in Summit county, is one that she may
^vell feel proud of.
BiRDSEY Booth, at the initial election, in April, 1840, was elected
*;ounty auditor, and in October of the same year was re-elected for
762 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
the full term of two years, giving the best of satisfaction to all,
except in the matter of officially, as \vell as personally, discrimi-
nating in favor of Cuyahoga Falls, during the heated controversy
for the permanent location of the county seat.
Hon. Elisha N. Sill was the first State senator for the Sum-
mit-Portage district, elected in October, 1840, for two years. Mr,
Sill's official action was also highly satisfactory to all his constitu-
ents, except those in favor of Akron as the county-seat, Mr. Sill,,
as elsew^here stated, nearly compassing its removal and permanent
location at Cuyahoga Falls.
Hon. Samuel W. McClure was elected prosecuting attorney
in 1846, serving two years; w^as elected State representative in
October, 1848, for one year; was United States commissioner for
Summit county from 1846 to 1850; also most ably serving as Com-
mon Pleas judge of the second sub-division of the fourth judicial
district five years from October, 1870, then declining re-election
and resuming his law^ practice.
Timothy L. Miller was elected a member of the board of
Infirmary directors in October, 1849, but owing to a press of other
duties declined to qualify, the vacancy being filled by the appoint-
ment of Avery Spicer, of Coventry, by the county commissioners-
Joseph T. Holloway, besides his early ministerial labors and
long years of service as justice of the peace, served as coroner of
Summit county from 1848 to 1850, and again from 1861 to 1863, two
full terms, with general satisfaction.
Henry Newberry, Jr., was elected county auditor in October,
1852, making in all respects a first-class officer, though serving but
a single term of two years.
Dr. Chester W. Rice was elected county treasurer in 1872,
faithfully performing the duties of that important office two-
years.
Dr. Porter G. Somers represented Summit county in the
State legislature from 1853 to 1855, also serving as county coroner
from 1863 to 1868, five years, besides, under the appointment of
President Lincoln, officiating as postmaster at Cuyahoga Falls for
many years.
HosEA Paul, Sr., Avas elected county surveyor in October, 1855,
and successively re-elected in 1858, 1861, 1864 and 1867, serving in
that capacity until his death, in June, 1860, nearly fifteen years.
Robert S. Paul was appointed county surveyor by the county
commissioners, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of his-
father in June, 1870, elected to the office in October, of the same
year, for three years; again appointed in February, 1874, to fill the
vacancy occasioned by resignation of Surveyor-elect Jacob Mishler,
of Springfield, serving until October, 1877; again elected in 187T
and 1880, giving to the position, in all, about ten years efficient
service.
Hon. Henry McKinney w^as elected prosecuting attorney in
October, 1856, and re-elected in 1858, making a first-class officer for
two full terms; w^as draft commissioner for Summit county during
the w^ar; State senator for the Summit-Portage district, 1869 ta
1871; and since his removal to Cleveland, in 1873, has officiated as-
judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Cuyahoga county some
seven or eight years.
PRESENT BUSINESS STATUS. 763
George Sackett was elected county commissioner in October,
1867, serving one full term of three years, and in October, 1879, \\ra&
elected a member of the State board of equalization for the Sum-
mit-Portage senatorial district, to adjust and equalize the 1880
decennial valuation of real estate, between the several districts and
counties of the state.
Giles L'Hommedieu succeeded Mr. Sackett as county commis-
sioner in 1874, also serving three years.
Charles R.Grant, after the death of Probate Judge Nathaniel
W. Goodhue, was, on the 15th day of September, 1883, appointed by
Governor Charles Foster, to fill the vacancy; was elected to the
office in October, 1884, and re-elected in 1877, it being conceded by
all, that this important office never had a more faithful or efficient
incumbent.
Hon. George Paul, besides filling several important positions
as civil and mechanical engineer, was, from Septetnber, 1862, to
September, 1865, assistant engineer in the United States Navy, in
the regular service, eight months on the monitor " Nahant," and in
all engagements off Charleston during the w^ar; engaged in rail-
road construction in Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio from
1868 to 1877, being chief engineer on the Chicago & Atlantic, nearly
five years; was member of the board of public w^orks of Ohio from
1878 to 1884, twofuU terms, having special charge of the Ohio canal
from Cleveland to Hebron, 185 miles, the Walhoding canal, 25
miles, and the Western Reserve and Maumee road, 46 miles.
HosEA Paul, Jr., reared to the profession of civil engineer; on
the resignation of Auditor S. M. Burnham, October 9, 1871, was
appointed by the county commissioners to fill the vacancy, serving
in that important office until the second Tuesday of the following
November, and has since devoted himself to locating and construc-
tion of railroads in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and
Nebraska.
T. DwiGHT Paul, student of Polytechnic College, Philadelphia-
employed in railroad construction on Cleveland, Lorain & Wheel-
ing, Canada Southern, Bellaire & Southwestern, Chicago & Atlan-
tic; engineer first division Ohio public works, and employed in
locating branches of the Union Pacific railroad in Kansas, Nebraska
and Idaho.
PRESENT BUSINESS STATUS.
The present manufacturing and business status of Cuyahoga
Falls may briefly be stated thus:
Variety Works. — The Turner, Vaughn & Taylor Company,
established in 1856, incorporated, January 11, 1889; William A.
Taylor, president; George .W. Rice, secretary; C. W. Vaughn, super-
intendent— manufacturers of clay-working, wire-drawing, paper-
mill, chain, hydraulic, steam and other machinery. Men em-
ployed, 45 to 50.
The Falls Rivet and Machine Company, E. L. Babcock, presi-
dent; J. A. Long, vice president; H. J. Stambaugh, secretary; Sam-
uel Higgs, treasurer; manufacturers of patent steel-rim pulleys,,
friction clutch couplings and pulleys, shaftings, hangers, power-
transmitting machinery, rivets, riveting burrs, small washers, etc;
new three-story brick shop, 62x174 feet; hands employed, about 250.
764
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Pearl Flouring Mill, Howe &c Co. (Miner H. Howe, Cor-
nelius M; Walsh and G. W. Walsh); manufacturers of best quality
of roller process flour; capacity, 125 barrels per day. ,
Camp & Thompson (Horace B> Camp and Harry Thompson),
manufacturers of best quality of vitrified sewer pipe, drain-tile,
paving and hollow building brick, flue linings, fire-proofing, chim-
ney tops, etc., corner Water and Main streets; capacity, 100 car
loads per month.
The Cuyahoga Paper Company, Empire and Phoenix Mills;
fine cover and w^rapping papers; capacity w^hen running full-
handed, five tons per day, now, October, 1891, operated in part only.
The Holloway Reading Stand and Dictionary Holder, use-
ful and popular; Wilbur F. Holloway, inventor and manufacturer.
GEORGE SACKETT,— son of Aaron
and Huldah (Tanner) Sackett,
was born in Warren, Litchfield
<;ount3', Connecticut, Januarj^ (5, 1821,
nioving- with parents to Tallmadge
in 1838; educated in common schools
and Tallmadge Academy; raised a
farmer, later purchasing- alarg-e tract
of land contigiaous to the village of
Cuyahoga Falls, a portion of which
has since been laid out into town
lots. Mr. Sackett is an earnest Re-
publican—as the candidate of his
party, being elected county commis-
sioner in October 1867, ably serving-
three years ; in 1879, was elected a
member of the State board of equali-
zation for the Summit-Portage sena-
torial district, and in the Spring of
1880 was chosen real estate assessor
for Cuyahoga Falls township. In
addition to his extensive farming
operations, Mr. Sackett is now largelj^
interested in manufactures, being
president of the Cuj'ahoga Paper
Company, extensive manufacturers
of every variety of print and colored
papers. September 5, 1848, Mr. Sack-
ett was married to Miss Helen Wil-
liams of Cuyahoga Falls, who died
GEORGE SACKETT.
June 10, 1851 ; February 9. 1854, was
again married to Miss Fanny V.
Grant. They have one child, Mary
P., born January 3, 1867, now at home.
W. L. Kittleberger, tanner and currier, successor to Chris-
tian Kittleberger, manufacturer of calf, kip and harness leather;
capacity, 200 sides per w^eek.
Lewis W. Loomis, corner* Front and Portage streets, stoves,
tin, sheet-iron and copper ware, crockery, glassware, notions, etc.,
w^ith five and ten cent store attached; reliable and prosperous
establishment.
Joseph R. Sapp, Front street, south of Portage, full line of
staple hardware, cutlery, paints, oils, furnishing goods, etc.
George W. Blackburn, Front street, first-class custoin sad-
dle and harness w^ork, and dealer in horse furnishing goods, bri-
dles, blankets, trunks, etc.
Henry Plum, a resident of Cuyahoga Falls for over half a
century, practical boot and shoe maker, with a large stock of leather,
cloth and rubber goods, findings, etc.
PRESENT BUSINESS STATUS.
765
James Haver, practical saddler and dealer in light and heavy
ness, robes, nets, saddlers' hardware, oils, etc.
Henry E. Howard, clothing merchant of many years' stand-
ing; men's and boys' clothing, hats, caps, shirts, collars, cuffs, ties,.
etc.
F. S. Heath & Co., old and reliable drug house, with every-
thing that the name implies, to which has recently been added a
full line of school books, stationery, etc.
Arthur 1. Lewis, dealer in staple groceries and provisions,
country produce, etc., Front street.
Simon Brown, an old residenter, practical cabinet maker, keeps
fully abreast Avith the times, with a full stock of furniture, under-
taking goods, etc.
David H. Jones, confectioner, Front street, manufacturer of all
kinds of candies and pastry, and serves to order, oysters, ice cream,
etc.
Perry L. Norton, Front street, home and table supplies, choice
groceries, teas, coffees, sugars, syrups, illuminating oils, notions,^
etc.
Mrs. Ellen Knox, successor to Eugene O. Knox, publisher
Reporter and Western Reserve Farmer, and general book and
job printer, corner Front and Portage streets.
George Bitterman, Front street, restaurant, warm meals,,
lunches, candies, fruits, nuts, etc.
M. A. Seadschlag, merchant tailor, full assortment of fashion-
able cloths, trimmings, furnishing goods, etc.; custom work a
specialty.
Michael Moore,
merchant tailor,
Front street, full
line of sample
piece and ready
made goods, fur-
nishing goods, etc.
John Clayton,
opposite high
bridge glens, car-
riage and wagon
manufacturer, re-
pairing, etc.
William Baker,
practical worker in
iron and steel, gen-
eral blacksmith,
horse shoer, etc.
WiEMER Broth-
ers, (Fred and
Christ) west side of
Front street, practi-
cal marble cutters,
and dealers in mar-
ble and granite
monuments, head
stones, etc.
Siispotisioii liridge over the Rapids in tlie Glens, be-
low the Village of Cnyahoga Falls.
766
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Moses Schloss, clothier, corner Front and Portage streets,
ready made clothing, furnishing goods, etc.
William Blong, corner Front and Broad, carriages, platform
and spring wagons, repairing, etc.
Harv^EY Westov'ER, stone quarry, contractor
sidewalks, cisterns, etc.
Thomas Brothers (Reese J. and Thomas J.),
miners and w^holesale and retail dealers in coal.
Henry L. Shumway, photographer. Front street, north of
Clifford Inn.
J. M. Porter, contractor and builder, corner Broad and Main
streets.
J. F. Weidn^r, cooper, North Front street, west side.
for masonry,
Broad street,
HON. GEORGE PAUL, — second
son of Hosea and Ellen (Gamble)
Paul ; was born at Cuyahoga Falls,
September 8, 1837 ; educated in public
and select schools of Cuyahog"a Falls,
and a private school in Philadelphia ;
meantime assisting- his father as sur-
veyor and civil engineer ; 1857 to 1860
learned machinist trade, planning
the first steamboat that plied on the
Ohio canal ; 1860 to 1862, worked in
various Eastern shops ; in 1862 en-
tered the regular service in U. S.
Navy, serving three years in South
Atlantic Squadron, under Admirals
Dupont, Dahlgren and others ; at
close of war, resumed the business
of surveyor and civil engineer, also
for a time, in 1867, carrying on ma-
chine shop at Cuj-ahoga Falls ; from
1868 to 1878, engaged in railroad con-
struction in Georgia, Iowa, Illinois,
Indiana and Ohio, being chief engi-
neer on Chicago & Atlantic, nearly
five years ; in 1878 was elected mem-
ber of State board of public works,
and re-elected in 1881, serving six
years, and president of board three
years, having special charge of
Ohio canal, from Cleveland to He-
HON. GEORGE PAUL.
bron, 185 miles; Walhonding, 25 miles,
and Western Reserve and Maumee
road, 46 miles. May 10, 1871, Mr. Paul
w^as married to Miss Olive A. Babcock,
daughter of Austin and Eliza (Taj^lor)
Babcock, of Cuyahoga Falls. They
have no children.
Duffy Brothers, Portage street, east of Front, book, com-
mercial and general job printers.
Clifford Inn, corner of Front and Portage streets, George
Marvin, proprietor, a first class hotel.
George L. Buoys, hotel and boarding house. Main street, east
side of the river.
Physicians. — Drs. George C. Upson, H. W. Carter, A. H. Bill,
T. F. Heath, W. S. Hough, Jerome D. Dodge.
Dentists.— Dr. Frank A. Sabin.
Attorneys at Law. — Charles H. Howland, Thomas F. Walsh,
Orlando Wilcox, T. L. Childs.
Albert Letts, house painter and decorator, Front street, south
of Broad.
PRESENT BUSINESS STATUS.
767
D, VoGAN, practical horse shoer, and dealer in buggies,
sleighs, cutters, etc., Broad street, near Front.
Livery Stables. — C. H. Moon & Son (Charles H. and George A.),
Front street, opposite Clifford Inn; Robert Adams, Broad street,
near covered bridge; Robert Boyd, South Front; Russell Post,
north side of Broad street; Fred J. Smith, Broad east of Front
street.
C. N. Faze, barber and fashionable hair-dresser. Front street.
Justices of the Peace. — George Parks and L. F. Reimer.
E. D. Brewster, tin roofing, spouting and general jobbing
shop, in alley, south of Broad, west of Front.
Edward Coates, general blacksmith, horse shoer, etc., corner
Broad and Water streets.
Augustus Duffy, barber aud hair dresser, Front street.
PUGENE OAKLEY KNOX, -born
-L-' in Danville, Living^ston county,
New York, November 17, 1849, remov-
ing to Cuyahoga Falls with parents
when young; educated in Cuyahoga
Falls public schools ; at 17, com-
menced reading- medicine with an
uncle in Corning, New^ York, a year
and a half later, on account of failing
health, returning home, and for a
time assisting his father, Alanson R.
Knox, in the book-binding business,
soon afterwards starting a small job
printing office on his own account.
In December, 1870, Mr. Knox com-
menced the publication of the Cuyn-
hog;a Falls Reporter, a 28-column
folio weekly newspaper, which, not-
withstanding the total destruction of
his office in September, 1882, through
his indomitable energy, attained a
phenomenal success, in later years
being made a 48-column quarto. De-
•ceiTiber24, 1874, Mr. Knox was married
to Miss E)llen Lyttleton, of Cleveland,
who bore him four children — Oscar
Albert, born March 8, 1877, now a stu-
■dent in Western Reserve Academ3'^ ;
Percival Angelo, born October 18,
1878, died February 2, 1881; Portia
Irene, born November 3, 1882, and
Kenneth Julian, born November 21,
EUGKXK OAKLKY KNOX.
1884. Never phj^sically rugged, in
Januar}', 1891, Mr. Knox was taken
seriousl}' ill, and though seeking re-
lief in the warmer climate of the
South, the end came, frotn valvular
disease of the heart, at Hot Springs,
Arkansas, Maj^ 7, at the age of 41
years, i^ months and 20 days. The
Reporter is now being ably con-
ducted by Mrs. Knox.
George F. Callahan, groceries and provisions. Front street.
TowLER & Inskeep, dealers in dry goods. South Front street.
B, B. McConnaughey, standard and fancy dry goods. South
Front street.
F. Chart, dealer in fruits, candies, etc.. South Front street.
Joseph Brand, barber, confectioner, etc., South Front street.
John EichenbergeR, baker, confectioner, etc.. South Front
street.
George C. Tifft, general family meat market, dealer in fresh
and salt meats, fish, etc.. South Front street.
N. A. BucKLiN, general meat market and family supplies,
South Front street.
768
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
RoETHiG Brothers (William \V. and Edward L.). meat market^
dealers in choice meats, fish, etc., South Front street.
Cleveland & Company, dealers in choice family groceries and
provisions, country produce, etc.. South Front street. '
Misses M. and M. Hughes, dealers in millinery, ladies' fur-
nishing goods and notions. South Front street.
W. L. Udall, groceries and family supplies. South Front street,
William M. Smith, Front street, near town hall, dealer in
groceries, provisions, etc.
W. C. Maynard, practical watch iTiaker and jeweler, near town
hall. Front street.
The Enterprise Cigar Company', manufacturers and whole-
sale and retail dealers in cigars. Front street.
Curl & Son (Isaiah and Charles A.), dealers in boots and
shoes. South Front, near post office.
Miss Helen E. Mc-
Leish, ncAvs dealer,,
stationery, etc., South
Front street.
Henry C. Mans-
field, photographer,
Glens.
Elmer W. Saxe,
manufacturer of
stoneware, novelties^
etc., corner Tallmadge
and Reid streets.
F. ScHNEE & Com-
pany (F. Schnee and
M. S. Kirk), drugs^
books, stationery, oils,
paints, etc.. South
Front street.
Branch Akron
Savings Bank, Archie
B. Clarke, teller.
South Front street.
The Falls Savings
and Loan Associa-
tion, office South
Front street; L. W.
Loomis, president; J.
R. Sapp, vice presi-
dent; George Parks,
secretary; M. H.
Howe, treasurer; Or-
lando Wilcox, attor-
ney.
FallsHollowStay-
BOLT Company', manu-
facturers of hollo^v
staybolt iron, extra
refined iron for spec-
ial use. Portage street,
west of bridge.
Scene on the celebrated "Chuckery" Race, in the
Glens, below Cuyahoga Falls*.
PRESENT BUSINESS STATUS. 769
John L. Longshore, drugs, stationery, paints, oils, etc.. South
Front street.
George H. Lowrey, boots and shoes, South Front street.
Express Companies. — Adams, office with Cleveland, Akron &
Columbus R. R., J. O. Davis, agent; Wells, Fargo & Company,
office with Pittsburg & Western R. R., S. S. C. McGrew, agent.
Barbers. — David Berkheimer, North Front; Charles N. Faze,
Nathan H. Rook.
Coopers. — Andrew Schnidt, North Front street.
Insurance Agent. — Charles Clark, city hall; Frank T. Heath,
South Front street.
Thomas J. Francisco, cigar manufacturer. South Front street.
Harry A. Hinman, cigars and tobacco. South Front street.
Railroads. — Cleveland, Akron & Columbus, J. O. Davis,
agent; The Pittsburg & Western, S. S. C. McGrew, agent.
Western Union Telegraph Company, South Front, Frank
Ragsdale, manager.
Cuyahoga Falls Postoffice, John C. Reid, postmaster.
Telephone Exchange, Miss Laura M. Hall, manager. Front
street, connections with Akron and other neighboring telephone
towns.
Miscellaneous. — Albert R. Bates, contractor and builder;
Matthew^ Craw^ford, horticulturist; John W. Culbertson, fruit stand
near Glens; George Cunningham, pool room; C. A. Davis, solici-
tor; William H. DeWitt. dining hall, etc., corner Front and Brown;
Randall Douds, sample room; Daniel Duerr, small fruit grower;
William Duerr, lunch room; L. C. Fenton, boarding housfe, fruit
stand, etc., near Glens; George Fiedler, saloon. Broad; Fisher
Brothers (William and Isaiah), saloon near Glens; David Rosen-
bom, w^ines and liquors, South Front street.
Possibly some names and branches of business that should
have been included in the foregoing list, have been inadvertently
overlooked, but a sufficiency has been given to shovsr that with all
its misfortunes in the past, Cuyahoga Falls is decidedly a "live
town" yet.
49
CHAPTER XXXV.
THE PARKS-BEATSON MURDER— ONE OF THE MOST COLD-BI/OODED BUTCHERIES
IN THE ANNALS OF CRIME— THE VICTIM RUTHLESSLY DECOYED TO HIS
DOOM, BARBAROUSLY DECAPITATED, AND HEADLESS TRUNK THROWN INTO
THE RIVER— BODY RECOVERED, BUT HEAD NEVER FOUND— FLIGHT, PURSUIT
AND CAPTURE OF THE MURDERER— TRIAL, CONVICTION, SENTENCE AND
PREPARATIONS FOR EXECUTION — WRIT OF ERROR OBTAINED AND NEW
TRIAL GRANTED— EXCITEMENT OF THE POPULACE— CHANGE OF VENUE TO
CUYAHOGA COUNY— SECOND TRIAL, CONVICTION AND SENTENCE— ATTEMPTS
TO ESCAPE FROM JAIL — TWO DESPERATE ATTEMPTS AT SUICIDE— SPEECH
ON THE SCAFFOLD— EXECUTION— SUIT BY WIFE AGAINST PROSECUTING
ATTORNEY EDGERTON FOR $600 IN GOLD, SUPPOSED TO BELONG TO BEATSON,
BUT CLAIMED BY HER— EDGERTON WINS THE SUIT — WONDERFUL ROMANCE
OF CRIME.
fThoug-h the parties to the horrible aflfair now to be written of were not,
in the remotest sense, citizens of Ciiyahog-a Falls, the fact that the fearful
crime narrated was perpetrated within her borders, and of the active part
taken by her people in bring-ing- the perpetrator of that crime to justice,
makes it especially proper that the account thereof should follow the very
full history of that village given in the preceding chapter.]
AN UNDESIRABLE ACCESSION.
Sortie time in the year 1838 there emigrated from England to
America a reputed daring and desperate young poacher, highway
robber and burglar, by the name of James Dickinson, then about
26 years of age. It was currently reported, but denied by him,
that before he was 25 years old he had spent about seven years in
prison. The climate of England at length becoming "too warm"
for him, on account of the vigilance of the police, he took the
alarm and fled to America, first going to Rhode Island and after-
Avard making his headquarters at or near Philadelphia.
A Ghoulish Operation. — While a resident of Rhode Island, he,
writh a confederate, robbed the grave of a rich ex-sea captain,
named De Wolfe, reputed to have been buried in a silver coffin,
but found the name-plate only upon the coffin to be of silver. This
he appropriated, mutilated and sol4> and being detected w^as
throw^n into prison. While thus confined, aw^aiting trial, he pro-
cured a pair of pistols from a political prisoner (a participant of
the Dorr rebellion), who was carelessly incarcerated without being
properly searched, with w^hich he intimidated the jailer and
effected his escape. Being retaken he was tried on both charges
and sentenced to two years' imprisonment on the first and four
years on the last offense, the longer to include the shorter term.
On the expiration of his sentence he w^as concerned in a high-
Avay robbery, in w^hich his accomplice was arrested and convicted,
but he escaped. From there he found his way to Philadelphia,
in the vicinity of w^hich he participated in several robberies and
burglaries, in one of which — the robbery of the house of a w^ealthy
manufacturer named Kempton, at Manayunk, Pa. — he w^as
PLANNING TO ROB HIS FRIEND. 771
•detected, and being convicted, was imprisoned for a term of four
years in the Moyamensing penitentiary. On the expiration of his
sentence, under various aliases he visited Harrisburg, Pittsburg
and other points, finally landing in Cleveland, about the year 1851,
where, under the alias of James Parks, he opened a saloon, mak-
ing, in connection with the pro tetn. wife he had associated him-
.self with, so notorious a "dive" as to attract the especial atten-
tion of the authorities. In 1852, " Parks" revisited England, where
he married his cousin, Betsy Dickinson, with whom, and her two
brothers, John and George Dickinson, he again sailed for America,
landing in New York early in March, 1853.
On the same vessel w^ith the Dickinsons, was another English-
man, by the name of William Beatson, a butcher by trade, who
•came with the party to near Buffalo. On parting. Parks gave
Beatson his address: "James Parks, Inn-keeper, Cleveland,
Ohio," urging him to come on to Cleveland, if things did not go to
his liking in Buffalo.
A month later, Beatson left Buffalo to go to Pittsburg, arriv-
ing at Cleveland, en route, on the morning of April 13, 1853. Here
he found his friends, Mr, and Mrs. Parks, occupying apartments in
a private boarding house, and he accordingly took up his quarters
at the United States Hotel. Parks, however, was v^ery attentive to
him, taking him around among the saloons, and plying him
liberally with liquor, taking dinner with him at a restaurant, and
supper with him at the United States, Beatson not only paying all
the bills, but displaying a large amount of money, mostly in gold
coin, of Avhich commodity, it was intimated at several places, by
Parks, his friend w^as the posssessor of from $800 to $1,000 w^orth.
During the day, Beatson had become very greatly intoxicated, but
still held to his purpose of continuing on to Pittsburg that even-
ing, which Parks endeavored to dissuade him from doing.
Robbery Deliberately Planned. — Finding him resolute in
his determination. Parks volunteered to accompany him, as guide
and care-taker, w^hich Beatson assented to. Tickets were accord-
ingly bought, being paid for w^ith Beatson's money, his heavy,
iron-clad English chest, was duly checked, and the 7:30 evening
train taken for Pittsburg. From the well-filled bottle provided by
Parks, Beatson w^as, from time to time, plied with liquor, so that
by the time the train reached Bedford, the latter w^as considerably
drunker than when they started, w^hile Parks, though taking as
frequent pulls at the bottle, ^vas comparatively sober. Soon after
leaving Bedford, Parks "accidentally" lost his hat out of the car
window, and persuaded Beatson to let him have his check and the
key to his chest to get an extra cap w^hich he knew could be found
therein.
Change of Programme. — ^Finding and donning the cap of
which he had gone in search, but in the light of subsequent events,
not finding the coveted treasures which he knew, or supposed,
his friend to possess, in the chest, a change of tactics was deter-
mined upon. Accordingly, instead of remaining quietly in their
seats, as Parks well knew^ they should do, to go to Pittsburg, on
reaching Hudson he aroused his friend from the drunken sleep
into which he had by this time fallen, and hustled him on to the
Akron train, upon the opposite side of the depot. Of course, when
the conductor came around, the "mistake" w^as discovered, and the
772 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
twain were set down at Cuyahoga Falls, in the midst of a drivings
rain, and at about 10 o'clock at night, the Pittsburg train having
been delayed for some time at or near Macedonia by a fallen tree
across the track.
Going from the depot to the American House, kept by Mr. A.
W. Hall, the matter of getting back to Hudson was discussed, and
although, drunk as he w^as, Beatson wanted to stay at the hotel
over night, and though assured, by Mr. Hall and others, that
nothing could be gained by reaching Hudson in advance of the
first train from Akron in the morning, Parks insisted upon footing
•it to Hudson that night, and at length, after taking several drinks
at the bar, and from their bottle, the stronger will of Parks pre-
vailed, and, as Mr. Hall w^as shutting up his house for the night, a
little after 11 o'clock, the two men went out of the door of the
hotel into the darkness and the storm.
A Ghastly Discovery. — Nothing further was seen of the
inebriated and boisterous Knglishmen during the night. But
early the next morning, while a young man, named Henry F.
Waters, was passing along the wagon road, leading from Cuyahoga
Falls to what is now known as Gaylord's Grove, he was startled at
discovering large splashes of fresh blood high up on one of the
abutment walls of the railroad bridge, under w^hich the wagon
road passes, and upon the earth underneath. Following up the
clew^, marks of blood and other indications were found that a
heavy bleeding body had been dragged along the road and thrown
from the wagon bridge into the Cuyahoga river; a inetal button of
the same j^ttern as those •worn upon the vest of the drunker of
the tw^o Bnglishmen, the stock which he wore, and the cane w^hich
he carried, together with the neck of a bottle corresponding to that
from w^hich they had so frequently drank on the cars and w^hile at
the hotel, the evening before, were also picked up near by.
Headless Body Found. — The alarm was immediately sounded
and almost the entire population of Cuyahoga Falls rushed to the
scene of the tragedy, and the vt^ildest excitement prevailed. A
thorough dragging of the river was at once inaugurated, resulting
in bringing to the surface, a short distance below the bridge, a
naked and headless body. Prolonged search, how^ever, failed to
discover the severed head, though the clothing of the murdered
man Tvas found scattered about the adjacent woods and in the P.
& O. canal, a short distance southeast of the river bridge, cut to
pieces, as though the several garments had been searched for
money secreted therein.
On the Track of the Murderer. — Of course, the conclusion
was irresistible that the mutilated body w^as that of the more
intoxicated stranger of the car-exchange episode of the night
before, and that he had been brutally murdered by his less inebri-
ated, but stronger-minded, companion. An accurate description
of the supposed murderer w^as immediately forwarded to Akron,
Cleveland and other points. About the time the telegram w^as
received in Akron, Mr. Tyler Robinson, a farmer living some three
miles w^est of tow^n, called upon Constable Merrick Burton to
ascertain the genuineness of a five dollar bill which a suspicious
stranger had early that morning paid to his neighbor, Mr. Willard
Mathews, for the use of his horse and buggy and his hired boy,
Hiram Cory, in being driven to Cleveland; while at about the
TRACING THE MURDERER — ARREST, ETC. 773
same time the captain of a boat upon the P. & O. canal stated that
late in the night a stranger, judged by his speech to be an English-
man, had boarded his boat at Bettes' Corners, and after passing
through the nine locks (lying down upon a large box and appar-
ently going to sleep in the meantime), had left the boat near the
Old Forge and gone down the Valley of the Little Cuyahoga.
Mr, Mathews' description of his liberal-handed customer
tallying with that telegraphed from Cuyahoga Falls, and it also
transpiring that the same stranger had taken breakfast with
Mrs. Henry Horn, living opposite the Infirmary farm, at a still
earlier hour — relating to Mrs. Horn and her daughter Matilda a
funny anecdote during the meal — and had also endeavored to
negotiate with Mr. James McAllister, a short distance beyond, to
take him to Cleveland, Constables Merrick, Burton and J. J.
Wright immediately procured as fast a rig as could be had in
Akron, and started in pursuit, via Bath, Richfield, Brecksville,
etc. The roads w^ere heavy and rough, and being considerably
delayed by the breaking down of their buggy, near Kichfield, they
did not overtake the fugitive, but on nearing Cleveland they met
young Cory, and took him back with them to the point where, at
his request, he had set his passenger down in the open street in
Ohio City (now West Cleveland); but they were unable to trace
him, the fugitive having some two hours the start of them, the
•officers at this time, of course, having no clew to the name or local
habitation of the man thej^ were pursuing.
Sheriff Dudle3^ Seward also, on the same day, started in pur-
suit, going by rail to Cleveland, taking with him such an accurate
description of the supposed murderer, that the police of that city
\vere speedily enabled to fix his identity as that of James Parks,
former proprietor of one of the most disreputable saloons ever
kept in that city, and but recently returned from England. The
next morning the premises occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Parks were
■carefully searched, by Sheriff Seward and posse, and while finding
no trace of Parks himself, they drew from Mrs. Parks the admission
that he had stayed there the night before, but had again left early
that morning. To add to their suspicion, the officers ascertained,
during the day, that Mrs. Parks herself had hastily packed her
personal effects, and, w^ith hef two brothers, John and George
Dickinson, had started East, affecting great indignation at the
^suspicions against Mr. Parks, and declaring their intention of
immediately returning to England.
ARREST OF THE ASSASSIN, HIS WIFE AND BROTHERS.
In the meantime the search for the murderer was continued
"with unremitting diligence by the officers of the law, and others,
the county commissioners promptly authorizing Sheriff Sew^ard
to offer a reward of $50() for his apprehension. The vigilance of
the authorities was finally successful, United States Deputy Mar-
ishal Joseph K. Tyler, of Buffalo, having spotted and taken him
into custody, w^hile working his way through that city, on Monday,
April 18th, five days after the commission of the dreadful crime.
Mrs. Parks and her two brothers were also arrested at Utica, N.
Y., and brought to Akron. Upon the person of Parks w^as found
between $40 and $50 in gold, and on Mrs. Parks and her brothers
between $800 and $900, also in gold, making in all, with what had
774 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
been paid out for passage money and other expenses, about $1,000^
^vhich was supposed to have been taken from the body of the
murdered man.
The alleged murderer -was brought from Buffalo to Akron, by
Sheriff Se^vard, and Chief of Police Mike Gallagher, of Cleveland,
on Tuesday, April 19; the newrs of his arrest and progress towards
the scene of his horrible crime, attracting large crowds of excited
people at almost every station along th^ route. The prisoner being
committed to jail, b}^ Sheriff Sew^ard, at his request the prelimi-
nary examination w^as deferred one week, commencing, before
Justice Daniel B. Hadley, assisted by Justice Abel B, Berry, and
Mayor Philip N. Schuyler, on the 26th day of April, just 13 days
after the perpetration of the crime, and, though but few witnesses
were introduced, occupied tw^o full days, the court room being
densely crowded throughout.
On the part of the State, Prosecuting Attorney Sidney Kdger-
ton, Esq., was assisted by William H. Upson, Nathaniel W. Goodhue,
Roland O. Hammond and Edw^in P. Green, Esqs., w^hile the defense
was conducted by William S. C. Otis, Christopher P. Wolcott,
George Bliss and John A. Pleasants, Esqs. The counsel for the
defense offered no testimony, and, without argument, the sitting^
magistrates remanded the prisoner to jail to ansv^^er to the charge
of murder, at the June term of the Court of Common Pleas for
Summit county.
Search for the Missing Head. — It had been deemed impor-
tant, for the full identification of the murdered man, that, if possi-
ble, the missing head should be secured. To this end Sheriff
Seward obtained permission from the canal authorities to dra-w off
the water from the nine-mile level between the upper lock, at
Bettes' Corners, and Kent, which was accordingly done, but
without avail. The nine locks and intervening levels were also
thoroughly explored, as far dow^n as the Old Forge, at which point
it w^as supposed the fleeing murderer had left the canal, and below
w^hich the Little Cuyahoga river was carefully dragged and raked,
both by the authorities and private parties — the aid of spiritualism
also being invoked — but without result, and the head was never
found; though the prisoner himself, at alater stage of proceedings,
offered to take the officers to the sj^t where he had thrown it inta
the Big Cuyahoga river, if they w^ould conduct him thither. But
as by this time the identity of the body had been admitted by
defendant's counsel, and as from lapse of time the features of
the dead man would hardly be recognizable, even if found, the offer
was respectfully declined.
Indictment, Arraignment, Etc. — At the next term of the Court
of Common Pleas, commencing June 14, 1853, with Judge Samuel
Humphreyville, of Medina, upon the bench, the grand jury returned
a true bill against the defendant, for murder in the first degree,
embracing eight counts, as follows: 1st. That James Parks, alias
James Dickinson, did murder William Beatson, by sticking him
in the throat with a knife. 2nd. That James Parks, alias James-
Dickinson, did murder William Beatson,bythrow^ing a stone against
his head. 3d. That James Parks, alias James Dickinson, did murder
William Beatson, by shooting him in the head with a pistol. 4th,
That James Parks, alias James Dickinson, did murder William
Beatson in some w^ay or manner and by some means, instruments-
A CURIOUS DEFENSE. 775
and weapons, to the grand jurors unkno^vn. The remaining four
counts were the same as the above, except that the person
murdered was to the grand jury unknow^n.
On Monday, June 20, 1853, the accused was brought into court
for arraignment, and entered a plea of not guilty, w^hereupon a
motion was made by his counsel for a continuance of the case until
the November term of court, which ^was granted. The trial com-
menced on Monday, December 26, 1853, before Judge Humphrey-
ville, and the follow^ing array of jurors: Robert G. Marshall, of
Norton; Houston Sisler, of Franklin; Peter Weeks, of Copley; Wel-
lington Johnson, of Northfield; William C. Oviatt, of Tallmadge;
Frederick Baldwin, of Hudson; James W. Wallace, of Northfield;
Julius Humphrey, of Richfield; Talmon Beardsley, of Coventry;
Isaac T. Welton, of Richfield; John C. Wallace, of Northfield, and
Orrin P. Nichols, of Twinsburg. Judge Humphreyville assigned
Messrs. Bliss and Wolcott to the defense, w^ho were assisted in their
labors by their respective law partners, Messrs. Pleasants and Otis,
while Prosecuting Attorney Edgerton was assisted by Messrs. Up-
son and Bierce.
The Theory of the Prosecution. — The statement of the case
on the part of the prosecution, was made by Mr. Upson, setting
forth the facts substantially as related above, only considerably
more in detail, the theory of the prosecution being that on leaving
the hotel at Cuyahoga Falls, Parks and Beatson started north on
the wagon road leading to Hudson; that on reaching the intersect-
ing road leading across the river, tovt^ard what is now^ known as
Gaylord's Grove, they followed it to a point where it passes under
the railroad, a short distance west of the river bridge; that they
stopped to take a drink, and that while Beatson stood with head
throAvn back, in the act of drinking from a bottle, he was stabbed
in the neck by Parks, the carotid artery being partially severed,
and the blood spurting against the abutment stones as indicated,
and saturating the gijound w^here he fell, as he must have almost
instantly done, after which the body of the murdered man was
stripped, rifled, beheaded, dragged to the bridge and thrown into
the river as stated.
Singular Line of Defense. — Mr. Otis then, to the general
surprise, made a statement on the part of the defense, giving an
apparently candid and truthful history of the accused froin the
time of his landing in America, at the age of 26 years, to his return
from England to Cleveland in March, 1853, substantially as above
given, also in substance, following the statement of counsel for
the prosecution until the pair left the hotel at Cuyahoga Falls on
the night of the murder. At this point Mr. Otis stated that on
emerging from the hotel, instead of starting up the wagon road
towards Hudson, they crossed the river and started north upon the
railroad track; that they fell into several cattle-guards, but that
they crossed the railroad bridge, over the river, all right; that they
proceeded but a few steps beyond tlie river bridge w^hen they fell.
Parks ^was much stunned, and when he came to he missed Beat-
son, and went up on to the railroad embankment to search for him.
Getting no response to his calls he again went below, and on
groping around, first placed his hand on Beaton's thigh; then
feeling along up, found his head to be warm, soft and wet; felt his
pulse and found that he was dead.
776 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
He then sat himself down to reflect; he knew that he w^ould
be suspected of murder, as his past character was bad; his only
safety seemed to be in concealment; he dragged the body to
the bridge and thought that if he removed the head it would be
more difficult to identify it; he stripped it of its clothing, tied
Beatson's coat by the sleeves around his own Avaist, and proceeded
to sever the head from the body, taking Beatson's own knife for the
purpose; that, meeting with resistance from the bone of the neck,
he drove the knife through with a stone; he then threw the body
in the river, and took the head with him below, where he also
threw that in the river; the clothing being disposed of w^herever
he could get rid of it, avoiding people as he passed along.
Mr. Otis said that counsel at first doubted Parks' story, the
substance of which he had stated, but on examining the ground
and the facts, they had become satisfied of its truth, the theory of
the defense being that in falling through the bridge Beatson had
plunged obliquely head-foremost against the jagged stone abut-
ment, crushing his skull and saturating the Avail and ground w^ith
his blood.
The TevStimoxy — Arguments — Charge to the Jury, etc. — On
the conclusion of the statements, the jurj^ were taken by Sheriff
Seward to Cuyahoga Falls, to vie^v the scene of the tragedy, accom-
panied by Mr. Upson for the State and Mr. Otis for the defendant.
On returning to the court house, the trial was proceeded with,
occupying just 14 days. Thirty-one witnesses were sworn and
examined on behalf of the State, and sixteen on the part of the
accused; the main effort of counsel for defense being to show not
only a possibility, but a probability, that Beatson's death w^as caused
b}^ his falling through the bridge as claimed, and the lack of
motive on the part of Parks for the murder of his friend, by assum-
ing that Parks and his wife and her brothers had plenty of money,
w^hile Beatson possessed comparatively but little. The argument
of the prosecution w^as opened by General Bierce, occupying about
one hour and a half. Judge Bliss opened for tne defense in a speech
of nearly ten hours, Mr. Wolcott occupying about the same length
of time, and Mr. Edgerton devoting about four hours to the closing
argument.
On Monday, January 9, 1854, at 2 o'clock p. m.. Judge Humph-
rej^ville delivered his charge to the jury, which w^as, in every
respect, a well-considered, fair and impartial presentation of the
law in the case, and the rules of applying the testimony w^hich
had been adduced upon the trial, together w^ith a very lucid disser-
tation on the nature and applicability of circumstantial evidence
and a full and clear explanation as to what constitutes a reasona-
ble doubt.
Verdict — Motion for New Trial. — On the conclusion of
Judge Humphrey ville's charge, the jury retired to their room at
3:30 p. M., and at 8:30 they announced to the sheriff that they had
agreed upon a verdict, and the court and counsel were sent for.
About 9 o'clock their verdict of murder in the first degree w^as
announced; the prisoner looking each juror square in the face as
he pronounced the fatal word "guilty," without the relaxation of a
single muscle, or the slightest tremor of nerve.
The next day the prisoner was again brought into court, when
Judge Bliss made a motion to have the verdict set aside, and the
SENTENCE — STATEMENT OF PRISONER. 777
"venue changed to another county where an impartial trial might
be obtained. Prosecutor Bdgerton declined to occupy the time of
the court in opposing the motion, and Mr, Wolcott spoke forcibly
and eloquently, for about an hour, in its support. The court, with
a few^ cogent and clearly expressed reasons, overruled the motion,
and at once proceeded to pronounce
THE SENTENCE.
"James Parks: — You have been indicted by the grand jury of
this county for the murder of William Beatson; you have been
tried by a traverse jury, before whom you have had the benefit of
able counsel. They have brought to your defense a laborious and
searching examination of the evidence against you, as w^ell as an
earnest and careful presentation of everything that could be pro-
duced in your favor. The jury have listened patiently and atten-
tively to the evidence, and the pleadings of your counsel, and have
arrived at the conclusion that you are guilty, flave you anything
to say why the sentence of the law should not be pronounced
against you ?"
Mr. Parks responded in a firm voice: — "May it please your
Honor, I have the best reason in the w^orld w^hy sentence should
not be passed. I have represented that through my counsel. 1
have nothing more to add; I have told, through them, the truth,
the w^hole truth and nothing but the truth."
The Court: — "You have had a fair and impartial trial by an
intelligent and unbiased jury. They have returned a verdict of
guilty against you, and with that verdict tiie court is satisfied.
You have wilfully and deliberately taken the life of a fellow being,
and in so doing you have forfeited your own. The penalty of the
law^ is death. It is a painful duty to pronounce upon you the sen-
tence of the law, but having given full consideration to every
argument urged against it, I can find nothing to excuse ine from
the discharge of this duty. The sentence of the court is, therefore,
that you be removed hence to the jail of this county, and there
safely kept until the 26th day of May next, when you will be taken
thence to the place of execution, w^here, betvsreen the hours
of 9 o'clock in the forenoon, and 2 o'clock in the afternoon,
you w^ill be hanged by the neck until you are dead."
Parks Makes a " Statement." — The report of the trial was
soon afterw^ards published in pamphlet form, to w^hich was added
a document of nearly twenty pages, \srritten by Parks himself.
He commenced by denying that, before leaving England, he had
ever engaged in poaching, burglary, etc., or had ever been in prison
there. He then relates, in detail, his crookedness and imprison-
ment in this country; his connection with a "strange woman" and
his saloon-keeping. in Cleveland; his visit to Kngland, marriage to
his cousin, return to America, substantially as stated by Mr. Otis.
He then reiterates the story of the " accidental " death of Beatson
at the railroad bridge, and of his ghastly w^ork in arraying himself
in Beatson's coat tied about his Avaist for an apron, and in cutting
off the head with a knife taken from Beatson's pocket, and his dis-
position of the body, head, clothing, etc., attributing his proceed-
ings to his fear that the true story of the death of Beatson would
not be believed because of his (Parks') previous bad character;
saying, in that connection: "If anybody thinks that it was not
778 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
hateful to my feelings, they are very much mistaken. I conceived
that the necessity of the case was in a great degree excusable; as-
much so as it is to dispose of the dead in the various ways they do^
in order to prevent them from injuring the living; and I shall here
state, with all due respect to the feelings of others, that I think it
does not matter >vhat is done w^ith a dead body, providing it doe&
not injure the feelings of living friends. I did not do any crime
■whatever, and I can vindicate myself by the laws of heaven and of
reason. The previous tyrannical conventionalism of society imposed
the task on me; I never sought for it, and did not like it. 1 may
have sinned. Nay, I have sinned, but I have suffered, have
repented, but I could not be forgiven. When will society cease to
hunt a man down for one error? After punishing him with a pen-
alty ten times greater than his offense, they are not satisfied. How
often is the law^ made the w^eapon of the vilest malignity and it&
penalties the most dire revenge!"
Writ of Error Allowed — Execution Postponed. — A bill of
exceptions having been prepared, and duly signed by Judge Hum-
phreyville, application w^as made to Judge Hartley, of the Supreme
Court, for a writ of error, which was finally granted, and the case
reserved for hearing in the Supreme Court. The granting of
the w^rit and the postponement of the execution, created the most
intense excitement throughout the county. Sheriff Seward had
already had a gallows constructed, and w^as making other prepa-
rations for the execution, all of which w^ere now^ indefinitely post-
poned. Yet, notwithstanding the fact that the postponement
w^as widely published, and notw^ith standing the hanging, w^hen
consummated, w^ould be private, and within the walls of the jail,
on the day set for the execution a large and excited croAvd of peo-
ple, men, w^omen and children, assembled about the jail, it being
estimated that there were at least 2,000 persons from outside of
Akron, in attendance.
At first, Parks was quite alarmed at the size and somew^hat
emphatic demonstrations of the crowd — fearing an uninvited visit
of Judge Lynch, and expressed a desire to be locked up in his cell,
but at length becoming reassured, as he explained, by the large
number of "ladies" in the throng, he not only sought to gratify
morbid curiosity, by exhibiting himself freely at the grated win-
dow, but also harangued the crowd, asserting his innocence, and
pointing out the fearful \\rrong of hanging an innocent man. Hi&
speech, however, did not have a very mollifying effect upon the
crowd, for many of them intimated, in no measured or stinted
terms, that they would relish no better sport than to help " string
him up," and so intense was the disappointment, and so firm w^as
the belief that he was guilty of the horrible crime attributed ta
him, it only needed a bold and determined leader to have essayed
the attempt, though the authorities were pretty w^ell prepared
against the consummation of such an effort.
Planning to EvSCApe From Jail. — Among the prisoners con-
fined in the jail, at this time, w^as a man named Case, whose
brother, from Kent, w^as permitted to visit him. On his leaving
the jail, the second time, Sheriff Seward noticing something
peculiar in his manner, concluded to search him and w^as rcAvarded
by finding concealed upon his person the pattern for a key to
the jail locks then in use, and a couple of notes in Parks'
NEW TRIAL— CHANGE OF VENUE. 779
handwriting, addressed to his brother-in-law, George Dickinson,
of w^hich the following are copies:
Dear Brother:— The bearer of this is a friend of mine. Help him to
what he wants, a key and a saw — g-ood saw. Be sure, if you do, old Copper
Knob is safe. Tatersley, g-unsmith, or some jeweler. I need not tell you
this is of great importance. I need not tell you more; this man will tell
you all.
Yours, Old Copper Knob.
The other note read:
"The saw must not be inore than three-quarters of an inch broad, and
the back of it must not be any thicker than the edge. It should have a sort
of a handle, as a bow cannot be used for want of room between the bars.
The barrel of the key must run down as far as the shoulder, but about four
threads at the nose of the key is all that is wanted. I send you an exact pat-
tern of wood, only make a better shoulder, and a better handle. The barrel
is an exact fit, and impression made on the nose of the wood is inade with
the screw that is inside the locks. The threads on the screw are not very
fine. If we had some lead or zinc we might make a key."
Hitherto, Sheriff Seward had shown his prisoner great lenity,
granting him the range of the jail corridors during the day and
only locking hitn in his cell at night. From this time on he
deemed it advisable to keep him confined in his own cell, only let-
ting him out for exercise for a short time each morning and even-
ing. Parks became highly indignant at this further curtailment
of his liberty, and manifested a disposition to make the sheriff and
assistants as much trouble as possible.
At length, one morning, after being given his customary exer-
cise by the faithful turnkey, the late Chris. Metzler, Parks utterly
refused to re-enter his cell, making such savage demonstrations as
to frighten poor Chris, nearly out of his senses. Deputy Sheriff
George W. Marriner, was called in to quell the insubordination,
and ordered Mr. Parks into his cell, refusing to enter which, and
making some hostile demonstrations towards Marriner, the latter
suddenly planted his brawny fist between the eyes of the former
and knocked him nearly the entire length of the corridor, then
seized him by the collar and dragged him into the cell. From
this time on, while he remained in the jail here. Parks was per-
fectly docile and amiable.
Writ of Error Sustained — New Trial Granted- — The hear-
ing of the Parks wrrit of error case was taken up out of the regular
order, on the calendar of the Supreme court, and after being ably
argued, pro and con, by counsel on either side, a decision was
reached early in August, 1854. The writ was sustained and ai new
trial granted on the single ground that the verdict of the jury was
informal. This remanded the case to the court of Common Pleas
of Summit county, unless a change of venue should be granted by
said court. At the November term of court a motion w^as made for
a change of venue, on the ground that on account of the prejudice
against the accused, he could not have a fair and impartial trial in
Summit county, which motion was granted by Judge Humphrey-
ville, w^ho ordered the case to be transferred to Cuyahoga county,
though Parks himself expressed a wish to be tried in Portage
county. In accordance with this arrangement, on the 5th day of
January, 1855, Parks was taken to Cleveland and transferred to the
custody of Sheriff Spangler by Sheriff Seward.
The case w^as set for trial in Judge Starkweather's court about
the middle of January, but, at the request of defendant's counsel.
780 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
was postponed until February 15, 1855. When the case was called,
on the day named, Mr. Otis announced that Messrs. Bliss and Wol-
cott, who had been assigned to the defense in Summit county,
w^ould be unable to further act in the premises, and Mr. Parks
chose Hiram Griswold, Esq., and the court named Amos Coe, Ksq.,
as his assistant, while A. G. Riddle, Esq., was called to the assist-
ance of Prosecutor Edgerton. To give the new counsel for the
defense time to familiarize themselves with the case, a further
postponement was granted until the 6th day of March, at which
time the trial was proceeded with. Prosecutor Edgerton made a
statement of the case to the jury substantially the same as had
been made by Mr. Upson on the former trial, and Mr. Griswold,
for the accused, embodying the same line of defense as before,
giving, in addition, as a reason for the two men going to Pittsburg,
that "the purlieus of that city were much more favorable for the
commission of crime than any portion of Summit county," and
that Beatson, instead of Parks, insisted on footing it back to Hud-
son on the night of the alleged murder.
The jury were escorted to Cuyahoga Falls, to view the scene
of the murder, by Sheriff Spangler, accompanied by Messrs. Edger-
ton and Grisw^old. Most of the witnesses examined upon the first
trial also testified in this, and while several new witnesses were
introduced on both sides, but little new evidence bearing upon the
case ^r^as elicited. The testimony closed on Monday, March 12, and
the arguments of counsel occupied nearly three days. The Cleve-
land Herald, in its report of the trial, after a very glowing tribute
to Mr. Griswold for his masterly defense, and his eloquent plea
in the behalf of the accused, and his wife and child, and after giv-
ing a very full synopsis of Mr. Edgerton's closing arg*ument, on
behalf of the State, concluded as follows:
Mr. Edg-erton closed his remarks with a powerful and eloquent appeal
to the jurj", displaying- the enormitj^ of the offense, and the horrible facts
connected therewith; characterized the case as without a parallel in the
history of crimes in Ohio, and begged of the jurj^ to lose sight of the hus-
band and father, and see only before them their duty to the community and
to a fellow man. Mr. Edg^erton was solemn, eloquent and impassioned, and
spoke with such feeling as showed that the responsibilit}^ of the case was
resting- heavily upon him. Mr. Edgerton has shown, through the whole
trial, that a complete discharge of a stern duty towards the community was
his aim; not the triumph in a mere law suit.
CHARGE OF THE COURT— VERDICT OF THE JURY.
Judge Starkweather's charge to the jury was stated by the
Herald to have been delivered "in a style at once simple and elo-
quent," as he referred to the long and exciting trial; the responsi-
bility resting upon the jury; the nature of the alleged crime and
the statutes defining and punishing the same; his entire charge
occupying about three-quarters of an hour. The jury retired at 3
o'clock p. M., and returned into the court with their verdict at
8 o'clock in the evening, again pronouncing James Parks, alias
James Dickinson, "Guilty of Murder in the First Degree."
Another Motion for New Trial — Sentence, Etc. — Mr. Gris-
w^old immediately moved for a new trial, for six alleged reasons of
error and informality, which motion, after argument in its
support (Mr. Edgerton declining to speak in opposition), was
promptly overruled by Judge Starkweather, who immediately
A BLASPHEMOUS TIRADE. 781
proceeded to sentence the prisoner. Asking him the usual question
as to whether he had anything to say why the sentence of law^
for the crime of which he had been convicted, should not be pro-
nounced, Parks pulled a large roll of manuscript out of his
pocket and commenced to read. After he had read nearly three
hours the judge interrupted him, and, in very appropriate and
impressive terms, sentenced him to be hung on the first Friday in
June, 1855.
His faithful counsel again applied to the Supreme Court for the
allo^vance of a writ of error, on several purely technical grounds,^
which application, on full hearing, was denied, and preparations
were accordingly made by Sheriff Sew^ard, of Summit, and Sheriff
Spangler, of Cuyahoga, for carrying out the sentence.
Attempts at Escape, Suicide, Etc. — Besides making a desper-
ate attempt to escape, by means of keys and a revolver, smuggled
into the jail by his wife or other friends, he also made tw^o nearly
successful attempts at suicide — one by poison, on the Saturday
evening previous to the day set for his execution, and another by
cutting his throat on the night preceding his execution, both of
w^hich w^ere prevented by his w^ary custodians.
A Most Blasphemous Letter. — The day previous to his exe-
cution, and before his last desperate attempt to take his ow^n life,^
he penned a bitterly ribald and blasphemous tirade, from u^hich
the follow^ing is an extract:
When I meet Christ in the King'doni of Heaven, he will congratulate nie,
for my case is parallel with his, with only a little exception. There were only
two false witnesses against him, and there were some twenty that were false
witnesses against me. But I attribute that to the alteration of the statute and
the increase in population since Christ's time; for when he was tried they
hunted the whole kingdom and could find but two, but they had to hunt
over a very small portion of the kingdom andfoundplenty who were ready to-
testify against me. The reason why my case is parallel with Christ's is this:
They have parted my garments as they did his, for they have already given
away my boots to some person. I know not who, and I suppose to-morrow
upon my vestments they will cast lots, and then the5^will sit down and watch
my bodj^ and perhaps steal me. They set up over his head his accusation,,
written: "This is Jesus, the king Of the Jews;" but I suppose they will set
up over my head m}^ accusation, written: "This is James Parks, the
murderer," Itmay be true of Christ, but it is a lie concerning me.
The Execution — Dying Speech, Etc. — At ten minutes before
12 o'clock, on Friday June 1, 1855, Sheriff Seward and Marshal
Jabez Fitch, escorted the malefactor to the scaffold in the corridor
of the Cleveland jail — the same gallows which had been con-
structed for his execution here — in addition to the various
" statements" previously furnished to the press, by permission of
Sheriff Spangler, making the following speech:
Well, gentlemen, there are but comparatively few present, and mj^
words will be few. If I wished to say more I have not the strength to do so.
I see among you some of my jurors. I have no reflection upon your verdict;
you did your dut)^ I should have been glad to have spared the people the
horror of an execution. My attempt to do so yesterday, by ending my life
by my own hands, was not for my benefit, but for those I leave behind. I
had hoped to prevent my child and relations from the reproach which this
will bring upon them. I knew that 1 was not a murderer, and had a right to
dispose of my existence as much as the laws and society had to do so. That
William Beatson fell and killed himself, is true. I am no murderer in any
way. I might say so much, commend myself to God and stop. But, gentle-
men, the trial by jury is not yet perfected. Human approaches to truth are
but difficult and uncertain. I regret that the bent of my mind and the scope
782 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
of my understanding- are misunderstood, I never dreamed of murder. M3'
conscience would never have dared to conceive of it. That I inurdered Beat-
son for his money is absurd. He was a poor man, with less money than
myself. I had no malignity towards hiin, and feel none towards any huinan
being.
Continuing for some time in laudation of his wife, and com-
mending her and their child to the kind consideration of the
public, and expressing the hope that the intelligence of his
ignominous death might be mercifully kept from his aged parents
in England, he took a short rest, during which time a purse of
nearly $50 was contributed by the spectators for the benefit of his
w^ife and child. Resuming his remarks, after speaking in w^arm
praise of Sheriff Seward, Sheriff Spangler and the other officers
vs'ho had had him in their care, and the several attorneys w^ho had
defended him, concluded his speech as follows:
We cannot recall the pa.st. Would to God that I could do so. But I know
no such thing as fear. I am misunderstood; have had little or no education;
have tried to learn much by resorting to books that good men search; am
familiar with the scriptures, and believe that we shall only arrive at that
perfection which man's heart strives after in the next world. I thank you
for your kindness to my wife. I have no clergyman present. I had expected
Dr. Perry, but my request to him I must have sealed up with a package of
papers I gave to my wife yesterday. I was educated in the belief of the
Church of England, like my forefathers. I leave the world at peace with all
mankind, without censure upon any one. I again assure all that I am no
murderer in any respect, by thought or deed. With these words I prepare to
meet my God.
At precisely 1 o'clock, his arms and feet were pinioned; the
rope w^as adjusted about his neck and he took his stand upon
the drop. He then requested to be permitted to give the signal
himself, which w^as granted by Sheriff Spangler, and a handker-
chief w^as placed in his hand for that purpose. The cap was
drawn down over his face; a moment or two of silence follow^ed,
w^hen with the distinctly uttered words, "I die an innocent man,"
he dropped the handkerchief, the trap instantly fell, the body drop-
ping about six feet, resulting in the complete dislocation of the neck
and instant death, not a struggle or tremor of limb or muscle being
visible.
Mrs. Parks Sues Prosecuting Attorney Kdgerton. — It will
be remembered that a considerable sum of money, mostly in gold
coin, wa^ found upon the person of Mrs. Parks and her brothers,
when they w^ere arrested at Utica, which was supposed to have
been taken by Parks from the body of his victim. The major part
of this money w^as claimed by Mrs. Parks to be her individual
property, while the balance w^as claimed by her t^vo brothers, the
small sum of about $50, only, being admitted, by Parks, to have
been taken from the body of Beatson, while he w^as engaged in the
bloody work of preparing it for concealment. There w^as consider-
able conflicting testimony as to the amount of money possessed
by Beatson, and some evidence tending to show^ that w^hat he did
possess was the property of one William Gee, then deceased,
obtained by fraud or forgery, from a bank in Buffalo. Ascertain-
ing as nearly as possible the amount belonging to the two brothers
of Mrs. Parks, Mr. Edgerton paid it over to them, and retained the
balance, as the property of the heirs of William Beatson, or
William Gee, as the proof should thereafter determine, cover-
ing the same into the county treasury.
MR. EDGERTON TRIUMPHANT.
783
Some time after the execution of Parks, his wife under the
name of Betsy Dickinson, instituted proceedings in the Court of
■Common Pleas of Cuyahoga county against Mr. Edgerton, for the
recovery of the money, her attorneys watching their opportunity
to get service upon him in that county. The case ^vas closely con-
tested in the Common Pleas, and finally carried to the District
Court of that county, where it came to a final hearing, to a jury, in
September, 1861, a verdict, under instructions from the court, being
rendered for the defendant, and as neither the heirs of William
Beatson or William Gee, have ever appeared to claim the same,
the money in question has inured to the benefit of the people of
Summit county, as a partial reimbursement for the large expense
incurred in apprehending, convicting and executing the perpetra-
tor of one of the most diabolical murders ever committed within
her borders.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP— CURIOUS LEGAL QUESTION— LOCATION, EARLY RESOUR-
CES, ETC.— UNFORTUNATE VILLAGE PROJECTS — BUSINESS EMPORIUMS —
THREE VILLAGES IN ONE— PIONEER SETTLERS AND INCIDENTS— ORGANI-
ZATION C»F TOWNSHIP— FRANKLIN'S INDUSTRIES— MILITARY SERVICES—
THE SAUTER-SHEETES TRAGEDY— OSTER-KERNAN HOMJCIDE— HONORABLE
CIVIL RECORD, ETC.
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP.
T^7B are now^ about to extend our researches and observations
^^ beyond the "sacred precincts" of the renowned Western
Reserve, or " Cheesedom " as the rest of the State have been wont ta
call us, and to descend into "Dutchdom," as Stark, Wayne, and
other Pennsylvania and German settled counties w^ere for-
merly designated by the dwellers upon said Western Reserve.
Curious Legal Question. — Like Coventry, Franklin township
is formed of two distinct parts, from two separate surveys; that
portion lying east of the Tuscarawas river having been ceded by
the Indians to the United States in 1785, and surveyed by Bben-
ezer Buckingham in 1800, while the title to that portion west of
the river remained in the Indians until 1805, the survey being
made by Joseph Harwell in 1807.
And, in this connection, arises the somew^hat complex legal
question as to the ow^nership of the Tuscaraw^as and Cuyahoga
rivers, the Indians having, by the tw^o separate treaties named, ceded
to the government the lands east and w^est of those rivers, but not
the rivers themselves. Suppose the lineal descendants of the
chief, or chiefs, who executed said treaties, should come forward
and claim said streams, ^vould the Ohio law^ of prescription, or
adverse possession of over twenty-one years, hold good, and if so^
to whom, the United States government itself, the State of Ohio, or
the individual ow^ners of the abutting lands upon either side of the
streams in question?
Where and How Located. — Franklin is designated on the
records as Tow^nship 2, Range 10, and though somewhat broken in
portions by hills, rivers, creeks, lakes and marshes, is one of the
best farming townships in the county, besides being largely under-
laid by beds of the most excellent quality of bituminous coal. This
tow^nship, and its eastern neighbor, Green, are each nearly six
miles square, w^hile it w^ill be remembered that the townships of
the Reserve are uniformly five miles square, only. Hence, there
is a breaking of joints in the north and south lines between the
tw^o tow^nships originally connected w^ith Stark county, and their
neighbors upon the north, Franklin abutting on both Norton and
Coventry, with Green upon the east, Lawrence, Stark county, upon
the south, and Chippewa, Wayne county, upon the west.
Franklin's Water-Courses, Lakes, Etc.— This township is
traversed its entire length, diagonally from north to south, by the
Tuscarawas river, being joined near the southwest corner by the
franklin's business emporiums. 785
Chippewa river (formerly Indian Creek); the Ohio Canal also fol-
lowing the general course of the Tuscarawas through the tow^nship.
There are also quite a number of smaller streams, in various por-
tions of the township, which, with Mud Lake, in the southeast,
covering about 50 acres, and Turkey Foot Lake, in the northeast
corner, covering, with its numerous lagoons, sloughs and marshes,
nearly 1,000 acres, gives to the township a most abundant w^ater
supply— Turkey Foot now forming a portion of the great chain of
contiguous reservoirs that replenish the Ohio canal for navigation
purposes, In the dry season of the year.
Franklin's Resources. — In an early day, the marshes adjacent
to Turkey Foot Lake, and the several water courses of the town-
ship, bore immense quantities of cranberries, which, being gathered
by the inhabitants, in the proper season, were, through local mer-
chants, shipped overland to Pittsburg, Philadelphia, New York,
etc., thus providing many a luxury to the pioneer settlers of the
neighborhood. But that industry no longer exists in Summit
county, not even to the extent of supplying the home market.
There are, also, in different portions of the township, quite exten-
sive beds of a pretty fair quality of peat, which, by reason of the
plentifulness of coal, cannot be now profitably worked; the
quite 'large deposits of bog iron-ore, formerly worked to a lim-
ited extent in the early blast-furnace days of Middlebury and Akron,
being entirely overshadowed by the iron mines of Lake Superior
and the great West.
A ViivLAGE That Was, But is Not. — When first ceded to the
United States, one Richard Carter, a well-to-do and enterprising
Quaker, of Wheeling, purchased a tract of land at the junction of
the Tuscarawas and Chippew^a rivers, in the southwestern corner
of the township, employing John Harris, Esq., and David McClure,.
of Canton, to survey and lay out a village at that point, the work
being completed in the latter part of 1806, and in honor of its
proprietor, the prospective village was named " Cartersville."
Though perhaps some slight advance towards settlement was
made, its liability to inundation by every considerable rise of
water in the streams named, led to an early abandonment of the
project, and the carefully platted lands of Cartersville were rele-
gated to the use of the pioneer hunter and husbandman.
A Still More Unfortunate Venture.-— About 1816, one David
Harvey laid out a town on the banks of the Chippewa, a short
distance northwesterly from the site of the abandoned village of
Cartersville, above referred to. Harvey named his village " Savan-
nah," and for a few years it had quite a boom, attaining to a popu-
lation of some 60 or 70 souls, Avith mechanics, merchants, doctors,
etc., Clinton being laid out about the same time by William Har-
vey, a son of David. In locating the Ohio canal, how^ever. Savan-
nah was 'left out in the cold," while that great commercial water-
way passed directly through Clinton. This gave such an impetus to
the latter village, with a corresponding depression to the former, that
by the time the canal was completed, in 1827, Savannah had largely
merged itself in its more favored rival, and there is now neither
stick nor stone to mark the spot where Savannah once stood.
Franklin's Business Emporium. — The opening of navigation
upon the canal, in 1827, as before intimated, very greatly stimu-
lated the growth and business importance of Clinton. A number of
so
786 AKRON AND SUMMIT COLNTY.
stores were opened and stocked with goods suited to the times,
hotels were established, mechanics' shops erected, schools and
churches organized, with preachers, doctors, lawyers, speculators
and all the paraphernalia of a prosperous and enterprising village.
In fact, Clinton almost immediately became the market town for a
large area of country, including not only contiguous towns east
and west, in Stark and Wayne counties, but extended into Medina
and. Richland counties. Three or four large warehouses, capable
of storing nearly 100,000 bushels each of grain, were erected, and
scores of teams laden with w^heat, corn, wool and other farm
products, were daily seen upon her streets, while large numbers of
canal boats were almost constantly loading at her docks. Large
quantities of coal from the Chippewa, and other mines of the
vicinage, were yearly shipped from this point, the operatives in
which added very materially to the business importance, though
not always to the peace and order of the village.
Three Villages in One. — The original village of Clinton was
laid out upon the west side of the river, by William Harvey, about
1816, as already stated, additions to which were soon afterwards
made by Samuel Rossitter, William Christmas and James W.
Lathrop. The opening of the canal, in 1827, however, necessitated
the building of warehouses upon that thoroughfare, and the
concentration of business upon the east side of the river. Hence,
about 1835, Gorham Chapin laid out a village on the southwest
corner of section 29, the plat of which, under the name of " Oradeen,"
was duly recorded in Stark County, while, in 1837, William and
Francis Pumro3^ laid out the village of "Pumroy" on the north-
west corner of section 35, immediately south of, and adjoining Ora-
deen, both of which adjoined Clinton on the east.
Many lots in both of the new villages w^ere sold and deeded,
under the names designated, and though the three villages have
long been known to the public by the general name of Clinton,
the names of Oradeen and Pumroy are still carried upon the
records and tax duplicates of Summit county.
Past and Present Status. — In the early days, in addition to
its importance, as a grain and produce center, Clinton w^as, for
many years, a veritable mercantile port of delivery, merchants
for many miles, both east and west, consigning their eastern pur-
chases of goods to the commission houses at this point. But from
about 1845, owing to the growing importance of other business cen-
ters— Akron, Massillon, Canal Fulton, etc. — Clinton remained about
stationary for several years, and finally, ^vith the advent of railroad
communication with near-b}^ localities, in the early fifties, rapidly
lost its prestige as a grain and produce shipping point, and though
for a number of years holding its coal-shipping and mining trade,
it has since been gradually declining in business importance,
though still fully holding its own in point of population, and still
enjoying the local everyday trade from quite a section of rich
farming territory on either side, besides such business as the old
canal and contiguous railroads naturally bring to it.
The Village of Manchester. — About the year of 1815 — a year
or more before Clinton was platted— Mahlon and Adam C. Stewart
laid out a village about three miles northeasterly from the village
of Clinton, which they named Manchester, though when sufficiently
advanced to be accorded postal facilities, there being another
FRANKLIN S PIONEER SETTLERS.
787
Manchester somewhere in the State, the postoffice was named Nimi-
silla, probably from the river or creek of that name, a short dis-
tance south of the village. Mr. Adam Clarke Stewart was the
the father of Mrs. George W. Manly, of Canton, and Mrs. Henry
E. Cantield and Mr. Orlando Stewart, of Akron, Mr. Stewart's
first wife being the first person buried in the Manchester grave
yard, which was located on the farm of the two brothers.
A DAM CLARKE STEWART, —
-^ born in Frederick count}', Marj'-
land, November 27, 1794, in earlj- life
renioving^ to Ohio, where, in connec-
tion with his brother, Mahlon Stewart,
he founded the village of Manchester,
in Franklin township, as elsewhere
stated, in 1815. Having buried his
wife in Manchester, as stated, in 1819
or 1820, removed to Richmond, Jeffer-
son county, Ohio, where, in 1824, he
was married to Miss Sarah Beebout,
who bore him eight children, five of
whom are still living — Hudson Stew-
art, now residing in Richiuond ;
Orlando Stewart, of Akron ; Mrs.
George W. Manly, formerly of Akron,
now of Canton ; Mrs. J. R. Hague, of
Cohnnbus, and Mrs. Henry E. Can-
field, of Akron. Mr. Stewart was a
cabinet maker by trade, which busi-
ness, together with that of vinder-
taking, he carried on in Richmond
for about forty years, also officiating
as justice of the peace during the
last twenty-five or thirty years of his
ADAM CLARKE STEWART.
life, his death occurring December
25, 1870, at the age of 76 years and 28
days.
Manchester, being an inland town, w^ith no transportation
facilities other than the old-time six-horse Pennsylvania wagon,
has never been blessed or cursed with "booms," but has kept on
the even tenor of its way, except as affected by the general busi-
ness vicissitudes of the world, during the three-quarters of a cen-
tury of its existence. With its tw^o or three stores, its single hotel,
its full complement of mechanics, its skillful physicians, its faith-
ful preachers and teachers, Manchester has proved an indispensa-
ble adjunct to the prosperity of the staid and thrifty farming
community by which it is surrounded.
Though Manchester and Clinton are each some distance from
the geographical center of the township, the elections, both general
and local, have, until very recently, alternated betw^een the tw^o
villages. Now, how^ever, the tow^nship is divided into two sepa-
rate election precincts, w^ith voting places at Manchester and Clin-
ton respectively, being much more convenient, generally, than the
former arrangement, though still extremely unhandy for the voters
in the northernmost sections of the township.
The first person to have really settled within the limits of the
township, is supposed to have been Christopher Johnson, who
located upon lot 14, in the eastern part of the township, in the Spring
of 1814. It is not known where Johnson came from, but from the
fact that he was designated by other early settlers as *' Yankee
Johnson," it is probable that he w^as of New^ Kngland origin. The
same Spring, and but a few days later, came Thomas Johnson,
788 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
from Westmoreland county, Pa., who settled on lot 27, near Man-
chester, and about the same time William Halli well, from Steuben-
ville, who settled on lot 28, near Clinton. Johnson, a few^ years
later, removed to Norton, where he built a tavern, store and sev-
eral mills, and founded the village of Johnson's Corners. Mr.
Halliwell, in 1833, removed to the southwestern portion of Rich-
field, where he lived for many years, a highly respectable and pros-
perous farmer. Jacob Burgner, from east of the AUeghanies^
settled in Jackson township in 1812, and in April, 1814, remov^ed to-
Franklin township; and is believed, by his descendants, to have
been the first actual settler in the tow^nship. Other settlers soon
afterwards began to flock in, among them Mr. Jacob HoUingex,
Jacob Sours, Jacob Balmer, George Rex, Michael Bradenburg, John
Snyder, John Hicks and others not now remembered, followed rap-
idly by the Vanderhoofs, Himelrights, Marshes, Davises, Swais-
goods, Lud^vicks, Clays, Spidels, Waltenbergers, McMurrays,
Wholfs, Rightleys, Scotts, Wises, Browns, Chapins, Hooks, Groves^
Rossitters, Greenloes, Stumps, Wagoners, Teeples, Blilers, Hoys,.
Wirts, Hamms, Bears, Rowes, Troups, Sorricks, Wiltrouts, Stew-
arts, Harveys, Flickingers, and others w^hose names are not novv^
recalled.
Births, Marriages, Deaths, Etc. — The first birth in the town-
ship was John Johnson, son of Christopher Johnson, in 1814; the
first marriage was that of John Hicks to Catherine Flickinger, in
1815; the first death being that of Mrs. Jacob Balmer, in the Sum-
mer of 1815, from the bite of a rattlesnake.
Organization of Township. — So rapid was the settlement of
the township, that in 1817, a school was established at Manchester,
w^ith Joseph Mishler, from Lancaster, Pa., as teacher, Mr. Mish-
ler afterw^ards settling in Springfield. In April, of the same year
(1817), by proclamation of the commissioners of Stark county, a
township organization was effected, the first board of trustees
elected beihg Mahlon Stewart, Jacob HoUinger and Michael Bra-
denburg, with David Harve}' and Jacob Balmer as justices of the
peace. The first store in the township was kept by Jacob Balmer,
in Manchester; the first tavernkeeper being a Pennsylvanian by
the name of John Schneider, while the first local dispenser of
" pills and potions " in the township was Dr. Levi Brooks, after-
■wards, for many years, a resident of Oberlin, Lorain county.
Franklin's IndUvSTries. — In the early days there were a num-
ber of saw-mills and grist-inills in various portions of the town-
ship, "which cannot be well mentioned here, though all most use-
fully served their "day and generation," in bringing old Franklin
forward to her present highly prosperous status among her sister
townships of Summit county; the most important among thena,
probably, being the grist-mill of George Rex, at the outlet of Turkey
Foot Lake, erected about the year 1817, the poAver of which w^as
destroyed by the construction of the reservoirs in 1840. Nearly
thirty-five j^ears ago, Harvey Maranville, Esq., with the promise of
pecuniary assistance from others, erected a four-story building, in
the Oradeen portion of Clinton, for milling purposes, but failing to
receive the promised aid, the property was transferred to the late
Alexander M. Russell, by whom it was used as a store and ware-
house, until the death of that gentleman in 1875. A few years ago
it was purchased b}' a company, composed principally of Akron
FRANKLIN S MILITARY PROWESS.
789
-capitalists, under the corporate name of the Franklin Milling Com-
pany, and fitted it up with first-class machinery for the manufac-
ture of flour, and is still devoted to that use, Messrs. C. F. Broseke
& Son succeeding to the business in December, 1887. Among the
pioneer " industries " of the township were several distilleries, for
the transmutation of corn and other cereals into w^hisky; but as
the fact began to dawn upon the minds of the people that the prod-
uct of those establishments was a prolific source of poverty and
disorder, the business began to wane, and long years ago became
totally extinct. Would it were so throughout the entire w^orld!
From quite an early day the mining of coal has been quite
extensive in several portions of the township, but at the present
lime little, if any, more than supplies the local demand is being
mined. It is thought, however, by those thoroughly posted upon
Ihe subject, that there are still quite extensive veins of coal under-
lying the broad w^heat fields of the township, that are only await-
ing better facilities for transportation, to secure their profitable
■development.
r " EORGE WAGONER, — born in
^ Cumberland county, Pennsyl-
vania, November 22, 1790; September
43, 1812, was married to Miss Sallie
Rhodes, two weeks later starting- with
his bride for Ohio, settling in Law-
rence township. Stark county. March
12. 1821, Mrs. Wagoner died, having
borne him six children, four of whom
survived her. June 17, 1821, Mr.
Wagoner was again married to Miss
Rebecca Souers, soon afterwards re-
moving to a farm one and a half
miles north of Manchester, in what
is now Summit county. Ten children
were the fruit of this last marriage,
and on the celebration of their golden
anniversary, June 17, 1871, there were
living twelve children, fifty-three
grandchildren and fifteen great-
grandchildren. Mr. Wagoner was
among the most substantial and
intelligent citizens of Franklin town-
t*hip, during his long life taking an
active interest in public affairs, both
local and general, in politics being a
stanch Republican, and in every
tense an upright christian gentle-
man. Mr. Wagoner, after an illness
of three days, of heart disease, died
April 23, 1873. aged 82 years, o months
and 1 day. Mrs. Wagoner died March
GEORGE WAGONER.
2, 1886, aged 83 years, 3 months and 15
days. Among their surviving chil-
dren are Messrs. John J. and Aaron
Wagoner, well-known business men
of Akron, Mr. Philip Wagoner, one
of the most enterprising farmers of
Franklin township, and Henry L.
Wagoner, postmaster at Krumroy.
In the Military Line. — Franklin has a very creditable military
fiistory. Being originally mainly settled by immigrants from
patriotic old Pennsylvania, it is not improbable that quite a num-
ber of ex-Revolutionary heroes w^ere among her more aged early
inhabitants, and though the War of 1812 had substantially closed
before settlement fairly begun, it is known that several partici-
pants in that struggle settled here, though their names cannot now
be ascertained. In the Mexican War of 1846-1848, Franklin was
represented by Matthias Weaver and several others whose names
cannot now be given. And in the War of Rebellion, Franklin was
790 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
equally patriotic with the average of her sister townships of Sum-
mit county, as the following roster, compiled through courtesy' of
Mr. Joseph M. Kleckner, and from the assessors' returns for 1863,
'64 and '65 will abundantly show:
Franklin Union Army Soldiers. — Jacob J. Adams, Jacob Aue
(died in service), Harvey Aue, Samuel Aue (died in service), George
W. Burns, Solomon J. Bucher, Joseph Bucher, John Bucher (died in
service), O. E. Brownell, Samuel Butler, L. F. Becker, H. G,
Becker, John H. Bliler, Abram Baughman (died in service), Lewis-
Brenner, George Barkheimer, Israel Beck, Franklin Bennett, Wil-
liam F. Bechel, O. M. Brown, Thomas G. Boake, William Beard
(died in service), Patrick Costello, Samuel Cole, Jefferson Clay,.
John Cormany, D. S. Copp, Alexander Campbell, Richard Cleary,
N. Gilbert Clark, Jeremiah Diehl, William Diehl, Isaac Daily, Ainos
Dailey, W^illiam Demming, John D. Dickerhoof, Henry • Emrich,
Joseph Earnsberger, David Endiger, Jacob Fraze, Alpheus Grubb
(died in service), Simon Grubb (killed in battle), John Harbaugh,
Jacob D. HoUinger, Jr., David HoUinger, George Haneline, Solomon
Haneline, Jacob Hoover, John Holler, David Hose, Isaac Hose, Levi
D. HoUinger, David Harbaugh, John H03', Augustus Hill (died in ser-
vice), Robert Hilton, N. M. Hoover (killed in battle), J. J. Hanshaw
(killed in battle), John Hugh, James Hayes (died in service), John
Henry, Fred Intermele (died at home), Theodore Jones, Andrew Keck,
George Kleckner (killed in battle), Stephen Kissinger (died in ser-
vice), John S. Killinger, George A. Kellogg (wounded at Town
Creek, N. C, February 20, 1865), Simon Keck, Henry Koehler, John
Koehler, Doras Lockwood (lost on Sultana), Samuel Ludwick, L.
Loutzenhouser, George Leobold, Ephraim Marsh, Christopher C.
Marsh, George A. Miller, Henry C. Miller, Samuel Marsh, John
Marsh, Frank Maranville, George B. Myers, Adam Musser (died in
service), David Marsh, Leva McMurray, Charles Myers, A. R. Marsh,
William McCormish, J. H. Oberlin, Jefferson Palmer, William
Pierce (died in service), Thaddeus Pierce, Alexander Peling, Isaac
Phillips, Willoughby Rinehart, Peter Rinehart, Eli Roudebush,
Darius P. Rinehart, William Sorrick, John H. Spigelmyer, Eli
Stoudt (died in service), John Stoudt, J. Saeman, John Sullivan,
John Smith (killed in battle), W^illiam Sense, Peter Shibe, Jere-
miah Sullivan, Philip Stadler, Lawrence Shondle, Winfield Shaffer,
Henry Strohl, Addison Strong (died in service), Daniel Swaisgood,
Benj. Swope, David Smith, Davnd Shanebrook, George Slusser,
Samuel Simmons, William Traxler, Joseph Traxler, Aaron Teepler
Isaac Teeple (killed in battle), George Teeple, Samuel Teeters,
William Tagg, Samuel P. Wolf, Henry Wolf, Freeman Whittlesey,
Robert Wilkins (killed in battle), William Wolf, Joe Weil, William
Whittlesey, David Welty, Alfred Wolf, John Wolf, J. F. Whittlesej',
Aaron Wagoner, Isaac Wells, Silas Williams, Isaac Winkleman,
John Wilson, Samuel Young (killed in battle).
FRANKLINS CRIMINAL RECORD.
For a township so largely peopled by staid, sober, industrious
and intelligent inhabitants, Franklin has been cursed with a large
amount of turbulence and disorder, during the past 40 or 50 years.
It is but just to the good people of the township, however, to say
that a very large proportion of the disorder indicated has come
from the comparatively transient population brought to the vicinity
franklin's homicides. 791
by the canal and mines, and it is safe to say that all of it resulted
from the traffic in, and the excessive use of, intoxicating liquors.
Passing by the almost innumerable brutal assaults and bloody
affrays, that, in days of yore, so often disgraced Clinton, and sev-
eral of the inining settlements of the township, we will here give
the particulars of the two following cases, only, both of which
resulted fatally:
The Sauter-Sheetes Tragedy. — On the night of June 26, 1856,
occurred, within the bounds of Franklin tow^nship, one of those oft
recurring fatal tragedies incident to indulgence in intoxicating
drinks. The parties involved were Germans, nained, respectively,
Plauseus Sauter and Oswald Sheetes, living near, and operatives
in, the Chippewa coal mines, a short distance west of Clinton. On
the day in question there had been a gathering in the village, for
the purpose of organizing a military company, preparatory to cele-
brating the approaching Fourth of Julj'. Liquors were freely
indulged in during the afternoon and evening, and a portion of the
party became considerably intoxicated and quarrelsome. Between
10 and 11 o'clock at night, Sheetes, with a companion named
Hertz, started for home. Near Chippew^a bridge, about a mile
from Clinton, Sheetes and Hertz sat down by the side of the road
to rest. Sauter soon afterwards coming up, carrying a gun,
Sheetes, between whom and Sauter there had previously been
some ill-feeling, commenced taunting the latter, calling him a
coward, and asking him w^hy he was w^alking around at that time
of night carrying a gun.
Sauter ordering Sheetes to keep off, and intimating that it
"would be unsafe to approach him, passed on, Sheetes continuing
his taunts of cowardice, telling him that he durst not shoot; that
he had no heart; that his threats were all in his belly, etc. In the
midst of this drunken bravado, Sauter aimlessly fired off his gun,
the charge of shot entering the abdomen of Sheetes, from the
effects of which he died the day following; the wounded man
w^alking some distance to the nearest farm house, after receiving
the fatal wound.
The Homicide Defiant. — Sauter reloaded his gun, shut him-
self up in his house, and resisted all attempts to arrest him,
until morning, when, the effects of the liquor having passed off,
he became entirely subtnissive; expressed great sorrow^ for what
had taken place; declaring that though he distinctly remembered
discharging his gun, he had no recollection of the occurrences of
the evening. He was duly examined before Justice David Stump,
w^ho committed him to jail, w^ithout bail, to answer to the Court of
Common Pleas, then in session, on the charge of murder. The
May term of the Common Pleas being then in session, and the
regular grand jury having been discharged, the court, on the
application of Prosecuting Attorney Sidney Edgerton, ordered
Sheriff Dudley Seward to summon a ^•pecial grand jury, w^ho
returned a bill of indictment, against Sauter, charging him w^ith
murder in the first degree. To this indictment Sauter entered a
plea of not guilty. On JFurther investigation. Prosecutor Edgerton^
becoming satisfied that the killing of Sheetes was neither
premeditated nor intended, accepted the plea tendered by the
defendant, upon the advice of his attorneys, Messrs. Goodhue and
McClure, of guilty of manslaughter.
792 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Sentence, Pardon, etc. — On this plea Judge Samuel Humph-
reyville sentenced the defendant to ten years' imprisonment in the
State Penitentiary, whither he was accordingly taken by Sheriff
Seward, July 16, 1856, his age then being 31 years. Sauter w^as
pardoned by Governor Chase, October 14, 1859, after a service of
three years, tw^o months and twenty-one days, and, so far as the
w^riter is advised, thereafter conducted himself as a peaceable and
law^-abiding citizen.
The Oster-Kernan Homicide. — Henry Oster was the keeper
of a grocery store and saloon, in the village of Clinton, for several
years, in the late fifties and early sixties,, having among his cus-
tomers a somewhat bibulous denizen of the place by the name of
Martin Kernan. Mr. Oster having deceased early in 1864, his son,
Charles Oster, had the settling up of his affairs, and had several
times attempted to collect a small account against Kernan for
groceries and Avhisky, chiefly the latter, but without success. On
the 29th day of April, 1864, young Oster, seeing Kernan passing
the field where he w^as Avorking, stepped to the fence and again
dunned him for the amount of his indebtedness, and not getting
a very satisfactory response, told Kernan that he would give him
until the 25th day of May to settle the matter, and if the bill was
not paid by that time he would give him a thrashing. To this
Kernan replied, in substance, that if he thought he could thrash
him, he could try it then, Avhereupon Oster jumped over the fence
and made an attack upon Kernan, knocking him down twice, and
severely kicking him several times, from the effects of which he
died in about half an hour.
A post-mortem examination disclosed the fact that three of
Kernan's ribs were broken, and his spleen badly lacerated, w^hich
w^as undoubtedly the cause of death; though the liver was found
to be very greatly enlarged. Sheriff Jacob Chisnell happening to
be at Clinton at the time, arrested Oster and brought him to
Akron and lodged him in jail. On Frida3^ May 1, Oster was
examined before Lewis M. Janes, Esq., of Akron, and held to bail
in the sum of $1,000 to answer to the Court of Common Pleas, on
the charge of manslaughter.
The May term of court being then in session, with Judge
Stephenson Burke upon the bench, and Edwin P. Green, Esq.,
acting as prosecuting attorne3' during the absence of the regular
prosecutor, N. D. Tibbals, in the 100 day service in defense of
Washington, the grand jury returned a bill of indictment charging
the defendant with murder in the second degree.
Nathaniel W. Goodhue, Esq., and Samuel W. McClure
appeared for the defendant, who entered a plea of not guilty, as
charged in the indictment, but on the advice of his counsel, ten-
dered a plea of guilty of manslaughter, which plea was duly
accepted by Prosecutor Green. Thereupon Judge Burke, after
hearing evidence from several of the large arra^^ of w^itnesses that
had been summoned to testify to the previous good character of
the defendant, sentenced him to two years* imprisonment in the
penitentiary of the State, and to pay the costs that had accrued in
the case, amounting to $140.69.
Young Oster was but 17 years of age, as appears by the prison
records, at the time of his incarceration, by Sheriff Chisnell, on
the 15th day of June, 1864. He proved obedient and faithful in his
franklin's civil service record. 793
service to the State, securing a discount from his two years' term
•of three months and eight days for good behavior, being released
from confinement on the 7th day of March, 1866, thenceforth, as
the writer learns, comporting himself in all respects as a peaceable
^nd upright citizen.
HONORABLE CIVIL RECORD.
In the civil annals of Summit county, Franklin holds a highly
honorable position, as the follovv^ing roster will demonstrate:
Dr. Hugh R. Caldwell, a successful physician, and enterpris-
ing business man of Franklin tow^nship, residing about one mile
north of Clinton, was appointed, by the Legislature, one of the
first associate judges of the Court of Common Pleas, on the organ-
ization of Summit county, in 1840, serving for the full term of
seven years, with great ability and good judgment, though unfor-
tunately, at times, considerably addicted to the use of intoxicating
liquors.
Hon. John Hoy, a resident of Manchester, w^as elected one of
the first commissioners of the new county, in April, 1840, re-elected
for the fractional term of two years in October of the same year,
and again elected in October, 1842, for the full term of three years,
giving to the position five years and seven months continuous and
faithful service, and on the expiration of Judge Caldwell's term, in
1847, was appointed to the exalted position of associate judge,
which he filled with credit to himself and his constituents until the
taking effect of the new Constitution of the State in 1852. [A fine
portrait, with brief biographical sketch, of Judge Hoy, will be
found on page 98 of this volume.]
Houston Sisler, Esq., of Manchester, was elected to the highly
responsible position of county treasurer, in October, 1854, and
re-elected in 1856, filling the office to the general satisfaction for
the constitutional period of four years.
Harvey Maranville, Esq., a resident of Clinton from 1833
until his removal to Akron, in 1861, served for five consecutive
terms as justice of the peace of Franklin township, and in 1862
w^as appointed, by the treasury department, government inspector
of liquors and oils for the 18th Congressional District, and after-
Avards commissioned as general ganger of the district; serving in
that capacity until the w^inding up of that branch of the revenue
service, here, in all about 15 years; by his skill and diligence sav-
ing to the treasury many thousands of dollars, that a less scrupu-
lous officer Avould have permitted to stick to the fingers of the
gentlemanly operators whose products he had to pass upon.
Charles Rinehart, Esq., of Clinton, was elected clerk of
courts for Summit county, on the union ticket, 1863, and
re-elected, on the Republican ticket, in 1866, filling the office six
3'ears, very acceptably indeed.
Dr. William Sisler, of Manchester, was elected as represen-
tative to the State Legislature in 1867, serving through the sessions
of 1867, '68 and 1868, '69; Dr. Sisler also filling the important office
of county commissioner for two consecutive terms, from 1875 to
1881, and also was one of the trustees of the Children's Home for
tw^o years.
794
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Hon. Jacob A. Kohler, a native of Franklin township,
but a resident of Akron since 1853, 'was elected prosecuting attor-
ney in 1868 and re-elected in 1870, ably discharging the duties of
that office for two consecutive terms; served as representative to
the State Legislature in the sessions of 1883, '84 and 1884, '85, two
years, and as attorney general of the State of Ohio from January,
1886, to January, 1888.
Lieutenant Levi J. McMurray, residing near Clinton, was
elected sheriff in October, 1872, and re-elected in 1874, holding the
office the constitutional term of four years, though from failing
health unable to give his personal attention to official business the
last year or more of his incumbency.
DR. WILLIAM SISLER,— born in
Lj'coming' county, Pennsylva-
nia, September 12, 1819 ; came to Man-
chester in 1840, teaching' and farming
three j^ears ; in 1843 began the study
of medicine, commencing to practice
in Manchester in 1846 and continuing,
in partnership with his brother, until
1873. During the War, at the call of
Governor Tod, served in hospitals,
after the battles of South Mountain
and Antietam. In Fall of 1867 was
elected representative to the State
Legislature, serving two years ; on
removing to Akron, in 1873, in con
nection with Mr. John F. Hoy, opened
a drug store, continuing until 1879;
in October, 187.^, was elected county
cominissioner and re-elected in 1878,
serving- six years ; in 1887 was ap-
pointed trustee of Children's Home,
serving two j^ears. July 23, 1846, Dr.
Sisler was married to MissLorohama
R. Hoy, daughter of Hon. John Hoy,
of Manchester, one of the first com-
missioners of Suiumit count}', and
associate judge from 184,5 to 18,52. Of
the six children born to Dr. and Mrs.
Sisler, three only are now^ living —
DR. WILLIAM SISLER.
Mary A., now Mrs. W. H. Diehl -
Emma I., now Mrs. George J. Nieberg,
and Henry B., now a successful far-
mer of Northampton township.
Lieutenant Aaron Wagoner, born and reared upon his father's
farm, in Franklin township, took up his residence in Akron, at the
close of the war, whence he viras elected county auditor, in
October, 1880, and re-elected in 1883, intelligently, faithfully and
courteously discharging the intricate duties of that office until his
resignation thereof on the 1st day of April, 1887, to accept the
cashiership of the City National Bank, of Akron, and is now
(1891) cashier and one of the proprietors of the Akron Savings
Bank, established in 1888. .
David C. Miller, residing near Manchester, was elected
county commissioner in October, 1881, and re-elected in 1884,
assiduously performing the laborious, and often perplexing, duties
of the office until his death, wrhich occurred on the 8th day of
November, 1886.
FRANKLIN'S POPULATION.
Unlike most of the out-lying to\vnships of Summit county,
notw^ithstanding the decadence in business of its villages, through
franklin's present official roster. 795
the advent of railroads, and the concentration of business in the
larger towns and cities, Franklin has, from the beginning, grad-
ually gained in population — the census of 1840 placing the num-
ber of inhabitants at 1,436, and that of 1890 at 1,957 — showing a
gain of 521 in the intervening fifty years.
Present Official Roster.— Trustees, Jeremiah Dice, Hiram
Stump, Philip Serfass; clerk, Harry Miller; treasurer, Levi M.
Kauffman; justices of the peace, Cyrus Warley, Andrew^ Donnen-
wirth; constables, A. Roudebush, Ephraim Stump; postmasters,
John Sisler, Nimisilla; Frank Maranville, Clinton.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
CREEN TOWNSHIP— WHEN AND BY WHOM SETTLED— A FALSE PREDICTION-
INDIAN TRADITIONS— ORGANIZATION, EARLY OFFICERS, ETC.— TOPOGRA-
PHY, RESOURCES, BUSINESS CENTERS, ETC.— LONG AND HONORABLE MER-
CANTILE CAREER— GREENSBURG'S GREAT BOOM— EDUCATIONAL MATTERS,
GROSS SLANDER REFUTED, ETC.— ELECTORAL AND POLITICAL STATUS-
CRIMINAL AFFAIRS — HORRIBLE DEATH OF MICHAEL MYERS— THE vSTRIPE-
COOPER HOMICIDE— THE SEMLER-KEPLER TRAGEDY— FINE MILITARY REC-
ORD—GREEN IN PUBLIC AND OFFICIAL LIFE, ETC.
GREEN TOWNSHIP.
LIKE its neighbor upon the west, Green w^as a portion of w^hat
w^as originally designated as "Congress Lands," so called from
the fact that they were surveyed and sold by government agents,
instead of having been transferred in bulk to private companies,
as were the lands north of the 41st parallel — the far-famed West-
■ern Reserve— to the Connecticut Land Company, Green being
known upon the county records as tow^nship 12, range 9.
A False Prediction. — In the discussion preliminary to the
■erection of Summit county, it was held that the people of the two
tow^nships to be taken from Stark county, being largely Pennsyl-
vania Germans, could never be brought to fraternize with the
•" blue-bellied" Yankees, by w^hom the Reserve townships had
mainly been settled. Senator Hostetter, from the Stark district,
•declaring, in a speech against the bill in the Legislature, that "you
might as w^ell undertake to make a Dutch plo^^^-horse and a broad-
horned Yankee ox. w^ork evenly in the harness, as to expect the
inhabitants of the tw^o sections to harmonize and pull evenly
together in county affairs."
In fact, the majority of the people, of both Green and Frank-
lin, w^ere undoubtedly averse to the change, though the most of
them would be considerably nearer the county-seat under the new
than under the old arrangement. Many and curious were the rea-
sons against the change, one of the most potent being that of the
old lady who is alleged to have said that she did not w^ant to live
where it w^as so unhealthy as the Reserve was represented to be.
But, notwithstanding the opposition, the change took place,
and since April, 1840, Green and Franklin townships have been
contented members of the proud and prosperous county of Sum-
mit, sharing both its honors and its responsibilities, except that
in the enabling act there ^vas a proviso that those tw^o tow^nships
should be exempt from taxation for public buildings for the period
of fifty years, w^hich restriction ceased March 3, 1890.
Early Settlement. — There is considerable diversity in the
traditions of the township, and the recollections of the older por-
tion of the inhabitants, as to w^ho w^as, in reality, the first white
settler in the township. John Kepler, from Center county, Pa., is,
however, conceded to have been the first purchaser of government
land in the township, section 17, upon which he settled in the Fall
INDIAN EXPERIENCES, ETC.
797
of 1809, though the Dixons, the Triplets, Basil Viers, John Cruzen^
David Hartmaii, and perhaps others, with their families, had
undoubtedly temporarily located, as squatters, upon section 16,
earlier the same year, or perhaps even sooner than that, it being
claimed by some, that John Cruzen came as early as 1807.
But it is not the province of this work to undertake to fully
trace the pioneer history of the township, with biographical
sketches of its early inhabitants, as that has already been quite
extensively treated of by previous writers. It is, therefore, suf-
ficient, for the purposes of this work, to say, that the majority of
the early settlers, as w^ell as those w^ho came later, w^ere sterling
men and women, vt^ho heroically endured the hardships and priva-
tions of pioneer life, and honestly earned, by faithful toil, frugality
and sobriety, the solid prosperity and comforts which the^^ and
their descendants now enjoy.
ABRAHAM W. JOHNSTON,-born
in Center county, Pennsylvania,
October 25, 1810; moved with parents
to Green township in 1814 ; educa-
tional advantages limited, but, by
close personal application, became a
thoroughly well informed country-
g-entleman ; in early life learned trade
of w^eaver, at which he worked in
Greentown nine j'ears ; then pur-
chased the old family homestead, one
mile east of Greensburg-, where he
resided till his death. August 25, 1877,
at the age of 66 years, 10 months and
2 days. Mr. Johnston was married
May 25, 1835, to Miss Catharine Moore,
born in Northumberland count3\
Pennsylvania, February 27, 1814, who
still survives. They were the parents
of five children — Washington G., born
February 18, 1836, now county com-
missioner ; Cornelius, born March 4,
1839, died in early childhood ; Mary
E., born January 9, 1842, married Jan-
uary 4, 1866, to S. H. Hunsberger, now
of Ottawa, Illinois ; Maggie J., born
April 4, 1849, now living with her
mother ; Isabella, born June 10, 1852,
married October 28, 1878, to Corbin
Dillman, now of Joliet, Illinois, the
three daughters being educated at
ABRAHAM W. JOHXSTOiX.
Greensburg Seminarj-, and the son
at Oberlin and Mount Union Col-
leges. Though a thorough Repid)li-
can, Mr. Johnston filled many posi-
tions of trust and honor bj- the votes
of his Democratic neighbors.
Indian Experiences. — Although the Indian title to the land&
eml^raced in Green township had been extinguished nearly a quar-
ter of a century before, (1785), quite a number of the red-skinned
sons of the forest still lingered when the whites first came; but
they entirely disappeared on the breaking out of the War of 1812,
But as brief as their stay among their pale-faced successors was,
there are many traditions still extant of deadly encounters between
the two races, the alleged exploits of Liverton Dixon, a son of
Thomas Dixon, among Green's earliest settlers, being still listened
to by open-mouthed and wonder-ej'^ed Young America, around the
family base-burner, w^ith thrilling interest and solemn awe.
Township Organization. — Green, like Franklin on the west, is-
six miles square, its other neighbors beingCoventry and Springfield,
798 * AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
on the north; Lake, Stark county, on the east and Jackson,
also in Stark, on the south. It was originally organized in con-
nection with Lake and Jackson, and that portion of Franklin
lying east of the Tuscarawas river, July 6, 1811, with Peter Dicker-
hoof, of Lake, Christian Balmer, of Jackson, and John Yerrick, of
Green, as trustees; Samuel Spitler, of Lake, as clerk; George
Knoddle, as treasurer; William Ball, as assessor; and Simon Harsh
and John Kepler, as constables. At the October election, the same
year, sixteen votes were polled, while at the presidential election,
a year later (1812), nine ballots only were cast. The first justice
for the territory named, w^as Peter Dickerhoof, elected in 1811; the
second being John Wise, elected in 1812.
A distinct organization for Green was effected April 7, 1815,
with a poll of seventeen votes. Joshua Richards, William Ball
and George McCormick w^ere chosen trustees; Robert Lawson,
clerk; Daniel Wise, treasurer; David Hartman and Thomas Parker,
constables. From this time on settlement w^as steady, so that
upon the erection and organization of Summit county, in 1840, the
township had a population of 1,536, w^ith a gradual increase to the
present time, the census of 1880 placing the number of inhabitants
at 1,827, and that of 1890 at 1,911. Twenty per cent, gain in fifty
years may seem like a very small ratio of increase, but ^vhen it is
remembered that several of the strictly rural towns of the county,
as well as other portions of the State, have actually fallen off in
population, during that period, the showing for Green is very cred-
itable indeed.
Topography, Resources, ETc.^Though somewhat rolling, and
in portions quite broken, Green township is one of the most pro-
ductive and thrifty agricultural townships of Summit county, its
great specialty being wheat, though equally well adapted to every
other variety of cereals and field products, fruits, etc. In the
northwest corner of the township lies a portion of Turkey Foot
Lake, and a small section of the Tuscarawas reservoir, with three
or four other small bodies of w^ater, and numerous creeks and runs
in various localities, by >vhich the township is quite liberally
watered for agricultural purposes, besides affording a number of
sites for grist and saw-mills, and other mechanical enterprises
which have from to time existed in the township — the Tritt flour-
ing mill, in the southw^estern portion, having been a w^ell-known
landmark, since its erection in 1827, to the present time, though
several times remodeled during that period.
In the matter of travel and transportation, being altogether
inland, Green has had to depend upon its well-fed and well-trained
farm horses, until the completion of the Valley Railway along its
eastern border, in 1880, which with Greentown Station in the south-
east, and Myersville Station in the northeast, is proving a very
great convenience to the people, both as a means of travel and for
the shipment of their produce and manufactures; the extensive
elevator of the American Cereal Company, at the former
station, being especially convenient to contiguous farmers in
marketing their wheat and other cereals. Unlike most of the
Reserve townships of Summit county. Green has no village at its
exact geographical center. A mile and a half to the southeast,
however, is the village of Greensburg, laid out in 1828 by David
Bair, upon the lands of Abraham Wilhelm. Previous to the laying
A GOOD MERCANTILE RECORD.
799
out of the village, Wilhelm kept a tavern, a short distance to the
southward, which was the " Stage House," or stopping place for
the old-fashioned four-horse stage-coach, which in that early day
used to make tri-weekly trips between Middlebury and Massillon.
A natural concomitant. of the early tavern — a distillery — was also
run for several years by one of the Wilhelms, and after its disman-
tlement, as a fabricator of "blue ruin," viras converted into a chair
and bedstead factory by a man named Moulton.
The growth of the village was slow, containing only about a
dozen frame houses as late as 1845. The first store viras established
in the early thirties by John Shick, on the southwest corner of the
principal street of the new village, the same gentleman also about
the same time, erecting a hotel upon the northeast corner, on the
same site of the hotel now (1891) owned by Mrs. Lydia Thornton,
and kept by Levi Mix, both the original building and its immediate
successor having been destroyed by fire.
WASHINGTON G. JOHNSTON,—
son of AbrahainW. and Catharine
(Moore) Johnston, was born in Green
township, February 18, 1836 ; educated
at Greensburg Academy and Ober-
lin and Mount Union Colleg-es ; at 20
entered store of his uncle, Cornelius
Johnston, in Akron, clerking; two
years; then, in connection with his
cousin, Cornelius A. Johnston,
opened Johnston's shaft coal mine,
in Franklin township, working same
for four or five years, also, during-
that time manufacturing' oil in Akron
about a year and a half; then re-
moved to Rochester, New York, and
for some four years engaged in the
manufacture of boots and shoes ;
then returned to Summit count}',
after the death of his father pur-
chased the homestead, 153 acres,
which he has since successfull}'^
farmed. October 1. ISSS, Mr. John-
ston was married to Miss Anna Irvin,
adopted daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
James Irvin, of Akron. They have
five children — James Irvnn, born
August 13, 1864 ; Katharine, born
March 19, 1870 ; Grace May, born June
29. 1871 ; Martha Irvin, born June 6,
1874, and George Abraham, born Jan-
WASHINGTON G. JOHNSTON.
uary 26, 1882. October, 1888, Mr. John-
ston was elected county commis-
sioner, which responsible position,
as president of the board, he is now
ably filling.
A Long and Prosperous Career. — After one or two changes
of proprietors, the store above alluded to, in 1838, passed into the
hands of Mr. John Berger, who, at the age of fourteen years,
emigrated with his father's family from Lancaster county. Pa., to
Ohio, in 1822, having meantime served a four years' apprenticeship
at the mercantile business with Hart & McMillen, in Middlebury.
For over half a century the Berger store has been the leading,
and most of the time, the only store in the village, always doing a
conservative but reasonably profitable business. Some tw^enty
years ago Mr. Berger retired, transferring the business to his son.
Captain D. F. Berger, who in turn, having removed to Akron, has
turned the business over to his son, Sheridan G. Berger.
800 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Postal facilities were first accorded to Greensburg, under the
official name of Inland, in 1838, Mr. John Berger being then
appointed postmaster by President Van Buren; the present incum-
bent (1891) being Sheridan G. Berger, grandson of the former; the
old gentleman, at 81 years of age, dying at the residence of his son
in Akron, May 30, 1889; the present incumbent being one of the
youngest appointees in the service — a fcAv days past 21, only, on
receiving his commission.
Greensburg's Great Boom. — About the year 1854, the citizens
of Greensburg and vicinity organized a stock company with a capi-
tal stock of about $2,000, in shares of $50, for the purpose of
erecting a suitable building and establishing a seminary in
the village. About this time the Evangelical Association were
looking about with the view of establishing an educational insti-
tution in the interests of that denomination, similar to that of the
Methodists at Mount Union. As an inducement to the location of
the proposed school in Greensburg, the stock w^as transferred to the
association, some as a donation and other shares at fifty cents on
the dollar. Under this arrangement the institution was organized,,
under competent teachers, and for many years enjoyed a remark-
able degree of prosperity, having, at one time, about 130 students
in attendance. This created a demand for boarding houses, and
necessitated an increase of other branches of business, under the
stimulus of which the population, and private and public build-
ings of the village rapidly increased. But for reasons which can-
not now be well defined, differences and difficulties arose, by
which the property passed into, the sole ovt^nership of Bishop
Joseph Long and the school was closed. About 1869, the citizens
again organized, purchased the property from Bishop Long,^
refitted the building, this time placed it under auspices of the
Disciples, by whom it w^as quite successfully managed for some
three or four years. It Avas then placed, rent free, under the con-
trol of Professor J. R. Davis, who, for two or three j^ears, kept a
most excellent private academy therein, but, by reason of the
multiplication of similar and larger educational institutions in
the vicinity, the enterprise did not prove remunerative, and was
given up. Complications among the stockholders forced the
property to legal sale, and being bought by private parties, the
building w^as taken down, and the grounds devoted to other pur-
poses. But notwithstanding its decadence, in this regard, and
notwithstanding the concentration of almost every kind of mer-
cantile and mechanical business in the larger towns and railroad
centers of the country, Greensburg fairly holds its ovi^n as the local
business point for quite a large section of the rich farming country
by which it is surrounded.
Other Village Enterprises. — East Liberty, four miles north-
westly from Greensburg, was laid out by John Castetter, in 1839.
This village has usually maintained a store, tavern, postoffice (called
Summit), and sundry mechanical establishinents, but not possess-
ing any special elements of enterprise, and being so near the city
of Akron, can hardly expect to attain to an3'thing more than the
pleasant hamlet that it now is. Myersville, three miles east of
East Liberty, is an outgrowth of the location of the Valley Rail-
way through that portion of the township. It was laid out on the
lands of John B. Myers, about 1880, and as a railroad station is of
IXDUSTKIAL, EDUCATIONAL, ETC.
801
very great convenience to the people of the vicinity. The village
maintains a store and postoffice, with quite a number of private
residences, and may be regarded as a permanent adjunct to the
business interests of Green township.
DARIUS F. BERGER, — born in
Middlebury, March 5, 1835 ; edu-
cated in district schools, and Marl-
boro and Greensburg Seminaries ;
raised to mercantile life in store of
his father, Mr. John Berger, in
Greensburg", in 1863, with his brother,
Clinton F., succeeding to the busi-
ness, the latter retiring in 1868 ; was
married November 25, 1858, to Miss
Arnestena C. Henkle, of Ashland
county, who has borne him six chil-
dren-Sheridan G., Arthur F., Homer
E., Lottie C, Arlin E., and John H.
During the War he was a member of
the Ohio National Guards, and com-
manded company H., 164th regiment,
in its 100 days' service before Wash-
ington, as elsewhere stated. In 1884,
Captain Berger moved to Akron and
engaged in the sale of engines and
threshing machinery, in 1887 trans-
ferring his Greensburg business to
his sons Sheridan G., and Homer E.,
the former also assuming the duties
of postmaster, which position had
been successively held by his grand-
father and father for nearly half a
century, and probably the youngest
officer in the service, being barely of
age when appointed. Captain Berger
Green's Industries. — Agriculture, as before intimated, is the
principal industry of Green township, as, from a drive in any
direction, its well-kept farms, neat and comfortable residences,
mammoth barns, and magnificent horses and cattle, will clearly
indicate. In addition to this, the Tritt mill, already spoken of, the
Stauffer mill, and sundry other mills for grinding grain and saw-
ing lumber, were of infinite service to the early settlers, in their
domestic and farming operations. Blacksmiths, wagon-makers,
cabinet-makers, shoemakers, harness-makers, tanners, etc., have
been inaintained in different locations, wool-carding and cloth-
dressing also being an early industry of the township. The town-
ship is also largely underlaid with coal, hitherto not very
extensively worked for w^ant of proper transportation facilities,
quite an extensive mine now (1891) being operated by the Lake
View^ Coal Company, near East Liberty, the s^^itch of the Valley
Road to their Coventry mine, being extended to this. Iron ore
w^as tnined to a limited extent in the days of the Middlebury fur-
nace, 60 years ago. The production of lime for building purposes,
in different portions of the township, has, at times, been quite
extensively carried on, while the manufacture of drain tile, from
an excellent quality of clay found on the line of the Valley Rail-
way, in the southeast corner of the township, is quite an extensive
industry.
Educational Matters. — Green has been represented by
former "historians" as lacking in educational enterprise and
61
DARIUS F. BERGER.
is now assisting his son, Arthur F.,
now a successful dealer in groceries
and provisions, at 262 West Market
street, in Akron ; the second son.
Homer E., now officiating as book-
keeper for County Treasurer E. S.
Oviatt.
802 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
intelligence, one writer saying: "Most of the early settlers were
Pennsylvania Dutch, and many of these were very ignorant and
superstitious, consequently at an early day the cause of education
did not flourish." This statement I believe to be at variance with
the facts. True, the early settlers were from Pennsylvania, and
most of them of German descent, but that they ^vere especially
"ignorant and superstitious" beyond the general ignorance and
superstition of their neighbors, and of the time, is undoubtedly
an error, if not a downright slander. At all events, during the
half century that the writer has been familiar with the people of
that township, though simple in their habits of life, and quaint of
speech and expression, he has found them fully abreast of the
times in point of general intelligence and current events. And
certainly, so far as outward appearances, are concerned, the numer-
ous school houses of the to\^nship — all commodious brick structures
— have always been far in advance of the average school houses of
the Reserve townships of the county.
Electoral and Political Matters. — For several years after
its organization, the local and general elections of the township
were held at such convenient places as could be secured, but after
the village of Greensburg -was established, the elections were held
there until about the year 1860, since which time, by orders of
trustees, they have alternated between that village and Kast
Liberty. The Legislature of 1886, '87, however, divided the town-
ship into two separate precincts, with voting places at both
villages, a much more convenient arrangement, considering the
great distance that many of the voters had to travel, in w^hichever
place the polls might be located under the former plan. Politi-
cally, Green is quite largely Democratic, and, though having
many earnest and thorough-going Republicans "within her bor-
ders, has never failed in returning a Democratic majority but
twice; first, by scoring a majority of one for John Brough for
governor, over Clement L. Vallandigham, in 1863, and by the same
majority expressing a preference for General Grant for president,
over Horatio Seymour, in 1868.
Criminal Catalogue. — Though staid, sober and honest to a
degree seldom reached by so large an area of territory, Green has not
been entirely exempt from criminal depredations and excitements.
Passing by many minor criminal offences, and a number of con-
victions for forgery, burglary, grand larceny, horse stealing, etc.,
we will only notice those of a homicidal nature, in which citizens
of the township have been involved.
Horrible Death of Michael Myers. — One of the earliest
sensations of Green tow^nship was the death of Michael Myers,
w^ho w^as employed in quarrying lime stone at the lime kiln of John
Kepler, near his coal bank at East Liberty. Early on Sunday
morning, February 24, 1844, the dead body of Mr. Myers was found
lying near the edge of the burning kiln, under such circumstances
as to render it probable that he had been foully dealt w^ith; the
forepart of one leg, from the knee dow^n to the foot, being burned
to a coal, and the foot of the other leg charred to the ankle, while
his hands and other portions of his person were also badly
burned, and what appeared to be a small punctured wound also
being found upon the back part of his head.
green's criminal affairs. 803
The ghastly discovery created the most intense excitement,
tiot only in the immediate neighborhood, but in the adjoining
lownships, and at the county seat, and neighbors and interested
parties immediately sought to ascertain the cause of his sudden
.and horrible "taking off." For some reason or other suspicion was
•directed against Mr. and Mrs. William Reed and Klijah Bowers,
^and warrants were sworn out for their apprehension. The prelim-
inary examination w^as had before Justice Jacob Brown, of Akron,
assisted by Justices Joseph D. Baird, of Springfield, and Henry
•Converse, of Akron, and Mayor Harvey H. Johnson. The examina-
tion resulted in the commitment of both of the men, on the charge of
murder, Mrs. Reed being discharged. NotAvithstanding the large
array of magisterial wisdom before "whom the examination w^as had,
and their judgment, from the testimony adduced, that Reed and
Bowers were probably guilty of the murder of Myers, no record what-
ever of the case can be found in the Court of Common Pleas, nor do
the new^spapers of the day again allude to the affair. The recollec-
tion of the writer is that Prosecuting Attorney George Kirkum, Esq.,
•on a fuller investigation of the case, concluded that the death of
Myers was either suicidal or accidental, and that Reed and Bowers
were entirely innocent of any complicity in the sad affair, and
simply dropped the matter without bringing it to the attention of
grand jury, or having the transcript filed in the Court of Common
Pleas.
The Stripe-Cooper Tragedy.— In 1862, Mr. John Stripe and
Henry Cooper w^ere operating contiguous coal mines, in the south-
eastern portion of Green tow^nship, Mr. Stripe's mine being in
charge of his son, Isaac, then about 19 years old. Between Isaac
.and Cooper business jealousies had arisen, eliciting, as w^as
alleged, threats of personal chastisement against Cooper by young
Stripe, w^ith perhaps counter threats on the part of Cooper. With
this feeling of enmity existing between the two men, on the even-
ing of November 10, 1862, in passing from his mine to his home,
Cooper approached Stripe, saying, as is alleged, that he w^ished to
have a talk w^ith him, but, as Stripe maintained, in a menacing
manner, with a stone in his hand, as if to assault him. Whichever
version w^as the true one. Stripe having a long-handled shovel in
his hands, struck Cooper two severe blows upon the head and face,
felling him to the ground. Stripe then ran to his coal bank, saying
to one William Dickerhoof, in his employ, as the latter stated at
the coroner's inquest, that he had hit Cooper w^ith a shovel, and
wanted a pick or something to make it sure. But when Stripe,
accompanied by Dickerhoof, came to the place w^here Cooper had
fallen, he was not there, having so far recovered as to get up and
and w^alk to his home, distant about 40 rods.
After informing his family what had happened, Mr. Cooper
w^as immediately taken with vomiting, and though attended by
skillful physicians, rapidly grew worse until his death, which
occurred November 19. A little son of Cooper, who had been
working with his father in the mine, and who had passed on home
while his father stopped to talk w^ith Stripe, while w^ashing himself
upon the door step, also saw the blows struck and his father fall.
As it became apparent that Cooper was likely to die from his
injuries, the excitement in the vicinity became very great, and on
the 17th day of November, an affidavit was filed by Thomas
804 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Highton, before Justice Alexander Johnston, charging Stripe with
assault with intent to murder, Justice Johnston, on preliminary
hearing, holding him to bail in the sum of $500, to answ^er to the
Court of Common Pleas on the above charge, his father, John
Stripe, going upon his bond.
The coroner's inquest found that Cooper died from the effects
of the blow^s inflicted by Stripe, and the grand jury indicted him
for murder in the second degree, the traverse jury on final trial, at
the February term, 1863, finding him guilty of manslaughter.
Judge Canfield sentencing him to 15 months' imprisonment in the
penitentiary. He was taken to the penitentiary March 10, 1863, and
released April 14, 1864 — adiscountfor good conduct of one month and
26 days.
Since his restoration to- liberty Mr. Stripe — never addicted to
excessive indulgence in intoxicating liquors — has been a sober,
industrious and reputable citizen of Green township, having been
for several years the proprietor of quite an extensive tile manufac-
tory on the eastern border of the township, and contiguous to the
Valley Railw^ay.
The Semler-KepIvEr Homicide. — On the 1st day of May, 1852,
Godfrey Semler ^was married to Sarah Jane Kepler, daughter of
Andrew^ J. Kepler, of East Liberty. Living for a year or two near
Canal Fulton, in Stark county, Mr. and Mrs. Semler returned to
Kast Liberty and engaged in hotel keeping. This occupation served
to augment the hitherto somew^hat tippling habits of Semler, and
he rapidly fell into dissipation and consequent domestic infelici-
ties, being at times so grossly abusive of his w^ife as to compel her,
with her children, to seek the protection of her parents and other
friends in the neighborhood, her life at such times often being
threatened by her inebriated husband.
The Fatal Imbroglio. — On Thursday, August 10,1871, Semler
visited Akron, accompanied by one of his little girls, whose picture
he had had taken duringtheday, as usual returning homeconsidera-
bly intoxicated. Showing the picture to his wife, and asking how
she liked it, she replied that it w^as a very good picture, only the
hands looked rather too large for such a child. At this Semler
became very greatly exasperated; accused his -wife of making fun
of, and ridiculing her ow^n child, hurling at her the grossest abuse
and threats until a late hour of the night and until finally overcome
by drunken slumber.
On finding, tow^ards morning, that he Avas at length sound
asleep, Mrs. Semler quietly aAvoke her three children — two girls
and one little boy — and dressing herself and them left the house,
but instead of this tiitie going to the home of her own parents, as
she had so often done before, walked nearly four miles to the home
of Semler's parents, near Greensburg, to solicit their intercession
in securing better treatment from her husband.
Failing to secure the sympathy and co-operation of father and
mother Semler, in behalf of herself and children, that she had
anticipated, towards evening, Friday, August 11, they started back
again on foot towards East Liberty, but getting a timely ride, a
part of the distance, in a farmer's wagon. While thus riding, they
were met by Semler, carrying a gun, who, threatening to shoot her,
tw^ice snapped the gun at her, but which, by reason of not being
loaded, or ow^ing to a defect in the lock, failed to go off.
THE SEMLER-KEMLER HOMICIDE. 805
Arriving at her father's house, but hesitating about obtruding
her domestic troubles further upon her parents, Avho as she sup-
posed had retired for the night, she seated herself with her chil-
dren upon the porch. The little ones, being weary and restless,
soon attracted the attention of the old people by their cries and
moans, and were at once taken into the house and provided with
lodgings for the night. About 10 o'clock, while Mrs. Semler and
her parents were talking the matter over, Semler, who had not
been inside of the house for three or four years, knocked at the
door, and was invited in by his father-in-law. Semler demanded
that his w^ife should go home v^rith him, w^hich she declined to do,
as the children had gone to bed, but promised to do so early in the
morning.
Seeming satisfied Avith this promise, Semler left the house,
and the two women went to bed, the old gentleman remaining up,
or reclining upon the settee in the kitchen. After a time Semler
returned, and being again admitted to the house by Kepler, again
demanded that his wife should at once go home with him. Kepler
replying that she was probably asleep, urged him to go away,
promising that she should go early in the morning. Instead of
complying with Mr. Kepler's request, Semler forced himself into
the bed room in search of his wife. In the meantime, being
alarmed at his return, Mrs. Semler had taken refuge under the bed.
Not finding her in the bed, by the aid of the lantern he had w^ith
liim, he soon discovered her hiding place, and pulling her out,
raised her to her feet, and began choking her with such severity
that she soon sank to the floor. At this point the old gentleman,
seizing a cane-gun which was standing behind the door, ordered
Semler to leave the room, w^hich he did.
The party then sat down in the kitchen to talk the matter over,
the old gentleman in the meantime standing the cane-gun in
one corner of the kitchen. Semler again demanded of his wife
that she should at once go home with him, but she declined to do
so, saying that he had snapped his gun twice at her that evening,
to w^hich he replied, "Oh, that was all in fun!"
Seeming, at length, to acquiesce in the promise of Mrs.
Semler and her parents that she would return to him in the morn-
ing, Semler invited his father-in-law to go up tow^n w^ith him
and get a drink of beer. The old gentleman declined on account
of being too tired, whereupon Semler proposed to bring some beer
to the house, if he would drink with him, to which Kepler assented.
On Semler's return, while the two men were drinking the beer,
the entire family were discussing the family troubles. At length,
under the inspiration of his fresh potations, Semler renewed his
demand that his w^ife should go home w^ith him, w^hich she refused
to do. again reminding him of his attempt to shoot her earlier in
the evening.
A Desperate Struggle. — Finding himself again repulsed,
Semler, setting his lantern dow^n near the door, started tow^ards his
wife, as if to forcibly drag her home w^ith him. Divining his inten-
tion she took refuge behind the settee upon w^hich her father was
sitting. As Semler seized hold of his wife the old gentleman inter-
posed, and being rather the stronger of the two, a terrible hand-to-
hand struggle ensued, both falling to the floor. In the struggle,
iBemler, as was alleged, managed to get hold of the cane-gun in
806 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
question, which he discharged at the old gentleman while in a
recumbent position, in such a manner that the slug shaped bullet
plowed through the fleshy portion of the left leg, and entered the
abdomen about two inches below the low^er point of the breast
bone, lacerating the liver and other internal organs, from the
effects of which the old gentleman died on the night of August 16,
1871. Semler also received a wound in his arm, in the melee, and
his version of the affair was that while he and Kepler ^vere strug-
gling on the floor, the old lady discharged the cane-gun at him, the-
ball of which, after passing through his arm, also wounded the
old gentleman.
Both Semler and Mrs. Kepler Arrested. — The shape of the
wound upon the person of Mr. Kepler, led the examining physicians,
Drs. O. E. Brownell and C A. Perdue, to conclude that he had
been stabbed with some slim, sharp instrument in the hands of
Semler, and both Mrs. Kepler and Semler were taken into custody,
the former for shooting Semler, and the latter for stabbing Kepler.
A preliminary examination, in Semler's case, was had before
Justice William D. Sweeten, of Greensburg, w^ho held Semler to
bail, in the sum of $1,800, on the charge of stabbing with intent to
w^ound, John and Michael Semler going upon his bond as sure-
ties. It transpiring, during the examination, that, after being
wounded by Semler, while lying upon the floor, Kepler had prob-
ably struggled to his feet and seizing his loaded rifle standing in
another corner of the kitchen, had fired at Semler as he was leaving
the room, thus accounting for the ^vound in Semler's arm, the old
lady was not proceeded against.
A New Phase of the Affair. — Mr. Kepler dying from his
injuries, August 16, 1871, a post-mortem examination by Dr.
Thomas McEbright, revealed the fact that the wound in the
abdomen of the deceased w^as caused by a bullet, instead of a stab,
and Prosecuting Attorney Jacob A. Kohler, Esq., filed an affidavit
before Justice William M. Cunningham, of Akron, charging Semler
with murder in the second degree, on w^hich charge he ^vas held
to bail in the sum of $3,000, in default of which Semler was com-
mitted to jail, the proper bond being filed before Probate Judge U.
L. Marvin, September 2, 1871, \srith Michael and John Semler as
sureties.
Indictment, Trial, etc. — At the November term, 1871, of the
Court of Common Pleas for Summit county, the grand jury indicted
Semler for murder in the second degree, to which, on the advice of
his attorneys. General A. C. Voris and Hon. Henry McKinney,.
he entered a plea of not guilty, and was duly put upon his trial
before Judge Samuel W. McClure, and a jury. The trial lasted-sev-
eral days, and was closely contested at every point. Prosecutor
Kohler being ably assisted by his law partner, Hon. Sidney Edger-
ton, on behalf of the State, and Messrs. Voris and McKinney
defending w^ith their usual vigor and ability.
The charge of Judge McClure w^as an able exposition of the
law governing homicides and the rules of applying evidence in
cases of that character, the jury, after a brief consultation return-
ing, through their foreman, George W. Weeks, Esq., a verdict of
guilty of manslaughter.
Motion for new trial being overruled by Judge McClure, the-
defendant w^as sentenced to the State Penitentiary for a period of
GREEN TOWNSHIP IN WAR. 807
five years, whither he was conveyed by Sheriff August Curtiss, oii
the 19th day of December, 1872, his age being at that time 32 years.
Pardoned by Governor Allen. — It afterwards appearing,
from the revised recollections of the two women of the badly mud-
dled events of the fatal evening, that in the struggle between the
two men, the cane-gun in question was probably accidentally dis-
charged, and that Semler was entirely innocent of even the milder
form of homicide for which he had been convicted. Prosecutor
Kohler and others interested themselves in his behalf, and he was
pardoned by Governor William Allen on the 27th day of March,
1874, after faithful service to the State of two years, four months
and eight days.
Subsequent History, — Satisfied that she could never again
live happily with her husband, even should he not return to his
cups, on leaving the prison, Mrs. Semler applied for and w^as
granted a divorce, at the January term, 1872, with the restoration of
her maiden name, custody of children, control of property, etc.,
and on the 31st day of December, 1874, she was married to Freder-
ick Gindling, of Green tow^nship, with whom she is now living
happily in the state of Michigan.
And as to Semler, himself, instead of profiting by his bitter
experience, and reforming his habits, while not regarded as
especially vicious, the opinion entertained of him by those who
know him best may be summed up in the single but expressive
word — " worthless."
GREEN'S MILITARY RECORD.
It is presumable that among the large number of sturdy and
patriotic immigrants from Pennsylvania, who settled in Green
township, there were a number of the battle-scarred survivors of
the Revolutionary War, but unfortunately their names have not
been preserved in the local traditions of the township.
Its inhabitants Avere so sparse, at the breaking out of the War
of 1812, that but few recruits were furnished by Green for the
defense of the frontier, and not all of those, even, have been
handed down. John Kepler, being unable to go himself secured
young John Dixon as his substitute, providing him with the
necessary equipage, consisting principally of a gun, knapsack,
and blanket. Andrew Kepler personally entered the service, and
also Peter Buchtel, who died of disease at Sandusky; William
Triplet, on reporting for duty at Canton, being rejected by the
examining surgeon, because of his enfeebled appearance from a
severe attack of fever and ague, from which he was suffering.
In the Mexican War of 1846-8, the patriotism of Green did
not "enthuse," for though generally in full sympathy with the
political party then in power, her people did not apparently
approve of the measures by which that war was brought about.
But in the War of the Rebellion, notwithstanding the adverse
feeling and action of a large proportion of their political partisans,
Green was found to be eminently true to the Union cause. Up to
July, 1862, she had furnished 62 volunteers. In the subsequent
calls of that and the succeeding year, Green promptly responded;
and, when in the Spring of 1864, Governor Brough tendered to Mr.
Lincoln the Ohio National Guard to man the forts surrounding
808 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Washington, thereby releasing several thousand veterans to follow
the fortunes of the victorious Grant, Captain D. F. Berger's large
company turned out to a man, all of whom, except the very few
rejected for positive disability, \^ere duly mustered into service at
Camp Taylor, in Cleveland, May 16, 1864, as a part of the 164th
Regiment, O. N. G. After a faithful service of 100 days, in the
heat of an almost tropical Summer, the company was mustered
out at the same place August 27, 1874.
In the last draft of the war, in October 1864, prizes were drawn
by several of the good citizens of Green, Captain Berger, who had
just been mustered out of service as al)ove, included. Such of
these drafts as Tvere not rejected for disability by the examining
surgeons, either responded in person or by substitute; the total
number of soldiers (including the 100 day men) furnished by Green
township for the suppression of the rebellion, as reported to the
writer by Captain Berger, and compiled from assessors' returns for
1865, being 176, as follows:
Joseph F. Anderson, Daniel J. Angstadt, Jerome Ansbach, John
L. Bender, Emanuel Buck, John Bussard, Henry Brumbaugh,
Otho H. Beard, John Burkett, Elias Bickel, Darius F. Berger, John
Burkhardt, Peter Corl (killed in battle), Daniel Cobb, Cornelius
Cobb, Elias Cramer, Benjamin Chisnell, James Collar, Benjamin
Corl, Gerge Denious (died in service), William Dickerhoof, William
B. Dice, John F. Dickerhoof, George W. Dice (killed in battle),
Amos Daily, George Dissinger, Henry D. Evans (killed in battle),
George Foust (killed in battle), Daniel S. Foust, Hiram Foust, Joel
Frank (killed in battle), Jacob Foster (died in service), Suel Foster,
Jonathan Foster, John Fry, Levi Fasnacht, George H. Fasnacht,
Henry Fees, James Fees, Elias Foster, Jacob Gardner (killed in
battle), William Garmon, Harrison Garmon, Jeremiah J. Garmon,
Jacob Garmon, Alexander Grable, Jacob Grable, Jerome Grable,
Andrew Greenho, Frederick Gindling, William Guise (died in ser-
vice), Hiram Haring, John Hugh, Elias Harrington, William F.
Harrington (died in service), Milo Hunsberger (died in service),
William Hartong (killed in battle), Lewis Hartong, Levi Hartong,
James Howard, Isaiah Hunsberger, James Hayes (killed in battle),
David Houser (killed in battle), Simon Humbert (killed in battle),
Wellington Isbell, Rufus M. Jones, Henrj' Jarrett, Beneville
Kinzy, Jonas Kahler, John P. Kepler, David Kline,. Martin Kline,
Alchia A. Koontz, Jonathan B. Kreighbaum, William Kramer,
William Klinefelter, William Kline, Martin Kahler, Isaac Kinzy,
Emanuel Kinzy, George Kleckner, John Lamberson, Daniel
Lamberson (killed in . battle), Noah N. Leohner, Jacob Lepard,
George W. Lepard, Henry Linebaugh, Jacob Long, Obed Long,
Ishmael Long, John L. Louby, Michael Lutz, Benjamin F. Mander-
bach, William C. McBride, D. O. Mottinger, Samuel Mottinger,
Daniel J. Mottinger, John C. Musty, P. H. Musty, Rodney McPike,
Joseph R. Mell, Jerome J. Musser, Isaac S. Miller, Henry Mander-
bach, M. E. McBride, Peter Nicholas, Isaac Powles, Nicholas
Pontious, Simon Peters, Frederick Pippus, Isaac Pontious, Fred-
erick Remley (killed in battle), Christian F. Remley (killed in
battle). Hiram Ream, Andrew J. Ream, Samuel Ream, Simon
Ream, Lewis Ream, George Rininger, Samuel Rininger, Jehu
Rininger, William H. Rininger, G. W. Rhodes, Samuel Raber,
Manum Ro3^er, John Stevens (died in service), Samuel Steese,
GREEN IN PUBLIC OFFICE. 809
John W. Steese (killed in battle), William F. Spidel, Ezra Spidel,
Ira Spidel, Isaas Shutt, David H. Shutt, Klias Shutt, Daniel G.
Shutt, Charles C. Smith (killed in battle), Hiram B. Smith (died in
service), Joseph D. B. Siess, Joseph Simon, Elias Shriver, Balser
Shriver, Henry Shriver, Daniel Stamm, Franklin G. Stipe, Aaron
Swartz, George Switzer, Uri'as F. Sefner, Edmund Shriver (drafted),
Simon S. Staver, Joel Staver, Christian Schaffer (died in service),
Jacob Sickmer, Elijah Shriver, William Smith, John Sayler,
Andrew Tousley, Joseph C. Tousley, Albert M. Tousley, Joel T.
Tousley, Jacob Tritehart, Peter Tritt, Samuel Winkleman, Henry
L. Winkleman, John Winkleman, Franklin Winkleman, Isaac
Weaver (killed in battle), William Weaver (killed in battle), Jacob
Weaver, Reuben C. Wagoner, Elias Wise, Aaron Welty, Jacob
White, Hiram J. Weckerley, Allen Whetstone, Adam Weston,
Cephas Witwer, Peter WitAver, Henry Wagoner, Jefferson Yerrick
(died in service), Alfred Yerrick, Andrew Yerrick, Hiram Yerrick,
Lewis Yerrick,
County, State and Nation. — Though not, perhaps, numer-
ically so prominent in public affairs as some of her sister town-
ships, Green is able to present a highly honorable record in that
regard.
County Recorder. — Alexander Johnston, Esq., one of Green's
most successful and substantial farmers, w^as elected as Summit
<!ounty's first recorder, in April, 1840, and re-elected in October of
the same year; for three years and seven months rendering his
constituents signal service, in organizing the real estate records of
the new county, and in properly adjusting them with those of the
several counties out of which Summit had been formed.
State Representative. — So well pleased were the people of
the county with Mr. Johnston's work as recorder, that, in October,
1846, they elected him, by a handsome majority, to a seat in the
House of Representative, at Columbus, the county's interests being
faithfully cared for during the session, 1846-7. Mr. Johnston, now
(November, 1891), 84 years of age, in the possession of all his
physical and mental faculties, still lives on his fine farm, in the
southeastern portion of the tow^nship. [See portrait and biography
on page 101.]
County Sheriff. — Jacob Chisnell, a resident of Green town-
ship, w^as elected to the important office of sheriff, in October, 1860,
taking possession of the office on the first Monday of January, 1861.
In accordance w^ith the custom, and for faithful service during his
first term, Mr. Chisnell was re-elected for tw^o years, in October,
1862, his four years, w^hile perhaps rendered more onerous thereby,
being probably somewhat less remunerative, by reason of the war
which continued through the entire tw^o terms of his incum-
bency.
County Auditor.— George W. Crouse, though born in staid
old Tallmadge, rejoices in being know^n as a son of Green, going
thither, with his parents, while yet almost in his infancy. Having,
by remarkable industry and perseverance, fitted himself therefor,
in 1855 he became an assistant to both the auditor and treasurer,
his work being so well performed, that, in October, 1858, at the age
of 25 years, he was elected county auditor, for two years, and in
1860, re-elected for the second term.
810 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
County Treasurer. — Some two weeks before the expiration
of his term, as auditor, a vacancy occurring in the office of treas-
urer, the county commissioners — Messrs. David K. Hill, of Middle-
bury, George Buell, of Akron, and Nelson Upson, of T\i'insburg —
unanimously appointed Mr. Crouse to the vacancy, which he filled
with his usual fidelity for the seven remaining months of the
term.
State Senator. — Though by this time pretty well grounded
as a resident of the city of Akron, Green w^as still further honored
by the selection of Mr. George W. Crouse, in 1885, to represent the
24th and 26th districts combined, composed of Summit, Portage^
Geauga, Lake and Ashtabula counties, in the State senate, which
he most acceptably did until " called up higher," by the voice of
the people of the 20th congressional district of Ohio, composed of
Wayne, Medina, Summit and part of Cuyahoga counties, as its
ReprEvSENtative in Congress, from March 4th, 1887, to March
4th, 1889, the duties of which position he performed ^vith the same
unswerving ability and integrity that have ever marked both his
business and official life, declining a renomination for a second
term. [See portrait and biography on page 152.]
County Commissioner. — Washington G. Johnston was elected
county commissioner in November, 1890, making in all respects a
first-class officer.
Present Township Officers (1891). — Trustees, John F. Wise,
Henry Brumbaugh, Jonathan L. Grable; clerk, Isaac B. Rohrer;;
treasurer, William Krumroy; justices of the peace, Clinton C. Fos-
ter, Sylvester S. Kepler; postmasters, Inland, Sheridan G. Berger;.
Summit, William Dreese; Myersville, Norman B. Bidleman; Comet,.
Freeman Daily.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
HUDSON THE PIONEER TOWNSHIP OF SUMMIT COUNTY- LONG AND PERILOUS
JOURNEY—" HOME AT LAST," JUNE, 1779— EARLY PRIVATIONS— FIRST PUB-
LIC THANKSGIVING" PATRIOTIC CELEBRATION, JULY 4, 1800— VITAL STA-
TISTICS—WONDERFUL LONGEVITY OF EARLY SETTLERS— ORGANIZATION OF
TOWNSHIP— INDIAN AND WILD BEAST EXPERIENCES— RELIGION, CHURCHES,
ETC.— EDUCATIONAL MATTERS— WESTERN RESERVE COLLEGE, ITS RISE,
PROGRESS AND DECLINE— HUDSON'S PAST AND PRESENT BUSINESS STATUS
— MILITARY OPERATIONS— SPLENDID CIVIL RECORD— CRIMINAL MATTERS —
THE MALONEY-STEPLETON HOMICIDE— EXCITEMENT AMONG THE PEOPLE —
PURSUIT AND CAPTURE OF THE MURDERER— TRIAL, LIFE SENTENCE,
PARDON, SUBSEQUENT LIFE, ETC.— HUDSON'S PUBLIC SPIRIT, RAILROAD-
ENTERPRISE, ETC.
HUDSON'S ORIGINAL PROPRIETORS.
TN the original survey of the Western Reserve, by the Connecti-
-'- cut Land Company, what is now^ called Hudson, w^as designated
as Township 4, Range 10, and is so known on the county records
and tax duplicates at the present time. In the distribution of the
lands by draft, as elsew^here explained, this township fell to David
Hudson, Birdsey Norton, Nathaniel Norton, Stephen Baldwin,.
Benjamin Oviatt and Theodore Parmelee. The township contained
16,000 acres, the purchase price of w^hich w^as 52 cents per acre (a
total of $8,320.00); but owing to the report of the surveyors that a
large portion of the township w^as swamp, 10,000 additional acres,
in the "equalizing" tow^nships of Norton and Chester, w^as thrown
in, making the actual cost of the whole 26,000 acres, just 32 cents
per acre.
First Visit to Township. — This purchase, perfected in 1798,
was first visited by Mr. Hudson, in 1799. Accompanied by his
eleven-year-old son, Ira, and (as hired help) Jesse Lindley, William
McKinley, and Mr. and Mrs. Thaddeus Lacey, and their two chil-
dren), the party started from Goshen, Litchfield county, Connecti-
cut, April 23, 1799, Mr, Lacey acting as caterer and teamster, and
Mrs. L. as cook. At Albany Mr. Hudson hired Joseph Darrow, at
$10 per month, to assist him in making his surveys; at Fort
Schuyler, Jonah Meacham, and at Onondaga, Richard Blin were
taken on, the party reaching Bloomfield, Ontario county, N. Y., the
home of Mr. Nathaniel Norton, on the 5th day of May.
Here they w^ere detained eleven days preparing for their long
and perilous journey. Here, also, Mr. Hudson fell in w^ith Mr.
Benjamin Tappan, the proprietor of Ravenna, afterw^ards for many
years, known as Judge Tappan, and a United States Senator from
Ohio, from 1839 to 1845. Mr. Tappan bought one yoke of oxen, and
Mr. Hudson t^vo yoke, and tw^o cows, w^hich were placed in charge
of Mr. Hudson's man, Meacham, and twro of Mr. Tappan's men,
who drove them safely through, on the Indian trail to Buffalo, and
thence along the lake shore to about the present site of Painesville,
thence southerly, on the marked tow^nsbip lines, to their respective-
destinations.
812
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Mr. Hudson, on reaching Geandiquot (pronounced "Gondigut")
Bay, on Lake Ontario, found the boat which had been provided
for the conveyance of himself and party westward, unfit for use,
and engaged passage for himself and Darrow in one of Mr. Tap-
pan's boats; also arranging with Mr. Elias Harmon, who was, w^ith
his wife, en route for Mantua, for the passage of Blin and McKin-
ley; a part of his stores being divided between the two boats; the
balance, together with his son, Ira, being left with Mr. and Mrs.
JLacey, to work their way through the wilderness by land.
DEACON DAVID HUDSON,-born
in Bradford, Connecticut, Feb-
ruary 17, 1761, and Anna Norton, born
in Goshen, Connecticut, October 29,
1761, were married at Goshen, Decem-
ber 22, 1783, and moved to Ohio, set-
tling- in Hudson, in the Spring of 1800.
They were the parents of nine chil-
dren— Samuel, born April 4, 1785, died
in Hudson, January 13, 1846 ; Ira, born
September 19, 1788, died in Ravenna,
September 20, 1817 ; William Norton,
born November 8, 1789, died in Meigs
county, July 28, 1863, from a gunshot
wound received during the raid of
the rebel John Morgan through Ohio;
Milo Lee, born October lo, 1791, died
in Chester, November 4, 1838 ; Daniel
Norton, born February 27, 1794, died
in Goshen, August 25, 1796 ; Timothy,
born May 20, 1796, died in Ligonier,
Indiana, October 29, 1871 ; Abigail
-Laura, born June 30, 1798 (afterwards
Mrs. Birdsey Oviatt), died in Hud-
son, April 24, 1860; Anner Mary (Mrs.
Harvey Baldwin), born October 28,
1800, still living-; David Hudson, Jr.,
born September 7, 1805, died in Ches-
ter, May 14, 1836. The mother of these
children, Mrs. Anna Norton Hudson,
dying- Aug-ust 31, 1816, Deacon Hud-
son was again married, June 1, 1817,
to Miss Marj^ Robinson, of Colebrook,
Connecticut, Mr. Hudson dying
March 17, 1836, at the age of 75 years
and one month, the second Mrs. Hud-
son dying October 4, 1857. Deacon
DEACON' DAVID HUDSON.
Hudson, as one of the orig-inal pro-
prietors of Hudson township, and as
the first actual settler in what is now
Suminit county, w^as not only an ex-
tensive farmer, but largelj' interested
in many of the earlier mercantile and
manufacturing enterprises of his
township and village, and especially
active in the proinotion of its relig-
ious and educational interests, as
hereinafter more fully set forth.
A Perilous Journey. — The "fleet" started from Geandiquot
Bay, May 16, but, from stress of weather, did not reach Niagara
until the 22nd, and here they found the river full of floating ice.
Getting, w^ith very great labor, their boats and goods around and
above the Falls, the little company pluckily persevered, against
the rapid current and floating ice, reaching Buffalo Creek May
26, where they foUnd an ice-gorge, at the mouth of the Niagara,
according to Mr. Hudson's diary, "at least twelve feet high." That
night, however, the gorge broke, leaving Lake Erie clear of ice,
but with such a heavy swell and head winds, as to prevent further
advance until the 29th. It >ivas then noticed that the wind was
less strong at night than during the day, and it was determined to
travel by night, alternately rowing, poling and towing, as circum-
stances seemed to require. To this night work Mr. Lindley
REFORMING A SHIRKER — PERILS OF THE DEEP. 813
objected, as he had hired out to work in the day time only. With-
out serious demur Mr. Hudson allowred him to have his own way;
the others doing the work while he slept at his ease. While oppo-
site Cattaragus Swamp, Mr. Hudson, one morning, provided Lindley
w^ith an ax and set him to work felling trees and chopping them up
into cord wood, w^hile the rest of the men were sleeping. - After a
few^ hours* labor in that line, Lindley, seeing the point of the joke,
succumbed, and apologized to Mr. Hudson for the course he had
taken, and promised thenceforth to do his share of the night work,
if he would excuse him from cutting and piling cord w^ood hun-
dreds of miles from any settlement.
Tempest-Tossed on a Lee Shore. — The party finally reached
the mouth of Conneaut river, June 5, after leaving w^hich, on the
afternoon of that day, the wind, suddenly shifting to the north,
blew with such violence as to drive them on shore, the boat in
which were Mr. Hudson and Mr. Darrow, being filled with w^ater,
w^etting all their provisions and other goods, and that on w^hich
w^ere Blin and McKinley, having a hole stove in her bottom,
through w^hich a portion of Mr. Hudson's potatoes were lost in the
surging waters of the lake. Lying by 24 hours, for repairs and
drying their goods, the journey was resumed w^ith favorable winds
and fair sailing (blankets being used for sails), the party reaching
Grand river (off the present city of Painesville), June 7th. This
being the debarkation point for Mr. Harmon, he sold his dilapi-
dated boat to Mr. Hudson for $1.00, with which, and Mr. Tappan's
boat, the party safely reached the mouth of the Cuyahoga; Mr.
Tappan's boat on the 9th and the other on the 10th of June.
After almost infinite fatigue and trouble in ascending the tortuous
Cuyahoga, the waters of Avhich were at the time extremely low,
the party reached the mouth of the Brandywine, in the present
township of Northfield, June 17, 1779 (just one day less than a
month after leaving Geandiquot Bay, a remarkably quick passage,
indeed, under the circumstances), Mr. Hudson's boat having been
plundered one night w^hile the men were asleep, of quite a quantity
of flour, pork, whisky, etc., supposed to have been done by a rene-
gade Sandusky Indian and a w^hite outlawr, w^ho w^ere know^n to be
prowling about the neighborhood.
At Length at Home. — After searching six days, Mr. Hudson
found the w^estern line of his township, when he and Mr. Tappan
and their men set about cutting a road for the purpose of getting
their goods to their respective localities, which they found very
difficult on account of the hills and gullies in Northfield and Bos-
ton and the swamp in the west part of Hudson. But finally suc-
ceeding in getting a portion of his goods to the place selected,
Mr. Hudson commenced his settlement by the erection of a rude
bark shelter, near the southwest corner of his township, on the
northeast corner of what is now known as lot eleven. Fortunately
the men sent overland w^ith the cattle, arrived the day after the
" fleet" anchored at Brandy^vine. Rude sleds were constructed, by
the use of w^hich, drawn by the three yoke of oxen, which had,
with immense labor, but good management, been brought safelj'^
through the wilderness, the goods of both Mr. Hudson and Mr.
Tappan were speedily transported to their respective localities.
Running Short of Provisions. — In consequence of the loss of
a portion of their supplies, as stated, and the non-appearance of
S14 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Lacey and his wife, with the supplies that had been intrusted to
them, Mr, Hudson became apprehensive that his little colony
w^ould soon begin to suffer for food w^hile pursuing their labors in
<:learing a patch of land for a crop of w^heat, and in surveying his
township into lots. It afterwards transpired that Lacey, with a
number'of recruits furnished by Mr, Nathaniel Norton, and certain
supplies forwarded by Captain Eliphalet Austin (proprietor of
Austintown, Ashtabula county), had fitted up the boat deemed
unfit for use by Mr. Hudson, and had leisurely followed the origi-
nal party, w^ith about the same varied experiences and misad-
ventures, arriving at their destination on the 19th of July; Mr.
Hudson (also feeling very anxious about his boy)having gone dow^n
the lake in search of them, meeting them at the mouth of Cattara-
gus Creek.
Thus, by the purchase of a small field of corn and potatoes
from Mr. Lorenzo Carter, of Vermont, w^ho had, a year or two before,
squatted upon the present site of the city of Cleveland; borro^ving
a small quantity of pork from a previous settler in a neighboring
town, and temporarily appropriating a couple of barrels of Captain
Austin's flour, the colony, with such accessions of game as they
had time and opportunity to secure, managed to keep the wolf,
hunger, at a respectful distance, though several of the party w^ere
assailed with the various forms of disease incident to change of
■climate, exposure, etc.
The first rude shelter (of bark) w^as soon superseded by a sub-
stantial log shanty, 16x18 feet, which, affording better protection
to the men, soon produced improved health among them and
the surveying, clearing, seeding, etc., rapidly proceeded; the sur-
vey, platting, etc., being completed on the 11th day of October; a
small clearing having also been made a short distance north of the
capacious public square, which had been laid out by Mr. Hudson
on what is now^ known as township lot 56, on the east side of Main
street, where Mr. Hudson the next year erected a two-room log
house for his own use, a few years later building for himself, on
lot 55, upon the opposite side of the street, the commodious frame
house still standing there, and occupied by his daughter, Mrs.
Harvey Baldwin, as elsewhere alluded to.
Mr. Hudson Returns to Connecticut. — Having placed his
people in as comfortable condition as circumstances would admit
of, and instructing them as to the work to be done in his absence,
Mr. Hudson, on the 12th day of October, accompanied by his young
son, Ira, Meacham and Darrow, in the frail craft purchased from
Mr. Harmon, started on his return to Connecticut for his family,
and such recruits for his new settlement, as he might be able to
secure, after infinite toil, and many very narrow escapes, reach-
ing Bloomfield in safety, about the middle of November. Leaving
his little son with Nathaniel Norton, Mr. Hudson immediately
pushed on to Goshen, on foot, arriving there November 19, the
total expenses of his homeward journey, besides the supplies
•carried along, being only $9.75; an example of pluck and economy
that but few "pioneers" in any modern enterprise, w^ould be able,
or willing, to undertake to emulate.
In raising recruits for his settlement, Mr. Hudson seems to
have been exceptionally successful, and singularly fortunate.
Offering a bounty of 40 acres to the first recruit, the first party to
FIRST FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION. 815
step forward and claim the prize was Miss Ruth Gaylord — ^denom-
inated by a contemporaneous writer as "an ancient maiden" —
w^ho afterwards gave the land thus secured, to her niece, a
daughter of another of the new recruits, Elijah Noble.
The other recruits were: Heman Oviatt (grandfather of
Edward Oviatt, Esq.,) Joel Gaylord, Dr. Moses Thompson, Allen
Oaylord, Samuel Bishop and his four sons — David, Luman, Reuben
and Joseph — Stephen Perkins, Joseph and George Darrow^, and
three Vermonters named Stafford, Williams and Derrick, w^hich
with Mr. and Mrs. Hudson and their six children — Samuel, Wil-
liam N., Milo D., Ira, Timothy and Abigail L. — Mrs. Samuel Bishop,
Mrs. Elijah Noble, Miss Ruth Gaylord, Miss Ruth Bishop, and the
infant son of Mr. and Mrs. Noble, made tw^enty-eight souls in all.
Again Westward Bound. — Some time in January, 1800, Mr.
Hudson and his family, and certain of his own hired men, started
in sleighs for Bloomfield, to make preparations for the journey
w^estward in the early Spring. In addition to his own boat, w^hich
he caused to be thoroughly repaired, Mr. Hudson procured four
other boats, which he loaded Avith grains and other supplies,
including glass for the cabins built the previous Fall, and those
contemplated, garden and fruit seeds, tools, etc., the entire outlay
amounting to about $2,000. The other members of the party, hav-
ing meantime reached Broomfield, and supplied themselves with
three boats for the transportation of themselves and their effects,
the entire party started, on the 29th day of April, 1800, and on the
30th, to quote from Mr. Hudson's diary, they "cheerfully launched
out upon the great deep of Lake Ontario."
We cannot foUow^ them in all their journeyings, but after many
vicissitudes, similar to those encountered on the former trip, the
mouth of the Brandywine was reached on the 28th day of May,
one day sooner than on the former passage, all, after a few days'
delay, being safely transferred to the new settlement, where addi-
tional cabins, on chosen locations, w^ere speedily erected for their
accommodation. Before leaving Bloomtield, Mr. Hudson bought
a horse, a bull, fourteen cows and some hogs, which, with a yoke
of oxen bought by Samuel Bishop, had been placed in charge of
Elijah Noble and Luman, David and Joseph G. Bishop, to be driven
through the wilderness, which, starting a little in advance of the
^' fleet," arrived safely at the settlement about the same time.
Thanksgiving, Public Worship, Etc. — After all the members
■of the colony were together, Mr. Hudson led his people in a public
service of thanksgiving and praise to almighty God, w^ho had
brought them through "perils, seen and unsfeen," safely to their
■destination, and also took immediate measures to resume public
w^orship on the Sabbath, w^hich had been suspended during his
absence, but w^hich has since been continuously observed to the
present time. The new settlers speedily and pluckily began the
subjugation of the forest, and by indefatigable industry, in the
■clearing, seeding and cultivation of their lands, with the aid of
such game as the woods afforded, soon became self-supporting,
w^ith an ever-cheerful welcome to the new-comer, or the stranger
sojourning in their midst.
Independence Day. — Though far removed from the bloody
scenes of the Revolution, the native patriotism of the colonists
had in no sense become dormant, and on the Fourth of July, 1800,
816 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
the 24th anniversary of the National Independence, was, for the
first time, duly celebrated on the "public green," consisting of
about ten acres of land near the geographical center, which had
been wisely dedicated to the public use by the liberal-minded pro-
prietors of the township. The exercises consisted of an "anvil"
national salute; martial and vocal music; the reading of the
Declaration of Independence; an oration (by Mr. Hudson); regular
and volunteer toasts, and patriotic responses, and a sumptuous
dinner of wild turkey, venison, etc., the table being formed of poles
laid across crotched stakes, and covered with layers of elm bark;
forty-three persons, young and old — residents and invited guests —
participating; and the writer ventures the assertion that the daj'
has never since been celebrated ^^ith a greater degree of patriotic
" vim," in Hudson, or on the liberty-loving Western Reserve.
Early Births, Marriages, Deaths, Etc. — October 28, 1800,.
there was a native accession to the population of the township, in
the birth of a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Hudson — named Anner
Mary — who, on arriving at woman's estate, was on the 6th day of
October, 1817, married to the late Harvey Baldwin, with whom she
happily lived almost on the same spot where she w^as born, for
more than half a century (Mr. Baldwin dying June 12, 1880, aged
81 years, 8 months and 22 days), and where she still (Novem-
ber 1, 1891) survives, in full possession of all her faculties,
in the 92nd year of her age. Mrs. BaldAvin w^as born in Trum-
bull county, married in Portage county and no^v lives in Sum-
mit county, but has always, with one brief exception, resided
upon the same farm where she was born, a paradox readily
explained by the fact that Trumbull county, Avhen organized, in
1800, embraced the entire Western Reserve, Portage county, organ-
ized in 1807, being carved out of Trumbull, and Summit county,
in turn, organized in 1840, taking two tiers of townships,, including
Hudson, from Portage county.
Early in 1801, Governor St. Clair appointed Mr. Hudson jus-
tice of the peace, the first marriage in the township, that of George
Darrow to Olive Gaylord, being performed by him October 17, 1801,
It is related that on account of the 'Squire's inexperience in that
line, the affair was to have been strictly private, but that through
a hint dropped by his wife to a neighbor, when the 'Squire, by a
round-about way, got to the home of the bride's parents, he found
the little cabin filled with uninvited, but friendly and w^elcome
guests; Stephen Parker and Ruth Bishop, being married by the
same functionary, November 5th, of the same year. The first death
in the settlement, was that of Ira Noble, an eight-year-old son of
Elijah Noble, Tvho died of membranous croup, in August, 1800.
Wonderful Longevity. — In the Spring of 1801, a number of.
accessions were made to the colony, mostly from Goshen, Ct., and
Bloomfield, N. Y., the names of whom cannot now^ all be accurately
ascertained, though, in 1856, Rev. Caleb Pitkin published a list of
the adult pioneers immigrating into the township from 1800 to
1813 inclusive, as follows: David and Mrs. Hudson, Samuel and
Mrs. Bishop, David Bishop, Mr. and Mrs. Luman Bishop, Mr. and
Mrs. Joseph Bishop, Mr. and Mrs. Gad HoUenbeck, Joseph Darrow,
Mr. and Mrs. George Darrow, Allen Gaylord, Mr. and Mrs. Joel
Gaylord, Captain and Mrs. HemanOviatt, Deacon and Mrs. Stephen
Thompson, Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Thompson, Mr. and Mrs. Stephen
PROLIFIC AND LONG-LIVED. 817
Thompson, Jr., Dr. and Mrs. Moses Thompson, Mr. and Mrs. George
Pease, Mr. and Mrs. Eben Pease, Mr. and Mrs. William Leach,
Mr. and Mrs, George Kilbourn, Mr. and Mrs. Bradford Kellogg,
Mr. and Mrs. Amos Lusk, Mr. and Mrs. John Oviatt, Mr. and Mrs.
Owen Brown, Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Whedon, Mr. and Mrs. George
Holcomb, Mr.and Mrs. Zina Post, Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Johnson, Mr.
and Mrs. William Chamberlain, Mr. and Mrs. William Chamberlain,
Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Stone, Mr. and Mrs. Augustus Baldwin,
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Hollenbeck, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Kingsbury,
Mr. and Mrs. Elisha Ellsworth, Dr. and Mrs. Jonathan Metcalf, Mr.
and Mrs. Ariel Cobb, Mr. and Mrs. Gideon Mills, Mr. and Mrs,
Chauncey Case, 73 in all, w^ho brought with them into the town-
ship 105 children. Up to 1856 there had been' born to the 73 persons
named, since coming to the township, 211 children, making a total
of 316, or an average of nearly nine children per couple. To Mr,
Pitkin's list should properly be added, as comers to the township
previous to 1814, the following, though some of them afterwards
permanently settled in other localities: — Benjamin Oviatt, John
Birge, James Newton, Rev. , David Bacon, Zina Post, Christian
Cackler, Jonathan Williams, Dudley Humphrey, Rev. John Seward,
and perhaps others whose names are not now ascertainable. All
of the adults have probably long since passed away, as well as
most of the children who came with them, though many of the
native-born children of the original pioneers still linger, while a
large number of their descendants are yet to be found among the
sturdy and thrifty inhabitants of the township.
Mr. Pitkin's statistics, compiled in 1856, show that of the 41 of
the 73 pioneers named, who had died within the intervening 56
years, one lived to the age of 90; five, 80 to 90; fifteen, 70 to 80; live,
60 to 70; eight, 50 to 60; seven, 33 to 50; and of the 32 then living,
ten were in their 80th, nine, 60th to 70th, three-fifths of the whole
number having lived beyond the age of 70 years, w^hile quite a
number of the 32 then alive, were permitted to live several years
thereafter. Up to 1856, five of the pioneer couples named had
lived together 55, 56, 60, 62 and 75 years, respectivel3^ vv^hile several
others had very nearly reached their golden anniversaries; a con-
dition of longevity and of connubial intercourse, that few^ of the
townships of the countj^ or country can surpass, or even equal,
either in ancient or modern times.
Organization of Township. — Aside from the judicial authority
of Justice Hudson, by appointment of Governor St. Clair, early in
1801, Hudson w^as without legal organization until the Spring of
1802, when, by the action of the commissioners of Trumbull county,
in connection with Stow, Boston, Twinsburg, Aurora and Mantua,
it was set off as a tow^nship under the general name of Hudson.
The first election was held at the house of 'Squire Hudson, April
5, twenty efectors being present, Mr. Hudson being chairman.
The officers then elected w^ere as follows: Trustees, Heman
Oviatt and Abraham Thompson, of Hudson, and Ebenezer Sheldon,
of Aurora; clerk, Thaddeus Lacey, of Hudson; poormasters, Elias
Harmon, of Aurora, and Samuel Bishop, of Hudson; fence viewers,
Aaron Norton, John Oviatt and Jotham Atwater; appraisers' of
houses, JohnGaylord and Elias Harmon; supervisors of highw^ays,
George Kilbourn, Moses Pond and Moses Thompson; constables,.
Ebenezer Lester, Aaron Norton and Rufus Edwards.
62
818
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
HARVEY BALDWIN.
MRS. HARVEY BALDWIN.
HARVEY BALDWIN— son of Stephen Baldwin, born in Goshen, Connecti-
cut, Septetnber 17, 1798 ; coninion school education ; in 1814 came to
Hudson, clerking- in store of his brothers, Augustus and Frederick, about
three years ; October 6, 1817, was married to Miss Anner Mary Hudson,
daug-hter of Deacon David Hudson, born October 28, 18(X). and the first white
child born in what is now Summit county. The young couple settled on a
farm two and a half miles northwest of the center, where they remained tw^o
or three years, when, at Mr. Hudson's request, they returned to the hofne
farm, where they ever after resided. Mr. Baldwin thoroughly identified
himself with the business and educational interests of the township and
village, co-operating with, and, as his successor, fully carrj'ing- out Mr.
Hudson's benefactions in educational, church and other public enterprises,
being a trustee of Western Reserve College for over forty years. Mr. and
Mrs. Baldwin were the parents of four children — Anna Norton, born October
17, 1818, died December 13, 1825 ; Harriet Maria, born September 3, 1824, died
January 20, 1841 ; Clarissa Miriam, born October 27, 1830 (married to Professor
Edwin S. Gregory, July 28, 1852, and now residing- upon a portion of the old
home farm), and Lucy Susanna, born October 8, 1843, and died August 12,
1860. Mr. Baldwin died June 12, 1880, in full possession of his mental facul-
ties, at the age of 81 years, 8 months and 25 days. Mrs. Baldwin still occupies
the paternal domicile, with sufficient mental and physical vigor to manage
her household affairs, her 90th birthday, October 28, 1890, having been
publicly celebrated by the good people of Hudson and a large number of
invited guests, and, as this chapter goes to press (October 27, 1891), still
tranquil and happy, is on the eve of celebrating her 91st anniversary.
Indian Fxperiences, Etc. — It should be borne in mind that at
the time the first white settlers came to Hudson, the Indians were
in full possession of all the territory w^est of the Cuyahoga river,
w^hich was not ceded to the United States until 1805, and that
quite a sprinkling of the red-skins still lingered w^ithin the terri-
tory east of the river, which had been ceded in 1785. Thus, much
tact and skill had to be exercised by the leading men in the new-
settlement, to secure and. maintain peace and harmony between
the tw^o races. This, largely through the liberality and fairness of
INDIAN AND WILD BEAST TRADITIONS. 819
Mr. Hudson and the fearless good sense of Mrs. Hudson, was
pretty generally maintained, though some turbulent and alarming
episodes — chiefly caused by fire-v^^ater — would occasionally occur.
After the shooting of Daniel Diver, in Deeriield, in the Winter
of 1806-7, elsewhere written of, the course of the fleeing Indians
was through Hudson, tw^o of Hudson's earliest settlers — George
Darrow and Jonathan Williams — joining in the pursuit, the latter
shooting and killing the Indian, Nickshaw, in the present township
of Richlield, and it was largely through the influence of Deacon
Hudson and Captain Heman Oviatt, that a general Indian war
w^as averted at that time. It is related that a troublesome Indian
called George Wilson, delighted — especially w^hen under the influ-
ence of whisky — to frighten the white ^vomen and children, when
found alone in their cabins, and that upon one occasion, after one
of his customar}'^ ugly visits to the house of Mrs. Newell, living in
the southwest corner of the township, Williams followed him and
shot him dead in his tracks, sinking his body, rifle, etc.; in the
mucky .bottom of Mud Brook. Other similar exploits are attrib-
uted to Williams, both in Hudson, Stow and Northampton
traditions, some of which may have a modicum of fact to rest
upon, but are too vague to be recorded here as a matter of bona
fide history.
Bears, w^olves, deer, turke3^s and other wild animals and game
w^ere, as in all the neighboring townships, abundant in Hudson in
those days, and many stories are extant of frightful collisions
between some of the pioneer settlers and the two animals first
named; one being that Governor Samuel Huntington, while riding
through the w^oods from Tinker's Creek to Hudson, one evening
after dark, was chased by a pack of wolves, which he kept at bay
with his riding whip and umbrella, until, in nearly an exhausted
condition, he finally reached the house of Colonel John Oviatt, in
Hudson, about 9 o'clock at night; another that Elisha Noble,
soon after leaving the house of Colonel Oviatt, one day, for his
ovv^n cabin in the w^est part of the township, encountered a huge
bear, w^ho grappled Avith him, and would undoubtedly have
squeezed the life out of him, but for the timely arrival of Colonel
Oviatt, "who heard his screams, and whose gun and ax soon caused
bruin to relax his grip on Noble, and his .own hold on life; Mrs.
Oviatt, herself, also, on one occasion, while returning from a distant
neighbor's in the dusk of the evening, being chased by wolves,
whose speed she checked by dropping pieces of dried venison,
which had been given her by her neighbor, until her husband
hearing her screams, came to her relief with a brand of fire and
his trusty rifle.
Among many other pioneer reminiscences extant among the
good people of Hudson, is the following: Little Luna Pease,
seven years old, started from her uncle Benjamin Oviatt's on a
narrow trail through the forest, to go to her uncle Richard Croy's,
veith whom she lived, some three miles distant. Losing the trail,
she became lost in the w^oods, and night coming on she lay dow^n
beside a log, and during the darkness some wild animal came and
after smelling of her a few^ minutes, left her unmolested, Luna,
young as she w^as, having the presence of mind to lie perfectly
still. As soon as she was missed, searching parties \srere organ-
ized, provided with tin horns, to signal each other. Her uncle
8*40 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Croy's party first discovered her some time during the next day^
by which time she had become so wild that she fled from them
like a frightened deer, but w^as soon overtaken. Signaling the
others, the entire party repaired to the village, where there ^vas
very hearty rejoicing over the recovery of the lost child, which
child, now^ Mrs. John Ramsey, is still living in Collamer, nearly
80 years of age.
Religion, Churches, Etc. — As we have seen, on his arrival
in his ne^v township, to which his co-proprietors insisted his own
name should be given, Mr. Hudson iinmediately established
religious services, both private and public, and, in 1802, in connec-
tion w^ith Deacon Stephen Thompson and Captain Heman Oviatt^
he took measures for the organization of a church in the ne\sr
settlement, of w^hich Mr. Hudson himself was very properly
elected one of the deacons — whence came the title by which
Hudson's founder has been known to the present time.
But, while strict in the observance of his own notions of
religious duty, both private and public, unlike the chief agent in
the settlement of Tallmadge — Rev. David Bacon — he did not,
either by w^ritten or oral stipulations, seek to compel his associates,
or subordinates, to adopt his ow^n peculiar theological dogmas, but
rather sought to mould them to his views, by the force of his
example and the logic of his " daily walk and conversation."
Thus, while embracing the very first opportunity of a visit to-
the* Reserve, of a representative of the Connecticut Missionary
Society — Rev. Joseph Badger — in 1802, Mr. Hudson entered zeal-
ously into the project of establishing a church in his new^ township
upon the principles of his own religious faith — Congregationalism
— he accorded to his fellow^ pioneers the utmost freedom to give or
w^ithhold their support, or to work in such other directions as their
consciences and inclinations might dictate.
The first church, therefore, to be organized in the township,
w^as essentially Congregational, though for a time amenable to the
Grand River Presbytery — afterw^ards coming under the jurisdic-
tion of the Portage Presbytery — the organization being effected
September 4, 1802, with 13 communicants, as follows: Mr. Hud-
son, Stephen Thompson and Mary, his wife; Abraham Thompson
and Susanna, his w^ife; George Kilbourn and Almira, his wife;
Stephen Thompson, Jr., and Abigail, his wife; Heman Oviatt and
Lucy, his wife Hannah Lindley and Amos Ivusk; the eleven first
named having been members of the Congregational church in
Goshen, Conn., and the tw^o latter of the church at Bloomfield,.
New Yoxk.
The society for many years depended for such occasional
preaching as they enjoyed, upon the ministrations of Mr. Badger
and other missionaries. Rev. David Bacon, after being recalled
from the missionary field at Detroit, and before the inauguration of
his Utopian scheme for the settlement of Tallmadge, in 1807, as
elsewhere set forth, being, under an arrangement Avith a Connect-
icut Missionary Society, a regular supply for tw^o or three years.
Thus, sometimes w^ith, and sometimes without preaching, but
w^ithout omitting Avorship for a single Sabbath, the society grad-
ually increased, so that on the installment of the first regular
pastor, Rev. William Hanford (uncle of W. L. Hanford, of Stow^
and W. A. Hanford, of Akron), August 17, 1815, there were 27
RELIGIOUS AND CHURCH MATTERS.
821
<:oiTiniutiicatits, with quite a large society membership and congre-
gation. Mr. Hanford ministered to the congregation until 1831,
bidding to the church, in the 16 years of his pastorate, 133 members,
the successive pastors of the church being Rev. Amri Nichols,
July to December, 1832; Rev. Giles Doolittle, 1832-40; Rev. Josiah
Town, July to October, 1840; Rev. Mason Grosvenor, 1840-43; Rev.
William Hanford, 1843; Rev. John C. Hart, 1844-52; Rev. N. Bar-
rett, 1853-58; Rev. George Darling. 1858-74; Rev. E. W. Root, 1874-
76; Rev. J. Towle, 1876; Rev. T. G. Gardner, 1876-85; Rev. A. B.
■Cristy, February 7, 1886 until his resignation, January 18, 1891.
Present pastor (October, 1891), Rev. A. Carroll ; membership, 264.
DR. MOSES THOMPSON,— born in
Goshen, Connecticut, January
"22. 177(> ; liberal education, including'
t<tuci y of medicine ; December 22, 1797,
married to Miss Elizabeth Mills,
immediately moving- to Kinderhook,
New York ; practiced medicine there
until Spring- of 1800, when he came to
Ohio, with Summit county's first
settler, David Hudson, purchasing
for himself, his father. Deacon
Stephen Thompson, and his brothers,
Abraham and Stephen, 750 acres of
land in Hudson ; in Summer of 1800,
went back to Connecticut on foot,
walking 6.50 miles in twelve daj^s ; in
Spring of 1801, returned to Ohio with
^vife and one child, settling on farm
two miles southwest of center of
HiKJson, where he afterwards resided,
luitil his death, from an accident,
November 20, 1^58, at the age of 82
years, 9 months and 28 days. Dr.
Thompson was the first practitioner
in what is now Portage and Summit
•counties, his ride extending- from
Lake Erie south nearly fifty miles.
During the War of 1812, Dr. Thomp-
son served as surgeon in the arni}^ ;
at cl<:»se of the war engaged in raising
4ind selling agricultural products in
in Southern markets, Louisville,
Nashville. Hiintsville, etc. Mrs.
Thompson shared with her husband
the hardships and privations of pio-
neer life, both heartily promoting the
religious, educational and material
<^nterprises of the time, Mrs. Thomp-
DR. MOSES THOMPSON.
son, a member of the Congregational
Church of Hudson, from 1808, d3dng
November 20, 18.50. Their children
were: Eliza Leinira, wife of Horace
Metcalf, deceased ; Susan, wife of
Horace Holbrook, deceased; Mills,
deceased; Emily, widow of Samuel
Woods, deceased; Sylvester H.,
deceased ; Virgil M., a prosperous
farmer in Slow ; Ruth B., wife of
Leander Starr, deceased ; Mary, wife
of John Hazelton, deceased ; Martha,
died at 22 ; Elizabeth, unmarried, yet
living, and two dying in infancy.
Early Church Structures. — The early religious services of
the township were held at private residences and in school houses,
but about 1817, the question of building a church began to be
mooted, resulting a year or two later in the completion of a small
frame edifice on the west side of the green, under the name and
style of the "Union Church," free to any denomination that might
desire to worship in it. This sort of free and easy religious
partnership did not comport with the strictly orthodox notions of
Deacon Hudson, Captain Oviatt and other members of the Congre-
gational Society, and in 1818 that organization began building for
themselves on the site now occupied b}^ the Town Hall; the house,
<?osting about $5,(KX), being dedicated in March, 1820. As, with all
822 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
church structures of New Eusfland, at that day, there was, for
many years, no provision whatever for warming the building, with
its bare floor and bare seats, the congregation depending altogether
upon the foot-stoves carried from home, and upon the fervent
heat of the discourse to keep them warm during the "firstly to the
fifteenthly and lastly" elongated sermons in vogue in that early
day. What would the lady church-goer (or the gentleman either)
of the present day think of sitting two mortal hours, w^ith the
thermometer below zero, even in one of the comfortably cushioned
and carpeted, but unwarmed, churches of the present day?
This building was used by the congregation until the comple-
tion of their present handsome and comfortable brick edifice, on
Aurora street, in 1865, when it w^as sold to private parties and con-
verted into a public hall, for which purpose it was used until 1878,
w^hen it gave place to the town hall as already named. The Free
Church edifice, after promiscuous general use for several years,,
was also sold to private parties and relegated to secular business
purposes.
Other Denominations. — In 1828, a Methodist Episcopal church
w^as organized, among its early members being Daniel Gaylord,.
Perley Mansur, Moses Draper, and their respective wives, the
society, at first, using the Union Church structure above spoken
of, their present building on Aurora street, having been erected in
1836. Though for several years maintaining a fair standing as to
members and influence, removals and deaths have so depleted its
membership that pastoral appointments by conference have some-
times either been omitted or made jointly wdth neighboring
charges, the present pastor (October 1891) being Rev. E. J. Smiths
Present membership about 30 and church free from debt.
In 1840, measures were taken by Frederick Brown, Henry
O'Brien and others of that faith, looking to the organization of a
Protestant Episcopal church in Hudson, Rev. T. B. Fairchild and
other ministers of the North-west Convocation, holding regular
Sabbath services in the other churches, public halls, the academy
building, etc., until the erection of their present elegant church
structure on Aurora street, in 1846. Thirty-seven names, among
whom Anson A. Brewster, Dr. Israel Town, Arthur Sadler, Freder-
ick Brown and Henry O'Brien, were subscribers to the original
document for forming the "Parish of Christ Church of Hudson,
O.," and the church was duly organized July 11, 1842; Rev. Alanson
Phelps being the rector of the church, at the time of the dedication
of the new edifice by Bishop Mcllvaine, in April, 1846. The church
tower is equipped with a fine bell, the gift of Mr. D. H. Arnold, of
New York, and a town clock, the gift of the late Anson A. Brewster^
of Hudson; and the interior, besides its general elegant furnishings,
provided with a fine-toned church organ, arid a Sabbath School
cabinet organ. Rev. S. W. Garrett officiated as rector of the church
from October 1, 1874, to December 12, 1887, a period of over thirteejj
years, resigning the pastorate to go to Canon City, Colorado, being
followed November 1, 1888, by Rev. James A. Brown, for about twa
years. The parish is now without a rector, lay services, by direction
of the bishop, being conducted by Mr. W. H. Lewis. The present
membership of Christ Church is about 70.
Catholicism, also, has obtained quite a foothold in Hudson
and vicinity within the past 30 years, their house of worship, St.
Hudson's educational matters.
823
Mary's Church, on Railroad street, having been built in 1858,
though additions and improvements have been made upon it from
time to time, as the necessities of the congregation seemed to
demand. The present pastor is Rev, J. B. Dogherty, who is also
pastor of the Cuyahoga Falls and Peninsula congregations, the
church at Hudson embracing about 40 families, or an aggregate
of about 200 souls. ^
The Disciples of Christ, organized in June, 1890, now has a
membership of about 45, with Rev. F. H. Moore as pastor, the
society now^ being about to erect a house of worship on the east
side of North Main street.
DOCTOR JONATHAN METCALF,
— born in Lebanon, Connecticut,
June 26, 1787 ; educated in common
schools, at family school of Rev. Dr.
Nott, Franklin, Connecticut, and at
Colchester Academy; studied medi-
cine three years with Dr. Bass, in
Middlebury, Vermont, with two
courses of lectures in medical depart-
ment of Dartinouth Colleg'e ; in
Spring- of 1812, started west, on horse-
back, locating in Hudson, June 12, of
that year, his medical practice
extending- over many of the sur-
rounding townships, without roads
or bridges, involving exposure,
danger and fatigue, wholly unknown
to the profession of the present day.
In 1813, Dr. Metcalf bought 290 acres
of land, one mile east of the center,
building a comfortable log^-house
thereon. December 26, 1814, was mar-
ried to Miss Abigail L. Root, of
Aurora, who bore him five daughters
— Harriet, married to Rev. James
Shaw, born in 1817, died in 1850; Caro-
line, married to Rev. T. H. Barr, born
in 1819, died in 1889.; Catharine, mar-
ried to R. G. Perry, born in 1822, died
in 18.t8; yiary, now wife of Rev. E.
ChCvSter, of Clifton Springs, born in
1825, and Emily E., born in 1831, for
15 years principal of Hudson Ladies'
Seminary, and still residing in Hud-
DOCTOR JOMATHAX METCALF.
son. Of rare intellectual endow-
ments, Dr. and Mrs. Metcalf gave a
hearty support to all of the educa-
tional, religious and benevolent
enterprises of their day and genera-
tion ; the former dying- July 30, 1869,
and the latter November 27, 1870.
Educational Matters. — Hudson has been a prominent factor
in the educational development, not only of the Western Reserv^e,
but largely of the entire Western country. Its history in that
regard has heretofore been so fully written up, that the briefest
outline only will be here attempted.
The first school in Hudson was taught by Mr. George Pease,
from Enfield, Conn., in 1801, in a small log school house, on the
green, nearly opposite the present store of Mr. C. H. Buss, some of
his more immediate successors being Miss Patty Field, Miss Amy
Cannon, Titus Wetmore, Martha Filer, Benjamin Whedon, etc.;
other schools than the one named being started from time to
time, in convenient localities, as the population increased; the
trustees, in 1825, dividing the township into five districts, denomi-
nated, respectively, the central, northeast, southeast, northw^est
and southwest; the central district being divided in 1838, and three
824 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
other districts created, making in all nine districts in the town-
ship. In 1855 the tAvo central districts were consolidated, under
the graded school system now^ in vogue, a high school department
being added and a commodious high school building erected in
1868.
In the meantime, however, in addition to the College enter-
prise t© be treated of further on, a number of private seminary-
enterprises had been inaugurated, ^rith varying degrees of suc-
cess; Mrs. Nutting (wife of Professor Nutting of the College)
opening a school for young ladies in 1827; her immediate suc-
cessors being Miss Kggleston, of New York; and Miss Upham. In
1834 an academy for both boys and girls, was opened by Mr. H. H.
Gross, on Aurora street, the brick building erected by Mr. Gross,
being afterwards purchased by a stock company, and, under the
title of Hudson Academy, furnished, free of rent, to such teachers
as were willing to depend upon tuition receipts for their compen-
sation. Successive teachers in this school were Miss Smith, Miss
Bunice Town, ]>^iss Rebecca H. Dana and Miss Mary Strong, the
latter erecting a new building on Main stret, in 1845, which she
christened the "Hudson Female Seminary." Contemporaneous
^with this vi^as the "Hudson Young Ladies' Seminary," by Rev.
Mason Grosvenor and his sister Mary; and the "Seminary for
Ladies," by Rev. A. Phelps, the two former being boarding schools;
Mr. and Mrs. Skinner, from Massachusetts, succeeding Mr. and
Miss Grosvenor and a Miss Deven acting as principal of Mr.
Phelps' school. Though pursued with commendable vigor, these
several competing enterprises proved unremunerative, and grad-
ually subsided.
In 1853, Mr. J. W. Smith fitted up and furnished a suite of
rooms in the " Pentagon," and employed Miss Klizabeth Burt, a
graduate of Mount Holyoke Seminary, as principal, the school
being reasonably successful, until the general business collapse of
1855, '56, w^hen it was discontinued. The old "Hudson Female
Seminary" was then refitted by an association of citizens, and
another graduate of Mount Holyoke, Miss Everett, employed as
principal. This effort did not prove successful, and in 1860 Miss
Emily E. Metcalf, of Hudson, assumed control, after-wards purchas-
ing the property, and by her enterprise and good management,
conducted the school w^ith fair pecuniary returns for some twelve
or thirteen years. Rev. H. B. Hosford and daughters, about 1874,
reviving the academy for a single year, only.
WESTERN RESERVE COLLEGE.
Western Reserve College was the outgrowth of the profound
religious sentiment and educational aspirations of the earlier
settlers of the eastern townships and counties of the Connecticut
Western Reserve. As early as 1801, Rev. Joseph Badger, and
sixteen other gentlemen of Cleveland, Hudson, Ravenna, Warren,
Youngstown, etc., presented a petition to the Territorial Legisla-
ture, for a college charter, in which David Hudson's name headed
the list of the incorporators. But for some reason not now^ appar-
ent, the prayer of the petitioners w^as not granted.
Ekie Literary Institute. — At the first session of the State
Legislature, however, in the Spring of 1803, an act was passed
incorporating tVie "Erie Literary Institute," Mr. Hudson's name
WESTERN RESERVE COLLEGE.
*825
heading the list, and Mr. Badger's name also being among the
incorporators. Trumbull county then embraced the entire
Reserve, and after several meetings of the trustees, provided by
the charter, the institution was located at Burton, now in Geauga
county, and a suitable house erected and duly equipped with
teachers, in 1805. The burning of this building, in 1810, suspended
operations, until after the War of 1812, the institution finally
resuming operations in a new building, in 1820, which, under the
•management of Professor David L. Coe, a graduate of Williams
■College, and his successors, maintained a fair standing until 1834,
when, through a combination of untoward circumstances, it
ceased to exist.
REV. CALEB PITKIN. -born in
New Hartford, Connecticut, Feb-
ruary 27, 1781 ; graduated at Yale
CoUeg'e in 1806; studied theology
with Rev. Asahel Hooker, of Goshen,
Connecticut, and ordained as minis-
ter of Milford Congregational
Church, March 6, 1808; removed to
Ohio as a missionary in 1816, and
installed as pastor of Charlestown
(Portage county) Church, in April,
1817 ; was one of the founders of
Western Reserve College, and for
many years president of the board of
trustees, removing to Hudson, where
he resided until his death, February
5, 1864. at the age of 82 years, 11
months and 8 days. June 15, 1807, Mr.
Pitkin was married to Miss Anna
Henderson, of Milford, Connecticut,
who died in Akron, Decetnber 6, 1882,
at the age of 98 years, 3 months and
11 days. Their children were -Mara
N. (Mrs. Rev. Charles M. Preston),
born June 10, 1808. died July 14, 1839;
Stephen H. (afterwards probate judge
of Summit county), born October 5,
1810, died February 25, 1882 ; Caleb J.
(Presbyterian minister), born Decem-
KEV. CALEB PITKIN.
ber 4, 1812, died May 19, 1887 ; James,
born March 12, 1815, now deceased,
and Julia L. (Mrs. Lucian Case), born
February 27, 1818, died September 24,
1849.
Theology as Well as Literature. — Meantime, in 1817, the
Presbyterian and Congregational churches of the Reserve
had organized a "Society for the education of indigent pious
young men for the ministry," and an arrangement was made w^ith
the Burton school for them to study there; a joint committee from
the several presbyteries interested, reporting in favor of establish-
ing the "I^iterary and Theological Institute" which had been
resolved upon, at Burton, under the charter of the " Erie Literary
Institute," upon certain conditions to be accepted by that institu-
tion, Avhich were acceded to, and the theological school duly
launched. This arrangement continued only about two years,
the managers becoming convinced that such an institution as they
desired could not be maintained at Burton. Commissioners were
appointed by the Grand Kiver, Portage and Huron presbyteries,
to select a location, taking into consideration all the points con-
nected with the several competing localities — character of inhabi-
tants, healthfulness, accessibility, contributions, etc.
826' AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Propositions ^vere submitted from Hudson, Cleveland, Burton^
Buclid, Aurora, and perhaps other points, and after several meet-
ings, and considerable discussion, the decision was made in favor
of Hudson. The then munificent sum of $7,150 was subscribed by
the people of Hudson, to secure the location of the institution to
that town, of which amount Mr. Hudson, himself, contributed over
$2,000, besided donating 160 acres of land to secure the location of
the college buildings, v^here they were afterwards erected, rather
than have them placed in what he regarded as a less favorable
locality, south of the village.
New Charter Granted. — ^A petition, numerously signed^
setting forth the objects sought to be attained by the proposed
new educational institution, presented to the Legislature in the
Winter of 1825, '26, was vigorously opposed by certain anti-ortho-
dox members of that body, on account of its theological character.
This opposition, with perhaps some modifications of the original
draft, was finally overcome and the act of incorporation duly
passed on the 27th day of February, 1826. The first board of
trustees, under the charter, were: David Hudson, Elizur Wright,.
Joshua Bradford Sherv^ood, Rev. John Seward, Rev. Caleb Pitkin,
Henry Brown, Rev. Simeon Woodruff, Zalmon Fitch, Rev, Benja-
min Fenn, Harmon Kingsbury, George Swift, Rev. Stephen
Ingalls Bradstreet and Rev. Harvey Coe. The board organized on
the first day of March, 1826, by electing Rev. Caleb Pitkin presi-
dent; Rev. John Seward vice president; Rev. ♦William Hanford
secretary, and Benjamin Whedon treasurer.
This was the fifth college charter granted in the State, not
counting the Erie Literary Institute, at Burton. The board not
only took, immediate and vigorous measures for the erection of
a suitable building, but also for the organization of classes, admis-
sion of students, etc, Mr. David L. Coe, late principal of the
Burton school, then in charge of the academy at Tallmadge, wa»
appointed tutor pro tern, for the examination of applicants. Orrin
Cook Thompson, Charles Merriman Preston, Ellery Bascom and
Joseph Welch Barr, were admitted to thefreshnaan class in Decem-
ber, 1826; the first regular tutor, appointed in 1827, being Ephraim
T. Sturtevant, a graduate of Yale College, afterwards, for many
years, principal of a select classical school in Tallmadge.
Laying the Corner Stone. — The foundation of the first col-
lege building was pushed with such vigor by the contractor, Captain
Heman Oviatt, that the corner stone w^as laid on the 26th day of
April, 1826, in the presence of a large crow^d of people, and with
imposing ceremonies by the Masonic Fraternity, the president of
the Board of Trustees, Rev. Caleb Pitkin, delivering the oration in
Latin. In the cavity of this corner-stone was deposited a metallic
plate bearing upon one side the names of the president and secre-
tary of the board of trustees, and on the other the name of the
grand master, by whom it \sras laid, date, etc.; one copy each of the
Religious Intelligencer, Pittsburg Recorder, Masonic Register^
and of the principal papers then published on the Western Reserve,
together v^ith a brief history of the rise and progress of the insti-
tution, and a hymn, written for the occasion, by Mr. Asaph Whit-
tlesey, of Tallmadge. Though of no special monetary value, dur-
ing the succeeding night the stone was robbed of its contents,
which were never replaced. The trustees and building committee
MANUAL LABOR A FAILURE.
827
-were beset with innumerable hindrances — scarcity of money,
difficulty in collecting subscriptions to the building fund, etc., so
that the building — what has since been known as "Middle College"
— was not ready for occupation until August, 1827.
College Government. — ^The first president of the college was
Rev. Charles Backus Storrs, a native of Longmeadow, Mass.
Though profoundly learned, Mr. Storrs was not a college graduate,
but, while preaching in Ravenna, had, in 1829, been called to the
chair of sacred theology, which he filled so acceptably that in
August, 1830, he was unanimously elected to the presidency of the
college. At that time the financial management was mainly in
the hands of Rev. Caleb Pitkin, president of the Board of Trustees,
and the administration of President Storrs, so far as the educa-
tional interests of the college were concerned, would have proved a
grand success, but for certain disturbing elements that were per-
mitted, by the managers and faculty, to creep in.
FREDERICK BALDWIN, — fourth
son of Stephen and Susannah
Baldwin, born at Goshen,Connecticut,
March 17, 1794 ; educated in Goshen
district schools ; at 18, with his elder
brother, Axtgustus, came to Hudson,
arriving- June 12, 1812, bringing with
them a wagon load of goods, and
opening the second store in the town-
ship, under the firm name of A. Bald-
win & Brother, Frederick continuing
the business vintil about 1814, -when
he went into the cattle business on
his farm, south of the center, where
he resided untii his death, July 12,
1880. February 12. 1828, Mr. Baldwin
was married to Miss Saloma W.
Brownson, of Winchester, Connecti-
cut, who bore him two children —
Maria Louisa, who died in infancy,
November 9, 1836, and Caroline A.,
born Deceinber 17, 1841, now the wife
of Mr. Perr}^ H. Babcock, formerly of
Ravenna, now residing in Cleveland.
United in life for over 52 years, Mr.
and Mrs. Baldwin were not long sepa-
rated in death. Mrs. Baldwin dying-
May 1(), 1881. Frederick Baldwin was
FREDERICK BALDWIN.
well known as in everj^ respect a just
and honorable man, and honored
most by those who luost intimately
knew him.
Manual Labor Introduced. — At that time, so-called manual
labor schools were largely in vogue, by w^hich indigent young
men, desiring an education, could, by working a certain number of
hours per day, pay their board, tuition fees, etc. Unfortunately,
the managers of the college adopted this hobby, not only permit-
ting those who desired to do so, but requiring of all students a
given amount of work (two hours per day) on the ground of pro-
moting their physical as well as their mental development.
To this end a wagon-shop, a carpenter shop, a cooper-shop and
a farm, with tools, machinery, superintendents, etc., w^ere provided
at considerable expense. At first, while the novelty Tvas on, the
thing worked smoothly enough; but it was soon discovered
that a good many of the students (like a good many outsiders),,
w^ere disinclined to manual labor — -duties were shirked, rules were
S28 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
evaded, exemptions were obtained, jealousies aroused, caste dis-
tinctions engendered, and the general interests of the college
interfered w^ith, and iafter a few years of friction and dissatisfac-
tion the project was abandoned.
The Slavery Question. — But the most disastrous cause of
dissension in college circles, about this time, w^as the agitation of
the slavery question. President Storrs, and several of the profes-
sors, as w^ell as quite a number of the students, had not only
adopted extreme Abolition views, but engaged earnestly in the
discussion of the question, in the class-room, in fraternity meet-
ings and in public lectures, both in Hudson and elsewhere. Others
of the faculty and students, taking the opposite ground, and the
Board of Managers also being divided upon the question, not so
much, perhaps, in principle, as in regard to the propriety of its
agitation in an institution open alike to Abolitionists, Coloniza-
tionists and Slaveholders, a majority of the Board finally passed a
resolution against the innovation.
These discussions, with attendant criminations and recrimi-
nations, participated in by the people of Hudson, generally, and
the hitherto w^arm friends of the college, elsewhere, tended to
promote w^ithdra^vals, prevent accessions, diminish subscriptions,
donations and endow^ments, and to greatly retard its usefulness
and prosperity; (anti-slavery people believing, from the action of
the Board, that the institution w^as pro-slavery in sentiment and
purpose; and pro-slavery people believing from the utterances of
the president and other members of the faculty and students,
that it was thoroughly anti-slavery in its aims and tendencies);
in fact, with the death of President Storrs at this time (Septem-
ber 15, 1833), and the resignation of several of the professors, entirely
broke up the faculty.
An Historic Guide-Post. — Ohio was at that time — in the early
and middle thirties — decidedly pro-slavery in sentiment, with cer-
tain rare exceptions, like Hudson, Tallmadge, and perhaps a few-
other towns on the Western Reserve, and in most places it ^vas
quite riskj^ for an anti-slavery man to appear upon the rostrum as
a lecturer upon that subject. Thus, towns suspected of the taint
of Abolitionism, were largely held in contempt by the outside
"world, and made the butt of many unkind remarks, practical
jokes, etc.
In the early Spring of 1835, the writer paid his first visit to
Ohio, sojourning for several weeks in Aurora, with his friend,
Colonel Artemas W. Stocking, afterwards for many years a citizen
of Painesville. Colonel Stocking w^as a carriage-maker by trade,
but did such occasional jobs of painting, sign-writing, etc., as the
neighborhood required. One of the township trustees was talking
Avith the Colonel, one day, about placing guide-posts, at the several
road crossings of the town. Aurora, at that time, -was largely pro-
slavery in sentiment, and the w^riter, having spent the previous
year and a half in the South, had also become somewhat impreg-
nated with slave-holding notions. Hudson having often been
spoken of as a rabid abolition tow^n, the writer being something of
an "artist," in connection w^ith Colonel Stocking's younger brother,
■"Sam," also quite a "genius," proposed to the trustee to get up a
guide-board for the diagonal road to Hudson, free of expense, if he
Avould permit us to carry out the little design we had concocted,
PRESIDENT PIERCE S ADMINISTRATION,
82^
which he assented to. We accordingly built a strong, heavily-
banded and cleated board, about three feet square, upon which,
on a white back-ground, we painted the bust of a stalwart young
negro, with expanded optics, broad nostrils, and protruding lips,
his broad grin disclosing a couple of rows of ivory teeth, and with
the index finger of his right hand pointing in the proper direction,
saying : J|@°"' Dis de road to Hudson ! "
Bolting this board firmly to a solid oak post, aided by the
numerous "Young America" of the neighborhood, we planted it on
the south angle of the road in question. We had supposed that
the anti-slavery people would take umbrage at it, and take meas-
ures for its summary removal, but they seemed to enjoy the joke^
as well as their pro-slavery neighbors, and the Aurora-Hudson
guide-board remained standing for many years, eliciting many a
guffaw from the passing traveler, and attaining almost a State-
wide notoriety.
HON. SYLVESTER H. THOMP-
SON,—won of Dr. Moses and
Elizabeth (Mills) Thompson, among-
the very earliest settlers of Summit
county, was born in Hudson, July 28,
1808 ; educated in pioneer district
schools ; raised to farm life, at 22
began farming for himself ; May 14,
1833, was married to Caroline D. Peck,
of Waterbury, Connecticut, who bore
him seven children — Charles S.,
deceased ; Sherman P., now^ a pros-
perous farmer of Htidson ; Martha
E., now Mrs. P. G. Clark, of East
Cleveland ; Theodore F., now a prom-
inent dealer in carriages, implements,
etc., in Ravenna ; Albert S., carpenter
and builder in Cleveland ; two dying-
in infancy. Active in all public
affairs, he held many positions of
trust in his native township, resign-
ing the office of justice of the peace
to accept the appointment of asso-
ciate judge of Summit county, on the
resignation of his old neighbor,
Judge John B. Clark, in 1846, which
office he ably filled till the taking-
effect of the new constitution in
February, 1852; in 1859 was elected
representative to the State Legisla-
ture, serving two 5'ear8 ; in 1864, was
HON. SYLVESTER H. THOMPSON.
appointed oominissioner ; was con-
nected with City National Bank of
Akron, and its president thirteen
years. Mrs. Thompson died Novem-
ber 23, 1876, the Judge himself dying-
January 15, 1883, aged 74 j^ears, 5
months and 17 daj'S.
Reorganization, New President, Etc. — For a full year, after the
culmination of these dissensions, the college was w^ithout a proper
head, though the management had become so far harmonized as
to provide instruction for the several classes, and gradually fill the
chairs made vacant by the resignation of the professors, as above
stated. In March, 1834, Rev. George E. Pierce, a graduate of Yale
and of Andover Theological Colleges, then the successful pastor of
the Congregational Church of Harwinton, Conn., was elected pres-
ident, but not inaugurated until commencement of that year..
President Pierce, in addition to being a fine scholar, and an
able preacher, wras a man of large stature, commanding presence,
and untiring energy. Hitherto, the financial affairs of the college
830 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
had been largely, if not wholly, under the control of the Board of
Managers or Trustees. But President Pierce immediately entered
upon the work, by personal effort, of increasing the endowments
and enlarging the facilities of the college — erecting new buildings,
creating new^ professorships, increasing the apparatus, library and
cabinets, elevating the standard of scholarships, etc.. so that in
two or three years, the effects of the late "onpleasantnesses" began
to disappear, and the college entered upon a new era of efficiency
and prosperity ; by an amendment to the charter a Medical Depart-
ment being established, at Cleveland, in 1844.
Prosperity, Adversity, Etc. — Our limited space will not permit
us to minutely follow the fortunes and misfortunes of the college,
through the twent3^-one years of President Pierce's administration.
The first ten years had been decidedly auspicious and prosperous,
both in attendance, efficiency of professors and tutors, and profi-
ciency of pupils, as well as financially successful, considering the
general monetar}^ stringency of the last half of that decade. But
the last eleven years of President Pierce's incumbency w^ere
marked by much that was annoying and unpleasant, both to the
president, the faculty and the board of trustees, and detrimental
to the interests of the college, generally. The large expenditure
for new buildings, and in maintaining the new professorships
which had been established, (although no excessive salaries were
paid,) had created a large permanent indebtedness (at one time as
high as $28,(XX)) w^hich the natural income of the college, and the
annual subscriptions to the general fund did not meet. Portions
of other funds were from time to time used to meet erner-
gencies, w^hich, though done in good faith, and w^ith the most
honest intentions, served, in the absence of a thorough system of
keeping the accounts, to complicate the financial affairs of the
college, and to engender distrust, and create grave differences
between the president, the faculty and the trustees, finally extend-
ing to outside friends and patrons of the college, and almost
resulting in the financial, professional and scholastic bankruptcy of
the institution ; in 1852-3, the president, one professor, one tutor
and twenty-three students comprising the entire roster of the
college for those years, without a single graduate in 1853.
President Hitchcock's Administration. — Thus matters
remained, until May 3d, 1855, when President Pierce resigned, and
Rev. Henry L. Hitchcock, then preaching in Columbus (son of the
venerable Peter Hitchcock, one of the pioneer settlers of Burton)
w^as elected as his successor, entering upon his duties at com-
mencement, July 12th, 1855. President Hitchcock, then 42 years of
age, small of stature, but big with energy and enthusiasm, not
only assumed control of the educational affairs of the college— thor-
oughly reorganizing and harmonizing the several departments —
and the pastorate of the college church (organized during the
administration of President Storrs, in 1831), but also took upon his
own shoulders the herculean task of paying off the college indebt-
edness (then about $22,000) and of securing an ample permanent
and general fund for the proper running of the college, without
the financial friction and embarrassment which had hitherto
hampered its progress and impaired its usefulness.
To this end, firm but kindly efforts were made to collect the
delinquent dues upon former pledges, and the most untiring
RESIGNATION AND DEATH OF PRESIDENT HITCHCOCK.
831
personal effort ^vas made by President Hitchcock to obtain new-
subscriptions to both the general and the permanent funds. This
effort, notwithstanding the severe stringency of the times
immediately preceding the war, and the business and financial
derangement caused by the war, was so magnificently successful,
that at the time of his death, in 1873 — a little less than eighteen
years — he had not only extinguished the debt above alluded to, but
had added $67,000 to the permanent fund, and $99,000 to the general
fund — all, except the trifling amount of about $6,000, being raised
by his own personal solicitation and influence. No wronder that
he broke down, in the prime of his ripe manhood (60 years);
a sacrifice to the educational, spiritual and pecuniary interests of
Western Reserve College.
Owing to the strain upon his physical system, President Hitch-
cock finally tendered his resignation, which was reluctantly
accepted, in 1871, though he still continued to discharge the
duties of professor and pastor, and to manage the finances, until
his somewhat sudden and unexpected death, July 6th, just previous
to commencement in 1873.
JUDGE VAN RENSSELAER HUM-
J PHREY.-born in Goshen, Con-
necticut, July 28, 1800 ; common
school education ; at 17 eng-ag-ed in
teaching-, at the same time studying-
law under Theodore North, Esq.,
being- admitted to the bar, September
26, 1820, while yet under 20 years of
age ; Aj^ril 17, 1821, was married to
Miss Stella Beach, of Goshen, the fol-
low^ing June emig-rating* to Ohio,
after a short sojourn in Norton and
Twinsburg, settling in Hudson,
where he acquired a large practice in
Portage, Medina and adjacent coun-
ties ; in 1828 was elected representa-
tive to the State Legislature, and
re-elected in 1829; in 1837 was
appointed by the Legislature presi-
dent judge of the third judicial dis-
trict, serving with great abilitj^ for
the full term of seven years, on retir-
ing from the bench, in 1844, resuming
his law practice, which he success-
fully followed until his sudden death
from apoplexy, September 5, 1864, at
the age of 64 years, 1 month and 7
days. Mrs. Humphrey dying- April
8, 1832, he was again married, August
22, 1839, to Mrs. Laura Maria (Pease)
Tallmage, of Warren, who still sur-
vives. By his first marriage, Judge
Humphrey was the father of two
daughters and two sons, two of whom
JUDGE VAN RENSSELAER HUMPHREY.
are now living— Stella (now Mrs. ex-
U. S. Senator Conger, of Michig-an),
and James Kent, of St. Paul, Minne-
sota, and by his second marriage of
two sons — Calvin Pease Humphrey,
now a successful attorney in Akron,
and Clarence, now of Chicago.
Theological DeparTiMent Abolished. — Though the establish-
ment of Western Reserve College, as a distinct institution, grew
out of dissatisfaction with the arrangement w^hich had been made
by the "Society for the education of indigent pious young men for
the ministry" with the trustees of the "Erie Literary Institute,"
at Burton, as above set forth, and though theology was sought to
832 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
be made the prominent feature of the college, the fond anticipa-
tions of its founders, in that regard, were never fully realized..
Though supplied with earnest and faithful professors and teachers^
and though students in that department were nearly as numerous
as in others, there w^as such a dearth of subscriptions to its endow^-
ment fund, that it was utterly impossible to pay the requisite
salaries, and the several chairs were vacated about 1859, and never
again filled, though the general religious purpose and character of
the college was thenceforth continuously and consistently main-
tained.
President Carroll Cutler. — On the acceptance of President
Hitchcock's resignation, in 1871, Professor Carroll Cutler was
promoted to the presidency, immediately assuming its duties,
though not formally inaugurated until commencement, 1872. Not
burdened -with the financial management of the college, the presi-
dent had comparatively fair sailing for about two years, when the
death of Doctor Hitchcock devolved upon President Cutler the
business management of the college, also. During these two years
of exemption from triple duty, the discharge of his double duty as
president and professor had been in every way satisfactory, w^hich
success, even with the additional burdens placed upon him, was
co-extensive w^ith his incumbency.
But the old adage about "too many irons in the fire," holds
good in educational as well as in mechanical affairs. Increased
professorships, and necessarily constantly increasing expenditures
on buildings, apparatus, etc., and the forced lack (by reason of his
scholastic duties) of that personal application and energy given to
the financial and business department by his predecessor, at length
caused the monetary affairs of the college to tighten up again,
necessitating a vigorous agitation of the question among the
alumni and other friends of the college, in regard to "ways and tneans
to place the institution on an endow^ment basis commensurate
with its present and future necessities.
Removal to Cleveland. — About this time, too, the question
began to be mooted, among the alumni and the trustees residing
in that city, about removing the college to Cleveland, the argument
being that its location in so populous a city w^ould bring to it
an infinitely greater pupilage than could possibly be secured in a
rural village like Hudson, and a wealth of money and influence
that alone could make it what it should be, a first-class university.
Responsive to this suggestion, a -wealthy resident of Cleveland,
Mr. Amasa Stone, made a formal offer to the trustees to donate to
the college $500,000 (as a memorial offering to his deceased son,
Adelbert), on condition that the college should be removed to
Cleveland, and its name changed to "Adelbert College of Western
Reserve University;" Mr. Stone, afterw^ards, also, providing in his
will for a bequest of $100,000 additional,
Hudson People Justly Indignant. — To this proposition —
munificent as w^as the offer — the people of Hudson and vicinity
entered a most earnest and righteous protest. Established in
times that truly "tried men's souls," and pockets, too, and maintained
for over half a century amid the most appalling difficulties and
perplexities, now that old Western Reserve College, of Hudson —
w^ell and favorably known everywrhere — w^as really in the height
of its usefulness, w^ith all needed buildings and appurtenances, and
COLLEGE REMOVED TO CLEVELAND.
833
requiring only a moderate degree of liberality on the part of its
many weathy alumni, to secure to it perpetual future success,
it seemed to them little less than sacrilege to not only remove the
institution to another locality, but also to absolutely blot out the
very name by which it had been so long and so affectionately and
reverently known.
pAPTAIN JAMES H. SEYMOUR,
v> — born in Colebrook, Connecti-
cut, July 16, 1842 ; came with parents
to Hudson, Ohio, in 1851 ; attended
Hudson public schools, and Western
Reserve Colleg-e Preparatory School
four years ; 1858 to 186(), traveling-
salesman for his father in wholesale
cracker business ; September 4, 1861,
enlisted in regimental band of 2d O.
V. C. ; discharged by general order
No. 91, war department, September 4,
1862; tendered commission in 12th
O. V. C, but, being needed at home,
declined the appointment ; commis-
sioned first lieutenant in O. N. G., in
1864, by Governor Brough, and while
in camp in Cleveland, promoted to
captain ; same 5'ear entered U. S. ser-
vice in Q. M. department, at Duvall's
Bluff, Arkansas; detailed as clerk
and given charge of transportation
on White and Mississippi rivers, and
the military railroad betweenDuvall's
Bluff and Little Rock ; also, by
appointment of Ohio State Commis-
sion, superintended taking vote of
troops and employes, in October 1864,
soon after which the sudden death of
his father necessitated his resigna-
tion and return to Hudson ; engaging
in the grocery and provision busi-
ness, he was often elected a member
of village council ; served fourteen
years as village clerk, fifteen years on
board of education, fourteen years as
cemetery trustee and treasurer, and
otherwise devoted himself to the
public welfare, being a charter mem-
CAPTAIN JAMES H. SEYMOUR.
ber of Sherman Post, No. 68, G. A. R.,
post commander eight years, and
post adjutant seven j^ears, with still
higher honors in the order, both State
and National. In 1887, was elected
treasurer of Summit county, and
re-elected in 1889, serving four years.
Captain Seymour was married July
24, 1865, to Miss Louisa Coe. of Hud-
son, who died April 18, 1887, leaving-
one daughter — Anna C. ; was again
married, April 9, 1888, to Miss Martha
L. Webb, of Springfield, who has
borne him two children— Marian and
Ruth.
The Deed Accomplished. — After many meetings and much
tempestuous discussion, how^ever, the majority of the trustees
voted to accept Mr. Stone's proposition and the transfer was luade
in 1882. President Cutler, by virtue of his presidential incumbency
in the old, continued at the head of the new institution, in addition
to his presidential duties filling the Handy Chair of Intellectual
Philosophy, and continuing in charge of the financial and business
affairs of the University. After fifteen years of faithful service as
president, with the added duties devolved upon him, as indicated.
President Cutler resigned the presidency and business cares at
the close of the college year, in 1886, and assumed for a time the
duties of teacher in the Handy professorship, above alluded to.
After an interregnum of nearly a year and a half, Rev. H. C.
Haydn, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Cleveland,
w^as elected to the pres«idency of the college in November, 1887.
President Haydn after three years of faithful service, was succeeded
53
834 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
by Charles F. Thwing, D. D., who was inaugurated February 9, 1891,
the new institution thus far (November, 1891) notwithstanding its
more imposing title, and its more pretentious location, scarcely
more than holding its OAvn, in point of yearly attendance and
graduations, with the venerable institution w^hich it despoiled of
its fair name and time-honored heritage.
Hudson Still a Literary Center. — The arrangements, as
finally consummated, for the removal of the college, proper, to
Cleveland, provided for the retention and occupation of the build-
ings, fixtures, apparatus, etc., at Hudson, as a Preparatory School,
under the title of "Western Reserve Academy," in which capacity,
under the direction of the trustees of " Adelbert College of West-
ern Reserve University," and with Professor Newton B. Hobart, as
principal, and James S. Chamberlain, John Dickerman, Gillette
Wynkoop and Miss Nanna Barclay, as instructors, it is still one of
the very best academic institutions in the Western country, not
only as preparatory to a college course of study, but as affording
an opportunity to those not contemplating entering college, to
acquire a thorough practical education, especial facilities being
offered to those intending to follow the profession of teaching —
both ladies and gentlemen. Average number of pupils 75. The
old Western Reserve College buildings, now occupied as above,
consist of a chapel, observatory, Athanseum, the north, middle and
south college buildings and five dwelling houses. The village of
Hudson has also a high school and four primary schools, under
the superintendency of Mr. C. F. Seese; scholars in former, 36; in
latter, 220.
The Color Line — Co-Education. — Western Reserve College,
like all similar institutions of that early day, without any express
regulation upon that subject, v/as supposed to be intended for
white male students, only, though in point of fact, without any
formal official action upon the question, colored students w^ere
from time to time admitted — one as early as 1832, who went
through the regular college course of four years, graduating with
honors, and spending one year in the t-lieological department.
Previous to the accession of President Cutler, in 1871, the
question of co-education of the sexes had been largely discussed in
other colleges, and though as yet no applications of that nature
had been made at Western Reserve, in his inaugural address, in
1872, President Cutler announced that women would be admitted
to the privileges of the college on the same conditions as men, a
number of young ladies afterwards being in attendance, both at
Western Reserve and Adelbert.
But, in the year of Grace, 1887, in casting about for the cause
of the declension of the college, since its removal to Cleveland, in
spite of its wealthy and aristocratic environments, and its munifi-
cent endowments, it w^as concluded that w^oman was the "Jonah"
who w^as sinkingthe magnificent ship, and at the annual cominence-
ment in 1888, the trustees formally decided against co-education,
but established a Ladies' Department, and so far as the w^riter is
advised the affairs of the college are now harmonious and pros-
perous.
Hudson as a Railroad Center. — In 1836, a charter was
obtained for the construction of the Cleveland & Pittsburg road,
through Hudson, but by reason of the immediate breaking down
EARLY RAILROAD PROJECTS.
835
of the finances of the country, by the panic of 1837, the charter
lapsed, before work was begun upon the line. A renewal of the
•charter was obtained in 1845, and the work ^vas proceeded with,
the people of Hudson subscribing liberally, in lands, for right of
w^ay, money, etc., the road being finally completed from Cleveland
to Hudson in the winter of 1851-52.
pHARLES C. HINE,— son of Hial
^ M. and Mary (Pease) Hine, was
born in Twinsburg-, May 1, 1842 ; edu-
cated in district schools and at Twins-
burg Institute; raised a farmer;
October 8, 1867, was married to Miss
Ellen M. Farrar, of Hudson, and
located on a farm in that township
the same Fall. In politics, Mr. Hine
is an ardent Republican and active
in all public affairs, having served as
trustee of Hudson township for eight
<:onsecutive years. In October, 1885,
Mr. Hine was elected county commis-
sioner, entering upon his duties the
following December ; was re-elected
in 1888, and is still (October, 1891),
ably and intelligently filling that
responsible position. Mr. and Mrs.
Hine are the parents of one daughter,
-only — Florence Farrar Hine, born
May 9, 1876.
CHARLES C. HINE.
Meantime, the people of Hudson, Cuyahoga Falls and Akron
had projected the "Akron Branch," now the Cleveland, Akron &c
•Columbus railroad, on an amendment to the charter of the first
named road, to which road, completed to Akron, in 1852, Hudson
w^as also a liberal contributor. The completion of these roads so
favorably affected the business and agricultural interests of Hud-
son, that they came to believe that they couldn't have "too much
of a good thing," and were, consequently, more than ready to enter
into any new project that seemed to give promise of increasing the
boom that was then beginning to be felt in the business, industrial
and educational departments of the town. Accordingly, when the
^'Clinton Line Railroad" from Hudson east to the Pennsyl-
vania State line, which was to be one of the links of " The Great
American Railway," from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific,
w^as organized, in 1852, the people of Hudson w^ere among its most
active promoters. Professor Henry N. Day, of Western Reserve
College, becoming its president, and very largely assuming its
management, to the stock and right of way of w^hich the people of
Hudson unstintedly contributed. So, also, to the "Clinton Line
Extension" link, from Hudson to Tiffin, organized in 1853, also
under the presidency of Professor Day, and with Hon. Van R.
Hutnphrey as principal trustee, like liberal investments w^ere
made in lands and money, by the people of Hudson. The "Hud-
son & Painesville" project also, designed to be a continuation of
the "Akron Branch" direct to Lake Erie, organized in 1853, with
Judge Humphrey as its president, was also generously promoted
by Hudson's public spirited inhabitants.
These three projects, in the furtherance of which Hudson had
literallj'' turned her pockets inside out, w^ere simultaneously and
836 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
vigorously prosecuted for about two years, the official reports for
1855 showing that forty per cent, of the grading, bridging and
masonry upon the Clinton Line had been done; that about $70,000
had been expended upon the eastern division of the Clinton Line
Extension (chiefly between Hudson and Ghent), while a large
proportion of the work upon the Hudson & Painesville had also
been completed.
Expenditures exceeding estimates, monetary affairs tighten-
ing dow^n, together with the difficulty of raising additional local
subscriptions, or even collecting maturing installments upon
those already made, necessitated the suspension of wrork on all the
roads named, early in 1856. While most of the impoverished con-
tributors have gradually recovered from the financial embarrass-
ments resulting therefrom, the three roads in question have since
remained in statu quo, the lands on which they w^ere located hav-
ing mostly, if not all, reverted to the original owners; though
there are semi-occasional rumors to the effect that, sometime in
the near future, the visions which absorbed the attention and the
wealth, of the good people of Hudson, a third of a centurji ago,^
may yet be realized, by the resuscitation and completion of some,
if not all, the roads in question.
HUDSON'S BUSINESS STATUS.
Primarily, the business of the tow^nship is bucolic— almost
literally so — for while her thousands of fertile acres are capable of
grow^ing all the various cereals and vegetables, and the very best
of fruits adapted to this climate, her most reliable and profitable
industry has hitherto been stock-growing and the dairy, though
w^e are pleased to note that within the past year many fine fields
of wheat have been harvested in the township.
And, in this connection, it may be well to note the changes
that a third of a century has w^rought in the mode of handling and
marketing the products of the dairy, in Hudson and other towns
traversed by railroads, and contiguous to that modern lacteal
institution, the cheese factory. Instead of being worked up by
the old hit-or-miss process of setting curds, the uncertain pressure
of the rickety old style hand press, and the manipulation of ye ,
ancient dashing and splashing hand-churn, and disposing of their
unevenly made products to the local tradesman in exchange for
merchandise at barter prices, hundreds of gallons of milk are now-
daily shipped to Cleveland from this single township, affording a
small but steady cash margin to the producer, while other hun-
dreds of gallons are daily taken to contiguous cheese and butter
factories, at generally living prices, to be w^orked up, by uniform
and scientific processes, into merchantable cheese and palatable
butter.
Through the kindness of S. Straight & Co., Ave ^vere furnished
in 1887 with a statement of their cheese and butter operations for
the year 1886, which, as showing Hudson's approximate interest in
the matter w^e condense as follow^s: Of the three regular cheese
and butter factories in Hudson, proper, one conducted by Messrs.
Straight & Co., and one each by M. D. Call and W. A. Curtiss
(the latter operated by McNeil & Cassidy), all, probably, doing
about an equal amount of business, the previous year (1886), the
Straight factory bought 1,226,254 pounds of milk, at the cost of
Hudson's early business matters. " 837
$11,397.50 producing 101,387 pounds of cheese and 26,465 pounds of
butter. According to Messrs. Call and McNeil & Cassidy, an
■equal amount of business, we have an aggregate of 3,678,762
pounds of milk, selling for $34,102.50, and producing 304,161 pounds
of cheese and 79,395 pounds of butter. That year (1886) the milk
industry reached its lowest point of depression in ten years, the
average being fully 25 per cent, above the figures given, so that,
with the Sweitzer cheese factory of Mr. John Mack and the ship-
ment of milk to Cleveland, the total yearly average of that
industry in Hudson w^ould not fall much, if any, short of $50,000.
Karly Manufactures. — The first grist-mill, nearer than the
Valley of the Ohio, accessible to the early settlers of Hudson, was
at Newburg, erected in 1800, and access to this, through the dense
forest, and ov^er unbridged streams, was both difficult and danger-
ous. The distance was but 22 miles, but three days' time — one in
^oing, one in waiting for the grist and one in returning — w^ere
consumed in performing the journey. The first w^heat harvested in
the township was by Thaddeus Lacej', 183 bushels, on the nine acres
planted for Mr. Hudson, on lot eleven, in 1799, Mr. Lacey receiving
one fourth of the product for harvesting and threshing. Of the
remaining three-fourths, Mr. Hudson's share was about 34 bushels,
the remainder going to his co-proprietors. Of this wheat, Samuel
Bishop took a load to the Newburg mill, receiving one-half of the
flour, feed, etc., for his trouble.
But Mr. Hudson had thoughtfully included in his orders for
supplies a small pair of mill stones and, in 1801, in connection with
Ezra Wyatt, commenced the erection of a mill on Tinker's Creek,
in the northeastern portion of the township, Aaron Norton taking
Mr. Wyatt's place in the enterprise before the mill -was completed ;
a distillery also being established in connection writh the mill by
Messrs. Hudson & Norton, both being completed in 1802, but a
year or so later both were destroyed by fire. Captain Heman
Oviatt and George Darrow also erected and for several years, l)oth
before and after the close of the War of 1812, carried on quite
extensive distilleries in Hudson, it being found that the Indians
were not the onl^^ persons fond of fire-water, even among the
generally staid and sober pioneer settlers of Hudson. Several
savv^-mills were erected on the different streams running through
the township and a number of tanneries were also established, the
firsi that of Owen Brown, father of the immortal John Brown, of
Harper's Ferry fame, that hero, himself, also A^^orking at the
business for a number of years. The ashery business also, during
the clearing up of the forests, was a prominent business of the
town, the products, black salts, potash, pearlash, etc., finding a
market in Pittsburg, Cleveland, Buffalo, etc.
Early Hotels, Merchants, Etc. — For several years every
house in Hudson was a house of entertainment, the private latch-
string always hanging out for the accommodation of the stranger
and the traveler, though at quite an early day Captain Heman
Oviatt formally opened his log cabin, a mile south of the village,
as a house of public entertainment. The first regular inn, within
the limits of the township, however, was the large frame house of
Deacon David Hudson, a short distance north of the public square,
opened to the public in 1813 — the same house now^ occupied by his
daughter, Mrs. Harvey Baldwin, and in which, when a girl in her
838 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
teens, she officiated as bar-maid and general assistant to her good
mother, in the conduct of the house and in caring for the guests-
In 1816, George Kilbourn opened a tavern on the Justin Kilbourn
place ; about 1825 Augustus Baldwin opened a hotel on the site of
the present Buss residence, and about 1833, the Mansion House,
-which still survives, was built, its first landlord being Samuel
Edgerly, father of Mr. Charles H. Edgerly and Mrs. Sarah M. E^
Battels, wife of Akron's well-known photographer Mr. B. F. Battels.
This house has had many proprietors during the nearly sixty years
of its existence, and though at times, perhaps, a trifle too liberal in
the dispensation of intoxicants, to suit the abstemious notions of the
average Hudsonian, has generally been regarded as a good house by
the traveling public, its present owner and keeper, 1891, being Mr. A..
A. Edson. The Hotel Delta, recently established on Peninsula
road, opposite depot, is kept by Mr. Henry A. Bissell.
The first store was kept by Captain Heman Oviatt, in his log
cabin, one mile south of the center, trade being mostly with
Indians, exchanging blankets, shawls, powder, lead, whiskey, etc.,^
for skins, which were transported on horses to Pittsburg, and hi&
stock replenished by the same mode of conveyance, from that city.
In 1806 he removed to the center, where he did a lucrative business
for many years, afterwards entering into partnership with Mr.
Zenas Kent (father of Hon. Marvin Kent, of Kent), and opening a
store at Ravenna ; also being interested writh Mr. Allison Kent, at
Canfield, and Mr. Roswell Kent, at Middlebury.
As illustrating the mode of doing business in the absence of
money, in those early days, the foUow^ing document copied from
the records of Portage county is reproduced :
"Received, Hudson, December 6th, 1800, of David Hudson, a
certain three-year-old black coav which I am to keep for her milk
until the first day of May next, and at that time return to said
Hudson at his d\velling house, in good flesh unless said cow is
killed by lightning; or in case I do not return said cow on that
da^, I am to pay for said cow in good merchantable, yard-wide
linen brown cloth at 33i^ cents per yard. The cow to remain
Hudson's property until returned or paid for as above. The cow^
is valued at $14. Signed,
Stephen Upson.
"Ebenezer Sheldon, ) ^tt,...
"George Kilbourn, ( Witnesses
We can only give the names of a few of those who have carried
on business in Hudson during the 91 years of its existence — the
many not even having an abiding place in the memory of the
present "oldest inhabitant." Besides those mentioned, Augustus
and Frederick Baldwin, Dudley Humphrey, J. H. Crawford & Co.,
Hill & James, Kent & Brewster, Hamlin & Dawes, Anson A.
Brewster, Hamlin & Ellsworth, Ellsworth & Buss, Hamlin Sc Buss,-
Buss & Bond, Hart Brothers, John Buss, Sawyer, IngersoU & Co.,
D. Marshall & Co., J. C. Snyder, I. C. Dow, Morrell & IngersoU, Wm.
M. Beebe, H. R. Seymour, M. Dewey & Co., Farrar & King, O. W.
Farrar, N. V. Wadsworth, John Markilie, Richard Hanson &c Sons,
Neibel & Cooper, Jacob Neibel, James H. Seymour, D. D. Beebe^
Dr. A. E. Berbower, James K. Frost, John M. Seidell, etc., are
remembered among Hudson's former business men, mercantile^
mechanical and otherwise.
Hudson's business reverses, 839
The Boom and the Collapse. — The advent of the C. & P. and
Akron Branch Railroads, and the projection of the several other
railroad schemes elsewhere mentioned, in the early fifties, stimu-
lated enterprise in other directions and the tovk^n and village
entered upon an era of speculative improvements commensurate
with its prospective importance as a great railroad center.
It was already the literary center of Northern Ohio, and why
should it not become the business emporium also? Professor
Henry N. Day, of the college, having some cash capital of his
own, as w:ell as having many capitalistic friends, built the large
five-sided brick block, on Aurora street, known as the "Pentagon,"
in which, besides a number of mercantile operations, a large
printing and book publishing house was established, with all the
paraphernalia of presses, types, stereotyping, book-binding, etc.,
requisite for successful competition with the best Kastern houses,
if business could be found to sustain it.
About this time, also, a large planing mill and lumber yard
was established, near the depot, by J. W. Smith & Co., one of the
mercantile firms of the Pentagon, for the purpose of supplying and
w^orking up the large amount of building material to meet tht^
requirements of the boom. A large steam flouring mill was built
and put in operation a little west of the present union passenger
depot, by Henry A, Tallmadge and ex-Sheriff Lewis M. Janes,
afterwards transferred to ex-Sheriff Thomas Wilson, but a few-
years later w^as destroyed by fire ; large butter, cheese and produce
warehouses were established, near the old depot by J. C, Snyder
and I, C, Dow, and, altogether, Hudson was decidedly a live business
town for the period of about three years from 1853 to 1856.
The collapse of the three railroad schemes — the " Clinton Line,"
the "Clinton Line Extension" and the "Hudson & Painesville,"
in 1855, '56, also brought disaster to all the enterprises named, the
Hudson Book Company making an assignment with liabilities
greatly in excess of its assets, and J. W, Smith & Co,, the Lumber
Company, J. C. Snyder, I. C. Dow and Tallmadge & Co., going
under with liabilities aggregating hundreds of thousands of dollars,
also very seriously crippling many of the other business operators
of the village, who had built upon the bright future presaged by
the boom alluded to.
Gradual Recuperation. — Though for several years the depres-
sion in the business circles of Hudson w^as very great, and though,
in the intervening years, some serious mercantile disasters have
occurred, the town has gradually assumed, and now maintains the
average of theWestern Reserve village of 1,000 to 1,200 inhabitants.
The population of Hudson township and village, in 1840, was
1,220, while the total of township and village as shown by the
census of 1880 was 1,816, a gain of 597 — nearly 50 per cent, in the
forty years — notwithstanding the many reverses alluded to, the
census of 1890 placing the figures at 1,797 — a falling off of 20 — the
village itself numbering 1,143 souls.
The past third of a century, however, has wrought vast
changes in the methods of doing business, as witnesses the account
given elsewhere of the milk product of Hudson township. As an
incident to, and a necessity of, this change of method, Messrs, S.
Straight & ^ Co, having come into possession of the. Pentagon
property, fitted it up as headquarters for the immense cheese and
840 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
butter business established by them in 1867, embracing in 1887,
fourteen factories in Hudson and contiguous townships.
In addition to the shelving capacity of the Pentagon block
itself (about 15,000 cheeses) building 60x60 foot two story brick
curing house, with basement, with shelving for 12,000 cheeses, and
storage capacity for 250,000 pounds of butter, with ice house, air
tubes, fan, engine, elevator, and all the necessary paraphernalia for
handling, preserving, packing and marketing the immense yearly
product of the several factories named. As showing the magni-
tude of this interest, the firm report the aggregate business of
their fourteen factories in 1886 as follows: Milk bought, 8,392,797
pounds; cost $65,782.62; cheese made, 700,227 pounds; butter made,
171,669 pounds, though w^e are informed that within the past year
or tw^o, Mr. Straight has sold the majority of his factories to other
parties.
Other Industries. — As an adjunct to the immense business
just w^ritten of, the cheese box and butter tub factory, of Mr. E. A.
Osborne, established in 1870, w^ith a capacity of about 300 boxes
and 100 tubs per day, is w^orthy of mention; also a similar factory,
established in 1878, by Erastus Croy, now operated by Mr. E. B.
Shields, the former being destroyed by fire in January, 1890.
For a number of years subsequent to the destruction of the
Wilson mills, above alluded to, quite an extensive flouring mill
was maintained near the depot, but the building having passed
into the hands of Mr. E. J. Lobdell, was devoted to the manufac-
ture of all kinds of buggy lumber, until burned in January, 1890,
the business having since been removed to Marietta, Ohio.
About 1878, the Oviatt Manufacturing Company w^as organized
and suitable buildings erected, south of the depot, for the purpose
of manufacturing the patented inventions of Mr. Solomon E.
Oviatt (formerly of Richfield) — Oviatt's thresher and separator,
common sense wagon, independent runner sled, etc., but though
promising well for a year or two, either from lack of adequate
capital, proper enterprise or judicious management, the company
came to financial grief, and the business was abandoned.
Hudson's Present BuvSiness Status.— Dry goods, Charles H.
Buss, Henry Wehner; groceries, Dennis J. Joyce, George V. Miller,
James A. Jacobs, E. E. Lewis; drugs, John Whedon, Edwin S.
Bentley; shoes, Sebastian Miller; books, Edwin S. Bentley; stoves
and tinware, R. H. Grimm, John N. Farrar; harness, John G. Mead,
Cornelius A. Campbell; blacksmiths, Charles H. Farwell, Charles
R. Cash, Perry N. Shively; carriages, James L. Doncaster; machin-
ist, Samuel Bediant; bakery, Ralph T. Miller; meat markets,
George V. Miller, Philip Wendling; undertaker, James L. Doncas-
ter; syrup evaporators. The G. H. Grimm Manufacturing Company;
hotels, American, A. A. Edson; Hotel Delta, Henry A. Bissell;
livery, Andrew May & Company; lawyers, Matthew C. Read,
Horace B. Foster; dentist. Dr. E. E. Rogers; physicans, Drs. Frank
Hodge, L. D. Osborn, George L. Starr, Horace C. Coolman; jew-
elers, Samuel Fletcher, A. Pettingell; news dealer, David M.
Darrow; saloons, 5; the latter "industry " being out of all propor-
tions to the requirements of so staid and sober a people, as are the
majority of the inhabitants of the village and township.
Municipal Affairs. — ^April 1, 1837, Hudson village was incor-
porated by an act of the Legislature, the territory embraced in the
Hudson's municipal status. 841
■corporation being 480 rods in length, from north to south, and 320
rods in width, from east to west, the exact geographical center being
the center of the east and w^est and north and south center roads.
Some small tracts outside of these bounds, notably on Aurora
street, have been laid out into lots and handsomely improved,
but have never been formally annexed to the village plat. The
first election, under the charter, was held on Tuesday, May 2, 1837,
the officers then elected being as follows: Mayor, Captain Heman
Oviatt; recorder, Lyman W. Hall; trustees, Frederick Baldwin,
John B. Clark, Jesse Dickinson, Harvey Baldwin and Daniel C.
Gaylord. As showing the shrinkage of values and the .resources
of the property holders, caused by the panic of 1837, it may be
stated here that the tax lists of 1837, place the value of the real
estate of the village at $93,967.58, and the personal property at
$19,474, while the list of 1844 (seven years later) give the real estate at
$30,427 and the personal property at $12,177, only.
Mayors for Over Half Century. — In the fifty- four years of
Hudson's corporate existence, its successive mayors, elected
yearly, have been as follows: Heman Oviatt, 1837; 1838, George E.
Butler; 1839, Charles R. Hamlin; 1840, Anson A. Brewster; 1841,
Dr. Israel Town; 1842, J. W. Selby; 1843, E. E. Parks; 1844, '45, Harvey
Whedon; 1846, Herman Peck; 1847, John Buss; 1848, George Ved-
der; 1849, S. E. Judd; 1850, George E. Pierce; 1851, '52, Van R.
Humphrey; 1853, '54, E. B. Ellsworth; 1855, Anson A. Brewster;
1856, George P. Ashmun; 1857, Anson A. Brewster; 1858, John
Buss; 1859, Isaac L'Hommedieu; 1860, Henry L. Hitchcock; 1861,
D. D. Morrell; 1862, William" Pettingell; 1863, '64, D. D.Beebe; 1865,
Professor N.P.Seymour; 1866, '67, '68, Isaac L'Hommedieu; 1869,
S. E. Judd; 1870, '71, William M. Beebe; 1872, '73, S. H. Thompson;
1874, '75, R. Bosworth; 1876, Charles R. Grant; 1877, Matthew C.
Read; 1878, '79, S. E. Judd; 1880, '81, '82, '83, '84, '85, '86, '87, Horace
B.Foster; 1888, '89, '90, '91, Henry E. Lee. Of the27 persons who have
been thus honored by the good people of Hudson, seven only are
now (December, 1887,) living, viz.: Messrs. Judd, Morrell, Sey-
mour, Grant, Read, Foster and Lee.
The village government, though never called upon to grapple
w^ith the great problems of grading, paving, sevi^ering, electric
lighting, etc., that have agitated larger municipalities, has, never-
theless, been of great service to the people of Hudson in conserving
the public order, providing proper sidewalk and street improve-
ments, regulating and beautifying the public square, cemetery,
etc., and especially in the fostering care which it has ever bestowed
upon the educational, religious and moral interests of the com-
munity, having, in connection with the tow^nship, in 1878, '79,
erected a handsome two-storj' brick tow^n hallj on the site of the
old Congregational church, which, besides meeting rooms for the
council and trustees, and a lockup on the ground floor, has a capa-
cious well-seated public hall in the second story; in addition to
which Adelphian Hall, in Farrar's block, west side of Main street,
has a seating capacity of about 900.
In the Newspaper Line. — The second town in what is now
Summit county, to av^ail itself of the manifold blessings of the news-
paper, was Hudson, the Portage Journal, established in Middle-
bury, in 1825, having a priority of some two or three years. In 1827,
a religious and literary paper called the Western Intelligencer,
842 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
»
was established in Cleveland, which after several changes w^as
suspended in 1829. In March, 1830, Mr. Warren Isham revived
the paper in Hudson, under the name of the Obsever and Tele-
graph, Mr. Isham changing the name in 1832, to the Ohio
Observer. In f^ebruary, 1834, R. M. Walker and S. J. Bradstreet
became its proprietors, and in December, 1834, Rev. James B.
Walker, afterwards, for several years, pastor of the Congregational
church in Akron, became its owner and editor, Mr. Walker being
succeeded by Rev. A. P. Clarke in the Autumn of 1835.
A Sledge-Hammer Kpisode. — The Observer was not only a
profound religious sheet, and a good family newspaper, generally^
but it w^as especially devoted to the several reforms of the day —
the anti-slavery reform, the temperance reform, moral reform, etc.,
and was remarkably plain-spoken in regard to the real or sup-
posed infractions of the moral code. In those days, too, the tongue
of the gossip and the scandal monger were fully as " waggish "^
(and perhaps more so) than at the present time.
It coming to the ears of a prominent citizen that a scandal,
which had been worked up against him, was about to appear in
the columns of the Observer, in the shape of a series of resolutions
adopted by the Female Moral Reform Society of Hudson, reflecting^
upon his moral character, he called upon the editor to ascertain the
truth of the rumor. Getting no satisfaction in that direction, but
learning from other sources that the objectionable matter was
already upon the press, ready to be worked, the gentleman quietly
stepped into a neighboring blacksmith shop, and,borroviringa heavy
sledge, deliberately entered the Observer office and not only
knocked the entire form into pi, but thoroughly crippled the press by
demolishing the heavy cast-iron bed plate. It is not now^ remem-
bered that any legal proceedings for damages were ever instituted
against the w^ielder of the sledge, the presumption being that his
summary action in the premises was justified by the general
public, if not by the proprietors of the Observer themselves.
Rev^ivification. — Printing presses were not as readily obtain-
able in those days as now; and the Obseryer \vas removed to
Cleveland and consolidated with the Cleveland Journal, l^ev. O.
P. Hoyt being associated with Mr. Clark as editor. The Journal
>vas suspended November 1, 1838, but resumed again January 9,
1839, and in April, 1840, returned to Hudson, resuming its old
name, Ohio Observer, continuing, under various proprietors, until
February, 1844, vi^hen the office was destroyed by fire. For a short
time the paper was now printed at Cuyahoga Falls, but soon after-
wards with a new outfit re-established in Hudson, and with many
changes of proprietors and editors, and a great variety of vicissi-
tude, it struggled on (its latest name being Ohio Observer and
Register) until the general business collapse of the town, in 1855,
*56, when it ceased to exist. It may properly be added, here, that
the broken press above alluded to, was bought by Horace K. Smith
and Gideon G. Galloway, of Akron, in 1836, furnished with a new
bed-plate and otherwise repaired, and devoted to the publication
of the American Balance, and its successor, the Summit Beacon,
until its final destruction, in the first burning of the Beacon office
January 9, 1848.
Other Literary Experiments. — The Faniilv Visitor, started
in Cleveland in 1850, and for a time published simultaneously in
Hudson's military prowess. 843
Cleveland and Hudson, was wholly transferred to Hudson in Jan-
uary, 1852, with Professor M. C. Read as sole editor, under whose
auspices it w^as in every way a first-class scientific, literary, religi-
ous and agricultural family new^spaper, but a c{uarter of a century
ahead of the times, and for lack of adequate support its subscrip-
tion list was transferred to the Observer in January, 1854.
College Citv Venture was started by E. F. Chittenden, a
former compositor on the Visitor, in July, 1866, with Professor
Read as editor, who made a spicy, interesting paper of it for a few
weeks, when it, too, was compelled to suspend for lack of proper
pecuniary encouragement.
Hudson Gazette, started in November, 1857, by Rev. Alexan-
der Clarke, afterwards a D. 1)., and a man of note in the M. E..
church of Pennsylvania, was devoted to "commerce, education,
agriculture, art and news," and though very ably edited, survived
but a few weeks, only.
Hudson Enterprise, established as an amateur paper, in con-
nection with a small job office, in May, 1875, finally became a
household necessity to the people and vicinity, and under various
proprietors seemed for a time to be quite prosperous, but its
purely local support being inadequate to meet the considerable
weeky expense of its publication, it, too, was several years aga
discontinued. ' >
Hudson Gazette. Hudson's last local newspaper, a sprightly
32 column sheet, started November 23, 1888, by D. B. Sherw^ood &
Son, independent in politics and everything else, had an existence
of about one year only.
HUDSON'S WAR ^HISTORY.
Excepting Jonathan Draper, 80; John Walker, 77, and John
Ellsworth, 78, reported as pensioners by the census of 1840, we are
entirely without data as to Hudson's part in the war of the Revo-
lution— 1776 to 1783 — though, originating mostly in the patriotic
State of Connecticut, most undoubtedly several others of her early
settlers participated in that glorious struggle.
In the War of 1812 several Hudsonians took an active part,
though of this no accurate w^ritten history has been handed down.
The people of the Western Reserve, of that day, w^ere not only
thoroughly imbued with the spirit of the Revolution, but, being
upon the frontier, deemed it important to keep up military organi-
zations for self-protection in case of trouble Avith their red-skinned
neighbors. To this end, the able-bodied settlers of Hudson and
vicinity were early organized into a military cornpany, with Amos
Lusk as captain; this company with others, forming a battalion,
with George Darrow^ as major, the battalion being under the
jurisdiction of General Elijah Wadsworth, of Warren. After Gen-
eral Hull's ignominious surrender at Detroit, in August, 1812, the
news of which, and the rumored approach, eastward, of the
British and Indians, caused a great panic in Hudson and sur-
rounding towns, this battalion was ordered to Cleveland by Gen-
eral Wadsw^orth, and from thence, when the scare w^as over, to
Old Portage, then the headquarters of the Reserve militia.
Later, Major Darrow^ and his battalion were assigned to the
w^ork of opening a road through to Camp Huron, near Sandusky',
844 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
before completing Avhich, learning of the trouble \vhich the
American troops were meeting with at the hands of the red-coats
and red-skins, in the vicinity of Detroit, he hurried forward to
reinforce the garrison at Fort Huron; afterwards being ordered to
Fort Stephenson of which he was in command, until the defeat of
General Winchester, at Frenchtown, when he w^as ordered to
Maumee, to assist in the building of Fort Meigs; the names of
Zina Post, Bben Pease and James G. Bishop, only, being monu-
mentally recorded, in the cemeteries of the township, so far as the
writer is advised, as being soldiers in that war, though there must
have been at least a score besides those herein named. In regard
to the Mexican War, of 1846-48, w^e can find no historical indica-
tion that Hudson furnished a single soldier.
Education and Patriotism. — In the War of the Rebellion,
how^ever, Hudson w^as patriotic to the core. By reference to the
Register of Graduates of Western Reserve College, compiled by
President Cutler, in 1873, it will be seen that fully one hundred of
the graduates of the college entered the army, nearly one-half of
"whom enlisted directly from the college during the progress of the
Avar, to saj^ nothing of those w^ho entered the service from the
preparatory and medical departments, and of Avhom no adequate
record is now available.
Besides those' who volunteered from the college, in 1861, the
remaining students, together with several of the professors, organ-
ized for military drill, w^ith Colonel Haywood, of Cleveland, as
drill-master. During the vacation, between the sessions of 1861
and 1862, many of the students enlisted from their several homes,
and, on the call of President Lincoln for three months troops,
after the reverses of the Union forces in the Shenandoah Valley,
in May, 1862, the College Company, en masse, tendered their ser-
vices to Governor Tod, which were promptly accepted. The com-
pany, embracing some 35 or 40 students and professors, quite a
number of the scholars in the preparatory school and several out-
siders, (from 70 to 80 in all) was assigned, as Company B, to th^
85th Regiment O. V. I., which regiment was never completed, the
four companies thus assigned, being put on guard over rebel
prisoners at Camp Chase, Columbus, later escorting a body of
Confederate prisoners to Vicksburg for exchange; the college
catalogue of 1862, ^63 stating that sixteen members of the college
classes, and tw^enty-three members of the preparatory school were
in the army.
Of Company B, Professor Charles A. Young (nowr a distin-
guished professor of astronomy in Princeton College), was Captain,
and Professor Carroll Cutler (afterwards for fifteen years presi
dent of Western Reserve and Adelbert College), was First Lieuten
tant; W, C. Parsons (of the Selle Gear Works, Akron), was oopogal;
R. H. Wright (of the Buckeye Works), first sergeant; Judge E. W,
Stuart, corporal and promoted to sergeant; C. P. Humphrey Esq.,
as third sergeant; the latter being early transferred to the 88tli.
Regiment, as first sergeant and quartermaster, but almost imme-
diately detailed as Post Adjutant of Camp Chase, in which
capacity he served until mustered out in September, 1862. George
A. Purington, an Akron boy, then a member of the preparatory
school, went into the army as first sergeant of Company G, 19th,
O. V. I., in April, 1861, in August 1861, as captain in Second Ohio
Hudson's roll of honor. 845
Cavalry; promoted to major, lieutenant colonel and colonel; after
the War joined the Kegular Army as captain of cavalry, and is
now (1891) major of the 3rd U. S. C, with headquarters at Fort
Clark, Texas.
Outsiders Equally Patriotic. — Outside the college," the
citizens of Hudson w^ere equally patriotic as the following roster,,
prepared from memory, by Mr. George W. Church, and others, and
from the assessors' returns for 1863, '64, '65, believed to be substan-
tially correct, abundantly demonstrates :
Robert Andrews, George P. Ashmun, Charles C. Ashmun,
David Antles, William C. Bell, Henry J. Bell, Andrew Brewster,
Allen C. Burrows, William M. Bebee, Jr., James H. Bateman, John
Bullock, Edward Blackman, Charles A. Bunnell, David Baker,
William Baker, Henry Beardsley, Alexander Burney, John Barnell,
Rufus T. Chapman, George W. Church, Robert F. Cahill, Charles
Clark, Clinton C. Chambers, John C. Coffey, Charles W, Clapp,
Robert Cox, Mortimer Danforth, Albert D. Dunbar, Arvin Draper,
James Draper, Cyrus H. Delong, Francis Danforth, Norman
Darrow, Patrick Devaney, Cyrus B. Deacon, Edmund W. Deacon,
Henry Doncaster, John Dusenbury, Jr., Ransom J. EUsw^orth, Harry
Eggleston, James M. Foley, Charles Felton, Daniel Francis, Arby
P. Farwell, Foster V. FoUett, Henry Farw^ell, George W. Golden,
George W. Gaylord, Nicholas D. Gilbert, Prosper Gott, Charles
Harris, Jarvis Holcomb, E. F. Humiston, John F. Hitchcock, John
C. Hart, Henry Hitchcock, Albert A. Herkner, Robert L. Hubbell,
Al. Hinckston, Julius Harris, Marquis Holden, Henry W^ard
IngersoU (Band), Isaac Isbell, Albert Isbell, Edwin Ingersoll,
William Jones, Edw^ard King, Charles Lusk, Amos M. Lusk,
E. Lusk, Charles Leach, Henry Leach, Russell Lucas, Joseph
Morgan, Dwight Murray, J. McCuUoch, Charles A. Miller, Andrew
S. Miller, John Mehow, Andrew J. Minty, Charles Mason, Nicholas
Murray, Charles Messer, John McLaughlin, J. W. Mitchell, H. A.
Miller, Meloney, Richard Noonan, George Nichols, John F,
Oviatt, Almon Oviatt, Miles Oviatt, James Parks, James Page, Jr.,
Harry Pettengill, Thomas Pacey, William Peet, Joseph T. Parks,
Samuel W. Parks, Joseph H. Peck, Charles Pettengill, James C,
Packard, Samuel Patterson, E. A. Parmelee, A. B. Quay, John Rowe,
Joseph Rowe, Jackson Rowe, Addison H. Richardson, J. B. Reed,
Albert A. Ruger, William Rubbins, Foster Rubbins, Adam Rubbins,
Elihu Richmond, Charles Robinson, Edw^ard Seasons, Theron W.
Smith, Joseph E. Smith, Alfred E. Smith, William B. Straight, Benja-
min Sovacool, [Boston also claims this recruit, who w^as wounded in
the foot at Pittsburg Landing, carried to the rear, and never again
heard of] John Scanlan, Lester Secoy, James H. Seymour (Band),
William Smith, Edward Smith, Henry Smith, Chauncey Smith, F.
O. Stone, George S. Stanley, William Strong, Martin Shrady,
William H. Thompson, Samuel J. Tracey, Orlow^ Thompson, Henry
A. Thompson, Salmon Thompson, Harrison Thompson, Harry O.
Thompson, W. S. Thompson, Henry A. Tallmadge, William H.
Thomas, B. B. Tremlin, Varney, Bennett H. Wadsworth, W.
P. Williamson, William Wilder, Dwight H. Whedon, James
Winborn, George Wright, Samuel Wilkes, John Williams.
Casualties, Deaths, Etc. — Of the foregoing, those who fell in
the service, from casualty, are as follows: John F.Hitchcock,
lieutenant, U. S. A., died December 31, 1862; Dwight E. Murray,
I
K^K^
546 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
^th O. L. A., supposed to have been killed by guerrillas near Talla-
homa, Tennessee; W. P, Williamson, 29th O. V. I., killed in battle;
Thomas Pacy, Company A, 2nd O. V. C, killed at Woolson's river,
August 16, 1861 ; Robert Cox, Company D, Daniel Myers, Company
G, Edward King, Company' C, 115th O. V. I., lost by blowing up and
burning of Steamer Sultana, near Memphis, Tennessee, on the
morning of April 27, 1865; A. Richardson, Company D, 1st O. L. A.,
Russell Lucas, Albert D. Dunbar, John C. Hart, James C. Packard,
N. D. Gilbert, time and place of death unknown ; James Draper,
9th O. LrA., died at Tullahoma, Tennessee, March 21, 1864; F. O.
J^,.^^4fi^ Stone, 9th O. L. A., died at Somerset, Kentucky, March 1862;
f J -/ Charles W. ^Clapp, 29th O. Y. I., died at Camp Giddings, Ohio,
Li^^iTx.*^ December 5, 1861; Marquis Holden, 1st O. L. A., killed at Lost
Mountain, Georgia ; William Wilder, Company 9, S. S., killed at
City Point, Virginia, March 13, 1862 ; George H. Gaylord, Company
K, 19th O. V. I., died July, 1862 ; Ransom J. Ellsworth, 64th O. V.
I., killed at Missionary Ridge ; William Jones, 115th, O. V. I., killed
at Cleveland, Ohio ; Robert Andrews, Company H, 6th O. V. I.,
lost in South, December 1862; Nicholas Murray, navy, lost at sea ;
Clinton C. Chambers, 6th Ohio Battery, died at Jeffersonville,
Indiana, March 21, 1862 ; WilUam Rubbins, 34th N. Y. I., killed at
Antietam, September 17, 1862; Foster Rubbins, 34th N. Y. I., killed
at Fredericksburg, Virginia, December 12, 1862.
Honorable Civil Record. — In official civil affairs, Hudson
presents an extensive and highly honorable record, as will be seen
by w^hat follows. The first grand jury of the new county of
Portage, which convened August 23, 1808, embraced among its
members four of Hudson's pioneer settlers : David Hudson, Samuel
Bishop, Moses Thompson and Stephen Baldwin, Mr. Hudson being
named as foreman by the court.
Aaron Norton was among the accessions to the township in
1801, soon afterwards, in connection with Mr. Hudson, building a
saw^ mill, grist mill and distillery, on a branch of Tinker's Creek,
in the northeast part of the tow^nship, w^hich ^vere destroyed by
fire in 1803; a year or tw^o later removed to Northampton, vir^here
he embarked in a similar enterprise ; in 1807, removed to Middle-
bury, where he became interested in a mill project, in company
w^ith Mr. Joseph Hart, was appointed an associate judge of the
Common Pleas Court for Portage county, on its first organization,
in 1808, serving the full term of seven years, w^ith great ability and
satisfaction.
Hon. Van Rensselaer Humphrey, then practicing law in
Hudson, represented Portage county in the State legislature for
two successive terms — 1828, 1829 — and in the session of 1836, '37, was
appointed by the legislature, president judge of the Third Judicial
District, embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Trumbull and
Portage. On its erection, in 1840, Summit county >vas attached to
the third district, thus coming under Judge Humphrey's jurisdic-
tion, who SQrved w^ith marked ability for the full term of seven
years.
' John B. Clark, was appointed associate judge of the Court of
Common Pleas, on the death of Judge Charles Sumner, of Middle-
bury, June 19, 1845, filling the place \C^ith honor to himself and his
constituents for about one year, w^hen he tendered his resignation.
Hudson's honorable civil record. 847
Sylvester H. Thompson, a native of Hudson, succeeded Judge
Clark upon the bench, in 1846, ably performing the duties of the
position, until the adoption of the new constitution in 1852; "Side
Judges," as they were then called, being abolished by that instru-
ment.
William O'Brien was Summit county's first treasurer, elected
in April, 1840, and re-elected, in the following October for the full
term of two years, making a very competent officer, until his death,
of consumption, in February, 1842; ex-sheriff George Y. Wallace,
of Northfield, being appointed by the county commissioners to fill
the vacancy.
Mills Thompson, from 1843 to 1849, two full terms, ably and
faithfully filled the position of county commissioner, being in
the office at the time the present infirmary farm w^as purchased,
and aided in inaugurating that noble charity for the care and
comfort of the comparatively few destitute infirm, among the
generally w^ell-to-do inhabitants of Summit county.
Harvey Whedon, Esq., was elected prosecuting attorney, in
October, 1850, holding the position two years, making in all respects,
a first-class officer.
Dr. George P. Ashmun, then an honored citizen of Hudson,
was elected State Senator from the Summit-Portage district, in
October, 1857, discharging the duties of that office to the full
satisfaction of his constituents, in both counties, for the full term
of two years.
Sylvester H. Thompson, in October, 1859, was elected to.
represent Summit county in the low^er House of the General
Assembly of Ohio, as the colleague of Hon. Alvin C. Voris, serving
one full term of tw^o years.
Stephen Henderson Pitkin, a graduate of the class of 1834;
county surveyor of Fulton county, Illinois, from 1836 to 1840;
probate judge of that county from 1840 to 1844, elected on the
Union ticket, in October, 1861, to fill the unexpired term of
Probate Judge William M. Dodge, deceased, (two years) re-elected
on the same ticket in 1863, and again re-elected, on the Repub-
lican ticket in 1866, making his term of service in that
important office eight full years. In 1868, Judge Pitkin w^as chosen
as the Republican presidential elector for the Eighteenth Congres-
sional district, composed of Summit, Cuyahoga and Lake counties,
casting his vote in the electoral college for Ulysses S. Grant for
president and Schuyler Colfax for vice-president of the United
States the judge also holding the office of secretary of the Summit
County Agricultural Society from 1871 to 1880, nine years, and an
efficient member of the board of trustees of the Northern Ohio
Hospital for the Insane, at Newburg, between 1862 and 1878, fourteen
years.
David Duncan Bebee, for many years a merchant of Hudson,
was elected State Senator for the Summit-Portage district in
October, 1867, by his urbane and intelligent discharge of his
senatorial duties, making himself so popular, in both counties,
that he was unanimously tendered a second term, in 1879, the first
re-election of an incumbent of that office in the history of the
district.
848 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Matthew Canfield Read, graduate of the class of 1848;
attorney at law; editor Familj^ Visitor, 1852 to 1854; teacher in
gramm'ar school,, Western Reserve College; member of U. S.
Sanitary Commission, with the Army of the Cumberland, during
the War; deputy revenue collector, after the close of the War;
member of Ohio geological surveying corps from 1869 till com-
pletion of the survey; lecturer on zoology and geology in Western
Reserve College; to w^nship clerk, justice of the peace, mayor, etc.
William Isaac Chamberlain, born in Connecticut in 1837,
accompanied his parents to Hudson in 1838; graduate of the class
of 1859; principal of Shaw Academy, Collamer, Ohio, 1859-61; tutor
of Greek and Latin in Western Reserve College, 1861-66; superin-
tendent Cuyahoga Falls schools, 1864, '65; assistant professor in
College, 1866-69; farmer, 1869-79; secretary of Ohio State Board
of Agriculture, 1880-86; and from 1886 to 1890, president of the
Iowa Agricultural College, at Ames, low^a, one of the most success-
ful institutions of its kind in the United States.
Charles C. Hine, a representative farmer of Hudson, w^as
elected county commissioner in October, 1885, and re-elected in
1888 for six years, making in all respects a lirst-class officer.
James H. Seymour, for many years a successful grocer in
Hudson, was elected county treasurer, in October, 1886, taking
charge of the funds of Summit county and of the City of Akron on
the 5th day of September, 1887, and re-elected in 1888, his adminis-
tration being marked w^ith as full a degree of efficiency and
integrity as the very best of his many worthy predecessors.
Calvin Pease Humphrey, born in Hudson, June 21, 1840, a
graduate of the Western Reserve College, of the class of 1863, and
of Cleveland law school in 1866; w^as mayor of Cuyahoga Falls
from 1870 to 1871, and city solicitor for Akron from 1879 to 1881,
filling both positions with marked ability.
Horace Burnham Foster, born in Leyden, Franklin county,
Mass., April 26, 1828; removed to Mantua in 1837; preparatory
education at Twinsburg Institute; graduate from Western Reserve
College in the class of 1852; principal preparatory department, 1852,
'53; tutor in college, 1853-55; superintendent Akron schools, 1855,
'56; tutor in the vacant professorship of mathematics and natural
philosophy from September, 1856, till the accession of Professor
Charles Young, January 1, 1857; justice of the peace from 1858 to
1861; clerk of incorporated village of Hudson ten years; mayor of
village eight years; a safe counsellor and a successful lawyer.
Hon. William M. Beebe, long a prominent citizen, and for
four terms mayor of Hudson; was an efficient member of the
board of trustees for the Northern Ohio Insane Hospital at Cleve-
land, from 1880 to 1886— six full years.
Many others of Hudson's native and adopted citizens have
held high official positions in life, in other localties, whose honors
and fame cannot be here recorded; but enough has been given to
show that Hudson has no cause to be ashamed of the part herson&
have taken in the civil affairs of life, both local and general.
PRESENT OFFICIAL ROSTER— (1891).
Village Officers. — Council, John Mead, Edward B. Black-
man, William B. Straight, Orson Cook, Cornelius A. Campbell;
Hudson's criminal record. 849
mayor, Henry E. Lee; clerk, Ralph T. Miller; treasurer, George V.
Miller; marshal, George W. Church.
Township Officers. — Trustees, Henry H. Chamberlin, Charles
H. Kilbourn, Sherman P. Thompson; clerk, Edward E. Rogers;
treasurer, Sebastian Miller; assessor, William A. Curtis (successor
to John M. Seidel, after ten years service); justices of the peace,
Mathew C. Read, Edward E. Rogers; constables, George W.
Church, Thomas W. EUiman.
Postmasters. — Hudson, Isaiah B. Jones; Darrowville, Edward
O. Shiveley.
HUDSON'S CRIMINAL RECORD.
Aside from the alleged shooting, in cold blood, sundry trouble-
some Indians, by certain so called " Indian hunters," of pioneer
times, Hudson has been singularly exempt from crime, save those
occasional minor offences incident to aggregated humanity, and
diversity of temperament and habit, in the best regulated com-
munities.
Of course there are exceptions to all general rules, and one of
Hudson's exceptions occurred something in this wise:
Sometime in the early fifties, one Nelson Hinckston estab-
lished himself in the boot and shoe business in Hudson, becoming
the proprietor of three buildings on the west side of Main street;
the middle building being a story and a half frame, with basement,
the front of the low^er floor being his salesroom, the rear room his
shop, the attic used for sleeping rooms, storage, etc. The next
building north was Hinckston's dwelling house and the building
south w^as occupied by Mr. Judd as a book store. One night, in
the Winter of 1856-57, a fire was discovered in the basement of
the store, w^hich, being promptly extinguished, brought to light
indications that the fire .had been purposely set, and pointing very
strongly towards Hinckston, himself, as the incendiary, notwith-
standing the fact that his ow^n son, w^ith one of the w^orkmen^
occupied the sleeping room above, with no other means of egress
than by the stairs under which the fire had been kindled. Though
very greatly excited over the affair, his neighbors took no legal
steps in the premises, and gradually the feeling against Hinckston
died out, and his business seemed to be running along as smoothly
as before.
During the Summer of 1857, however, Mr. Jacob Niebel, an
employe, began to observe symptoms indicating that his boss was
again making preparations to "sell" his buildings and stock to the
several insurance companies, who held risks thereon, aggregating
nearly $5,000. Communicating his suspicion to a fellow-workman
by the name of Thomas Cooper, the two kept watch over the
movements of Hinckston, and when they believed he was about
ready to apply the match, about the middle of February, 1858,
other citizens were apprised of the matter, and an examination of
the premises was had. It was found that through holes in the
floor, bundles of waxed ends, with other inflammable substances,,
extended from piles of kindlings in the basement to similar com-
bustibles in the store room, and these, in turn, connected with still
other deposits upon the upper shelves (concealed by boxes), and
these again with like readily ignited substances between the ceiling
and the upper floor, and in the rooms above, so that the match
54
850 AKRON ANlf SUMMIT COUNTY.
once applied, the entire fabric wrould be almost instantly in flames.
Had a fire thus got fairly started, with the limited fire extinguish-
ing appliances Hudson then had, not only Hinckston's three build-
ings would have been burned, but the entire street, including the
Mansion House, and the dwelling house of Mr. D. D. Morrell, w^ould
undoubtedly have been cleaned out.
Arrested on the First Attempt. — To say that Hudson was
excited and indignant would be drawing it mild, and if "Judge
Lynch" had been as popular then as now, even in some portions
of order-loving Ohio, it is doubtful if her citizens could have been
restrained from inflictingsummary vengeance upon the incendiary.
The affair coming to the ears of Prosecuting Attorney Henry
McKinney, the fire not having actually been set in the case in
hand, that officer procured his apprehension on the first attempt
using the developments in the latter case as corroborating evi-
dence against him on the charge of arson. The w^arrant was issued
by Justice M. C. Read, w^ho, at the examination, called to his
assistance Justices S. H. Pitkin, of Hudson, and M. D. Call, of
Stow, The evidence was overwhelmingly conclusive, but the
defendant's counsel, A. C. Voris, Esq., took the bold ground that in
setting the fire in question, he had violated no provision of the
Statutes of Ohio, the law then reading: "Whoever sets fire to any
building, the property of another," etc., and moved that the accused
be discharged. Though Justice Read was favorable to the grant-
ing of the motion, his associates inclined to the view that the
almost inevitable destruction of the property of others, had his
0"wn got fairly started, w^as sufficient to hold him to answer to the
grand jury, and he was so held. Esq. Yoris immediately applied
to Probate Judge Noah M. Humphrey for a writ of habeas corpus
and, after a full examination of the facts in the case, and the law,
the defendant w^as discharged, and though no pecuniary harm
came to the people from the carefully planned, but happily frus-
trated schemes of the fire-bug, Hudson became too hot for longer
comfortable sojourn and Hinckston floated off West, and has since
deceased. In the follo>ving session of the Legislature — 1859, '60 —
in w^hich Hon. A. C. Voris was Summit county's representative,
and Hon. J, A. Garfield \vas the State senator from the Summit-Port-
age district, the laAv was amended, making the burning of one's
own building, for the purpose of defrauding insurance companies,
a penitentiary offense.
The Maloney-Stepleton Homicide. — On the night of the 16th
day of June, 1860, the good people of Hudson Avere thrown into the
^vildest excitement by the rapidly spreading report that a most
wanton and brutal murder had been perpetrated upon one of the
public streets of that usually quiet and peaceful village, under the
follow^ing circumstances:
A young Irishman by the name of John Maloney was in the
employ of the Cleveland & Pittsburg railroad, as a track repairer,
under track-master Reynolds, of Bedford. Maloney was rather
above the medium height, about 24 years of age, with sandy hair
and fair complexion, and of mild and pleasant countenance.
Michael Stepleton w^as a young man of the same nationality, in his
21st year, w^hose parents resided in Holmes county, but who had
for some time been at work on the Mahoning Branch of A. & G.
W. R'y in Mantua ; both young men very frequently visiting
THE DEADLY BLUDGEON. 851
Hudson, among whose young people of the class to which they
belonged, they had formed many mutual acquaintances.
The Beginning of the Trouble. — These visits, on the part of
Maloney, were said to have ripened into such intimate relations
with one of his female acquaintances, by the name of Bridget
•Calnan, that he was fighting a little shy of both the young lady
and of the village of Hudson itself. On Saturday, May 12, 1860,
w^hile Stepleton \sras en route from Mantua to Hudson, to spend
the Sabbath, he met Maloney at Macedonia, and urged him to
-''come on dow^n to Hudson w^here all the fun is," giving him
twenty cents to pay his fare with, if he would do so. Maloney
asked Stepleton if Bridget was still in Hudson, and was told that
she was not. Thereupon he accepted his friend's invitation, and
accompanied him to Hudson.
But it appears that Bridget Calnan was still in Hudson, and
either she or her friends, taking advantage of Maloney's presence
in the village, instituted legal proceedings against him, "with a
view to matrimony," or — ^in case of refusal — -to visit upon him the
pains and penalties provided by law for "premature fatherhood."
The former alternative w^as submitted to, and the "loving not
wisely but too well" couple were accordingly joined in the bonds
of holy wedlock by Father M. A. Scanlon, of Akron, pastor of St.
A^ncent De Paul's Church, on Sunday, May 13, 1860.
While it does not appear that Mr. and Mrs. Maloney, wrere
living otherwise than happily together, he charged Stepleton with
having "betrayed him" him, and became bitterly incensed against
him, and had given utterance to sundry threats of vengeance,
though it was claimed by Stepleton, that he was unaware of the
peculiar nature of Maloney's aversion to meeting Bridget, w^hen
he falsely told him she wras not in Hudson. This Avas the status
of the existing feeling betAveen the hitherto virarm friends, when
they next met, on Saturday, June 16, just exactly five weeks after
the occurrences above detailed. Stepleton had come to Hudson, to
have a good time among the young people of that classic village,
over the Sabbath, while Maloney, for reasons not clearly apparent,
leaving his youthful bride at their home in Macedonia, w^as in
tow^n also.
On meeting, Maloney began to upbraid Stepleton for his per-
lidy, but the latter, assuring him that he had no suspicion as to
how matters stood between him and Bridget, and that he never
•dreamed of drawing him into the trap that had been set for him,
Maloney professed to be satisfied, shook hands with him, and tak-
ing a drink together, spent the afternoon and evening with
mutual friends, in convivial and social converse, on apparently as
friendly terms as of yore.
Striking the Fatal Blow. — Thus were they in each other's
company all of the afternoon and evening, and, with other boon
companions, visited the drinking places of the village, though
neither of them appeared to be particularly intoxicated. About
eight o'clock in the evening Maloney left the company, saying
that he was going to stay over night in Hudson at the house of
Mr. Thomas Hurley, on leaving, cordially shaking hands w^ith the
crowd, Stepleton included, and pleasantly bidding them all
^'good bye."
852 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
About nine o'clock, Stepleton and a companion by the name of
John Jones, meeting Kllen Ryan, Ann Morris, Julia Calnan and
Kate Fitzgerald, joined them for a walk, and as escorts to their
several homes. Having left the two other girls at their respective
gates, the tw^o young men, Avith Ellen Ryan and Ann Morris,
about 10 o'clock reached the gate of President George E. Pierce, of
the Western Reserve College, in w^hose family Ellen Ryan livedo
While standing there, merrily talking and laughing, a man sud-
denly approached, and exclaiming "You are there yet!" raised a
club, and, with both hands, struck Stepleton a fearful blow on the
head, instantly felling him to the ground, and followed it up with
two or more other heavy blows; the assailant being recognized by
his voice as John Maloney.
Plucky Ellen Ryan. — Even before the first blow was struck,
John Jones started upon a run tow^ards his own home, while Ann
Morris ran towards the house of President Pierce, but Ellen Ryan
pluckily stood her ground, and endeavored to prevent further
injury to her prostrate companion, by tw^ice pulling his assailant
aw^ay from him as he -was wielding his club, and who in his fury
exclaimed, "Ellen Ryan, let go of me! he has betrayed me !" The
assailant then thre^v away his club and started on the run,,
towards the road leading to Macedonia, while Ellen Ryan, calling
upon Ann Morris to come back to assist her, took hold of and tried
to raise Stepleton, who w^as groaning, to his feet, but finding hi^
helpless and unconscious, laid his head upon the step, and then
w^ent for help. M. C. Read, Esq., with Doctor George P. Ashmun
w^ere soon upon the spot, with others of the neighbors, but by this
time life w^as found to be extinct.
Arrest of the Murderer. ^ — The new^s of the homicide spread
from house to house w^ith great rapidity, and, as might have been
expected, caused the most intense excitement among the staid and
peaceful denizens of Hudson. The murderer was almost imme-
diately follow^ed to Macedonia, where he w^as found in bed with
his young w^ife, as calm as though nothing extraordinary had
occurred. He was taken into custody and conveyed to Hudson
the same night, where he ^vas kept, closely guarded, until Monday
morning, w^hen, on preliminary examination before Justice Harry
C. Thompson, he was held to answer for the crime of murder and
duly committed to jail.
Indictment, Trial, Sentence, Etc. — Though the May term of
the Court was still in session. Prosecuting Attorney McKinney
did not deem it advisable to impanel a special grand jury, and the
trial w^as consequently postponed until the November term. At
that term an indictment w^as returned, charging the defendant
w^ith Mrilful and premeditated murder, to which charge on being
arraigned, Maloney entered a plea of "Not Guilty." Monday^
November 26, was designated as the time for the trial to begin, 36
jurors having been summoned to appear on that day, from Tvhich
to select the necessary number to try the case.
The case w^as conducted on the part of the State by Prosecut-
ing Attorney Henry McKinney, assisted by William H. Upson and
Matthew C. Read, and on the part of the defense by Judge Van R.
Humphrey and General Lucius V. Bierce. The trial occupied the
time of the court, including the impaneling of the jury, the exami-
nation of w^itnesses, the arguments of counsel, the charge of the
IMPRISONMENT, PARDON, SUBSEQUENT LIFE, ETC. 853
judge and the deliberations of the jury, seven full days. The
arguments, covering two entire days, were all very able, and the
charge of Judge Carpenter, occupying a full hour in its delivery,
w^as able, clear and impartial. The jury were out about six hours,
and at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon of Tuesday, December 4,
1860, returned a verdict of Murder in the Second Degree. The
penaltj^ for this degree of homicide being imprisonment for life,
sentence to that effect was duly pronounced by Judge Carpenter,
in appropriate and impressive terms, a few days after the rendition
of the verdict as above stated.
Imprisonment — Pardon, Etc. — On the 14th day of December,
1860, among the last batch of prisoners delivered at the peniten-
tiary, by the writer, near the close of his first four years' siege as
sheriff of Summit county, w^as the Life Convict, John Maloney.
John was quiet, thoughtful and apparently exceedingly regretful
for w^hat he had done, freely expressing to the wrriter the belief
that but for strong drink, he would not have committed the fearful
deed for which he was about to suffer. On entering the prison he
resignedly, if not cheerfully, submitted to all its rules and regula-
tions, and soon w^on and continued to hold, the good will of the
officers and those under w^hom he performed his daily tasks. After
a suitable lapse of time, kind friends interested themselves in his
behalf, and petitioned Governor Jacob D. Cox for his pardon,
w^hich was accordingly granted on the 22d day of October, 1867,
and he was restored to liberty, just six years, ten months and
eight days after his incarceration, and recent inquiry has disclosed
the fact that in an adjoining county, with the w^ife to vrhom he
w^as -wedded under such adverse circumstances, he has since
lived happily and uprightly, and is an industrious and respected
citizen of the community in \^hich he, and his quite numerous
family now^ reside. The simple story of John Maloney has a
-double moral, which is not only self-evident, but which the youth
of our county, of w^hatever station or condition in life, will do w^ell
to thoughtfully ponder and conscientiously heed.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
NORTHAMPTON'S BEGINNING — INDIAN AND FRONTIER MATTERS — PIONEEIT
SETTLERS, INCIDENTS, ETC.— GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT—" BOOTHSPORT,""
"NILES" AND OTHER BUSINESS CENTERS— A FRUITFUL COUPLE— ORGAN-
IZATION, NAME, ETC.— NORTHAMPTON'S MILITARY PROWESS— CIVIL SERVICE
"REFORM"— SINGULAR CONDUCT OF A PUBLIC OFFICIAL— INDUSTRIAL
MATTERS, RESOURCES, ETC.— EARLY CROOKEDNESS— THE DUNN-WHIPPLE
TRAGEDY— BROOKS-TEDROW HOMICIDE— PRESENT STATUS, ETC.
LOCALITY, BEGINNING, Etc.
'T^OWN 3, Range 11, as designated in the original survey of the
^ Western Reserve, and which afterwards came to be known as
Northampton, is bounded on the north by Boston, east by Stow^
south by Portage and w^est by Bath tow^nships. The Big Cuyahoga
river traverses its entire length, north and south, in the w^estern
portion of the township. Bordering upon the river on eitlier side,
w^ith the exception of a few quite large areas of bottom lands, the
country is extremely rugged, though the central and eastern
portion is comparatively level and well adapted to general agricul-
ture, the bottom lands affording a number of fine and very fertile
farms, while the intervening hills and gullies are admirably suited
to grazing and dairy purposes.
Without tracing title from the King of England to the Connec-
ticut colony, by the grant of 1665, or from the Indians, east of the
river, by the treaty of Fort Mcintosh, January 21, 1785, and on
the west side by treaty of Fort Industry, in 1805, and by the United
States, in turn, to the State of Connecticut, it is sufficient, here, to
say that in about the year 1801 it was sold to the Connecticut Land
Company, by whom it was disposed of, by a sort of a lottery
scheme, or draw^ing, to parties purchasing shares therein, in
proportion to the amount of money so paid in.
The original proprietors of Tract 3, Range 11, thus acquiring
title, were W. Billings, Oliver P. Holden, Solomon Stoddard, Daniel
Wright, Joseph Pratt, Ivuther Loomis, David King, John Leavitt, Jr.,.
Ebenezer King, Jr., Timothy Phelps, and Fidelio King, the six
last named gentlemen being towrnsmen of the writer, in Connec-
ticut (old Suffield), Mr. David King being the grandfather of
Akron's present well-known citizen, David L. King, Esq.
Indian and Frontier Matters. — Within the limits of this
township were some of the most extensive and important Indian
mounds, fortifications and other works in the entire west, and it
was against the Indian garrison here, probably, that Captain
Samuel Brady made his hostile demonstrations in 1780, and from
whence, on being repulsed, he made his memorable run and leap-
for life, at the present village of Kent, as recorded in another chap-
ter of this work.
Here, too, in the summer of 1812, an encampment of militia,,
under command of General Elijah Wadsworth, of Warren, wa&
stationed, in the vicinity of Old Portage, for the protection of the
BOATS FOR COMMODORE PERRY.
855
frontier; reinforced, after the cowardly surrender of his army at
Detroit, by General William Hull, August 16, 18l2, by a battalion
of militia, under the command of Major George Darrow, of Hudson,
one company of which was in command of Captain Rial McArthur,
of Northampton. It was at this point, also, that the boats were built
which are alleged to have formed a part of Commodore Perry's
fleet in the battle of Lake Erie, September 10, 1813— the "Portage,"
the "Porcupine" and the "Hornet" — the former so named from
the "port" where it was built ; the second from the fact that the
late William Cogswell, of Bath, who helped to build the boats,
captured one of those prickly little animals and tossed it on board
just as the boat was being launched, and the third from the circum-
stance that at the pineries, in Northfield, where the boats were
being fitted with masts and spars, it was discovered that near the
top of the tree selected for the mast of the boat in question, there
w^as a large hornet's nest, one of the men volunteering to climb the
tree and plug the hole in the nest before proceeding to chop it
down.
WILLIAM PRIOR, — born in
Hampshire county, Massachu-
setts, April 6, 1783 ; caine with fainily
to Ohio in 1802, his father, Simeon
Prior, being the first white settler in
Northampton township, coming- by
ox-teams to Lake Ontario ; from
thence, iji open boats, via Lake Onta-
rio, the Niagara river and Lake Erie
to the mouth of the Cuyahoga, and
from thence through the unbroken
wilderness to their destination.
Simeon Prior was a soldier in the
Revolutionary War, and the son, Wil-
liam, bravely defended his country
in the War of 1812 ; on attaining his
majority, young Prior went South
and pre-empted a tract of Congress
land8,but shortlj^ afterwards returned
to Northampton, and jjurchased the
quarter section, on which he spent
the balance of his life, and where he
died in June, 1872, in the 90th year of
his age. He filled many positions of
private and public trust, for many
3'ears holding commissions asjustice
of the peace, from the earlier Govern-
ors of Ohio. His first wife was
Sarah Wharton, of Wheeling, Vir-
ginia, who bore him four sons,
Edward, IJenry W., Robert and Simeon
— and three daughters, Susau, Katha-
rine and Sarah, all now deceased,
except Sarah, residing in Marysville,
WILLIAM PRIOR.
Missouri. His second wife was Polly
Culver, who bore him two children —
William, who died suddenly at his
home near Cuyahoga Falls, Seplem-
ber 7, 1891, aged 66 years, 4 months
and 17 days, and George W., killed in
the battle of the Wilderness, May 9,
1864.
Early Settlement, Name, Etc. — Notwithstanding the relin-
quishment of their title to these lands, by the two treaties above
named, so reluctant were the Indians to leave the graves of their
ancestors and their favorite hunting and fishing grounds, that
many of them lingered in the neighborhood for several years, not
only to the great annoyance of their pale-faced neighbors, but also
very materially retarding the settling up of the township ; not
entirely disappearing until the commencement of the War of 1812,
856 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
in which the majority of them took a livel}'' interest against the
United States.
The first white family to take up their abode in the township,
w^as undoubtedly that of Simeon Prior, consisting of Mr. and Mrs.
Prior, and their ten children, who removed thither from near
Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1802; a portion of the 400 acres of
land then purchased by Mr. Prior, viz : lot 19, still being owned and
occupied by his descendants, though the original log cabin inhab-
ited by the family \^as built upon lot 25, some two miles further
north. In the absence of proof to the contrary, it is presumable
that the name of Northampton was given to the tow^nship by
this first settler, Simeon Prior, because of his migration from the
near vicinity of the very pleasant tow^n of that name in the "Old
Bay State."
A former historian gives Mr. David Parker, of Hartford,
Connecticut, as the second settler in the township, and his son, the
venerable Richard E. Parker (late a resident of Akron), born
March 9, 1811, as the first white male child born in the township.
This can hardly be, however, as Mr. Parker before his death,
informed the writer that his father came to Northampton in 1810,
w^hile the same historian mentions the settlement of Samuel King
at Old Portage in 1809 ; the building of a grist-mill at Mud Brook
gorge, by Judge Norton in 1805, and the establishment of a school, by
Justus Remington in 1809, it seeming improbable that among
a population sufficiently numerous to require the founding of
a school, there were no births previous to that of the Parker child.
Mr. David Parker erected a saw-mill near the mouth of Yellow^
Creek, on the west side of the river, about 1820, which was of great
service in supplying the then rapidly increasing inhabitants, of
both Northampton and Bath, with lumber; Mr. Parker dying
September 11, 1823, at the age of 55 years, 6 months and 15 days.
Growth, Development, Etc. — The growth of the township was
so greatly retarded by the causes named, that it w^as not until the
close of the War of 1812, '15, that any considerable progress was
made in the \vay of civilized settlement. A few families, ho^vever,
had from time to time ventured in, among others Mr, Samuel
King, who as above stated, in 1809, settled on the south verge of
the township, on the river, at Portage, afterwards designated "Old
Portage," in contradistinction to the subsequent settlement of
"New Portage," at the southern end of the "overland" route of the
Indians from the head of canoe navigation on the Cuyahoga river,
to the head of navigation on the Tuscarawas, at the latter point;
the route traversed being the now historical "Portage Path ;" in
reality the datum line (though rather a crooked one) generally
made use of in describing contiguous lands upon either side thereof,
in the townships of Portage and Coventry, betwreen the points
named.
Later on, probably at the close of the War of 1812, Mr, King
established a tavern and a store at Old Portage, then on the direct
route of travel from Warren to Sandusky Wa the Smith Road, upon
the west side of the river, between the townships of Copley and
Bath. Here, too, after the opening of the Ohio Canal in 1827,
Birdsey Booth, Esq., of Cuyahoga Falls, built quite an extensive
freight w^arehouse, at w^hich large quantities of merchandise w^ere
received for distribution to contiguous towns and villages, east as
Northampton's early "business centers.'
857
far as Warren and west to and beyond Medina, and for the shipment
of farm produce to eastern markets Wa Lake Erie and the Erie
Canal; scores of teams being almost daily found at "Boothsport,"
as it was then called, loading and unloading the several kinds of
freight mentioned.
A number of other buildings were erected, and for a few years
it was thought that "Boothsport" would eventually become a
large and flourishing village ; but increasing shipping facilities at
Akron, and points below, with more favorable approaches, soon
brought about a decadence of "Boothsport's" business prosperity;
its store, tavern and warehouse, have disappeared, and a single
farm'-house, only, now marks the spot which sixty years ago
promised to be a permanent and prosperous village; Mr. Booth, a
few years later, establishing a warehouse on the east side of the
canal, near the head of Lock 15, in Akron, for the special accom-
modation of the people of Cuyahoga Falls, the necessity for which
passed away on the completion of the P. & O. canal in 1840.
pOL. RIAL McARTHUR,— born in
^ Vermont in 1783 ; came to Ohio
in 1805, as surveyor for the Connecti-
cut Land Company, later for several
years keeping a general store in
Middlebury, in 1817 bujang land and
the flouring mill originally erected
by Judge Aaron Norton, on the State
road in Northampton. Active in
local military affairs, as captain of an
independent companj^, in the War of
1812, under General Wadsworth, with
headquarters at Old Portage, he was
soon promoted to major and then to
colonel of militia, not only aiding in
building two of the boats with which
Commodore Perry won his splendid
victory on Lake Erie, September 10,
1813, but afterwards gallantly defend-
ing the frontier from the attacks of
the British and Indians at Sandusky.
In 1832, he moved to Independence,
Cuyahoga county, where he served
as justice of the peace ten years ; in
1843 returned to Northampton, where
he resided until his death, August
24, 1871, aged 88 years, there, also, for
many years serving as justice of the
peace. Col. McArthur was a life-long
and highly honored Mason, his
funeral being largely attended and
conducted by the members of the
fraternity. In 1810, he was married
to Miss Almira Sprague, of Spring-
COL. RIAL MCARTHUR.
field township. The}- were the
parents of nine children — Orange,
deceased ; Eric, deceased ; Amanda,
Mrs. E. R. Harper, now of Akron ;
Henry, deceased ; Giles, now living
in Grattan, Wisconsin; Earl, now of
Delta, Ohio ; Pamela, deceased ;
Martha, deceased ; Mary, now Mrs. H.
P. Smith, of Northampton.
Other "Business Centers." — A mile and a half further north,
at Yellow Creek Basin, quite a business point w^as created by the
opening of the Ohio Canal. Here, also, a tavern and a store were
established by Mr. Nathaniel Hardy, father of Mr. Perry D. Hardy,
still living in Northampton, and of Mr. William Hardy, now resid-
ing at No. 130, North Bowery street in the city of Akron. Here,
also, tw^o or more commodious w^are-houses w^ere erected, w^hile, in
about 1836, Peter Voris, Jr. (father of Judge A. C. Voris, of Akron),
w^ith two men named Henry and Snodgrass, laid out about 100
858 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
acres, at the mouth of Yellow Creek, on the west side of the canal^
into a village plat, under the appellation of "Niles," w^hich name
it bore for several years, though not entirely losing the cognomen
of "Yellow Creek Basin." But before a boom, in behalf of the
embryo city, could be properly worked up, the panic of 1837 struck
in, and "Niles" remained a city on paper, only, the plat afterwards
being vacated and the choice corner lots thereof relegated to the
plow-share and pruning-hook.
The center of Northampton, proper, never aspired to the
dignity of a village ; a school house, town house, church and one
or two dwellings, constituting the entire hamlet. At Steele's-
Corners, a mile and a half northeast; McArthur's Corners, about
the same distance southeast, and at French's mill, between the
tw^o points, upon the State road, were also small hamlets, the latter
point embracing a grist-mill — the first mill erected in the township,,
(in 1805) by Aaron Norton, afterwards a prominent mill owner in
Middlebury and one of the associate judges of Portage county.
Early Milling Operations. — The propelling power of this^
mill was the w^aters of Mud Brook, a considerable stream, flowing
from a beautiful little lake near the northeast corner of the
township (mostly lying in Sto^v) formerly called Mud Pond, but
now designated as Turtle Lake, a far more appropriate name, as
its waters not only largely abound in turtle and a great variety of
fish, but are also as clear as the clearest crystal, w^hile its shores
have, of late years, become quite a favorite resort for summer
campers-out, picnickers, etc.
This mill was afterwards run by Mr. Daniel Turner (grand-
father of Mrs. Word. Babcock and Mr. Daniel Turner, of Akron),
w^ho moved from New Jersey to Northampton in 1812, until hi&
death in 1825, at the age of 65 years. The mill then passed into-
the hands of Colonel Rial McArthur, who also erected a distillery
near the southwest corner of the present iron bridge across the
stream at that point. Later, when the manufacture of whisky
was abandoned, the building, after being used awhile as a dw^elling'
house, was converted into a meeting house and school house — thus
literally bringing good out of evil.
The grist mill was finally abandoned, when the property
passed into the hands of Thomas J. French, who converted it intO'
a saw-mill, afterw^ards associating w^ith himself Mr. Jesse Hays,
quite an extensive business being done by the firm for several
years in converting the surplus timber of the neighborhood into
lumber, for the Cuyahoga Falls and Akron markets, as w^ell as for
neighborhood consumption. Several years ago this mill passed
into the hands of Mr. John Hart, and was run by himself and his-
son-in-law, Adam G. Steele, and is now the property of Mrs. Steele
as the heir of Mr. Hart, and is at present standing idle.
At an early day, also, Moses and Oliver Dew^ey established a
saw-mill a quarter of a mile lovv^er down the stream, but though a
good mill, Avith a fair fall and power, being inconvenient of access^
it soon went into disuse and consequent dilapidation. A mile or
so further up the stream, in 1824 Elisha Prior and Elisha Perkins,
brothers-in-law^, erected a saw-mill w^hich did quite an extensive
business for several years. This property passed into the hands^
of Mr. Harry Pardee, father of Henry Pardee; Esq., of Ghent, and
Edward K. Pardee, of Northampton, in the early forties, who added
WHISKY, CASTOR OIL, CHEESE, FLOUR, ETC.
85^
thereto a woolen factory, chair factory, etc., which since the death
of Mr. Pardee, and the concentration of such industries at railroad
centers, and in cities, villages, etc., has also gone into disuse and
dilapidation.
Potato Whisky, Castor Oil, Chee.se, Ktc. — Near the mouth
of Mud Brook, in the valley, a distillery for the manufacture of
potato whisky was erected in 1814, by Mr. Abel Vallen, w^hich did
quite a spirited business for a few years; but w^as afterwards con-
verted into a castor oil factory, which proved too lnjc a business to
be remunerative, the site being subsequently covered by a cheese
factory, whose operations, though probably far more palatable and
w^holesome, for some unknow^n reason proved unremunerative and
the business was discontinued.
NATHANIEL HARDY, SR.,— born
in Massachusetts, October 11,
179(:} ; when young", moved with
parents to Western New York ; at 10
came to Ohio to the vicinity of Old
Portage, w^orking at farming, and
later helping to build several of the
locks on the Ohio canal. On the
completion of the canal, built and for
many years kept a hotel and small
store at Yellow Creek Basin, after-
■wards called Niles, and now known
as Botzum station. Later, Mr. Hardj'
bought 250 acres of land, on the east
side of the river, which he success-
• full}' cultivated for many years, after-
wards selling it to his sons, William
and Norton R. Mr. Hardy served
inany j^ears as justice of the peace
and township trustee, and active in
ridding the township of the earlj-
disreputable characters and practices
elsewhere alluded to. About 1824, he
was married to Miss Rebecca Reed,
of Delaware, Ohio, who was born
June 11, 1805. They were the parents
of eight children — Caroline, born
July 9, 1825, now Mrs. Jasper B. Drake ;
William, born March 11, 1829, whose
portrait and biography appear else-
where ; Norton R., born December 15,
1831, died June 3, 1880 ; Perry D., born
April 11, 1834, now a prosperous
farmer in his native township ; Marj-
NATHANIEL HARDY, SR.
E., born September 25, 1836, now Mrs,
Hiram J. Aj'res, of Akron ; Harriet,
born Jul}- 3, 1840, now Mrs. Henry
Hall, of Akron ; Clarissa, born April
20, 1842, now Mrs. Charles Watters, of
Cu3'ahoga Falls, and Nathaniel, jr.,
born July 19, 1844, now of Akron*. Mrs.
Hardy died July 11, 1865, and Mr,
Hardy, December 4, 1866.
In Operation Nearly Half a Century. — About the year
1840, Mr. William Prior (oldest son of Simeon Prior, and father of
the late William Prior, Esq., associate editor of the Cuyahoga
Falls Reporter and Western Reserve Farmer), and his tw^o sons,
Edw^ard and Henry W., erected a flouring mill in the wild gorge
about 20 rods west of the iron bridge on the State road, and below
the old French & Hays saw mill. A massive stone dam was built
about eight rods above the site of the mill, from w^hence, in a
w^ooden flume, the waters of the brook were conducted to a tw^enty-
foot over-shot w^heel, by which the machinery of the mill w^as pro-
pelled. The mill was equipped with two runs of French buhrs,
improved bolting apparatus and first-class machinery throughout,
but did not prove a paying investment. The junior members of
860 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
the firm having previously \vithdraw^n, on the death of the senior
member, in 1872, the property was sold by the administrator at
one-fourth its original cost. This property is now owned by Mrs.
Adam G. Steele, as heir at law of the late John Hart, and though
still capable of doing good work, when kept in proper repair, is at
the present time (1891) lying idle.
Remarkable Fecundity and Longevity. — It will be impossi-
ble, from the data no>v available, to give the names of all the early
settlers, or the date of their arrival in the tow^nship, did the space
allotted to this work admit of it. As characteristic of the customs
in vogue in that early time, however, I quote from the writings of
the late William Prior, the fact that Robert Thompson, a shoe-
maker, and Barclay Hogue, a harness-maker, used to ply their
respective callings from house to house, which was also done to a
considerable extent by tailors and perhaps other mechanics of
those ancient days. Mr. Prior is also authority for the following
case of phenomenal fecundity and longevity on the partof a couple
of Northampton's pioneer settlers, Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Ellis. Mar-
ried at the age of 14 years, Mrs. Kllis became the mother of tw^enty
■children; the first born when she was but 15, and the last w^hen
she was 65 years old. They afterwards removed to Michigan,
■where Mr. Ellis died, in 1879, at the patriarchal age of 100 years',
Tsrhile the prolific matron w^as still living, in 1881, at the ripe old age
of 81 years.
Organization, Population, Etc. — The date of Northampton's
organization is involved in obscurity. The only record extant,,
previous to 1820, is part of a tally sheet, without date, in posses-
sion of Mr. James M. Hale, of Akron, of one of the earliest, if not
the first election held in the township. It will be recollected that
previous to its organization, in 1818, Bath was connected w^ith
Northampton, in local governmental affairs, and as the tally sheet
in question contains a number of names of persons known to have
been residents of Bath, the organization of Northampton must
have been previous to the date named — a total of 18 voters only
being enrolled on the tallj'^ sheet in question. Whatever the date
of that election, the officers elected were: Jonathan Hale (a resi-
dent of Bath), Simeon Prior and David Norton, trustees; Samuel
King, clerk; Wylie Hamilton, overseer of the poor; Elisha Perkins,
constable; William Prior, Israel Parker and Jason Hammond (also
of Bath), supervisors; Luman Bishop, fence viewer, and Simeon
Prior, treasurer; the first justice of the peace being Samuel King.
At the election in 1820, the principal officers chosen w^ere: Wil-
liam Prior, Abel Woodward and James French, trustees; Aaron
French, clerk; and Daniel Turner, treasurer.
Growth, Progress, Etc. — From this time on, settlement,
though not remarkably rapid, was quite steady, so that by 1840,
according to the census of that year, the township had a popula-
tion of 963. Forty years later, as shown by the census of 1880, the
population was only 977, an apparent increase of but 14 souls, the
meagerness of which increase may in part be accounted for by the
detaching therefrom of a populous corner, in the erection of the
new township of Cuyahoga Falls, in 1851, and partly by the shift-
ing of business centers and methods in the intervening 40 years.
The census of 1890, gives to the township but 896 inhabitants
showing a falling off, in the ten years, of 81.
NORTHAMPTON I^ WAR.
861
Nevertheless, the township has made commendable progress,
physically, industrially, intellectually and morally,during the period
indicated. It has been entirely redeemed from the former taint of
crookedness fastened upon it by comparatively fcAV of its early
inhabitants; its schools and religious appliances will compare
favorably writh those of contiguous townships; its rude agricul-
tural beginnings in the wilderness have been succeeded by
thoroughly cultivated farms, tilled by the best and most improved
modern implements and methods, while the primitive log cabin, and
its scarcely more pretentious successor, the plain story and-a-half
frame house, are rapidly being displaced by commodious and
imposing structures in the best style of modern architecture, with
barns and other necessary out-buildings to match,
PERRY DELAZEN HARDY,— son
of Nathaniel and Rebecca (Reed)
Hardy, born in Northampton, April
11, 1834 ; in boyhood nicknamed
" Commodore Perry," during the Mex-
can War, because of his tenacity of
purpose, chang^ed to "Old Zack," after
General Zachary Taylor, the princi-
pal hero of that war ; educated in the
primitive mud-chinked and slab-
seated log- school house ; raised on
farm, which calling he still success-
fully pursues. Thoroughly Repub-
lican, during the War of the Rebel-
lion, was active in raising bounty
money and securing recruits for the
Union army ; for several years served
as constable, by his vigilance ridding
the township of the gang of toughs,
for many years known as the "Nor-
wegians ;" served four years as town-
ship trustee, and eight or nine years
as school director of district 9, one
year as president, and balance of
time as clerk, and ex-oflicio inember
of board of education. In 1854, was
married to Miss Elizabeth A. Lan-
phier, teacher, who has borne him
nine children, three dying in infancy,
the survivors being — Ida S. born
October 2, 1855, married to William
Darrow, of Hudson, October 1, 1888 ;
PERRY DELAZEN HARDY.
Harry B., born November 1, 1857, still
at home ; Willis P., born December
10, 1865, married to Ida Lilley, April
18, 1887, now in employ of Akron Tele-
phone Company ; Nellie B., born
July 2, 1869, teacher ; Mertie I., born
December 18, 1871, teacher ; Vinton
M., born January 15, 1874, the three
latter still at home.
Northampton's Patriotism. — In the Revolutionary War,
Northampton's pioneer settler, Simeon Prior, bore an honorable
part in the Old Bay State's gallant contingent in that long and
sanguinary struggle. Mr. Prior died in 1836, at the age of 82 years.
Nathaniel Hardy (father of the late Nathaniel Hardy, Sr., whose por-
trait appears in this chapter), a native of Massachusetts, was also a
soldier in the Revolutionary War, losing a leg on the battle field
by a cannon shot. After the War, moved to western New York,
and later to Canada, but on the breaking out of the War of 1812,
finding that his son, then but 16 years of age, was about to be
pressed into the British army to fight against his native country,
he secretly hustled him over the border, from whence he soon
afterwards came to Ohio, as elsewhere stated, the father after-
w^ards coming thither, and spending the balance of his days with
his children and grandchildren in Northampton. There were
862 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
undoubtedly other Revolutionary heroes among her early settlers,
but unfortunately their names and records are not now ascer-
tainable.
In the War of 1812, the independent company of Captain Rial
McArthur, composed of residents of Northampton and contiguous
townships, besides serving under General Wadsworth, at Old
Portage, as already stated, afterwards w^ent to Sandusky in
defense of the frontier against the British and Indians. In the
Mexican War of 1836-38, no recruits vt^ere called for and none
furnished.
In the War of the Rebellion, however, Northampton was
equally patriotic, in proportion to population, with her sister
townships of Summit county, furnishing nearly 130 recruits, all of
whom nobly did their duty, and one-fifth of whom either laid do^vn
their lives upon the field of battle, starved to death in rebel
prisons, perished on the ill-fated Sultana while en-route for home
on the Mississippi river, or died from diseases contracted in the
service; while many others, possibly, like Northampton's patriotic
son, Colonel Jonas Schoonover, have since died, or are now^ suffer-
ing untold daily tortures from exposures and hardships endured
in the salvation of the Nation and the preservation of the Union.
Northampton's Roll of Honor. — Charles J. Ayliffe, Levi
Bonesteel, Henry Bruner, John Best, Henry Baker, James Baser,
Thomas Barrett, Moses Barrett, George Bonesteel (died in service),
Ezra Bonesteel, David Bonesteel (died in services), John Baugh-
man, David Baker, William Baker, William Best, James Billman,
Lew^is D. Clements (died in service), George Chart, Willard Corey,
William Culver, John Cackler, Alvin Cox, Oscar Chilson, Alexan-
der Corey, Leroj^ W. Chase (killed in battle), Luther J. Chase,
Dwight Croft, Rufus Cook (died in service), Almon Chase (died in
rebel prison), K. Chilson, Simon Coy, George Chase, Increase
Chase, Fred Chilson, Matthias Coffman, Willard Cox, John Chart,
Henry Doolittle, Riley Dickerson (lost on Sultana), M. V. Dealy,
Alvin Dennison, D. D. Dewey, John Dickerson, Gillis W. Katinger
{lost on Sultana), Lorten Filley, Newton Filley, William Flanigan,
William B. Galloway, Pomeroy Galloway, Adam B. Galloway,
Edmund Gray, Charles Hamlin, Samuel W. Hart (in rebel prison),
Newton S. Harrington (died in service), John Homan, Beardsley
Hull, Carleton C. Hart, William Howland, Thomas Hardesdy, Dar-
win Hall, J. D. Hall, Andrew Hall (died in service), Robert Hogue
(died in service), William H. Jones, A. P. Jaques, Winsor Lappin,
Jr., Alvin Kelso, Jackson Mott, L. D. Mc Wayne, Orrin Markham,
Philander Markham, Albert Malone (rebel prisoner and survivor
of Sultana disaster), William H. Norton (in rebel prison and also
survivor of the Sultana disaster), Frank J. Norton, William Oaks,
George W. Prior (died in service), Clark Prior, Horace Pardee,
Silas Payne, George Payne (lost on Sultana), Alson F. Prior,
William Price, Alvin Perkins (died in service), Elijah Pardee,
Stiles A. Prior, Charles Payne, Edward Parks, Israel Potts, Fred-
erick Palmer, Reese J. Purine, Frank Purine (killed in battle),
Andrew J. Robinson, William Robinson, Randolph Robinson, Isaac
Roose, William L. Rice (in rebel prison) Lorin Ruggles, Elias
Ream, Henry Scott, Jonas Schoonover, Jesse Stahl (in rebel prison),
Jacob Senn, Charles Stevens (lost on Sultana), William Stevens
(lost on Sultana), Charles Stout (lost on Sultana), James Stahl,
NORTHAMPTON IN PUBLIC OFFICE. 863
Philip Smathers (died in service), William Smathers (lost on Sul-
tana), John Shellhorn (died in service), Henry Simonds, Alexander
Steel, Sherman Seymour, John Thompson, Hawthorn Thompson,
Orlow Thompson (died in service), Julius A. Upson (died in ser-
vice), Philo B. Upson (died in service), Lorenzo Vallen, Alexander
Wallace, William Waterman (lost on Sultana), Peter W. Weaver
^lost on Sultana), C. W. Way (lost on Sultana), C. A. Wilson, Alfred
Waite, Oliver Wright, Edward Wetmore, Joseph Wallace, George F.
Young.
Northampton's Civil Service. — In the civil service of Summit
county, Northampton has been less conspicuous and less favored
(or more favored as the case may be) than the average of the town-
ships, two important county offices, only, having been allotted to
her, as follows:
Sullivan S. Wil.son, in 1858, hitherto a highly respected and
prosperous farmer, near the center of the township, was selected
by the Republican county nominating convention as its candidate
for the important position of county treasurer, and was elected by
more than the average majority" accorded to the rest of his ticket.
Discharging the duties of his office with commendable fidelity and
urbanity, in 1860 he was renominated by acclamation and
re-elected by an increased majority. All went well, without the
faintest shadow or suspicion of wrong, until near the close of his
second term, in February, 1863, when, one evening about the time
for closing up the public offices at the court house, Mr. Wilson
stepped across the hall into the Auditor's office, and handed the
keys of the Treasurer's office to Auditor George W. Grouse, w^ith
the simple remark: "I've got through." To Mr. Grouse's inquiry
as to what he meant, he briefly answered: "They're after me, and
I've got to leave."
It transpired that Mr. Wilson, though the husband of a most
excellent wife, and a father, had become involved in an amour
with the wife of his nearest neighbor, the mother of several child-
ren, whose husband was vigorously talking about instituting both
legal and personal proceedings against her seducer. The denoue-
ment w^as an elopement the same night that he handed the keys
over to Auditor Grouse, the eloping couple taking refuge in a
neighboring Western State, livang together as husband and wife,
and afterwards, on being legally separated from their respective
spouses, in Ohio, becoming such in reality, by marriage.
The county finances, on examination by the commissioners,
who had been immediatel}^ summoned by Auditor Grouse, w^ere
found to be intact, w^ith the exception of a few^ dollars discrepancy
in a single fund, which was at once made good by General L. V.
Bierce, Mr. Wilson's attorney; the commissioners appointing Mr.
Grouse to fill the vacancy occasioned by Mr. Wilson's withdrawal,
Mr. Sanford M. Burnham taking Mr. Grouse's place as Auditor,
as elsewhere noted.
John G. Johnston, a practical mechanic, as well as a good
farmer, was elected county commissioner in 1866, and re-elected in
1869, serving in all six years, and making as faithful and efficient
a public officer as Summit county has ever had; Mr. Johnston also
having served seven consecutive terms as clerk of his own town-
ship, being also a most efficient member of the township military
committee during the late War.
864 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Present Industries. — Farming, stock-raising, dairying and
fruit-growing may be said to constitute the chief industries of
Northampton, at the present time, with the exception of the mill-
ing operations already alluded to, and perhaps some^vhat exten-
sive lumbering operations with portable steam-driven saw^-mills
in different portions of the toAvnship. There are at the present
time (1887) two cheese factories in the township, run by the veteran
cheese manufacturer, S. Straight, Esq., of Hudson; that near the
iron bridge being run the year around, with satisfactory results.
[Since the above was w^ritten, Mr. Samuel McNeil has become
the proprietor of the Hawkins Station plant, which, though
destroyed by fire, in June, 1889, was immediately rebuilt, and is
still in successful operation.] Aside from cheese-making the sale
of milk in Akron and Cleveland is quite a factor in the industrial
interests of the town, Mr. Henry W. Howe, and perhaps others,
shipping milk to Cleveland, from Hawkins' Station on the Valley
Railway, w^hile it is estimated that fully $3,000 worth of milk is yearly
sold in Akron by the dairymen of the township. A large amount
of choice beef is also yearly slaughtered for the Akron and neigh-
boring markets, w^hile fruits and the production of almost every
variety of vegetables, grain, etc., serve to make Northampton, no|-
withstanding its natural physical disadvantages, and its former
questionable moral status, one of the most prosperous toTvnships
of Summit county.
NORTHAMPTON'S OFFICIAL ROSTER (1891.)
Trustees, Edward Donohue, Frederick Harrington, Adam
Botzum; clerk, William Kline; treasurer, Wallace Scott; justices of
the peace, Henry W. Howe, A. L. Hart; constables, Edwin B.
Hovire, William Voss; postmasters, Henry W. How^e, Ira, (Haw^kins'
Station); Jacob P. Harris, Buckeye, (Botzum Station); Adah Roose,
Vester, (Steele's Corners.)
NORTHAMPTON'S CRIMINAL RECORD.
The killing of the canal driver, Nathan Cummins, in 1832, by
Abner S. Barris, a dissolute denizen of Northampton, his arrest,
trial and conviction of murder in the second degree, imprisonment
and death, is given in full elsewhere. This, Avith the traditional
killing of one or tw^o troublesome Indians w^ithin the toAvnship, by
Jonathan Willliams, a pioneer hunter of the neighborhood, and
the reputed killing of a young German laborer upon the canal in
1826, by a gang of infuriated Irish laborers, constitutes the entire
early "civilized" homicidal history of the tov^^nship.
In minor crookedness, how^ever, her early history, if fully writ-
ten up, w^ould simply be immense, though even then, the majority
of her people were pre-eminently orderly and upright. Passing
by, therefore, the depredations of that sweet-scented pair of burgf-
lars, thieves and neighborhood pests, of a third of a century ago —
"Lishe" Wait and George Sapp — and the more extensive and
more important financial operations of her other long-time dis-
tinguished citizens, "Jim" and "Dan" Brown, fully treated of
elsewhere, we will close this chapter with a brief account of her
two latest homicides — the killing of Elisha Whipple, by Patrick
Dunn, in 1878, and the killing of John Tedrow, by Thomas Brook,
in 1882, as follows:
TIfE DUNN-WHIPPLE HOMICIDE. 865
Patrick Dunn was born in Tipperary county, Ireland, in 1830,
and emigrated to America in 1850, then twenty years of age. Stop-
ping a short time with a sister, in Connecticut, he went to Illinois,
w^here he remained a few^ months, w^hen, in the fall of 1850, he came
to Ohio, first stopping at Twinsburg, where, after a short sojourn
with Ezra Starkweather, he worked for Ezra Clark about two
years, while there attending school part of the time. He after-
wards worked at Aurora and Solon. September 11, 1857, he was
married to Catharine Jones, in Cleveland, returning with his wife
to Solon, where he continued to work until the breaking out of the
War, in 1861, when he enlisted in the army.
Serving faithfully three years, under Blunt, Steele, Solomon
and Wier, in Arkansas and the Indian Territory, he was honorably
discharged in 1864, returning to his family in Solon, soon after
which he bought a partially cleared farm of 73 acres in the north-
west part of the township of Northampton.
Dunn was rather small of stature, quiet and pleasant in his
bearing, and industrious and economical in his habits, Mrs. Dunn
being somewhat more sprightly and sociably inclined, with little
or no education and refinement, but w^ithal a diligent, tidy and
frugal housekeeper. In the purchase of the farm, though paid for
with Dunn's previous earnings, and his bounty money and savings
as a soldier, he readily assented to the suggestion of his wife to
place the title to the newly purchased farm in her name, both
jointly working faithfully for its improvement for several years.
Beginning of the Trouble. — Family matters appear to have
gone along smoothly enough, until about 1875, or 1876, w^hen
differences seem to have arisen between the husband and the wife,
the exact nature of which is unknown to the w^riter. In these dif-
ferences their oldest child, and only son, Harry W., then some 17 or
18 years of age, seems to have sided with his mother, while certain
of the neighbors also appeared to take quite a lively interest in
their affairs, especially the late Loyal J. Mix, the adjoining land-
owner upon the north and west, and Elisha Whipple, a bachelor,,
residing with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Chauncey Whipple, ow^ners
of the adjoining farm upon the south. Mix was the owner of a
dilapidated log shanty standing near the line of Dunn's land,,
which had been a great annoyance to the Dunns, by reason of the
objectionable tenants to whom it had from time to time been
rented. Hard words had ensued between Dunn and Mix, in regard
to the matter, and when finally, w^hile standing vacant in the Fall
of 1876, the shanty w^as burned, Mix charged Dunn with setting it
on fire, also accusing him of having cut the throat of a colt that
was running in a contiguous pasture.
Indicted for Arson. — Nearly a year later, in the latter part of
1877, Mix filed an affidavit against 13unn, before Justice Abial L.
Waite, charging Dunn w^ith &rson, placing the value of the burned
shanty at $50 and, largely on the strength of the testimony of the
w^ife and son, Dunn w^as bound over to court, the grand jury at the
October term, 1877, on the same testimony, finding a bill of indict-
ment against him for that crime.
Later in the term, trial was had before Judge New^ell D. Tib-
bals. After a patient hearing of the case, under the charge of
Judge Tibbals, the jury, after brief deliberation, through its fore-
man, the late Clement J. Kolb, of Akron, returned a verdict of not
55
866 AKROX AND SUMMIT COUXTV.
jTuilty, the impression very largely obtaining that the entire pro-
ceedings were the offspring of spite, partaking rather of the nature
of a conspiracy to get rid of Dunn, by securing his incarceration
in the penitentiary, than a desire to further the ends of justice and
vindicate the law.
Petitiox for Divorce. — These accusations and proceedings
very greatly augmented the family discords, and undoubtedly
drew forth many hard words from Dunn, and equally spirited
retorts from the Avife and the grown up son, Harry, the oldest
daughter, Mary, then about 15 years old, partially siding w^ith the
mother in the family imbroglio.
Immediately after the acquittal of Dunn on the charge of
arson, a petition for divorce was filed by Mrs. Dunn, through her
attorney, the late Frederick S. Hanford, charging Dunn w^ith gross
neglect of duty for three years last past, and with extreme cruelty,
and praying that she be granted a decree of divorce, w^ith a
restoration of her maiden name, Catharine Jones, the custody of
her children, Harry W., 19; Mary T., 15; and Lotta M., 3; and the
confirmation to her of the 73 acre farm of which she already held
the fee, and all the personal property thereon; a supplemental
petition also asking for an injunction restraining him from inter-
ference with her person or the property in question. The answer
to the above named petition, filed by Dunn, through his counsel,
the late Nathaniel W Goodhue, Esq., denied the charges of gross
neglect of duty and cruelty; admitted that Mrs. Dunn held the
title to the land, but denied that she was the sole owner, it being
bought with his money, and that ever since taking possession he
had worked industriously for its improvement, paid the taxes, etc.;
that all the personal property was his, and that for the past two
or three years she had been very unkind; had crossed, annoyed
and w^orried him in every conceivable manner, for the purpose of
driving him from home, etc. The divorce suit came on for hearing
at the May term of the court, 1878, before Judge Tibbals. In
addition to the statements of the w^ife, the son and oldest daughter,
a number of the neighbors testified against Dunn, Klisha Whipple
being especially active in procuring and giving evidence favorable
to the petitioner and damaging to defendant, providing Mrs.
Dunn with money with which to carry on her suit and pay to
Dunn the few hundred dollars of alimony, which it was finally
conceded he was entitled to, should the prayer be granted, as
Judge Tibbals, after a patient hearing of the case, concluded had
better be done, and a divorce w^as entered accordingl3^
The Animosity Deepens. — ^Of course, these occurrences very
greatly embittered Dunn against all the parties who had been
instrumental, as he believed, in despoiling him of his property,
and driving him from his home, and especially against Klisha
AiVhipple whom he regarded as very largelj^ the instigator of the
proceeding, for his own selfish ends and sinister purposes
In the meantime, however, yielding to the inevitable, Dunn,
after assisting several of the neighbors in haying and harvesting,
about the middle of August, 1878, secured permanent employment
with Mr. Kdward McCauley, in the south part of Hudson tow^nship.
Here he faithfully w^orked until the latter part of October, w^hen
he worked for a month or six weeks for Mr. Henry Scott, of North-
ampton, returning to Mr. McCauley's in the fore part of December.
PROVIDES HIMSELF WITH A REVOLVER. 867
Lingering Affection for Family. — Though working faithfully,
£ind at times manifesting considerable cheerfulness, Dunn talked
a good deal about his troubles, and, though speaking bitterly
against Whipple, Mix and others, who had meddled in his domestic
affairs, still seemed to retain a good degree of affection for his
family, at one time signifying his intention to buy a'cow^ for his
Avoman, and expressing the hope that he might be again reconciled
to his wife, and help to pay off the mortgage of $650, which she
had placed upon the farm in favor of Whipple for money furnished
as above indicated. His affection for his two daughters w^as very
marked, especially for little four year old Lotta, quite often going
to the house and taking to them some little tokens of affection and
remembrance
Still Further Cause for Animosity. — In addition to having
been Mrs. Dunn's confidential adviser in the family and property
troubles above noted, Whipple claimed that there was a balance of
some $20 or $25 due from Dunn to him on some previous business
transactions, the validity of Avhich claim Dunn denied, and about
which angry and threatening words had passed on both sides,
Whipple giving out, among the neighbors, his intention to collect
the same by garnisheeing Dunn's w^ages, and Dunn declaring to
the party who informed him of Whipple's intention, that if
Whipple undertook to do that he'd " fix him," etc. The frequent
visits of Mrs. Dunn to the Whipple mansion, and the numerous
calls of Whipple upon the divorced wife, were reported to Dunn,
from time to time, all of which, if not inspiring in the breast of
Dunn a spirit of vengeance at least caused him to anticipate
trouble if they should happen to come in collision during one of
his occasional visits to his old home.
Purchasing a Revolver. — This was the condition of affairs
in January, 1879. About the 24th of that month Dunn visited
Hudson Village, where he bought from Mr. John L. Chapman a
small five-shooter revolver, with cartridges to match. On his
return to McCauley's he retired to bed without saying anything
about his purchase. The next morning, at the breakfast table,
Dunn remarked that he wished he had a revolver so that he could
shoot some of the bats that were flying about his room. Mrs.
McCauley responded that if she was not mistaken she heard a
revolver snap as he (Dunn) was going up stairs the evening
before, Dunn saying, in reply, " I guess not."
Visits Northampton. — Obtaining $5 on account, from Mr.
McCauley, on Saturday afternoon, January 25th, Dunn started for
Northampton to be gone over Sunday. Saturday night he staid
w^ith Alonzo Cox, the third farm east of his old home; spent
Sunday visiting among his old neighbors, calling during the day
to see his children, and speaking kindly to his late w^ife, w^ho had
for several days been confined to her bed by sickness. He spent
Sunday night at the house of Mr. Merwin Gibbs, the second farm
south of his old place, the Whipple farm lying between.
The Fatal Rencounter. — About 8 o'clock, on Monday morning,
Dunn left the house of Mr. Gibbs, saying that he was going to the
river, his old home being directly upon his route. As he neared
the house, standing at the north side of the east and w^est road,
^nd facing south, he discovered a horse hitched to a small peach
tree near the southeast corner of the house, there being no fence
868 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
between the house and the street. Surmising that the horse in
question belonged to Blisha Whipple, his naturally impulsive
temper was at once aroused, and when Whipple opened the door
in response to his knock, with an opprobrious epithet he indig-
nantly inquired what he (Whipple) was doing there? Maddened
at the vile name applied to him, Whipple rushed upon Dunn, and
being much thd larger and stronger man, bore him to the ground^
in the struggle tearing his coat and inflicting several cuts and
bruises upon his face and hands.
The only witnesses to this scene, were Mrs. Dunn through the
open door, and the little four-year-old girl; Mrs. Dunn afterw^ards
testifying that Dunn cried " Whipple let me up!" to which Whipple
responded, "I will when you learn to behave yourself," upon
which both rose to their feet. The little girl closing the door at
this point, there w^ere no w^itnesses to what followed, except that
Mrs. Dunn saw Dunn rush past the window follow^ed by W^hipple.
Dunn's version of the affair w^as that, on rising to his feet,
other angry words ensued, Dunn applying the same opprobrious
epithet he had previously made use of, when Whipple again
started for him, he (Dunn) retreating backw^ards toward the
street. As Whipple bore down on him, fearing for his ow^n life he
drew^ the revolver from his pocket, and as Whipple fell upon him^
bearing him again to the earth, he fired, blood immediately
spurting from Whipple's mouth and completely saturating Dunn's^
face and clothing as he lay under the heavy body of his antago-
nist completely helpless.
Dunn's Voluntary Surrender. — Responsive to the screams^
of the little girl w^ho had climbed to the window, Mrs. Dunn arose
from her sick bed, and hastily throwing a shawl over her head
and shoulders, opened the door just in time to see Dunn, who had
rolled the bloody body of Whipple off from himself, rising to his
feet, at about which time the son, Harry, who was at the time
doing the chores at the barn, appeared upon the scene, and as he
supposed saw his father rising up off the body of Whipple, which
was then lying upon its back. Dunn, w^ho in the struggle to free
himself from the w^eight of his dead antagonist's body, had
dropped his revolver in the snow^, gathered up his battered hat,
and returned to the farm of Mr. Gibbs, where a number of men
-were engaged in threshing, among them Mr. George Chase, one of
the constables of the township, to whom he voluntarily surren-
dered himself, telling what he had done and how and why he
did it.
Coroner's Inquest. — The tragic affair created the most
intense excitement in the neighborhood, and so rapidly extending
to other localities, that before noon The Daily Beacon reporter,
Mr. George W. Kummer, w^as upon the ground and back to
the office again with a full report of the affair in time for that
evening's issue of the paper. Justice William Viall, for the
time being, acting as Coroner, issued a warrant to Constable Orrin
Markham, who summoned a jury of inquest as follows: Jatnes
Harrington, Abial L. Waite, Wesley J. Wise, Edwin Folk, William
McLoney and Philip Klein. Although the cause of the death of
Whipple w^as apparent from Dunn's own statement, the testimony
of Harry Dunn, Catharine Jones (the late Mrs. Dunn), Frederick
Hart, Merwin Gibbs and Drs. J. M. Crafts and W. S. Hough, was^
INDICTMENT, TRIAL, ETC. 869
taken, the two latter having performed an autopsy upon the body.
From the fact that blood had spurted from the mouth of Whipple
upon his prostrate slayer beneath him, it was at first supposed
that the ball had passed through the mouth and into the brain.
The examination, however, showed that the ball entered the left
breast between the second and third ribs, passing through both
lungs, through the upper edge of the eighth rib, and lodging in
the right shoulder-blade, corroborative of Dunn's statement; Dr.
Crafts testifying that the person shooting must have been above;
or the person shot stooping forward; other testimony showing that
the ground was slightly descending from the house to the road,
and that it was 42 feet from the door-step to where Dunn and
Whipple fell.
Preliminary Examination. — The verdict of the coroner's jury
was, of course, to the effect that Whipple came to his death by a
revolver-shot fired by Dunn. Justice Viall issued a w^arrant duly
charging Dunn, already in custody, with deliberate and malicious
murder, and the defendant, waiving an examination, was taken to
Akron the same evening, by Constable Chase, and duly consigned
to the custody of Mr. Albert T. Manning, the w^riter's very
efficient jailor at that time.
Indictment, Trial, Etc. — At the May term of the Court of
Common Pleas, 1879, Judge Newell D. Tibbals on the Bench,
Prosecuting Attorney Edward W. Stuart laid Justice Viall's
transcript of the case before the Grand Jury for that term,
constituted as follows: L. E. Humphrey, Frank Ehrich, Orson
Cook, M. C. Danforth, C. Fell, John Gottwalt, S. N. Weston,
Williston Ailing, George L. Bishop, Oliver P. Falor, Joseph
Jennings, Orrin L. Walker, Benjamin F. Tliompson, John Allen
and A. V. Amerman.
A "true bill" charging the defendant with premeditated and
malicious murder was returned. On this indictment the prisoner
w^as arraigned on the 23d day of June, 1879, entering a plea of not
guilty. Gen. Alvin C. Voris and Gov. Sidney Edgerton defending,
-and Hon. Henry McKinney, of Cleveland, assisting Prosecutor
Stuart, on behalf of the State.
Obtaining a Jury. — A full day and a half w^as consumed in
procuring a jury, 119 persons being examined in all, before the
panel was declared full, as follows: H. H. Bliss, of Northfield; J.
L. Bender, Springfield; J. B. Richardson, Tallmadge; S. h. Oviatt,
Northfield; Wallace S. Saxton, Fifth Ward, Akron; B. S. Braddock,
Richfield; A. S. Wheeler, Cuyahoga Falls; Jacob Clouner, Spring-
field; Alfred Wood, Second Ward; David Hanscom, First Ward;
George F. Kent, Sixth Ward; and Smith Pangborn, Fourth Ward.
The examination of witnesses consumed nearly three days,
113 in all being in attendance and nearly all sworn and examined.
Prosecutor Stuart occupied about four hours in his opening
argument for the State; Gen. Voris and Gov. Edgerton about five
hours each for the defense, and Judge McKinney closing the
argument in behalf of the prosecution in a plea of about three
hours, all earnest, able and eloquent efforts.
The charge of Judge Tibbals was exhaustive and perspicuous,
and so satisfactory to counsel on both sides that no additional sug-
gestions w^ere made by either, elaborately explaining to the jury
the ^lifferent degrees of homicide, and the rules of law applicable
870 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
to each, carefully explaining the law^ of self-defense or justifiable
homicide, and especially admonishing the jury to weigh well the
testimony in regard to the sanity of the defendant, w^ho, if found
to be insane at the time of the commission of the act, would be^
entitled to a full and unconditional acquittal.
A "Compromise" Verdict.^ — The jury retired to their room at
5:30 p. M., Tuesday, July 1, the eighth day of the trial. At 9 A. m.^.
Wednesday, the jury requested more light upon the subject of pre-
meditation, and w^ere recharged by Judge Tibbals upon that point.
At 2:35 p. M., the jury, through their foreman, Mr, David Hanscom,.
rendered a verdict of "murder in the second degree."
It afterwards transpired that after a unanimous ballot against
the hypothesis of insanity, the first ballot as to the degree of guilt
stood: First degree, 7; second degree, 4; manslaughter, 1. Sev-
eral precisely similar ballots ensued, when the manslaughter man
announced his willingness to vote for second degree, but could go
no further, and many ballots followed, 7 to 5. At the end of 24
hours, one of the first degree men proposed to yield to the second
degree men, in order to avoid the trouble and expense of another
trial, but some of his fellows objected on the ground that if a life-
sentence to prison, only, was imposed, after a few years, through
the intercession of friends and interested counsel, he would be set
at liberty again by some tender-hearted governor.
Some juror being aware of the fact that among other pre-
requisites for the procurement of a pardon was a petition or recom-
mendation from the jury, before whom the conviction was had to
that effect, and it was then and there solemnly agreed, in a writing"
signed by all, and placed in the hands of the foreman, that none of
them would ever sign such a petition, or recommendation, without
the consent of all the rest, and hence, probably, the failure of the
effort to secure a pardon for poor Dunn, some two or three years
ago.
Quere.-Was not such an agreement, on the part of the jur3^a i^roceeding"
that would have invalidated the verdict, had it been known, and advantage-
taken of it at the time, and, if so, is it yet too Late for the friends of the pris-
otier to make it available in his behalf?
Pronouncing Sentence.— No motion for a new trial having
been filed, on Monday, July 9, 1879, at 11:15 a. m., the prisoner was
brought in for sentence. Commanding him to stand up, after a
brief reference to the crime charged, the fairness of the trial, the
verdict of the jury, etc.. Judge Tibbals inquired of the prisoner if
he had anything to say "why the sentence of the law^ should not be-
pronounced? Dunn replied, in substance, that what he did was
done in self-defense, and the Judge w^as proceeding to comment
on the fearfulness of the offense which had been committed, and
the presumption that when a man thus took the law into his OAvn
hands to redress a real or supposed provocation, the party must
be a desperate character, and unsafe as an associate for his fellovr
men. At this point Dunn again spoke:
" I had no idea. Your Honor, when I went to my wife's house^
that day, of meeting Whipple. When I went to go into the house,
Whipple held the door open about six inches, and then I asked
him what he was doing there? Before I had finished the first sen-
tence he pitched onto me and cut me in the head and cheek..
Then he threw me down in the mud and tore my clothes. Wlijen I
SENTENCE, IMPRISONMENT, ETC. 871
got up I found blood on my cheek, and turning around to Whipple
I said: 'Whipple, * * * * I'n settle with you for this some
other time.' My revolver was then in my pocket, but I never drew
it till he came at me again."
Judge Tibbals — ^"No doubt your private life was. that of a
peaceable, quiet man till you got into those domestic troubles out
of which came a divorce and decree setting aside a certain sum to
you. Then your troubles ought to have ended. You ought to have
left your wife entirely alone — abandoned her. That decree settled
the matter irrevocably, so that so far as visiting her was concerned,
you had the same right as any man has to visit an unmarried
woman, and you had a moral and social right to go there to see
your children. But you had no right to go there and dictate to
her concerning her associates or her conduct. You went there
undoubtedly for a proper purpose; I assume nothing else.
"But I have no doubt that during the eight months after your
divorce you suffered yourself to brood over your troubles. You
then, in my judgment, deliberated on taking the life of those who
had caused them. Your purhase of a revolver, and the secrecj''
with whicli it was done, indicate that. The fact that the difficulty
arose in a sudden quarrel, whether provoked by Whipple or not,
and that then yovi decided to carry out your purpose, justified the
jury in finding as they did, and I am thankful that the verdict is
as it is. I feel like commending the jury for the manner in which
they determined the issues arising in this case, carefully and con-
siderately weighing all the evidence. I think the mistake arose,
on your part, in thinking that a man can so enlarge upon the
rights which the law gives him as to presume to take the life of
another. It is something which cannot be tolerated."
Dunn. — "I want to say. Your Honor, that before the fatal shot,
I had two chances to take Whipple's life, if I had wanted to; one
w^hen I met him at the door and the other when he first had me
down. I could easily have taken his life either time if I had
w^anted to."
Judge Tibbals. — "That is undoubtedly so. But I only want to
say, further, that the community must stand squarely up to this
principle, that only when one's life is in danger at the hands of
another, is he justified in taking the life of another. There only
remains to me now, the painful duty of imposing the penalty of
the law, concerning which no discretion is left me. Tt is the sen-
tence of this court, then, that you be taken hence to the jail of this
county, and thence, within 30 days, to the penitentiary, and that
you there be confined at hard labor during the term of 3'our
natural existence — no solitary confinement to be included in this
sentence."
How Dunn Looked at It. — Dunn was one of the most docile
and conscientiously obedient prisoners that, in his eight years
experience as sheriff, the writer ever had in his keeping. Being
thoroughly imbued with the idea that in killing Whipple he had
acted purely in self-defense — the procurement of the revolver
being solely for that purpose, in case Whipple, in his enmity,
should ever, as he expressed it, "pitch onto him" — he very keenly
felt w^hat he believed to be the great injustice of his conviction.
Contemplating the long and dreary imprisonment which the ver-
dict irrevocably presaged, he at first glooinily asseverated that he
872 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Avould have preferred to have been hung, and was at times so
despondent that the writer was somewhat fearful that he might
attempt to take his own life.
But finall}^, on the suggestion of his friends, Avho of course
knew nothing of the agreement of the jury, above stated, that
after a few years of faithful service the governor might grant him a
pardon, he became reconciled to his fate, and entered upon his
long term of imprisonment, on the 10th day of Julj^, 1879, w^ith
comparative cheerfulness.
Disposing of His Belongings. — Before leaving for the pen-
itentiary Dunn designated how^ his personal effects should be dis-
posed of; presenting a pair of boots to one, sundry articles of cloth-
ing to another, his pocket knife to a third, of his tried and true
friends, etc., also leaving suitable mementoes for his little girls,
and lastly presenting the revolver with -which the shooting Avas
done, together with the fatal bullet, as well as the unexploded
cartridges, to the writer, by w^hom it is still retained as a relic of
the tragic event.
During his confinement in jail, sundry sums of money had
been paid to him by those for whom he had worked, and others
indebted to him, of -which there remained, after settling with his
attorneys, and others, the sum of $68 at the date of his incarcer-
ation in the penitentiary. On the way to Columbus he inquired
as to w^hether he would be permitted to keep the money on his own
person. On being told that it -would be placed to his credit on the
prison books, subject to his order, he said he didn't know any-
thing about " them fellow^s," but he did know me, and he w^ould
prefer to have me keep it for him, and he would write me from
time to time ho-w to disburse it; it being his intention to use the
most of it for the benefit of the little girl, Lotta. On arriving
at the penitentiary, I accordingly gave him my receipt for the
money, subject to his order, -which receipt, together w^ith his sol-
dier's discharge papers, were duly deposited with the prison clerk.
A Cheeky Demand. — The ex-wife of the life-convict — Catharine
Jones — learning from some source that Dunn had deposited a sum
of money w^ith me for the benefit of Lotta, paid me a visit and
insisted that as the court had made her the custodian of the child
this money should be placed in her keeping also. I told her that I
held it subject to Mr. I)unn's order, and if she w^ould procure from
him an order to that effect, I -would pay it over to her, but not oth-
erwise. The order never was presented. A little over a year later,
however, after Dunn had become better acquainted with "thetn
fellows," he ordered the money sent to the prison authorities to be
placed to his credit on the books of that institution, Avhich was
accordingly done on the 29th day of October, 1880, my receipt to
Dunn havingbeen duly returned tome by Warden Noah Thomas; the
disposition since made of said funds being to the writer unknown.
The divorced v^rife — Catherine Jones — sold her farm to George
Oscar Kidder in the spring of 1880 (it being now owned by Benja-
min Payne) and the entire family removed to Cleveland, the son
and oldest daughter having married, -while the youngest daughter
is reported to be developing into a bright and intelligent young
lady, and though no stigma should attach to her by reason of the
family infelicities of the parents, and the ignominous fate of the
father, she is at times, doubtless, saddened by the recollection of
THE KILLING OF JOHN TEDROW BY THOMAS BROOK. 873
the fearful tragedy, of which, then but four years old, she was the
only eye-writness.
Dunn's Prison Record. — On his first commitment, Dunn was
assigned to the clothing department, wrhere he was employed in
keeping the uniforms of his fellow-convicts in repair, but,w^hether
he is still doing that comparatively light and easy w^ork the writer
is not advised, though a recent note from Warden E. G. Coffin,
states that his record as to deportment is clear, no infractions^of
the prison rules ever having been reported against him; and
though now quite advanced in years (62), he still, doubtless, cher-
ishes the hope of once more being permitted to breathe the air of
freedom and again mingle with his many friends and acquaint-
ances in Summit county.
The Brook-Tedrow Homicide.^ — "Yellow Creek Basin," — an
ancient business emporium on the Ohio canal, in the township of
Northampton, about six miles north 'of Akron; afterw^ards for
many years called "Niles," and upon the advent of the Valley
railway, rechristened "Botzum" — w^as fully described earlier in
this chapter, besides being often referred to in connection with
the doings of sundry distinguished characters w^ho in an early day
■did there and thereabouts abound. Though in recent years as
peaceable and orderly as the average non-incorporated and non-
policed hamlet upon the Mraterw^ays and railw^ay lines of the coun-
try, the village of Botzum was the scene of a fatal tragedy on the
night of October 27, 1882, a brief account of which will be in order
here.
The Parties to the Affray.— Seth M. Thomas, a man in mid-
<ile life, w^as the keeper of a boarding house, or house of enter-
tainment, in the original hotel building, on the east side of the
<:anal, north of the road leading to the covered bridge across the
river. Thomas Brook, an Knglishman by birth, a single man 24
years of age, short of stature but strong of build, had been a resi-
dent of the neighborhood some tw^o or three years, making his
home with his brother, Mr. John Brook, w^ho, as tenant, Avas w^ork-
ing the farm of Mr. John Botzum, a short distance from the village;
Thomas Brook also being the favored suitor for the hand of Miss
Ellen Thomas, the 22 year old daughter of Mr. Seth M. Thomas,
landlord of the hotel referred to.
John Tedrow was a tall and muscular, dark colored mulatto,
from 25 to 30 years of age, w^ho had resided in the neighborhood
some six or seven years, working ^vherever he could find employ-
ment among the farmers of the vicinity. Tedrow^ was a good
worker, and w^hen sober w^as pleasant and well-liked by those v^rho
employed him; but, unfortunately, he was addicted to drink, and
when Under the influence of liquor, was quite turbulent and quar-
relsome. The Buckeye Band, a musical organization, composed
of the young men of the village and vicinity, had its headquarters
at the hotel, the band-room being upon the ground floor, directly
under the ball-room in the second story.
Band Benefit Dance. — On the night of Friday, October 27,
1882, the Buckeye Band gave a social dance at the hotel in ques-
tion, which was participated in by some 15 or 20 couples of the
young people of the neighborhood. During the afternoon Tedrow^,
w^ith a white companion, had been to Akron, from w^hence he had
returned on the evening train pretty hilarious, though not as yet
874 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
absolutely drunk or especially quarrelsome Bating supper at the
hotel, they repaired to a neighboring saloon, where they continued
to "imbibe" until after the dancing had begun at the hotel, when
they returned thither, w^here Tedrow's drunken " pleasantnesses"^
began to manifest themselves in seizing hold of landlord ThomaSr
and roughly pushing and pulling him about; pushing or knock-
ing Thomas Brook from the porch and falling upon him^
soiling and tearing his coat, etc:; visiting the ball room and mak-
ing use of considerable abusive, obscene and threatening language.
These demonstrations, though not especially resented at the
time, were not at all relished by the victims of his abuse, and did
not produce the most amiable feelings towards Tedrow^. After he^
with some three or four white boon companions, had again gone
to the saloon in question, Brook sent Charles Thomas, the 16 year
old son of the landlord, to the ball room for Miss Kllen Thomas
and Miss Mabel Gray (a sister of his brother's wife) to come down
to the kitchen and mend his coat, which had been so badly torn
by Tedrow. On the completion of the job, the four — Brook, Kllen
and Charles Thomas and Mabel Gray — again started for the ball-
room. As they passed from the kitchen into the hall they heard a
disturbance in the band-room. Surmising that Tedrow was again
on the rampage, and saying to Kllen that he could not see her
father hurt. Brook started through the wash-room tow^ards the
band-room to render such aid as might be needed by Mr. Thomas.
Before reaching the band-room, however, Mr. Thomas opened the
door and rushed out through the wash room, followed by Tedrow^.^
The latter, on encountering Brook, seized him by the collar, with
both hands, and comnjenced jerking him around. Seeing her
lover menaced, Kllen Thomas rushed in between them, and placing
a hand on each side of Tedrow's face, said: "Tedrow what do you
mean? — do you know where you are?"
While thus standing, Kllen Thomas between the two men^
Tedrow received a severe blow^ upon the side of the head from an
ax, felling him instantly to the floor, from the effect of which he
immediately expired.
Delivering Himself Up. — This sad affair, occuring near the
midnight hour, of course brought the festivities to an abrupt ter-
mination. On becoming satisfied that Tedrow^ was really dead.
Brook, accompanied by Thomas Lancaster, drove to Akron, and
meeting Policeman David R. Bunn, on Market street, at about 3
o'clock Saturday morning, placed himself in the custody of that
officer. At Brook's request, officer Bunn took him to the residence
of General A. C. Voris, on Fir street, and from thence, after a brief
consultation with the General, he committed Brook to jail.
Preliminary Kxamination. — The ax, with which the fatal blow
was struck, belonged to Charles Thomas, and, as stated by him,
was left as usual, the evening before, at the w^ood-pile, some 50'
feet distant from the house, and the question vt^as, by Avhom and
for what purpose w^as it removed from the wood-pile to the/wash-
room, and so conveniently to hand at that particular moment.
There being, at the coroner's inquest, held by Dr. B. B. Brashear,^
some testimony tending to show that Seth Thomas handed the ax
to Brook, and that on rushing from the band-room with Tedrow^ in
pursuit, he had rushed to the wood-pile, seized the ax, and return-
ing to the wash room, just as his daughter had stepped in
CONVICTION — TRIAL — SENTENCE— PAROLE, ETC. 875
between Tedrow and Brook, had placed the ax in the latter's hand,,
which he immediately used in the manner, and with the fatal
result stated.
In view of this supposition, Prosecuting Attorney Charles
Baird filed an affidavit before Mayor Samuel A. Lane, ckarging
both Thomas Brook and Seth M. Thomas, with the killing, and
the latter was accordingly arrested by Marshal William H. Ragg,
and committed to jail to aAvait the preliminary examination, w^hich
was set for Saturday, November 4, at 9 o'clock a. m. The prelimi-
nary trial lasted two days, a large number of witnesses beings
examined, resulting in the discharge of Seth M. Thomas and the
holding of Thomas Brook to the Court of Common Pleas, for the
crime of murder, the mayor, in announcing his decision, remark-
ing:
The history of this case is largely a repetition of the great majority of
the hoinicides of the world, in that it is directly the resvilt of the excessive
use of intoxicating liquors, the evidence developing the fact that not only
was the victim — naturally as amiable as men in general — rendered quarrel-
some thereby, but that several, if not all, the actors and witnesses of the
fearful tragedy (except the ladies) were luore or less under their baleful
influence.
Trial in Common Pleas. — At the January term of the Court of
Common Pleas, 1883, Prosecuting Attorney Baird brought the
matter before the grand jury, which, on a full and careful hearing
of the evidence, returned a bill of indictment, charging Thomas
Brook with murder in the second degree. To this indictment
Brook entered a plea of not guilty. Governor Sidney Edgerton
being assigned by the court to assist Prosecutor Baird, on behalf
of the State, and Hon. J. A. Kohler assisting General A. C. Vori&
on the defense.
Verdict, Sentence, Etc — The trial, including the arguments of
counsel and charge of Judge Tibbals, occupied three full days, the
jury, after a short deliberation, rendering their verdict as follows:
"We, the jury, do not find the defencjant, Thomas Brook, guilty of
murder in the second degree, as charged in the indictment, but w^e
do find the said Thomas Brook guilty of manslaughter."
General Voris immediately filed a motion for a new^ trial for
several alleged reasons, the principal of w^hich was that the verdict
w^as not warranted by the evidence. This motion, after being
fully argued pro and con. by counsel, was overruled by Judge
Tibbals, who immediately, in impressive language, especially
animadverting on the folly and danger of indulging in intoxicat-
ing liquors, the use of w^hich, as developed by the testimony, was
directly the cause of the crime under consideration — sentenced the
defendant to twelve years iinprisonment in the penitentiary.
Parole, Subsequent Life, Etc. — Peaceable and quiet through-
out. Brook w^as taken to Columbus on the 31st day of March, 1883,
where he served the State faithfully, about three years, when he
was released on parole by the prison managers, returning to his
friends, near Cleveland, w^here he is now^ living a peaceable and
industrious citizen; the young lady who so courageously attempted
to avert the catastrophe. Miss Mary Ellen Thomas, having been
married to Mr. Jacob Peach, on the 6th day of August, 1886, by
Justice Henry W. Howe, of Ira.
CHAPTER XL.
THE COUNTERFEITERS OF THE CUYAHOGA—" DAN " AND "JIM " BROWN— WON-
DERFUL LONGEVITY OF HENRY BROWN, THE FATHER— "JIM" STRUCK BY
LIGHTNING— MERCHANT, HOTEL KEEPER, JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, ETC.—
"FINANCIAL" OPERATIONS— MAMMOTH SCHEME— EXPEDITION TO CHINA
COMES TO GRIEF— DEATH OF " DAN " BROWN IN PRISON— EXCITING TRIAL
IN NEW ORLEANS — "JIM" ACQUITTED — A FAITHFUL WIFE— " JIM'S "
REPUTED EQUESTRIAN EXPLOITS— OTHER MAMMOTH SCHEMES— CONVIC-
TION, SENTENCE, NEW TRIAL, ACQUITTAL— OTHER "PERSECUTIONS"—
"UNCLE SAM" GRAPPLES WITH HIM— IN THE "PEN" AT LAST — HEROIC
CONDUCT— FREE PARDON— FROM BAD TO WORSE— WIFE SEEKS A DIVORCE
—IN MICHIGAN PENITENTIARY — SUBSEQUENT ARRESTS — ACCIDENTAL
DEATH, ETC.— "DAN" JUNIOR AND HIS REMARKABLE CAREER— WONDERFUL
ROMANCE OF CRIME.
THE COUNTERFEITERS OF THE CUYAHOGA.
A WORK of this character -would most certainly be very incom-
-^^ plete without a pretty full history of the life and operations
of our late fellow^-citizen, James Brown, commonly known as
■"Jim" Brown, and incidentally something of his subordinates and
lieutenants. And yet so much has been written and published by
parties wholly unacquainted w^ith Mr. Brown and his doings, and
such extravagances of action and prowess have from time to time
been attributed to him, that any one not personally cognizant of a
good portion of his life and habits, and less familiar with the new^s-
paper and official records of his time than the writer, would find it
difficult to even approximate a truthful sketch of his remaricably
wonderful career.
Indeed, by reason of the natural delicacy of his surviving rela-
tives— all of the most respectable character — it has been difficult
to secure such data as w^ould insure perfect accuracy as to some of
the particulars of his earlj^ life, though it is believed that sub-
stantial, if not absolute, accuracy has been attained in regard to
that portion of his operations, w^hich has given to him wrorld-w^ide
renown as a " financier."
Wonderful Longevity. — Henry Brown, the father, was born
in Ireland, in 1733, emigrating to America sometime previous to
the Revolutionary War, and settling in New^ York City. On the
breaking out of the war, between Great Britain and her colonies,
Mr. Brown joined the patriot army, serving the entire seven j^ears
■of the struggle. After the close of the war he settled in what is
now Livingston county, N. Y., w^here he engaged in farming, and
livhere he w^as soon afterwards married. Here his tw^o sons, Daniel
and James, were born, the former in 1788, and the latter in 1800.
In 1802, the family removed to Ohio, settling upon a farm about
■one and-a-half miles below the present city of Youngstown. In
the Fall of 1808, Mr. Brown traded his Youngstown farm with
Judge Jared Kirtland, of that place, for 640 acres of wild land on
PROSTRATED BY LIGHTNING. 877
the west side of the Cuyahoga river, a little below the present
village of Boston. Here Mr. Brow^n continued to reside until his
death, October 17, 1837, at the extraordinary age of 104 years.
The Brothers — "Dan" and "Jim." — Daniel Brown (father of
our present ^vell-knoWn fellow-citizen, Hiram H. Browr^), then
20 years old, remained one Winter w^ith Judge Kirtland, attending
school at Youngstown, the next Spring following the family to
Boston, w^here for several years he w^orked upon his father's farm.
He enlisted as a soldier in the War of 1812, and at the close of the
w^ar was married to Miss Laura Wood, of Hudson.
The younger brother, James, also grew to manhood upon his
father's farm, and, so far as can be learned, was as faithful and
industrious as farmers' sons in general, though reputed to have
been extremely fond of the rude sports in vogue at that early day,
and is said to have been remarkably athletic, and one of the very
best, if not the champion wrestler of the neighborhood. In the
Fall of 1819, he was married to Miss Lucy Mather, daughter of
Watrous Mather, then living in Boston, but in later years a resi-
dent of Akron. Both of the brothers only had such educational
advantages as the semi-occasional schools of that period afforded.
Both w^ere apt scholars, however, w^hich, with their more than
ordinary natural ability, placed them in the first rank for intelli-
gence among the young men of Ohio, and both soon sought other
employment than farming.
In the middle twenties Daniel and his wife removed to Cincin-
nati and embarked in trade, afterwards, for some years, keeping a
store at Lawrenceburg, Ind., though making frequent visits to his
old home in Boston. Later he engaged in trading upon the Ohio
and Mississippi rivers, betw^een Pittsburg and New Orleans, inter-
spersed with occasional trips to the Kastern States, over the
mountains, with droves of horses; his last venture of that nature
being with a drove of 90 horses, gathered up in this neighborhood,
w^ith which he started from Boston in February, 1831.
Prostrated by Lightning. — After his marriage, in 1819, the
younger brother, James, then not quite 20 years of age, built for
himself a house upon a portion of his father's farm, on the w^est
side of the river, a little below the present Boston bridge. Here,
too, in 1825 or 1826, James built a tw^o-story frame store-house, and,
Avith one William G.Taylor, of Cleveland, embarked in trade, w^ith
a stock of $1,200 or $1,500 worth of general merchandise; also keep-
ing a tavern in the same building. Some two or three years later,
the remnant of this stock of goods w^as sold to his brother-in-law,
the late William T, Mather, and Brown removed the building,
bodily, across the bridge to the east side of the river, and hand-
somely refitted it as a hotel, which he afterw^ards presided over as
landlord for several years.
While sitting in his door one day when a terrible thunder-
storm w^as approaching (but whether before or after his removal
across the river, recollections differ) he was struck by lightning
and nearly every particle of his clothing, even to his boots and
stockings, was stripped from his person, literally torn into shreds.
He was prostrated by the stroke, and for a considerable time
remained insensible, but w^as finally restored to consciousness, and
his usual health and vigor, w^ith no permanent marks of the fear-
ful visitation remaining upon his person. It w^as said that he was
S78 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
wont to boast, in referring to this incident, that no live man could
lay him upon his back as quick as the Almighty did. This tat-
tered suit is still kept (or was a few years ago), as a memento of
the dread visitation, by members of the family.
Personal Appearance, Etc. — Never having met the elder
brother, " Dan," the writer cannot personally describe him, but he
is represented as having been singularly good looking, and of
extremely pleasing manners, and, for those times remarkable for
sobriety and correct personal habits. "Jim," in his early prime,
though not remarkably handsome of feature, possessed a pleasant
•countenance, which, with the mildness of his voice, and the
geniality of his conversation, rendered him a most captivating
companion. He w^as, in stature, about six feet and t>vo inches,
straight as an arrow, w^ith rather a dark complexion, black or very
dark brown hair and black, deep-set penetrating eyes. Though
not corpulent, his frame ^vas well proportioned to his great height,
giving him a personal presence that would attract attention in any
company. And, considering the universal use of intoxicants in
those early times, and his traffic therein as merchant and inn-
keeper, his own early habits in that regard Avere remarkably cor-
rect, while his business and social life was at that time of more
than the average purity.
Their "Financial" Operations. — Just when, and by whom,
the tvv^o brothers w^ere first initiated into the mystic art of illicit
financiering, can now only be conjectured. But certain it is that,
coincident with the opening of the Ohio canal in 1827, there was in
existence an extensive organization for the manufacture of, and
dealing in, counterfeit money along the entire length, with its
headquarters in the Cuyahoga Vallej^, with the two Browns, as
its leaders. Their principal coadjutors, in this vicinity, were Wil-
liam G. Taylor, of Cleveland, Abraham S. Holtnes and Col. Wil-
liam Ashley, of Boston; William Latta, of Bath; Jonathan De
Courcey and Thomas Johnson, of Norton; and Joshua King and
Joel Keeler, of Portage; with quite a large army of subordinate
•officers and privates as detailed in an earlier chapter of this series.
Let it be understood, here, that so far as known, neither of the
brothers indulged in peddling or passing spurious money them-
selves; their province being to devise, plan, and direct; to select
the institutions on which to "experiment," and to distribute, in a
-wholesale way, the products of those experiments.
A Mammoth Scheme. — At the time about which we are now
w^riting, the old United States Bank, at Philadelphia, was in full
•operation, its notes being, like our present treasury notes or green-
backs, not only good in any part of the United States, but also
<:urrent in every country on the globe with w^hich this govern-
ment then held commercial intercourse. About the year 1831, the
leaders of the fraternity above described had possessed themselves
of some very excellent plates of the several issues of United States
bank notes, and were preparing to flood the country with the
spurious paper.
At this time, the elder of the Brown brothers, "Dan," having
returned to Pittsburg, from a successful trip over the mountains,
w^ith horses, w^ith the view^ of resuming his trading operations on
the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, evolved from his fertile brain a
scheme that should entirely eclipse any other financial project,
A TRULY MAMMOTH SCHEME. 879
either legitimate or illegitimate, that up to that time had ever
been devised. He accordingly wrote to his brother "Jim," and
their most confidential confederate, Taylor, to meet him in Pitts-
burg. On coming together, "Dan" unfolded his plan, which w^as,
that instead of placing the spurious United States notes they tvere
then preparing in the hands of their local agents and confederates
to be dribbled out at retail, in this country, they should make a
wholesale operation of it in the far-off markets of the mercantile
w^orld.
Expedition to China, India, Etc. — This scheme was fully con-
-curred in by not only the Brown brothers and Taylor, but by such
other members of the fraternity as w^ere let into the secret. Pro-
ceeding to Ne>v Orleans, in the Winter of 1831, '32, a large vessel
was purchased and equipped for the expedition. It was the inten-
tion to sail directly for China, and from thence to visit the several
commercial ports of India, and, with the spurious money, purchase
a large cargo of teas, coffees, spices, siiks and other merchandise,
to be disposed of in the various ports of Europe and America.
Several thousand dollars w^orth of export merchandise, suited to
Oriental trade, was placed on board the vessel, w^ith $1>500,000 of
the spurious notes, together Avith material and the necessary
-apparatus for turning out $2,000,000 more.
In addition to the owners, and the crew^ proper, for the man-
agement of the vessel, a number of artists, expert penman, etc.,
were included in the com pa nj^ as "passengers." Everything was
in readiness for a start. Passports and the necessary clearance
papers had been secured. The vessel had pulled out from the
dock and anchored in mid-river, just at night, to be in readiness to
start upon her voyage with the out-going tide the next morning.
There were no telegraphs begirting the globe, no railroads, no
swift ocean steamers in those days, and once fairly at sea, the
expedition would be safe from both detection and pursuit, and its
final success assured beyond a peradventure.
The Expedition Comes to Grief. — As several months w^ould
elapse before they w^ould again stand upon terra Rrnia, or revel
in the delights of city life, the tw^o ivhilotn mercantile partners,
■"Jim" Brown and "Bill" Taylor, w^ent on shore in the evening to
"paint the town red." New Orleans was at that time, as perhaps
it still is, a pretty "gay" city — w^ith its gambling houses, bagnios
and drinking places, as public as its hotels, stores, etc. Though
it does not appear that they became particularly inebriated, or
offensively boisterous, in making their rounds, yet their extreme
liberality in the dispensation of their w^ealth, in treating them-
selves and others, and certain extravagances of action and speech,
attracted the attention of the police. Being thenceforth shadowed,
Avhen, late at night, they w^ere seen to row off to their vessel,
whose somewhat singular movements had already been observed
by the authorities, they were followed by a squad of officers, and a
thorough search of the vessel instituted.
Up to this time the true nature of the expedition had not been
suspected, but, as piracy and smuggling were then largely in
vogue, it was surmised that the parties and the vessel in question,
might belong to one class or the other of the contraband operators
named. The search, however, revealed the real character of the
company, and their probable designs, and the entire number were
880 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
taken into custody, together with their perfected and unperfected
"currency," material and counterfeiting paraphernalia.
Death — Conviction — Acquittal, Etc. — The three principals,
only — the two Brow^ns and Taylor — were held for trial. Taylor,
through friends in Cleveland, secured bail, and he and one Henr^^
Barrett, agreed, for a certain money indemnity and a deed of the
farm owned by the Brow^ns, in Boston, to go bail for them, also.
The money was paid over and the deed executed, but the bail
never w^as furnished. The trial was postponed, from time to time,
until late in the Fall of 1832, Daniel Brown having in the mean-
time, on August 22, 1832, died in the New Orleans calaboose.
General Lucius V. Bierce and Hon. Rufus P. Spalding, as attor-
neys, and some 18 or 20 residents of Portage and Cuyahoga
counties, as witnesses, were in attendance. Mrs. Lucy Mather
Brown, Avife of James Brow^n — a finer w^oman than w^hom never
existed — clung faithfully to her husband, in the spirit of the
couplet:
" I know not, I care not, if guilt's in thy heart,
But I know that I love thee, whatever thou art."
The silly tradition, how^ever, that Mrs. Brow^n rode on horse-
back from Old Portage to New Orleans, to be present at her hus-
band's trial, or that, obtaining access to her husband's cell, in the
calaboose, she exchanged clothes with him, thus enabling him to
escape, are simply sublimated bosh — there being, at that time,
plenty of steamboats plying betw^een Pittsburg and New^ Orleans,
and escape from prison being no part of his line of defense.
There is no authentic account of the actual proceedings in the
case now^ available, the local papers of the time in this vicinity,
now- in possession of the writer, being singularly reticent on the
subject. General Bierce, in his "historical reminiscences," says:
"James Brow^n was used as a w^itness against Taylor, who was
acquitted, and became a vagabond on the earth," while other
accounts state that Taj^lor was convicted, and imprisoned on
Brown's testimony.
Mr. Hiram H. Brown's recollection (though not on the ground
himself) is that Taylor arranged with the prosecutor to turn State's
evidence against his uncle "Jim," and that his aunt Lucy had
come on to Cleveland and obtained a large number of affidavits
from w^ell-known reputable citizens, tending to impeach Taylor's
character for veracity, w^ith which she wras returning to Newr
Orleans, and that Taylor, suspecting her object, being himself at
large on bail, intercepted her at Baton Rouge, and, on board the
steamer, attempted to w^rest the papers from her by force and vio-
lence; that both Brow^n and Taj'lor were acquitted on the charge
of counterfeiting, upon the technicality that it did not appear that
they intended to utter their spurious money w^ithin the limits of
the State of Louisiana or the United States, and that Taylor was
convicted and sentenced to a long term of imprisonment for his
savage assault upon Mrs. Brown, on the steamer, as above stated.
Whichever, if either, of these theories is the correct one, cer-
tain it is that Brown immediately returned to his home in Boston,
w^hile Taylor never again appeared in Portage county, nor, as far
as known, in Cleveland either; Brown, a year and a half later,
commencing proceedings in the Court of Common Pleas of Portage
WONDERFUL EQUESTRIAN EXPLOITS. 881
county, against Taylor and Barrett, non-residents of the State of
Ohio, to have the deed given to them, as above stated, set aside,
which ^was accordingly done.
Elected Justice of the Peace. — Returning :^roni his long
detention in the Crescent City calaboose, to his hotel in Boston,
Brown, notwithstanding the miscarriage of his Chinese scheme,
was heartily congratulated by his old neighbors, and a good deal
lionized wherever he was known. In April, 1834, he was elected
justice of the peace for Boston township, which office he is said to
have administered with marked fidelity during his three years'
incumbency thereof, though, at the same time, well-known to be
the very "head center" of the Cuyahoga Valley Syndicate for
fabricating and expanding the currency.
Brown became personally known to the writer in the Spring
and Summer of 1835, first during his attendance at court, w^hile the
w^riter was temporarily sojourning at Ravenna, and afterwards in
his frequent calls at Mr. C. B. Cobb's Pavilion House, where the
w^riter boarded during his first two years' residence in Akron; and
from thenceforth, his movements and operations w^ill be written of
from personal know^ledge, newspaper reports and official records.
Traditionary Exploits, — There are innumerable traditions
extant regarding his wonderful po\\rers of endurance and his
extraordinary escapes from his pursuers, after the consummation
of some clever feat in the line of his "profession;" one, that having
negotiated a forged draft with a New England Bank, he had, by
riding day and night, through a pre-arranged relay of horses, rid-
den to Ohio so quickly, that, on being taken to New England for
trial, a perfect alibi w^as established, the court deciding that, with
the fastest mode of travel then known, no living man could have
performed the journey in the time intervening bet\veen the perpe-
tration of the crime there, and his thoroughly proved presence in
Ohio. At another time he is reported to have perpetrated a simi-
lar "joke" upon parties near Pittsburg, and on his own powerful
steed, "Old John," ridden in a single night to his home in the
Cuyahoga Valley, and, being seen by the neighbors chop-
ping fire-wood at his own door, at daylight the next morning, his
defense of an alibi was successfully maintained. Still another
exploit is attributed to him to the effect that once, while traveling
through Canada, on the same horse, distributing the "queer"
among his trusted agents there, the authorities "got on" to his
game and gave chase, whereupon, though near the breaking up
period, he fearlessly dashed across the lower end of Lake Erie,
near Buffalo, upon the ice, thus placing himself beyond the juris-
diction of Her Majesty's minions of the law^. Whatever the pro-
portion of fiction and reality these legends contain, each reader
must judge for himself, as the w^riter has neither positive nor col-
lateral evidence to adduce in support of their authenticity. But
of what follows substantial accuracy may be relied upon.
Changes His Base. — In the Winter of 1837, '38, having disposed
of his hotel property, in Boston, to Mr. Henry Wadhams, Brown
moved his family to Akron, at first occupying a house on Howard
street, about where the Arcade block now stands. At this time he
also bought the hotel property on West Exchange street, called
the Summit House, a portion of which building is still standing
upon the south end of the same lot. Though he did not run the
56
882 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
house himself, it was for several years general headquarters for
himself and his "friends." Early in 1839, Brown built for himself
a family residence, on the southwest corner of State and Bowery
streets, some fw^o or three years later transferring the property to
William S. C. Otis. Esq,; the house, while unoccupied, being
destroyed by an incendiary fire, April 12, 1843; loss $1,000 with no
insurance. In the early forties the family moved on to the 300
acre farm now owned and occupied by the heirs of the late James
R. Brown, Esq., in Northampton township, the title thereof then
being in Daniel M. Brown, eldest son of the subject of this
sketch.
His "Persecutions" Begin. — Notwithstanding their efforts to
ameliorate the monetary stringency existing at that time — 1837,
'38 — largely through the influence of a little paper published by
the w^riter, called the Buzzard, an active campaign was inaugu-
rated by the law^ officers of Portage, Medina and Cuyahoga counties,
against the blacklegs, counterfeiters and thieves, then infesting
this vicinity; the more active, in w^hat is now Summit county, being
Prosecuting Attorney L. V. Bierce, Sheriff George Y. Wallace,
Justice Jacob Brown, Marshal Ithiel Mills, Constable Warren H.
Smith, of Akron, and Justice James W. Weld and Constables
Alonzo Culver and John E. Hurlbut, of Kichfield. Hitherto, since
the collapse of his Chinese enterprise, Brown, in the varying
vicissitudes of the gang, had managed to keep out of the clutches
of the law himself, but no^v immunity and impunity both receive
a sudden check.
Another Mammoth Scheme. — In February, 1838, "Jim" was
arrested in Akron, charged with being concerned in an adroit
forgery by which the plates of the bank of Lexington, Kentucky,
were obtained from the Union Bank in New^ York, and from which
a large number of bills had been printed, the fraud fortunately
being discovered before they had been delivered to the gang; and
also for being implicated in extensive forgeries of mortgages on real
estate in Buffalo, it likewise transpiring that Brown was about
starting the Farmer's and Merchant's Bank at Burlington, Wis-
consin (then a territory), confessing to Marshal Mills that he had
some $200,000 of the bills in his possession not yet filled out; there
being found in the trunk of a confederate, here, a large amount of
money ready for circulation, purporting to be on the "Exporting,
Mining and Manufacturing Company," at Jackson, 111,, together
with several thousand dollars of the Buffalo mortgages above
spoken of.
On the first named charge "Jim" Brow^n w^as taken before Jus-
tice Jacob Brow^n, who, to give the complainants time to procure
testimony from New York, postponed the hearing until March 17,
the accused entering into bonds in the sum of $6,000 for his
appearance at that time. For some unexplained reason the New^
York w^itnesses were not forthcoming, and Brown was discharged,
his connection w^ith the other matters not being sufficiently
apparent to base a prosecution on.
Again Arrested, Tried and Convicted. — Among others
arrested by the officers at this period, March, 1838, vt^as one Jona-
than DeCourcey, a tavern keeper at Johnson's Corners, in Norton
tow^nship, and one of the Bro>vn's most trusted lieutenants.
Finding himself fairly in the toils, DeCourcey sought immunity
FIRST START TOWARDS THE "PEN." 883
Ijy turning informer against his principal. Brown w^as accord-
ingly arrested by Constable Hurlbut, of Richfield, and examined
before Justice James W. Weld, of the same township, in the Court
House at Medina, on the 10th day of April, a large number of wit-
nesses being in attendance. The charge was having $10 and $50
•counterfeit bills on the bank of Rochester, N. Y., in his possession
with intent to pass the same, and of having offered to sell De
•Courcey $6,000 thereof.
He was held to bail in the sum of $10,000, and at the June term
of the Court of Common Pleas for Medina county, was duly
indicted for the offense. The trial was postponed until the Octo-
ber term, Brow^n's $10,000 bonds being renew^ed, w^ith Alonzo Dee,
William T. Mather and William King, as sureties; De Courcey also
being indicted and held to bail in the sum of $3,000, w^ith Abel
Dickinson as surety, for making and counterfeiting a Mexican
dollar. Both cases were again postponed until the March term of
the court, 1839.
Traitorous DeCourcey. — As the day for the trial approached,
an effort was made by Brown and his friends to ged rid of De-
Courcey, and his damaging testimony. He was offered $400 in
money, a well-secured note for $200, and a gold watch, w^ith the
promise of indemnity for his bail, to "absquatulate" to Texas.
This proposition the old sinner pretended to accept, but after get-
ting possession of the money, w^atch and note, and just on the eve of
starting for Texas, under the escort of one of Brow^n's trusted
henchmen, William Hicks, of Canal Fulton, he managed to give
the officers the wink, and both DeCourcey and his escort were
overhauled and brought back to Medina and lodged in jail in time
for trial; Brown also being taken into custody on a Bench war-
rant, and lodged in jail.
Convicted and Started for the " Pen." — The trial of Brown
finally came off early in March, 1839, and though the most eminent
counsel of the time were emploj'^ed in his defense, and though
every effort was made to break down the testimony of DeCourcey,
and the collateral evidence by which he was supported, the jury
-after a very brief deliberation, brought in a verdict of guilty, and
he was immediately sentenced to the penitentiary for the period of
seven years.
An Extraordinary Ride. — The sentence was pronounced
about the middle of the afternoon. In anticipation of the result, a
bill of exceptions had been prepared, with which William T.
Mather, the brother-in-law of Brown, immediately started on horse-
back for Rocky River, near Cleveland, to secure the allowance of a
writ of error, and a stay of proceedings, from Supreme Judge, Reu-
ben Wood. The writer happened, on the same afternoon, to be
riding in the same primitive manner, from Brunsw^ick to Medina,
meeting Mather midway, about an hour before sunset. The clay
roads of that vicinity w^ere then almost impassable, making travel-
ing very slow, and on my suggesting that, as they w^ould probably
start Brown towards Columbus early in the morning, he could
hardly make it, he replied that he had relays of horses provided, and
w^ould be sure to get back to Medina before daylight the next
morning.
I rode into Medina just as the sun was setting, A few^ minutes
later, from the hotel window, I saw a stage coach stop in front of
884 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
the county jail. Falling in with the crowd, which immediately
began to gather in front of the jail, but a few brief moments-
elapsed before the colossal form of Bro^vn was seen to emerge
from the building, with his hands and feet thoroughly ironed. He
■was assisted into the coach by the officers, and, with the sheriff
and tw^o assistants, immediately started for Columbus. Simul-
taneous Tvith the starting of the coach, another sw^ift messenger,,
on a fleet horse, was started towards Cleveland, to admonish
Mather of the action of the authorities, and, if possible, accelerate
his speed.
Mather too Much for Them.— Notwithstanding their hot
haste, the officers were destined never to reach Columbus with
their distinguished prisoner. Mather, having secured Judge
Wood's signature to his document, at once started upon the back
track, reaching Medina about one o'clock in the morning. After
a brief rest and partaking of refreshments, mounting a fresh
horse he started toward Columbus, overtaking the stage just as it
w^as pulling out of Loudonville, a little after daylight the next
morning — an equestrian feat nearly, if not quite equal to those
attributed to old "Jim" himself, as above related.
New Trial — Final Acquittal.^ — The discomfited sheriff and
his assistants, could do nothing less than to "about face," and
vsrend their way back to Medina, where they arrived at just about
the same hour of leaving the evening before ; the ^^riter meeting
and "greeting" them about midw^ay between Medina and Seville.
The proceedings in error were argued before the Supreme Court, in
Cleveland, August 7, 1839, and a new trial granted. At the Sep-
tember term of Medina Common Pleas, the case Avas again called for
trial, but the main witness for the State — the slippery DeCourcey —
was found to be non est, having finally been " spirited away," re-
sulting in a continuance of the case, until the M^rch term, 1840,
w^hen it was nollied. The case against DeCourcey had been con-
tinued from term to term until his non-appearance at the Septem-
ber term of the court, as aforesaid, when his bail was declared
forfeited, and, so far as the writer is advised, Jonathan DeCourcey
has never again been seen in Ohio, and has, in all probability, long
since gone to his final account.
[Dr. A, E. Ewing relates the following anecdote in connection
w^ith Brown's Medina trial: Constables Culver and Hurlbut had
but one horse between them, on which to return to Richfield,
which was the property of Culver, and who generously proposed
to " ride and tie," telling Hurlbut to ride on until he got tired, then
hitch the horse by the side of the road for him to take his turn at
riding \^rhen he came up. Hurlbut, being fond of practical jokes^
failed to g^et tired, until he reached Richfield, leaving the ow^ner
of the horse to foot it the entire distance, some fifteen miles.]
A Similar Experience in Portage County.— In June, 1838,
Marshal Mills arrested, near Buffalo, a resident of Akron by the
name of Willard W. Stevens, for passing or dealing in counterfeit
money, and lodged him in jail at Ravenna. After getting behind
the bars, Stevens turned informer against his principal, "Jim"
Brown, directing \^here a quantity of spurious money, purchased
by him from Brown, could be found in the cellar of the house then
occupied by his family, on How^ard street, in Akron. Finding the
money as indicated. Mills, under a warrant issued upon the affidavit
IN THE GRIP OF " UNCLE SAM." 885
of Stevens, arrested Brown, who was held to bail by Justice
Jacob Brown in the sum of $9,000 to answer to the charge before
the Court of Common Pleas, Stevens, meantime, in view of his
valuable service to the State, being released from jail on his own
recognizance to appear as a witness in the case.
An indictment was duly found, and the day for the trial fixed.
A jury was impaneled and the w^itnesses w^ere called, all of whom
responded but Mr. Willard W. Stevens. The main witness for the
State had "mysteriously" disappeared and the memories of those
w^ho w^ere to corroborate him had mysteriously failed, thus leaving
the overconfiding officers again in the lurch, and scoring another
triumph for the greatest "financier" of his time, "Jim" Brow^n.
Stevens never again returned to Summit county, but spent sev-
eral years in Georgia, afterwards rejoining his family in Western
Ne>\' York, w^here the writer met him, the industrious tiller of a
farm, in 1846, and who is now, at about the age of 84 years, a res-
pectable citizen of one of Western counties of Ohio.
In Cuyahoga County, Also. — Contemporaneous with the
<:ases above w^ritten of. Brown was arrested by the officers of
Cuyahoga County, upon a similar charge, and held to bail in the
sum of $1,000, slipping through the meshes of the law in about the
same manner as in the two instances above named, thus demon-
strating the great danger of public officers and courts of justice
relying upon confederates in crime for evidence to convict their
fellows.
Uncle Sam Grapples With Him. — His immediate active
coadjutors — As^hley, Latta, De Courcey, etc., and a large number
of lesser lights, having been driven from the neighborhood, out of
the business, or into the penitentiary, "Old Jim," as he was then
familiarly called, remained comparatively quiescent for a number
of years, being elected Justice of the Peace for the township of
Northampton in October, 1845; though events to be hereinafter
narrated will abundantly demonstrate that for a considerable
period, he continued to maintain his high standing as chief of the
Bureau .of Bogus Banking, in the West, if not of America.
Though he was observed to have many mysterious visitors,
both at his Northampton home and in his local haunts, no further
overt act, either by himself or those under him, had attracted the
attention of the authorities, until the summer of 1846, when he w^as
iigain arrested for counterfeiting United States coin. In the
meantime the new county of Summit had been erected and
organized, and at the date mentioned the late William S. C. Otis
was prosecuting attorney, w^hile the late Judge Samuel W.
McClure, then living at Cuyahoga Falls, was a United States
oommissioner for Summit county. Otis w^as energetic and
persevering in pursuit of crime, and McClure w^as prompt and
■decisive as a magistrate and judge. The examination was held at
the Court House, occupying several days, w^ith a large crowd of
spectators constantly in attendance. The prosecution was fought
inch by inch by Judge Rufus P. Spalding, attorney for the
■defense. But the evidence was so conclusive that Commissioner
McClure held Brown to bail in the sum of $20,000, to answer to the
United States District Court for Ohio, at Columbus.
[A day or t\sro before his arrest on this charge, a civil suit w^as
tried before him, as a magistrate, in which McClure was one of
886 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
the attorneys, and on which he had reserved his decision. After
his arrest, and before his examination, as above, McClure called at
the jail to ascertain the result of said civil suit, whereupon Brown
pronounced judgment in favor of McClure's client and quietly^
expressed the hope that the forthcoming examination before
Commissioner McClure might be equally favorable to him.]
Committed to the Franklin County Jail. — Brown's earlier
hold upon the confidence of responsible parties having become
lessened by lapse of time and change of circumstances, he w^a»
unable to procure so large an amount of bail, and was accordingly
committed to the jail of Franklin County, at Columbus. Subse-
quently, however, on the application of Judge Spalding, one of
the judges of the U. S. District Court reduced the bail to $5,000,-
which was secured, and the distinguished defendant was released
from custody.
The trial commenced at Columbus, on Saturday, August 1,
1846, Justice John McLean, -of the United States Court, presiding,
assisted by Judge Humphrey H. Leavitt of the U. S. District
Court of Ohio. The indictment charged Brow^n with " making
and uttering and assisting to make and utter counterfeit gold and
silver coin, and counterfeit notes in the similitude of bank notes. "^
Hon. Thomas W. Bartley, U. S. District Attorney for Ohio, and
William S. C. Otis, Prosecuting Attorney for Summit County,-
conducted the case on the part of the Government, and Hon. Noah
M. Swayne (after^vards one of the Judges of the U. S. Supreme
Court) and Hon. Rufus P. Spalding represented the defense. The
trial lasted six days and was most exciting throughout, the Court,
towards the end, on an intimation that if the trial should be likely
to go against him the defendant would abscond, issuing a Bench
warrant, ordering Brown into custody. A large number of wit-
nesses w^ere in attendance, the main effort of the defense being to
impeach the testimony of the witnesses for the prosecution, w^hich
was largely in the nature of State's evidence, by implicated parties,,
to clear themselves from similar accusations.
The principal w^itness was the son of a highly respectable
farmer in a neighboring tow^n, who had been inveigled into the
business by the blandishments of Brown, and to \srhom Brown
had from time to time sold counterfeit money in exchange for a
horse, yoke of oxen, etc., at the rate of 20 cents on the dollar for
paper money and 33 1-3 for coin, the latter mostly quarter eagles.
Sheriff Lewis M. Janes testified that on the same day that Brow^n
was arrested by Deputy L^nited States Marshal Ithiel Mills, her
(Janes) searched Brown's house, in Northampton, where he found,
under the garret floor, and in the boxing of the cornice, several
parts of a copper-plate press; in a barrel in the garret a large
number of zinc and copper cups, parts of two galvanic batteries;:
in a trunk in the store-room, a large quantity of bank-note paper,
one ream entire and unbroken, and in the secretary sundry letters-
and other evidence of crookedness.
In the Penitentiary at Last. — The trial, including the
arguments of counsel and the charge of Judge McLean, occupied
six full days, the court-room being crowded throughout. Not-
withstanding the poAverful defense and able and eloquent
arguments of his counsel, Messrs. Swayne and Spalding, the jury
disposed of the case in just two hours, returning a verdict of
IN THE PENITENTIARY AT LAST. 887
guilty of uttering counterfeit United States coin, as charged in
the indictment, and Brown was immediately sentenced by Judge
McLean to ten years' penal servitude in the Ohio Penitentiary, in
which institution he w^as duly installed on the 10th day of August,
1846.
This was his first actual imprisonment, under sentence, during
more than a quarter of a century of continuous crime, ow^ing to
the skill of himself and the gang in suborning and spiriting away
witnesses. Indeed, he seemed to have had, from the beginning, a
sort of premonition of the final result, often remarking to his
friends, between his arrest and his conviction, that w^hile he had
always been successful in dodging the pains and penalties of
State law, and could generally manage to w^orry out a county, he
w^as fearful that '* Uncle Sam " would prove too much for him.
Dastardly Act of Retaliation. — On the night of Sunday,
August 16, 1846,- just one week after the conviction of Brow^n, a»
above narrated, the large barn of the father of the principal witness
against him (the old gentleman also having been an important wit-
ness in the case), was destroyed by an incendiary fire, with its con-
tents, hay, oats, wheat, tw^o horses and other property, together with
several stacks of w^heat upon the outside, the loss being from $1,000
to $1,200, with no insurance. Though there was no tangible proof
to that effect, it was generally believed that the barn was fired by
some member of the gang in retaliation for what was regarded as
an act of treachery against the chief officer of the fraternity, by
one of his subordinates, and well illustrates the risks that testify-
ing against the gang involved in those early times.
His Demeanor in Prison. — ^His incarceration was a heavy blow-
to his pride and manhood, and though he outwardly maintained
his usual serenity and dignity, his spirits were evidently severely
crushed thereby. Yet by his correct deportment, as well as by his
commanding presence, he soon ^von the confidence, and even the
respect, of both the officers of the prison; and of his fellow-convicts,
for the w^riter, only a few months after his first incarceration, on
visiting the prison, found him already installed as ''file leader" of
the foremost platoon, in the lock-step march of the convicts
between the shops and the dining hall, cells, etc., and a magnifi-
cent leader he made, too. It w^as, indeed, a sorrow^ful sight, even
to the w^riter who had labored so hard, in connection with the offi-
cers of justice, and subjected himself to such imminent risks of
personal injury, in his efforts (through his paper) to break up the
gang, to see even this ''chief of sinners," in such a humiliating
position.
A Pardon Fairly Won. — It was not long, however, before Mr.
Brown was taken from the ranks, and from the shops, and assigned
to lighter and more congenial duties, and finally given special
charge of the prison hospital. While thus serving, the cholera
broke out in the prison, making fearful havoc among the inmates.
In this emergency. Brown was ever cool-headed and calm, and by
his example, encouragement and unfaltering attention to the sick,
undoubtedly carried many a poor fellow through, who w^ould
otherwise have succumbed to the fell destroyer.
This heroism and devotion w^as so highly appreciated by the
officers of the prison, that they heartily seconded the efforts that
w^ere soon afterwards inaugurated by his friends, under the
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
leadership of his ever-faithful and only daughter, Laura M. Brown
(the late Mrs. Prof. Bronson) for his pardon, w^hich was granted
by President Zachary Taylor, just four months and a half after his
inauguration, the pardon reaching Columbus, and Brow^n being set
at liberty, on the 22nd day of July, 1849; two years, eleven months
and twelve days from the date of his incarceration.
From Bad to Worse.— The free pardon from President Tay-
lor, and the restoration of Brown to liberty and citizenship, w^as
not followed by that reform of his associations and habits that his
family and friends had anticipated. His prestige, as the greatest
" financier" of the age, had gone from him, and his scepter, as the
great captain of the gang, had departed. He now, more than ever,
began to consort with both men and women of the baser sort, and
to indulge to excess in strong drinks and other degrading habits,
while correspondingly lowering himself in his chosen profession.
Mrs. Brown Seeks a Div^orce. — To such an extent did his
evil habits, and his consequent immoral conduct, prevail, that the
wife of his youth and early manhood — she, who had, for so many
long years, faithfully clung to him, in both "evil and good report;"
she, who, while personal purity and conjugal lo3"alty remained,
^was ever ready to fly to his side, whenever he was in trouble, w^as
finally compelled to appeal to the court for a decree of separation.
Her petition Avas filed in the Court of Common Pleas, of Summit
county, April 16, 1851. After setting forth the date of their mar-
riage, and of her faithful performance of all her wifely duties, she
says:
" Your petitioner further represents that during the last ten
years, and longer, the said James Brown hath been unmindful of,
and hath whollj'^ refused to discharge, the duties and obligations
resting on him as the husband of 3^our petitioner; that during all
that time he hath entirel}^ neglected to provide food or clothing,
or the bare necessaries of life for your petitioner, and that but for
the care and protection of her children, w^ho supported her, your
petitioner would have been in a state of utter destitution. Your
petitioner further represents, that the said James Brown hath
been an habitual drunkard for the last three years and more.
Your petitioner further represents, that on or about the 8th day
of October, 1850, the said James Brown, by threats of personal
violence, and by putting your petitioner in extreme fear of her life,
drove her from his house in the night time, and compelled her to
seek refuge and protection from a neighbor, since which time she
hath not lived or cohabited with him, etc."
The case w^as heard before President Judge, George Bliss, and
Associate Judges, Sylvester H. Thompson, John Hoy and Peter
Voris, at the December term, 1851, the prayer of the petitioner
being granted, and a decree of divorce entered Accordingly; there
being thenceforth absolutely no intercourse between Brown and
his family during the remainder of his life.
In the Michigan Penitentiary. — From this time on his course
was rapidly downward, his habits of dissipation not only increas-
ing, but rendering him less cautious in the handling of the "goods"
in which he dealt. In February, 1855, Brown, with several of his
pupils and confederates, were arrested by Marshal Dryden, of Co-
lumbus, and taken to that city, for manufacturing and handling
spurious coin, but finally released without prosecution; though a
BROWN AGAIN UNDER ARREST. 889
few years later (March, 1859) a large quantity of bogus quarters
"were plowed up in the garden ' formerly occupied by the family
with whom Brown for several years resided. In the Winter of
1859-60, Brown visited a former pupil of his in this county, Elihu
Chilson, then a resident of Kent county, Mich. Here, either
through his o^vn imprudence, or Chilson's treachery, the officials
of that county got " onto " his operations, and "run him in." He
w^as indicted, tried and convicted "for having in his possession,
with intent to pass, a counterfeit bill," and sentenced to three
years' imprisonment in the penitentiary of that state. He w^as
received at the prison March 17, 1860, and served his full term.
A Proposed Literary Venture. — While he was thus incarcer-
ated, the writer and the late Sherman Blocker opened negotiations
w^ith Mr. Brown for the publication of his auto-biography, in book
form, the profits to be equally divided betw^een the three. Mr.
Blocker visited him in prison, and supposed that the arrangements
had been fully consummated, the warden offering him every
facility for the prosecution of the wrork,when he g«t ready to com-
mence operations. Returning home to make the necessary prepa-
rations, Mr. Blocker soon afterwards received a letter from Brown,
demanding, as a prerequisite to performance, on his part, that w^e
should first secure his pardon from the penitentiary. This, of
course, we could not undertake to do, and the project fell through.
Still the "Victim of Persecution." — Returning to Ohio, after
his discharge from the Michigan penitentiary, Brow^n w^as almost
immediately again placed under surveillance by the minions of the
law, being on the the 23rd day of May, 1863, arrested in Cleveland
by a deputy U. S. Marshal, for having altered treasury notes in his
possession, w^ith the purpose of passing them. Nothing of the
kind being found upon his person, and other evidence promise4
failing to materialize, after being kept in jail a few^ days, he was
released from custody.
Large Find of Postal and Other Currency. — About the mid-
dle of February, 1865, some school children found an old oyster can
in a stack of hay, near the "Yellow Creek" headquarters of the
gang, in which were packed from $3,000 to $4,000 of counterfeit
scrip and bank notes, but the ow^nership of said w^ealth w^as never
fully ascertained, though the conjecture w^as that, as Brown had
recently returned from the east, it belonged to him. Though the
boys w^ho found the scrip in question, supposing it to be good,
{and acting under the too prevalent impression that whatever a
person finds belongs to him) had divided it up among themselves,
and their comrades. Mr. William Hardy, township trustee, and
Justice James R. Brown, succeeded in recovering the most of'it,
and handing it over to the proper authorities.
Sheriff Burlison Takes a Hand In. — June 17, 1865, Sheriff
Burlison arrested, in Akron, a man by the name of Leonard Hill,
w^ith a large amount of spurious money in his possession. Becom-
ing satisfied that Hill had got his funds from that distinguished
*' financier," Brown was taken into custody also, together with one
Thaddeus Nighman, of Canton, the entire haul of postal scrip,
treasury notes and miscellaneous bank bills, being betw^een $10,000
and $12,000. A few days later, as a part of the same gang, Burlison
arrested a man named Hunter, at Apple Creek, and three men
named Daugherty, Rapp and Eshelbaum, at West Salem, while
890 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Marshal Bill's deputies gathered in some eight or ten others who
had been spotted by Burlison, "at Crestline and Cardington,
together with a press, plates, burglars' tool, etc. These were all
transferred to the jail in Cleveland. The most, if not all, were
held to bail to answ^er to the U. S. District Court, and, on giving
bond. Brown was released from custody.
Before a Higher Tribunal. — On returning from Cleveland
— w^hither he had been to look after his case — upon a coal boat, on
Saturday evening, December 9th, 1865, w^hile passing through the
Peninsula lock, in attempting to w^alk from the stern to the bow^
either by the unsteadiness of his step, or by a sudden jar, he wa&
precipitated from the running board to the bottom of the boat,
breaking his shoulder and fracturing his skull. He wasconveyed,^
in an insensible condition, to his boarding place, near Yellow
Creek Basin, w^here he died on Sunday evening, December 10th,.
1865, at the age of 67 years and 5 months.
The remains of the deceased were, by his neighbors and
associates, taken to the cemetery, at the village of Boston, where,
without any special ceremony, they were laid beside those of his-
honored parents, whose memory he had so signally disgraced.
Thus miserably ended the ignoble life of one of the most extensive
and accomplished criminals of the Nineteenth Century, — a man
w^ho, by both nature and education, was well qualified to shine in
the counsels of the nation, but who, by his blandishments, and
w^rongly directed talents and energy, did more to corrupt the
youth of the Western country who were brought within the scope
of his baleful influence, than any score of his compeers in crime,
as shrewd and dextrous, in the management of men and money, a&
many of them in reality w^ere.
Of course, so brief a sketch as this, though more comprehen-
sive than any hitherto written, is utterly inadequate to a full and
perfect biography of "Jim" Brown and the mischief he has-
w^rought. Though pleasant in manner, sympathetic and benevo-
lent in his impulses, and liberal to a fault, in cases of suffering
and w^ant, the fact still remains that he led hundreds of young
men to ruin, disgrace, imprisonment and, possibly, death —
thereby bringing hundreds of families to grief and despair; his
own household not even being exempt, as evidenced by what has
been written, and by what is yet to follow.
Mr. Brown's Family. — Of Mr. Brown's family, the foUowing^
may properly be said in conclusion: The eldest son, Daniel M.,
died in Northampton, January' 21, 1851, aged 31 years and 8 months.
The devoted but div^orced wife, Lucy Mather Brow^n, died in Akron
August 21, 1884, aged 84 years and 6 months. Their only daughter,^
Laura M., a very accomplished lady, and talented artist, and wha
so faithfully remained steadfast to the erring father, so long as-
any hope of his reformation remained, w^as, in the early fifties^
married to Mr. John Frankenstein, of the city of Springfield, a
portrait and landscape painter of considerable celebrity in
Southern Ohio. Mr. Frankenstein's habits and conduct proving
uncongenial and offensive, she returned to Summit county a few^
years later, and in 1859 obtained a decree of divorce from him.
She soon afterwards married Prof. C. P. Bronson, of New^ York,r
eminent as a teacher of, and lecturer upon, physiology, elocution,^
etc., with whom she happily lived until his death, April 25, 1868,
"LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON." 891
at the age of 64 years and 5 months, his remains being brought ta
Akron for interment, Mrs. Bronson also died in New York,
September 25, 1885, at the age of 61, her remains no\\r reposing
beside those of her husband in Glendale Cemetery. The early
impression — somewhat prevalent even to this day^-that Laura did
the filling in of her father's counterfeit money, though she wrote
a most beautiful hand, had no foundation w^hatever, her abhor-
rence of the business being outspoken and unequivocal.
The younger son, James R. Brown, Ksq., always a thoroughly
upright, intelligent and courteous gentleman, lived upon his large
and w^ell cultivated farm, in the tow^nship of Northampton, until
his death, March 20, 1889, his family still remaining upon the old
homestead.
"DAN" BROWN NUMBER TWO.
As a proper companion-piece for, and a fitting sequel to, the
career of the greatest illicit "financier" of his time, "Jim" Brown,
herein above narrated, a brief sketch of the exploits of hi&
eldest son, Daniel M. Brown, will right here be in order.
"Dan" was, in many respects, entirely unlike his father, being
of fair complexion, with light blue or gray eyes and light brown
hair, and though nearly or quite six feet in height, somew^hat
effeminate and extremely gentle in his appearance and manner.
But, notwithstanding his gentle ^vays, and in spite of the better
counsels of his intelligent and faithful mother and only sister, he
seemed to take spontaneously to the evil courses of his father,
except in the matter of excessive drink — though it is said that that
father, while alluring the cherished sons of other fathers to their
ruin, earnestly sought to have him engage in some more honor-
able calling.
"Treading in the Footsteps," — Just how early "Dan" com-
menced to dabble in contraband money, is not now ascertainable.
As early, however, as February, 1838, the following, under the
above heading, was copied from the Cleveland Advertiser into
one of the local papers of Akron:
"A young man by the name of Brown, a son of the notorious Jame»
Brown, of Akron, was broug'ht from Elyria, yesterday, to our jail. He was
taken up as a counterfeiter, some $20,000 im counterfeit money having- been
found on or about his person. There was also a man with him passing by
the name of Rathbun, with several aliases. Why they were brought to this
county we do not know, unless it is that the facility with which Brown free*
himself from his irons has somewhat alarmed the officers of our neighbor-
ing county. It is said that he sawed his irons apart three times while he
was in Elyria. 'Train up a child in the way he goes.'"
L/ORAiN Officers Outwitted.— Young Brown, at this time, was
under 18 years of age, and yet, young as he was, he w^as altogether
too old for the Lorain county officials. It seems that he and his
companion were arrested in the saddle, somew^here in Medina
county, and, under guard, taken immediately to Elyria. Before
being searched, however, he w^as permitted to go into the hotel
stable and rub down his horse, and instruct his hostler as to its
care while he was in custody. On finally being searched, na
counterfeit money, or other evidence of crookedness, was found on
his person. But there ivas found, among the straw bedding of his
horse's stall, a large amount of counterfeit money. For lack of
conclusive evidence, how^ever, that he put it there, or had ever
892 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
had it in his possession, though held to bail by the examining
magistrate, and committed to jail as above stated, no bill was
found against him by the Grand Jury, and "Dan," in this, his
initial wrestle with the law, was discharged from custody. His
companion, Rathbun, -was indicted, escaped from jail, was re-
captured, his case continued for several terms, and finally
released from custody w^ithout being brought to trial.
His Subsequent Career. — Perhaps for the reason that the
course he \v^as pursuing was disapproved of by his father, as it
was most certainly distressing to his mother and the rest of the
family, young Brown kept entirely aloof from his native hills and
valleys, in his crooked operations, for a number of years devoting
himself to "business" in the Maumee and Black Swamp country,
in northwestern Ohio, and in southern Michigan, northern
Indiana, and other portions of the then Great West. Yet "Dan"
often visited his old haunts, and doubtless regarded this as his
home, the 3(X)-acre farm ever since occupied by the family having
been purchased by him in the early forties, and he being united
in marriage to his cousin, Minerva A. Darrow, of this county, in
1845.
Some of His Western Operations. — While undoubtedly con-
tinuing to deal more or less extensively in paper "money," his
attention seems to have been early turned more especially towards
promoting the " resumption of specie payments" — by the produc-
tion of bogus coin of such an excellent quality as to almost defy
detection. In 1842, George C.Bates, Esq., now of Denver, Colorado,
was United States District Attorney for the State of Michigan.
Through a deputy in Oakland county, in the southeast portion of
the State, Mr. Bates learned that finely executed dollars, halves
and quarters, were being largely circulated all over that region of
the country, and planned a trip to the neighborhood to reconnoiter.
An Important Discovery. — Before starting, however, his
attention was called to a suspicious cask, or puncheon, filled with
some heavy substance, which, by its tendency to change its center
of gravity, when being handled, had attracted the notice of the
parties in Detroit with whom it had been left for shipment to
""Daniel West," at Portsmouth, the southern terminus of the Ohio
canal, via steamer to Clevel&nd. Calling to his aid a deputy U.
S. Marshal, Mr. Bates proceeded to open the huge cask, and found
therin a splendidly constructed scre^v press for cutting, stamping
and milling coin, with its immense levers and weights, together
w^ith a full paraphernalia of coiners' tools, of most perfect finish,
and quite a large supply of plate metal ready for the mint, a quan-
tity of unfinished coins, etc.
Carefully replacing this apparatus and material, Mr. Bates
permitted it to be shipped to its destination, as per consignment,
at the same time sending a Deputy Marshal along, incog:, to ap-
prehend the man, or men, who should call to get it.
Again too Sharp for 'Em. — But though as vigilant, probably,
as the average U. S. official, Mr. " Daniel West," was altogether too
sharp for the Michigan Deputy Marshal, for, almost under his very
nose, while passing from the stearper into a warehouse, in Cleve-
land, to be transferred to a " through" boat for Portsmouth, the
puncheon, w^ith its precious contents, mysteriously^ disappeared,
and the discomfited Michigander was compelled to return to
ALTOGETHER TOO SHARP FOR 'em. 895
Detroit with the humiliating confession to the District Attorney^
that he had been out^vitted by wily Dan, or some of his satellites.
Oakland County Disclosures. — The District Attorney then
visited the neighborhood where he had been informed so large a
product of this mill was in circulation. Taking his w^ife and the
young son of U. S. Marshal Howard, of Detroit, with him, as a
blind, Mr. Bates, in the disguise of a hunter, traveled over the en-
tire region named, and soon found that some $40,000 or $50,000 of
the bogus coin had been manufactured by Dan Brow^n and his ac-
complices, most of whom w^ere ignorant but honest farmers, who
had, by Dan, been inveigled into the business under the pretense
that, as it could not be distinguished from the genuine, it w^as na
crime, or even sin, to pass it. Nine of these men w^ere arrested
and taken to Detroit, and the United States Court being then in
session, they were indicted, tried and sentenced to the peni-
tentiary. Tw^o of these deluded farmers soon died of grief in
prison, and a few years later several of them w^ere pardoned by the
President on the recommendation of the District Attorney.
More " Sharp" Officers Outwitted. — " Dan" Brown was alsa
indicted by the same Grand Jury, but, previous to this, finding
that the atmosphere of Michigan w^as too " sultry" for either com-
fort or safety, after shipping his machinery, as above stated, he
had taken some $40,000 of his product to other markets, out of
w^hich, at wholesale rates, it is supposed that he realized from $15,-
000 to $20,000. The District Attorney now turned his attention ta
tracing the w^hereabouts of Dan Brow^n, alias " Dan West."
Learning, through an intercepted letter, passing through the De-
troit postoffice, that his man would be at a certain hotel in St.
Louis, on Christmas eve, Mr. Bates sent his deputy marshal and a
detective thither, armed w^ith the necessary documents, to secure
his arrest- and return to Michigan. On their arrival at the hotel
in question, the sharp detectives not only entered their ow^n name&
and places of residence on the hotel register, but, seeing the name
of " Daniel West" on the same page, they innocently inquired of
the supposed clerk, standing behind the counter, if Mr. West was
in, saying that they w^ould like to speak with him. Now it so hap-
pened that the office clerk had temporarily stepped out, and the
party of whom the inquiry had been made, \vas the veritable" Dan
West," otherw^ise Dan Brow^n, himself. Coolly and politely saying
to the newcomers that he would call Mr. West, Mr. Brown passed
out through the kitchen, and a few minutes later w^as on board a
Mississippi steamer, en route for Little Rock, Arkansas, a point
often visited by him about those days.
A Curious Story. — The main features of Young Brown'*
Michigan and St. Louis exploits, as above related, were compiled
from a letter from ex-District Attorney Bates, published in the
Cleveland Leader, in November, 1885. Mr. Bates then goes on ta
relate that, having retired from the office of District Attorney, and
at liberty to defend Dan, if he chose to employ him, Brow^n sent
his sister, a very beautiful and accomplished girl, to retain him to
end the trouble in which her brother was then placed; offering
him $800 in gold and her watch and chain; telling him that her
father, old James Brown was in the penitentiary; that Dan w^a&
married and his w^ife w^as in delicate health; that her mother wa&
old, and that if he could and would end the prosecution against
S94 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
her brother, she \srould give him the money and watch, amounting
to about $1,000.
Bates declined to accept a retainer, without first having an in-
tervicAv with " Dan," somewhere in Ohio, w^hen, after show^ing
him all the evidence against him, taken before the Grand Jury, if
he concluded to take the risk, and go to trial, he (Bates) would then
take the $1,000 and do his best to clear him from the indictment,
and if successful he was to be paid $1,000 more. It >vas finally ar-
ranged, through correspondence, that Mr. Bates should go to Mau-
mee, where parties would meet him and take him to the trysting
place, where, for the first time, he w^as to meet the w^ily young
-counterfeiter, face to face.
Interesting Interview. — Mr. Bates goes on to state that,
reaching Maumee about daylight, he was taken by the party sent
to meet him, to a dismantled old brick stage house, about six
miles out, on the Perrysburg pike, the house being kept by a repul-
sive old wornan, and all of its appointments of the most dilapi-
dated character, except the single room occupied by Brown,
w^hich was both elegant and luxurious. The interview itself we
will let Mr. ex-District Attorney Bates relate in his OAvn graphic,
though perhaps somewhat exaggerated, language, as follows:
" Brow^n received me w^ith the grace of a prince. He apolo-
gized for bringing me there alone, by saying that I had hunted
him so closely, pursued him so vigorously, that he feared I might
still entrap him into custody, at which I at once told him that if that
was his opinion of me I w^ould instantly leave him and walk back
to Maumee ; that so long as I was attorney for the United States I
w^ould pursue any criminal unto death, but that now I was ready,
if he saw fit, after reading all the evidence, to take his retainer and
■defend him, if I could, through the courts.
"He made a pitcher of punch and offered it to me, but I
declined to drink until he first did so, to which he replied
with elegant grace; 'Bates, gentlemen of our profession never
drink. It w^on't do. Had not my father and his counsel been
■drunk at Columbus, at his trial, he would never have been
convicted of passing a half-eagle gold coin, for we never pass
spurious money. We are wholesale counterfeit coiners and only
sell to retail dealers, who buy from us well-knowing that the coin
is spurious.'
" So I drank the punch from a silver goblet out of a solid silver
pitcher, and w^ent to work all that winter's day. I went over the
evidence again and again, pointed out the danger of that lady
witness, his old sweetheart, then living in Detroit, and now^ a
religious old grandmother there. I told him that if United States
District Attorney Norvell did not find her, I would guarantee his
acquittal, but if she came into court he was a convict beyond hope.
Finally he decided that the risk was too great, and that he would
not venture it, but offered to pay me a large sum of money to
retain me in the future, Avhich I declined, saying : 'Pay me for my
team in coming here; that is all I can or will take, for it may
happen that I shall be United States District Attorney again ; and
if so, I shall again go for you, and try and send you where those
poor idiots whom you seduced are now, but I will not touch a
<lollar of your money.'
HIS OPERATIONS IN CALIFORNIA, 895
"We parted then and there, but before parting he took out his
ivory flute and played the ' Last Rose of Summer' with an exquisite
taste that I have never heard equalled except once, in San Francisco,
when Ole Bull, Max Strakosch and Patti's eldest sister, Mrs.
Thorn, united in its execution, after dinner at Felix Argenti's, in
1854."
Mr. Bates then goes on to say that his successor, as district
attorney, having died in 1848, he w^as reappointed to that office,
and soon afterwards commenced hunting for Dan, w^ith the view
of pushing the prosecution againt him, under the indictment
previously found, but that he managed to elude him, and finally,
in 1850, went to California.
Mr. Bates Corroborated. — On the trial of James Brown, the
father, in the United States District Court for Ohio, at Columbus,
in August, 1846, as detailed in the foregoing pages. United States
Deputy Marshal Thomas McKinstry, pf Cleveland, was a witness
in behalf of the prosecution. Marshal McKinstry testified
that having heard that there had been a large bogus machine
brought to Cleveland and afterw^ards removed from there, and
being anxious to capture it, he had an interview with Brown upon
the subject.
"Brown told me," said the Marshal, "that his son Daniel had
got into difficulty in Michigan, and if I would do so and so to aid
him, he would do so and so to aid me in getting the machine. I
exacted from him an earnest that he would do as he proposed, and
he gave me a counterfeit gold piece to show what could be done."
Brilliant California Scheme. — As many of the readers of
these chapters will remember, the w^riter ^vas one among the vast
army of gold seekers that crossed the plains and mountains to
California in 1850. With the two or three hundred other Summit
county people who sought the golden shores, that year, was
William T. Mather, a former well-known and highly respected
business man of Akron. Mr. Mather was a brother of the late
Mrs. Lucy M. Brow^n, w^ife of "Jim" Brow^n, heretofore written of,
and consequently o>Arn uncle to the younger "Dan" Brown.
Mr. Mather engaged in business in Sacramento City, where,
and in San Francisco, the writer had the pleasure of meeting him
several times during the summer and fall of 1850, and the winter
of 1850, '51. About the middle of November, 1850, Mr. Mather, then
just recovering from a severe fit of sickness, in Sacramento, came
dow^n to the Bay City, to escape from the pestilential atmosphere of
cholera-stricken Sacramento, in w^hich some half dozen Akronians
had just succumbed to the terrible scourge w^ithin as many days.
While conversing with Mr. Mather one day, he said : "Lane, w^ho
do you suppose I saw the other day, at Sacramento, on his w^ay
home to Ohio?" "Give it up!" I replied; "there are so many
fellows flitting homev(rard just now, it w^ould be difficult to guess."
"Well," said he, it was that hopeful nephew of mine, Dan Brown."
"Dan Brown!" I exclaimed; "I didn't know he w^as in this
country." "O, yes," said Mather, "he roughed it across the plains
w^ith the crow^d, last spring." "What's he been doing?" I inquired.
"You tell!" responded Mather. "When I put that question to
Dan, he kinder laughed, and said, 'O, I've been speculating a little." '
"How much of a 'pile' has he got?" I inquired. "Well, he wouldn't
tell me much about it, but I kinder guess he'll get home with
896 . AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
$75,000, or $80,000— that is, if he lives to get home, for he's in mightjr
poor health ; consumption I guess." "Why didn't you tell him to-
hunt me up? I might have given him some assistance in getting
off," said I. "Oh," laughingly replied Mather, "I thought it might
revive unpleasant memories between you. You used to give him
and old Jim fits in the Buzzard, you know."
Great Excitement in the "Diggins." — Up to this time there
had been no paper money of any description whatever, in circula-
tion in California — gold and silver coin, or gold dust and nuggets^
at so much per grain or ounce, being the only mediums of financial
and commercial traffic and exchange. Up to this time, too, it w^as-
expensive sending money home to friends in the States, by express,
or through the banks, and both burdensome and extremely hazard-
ous, for the fortunate miner to undertake to carry his gold dust
home, or from place to place in the mines, upon his person.
In the States, following the disastrous panic of 1837, a system
of State Safety Fund Banks had been established, in which the
inhabitants of those States had the utmost confidence. Among
the very stanchest of these institutions w^as the old State Bank
of Missouri. What wonder is it then, that, w^hen a gentlemanly
appearing traveling broker appeared among the miners, with
bright, new and crisp $50 and $100 bills on their favorite home
bank, the hundreds and thousands of " Pukes," as the emigrants^
from Missouri had been nick-named, then in the mines, should
eagerly jump at them, even paying a small premium in gold dust
at current rates?
A very brief period served to w^ork up so large a demand for
these notes, that the "Agent" of the bank, as he represented
himself to be, found no difficulty in working off large blocks of his
"currency," not only among the miners themselves but also
among the local brokers of the interior, the execution of the bills
being so perfect as to defy detection from any but the most
skillful experts, a distinction to which but few^ of the brokers of
that country could at that time properly lay claim. It was believed
that from $80,000 to $100,000 of the spurious money was thus
exchanged for coin or dust.
The very nature of the supply and demand w^as such that for
many wrecks none of the crisp paper "money" found its way to
the large cities, or entered into general traffic, and thus for a long
time escaped detection. But w^hen the fraud was finally discov-
ered, it may well be imagined there w^as consternation in the
camps of both digger and broker, in the mining regions. Indig-
nation meetings w^ere held, and committees w^ere appointed and
detectives employed to ferret out and bring the w^ily offender ta
justice, through the then popular tribunal of Judge Lynch.
Identity, Pursuit, Etc.— The vigilantes found little difficulty
in fixing the identity of the adroit operator, and tracing him to
San Francisco, and on board the Panama steamer. But he had a
month or more the start of them, and there were no railroads or
telegraphs there in those days, by which a fleeing criminal could
be headed off before reaching his destination. They could only
bide their time, and await the sailing of one of the semi-monthly
steamers which left San Francisco for Panama about the first of
January, 1851.
DEATH CLOSES HIS CAREER. 897
Home in Time to Die. — In the meantime the fleeing fugitive
reached New York in a greatly enfeebled condition. Here, in
response to a telegram, he is met by friends who aid him to reach
the family homestead in Northampton, alive. The inroads of his
insidious malady (scurvy) and the fatigue of the long and tedious
journey, however, had so told upon him, that it was evident to
both himself and friends, his tenure of physical life was very
short, and a few brief hours might bring the end.
Legal as well as medical counsel was hastily summoned and
his temporal affairs speedily adjusted. The 300 acre homestead
was deeded to his brother, James R. Brown, December 27, 1850,
(the consideration named in the deed being $3,000); his money
— whether in large or small amounts, and whether honestly or
dishonestly acquired — was distributed according to his wishes,
among his friends and relatives by his own hand.
Having thus closed his earthly affairs, on the 21st day of Jan-
uary, 1851, at the age of 31 years and 8 months, he peacefully
closed his eyes upon earthly scenes, and passed into the presence
of the Great Judge, whose justice he could not question, and whose
decrees he could not evade. He was quietly buried upon the home
farm in Northampton, and a neat marble monument erected over
his grave, his remains being subsequently removed to Akron Rural
Cemetery and laid beside those of his wife, who died June 27th,
1874, aged 48 years, 11 months and 27 days.
Disappointed Detective. — The California committee, above
spoken of, on their arrival in New York, found no difficulty in
tracing their man to that city, and from thence to Ohio. Reaching
Cleveland, inquiry revealed the fact that the man they were
searching for, was dead. This statement the committee discred-
ited, believing it to be a ruse to throw the officers of justice off the
track. Arriving in Akron, they were referred to the attorney,
Hon. Ruf us P. Spalding, who had aided in closing up his business
affairs, and the physian. Dr. Alpheus Kilbourn, who had attended
him in his last hours, both of whom assured them that the man
they ^vere in pursuit of was in reality dead.
The committee were still incredulous, and one the number, an
experienced California detective, was delegated to visit the family
homestead and solicit permission to disinter the body; his state-
ment being that his father, in one of the Southern or Western
States, had become surety for "Daniel West," in the sum of $3,000
from the payment of w^hich proof of West's death w^ould relieve
him. Permission for the disinterment was readily given, and
the removal of the lid of the casket instantly convinced the
pursuing party that the cadaverous remains therein reposing w^ere
indeed those of "Dan West," the well known alias of Daniel M.
Brown.
Thus passed away one of the most expert and, for his years,
one of the most successful counterfeiters in America. In conclu-
sion it is but just to say that while the surviving relatives natu-
rally feel extremely sensitive in regard to any mention, either
public or private, of the subjects of this chapter, they are all held
in the highest esteem by their neighbors and acquaintances, and
should not, and will not, in any degree whatsoever, be held
accountable for the wrongful actions of their talented but mis-
guided ancestors.
67
CHAPTER XLI.
NORTHFIELD TOWXvSHIP -EARLY SETTLEMEXT— MILITARY AND CIVIL STATUS-
MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARAXCE OF RUPERT CHARLESWORTH RUMORS OF
FOUL PLAY -ARREST OF DORSEY W. VIERS, AFTER NEARLY FIVE YEARS,
FOR THE CRIME OF MURDER— PROTRACTED TRIAL AXD XARROW ESCAPE
FROM COXVICTIOX -LOXG AXD TIRELESS SEARCH FOR THE MISSIXG MAX-
SUCCESS AT LAST— RETURX OF CHARLESWORTH AFTER XEARLY FIFTEEN
YEARS— LARGE PUBLIC MEETIXG— CHARLESWORTH FULLY IDENTIFIED —
VIERS TRIUMPHAXTLY VIXDICATED— A GEXUIXE " ROMAXCE IX REAL
LIFE."
NORTHFIELD'S BEGINNING.
IT is not the province of this w^ork to enter into a full detail of
the origin and early settlement of the several townships of the
county, or to give full personal descriptions of all the pioneer
residents thereof, or of all their battlings with privations,
hardships, Indians and wild beasts. This has already been quite
thoroughly done by others, and its reproduction, here, would not
only make the work undertaken by the writer too voluminous, but
also involve an unwarrantable appropriation of the researches and
labors of others.
. Though regarded, by its original Connecticut proprietors, as
one of the very best townships upon the Western Reserve, North-
field, for reasons not necessary to enumerate here, was not fully
opened to settlement as early as some of the contiguous tow^nships
now embraced w^ithin the limits of Summit county. For the
purposes of this w^ork, it is sufficient to note the fact that North-
field's first settler was Mr. Isaac Bacon, from Massachusetts, who
w^ith his family located on lot 63, about a mile and a half northwest
of the Center, in xVpril, 1807; the next accession being the family
of his brother-in-law, Jeremiah Cranhier, in June, 1810.
Nam^, Organization, Etc. — At an informal meeting of all the
male inhabitants of the township, assembled for the purpose of
aiding a new-comer to erect a cabin, the question of naming the
township w^as raised, and various names w^ere suggested, but none
seemed to meet with general favor until Jeremiah Cranmer
mentioned that of Northfield (probably from a town "bf that name
in his native State), which was finally adopted by the company
and Northfield it has been to the present day, and appropriately
so, as being on the extreme north side of Portage county, then, and
of Summit county, no\v.
The First Election. — Though perhaps one or more justices
of the peace had previously been appointed for the township by
the governor, the first actual organization, as far as can now be
ascertained, was on the 24th day of May, 1819. On that day an
election seems to have been held at the cabin of William Cranny,
John Britt acting as Moderator, Jeremiah Cranmer and John
Duncan as Judges^ and Orrin Wilcox as Clerk. The officers
elected w^ere : Trustees, George Wallace, Jeremiah Cranmer and
EARLY SETTLEMENT, POPULATION, ETC.
899
John Duncan ; Clerk, Henry Wood ; Overseers of the Poor, William
<;^ranny and William T. Mather ; Fence Vieivers, Robtert Wallace
and Maurice Cranmer ; Constables, Edwrard Coyne and Abraham
Cranmer; Treasurer, Watrous Mather; Road Supervisors, John
Duncan, Abel Havens, Daniel Robertson and Abner Hunt.
TANKS W. WALLACE, — son of
J George and Harriet (Menough)
Wallace, born at Youngstown, Ohio,
November 27, 1803, soon removed with
parents to Geaug-a county, thence, in
1810, to Cleveland, and engaged in
hotel-keeping. In 1814, the father
built saw, grist and woolen mills at
the Falls of Brandj^wine Creek, in
Northtield, also placing' .quite a large
stock of gfoods there in charge of the
13-3'^ear-old boy, James, these and
other operations engaged in 1)5^ the
faniilj^ giving to Brandywine more
than a local repute as a business
center for tnany years. In 1825,
James, with his brother George Y.
(ten 3^ears later sherifif of Portage
county, and in 1842, treasurer of Sum-
mit county, by appointment, for
nearl}^ a year), besides taking entire
charge of the business at Brandy-
wine, built several miles of canal and
aqueduct near Massillon and Roscoe ;
when canal opened, boated two years;
was then five j'ears with Giddings,
Baldwin, Pease & Co., afterwards
Andrews, Baldwin & Co., as purchas-
ing agent in Winter, and in charge
of boats in Summer; then two years
agent for Boston Land Company ;
then, in 1838, returned to Brandywine,
in addition to manufacturing-, largely'
engaging in farming. In 1871, Mr.
WaUace removed to "Maple Mound,"
near Macedonia, where he resided
until his death, September 24, 1887, at
the age of 83 years, 9 months and 27
»|A
JAMES W. WALLACE.
days, Mrs. Wallace having died
March 15, 1885, aged 67 years. The
children are— George, who died in
Pomeroy, Iowa, August 26, 1880;
Hiram Hanchett and Mary Emeline
(Mrs. Lorin Bliss), Northfield Center;
Warner W., Danville, Kentucky;
Joseph, died young ; Leonard Case,
near Macedonia, and Marjorie Stan-
hope, now wife of Henry P. R. Hamil-
ton, of St. Paul, Minnesota.
Rapid Settlement. — For the next ten or twelve years new-
accessions to the population w^ere almost continuous, so that
by 1830 the township was pretty w^ell settled and improved,
including quite a hamlet at the center, a brisk manufac-
turing village at the Falls of Brandyw^ine Creek, in the
south part of the tow^nship, and quite extensive lumbering
operations a mile or so further up that stream, at Little York. By
1840 the township had almost reached its maximum of population,
the census of that year showing the number of inhabitants in the
township to be 1,031, while the census of 1880 accorded to it a
population of 1,076, and that of 1890 a population of 940 souls, only;
a falling off of 91 in fifty years, though this is even better than
some of the townships of the county have done during that period.
The causes for this seeming declension may largely be found
in the changed and improved methods of doing business — the
introduction of labor-saving machinery re(iuiring a less number of
hands upon the farm and a ^correspondingly greater number in
9CX) AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
mechanical operations — and in the absorption of the minor mechan-
ical and mercantile operations of town centers, villages and
hamlets, by the cities and general railroad centers of the country^
NoRTHFiELD IN PuBLic SPIRIT. — Though bounded by the
Cuyahoga river, upon the west, and though more or less adversely
affected, morally, by the location of the Ohio canal through its
entire \\restern border, the township of Northfield w^as originally
peopled ^vith, and is still inhabited by, as intelligent and honorable
a population as any other community upon the proverbially
intelligent and orderly Western Reserve. It has also contributed
its full share in behalf of the freedom and unity of the Nation
and in support of the local institutions of the county. As young
as she was, Northfield was well represented in the War of
1812, (though only the names of Henry Wood and Jonathan Hesser
are noAV remembered as soldiers in that Tvar) and in War of the
Rebellion she furnished more than her full quota of patriotic and
faithful soldiers, as will be seen from the following roster kindly
compiled for us by Ambrose W. Bliss, Esq., supplemented by the
assessors' enumeration for 1865 :
NORTHFIKLD'S ROLL OF HONOR.
Jacob C. Armstrong, Levi Burroughs, George Brow^er, Augustus
A. Belden, Lucian Bliss, Daniel Boyle (died in service), Alonzo
Bain, Francis W." Bliss, Harmon H. Bliss, Theodore Bordeman, K.
A. Butterfield, George L. Bishop, Horace P. Bliss (died at home of
lung fever, Feb. 20, 1863), O. A. Bishop, Albert L. Bliss, Philip
Brandt, Adam Bowles, Frederick Belden, Robert Brown, John
Brown, Cornelius Boyle, David Boam, Augustus Curtiss, B. C.
Carpenter, J. C, Chamberlain, Frank R. Clements, Lester J. Crit-
tenden, Edward Connor, James Clark (died in service), j. C.
Cranmer (died in service), Marcus D. Cross, Joseph Clifford,
EdAvard Cromax, George Cross (lost on Sultana), Andrew J. Cross,
Jeremiah H. Cranmer, John Christian, Albert Case, Emery
Case, Jonathan Criss, Dwight Case, Lafayette Cranmer, George
Cooley, Thomas Drennen (died in service), W. H. H. Deisman,
Nathan W. Doty (lost on Sultana), George Dusenbury, John
Dusenbury, Simon Dallas, James A, Emmons, Henry Eggleston,
Alexander Forbes, Asa H. Fitch. John Fitzw^ater (died in rebel
prison), Alfred Fell, W. W. France, William Fields, John Goetz,
Philander Hewitt (died at Cincinnati, Oct. 1862). Sylvester Honey,
Albert Herriman, Hine, Willis Honey, Hiram H. Johnson
(died of heart disease at Camp Chase, Oct. 1862), John H. Johnson
(died in service), Henry Large, James Large, Albert Lawrence,
James Miller, Milton B. Miller (died in service), James McElroy,
Peter Murphy, John A. Means, John Montona, James H. Miller,
Marion McKisson, Samuel D. McElroy, Urvan Murphy, F. D.
Murphy, Daniel Martin, C. M. Myers, O. McClintock, James
Nesbit, D. G. Nesbit, T. B. Nichols, Henry Pile, Geo. W. Pile, A. M.
Palmer, Geo. W. Palmer, H. H. Palmer, L. L. Palmer, E. A. Palmer,
Thomas Pacy (died in service), Wm. H. H. Polhamus, Samuel
Perry, Thomas Parkhurst. Matthew Phaff, Edward G. Ranney
(killed at Gettysburg), Jacob Rusher (killed at Shiloh), Otto
Runge, John Rose, John Ririe, Nelson Stebbins, William E. Smith,^
John C. Seidel, Conrad Schoch, Cyrus Singletary (died in service)^
NORTHFIELD S ROLL OF HONOR.
901
Charles Skinner, Edwin Soden, George Soden, Iv. C. Spafford, John
Sharp, Charles Scott, Lucian Stanley, Wilbur Stanley, John
Sproutberry, Smith Tryon, Lucas Tryon (died in service), Alfred G.
Thompson, Hiram Turner, Myron Tupper (died in service), M.« L.
Trotter, Willard Trotter, Abraham Truby, George Thomas, Walter
Thompson, Frederick Ungerer (died in service), C. A. Vail, J. J.
White, J. C. Wilkinson, Robert F. Watson, Charles W. Way (lost on
Sultana), John Wilkins, Josiah Wood.
AMBROSE W. BLISS, — born in
-^ Jericho, Chittenden county, Ver-
mont, December 6, 1806; common
school education ; reared on farm ; at
18 learned carpenter and millwrig-ht's
trade ; in 1833, came to Ohio, worKing-
on public works at Cleveland and
Black river ; May 9, 1839, was married
to Miss Emeline Palmer, a native of
Windsor, Connecticut, born April 3,
1815, and has since been a continuous
resident of Northfield. While exten- ,
sivelj' engaged in farming, at the
same time Mr. Bliss for many years
diligentl)^ plied his trade, building
aquedticts, and lock-gates on canal,
bridges, etc. Politically, Mr. Bliss
was originally a Whig, and since its
organization has been an earnest sup-
porter of the Republican party; has
held several important township
offices, and for two full terms of three
3^ears each — from 18.o4 to 1860 — abl}'
filled the responsible office of countj^
commissioner. Four children have
been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bliss —
Ellen, living at home ; Lorin, farmer
in Northfield; George, living at
home ; and Horace, the latter enlist-
ing in Compan)' C, ll.'ith O. V. I., in
August, 1862, and d3ang, from disease
contracted in the armj-, Februarj^ 20.
1863. Mr. Bliss is a brother of Hon.
AMBROSE \V. BLISS.
George Bliss, formerlj' president
judgeof third judicial district of Ohio,
and later, from 1852 to 1854, represen-
tative in Congress of the 18th district,
of which Summit county then formed
a part, and whose portrait appears
on page 551 of this volume.
NORTHFIELD IN OFFICE.
In county affairs, also, the township has borne a highly
honorable part. George Y. Wallace (brother of the late James
W. Wallace, Esq., of Macedonia,) was sheriff of Portage county for
four years, immediately preceding the erection of Summit, and, on
the death of Summit county's first treasurer, William O'Brien,
Esq., of Hudson, in February, 18i2, Mr. Wallace was appointed by
the Commissioners to fill the vacancy, w^hich he did with great
acceptance for nearly a year.
Thomas Wilson, of Northfield (a brother-in-law of Mr. Wallace),
-was Summit county's first sheriff, holding that office four years
and seven months, and it is safe to say that the office was never
more ably and faithfully filled than during his incumbency; Mr.
John C. Wallace, of Northfield, acting as Mr. Wilson's chief deputy.
A fine portrait and biography of Mr. Wilson will be found on page
S9 of this volutne.
902 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Col. Milton Arthur, of Northfield, was Summit's second
regularly elected treasurer, holding the position for three consecu-
tive terms, from 1842 to 1848. Though Mr. Arthur was as upright
and honest a man as ever breathed, yet his administration of the
office was sadly unfortunate — a shortage of several thousand
dollars appearing against him on his transferring the office to his
successor. It was believed by those best informed upon the sub-
ject, that he Avas victimized by parties in whom he had confided,
and w^hom he had permitted to manipulate the books and funds,
which were not then under the efficient system of checks that at
present obtains in that office. Kvery dollar of his property w^as
turned over to his bondsmen, who, under a special act of the
Legislature, made a satisfactory settlement of the matter with the
Commissioners; but, though Mr. Arthur was, believed to be
entirely guiltless of any intentional w^rong, by the entire com-
munity, he w^as greatly humiliated by the affair, and doubtless
carried down to a premature death thereby.
Ambrose W. Bliss, Esq., a native of Chittenden county, Ver-
mont, still living, hale and hearty, where he located fifty-two year&
ago, at the Center of Northfield, Has not only been one of the most
intelligent and enterprising citizens of that township, but has also,
in various ways, rendered valuable service to both the County,
State and Nation; filling, most acceptably, the important position
of county commissioner for two consecutive terms, of three years
each, from 1854 to 1860. Mr. Bliss was born December 6, 1806,
and is consequently, at this w^riting, nearly 85 years of age.
Captain John A. Means, a native of Allegheny county. Pa.,
in 1833, then 22 years of age, settled on an uncultivated farm, a
mile or so south of the center of Northfield, not only proving an
industrious and model farmer, but also devoting much time to the
profession of a surveyor, receiving the appointment of deputy sur-
veyor for Portage county in 1836. In 1860, Mr. Means was elected
clerk of the Court of Common Pleas for Summit county for three
years. On the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion, in 1861,
leaving the office in charge of his son and deputy, Nathan A. Means,
he organized Company C, 115th Regiment, O. V. I., of which he was
elected Captain, serving three years. In 1869, Capt. Means was
again elected Clerk of Courts for three years, serving his full term
with marked fidelity and acceptance. See portrait and biography^
on page 373.
Augustus Curtiss, one of Northfield's volunteer soldiery, but
after the War, settled in Portage township, w^as elected sheriff of
Summit county in October, 1868, re-elected in 1870, and on the
expiration of his own second term, continued in the management
of the office during the regulation t\<ro terms of his successor,
Lieut. Levi J. McMurray, who was in poor health during a good
portion of his incumbencey. Portrait and biography on page 665.^
Abounding in Thrilling Incident. — Yet, notwithstanding the
generally peaceable and order-loving character of its inhabitants,
Northfield has furnished a larger share of exciting and thrilling
incident than the average of her sister townships of either Portage
or Summit counties, not counting the many perilous encounters of
her early pioneers Avith Indians, w^ild beasts, etc.
One of the earliest events, after the departure of the Indians
from the township, to convulse the community, and thrill the
THE VIERS~CHAR«LESWORTH EPISODE. {K)3
public mind of Northfield and vicinity, and which, though hereto-
fore pretty fully narrated by the writer and others, it is highly
proper should be here reproduced, occurred substantially as fol-
lows :
NORTHFIEI.D'S FIRST SKNSATION.
Dorsey W. Viers was born on the territory now covered by the
city of Steubenville, May 19, 1790, and is said to have l)een the first
white male child born in >vhat is now Jefferson county, over
seven years before that county was organized, and some twelve years
before Ohio became a state. Mr. Yiers was enrolled as a soldier in
the War of 1812, at the close of which he lived a short time in Pitts-
burg, w^orking at the tanner's trade. Sometime previous to 1820,
he removed to Northfield, the town records of that 3'ear (1820),
show^ing that he ^vas then elected one of the supervisors of the
township. •
On coming to Northfield, Viers purchased, and settled upon, a
quarter section of land in the northwest portion of the township,
in handy proximity to the Cuyahoga river and the contemplated
Ohio canal, building for himself and family the regulation log
cabin of the period and other farm buildings to match. In addi-
tion to his farming operations, young Viers — stalwart, active and
enterprising — figured quite extensively as a contractor and
speculator; being at the time this chapter opens (1826) a sub-con-
tractor upon quite a large section of the canal.
Upon the completion of his job on the canal, he built a large
number of bridges over the canal and other water courses of the
vicinity, el*ected school houses, private residences, stores, etc., one
of his contracts, a few^ years later, being the erection in Akron, for
Messrs. May and Brow^n — Thomas P. May, of Cleveland, and Jacob
Brown, Esq., of Akron — of the large brick block at the corner of
South Main and Exchange streets, known for many years, as May's
Block, but now known as the Clarendon Hotel, and ow^ned by Mr.
Ferd. Schumacher.
This diversified employment naturally brought Mr. Viers into
companionship with much of the rougher element of the commu-
nities in which he operated, and while not especially dissipated or
profligate himself, his genial good nature, and his open-handed
liberality and zealous hilarity, in all private and public social
gatherings, caused him to be regarded as a "hail-fellow virell-met,"
by the jolly bloods by w^hom he w^as surrounded.
Rupert Charlesnvorth. — A year or two previous to this, there
had come into the vicinity, a rollicking young Englishman, by the
name of Rupert Charlesworth, w^ho soon became a great favorite
in the social circles of the neighborhood. With no visible employ-
ment, he yet appeared always to have plenty of money, and w^as
lavishly liberal in its distribution, whenever " treats" w^ere to be
paid for, or other expenses of fun and frolic were to be provided;
his givings-out, as w^ell as his general bearing, conveying the
impression that he was a scion of English nobility, in disgrace at
home, and temporarily exiled until his offense should be condoned
by his aristocratic father.
Betw^een this w^ild but agreeable young Englishman and
Viers, a mutual friendship immediately sprung up, and in a short
time he became a regular boarder in \'^iers' famil3', though often
904 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
absenting himself from the house, and the neighborhood, for
days, and sometimes weeks at a time. But suddenly, in the
month of July, 1826, Charlesworth entirely disappeared. His
absence from his accustomed haunts soon began to be noticed and
commented on. Inquiries were made of Viers and his \vife, the
answers to which, it was alleged, were contradictory and improb-
able. In addition to exaggerated repetitions of these questions
and answers, one of the constables of the township asserted that,
having a warrant for the arrest of Charles\^orth, and going to
Viers' house early in the morning, he not only did not find his
man, but did find Mrs. Viers vigorously engaged in scrubbing the
floor; a very unusual proceeding at so early an hour.
Rumor on Rumor Piled. — As time passed on rumors of the
most damaging character against Viers multiplied. One person
had distinctly heard the report of a gun from the direction of
Viers' house on the alleged night of Charlesworth's disappear-
ance. Another reported that, having occasion to visit the
premises soon after\vards, he had noticed blood upon the bars of
the fence, between the house and the woods. The girl, who was
employed as a domestic in the family at the time, asserted that
simultaneously with Charlesworth's disappearance, a blanket was
missing from the bed he had occupied, which was afterwards
found under a pile of rubbish, covered with spots of >vhat
appeared to be clots of dried blood, but which was immediately
burned up by the family; while another party had discovered,
under a pile of logs and brush in the woods, a short distance back
of the house, w^hat was supposed to be a human skeleton, but
which, on afterwards returning w^ith a companion, to examine it,
w^as found to have been removed.
These and a hundred other similar stories were rehearsed and
reiterated with such persistence, and such apparent truthfulness,
that they finally came to be accepted as facts, and the excitement
and suspicion against Viers and family increased with each
passing month, being greatly augmented by the alleged fact that
Charlesworth was know^n to be in possession of quite large sums
of money while boarding with Viers, and that whereas, Viers,
previous to the disappearance of Charlesworth, was very short of
money, immediately thereafter he wras very flush, and was making
lavish expenditures in building himself a nice large brick house,
and making other improvements upon his farm that his legiti-
mate earnings did not warrant.
Viers Arrested for Murder. — Finally these rumors and
reports, like the mountain avalanche, increasing in volume as
they onward rolled, and gaining in velocity, as they increased in
size, culminated, in January, 1831, four years and a half after the
disappearance of Charlesworth, in the apprehension and arraign-
ment of Viers, on thecharge of murder. . '
The affidavit w^as filed before, and the warrant issued by,
George Y. Wallace, Esq., of Brandy wine, then one of the justices
of the peace for Northfield township, afterwards sheriff of Portage
county for two terms, and subsequently treasurer of Summit
county for nearly a year, as above stated.
The trial proper, before the examining magistrate, lasted over
a week, though some 17 or 18 days elapsed between the arrest and
the final conclusion of the investigation. All of the above alleged
WONDERFUL PLUCK AND PERSEV^ERANCE. 905
■" facts " ^vere dulj'^ and solemnly sworn to, and many other
extremely damaging "circumstances" adduced during the trial,
^nd it was supposed by the large crow^d of people in attendance,
that a clear case of homicide had been established, w^hen twro
witnesses from the western part of the State were brought
forw^ard by the defense, who swore positively that they knew
Charlesw^orth w^ell, minutely describing his personal appearance
and characteristics, and most emphatically asseverating that
they had seen him alive and well, subsequent to his disappearance
from Northfield. This testimony turned the scale in Viers' favor,
-and he w^as accordingly discharged by Justice Wallace.
Remarkable Search for the Missing Man. — The greater
number of those in attendance were greatly dissatisfied with the
result, believing that the two witnesses alluded to had been
bribed by Viers, or his friends, to testify in his behalf. True,
there virere many good men w^ho did not believe Viers guilty of so
heinous a crime; but the rumor-mongers of the neighborhood
thought otherw^ise, and were so clamorous for blood that, had
Lynch Law been in vogue in those days, it would undoubtedly
have fared hard with him. It was, indeed, a terrible ordeal for
both Viers and his family to pass through; the arrest and trial
being even more endurable than the continued suspicion and
obloquy w^hich followed.
But though comparatively unlearned, Dorsey W. Viers
possessed, in those days, the pluck and perseverance of a blood-
hound, and immediately inaugurated a vigorous and comprehen-
sive scheme for the restoration of his good name; while his
devoted wife^ — greatly his superior in education and culture —
rendered the most valuable aid towards lifting from the family the
dark cloud of disgrace that had come upon them.
How THE Search Was Made. — To this end Mrs. Viers, with
the pen of a ready writer, wrote hundreds of letters, to public
officers and others, in all parts of the country, from whence it was
supposed any tidings of the missing man could be obtained, while
Mr. Viers, himself, commenced a most diligent personal search
for him. Follow^ing up the clue obtained from the two w^itnesses
w^ho had come to his relief upon the trial, he tracked him from
point to point, in the West, w^here he finally learned that Charles-
Avorth had returned to England. To England he went, only to
find that Charlesworth had again sailed for the United States,
destined to New^ Orleans. Returning home, after a brief sojourn
with his family, he w^ent to New Orleans, and after a protracted
search, not finding his man, he visited and thoroughly explored all
the principal river towns between that city and Cincinnati.
The "Murdered" Max Found Alive. — Thus was the search
persistently kept up by Mr. and Mrs. VierS; both bj*^ correspon-
dence and personal excursions, between nine and ten years, when,
nearly fifteen years after his disappearance, Viers accidentally
stumbled upon his man in Detroit. They were both so changed
by time that they did not at first recognize each other; but
Charlesw^orth, hearing Viers inquiring for him of others, at a hotel
w^here they w^ere both stopping, and thus learning who he was,
took him aside and disclosed his own identity to him. His story
w^as, substantialh^ that having passed a counterfeit bill upon a
prominent citizen of a neighboring tow^n, and surmising (w^hat w^as
906 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
indeed true) that proceeding were being instituted for his arrest,
he had secretly left the house of his friend, and gone West, under
an assumed name; still another name having been taken on hi&
return from Kngland, and under Avhich, having married, he was
then living in one of the interior tow^ns of Michigan.
Charleswokth Kevisits Summit County. — On learning of the
dire trouble and disgrace which his clandestine departure from
Northfield had brought upon his old friend and family, he volun-
teered to come w^ith him to Ohio, and exhibit himself to his old
cronies and acquaintances, on condition that his then place of
residence, and his assumed cognomen should be kept secret.
Thus, in about the year 1840 or 1841, Rupert ®harlesworth and
his alleged murderer, together visited Northfield, Boston, Akron,,
and other points in this vicinity, where the former conversed
freely with, and w^as fully recognized by, a large number of persons,,
w^ho had known him well before his disappearance, and the mystery
w^as fondly supposed, by its victims, to have been w^hoUy cleared
up. After a few days' sojourn in the neighborhood, Charles-
worth again took his departure, and returned to Michigan.
Gossip to the Fkont Again. — No sooner had Charlesworth left
the vicinity than vile rumor, and virulent gossip, again asserted
themselves in the intimation that the Rupert Charlesworth that
Viers had exhibited, was not the missing Rupert Charlesw^orth, at
all, but a cousin, bearing a strong resemblance to him, that Viers had
hired to personate him, which it was held could readily be done^
by a little posting up from Viers. This theory was industriously
promulgated by the enemies of Viers, and within a few months
the alleged imposture was pretty generally believed in, and the
guilt of Viers thus doubly confirmed in the minds of quite a large
portion of the community. Under these circumstances, some two
or three years later, about 1843 or 1844, Viers again hunted up his
man, and again brought him to Ohio, determined, this time, to
settle the matter at once and forever.
Charlesworth Again Exhibited. — Hand-bills were posted irt
Northfield and adjoining townships, announcing that on a given
day, Rupert Charlesworth, the man that Dorsey W. Viers was
supposed to have murdered, in 1826, w^ould exhibit himself at the
Methodist Church, at the Center of Northfield, and that all persons
w^ho had know^n him, while a resident of that neighborhood, w^ere
invited to be present and make a thorough examination as to his
identity.
The meeting w^as largely attended by a curious and deeply
interested audience. A regular organization w^as effected, w^ith
George Y. Wallace, Ksq., before w^hom Viers had formerly been
tried, as chairman of the meeting, and the entire day was consumed
in the investigation. Not only w^ere Charlesworth's physical
features and peculiarities closely scrutinized, his voice and manner
of expression carefully noted, but questions and cross-questions
were plied by those Avho had formerly been intimate with him, in
such a manner that no attempted imposture could possibly have
escaped detection. Not only did he recognize and readily name
persons that he had not seen for seventeen or eighteen years, but,
in reply to their various interrogatories, incidents and circum-
stances known only to himself and each individual questioner,,
were promptly and truthfully related.
CHARLESWORTH FULLY IDENTIFIED. 907
Complete Vindication. — At the close of the examination, late
in the afternoon, a vote was taken as to whether the man then and
there present, w^as, or was not, the Rupert Charlesworth, w^hom
Dorsey W. Viers w^as accused of murdering? The affirmative vote
w^as overwhelmingly and enthusiastically unanimous, only a single
negative vote being given, and that from the brother of a man
w^ho several years before had been executed for the murder of
another brother's wife, and in whose behalf secret and persistent
efforts had been made to cast suspicion upon Viers, because of the
cloud of obloquy that had so long rested upon him. From the date
of that meeting that cloud was raised, and the reputation of Dorsey
W. Viers was fully vindicated.
Removal from Northfield to Coventry. — In the meantime
the three sons of Mr. Viers — James McClintock, Elisha J. and
Edward H. — had grow^n to manhood and had become settled as
prosperous farmers in the township of Norton, whither the father,
having disposed of his possessions in Northfield, follow^ed them, a
few^ years later, occupying a small farm in the township of Coventry,
opposite to that of his son Elisha J., in Norton, where he continued
to reside until his death, on the night of March 10, 1884, at the ripe
old age of 94 ; his youngest son, Edward H. Viers, a highly respected
resident of Norton, only, surviving him.
The principal items of the foregoing account of the very
remarkable experiences of this remarkable man, were furnished
the w^riter, by Mr. Viers and his wife nearly fifiy years ago, soon
after his final vindication, with a view to their publication then ;
but before getting them into shape the notes were mislaid, and are
now^ reproduced mainly from memory, aided, as to one or tw^o of
the earlier dates, in the brief mention thereof, by General L. V.
Bierce, in his historical reminiscences published in 1854. •
CHAPTER XLII.
NORTHFIELD'S SECOND GREAT SENSATION— MURDER OF CATHARINE M'KISSON
—DEADLY ASSAULT UPON HER DAUGHTER, LUCIXDA CRONINGER— ARREST
OF SAMUEL M'KISSON, FATHER-IN-LAW TO THE MURDERED WOMAN —
SUBSEQUENT ARREST OF DAVID M'KISSON, THE BROTHER-IN-LAW OF
CATHARINE AND LOVER OF LUCINDA— THE FATHER TRIED AND ACQUITTED
— THE SON TRIED, CONVICTED AND EXECUTED — CIRCUMSTANTIAL
STRONGER THAN POSITIVE EVIDENCE— FULL HISTORY OF THE CRIME,
TRIAL, SENTENCE AND EXECUTION— DYING SPEECH UPON THE GALLOWS
—BITTER COLD DAY, ETC.
THE GREAT NORTHFIELD TRAGEDY.
/~^N the night of July 24, 1837, one of the most shocking tragedies
^^ of the time w^as perpetrated in the township of Northfield,
then the extreme northw^estern township of Portage county, and
now a portion of Summit county. Several years previously, there
had settled in the western portion of that tow^nship, and about
midway between the center and the Cuyahoga river, one Samuel
McKisson, w^ho had quite a large family of grow^n up sons and
daughters.
The eldest son, Robert, having married a widow, Mrs.
Catharine Croninger, w^ith a grow^n up daughter, Lucinda, had
settled upon a farm adjoining that of his father upon the \^^est, on
w^hich he had erected the regulation log cabin of the period, with
but a single room upon the ground floor; and a low sleeping
apartment in the loft overhead. Having been bred a mechanic,
Robert was frequently absent from home, for considerable periods
of time, employing a young man named Johnson to do his farm
w^ork. The younger brother of Robert, David McKisson, was a
tailor by trade, working, for longer or shorter periods in Hudson,
Akron, Middlebury, Canton and other towns and villages in North-
eastern Ohio, but, by reason of his reckless and dissipated habits,
being unable to hold a situation for any considerable length of
time.
The Beginning of the Trouble. — Notwithstanding his
tramping propensities, and because of his inability to retain a
situation for any great length of time, David w^as in the habit of
bringing up at his father's every few months, during which visits
he was thrown much into the society of his brother Robert's step-
daughter, Lucinda Croninger, between w^hom and himself a
mutual attachment w^as soon formed, and mutual tokens of affec-
tion exchanged. In this case, however, as in many others of like
character, the "course of true love" did not run entirely "smooth,"
for his sister-in-law, the mother of Lucinda, vigorously opposed
the match. Warm words between the mother and the suitor were
frequently indulged in, which at length engendered virulent ill-
feeling, and in which crimination and recrimination w^ere freely .
bandied; the husband and brother, Robert, in his occasional visits
home, on being informed of the status of affairs, taking sides with
THE MURDER OF CATHARINE MCKISSON. 909
his wife, and severely reprimanding and chastising his brother
for the course he was pursuing, and virtually, if not in positive
terms, forbidding him to come upon the premises. In these
discussions other members of the McKisson family had also
become seriously involved, and the ill-feeling w^as particularly
bitter between Samuel McKisson, the father, and his daughter-
in-law, Catharine McKisson,
Meditating Vengeance.— In this condition of affairs, with the
old gentleman at bitter enmity w^ith his daughter-in-law, and
David in a state of ferocious w^rath, at the interference of hi&
sister-in-law and her husband in his love affairs, the latter, early
in the Spring of 1837, left the neighborhood, and engaged to go to
Turtle Island, at the mouth of Maumee Bay, to chop cord-w^ood.
On his way thither, he called upon a married sister, then living in
Cleveland, to whom, in rehearsing his troubles, he \sras alleged to
have said that he would some day go back to Northfield and kill
Robert's wife, and then if Lucinda w^ould not have him she
might " go to hell." This threat, however, was thought by his
sister, and other friends cognizant thereof, to be a mere ebullition
of anger at his disappointment, which absence would soon abate,
and as several weeks elapsed w^ithout any recurrence of the
troubles, all fears of personal injury to Robert, or his family, had
been entirely dismissed from their minds.
The Blow Suddenly Falls. — The single-room log house,
occupied by the family of Robert, fronted east, the large stone fire-
place being upon the south end, and two beds occupying the north
end of the room ; that occupied by Robert and his \vife on the west,
and that occupied by Lucinda upon the east side of the room,
Robert being absent from home working at his trade in Cleveland,
on the night of July 24th, 1837, the beds thus situated, were
occupied by the mother and her tw^o little boys, and by the
daughter, respectively', so that a person, passing from the front
and only door of the house, would have to pass the bed of the
daughter to reach that of the mother.
The family retired about 9 o'clock, the hired man, Johnson, in
the loft, as before described, reached by means of a ladder in the
southeast corner. As was customary, in those early days, before
friction matches had come into general use, the embers of the
fire, which had cooked the evening meal, had been carefully "raked
up," on the capacious hearth, and from them some slight glim-
mers from the charring coal produced a sort of dim illumination
of the apartment, after the "tallow dip" had been extinguished for
the night. The entire household had fallen asleep, w^ith no
thought of impending danger, nor dream of fear, the door being
left unfastened because of the momentatily expected arrival home
of the husband and father from Cleveland.
Suddenly the daughter was awakened by the opening of the
door. Rising up in bed, she saw^ a man, in his shirt sleeves, and
dressed in dark pantaloons, enter the room w^ith an axe in his
hand. As she raised up she received a blow^ from the axe, upon
the side of her head, which rendered her momently insensible. On
recovering consciousness, she saw her mother lying upon the floor
and the man standing over her with the axe, w^hich he struck into
her right shoulder. The daughter immediately screamed " mur-
der," which aw^oke Johnson, w^ho sprang out of bed, upon hearing
910 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
■which, the assassin fled from the house, giving the daughter
another blow with the axe, as he passed, but which, fortunately,
produced a flesh \sround only.
The Father-in-law Denounced as the Assassin. — Johnson, on
comprehending the situation, immediately started for assistance,
and on reaching the house of a neighbor. Col. Pardon A. Brooks,
found that it was just 11 o'clock. On the return of Johnson with
help, Mrs. McKisson was found to be still alive, and in possession
of her faculties. On being inquired of, by Col. Brooks, if she knew
w^ho committed the deed, she replied, "Old Sammj^ McKisson."
Being again asked if she was sure it was Samuel McKisson, she
replied, " Oh, yes, Oh, 3'es," and then almost immediately became
unconscious, and a few hours later expired. The daughter, also,
asseverated that the man she had seen enter the room, and strike
Ihe fatal blow^s, was Samuel McKisson.
The old gentleman was accordingly^ taken into custody, and
held for trial, and as the news of the tragedy spread rapidly from
house to house, and from mouth to mouth, almost the entire tow^n-
ship was upon the ground, and the wildest excitement prevailed
by daylight the next morning. It w^as found, by the examining
physicians, that the deceased had received three blows from the
axe; one on the right side of the head, the w^hole w^idth of the blade
penetrating the brain to the depth of one inch, and from which
the brains ^vere oozing; one on the back of the head w^hich had
cleaved off a large part of the scalp and a piece of the skull the
size of a silver dollar, leaving the brain bare, but without w^ound-
ing it; and the third, the blow which the daughter had witnessed,
in the right shoulder, and passing through the shoulder bones and
ribs into the chest. It w^as supposed that, being awakened by the
blow^ upon the back of the head, Mrs. McKisson sprang out of bed
w^hen she was felled to the floor by the burying of the blade of the
axe in her brain, as stated, the blow^ upon the shoulder, penetrating
the chest, immediately following her fall upon the floor.
A New Phase in the Terrible Affair. — Though still believing
the old man, Samuel McKisson, to be a party to the murder, if not
the actual perpetrator thereof, the investigations by the neighbors
and officers, the next day, put an entirely new aspect upon the
tragic affair. The axe with which the deed had been perpetrated,
belonged to the family, and had been taken from the cleat, on
which it hung, upon the outside of the house, between the door
and the southeast corner. This axe, covered with blood, was
found some distance from the house, on a foot path running north-
■westerly from the house to the canal, and in an opposite direction
from where Samuel McKisson lived. It was soon afterwards
learned that a man was seen or heard running on that path, from
the direction of the murder towards the canal, at about 11 o'clock
that night, and also that about an hour before sunset, on the even-
ing of the murder, David McKisson was seen to leave Kittlew^ell's
grocery, at 18 mile Lock, on the canal, writhout a coat, and dressed in
•dark pantaloons, and go in a northeasterly direction tow^ards the
scene of the murder. The path on which the bloody axe was
found, let it be remembered, was a mile or more in length, through
dense w^oods, and over quite a precipitous hill, descending from
the house of the murder to the canal. It was also show^n that
about 1 o'clock in the morning, David McKisson, in the same dress,
FATHER AXD SON UXDEK ARREST. 911
had boarded a packet boat bound for Cleveland, at Tinker's Creek,
seven miles distant from the scene of the murder.
These facts, coupled with the circumstance that he had left
his work at Turtle Island, and had come into the neighborhood of
his home, and after going in the direction thereof, without calling
upon any of his relatives or friends, had started back to his place
of employment, was proof conclusive, in the minds of the most
sagacious people of the neighborhood, that David, instead of his
father, was the actual perpetrator of the horrible crime, though
o\sring to the bitter enmity known to exist between the old gentle-
man and his daughter-in-law, it was still generally believed that
he w^as, somehow or other, mixed up .with the affair.
Pursuit and Arrest of David McKisson. — A* warrant was
accordingly issued by Justice George Lillie, and a constable, with
two assistants, started for Turtle Island to secure David's arrest.
There being no railroads in those days, and no communication by
telegraph then as now, all operations of this kind were extreinely
slow^. It afterwards transpired that, on reaching Cleveland, David
had, by mistake, taken a boat bound do\yn the Lake, instead of up,
and had gone east as far as Fairport, some 30 miles, at \v^hich point
he had to wait several hours for an up bound boat, on which to
return to Cleveland en route to the Island. In the meantime his
pursuers had passed through Cleveland, taking a boat bound for
Maumee.
On reaching Cleveland, otl his return from Fairport, David,
still without a coat, accidentally met an old acquaintance upon
the w^harf, who informed him of the murder, the arrest of his
father, and that three men had gone to the Island to arrest him,
advising him to return home to see about it. To this he indiffer-
ently replied that if that w^as so, he should probably see the men
when he got to the Island. Continuing on the same boat on
w^hich he had come from Fairport, he Avent to Detroit, and from
thence to the Island, via Manhattan, and yet arriving there sev-
eral hours before his pursuers did.
Bloody Shirt Found in His Trunk. — When the pursuing
party reached the Island, and took him into custody, he appeared
to know the cause of his arrest, and, without asking what the
charge against him w^as, or to be show^n the w^arrant, bid his
employers and his cotnrades good-by, saying that he should never
see them again, etc. In his trunk was found a soiled shirt w^ith
blood upon the shoulder and several spatters of blood upon the
bosom, w^hich he could not rationally account for, and in his
attempt to do so, seriously contradicted himself. He remarked to
his captors, though not informed by them of the crime for which
he was arrested, that he was willing to die except for the disgrace
it would bring upon his brothers and sisters, and afterwards, on
being told of the death of his sister-in-law and the arrest of his
father, as her murderer, said his father w^as innocent of the crime.
At another time he said that he had committed so many
crimes w^ithout detection he thought he could do anything w^ithout
being found out, but that it was "all over with him now." On
reaching Northfield, w^hen brought into the presence of his brother
Robert, he manifested great agony of mind, and said: "Robert, I
little thought w^hat w^as said w^hen w^e parted in the lane w^ould
bring me to this," and when Robert asked, "Has it?" he replied,
912 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
after a tnotnent's reflection, " I don't know" — and then, seeming to-
realize the situation he was in, added: "These hands never did
the deed."
Father and Son Jointly Indicted. — Justice Lillie, before
w^hom the preliminary examinations w^ere had, held both of the
accused to answer to the crime of murder, before the Court of
Common Pleas of Portage county, and both were committed to
jail. At the September term of court (1837), a "true bill" was
found against both, by the Grand Jury. Though jointlj^ indicted,,
separate trials w^ere granted by the court, Hon. Van R. Humphrey
presiding, and special venires for jurors were issued in each case,
Samuel McKisson w^as tried first, a full history of the family
troubles, as w^ell as of the circumstances attending the murder,
being gone into, the case being conducted with his usual vigor, by
Prosecuting Attorney, Lucius V. Bierce, assisted by Kben Newton,
Bsq., and a most able defense w^as made by David K. Cartter, and
Wylys Silliman, Esqs. Under the clear-cut charge of the court, sa
characteristic of Judge Humphrey in his prime, the jury, after a
very brief consideration of *the case, pronounced Samuel McKisson
not guilty. Immediately following the acquittal of the father, the
son w^as put upon his trial to a jury impaneled from the special
venire issued in the case. Much of the testimony that w^as given
on the first trial w^as rehearsed, and a large array of additional
w^itnesses Avere sw^orn and examined, touching David's actions and
utterances prior and subsequent to the commission of the crime
of which he w^as accused. Special emphasis was given, by counsel
for the defense, to the dying declarations of the murdered w^oman,
w^hile in full possession of her faculties, that Samuel McKisson
had struck the fatal blo^vs, and the full corroboration of that dying
declaration, by the surviving daughter, w^ho w^itnessed the inflic-
tion of at least one of those blow^s, and who had herself nearly
shared the same fate; while, by unreliable circumstances, only,
could the defendant then on trial, be connected with the horrible
affair. Inch by inch was the legal battle fought, not only in the
examination and cross-examination of w^itnesses, and the rules of
law governing the case, but in the arguments of both Prosecuting
Attorney L. V. Bierce and Eben Newton, Esq., for the State, and
Messrs. Rufus P. Spalding, David Tod and Noah M. Humphrey on
behalf of the defense. After a repetition of the principal points
contained in his former charge, with the addition of such matters
as more particularly applied to the case in hand. Judge Humphrey
gave the case to the jury, w^ho, after several hours deliberation,
returned their verdict, finding David McKisson guiltyof murder
in the first degree.
A motion was made by defendant's counsel for a new trial,
■which was promptly overruled by the court. After giving counsel
a few days to prepare and file a bill of exceptions, should they
desire to do so, Judge Humphrey ordered the sheriff to bring the
condemned man before the court for sentence.
JUDGE HUMPHREY'S ELOQUENT SENTENCE.
Commanding the prisoner to stand up. Judge Humphrey, in
the presence of a dense crow^d of interested spectators, proceeded
to pronounce sentence upon him as foUovirs:
• JUDGE Humphrey's eloquent sentence. 913
"David McKisson:— The Grand Jury of this count}^ have returned a
Bill of Indictment ag'ainst you, charging- you with the crime of murder. To
that Indictment you have pleaded 'Not guilty.' Counsel of your choife,
able and learned in the law, have been assigned, to advise and aid you to
meet the accusation, and make j^our defense. Plenary process, the resources
of the State, have been at your command to compel the attendance of
witnesses, in order to manifest your innocence. A traverse jurj-, almost of
your own selection, and against whom you had nothing to urge, has been
impaneled to pass, under a solemn appeal to heaven, between you and the
State. Before that jury j^ou have met your accusers, and the witnesses
against you, 'face to face'; you have listened to their te8timon3% and also
introduced such proof as was in your power, to exculpate j'ou from the
charge. You have heard the arguments of counsel for the State, and also sat
under the powerful appeal of counsel in your own behalf ; and after a
patient, full and i-tnpartial hearing, that jury, under the tremendous convic-
tions of duty, in view of their responsibility to God and their country, have
found you " Guilty of Murder in the First Degree;" and, I regret to say, that
the evidence is such as to compel the court to fully concur in the finding of
the jury. Upon that verdict arises the melancholy duty of announcing the
dreadful sentence of the law; and have you anything to say why that sen-
tence should not now be pronounced?"
Prisoner — "I have nothing to say."
Judge Humphrey. — "The crime of which you stand convicted is second
to none in enormity — the highest known to our laws — and in this instance
perpetrated under circumstances awfullj^ barbarous and shocking. Yet
your present afflictions excite our sympathy. As individuals we commis-
erate your situation. We have all the feeling for j'ou consistent with our
relation. But a solemn duty has devolved upon us. No choice of alterna-
tives is presented. The laws of God and man attach the penalty of death to
the crime of murder. The divine maxim, "whoso sheddeth man's blood, by
man shall his blood be shed" — quoted and appreciated by j^our counsel — as
well as the violated laws of the land, declare that you must die. Your life is
forfeited. Unworthy to live with your fellow-man, whose rights you have
trodden down with unparalleled cruelty, justice demands a separation
between you and your species, and calls loudly for your extermination.
"In the dead hour of night, with a bosom rankling with revenge ; at that
hour when nature was hushed in silence, and sleep had sealed the eyes of
your victim, you approached, not the dwelling of a stranger ; not the dwelling
of an enemy ; not a dwelling protected bj' the arm of man ; but the undefended
home of a brother, and there, with the deadly axe 3^ou bore along, coolly,,
barbarously, cruelly murdered your unoffending sister. A more bloody
butchery stains not the annals of man ; a more heartless assassination lives
not in the history of crimes. I make not these remarks to harrow j'our
feelings, or to disturb the equanimity of your bosom, if, possiblj^ it remains
quiet at this withering crisis ; but to apprise you that 5'our time is fixed ;
that your days are nuinbered ; that before another year shall have passed
away, you must sleep beneath the "clods of the valley," and that it behooves
you to make preparation for that dreadful event.
" Think not any interposition of the Executive will relieve you. Indulge
not, the hope of commutation or pardon from any temporal source, but
appeal to the Power which is able and w^illing to exercise clemency indeed *
to show mercy worth asking ; to extend pardon to the 'chief of sinners.'
" From your declaration and confessions is clearly shown the fatal error
into which you have fallen, in supposing that offenses might be committed
with impunity ; that detection would not overtake crime. Too late you learn
that
"There is a divinity that shapes our ends.
Rough hew them how we will."
"A period co-extensive with the power of the Court will be alloted you
to settle j^our temporal affairs, and to prepare for another world. Your
friends will be permitted to visit you in prison, and such spiritual advisers
as you may need, will attend you to point the way to future happiness..
Improve, then, the few remaining days you have to live, in preparing to-
die. You know your fate. You know your time. Not so with Catharine
McKisson. No precursor kindly whispered her dissolution ; no messenger
of mercy warned the devoted wretch of woe and death. But in the vigor of
68
914 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
life, while reposing in fancied security, you tore her from the side of her
sleeping- infants, and with that bloody instrument hurried her into eternity,
w^ith all her 'sins fresh blown upon her!'
" It is, therefore, the sentence of the law, that you be taken hence to the
jail of the county, there to remain until Friday, the 9th day of February,
1838 ; that between the hours of 10 o'clock in the forenoon and 4 o'clock in the
afternoon of that day, you be taken thence to the place of execution, and be
then hung by the neck until j^ou are dead. And may He who trod the wine
press alone have mercy on you ! "
Writes a History of His Life. — After his conviction and
sentence the prisoner busied himself in jail, in -writing a so-called
history of his life, in which, -while detailing a large number of
youthful peccadilloes, and petty crimes and offenses, he sought to
convey the impression of his innocence of the murder of his sister-
in-law, and to direct suspicion towards Mr. Dorsey W. Viers, who,
unfortunately, wras at that time resting under a cloud of unjust
suspicion, in regard to the disappearance from Northfield, of
Rupert Charles^vorth, several years previously (but w^hich cloud
-was wholly cleared a^vay some two or three years later, as already
detailed in the preceding chapter), and even intimating that his
old father, notwithstanding his triumphant acquittal, may have
committed the murder, after all, saying, in that connection: "But
when I take the testimony of the girl, and the fact that I knoAv his
disposition when in liquor, and his clothes being at the fire, and
then the dying words of her w^ho saw him every day, and who
most certainly did see the man w^ho done the deed, w^hen I put all
these things together, to say that I suppose it was not him is as
much as I can say." His rambling and disjointed, as w^ell as
decidedly illiterate narrative, closes -with the foUov^^ing remarkably
good advice to both children and adults :
"Thus I have set down the chief of what I am here for, and for what I
am about to suffer an ignominious death upon the scaffold ; together with
all the criines that I can recollect. 1 have omitted many things I have done
which are not consistent with good conduct in youth, but the untimel)^ end
that awaits nae I hope will be a caution to youth not to walk in the paths
that I have trod. Two things I would impress upon their minds, viz : not to
roam about nights, and keep as much as possible out of bad company.
* * * Now, let me leave a caution to parents, guardians and masters. I
am young and unqualified to do it in st3'le, but as I have traveled consider-
able, and been in good and bad company, 1 know something of the world.
If a child is stubborn, never whip it without knowing it is right to do so ;
never make a promise without fulfilling; never lay up two charges for one
whipping; and never whip in a passion ; by so doing you are not only not
punctual yourself but j^ou learn the child to be so. Again, if a child tells a
lie, and you tell it to own the truth and you will not punish it, fulfill ypur
promise or it will never own its faults again; and if you have any good
article of food on the table, never take it from the children, for this will make
them steal. If you pursue a different course you will not bring up a child
in the way it should go, but in the waj^ it will go. Thus ends my saying to
the world."
The Execution. — The 9th day of February, 1838, was one of
the most bitterly cold days of that remarkably severe winter. The
ground w^as covered with snow, and though bright and pleasant
overhead, the naturally frigid atmosphere of the day was many
fold intensified by a cutting wind, that pierced one's system to the
very vitals. Executions in Ohio, then, unlike those of later years,
w^ere open to the general public, and the gallows had been erected
in a broad meadowr, amphitheatrical in form, about three-fourths
of a mile southeast of the court house in Ravenna, and the sheriff
mckisson's speech upon the gallows. 915
liad called together the military organizations of the county, for
■escort duty, and to preserve the public peace.
The writer, as a newspaper man, was on the ground as early
as 7 o'clock in the morning, and even at that early hour the streets
and public square of the village, were rapidly filling with a pro-
miscuous crowd of men, women and children; pouring in, on foot,
on horse-back and in almost every style of vehicle then known,
through every road leading into the to\^n. In addition to hotels,
and other regular places of entertainment, large numbers of
booths and stands had been erected for the sale of eatables, and
-drinkables, too, and in those days there were very few of w^hat are
now known as temperance drinks, in vogue, either. And during
all that long forenoon, yes, and until three in the afternoon, did
that vast crowd, variously estimated at from 10,000 to 15,000,
uncomplainingly endure the biting cold and fatigue of the day,
though towards the last, from the long delay, and the effects of
the whisky imbibed, it very largely resembled a howling mob,
clamorous for the hurrying up of the ghastly exhibition, and kept
in check from open acts of violence, only by the presence of the
military, and the activity of the extra constabulatory force that
had been provided.
At precisely 3 o'clock p. m., the condemned man w^as taken
from the jail, by Sheriff George Y. Wallace, and his attendants, and
in an open carriage, preceded and followed by a company of
militia, was taken to the place of execution. On reaching the
gallows, he alighted from the carriage with agility, and walked up
the steps to the scaffold w^ith a firm tread. The sheriff having
adjusted the fatal noose about his neck, asked him if he desired to
address the audience, whereupon, w^ith a slight inclination of the
head, he spoke substantially as foUow^s:
"Ladies and Gentlemen: - You are in a few minutes to witness the
departure of a fellow-being' from time to eternity, and I hope my life will
deter j'^ou all from crime of every description, such as lying-, stealing-,
swearing, Sabbath-breaking, etc. Break not the laws of that book (holding-
up a small Bible) and you break not the laws of man. I am reconciled to
my God, before whom I am shortly to appear. I have been charged with
the crime of murder. I have been tried before a jury of twelve men of my
countr}^ and I have pleaded "not guilty." Circumstances were against me,
and that jury brought in a verdict of murder in the first degree. The court
sentenced me to be executed, and I am about to receive the penaltj^ due to
the crime of murder. And now, when I am within a few minutes of eternity;
when I am about to enter the presence of my creator, the truth must be told.
It is said, and gone forth to the world, that, at the dead hour of midnight, I
stripped myself, and with an axe, entered the dwelling of a brother, and
cruelly murdered an unoffending- sister; and now the question is, am I guilty
of the crime?. No, gentlemen, I am not. May my voice reach the ear of the
farthermost person on yonder hill; I AM NOT GUILTY OF MURDER.
Is it reasonable to suppose that after committing a murder, I should go to
Cleveland, and stay there half a day; through mistake take a boat that was
g-oing down the lake instead of up, and on discovering my mistake, get off
at Fairport and return to Cleveland, and on being told by an acquaintance
that three men had gone to Turtle Island to arrest me, immediately start for
that Island? No, gentlemen, it is not. I intended to have spoken a few
w^ords about the testimony, and I believe I will. Does it look reasonable
that I should say to Robert, " I hope these hands will smother out of it," and
then, in a louder voice, say, "these hands never done the deed." I say does
it look reasonable that I should say so to a brother whose wife I had
murdered? No, gentlemen, it does not. I have committed a great many
crimes; I have led a very wicked life, but am iiuioceni of the crime for which
I am about to be executed. Again I would say, break not the laws of that
t)ook, and you break not the laws of man. You tuay all consider yourselves
916 AKSON AX© SUMXTT COCTCTY.
accessories in a murder, by execating^ an innocent man; bnt msty God
ioTgive yon/ for yon kno-v not what yon do. I have nothing^ more to aoy."
Then, taming partly around, he repeated some poetry, com-
posed by himself, ^rhich was inaudible to the writer. The attend-
ing clergyman then offered a short prayer, and, with the doubly
bereaved brother, Robert, shook hands with him and descended
from the scaffold. Sheriff Wallace then pinioned his arms and
legs, adjusted the rope around his neck, placed him in position,,
drew the black cap over his face, bid him good-by, descended the
stairs, touched the fatal spring, the drop fell, and David McKisson,
whether guilty or innocent, was in eternity — a few spasmodic
movements of the shoulders and legs, only, being observable after
the drop fell.
Disposition of the Body. — When the attending physicians
had pronounced life extinct. Sheriff Wallace delivered his body to
his brother Robert, and his aged, grief-stricken father, to be taken
to Xorthfield for interment; his age, on the day of the execution
being 21 years, 2 months and 21 days.
The funeral services were held at the house of the father, a day
or two afterwards, and quite largely attended by sympathetic
neighbors, the burial being made upon the home farm, where, also,
the father ^vas buried a few years later. The remains of the dead
malefactor were not exhibited to those in attendance at the
funeral, and it was several years after alleged that, while the party
employed to transport the body from Ravenna to Xorthfield,.
having driven his team under a shed, was warming himself by a
hotel fire in Hudson, certain physicians of that town, extracted the
body from the coffin, substituting therefor a log of wood, and that
the carefully articulated skeleton, so often seen in the cabinet of a
prominent physician of Hudson, for many years thereafter, was
none other than that of David McKisson.
The CoxcLrsiox. — It was believed that the father, having
himself been acquitted of the crime, and therefore not liable,
under the law, to be again put in jeopardy for the offense,
would, upon the trial of the son, swear that he (the father) had
alone committed the deed. But this the old gentleman perempto-
rily declined to do, declaring that he could not add the crime of
perjury to the mountain of sorrow then resting upon him. This,
and the expression he used, on first meeting David, after their
arrest: "David, you dog! See what you have brought us all to!"
together with his apparently sincere manifestations of grief over
the terrible event, was conclusive to the family, and their best
informed neighbors, that the old gentleman was entirely guiltless
of any complicity in the affair; though there are people to this day
who fully believe that Samuel McKisson was the real murderer, and
that David was a victim of untoward circumstances, and used
simply as a scapegoat to suffer the penalty due to his aged father.
But though convicted upon circumstantial evidence, and in spite
of the declaration of the murdered woman, and the positive testi-
mony of the daughter, the only eye-witness of the tragedy, to the
contrary, and notwithstanding his asseverations of his innocence
to the very last moment of his life, there was no doubt in the minds
of the court and jury, or the general public, in regard to the gtiilt
of the doomed young man, the righteousness of the verdict, or the
justice of his fate.
THB SBCRBT OF HIS PERSISTENT DENIAU 917
It was afterwards learned that his bold and persistent denial of
his guilt, in the very face of death, instead of making a full con-
fession thereof, was probably inspired by the expectation of a
repreive at the very last moment, as he had been made to believe,
by "Col." William Ashley, then in jail awaiting trial for counter-
feiting, as else\ehere related, that a commutation of his sentence to
imprisonment for life was already in the hands of the sherifiF, and
that if he asserted his innocence to the last the execution would
be stayed. Thus ended one of the most fearful and thrilling,
of the many thrilling tragedies that have been enacted within the
present limits of Summit county; not only producing the greatest
excitement throughout the entire vicinity, but the denouement of
which, from the intense coldness of the day, created a permanent
data for comparison of the weather, for many years, and with
some, even to the present time, a very common expression being:
*' This is the coldest day I have experienced since McKisson was
hung."
CHAPTER XLIII.
NORTON — AN EVENTFUL HISTORY— ORIGIN, NAME, EARLY SETTLEMENT, ETC. —
GROWTH AND POPULATION— BUSINESS CENTERS, INDUSTRIES, ETC.— "QUEER""
TAVERN KEEPERS, EARLY CROOKEDNESS, ETC. — REMARKABLE REFORMA-
TION— LUNATIC GROCERY KEEPER'S MAD PRANKS— SHOOTS AND WOUNDS
TWO MEN—INMATE OF COUNTY INFIRMARY FOR OVER THIRTY YEARS —
POSTMASTER SHOOTS AND INSTANTLY KILLS A BURGLAR— GREAT EXCITE-
MENT OVER MISSING CHILD— NORTON IN WAR AND NORTON IN PEACE— THE
MCLISTER-WELSH HOMICIDE— TRIAL, CONVICTION, SENTENCE AND IMPRIS-
ONMENT OF MCLISTER, PARDON, ETC.
ORIGIN, NAME, ETC. •
npHE tow^nship of Norton, originally designated as township 1,.
*- range 12, w^as, like Copley, at first officially associated with
Wadsworth, Sharon, Guilford and Montville, under the general
name of "Wolf Creek Trownship," being organized as a separate
to^vnship in April, 1818. The tow^nship derived its name from it»^
principal Connecticut proprietor, Birdsey Norton, who, however,
never resided therein. It is bounded north by Copley, east by
Coventry, south by Franklin and Chippe\va and west by Wads-
worth, and is one of the southern-most tow^nships of the Western
Reserve.
The first settler in the township is said to have been Jame&
Robinson, from Oswego county, N. Y., who, in 1810, located upon
lot 19, on Wolf Creek, in the northeast portion of the tow^nship,
since know^n as the Sylvester Van Hyning farm. The friends of
Mr. John^Cahow^, a native of Maryland, claim for him the honor of
being Norton's first settler, his cabin also being erected in 1810,
upon lot 20, half a mile east of Robinson's, w^here, both before and
during the War of 1812, he furnished "entertainment for man and
beast," the first tavern, probably, west of Middlebury in what is
now Summit county.
In 1814, James Robinson was married to Lois Bates, by Simeon
Prior, Esq., of Northampton, a year later removing to the latter
named tow^nship, but soon after\vards returning to Norton, settling
near New Portage, where he subsequently died.
Very little progress w^as made in the settlement of the tow^n-
ship until after the close of the War of 1812, in 1815. Then there
w^as a rush, so that on the organization of the the township, in 1818,.
it must have numbered some 25 or 30 voters. The names of all the
early settlers cannot now be given, but among them, besides James-
Robinson and John Caliow, already noted, may be mentioned
Henry and Abraham Van Hyning, Joseph Holmes, Elisha Hins-
dale, Ezra Way, Joseph D. Humphrey, Charles Lyon, Philemon
Kirkum, Seth Lucas, Charles Miller, John O'Brien and Nathan
and Lyman Bates. Henry Van Hyning died December 25, 1839,.
aged 102 years.
The first marriage in the township, as above indicated, was-
James Robinson and Lois Bates; the first birth, a child of Lyman.
PIONEER EXPERIENCES, HARDSHIPS, ETC.
919
Bates; the first death, a daughter of John O'Brien, the dates of
the two latter events not now remembered.
At the first election, April, 1818, Abraham Van Hyning, Charles
Lyon and Ezra Way were chosen trustees; Joseph D. Humphrey,
township clerk; Joseph Holmes, Elisha Hinsdale and JohnCahow,
supervisors; and Henry Van Hyning, Sr., justice of the peace.
The Indians had nearly all vacated the township before white
settlement fairly began, so that very little, if any, traditionary lore
in regard to encounters with the red-skins has been handed down.
Nor are there any very serious reminiscent tales of deadly
encounters between the early settlers and wild beasts now extant
among the people, though the forests of the township, particularly
the jungles of Wolf Creek, and contiguous swamps, were then
quite largely infested with wolves, bears and other similar game,
it being related that Henry Van Hyning, Jr., and the Bates broth-
ers once killed a bear a short distance southeast of what is now-
known as Loyal Oak, which, when dressed, weighed some 500
pounds.
NATHAN SEIBERLING,-born in
Lynn, Northampton county,
Pennsylvania, April 14, 1810; boyhood
spent on farm, and learning' shoe-
making- with his father; with less
than a year's schooling, by close per-
sonal application, he acquired a fair
business education ; was married
December 6, 1829, to Catharine Peter,
born June 27, 1811; in June, 1831,
removed to Norton, Ohio, pvirchasing
96 acres of uncultivated land, devot-
ing his days to clearing and improv-
ing his farm, and his evenings to his
trade, often working late into the
night, in making and mending shoes
for his neighbors, splitting and whit-
tling-out his pegs by hand. Prosperit}^
attended his labors, and as the years
passed bj% hundreds of acres and
large blocks of bonds and stocks were
added to his possessions, enabling
him to ver3^ materially aid his enter-
prising sons, whose manufacturing
successes will be found chronicled
elsewhere. Fifteen children were
born to Mr. and Mrs. Seiberling,
eleven of whom are still living.
Though a stanch Republican, living
in a continuous!}" Democratic town-
ship, he was elected justice of the
peace, and his services were other-
wise often called into rec|uisition in
the management of the affairs of the
NATHAN SEIBERLING.
township. Mr. and Mrs. Seiberling-
were for over sixtj'^ years members of
the Lutheran Church, of which
organization the entire family are
members. His death occurred Nov-
ember 4, 1889, at the age of 79 years, 6
months and 20 days, his aged com-
panion surviving him.
The story of the incessant toil, patient self-denial, privation
and frequent suffering incident to pioneer life— the Ioav price of
farm produce, the high price of all kinds of merchandise, and the
scarcity of money, have too often been told to need repetition here.
But it is gratifying to know that amid all their trials, hardships
and enforced strict economy, there was always a cheerful good-
nature, a genial helpfulness and an unstinted hospitality, in the
intercourse of neighbor with neighbor, and an especially w^arm
920 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
welcome extended to every new-comer, and to the stranger tem-
porarily domiciled among them.
Though getting a later start than most of its neighbors, Nor-
ton was, in point of topography and soil, so desirable a location
that it soon caught up with the most, and surpassed some, of the
toAvnships of the vicinage, in point of population, enterprise and
wealth.
The center of the township, though handsomely located, has
never hardly arrived at the dignity of a village, some three or four
dwellings, a small public house, graded schools and a portion of
the time a store and a postoffice, constituting the entire hamlet,
w^ith the addition, in later years, of a substantial two-story
frame edifice, 28x60 feet, with rear basement, for the use of "Sum-
mit Grange of Patrons of Husbandry," composed of the very best
farmers of Norton and surrounding tow^nships, and one of the
most successful and influential local granges in the State.
A mile and a half to the northward, is the village of Loyal
Oak, originally called Bates' Corners, w^ith its hotel (sometimes
two) store, two fine churches, school house, w^ith, at times, various
industries, such as blacksmithing, tanning, milling, tin-smithing,
harness-making, etc. About the same distance southward is
Johnson's Corners, very similar in its church, school, hotel, store
and mechanical appointments to those of Bates' Corners, "with
about the same show of business and population.
On the w^est line of the tow^nship (and county) is the village of
Western Star, originally called Griswold's Corners, after several
stalwart enterprising brothers w^ho established themselves in
business there, in the latter twenties, though Mills, CuUen and
Bzekiel Richards had settled near the corners several years
before. Its present name is in honor of Nathan Starr, of Con-
necticut, the original owner of the land at that point. Mr. Starr
and his wife, Grace T. Starr, on the 7th day of November, 1844,
donated and deeded in trust one acre of land for educational pur-
poses, w^ith the proviso that said trustees " erect on said lot a
suitable building for a seminary building, and keep the same in
good repair at all limes, otherwise the land to revert to the
original owners."
Western Star was incorporated and organized as a village in
1842, with mayor, marshal and other village officers, having in
later years adopted the graded school system, the seminary build-
ing being used for the higher grades of the system. The village
also maintains one church (United Brethren), a hotel, one or two
stores, and various mechanics' shops, the business and population
being about equal on either side of the line, the number of inhabi-
tants in the Norton portion of the corporation, as show^n by the
census of 1880, being 75, and by the census of 1890 given as 88.
New Portage, two and a half miles east of the Center, on the
line between Norton and Coventry, has been already pretty fully
described in the sketch of the latter township, the most of the
present business of the village — railroad station, store, postoffice,
stra\vrboard works, church, etc., being upon the Norton side of the
line. Since the above was first published, in 1888, new^ honors
have come to Norton in the founding within her borders the new
industrial city of Barberton, which is fully described further on in
this work. There is also a small mining hamlet called Dennison
NORTON S EARLY INDUSTRIES.
921
in the western portion of the township, on the N. Y., P. & O. R. K.
with postoffice (named Sherman), store, saloon, etc. Also, on the
Wooster road, about two miles southwest of Johnson's Corners,
upon the line between Summit and Wayne counties, is the hamlet
of Hametown, so called from the fact that quite an extensive shop
for the manufacture of hames was established there some forty
or more years ago. Though that particular industry w^as long
since relegated to other labor centers, Hametown, though having
no postoffice, is quite a business point, with store, grocery, shoe
shop, etc.
,pHARLES MILLER,— born in Up-
^ per Nazareth, Pennsylvania,
November 29, 1815 ; raised on farm ;
•education limited ; learned carpen-
ter's trade ; in 1838 came to Ohio,
working- at trade in Guilford, Medina
<;ounty, returning' to Penns3dvania in
the Fall ; in 1843 a^ain came to Ohio,
working at trade in Wayne county,
finally settling on farm in Norton ;
in 1857, engaged in selling farm imple-
ments for C. M. Russell & Co., of Mas-
sillon ; in 1861, engaged in selling
Excelsior reaping and mowing
machines, manufactured by Mr. John
F. Seiberling, at Doylestown ; in 1863,
purchased a quarter interest in Mr.
Seiberling's patents; in 1865, organ-
ized Excelsior Mower and Reaper
Company, of Akron, building exten-
sive works opposite Union railroad
depot ; through business complica-
tions and internal dissensions, com-
8 any made an assignment in 1875,
[r. Miller sinking $65,000 in stock,
and several thousand dollars loaned
the company ; in 1879, in company
with his sons, purchased the Mather-
son chain works at Cuj^ahoga Falls,
consolidating them with the Chevrier
works, at Akron, previously pur-
chased, afterwards adding the match
making business to their works, in
both departments building up an
extensive and profitable business.
Mr. Miller was married F'ebruary,
1843, to Miss Hannah Bechtel, who
CHARLES MILLER.
bore him seven children — Emma E.,
now Mrs. Frank Reifsnider, of Akron;
Henry D., of Tiflin ; Amanda M., wife
of R. N. Kratz, of Mitchell, Dakota ;
Harvey F., of Akron ; Leon J., of
Little Rock, Arkansas ; S. Samuel, of
Akron, and Cora O., now Mrs. Charles
Huntley, of Akron. Mr. Miller died
December 9, 1886, aged 71 years and
10 days, Mrs. Miller dying March 11,
1887, aged 69 years.
It w^ill thus be seen that though Norton is emphatically an
agricultural tow^n, it has also, besides its extensive mining opera-
tions, quite a large urban population, and considerable of a variety
of mechanical and manufacturing industries. For many years
Clark's mill, one mile east of Loyal Oak, on Wolf Creek, built by
Mr. Carlos Clark in the early thirties, did an excellent business,
until its destruction by fire in 1879. Still earlier, about 1830,
Thomas Johnson built a grist mill on Hudson's run, at Johnson's
Corners, w^hich is still running, another similar mill, built by Mr.
Johnson, some two or three years later, further dow^n the stream,
having gone into disuse many years ago. As many as ten or
twelve saw-mills, probably, have been erected w^ithin the tow^nship
at different times, most of which, whether profitable to their
922 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
o\!\rners or not, have been of very great convenience to the farmers^,
in converting their surplus timber into lumber for the construc-
tion of their comfortable houses and magnificent bank barns.
Early "Financial" Operations. — In an early day Norton
became quite seriously involved in the prevailing "crookedness "
of the Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas valleys. Besides the operations
of this character at New Portage and Wolf Creek Lock, already
alluded to, Johnson's Corners was for manj'^ years a prominent
point for the gathering together of the members of the brother-
hood, and for the dispensation of the "queer." Thoinas Johnson,
somewhere in the middle twenties, built and kept the tavern upon
the northeast corner, the same site now occupied by the fine new
hotel of Mr. J. T. Price. This house was a well-known resort for
the sporting gentry of that day, of which fraternity Johnson
himself was understood to be in full fellowship, though of the
strictest integrity in all his neighborhood dealings.
At length, in the Fall of 1833, Johnson got into " financial ""
difficulty in Portage county (Norton then being in Medina county),
and was bound over to court by Justice George B. De Peyster, of
Franklin Mills (now Kent), and at the October term of the court,
1833, was indicted for "bartering a counterfeit bank note," and
entered into bonds in the sum of $1,000, with William Coolman,
Jr., and William King (both hotel keepers at Ravenna) for his
appearance at the March term, 1834, Lucius V. Bierce being the
prosecuting attorney, and Gregory Powers officiating as counsel
for the defendant. At the March term Johnson failed to appear
and his bond was declared forfeited, the record showing that
Coolman and King each paid $250, the other $500 being remitted
by the County Commissioners. Johnson remained in hiding for a
short time, when, through the intercession of Mr. Charles Miller,
father of Norton's present well-known and highly respected
citizen, Cyrus Miller, Esq., the authorities dropped the matter
against Johnson, on account of valuable information given by him
in regard to the operations of the gang, and of his solemn promise
to sever his connection therewith. From that time until his
death, March 13, 1836, at the age of 45 years, Johnson led a strictly
upright life, and is said to have been a class-leader in the Metho-
dist society organized at the Corners, a year or so previous to his
death. Johnson left quite a handsome property, his widow, Mrs.
Elizabeth Johnson, an energetic and most estimable woman,
afterwards being married to the late Joshua F. Shaw, Esq., father
of Mr. Merwin Shaw, still an influential resident of the village,
Jonathan DeCourcey was another of Norton's early crooked
financiers, and was the builder and keeper of the brick tavern on
the south\vest corner of the Clinton and Wooster roads, which is
still standing. De Courcey was far less enterprising and indus-
trious, but vastly shrewder and more unscrupulous in his illicit
monetary transactions, than Johnson, but, in the latter thirties, he,
too, lost his grip, and in 1840, being under indictment in Medina
county; he forfeited his bond and fled the countrj'^, as is more fully
set forth in another chapter devoted to the operations of the
counterfeiters of the Cuyahoga.
Norton's Lunatic Merchant. — From about 1854 to 1860, one
William Pierce, was the OAvner and keeper of the canal grocery
store at Wolf Creek Lock, a mile or so south of New Portage.
Norton's lunatic merchant. 923
Pierce, then about 25 years of age, was a sober, shrewd, money-
making fellow, and, keeping a good stock of boatmen's supplies,
soon built up a profitable trade, and rapidly accumulated property.
After tw^o or three years, however. Pierce became quite irritable^
and strongly inclined to quarrel with his customers, especially if
any fault was found with the quality or prices of his goods, and
soon came to be regarded as a little "off" in his mind, though still
attentive to business, and as sharp at a bargain as ever.
Nothing serious resulted from his aberration until about the
first of August, 1857, when, having had some w^ords w^ith a boat
captain by the name of Hugh Kelly, he deliberately fired his
revolver from his grocery door, at the Captain, just as he was about
to step from the lock on to his boat, the ball taking effect in the
tendons of the heel, and also striking and slightly wounding the
Captain's son.
Pierce -was arrested and put under bonds to answer to the
Court of Common Pleas, on the charge of shooting w^ith intent to
kill ; Captain Kelly also commenced civil suit against him for
personal damages in the sum of $3,000 for himself, and $1,000 for
his son. On investigation, the Grand Jury failed to find a bill
against him on the ground of insanity, the civil suit, at the March
term, 1858, resulting in a verdict for the plaintiff, in the sum of
$254.00 damages, and the costs, amounting to $39.00 more. The
shooting was admitted, but defendant's council. General A. C.
Voris, urged the insanity of his client, if not as a vindication of
the act, at least in mitigation of damages. Pierce Avas greatly
exasperated at this, and vehemently berated Voris, in open court,
claiming that in shooting Captain Kelly he w^as only defending his
rights.
Immediately on the announcement of the judgment, by Judge
Carpenter, in accordance with the verdict of the jury. Pierce went
to his grocery, at Wolf Creek Lock, and placing the amount of
damages and costs ( $293 . 00 ) in gold and silver coin, in a small
canvas bag, returned in the afternoon, and, in the midst of another
trial then on, w^alked up to the Judges' desk, dumped the contents
of the bag upon the desk, and told the Judge to count it and see if
it w^as all right. It Avas with considerable difficulty that Judge
Carpenter made him comprehend that Clerk Green was the proper
officer to pay the money to, Pierce insisting that, as the Judge had
rendered the judgment against him, he was bound to count the
money to see if it w^as all right.
Notwithstanding the finding of the Grand Jury that Pierce
w^as insane, no steps w^ere taken tow^ards sending him to the Insane
Asylum, and he confined to carry on his grocery business, w^ith his
customary diligence, at Wolf Creek Lock. Though still giving
frequent manifestations of mental unsoundness, nothing serious
happened for about two years, w^hen another, and this time nearly
fatal, shooting affair occurred substantially as follows:
Joshua F. Shaw, Esq., of Johnson's corners, had a piece of land
adjoining the premises owned by Pierce. Some difference arising as
to the division line, Mr. Shaw, on Saturday, March 17, 1860, stepped
into the grocery to consult with Pierce in regard to employing the
county surveyor to run out the line. Pierce objected on account
of the expense, and Mr. Shaw^, pleasantly remarking that he w^ould
foot the bill, started to go out. As he reached the door the report
924 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
of a pistol rang through the grocery, the ball striking Mr. Shaw on
the lower back portion of the skull, glancing around under the skin
and coming out at the upper part of the right ear.
The affair created the most intense excitement in the neighbor-
hood, and Pierce \\ras immediately apprehended, by Constable
Merrick Burton, of Akron, and taken before Justice William L.
Clarke, of Akron, who, on hearing, committed him to jail to answer
to the Court of Common Pleas, to the charge of shooting with
intent to kill.
At the May term of the court, the Grand Jury returned a bill
of indictment, in accordance with the finding of Justice Clarke.
On being arraigned, Pierce, with great emphasis, pleaded not
guilty, declaring that in shooting Shaw he was only defending his
rights. Pierce's counsel, Wilbur F. Sanders and Dudley C. Carr,
Esqs., then moved for a continuance until the next term of the
court, w^hich \v^as granted.
At the November term, a long and exciting trial ^vas had, the
costs in the case amounting to nearly $300, the verdict of the jury
being "not guilty by reason of insanity;" the Court making an
order that Pierce be remanded to jail, and the case duly certified
to the Probate Court for proceedings in lunacy. Pierce remained
in jail until the 5th day of March, 1862, w^hen he was taken to the
county Infirmary, where he Tvas confined for over a quarter of a
century, a good share of the time in a separate cell, to prevent his
doing injury toothers, which he had several times attempted to do,
his death occurring September 23, 1889,
Like Captain Kelly, Mr. Shaw brought suit against Pierce for
personal damages, but, more modest than the Captain, laid his
claims at $500 only. The case was referred to ex-Probate Judge
Noah M. Humphrey, Hon. John Johnston and Arad Kent, Esq., who
awarded the plaintiff $175, for which amount and the costs
judgment was rendered by the Court, to satisfy which the Wolf
Creek property ^vas sold by Sheriff Burlison, in February, 1866, for
$960, of which amount, after satisfying the judgment and costs,
$326.50 was paid to Avery Spicer, guardian for Cyrus Pierce (minor
son of the defendant) the balance being paid to Mrs. Pierce.
Sometime in 1882, it came to the knowledge of Prosecuting
Attorney Charles Baird, that Pierce was entitled to a one-
fifteenth share of the estate of a deceased sister, Mrs. Sophia
Weeden, of Sandusky City, and by taking the proper legal steps in
the premises, about $1000 was covered into the county treasury, to
the credit of the poor fund, thus, in some slight degree, reimburs-
ing the tax payers of the county for the care and keeping, for so
many years, of their unfortunate fellow-citizen.
PosTOFFicE Robber Killed. — ^In the latter fifties, a resident
of New Portage by the name of William Witner, then about 25 years
of age, being employed as mail-carrier between New Portage and
Doylestown, was detected in robbing the mails, and served a short
term in the penitentiary. Returning to New Portage, immediately
after his release from prison, Witner conducted himself fairly
Avell for a few years,- marrying into a highly respectable family
of that village, though he was largely disinclined to engage in
any hard or very useful labor.
At this time Mr. Jacob Welch, formerly of Mogadore, now a
resident of Colorado, w^as carrying on quite an extensive stoneware
POSTOFFICE BURGLAR KILLED. 925
manufactory at Ne\vr Portage, and, in connection therewith, a
store, also officiating as postmaster. During the Summer and Fall
of 1869, several depredations upon the mails had been committed,
and sundry small articles of merchandise had also been missed
from the store. Finding no indications of "breaking in," Welch
concluded that the thief had possessed himself of a duplicate key,
and accordingly had the lock of the store door changed.
The depredations continuing, Welch consulted Sheriff James
Burlison, besides being visited by a special agent of the postoffice
department, and it was determined to establish a watch in the
store. He employed Witner and another man to do the w^atching,
and one night when they were on duty, a package of money was
stolen. Welch then determined to watch the store himself. So
rigging up a bed back of the counter, armed with a double-bar-
relled shot-gun and revolver, and accompanied by his son, Corw^in,
on the night of November 4, 1869, Mr. Welch entered upon his
vigil. No disturbance occurring, about 1 o'clock Mr. Welch sent
Cor\srin home, continuing the watch alone until morning.
Soon after 3 o'clock Mr. Welch heard a noise at the rear base-
ment window, and in a short time heard foot-steps coming up the
basement stairs and enter the storeroom. At this moment the
intruder struck a match, which, flashing for an instant, \srent out.
Not recognizing his visitor, in that momentary flash, Welch raised
his gun and fired in the direction wrhere he stood. The intruder
then exclaimed, " My God ! Welch, you have killed me ! " Welch
then asked him if he was armed and he replied that he was not,
and was then recognized by his voice. Welch immediately aroused
the neighbors, and on returning to the store found Witner dead,
the charge having entered the body a little below the shoulder-
blade, penetrating and lacerating the lungs.
In the absence of the coroner (Gen. O. E. Gross, of Stow), Jus-
tice William M. Cunningham summoned a jury to investigate the
affair. After an exhaustive examination of Jacob and Corwin
Welch, and several other w^itnesses, including Dr. William Bowen,
who made a post-mortem examination of the body, the jury,
through its foreman, Sherman Blocker, Esq., returned a verdict as
follow^s: "We do find that the deceased came to his death by a
gun-shot fired into him by Jacob Welch, while the deceased was
in the act of committing a burglary in the store of said Welch, and
that said Jacob Welch was justified in firing said shot."
An Exciting Episode. — On Saturday morning, November 10,
1866, a little six-year-old daughter of Mr. Samuel Reimer, living a
short 'distance northwest of Loyal Oak, wandered away from home,
and, as it afterwards appeared, traveled west to Wadsworth,tiorth
to Sharon, east to Copley, and northerly, again, in a zig-zag course
through Bath, into Richfield, w^here near evening, she was picked
up, in an almost exhausted condition, a short distance south of the
center of Richfield, and fully 20 miles, by the route traveled, from
the starting point.
On being missed, the child w^as searched for in the neighbor-
hood, by the parents and neighbors, but w^ithout success. The
interest and excitement increased, as the hours glided by, until
during the night, and on Sunday morning, there were several hun-
dred persons engaged in the search, occasional tidings of her hav-
ing been seen, upon several of the roads indicated, but with no
926
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
definite clue to her present w^hereabouts or fate. On Sunday, in
the neighboring churches, the little one's loss was proclaimed,
persons \v^ho had seen her upon her travels arising in the congre-
gation and announcing the fact, a good share of the several con-
gregations immediately forsaking the sanctuary, and joining in
the search.
In the meantime, in answer to inquiries, she had told the
family w^ho had taken her in, that she lived at Bates' Corners, and
as they were not familiar with the locality they sent a messenger
to the Center of Richfield, on Sunday morning, for information.
On the return of the messenger, the gentleman and one of his
neighbors started in a buggy, to return the child to her almost
distracted parents. As they met the cortege of searchers, the
w^ord passed rapidly from mouth to mouth, and from house to
house, that the " lost was found," and as they neared the Corners,
and the home of the little -wanderer, the demonstrations were very
marked and enthusiastic, indeed — the w^onder, on the one hand,
being that so young a child could possibly have traveled so far in
so short a time, and on the other hand, that she should not sooner
have been picked up by those w^ho noticed her — a strange child,
and alone — as she traversed the several towrnships and neighbor-
hoods, on her long and devious journey.
DR. JOHN HILL,"born in Hast-
ing-s, Sussex county, England,
October 26, 1823 ; came with parents
to America in 1828, settling" near
Utica, New York ; removed to Orang-e,
Cuyahoga county, Ohio, in 1832 ; the
family going thence to Illinois in 1843.
With such education as the schools
of the vicinit}^ afforded, after teach-
ing a few years, young Hill, in 1847,
began the study of medicine with
Dr. Alexander Fisher, at Western
Star, attending lectures at Cleveland
Medical College ; in 1850, went to
California, and in 1853, to Australia,
stopping three weeks en route at
Apia, on the now noted Island of
Samoa ; in Maj^ 1854, sailed from
Australia for London, and from
thence, in the Fall of that 5'^ear, for
New York ; 1854, '55, attended medical
lectures in Cleveland, in Winter of
1855, '56,continuing studies at Jefferson
Medical College, Philadelphia, grad-
uating therefrom in March, 1856; prac-
ticed medicine one year in Sharon,
Medina county ; March 26, 1857, inar-
ried to Miss Catharine Pardee, daugh-
ter of the late Ebenezer Pardee, of
Western Star, where, aside from his
public duties, he thenceforth prin-
cipally devoted himself to the culti-
vation of his fine farm at that place ;
elected county commissioner in 1870,
1873 and 1876, serving nearly nine
years ; elected State representative in
DR. JOHN HILL.
1879, serving two years. Dr. Hill was
the father of six children — Harriet
Almira, born June 20, 1858, died Octo-
ber 30, 1878 ; John E., born August 7,
1859; Martha B., born January 2, 1861;
Brace P., August 12, 1865 ; Josephine
Elizabeth, March 28, 1875; Edward
Buckingham, January 4, 1881. Dr.
Hill died December 13, 1890, aged 67
years, 1 inonth and 17 days.
Norton's Military Record.— Several of the early residents are
believed to have been soldiers in the Continental Army, during
the Revolutionary War, but no data is now available as to who
Norton's military roll of honor.
927
ihey were, except Mr, Henry Van Hyning, a native of the State of
New York, w^ho died in Norton, December 25, 1839, at the age of
102 years, and Mr. Hinsdale Bates, 84, reported as being a pen-
sioner, by the census of 1840. It is very likely, too, that some of
her pioneer settlers may have "played well their part" in the War
of 1812, though she could not have directly furnished many, as it
w^ill be remembered that there were but few accessions to the
population of the township until after the close of that w^ar, in 1815.
For the Mexican War of 1846-48, Norton probably furnished no
soldiers, few being recruited in this part of the State.
In the War of the Rebellion, how^ever, Norton was well repre-
sented, furnishing her full quota under the several calls, mostlj^
from among her own brave and patriotic sons, of both political
parties, several of whom laid down their lives in the service, or
have since prematurely died from injuries received, or diseases
contracted during the sanguinary struggle. . Without disparage-
ment to others, honorable mention may be made of Major Myron
T. Wright, of the 29th O. V. I., who died January 7, 1865/ at Savan-
nah, Georgia, of wounds received in battle.
OTEPHEN D. MILLER,— born July
^ 19, 1827, in Northampton county,
Pennsylvania ; common school edu-
cation ; raised a farmer ; in 1843,
removed with parents to Ohio, set-
tling' in Norton ; November 6, 1854,
married to Mary Ann Musser, three
years his junior, who bore him six
children, as follows : Sarah Jane (now
Mrs. Columbus Seiberling-), born July
1,1852; Albert, May 21, 18,59; Norman
F., October 20, 1861, deceased;
Harriet O., born March 13, 1863;
Charles O., November 11, 1866; Mary
Susannah, August 23, 1870. Besides
the successful cultivation of his farm,
Mr. Miller was special and general
manager for the mower and reaper
firm of Seiberling, Miller & Co., of
Doylestown, for some 15 years.
Though an earnest Republican, ever
in the ininority in Norton, Mr. Miller
was often honored with important
township offices; during the War,
was two 3^ear8 deputy revenue asses-
sor for a portion of the 18th Congres-
sional district, and at the time of his
death, October 14, 1889, was just clos-
ing his second term (nearly six years),
as director of the Summit County
STEPHEN D. MILLER.
Infirmary. Faithful to every public
and private obligation, his sudden
(ieath, at the age of 62 years, 2 months
and 25 days, was universall}^ regret-
ted.
The following, furnished by the late Mr. Stephen D, Miller,
and compiled from the assessors' returns for 1865, is believed to be
nearly a correct list of the soldiers furnished by Norton during
^he War for the Union, 1861-65:
Israel Beck, Eber Bennett (died in service), John L. Baker,
Henry A. Baker, Jacob S. Baker, Eli Blocker (died in service),
George W. Betz (left arm severely shattered at battle of Columbia,
Tenn., November 28, 1864), Charles W, Betz (died in service). John
B. Betz, Aaron Betz, Thomas Bear (died in service), Levi Bear
{died in service), Stephen D. Bauer, Albert Beckwith, J. W. Brown,
928 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Albert Beardsley, John G. Caskey, Jefferson Clay, D. F. Cunning-
ham, Joseph DeLong, Gabriel E. Dague, Thomas Dague, W, C.
Davis, M. M. Dickson, Robert L. Ferguson, Archie C. Ferguson,
Columbus Ferguson, David Fotzinger, Jacob Filtz, Daniel Grim,
B. F. George, George Getz, Nathaniel Grinnels, Franklin Hoff-
man, William Hart, Horace H. Heath, Lewis Heath, Pulaski C.
Hard, Joshua Hile, James Hile, Sylvanus Hile, William Hile, Mer-
ritt Hoskins, John W. Hall, J. N. Haynes, Philip Harter, James D.
Heathman, Mendenhall Henderson, George F. He^witt, Andrew
Hunsicker, Jacob Henshue (died in service), Phineas Jones, David
Jamison, John H. Knox (died in service), Eli Koplin, Henry Koplin,
Jacob Koplin, James Kunkler, John A. Kummer, Joseph Lile, Will-
iam Lile, Jesse Limber, Paul Loutzenhiser, Jonas Loutzenhiser,
Lawrence Loutzenhiser, Lawrence Merriam, Franklin Mar-
shall, David Marsh, V. McDonald, Owen J, Miller, Joseph H.
Miller, Samuel Merser, J. McRobertson, Cyrus Osborn, James
Owry, James K. Pardee, Joseph Pardee, Ephraim Pardee, James
E. Poe, Wesley Powers (died in service), Julius Richards, Robert
Rosenbury, Joseph Rimer, J. Rinehart, Amandus Rochard, John
Reichard, Peter Reichard, Henry Strohl. George Shaw, Merwin
Shaw^, Benjamin Snyder, Aaron S. Stuver, Edward Spicer, Jr.,
David Seiberling, Charles Seiberling, Septimus Seiberling, Lloyd
Seiberling, Kersey Seiberling, N. S. Seiberling, Franklin Showalter,
Levi Showalter, T. B, Sanford, Richard Stock, Philip Souhalter,
George Souhalter, A. G. Seis, Peter Seis, George Todd, Henry Van
Hyning, WTilliam J. Viers, Solomon Vickers, Franklin J. Waltz,
Myron T. Wright (died in service), Frederick Webster, Elias Waltz
(died in service), Carlos Ware (died in service), Lorenzo Young
(died in service).
NORTON'S OFFICE-HOLDING STATUS.
On the organization of Summit county, Norton patriotically
stepped to the front, and in the civil offices of the county has ever
since been a prominent and useful factor.
Elisha Hinsdale, a prominent and prosperous farmer of Nor-
ton township, residing near Bates' Corners (now Loyal Oak), was
elected coroner at the initial election in April, 1840, re-elected for
two years in October of that year, and again elected in 1842, hold-
ing the position four years and seven months, and making in
every respect a first-class officer.
George Kirkum, Esq., son of Philemon Kirkum, one of Nor-
ton's earliest settlers, and at whpse house the first election ever had
in " Wolf Creek township " Tvas held, and at w^hich he wras elected
town clerk, grew from a small boy to manhood in Norton town-
ship. Reading law w^ith Van R. Humphrey, Esq., of Hudson, he
commenced practice at Ravenna, where he served for several
years as clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, removing to Akron
in 1838 or 1839, and building for himself the house now^ ow^ned and
occupied by Mr. Benjamin McNaughton, corner of East Middle-
bury and Kirkivood streets. In 1842, Mr. Kirkum was elected"'
prosecuting attorney for the new^ county of Summit, serving for
two years, w^ith marked ability, w^hen, in 1844, he w^as elected as
representative to the State Legislature, serving through the
session of 1844, '45, w^ith great acceptance to his constituents. A
few years later Mr. Kirkum moved to the city of New York, and
Norton's civil service.
929
subsequently retired to a small farm near Cleveland, where he
died about the year 1855.
James A, Metlin, then residing on his fine farm on the Akron
and Bates' Corners road, in Norton, was elected county commis-
sioner in 1853, holding the office for three years. Subsequently
Mr. Metlin committed the too common error, among prosperous
and successful farmers, of abandoning his farm and entering upon
a life of speculation in the city, whereby he became so seriously
embarrassed that in 1875 he was compelled to make an assign-
ment for the benefit of his creditors. He is now in California.
TAMES H. SEIBERLING,— son of
J Nathan and Catharine (Peter)
Seiberlin^, was born in Norton, Nov-
ember 2oj^ 1835 ; as a boy, attended
district schools and Western Star
Academy, and aided in clearing and
working his father's farm, operating-
saw-mill, etc. ; in the Fall of 1863,
located in Doylestown,Wayne county,
as an employe of the mower, reaper
and binder firm of Cline, Seiberling
& Co., established in 1860; in I860,
purchased an interest in said busi-
ness, the firm name being then
changed to Seiberling, Miller & Co.,
now one of the most successful estab-
lishments of its kind in Ohio, and the
leading manufactory in Wayne
county, Mr. Seiberling being its
superintendent. In 1860, Mr. Seiber-
ling was married to Miss Elizabeth
Baughman, daughter of David and
Elizabeth (Blocker) Baughman, of
Norton, who has borne him six chil-
dren—Allen B., deceased; Mattie J.;
Albert F.; Olive M., deceased; George
W., deceased ; and Robert W. Mr.
Seiberling is a member of the Luth-
eran Church, politically an ardent
JAMES H. SEIBERLING.
Republican, a prominent and enter-
prising citizen, and ever active in
promoting the welfare of the town,
county, state and nation.
Dr. John Hill, residing at Western Star, was elected county
commissioner for three consecutive terms of three years each,
from 1870 to 1879, filling that responsible position for nine years
w^ith marked fidelity and good jtidgment.
Dr. John Hill, on the close of his third term as commissioner,
was in October, 1879, elected as representative to the State Legis-
lature, w^here, as the colleague of Dr. L. S. Ebright, of Akron, he
ably looked after the interests of the people of Summit county,
and of the State of Ohio, for the years 1880 and 1881.
Stephen D. Miller, a substantial and successful farmer, resid-
ing in the w^estern portion of the tow^nship, was during the War
one of Internal Revenue Collector John E. Hurlbut's most efficient
deputies for Summit county, and w^as elected one of the directors
of the Summit County Infirmary in 1883, performing the duties
of the office in so satisfactory a manner as to secure a re-elec-
tion for three years longer, in 1886. Mr. Miller, notwithstanding
his activity in public and private life, was for many years a con-
stant sufferer from abscess of the right lung, and died suddenly
from general paralysis, on the morning of October 14, 1889, two
months and a half before the expiration of his term of office.
69
930
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
MONROE SEIBERLING— son of
Nathan and Catharine (Peter)
Seiberling;, born in Norton, January
16, 1839; common school education;
■worked on father's farm till 25 years
of age ; in 1864, took manag-ement of
farm and saw mill, jointly owned by
himself and his brother, John F., con-
tinuing- four years ; selling his inter-
est to his brother, engaged in the
lumber trade in Canton, three years
later purchasing an interest in the
Akron Strawboard Company, officiat-
ing as its secretary and superinten-
dent, until September, 1884 ; was one
of the incorporators of the Akron
Twine and Cordage works ; with
others bought the Upper Sandusky
Strawboard works ; in 1887, estab-
lished Strawboard works at Kokomo,
Indiana, and in 1889, with other Akron
capitalists, established the Diamond
Plate Glass Company, of Kokomo,
and Ellwood, of which he is general
manager, being also a stockholder in
the Hartford City (Indiana) Glass
w^orks, and owner of a fine hundred
acre farm in Norton. November 6,
1862, he was married to Miss Sarah
Miller, daughter of John Miller, who
settled in Norton, in 1843. They have
had ten children, eight of w^hom are
now living — Emnia, Altoti, Katha-
SAMUEIv HARRISON MILLER.
OAMUEL HARRISON MILLER,—
*-^ son of John and Susan (Bauer)
Miller, born in Nazareth, Northamp-
ton county, Pennsylvania, May 20,
1839 ; came with parents to Norton in
May, 1843 ; educated in district
schools and Akron High School ;
from 12 to 18, clerked in store of Mil-
ton W. Henry, in Akron ; then worked
on father's farm six years ; December
MONROE SEIBERLIf^G.
rine, Ella, Frederick, Laird, George
and Grace. Mr. Seiberling is an
earnest Republican, and an active
member of the English Lutheran
Church of Akron, of which he has
been both a deacon and an elder.
The family residence of Mr. Seiber-
ling is now in Kokomo, Indiana.
15, 1863, engaged as bookkeeper with
Cline, Seiberling & Hower, manufac-
turers of reapers and mowers, at
Doylestown, Ohio ; September 1, 1865,
became a meinber of the firm of
Cline, Seiberling & Co.; December 31,
1878, changed to Seiberling, Miller &
Co., now composed of John F. Seiber-
ling, of Akron, and James H. Sei-
berling and Samuel H. Miller, of
Doylestown. August 29, 1867, Mr.
Miller was married to Miss Ella L-
Schneider, daughter of Alfred and
Clarissa (Clewell) Schneider, who was
born in New Hanover, Montgoinery
county, Pennsylvania, January 27,
1847, the family removing to Norton
in 1852, and now residing at Loyal
Oak. Eight children have been born
to Mr. and Mrs. Miller, four of whom,
only, are now living — Fred. J., born
December 8, 1868 ; William R., March
6, 1875 ; Sidney L.. April 5, 1885 ; Lucile
M., November 3, 1886. A stanch
Republican, but not an office seeker,
Mr. Miller has served as member of
the board of education and as village
treasurer ; is a member of Doyles-
town Lodge, I. O. O. F., of Comman-
dery. No. 25, K. T., and of Northern
Ohio Consistory, A. A. S. R., Cleve-
land ; is also a director in The J. F.
Seiberling Co., The Akron Savings
Bank, and The Seiberling Milling Co.,
of Akron.
THE m'LISTER-WELSH TRAGEDY. 931
In the mining district of Norton township, two boys, Joseph
'Welsh and Robert McLister, grew up together as playmates and
fellow^-workmen, the most friendly relations existing between
them until a short time before the sad occurrences to be hereafter
related took place. Unfortunately for the peace and the moral well-
being of the mining region where they worked (Dennison), two or
three saloons, for the sale of intoxicating liquors and the playing
of exciting games, had been established there, to the frequenting
of which all the trouble herein related, and a good deal more, may
be directly traced.
On the night of Friday, March 24, 1882, a party of young men
wrere assembled at the saloon of John Smith,, at Dennison, engaged
in drinking beer, playing billiards, etc., among the participants
being Joseph Welsh, then 25 years of age, and Robert McLister, 23.
During the progress of the game, a dispute arose between those
twco young men, provoked, it w^as said, by Welsh, in w^hich
McLister, on being attacked, struck Welsh upon the head w^ith a
billiard cue, he, in turn, being knocked dow^n and otherAvise
assaulted by Welsh, the combatants being finally separated by the
by-standers. Being very angry Welsh made several threats
against McLister, to the effect that he w^ould "cut his heart out of
him the first time he met him," etc. •
Evidently fearing to remain in the saloon, McLister slipped
out of the back door and w^ent home, he living with his parents,
near by, Welsh's home being with his mother at Johnson's Cor-
ners. Instead of remaining at home and letting the matter drop,
hovirever, McLister put his revolver in his pocket, and started back
towards the saloon. Welsh came out, and McLister asked him if
he intended to do as he said. Welsh immediately pulled off his
^oat, when McLister fired at him, the ball striking Welsh upon the
abdomen, but being turned aside by a button did not penetrate
the body; the force of the ball, however, doubling Welsh up and
<:ausing him to fall to the ground.
Without w^aiting to ascertain the effect of his shot, but sup-
posing that he had made a serious, if not a fatal, injury upon his
antagonist, McLister immediately w^alked to Akron, and arousing
Prison-Keeper Edward Dunn, informed him that he had shot a
man, and requested to be locked up.
The writer was then officiating as mayor of the city of Akron,
and the next morning McLister w^as brought before him and ques-
tioned, eliciting the story, substantially as above given. An hour
or two later, Welsh, accompanied by Mr. Archibald McLister, the
father of Robert, and several other residents of Norton, came to
the mayor's office to talk the matter over. Welsh declining to
prosecute McLister for the reason that he (Welsh) was the most to
blame, in forcing the quarrel upon Robert, they then and there
settled their differences, McLister paying the small amount of costs
that had been made, and the two young men, in the presence of
the. writer, shaking hands with each other and leaving the office
together apparently upon the most friendly terms.
Nothing of an unpleasant nature occurred for several months,
when gossips and tattlers began to carry exaggerated tales
between the two, of any chance remarks that had been made by
either regarding the other, and in this way the naturally warm
•Celtic blood in the veins of the two impulsive young men at length
932 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
became heated to the boiling point, somewhat increased, perhaps^
by the fact that one of them was Catholic and the other Protestant
in religious belief and training. As time passed on, the enmity^
between the two became most bitter and intense, though, by rea-
son of their working in different mines, personal contact was-
avoided, it being stated that McLister, being less muscular than
Welsh, sought- to avoid the haunts which the latter frequented^
while at the same time going armed with a loaded revolver, with
which to defend himself, in case of an unexpected meeting or
sudden attack.
Thus matters stood between the two youngmen up to the evening^
of Saturday, November 29th, 1884. On the evening in question,
McLister was at the saloon of Thomas Williams, near Dennison, or
Sherman as it is now called, drinking beer, singing songs, etc.,
Avith several companions, when Welsh >vas seen approaching by
Williams who went out and begged of him not to enter,' as^
McLister was there and he did not want any trouble in the house.
Welsh disclaimed any intention of making any trouble, but
-wanted a glass of beer, and Williams conducted him into the
kitchen, intending to bring the beer to him there. But Welsh
demurred to this, and solemnly promising that he would not
speak to McLister, or make any disturbance whatever, Williams
permitted him to enter the saloon, and drawing a glass of beer for
him, placed it upon the counter.
At this time McLister was standing on the opposite side of the
room, near the stove, singing a song, several others also sitting or
standing around the stove. As the glass of beer was set upon the
counter, by Williams, Welsh took it up with his right hand and
drank the contents, w^hen, suddenly facing about and uttering an
opprobrious epithet, he hurled the heavy tumbler at the head of
McLister -with such force that, just missing his face, it knocked off
McLister's cap, and went crashing through both the window and
the slatted blind on the outside.
McLister exclaimed, "For God's sake Joe, don't! I don't want
anything to do w^ith you!" Williams, the saloonkeeper, and his
brother-in-law^, Thomas Lewis, then seized hold of Welsh, and
endeavored to put him out of the saloon. As they neared the
door Welsh broke away from them and turned back towards
McLister, at the same time, as was alleged, reaching backward as
if to draw a >veapon from his hip pocket. At this point McLister
fired t^vo or three, possibly four, shots at Welsh in rapid succes-
sion, -whereupon Welsh turned and staggered through the door to
the gate, some 20 feet distant, where he fell and immediately
expired.
It was found that one of the balls entered the side of the
deceased, passing through -the intestines and lodging in the
abdominal wall upon the opposite side, the other striking him in
the back and entering the chest, from one of which, or a combina-
tion of both, he died.
The affair created the w^ildest of excitement throughout the
entire neighborhood. McLister made no attempt to escape, but
later the same night w^as arrested, at the home of his afflicted
parents by Constable George Jennings, on a warrant issued by
Justice Michael Wise, of Johnson's Corners, on the affidavit of
Thomas Lewis. Being held by Justice Wise to answer to the
TRIAL, CONVICTION AND SENTENCE, 933
Court of Common Pleas, then in session, McLister was duly com-
mitted to jail. Prosecuting Attorney Charles Baird moved the
court for a special Grand Jury, which was accordingly impaneled
^s follows: N. E. Vansickle, Stephen Ginther, E. S. Oviatt, C. C.
Wilcox, Frank Danforth, A. H. Mallison, Everett Foster, Samuel
Findley, S. A. Lane, George Payne, Charles H. Edgerly, A. Ruger,
W. W. Arnold, C. P. Mallison and H. K. Sauder.
After the examination of a large number of witnesses, the
Orand Jury, by its foreman, N. E. Vansickle, returned a true bill
of indictment consisting of three separate counts, charging
McLister with murder in the first degree; the first count, omitting
legal phraseology, setting forth the deliberate and malicious
jshooting of Welsh in the back to the depth of eight inches; the
second count, shooting in the side to the depth of 14 inches, and
the third count combining the two shots, with intent to kill and
murder, etc.
On Wednesday, December 17, 1884, Messrs. Kohler and Sadler,
attorneys for the defendant, filed a plea in abatement of the indict-
ment, on the grounds, first, that H. K, Sauder, one of the special
^rand jurors finding said bill, w^as an attorney at law and the
■duly appointed court stenographer, and in the employ of the
prosecuting attorney, while acting as such grand juror; and
second, that S. A. Lane, being then, as deputy clerk, an officer of
the court, was incompetent to serve as a grand juror, etc. (Mr.
Lane, in the latter part of Clerk Nash's administration and early
part of Hale's term, temporarily, for a few months, officiated as
deputy clerk, as his services were needed by those officers).
To this plea in abatement, Prosecutor Baird filed a demurrer,
which, on being fully argued by counsel on both sides, was sus-
tained by Judge Green. A plea of not guilty was then entered by
the defendant and the case continued till the January term, 1885,
On the commencement of the January term, the trial of
McLister Avas set for Monday, February 9th, Judge U. L. Marvin
being assigned by the court to assist Prosecuting Attorney Baird
in the trial of the case, a special venire for 36 jurors being sum-
moned to appear at the time designated.
At the appointed time the case Avas proceeded with in due form.
The first venire being exhausted, the second, third and fourth
venires were issued for six, four and three jurors, respectively, and
at length the panel was declared full, and the jury sworn as fol-
lows: C. C. Swinehart, Corwin T. Hamlin, Champ Mouiton, C. H.
Ellsworth, N. G. Mellinger, Henry Raber. M. E. Foster. W. H.
Miller, John Stutz, T. N. Ganyard, E. P. HoUoway and Henry
Federick.
The trial lasted over a week, sixteen witnesses appearing for the
State, forty-one for the defense, and ten in rebuttal for the State. The
case was ably handled on both sides, counsel for McLister,
endeavoring to show that the shooting was done in self-defense.
The theory was deemed untenable, by the jury, however, from the
fact that, though Welsh was the original aggressor, by hurling a
deadly missive at McLister's head, one of the fatal shots took effect
in Welsh's back, indicating that he was then retreating,
w^hile there was some testimony, to the effect that as Welsh left
the saloon, McLister followed him up and sent a shot after him
from the door.
934 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
After eloquent and exhaustive arguments, on both sides, under
the very full and able charge of Judge Green, the case ^was given
to the jury, on Monday at 5:15 p. m., and at 12:30 p. m., Tuesday,.
February 17, 1885, the jury through their foreman, William H,
Miller, returned a verdict of guilty of murder in the second
degree.
It afterwards transpired that thirty ballots were taken, the most
of which stood, seven for murder in first degree, three for second
degree, and t^vo for manslaughter. Changes finally began to take
place, until at length eleven to one was reached where the jury
hung for six or seven hours, Avhen the obdurate one relaxed, and
an agreement was reached at the hour stated.
On Monday, February 23, Messrs. Kohler and Sadler filed a
motion to set aside the verdict, for the following reasons: 1st
accident and surprise which ordinary prudence could not guard
against; 2d that the verdict is not sustained by the evidence, and
is contrary to law; 3rd new^ly discovered evidence material for the
defendant, which he could not with reasormble diligence have dis-
covered and pravided for; 4th error of law in the sustaining by
the court of the State's demurrer to the defendant's plea in abate-
ment of indictment; 5th errors of laAv occurring at the trial.
The motion for a new^ trial being overruled. Judge Green pro-
ceeded to sentence the defendant as follows:
" Robert McLister, j^ou may stand up. Have you anything- further to-
say -why the sentence of the law should not be pronounced ?" The prisoner
making- no reply, Judg-e Green continued : " You were indicted by the Grand
Jury of this county, said indictment charging you with having- purposely,,
of deliberate and premeditated malice, murdered Joseph Welsh, bj^ shooting.
Upon being arraigned, you entered a plea of not guilty, and you were put
upon trial before an intelligent and impartial jurj^. Your defense was con-
ducted by able counsel. The jury listened with great patience and unyield-
ing- attention to everything- offered in evidence, and to the arguments of j'our
counsel, and, under the charge of the Court, to which j'our counsel took no
exceptions, retired to deliberate, and after mature deliberation returned a
verdict finding you guilty of murder in the second deg-ree — an offense for
■which our law affixes the penalty of imprisonment for life. This verdict of
the jury, under the evidence given, we are satisfied, under their oaths, thej^
•were compelled to return. It now becomes my painful duty to pronounce
the judgment the law prescribes for your crime. It is that you be taken
hence to the common jail of the county, and that 5'ou there be safelj^ kept,,
and within thirty days you be taken from thence to the penitentiarj^ of this-
State, and that there you be imprisoned during life."
The prisoner received his sentence w^ithout apparent emotion^
and, without being hand-cuffed, accompanied the officer quietly
back to the jail, w^here, with conduct every way becoming the gen-
tleman that he naturally is, he remained until the 11th day of
March, 1885, when he was removed to the penitentiary at Colum-
bus, by Sheriff William B. Gamble.
Thus, through evil associations and habits, in the very bloomt
of youthful manhood, one human life was entirely blotted out,
and another shrouded under a dark pall of ignominy, to be forever
debarred the society of kindred and friends, unless executive
clemency should mercifully intervene to open the gloomy portal*
of his prison-house, as, after an incarceration of nearly five years, it
finally did, young McLister being pardoned by Gov. J. B. Foraker,
January 10, 1890, since his release and return home, so far as the
writer is advised, his conduct having been in every vsray, upright
and exemplary.
POPULATION, OFFICERS, ETC.
935
Norton's Population. — The census of 1840 gave to Norton
township, including the villages within her borders, 1,497 inhab-
itants, while those of 1880 gave her 2,066 a gain of 569, a fair show^-
ing indeed, considering the tendency of the times to concentrate
business and manufacturing operations in the larger towns and
railroad centers of the country, though the census of 1890 gives her
but 1,973, a falling off in the last decade of 93, though in the pres-
ent (1891) growth of the new city of Barberton, within her borders,
she has much more than regained her lost ground since the
enumeration was made.
Norton's Present Official Status. — Trustees, John B. Betz,
Jackson Hall, Oliver Harter; clerk, Samuel J. Burgess; treasurer,
Joseph Hartzell; justices of the peace, John McNamara, William A.
Morton; constables, Charles O. Helmick, John Kelly; Postmasters,
New Portage, George A. Shaw^ ; Barberton, A. A. Moore ; Johnson's
Corners, Amos Miller ; Norton Center, Louis M. Shook ; Loyal
Oak, Alfred Schneider ; Western Star, O. A. Wallace ; Sherman,
Mrs. Mathews.
CHAPTER XLIV.
THE MAGIC CITY OF BARBERTON— RAPID GROWTH AND UNPARALLELED PROS-
PERITY— PUSH AND PERSEVERANCE OF ITS PLUCKY PROJECTORS— OVER A
MILLION DOLLARS ALREADY INVESTED IN ITS PROMOTION— WONDERFUL
INDUSTRIAL REVELATION— A SHORT BUT INTERESTING CHAPTER.
THE NEW CITY OF BARBERTON.
SINCK the compilation of this history was begun, and the publi-
cation of the foregoing chapters on Coventry and Norton, in
serial form, the vicinity of New Portage, on the Norton side of the
line, has been invested with a new and truly wonderful impor-
tance. In January, 1890, Messrs. Ohio C. Barber, Charles Baird,
Albert T. Paige and John K. Robinson, realizing the beauty and
business possibilities of the locality, purchased a number of con-
tiguous farms, adjacent to the already considerable village of New
Portage, on the west, aggregating 640 acres of land, with the view
of founding thereon a new manufacturing city, the fee of the
entire purchase being at iirst vested in Mr. Albert T. Paige, and
subsequently transferred to the attornej^ of the syndicate, Charles
Baird, Esq.
Dwelling of Manager of Barberton Land Company.
These lands were carefully and scientifically laid out into
business and residence lots, streets, avenues, parks, etc., and
graded on the most approved system of drainage and sewerage,
the beautiful sheet of w^ater thereon, formerly called "Way's
Lake," and later known as "Davis' Lake," being re-christened
"Lake Anna," in honor of Miss Anna Barber, only daughter of the
chief promoter of the enterprise, Mr. Ohio C. Barber, after whom
BARBERTON LAND IMPROVEMENT COMPANY.
937
the new city itself w^as very properly named — Barberton. This
beautiful little lake is made the center of twenty-one acres of
nicely graduated and ornamented grounds, with several delightfully
shady groves upon its margin, which, though not so formally
named, may properly be designated as "Recreation Park."
dZj Having thus quietly perfected their plans, liberal inducements
w^ere extended to manufacturers, and other business men, to avail
themselves of the extraordinary advantages and facilities claimed
for the new city, the members of the syndicate manifesting their
faith in its success by taking large blocks of stock in the several
important enterprises locating there, as will be seen in the enu-
meration of those establishments, and the names of the gentlemen
connected therewith, as directors, officers, etc.
In October, 1890, the original syndicate sold a one-half interest
in the enterprise to Hon. George W. Crouse, of Akron, and Mr. M.
J. Alexander, of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and their associates
of Pittsburg. The plat of the new city was duly entered for
record in the records of Summit county, by Mr. Baird, on March
24, 1891.
ClZlMay 23, 1891, the syndicate, as enlarged, entered into a partner-
ship contract, also duly recorded, under the name and style of
"The Barberton Land and Improvement Company," with a capital
of $240,000, with Mr. Ohio C. Barber as president and trustee, all
the lands thus acquired and held, being on that date transferred
by deed executed by Charles Baird and w^ife, Lucy V. Baird, to
Ohio C. Barber as such trustee, who was, by the terms of the
partnership contract, authorized to mortgage such portion of said
lands to The Union Trust Company, of New York, as might be neces-
sary to secure the payment of bonds to an amount not exceeding
$200,000, issued to raise money to carry forward contemplated
improvements, the entire amount invested in lands, improvements
and business, by the company, and manufacturing corporations, in
the new city, to the present time (November, 1891), being about
$1,300,000. Mr. M. J. Alexander has the management of the sale
of the company's lands, over $200,000 worth of business and resi-
dence lots having already been sold.
938
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
The membership of the Barberton Land and Improvemement
Company, and the number of $100 shares of the $240,000 capital
stock held by each, is as follows: Ohio C. Barber, 800; Charles
Baird, 300; Albert T. Paige, 300; John K. Robinson, 300; George W.
Crouse, 170; M. J. Alexander, 185; J. W. Moore, 165; William D,
Hartupee, 170; Ida H. Chandler, 170; A. M. Sloan, 100; Julien Ken-
nedy, 100; James S. McKean, 100; Neri Newcomb, 40— total 2,400.
With the Ohio canal, the Cleveland, Akron & Columbus,
and the Baltimore & Ohio railways upon the east, and the New
York, Pennsylvania & Ohio railway upon the west and a fully
equipped, standard guage Belt Line traversing its entire circum-
ference (over four miles of track being already laid), the transpor-
tation facilities of the ne^r city are simply perfect.
As illustrative of w^hat cash and courage, push and pluck, and
energy and enterprise can accomplish, and as indicative of what
the coming nine years of the last decade of the nineteenth century-
may accomplish for the new^ city, w^e note its present business
status 9s follows:
Branch of American Strawboard Company.— Capital $6,000,000,
with Ohio C. Barber, as its president, occupies 40 acres of
ground w^ith four brick buildings, 70x300 feet each; one 30x100
feet; tw^o 20x80 feet each; with a straw^-lumber, or lignistra, depart-
ment 50x350 feet, and employing from 150 to 200 men. William
R. Brown, manager of Barberton w^orks.
The National Sewer Pipe Company. — Capital $250,000, the larg-
est w^orks of their kind in the w^orld; occupying 26 acres of ground;
building four-story brick 80x370 feet; 32 kilns; eight boilers, over
1,200 horse-power of engines; 150 to 200 men; capacity 200 to 300
tons per day. Directors: Ohio C. Barber, president; William
McFarlin, vice president and treasurer; Ed. M. Buel, secretary;
Henry A. Robinson, general manager; Charles Baird, attorney.
This company have an inexhaustible supply of the very best
quality of clay contiguous to the lands of the syndicate, in close
proximity to their works.
BARBERTON S INDUSTRIES,
939
The Creedmoor Cartridge Company. — Capital $500,000, manu-
facturers of all kinds of military and sporting fixed ammunition;
site 34 acres; main building, three-story brick, 60x150 feet; hands
employed 75 to 125. Directors: Ohio C. Barber, president;
Charles E. Sheldon, vice president; Mark R. Hayne, secretary and
treasurer; Charles Baird, William McFarlin, Isaac C. Alden and
Clement A. Barnes. Manager, N. P. Leach; Superintendent, E. A,
Worthen.
The Stirling Company. — Manufacturers of water tube safety
steam boilers; capital $500,000; site 100 acres; main building,
85x200 feet; hands employed 60 to 250. Directors: Ohio C, Barber,
president; Allan Stirling, secretary and treasurer; John Jardine,
Robert C. Alexander and Charles Baird. General Manager,
Thomas Deegan; Superintendent, H. S. Pell.
The American Alumina Company. — Capital $500,000; site seven
acres; main building, 60x200 feet; hands employed 50. Directors:
Ohio C. Barber, president; H. E. Pickett, vice president; George
T. Perkins, treasurer; H. De Wolf, secretary; Thomas W. Cornell,
George W. Crouse, Frank M. Atterholt, Charles Baird, O. H. Root,
William McFarlin and Albert T. Paiere.
HOUSES FOR WORKMEN.
ji/riJiioTo-Smn- }
The Barberton Whiteware Company.— Capital $300,000, plant
to consist of three buildings 103x575 feet each; hands to be
employed, 750. Directors: Ohio C. Barber, president; George W.
Crouse, vice president; William McFarlin, treasurer; Charles
Baird, attorney, and Henry A. Robinson, general manager. Secre-
tary, Park T. Robinson.
The Kirkum Art Tile and Pottery Company.— Capital $300,-
000; incorporated May 7, 1891, by Joseph Kirkum, Ohio C. Barber,
president; George W. Crouse, vice president; Charles Baird, secre-
tary and treasurer; Meshech Frost, Frank Bloom and Frank M.
Atterholt, directors; site seven acres; buildings 240 feet square,
with ten kilns and will employ from 400 to 500 hands.
United Salt Company. — Main works at Cleveland and New-
burg; capital $1,000,000. Directors: William Chisholm; F. B.
Squire, president; Herman Frasch, secretary; L. H. Severance,
treasurer; David R. Paige, Frank Rockefeller, Ohio C. Barber and
Charles Baird. Barberton branch occupy seven and a half acres
940
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
of ground, and drilling of well (November 1891) favorably pro-
gressing.
Barberton Belt Line Railroad Company. — Capital, $50,000.
Directors: Ohio C. Barber, president; Albert T. Paige, vice-presi-
dent; William McFarlin, secretary; Charles Baird, treasurer;
* Henry A. Robinson, general manager. Four miles of road built
and in successful operation.
-£^^
The Barberton Savings Bank Company. — Capital, $100,000.
Directors: OhioC. Barber, president; William McFarlin, vice-presi-
dent; Charles Baird, secretary; John B. Woods, Thomas W. Cor-
nell, George W. Brewster, Houston Kepler, George W. Crouse and
Henry A. Robinson. Vacancy caused by death of Toy H. Pendle-
ton, yet to be filled. Ed. M. Buel, treasurer and ex-officio cashier.
Fine run of business already assured.
Barberton Brick and Tile Company. — Simeon Dickerman,
president; Wellington Miller, secretary and treasurer; Theodore
Stauffer, superintendent.
Besides the elegant and capacious National Hotel, erected by
the National Sewer Pipe Company, near their works, a large num-
ber of handsome residences and business blocks have already been
erected, and others, including Barberton Inn, a fine bank building,
railway stations, etc., are now in process of construction, or soon
to be built, the style and quality of which are indicated by the
accompanying engravings, and in addition to the various w^orks
designated, Barberton is also liberally supplied with local trades-
men, professional men, police, etc., so that now (November, 1891),
though but little more than one year old, with a population of
nearly 2,000 souls, it gives promise of speedily becoming one of the
most important of the many thriving industrial cities of Northern
Ohio.
CHAPTER XLV.
THE TOWNSHIP OF RICHFIELD — EARLY SETTLERS — PIONEER INCIDENTS —
RESOURCES— RIVALRIES, ETC. — PUBLIC SPIRIT — MILITARY OPERATIONS, ETC.
— SPLENDID CIVIL RECORD— THE BIG SLEIGH RIDE OF 1856 — RICHFIELD'S
GREAT RE-UNION OF 1880 -CRIMINAL MATTERS— A SINGULAR CASE OF
LUNACY— HUNTER-GAKGETT TRAGEDY, ETC.
RICHFIELD'S BEGINNING.
RICHFIKLD, previous to 1805, was aboriginal territory, being
conveyed by the Indians to the United States, by the treaty of
Fort Industry, on the Maumee river, during that year. Being a
part of the Western Reserve, it soon afterw^ards w^as transferred to
the Connecticut Land Company. The entire area of territory thus
held by the Company, embraced nearly 4,000,000 acres, which was
disposed of by a sort of lottery arrangement, each party interested
"draw^ing" a proportionate amount of* land to the money paid in.
In this way, some became proprietors of entire townships, while
others drew but fractions thereof.
The original proprietors, thus acquiring title to Richfield
tow^nship, were, Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge, Captain John Smith,
Uriel Holmes, J. Wilcox and two others named Edwards and Green,
all of Connecticut, none of whom, it is believed, ever settled upon,
or even visited their possessions, except, possibly, Mr. Wilcox,
having invested for speculative purposes, only. In 1811, Captain
Heman Oviatt, then a resident of Hudson, purchased Colonel
Tallmadge's interest, the northwest quarter of the tow^nship,
embracing 4,000 acres, for the sum of $5,000, or at the rate of $1.25
per acre, Tallmadge fearing that the impending war between the
United States and England might despoil him of his property.
Topography, Organization, Etc. — Though not bordering on
the river, the eastern portion of the township is badly cut up into
hills and gullies, but the central and w^estern portion is more level
and abounds in fertile and nicely cultivated farms, being especially
adapted to the raising of fine stock and the grow^ing of choice
fruits.
At first, Richfield was attached to Boston and several other
tow^nships in electoral and official matters, but w^as organized as a
distinct township in April, 1816, by authority of the Commissioners
of Portage county (Medina county to which the township properly
belonged, not being organized until 1818). The first officers elected
■were : Nathaniel Oviatt, William Jourdan and Daniel Keys,
trustees ; John Bigelow, clerk ; Isaac Welton, treasurer ; Jared
Barnes and John Farnum, overseers of the poor; John Bigelow
and Isaac Hopkins, constables ; John Farnum, Jason Phillips,
Isaac Welton, Elijah Hale and John Holmes, supervisors. As in
the case of Boston, an examination of this roster w^ill disclose the
fact that at least three persons w^ere elected to two offices each.
Up to this time the justices of the peace elected in Boston tow^nship,
of w^hich Mr. Lehman Farnum was one, had jurisdiction over
942
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Northfield, Boston, Richfield, Bath and Northampton, but on the
organization of Richfield as a separate township, Isaac Welton
was elected justice, his commission (still in the family) bearing
date July, 1816.
ATAJOR NORRIS HUMPHREY, -
■'■^l born in Canton, Hartford county,
Connecticut, August 14, 1806; enii-
g'rated with parents to Trumbull
county, Ohio, in 1816 ; educated in
district schools ; learned blacksniith-
ing- trade with father ; moved to
Richfield in 1829 ; worked at trade
two years ; February 10, 1831, married
to Miss Julia Case, of Trumbull
county ; after marriage moved upon
farm, two miles east of center of
Richfield, where he has since contin-
uously resided — over sixtj' years;
helped to organize first militia com-
panj^ of the township, becoining its
captain, in 1834, soon afterwards being
promoted to major of first battalion,
light infantry. An ardent Republi-
can, though never an office-seeker,
Mr. Humphrey has filled many minor
offices of trust — constable, assessor,
trustee, director of Academy, etc.,
with the strictest fidelitj^, lacking a
few votes only of receiving the nomi-
nation for State Representative, in
1869. Mrs. Humphrey died Januar)^
26, 1871, having borne him seven chil-
dren, as follows : Austin, Norris,
Cora (now Mrs. Ransom C. Ellsworth),
Oliver N., Lucian E., Decius (died
April 1, 1868, aged 22 j'ears), and Tru-
man, the three sons first named now
being prosperous business men in
Lincoln, Nebraska, the two last
named remaining in Richfield, Tru-
man (inarried to Miss Lida Hale, of
Bath, July 4, 1875), living on the old
homestead, and kindly caring for the
venerable patriarch, still, at the age
MAJOR NORRIS HUMPHREY.
of 85, retaining, in a large degree,
both his physical and tnental facul-
ties, the following document testi-
fying to the major's earlier militarj'
"prowess," above alluded to :
To Norris Humphrey :
This is to certify that you are appointed
Fourth Corporal of the 5th Company, 3d
Regiment, 1st Brigade and 4th Division
Ohio Militia, and you are entitled to all the
privileges and respect due j'ou, and are
accountable for any misdemeanor in you as
Corporal.
Given under my hand at Vernon, this 2d
day of September, 1824.
C. H. WILCOX, Captain.
Early Settlers, Incidents, Etc. — The first white settler,
according to Dr. A. E. E^ving and Schuyler R. Oviatt, w^as
Launcelot Mays (General Bierce says Robert Mays), in 1809 ; the
first marriage, William Carter to Betsey Mays, in 1812 ; the same
also being noted as the first marriage in Boston ; probably growing
out of the fact that both townships w^ere then under one jurisdic-
tion. But as Richfield furnished the bride and Boston the groom
and officiating magistrate (Alfred Wolcott, Esq.), it is proper to
divide the honor between the two townships ; though Mr. Carl W.
BroAvn, the great-grandson of the ancient happy couple, informs
the writer that the marriage was actually solemnized at the house
of Justice Wolcott, in the east part of Boston. The first death of a
white person, in Richfield, was that of Polly Payne, in 1812, at the
age of 18 years. The first white child born in the township (in
1812) was a daughter to John Mallet, brother of Henry Mallet,
the second settler in the tow^nship.
EARLY SETTLEMENT — INCIDENTS, ETC.
943
The settlement of the township was not very rapid for several
years, owing probably to the war disturbances of the time. After
the close of the war, how^ever, settlement was quite rapid, so that
by the organization of the tow^nship in 1816 there must have been
nearly, or quite, forty voters present, a goodly proportion of whom,
though youngish men, were undoubtedly heads of families,
and nearly all w^ere from Connecticut and Massachusetts. The
census of 1840, gave Richfield a population of 1,108, and by that
of 1880 the number of inhabitants in the tow^nship w^as 1,253,
being an increase of 145 in the forty years ; though midw^ay between
the two epochs, in the palmy business days of the two "centers,"
as hereinafter noted, the population must have been considerably
greater than in 18§0, since which time there has been a marked
decline, the census of 1890 giving to her but 921 souls, a falling off
of 332 in the ten years.
DR. SECRETARY RAWSON,— was
born in Warwick, Massachu-
setts, October 18, 1796 ; educated in
common schools, and four years in
New Salem Academy ; read medicine
five years w^ith eminent New Eng-land
physicians ; holds two medical diplo-
mas under laws of Vermont and
Ohio ; practiced medicine forty -five
years ; came to Ohio in 1823, settling
in Richfield in 1824 ; married to Miss
Lucy B. Hancock. June 19, 1824; the
fruits of this happy union being- three
daughters — one dying at 15 years of
age, the other two well settled in life
— and three grandchildren. In 1825,
the doctor organized a public librarj^
company in Richfield, soon accuinu-
lating- quite a large collection of
valuable books; aided in subduing
the wilderness, erecting the reg-ula-
tion log cabins and afterwards
replacing them with the more com-
modious and comfortable frame
structures ; helped to construct high-
ways, bridge streams, build school
houses, erect churches, and was a
warm supporter of Richfield's old-
time popular and prosperous
Academy. Dr. Rawson was among
the earliest advocates of temperance
in Ohio, previous to 1830 drafting
pledges, lecturing, and as far as pos-
sible discarding the use of distilled
liquors in his practice. In 1866,
DR. SECRETARY RAWSON.
broken down in health, the doctor
removed to Des Moines, Iowa, where,
with partial restoration, but still a
continual sufferer from severe ner-
vous derangement, he has reached
his 95th j^ear, with his mental powers
apparently as vigorous as when he
first settled in Richfield, sixty-seven
years ago.
A Richfield correspondent, in writing of old-time inhabitants
and incidents says of "Old Dave Smith," a noted local story-teller,
that he once boasted that while himself and others w^ere mowing
in a field a deer rushed past them, the mowrers chasing him into a
snow-drift where they caught him alive. It being suggested to
him that hay-making and snow-drifts did not go well together, he
said, after a moment's reflection : "That's so, I must have got two
stories mixed." The old man w^as so prone to "mix" things, that
the church took him in hand on the charge of lying, w^hen he
humbly begged for forgiveness, saying: "I detest lying as bad as
944
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
any of you, but I have an incurable tendency to exaggerate. It
has given me more trouble than anything else in the vi^orld, and
I have shed barrels and barrels of tears over it, but 1 can't get
over the habit."
Business Resourcks, Rivalries, Etc. — For some now unex-
plainable cause, the business interests of Richfield became divided
at an early day, a rival village to the original and geographical
center, three-fourths of a mile west, and called the '''West Center,"
coming into existence. At the East Center, there w^as a church,
one or tw^o stores, a hotel, postoffice, and the usual complement of
mechanics, -with comfortable family residences extending a short
distance out on the four roads centering there, but the spirit of
push and spread-out-a-tive-ness, seemed to be. lacking.
DR. JEREMIAH CULLEN WIL-
COX,—born in Hartland, Hart-
ford county, Connecticut, December
6, 1790 ; at 16, removed with parents
to Vernon, Trumbull county, Ohio,
nearly losing his life, en route, in
crossing the Ohio river; graduated
from Jefferson (Pennsylvania) Col-
lege, in 1813 ; studied medicine and
commenced practice in Hartford,
Trumbull county, where he resided
fifteen years ; in 1816, married to Miss
Lorena Bushnell, who died in 1831,
leaving five children — Harriet N.,
who married Rev. Daniel Emerson,
dying in 1870 ; Amelia, died at 19 ;
Maria, married to R. C. Clark, of Ken-
tucky, afterwards of Sacramento,
California, died in 1870 ; Jeremiah B.,
of Butte City, Montana, and Jerusha,
married to General S. D. Sturgis, and
now living at West Point, New York.
Owing to impaired health, Dr. Wilcox
discontinued the practice of medi-
cine, and to secure better educational
facilities, removed to Hudson, and in
1839, located on the large farm in
Richfield, which he successfully cul-
tivated until his death, from paralysis,
January 26, 1873, at the age of 82 years,
1 month and 20 days. In 1839, Dr.
Wilcox married Mrs. Julia A. (Wilder)
Pettee, formerly of Rochester, New
York, who bore him eight children.
DR. JEREMIAH CULLEN WILCOX.
five of whom are now living — Amelia
A., wife of Mr. George B. Clarke, now
of Akron; Henry Chauncey, of Akron;
Newell O., died in infancy; William
Cullen, now missionary in East
Africa ; Francis A., real estate agent
in Akron, and Stella H. Of sterling
integrity and indomitable energy,
Dr. Wilcox was ainong the most
highly respected of Richfield's manj-
honored citizens.
At the rival " Center," however, it was different. Hotels were
established, a number of stores were erected and filled with mer-
chandise, a postoffice w^as secured, churches instituted, manufac-
tures inaugurated, etc., until at one time, in the early forties, Rich-
field w^as one of the very snappiest inland points in Northern Ohio,
not only stimulating the general prosperity of the to^vnship itself,
but attracting a large amount of business from adjoining, and
even more remote, localities — the east center, of course, to a con-
siderable extent, sharing the general prosperity.
Richfield's Public Spirit. — For nearly twenty years, Rich-
field, w^ith several contiguous tow^nships, maintained a spirited
Fair association, under the title of the "Union Agricultural and
Mechanic Art Society."
richfield's schools, churches, etc.
945
A flourishing Masonic lodge (Meridian Sun Lodge, No. 266),
has also been maintained in the township for more than sixty
years, and, for the most of the time for the past forty years, a fine
band of music has been liberally supported, while a good deal
more than usual attention has been given to church and educa-
tional matters in both villages, and throughout the toAvnship.
Besides the usual complement of w^ell-attended district
schools, Richfield, in 1836, established a well-equipped academ\',
in a commodious building erected for that purpose between the
two villages, -which was liberally patronized, not only by the peo-
ple of the township, but many pupils from abroad w^ere here
educated, many of whom, w^ithout any additional scholastic advan-
tages, have become eminent in business, statecraft, professional
life, etc. Modern educational methods, however, have displaced
the original Richfield academy, by the establishment of a commo-
dious central or high school building for each village, that at the
east village, unfortunately destroyed by fire, in 1887, having been
replaced by a handsome and still more commodious structure.
JUDGE NOAH M. HUMPHREY,—
J born in Gcshen, Connecticut,
June 18, 1810; educated as farmer's
boy during- niinoritj' ; in September,
1833, came to Ohio, entering- law office
of Huniplirey & Hall, in Hudson,
studying- three years, teaching school
winters ; admitted to bar, in Medina,
September 5, 1836 ; began practice
with Van R. Humphrey and Harvej'
Whedon, under firiu name of Hum-
phrej'^jHumphrej^ &Whedon, changed
a year later (on appointment of Van
R. Humphrey to president judge-
ship), to Humphrey & W,hedon. Sep-
tember 24, 1840, was married to Miss
Velina Hannum, of Brecksville, set-
tling in Richfield, in addition to legal
work, teaching-, fanning, dealing in
stock, etc. ; in 1852, '.i3, represented
Summit county in State IvCgislature ;
in 1854 elected probate judge, remov-
ing- to Akron in Spring- of 1855;
re-elected in 1857, serving six j^ears.
Mrs. Huinphre}" dying Septeinber 24,
1855, on January 12, 1859, Judge Hum-
phrej^ was again married, to Mrs.
Elizabeth Young-, daughter of the
late David Allen, of Akron ; in Fall
of 1862, removed to Taylor's Falls,
Chisago county. Minnesota, where he
has since continuously resided, and
where he has received man}^ honors.
JUDGE NOAH M. HUMPHREY,
both from the people and the govern-
ment, being now postmaster of that
city. Of the two children of Judge
Humphrey, Laura M., born January
31, 1842, is now Mrs. D. A. Caneday^
and Marcus F. C, born August 23,
1844, died at his home, in Fergus-
Falls, Minnesota, April 18, 1885.
Richfield's Religious Status.— Originally settled b}^ Puritanic
stock, Richfield has, from the first, been duly observant of religious
-worship, and the means for its proper exercise and maintenance.
The first church organization (May 15, 1818), to accommodate the
various shades of religious belief, was called the "Church of
Christ," but that element largely predominating, afterwards
known as the "First Congregational Church, of Richfield," a com-
fortable house of worship being erected at the east center, in 1822,
which retnained substantially as originally constructed until 1886,
60
916 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
■when it was destroyed by fire. A much handsomer and more
costly structure has been erected upon the same site, by the Hberal
contributions of all the people of the township, aided by generous
donations from former residents living elsewhere, among the latter
being Governor Russell A. Alger, of Michigan; and Edwin J. How-
lett, of Philadelphia; who each contributed some $500 to the build-
ing and furnishing funds. The society has been fairly prosperous
throughout, maintaining nearly continuous preaching to the pres-
ent time, the pastorate of the late Rev. J. A. McKinstry, com-
mencing in August, 1864, and continuing nearly a quarter of a cen-
tury, the present pastor, ordained September 6, 1889, being Rev.
W. E. Wheeler.
The Methodists erected a modest house at an early day (about
1832), which remained only partly finished unfit 1852, when it was
burned. Its successor, near the west center, was a more com-
modious structure, and has recently been considerably enlarged
and improved, and the society is now healthy and prosperous.
The Baptists, also, have a prosperous society, with a com-
modious house of worship at the west center, erected in 1838,
which has also been remodeled and enlarged, within a few years,
w^hile the United Brethren have a flourishing society and a hand-
some church edifice, called the "Centennial Church," in the south-
east portion of the township. This, with the four religious insti-
tutions alluded to, liberally supported by her citizens, w^ith per-
haps, quite a large contingent of independent religious faith and
practice, Richfield's "calling and election" may be regarded as
tolerably sure.
RICHFIELD'S MILITARY CARKER.
It is believed that among her early settlers there were several
ex-Revolutionary soldiers, though only the name of John Farnam,
who died May 21, 1833, has been handed down. Nor is there any
record of her having furnished any soldiers for either the War of
1812, or the Mexican War, though nine residents of the town after-
wards received pensions for services rendered in the former war,
before removing thither.
In the War of the Rebellion, however, Richfield did her whole
dut3', furnishing, in all, 150 men for the Union army. Of these,
five were killed in battle, and twenty-two died from diseases con-
tracted in the service, while thirteen shared the " hospitalities "
and the horrors of the various prison-pens of the late C. S. A.; six
more carrying in and upon their persons indubitable evidences of
their having "been there."
RICHFIELD'S ROLL OF HONOR.
Samuel Allman, Benjamin AUman, Martin Bigelow, Jr., Luman
Bigelow (died in service), Albert G. Baldwin (died in service),
Charles Blakeslee, Jerome Barnell, Charles Beardsley, George A.
Butler, Cyrus P. Brooks, George M. Buel, Darius D. Baldwin,
George W. Barnett (died in service), Orson H. Buck (died in ser-
vice), Nathan S. Britton, Martin C. Bentley, Thomas Burns, DeVil-
lar Bowles, D. E. Bowles, James Barnett, Charles Ball, Thomas
Bruner, J. T. Barney, Levi P. Carr, Charles C. Chapman, Ezra
Carter, Thomas Clifton, Lewis B. Clark, Charles Churchill, Asa P.
richfield's roll of honor. 947
Carr, M. R. Comstock, O. B. Carpenter, Richard Dunning, George
W. Dickinson, H. E. Dustin, William Davis, Augustus Dillman,
Jacob F. Eckert, John Fauble, Thomas Ferryman, Samuel Fauble,
M. Fauble, Adam Farney, Horace Greenwood, Augustus N. Gold-
Avood, John Goldwood, Charles Goldwood, Daniel Gorman, Thomas
•Gilbert, Charles Hall, Decius Humphrey, Thomas Hatfield, Lucian
E. Humphrey, Charles Hicken (killed in service), John Hancock,
A. O. Halliwell, Cyrus J. Hughes, A, W. Hancock, D. Hubbard,
Thomas Huddleston, William Hudson, Henry B. Johnson, Wil-
liam H. Jones, Nathaniel Jones, Thomas Jackson, J. P. Jackson,
George Johnson, Henry Killifer, Henry Knapp, John Knapp,
Thomas King, Augustus Knapp (died in service), Oliver King,
Charles Knapp, Tohn S. Lee, Loraine H. Lockert, J, Linderman,
Joseph Lantz, D^vid Lyons, Joseph Mead, Frank Miles, Samuel
Moody (died in service), Albert Mead, West Miller, Charles Mead,
Levi Mix, James Moore, M. H. McCoy, William Moody, Ezra Men-
kins, Marcus Noble (died in service), Emmon S. Oviatt, Charles
Oviatt (died in service), John F. Oviatt (died in service), Marcus U.
Oviatt, Horace Olmstead, Jr., Owen Pixley (died in service), Eras-
mus Payne, Corydon P. Payne, Edwin W. Poole, Sumner Pixley,
Charles Peeples, Lorain J. Phillips, R. J. Phillips, George Rox-
bury, Edward B. Reed, M. R. Risden, Oscar F. Reed, Enoch W.
Simmons, George C. Sheldon, Andrew J. Spencer (died in service),
James W. Sanborn (died in service), James Sammons (killed),
Daniel W. Sprankle, John Smith, Charles R. Sheldon, Elnathan
Simmons, Richard Sweet, William A. Shepard, Eugene E. Shall,
Christian Senghar, Levi Shoalwater, Charles Stockhouse, Nathan
G. Strong, .David Sangharst, Daniel P. Stoffer, Milton H. Stoffer,
Evelyn E. Shall, William R. Townsend, Richard Tunwell, Robert
Tunwell, vSamuel Train, Charles W. Tunwell (died in service),
Albert Tupper, Hawthorn Thompson, Joseph Taylor, Charles P.
Townsend, John M. Thompson (died in service), Sylvester Viall,
Henry P. Wadhams, Henry C. Wilcox, James Washburn, Montrose
Washburn, Vendruth Washburn, George Wilson.
The Patriotic Spirit, Still •Cultivated. — To preserve and
properly cultivate the fraternal feeling naturally existing between
the surviving soldiers of the late war, as well as for general social
and beneficial purposes, the A. N. Goldwood Post, No. 104, Grand
Army of the Republic, with a healthy membership of the veterans
of Richfield and vicinity is maintained, with stated meetings on
the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, and such
special meetings, entertainments, etc., as are from time to time
deemed advisable.
County, State and Nation. — In the civil affairs of both the
county, state and nation, Richfield holds a most exalted position,
as a perusal of the following summary will most clearly demon-
strate : **
James W. Weld, Esq., of Richfield, was elected county commis-
sioner in 1844, and successively twice re-elected, ably filling that
important position for nine consecutive years. Mr. Weld also
previously held the office of treasurer of Medina county for two
years, and for many years officiated as justice of the peace of Rich-
field township.
Noah M, Humphrey, Esq., was elected as Summit county's
first representative to the State Legislature, under the new
948
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
constitution, in October, 1851, filling the position for two years^
■with ability and honor.
Schuyler R. Oviatt -was elected county surveyor in October^
1852, satisfactorily discharging the duties of the office for three
years.
Hon. Noah M. Humphrey, in October, 1854, was again called
to the front, by being elected probate judge for three years, and
re-elected in 1857, most ably discharging the intricate duties of
that office for six full years.
Edward Oviatt, Esq., though born in Hudson, and since 1844,
a resident of Akron, having spent almost his entire youth in Rich-
field, and acquired his most excellent education in her old-time
highly popular academy, may properly be considered a Richfield
" boy," and we will therefore give her credit of furnishing Summit
county, in the person of Mr. Oviatt, w^ith a most efficient prose-
cuting attorney from 1864 to 1868.
DAVID BAKER ALGER,— fourth
son of John and Sarah (Baker)
Alger, natives of Connecticut, was
born in Bethany, Genessee county.
New York, April 5, 1816. The father
dying- three years later, in 1822, the
mother, with her six children, came
by ox-team to Ohio, and settled upon
a farm, previously bought by the
father, in Richfield. Here the boj'
David grew" to manhood, with such
educational advantages only, as the
schools of the township afforded.
January 16, 1838, he was married in
Hinckley, to Miss Margaret Richard-
son, of Eden, Erie county. New York,
who bore him four children — two
sons and two daughters. He fol-
lowed farming, both as a business
and as a profession, and on his well-
managed old Richfield farm, he and
his good wife not only made a pleas-
ant home for their own family, btft
also for the orphaned children of
two of his brothers. A warm friend
of education, Mr. Alger was ever
actively identified with the school
interests of Richfield, and being
strictly temperate himself, was first
and foremost in all temperance and
other reform movements. He died
DAVID BAKER ALGER.
December 30, 1884, aged 68 years, 8^
months and 25 daj's, Mrs. Alger and
their four children — May L., Eunice
P., Albert W. (now of Kansas City,
Mo.), and Richard Edwin, still sur-
viving.
Orson M. Oviatt, for two consecutive terms, from 1868 to 1874,
filled the office of county commissioner, both creditably to himself
and highly satisfactorily to his constituents.
Schuyler R. Oviatt, was elected county treasurer in 1870, for
two years, and re-elected in 1872, not only discharging the duties
of the office w^ith his customary fidelity, but so improving the
methods of performing the routine w^ork of the office, as to at once
greatly facilitate the transaction of the the public business, and
lessen the liability to mistakes.
Hiram Hart, elected county commissioner, in October, 1879,
re-elected in 1882, for six consecutive years made one of the most
enterprising and faithful public officials that Summit county ever
had.
RICHFIELD IN PUBLIC OFFICE.
949
Henry C. Searles, a native of Hinckley township, Medina
■county, and an ex-soldier in the War of the Rebellion, became a
resident of Richfield, soon after the close of the War, engaging in
trade and for several years officiating as postmaster at West Rich-
field. In 1884, Mr. Searles was elected county recorder, and re-
elected in 1887, and though in quite poor health a portion of the
time, was a first-class officer during his six years incumbency.
HENRY C. SEARLES, — son of
Daniel Searles, was born in
Hinckle}', Medina county, Ohio,
August 19, 1841 ; raised a farmer ;
■educated in district schools and
Hiram College; in 1861 enlisted in
Battery A., 1st O. L. A., serving two
years, and discharged on account of
injuries; clerked in store of Baxter
H. Wood, West Richfield, eight years;
in 1873, engaged in mercantile busi-
ness for himself, being at that time
appointed postmaster at West Rich-
field ; in 1878, his store, with most of
its contents, was destroyed by fire,
but immediately rebuilt on a larger
.scale, where he continued to do busi-
ness until elected county recorder in
1884, to which position he was
re-elected in 1887, ably filling the
position six years. Mr. Searles,
besides serving as postmaster thir-
teen years, was treasurer of Richfield
for nearly twenty years, and member
of the board of education some ten
years. August 19, 1863, Mr. Searles
was married to Miss Elizabeth
Parker, daughter of Rev. Sanford
Parker, of Hinckley, born November
12, 1843. They have had three children
— Harry I., born June 17, 1864, deputy
•county recorder three years, from
January 1, 1885, later salesman in dry
foods store of Murray & Watt, died
ebruary 12, 1891 ; Lizzie A., born
HENRY C. SEARLES.
March 14, 1867, and George DeForest,
born September 14, 1869, now deputy
county recorder. The present resi-
dence of Mr. Searles is at 931 East
Market street, Akron. He is now a
stockholder and director, and the
secretary of the Akron Hardware
Company, corner Stanton and Getz
Avenues.
John E. Hurlbut, Esq., one of Richfield's most successful far-
mers and business men, on the inauguration of the internal rev-
-enue system, during the War of the Rebellion, was appointed, by
President Lincoln, United States assessor for the 18th Congres-
sional District of Ohio, composed of Summit, Cuyahoga and Lake
■counties, w^ith his headquarters in Cleveland. It is safe to say
that in no district of the United States, was the service more ably
performed, than that presided over by Mr. Hurlbut, and in no other
county of the district was the routine v^ork more conscientiously
and fearlessly executed than by his faithful local deputies,
Schuyler R. Oviatt, of Richfield; Hiram V. Bronson, of Boston;
Alfred R. Townsend, of Akron; Andrew Fenn, of Tallmadge; and
Stephen D. Miller, of Norton. Mr. Hurlbut, after the War,
remained in Cleveland, w^here he died some four or five years ago.
Hon. Samuel B. Axtell, one of Richfield's early adopted sons,
:and \srhose family and property interests are still in that tow^nship,
represented the San Francisco (Cal)., district in the fortieth and
^nd forty-first sessions of Congress. Returning to Richfield, on
950 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
the expiration of his second term, he w^as in January, 1875,.
appointed governor of the territory of Utah, by President Grant,
but a few months later was transferred to New Mexico, of w^hich
territory 'he w^as governor between three and four years. Still
later, in May, 1882, by appointment of President Arthur, he became
chief justice of that territory, which position he filled with
acknowledged ability for three years, tendering his resignation to
President Cleveland, May 1st, 1885, to take effect on the 25th of the
same month. On June 1, 1885, Judge Axtell accepted from* the
Southern Pacific railroad, the position of solicitor of that road for
NcAV Mexico, w^ith headquarters at Santa Fe, which position he
held until his death, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Charles M.
Phillips, in Morristown, New Jersey, August 6, 1891, at the age of
71 years, 9 months, 22 days.
Russell A. Alger, was reared and educated in the township
of Richfield, graduating with honors from the famous old Rich-
field Academy, some 35 years ago. Soon after his graduation he
entered, as a student, the law office of Messrs. Wolcott &c Upson,^
in Akron. On the completion of his studies, he was admitted to
the bar by the Supreme Court, at Columbus. Practicing for a
short time in Cleveland, he established himself at Grand Rapids,
Mich., with fair prospects of the most eminent success in his chosen
profession. On the breaking out of the War, however, the young
law^yer forsook his clients and his briefs, and entered the Union
Army as a private soldier, retiring therefrom, in 1865, with the
w^ell-earned title of Brigadier General. After the close of the War,,
he engaged extensively in the lumber and shipping business,,
accumulating a speedy fortune, ^vhich he is liberally dispensing in
benevolent and business enterprises, one of the ventures in the
latter line, being his joint-ow^nership, with Hon, J, A, Kohler, of
Akron's beautiful Arcade Block, on South Howard street. In
1884, he was elected governor of Michigan, holding the office
through 1885 and 1886, and, declining a re-election, retired from
that high office with the reputation of having made one of the
very best governors Michigan ever had, his name also being prom-
inently mentioned as a candidate for President before the National!
Republican Convention for 1888. [See portrait on page 555].
The Big Sleigh Ride of 1856.— The Winter of 1855, '56, was-
one of considerable severity, accompanied by much snow and
long-continued sleighing. Local sleigh-rides w^ere frequent, engen-
dering much neighborhood rivalry, soon extending to township
and finally to county contests for the prize banner — a piece of com-
mon muslin, with the figure of a young negro rudely painted-
thereon, with thumb on nose, and extended digits, with the legend
issuing from between his ivory teeth and protruding lips, " You can't
come it!" Starting in Solon with seven four-horse teams, fol-
low^ed by Tw^insburg with sixteen teams, Bedford with thirty-two;:
Brecksville, forty-four; Royalton, sixty-three; Boston, sixty-six;-
Independence, sixty-five; Hudson, seventy-one, the flag had finally
come to Richfield, w^ith seventy-three teams. By this time the
excitement had become so erreat that it was determined to make it
a county affair, between the three contiguous counties of Cuya-
hoga, Medina and Summit. Richfield being already in possession
of the prize, and being, withal, the most central township in the
territory involved in the contest, it was decided that the triangular
THE BIG SLEIGH-RIDE OF 1856. 951
gathering should be held there. Accordingly, on Saturday, March
15, 1856, the great trial took place, four and six-horse teams, only,
being counted. The marshals reported Medina one hundred and
forty, Cuyahoga one hundred and fifty-one, and Summit one hun-
dred and seventy-one teams, making a grand total of four hun-
dred and sixty-two four and six-horse sleighs, though quite a good
many one and two-horse teams, bearing witnesses and spectators,
w^ere present from all parts of the adjacent country.
After the count had been declared, the banner was formally pre-
sented, first by James W. Weld, Esq., on behalf of Richfield, to Hud-
son, as having furnished the greatest number of teams, and then,
by Dr. Charles R. Pierce, in behalf of Hudson, to Summit county,
to be preserved among her most cherished relics, until some rival
county should wrest it from her by a larger display of horseflesh
than she had made. It was estimated that from 10,000 to 12,000
persons, men, women and children, participated in, and witnessed,
the magnificent pageant, and the utmost harmony and good feel-
ing prevailed throughout.
Summit's triumph, how^ever, was of short duration. Medina's
spirit — if not dander — was decidedly aroused, and on the following
Tuesday, March 18, 1856, she drove into Akron with one hundred
and eighty-two four and six-horse teams, thus fairly winning the
" flaunting rag" from Summit, which — notwithstanding the quite
prevalent rumor that a number of her teams had been recruited
from "just over the border" — w^as cheerfully yielded to her; the
championship remaining w^ith her to the present time, though by
the time her procession began to w^ind its slow length through the
streets of Akron, about noon on the 18th day of March, the sleigh-
ing was in "a very liquefactions condition, indeed, while the home-
ward journey had to be performed through a literal " sea of mud."
Richfield's Great Re-Union. — Though Richfield has always
been noted for its spirited public gatherings — agricultural, mili-
tary, political, patriotic and otherwise — her crowning glory in that
direction was her great pioneer re-union, on the 11th day of
August, 1880. Invitations had been extended to all former res-
idents then living, who had gone out from among them, to return
to the home of their nativity, or early adoption, to renew old
friendships, and to enjoy the hospitalities of their compeers and
successors, and on the day named there w^as a gathering of w^hich
Richfield people should ever feel proud.
The meeting was in a beautiful grove, on the premises of Mr,
John Kirby, one luile south of the West Center, and besides many
old residents from abroad, there were large delegations from neigh-
boring towns, w^hile almost, if not quite, every man, w^oman and
child of the township of Richfield was upon the grounds during
the day. Governor S. B. Axtell presided, and delivered an elo-
quent address of Avelcome, which w^as supplemented by an appro-
priate poem, written by Richfield's poet laureate, Dr. A. E. Ewing.
Responses were called for, and brief addresses were made by
George Howlett, Esq., of Cleveland, and Mr. F. Wilcox, former
sons of Richfield, Ex-County Treasurer Schuyler R. Oviatt, Sheriff
S. A. Lane and General A. C. Voris, of Akron, Dr. Sumner Pixley,
of Peninsula, Hon. Myron C. Hills, of Medina, Rev. J. A. McKin-
stry, of Richfield, and others. Splendid music and a magnificent
dinner, and genial good cheer, generally, rendered the occasion
952 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
one of the brightest epochs in the history and memory of ever reli-
able Old Richfield.
Richfield's Moral Status. — Though not upon the line of the
canal, yet upon her eastern border, contiguous to the crook-
infested territory of eastern Bath and western Northampton and
Boston, her people were more or less drawn within the pernicious
influence of the gang. Indeed, one of her very earliest settlers,
Henry Mallet, with his tw^o brothers, John and Daniel, are believed
to have been among the very first parties in the neighborhood to
" tinker w^ith the currency," establishing their mint, how^ever, just
over the line in the jungles of northwestern Northampton,
The locality and character of this establishment becoming
know^n, much indignation was excited against the concern, and by
the concerted movement of the better class of the inhabitants of
Richfield, Bath, Northampton and Boston, this •* money-shop," as
it was designated, was raided, and with its entire contents
destroyed by fire.
This summary proceeding, however, by no means put a stop
to the business. Other and less accessible quarters were secured,
the infection spread, and the business grew and seemingly pros-
pered for many years, though many of the operators were subse-
quently brought to grief, Henry Mallet at length finding a perma-
nent home in the Ohio Penitentiary, where he finally died.
In 1838, when a concerted effort was made, as elsewhere detailed,
to break up the gang,amongthe eighteenor twenty persons arrested,
w^ere several residents of Eastern Richfield, their apprehension
being brought about through the efforts of their more respectable
neighbors; a local Akron paper, under date of April 7th, 1838, in
noticing the event, saying : "Much praise is due to the officers and
principal citizens of Richfield, and adjoining towns, for their
vigilance and aid in securing the experimenters on the currency."
From that time on, however, Richfield has been as free from
that class of crookedness as the average of her sister townships on
the Western Reserve, though a number of other damaging and
exciting episodes have taken place within her borders, in the
intervening half centurj^.
The Lunatic Horse-Thief. — Late in the Winter of 1859, there
came to the Kast Richfield hotel a well-dressed, gentlemanly-
appearing man, about thirty years of age, giving his name as Myron
B. Taylor. His luggage consisted of a grip-sack filled with personal
clothing, and a small box containing an assortment of fine
stationery, notions, etc., which he modestly offered for sale to the
people of the village and the guests at the hotel. He was very
reticent as to w^here he belonged, and though conversing coherently
and intelligently, in \vhat he did say, his talk and manner created
the impression that he w^as a little "off" in his mind.
A w^eek or so after the arrival of the stranger, a horse, which
had been hitched under the shed attached to Weld & Farnam's
store, one evening, was found to be missing, and on following the
track some sixteen oreighteen miles in a w^esterly direction, the horse
■was overtaken, with the stranger mounted upon its back. The
pursuing party immediately took him into custody and returned to
Richfield, where, believing that the quasi-peddler was a horse-
thief in disguise, and as a number of horses had been previously
stolen in the neighborhood, an excitement ensued that in a less
richfield's criminal record. 953
orderly community would have resulted seriously, if not fatally, to
the offender.
Making no defense, or explanation, he was committed to jail,
duly indicted and arraigned for trial at the March term of the
Court of Common Pleas for 1860. To the question of Judge
Carpenter: "Are you guilty or not guilty?" the prisoner simply
said : "I took the horse," and, declining to have counsel assigned
to him, or to enter into any explanation of his conduct or antece-
dents, he was accordingly sentenced to the penitentiary for three
years. On arriving at the prison (the writer was then Sheriff),
after examining the papers and looking at the prisoner, the warden
shook his head, with the remark: "There's something wrong
about this business, for that man is not a criminal."
Some two months after his incarceration, an intelligent young
lady, accompanied by a bright little boy about two years of age,
arrived in Richfield, bearing w^ith her papers and affidavits from
prominent citizens and high officials in the State of Vermont, not
only testifying to the good character of the supposed thief, but
that he was subject to periodical attacks of mental aberration, in
w^hich he had several times wandered away from home and friends
and engaged in some business to w^hich he was w^hoUy unaccus-
tomed at home ; on one occasion, in the State of New^ York, taking
a school and teaching until his lunacy w^as detected and his friends
and place of residence discovered.
These proofs, added to the appearance of the man himself,
were so satisfactory to the people of Richfield that the committing
magistrate accompanied the sorrowing wife and her child to
Akron, and laid the matter before the authorities here. Judge
Carpenter and Prosecuting Attorney Henrj^ McKinney, both
addressed letters to Governor Dennison, expressing conviction of
the lunacy of the prisoner, armed with which, and the papers
brought from Vermont, the writer visited Columbus and submitted
them to the governor. Governor Dennison immediately put on his
hat and accompanied the writer to the penitentiary, and after a
brief interview with the warden and the prisoner, he said : "Sheriff,
you go home, and send this man's wife to Columbus, and I will
w^aive the usual forms of advertising and petitioning for pardon,
and deliver him into her custody."
This was accordingly done on July 30, 1860, and being now in
his right mind, and feeling very sensitive about returning to
Vermont, after having been in prison for horse-stealing, they w^ent
w^est, settling in a small town in Iowa, w^here as the grateful w^ife,
in a feeling and pathetic letter, afterwards informed the writer
they were living contented and happy, though they had had
the misfortune to lose, by death, the bright little boy by whom she
w^as accompanied w^hen here.
The Hunter-Gargett Tragedy. — The most exciting episode
in the history of Richfield, and one of the most terrible tragedies
ever enacted in Summit county, was the double murder of Mr. and
Mrs. Robert Gargett, by the rejected lover of their daughter Chloe
— John H. Hunter — in 1871, a full account of which, with the gush-
ing correspondence between the lovers, and their pledges of
eternal fidelity before having personally met each other, together
w^ith the particulars of the tragedy, the trial and execution, will be
given in the next chapter.
954 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Richfield's Present Business Status. — The advent of rail-
roads, and the consequent change of business centers and
methods, gradually worked a change in the business status
of Richfield — the glory of her mercantile and manufacturing
operations having, in a large measure, departed, though still
superior to most of the toAvnship centers of the county. Besides
her large stock, fruit and dairy interests, by means of her
local and portable sawmills Richfield has, during the past few
years, furnished a large amount of hardwood lumber for the
Akron and Cleveland markets, though some^vhat handicapped by
lack of adequate transportation facilities, a disability w^hich she
fondly hopes Avill be removed by the construction of a railroad
south\vard from Cleveland, through her borders, at an early day.
At the East Center, the old well-remembered general store on
the northwest corner of the public square, occupied by the firm of
Weld & Farnam, (William C. Weld and Everett F%rnam), and on
the dissolution of that firm, about 1875, by Mr. Weld alone, until,
his death, in 1879, followed by Mr. I. M. Mather, and later by
Loomis Brothers, was burned in 1886, and has never been rebuilt^
Mr. George B. Clarke, now treasurer of the Jones Wholesale
Grocery Company, of Akron, having operated as salesman for
Messrs. Weld & Farnam, and Mr. Weld, individually, some fifteen
years previous to going into business for himself at the West
Center, in 1880, where he remained eight years. The ancient hotel,
the "Center JHouse," in a good state of preservation and repair, is
still doing duty as a hostelrie, with Mr. Fayette Viall as its popular
proprietor and landlord. On the southeast corner of public square
and the Peninsula road, Mr. Frank R. Brower, besides officiating
as postmaster, keeps a fair-sized stock of general merchandise.
At thtj West Center, the old, w^ell-known hotel, on the north-
east corner of the square, having been destroyed by fire some tw^o
or three years ago, the old Liberty Hall block, on the south side of
the street, was removed thither, by Sykes Brothers (DeLancey and
William B. Sykes), handsomely refitted and filled w^ith a well-
selected stock of general merchandise, dry goods, boots and shoes,,
groceries, provisions, etc., W. B. Sykes also officiating as post-
master of West Richfield.
West Richfield Hotel. — This is a new and well-appointed
hotel on the site of the store formerly occupied by Ex-Recorder
Henry C. Searles, near the northw^est corner of the public square,
owned by Mr. Baxter H. Wood, of Medina, but kept by Richfield's
veteran landlord, Eewis P. Ellas. Richfield Flouring and Saw
Mills, near West Center, John Ault, proprietor, still in successful
operation. Harness-Makers, and dealers in all kinds of horse
furnishing goods — Peter L. Allen (established over a third of a
century), and Seth Dustin. Cabinet Making and Undertaking,.
T. E.Ellsworth; — R. C. Ellsworth, manager. Cheese Factory — in
building formerly occupied by Henry W. Howe, Esq., in the man-
ufacture of spokes, axe-helves, etc. — Andrew R. Cassidy, of Pen-
insula, proprietor, Ed B. Reed, manager. Zebulon R. Townsend,
manufacturer of wagon hubs, oak stave baskets, cider, apple-
butter, jelly, etc. Painter, Paperhanger, Decorator, etc.,
Charles P. Townsend; Blacksmths — Sheldon E. Phelps (and dealer
in stoves, tinware, etc.); Henry Killifer, Michael Heltz; Rathburn &
Greenleese (C. F. Rathburn and Henry Greenleese); Julius C.
PRESENT TOWNSHIP OFFICERS,
955
Chapman. Wagon-Maker — Percy Dustin. John Holfelder,
manufacturer and dealer in boots and shoes. Miss A. M. Clark,
fashionable milliner, and dealer in millinery, fancy and stamped
goods. Asa P. Carr, carriage, house and general painter. George
L/. Dustin, carriage trimmer and dealer in carts, carriages, wagons,
etc. Samuel Fauble, stonemason and general contractor and job-
ber. Arthur C. Hart, veterinary surgeon. C. N. Damon, barber,
and dealer in confectionery, cigars, etc. J. M. Thorp, surgeon
dentist; the venerable Dr. Ewing having pretty much given up prac-
tice, Dr. Graham now bearing the medical honors of the township,
RICHFIELD'S PRESENT OFFICIAL STATUS (1891).
Trustees — William R. Townsend, Levi Halliwell, Ransom C,
Ellsworth; clerk, Harvey M. Welton; treasurer, Cyrus P. Brooks;
assessor, Fayette Viall; justices of the peace, William N. Weld and
George Townsend; constables, Fayette Viall and Asa P. Carr,
The oldest living native of Richfield is its long-time very efficient
tow^nship clerk, Harvey M. Welton, Esq.
CHAPTER XLVI.
THE HUNTER-GARGETT TRAGEDY — LOVE-MAKING BY PROXY AND LETTER —
MARRIAGE ENGAGEMENT— FIRST MEETING OF THE BETROTHED— PLEDGE OF
ETERNAL FIDELITY— INTERFERENCE OF FRIENDS— ENGAGEMENT BROKEN
OFF— ANGER OF REJECTED SUITOR— -VISIT TO FAMILY HOMESTEAD OF HIS
SWEETHEART — MURDER OF THE FATHER AND MOTHER— ATTEMPT ON LIFE
OF BROTHER— NARROW ESCAPE OF YOUNG LADY— ARREST OF MURDERER-
TERRIBLE EXCITEMENT AMONG THE PEOPLE— THE "CRAZY DODGE "—TRIAL,
CONVICTION AND SENTENCE— DESPERATE ATTEMPT AT SUICIDE— EXECU-
TION IN SUMMIT COUNTY JAIL— CRAVEN COWARDICE OF THE DOOMED MAN
—INSTANTANEOUS AND EASY DEATH— RIVALRY OF CLEVELAND AND AKRON
DOCTORS FOR THE BODY— SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF FAMILY, ETC.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
ROBERT GARGETT was born in Yorkshire, England, in
the year 1800, coming to America at the age of eighteen years,
and two years later, April 18, 1820, w^as married to Miss Elizabeth
Perkins, at Champlain, Clinton county, N. Y., his bride being about
five years his junior. After several years' residence in Champlain,
and in Canada, Mr. and Mrs. Gargett removed to Ohio, in 1834,
settling on a farm a short distance southwest of the Center of
Richfield, in this county.
Here, by indomitable industry, and the strictest frugality, they
surrounded themselves and their family w^ith all the comforts and
conveniences of a prosperous farmer's home, and at the date of their
tragic death, in May, 1871, as hereinafter detailed, were in the
enjoyment of both substantial wealth, and the very highest regard
of all w^ho knew them. Of their eight children, James Gargett,
Mrs. Mary Stiles and Mrs. Orpha Gee, at that time were residing
at, or near, Elm Hall, in the State of Michigan, w^hile the youngest
son, Rodney, then twenty-two years of age, and just married, was
living in a separate house upon the home farm; the youngest
daughter, only, Chloe E., aged 24, remaining w^ith her parents in
the old homestead.
John Henry Hunter was born in the city of Manchester,
England, July 1, 1839, and came to America when fifteen years of age.
Here he seems to have led rather a roving life, living for longer or
shorter periods of time at Quebec, Toronto, London, Berry, CoUing-
w^ood, Guelph, and St. Marys, in Canada, and at Detroit, Pontiac,
the Christian Islands, Elm Hall and Carson City, in the state of
Michigan, and at Hudson, Peninsula, Berea and Grafton, in the
state of Ohio, and following the varied callings of clerk in store,
book-keeper, postoffice clerk, carpenter, lumberman, teacher of
-writing and photography, hotel clerk, printer, laborer, oil well
digger, painter, etc.
The Romance of Love. — During the Summer of 1870, Hunter
formed the acquaintance of Mrs. Mary Stiles, at Elm Hall, Michigan,
Tvhere he was then working, and while at her house w^as shown
the picture of her sister, Chloe, then* living at the home of her
GUSHING LOVE CORRESPONDENCE. 957
parents in Richfield. The picture pleased him, and expressing a
wish to become acquainted with the original, at his request Mrs,
Stiles gave him a letter of introduction to her sister. On the strength
of this letter Hunter wrote to Miss Gargett, soliciting correspond-
ence, which was granted, the correspondence continuing from
March until October, 1870 ; a marriage engagement, having in the
meantime been entered into, before having personally seen each
other, and the most endearing expressions of undying affection
having been indulged in on both sides, in their respective letters.
A portion of this correspendence, only, is now accessible to the
writer, from which, as showing the tenor thereof, the following
brief extracts are here given :
The Correspondence. — In his introductory letter to Miss
Gargett, dated March 30, 1870, Hunter writes :
"My Dear Miss :— Throug-h the influence of your sister, Mrs. E. F. Stiles,
by my request, you have granted me the privilege of writing' you a letter of
introduction, which was, indeed very friendly, accepted from a stranger. I
am a young man, twenty -five years of age ; 5 feet 11 inches in heig^ht ;
light brown hair ; blue eyes, and weigh 150 pounds ; occupation, a carpenter,
but can take hold of anything- to make a living * * * j 3^^ ^ very healthy,
robust man in general. I am not addicted to drinking or keeping bad
company, for I detest all such. * * * j ^jji not a two-faced man, nor two-
sided, neither do I want to keep company with such, for its not my character.
* * * Your sister Mary is one of the best friends 1 have ever met in this
country. She has acted as a mother to me in a time of need, which I will
never forget. Your sister Orpha, also, has been the same. * * * jf you
were just such a woman as Mary / really would venture my life to gain
your affection. * * * You will not, I hope, keep me in suspense, waiting-
for an answer to this letter. I remain yours, with respect.
John H. Hunter."
Miss Gargett's reply to this letter is not at hand, but the next
from Hunter to her, dated April 8th, show^s the promptness v^rith
which she responded to his request for correspondence and the
general tenor of her initial letter :
" Miss Elizabeth : — I have received your welcome letter, and must say
that there is an air of straight-forward sincerity about it that I like. * * *
I did not request you to send me, or tell me, of your looks — for deeds and
actions are much preferable, although good-looking ladies in general are
very attractive, indeed. * * * I am always J. H. Hunter, every day alike;
can do business with any man ; have not a great deal to say in general, onl)^
when necessary, and too bashful to keep company with the ladies in public.
* * * There is not a man or woman can say anything against my
character, therefore 1 can keep respectable company. Now, Miss Gargett, I
do not wish to correspond with you for mere pastime, for I have come to
that time of day to leave such foolishness aside. I do not know whether
you want to get a companion for your future prospect or not. But 1 know it
is the case with me. And there is one more thing- 1 have to say ; if you want
a man with plenty of property, you won't fancy me. I want some person to
save for me, and then I can have a home. * * * £ really would like to
see you. I am sure we would have a g-ood long talk. * * * i never was
married, nor promised to be married, for it is only of late that I took the
notion, as I was afraid of getting on the bachelor's list. * * * Yours,
unchangeable.
J. H. Hunter."
To this letter, under date of April 13, 1870, Miss Gargett
responded as follow^s :
"Mr. J. H. Hunter:- How happj' 1 was to-night to receive your ever-
welcome letter — it came verj^ unexpected, for 1 was not looking' for one until
Saturday, although I was thinking of you and wishing' it was Saturday.
How I wish yon were here by mj' side, for I think you know we would have
S58 ^ AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
a g-ood visit. * * * You remarked that you did not know whether I wanted
a companion or not. If I could feel sure that he loved me, and one in whom
I could have confidence to go for advice and reason, I should be most happy
to win the hand and heart of such a man ; and believe me, John, you have a
Chloe who you can trust. * * * Think of me that thinks of thee.
Yours truly, C. E. Gargett."
Hunter's letter dated April 25, was mainly in reference to his
intended visit to Chloe, saying, in conclusion, that if they could
never get married they would always be friends, etc. A letter
from Miss Gargett, dated May 28th, commencing. "Mj^ Dearest
Good Friend," expressed great affection for him and said that she
had never found one in w^hom she could place such perfect
confidence ; that her love for him increased at every letter received
from him ; that she loved him; that he had her whole heart, etc.;
that she would stand by him in prosperity and in adversity;
■expressed the hope that they should soon be united ; w^as sure that
they w^ould agree, and closed by hoping that he w^ould "accept
these few lines from one who trusted only in him." On June 8th
Miss Gargett wrote to Hunter that she had been thinking of him
and w^ished to see him forty times a day; that she w^ould never be
happy w^ithout him, and longed for the time when she could call
him hers, and closed w^ith "I remain yours in love and sweet
affection."
It w^ill be impossible to give anything like the full text of even
such of the letters w^hich passed between this romantic couple as
are at the command of the w^riter, but as it appears that the gossip
and interference of relatives and friends in their love affairs,
had a direct tendency to bring about the estrangement that led to
the tragedy to be here recorded, it is deemed advisable to ~give
liberal extracts from two or three of those gushing missives.
June 11, 1870, Miss Gargett wrote as foUow^s :
"Dearest TvOVED Friend: — I have just finished reading your dearest
and loving letter, which found me in good health and as happy as one coul<#
be, w^hen away from the one that is dearer to me than any one else in the
world. My Dearest John, I do not think you can be any more anxious to see
me than I am to see you ; it seems sometimes, w^hen I get to thinking about
you, and of your coming to see me, as though I could not wait another
minute ; but I know that I must use some judgment about it, and that you
will come as soon as convenient. John, perhaps it is all for the best that we
have not as yet seen each other, for I think our love is increasing very much
for one another every day ; at any rate I know my love for you increases
daily, yes, hourly. * * * My Dearest John, your affectionate letter to-night
caused me to shed tears of both joy and sorrow. I wept for joy to think I
had at last found one who I believed loved me for myself alone. * * * You
may wonder why I shed tears of sorrow over your dear letter. It was on
account of what Orpha said. Oh, dear John, how could she be so cruel?
But it will make no difference with me whether she thinks I could do better
or not. Perhaps I could marry a richer man, but if I did not love him what
comfort would my husband or his money be to me? Not any ; and I do not
care w^hat Orpha or any one else says, in regard to your wealth, for I know
I shall never find a better man than you are. Those may marry for property
that wish to. * * * John, I am crying when I think of Orpha's remarks.
I think she did not do right, for, Dear John, you are just as deserving of a
loving companion as though you was rich, and you shall have one, too, if
my life is spared, if you will accept of my humble self ; and John, if you
think best, perhaps you had better wait till Fall before you come down
to see me. I have been thinking I would like to have you attend the
Richfield Fair, this Fall ; it will come off sometime the last part of September.
* * * I do not think you will ever bless the day that you and Mary became
acquainted any more than I shall. The sun of heaven shines bright and
FIRST MEETING OF THE LOVERS. 959
florious, and I feel as thoug-h the Creator of the Universe had made this
eautiful world specially to confer bliss upon vis poor mortals. * * * I
will now close by wishing you good night and pleasant dreams.
Yours in love, Chloe E. Gargett."
Eternal, Fidelity.— In another long letter, dated August 14,
1870, Miss Gargett commences : *'Mj^ Ever Beloved and Intended
Husband," and besides repeating many of the endearing expres-
sions, already quoted, made use of many others equally loving and
loyal to her plighted troth. Speaking of a married friend who
Avas supposed to be "rather afraid of her man," she said :
" If such is the case I feel sorrj^ for her, indeed I do. I do not know what
I would do if 1 had such a man; but I should be pretty apt to tell him that I
w^asn't born in the^woods to be scart by owls ; but 1 never would quarrel
with him. I have alwa^^s said, ever since I was knee high to a toad, that if
I couldn't live in peace and harmony with a husband I would not live at all.
But, mj^ own dear John, 1 know I shall never know how to sympathize with
those who have the misfortune to unite their destiny with such a luan, from
experience, for I know that my heart and hand are pledged to a pure and
loving soul, and to a whole-hearted man. * * * Our friends who
visit us in our sweet home, will find a paradise here below, and realize a
eight of Heaven, that beautiful place, the far away home of the soul ; for
" Love and Union " is our motto, and " United we stand, and divided we fall."
* * * But, dear Intended Husband, you will always be sure of
your Pet Chloe, (as you call her), whether you are rich or poor, for I never
will forsake yoti as long as my life is spared. * * * jf you had
gone off and we had not known each other, I know I should have died an old
maid, for you are certainly my mate, and the only one in this wide world.
Oh, I never thought I should be so well suited ; but I am suited to a T.
** * 1 think we did not waste much time in forming acquaint-
ance, but it's just as you say yourself. It is not much trouble to do any-
thing, when we know how it's done ; but it isn't every one that knows how.
But sister Mary is right ; we will just make a match span every time ; what
one can't think of the other will. * * * j gjji thinking there will
be some tall talking and laughing done when you come down.
* * * I could not sleep until I had answered your loving- let-
ter, which set my heart a throbbing with love for you * * * It is
nearly 12 o'clock, and so I will bid you a sweet good night, my heart's bright
star of love. How happj^ I am to feel sure in my heart, as I say good night,
^that nothing but death can ever part you and me. There is no' earthly power
can do it. * * * It would make no difference with me what Orpha
or any one else could write, and I ^■uess Orpha has nothing- to say against
you, dear John, for Mary says she likes you ; but if she does not, it will make
no difference, for I love you and always will ; no matter what any one tells
me, I am yours, and never can be anybody else's, and a happy and contented
couple we will make too, in spite of anybody in the world. * * *
From your loving and intended wife,
C. K. Gargett.
A sweet good night kiss from your Pet."
Meeting of the Lovers. — A letter from Miss Gargett, dated
August 27, abounding in similar asseverations of affection and
fidelity, declared that she would stick to him "like grim death,"
and a letter from Hunter, dated September 25, after referring to
his intention to soon visit her, said: "I am rather green, but, as
the girl said, 'it is better to be green than withered^' Further
on he said: ■' I w^ish you were locked in my arms and the key was
lost," and closed with " Your own true and intended husband, John
H. Hunter."
About the 20th of October, Hunter visited Miss Gargett, at the
home of her parents, where he was w^ell received by the family,
hospitably entertained, and created such a favorable impression
that, after a sojourn of some three or four days, he left as the
acknowledged suitor for Miss G's hand.
960 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
"The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth." — Return-
ing to Kim Hall, correspondence between the lovers was resumed
in much the same strain as before, but about a month later a
marked coolness began to pervade Miss G's letters which caused
Hunter, under date of December 6, to write as follows:
" Miss C. E. Gaegett : Dear Chloe— As I must still call you, it is with
no small amount of bitter g^rief or sadness that causes me to sit down ta
answer your letter of November 27, which I received this evening-. * * *
By the way you wrote this last letter to me so cold, I thought I would answer
it at this time. But no coldness has as yet reached the heart of the boy who
loved you as his own soul. I am so full of grief to-night, I am almost down
sick. Oh, Chloe, I have loved you dearly. But in the light that your love
appears to be in your last letter, cSuses tne sadly to lament the day I first
wrote to you. Oh, Chloe, don't deceive me. Come out in true colors and say,
as you said before, ' I am your true or intended wife.' If f^ou don't, for God's
sake tell me. Let us part and have no more correspondence, for I might as
w^ell know my future prospects first as last. * * * Marj^ has been
telling me of Orpha deceiving me and her also, and trying to pick faults
and bad meaning out of some things I should have said to her when I came
back from Ohio. She found fault because I mentioned your teeth to her;
also of your having a sore ear or head, and that I spoke of j'our not putting
on as much style as her or Mary. But if she takes that to herself, I think
she would say nothing to you about it, as your style suits me very well.
* * * Also Mr. Gee told Orpha he would not for $2o 5-011 would
marry me. * * * Your brother, James, was to Orpha's just before
she went down, and Isaac told him a lingo about us, and he said he would
write to you and put a stop to it. * * * If you are to marrj- to suit
them all, you will break the heart of a true and confidential lover. * * *
According to Orpha's say to Mary, she was going down to try to break your
promise. * * * But if you will only prove true to me. Chloe, I will
make you a happy wife during life. * * * What an awful feeling-
it is for either one of us to break that solemn promise for the false per-
suasions of others, and make ourselves forever unhappj- in this world.
* * * I am just one of the best boj'^s on the top of the earth, but
only a few know it, and that's just as I want it to be, for if you and me get
married we won't have to look to relations for a living, I hope, for I calculate
to do that part myself. * * * If I am too fast in my opinion of this
letter, I beg of you to forgive me, for as yoix said yourself, I fairly love the
gTOtind you tread on ; and why shouldn't I ? * * * i will now
address myself to you as usual, yotir loving and intended hvisband, which you
cut off in your last to me, also your first ; but I cannot do it. You said ' Yours
in love, etc. That is played out. Well, I must dr3^ up, as mj^ paper is near
full also. * * * From your intended husband,
A big kiss for you as usual." J. H. Hunter.
The Final Dismissal. — In reply to the foregoing letter, under
date of December 11, Miss Gargett wrote:
" Dearest John :
Yours of December 6, reached me safel}' last evening, which found me
quite well. John, you accused me of sending you a cold letter. From all
accounts I think I had good reason for doing so. I know it is not a very
pleasant situation to be in, but it is nothing when a person gets used to it.
John, why did you not tell me, when you were here, that j'ou thought I had
tried to fool you on my age and false teeth? I never tried to fool jou on
either. If I had I should have accomplished mj- desire; and as for my taste
and style, I think I shall always do in the future as in the past, have one of
my oivn. You say you had no fault to find with the material, but the fitting
and making did not suit; that I hadn't near as good taste as Mrs. Stiles or
Mrs. Gee. So that is your mind on the subject, is it? Well, 1 can soon tell
w^hat my opinion is. I think the best thing you can do is to marr}- some one
of my tasty sisters, for I do not wish a man for my husband that is more
taken up with my relatives than with me. * * * j think if there
has been any fooling on either side, you are the one that has done it, for I
have never written one thing to you and told another storj' to some one else.
What else was it but trying to deceive nie when you wrote that you could
not find a single fault with me, and at the same time telling others that I
had not near as good taste as my sisters. * ♦ * Besides, John,
THREATENS DIRE VENGEANCE. 961
you do not give a very straig^ht history of your life. I, of course, thought it
to be my dutj^ to find out all I could in regard to your past life and 1 find
that you tell different stories in regard to your parents, etc. * * *
I tell you, John, things look dark to me. I feel as though you had done your
best to deceive me. * * * j understand that you say you thought I
had never been around much. I am glad you think so; but if I have not, I
am sharp enough for the most of you fellows, every time. * * * * I had
some doubts in my mind when you were down here, caused by the run of
your conversation, which set me to thinking, and I asked soine questions and
of course they told me what they knew of you; and I find that you have tried
to deceive me the verj' worst kind, and for that reason I could not write you
as formerly. I can assure j^ou, dear John, it is no pleasure for me to write
you this letter, for I had placed great confidence in you, and expected to
have you to walk beside through life. But I am very thankful that I got my
eyes open before we were married, for, John, we are much better off to part
as we are now, than to get married and lead an unhappy life. * * *
I, of course, have no doubt you feel bad, but no more so than I do, for it is
not very pleasant, after inaking the promises to each other that we have, to
have any trouble arise like this * * * i presume it will be many a
long day before 3"ou or me will forget the past. 1 know I shall carry it writ-
ten on my heart to the grave * * * Oh, John, this is a very sad
hour to me. I can never have any more confidence in the inen, if I find you
have deceived me, as I fear you have. I am thinking of coming up when
Orpha comes hoiue. If I do "we can talk this matter over, but if I should not
come if j^ou think this worth}' of an answer I shall be glad to hear from you.
But, John, wherever you are, j'ou iriay know I often think of you. This from
your sad
Chloe."
Miss Gargett Visits Michigan. — As intimated in the last
quoted letter, Miss Gargett's sister, Orpha, Avas then on a visit to
her parents, in Richfield, and on her return to Michigan, soon
afterwards, Miss Gargett accompanied her, remaining through the
Winter; spending a portion of the time with her sisters, Mrs. Gee
and Mrs, Stiles at Elm Hall, and a portion with her brother, James
Gargett, at Alma, some ten or eleven miles from Kim Hall.
While at her brother's, in the latter part of December, Hunter
called to see her. He inquired of her w^hy she had treated him so?
To w^hich she replied that he had deceived her; that he had lied to
her, and was not the inan he had represented himself to be. He
then turned upon her brother and accused him of having broken
off the match because of his poverty, and left in considerable of a
rage. Sometime afterwards he called again, and asked to see
Chloe. Mr. Gargett went and called her, but she sent word to
Hunter that she did not wish to see him. Whereupon he became
very angr}^, pulled off his coat and swore that he would see her if
she w^as in the house. Mr. Gargett stepped in front of him and
told him he could not run that house while he was there. Hunter
replied with an oath, that if Gargett interfered he must take the
consequences, whereupon Gargett said: "You infernal scoundrel
get out of the door," and as he did not move fast enough to suit
him, Gargett kicked him out.
Hunter Threatens Revenge. — Hunter always seems to have
been of a very vain and boastful turn of mind, and from the very
commencement of his correspondence with Chloe, and especially
after that correspondence had developed into a marriage engage-
ment, he made a confidant of almost every one with whom he
conversed, showing and reading her letters to them, and boasting
of the handsome dower she would bring him, which he variously
stated at from $10,000 to $16,000; and after his his final rejection he
was continually talking about the matter to whoever would listen
61
962 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
to him, and threatening vengeance against James Gargett, and the
other members of the family, who had come between him and
"his girl." These threats, of course, reached the ears of Miss Gar-
gett and her friends, but were regarded as idle talk, born of his
insatiate vanity and boastful proclivities, or uttered Avhile under
the influence of intoxicating liquors, to the use of which he w^as
more or less addicted. But the sequel showed that his talk was
not as idle as had been imagined.
Deliberately Planning for Revenge. — About the middle of
May, 1871, Miss Gargett returned to her home, in Richfield, on
learning which. Hunter, in his usual braggart manner, sAvore that
he would follow her to Ohio, demand a fulfilment of her promise,
and compel her to marry him, or he would "clean out" the entire
Gargett family, accompanying these threats with a great show of
anger, and the most profane and obscene expressions that his
naturally low instincts could devise. These wild anathemas, too,
were regarded as idle talk, by those in w^hose presence they were
uttered, the general belief being that he was too cowardly to
attempt to put his threats into execution. But in this opinion,
also, his acquaintances seem to have been mistaken, as evidenced
by his subsequent conduct.
Starts on His Fatal Mission. — About the 20th day of May,
1871, Hunter borrowed of Mr. J. G. Lace^', of Carson City, Mich., a
seven-shooter revolver, having previously informed Mr. Lacey
that he was going to Ohio to get married. On Thursday, May 25,
Hunter, armed with this revolver, and carrying two small satchels,
one of which contained the letters which had been written to him
by Miss Gargett, left Elm Hall for Ohio, going by stage to
Pewamo, and from thence, by rail, to Detroit, where he took a
steamer for Cleveland, arriving at the latter place on Saturday
morning. May 27. Here he took passage with Moses McFarlin,
then carrying the mail between Cleveland and Copley, leaving
Cleveland about eight o'clock a. m.
On the way to Richfield, Hunter talked freely to Mr. McFarlin
about his love affairs; exhibited his letters; showed a picture of
Chloe; said he w^as going down to marry her; that there had never
been any trouble between him and the girl, but that her friends in
Michigan had interfered, etc. On the suggestion from McFarlin
that perhaps the old folks wouldn't let him see Chloe, Hunter
clapped his hand to his side pocket, took out his revolver, saying
that it contained seven loads, and that he Avould see the girl or
"clean out the whole shebang-" that he was "just John Bull
enough to do it."
The Bloody Double Tragedy. — On his arrival at the West
Center of Richfield, Hunter met Rodney Gargett at the postoffice.
They shook hands and cordially greeted each other. Hunter telling
Rodney that he was going to their house; hadn't much to do and
had set some hands to work on a job of painting, telling them he
shouldn't be back for a couple of w^eeks; asked if Chloe w^as at
home; said he supposed that Rodney had learned that he and
Chloe had had some difficulty, and that he had come down to talk
the matter over, and thought they vi^ould all feel better over it.
Hunter went to the hotel and changed his clothes, then
accompanied Rodney to a saw mill and helped unload the log he
had hauled in; accompanied him to another mill and assisted in
THE DOUBLE MURDER. 963
»
loading up with lumber; then went to hotel together where they
■drank two or three glasses of beer each, which Hunter paid for,
^nd, at a little after six o'clock in the evening, started for the Gar-
rett homestead, distant about one mile and a quarter.
The conversation on the w^ay Avas of a quiet, pleasant, and
friendly character, with no intimation from Hunter of the deep
passion rankling in his breast. The Gargett farm was situated
upon the south side of an east and west road, the house fronting
to the north. A short distance east of the house was a broad lane,
between the dooryard and the barn, into which a small gate
•opened, about opposite the kitchen door. As Rodney and Hunter
drove down the road, Mr. Gargett and a neighbor, Mr. S. M. Waldo,
were standing near the east side of the lane, the hired man,
Richard Abrams, being in the barnyard, milking, while Mrs.
Oargett and Chloe virere in the house; the latter up stairs dressing
for a party. As Rodney and Hunter drove into the lane, and passed
where Mr. Gargett and Mr, Waldo were standing, Mr. Gargett,
having a pail in his hand, hastily stepped towards the gate, lead-
ing to the house. Rodney Gargett dismounted from the load of
lumber upon the left, or east, side, while Hunter dismounted upon
the west side. Hastily approaching Mr. Gargett, as he was pass-
ing through the gate. Hunter said, "Good evening Mr. Gargett,"
±o which the old gentleman made no replj', but passed on towards
the house. Following him up Hunter said "Where's Chloe? I
Avant to see her," to which Mr. Gargett replied, "No matter where
«he is; she don't w^ant to see you," and ordered him to leav^e the
premises, whereupon Hunter drew his revolver and shot Mr. Gar-
gett in the" head, about two inches above the eye, Mr. Gargett
instantly falling to the ground, insensible. At this time Mrs. Gar-
gett w^as standing in the kitchen door, in full view of what Avas
going on, and upon hearing the report of the pistol, and seeing her
husband fall, uttered a loud scream, and rushing to the chamber
<ioor called to Chloe to run for her life.
On the fall of Mr. Gargett, Hunter rushed into the house, and
encountering Mrs. Gargett, in the hall, near the foot of the
chamber stairs, without a word, raised his weapon and fired at her,
the ball entering her head near the left temple, killing her
instantly. By this time Rodney rushed into the house and grap-
pled with the assassin, who in the desperate struggle that ensued
fired at him, the shot passing through his ear, causing him to fall
out of the door, and for a moment rendering him unconscious. On
recovering himself, Rodney mounted one of the horses w^hich had
in the meantime been unhitched from the wagon by the hired
man, and rode post-haste to the West Center for help.
Escape of Chloe— Plucky Mrs. Poole. — Chloe being, as before
stated, upstairs on hearing and recognizing Hunter's voice, and
the report of the revolver, looked out of the w^indow^ and saw her
father lying upon the ground. At once comprehending the dread-
ful work that was being done below, she ran down the stairs just
^8 her mother opened the door, and called upon her to flee for her
life. Thereupon she rushed up-stairs again, and at the very
moment her mother was shot to death, at the hands of her infuri-
ated lover, she jumped from the front chamber w^indow to the
ground, and ran across the street to the house of Mrs. Caroline
Poole, who, hearing the firing, was running over to see what the
964 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
matter was. With the exclamation "Oh, don't tell him where I
am!" Chloe continued on to Mrs. Poole's, Avhile Mrs. Poole herself
continued on to the scene of blood and carnage.
Seeing Mr. Gargett in the yard, apparently dead, Mrs. Poole
passed into the house to look after Mrs. Gargett. On entering she
encountered Hunter, near the kitchen door, reloading his revolver,
and said to him: "Oh, dear sir, w^hat have you been doing? hand
me that pistol." Hunter replied, " Don't come near me !" and lev-
eled his pistol at her, and continuing said: "I want the girl; I
want Chloe, and the girl I'll have. I won't hurt her, but I will
have her." Mrs. Poole then crowded past Hunter and went in to-
find Mrs. Gargett, whom she found lying dead upon the floor
of the sitting room. Presently Hunter came storming in, saying:;
"I will have the girl, she's in this house and I am determined to
have her!" He then opened the stair door and rushed up into the
chamber.
Mrs. Poole thereupon ran rapidly to her ow^n house, and telling^
Chloe to secrete herself in the cellar, started back, meeting Hunter,
who, not finding Chloe in the upper rooms of the Gargett house^
had followed her across the street. Here Hunter again said: "I
want Chloe, and must have her; I must kiss her before I die."
Mrs. Poole then went up to him and laid her hand upon his arm,
saying: " My dear sir, consider what you are doing." He pointed
his pistol at her, saying: " Don't touch me!" She said: "I w^on't
touch you, but consider what you are doing." He replied: " I have
considered; I am rational and conscious of all that I am doing;"
and continuing, said: "Read those letters; (handing her the
satchel) I've been cruelly deceived; read and judge for yourself
\srhether I am justified in w^hat I have done; I mean to die and die
by my own hand," repeating the latter declaration a number
of times.
Mrs. Poole's little children here called to their mother to come
into the house, for he would shoot her. She said, " No, sir; you
w^on't shoot me, will you?" to which he replied, "No, madam; you
are innocent; shake hands," and immediately put his pistol in hi*
pocket, adding: " I have been engaged to Chloe twice; once before
I saw^ her and once afterwards, and this is what she has done for
me." Still expressing his wish and determination to see Chloe,
Mrs. Poole, to divert his attention from her premises, suggested
that she might be in some of the outbuildings, and started w^ith
him out of the gate tow^ards the Gargett place, Hunter in the
meantime saying " He (Mr. Gargett) ordered me from the place
and struck me with the pail, and I shot him, and I'm glad of it. I
know^ that I must die for this, and I mean to shoot myself." He
then had the pistol in his right hand, and taking off his cap, saidr
"Yes, lam going to shoot myself." Mrs. Poole said, "Pray, don't
shoot yourself while I am here," and turned her face aw^ay, when
he replied, "Oh, no, I can't shoot myself; I must have one more
kiss before I die."
The Assassin Arrested. — While this parley was being held
between Mrs. Poole and the assassin, the alarmed neighbors began
to arrive, and he was very soon afterwards secured, Mr. J. E. Buck,
w^atching his opportunity, seizing him around the waist and arm»^ "
from behind, while Mr. Klbridge Bigelow grappled him by the
throat and took the revolver from him. He w^as then bound w^ith
INDICTMENT, TRIAL, ETC. 965
a rope. There was, of course, very great excitement, as the news
of the double murder spread from house to house, and in an
incredibly short space of time the premises swarmed with a large
and terribly excited multitude of people.
There was considerable^ talk about inflicting summary ven-
geance upon the double — almost triple— murderer, divining which
Hunter said they might hang him or shoot him, but he begged of
them not to hurt or abuse him. The better counsels of the order-
loving people of the neighborhood, however, prevailed, and he w^as
«oon afterwards taken to the West Center of Richfield, by Mr.
Martin C. Bentley, who immediately filed an affidavit before
Justice J. A. Chandler, charging him with the murder of Mrs.
Gargett, After a brief examination of w^itnesses. Justice Chandler
held him to answer to the Court of Common Pleas then in session,
and delivered him into the hands of Constable William F. Huddle-
Bton, who, accompanied by Mr. Kmmon S. Oviatt, now of Akron,-
as special constable, and by Mr. Martin A. Marquitt, of Hinckley,
as teamster, took him to Akron the same night and committed
him to jail.
Coroner's Inquest, Indictment, Etc. — On Sunday, May 28,
1871, Justice J. A. Chandler, in the absence of Coroner O. E. Gross,
summoned a jury to inquire into the cause of Mrs. Gargett's
death, composed of the following named gentlemen: R. C. Ells-
■worth, Norris Humphrey, J. B. Lambert, S. E. Shepard, H. E.
Newton, and C. N. Jagger; the verdict of the jury, after hearing
the testimony, being, that the deceased came to her death by a
shot from a revolver fired by the hand of John H. Hunter.
The regular grand jury for May term of the Court of Common
Pleas being still in session w^hen the prisoner w^as committed to
jail, on the second day of June, returned two true bills against
Hunter, for murder in the first degree, in the shooting of Mrs.
Elizabeth Gargett, and for assault w^ith intent to kill in shooting
at and wounding Rodney Gargett. On Monday, June 5, the pris-
oner, on being arraigned, pleaded "Not Guilty" to both
indictments.
Death of Robert Gargett — Special Grand Jury, Etc. — Mr.
Gargett, though unconscious all the time, lingered just one week
when he also expired. A special grand jury was immediately
impaneled which, on June 8, found another true bill against the
prisoner, of murder in the first degree, in the killing of Robert
Gargett, to which indictment the defendant also pleaded "Not
Guilty." A motion was at this time made, by defendant's counsel,
for a continuance of the case, on which he was to be first tried
^the murder of Mrs. Gargett) until the next term, which was over-
ruled, and July 17 >vas fixed for the trial to commence.
The Trial — Impaneling Jury, Etc. — Promptly on the day
fixed the case was called. Judge S. W. McClure on the bench,
Jacob A. Kohler, Esq., prosecuting attorney, assisted by Hon. Sid-
ney Edgerton, Hon. Henry McKinney and George M. Wright,
Esq., appearing on behalf of the State, and General A. C. Voris,
H. C. Sanford, Esq., Hon. E. P. Green and R. J. Winters, Esq., on
behalf of the defendant. The trial continued two weeks, and dur-
ing the whole time the court room was thronged daily by a great
•crowd of persons, a large proportion of whom were ladies, eager
lo catch every w^ord spoken in reference to the case.
966 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
A venire of thirty-six jurors had been summoned, and the^
usual examination as to qualifications had been entered into, but
the entire venire was exhausted without securing a single satis-
factory juror. A special venire was issued embracing 150 addi-
tional names, -which w^as also exhausted before securing a full
panel, Avhereupon a second special vemre of 150 names w^as ordered
and finally a third. After the examination and rejection of some-
thing over 200 persons, the panel was pronounced full, and the
jury was duly sw^orn, as follows: Justus Rockwell, of Akron; John
B. Harrison, of Cuyahoga Falls; Andrew Fenn, of Tallmadge;
Garry T. Preston, of Tallmadge; Marcus Brundige, of Akron -
Melchiah Sherbondy, of Portage; Samuel Keller, of Tallmadge;'
Alexander M. Russell, of Franklin; Joseph Babb, of Portage;
Orlen A. Chapman, of Portage; Edward A. Barber, of Portage;,
and William Prior, Jr., of Northampton,
Three days and a half had thus been consumed in the selection
of the jury, so that the trial proper did not commence until the
afternoon of Thursday, July 20. A statement on behalf of the
prosecution was made to the jury, by Prosecuting Attorney
Kohler, in M^hich a brief history of the case was given from the
commencement of the correspondence between the defendant and
Chloe Gargett, until his commitment to jail on the charge on
w^hich he was about to be tried. General Voris, on behalf of the
prisoner, said that he did not want to make any statement on the
part of his client, until the evidence for the State had been closed,,
but simply wished to caution the jury against forming any con-
clusions in the case until the evidence on both sides was all in,,
saying: "We do not ask pity for the accused; "sve simply ask that
strict justice be done him in every particular."
The following named witnesses w^ere sw^orn and examined in.
behalf of the State: J. G. Lacey, of Carson City, Mich., from w^hom
Hunter had borrow^ed the revolver; Moses McFarlin, with w^hom
he rode from Cleveland to Richfield; Robert Rodney Gargett, son
of the deceased, -with whom he rode from Richfield to the farm
and who witnessed the killing and w^as himself wounded; Seth H^
Waldo, who also witnessed the shooting; Mrs. Caroline Poole, to-
whose house Chloe Gargett fled to escape the vengeance of her
discarded lover; Elbridge Bigelow, J. E. Buck, W. F. Huddleston,.
E. S. Oviatt and E. S. Bentley, w^ho made the arrest and conveyed
the prisoner to Richfield Center, and thence to the jail in Akron*
Dr. Wesley Pope, of Richfield, who made a superficial examina-
tion of both Mr. and Mrs. Gargett, after the shooting; Dr. B. S,
Chase, of Akron, who made the post-mortem examination of Mrs^
Gargett's body; and Captain D. Mcintosh, of Elm Hall, Mich., who-
had heard Hunter threaten the whole family if they did not give
up the girl to him. All of these eleven w^itnesses w^ere searchingly
cross-examined, by defendant's counsel, nearly tw^o full days being'
consumed in their examination.
Insanity the Defense. — On the coming in of court, on Satur-
day morning, July 22, the sixth day of the trial, Prosecutor
Kohler, on behalf of the State, announced that the prosecution
rested, whereupon General Voris proceeded to state to the jury the
line of defense which would be presented on behalf of the
accused, saying: '* We expect to prove that the accused, John H,
Hunter, at the time he committed the deed for w^hich he is being"
INSANITY THE DEFENSE. *967
tried, and for several months prior to that time, was insane, and
to such a degree that he had not the power of self-control, or the
ability to form a sane judgment as to his actions." General Voris
then proceeded to detail, at length, the grounds upon which his
theory was based; the impairment of his mind by a blow^ received
upon his head a year or two before; the unnatural and insane
actions of the accused, in connection with his love affairs, and his
troubles, and his real or imaginary wrongs emanating therefrom.
Though the time between the commission of the crime and
the day set for the trial had been short, the indefatigable counsel
for the defense had w^orked up a very large array of evidently
honest testimony in support of the theory advanced. Affidavits
were read from Mrs. Fidelia A. Betts, of Pewamo, Mich., with
w^hom Hunter had boarded several w^eeks two or three years
before, upon whom he had often called when in Pewamo, and to
whom he had told his troubles about "his girl;" Jonathan E.Moser,
hotel-keeper at Pewamo, with whom he had also boarded, and
w^ith whom he took supper on the eve of his departure for Ohio;
George W. Palmer, of Bloomer, Mich., for whom he had worked
six or eight weeks, and with whom he boarded during that time;
Henry M. Robinson, of Bloomer, for whom he w^orked and with
w^hom he boarded for about two Aveeks in April, 1871, and to w^hom
he told the story of his wrongs; Augustus C. Burnham, and Mr.
and Mrs. Orlando Goldthrite, of Carson City; Franklin M. Pruden,
of Bloomer; Mrs. Sarah Ann Scott, James Moorman and Fred E.
Scott, of Carson City, to all of whom he had repeatedly told his
tale of w^oe, and uttered his maledictions against those by whom
his separation from " his girl" had been brought about. »
Oral testimony was also given in support of the insanity
theory by Rev. Lathrop Cooley, then of Akron, who had visited the
prisoner in jail, Lawyer D, M. Wilson, of Youngstow^n, and J. J.
Hall, Esq., of Akron, who had conversed with him in jail; William
McNeil, Ransom Cole, O. H. Fitts, and Daniel Peck, who had
known him in Peninsula some five or six years before, as to his
general cheerful deportment at that time. Drs. William Bowen,
J. J. Smith and Charles R. Merriman testified as experts on the
subject of insanity, based upon the testimony of witnesses, and
the hypothetical cases stated by counsel, that they would pro-
nounce him insane, or at least a monomaniac upon the subject of
" his girl." The defense, after reading a portion of the correspondence
between Hunter and Miss Gargett; a pretty full synopsis of which
is given earlier in this narrative, for the double purpose of showing
a marriage agreement (which the counsel for the State conceded)
and of accounting for the disturbance of the defendant's mind,
announced, soon after the convening of court on Tuesday afternoon,
July 25, that the defense rested.
Testimony in Rebuttal. — E. W. Stuart, Esq., testified to read-
ing to the defendant, in the jail, an affidavit for continuance which
had been prepared by his counsel, w^hich he had signed and sworn
to in regular form. James Gargett testified as to his conduct at his
house, as heretofore detailed, and in regard to a conversation had
with him in the jail in which Hunter seemed to fully realize what
he had done, saying that "he wouldn't have done it, if he (James),
hadn't opposed him so." Hiram Alexander, George Torrey, George
Boyd, Dr. Edward Wilson, F. Oliver, William McCloud, Dr. Daniel
968 • AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Brant and Isaac Gee, of Kim Hall; and H. P. Miller, of Carson
City, Mich., all of whom had know^n Hunter during his residence
in that vicinity, and were familiar w^ith his habits and actions, tes-
tified to their belief in his sanity, while Jacob Fillius, S. B. Price
and Carlisle Birge, of Hudson, who had known him there, in 1865,
testified to his boastful and excitable disposition, while living
there. Norman Oviatt, of Richfield, had seen nothing strange
about him while helping Rodney Gargett load lumber at his mill
an hour or so before the murder. N. W. Goodhue and Charles
Rinehart had talked with him in jail without discovering any
signs of insanity about him, while Sheriff Curtiss, w^ho had him
in charge, had never discovered anything unusual in his conduct,
when others were not present. Drs. Thomas McEbright, E. W.
Howard and E. Hitchcock, of Akron, ^vere examined, as experts,
and testified, that from the testimony given and the hypotheses
submitted, he was, in their opinion, of sound mind at the time he
committed the deed.
The Arguments of Counsel. — The testimony being all in. Gov.
Edgerton opened the argument, on the part of the State, on Thurs-
day morning, occupying about t\vo hours, in a masterly revievir of
the circumstances attending the homicide, and of the principles of
law governing such cases; spoke of the increasing tendency to
interpose the plea of insanity in cases of fearful crimes; analyzed
the testimony bearing on that phase of the defense, during his
remarks, paying a glowing tribute to the tact and bravery of Mrs.
Poole, in shielding the stricken and fleeing, and suddenly orphaned,
Chloe Gargett, from the murderous fury of her discarded lover.
H. C. Sanford, Esq., opened for the defense, occupying the bal-
ance of the day (about six hours), in an exhaustive presentation of
the authorities bearing upon insanity and homicidal mania, citing
many of the acts and expressions of Hunter, both in regard to his
love troubles and other matters, developed by the testimony, as
fully establishing his lack of responsibility for the act which he
had committed, and closed w^ith a very eloquent and earnest appeal
to the jur}' to deal justly and impartially by the accused in the
rendition of their verdict, as they should answer to their con-
sciences and their God.
Gen. A. C. Voris followed his colleague on the defense, com-
mencing his address immediately on the coming in of the Court,
on Friday morning, July 26, and occupying the entire forenoon. It
w^as one of the most masterly efforts of the General's professional
life, covering the entire range of medical jurisprudence upon the
subject of lunacy and mental disturbances, and their .rfglation to
acts of violence ; quoting extensively from both medical and
judicial authors; review^ing and dissecting the testimony; com-
menting on and combatting the argument of Gov. Edgerton on
behalf of the State, and closing with a very impressive appeal to
the jury to save the life of the defendant, saying: "Remember
that if you make a mistake against this man's life, you cannot go
beyond the grave to rectify it. May God guide you to a true deliv-
erance on this awfully momentous occasion, and we shall be con-
tent w^ith your verdict. Gentlemen, the scales of justice are in
your hands. To your deliberations are committed the most
weighty interests that concern mankind. What you are now doing
will sound to eternity. For the life of this man w^e trust you."
CHARGE, VERDICT, SENTENCE, ETC. 969
Hon. J. A. Kohler followed Gen, Voris, with the closing argu-
ment for the State, occupying all of Fridaj afternoon. The crime
of malicious and premeditated murder, as well as the various other
degrees of homicide, was clearly defined; the statutes pertaining
thereto quoted; and in relation to the defense of insanity \vhich
had been interposed, the charge of Judge Birchard to the jury in
a similar case was cited: "Was the accused a free agent in form-
ing the purpose to kill ? Was he, at the time the act was com-
mitted, capable of judging Avhether that act was right or wrong?
If you say nay, he is innocent; if yea, and you find the killing to
have been done purposely, with deliberate and premeditated
malice, he is guilty." The entire effort of Mr. Kohler was clear,
concise, logical, eloquent and impassioned ; closing his remarks to
the jury with these words: "You answer to God for the manner
in which you discharge your duty and leave other ministers of
justice to the same great Being, for the manner in Avhich they dis-
charge theirs. We are not law-makers; it is our duty to enforce
the law^ as it is, and to bring its penalties to bear against the law-
breaker. May wisdom direct you in your investigations of the
case, so that justice may be vindicated, and that you may, in the
spirit of your oaths, make true deliverance between the State and
the accused."
The Charge — The Verdict. — On Saturday morning, July 29,
the thirteenth day of the trial. Judge McClure gave his charge to
the jury, occupying a little over half an hour in its delivery. The
Judge, after defining the different degrees of homicide, and the
law applicable thereto, and properly defining and explaining the
terms, deliberation, premeditation, malice, etc., proceeded to quote,
and adopt as his own, the language of Judge Boynton in his
charge to the jury upon the trial of Vendruth D. Washburn, upon
a similar offense, and with a similar defense, a year or so before,
and in conclusion said: "Gentlemen, I have now discharged my
duties, imperfectly it may be, but faithfully and impartially, I hope;
I leave you to discharge yours, in full confidence that you
w^ill discharge them fearlessly and faithfully. If the defendant w^as
insane at the time he committed the bloody deed with w^hich he
stands charged, it would be cruelty to convict. But, if not insane,
it would be equally cruel to society to turn him loose again." The
jury retired to their room at about 9 o'clock, and at 11:30 returned
into the court with their verdict, which w^as read by the clerk as
follows:
" We the jury, impaneled and sworn to well and truly try, and true deliv-
erance make, between the State of Ohio and the prisoner at the bar, John H.
Hunter, do find the defendant g-uilty of murder in the first degree.
Wm. Prior, Jr., foreman."
The Sentence — The Prisoner's Speech. — During the rendition
of the verdict, the prisoner sat w^ith his face in his hands, and his
elbows resting on his knees, listening attentively to the reading,
w^ith a seeming full comprehension of its import, but making no
especial demonstration of feeling except through a slight trem-
bling of the knees. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the prisoner w^as
brought into court for sentence, an immense throng of people
being in attendance. A motion for a new trial, submitted by
defendant's counsel, was overruled by the Court, and the
970 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
condemned man was commanded to stand up to receive his sen-
tence. On his rising to^is feet, Judge McClure said:
"On the second day of June, 1871, the Grand Jury of the county of Sum-
mit returned an indictment against you, charging' you, in substance, that on
the 27th da^^ of May last, in the township of Richfield, in said county, you
murdered Klizabeth Gargett. To this charge you interposed a plea of not
guilty. The determination of the issues, thus joined, has been submitted to
a jury of able and impartial men. Your defense has been conducted by
able counsel, who have left no fair or honorable means untried which
tended, in anj^ degree, to manifest j^our innocence of a crime so monstrous
and if established, so disastrous to your earthly hopes. That jury has
returned a verdict declaring you guilty of murder in the first degree, thus
sustaining the charge described. Having thus informed yovi of the verdict
of the jury, in accordance with the requireiuents of the law, in accordance
with the provisions of the same law. I now ask you whether j^ou have any-
thing to say why judgment should not now be pronounced against you,,
subjecting you to the penalty prescribed for such crime?"
The prisoner, in a low but firm tone of voice, and without any
special manifestation of excitement, proceeded to speak as follows,
" Your Honor, I think I have been dealt with unjustly. My first reason
is that 1 had not the witnesses to prove my case, that I wanted my attorneys
to get for me. There have been witnesses here on the stand with whom I
never had any acquaintance whatever. I have been charged on the stand b5^
Dr. Torrey, that I owed him $60 for board. I deny it. I never owed him a
cent luore than $30. They deny that I ever had ah interview with my girl at
Elm Hall, but it is not so. I 'did see her twelve, yes, fovirteen evenings. I
was to uphold her in every shape and form. They have denied me a right-
ecms trial. They have accused me of shooting MrS. Gargett. I say I never
remeinber seeing her at all. So help me God ! So help me God ! I never
saw her ! I never had any recollection of Mrs. Gargett. I remember seeing
Mr. Gargett, the first and last. I atu not a murderer. The last I remember is
jumping off the w^agon. I bought the revolver for the purpose of shooting
inyself if I did not get mj^ girl. I don't value my life. My girl is what 1 die
for, and this is what I die for. They tore out my heart in Michigati. When
I went to see her they kicked me out of the house. They never brought her
here to the trial. They had a right to bring her here and Mrs. Stiles. I never
was afraid to meet her. They treated me as a child. I never harbored any-
thing against Mrs. Gargett. I gave her time to overlook the engagement,,
but they were all satisfied with me. I told Mr. and Mrs. Gargett, last Fall,,
that I was a poor man ; that I had traveled a great deal and spent a great
deal of money. It may have been foolish ; but we are all foolish. I was
going- to settle down. I have been a true man to her. The last time I saw
my girl was at the hotel in Elm Hall, and George Torrey, who swore my life
away, held the horses as I helped her into the cutter. It was then that she
said she would stick to ine if the devil w^as at the back door. I am willing ta
die for my girl, but not for murder. It is not for the murder of Mrs. Gargett
that I die. I do not recollect her — I do not recollect her — I do not, I say,,
recollect her. When they say she was not at Elm Hall, they say what is not
true. Chloe was in Elm Hall three weeks, and we visited together. This is
the truth from the lips of a dying man. If I had money to bring my witnesses
to Ohio, I would be an innocent man to-day. I am no murderer,
I am destitute; I have no relations in America. I did not know what
was ahead of me. I was willing to die, but. Oh, God! I w^anted to bid
her good bye. I was ready to lay down my life for my girl in Michigan,
When I went to James Gargett's to see her, he said I couldn't see her. I
asked him why? He said she didn't want to see me. I said she did want to
see me. When she came down stairs — I shall never forget it to my dying
day— she sat with her head down as if her heart would break with bitter
grief, because she couldn't speak to me, and I knew she wanted to see me.
Mr. Gargett told her she should not see me, and they kicked me out of the
house. I told her to come to Elm Hall and I'd see her. Three days after
she sent me a letter saying: " Coiue over, John, for you are the man I love,"
and I went. They said I came to shoot her. I would die first. In my right
mind I would shoot no one. There never was a more sensitive man in the
world than I am. I am not a murderer ! I aiu not a murderer ! God forbid
that I should be a murderer! I have suffered more in this love affair than;
INCIDENTS OF THE TRIAL. . 971
twelve men in the agonies of of death— more than all the men in Ohio. I
suffered more than I could hide, and I knew it. When I received the note I
went over to James Gargett's to see her, knocked, went in, and was received
with all the g'reeting' of a kind and lovingf heart. I visited her and revisited
her. They can't deny it. She was loving every time. She told her sister
Mary, before she left: " Mary, you give my love to John, and tell him I will
ever prove true to him." That's true The next thing I heard was that she
had gone back on me, and they kicked me, and I have never seen her since.
They would not bring- her here to testify on the stand because it would
gratify me. No, it would please me too much. My last dying words will be:
" God Bless the Girl I Love ! "
Judge McClure then resumed:
" Notwithstanding your statements, Mr. Hunter, I am under the painful
necessity of sa3-ing to you that, in my judgment, the verdict of the jury i»
fully justified by the evidence upon which it is based. I do not see how,
without violating the solemn oath that was administered to them, they
could have returned a different verdict. It therefore becomes my duty, and
it is a painful one, I assure you, and one from which I wovxld gladly escape^
were it possible for me to do so — to pronounce upon you the extreme penalty
known to the law. Before, however, announcing the sentence in form, per-
mit me to remark that the same power, which prescribed the penalty for the
crime of which you have been convicted, has also huinanely provided that
at least one hundred daj^s shall intervene betweeti the sentence and judg-
ment and the day appointed for the execution thereof. The design of the
delay is two-fold. First, to enable your counsel, in the event they may think
error has been committed by the Court, during the progress of the trial, ta
take the necessary steps to reverse the judgment on that account; and sec-
ondly, and perhaps mainly, to give jou time to make such preparations
as you may deem necessary for your approaching doom. In regard to such
preparations I have no advice to give you. Divided as the world now is ima
different sects, I have long- believed that each and every man should be left
to his own untrammeled judgment in regard to matters of such immense
importance. Actuated by such conviction, most sincerely entertained, I
leave you entirely free to adopt such course as your own judgment shall
dictate. Nothing more remains for me to say except the following: It is the
judgment of this court, and the sentence of the law, that you be taken hence
to the jail of this county; that you be there safely and securely kept, by the
jailer thereof, until Tuesday, the 21st day of November. 1871, and that on that
day, you, John H. Hunter, be taken to the place of execution prescribed by
law, and that then and there, between the hours of 10 A. M., and 12 o'clock M.,
of said day, you be hanged by the neck until you are dead."
Incidents of the Trial. — It will be remembered that insanity
•was the sole defense of the condemned man, the killing of both
Mr. and Mrs. Gargett, and the wounding of the son, Rodney, by
Hunter, being conceded. This theory, the jury, by their verdict
decided to be untrue, and hence, assuming the justness of the ver-
dict, all of his demonstrations in that line, after his incarceration
in jail, and during the trial, w^ere simply "put on" for effect, a»
most of those who witnessed them at the time believed them to be.
For instance, while the trial w^as in progress he would often go off
into fits of immoderate laughter, or indulge in appalling facial
contortions w^ith violent gesticulations, and at one time, while the
attorney for the State wa» cross-examining one of the defendant's
medical experts, by a hypothetical question in w^hich occurred
the clause, "supposing Chloe Gargett, w^hile visiting Elm Hall,
frankly told Hunter she would not have him." Hunter sprang to
his feet, and shaking his fist at the questioner, yelled at the top of
his voice, "You're a liar, sir! You're a liar ! You're a liar!" but
on being taken hold of by the sheriff and ordered to take his seat,
and keep quiet he immediately obeyed him. At another time,
w^hile being conducted from the jail to the court room, he broke
out into a series of most violent ravings, cursing, swearing and
972 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
using the most obscene language, refusing to take a seat w^hen
ordered by the sheriff to do so, and violently struggling with that
officer and his deputies until sharply spoken to by the Court, \srhen
he immediately sat down and became quiet, except in the w^ay of
some rather emphatic gesticulations.
In an interview with the writer, then editor of The Beacon,
Hunter had promised to sit for his picture, with a vievt^ of having
it engraved for publication in connection ^with a history of the
trial. Seating him at the proper distance from the instrument,
Mr. Battels would bring the camera to the desired focus, and just
as he was ready to remove the black cloth, Hunter would break
out into an "uncontrollable" fit of laughter, w^hich ^vould disar-
range the entire affair. This he repeated some six or eight times,
until Sheriff Curtiss said to him somewhat sternly: "Come John,
stop your fooling, or you won't get any dinner today," w^hen he
quieted right down, and the negative w^as speedily completed.
Application for Commutation of Sentence. — As the time
appointed for his execution drew^ nigh. Governor Hayes was
appealed to by defendant's counsel, for a commutation of his sen-
tence to imprisonment for life. To this end. Dr. Kendrick, super-
intendent of the Northern Ohio Hospital for the Insane, was
invited to visit him in jail with the vievir of testing the soundness
or unsoundness of his mind. To fully test the matter and satisfy
himself. Dr. Kendrick first visited him alone, and afterwards, the
same day, in company ^vith Drs. William Bowen and George P.
Ashmun. After a long interview, and the application of a great
variet}^ of tests usual in such examinations, though treated to
numerous outbursts of mirth, wrath, fury, etc., they were unani-
mous in the conclusion that "though he showed signs of great
weakness of intellect, no indications whatever of insanity
appeared." He was thereupon informed by his counsel that there
was no further hope.
Still Insists that He is Insane. — On being informed by his
counsel of the result of the medical examination, Hunter furnished,
on Saturday, November 18, for publication in The Beacon, the
following:
" I am now aware that my tiine is short in this world, and that all hope
of salvation on earth is lost. I must and will g"ive ni3'self to God, hoping-
that he \vill have a home prepared for me in Heaven, where trouble and sor-
row is never known. I can earnestly saj^ that I harbor no ungrateful feeling
or ill-will towards any person on earth. But I now say, myself, that I am
not sane and rational at all times, and I have been pronounced insane
twelve years ago in Canada, as I will give an instance. Once, when the
Prince of Wales visited Atnerica and the Provinces, I went up to him when
he stood on the flat-car at the depot, threw off my coat to whip him; and came
near dragging him off the car. I was arrested and confined for a short time.
Was that sane or insane? But the next thing I shall speak of is capital
punishment. What is it? I can tell you. It is an act of barbarity, and is
not in accordance with the laws of God, or huinanity, and ought not to be
allowed to exist in a land where the word of God prevails and Christianity
reigns. And I hope and pray that I inay be the last man ever to be sentenced
to such a fate."
Unsuccessful Attempt at Suicide. — As Hunter had, from
time to time, asseverated that how^ever closely they might watch
him he had the means to end his life by his own hand, from this
time on his actions were closely scrutinized through the day, and
n strict watch kept upon him through the night. On Monday,
ATTEMPT TO COMMIT SUICIDE. 973
the day before the execution, he sent word to the writer that he
Avished to see him immediately after dinner. Accordingly, about
half past one o'clock, I repaired to the jail, w^hen he greeted me
pleasantly, saying that though I had already granted him many
favors, he had yet one more favor to ask of me. He then handed
me a sealed letter, saying he had w^ritten his last letter to the
public which he wished me not to open until after his death, and
then publish in The Beacon, which I promised to do. Half an
hour later he made the attempt to take his ow^n life in the follow-
ing manner:
Sheriff Curtiss had thoroughly searched the jail and had
removed from his reach everything with which he could possibly
kill himself, and leaving Mrs. Curtiss at the point of observation
from the sheriff's sleeping room, at the southw^est corner of the
jail, stepped across to the court house to attend to his official
duties there. Soon after he left, Mrs. Curtiss saw Hunter dis-
tribute a lot of apples among his fellow-prisoners, and after they
had commenced eating them, saw him enter his cell and close the
grated door after him, a circumstance so unusual as to excite her
suspicion that something was w^rong, and she immediately sent
for her husband. Hurrying across the street. Sheriff Curtiss at
once repaired to his cell, w^here he found Hunter seated, in a
reclining posture, upon his bed, in his shirt sleeves, w^ith a large jet
of blood spurting from a gash about half an inch in length just
below the elbow, on his left arm. A physician, who happened to be
at the court house, w^as immediately summoned. The application
of a compress stanched the flow^ of blood, and though he struggled
desperately, and attempted to tear off the bandage, he was so
bound and secured as to be unable to do himself any further
harm. On making a further examination of his cell, Sheriff Curtiss
found a small piece of glass, that might have been produced by
the breaking of a bottle or tumbler, in form something like an
Indian arrow head, about three-fourths of an inch in lengthy
extremely sharp pointed at one end and double edged, like a sur-
geon's lancet, and with this, as Sheriff Curtiss supposed, an
incision had been made in the arm, severing a vein only, and not
an artery, as he had evidently intended.
His Last Written Statement. — On opening the letter above
alluded to, it was found to read as follows:
"Summit County Jail, November 20, 1871.
"Mr. Lane: — I now seat myself to inform you, and throug'h you the pub-
lic, that I am this daj' ^oing' to commit suicide. I do it with long- premedi-
tation, but I do it without malice, either against myse]f or any other person
in this world. Then it cannot be called murder in the first degree. The
sheriff sat up with me all last night to watch me; but little did he think that
1 sat up to watch him at the same time. I thoiight it was rather hard for
hitn to set up with me all night, to try and keep me alive so that he could
have the pleasure of killing me the next da5^ These laws don't suit some
believers, myself among the number. Let those who make such laws
experiment upon themselves. 1 consider thej' are the Devil's laws, and let
him get caught in his own trap. I certainly would not allow any person wha
wishes to go to heaven, to throw himself body and sovil into such a place as
to be hanged by the neck until he is dead, for God has said: Deut. 21:23. Gal.
3:13. That is iny belief. Read that before you think any more. I hope my
friends — Christians — will, at as early a day as possible, abolish all such
inhumanity as trying to swing a man into heaven by a rope, and then have
the assurance to say that that is in accordance with the laws of God. God
974 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
made man and he made the laws. But He never made a law to hang- either
30U or me. So, therefoi'e, you must not think but what you will do rig-ht if
3^ou act accordingly.
"I am clear, in my own conscience, at this present moment, of what I am
about to do, as you are in your belief, for I act in accordance with the laws
of God, as you are acting in accordance with the laws of inhumanitj^ and
barbarity. You ought to turn from 3'our wretched cruelty, no matter what
people may say about it, when jou know you are wrong. Well might you
saj^ that if I was the last man to commit such a crime you would give me
clear; but seeing that I am not, then the jury must be told to make an
example of me. But, my Christian professor, j^ou are only making an
example of yourself, not only before your fellow-men but before your God.
"I will close bj' saj'ing: Let all bitterness, and wrath, and clamor and
«vil speaking-, be put away from you, with all malice; and be ye kind to one
another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's
sake, has forgiven you. Peace be to the brethren, and love, with faith from
God, the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with them that love
the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Now maj' the Lord of Peace Himself
g^ive you peace alwajs, bj- all meaUvS. The Lord be with 3'ou all and save my
sotil. Amen.
John H. Hunter."
Accompanying the above, and \\rritten just before the inter-
vievsr with me at the jail door, -was the following " last word " to
myself and the public:
"Akron Jail, November 20, 1 o'clock p. M.
" Mr. Lane: — Please add one more favor to the many already done me, by
publishing this my dj'ing declaration: I, John H. Hunter, now declare, in
the presence of my Maker, that, to the best of my knowledge and belief,
Sheriff Curtiss is ignorant of all this act of suicide that I am about to com-
mit. So, therefore, there is no person to blame, for they have kept a close
watch over me, or I should have done this long ago, as I never intended to
die on the gallows. I have had the instrument to do it with for nearly four
months in the jail. I doubt whether.it will ever be found after 1 am gone,
as it is a very small article, and is almost invisible a short distance oflf.
Farewell!
John H. Hunter."
The Execution — Dying Speech, Etc. — The gallows had been
erected in the corridor, in the northeast corner of the jail, and w^as
the same upon which James Parks and several other murderers in
adjoining counties had previously been hung. As in the case of
Parks, on the day appointed for his execution here, a crow^d began
to assemble about the jail early in the day, composed indiscrim-
inately of men, women and children, which was greatly aug-
mented as the hour of execution drew nigh, and much excitement
existed, although there were no such disorderly demonstrations
as had previously been manifested when Streeter w^as executed at
Medina, or have since occurred at Ashland and other points in
Ohio w^here murderers have been legally done to death upon the
scaffold.
As the hour approached, the distress of the doomed man
became very great, the most abject fear taking entire possession
of him. There were only some tw^enty persons present, all told,
including the sheriff and his assistants, attorneys, clergymen,
newspaper reporters, etc., among the latter the w^riter of this nar-
rative. At 20 minutes to 11 o'clock, Rev. Lathrop Cooley, of the
Disciple Church, who had been his spiritual adviser throughout,
had religious services' w^ith the doomed man alone in his cell;
besides fervently praying with him, exhorting him to meet his
fate A^ith fortitude and resignation. The prisoner was not inclined
to talk very much, but kept up an almost continuous moaning.
DYING SPEECH — EASY DEATH, ETC. 975
At 20 minutes past 11 o'clock Sheriff Curtiss and Mr, Cooley led
him from his cell to the scaffold, his step being so faltering, and
his nerves so unstrung that he almost had to be lifted from his
feet while passing along the corridor and ascending the stairs.
Being seated upon a chair on the platform, Sheriff Curtiss
read the death warrant to him and asked him if he had anything
io say why the sentence of the law should not be put into execu-
tion. He then asked how much time he had to speak, and the
sheriff told him he could have ten minutes. Then, in a broken
and disconnected manner, he spoke as follows:
"I am innocent of the crime for which I am to suffer. I did not intend
to do the deed. I here pray that the Lord will forg-ive all my sins and that
he will forg'ive all my enemies. I now forgive all my enemies, hoping that
all will forg-ive me. I have no enmity against my girl, Chloe Gargett, and I
hope the Lord will forgive her. I must now take my leave of my friends
and of the w^orld. I have no confession to make of any crime w^hatever. I
have never committed any offence in any country where I have lived. I
hope the Lord will take ine to heaven. I have alwaj^s loved Mr. and Mrs.
Gargett and did not intend to take their lives. Witnesses swore false
against tne, but I forgive them. I now forgive all, and hope that the Lord
will forgive my soul. [To the sheriff.] Give my love to your wife who has
cared for me so well, and to ray attorneys and friends."
He then asked Mr. Cooley to pray for him, which he did, after
reading a portion of Scripture, in a very impressive manner. Mr.
Oooley then took him by the hand -and bade him farewell, saying:
"Good bye, John; we have met often but shall meet no more
here." Sheriff Curtiss and Deputy Sheriff David A. Scott then
pinioned his arms and feet and placed him, standing, upon the
drop. The prisoner tremblingly continued to utter words of
prayer, and cries for mercy, saying:
" O Lord God ! save me and deliver me ! O God ! I will be with Thee in
heaven, and may Jesus Christ pardon ine. Bless those that curse me, I will
forgive them all and hope to meet them all in heaven, and those that I shot.
Give my love to all. I am an innocent man. I never premeditated it. I hope
God will take me and all my friends to heaven — my girl and all. Will not
some one pray for me?"
Mr. Cooley then again ascended the platform and offered
another fervent prayer that fortitude might be given the doomed
man to meet his impending fate, and for his eternal salvation.
Sheriff Curtiss then stepped forward with the black cap, which
Hunter begged him not to put on him. Informing him that it was
his duty to do so, the sheriff pulled the cap down over his face
and shut out forever the light of this w^orld from his mortal vision.
At 18 minutes to 12 o'clock the noose was adjusted about his
neck, and at precisely 16 minutes to 12 the trap was sprung, the
body falling just seven feet and ten inches, the toes of his bouts
just clearing the floor of the jail, his last exclamation being; •' O
my Lord, God Almighty ! Give my lov^e to all, both enemies and
friends."
In falling, the noose slipped from under the left ear to the left
side of the back part of the head, and it was feared that death
must result from strangtilation, and that his struggles would be
severe. With the exception of a slight vibratory motion of the
body, however, and, at the second minute after falling, a very
slight contraction of the muscles of the legs, there was no strug-
gle whatever, and at exactly eight minutes from the time the trap
976 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
was sprung, the attending physicians pronounced life extinct, and
John H. Hunter had, so far as human la^ws could do it, fully expi-
ated the dreadful crime he had committed.
The Disposition of His Body. — Hunter left a" written request
that Messrs. Voris, Sanford and Cooley should take charge of his
body after his death, and with the following directions: "Let the
doctors make a thorough examination of my head, but not, on any
condition, cut my body. After this examination the body is to be
given in charge to the gentlemen named to be interred with such
ceremonies as they may think proper."
Accordingly, on the afternoon of the execution, some eleven or
twelve physicians and surgeons of the city and vicinity, assembled
in the upper portion of the jail, when an autopsy upon the head of
the dead malefactor was performed by Dr. Byron S. Chase. A
most thorough and critical examination of the brain was made by
all physicians present. It w^as found to weigh 46i/2 ounces, con-
siderably over the average, and in a perfectly sound and healthy
condition. No marks of concussion from any external blow^ could
be found, and the general verdict was adverse to any form of
insanity w^hatever. Thus, if the science of anatomy is of any
value, it was demonstrated that, however honest his counsel may
have been in their most earnest advocacy of that theory of defense,
and however firmly the belief in his insanity was entertained by
his friends, the verdict of the jury and the the judgment of the
court were fully vindicated, and the general verdict of the people,
that his punishment was just, emphatically confirmed.
Spirited Contest for the " Cadaver."— In the late evening
of the day of execution, the body of the murderer, dressed in the
plain black suit worn upon the gallows, and enclosed in a plain
pine coffin, w^as quietly taken to Glendale cemetery, by Superin-
tendent Wills, accompanied by Rev. L. Cooley, H. C. Sanford, Ksq.,
.Sheriff Augustus Curtiss, and deputy sheriffs David A. Scott and
Mills Curtiss, and buried in the pottersfield, in the northwest por-
tion of the grounds.
There was no law^ in Ohio, at that time, for the turning over,
by the public authorities, of the bodies of criminals or unknown
dead, to medical institutions or associations, for scientific purposes,
and such subjects as were needed for that purpose, had to be
clandestinely procured. There were at least three parties on the
alert to secure the body in question — one, a party of medical
students from Cleveland, the other two parties being rival physi-
cians resident in the city of Akron. The former becoming satis-
fied that there w^as no show^ for them, early withdrew^ from the
contest. The two Akron teams were captained by Dr. "X" and
Dr. <'Y" respectively. Hardly had the burial party retired from
the grave, and w^hile the superintendent was still engaged in
putting out his horse, just over the hill, before the Dr. " Y" crowd
commenced digging for the body, but before reaching the coffin,
the superintendent returned and made them retire. Scott was
then detailed to w^atch the grave, and on his return, after a tem-
porary absence, found the Dr. "X"crowd busy throwing out the
earth, and commanded them to desist, but they utterly refused to
do so, and kept on vigorously at their ghoulish w^ork. Before
reaching the coffin, how^ever, the superintendent again appeared
upon the ground, rather carelessly tiring his revolver into the
THE murderer's BODY SKELETONIZED. 977
surrounding bushes and shrubbery, when the diggers thought it
prudent to retreat. This faction then hunted up a couple of the
cemetery trustees, \vho, while they had no legal authority to order
the superintendent to deliver over the body, did order him to
withdraw his guards from that portion of the grounds. This order
the superintendent, good conscientious man, was most seriously
disinclined to obey, and while discussing the matter with one of
the trustees and one or two of the M. D.'s, the Dr. "Y" crowd
quietly slipped in, and laboring w^ith an expedition known only to
"resurrectionists," abstracted the body, and without stopping to
readjust the grave, retired from the field — i. e. potter's field — in
triumph, and the well prepared skeleton of the murderer of Robert
and Elizabeth Gargett — John H. Hunter — ^is now^ doing duty in the
cabinet of a prominent physician and surgeon in the city of Akron.
Subsequent Family History. — By a will executed in 1861,
Robert Gargett, devised to his wife the use of the home farm dur-
ing her natural life, and at her decease to his youngest son, Robert
Rodney Gargett; all other property, real and personal, to the wife
absolutely, to be by her managed and disposed of as she might
deem right and just. Mrs. Gargett dying first, the terms of the
w^ill, except as to the home farm of 101 acres, willed to Rodney,
w^ere inoperative, and the estate w^as duly administered upon, the
balance of the real estate being partitioned to the several heirs,
and the farm stock and other personal property sold and the pro-
ceeds distributed according to law.
At the public sale, Rodney purchased the larger portion of the
farm stock, amounting to several thousand dollars, which, in addi-
tion to his own share of his proceeds, necessitated the borrowing
oi a considerable sum of money, for which mortgages were exe-
cuted upon his inherited homestead. Instead, however, of settling
right down to the steady-going and economical farm life of his
lamented father, young Gargett at once began to "take on airs,"
purchasing a nice team and carriage, supplying himself and wife
with gold watches, and other luxuries, and so largely devoted
himself to the comforts and pleasures of life, that on the maturity
of his paper, for borrowed money, he w^as unable to meet the pay-
ments, and at the January term, 1877, of the Court of Common
Pleas of Summit county, a decree of foreclosure of a mortgage
given to Robert Whipp was rendered, and the mortgaged property
ordered to be sold. The writer was then sheriff, and the property,
appraised at $6,060.00, was sold to Mr. Jackson Law^, assignee of
the mortgage, and plaintiff in the suit for foreclosure, for two-
thirds the appraised value, to-wit, $4,040.00, leaving, after satisfy-
ing judgment and costs, a surplus of $130.05 only, which was duly
paid over by me to the defendant. A year or two later Mr. Gar-
gett removed to Michigan, where he purchased a small farm,
which, as the writer is informed, he has since conducted with a
fair degree of diligence and success, also, according to reports
among his old neighbors in Richfield, having been elected to the
responsible position of justice of the peace in the township of his
adoption. Miss Chloe Gargett, after the trebly fatal termination
of her youthful romance and infatuation — but against whom no
suspicion of unchaste intimacy with her vain-braggart lover was
ever entertained by those who knew^ her — ^also, after the sad occur-
rences herein narrated, w^ent to her friends in Michigan, where she
es
978
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
Avas subsequently married to a highly respectable gentleman by
the name of George Halliday, a hardware merchant, but after-
wards, by reason of the loss of his entire stock of goods by fire,
without insurance, retiring to a farm, where they are reported to
be now living in prosperity and happiness.
Thus ends, in brief, one of the most thrilling episodes that
ever agitated the public mind of Summit county — and very largely
of the two contiguous States of Ohio and Michigan — and one
which should forever serve as a warning against the seductive
influence, and imminent danger, of indulging in epistolary corre-
spondence with a stranger of the opposite sex, "w^ith a view to
matrimony," or otherwise, before having met him or her face to
face; an indulgence wrhich in this case, consigned three human
beings to premature graves (one in deep disgrace and ignominy),
and entailed life-long sorrow upon the surviving principal in the
tragedy, and upon the very large circle of her relatives and friends.
CHAPTER XLVII.
;SPRINGFIELD— PIONEER MATTERS-ORGANIZATION AND GROWTH— TOPOGRAPHY,
RESOURCES, ETC.— INDIAN EXODUS AND SCARE— VILLAGES, HAMLETS, ETC.,
ABOLITION, "RIOT," FREE SPEECH VINDICATED, ANTIQUATED EGGS, ETC.—
EDUCATIONAL, RAILROAD AND MILITARY MATTERS— CRIMINAL STATUS —
MURDER OF JOHN RHODENBAUGH, A LONGTIME RESIDENT OF SPRINGFIELD,
NEAR KENT, IN 1865 -TRIAL AND CONVICTION OF MURDERERS, JACK COOPER
AND JOEL BEERY— EXECUTION OF COOPER, LIFE SENTENCE OF BEERY— THE
ROOF-MU.SSON HOMICIDE IN 1866— EXCITING PURSUIT AND CAPTURE OF THE
MURDERER- PROMINENT AND WEALTHY CITIZEN IMPLICATED— TRIAL AND
ACQUITTAL OF THE LATTER, WHILE FORMER PLEADS GUILTY TO MURDER IN
THE SECOND DEGREE— LIFE SENTENCE, PARDON, SUBSEQUENT LIFE, ETC.—
SPRINGFIELD'S HONORABLE CIVIL RECORD, ETC.
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP.
'HpHE township of Springfield is located on the south line of the
*- Connecticut Western Reserve, and is the tenth township from
the east line of the State, and is consequently designated on the
county records as lot 1, range 10. It was originally, like all of the
Reserve, attached to Trumbull county, but became a part of Por-
tage county on its organization, June 8, 1808, which relation was
maintained until the new^ county of Summit w^as erected, in 1840.
The act, erecting Portage county, was passed February 10, 1807, to
take effect June 7, 1807 ; but for some reason, now unexplainable,
the organization of the new^ county was postponed one year, as
above indicated. Like all of the tow^nships of the Reserve, Spring-
field w^as originally five miles square, about half of one square
mile having been clipped out of the northwest corner and attached
to the township of Middlebury, in March, 1857, and now forming a
portion of the Sixth Ward, of the city of Akron.
Early Settlement. — The township was surveyed by Gen,
Simon Perkins, for the Connecticut Land Company, in 1806. It
was what was called an "equalizing" township; J. e., certain por-
tions of the territory were assigned to the purchaser of Shalers-
ville, to bring it up to the quality of the average townships of the
Reserve. The portions thus assigned were the east half and a strip
off the west side, the latter portion being purchased by Henry and
■Charles Chittenden, from Connecticut, Henry Chittenden being,
for many years, a prominent citizen of the tow^nship and village
of Middlebury, as farmer, contractor, hotel-keeper, etc.
The first settler in the township, is believed to have been Ariel
Bradley, the grandfather of the present Mr. James Bradley, of
Mogadore, who came to what is novir Mahoning county in 1801, to
Suffield in 1805, crossing the line, late in 1806, or early in 1807, and
settling on lot 12, part of w^hich is now in the village of Mogadore ;
Mr. Thomas Hale, grandfather of the present efficient secretary of
-the Summit County Agricultural Society, Mr. Albert Hale, coming
in from Suffield, Connecticut, about the same time.
980
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
About 1807, also, came Reuben Tupper, Nathan Moore, Benja-
min Baldwin, John Hall 2d, (father of John J. Hall, Esq., of Akron)
and his younger brother, James Hall. The three former Avere
from Connecticut, and the two latter, though of Scotch-Irish
descent, came from Pennsylvania; an uncle, Robert Hall, with his
family, coming in the same year. Robert also had had a son John,
hence the appellation, John Hall 2d. ' The latter and his brother,^
James, then being both considerably under age, built a cabin and
settled upon a farm about half a mile east of the "Burgh," or so-
called center of the town, Mrhile the uncle and his family located
upon what was for many years afterwards known as the Weaver
farm, now owned by Peter Lepper, on the Akron and Mogadore
road.
ARIEL BRADLEY, — Springtield's
■^ first settler, was born in Salis-
bury, Connecticut, December 30, 1768 ;
common school education ; raised a
farmer; married September 27, 1792,
to Chloe Lane, of Killing^worth, Con-
necticut, born October 22, 1770. In
1800, came to Ohio, via the Southern
route, over the Alleg'heny mountains,
being over a month on the journey,
arriving' in Canfield, now in Mahoning
county, in June; in March, 1806, moved
into a cabin on the Kent farm in
Suffield,the same Fall bujdng a quar-
ter section in Range 10, Tract 8, Town
1, Lot 11, on the east line of what is
now Springfield township, a portion
of which is still occupied bj^ his
grandson, Mr. James Bradley, his
house, occupied in March, 1807, being
the first erected in that township.
Mr. and Mrs. Bradley were among the
most thrifty and highly respected of
the pioneer inhabitants of the West-
ern Reserve. They had eight chil-
dren— James Lane, born November
25, 1793 ; John Anson, January 3, 1796 ;
Phoebe Marille, March 18,1798; Robert
Edgar, March 23, 1800 ; Harlow Robert,
November 20, 1802; Heman Allen,
December 15, 1804 ; Ariel Bird, May 4,
1811 ; Amelia Emma, December 1,
ARIEL BRADLEY.
1815, the first four born in Connecti-
cut, the last four in Ohio, all of whom,
good and honored citizens in life, are
now deceased. Mrs. Bradlej' died in
1848, aged 78 years ; Mr. Bradley,
whose portrait, taken at the age of 85,
is given herewith, dying in April,
1857, at the age of 89 years.
It w^ill be impossible to give the advent, and trace the individ-
ual histories of all the early settlers in Springfield within the
limits of this chapter, even if the data for the same was now avail-
able. They were of mixed nationality and descent, as the names,
in addition to those given, w^ill indicate, among them being
Abraham DeHaven, William Foster, Samuel Wood, James Mc-
Knight, George Vallandigham, Thomas Metlin, Rev. Thomas
Beers, James McCormick, Samuel, John, Jehu and David EUet,
John Crotzer, Peter, Almeron, Lester and Thomas Norton, Pat-
rick and Archie Christy, Robert Clark, George McGrew, Joseph
Scott, Jacob Winters, James Wirtz, Samuel Hinston, Joseph D.
Baird, Francis Irvin, John and Francis Weston, Timothy Holcomb,
Deacon Ewart, etc.; not altogether "Pennsylvania Dutchmen," as
stated by a former local historian. George Vallandigham, or "Col."^
ORGANIZATION, POPULATION, ETC,
981
Vallandigham as he was called, was for many years quite a prom-
inent character of the tow^nship, and w^as uncle to to the after-
wards notorious Clement L. Vallandigham, (a native of Colum-
biana county), w^ho, in his younger days w^as well known to many
■of the people of the towship as a frequent visitor at the house of
his uncle George.
JOHN HALL, 2nd,— born in Penn-
sylvania, February 17, 1791 ; edu-
cation limited ; raised on farm ; in
1807, came to Ohio, settling- on an
uncleared farm half a mile east of
Springfield Center, "2nd" being-
added to his name, because of an
•elder cousin of that name in same
neighborhood. In January, 1815, was
married to Miss Jane Shields, of
Armstrong count}^, Pennsylvania,
■who came to Ohio in 1812. They had
nine children — Rebecca, born May 14,
1816, married to Robert G. Boyd, of
Marion, February 8, 1841, d\ed August
25, 1888 ; Jane Jackson, born February
10, 1818, married to Jacob Thompson,
March 18, 1847, now a widow in Akron;
Margaret Shields, born December 29,
1819, married to Jacob Ream, Novem-
ber 29, 1838, died October 3, 1854;
Eliza, born March 2, 1822, married to
John M. Boyd, of Marion, Januarj' 1,
1846, now, a widow in Akron ; David,
born April 28, 1824, died in 1851 ;
Mary Boj'd, born July 7, 1826, married
to Henry Thomas, April 8, 1850, now
in Akron ; John J., born July 27. 1828,
married to C5"nthia A. Jones, April
13, 1854, now a prominent attorney in
Akron; Harriet Newell, born Septem-
ber 16, 1832, now, unmarried, residing
in Akron ; Sallie M., born June 11,
1835, married to Matthias Harter, Octo-
ber 16, 1855, now living in Akron. Mr.
Hall was a zealous advocate of right
JOHN HALL, 2nd.
and justice — organized the first tem-
perance society in Springfield, while
his house was a prominent station on
the " Underground Railway," during-
the dark daj^s of American Slavery.
Mr. Hall died, in Marion, March 28,
1876, aged 85 years, 1 month and 11
days, Mrs. Hall dying Septeiuber 17,
1876, aged 82 years, 5 months and 16
days.
Organization, Growth, Etc. — In April, 1808, the township of
Springfield, in connection with Tallmadge, Suffield and Randolph,
was organized. The trustees then elected were, John Goss, of
Randolph; Stephen Upson, of Tallmadge; and Benjamin Baldwin,
«f Springfield. The first justice of the peace for the territory
named was Benjamin Baldwin, entering upon his official duties,
March 13, 1809. The precise date of the organization of Spring-
field, as a distinct township, is not now ascertainable.
Settlement was quite rapid, so that by the year 1830, the town-
ship must have contained nearly, if not quite, 1,500 inhabitants,
the census of 1840 giving the population, including that portion
embraced in the village of Middlebury, at 1,663; the census of 1880
giving the total number of inhabitants, exclusive of the territory
named, at 2,332, which is a much larger increase for the 40 years,
than the average townships of the county, or of the Reserve. The
succeeding ten years, how^ever, didn't make quite so good a show^-
ing, the census of 1890, placing the population at 1,966, a falling off
4)i 366.
982
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Topography, Resources, Etc. — Springfield is what might be-
termed gently rolling, with no very steep hills or precipitous gullies,,
though traversed by several considerable streams — the Little Cuy-
ahoga river across its entire northern end, and the Tuscaraw^as-
athwart the southwest corner, and several other smaller streams,
together w^ith a fine body of water, some three miles in circumfer-
ence, know^n as Springfield Lake, at the exact geographical center
of the tow^n. This lake, supposed to be supplied from subterranean
sources, was not only originally a tributary of the Little Cuyahoga
river, but has, for the past fifty years, been a reliable feeder of the-
race that supplies the Akron mills w^ith water, the mill owners
having the legal authority to raise the water six feet above, and
lower it four feet below, the normal level. Though in places very
deep, with a very soft bottona, the statement of a former writer
that it cannot be fathomed is probably without adequate foun-
dation. I
ROBERT L. EWART, — born in
Spring-field, now in Summit
county, March 18, 1812, and is the
oldest living- native, and one of the
very first white children born in the
township ; educated in the pioneer
log school house, and bred a farmer,
which vocation he has always fol-
lowed. March 10. 1836, Mr. Ewart was
married to Miss Mary Ann McKnight.
of Springfield, who survived their
marriage a year or two, onl5^ June
18, 1839, Mr. Ewart was again married,
to Miss Martha Lemmon, of North-
field, who died June 6, 1857, leaving
three children — Joseph C, now a
prominent manufacturer in Akron,
whose portrait and biography appear
elsewhere ; Jennie A., now Mrs. Jona-
than Sprague, of Marysville, Noda-
way county, Missouri, and William
L., now a successful fruit grower and
horticulturist in Springfield. March
4, 1858, Mr. Ewart was again married,
to Mrs. E. A. B. McCain, of Sufiield,
Portage county, who has borne him
one son — Francis M., now operating
the home farm, in Springfield.
Though not a place-seeker, Mr. Ewart
has always taken an enlightened
interest in public affairs, and given
ROBERT L. EWART.
a ready and cheerful support to all of
the patriotic, educational and moral
enterprises of his native township,,
and of the county, state and nation.
Besides being, in all respects, a first rate agricultural town-
ship, producing the very finest crops of wheat and other cereals,
fruits, horses, cattle, sheep, swine, poultry, etc., the streams alluded
to have furnished, in the past, and yet continue to furnish, a num-
ber of most excellent mill sites, which have been of inestimable
value to the people, w^hile several coal mines have also been profit-
ably worked within the past twenty-five or thirty years.
But Springfield's most prolific source of industry and wealth,,
has been, and continues to be, its inexhaustible beds of potters'
clay, giving employment to hundreds of men, and producing
millions of gallons of fine and common stoneware, annually.
Pioneer Privations, Indians, Etc. — At the time Springfield
first began to be settled, flour and other family supplies were very^
INDIANS AND OTHER PIONEER MATTERS.
983
scarce, and procurable only from a great distance, so that the
pioneers had to largly depend upon the wild game of the forest
and the iish in the streams and lakes for subsistence, until they
could raise crops and the various domestic animals of their own
for food. And even the right to this wild game was largely dis-
puted for several years by the Indians that still lingered in the
neighborhood, though having parted with their title to the lands
and streams nearly a quarter of a century before.
Though it does not appear that any very serious difficulties
occurred between the two races, the whites, except when in pretty
close proximity to each other, had very natural fears for their
safety, particularly at night. It is related that because of this feel-
ing, John and James Hall, of more than ordinary courage, the first
Summer of their stay in Springfield, used to sleep in their corn-
field at night — one watching while the other slept — rather than
remain in their cabin. As neighbors accumulated this timidity
gradually wore off, and finally ended entirely with the departure
of the red-skins to ally themselves with the British Army in the
War of 1812.
pOL. JOHN C. HART, — born in
^ Cornwall, Connecticut, April 17,
1798 ; at four 5'ears of ag-e removed
with parents to Genessee count}', New
York, and in May, 181.5, to Middle-
bury, Ohio ; at 15 enlisted in a cavalry
company, at Rochester, and was in
the battles at Chippewa and L,undy's
Lane and at the burning- of Buffalo,
in the War of 1812 ; afterwards raised
a regiment of cavalry in and about
Middlebury of which he was made
colonel ; bred a farmer, with but
liinited education ; at 21 went South,
rafting on Ohio river and working
in saiw-mill and brick yard near St.
Louis ; on return home purchased
farm south of Middlebury, which he
cleared and successfully cultivated
for many years, later largely engag-
ing in buj'ing and gelling stock,
dealing in real estate, loaning money,
etc. February 24, 1831, Col. Hart was
married to Miss Margaret A. Sterling,
w^ho bore him six children — George
W., retired farmer, Cuj^ahoga Falls,
born July 12, 1832 ; Jolin S., farmer,
Akron, born November 5, 1833;
Charles S., insurance agent, Akron,
born December 23, 1835 ; Esther Eliza-
beth, born February 13, 1838, died
March 15, 1841 ; Hiram Johnson, born
May 5, 1840, died September 11, 1869,
from disease contracted in armv as
COL. JOHN C. HAKT.
member of 19th O. V. I.; and Frances
Augusta, now Mrs. Clinton Ruckel,
of Portage township. Mrs. Hart
dying Maj^ 17, 1869, Mr. H. was again
married, to Mrs.Mary Sterling,Decem-
ber 25, 1870, who still survives, Mr,
Hart dying August 20, 1880, aged 82
3'ears, 4 months and 3 daj^s.
One incident, connected w^ith the exodus, is worth relating
here. From the mysterious movements of the Greentown Indians,
preparatory to leaving, in June, 1812, it was believed that they
were about to raid the white settlements, and massacre the inhab-
itants. The alarm spread from township to tow^nship, and from
settlement to settlement, and immediate steps were taken to place
the women and children beyond danger, and prepare for defense.
984
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Springfield's place of refuge was a block-house, standing on
the farm of James McKnight, father of Francis McKnight, still, at
the age of 88 years, living hale and hearty upon the same farm, in
the middle eastern portion of the township. But instead of making
the expected attack, the Indians, like the proverbial Arab,
" quietly folded their tents and silently stole a\vay," thenceforth, so
far as Springfield and contiguous townships were concerned, leav-
ing the people in security and peace. But after the scare was all
over, it was discovered that Mrs. Henry Chittenden, living on w^hat
is now the Brittain farm, w^as, with three young children, entirely
overlooked, her husband having gone back to Connecticut to bring
his father and mother to his new home. Mr. and Mrs. Chittenden
were the parents of Mrs. Dr. E. W. Howard, of Akron, the three
little ones, thus imperilled with their mother, having all died
before Mrs. Howard was born.
JOSEPH MOORE,— son of John and
J Nancy (Gofif) Moore, was born in
Lake township, Stark county, Decem-
ber 6, 1815; educated in district
schools, and raised on farm ; July 3,
1832, moved with father's family to
Springtield, teaching- school, near
Greentown, during- the winter of
1832, '33 ; followed farming in Spring-
field until 1868, when he removed to
Akron, still superintending his farm,
conducted by a tenant, for several
years. Mr. Moore was for several
years a director of Summit County
Agricultural Societj' ; has been the
Second Ward assessor of personal
property eleven years, and city school
enumerator seven years. In 1887, he
was elected a director of the County
Infirmary, discharging the duties of
that important office, with such
fidelity, that he was re-elected in 1890,
for another term of three years, being
now president of the board ; January
4, 1837, Mr. Moore was married to Miss
Sarah Fulkerson, of Spring-field, born
in that township, November 30, 1818.
Thej^ are the parents of four children
— John F. Moore, now a farmer in
Copley ; James G. Moore, of Akron ;
JOSEPH MOORE.
Amanda V., now Mrs. Sainuel Steese,
of Akron ; and Milton W. Moore, of
Oregon.
Singular Family Coincidence. — The first death in the town-
ship is said to have been that of Robert Hall, who died from the
rupture of a blood vessel, in 1808 ; the first birth ^was that of a
daughter (Jane Hall) to Mrs. Hall, after the death of her husband,
in 1809, and the first marriage in the. tow^nship, that of John Hall,
son of Robert, to Miss Margaret Blair, in 1810.
Villages, Hamlets, Etc. — Besides that portion of the north-
west corner, so long part and parcel of the ancient village and
tovs^nship of Middlebury, and now attached to the city of Akron,
Springfield's only other considerable business point is Mogadore.
It is located near the northeast corner, and is on the line betw^een
Summit and Portage counties. The w^riter has no special data as
to when or by whom the village was first laid out, but from his
knowledge of it, with its hotel, stores, mills, churches, etc., for more
Springfield's business centers.
'985
than half a century, it must have had an existence of over sixty
years. The preponderance of population and business, with
churches, potteries, postoffice, etc., being upon the west side of
the line, it may properly be regarded as a Springfield village.
* The name, Mogadore, is said to have been given to the village
by James Robinson, an Irishman, a general mechanical genius of
the time, who, on completing the chimney of a large two-story
house (still standing) for Mr. Martin Kent, uncle of Mr. George F.
Kent, now^ of the Sixth Ward, Akron, and w^ho had probably read
in " Riley's Narrative," or " Mungo Park's Travels," of the town of
that name in Africa, with a swing of his hat, exclaimed, " Hurrah
for Mogadore ! " and Mogadore it has been ever since, though there
was an effort made many years ago, to change it to Springville.
Manufacturing, as it does, hundreds of thousands of gallons
of stoneware, and millions of smoking pipes, annually, its greatest
drawback has been the necessity of hauling it, by wagon, to Akron,
for shipment. That inconvenience is now largely obviated by the
completion of the Connotton Valley (now the Cleveland & Canton)
railway, upon its eastern border, with a fair prospect of direct
railroad connection with Akron, at an early day.
KING J. ELLET,— son of John and
Elizabeth Ellet, natives of Mary-
land, was born in Springfield town-
ship, December 27, 1831, his parents
settling- there in 1810 ; raised a farmer,
and educated in township district
schools ; Mafch 16, 1854, Mr. Ellet was
married to Miss Lucinda E. Norton,
daughter of Lester Norton, who eini-
f rated from the State of New York to
pringfield, in 1808. Mr. and Mrs.
Ellet are the parents of three chil-
dren—Mattie, wife of Mr. Milo White,
of Spring-field ; Cora J., wife of Mr.
Frank Weston, of Springiield, and
Fred. K. Ellet, still at home. Though
a stanch Republican, and living in a
strong- Democratic township, Mr.
. Ellet has been honored with many
local offices ; was elected countj^
cominissioner of Summit county, in
1883, and re-elected in 1886, holding
the position two full terms of three
years each, and without disparage-
ment to others, it may be truthfully
asserted, that Summit countj- never
had a more energetic and pains-
taking- officer on its board of county
commissioners than King J. Ellet.
After his retirement from the board,
in 1889, Mr. Ellet was, in March, 1890,
KING J. ELLET.
appointed bj^ the constituted authori-
ties, a trustee of the Summit County
Children's Home, which position he
is now ably and humanely filling.
The "Burgh," as it was universally called, or North Spring-
field, according to the name of its postoffice, is a small hamlet, one
mile north of the geographical center, which, as before stated, is
covered by the lake. Here is located Springfield's original church
edifice (Presbyterian) built about 65 years ago. Some 50 years ago
the Methodists also built quite a large frame church at this point,
on land donated by David Ellet, himself a rigid Presbyterian, but
about 30 years ago the building was moved a mile and a-half to
Ihe westward* and converted into a glue factory. The Burgh has
986
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
also, at different times, maintained a hotel, a store, blacksmith
shop and several potteries, but at the present time but little busi-
ness is transacted there, aside from its postal and official necessi-
ties, the town house being located here, which is the only voting
place in the township.
HON. THOMAS WRIGHT,— son of
Thomas and Lucy Wrig-ht ; born
in Tompkins county, New York, Feb-
ruary 22, 1830 ; moved with parents to
Springiield, Summit county, Ohio, in
Spring of 1836 ; common school edu-
cation ; at 20 taught school in Cov-
entry, two terms ; has since followed
the occupation of a farmer; in 1864,
served 100 days in defense of the
National capital, as a meinber of
Company H, 164th Regiinent, O. N.
G.; is a member of Buckley Post, G.
A. R., and a meinber of the State
Grange, Patrons of Husbandry ; has
been a meinber of the Pleasant Valley
M. E. Church about forty years, and
the superintendent of its Sunday
School for many years. A zealous
Republican, from the organization of
the party, in November, 1889, as the
colleague of Hon. Henry C. Sanford,
of Akron, was elected Representative
to the 69th General Assembly, for two
years ; October 5, 1852, was married
to Miss Elizabeth Henderson, daugh-
ter of James and Jane Henderson,
pioneers of Springfield township,
w^ho has borne him six children, three
HON. THOMAS WRIGHT.
only of whom are now^ living — James
F., now at home ; Lucy Jane, now^
Mrs. H. S. McChesney, of Springfield ;
and Edwin S., of Springfield.
MiLLHEiM, is a small hamlet in the south part of the tow^nship^
having a grist mill, blacksmith shop, church and school house
w^ith quite a cluster of contiguous private residences.
Thomastown, is a considerable village on the line between
Springfield and Coventry, tw^o miles south of Akron — composed
largely of coal miners, mostly Welsh, who have for several year*
w^orked the coal mines of that vicinity — with church, school house^
store, postoffice, etc.
Brittain (formerly for many years known as "White Grocery"),,
one mile east of the city limits, on the Mogadore road, has had a
hotel or two, store, postoffice, school house, wagon shop, black-
smith shop, clay-mill, etc., with private residences to correspond.
An Abolition "Riot." — Although there was not, perhaps, a
single negro within her borders, in common w^ith a large propor-
tion of the inhabitants of all the border States, many of the people
of Springfield, in the early days, were remarkably sensitive in
regard to the question of the abolition of slavery, then beginning
to agitate the public mind. Yet among her population w^ere quite
a number of earnest and fearless anti-slavery men, one of the
most notable among them being John Hall 2nd, (father of Summit
county's w^ell-known Democratic lawyer, John J. Hall. Bsq.,)w^hose
house was for many years the wrell-patronized station upon the
"Underground Railroad," over w^hich many fugitives from bond-
age w^ere safely conducted to the land of freedom — Canada, — the
PRO-SLAVERY AND PRO-WHISKY RIOTS. 987^
late Solomon Purdy, and his three stalwart sons, Fitch, Guerdon
and Henry, being also earnest and outspoken opponents of the
accursed institution.
Late in the Winter of 1837, '38, Rev. Thomas Graham, of the
Methodist Episcopal church, being upon that circuit, gave notice
that on a given evening he would deliver an anti-slavery lecture
in the Methodist meeting-house at the center of Springfield. This
announcement caused great excitement in the neighborhood, quite
a number of Mr. Graham's own church-members declaring, w^ith
others, that no such meeting should be held in the church.
Storming the Citadel. — Consequently, when the people began
to assemble, at the time appointed, it w^as found that the enemy
had by some means gained access to the house and barricaded the
door. At that time the late Fitch Purdy — though in the later
years of his life a very free-thinker and talker — was not only an
abolitionist, as he ever afterwards remained, but a Methodist of
the strictest sect, and one of the trustees of the church in question.
Armed w^ith the key, Fitch sought to gain access to the house, but
finding his entrance barred, and no attention paid to his command
to those inside to open the door. Fitch and his backers, using a
heavy piece of scantling as a battering ram, broke in the door, and
after a short but sharp and decisive scrimmage, succeeded in oust-
ing the intruders. Though the house and the people w^ere pelted
w^ith snowballs, and other missiles, and though a hideous din \sras
kept up during the evening, the lecture w^as given and listened to
by a fair-sized congregation.
Free Speech Vindicated. — The next day the routed barricadera-
employed attorneys — the late David K. Cartter, for 20 years, until
his recent death, Chief Justice of the District of Columbia, then
practicing law in Akron, and Seneca L. Hand, Esq., of Middle-
bury — and procured warrants to be issued by Justice Andrew-
Harris, of Springfield, against Fitch, Guerdon and Henry Purdy,
and Ralph Russell (and perhaps others), charging them with riot.
'Squire Harris calling to his assistance Justices Harvey H.
Johnson, of Akron, and Elijah Mason, of Middlebury, the trial w^as-
held at the office of the latter, in Middlebury, the late Judge Will-
iam M. Dodge, defending. The trial lasted a full day, eliciting as-
much interest and creating as much excitement as a first-class-
murder trial w^ould do in these latter days. Though Cartter w^as at
his happiest, in his well-known pow^ers of vituperative denuncia-
tion, and though duly supported by his colleague. Hand, the quiet
conduct of the defense, by Dodge, prevailed, and at a late hour of
the evening the learned justices very properly decided that there
w^as "no cause for action" — the defendants having both the key to
the door and the authority to open the house, finding themselves
barred out by unauthorized parties, having an undoubted right to-
use the means they did to gain entrance to the building.
An Odoriferous Affair. — Apropos of the foregoing demon-
stration against free speech, temperance, as well as abolitionism,
met w^ith vigorous opposition in many places about those days. It
•was in the early forties, while the Washingtonian excitement was on,-
that the late Colonel Reuben McMillen, of Middlebury (father-in-
law of Mr. David E. Hill), a fluent and effective speaker, consented
to talk on temperance, on a given evening, at a school house in or
near Millheim. The weather was warm and the windows being"
988 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
raised for ventilation, the outsiders, almost if not quite out-num-
bering the insiders, kept up an incessant din, to which the speaker
paid no heed, though at times his stentorian voice was nearly
inaudible to his hearers. At length an addled egg w^as hurled
w^ith great force through one of the windows, which, passing
within a few inches of the speaker's head, discharged its odorifer-
ous contents against the opposite Avail. Pausing a moment, the
Colonel turned to the secretary of the Society and inquired: " Mr.
Secretary, how many eggs did they throw?" "Only one, I
believe," replied the secretary. "My stars!" exclaimed the Col-
onel. "Is it possible that one small egg can stink like that!" and
resumed his discourse as though nothing had happened. There
\vere perhaps a few other slight attemps to interrupt anti-slavery
and anti-whisky meetings, but for the past 40 years Springfield
has been as orderly, and as tolerant of free speech, as any other
community in the State of Ohio, or elsewhere.
Speaking of whisky, long before the temperance question
began to be agitated in Ohio, on the occasion of raising the frame
of a distillery, at Mogadore, in which considerable difficulty had
occurred, by reason of improper framing, Mr. Lee Moore, who had
mounted to the plate for the purpose of throwing the bottle, after
its contents had been absorbed by the crowd, as was the custom of
the time, prefaced his exploit by the following poetic, but
■extremely appropriate, sentiment:
" This is a very bad frame.
And deserves a very bad name,
So we'll call it the ' Curse of the Nation !' "
Educational Matters. — Springfield is well supplied with
iirst-class district school houses, and has ever been fully abreast
of the times in her educational facilities, the village of Mogadore,
especially, being provided with graded schools, the toAvnship hav-
ing furnished two members of the Board of School Exam-
iners of Summit county, Messrs. David Ellett and Professor Fred-
erick Schnee, the latter being the present able superintendent of
schools at Cuyahoga Falls.
Railroad Facilities. — Until within a few years, Springfield
has been entirely beyond the pale of railroad accommodations,
nearer than Akron, except a short line of private road from Mid-
dlebury to one of the coal mines of the township. Now, how^ever,
the Valley Railway traverses its entire length, through the w^est-
ern portion, with Krumroy station and postoffice about midway,
w^hile its eastern portion is skirted by the Cleveland & Canton,
w^ith a station at Mogadore, thus giving the people better facilities
for travel and shipment of their wares and agricultural products,
than ever before enjoyed.
Springfield in War. — There were undoubtedly a number of
Revolutionary heroes among Springfield's early inhabitants, but
unfortunately no correct roster is now available. Ariel Bradley,
elsewhere named as the first settler in the township, though then
a mere lad of 11 years, is said to have rendered General Washing-
ton valuable service, on the eve of the battle of White Plains,
in October, 1776. The story goes that, mounted upon an old horse,
with a small grist of corn or grain, he boldly entered the British
lines, as if going to mill. Being arrested, as it was supposed he
Springfield's military prowess. 989
would be, and taken to headquarters, young Bradley, on being
questioned played the green country bumpkin so effectually, that
he was finally permitted to depart, carrying w^ith him, under his
brimless hat and tangled hair, such valuable information as to the
number and disposition of the British troops, as to secure to the
patriot army the splendid victory which they won in that engage-
ment. Mr. John Weston, grandfather of Mr. Solomon N. Weston,
and Mr. Samuel EUet, grandfather of Ex-County Commissioner
King J. Ellet, are also remetnbered as Revolutionary soldiers.
In the War of 1812, Springfield, though not as yet very exten-
sively settled, took quite an active part, a number of her volunteer
soldiers being among the brave and patriotic troops so ignomin-
iously surrendered by General Hull, at Detroit, August 16, 1812, the
name of Aaron Weston now only being remembered. In the draft
foUo^wing that surrender, however, Springfield furnished ten men,
as follows: Joseph D. Baird (afterw^ards for many years a justice of
the peace), John Hall (sonof Robert),Tirpothy Holcomb, JamesBaird,
Alexander Hall, Lee Moore, Nathaniel D. Hoover, James Martin,
James L. Bradley and Martin Willis, the latter going as a substi-
tute, but for whom is not now ascertainable, the widow of Mr.
Bradley, a sister of Mr. J. S. Monroe, of Mogadore, in 1887 living in
Missouri, in the 80th year of her age, and then drawing a pension
from the government on account of her husband's services.
Though it is not know^n that any of these men participated in
any severe battles, they all rendered good service on the frontier,
one-half only living to return home: John Hall dying in Huron
county, Alexander Hall at Camp Huron, James Baird at La
Grange, Indiana, and Martin Willis on the way home, at Tinker's
Creek. James G. Smith, buried in Greenwood Cemetery at Moga-
dore, was also a soldier in the w^ar, but w^hether a resident of
Springfield at the time, the writer is not advised.
It is also related that a portion of Hull's surrendered army,
under Colonels Cass and McArthur, en route to Pittsburg,
encamped near the present site of Gilcrest's mill, on the little
Cuyahoga, the old Revolutioner, Mr. Samuel Ellet, permitting the
worn and tired soldiers to luxuriate on the roasting ears of a fine
field of corn w^hicli he had growing near by.
Afterwards, in the Summer of 1813, the battalion of the youth-
ful but gallant Major Croghan, which, numbering but 150 men,
w^on such a. splendid victory over the veteran General Proctor,
with 500 British regulars and about the same number of Indians,
at Fort Stephenson, Lower Sandusky, camped upon the same
grounds, while en route from Pittsburg to Sandusky.
In the Mexican War, 1846-48, Springfield was represented, but
to w^hat extent cannot now be ascertained, but the writer is
informed by Mr. King J. Ellett that Isaac Krytzer paid a bounty of
$100 to his own son (given name not now^ remembered) to enlist
under that call for troops, young Krytzer dying from disease at
New Orleans while en route to Mexico, while Mr. George Dresher,
who died at nearly 75, February 6, 1890, though not then a resident
of Springfield, was a soldier in that war.
SPRINGFIELD'S ROLL OF HONOR.
In the War of the Rebellion, the fact that many of the earlier
volunteers enlisted in other towns than those in which thev
♦990 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
resided, and the absence of authentic local records, makes it
impossible to do justice to many of the most loyal and patriotic
localities of the county. From the recollection of several of her
xitizens, and from the returns of the assessors for the years 1863,
'64, '65, the following list has been compiled, which it is believed
presents a substantially accurate roster of Springfield's volunteer
soldiery during that bloody struggle.
A. P. Atchison, Charles F. Atchison, Henry Anderson (died in
service), Thomas Alexander (died in service), Ne\srton J. Atw^ood,
O. E. Andrews, J. S, Alexander, William Alexander, John B. Acker,
F. J. Baird, Solomon Babb, Jacob Boone (died in service), Daniel
Bitterman (killed in battle), William Bowers, Sylvanus Batty, J.
G. Brittain, Elias Bickel, George Bowers, John Braggenton, C. S.
Breckenridge, William Bender, Daniel W. Corl, W. A. Chamberlin,
W. F. Chamberlin, Thomas Chamberlin, John W. Chamberlin, R.
S. Chamberlin, Dudley C. Carr, Urias Cramer, Samuel F. Colvin,
Benjamin Clay, W. H. Clement, James Clark, Ora Clapp, Robert
Cochran, Aimer Colvin, W. W. Coale, Byron Derthick, John W.
Douglas, Joseph C. Ewart, John W. Ewart, R. L. Ewart, John
Ewell (died in service), G. Ellis, G. W. Eatinger, G. Emmerling. W.
C. Finney, William Finkle, Robert Fisher, John Fries, D, French,
Andrew J. Fulkerson, Adam Gross, Solomon Gross, Benjamin
Goss, Levi Gidmeyer (died in serv^ice), Thonias Green, Abraham
Glick, James Gordon, George Himebaugh, William N. Himebaugh,
Amos Horner, John H. Hill (killed in battle), Hiram C. Hill (killed
in battle), R. W. Hall, E. B. Hubbard, Ezra Harris, Milton B.
Henderson, Frank Henderson, H. A. Henderson, George W. Hile,
J. S. Hall, L. E. Hall, Warren R. Hall (died in the service), Albert
Hall. Luther Hall, George W. Hart, Matthias Hawk, Morris R.
Hughes, Cyrus W. Harris, J. Hoffman, Moses Immel, Ira F.
Krytser, Frederick Lutz, Robert Lutz (died in service), Samuel
Lutz (died in service), Andrew Longnecker, Allen Limber, James
E. Leach, Zachariah Lee, William Leach, John Mumaw (died in
service), Tallis C. McCain (died in service), J. McCormick, G. J.
McCormick, Cowan McCormick, Isaac Madlem, John Madlem, J.
McCormick, Michael Myers, Henry Mellinger, William Mellinger,
Charles Mellinger, Samuel Mantel, William Mapins, George
Markle, lohn McChesney, John McNeal, William Moore, William
D. Myers, Samuel C. Marsh, John J. Marsh, William Miller,
Horace Norman, Samuel Neeper, Robert Posten (drowned)
Franklin Putt, John Putt, Franklin Powell, Hubert Peck, Daniel
Palmer, J. C. Price, David R. Rothrick, W. H. Rothrick, Hiram
Raber (killed in battle), C. H. Russell, Charles Rolph, Charles
Rhodenbaugh, Jacob Replogle, John Randall, Milton Ritter, Bert
Rolph, George Spitler, John Shaffer, Jacob Sausaman, G. W.
Solomon, H. F. Solomon, Jacob Sax, Charles A. Smith, J. G.
Stinhour, Solomon Strecker, John Stevens (died in service), Daniel
Stetler (died in service), 'W. A. Sypher, Cyrus W. Spade, B.
Strohecker, Charles Steese, Edward E. Skinner, Royal S. Stout,
Philander H. Stout, Weston Salmon, Jr., J. H. Spade, Nathan
Spade, William J. Schrop, J. M. Schrop, William Steese, John
Smith, Joseph C. Tousley, Joel F. Tousley, Andrew Tousley (killed
in battle), Albert M. Tousley, James A. Thompson, Thomas L.
Thompson, Duncan Thompson, Robert Thompson, Martin Tod, J.
A- Tritt, Philip Ulm, Ozro Vanorman, Henry Winkleman, John
Springfield's criminal record. 991
Winkleman, Hugh M. White (killed in battle), Joseph Wagner,
William Wooley, Harrison Wise, Wilson S. Roof, J. W. Wise,
Watson Wise, Thomas Wright, Jr., Solomon S. Weston, George J.
Young, Philip Young, B. F. Yerick, G. W. Zelinger.
CRIMINAL STATUS.
Springfield has not been very prolific of startling crimes
though one or two of a homicidal nature, in which her citizens
have been involved will have to be herein recorded. It is not the
design of this work to reproduce all the petty offenses and pecca-
dilloes, of Avhich the people of the several townships, either
through excessive passion, excessive drink or excessive depravity,
have been guilty, but, in addition to certain salient historical
points, group together,- in a concise and permanent form, the more
startling events of the half century w^ritten of, that may have
occurred in any given locality. *
The Murder of John Rhodenbaugh. — Though not at the
time a citizen of Summit County, the murder of Mr. John
Rhodenbaugh, in Portage County, in 1865, and its attendant cir-
- cumstances, is entitled to a place in this work, from the fact of his
long residence in this county, and of the large number of his rela-
tives still living among us. Mr. Rhodenbaugh w^as born in
Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in 1809, and removed w^ith
his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Rhodenbaugh, to Springfield
township, now in Summit county, in 1816. He w^as reared to the
occupation of a farmer, but in later life largely folloAved the busi-
ness of auctioneer, mostly at country sales of farm stock, etc. He
was married in 1832, to Laura Purdy, daughter of the late
Solomon Purdy, of Springfield, and sister of ex-Mayor Henry
Purdy, of Akron. In 1853 Mr. Rhodenbaugh removed to Portage
county, locating upon a farm in the eastern portion of tlie tow^n-
ship of Franklin, between Kent and Ravenna.
Causes Leading to the Murder. — Mr. Rhodenbaugh, though
six feet or more in height, broad shouldered and extremely mus-
cular, w^as very active in his bodily movements, and in his
younger manhood, and during his residence in Springfield, w^as
considered the champion athlete of Summit county. He was of a
lively turn of mind, and of extremely convivial habits, sometimes
drinking to excess, on w^hich occasions he w^as boastful of his
w^ealth, lavish in his expenditures and reckless in the display of
Avhatever sums of money he might happen to have about him.
■ On the afternoon of October 24, 1865, Mr. Rhodenbaugh visited
Kent, w^here he spent most of the afternoon in the various
drinking places of the village, drinking and playing cards, bil-
iliards, etc. - Among his associates, during the afternoon, were Joel
Beery, a resident of Portage county, and a transient bummer and
bruiser, calling himself Jack Cooper, but whose real name was
afterwards found to be Samuel Wittum, a native of Erie county,
'.Pennsylvania.
Going to His Death. — Leaving Kelso's billiard and drinking
saloon, after taking a parting drink with Beery and Cooper, he
^soon afterwards, about 7 o'clock in the evening, started for his
home, in an open one-horse w^agon. On reaching a point between
ILakes Brady and iPippin, where the wagon road runs parallel with
992 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
the Cleveland & Pittsburg railroad, within about a mile of his own
home, and within sight of the farm house of Mr. Joseph Heighton,.
Mr. Rhodenbaugh was intercepted and assaulted, being dealt two
heavy blows upon the head with a club, which Avas afterward
found to have been cut near the spot where the deadly assault was
made. The death of Mr. Rhodenbaugh is supposed to have been
instantaneous, as no evidences of a struggle were apparent when
his body was found, as it Avas soon afterwards by Mr. George
Dewey, a resident of the neighborhood. The person of the mur-
dered man had been robbed of his watch and all the money he
had with him, supposed to have been about $200.00.
Arrest of the Murderers. — Suspicion was at once directed
to Cooper and Beery as the probable murderers, from the fact that
they had been almost, if not quite, the last persons seen with him
the night before, and the further fact that they had not been seen
in their accustomed haunts about the village after Rhodenbaugh
left. Accordingly a vigorous search after the suspected men was
at once instituted, resulting in their arrest, near Ravenna, by offi-
cers R. W. Buck and S. L. Jennings, about 9 o'clock the next
morning. A coroner's inquest was held by Justice Rockwell, and
verdict rendered in accordance \\rith the facts, implicating the two
men in question, who, on being examined before Justice Coolman,
October 28, were committed to jail to answer to the crime of
murder.
Indictments, Trials, Etc. — At the January term, 1866, of the
Court of Common Pleas for Portage county, the Grand Jury found
indictments against both of the accused, charging them with the
crime of w^illful and premeditated murder. They Avere arraigned
on the 1st day of February and both entered a plea of not guilty,
and being without means to employ counsel, E. B. Taylor, J. I).
Horton and P. B. Conant, Esqs,, were appointed by the Court to
defend the prisoners, Alphonso Hart, Esq., also being assigned by
the Court to assist Prosecuting Attorney H. H. Willard, to conduct
the case on the part of the State.
Separate trials having been granted the prisoners, the trial of
Jack Cooper commenced on the 5th day of February, 1866, before
Judge Charles E. Glidden. The jury being duly sw^orn. Prose-
cutor Willard made an elaborate statement of the circumstance*
attending the murder, and of the facts which he expected to
prove, while Mr. E. B. Taylor, on behalf of the defendant, made a
general denial of the alleged crime, meeting all the charges con-
tained in the indictment with the simple plea of "not guilty."
Thirty-six witnesses were examined and. for three days the trial
continued with unflagging interest, the court room being densely
crowded throughout bj'^ citizens of both Portage and Summit
counties. The pleas w^ere all earnest and eloquent, andthe charge
of Judge Glidden, clear, forcible and remarkably fair and impar-
tial. The case was given to the jury in the evening of February
7, 1866, who, at about midnight, returned into court with their
verdict, finding Cooper guilty of murder in the first degree.
On the next day, February 8, 1866, Joel Beery was put upon
his trial for aiding and abetting Cooper in the murder of
Rhodenbaugh, before the same Judge, but a newly selected jury.
The case, on behalf of the State, was opened by Alphonso Hart,
Esq., and the theory of the defense was ably and fully presented
A SURPRISE VKRDICT — SENTENCES, ETC. 993?
by Ezra B. Taylor, Esq. This trial also lasted three days, attract-
ing a large attendance and the most intense interest, between forty
and fifty Avitnesses, in all, being sworn and examined, the prisoner,
during the trial, being attended by his aged mother, and his
brother, Mr. H. E. Beery. The case was given to the jury at half
past 12 o'clock, on Saturday afternoon, February 10, 1866. For
more than twelve hours the jury worked faithfully upon the case,
a few minutes past 1 o'clock on Sunday morning, announcing their
verdict, finding Beery guilty of murder in the second deg-ree.
To say that this verdict was received with great surprise, by
the great majority of the people of both Portage and Summit
counties, would be stating it far too mildly; for it w^as followed
w^ith almost universal denunciation and indignation; the public
belief being that Beery was equally guilty with Cooper, and that
the extreme penalty of the law^ should be meted out to both alike.
Pronouncing the Sentences. — On Monday morning, February
12, 1866, the prisoners were brought before Judge Glidden, for sen-
tence. Beery appearing first. On being asked the usual question
as to w^hether he had anything to say why the sentence of the law
should not be pronounced against him, for the crime of which he
had been convicted, he replied that he had not, and thereupon
Judge Glidden sentenced him to hard labor in the penitentiary for
life.
On Cooper's appearance in Court, his counsel made a motion
for a new trial which was promptly overruled by the Court.
Judge Glidden then commanded Cooper to stand up, and after a
brief reference to the charge, and the finding of the jury, asked
him if he had anything to say w^hy the sentence of the law should!
not be pronounced against himforthe crime of murder, w^hereupon
Cooper in substance, said, that while he had little to say in regard
to his innocence, he hardly felt that he had been fairly dealt with,
or he w^ould not have been convicted of murder in the first degree.
He said he had not much education, and could not speak very well,
but he did not think, that on the evidence against him he ought to-
be hung, while on substantially the same evidence his companion
was let off with a lighter penalty. At the conclusion of Cooper's^
remarks. Judge Glidden reviewed the history of the case and the
testimony, in a masterly and exhaustive manner, expressing the
conviction that, from the nature of the evidence, and all the attend-
ant circumstances, so far as the prisoner, then before him, wa»
concerned, the verdict of the jury was just and proper, and closing
in the usual form, by sentencing the prisoner to be hanged by the
neck until dead, on the 6th day of April, 1866.
Desperate Attempt to Escape From Jail. — After his convic-
tion, Cooper stated his true name to be Samuel Wittum, a native
of Pennsylvania, though his parents had previously lived in
both Ohio and Indiana. Left an orphan at the age of six years,
he lived for a time Avith a farmer, by w^hom he w^as so harshly
treated that he soon left him, and began life on his own account,
as a driver upon the Beaver and Erie canal, and from that time
forw^ard leading a wandering and dissolute life, as gambler, coun-
terfeiter, horse thief, murderer, etc., having, as it was alleged,
served a considerable term in the Missouri penitentiary, before
committing the fatal crime that was to end his career. He stated
that he had been twice married and that he had a sister still living
63
994 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
in the Kast, and as the day of execution drew near he was respited
by Governor Jacob D. Cox, from April 6th till April 27th, to give
this sister an opportunity to visit him. Though pretending to be
thoroughly penitent and reconciled to his doom, the prisoner made
several attempts to break jail, the last, a short time before the
day fixed for his execution, by the Governor's respite, being of the
most desperate and brutal character in this wise: Having
wrenched a small bar of iron from one of the cell doors, he fiercely
assaulted Sheriff Jennings, on his entering the jail. Though
Cooper called upon the other prisoners confined in the jail at the
time, to aid him in his desperate undertaking, to their credit they
refused to do so, and the Sheriff hung to him until an alarm had
been sounded upon the outside, and sufficient assistance secured
to prevent the accomplishment of his bold and desperate design.
But even then his insubordination continued, for when Sheriff
Jennings sought to place him in irons, to prevent a repetition of
his savage effort, he retreated to his cell, cursing and swearing
like a pirate, and brandishing a knife, which he had in some man-
ner possessed himself of, swore he w^ould kill the first man that
attempted to enter the cell door. One of the physicians of the vil-
lage was called in, who, by means of a small syringe, reduced him
to insensibility -with chloroform, and while thus unconscious he
was securely ironed, both hand and foot, and kept in that condition
until the day of the execution.
Cooper Finally Executed. — On April 27, 1866, the day to
Avhich he had been respited by Governor Cox, Jack Cooper, alias
Samuel Wittum, w^as successfully executed bj'^ Sheriff Jennings
and his assistants, on the Summit county gallows, upon w^hich
Parks and Dr. Hughes, at Cleveland, had previously been hanged,
and on which Hunter was subsequently hung by Sheriff Curtiss
in this county, the prisoner making a long, rambling speech from
the gallows, which cannot be repeated here.
In accordance with the sentence Beery \^ras taken to the peni-
tentiary on the 15th day of February, 1866, where he served the
State faithfully for 13 vears, 4 months and 19 days, dying in prison
July 4, 1870.
The Roof-Musson Homicide. — In the pleasant village of Mog-
adore, there lived, in 1866, upon the Suffield side of the line, a short
distance south of the center, the family of Mr. William A. Musson,
a wagon maker by trade, w^hose shop stands a few rods north of
the center, upon the Springfield side of the line. Mrs. Harriet
Musson, the wife of William A. Musson, was a sister of Hon. John
R, and Mr. William Buchtel, of Akron, Mr. and Mrs. Musson being
held in the very highest regard by all their neighbors and ac-
quaintances.
In the same village, but upon the Springfield side of the line,
lived a family by the name of Roof — consisting of the mother, Mrs.
Henry Roof, her son, Wilson Shannon Roof, aged about 20 years,
Hannah Roof, aged 22 years (a helpless cripple), Hattie Roof, aged
17 years, and Charlotte Roof, aged about 15 years; the husband
and father, Henry Roof, at the time living apart from the family in
Medina county. Near the Roof family, as above constituted, lived,
at the time, Mr, Milton Moore, a large landholder in Portage
county, and then, also, a stockholder in, and president of, the City
Bank of Akron, Mrs. Moore being a cousin of Mrs. Musson.
THE ROOF-MUSSON HOMICIDE. 995
Causes Leading to the Tragedy. — Mr. and Mrs. Moore had
been married twelve or thirteen years, but not having lived hap-
pily together had several times parted, but after brief separations
had as often become reconciled, until, in May, 1866, they made
^what was understood to be a final separation, Mrs. Moore going to
low^a, as w^as given out, to remain away a sufficient length of time
to enable her husband to procure a bill of divorce on the ground of
^' three years w^illful absence." Being thus left to himself, Moore
iirranged with Mrs. Roof to do his washing, and with Hattie Roof
to tidy up his room, make his bed, etc. Hattie had previously,
-when Mrs. Moore w^as at home, assisted in the family work, but
now^ that Mrs. Moore was away permanently, as Mr. Moore sup-
posed, his relations with the young lady became more intimate,
.and early in July he proposed to marry her, on securing his con-
templated divorce, w^hich proposition w^as accepted by the young
lady, and approved of by her mother. From this time on, they had
frequent interviews, both in his own and th^ mother's house, and
on one occasion visited Cleveland together, Moore having also
presented her w^ith a ring, provided her w^ith clothing and arrang-
<id for her to attend school at Hudson.
The Neighbors Begin to Talk. — Of course, however innocent,
such attentions from a married man of 43, to a young girl of less
than 18, could not well pass unobserved, and the neighbors soon
began to talk, w^hich talk not only put the most unfavorable con-
struction upon the intimacy in question, but was also, in due time,
communicated to the absent Mrs. Moore, as it was alleged, by her
cousin, Mrs. Musson, in consequence of which information, as is
supposed, the former lady returned unexpectedly to Mogadore early
in November. She did not, how^ever, immediately return to her
own home, or the home of her husband, but for a week or tw^o
visited around among her friends in the neighborhood, Mr. Musson
among the rest. The sudden return of Mrs. Moore, and the con-
tinued absence from the "bed and board" of her husband, as a
matter of course, materially increased the talk of the neighbor-
hood, reflectirlg not -only upon Moore, himself, but also, as usual
in such cases, with especial virulence upon the young lady upon
whom his attentions and favors were being so lavishly bestowed,
as well as her mother for encouraging the same.
A Brother's Desperation. — These constant culpatory ani-
madversions could not well pass unheard and unheeded by Wilson
Shannon Roof, the only brother of the young lady implicated.
Young Roof, with the exception of one year, from August, 1864,
served in the army, had been employed by Mr. Milton C. Purdy, in
his pottery, for some eight or nine years, and had been as steady
and faithful as the general run of boys and young men similarly
employed. Being, however, of a rather impulsive and excitable
turn of mind, the stories in circulation regarding the chastity of
his mother and sister, became very irritating to him, and he had
several talks with Moore about "settling" with the slanderers, he
^Wilson) not knowing, up to this time, anything about the condi-
tional marriage engagement between Moore and his sister, or of
the fact that Moore w^as furnishing the money for her schooling at
Hudson.
Thus matters stood at the time of Mrs. Moore's return from
the West, early in November; the young man's anger against the
996 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
supposed defamers of his sister, including Mrs. Musson, Mrs,
Moore and several others, both men as well as women, became
daily intensified, so much so that about t^wo weeks .after Mrs.
Moore's return from the West, he threw up his job with Mr,
Purdy, saying to Mr. P. that he had no ill-will against him, but
"would have revenge on the slanderers of his sister," About thi»
time, also, he bought a navy revolver, and seemed to be shaping^
matters to leave the place.
A Fearful Tragedy. — Things were in this condition on Mon-
day morning, November 26, 1866. Mr. Musson, unconscious of
impending calamity, had gone to ^vork at the shop. Mrs. Musson
had gone cheerfully about her household duties, and was in the
kitchen doing up her weekly washing, accompanied by her little
4^-year-old boy, only. About 10 o'clock in the forenoon of that"
day. Roof was seen by several of the neighbors going to the house
of Mr. Musson, which stands some eight or ten rods back from the
street, though little dreaming of the fearful errand on which he
vsras bound. A moment after he had entered the house, two dis-
tinct reports of a pistol and a piercing scream from that directioHr
at once drew several of the neighbors to the spot, who found Mrs.
Musson upon the floor of the porch, bleeding copiously from a
pistol shot wound; the ball having entered her right side between
the third and fourth ribs, passing through the breast and lungs^
and coming out between the fifth and sixth ribs upon the other
side. It was also found that a ball had been lodged in the window
sill of the room in which Mrs. Musson had been at work, and the
general theory was that the first shot, fired while she was bending-
over the wash tub, had missed her and entered the window sill as
stated, while the fatal shot was fired as she rushed to the porch
door upon the north side of the house, and screamed. This theory
was strengthened by the statement of the little boy that "the mati
shot his mamma two times," though the physicians, who made
the post mortem examination, were of the opinion that but one
shot had been fired.
Consternation of the People.^ — Mrs. Musson, though seem-
ingly conscious when the first neighbors arrived, was unable to
speak and in a very few^ minutes expired. As a matter of course,
the utmost consternation was manifested by the people of the vil-
lage, and the entire surrounding country, as the news of the assas-
sination spread. Such was the excitement that nearly an hour
elapsed before anything was done towards tracking the murderer,
and securing his arrest, Mr. M. C. Purdy offered a reward of $2(X)
for his capture, Messrs. John R. and William Buchtel, brothers of
the murdered \voman, afterward assuming the same, with the
addition of $300 thereto, making an aggregate reward of $500.
Messengers were sent to Akron and other points to notify friends,
and head him off by telegraph. In his flight across the fields, he
met Mr. Michael Mishler, Jr., to whom he stated that he had com-
mitted a murder, and that if it hadn't been for the screaming of
the boy he would have "cleaned out the street." A mile or so
further on, substantially the same statement was made to two
other young men, but both they and Mr. Mishler thought that he
was joking.
Tracking the Murderer — Capture, Etc. — The natural inter-
est of the people of the vicinity, together with the large reward
TRACKING THE MURDERER. 997
offered, at once secured an active search, and a most vigilant
■watch for the fugitive all over the country. When last seen, upon
the day of the murder, he was some tw^o miles and a half from the
scene of the tragedy, though traced some distance further, and
into and through a large swamp near the edge of the township of
Rootstown, when the track was lost. On Tuesday, Dr. J. C. Fer-
guson and several others again got upon the track, and traced him
for some distance, the fugitive by this time having taken a south-
easterly direction: but becoming confused by the conflicting
stories of people w^ho claimed to have seen him, again lost the
track and returned home. On Wednesday, Sheriff James Burli-
son, visiting Mogadore, became satisfied that the doctor had been
upon the right track, and with a small posse, guided by the doc-
tor, started out on horseback. This party again struck the trail
early in the afternoon, and tracked him into a swamp, around
■which a picket guard was established during the night. In the
■darkness, ho^wever, he eluded the pickets, and it was found the
next morning that he was making his way slowly, in a zig-zag
course, towards Alliance. Sheriff Burlison and his party were
rapidly gaining on him, and w^ould undoubtedly have soon secured
the prize, but for the fact that Mr. James Roath, a farmer, living
near the line between Portage and Stark counties, seeing a man
pass his house that he thought ans^vered the description w^hich he
had read of the murderer, followed after him, and overtook him in
the township of Lexington, Stark county. On being questioned
by Mr. Roath, Roof stated that he was from Medina and was
going to Alliance, but on being requested to raise his hat. Roof at
■once succumbed, and delivered to Mr. Roath his revolver, fully
loaded, together with a large bowie-knife, ammunition, etc. Mr.
Roath took his prisoner, who was extremely foot-sore, and very
nearly exhausted, to his house, where he was given food and other
proper attentions, and later in the day, assisted by a neighbor by
the name of William Wiles, he w^as taken to Lima station, and
thence, the same evening, to Ravenna, and placed in jail.
Preliminary Examination. — The following Saturday the pris-
oner was brought before Justice Andrew Jackson, of Ravenna, for
examination. Prosecuting Attorney H. H. Willard, of Ravenna,
and J. J. Hall, Esq., of Akron, representing the State and Alphonso
Hart and C. A, Reed, Esqs., appearing for the defense. A full
examination was had, and the defendant was remanded to jail, to
await the action of the Grand Jury, Coroner Luther H. Parmelee,
of Kent, having, on the evening of the murder, held an inquest
upon the bod}', a post mortem examination being had by Drs.
Neeper and Ferguson, of Mogadore; the coroner's jury finding that
the deceased came to her death from a pistol ball fired by the hand
of Wilson Shannon Roof. Mrs. Musson was 36 years of age at the
time of her death.
Arrest of Mr. Milton Moore.— The feeling against Mr. Milton
Moore had been very strong from the start, but became greatly
intensified from the repeated utterances of Roof that Moore had
instigated him to seek revenge upon Mrs. Musson and others who
had circulated slanderous stories about his mother and sister, and
their relations with Moore. These utterances w^ere so outspoken,
and the circumstances surrounding, and pertaining to, the homi-
cide, so inculpating that the authorities of Portage county deemed
998 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
it advisable to investigate the question as to Moore's complicity iir
the dreadful affair. Roof, and a number of other witnesses were
therefore brought before the Grand Jury, by Prosecuting Attorney
Willard, at the March term of the Court of Common Pleas for 1867,
resulting in an indictment against Roof for wailful and premedi-
tated murder, and against Moore as an accomplice. Moore was
thereupon arrested by Sheriff Henry C. Jennings, on the 11th day
of March, 1867, and committed to the jail of Portage county, but,
in consequence of repairs that w^ere being made on that institu-
tion, he was, within a few days, transferred to the jail of Summit
county.
Released on $50,000 Bail — Trial, Etc. — The trial of Moore wa&
set for the 27th day of May, 1868, Judge George M. Tuttle, on appli-
cation of Moore's attorneys, having admitted him to bail in the
sum of $50,000, the bail bond being signed by a number of wealthy
gentlemen of both Portage and Summit counties. On the day
appointed, the trial w^as begun before Judge Tuttle. The State
w^as represented by Prosecuting Attorney Willard, assisted by A.
J. Dyer, George Bliss, John McSw^eeney and Michael Stuart, and
the accused was defended by Ezra B. Taylor, Samuel W. McClure
and John J. Hall. The trial lasted five days and was very closely
contested upon both sides, the court room being densely packed
with intensely interested spectators from both Portage and Sum-
mit counties.
Roof Testifies Against Moore. — On the witness stand Roof
related a number of interviews between Moore and himself in
regard to the scandalous talk in question, the last intervie^v being
at his mother's house on the Saturday preceding the murder. Of
this interview, and the commission of the fatal act Roof testified
as follows:
"This interview lasted three quarters of an hour. I told Moore I had
a great work to settle these slanders, and wanted him to say who the slan-
derers were ; and I wanted money, for I intended to do something- that I would
have to leave. I did not want to tell him just what or how I proposed to do ,
wanted his advice and assistance as I had no money at my command. He
repeated his charges against Mrs. Moore and Mrs. Musson. I asked Moore
if he did not think I had better give them the devil. He said ' I think you
had.' I asked him if J! had not better go and thrash his wife. He said ' No,
everybody would think I had sent you.' The names of Mrs. Moore, Mrs.
Musson, James F. Hope, William Hill and William Russell were mentioned
in this conversation. In reply to my question, he said I had better go to his
house when he was away. Can't say which said go to Musson's first, then to
Moore's then to town among the men in the shops. Think I told him I was
going arined to the teeth. Think he said : ' That's right ; make a clean sweep;^
do it up right.' When I asked, he said. 'Go to my house when I am away ;
tomorrow I shall be at home ; Monday I shall go to Akron.' I told Moore
there would be nothing short of several assaults, and I would have to leave
and must have money. I told him I should go to White Hall, 111., but never
intended to go there; told him I should write for money ; don't remember
what he replied."
In regard to the killing of Mrs. Musson, Roof testified:
" I was at the Corners early. Moore came north and turned the corner,,
going west. He looked strongly at me ; I nodded and winked, and
tried to hold my coat away that he could see the butt of the pistol which
hung in my belt. I waited at the corners as I did in accordance with an
understanding made with Moore on the night of our last interview. When
Moore had gone past, I knew his wife was alone. I went to Musson's and
rapped. Mrs. Musson opened the door. Drawing the revolver I asked her if
she knew what she had been saying about iny sister — I had coine to see-
MR. moore's statement. 999
about it. She threw up her hands and said, 'Oh, don't; — my God !' In cock-
ing the pistol my thumb slipped off, discharg-ing- the pistol ; the ball entered
the breast, I thought ; she screamed and struck at me; I knocked her on the
head with the butt of my revolver; I pushed her around; she staggered
against the window; 1 went out on the porch and removed a shingle that was
in the window and shot her again."
The witness was subjected to long and severe cross examina-
tion, but generally maintained about the same statement. A
number of other witnesses w^ere examined on the part of the State,
both in regard to the killing of Mrs. Musson, and the actions of
Moore and Hattie Roof, among the rest Mrs. Roof, the mother of
Hattie and Wilson, who testified to the intimacy of Moore and her
daughter; their marriage engagement; their visit to Cleveland; the
furnishing of money by Moore to fix Hattie up for school; of
Moore's promise, after the murder, to help the family after Wil-
son's trial; and of conversations between Moore and Wilson, in
regard to the slanders before the commission of the murder.
The Story of Mr. Moore. — The testimony for the State hav-
ing closed at 10 o'clock a. m., on the third day of the trial, the
defense called and had sworn forty-four witnesses, the defendant
also going upon the stand and testifying in his own behalf. After
a number of witnesses had testified to various declarations of
Roof at the time of his capture and afterwards, that he alone had
committed the murder, and that no one was in complicity livith
him, and also to Moore's general peaceable character, Moore him-
self testified, giving a history of his acquaintance >vith the Roof
family, of his assisting them several years before, while the hus-
band and father was in California; of several talks with Wilson
about the slanders that were being circulated against Hattie, and,
on his threatening to kick Henry Saxe, of his advising him not to
do so, or anything that would get him into trouble; though at Mrs.
Roof's Saturday evening before the murder, did not see Wilson;
admitted seeing Wilson at the corners Monday morning as he w^as
going to Akron, but paid no attention to him; never saw^ Wilson
after Thursday until Monday morning; denied all Wilson's talk
about cleaning out the town, or threatening anyone except Henry
Saxe, etc.
On cross-examination Moore admitted his conditional marriage
engagement w^ith Hattie Roof; said his w^ife \vent West with the
understanding that she would never come back, and that he would
get a bill of divorce from her; had told Hattie that it would take
three years to get a bill, and agreed to marry her if his wife did
not come back, and he got a bill; her coming back w^as unexpected:
admitted visiting Cleveland with Hattie and registering her name
at hotel as Louisa Wilson; frequently talked with Mrs. Roof about
the engagement; never told Wilson about it; couldn't say that he
sent Hattie to school at Hudson; but if her mother w^ould send
her he would give as much money to the lame girl (Hannah) as
she spent on Hattie; gave money to Mrs. Roof to buy clothes for
Hattie; lived with his wife after she came back; told Hattie the
game ^vas up and the engagement broken; were engaged from
July, nearly five months; during this time secret was confined to
Mrs. Roof and themselves; to all appearances Wilson never got
into the secret; the boy knew nothing of it to the best of his
knowledge; engagement made in his (Moore's) sitting room; on
Thursday before the murder called at Mrs. Roof's; the old lady
1000 AKRON AND SUMMIT* COUNTY.
called her son down; lie first said he was going away; did not
know where, and wanted to deed his property — the house— to
Hannah; said before going he would see some of the folks who had
slandered the family; said to Wilson his sister had done nothing
w^rong, let the matter drop; and throughout, both in the direct and
cross-examination, denied holding out any inducements, or giving
any encouragement whatever, to Roof, to inflict punishment, or
seek revenge, upon any person or persons whatsoever.
In corroboration of Moore's statement the lame sister of Roof
(Hannah) testified she did not know that Moore was at their house
on the Saturday night before the murder, but that on his visit
there the Thursday previous, though sitting in another room, she
did hear her brother Wilson threaten to kick Saxe, and heard
Moore tell him not to do anything that would bring himself or the
family into trouble.
Arguments — Charge — Verdict. — On the fourth day of the
trial, at 3:20 p. m., both parties rested, and the court adjourned for
the day. On Friday morning. May 31st, at 8 o'clock, the argu-
ments commenced. Prosecuting Attorney Willard opening for the
State, followed by Ezra B. Taylor and S. W. McClure for the
defense, and concluded by John McSweeney for the prosecution,
all being fine efforts.
The arguments closed at 6:30 p. m., and Judge Tuttle proceeded
immediately to charge the jury. Retiring to their room at half
past seven, the jury at eight o'clock in the evening summoned the
court to receive their verdict, w^hich was that the defendant Milton
Moore, "was not guilty of the offense as charged in the indictment,
and though the evidence and all of the attendant circumstances of
the case, showed great indiscretion on the part of Mr. Moore, very
few, if any, questioned the righteousness of the verdict, for those
at all acquainted w^ith him, and vt^ith his peculiar temperament
and traits of character, would hardly believe him capable of inflict-
ing personal vengeance or injury, on any human being, how^ever
great the provocation, either by his own hand, or by proxy.
Roof Pleads Guilty to Murder in the Second Degree. — At
the conclusion of the above long and exciting trial, Roof, through
his counsel, tendered a plea of guilty of murder in the Second
degree, which Prosecuting Attorney Willard accepted, feeling,
possibly, that the developments in the case just tried had created
a general feeling of commiseration and sympathy for the accused,
or else, remembering the surprise of himself and the public at the
verdict of the jury in the case of Beery, a few^ months before, that
he might be let off scot-free. Judge Tuttle thereupon immediately
sentenced the self-confessed slayer of Harriet Musson — Wilson
Shannon Roof — to imprisonment during his natural life in the
penitentiary of the State of Ohio, to which institution he was con-
veyed by Sheriff Jennings, on the 7th day of June, 1867.
Pardon of Roof — Subsequent Life, Etc. — Young Roof ac-
cepted his fate w^ithout a murmur, thoroughly regretful for his
fearful crime, and conducted himself, after his incarceration, in
such a manner as to secure the good-will and sympathy of his
keepers and the officers of the prison, who, a few years later,
joined his friends in asking Governor Young for his pardon,
-which was granted on the 9th day of January, 1878, just nine years
even months and two days after his arrival at the penitentiary.
SPRINGFIELD IN PUBLIC OFFICE. 1001
Since his liberation he has almost continuously resided in
Mogadore industriously >vorking, for the most of the time at his
trade, for Myers & Hall, potters, of that village, and the sole
•dependence of his widowed mother and crippled sister, Hannah;
his father, who had rejoined his family soon after the occurrences
^bove narrated, dying of consumption in 1876, the mother dying
December 21, 1889, of paralysis. The two younger sisters are hap-
pily married — Hattie being the faithful wife of an industrious and
prosperous mechanic in this city and the mother of several
children; and Lottie, the equally faithful \vife of a former Akron
mechanic, now residing in Colorado.
Mr. Moore's Later Life. — Of course, the transactions herein
above narrated, attached a certain degree of odium to the reputa-
tion of Mr. Moore, not only affecting his social standing, but his
pecuniary status, also; while his family relations continued to
grow more and more inharmonious from year to year, culminating
in final separation from his wife in 1878. The large expense
incurred in his defense w^ith other losses and sacrifices incident to
his domestic and business troubles, resulted in utter financial
prostration for several years, though the w^riterhas gladly learned,
through a friend well informed upon the subject, that he is at
present engaged in an enterprise that bids fair, should his life be
spared, to place him upon his financial feet again w^ithin a very
few years.
SPRINGFIELD'S CIVIL ROSTER.
Without reverting to whatever of civil honors may have fallen
to Springfield under the earlier rule of Trumbull and Portage
counties, it will be seen that she has played quite a conspicuous
part in the official affairs of Summit county, in spite of the fact
that she has never, in a single instance, at a general election, cast
a majority vote for the political party through whom the offices
have been bestowed.
Henry G. Weaver, an intelligent and prosperous farmer, of
Springfield, was elected in October, 1840, as Summit county's first
representative to the State Legislature, serving one year.
Henry G. Weaver, was elected county commissioner, in
1845, and re-elected in 1848, holding the position six years.
Henry Purdy, then an enterprising manufacturer of stone-
w^are, at the center of Springfield, w^as elected county recorder in
October, 1852, and re-elected October, 1855, for six years faithfully
and courteously serving his constituents in that important office;
since which time Mr. Purdy has filled the office of mayor of the
village and city of Akron, four years, and has held the office of
justice of the peace for Portage township, w^ith an interregnum of
a single term only, since June 1, 1868, until his resignation about
three years ago. Portrait and biography on page 56.
Doctor Mendal Jewett, then living in Mogadore, was in
October, 1855, elected representative to the State Legislature, for
two years making a very useful member of that body, indeed.
Portrait and biography on page 264.
John S. Gilcrest, in October, 1856, was elected county com-
missioner, and re-elected in 1859, giving to that responsible posi-
tion six years of good and faithful service.
1002 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Mills B. Purdy, a native of Springfield, but for the past
thirty-five years a resident of Akron, served as city clerk of Akron
six consecutive years — 1868 to 1873, inclusive.
James Alexander Lantz, also of Springfield origin^ who as a
member of the gallant 67th Regiment, O. V. I., lost an arm in the
service of his country, was elected county recorder in October^
1864, and re-elected in 1867, making a first-class officer for six con-
secutive years.
Jacob Mishler, of Springfi.eld, was elected county surveyor in
October, 1873, and after having qualified as such resigned the
position before entering upon its duties.
King J. Ellet, born in Springfield, December 27, 1831, and one
of the solid men of the toAvnship, was elected county commis-
sioner in October, 1883, and re-elected in 1886, his six years' incum-
bency being in every Tvay efficient and satisfactory to his
constituents. Mr. Ellet afterwards for a time being one of the
trustees for the Summit County Children's Home.
Joseph Moore, a long time resident of Springfield, but since
1868 a citizen of Akron, besides serving as the assessor for l^is
w^ard, and as city school enumerator for many years past, has
officiated as a county infirmary director, since 1887, being now
president of the board.
Hon. Thomas Wright, a resident of Springfield for over half a
century, and one of its most intelligent and prosperous farmers^
was elected as one of Summit county's representatives to the State
Legislature, on the Republican ticket, in November, 1889, ably
serving his constituents in that body through the sessions of 1889,.
'90 and 1890, '91.
SPRINGFIKLD'S PRESENT OFFICIAL STATUS (1891),
Trustees, Jacob Krumroy, Jacob Mumaw, and William
McClelland; clerk, O. J. Swinehart; treasurer, Thomas J. Gilcrest^
justices of the peace, James A. Stetler and Benjamin W. Bixter;
constables, John Powers and William Boam; postmasters,^
Krumroy, H. L. Wagoner; Thomastown, Conrad Huber; Brittain,
John Brittain; North Springfield, Ira Machimer; Mogadore^
Henry Gates.
CHAPTER XLVIII.
STOW TOWNSHIP— HISTORICAL AND INCIDENTAL— FIKST FOURTH OF JULY
CELEBRATION ON THE WESTERN RESERVE— " STOW CASTLE "—A PIONEER
"MIRACLE" — EARLY SETTLERS, ORGANIZATION, ETC. — TOPOGRAPHICAL
AND HYDRAULIC— TERRIBLE AND FATAL TORNADO— FOUR MEMBERS OF
ONE FAMILY INSTANTLY KILLED — INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES — INDIANS,
BEARS, RATTLESNAKES, ETC.— VITAL STATISTICS— EDUCATION, MORALITY,
RELIGION, ETC.— STOW'S HONORABLE WAR RECORD— TERRIBLE EPISODE
OF THE REBELLION— TWO CITIZENS SHOT TO DEATH BY AN INFURIATED
NEIGHBOR— EXCITEMENT OF THE PEOPLE— WOUNDING AND CAPTURE OF
THE HOMICIDE- INDICTMENT, TRIAL AND CONVICTION -LIFE SENTENCE —
PARDON, SUBSEQUENT LIFE, DEATH, ETC.— SOMETHING ABOUT THE MEN
KILLED AND THEIR FAMILIES— STOW'S CIVIL RECORD, ETC.
STOW'S BEGINNING.
IN the distribution of the lands of the Connecticut Land Com-
pany, by draft, as elsewhere explained, Tow^nship 3, Range 10,
fell to Joshua Stow^, of Middletown, Connecticut — hence the name.
Mr. Stow, whose portrait taken from an original painting in pos-
session of relatives in Middletown,
Connecticut, is herewith given, was
a member of the first exploring
party, sent out by the company, in
1796, consisting of forty-five men,
two w^omen and one child. This
party, making the journey princi-
pally by w^ater, in small portable
boats, j^ia Lakes Ontario and Brie,
and contiguous rivers, landed at the
mouth of Conneaut river, in the
extreme northeastern part of the
State, on the morning of the fourth
day of July, 1796.
Here, an impromptu dual cele-
bration— the National Independence
and the safe arrival of the party at
their destination — w^as held, con-
sisting of a national salute, with
such fire-arms as they possessed,
martial and vocal music, toasts, speeches, poetry, etc., which was
undoubtedly the first celebration of that character upon the
Western Reserve.
A Pioneer Miracle. — Of this party Mr. Stow was Commissary
General, it being his duty to provide boats and proper equipments,
arms and ammunition, necessary tools and implements, blankets,
provisions and other supplies. For the proper keeping of these
supplies, a block-house was built near the landing at Conneaut.
This house, in honor of the commissary, was, by common consent,
named "Stow Castle."
JOSHUA STOW.
1004
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Among the supposed to be indispensable items of supply, in
those early days, in any enterprise-^from church-building to boat-
ing— was whiskj', a goodly quantity ot which, of course, had been
provided for the expedition in question, by Commissary Stow^. So
long a time had been spent upon the journey, and the difficulties
of transportation being so great. Commissary Stow^, fearing that
this prime " necessary of life " would run short before a fresh supply
could be obtained, had adopted the plan of surreptitiously increas-
ing the volume, by decreasing the strength, realizing w^hich, the
poet of the party. General Moses Cleveland, one of the directors of
the company, and the founder of the present magnificent city
bearing his name, improvised the following couplet as appropriate
to the situation:
"Christ, the divine, turned water into wine;
Joshua, the boater, turned whisky into water."
T TLYSSES MARVIN, — born in
yJ- Lynn, Connecticut, April 11, 1801;
common school education ; at 17
comtnenced to learn chair-making, at
Middletown, but afterwards learned
the fulling- and cloth-dressing- trade ;
May 1, 1822, was married to Miss
Elizabeth Bradley, of Middletown,
•establishing' a woolen mill in Lynn ;
in 1829, moved to Ohio, settling- on an
uncultivated farin in Stow, which he
largely cleared and cixltivated with
his own hands, also doing consider-
able work in the neighborhood at
painting-, an inkling of which busi-
ness he obtained while working at
the chair business in Connecticut.
Mr. and Mrs. Marvin had six children
- — Arba Bradley, now in Dane county,
Wisconsin ; Jane Elizabeth, luarried
to S. C. Weeks, of Stow, died in March,
1854 ; Sophronia, married to H. C.
Wilcox, now living- in Granger;
Asahel M., died in 1850, aged 17 ;
Chloe B., wife of Milton C. Danforth,
of Hudson ; Ulysses Leslie, ex-judge
•of Summit county, now practicing
law in Akron, whose portrait and
biography appear elsewhere. Mr.
Marvin was for over thirtj'-five years
an overseer in the Stow Disciple
ULYSSES MARVIN.
Church, and often served as township
trustee, assessor, etc. Mr. and Mrs.
Marvin lived together over sixty-two
years, Mrs. Marvin dj'ing, June 28,
1884, aged 84 years, and Mr. Marvin,
May 11, 1887, aged 86 years and one
month.
Starvation in the Wilderness. — Shortly after the arrival of
this party at Conneaut, came Judge James Kingsbury, from the
State of NcAv York. While, in pursuance of his w^ork, General
Cleveland during the Summer removed his supplies to the site of
his contemplated city, at the mouth of the Cuyahoga, Judge
Kingsbury remained with his family at Conneaut. Business requir-
ing him to return to New York, in the early Autumn, he left his
family in their comfortable log cabin, with ample subsistence to
last until his anticipated speedy return. Unfortunately, however,
he was taken sick and detained until the setting in of Winter. As
soon as able to travel, he started on horseback, hiring an Indian
guide at Buffalo, and purchasing a 25 pound sack of flour at
J^resque Isle (Erie, Pa.) which, on the giving out of his horse, at
STOW'S PIONEER SETTLERS.
1005
Elk Creek, he strapped upon his own back, and, with gloomy fore-
boding as to the fate of his loved ones, pushed forward on foot.
On reaching his cabin, he found his wife and elder children in the
last stages of starvation, and the infant, born in his absence, lying
dead for want of proper nourishment— ^literally starved to death.
Judge Kingsbury afterwards settled in Newburg, and was for
many years an influential citizen of Cuyahoga county.
MOSES D. CALL,— born in Merri-
mac county, New Hampshire,
July 12, 1815 ; raised on farm with
cominon school education ; in 1835,
went to Boston, Massachusetts, and
engaged in baking ; in 1838, started
for Peoria, Illinois, but stopping to
visit friends in what is now Summit
count3^ finally concluded to settle
here ; followed coopering fifteen
years, teaching, Winters, the first five
years. November 17. 1842, Mr. Call
was married to Miss Harriet M. Starr,
daughter of Josiah Starr, who settled
in Stow, in 1804. In 1859, Mr. Call pur-
chased the 188 acre farm, which he
successfully cultivated until his
death, March 24, 1891, at the age of 75
years, 8 months and 12 days, having
also, for nearly twenty-five years,
been the principal owner and mana-
ger of the Hudson cheese factory.
He held the office of justice of the
peace forty-seven consecutive years,
and the responsible office of county
commissioner two full terms — 1877 to
1883. An earnest Republican, Mr.
Call warmly espoused the cause of
the Union during the slave-holders'
rebellion, and was, through life, a
liberal supporter of the educational
and benevolent enterprises of the
day. Mrs. Call died June 26, 1886,
MOSES. D. CALL.
aged 67 years, 9 months and one day.
Their children are — Mary L., now
Mrs. George H. O'Brien, of Akron ;
Emma A., Mrs. Edward A. Seasons,
of Stow ; Ella J., Mrs. Lafayette Dar-
row, of Stow ; and Charles A., now
living on and working the home
farm.
First Actual Settlers. — Although Mr. Stow made thirteen
trips from Connecticut to Ohio, and back, on horseback, in looking
after the interests of the tow^nship bearing his name, he never
became a resident of the township, as erroneously stated by pre-
vious local historians. In 1804, Mr. William Wetmore, (father of
Henry Wetmore, Esq., still living (1891) hale and hearty at the age
of 90, in Cuyahoga Falls), also from Middletown, as the agent of
Mr. Stow, made a permanent settlement in the township, building
his house at the exact geographical center, which is half a mile
•north of what, since the earliest settlement, has been known as
"Stow Corners ;" and being the second house erected in the town-
ship, the first having been built in July, 1802, by Mr. William
Walker, from Virginia, who had squatted on lot 89 in the north-
eastern portion of the township, where, afterwards purchasing the
same, he resided until his death, and where his descendants still
live, his brother Robert, and a sister, afterw^ards married to Joshua
Stewart, coming at the same time.
Mr. Wetmore, on his arrival (1804) employed Joseph Darrow,
who came to Ohio with David Hudson, in 1799, to survey the town-
ship into lots, which was successfully accomplished during that
1006
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
year. Captain Gregory Powers, father of the late Senator Gregory
Powers, Jr., of Middlebury, and the maternal grandfather of
Akron's second mayor, John C. Singletary, Esq., now (1891) still
living in Streetsboro, Portage county, and Mr. John Campbell, both
also from Middletown, with their respective families, came in this
year (1804), the former building his cabin on lot 85, near what is
designated as Powers' Brook; the latter at first settling near the
Corners and afterwards upon Fish Creek; these parties coming,
via the Susquehanna and Allegheny rivers to Pittsburg, and from
thence to Warren, by the zig-zag path cut by General Simon Per-
kins, and thence, through the unbroken wilderness to their destin-
ation.
HON. FRANK M. GREEN, — born
in Norton, September 28, 1836;
reared to occupation of farmer ; edu-
cated in district schools, and Western
Reserve Eclectic Institute, at Hiram;
teacher froin 1855 to 1863, since inainly
devoting himself to preaching as a
minister among the Disciples of
Christ, filling-, at different times, the
responsible • positions of general
missioharj^, secretary, editor and
author, Bethany College, in 1884, con-
ferring upon him the honorary
degree of Master of Letters. An
ardent Republican, Mr. Green ably
represented Summit county in the
67thGeneral Assembly— 1886, '87. For
the past sixteen years, Mr. Green has
resided in Stow, his venerable father,
Rev. Philander Green (who, with his
father, Samuel Green, emigrated from
Connecticut to Ohio, in 1810), now in
his 81st year, also residing there.
March 11, 1862, Mr. Green was married
to Miss Ellen E. Stow, whose father,
Albert C. Stow, was born in Stow
township, July 5, 1810. Five children
have been born to them — Lurie, now
Mrs. E. S. Wetmore, of Stow, born
December 26, 1862 ; Fannie, now Mrs.
W. J. Cox, of Cuyahoga Falls, Decem-
HON. FRANK M. GREEN.
ber 10, 1861; Mary Tarissa, January
26, 1867, died February 14, 1881 ; Frank
Albert, now student in Hirain Col-
lege, December 7, 1868 ; and Daisy
Almira, September 30, 1871, now Mrs.
William R. Hillyard, of Cleveland.
Subsequent Comers. — Our limited space will only permit the
barest mention of those, nearly all from Middletow^n, w^ho followed
the foregoing, in rapid succession, as permanent settlers in Stow
township, and in this we are unable to mention all, or to give the
order of their arrival, or their several domiciliary locations.
But among the names now accessible to the writer, may be
mentioned the folloAving: Titus Wetmore, Thomas Rice, Josiah
Starr, John Gaylord, Adam Steele, George Darrow, John Sadler,
John Arbuckle, William Leach, Joseph Harmon, William Lappin,
Elkanah Richardson, Jacob Cochran, Samuel Burnett, Samuel
Baker, Frederick Victor, Caleb Wetmore, Isaac Wilcox, Ira Kelso,
Francis Kelsey, Constance Rogers, Samuel Cheney, Stephen But-
ler, Jonathan Gaylord, David Ruggles, Erastus Southmayd, Bemus
Hamilton, William McClelland, James Dailey, Thomas and Isaac
Steele, and a few years later, Thomas Gaylord, John Sawyer, John
Blackman, Henry Kenyon, Doctor Spalding, Andrew Rich, Jacob
ORGANIZATION, TOPOGRAPHICAL, ETC. 1007
Richmond, Kzra Wyatt, Ward, Hubbard and John Pendleton, John
Graham, Timothy Brainard, Virgil M. Thompson, David Strong,
William Galloway, Ira Barnes, William Hibbard, Ethe Wetmore,
Arthur Sadler, James Smith, Noel Beckley, George Hartle, Chaun-
cey Lowery, John Kemp, Mr. McAvoy, Jesse Pratt, David Sanger,
William Stow, Frederick Sanford, Orrin Gilbert, Henry O'Brien,
Frederick Wolcott, Rowland Clapp, Palmer Williamson, etc.
Organization, Etc. — Stow was at first attached to Hudson, in
township organization, both being then under the jurisdiction of
of Trumbull county, Mr. William Wetmore being elected and offi-
ciating as justice of the peace for the Stow portion of the combina-
tion. On the passage, in 1807, of the act erecting the county of
Portage, William Wetmore Esq., of Stow^, was named as one of the
associate judges of the new county, taking his seat upon the
bench at the first term of the court, at Ravenna, August 23, 1808,
Judge Calvin Pease being the presiding judge, and Aaron Norton
and Amzi Atwater the two other associate judges. Judge Wet-
more seems to have possessed great versality of talent, as well as
what in modern times would be called " push," for it appears in
the records in his own writing, that in addition to his duties as
judge, in the absence of a regularly appointed clerk (clerks then
being appointed by the courts), the functions of that office were
performed, ex officio, by Judge Wetmore, until and including the
December term, 1809, near the close of which he was regularly
appointed clerk by the other members of the bench, being suc-
ceeded as judge, at the ensuing term, by Samuel Forw^ard, Esq.
The first recorder for Portage county was Mr. Titus Wetmore,
brother of the judge, but the records of deeds, mortgages, etc.,
during his brother's incumbency, commencing July 2, 1808, and
ending August 23, 1810, are in the neat and uniform handw^riting
of the judge, who, at the latter date, succeeded to the recordership
himself, which official position, together with that of clerk, he
seems to have filled until February 25, 1813, at about which date
Judge Wetmore was appointed commissary in the army, under
General Elijah Wadsworth, w^ith headquarters at Old Portage,
serving in that capacity until the close of the War. On receiving
this appointment, Mr. Wetmore moved back to Stow, after the
close of the War, about 1815, building the commodious house now
standing, immediately east of Silver Lake.
The township of Stow w^as organized the same year as Port-
age county was (1808), but there is no record now extant, as to who
its early officers w^ere, though Judge Wetmore, except while living
in Ravenna, continued to exercise the functions of justice of the
peace for many years, the judge, by his intelligence, uprightness
and enterprise, very largely promoting the settlement, and the
material, educational and moral interests of the tow^nship, his
death occurring October 27, 1827, at the age of 56 years.
Topographical, Hydraulic, Etc. — In point of topographic
and hydrographic advantages, fertility of soil, etc.. Stow may be
regarded as one of the very best townships of Summit county.
With a rolling, but in no w^ise hilly, surface; with the Cuyahoga
river traversing its entire southern border; Silver Lake (formerly
Stow Pond), with a circumference of nearly three miles, a little
southwest of the Center; Crystal Lake (formerly Cochran's Pond),
a short distance to the northwest; Turtle Lake (originally Mud
1008 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Pond), in the northwest part of the township; Walnut creek at
Stow^ Corners (forming at that place a romantic gorge in its
descent to the river); Kelsey creek, or Wilcox run, entering the
river from the south, below Munroe Falls; Fish creek, entering
the river from the north, in the east part of the township; Powers
brook and Mud brook in the north, finding their way through
Northampton to the river, near Old Portage, a great abundance of
water for agricultural and mechanical purposes is furnished,
without any appreciable amount of contiguous w^aste land, as in
some of the other largely w^atered localities of the county.
Both Silver Lake, Crystal Lake and Turtle Lake, are beau-
tiful bodies of water, the two former entirely fed from springs,
neither having any visible feeder, while each has quite a copious
outlet, the former flowing into the river below Munroe Falls and
the latter being a tributary to Mud Brook. Silver Lake, always a
favorite locality for both the Indians and their pale-faced suc-
cessors, has of late years attained a state- wide repute as a Summer
resort. Of abundant 'depth — in some places from seventy-five to
eighty feet — to float the good-sized steamboat which has been
plying its waters for several years; w^ith its beautiful grove, upon
its western border, tastefully fitted up with conveniences for shel-
tering and feeding the multitude, and w^ith a good carriage road,
and a railroad station in close proximity, it is now^, under its
present proprietor, Mr. Ralph H. Lodge, one of the most popular
pleasure resorts in Northern Ohio.
Industrial Stow. — By referring to the maps, it will be seen
that the village of Munroe Falls, and quite a large part of the
village and township of Cuyahoga Falls, lie within the original
boundaries of Stow township, both affording large manufacturing
facilities, that should, perhaps, be credited to Stow, but which
being alluded to in connection with those villages, need not be
repeated here. In addition to various w^orks at those points,
during the pioneer period, there were several early saw^-mills in
different parts of the township, the earliest in 1808, by Ezra Wyatt,
on eighty acres of land donated to him for that purpose, by Judge
Wetmore, near the present site of the Cliff house at Stow Corners,
but w^hich w^as dismantled in the early twenties by reason of the
failure of the waters of that stream; one upon Mud Brook, built by
Joshua Stewart prior to 1820, and for many years operated by Mr.
Henry Wilcox; one on Fish Creek and a number of others, w^hich
by reason af the clearing up of adjacent timber lands, and the con-
sequent diminution of the water in those streams, were long ago
dismantled, and the sites of some of them are scarcely known to
the present "oldest inhabitant" of the tow^nship^ — portable saw-
mills now doing such occasional local work as may be needed in
that line. That modern lacteal institution, the cheese factory,
how^ever, has for several years been a prominent industrial feature
of the neighborhood, several of w^hich, in different localities acces-
sible to suitable streams of w^aters, for cooling and cleansing pur-
poses, afford a ready (though perhaps not always very profitable)
market for the milk product of the adjacent farms. The soil may
be generally called a clayey loam — though in some places
approaching to sandy — and adapted to every variety of farm and
garden vegetables and grain, but especially favorable to stock
growing and fruit.
WHISKY, EDUCATION, RELIGION. 1009
In this connection the fact should not be omitted, that among
the very earliest of Stow's supposed to be indepensable industries
w^as the whisky distillery. Army regulations, at that day,
requiring that one gill of grog per day should be dealt out to each
soldier, and as the whisky used for the purpose of supplying the
troops at Old Portage, and contiguous points, had to be trans-
ported at heavy expense from Pittsburg, Commissar^' Wetmore, in
1812 or 1813, erected a distillery upon the east side of Stow^ Pond
(now Silver Lake) in which Mr. John Graham, w^ho had w^orked at
the business in Scotland, was emplo3'ed as distiller. After the
close of the war, to supply the demand caused by increased immi-
gration, Mr. Graham built a distillery for himself on the north
bank of the river near the present village of Munroe Falls, two
others being built in other portions of the township about the
same time. Though these establishments were quite profitable,
and at that time universally regarded as a legitimate and honor-
able business, the agitation of the temperance question in the
latter twenties and early thirties, not only lessened the demand,
but brought conviction to the minds of the proprietors of the
w^rongfulness of the business, and they were all soon afterwards
dismantled, though a third of a century later an immense dis-
tillery was carried on for several years, w^ithin the original limits
of Stow, now Cuyahoga Falls.
Education, Morality, Religion, Etc. — It ]ias 'been repre-
sented, in certain quarters, that fhe leading early sentiment of
Stow being atheistic in its character, the tow^nship suffers, in com-
parison with some of its neighbors, in regard to its intelligence,
morality and religious status, which it seems to the writer is
grossly unjust to both the early settlers and the present inhabi-
itants of the township. It ' is verj^ possible that some of her
pioneer settlers, as ^vell as some of their descendants and suc-
cessors, may have been free thinkers, and it is quite probable that
she may not have sent forth as many eminent divines, scientists,
and statesmen as some of her sister townships; but that she is in
any sense behind her neighbors in general intelligence, morality,
piety or patriotism, can scarcely be conceded.
As early, perhaps, as 1806, Deacon Stephen Butler, a rigid
Presbyterian, whose cabin was a short distance north of the center
organized a small class among his Christian neighbors, who met
regularly at his house for laj^ worship, with such occasional
preaching as could be secured from Hudson and other neighboring
localities. Later on, the meetings were held in the school house
at Stow Corners, and still later in a small house of worship erected
a short distance southwest of the Corners, on the Cuyahoga Falls
road. Some of the remembered prominent members of this society
in addition to Deacon Butler, were William Stow, and John and
Thomas Gaylord, with their respective families. The member-
ship gradually increased until some time during the early forties,
w^hen, the Disciples having obtained a strong following in the
township, the house was transferred to that denomination, the
Presbyterians allying themselves with the church at Cuyahoga
Falls. The Disciples, largely in the ascendency in the township
at the present time, a few years since erected a more commodious
and imposing house of worship at the Corners, on the east side of
the Hudson road.
64
1010 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Kpiscopalianism also, as early as 1818, obtained quite a footing
among the pioneer settlers of Stow, the present St, John's Church
and society of Cuyahoga Falls, having been organized there in
1830. Among the early promoters of this form of faith, were Mr.
and Mrs. Josiah Wetmore (the latter being especially zealous and
active), at whose house, at Stow Corners, the meetings were first
held; Orrin Gilbert, Frederick Sanford, Henry O'Brien, Arthur
Sadler, Frederick Wolcott, William Wetmore, Rowland Clapp, sev-
eral of the Gaylords and others whose names are not now
recalled. Lay serv^ices, with occasional preaching, w^ere held in
different places, in private houses, in school houses, at the tavern,
etc., until 1835, when the society permanently located at Cuyahoga
Falls, erecting the present St. John's Church structure, corner of
Portage and Second streets, w^hich, being completed in the Spring
of that year, w^as consecrated as a house of worship by Bishop
Mcllvaine, July 16, 1836, Stow still maintaining a respectable mem-
bership in the society. In the early twenties, also, a Universalist
society was organized, and for several years vigorously maintained,
among its promoters being Mr. and Mrs. Caleb Wetmore, Isaac
Wilcox, Francis Kelsey and others, services being held in the
school house by the resident preacher. Rev. Bigelow, a very fluent
speaker, and a most excellent citizen.
In addition to the foregoing, there has also existed, for many
3^ears, in the northwestern portion of the township, at the point so
long designated as "Little Ireland," but w^hose postoffice desig-
nation is now " Metz" a United Presbyterian Church and society,
-with a snug little house of worship, and quite a large membership,
w^hile religious meetings have been of frequent occurrence in the
commodious school house at Darrow Street, now officially called
Darrowville. and perhaps in other localities, during the past half
century, so that it may be safely stated, that whoever asseverates
that Stow is " without God and ^vithout hope, in the world," lies —
under a very grave misapprehension.
In the matter of education, while it is true that Stow offers no
academic or collegiate advantages to her youth, like some of her
neighbors, it is also emphatically true that her common schools
are as highly cherished, and as well conducted, as those of the
very best of her contemporaries, with a general corresponding
intelligence among all classes of her people.
Terrible and Fatal Tornado.— On the night of October 20,
1837, or rather on the morning of the 21st, there occurred one of
the most violent and fatal hurricanes that ever visited Summit
county, or perhaps the State. On the east and w^est center road,
and a few rods directly north of what is now known as Silver Lake,
stood the residence of Mr. Frederick Sanford, a small story-and-a-
half frame house, with a frame barn standing some 12 or 15
rods northeasterly therefrom. The family consisted of Mrs.
Sanford, his wife, Clarissa, their tw^o sons, Charles, aged 22,
and Norman, 19, their daughter, Mary C, 14, and Mrs. Mary Col-
lins, the mother of Mrs. Sanford. On the evening of October 20,
the entire family had been absent from home, attending a wed-
ding, for w^hich purpose, in addition to their ow^n, they had bor-
rowed a buggy from the widow Butler, living a short distance
northeasterly, on the north and south center road. Returning at a
late hour, leaving the buggies standing in the yard, between the
THE FATAL TORNADO OF 1837. 1011
"house and the barn, the family retired to bed, all but Mr. and Mrs.
Sanford sleeping up stairs. Between three and four o'clock, while
all were sound asleep, the cyclone struck the house, every portion
of which above the cellar walls, was entirely demolished, and all
the family excepting Mrs. Sanford, and her daughter Mary, almost
instantly killed. The bodies were all found between the house
and barn, Mary being the farthest from the house. Mrs. Sanford's
collar bone w^as broken, and she was otherwise considerably cut
and bruised; but Mary, found in an unconscious condition, lying
upon a gate w^hich had been carried from in front of the house,
sustained no further injury than a slight cut upon one of her
ankles and a few inconsiderable bruises, though the shock to her
system made it necessary for her to keep her bed for several days.
The tick of the bed on w^hich Mary was sleeping being found in
the top of quite a large tree, between the house and the barn, it
was supposed that she had been carried through the top of the
tree, also. In her hand was tightly clutched her every-day dress,
w^hich, on retiring, she had laid upon the bed ready for use in the
morning. Mr. Sanford Avas still alive when found, and removed
to the house of Mr. Maxwell Graham, but expired in a short time
without regaining consciousness, his thigh being broken, besides
the internal injuries w^hich caused his death. The two sons and
Mrs. Collins were all dead when found, though it is not remem-
bered that any of them were seriously disfigured.
The course of the tornado seemed to be from southw^esterly to
northeasterly, some effects of it being visible near Gilbert's Cor-
ners, three-fourths of a mile w^est, while it w^as evident, from the
moisture and sand found about the Sanford premises, that a con-
siderable portion of the water and mud, in what is noAv known as
Crystal Lake (formerly Cochran's or Hart's pond), were scooped
up and carried along by the storm. Mr. Sanford's barn w^as partly
unroofed, and an adjoining shed entirely demolished; the barn
doors blown open and a fanning mill standing on the barn floor
carried away; a cart and barrow left standing in the street, south
of the house, were found some distance beyond the barn; the tvsro
buggies left standing in the yard w^ere entirely demolished and
carried away; a plow standing near the house, after being made
to plow^ quite a long circular furrow, w^as dashed to pieces, and
nearly all the chickens upon the place were killed and stripped of
their feathers. The household furniture Avas entirely demolished,
^nd the family clothing, bedding, etc., all destroyed or blown away,
some of it being found in Streetsboro, some five or six miles away,
and other portions nearer by, folded and in good order, as when
laid aw^ay by their respective ow^ners.
Easterly from the scene of the chief disaster, Mr. Maxwell
Graham's barn was unroofed and house somewhat racked; a log
house further east occupied by a family named Wells, the house of
R. M. Barnes, a short distance beyond on the same street, and that
of Mrs. Butler, upon the Hudson road, were unroofed and other-
wise more or less injured, Mrs. Butler finding fragments of her
own buggy, which had been loaned to the Sanford's, as above
stated, in the loft of her own house after the storm was over. For-
tunately, however, no other persons than those named, were killed
or seriously injured, though quite a number of domestic animals
-were either killed or more of less crippled, while fences and a large
1012 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
number of forest and fruit trees were uprooted or twisted off by^
the gyrating besom of destruction, in its brief but fearful march
through the township.
The funeral of the four persons thus suddenly deprived of life^
was held at St. John's church, Cuyahoga Falls (of which Mr. and
Mrs. Sanfordwere communicants on its first organization in Stow^
as elsewhere mentioned), October 23, the very impressive services
being conducted by Kev. Boydon, rector of Trinity church, Cleve-
land, the burial being in the cemetery at Cuyahoga Falls. A new
house was afterwards built upon the foundation of the demolished
structure, which is still standing. Mrs. Sanford died February 12^
1849, at the age of 61 years. Mary was married to Mr. William L.
Hanford, on the 18th day of February, 1844, and, with her highly
respected husband, still lives upon the site of her fearful and
mournful experience of 54 years ago.
Vital Statistics. — The first marriage in the township i&
believed to have been that of John C. Singletary, of Streetsboro, to
Harriett Powers, daughter of Captain Gregory Powers, by Justice
William Wetmore, in 1806, though Joseph Darrow, of Stow, w^as
married to Sally Prior, in Northampton, as early as 1803; William
Lappin, of Northampton, being married to Elizabeth Walker, of
Stow, by 'Squire Wetmore, in 1807.
There is some discrepancy of recollection as to the first birth
in the township, a former historian having recorded that Betsey
Walker was born in the Fall of 1803, Mary Campbell in 1804,
Samuel Walker in 1805, and Clarissa Rice, daughter of Thomas
Rice, the same year, though Mr. Henry Wetmore is of the opinion
that the last named w^as the first white child born in the tow^n-
ship.
The. first death reported in the township was that of Mrs,
Gregory Powers, in February, 1807; the second that of Elizabeth
Gaylord in 1809; third that of George Darrow, November 20, the
same year.
"Lo! THE Poor Indian."— On the first arrival of the whites in
Stow, Indians were abundant, especially in the neighborhood of
the river and lakes, Mr. Henry W-etmore reporting that from 1808
to 1812 there was a continuous line of wigwams around the south-
ern end of the lake, about where the wagon road now is, and
another camp near the river, at which points there must have
been at least 500 Indians, men, Avomen and children. They w^ere
generally on very friendly terms with the whites, though misun-
derstandings w^ould now^ and then arise, with perhaps occasional
instances of treachery and cruelty on the part of the savages, and
retaliation on the part of the w^hites; especial emphasis beings
given, in the traditionary lore of the neighborhood, to the Indian-
killing exploits of Jonathan Williams (the slayer of the Indian
Nickshaw, as detailed elsewhere); at least three townships— Hud-
son, Stow and Northampton — claiming the honor of Williams'^
prow^ess, in the selfsame transactions, w^hile a resident of their
respective townships, fuller mention of w^hose reputed exploits
will be found in another chapter.
Mysterious Exodus, — Soon after the inauguration of the War
of 1812, between England and the United States, it was suddenly
noticed by the white settlers, that something unusual was trans-
piring in the camps of their tawny neighbors; their visits to the
INDIANS, RATTLESNAKES, ETC. 1013
cabins of the whites had entirely ceased; there was much hurrying
to and fro, from camp to camp, and from lodge to lodge, the men
holding frequent consultations and apparently engaging in impor-
tant discussion; the apprehension rapidly spreading that mischief
w^as brewing for the pale-faces, who quietly put themselves and
their cabins in as good a state of defense as their limited resources
■would admit, of.
But early one morning it w^as found that, during the night,
the Indians had all departed, in a westward direction, leaving their
w^igwams standing intact. After the war, the few that temporarily
returned, disclosed the true inwardness of their "sudden taking
-off." A British emissary had visited the camps, in the disguise of
an Indian, and persuaded them that they had been swindled in
the ceding of their lands to the United States, promising that if
they would rise and massacre the w^hites, by w^hom they were
surrounded, and join the British army, after the Americans had
been conquered by the English, their lands should be restored to
them. They assented to the proposition to join the British army,
and light for the reclamation of their hunting and fishing grounds,
but utterly refused to massacre, in cold blood, those ^vho had
always treated them kindly, but on returning with the victorious
army, give their old neighbors a chance to light for their posses-
sions, or run for their lives. The many other traditioriary Indian
reminiscences extant in the township will have to be omitted here,
for want of space. . ^
The Venomous "Sarpent." — In the early times immense num-
bers of rattlesnakes abounded in the vicinity of the river, and in
the gorges traversed by the smaller streams, particularly in the
rocky fastnesses of Wetmore Creek, between Stow Corners and the
river. At length a sort of club was formed by the neighboring
settlers, devoting a certain amotint of time to the destruction of
the venomous reptiles, which was joined by Samuel Baker, a
blacksmith, on condition that he might do his share on Sunday, as
he could not spare the time during the week.
One Sunday morning he discovered a large number of snakes
issuing from a cleft in the side of the gorge, south of the cemetery,
and sunning themselves on a narrow ledge of rock. When all
were apparently out. Baker stripped off his coat, and, w^ith a long
pole, shoved it into the fissure from whence the snakes emanated,
to prevent their returning to their den. He then descended into
the chasm, and w^ith his pole began an onslaught upon the squirm-
ing and w^rithing, but half torpid, mass.
While Baker was thus engaged, Deacon Butler and his devoted
neighbors \vere holding religious services in a log cabin near the
•Corners, and while the Deacon was in the midst of a fervent
prayer. Baker's little son came running up to the open door of the
cabin, yelling, at the top of his voice, " O, dad's killed a lot of
snakes! Dad's killed a lot of snakes!" "Amen!" said the deacon,
abruptl)'^ closing his prayer, and the entire congregation hastened
to the gorge to witness the discomfiture of man's original enemy,
and found the entire product of Baker's Sunday morning "devo-
tions" to be, upon actual count, just sixty-five dead rattlesnakes.
On blasting open the den, the next day, one old patriarch, only,
probably the ancestor of the entire batch killed, was found therein.
J^'rom this time such vigilance was exercised that the entire
1014 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
venomous race wholly disappeared within a few years, though not
before one young man had lost his life and several fatalities to ani-
mals had occurred from their virulent bite; and it is related by Mr,
Henry Wetmore, as a singular fact, that with the disappearance of
the Indians and the rattlesnakes, the plant used by the former as
an antidote for the bite of the latter, entirely disappeared from the
w^oods, also.
Horrific Incident. — One, only, of the many narrow^ escapes
from fatal casualty, by contact with rattlesnakes, can be here
given: A little three-year-old child of John Campbell had been
given a cup of milk and a spoon, and left sitting on the rough
cabin floor for a few minutes, while the mother absented herself
from the room. On her return, hearing the little one cooing and
prattling to itself, as she supposed, she looked through the small
w^indow^ at the end of the house, to see what it was doing. To her
intense horror she saw a huge rattlesnake coiled up, almost in the
child's lap, licking up the milk w^hich had been spilled upon its
apron, and the child delightedly patting the snake upon the head
with the spoon. The frightened mother uttered a piercing
scream and rushed to the rescue of her child, whereupon the
snake glided beneath the floor, through a crack between the
puncheons, where Mr, Campbell and Mr. William Wetmore soon
afterwards found and killed it.
Bears, Wolves, Ktc. — Bears, wolves and other wild animals^
and game, both large and small, were abundant, some of which,
though not regarded as especially dangerous, were a very great
nuisance. Mr. Henry Wetmore informs the writer that one day,
when quite a small boy, being in the woods, he saw their drove of
hogs running rapidly towards him, in the direction of the house^
and stepping from the path to let them pass, a large bear bound
past him in hot pursuit, while he himself started in the wake of
the bear. The hogs dodged through a gap in the fence which was toa
small to admit bruin, who, when Mrs. Wetmore came to the door^
to ascertain the cause of the disturbance, was standing on his-
hind feet looking over the fence at the porkers with w^istful eyes^
and w^atering mouth. Motioning her boy to go around, as soon as-
she found that he -was safe, the plucky woman seized some con-
venient weapon and sallying forth drove the discomfited quad-
ruped aw^ay. At another time Mr. Jacob Cochran, being at Mr^
Wetmore's, saw a bear seize a good-sized shote and make off with
it. Mr. Cochran gave chase, and on going through a thicket the
bear dropped the hog betw^een two saplings, w^hich so delayed its
movements that Mr. Cochran came up and shot the bear. The hog"
was so seriously injured that it had to be killed, also, both car-
casses being hauled to the house by Mr. Wetmore's oxen and cart.
Other families had similar " pleasurable" experiences, which can
not be given within the limits of this chapter.
Pigeons by the Millions. — Elsewhere reference is made to-
the ancient pigeon roosts in Copley s^vam p. In this township, alsOr
at Mud Brook Swamp, w^as a similar resort for millions of pigeons^
every Autumn, while stopping, in their flight southward, to feed
upon the beech nuts and acorns of the adjacent forests. For"
an hour or tw^o, night and morning, while going to and
returning from their feeding grounds, millions of them would fill
the sky, obscuring the sun like a dense black cloud, and in theii'
LARGE BUT TRUTHFUL PIGEON STORY. 1015
flight producing a noise like the roar of a mighty wind. In 1815,
Mr. Wetmore, with several companions, visited the swamp one
night for the purpose of securing a supply of the birds for the
family table, the noise of their w^ings and their chatter, at the dis-
tance of half a mile, resembling the rumble of a heavy waterfall,
and w^hen close at hand being so great that the visitors had to
raise their voices to a high pitch to be heard by each other. Not
only the large trees but the smaller bushes of the swamp were
thoroughly covered with the birds, large branches of lofty elms
being broken down by their weight; the company being able to
capture and bag what they needed, with their hands, within a very
few minutes. This may seem incredible to the modern reader, but
from similar experiences in Copley sw^amp, the writer can vouch
for its entire truthfulness, myriads being thus captured ev^ery
season, from forty to fifty years ago, for the Akron and Cleveland
markets, to say nothing of the immense numbers consumed by the
inhabitants of contiguous localities.
Stow's Tavern Accommodations. — At an earLy day, Ezra
Wyatt, built a house of entertainment, at the Stow^ Corners, on the
northeast corner of the Hudson and Kent roads, which was for
many years, under its successive proprietors, one of the leading
country hotels in the State. The old mail stage route from
Cleveland to Pittsburg, on the east, and to Middlebury, Canton,
Akron, Wooster, etc., on the south, was through Hudson and Stow,
the latter point being the junction of the diverging routes, and the
hotel in question being the ''stage house" for the entertainment
and transfer of passengers.
With a large dancing hall, and an ample dining room, it was
also a popular resort for sleighing and other social parties, and the
headquarters for the annual militia "trainings," so vigorously kept
up for many years after the close of the War of 1812; as well as the
scene of many a carouse, and an occasional disgraceful fight,
between the bummers attracted thither from neighboring local-
ities, by its well furnished bar.
In the later years of its existence as a hotel, this house w^as
kept by General Oliver E. Gross, w^ho afterwards bought and fitted
up the "Cliff House," just around the corner on the Munroe Falls
road, the original old Stow Corners hotel being now fenced in and
relegated to private use.
Stow's Military History. — There is no adequate record in
regard to the early military history of Stow^. That a number of
her original settlers had performed honorable service in the War
of the Revolution is quite probable, though the names of four,
only, have been handed down, viz: those of Isaac Steele, Charles
Wooden, George Darrow and Gregory Powers. In the defense of
the frontier, in the War of 1812, quite a large proportion of her
adult male citizens took an active part, the names of Josiah Starr,
Samuel Flanders, Oscar Harvey, Ambrose Roswell, William Burn-
ham, George Darrow^ and Harry Wilcox, being mentioned in that
connection, by Colonel Schoonover, in his contribution to the Mili-
tary History of Ohio.
In the War of the Rebellion, however, through the foresight
and courtesy of Mr. William Southmayd, formerly a resident of
Stow, afterwards of Cuyahoga Falls, but now deceased, w^e are
enabled to include in this work a full list of the patriotic young
1016 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
men who went into the Union army from that township, which is
as follows: George W. Bailey, Frank D. Bailey, Charles Beckley,
Benjamin Boon, Samuel B. Bradley, Charles Buchanan, Benjamin
F. Buckelin, William Burdick, Elmer Barney, Norman Cochran,
E. T. Curtis, A. B. Curtis, Oscar Champney, Seeley H. Chapman,
Asa Clapp, J. W. Chamberlin, Alexander Corey, Henry Cedar, A.
H, Cole, John C. Castle, Theodore Castle, Embury Castle, John
Campbell, Norman L. Darrow, James M. Darrow, James Dailey,
Frank Davis, Albert G. Eves, Leonard E. Gaylord, Robert Gaj^ord,
Samuel Gaylord, Hannibal Grinnell, Sylvester Gaylord, William
Gaylord, Charles H. Gridley, Albert R. Hewitt, Thomas Hoover,
William Hazzard, Arthur A. Jones, Clayton Kelso, Luther Lend-
say, Henry Lendsay, Walter Lew^is, Richard Lewis, Wesley E.
Loomis, Ferdinand Lord, Thomas Morris, Milton Miller, Lyman C.
McAdams, Ulysses L. Marvin, George E. Nichols, Henry Nicker-
son, Theodore Nickerson, Albert Nichols, Jesse D. Post, Levi D.
Post, William Peate, Ransom C. Parks, Edward Peebles, Frank
Peck, Andrew^ Peck. Eugene Pendleton, William Puts, Albert
Reeves, Frank M. Root, George Ray, Horace Southmayd, J. S.
Sweeney, Edwin A, Season, Chauncey F. Smith, William R. Smith,
Edwin S. Smith, L. B. Stark, Charles H. Stark, Henry Smith, Alan-
son Standish, Dwight Shumvsray, St. Clair Steel, Martin Schrady,
Henry F. SteAvart, Robert Sears, John Scanlin, Robert Scanlin,
Edgar Sears, Thomas Steel, Newell Stratton, George S. Turner,
Lorenzo Talcott, Adelbert Thomas, Charles G. Talcott, Edward
Thompson, James Tothaker, James Turner, Henry Victor, Julius
O. Williamson, Alson Wetmore, Samuel Wooldridge, Clarence Wil-
cox, Lemuel Wilcox, Charles H. Wetmore, Joseph Wallace, Warren
Wright, John Wooldridge and William W. Wetmore, 101 in all, the
last two being in the 100 days' service in 1861, in addition to
which Samuel Gaylord and William C. Nichols joined the Squirrel
Hunters to repel the projected attack of the rebel forces, under
General Kirby Smith, on Cincinnati, in September, 1862.
Space will not permit a full record of the service of each vol-
unteer, as named above, a brief synopsis of which, as furnished
by Mr. Southmayd, w^as published in the Summit Coantv Beacon,
September 7, 1865, and was also, probably, spread upon the records
of the township. The aggregate term of service of the 104 per-
sons named, was, as computed by Mr. Southmayd, 181 years. Of
the entire number, though in a great many engagements, one
only, Samuel Wooldridge, is definitely known to have been killed
in battle, shot through the head at Buzzard Roost Gap, May 8,
1864, though two others, Alanson Standish and Benjamin Boon,
w^ere so reported. Seventeen died in service from various causes;
two (Jesse D. Post and Henry Victor) from starvation in rebel
prison at Andersonville; two (Robert Gaylord and Charles H. Wet-
more) after six or eight months of terrible suffering in the prison
pens of Meridian and Andersonville, lost their lives by the blowing
up and burning of the steamer Sultana, on the Mississippi river,
while en route for home, April 27, 1865; there being but two
deserters in the entire number, and only ten discharges for disa-
bility before expiration of their several terms of service, several of
w^hom, on recovery re-enlisted.
In addition to the above, Hiram Gaylord, being drafted in
October, 1862, procured a substitute for three years; in May, 1864,
MILITARY AND CIVIL AFFAIRS. 1017
Charles Southmayd, Elias Shick, Alexander Gettys, John Buch-
anan, George W. Hart and Lyman Gilbert, were drafted, the two
former paying $300 commutation each and the four latter furnish-
ing substitutes. In the Fall of 1864 the following persons fur-
nished substitutes before the draft: Hobart Wolcott and William
McGrew, one year each; Henry Southmayd, two years; Marcus
DarroAV, Henry O'Brien and George S. Richardson, Jr., three years
each. The assessor for 1865 returns the following, as having died
in the service: Samuel B. Bradley, Norman L. Darrow, Ransom
C Parks, Horace Southmayd, Kdwin Smith, Edward Peebles,
Henry Victor, Samuel Gaylord. It will thus be seen that Stow,
notwithstanding the frightful episode connected therewith, to be
hereinafter detailed, was loyal and patriotic to the core, in the
bloody conflict of 1861-65, for the defense of the Union and the
supremacy of the stars and stripes.
Stow ix Civil Affairs. — While Stow has furnished no presi-
dential incumbents of the White House, at Washington, or any
ministers plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James, or Envoys
Extraordinary to the king of Cannibal Islands, she nevertheless
presents a civil record in county and state affairs that w^ill com-
pare favorably with the average of her sister townships of Sum-
mit county.
William Wetmore, Stow's earliest permanent settler, besides
being the first justice of the peace of the township, w^as one of
the associate judges of Portage county, on its organization, in
1808, resigning which honorable but profitless position, after about
two years service, he officiated as both clerk and recorder of the
■county until the breaking out of the War of 1812, through which
he served as commissary of the army, as heretofore detailed.
Titus Wetmore, brother of the above, w^as the first regularly
■elected recorder of Portage county, holding the office two years,
from 1808 to 1810, though its duties were mainly performed for him
by his brother. Judge William Wetmore, as elsewhere stated.
Gregory Powers, Jr., was elected representative to the Legis-
lature from Portage county in 1832, serving one year, and elected
state senator in 1838, but died before the expiration of his term,
July 10, 1839.
William Wetmore, Jr. (the eldest son of the Judge), was state
senator for the Portage-Summit district, from 1844 to 1846, filling
the office very acceptably to his constituents in both counties for
the full term of two years.
Edwin Wetmore, (the second son of Judge Wetmore), for
three consecutive terms, of three years each, from 1849 to 1858, was
■one of the very best county commissioners that Summit ever had.
General Oliver E. Gross, for many years a citizen of Stow,
besides filling important positions in the local military organiza-
tions of the county for many years, very acceptajjly filled the office
of coroner, from 1853 to 1855, and again for two consecutive terms,
from 1868 to 1872.
Ulysses L. Marvin, a native of Stow, though for many years
past, a resident of Akron, besides his honorable military service in
the War of the Rebellion, gave to the people of Summit county
able and faithful service as probate judge, for two full terms of
three years each, from 1869 to 1875. On the resignation of Judge
1018 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
N. D. Tibbals, M^y 1, 1883, Judge Marvin was appointed, by Gover-
nor Charles Foster, to fill the vacancy upon the common plea&
bench, which he very acceptably did until the induction of hi&
successor, Judge Edwin P. Green, in the following October, Judge
Marvin also being the presidential elector for the Twentieth Con-
gressional District, composed of Summit, Medina and Stark coun-
ties, for 1884, casting his vote in Electoral College for James G.
Blaine, for president and John A. Logan for vice president.
Samuel C. Williamson, though born in Portage county, may
properly be regarded as a Stow boy, having spent much of his
boyhood with relatives there. For faithful service, both in the
volunteer and regular army, he fully earned his several promo-
tions in the latter, from sergeant to captain; and though after-
wards manfully battling w^ith the fell disease, contracted in the
service, which finally carried him to his grave, gave to the office of
probate judge, to which he was twice elected — in 1875 and 1878 —
six years of unswerving fidelity and more than av^erage ability.
Moses D. Call, for many years one of the justices of the peace
for the township, with whose interests he w^as identified for nearly
half a century, was elected county commissioner, in October, 1877,.
and re-elected in 1880, making an extremely faithful and painstak-
ing officer for the full period of six years.
William Southmayd was born in Stow, May 16, 1830. Always
active and public spirited, after having served as tow^nship clerk
for nearly 20 consecutive years, in October, 1879, was elected
infirmary directory for one year, to fill the vacancy occasioned by
the resignation of Captain Alfred R. Townsend, and in 1880 was
re-elected for the full term of three years. While serving in that
capacity, Mr. Southmayd had personal supervision of the first
re-construction of the insane department, and to the close personal
labors which he bestowed upon that noisome job, Mr. Southmayd
very largely attributed the malady which finally resulted in his
death.
Hon. Francis Marion Green, was born in Norton, September
28, 1836, removing w^ith his parents to Stow w^hen eight or nine
years old. Educated at Hiram College, under President James A.
Garfield, follo^^ring the example of his father, Elder Philander
Green and his uncle. Elder Almon B. Green, both w^ell-known
preachers of the Disciple Faiith, he early adopted the ministry as
his life calling. In addition to his very acceptable ministrations
in Stow, and elsewhere, Mr. Green for several years did good ser-
vice on the editorial staff of the Christian Standard, and made
numerous and valuable contributions to the Ministerial and Sun-
day School literature of the Church of Christ, receiving from
Bethany College, in 1884, the Honorary Degree of Master of Liter-
ature. Coincident with his clerical duties, Mr. Green has alw^ay&
taken an active interest in political matters, as an uncompromis-
ing Republican, and, in 1885, w^as elected by his party to the State
Legislature, for two years serving his constituents as ably and as
faithfully as any representative that Summit county ever had.
THE GRAHAM-FILLEY-KILPATRICK TRAGEDY.
Stow^, generally as orderly and peaceful as the average of the
proverbially orderly and peaceful townships of the Western
Reserve, \vas, nevertheless, the scene of one of those occasional
STOW'S GREAT WAR TRAGEDY. 101^
bloody tragedies, growing out of political and partisan bias and
bitterness during the late Civil War, In the states in rebellion,^
the slightest expression of opinion against the cause of the South,
w^as deemed to be sufficient reason for suminary action against
both the property and the person of the recalcitrant; but in the
North, the utmost freedom of speech and action, short of dow^n-
right treason, w^as generally quiescently, if not cheerfully sub-
mitted to.
As the War progressed, however, and as the danger to the
Union became more immitient, the feeling grew stronger, among
the masses, that the people of the loyal states should be com-
pelled to be as unanimous in support of the government, as were
those of the disloyal states for its destruction; especially in regard
to contributing their just proportion towards furnishing the
sinews of war, both physical and monetary. Thus, w^hen troops
w^ere called for, in the later years of the War, it became customary ,-
in raising the necessary amount of money to clear them from a
draft, for the people of the several tow^nships to appoint commit-
tees for the purpose of assessing and collecting the required
amount from business men and property ow^ners, in proportion to-
their supposed ability to pay, liability to draft, etc. And in some
instances, when, from parsimony or partisanship, persons able ta
contribute refused to do so, a species of coercion was resorted to —
or "raiding," as it was termed — by which, if the moral pressure
thus brought to bear proved ineffectual, a horse, cow, or some
other valuable belonging was confiscated to the fund in ques-'
tion.
Beginning of the Trouble.— Among the very limited number
of the citizens of Stow^ whose political partisanship overshadowed
their patriotism, w^as Mr. William Graham, one of the most
wealthy and enterprising farmers of the township. During the
presidential campaign of 1860, Mr. Graham had many exciting'
political discussions with his neighbors, and others, and on the
announcement of the result, and the inauguration of the secession
movement, openly advocated the cause of the South, and bitterly
opposed the coercion of the seceding states. As the War pro-
gressed, and call after call was made for troops, and money for
recruiting and bounty purposes, Mr. Graham's bitterness and hos-
tility increased, and, though having a son subject to draft, not a
penny w^ould he contribute to the bounty fund, sought to be raised
by voluntary subscriptions, for filling the township's quota and
obviating the necessity for a draft.
When the last draft was pending, in the beginning of 1865, in
making their computations and assessments, the committee —
composed of some eighteen or twenty of the best people of the
tow^nship, both Democrats and Republicans — apportioned to Mr,
Graham the sum of $50, on his property possessions, and $10 addi-
tional, because of the liability of his son to the draft. These
sums, on being called upon by a member of the committee, Mr,
Graham, with great bitterness of speech, peremptorily refused ta
pay, and on learning that others entertaining the same views — in
Stow^ and elsew^here — were being "raided," gave out that he should
defend his property from seizure at all hazards, and to this end
had his double-barreled gun thoroughly repaired, bought a supplv^
of ammunition, prepared a quantity of bullets, slugs, etc.
1020 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
The Deadly Ambuscade. — Thus matters stood on the morn-
ing of Thursday, March 2, 1865^^ Feeling that it was due to the
rest of the people of the township that Mr. Graham should con-
tribute to the bounty fund the proportionately small sum assessed
against him, it was resolved to call upon him in " committee of the
whole," hoping that their united influence and persuasion would
be as effectual w^ith him as it had already been w^ith several others
of his class, who at first had refused to contribute.
Accordingly, early in the afternoon of the day named, the
committee in a body, on horseback, but wholly unarmed, started
from the hotel at Stow^ Corners, in the direction of Mr. Graham's
residence, about a mile distant, on the east and w^est center
road. After turning the corner, and while yet some distance from
Mr. Graham's premises, the committee halted for consultation. It
was agreed, that whatever might be the result of their visit, they
w^ould not undertake to sequestrate any of his property, and sent
one of their number, a warm personal and political friend of Mr.
O., forward to assure him of their pacific and friendly intentions.
While quietly proceeding on his way, and w^hile opposite the
lands of Mr. Kdwin Wetmore, some distance east of the premises
of Mr. Graham, he was halted and, on pain of death, ordered into
the fence corner by Mr. Graham, who was concealed in the bushes,
behind the fence, on Wetmore's land. Seeing their delegate thus
diverted from his course, two other members of the committee
rode forward to ascertain the cause. On coming opposite to Mr.
Graham, they, too, were ordered to halt, and not complying, ^vere
fired upon by the infuriated man, but fortunately without serious
result, one of them putting spurs to his horse and riding rapidly
down the road to the ^rest, while the other turned back towards
the main body up the road, the original delegate also starting for-
w^ard down the road.
Unavailing Neighborly Intervention. — Almost opposite the
point occupied by Mr. Graham, lived Mr. John H. Burridge, who,
on hearing the command to halt and the report of the gun, came
out to ascertain the cause. On seeing Mr. Graham in the act of
reloading his gun, the two men riding rapidly down the road and
the balance of the committee to the east, Mr. Burridge instantly
took in the situation, and started across the road to plead with his
neighbor to go home, and avoid the serious trouble he was evi-
dently getting himself into. But this only serv^ed to increase his
fury, Graham threatening to shoot him if he did not go back. Mr.
Burridge then walked up the road towards the committee with the
view of advising them to retire, lest fatal consequences might
ensue. In the meantime, Graham, still in the lot, Avorked east-
ward towards the committee, and assuming a threatening attitude,
the committee dismounted, using their horses as a breast-w^ork, in
case they should be fired upon.
Two Fatal Shots. — Here Mr. Burridge again begged Mr.
Graham to retire, but instead of doing so, he fired one barrel of his
gun, loaded with slugs, at Hugh Kilpatrick, whose person had
become partially exposed by the restiveness of his horse. The
main portion of the charge struck Kilpatrick's right thigh. The
w^ounded man hobbled towards the fence on the north side of the
road. Mr. Burridge and Mr. Homer Filley, a member of the
committee, going to his assistance, the balance of the committee
TWO MEN DELIBERATELY SHOT TO DEATH. 1021
retreating up the road. Mr. Burridge now made- another earnest
appeal to Mr. Graham to desist in his bloody w^ork, and assist him
and Mr. Filley to carry the wounded man to his house and endeavor
to save his life. But the appeal was w^holly unavailing, Mr. Gra-
ham re-loading his gun and taking deliberate aim across the fence,
firing at Mr. Filley, while endeavoring to stanch the flow of blood
from the shattered leg of his w^ounded friend. The ball also
entered Mr. Filley's right thigh, causing him to leave his dying
comrade to the care of Mr. Burridge, and run towards the rest of
the company, up the road, on reaching whom, he fell to the ground,
and soon afterwards expired, the femoral artery in both cases
being severed. Mr. Burridge was now^ compelled, by Graham,
on pain of death, to leave Mr. Kilpatrick, who by this time had
fainted from loss of blood, but soon afterwards returned for a
moment — while Graham had gone in pursuit of the rest of the
committee, who had by this time dispersed — only to find Mr. K.
dead, also.
Standing Guard Over His Victims. — Mr. Burridge then
went to the house of Mr. Maxwell Graham, a short distance west,
to get him to endeavor to appease his brother, but finding him
absent, again started for the scene of carnage. Before reaching
his ow^n house, he w^as luet by Graham, who, leveling his gun at
him, threatened to shoot him, also, if he did not instantly leave the
street and go into his house, compelling him to climb three fences
in doing so, instead of permitting him to enter the gate.
Thus, all the afternoon, Graham kept guard over his victims,
permitting no one to approach, excepting Dr. George C. Upson, of
Cuyahoga Falls, to ascertain w^hether the vs^ounded men were liv-
ing or dead. Some distance before reaching the w^ounded men,
the doctor was halted by Graham, from his peach orchard, on the
north side of the road. In answer to an inquiry as to w^hat he
wanted, the doctor explained that he had been sent to look after
the wounded men, w^hereupon Graham said: "I want you to
understand that this is headquarters and you must report to me,"
and permitted him to pass. Finding both men dead, the doctor so
reported to Graham, who declared he was glad of it, and wished to
God he had killed more of them, and then ordered the doctor to
leave. In response to the doctor's request to be permitted to come
with a wagon and a single assistant, to remove the bodies, Graham
declared that the bodiesshould not be removed until those horses
had been returned (alluding to several head of horses that had
been taken from another party), but finally acceded to the doctor's
request.
Graham Himself Wounded. — In the meantime the news of
the tragedy spread rapidly throughout the neighborhood, and a
w^arrant, .issued by Justice Charles W. Wetmore, of Cuyahoga Falls,
was placed in the hands of Constable Julius A. Upson, w^ho started,
unarmed except as to the legal process indicated, for the truly
"dark and bloody" ground. There w^ere, by this time, hundreds of
terribly excited men at Stow Corners, w^ho endeavored to dissuade
the constable from approaching the infuriated man alone and
unarmed; but Mr. Upson determined to make the venture. As the
officer approached (on foot) he was halted by Graham, who
demanded to know his business. Informing him that he had a
warrant for his arrest, and urging him to submit to the process
1022 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
of the law, the constable was told to be off, on pain of death, as he
would not submit to arrest. Returning to the Corners, Mr. Upson
sought to organize a posse to aid him in the arrest, but finding the
crowd decidedly averse to facing the desperate man w^ho had
already laid two of their neighbors low in death, he accepted the
proffered services of the late Parvin Kves to accompany him alone,
providing he could be furnished with a sure-fire w^eapon.
A messenger was accordingly sent to Mr. Thomas W. Cornell,
-at Cuyahoga Falls, w^ho was known to be the possessor of a very
fine rifle; that gentleman, after carefully loading the weapon,
promptly responding to the call. On the return of the messenger,
with the rifle, Messrs. Upson and Eves started, the former walking
in the middle of the road, while the latter skirted the fence, inside
the lot, the intention being that if he saw Graham raise his
w^eapon on the officer, to immediately fire upon him, w^ith the view^
-of crippling and preventing him from doing further fatal mischief.
As Mr. Upson again approached, he was again halted by Gra-
ham, still on the north side of the road, and a short parley ensued,
the officer stating to Graham that it was both his duty and his
determination to serve the warrant which had been placed in his
hands, and again urging him to peaceably surrender -without caus-
ing any further bloodshed to either others or himself. Peremp-
torily refusing to submit, Graham again raised his rifle and ordered
Upson to leave on pain of instant death, and as he turned to leave
Graham fired, one of the slugs with w^hich the gun w^as loaded.cut-
ting quite a gash on the side of his neck, the remaining slugs rid-
dling the fence on the opposite side of the road. Simultaneously
w^ith the discharge of Graham's gun. Eves also fired, Avhereupon
Graham immediately retired to the corner of the fence out of sight.
In a few minutes he called to Mr. Upson to approach, saying that
he was wounded and would surrender. After a momentary delay,
fearing a ruse on the part of Graham, to get the officer within
range of his gun, w^hile himself safe from that of his ally, Upson
w^ent to him, soon after w^hich Graham tumbled over upon his face
in the snow in a dead faint. On turning him upon his back, and
throwing snow^ in his face to bring him to, Mr. Upson discovered
that his left elbow was badly shattered, by the shot fired by Mr.
Eves. Constable Upson then called to his brother, Dr. G. C.
Upson, who -with many others, a short distance up the road, w^ere
anxiously watching the proceedings, although by this time it was
getting quite dark. Dr. Upson gave the w^ounded elbow such
surgical attention as the means at his command w^ould admit of,
.and Graham and the bodies of his tw^o victims were taken to Stow
Corners, by Constable Upson, and the many w^illing hands now
tendering their assistance.
The Murderer in Jail. — Sheriff James Burlison having been
telegraphed for, accompanied by Deputy United States Marshal
David A. Scott, arrived at the hotel soon after the arrival of the
party there, and though the excitement -was by this time most
intense, both in the neighborhood and at Cuyahoga Falls, as well
.as in Akron, succeeded in safely conveying the prisoner to jail.
Doctors William Bowen and George P. Ashmun being called in by
Sheriff Burlison, the next morning, found Graham's elbow so
badly shattered that amputation was at first deemed to be neces-
sary; but finally, after removing several fragments of bone, by
INDICTMENT, TRIAL, VERDICT. 1023
ihe use of splints, bandages, etc., the arm was saved, though in a
badly crippled condition. A few days later, a brief preliminary
examination w^as held by Justice Wetmore, the defendant being
duly committed, Mrithout bail, on the charge of deliberate and pre-
meditated murder.
Solemn Funeral Services. — The obsequies of the two murdered
men were jointly held at the Methodist Episcopal Church, in
Cuyahoga Falls, on Sunday, March 5, 1865. There w^as a very
large attendance, the solemn services being conducted by the
pastor of that church, Rev. Chapin. The remains of Mr. Filley
were taken to Northampton for interment; those of Mr. Kilpatrick
being buried in the cemetery near Stow Corners, w^ith masonic
rites, Mr. K. being a highly respected member of that order.
Indictment, Continuance, Etc.— The February term of the
Court of Common Pleas being then in session, the matter was
immediately brought before the grand jury, by Prosecuting
Attorney, Edward Oviatt, Esq., and two separate bills of indict-
ment were returned, each charging the defendant with murder in
the first degree. Owing to his physical condition, however, the
trial w^as postponed until the ensuing May term, two new indict-
ments, of three counts each, being found by the grand jury of that
term; the several counts, in both indictments, each charging
Oraham w^ith deliberate, Avillful, premeditated and malicious
murder.
Arraignment, Trial, Etc. — On all of the six counts, on being
arraigned before Judge Stephenson Burke, the defendant entered
a plea of not guilty. Prosecutor Oviatt first putting him on trial
for the murder of Homer Filley. The trial, which lasted nearly a
Aveek, was conducted by Prosecuting Attorney Edw^ard Oviatt,
assisted by Henry McKinney, Esq., on behalf of the State, and by
S. W. McClure, Esq., Judge Rufus P. Ranney, of Cleveland, and R.
O. Hammond, Esq., for the defense; the plea of both insanity on
the subject of politics and war, and of justifiable homicide, being
urged in behalf of the defendant.
The main facts as to the killing, substantially as above given,
and as developed on the trial, were admitted by defendant's
attorneys, but a large amount of testimony was introduced tending
to show, first, that by reason of injuries to his head, received in a
serious railroad accident, a short time previous, the .defendant's
mind was so far thrown out of balance that, under great provocation
an4 excitement he was ^vhoUy irresponsible for his acts; and,
second, that from reports which had been brought to him of the
action of the committee with other parties, and of their intended
action against him, he had reason to believe that he was about to be
illegally despoiled of his property, and perhaps subjected to per-
sonal injury, and fully believed that the defense of both his person
and property against the formidable body of men he saw approach-
ing his premises, was justifiable.
Arguments — Charge — ^ Verdict, Etc. — The testimony closed
about noon, on Thursday, January 8, 1865. Prosecutor Oviatt
opened the argument for the State, in a clear and lucid argument
of about an hour and a half, followed by S. W. McClure, in an able
plea of about three hours, on the part of the defense. On Friday
morning, Judge Ranney, in an extremely ingenious plea, of nearly
four hours, closed the argument for the defense, Mr. McKinney
1024 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
summing up the case, and concluding the arguments for the State
in an extremely impressive plea of about five hours. The charge
of Judge Burke, occupying about three quarters of an hour, was
regarded by all who heard it, as remarkably clear and impartial,
carefully guarding the interests of the people as v/ell as affording
full protection to all the rights of the accused, under the lawr and
the testimony given in the case.
The case was given to the jury at 6 o'clock p. >i., and at about
10 o'clock the same night, they returned a verdict of murder in the
second degree, which, the theory of insanity being thus discarded,
^vas at the time generally regarded as unwarrantably mild, in view
of the war-like preparations w^hich the defendant had made, and
the deliberation and persistence with which his attack upon the
unarmed body of men approaching, and before they had reached
his own premises, w^as made and followed up — even to the extent
of preventing a disinterested neighbor, and a peaceable physician
from giving succor to the two men who had already fallen before
his deadly aim. Exceptions to Judge Burke's charge were filed, by
defendant's counsel, but no further move w^as made for a new^
trial, and Judge Burke immediately sentenced the defendant to
imprisonment, at hard labor, in the state penitentiary, during the
period of his natural life, and to pay the costs of prosecution,
amounting to $747.86.
After the Trial. — In speaking of the trial and its results, the
present w^riter, editorially in The Beacon, said: "The prisoner
has nearly recovered from the wound received in his capture,
though the elbow^ w^ill always, probably, be stiff. We do not learn
that he has ever manifested any contrition for the terrible crime,
though he admits that it would have been better for him to have
paid w^hat was asked of him, and esteems himself very lucky,
indeed, at the mildness of his sentence. He is very busy w^ith his
friends — w^ho in their deep affliction have the cordial sympathy of
the entire community — in arranging his business matters, and
otherwise preparing for the long imprisonment w^hich awaits him,
the legitimate fruits of his unbridled temper and his sympathy
w^ith the enemies of his country."
In the Penitentiary. — Sheriff James Burlison conveyed Mr.
Graham to the penitentiary on the 23d of June, 1865, in speaking of
w^hich the present writer then editorially said: "The prisoner ^^as
very observant of the grow^ing crops and of passing events, and
expressed himself as being w^holly unable to realize w^hither he
was going. Surely it must have been very difficult for the doomed
man, who has ever been in the enjoyment of prosperity, the society
of kind friends, and but for his ungoverned temper, unalloyed
happiness, to comprehend, in its full import, the terrible fact that
he w^as soon to be shut out forever from the bright and beautiful
scenes of earth, to drag out the remainder of his existence at hard
labor within the gloomy w^alls of the penitentiary. 'Verily the
w^ay of the transgressor is hard.'"
Civil Suits for Damages.— On the 17th day of March, 1865,
Messrs. Henry McKinney and J. J. Hall filed petitions in the Court
of Common Pleas, in behalf of Amanda Filley administratrix of
the estate of Homer Filley and Seth W. Harrington, administrator
of the estate of Hugh Kilpatrick, against William Graham, for
civil damages, in the sum of $5,000 each. At the May term of the
COMMENDABLE ACTION OF SON. 1025
court when the cases were called, though answers had been duly
filed, no defense was made, and judgment was rendered by Judge
Burke for the full amount of damages claimed. As was then
quite largely practiced, a second trial was asked for and granted,
thus carrying the matter over until a subsequent term. After the
consignment of Mr. Graham to the penitentiar3^ however, and
before the civil suits w^ere reached, the son, Mr. Henry B. Graham,
arranged for an amicable and equitable settlement of both suits,
as will be seen from the following editorial from the pen of the
present writer published in The Beacon of May 10, 1866:
"Highly Commendable. — We learn that Henry B. Graham,
upon w^hom has devolved the care of the family and the business
affairs of his father, Mr. William Graham, since the occurrence of
the unfortunate affair that at once deprived him of his liberty and
two of his neighbors of their lives, has secured to the w^idows of
Messrs. Kilpatrick and Filley the payment of $5,000 each, in annual
installments of w^hich $1,000 has already been paid. This evinces
not only a high sense of honor on the part of young Graham, but a
spirit of energy and determination, also, which will meet w^ith the
hearty commendation and sympathy of the entire community."
The Pardon Question. — Within a very few months after Mr.
Graham's incarceration, the War being over and the asperities aris-
ing therefrom becoming very greatly softened, the friends of Mr.
Graham began to agitate the question of applying to Governor
Jacob D. Cox for his pardon, but no definite move w^as made in
that direction until after the accession of Governor Rutherford B.
Hayes, in 1867. In a communication to The Beacon, under date
of April 3, 1867 Mr. William Southmayd, of Stow, said: "The
friends of Mr. William Graham are circulating a petition for his
pardon, with what success I am not advised. * * * j think the
move is considered premature by those looking upon his case Avith
the most charitable eyes." In commenting upon this item, the
w^riter editorially said: "We w^ould not do anything to w^ound the
feelings of the family or friends of the condemned man, or to pre-
judice his case with the executive, or public, and therefore with-
hold a resume of the evidence in the case given by 'Justice,' yet at
the same time agreeing with our correspondents, that the move-
ment for a pardon is at this time, in our judgment, premature."
Governor Hayes Declines to Intervene. — The petition,
numerously signed, by men of both political parties, was earnestly
urged upon the attention of Governor Hayes, by interested friends
and able counsel, but the Governor, on fully acquainting himself
with all the circumstances connected with the double homicide,
declined to interfere, believing that if, in any event, executive
clemency should intervene, the time had not yet arrived for its
exercise.
Final Pardon. — Mr. Graham thus remained in prison, until
the accession to the Governorship of Hon. William Allen, in 1874,
before whom the application w^as successfully renewed, a pardon
being granted by Governor Allen on the 11th day of February,
1874. In his list of pardons, and the reasons thereof, subsequently
reported to the legislature, Governor Allen said of this particular
case: "Pardoned on the petition of 1,500 citizens of Summit
county, on application of Hon. A. C. Voris, delegate to Constitu-
tional Convention from Summit county; of Senator Goodhue from
65
1026 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Summit District; of Lieutenant Governor Hart; of the prosecuting
attorney; judges of Probate and Common Pleas Courts; of the
treasurer, recorder, auditor and clerk of Summit county; of the
mayor of Akron, and of leading bankers, professional and business
men of Summit county. The crime ^vas committed under extreme
provocation, and during intense mental excitement while the vic-
tims were engaged in an unlawful act which Graham had reason
to believe jeopardized his person and property. As he had suffered
incarceration for a period of nearly nine years, it seemed to me
that the ends of justice w^ere fully subserved in his case."
Subsequent Life, Death, Etc. — Mr. Graham returned to his
home, in Stow, on the evening of February 12, 1874, where he con-
tinued to live quietly and peaceably, until his sudden death from
heart disease, on the 3rd day of August, 1883, at the age of 68
years, 3 months and 28 days. His surviving family are among the
most respectable and influential families of Stow township, and
of Summit county, and in no way lessened in the public esteem
by the occurrence of the fearful tragedy in which the husband
and father was so prominent an actor, in the most exciting period
of our country's history.
Families of the Murdered Men. — Homer Filley was born in
the State of New York, and lacked about a month of being 40
years of age at the time of his death. In 1852, he was married to
Miss Amanda Robstein, in Michigan, shortly afterwards settling
near his mother, in Northampton, working in sawmill, at farming,
etc., a year or two later at Munroe Falls, and doing similar work
in that vicinity. Besides his widow, five children were left to
mourn his tragic death: Eliza, 12; Alice, 8; Wallace H., 5; Ida, 3;
and Loretta, 4 months; all of whom, except the youngest, are now
living, and all married and comfortably settled in life: Eliza and
Ida at Munroe Falls, Alice in Michigan and \A allace H. in Akron,
an operative in the Knife Works; Mrs. Filley still occupying the
comfortable homestead which had been provided for the family by
her lamented husband, previous to his death.
Hugh Kilpatrick was a native of Glasgow, Scotland, emigrat-
ing, w^hen a boy, to Kingston, Canada. His parents dying when
he w^as still quite young, he was reared to manhood by friends of
his family. In 1847, he went to California, and on his return went
to Patterson, N. J. Thence he came to Cuyahoga Falls, subse-
quently going to Munroe Falls, in both places working at his
trade of paper-maker, for a time being a partner in the w^ell-
remembered firm of Howard, Peebles & Co. June 25, 1857, Mr.
Kilpatrick was married to Miss Mary B. Gaylord (daughter of the
late Isaac T. Gaylord, of Stow), w^ho, after bearing him three chil-
dren, died June 29, 1864; Mr. K. marrying for his second w^ife, Jan-
uary 1, 1865, Miss Charlotte L. Benedict, of Northampton. At the
time of his death, Mr. Kilpatrick was 36 years, 10 months and 22
days of age; the names and ages of his children being: Adelaide
M., 5; Arthur G., 4; and Henry Theodore, 1; Arthur G. surviving
his father but about three weeks. Adelaide M. is now the wife of
Dr. Sylvanus Koontz, a prosperous physician of Roanoke, Ind.,
and Henry Theodore is a resident of Morgan Park, near Chicago,
111., engaged in the lucrative business of plumbing. Mr. Kilpat-
rick's Avidow, Charlotte L., was married to the late Parvin Eves, of
Stow, June 15, 1866, but a little over a year later was again
STOW'S PRESENT OFFICIAL STATUS.
1027
-widowed, Mr. Kves being accidentally killed by the cars, at Cuya-
hoga Falls, August 19, 1867. Mrs. Kves was again married,
November 26, 1872, to Mr. Amos B. Wait, w^ith whom she is now
living at Hilliard Station, Mich.
STOW'S POPULATION, OFFICIAL ROSTER, ETC.
The census of 1840 gave to Stow, including the populous cor-
ner included in the village of Cuyahoga Falls, and the then boom-
ing village of Munroe Falls, a population of 1,533; the census of
1880 giving her, exclusive of Cuyahoga Falls, 911; w^hile the cen-
sus of 1890 credits her with 936, so that it will be seen that while
there may have been a slight shrinkage between 1840 and 1880, she
has rather more than kept her own during the last decade.
The present official roster of the township (1891) is as foUow^s:
Trustees, Charles Edward Hanson, Levi Swinehart, Charles N.
Gaylord; clerk, William Nickerson; justices of the peace, Ira B.
Fairchild, Henry B. Graham; constables. Fay G. Davis, Frederick
Barnard; postmasters: Metz, Edward A. Seasons; Munroe Falls,
C C. Reid.
CHAPTER XLIX.
MUNROE FALLS— BOSTON CAPITALISTS PROJECT A GREAT MANUFACTURING
CITY— ITS RISE, PROGRESS AND DECLINE— ITS PROTEGE, EDWARD P. WILLIS^
CHARGED WITH AN INFAMOUS CRIME— TRIAL, CONVICTION AND SENTENCE
—SECOND TRIAL AND CONVICTION— ESCAPE FROM JAIL AND SIX WEEKS'
HIDING IN HIS ATTORNEY'S CISTERN — FLIGHT TO ITALY— RETURN TO-
AMERICA AS BUSINESS MANAGER FOR THE NOTORIOUS LOLA MONTEZ,
"COUNTESS OF LANSFELD" — SUMMARY EJECTION FROM HER PRESENCE
AND SERVICE— PREMATURE DEATH, ETC.
A CITY THAT WAS, BUT IS NOT.
ABOUT two miles northeasterly from the enterprising village
of Cuyahoga Falls, near the south line of the township of
Stow^, is a small, but pleasant hamlet, known as Munroe Falls. It
is located upon the Cuyahoga river, and exists by reason of the
considerable water power afforded by the fall in the stream in that
immediate vicinity. In the early thirties, manufacturing enter-
prises, at points w^here w^ater powder was attainable, had nearly
reached their limit in New^ England, and eastern capitalists began
to explore the then far w^est for eligible locations for investment of
their surplus means, and the augmentation of their w^ealth and
fame. Middlebury, Akron, and Cuyahoga Falls, had already
secured considerable reputation as manufacturing centers, while
at many other contiguous points, grist-mills, saw-mills and carding
and fulling mills, or w^oolen factories, had been put in operation
by local enterprise.
The Beginning. — At the point in question, under the name of
"Florence," several small mills of this character had been erected
by local operators, several years before anything had been done or
thought of at Akron, and about contemporary w^ith the first
improvements of a similar nature at the upper, or old, village of
Cuyahoga Falls, a mile or so above the present business center of
that village. But early in March, 1836, Edmund Munroe, a wealthy
merchant of Boston, Mass., bought from Guy Wolcott, George
Lodge, Zebulon Stow, and other farmers of the neighborhood, sev-
eral hundred acres of land, including the water-pow^er, mills and
other improvements thereon existing. About 200 acres of these
lands ^vere immediately platted, and a handsome map prepared
and published of the proposed village, or prospective city of
"Munroe Falls." A commodious store was erected, and stocked
with a full assortment of general merchandise; old mills were
rejuvenated, new^ mills projected and quite a number of dwelling
houses w^ere erected by Mr. Munroe, for the use of his agents and
operatives, and by others to whom lots in the new city had been
sold. So rapid was its growth, and so great was the popular con-
fidence in its success, that several of the prosperous farmers of the
neighborhood, together with several other eastern gentlemen, pro-
posed to share the glory, as well as the profits, w^ith Mr. Munroe,
by the organization of a joint stock company. Accordingly, on the
INCORPORATORS — BANK, ETC. 1029
:3d day of April, 1837, a charter was granted by the Legislature of
Ohio, to Edmund Munroe, Isaac I. Bigelow, Oliver O. Brown,
William H. Munroe, and their associates, until the year 1860, to be
known by the name of the "Munroe Falls Manufacturing Com-
pany." By the terms of its charter, the company was authorized
^'to grow and manufacture silk and w^ool, and also to manufacture
<;otton, paper, flour, sugar, machinery, and tools of all descriptions
which may be necessary in their manufacturing operations," and
with an authorized capital stock of $500,000 in shares of $100.00
<iach. The working capital, to begin with, was fixed at $100,000, of
w^hich amount, as appears by the original stock book now in the
hands of the writer, $82,000, was subscribed, in sums ranging from
:$200.00 to $40,000, as follows: Edmund Munroe, $40,000; Isaac I.
Bigelow, $4,000; Oliver O. Brown, $4,500; William H. Munroe,
:$3,000; Owen Brown, $1,000; Henry Cogger, $1,000; Edmund S.
Munroe, $10,000; Joseph Anderson, $2,000; Robinson Truesdale,
:$1,500; Joseph Hine, $1,000; Herman Peck, $300; Jacob Bollinger,
Jr., $200; John B. Whedon, $500; Daniel Porter, $300; Parvin Eves,
$500; William Armstrong, $500; James B. Angell, $500; Henry
Harshbarger, $500; Hiram C. Carlton, $500; James Anderson, $400;
Jonas D. Bigelow, $500; William Stow, $1,200; Samuel M. Coombs,
$1,000; John Hall, 2d, $300; James Kent, $1,000; Ogden Wetmore,
$1,000; Martin Bushnell, $300; Horace Bushnell, $300; William
Hickox, $300; Owen B. King, $200; Lewis Dailey, $1,000; Ralph
Smith, $1,000; Benjamin Sewall, $1,000; George D. Munroe, $1,000.
It will thus be seen that the Munroes held a majority of the
stock, and no doubt was entertained in regard to the final success
of the corporotion, and the rapid ^and prosperous grow^th of the
new city. The entire plat, together with all buildings, machinery,
goods, bills payable, crops, farm produce, teams, live stock, etc.,
belonging to Edmund Munroe, valued at $71,631, was transferred
to the company. By-laws w^ere adopted — directors and officers
were elected, and the entire machinery of the corporation was
under full momentum early in the Summer of 1837.
The Company Starts a "Bank." — Elsewhere allusion has
been made to the great panic of 1837, during which all the banks
of the country suspended specie payment, and a very large num-
ber entirely collapsed, w^hile dire financial distress, in commercial,
manufacturing and agricultural operations, universally prevailed.
In this emergency, like many other similar corporations, the Mun-
roe Falls Manufacturing Company, to facilitate its own business
operations, as well, perhaps, as to afford financial relief to its
patrons and neighbors, issued neatly engraved and printed scrip,
in denominations of 10, 25 and 50 cents, and one and two dollars,
payable on demand, in current bank notes, when presented in
sums of five dollars, or any multiple of that sum. For a year or
two, these notes, with others of their class, circulated freely, and
very greatly facilitated the company's mercantile and manufact-
uring operations, during which time, in addition to quite an exten-
sive retail trade in general merchandise, w^as added a wholesale
<lepartment. From this establishment, merchants from neighbor-
ing towns and villages w^ere supplied, at about eastern jobbing
prices, with prints and other cotton fabrics of New England man-
ufacture. The company fairly held its own for three or four
years, when, by reason of the continued business depression, and
1030 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
its inability to realize upon the almost unlimited credit which had
been extended to its customers, it became financially embarrassed^
and finally bankrupt, large amounts of its "currency" in the
hands of the people proving entirely worthless.
Its Chief Clerk Comes to Grief. — Among the operatives
and employes of the company, was a young Bostonian by the
name of Bdw^ard P. Willis, w^ho occupied the position of chief-
clerk in the store of the corporation. This young man was a
younger brother of the renowned poet, Nathaniel P.Willis. Young
Willis was of rather a gay order — somew^hat of the modern dude
persuasion — and it was rumored that, leading rather a fast life in
the city of Boston, his friends had sent him to Ohio, under the
auspices of the very respectable representatives of that city, con-
nected w^ith the company, in the hope of effecting his reformation.
Be this as it may, certain it is, that in 1844, he is thrown into
prison, charged with an infamous crime. The cause of his appre-
hension may be thus readily stated: Being in attendance upon
the commencement exercises of Western Reserve College, at Hud-
son, on the 8th day of August, 1844, young Willis was introduced
to a young lady from Ravenna, by the name of Clara M. Bard, who,
with her brother-in-law^, Deputy Sheriff Kdward P. Bassett, and
her sister, Mrs. Cornelia Bassett, w^ere also in attendance. In addi-
tion to the commencement and graduating exercises, in the day-
time, a musical entertainment was given in the college chapel in
the evening, to which entertainment Miss Bard was accompanied
by Willis. Learning, during the evening, that it was the intention
of the Ravenna party to spend the night with friends at Cuyahoga
Falls, Willis proposed that if Miss Bard w^ould accept a seat in his
buggy, he would go home by way of Cuyahoga Falls, Tvhich propo-
sition w^as assented to, by both Miss Bard and her friends. Start-
ing from Hudson together, Willis soon out-distanced the Bassetts,
though the latter arrived at their destination some time before the
former did, occasioning the friends of the young lady considerable
anxiety, and no little alarm. Nothing w^rong, however, was sus-
pected, until after the return of the party to Ravenna, the next
day, when Miss Bard w^as found to be in such a state of nervous
prostration that her friends commenced an investigation of the
cause, eliciting from her the story, that somewhere between Hud-
son and Cuyahoga Falls her escort had turned off from the main
road, into a dense piece of w^oods, w^here he had made a criminal
assault upon her, and that in the desperate struggle which she
had made to prevent the accomplishment of his designs, she had
sustained serious bruises upon her back and limbs, as well as a
terrible strain upon her nervous system.
Arrest anb Examination. — On learning the true state of the
case, the young lady's brother, Mr. Rodolphus Bard, of Ravenna,
visited Cuyahoga Falls, on the 10th day of August, 1844, and filed
an affidavit before Birdsey Booth, Esq., one of the justices of the
peace for Tallmadge township, charging said Willis with assault
with intent to ravish the said Clara M. Bard. A warrant was-
immediately placed in the hands of Constable Warren Lane, whe-
at once proceeded to Munroe Falls and, taking the accused into
custody, escorted him before Justice Booth, to answer to said
charge. Pleading not guilty, on hearing the affidavit read, the
examination was postponed until August 13, at 10 o'clock A. m., by"
TRIAL, CONVICTION, SENTENCE. 1031
reason of the illness of Miss Bard, and in default of bail for his
appearance at that time Willis was committed to jail.
On the day named Miss Bard and her mother, Anna M. Bard,
and her brother-in-law^, E. P. Bassett, were sw^orn and examined.
The defendant, offering no testimony, he was held to bail in the
sum of $5,000 for his appearance at the September term of the
Court of Common Pleas to answer to said charge, in default of
which he was remanded to jail.
It may well be imagined that the excitement over the affair,
both in Summit and Portage counties, w^as intense, w^hich was
considerably augmented by the fact that the young lady in giving
her testimony had fainted entirely away, with the prospect, for a
time, that the swoon might prove fatal. While the public sym-
pathy in the two counties, was decidedly with Miss Bard, with
corresponding indignation against her alleged assailant, the
friends of the accused \^ere also quite numerous and influential,
not only providing him with able counsel and every available appli-
ance for his defense, but also laboring to mollify thcpublic feeling
and to induce the aggrieved parties to modify their charges and
condone the offense.
Before the Court of Common Pleas. — At the September
term, 1844. of the Court of Common Pleas, Hon. Eben Newton, of
Canfield, Mahoning county, presided, assisted by associate judges
Charles Sumner, of Middlebury, Hugh R. Caldwell, of Franklin
township, and Robert K. DuBois, of Akron. The grand jury, after
a most careful and searching investigation, returned a true bill of
indictment against the accused in the following words: "That
Edward P. Willis, on the 8th day of August, A. I)., 1844, with force
and arms, at Northampton, in the county of Summit aforesaid, in
and upon one Clara M. Bard, a female in the peace of the State of
Ohio, then and there being, did make an unlawful assault, and her
the said Clara M. Bard, did then and there unlawfully beat, wound,
and ill-treat, with intent then and there, unlawfully to ravish and
carnally know^, to the great damage of her, the said Clara M. Bard,
contrary to the form of the statute in such case made and pro-
vided, and against the peace and dignity of the State of Ohio."
On being arraigned, under the indictment, the defendant
enters a plea of "not guilty," and, in the language of the law,
"throws himself upon the country." A large number of witnesses
w^ere examined, the court room being crowded to its extremest
capacity, with a most intensely interested audience, both men and
women. The main interest, of course, centered in the testimony
of the accusing witness, Miss Bard, who, by reason of the delicate
position in which she was placed, and the embarrassing nature of
the questions propounded, again, as before^ the magistrate,
sw^ooned during the extremely severe cross-examination, to which
she was subjected by the defendant's counsel, though maintaining
a straight-forward and consistent story, throughout.
Conviction and Sentence. — The testimony being all in, the
case w^as ably argued by Rufus P. Spalding and S. W, McClure,
who were assigned to assist William M. Dodge, prosecuting attor-
ney, on the part of the State, and by L. V. Bierce and Van R.
Humphrey on the part of defense. After an elaborate charge by
Judge Newton, the case which had occupied the attention of the
court for nearly a week, was given to the jury, which, after a few
1032 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
hours' consideration, returned " that the said Edward P. Willis is
guilty in manner and form as he stands charged in said indict-
ment." The defendant's counsel immediately moved for a new
trial on the ground that one of the jurors had expressed an opin-
ion against the prisoner, previous to the trial, w^hich fact was
unknown to the defendant or his counsel before the case was given
to the jury; and also because of error in the charge of the court
to the jury. The court, after hearing arguments of counsel for
and against, overruled the motion and immediately sentenced the
prisoner to five years in the penitentiary.
A bill of exceptions was presented by the defendant's counsel,
which was signed by all the judges, except Judge Sumner, who
declined to attach his signature to the bill because of the impeach-
able character of the w^itnesses w^ho had testified in regard to
juror having expressed an opinion previous to the trial. On this
bill of exceptions, Hon. Reuben Wood, one of the judges of the
Supreme Court, on the 7th day of October, 1844, granted a writ of
error, and ordered a transcript of the writ to be certified to the
Supreme Court for review.
Hearing Before Supreme Court. — Willis, notwithstanding
his large array of influential friends, being unable to procure bail,
continued to occupy a felon's cell in the county jail, awaiting the
hearing of his case before the Supreme Court, which, under the
old system of jurisprudence, being a circulating institution, did
not get around to Summit county until the 6th day of October,
1845, Judges Reuben Wood and Matthew Burchard presiding. On
the case being reached, the alleged causes of error in the proceed-
ings below were duly presented, and the case ably argued by
counsel for both the defense and the State, a portion of whicli alle-
gations were sustained by the court and the case remanded to the
Court of Common Pleas for a new^ trial.
At the November term of the Court of Common Pleas, 1845,
the defendant was again brought to trial, commencing on Monday,
November 24, and occupying the attention of the court during the
balaiice of the week, the attendance being as large and the excite-
ment even greater than on the former trial, the State being this
time represented by William S. C. Otis, prosecuting attorney, and
S. W. McClure, and the defense by L. V. Bierce and Van R. Hum-
phrey, as before; Judge Humphrey's plea for the accused, being
one of the most eloquent efforts ever made in Summit county and
occupying over six hours.
Under the charge of the court the case was given to the jury
on Friday, November 28, who, after nearly twenty-four hours'
deliberation, late on Saturday afternoon rendered a verdict of
guilty, as charged in the indictment. Defendant's counsel again
immediately moved for a new trial and change of venue, on the
ground of misconduct on the part of several of the jurors, and of
undue prejudice against the prisoner among the people of Summit
county. The hearing of the motion was postponed until Friday,
December 5, on the early morning of which day the town and
entire vicinity \v^ere thrown into the most intense excitement by
the rapidly spreading report that "fFi7/is has escaped from jaiiy
Investigation disclosed the fact that, probably through outside
aid, the outer doors of the jail, and three of the cell doors, had
been unlocked by means of false keys, during the previous night,
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 1033
and that Willis and another prisoner, charged with forgery, had
•escaped — the third prisoner, William Buckmaster, of Bath, under
a six years' sentence for incest, for some unexplained reason, fail-
ing to take advantage of the opportunity thus afforded him for
securing his liberty.
On the coming in of court, counsel for defense filed several
affidavits, including those of three of the jurors who had tried the
case, and counter-affidavits were also produced by Prosecuting
Attorney Otis, all of w^hich, ow^ing to the escape of the prisoner,
w^ere su||)mitted without argument, whereupon the motion for a
new trial and change of venue was overruled and the case
continued.
A Unique Document.— In anticipation of his escape, and as a
stupendous joke upon the officers of the law, Willis left behind
him a formal "Declaration of Independence," which, in his own
handw^riting, is now in pot<session of the writer. It is a close imi-
tation of the immortal Declaration of American Independence,
after giving, as his motto, "If we fail, it can be no worse for us,
but we shall not fail," starting out with:
" When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one
person to dissolve the legal bonds which have been unjustly imposed upon
him by others, and to assume among- mankind the separate and equal sta-
tion to which the laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle hitn, a decent
respect to the feelings of others who may be interested, requires that he
should declare the causes which impel him to the separation."
Quoting almost vei-batim the second section of the Declara-
tion as to abuses, usurpations, etc., as applicable to the attitude of
the public, and especially of the court officials, towards himself,
he proceeds: "To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid
world :
"They have unjustlj^ entered our house at midnight, filled our room
with men and called upon us, in the presence of this force, to go to a neigh-
boring village.
" When arrived and, on hearing the charge, demanding an immediate
investigation, it was refused, and bail ordered to be given on penalty of
being committed to prison.
"On going, in custody of the officer, in pursuit of bail, a mob was
raised and we were dragged back before the justice, who, under the threat
and terror of the mob, increased the bail, first to more than three times and
«ventuallj^ to more than sixteen times the original amount.
"Every effort was made to frighten the officer out of the discharge of
his duty to our injury and the perversion of justice.
"The charge consists mainly of an intent, of which no one, unless he
have directly iinparted to him the divine prerogative, can know, but ourself.
"To prove this charge a witness is called to substantiate by oath a
statement made by her in the heat of the moment to meet a wronglj^ sup-
posed betra3^al of her secret by us, and which statement is as untrue in its
material points, as it is repugnant to every feeling in the breast of a
human being.
"All the testimony of the prosecuting witness is received in full force,
and it is believed that she does not tell half the truth, while we, less inter-
ested, and of necessity knowing more about it, have our mouth sealed.
"The position in which we are placed, that of antagonism to a woman,
is an extremely unpleasant and embarrassing one in which chivalry forbids
a proper defense, while the consequences of not making one are utter ruin.
"Improper means were used to influence and excite the feelings of an
innocent and unsuspecting jury, by an unseemly display of this well-trained
and fascinating female, in a theatrical and effective tableau. A fainting
scene was twice got up for effect in the progress of the testimony, leaving
an impression on the minds of the jury that there was something kept back
much too horrible to mention.
1034 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
"Finally, destruction without proper representation, and damnation on?
misrepresentation, are equally abhorrent to every rule of justice, and every
sense of rig-ht, and should be resisted to the utmost by every good citizen
and every friend of his country.
" We, therefore, in unjust confinement held — appealing- to the Supreme-
Judg^e of the world for the rectitude of our intentions—do, in our own name-
and authority, f^olemnly publish and declare that we are, and of right ought
to be, free and independent.
"And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance in the
protection of Divine Providence, we sing-ly pledge ovir life, our fortune and
our sacred honor."
[Sig-ned] Edward P Willis."
A Curious Hiding Place. — The county commissioners offered
the meager reward of $100 for his arrest and return, and the offi-
cers made every possible effort to trace the fugitive, but without
avail. Many rumors w^ere afloat as to his having been seen at this
and that point, both in the east and west, w^hich, on being traced
up, were found to be without foundation. The case was continued
from term to term for over five years, w^hen at the March term,
1851, a nolle prosequi w^as entered by the court. This left Mr.
Willis free to come forth from his hiding whenever he might
choose to do so, and his counsel to tell what they might know
concerning his escape and flight.
General Bierce's Story. — After the safety of his client had
been thus secured, through the dismissal of the suit. General
Bierce took seeming delight in rehearsing the story of his escape^
concealment and flight. Disclaiming any personal knowledge as
to the procurement or manipulation of the false keys, or even that
an escape was contemplated, the General said that sometime dur-
ing the night, he was awakened from sleep by a succession of light
taps upon his bedroom w^indow^; that on going to the window to
ascertain the cause, he found a muffled figure standing there,
w^hich in a timid, frightened and w^hispered voice disclosed itself
to be his tw^ice convicted client. Sending him around to the other
side of the house, he cautiously let him in; and there, in the dark-
ness, formed a plan for his concealment, which w^as no less a
scheme than to immure him in an unused cistern in his back yard,
until the excitement should blow^ over. Quietly gathering up one
or two buffalo robes, which he happened to have in the housCr
together writh sundry articles of bedding, clothing, etc., and
depositing them in the cistern, by the aid of a short ladder, con-
veniently at hand, the ci-dev^ant Boston dude was as completely
entombed from the world as though physically dead and funereally
interred. Food and other creature comforts w^ere regularly sup-
plied at night, for about six weeks, w^hen, on a particularly tem-
pestuous night, about the middle of January, 1846, in a well-con-
trived disguise, the fugitive emerged from his living sepulcher^
received from his faithful attorney a well-filled purse, mounted a
thoroughly-caparisoned, fleet-footed horse found standing in an
adjoining alley, and, "solitary and alone," rode forth into the dark-
ness and the storm.
Finds a Refuge in Sunny Italy. — Rumors from time to time
reached the public ear that Willis was sojourning in FlorencCr
Italy, but nothing definite was learned by the general public as to
his whereabouts, and no efforts w^ere made by the authorities to-
secure his extradition, if, indeed, there was any extradition treaty'
in existence for that grade of offense bet^^'^een the two countries, at
RETURN TO AMERICA — DEATH, ETC. 1035
that time. Thus matters stood until after a^nolle had been entered
in the case, as above stated, when, in the Autumn of 1851, he
accompanied the notorious Lola Montez to New York, as her con-
fidential adviser, and managing agent. The older portion of our
readers w^ill readily recall the remarkable career of this remarkable
woman, both in Burope and America, and her erratic history need
not be repeated here, excepting to say that during her stay in New
York, w^here she appeared upon the stage of the Broadway theater
in a piece entitled "Lola Montez in Bavaria," she quarreled w^ith
her gay and festive confidential agent and adviser and summarily
ejected him from her apartiuents at the Astor House, and igno-
miniously kicked him down stairs.
The End of Edward P. Willis. — After his break with his^
erratic mistress, Willis was for a time given a subordinate position
in the office of the Home Journal (formerly the Nevt^ York Mirror, oi
w^hich his distinguished brother, Nathaniel P. Willis, the poet and
popular prose writer, w^as one of the editors and publishers), his
death occuring in Boston a few years later, but at w^hat particular
date, or from what particular cause, the writer is not advised.^
Thus ends the sad story of a young man of excellent parentage
and of good native ability, who by taking the downu^-ard path,,
became as dishonorably infamous, in Summit and Portage
counties, forty-five years ago, as, by taking the upward track, his
elder brother became honorably famous throughout all the civi-
lized nations of the earth. Young man ! which of the two brothers
yviWj^ou emulate — the famous or the infatnous? ^
CHAPTER L.
TALLMADGE TOWNSHIP— ORIGIN, EARLY SETTLEMENT, ETC.— A UTOPIAN
PROJECT— UNIQUE ADJUSTMENT OF LOTS AND ROADS— AN OCTUPLE GUIDE
BOARD— NAME, ORGANIZATION, ETC.— PET SCHEME OF FOUNDER THWARTED
—CHURCH AND EDUCATIONAL MATTERS— PIONEER DEAF AND DUMB
SCHOOL IN OHIO— CURIOUS CHURCH PRIZE CURIOUSLY WON— FIRST
"STRIKE" ON RECORD— PIONEER MINING OPERATIONS— EARLY LOCAL
RAILROAD— BLAST FURNACE PROJECT— EXTENSIVE CARRIAGE SHOPS,
SEWER PIPE WORKS, ETC.— CLEAN CRIMINAL RECORD— SPLENDID MILITARY
SHOWING— BRILLIANT CIVIL RECORD, ETC.
TALLMADGE TOWNSHIP.
ONE of the most reliable and painstaking local historians of
Summit county w^as the late Charles C. Bronson, of Tall-
madge. Emigrating to that township from Connecticut, w^ith his
parents, in 1819, then a boy of 15 years, he resided upon the farm
which he then helped to clear, until his death, April 11, 1886, a
period of 76 years, and possessing a remarkably retentive memory,
as w^ell as being a minute observer and recorder of passing events,
w^hatever has emanated from his pen may be received w^ith the
fullest confidence as being thoroughly correct.
In attempting, therefore, the preparation of a brief historical
sketch of Tallmadge, I have availed myself of the w^ritings of my late
friend, aided by those of the late Captain Amos Seward, Colonel
Charles Whittlesey, Hon. E. N. Sill and Gen. Lucius V. Bierce,
and the recollections of Messrs* Daniel Hine, Andrew Fenn, Ira
P. Sperry, Daniel A. Upson, George Allison and other surviving
residents of the to^vnship.
Origin, Early Settlement, Etc. — The survey of the Western
Reserve lands, east of the Cuyahoga river and Portage Path, w^as
completed, by Wareham Shepard and Amzi Atw^ater, for the Con-
necticut Land Company, late in the Fall of 1797, Tallmadge, then
unnamed, being designated as Town 2, Range 10. In the 24th draft,
at Hartford, Conn., in January, 1798, the township fell to Jonathan
Brace and Enoch Perkins, of Hartford, Roger Newberry, of Wind-
sor, Elijah White, of Bolton, Conn., Justin Ely, of West Spring-
field, Azariah Rockwell, Abner and Roswell Root, and Oliver P.
Dickinson, of Pittsfield, and Stephen W. Jones, of Stockbridge,
Mass.; the total number of acres within the township, thus drawn,
being 15,225.
The first five parties named constituted what was known as
the "Brace Company," the last five forming the "Rockwell Com-
pany." Subsequently, in October, 1799, Jones sold his share to
Ephraim Starr, of Goshen, and Stanley Griswold, of New Milford,
Conn., Starr purchasing Griswold's interest the foUow^ing year.
The remaining members of the Rockw^ell Company, Nov. 9, 1799,
transferred their interest to Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge, of
Litchfield, Conn. This made the Brace Company and Messrs.
Tallmadge and Starr, tenants in common of the entire township.
A TRULY PURITANICAL SCHEME. 1037
by a subsequent arrangement the Brace Company taking the
entire \vest half of the township, Mr. Starr three sections east of
the center line, from the north line of the to\srnship southward ,^
and Colonel Tallmadge the balance of the township,
A Projected Utopia. — In 1806, Rev. David Bacon, of Wood-
stock, Conn., who w^ith true, Puritanic piety and devotion had,,
under the auspices of the Connecticut Missionary Society, given
about five years to missionary ^rork among the Indians near
Detroit, made a contract with Messrs. Tallmadge and Starr and
the Brace Company, for the purchase of a portion, and to act as
their agent for the sale of the residue of their lands in the yet
unsettled and unnamed tow^nship.
Being an earnest believer in, and preacher of, the christian
religion, Mr. Bacon conceived the idea of founding, in the Tvilds of
Ohio, a community that should be in full sympathy w^ith his ow^n
unsw^erving orthodox religious notions — a sort of Ecclesiastical
Utopia — to be conducted upon, and governed by, a strictly moral
and spiritual code of ethics.
Hence, Mr. Bacon's first work, before any settlements what-
ever w^ere made, w^as to re-survey and re-arrange the lots and the
roads of the tow^nship, so as to bring every portion thereof, a»
nearly as possible, upon a direct road leading to the contemplated
sanctuary. The lands of the township had already been laid out,,
by Gen. Simon Perkins, of Warren, as agent of the Connecticut
Land Company, into twenty-five sections of one mile square, each,,
with east and west and north and south roads, crossing at right
angles.
The survey ordered by Mr. Bacon, divided the township into
sixteen great lots of one and a-fourth miles square, not only
divided by north and south, and east and w^est roads, but also sub-
dividing one-half of the lots with diagonal roads from the north-
east to the southwest, and from the, north w^est to the southeast
corners, the other half of the lots also cornering upon said diagonal
roads, all, like the east and west and north and south roads, lead-
ing directly to the center of the town.
At the center a commodious public square, of seven and one-
half acres, was laid out by Mr. Bacon, on which, and around which^
was to be planted the church, the school-house, the store, the tav-
ern, and the various mechanics' shops and private residences that
were to form the future business emporium of the township, and
as they have existed for the past three-fourths of a century.
Puzzling as Well as Convenient. — This arrangement of the
roads produced eight corners at the center, and six corners
midway between the center and each of the four corners of the
township, designated by the inhabitants as the northeast, north-
west, southeast and southwest six corners respectively. This mul-
tiplicity of "corners" has often been very puzzling to strangers
— not always well posted on the points of the compass — though
the local authorities have been exceptionally careful to keep a
good supply of guide-boards at the several points designated.
After the country became settled up, w^ith thriving communi-
ties and villages on every hand, and before the public square had
been fenced in and planted to the beautiful shade trees by which
it is now^ adorned, an eight-fingered guide-board was placed near
the center of the square, w^ith an arm pointing towards each of the
1038 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
^ight diverging roads. Avith the proper legend inscribed on each
side thereof. This octuple guide-board, with sixteen to twenty
-different directions upon it, \sras a great source of curiosity and
study to travelers passing through the town, often eliciting many
facetious remarks and much boisterous merriment.
It is related that one day the people living about the square
were attracted by loud and repeated peals of laughter and on
looking out of their doors and w^indow^s discovered a stranger
rolling upon the ground, near the guide-board, indulging in the
most extravagant contortions and paroxysms of laughter. He was
soon surrounded by quite a cro^vd, w^ho, from his hilarious antics
^nd prolonged and vigorous guffaws, thought the stranger must
have been taken suddenly crazy. After awhile, in response to
their anxious inquiries, he raised himself on end and replied:
"I've often heard (ha! ha! ha!) of the (ho! ho! ho!) center of
<rreation (hi! hi! hi!) but I never expected to (he! he! he!) see it —
and now^ (ha! ha! ha!) I've got there!"
At each of the six corners named, a school house was estab-
lished at an early day, thus giving the inhabitants of every por-
tion of the township easj'' access to the school as w^ell as to the
sanctuarj^, other school houses being erected from time to time in
co'nvenient localities as the necessities of the people required.
Tallmauge's First Settler. — Previous to the arrangement
betw^een Mr. Bacon and the principal proprietor of the township,
as above stated, a fe\^r lots had been sold to private parties, Mr.
Jotham Blakeslee, of Kent, Connecticut, having, in 1805, purchased
from Kphraim Starr a portion of lot six, tract fourteen, of the
Perkins survey, on the middle south line of the tow^nship. Mr.
Blakeslee soon afterwards removed from Connecticut to Ravenna,
though a few years later permanently locating in Tallmadge.
There is some diversity of opinion as to w^ho w^as the first
actual settler in the township. The generally accepted belief has
been that it \^ras Mr. Bacon himself, Hon. E. N. Sill, Dr. Leonard
Bacon and other speakers at the semi-centennial celebration, June
24, 1857, taking that ground. Mr. Bronson, however, gives the pre-
cedence to Mr, George Boosinger, who w^ith his father had settled
in Ravenna in 1801. Mr. Bronson states, that Boosinger, having
bought seventy-five acres of Mr. Blakeslee's land, in March, 1807,
accompanied by Mr. Blakeslee, and some eight or ten other
Ravenna neighbors, came over to Tallmadge, and in a single day
cut the logs and built a 16x20 foot cabin, covering it with long
split shingles, and laying a floor of split and hewed puncheons, the
door being constructed of the same material, with wooden hinges,
latch, etc. Into this cabin, the latter part of March, or fore part of
April, Boosinger moved his family, though a few weeks later Mrs.
B. returned to Ravenna for a brief period, while there giving birth
to tw^ins — boy and girl — the boy dying shortly after her return to
her new home in Tallmadge.
The same Spring (1807) Mr. Bacon, w^ho had been temporarily
sojourning in Hudson, hired a new^ly arrived Vermonter, by the
name of Justin K. Frink, to clear a piece of ground for a garden,
and on w^hich to build a house. The ground selected was about a
mile w^est of Boosinger's cabin, near the south line of the tow^n-
ship. Of the removal of the family, on the completion of the reg-
ulation log cabin, the late Dr. Leonard Bacon (son of Rev. David
NAME, ORGANIZATION, ETC. 1039
Bacon, born at Detroit, February 19, 1802) in his semi-centennial
address said: "I well remember, among the dim and early remi-
niscences of early childhood, the pleasant day in the month of
July, if I mistake not, when the family made its removal from the
center of Hudson to the new log house that had been prepared for
it, in the township which had no other designation than No. 2,
Range 10." I think, therefore, it may be accepted as a fixed fact
that George Boosinger was the first actual settler in the township,
and that, too, w^ithout detracting in the slightest degree from the
honor due to Mr. Bacon, as the founder of the township, and the
forerunner of its sterling population. Boosinger sold his property
in 1836 and removed to Illinois, w^here he died in 1862.
Other Pioneer Settlers. — Up to February, 1808, there were
in the township nine persons only — Boosinger, w^ife and child; Mr.
and Mrs. Bacon and their three children, and Justin E. Frink.
Early in 1808, came Ephraim Clark, Jr., of Southington, Conn.,
w^ith his newly married w^ife, a Miss Sperry, of Mesopotamia, Ohio,
in w^hich vicinity he had lived about nine years. The next set-
tler is supposed to have been Jonathan Sprague, also in 1808, fol-
low^ed the same year, by Nathaniel Chapman, his father, Titus
Ohapman, William Neal, George Kilbourne, and Charles Chit-
tenden, the latter moving into Springfield some t^vo or three years
later.
In rapid succession came Aaron Norton, Dr. Amos C. Wright,
Moses Bradford, Thomas Dunlap, Eli Hill, Edmund Strong, Cap-
tain John Wright, John Wright, Jr., Jotham Blakeslee, Alpha
Wright, Conrad Boosinger, Elizur Wright, David Preston, John S.
Preston, Drake Fellows, Samuel McCoy, Deacon Salmon Sackett,
John Caruthers, Luther Chamberlain, Deacon Nathaniel Gillett,
Hosea Wilcox, Reuben Upson, Jesse Neal, followed still later by
the Treats, the Fenns, the Hines, the Carters, the Stones, the
Sperrys, the Upsons, the Barnes', the Wolcotts, the Pecks, the
Lymans, the Morrises, the Hinmans, the Ashmuns, the Sew^ards,
the Upsons, the Pierces, the Roots, the Bronsons, the Betteses,
the Battersons, etc. The majority of the early residents of Tall-
madge,'were from Connecticut, with a slight sprinkling from other
New England States, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia, and
in the beginning was almost exclusively a Yankee town, though
many other nationalities are at the present time represented in its
population.
It w^ill be impossible, within the limits of this chapter, to fol-
low the individual fortunes of the pioneer settlers of Tallmadge
township, all of whom, almost without an exception — though not
all indorsing the peculiar notions of its founder— making first-
class citizens, each cheerfully bearing his or her share of the labors
and responsibilities of shaping the destinies of the township and
in supporting the material, moral and religious institutions of the
county. State and nation.
Name, Organization, Etc. — Originally, Tallmadge, like all the
tow^nships of the wrestern Reserve, w^as five miles square, bounded
on the north by Stow, east by Brimfield (Portage county), south by
Springfield, and west by Portage. On the erection of the township
of Cuyahoga Falls, in 1851, out of the four contiguous corners of
Tallmadge, Stow, Northampton and Portage, about 1,000 acres,
embracing all of tract one, and about one-fifth of tract five, were
1040 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
contributed by Tallmadge, while, in like manner, in 1858, lots thfee
and five, and part of lots four and six, containing about 300 acres
were attached to the new township of Middlebury, then erected,
and now constitute a part of the Sixth Ward of Akron, As sup-
posed by Mr. Bronson, some time in June, 1808, the settlers of the
township met at the house of Mr. Bacon, to determine upon a
name, the only designation, up to that time being ToAvn 2, Range
10. Mr. Bacon suggested that in honor to Col. Tallmadge, the
largest individual proprietary land owner of the township, it
should be named after him, which w^as unanimously assented to.
As stated in another "chapter, Tallmadge, though at first
rather a dependency of Hudson, was under township organization
with Springfield, Coventry, Suffield and Randolph, under the gen-
eral name of Randolph, and after separate organizations had been
provided for the others, affiliated with Springfield until November
11, 1812, when it was duly organized under its own proper name.
The first town clerk was Elizur Wright, and the first justice of the
peace, Nathaniel Chapman; other officers not remembered.
The first death in the township was the twin boy of the
Boosingers, heretofore alluded to, in 1807; the first birth w^as a
daughter, Clarissa, to Mr, and Mrs. Charles Chittenden, in 1808,
w^hich child, grown to womanhood, married Mr, Isaac Newton,
son of Middlebury's well-kno\srn hotel keeper of fifty years ago,
Mr, Samuel Newton, and brother of Mrs. Elizabeth R. Johnston,
still living in Akron. Mrs. New^ton (who w^as a sister of the late
Mrs, Huldah Bowen, widow of the late Dr, Bowen, of Akron), is
still living in Dakota, her husband having died some five or six
years ago. The first male child born in Tallmadge, October 5,
1808, was the present well-preserved octogenarian. Dr. Amos
Wright; the first marriage being Sally Chapman, daughter of
Deacon Nathaniel Chapman to John Collins, January 7, 1809; the
first adult death in the township being that of Mr, Titus Chapman,
November 18, 1808,
Topography, Population, Etc, — The face of the towmship is
generally gently rolling, though a mile or so west of the center is
quite an abrupt eminence, known as Coal Hill, while there are
also pretty steep hills and bluffs overlooking the valley of the
Little Cuyahoga river, near the southwest corner, A point on
Coal Hill, on the farm of Mr. Daniel Hine, a short distance south
of his residence, is 636 feet above the surface of Lake Erie, and the
highest ground in Summit county, excepting a portion of the
tow^nship of Richfield,
In 1840 the population of Tallmadge ^vas 2,134, the census of
1880 giving her a total of 1,455, and that of 1890 giving her 1.145
inhabitants, only. This apparent large falling off is due to the fact
that, during the intervening fifty years, she had been despoiled of
the two most populous corners of her territory, at Cuyahoga Falls
and Middlebury (now^ Akron) the probability being that she has
not only not retrograded, like some of the other townships of the
county, but that the number of inhabitants w^ithin the present
limits of the township, is considerably greater than that of the
same territory in 1840.
The soil is generally a light loam, but with the most excellent
tillage given to it by its industrious and intelligent occupants,
extremely fertile and productive, the original forests, generally
DISAPPOINTMENTS, REVERSES, ETC. 1041
oak and chestnut, embracing also quite a sprinkling of ash, elm
hickory, black- walnut, cucumber, beech, maple, etc. The drainage
of the north and northwestern portion, is into the Big Cuyahoga
river, w^hich skirts the northern border, penetrating the township
at one point only, by a sharp bend on the old Adna Sperry farm,
and crossing that portion of the northwest corner now^ embraced
in the tow^nship of Cuyahoga Falls. On the south and southwest,
the drainage is into the Little Cuyahoga, which, traversing the
extreme north part of Springfield, and the Sixth Ward of Akron,
cuts across the southw^est corner of the towrnship near the Old
Forge. Several small creeks and rivulets traverse different parts
of the to\^rnship, the most important of \\rhich is Camp Brook in
the southwest portion, emptying into the Little Cuyahoga. Water
powder for manufacturing purposes, was therefore not very abun-
dant one or tw^o water-propelled saw-mills, only, finding a short-
lived existence, excepting such milling and manufacturing opera-
tions as may have existed w^ithin the original limits of the toAvnship,
at Cuyahoga Falls, upon the Big Cuyahoga, and at Middlebury and
Old Forge upon the Little Cuyahoga.
UTOPIAN VISIONS NOT FULLY REALIZED.
Although the early efforts of its truly pious and devoted
founder, David Bacon, peopled the tow^nship w^ith an exceptionally
worthy class of inhabitants, and though the adjustment of lots,
roads, etc., was most admirable, the good man failed to realize the
fruition of his scheme in an ecclesiastical point of view. It had been
his desire to conform the entire township to the support of the
church to which he himself belonged. To this end he caused to be
inserted in the contracts and deeds of conveyance a clause binding
each 100 acres sold to the annual payment of $2 for the support of
the "Gospel Ministry of the Calvinistic Faith of the Congrega-
tional Order forever," and also, in said deeds reserving the right
and pow^er to distrain for said annuity in case the same should be
in arrears.
In addition to this, the Congregational society, w^hen organized
in 1809, adopted a voluntary schedule of taxation for its support,
fixing the valuation of property, as a basis therefor, as follows:
Timber land, $4 per acre; girdled and underbrushed land, $10,-
cleared land, $15; horses, three years old or over, $30; oxen, four
years old or over, $20; steers and cows, $15; buildings to be valued
by listers.
The first plan, though lived up to for several years, by a por-
tion of the land-owners, finally proved a failure, several persons^
who, though good and pious men, but not subscribing to the
Calvinistic faith, refusing to pay the stipulated annuity. Mr.
Edmund Strong being a leading recusant, in 1811 was sued by Mr,
Bacon for the amount levied on his land, as a test of the legality
of such contracts. The late Peter Hitchcock, afterw^ards a mem-
ber of Congress and judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, acted
as attorney for Mr. Strong, the case being decided in his favor.
Thus ended the perpetual land tax scheme devised by Mr.
Bacon, for the support of the gospel in Tallmadge, though the
maintenance of the gospel, and the Congregational Church there,
was by no means a failure. How^ long the other scheme adopted
by the society, of taxation on valuation, continued, the w^riter is
66
1042
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
not advised; but that, too, finally gave way to the more modern, if
not more equitable, mode of ministerial support and church
usage.
REV. DAVID BACON, — the
founder of Talltnadg-e township,
as herein written, was born at Wood-
stock, Connecticut, in 1871, being bap-
tized September 15, of that year.
Piously reared and educated, he was
ordained a minister by the mis-
sionary society of Connecticut,
Decetnber 31, 1800, and assigned to
duty among- the western Indians,
with headquarters at Detroit, having
already, the previous autuinn, made
a preliminary survey of the field,
performing the journeys either way
mostly on foot. His salary, paying
his own expenses, was fixed at one
hundred and ten cents per day.
On his second journey, in January,
1801, he was accompanied by his
young wife, having meantime,
December 24, 1800, been married to
Miss Alice Parks, of Lebanon, Con-
necticut, then but 17 years of age, the
first part of the journey by sleigh,
and the balance on horseback. Here
the devoted couple, amid great dis-
couragements and privations,labored
faithfully some four years, their first
eon, the since celebrated Dr. Leonard
Bacon, having been born there, Feb-
ruary 14, 1802. Want of adequate
support by the parent society, and
other untoward circumstanceSjfinally
compelled the abandonment of their
cherished enterjjrise, and late in the
Fall of 1804, they regretfully turned
their steps eastward. The balance of
their story is told in the history of
Tallmadge, of which township Mr.
kLV. J)A\ II) HACOX.
Bacon w^as the founder and pioneer.
Mr. Bacon died at Hartford, Connecti-
cut, August 27, 1817, in the 46th year
of his age, Mrs. Bacon dying at New
Haven, Connecticut, in 1850. Dr.
.Leonard Bacon, the son, after a long
and useful life, as minister, educator
and philanthropist, died at New
Haven, December 24, 1881 — the grand-
son, Rev. Leonard Woolsey Bacon. D.
D., being now pastor of the Second
Congregational Church, at Norwich,
Connecticut.
Mr. Bacon Shakes the Dust of Tallmadge From His Feet.
— Realizing the failure of his pet scheme and deploring the unex-
pected opposition to his general plans, both temporal and spirit-
ual, not only from the "outsiders" who had found lodgment in
the tow^nship, but from some of the members of the church which
he had founded, and also having become somewhat financially
embarrassed, Mr. Bacon, early in 1812, returned with his family to
Connecticut, selecting for the text of his farewell sermon the
ninth verse of the third chapter of Paul's Second Epistle to Tim-
othy: "But they shall proceed no farther; for their folly shall be
made manifest unto all men, as theirs was also," his remarks
being very pointed, and somewhat bitter towards those w^ho had
opposed, and possibly thwarted, his cherished plans. Mr. Bacon
died at Hartford, Conn., August 27, 1817, at the early age of 46
years, his son, Rev. Dr. Leonard Bacon, noted for his learning,
piety, philanthropy and patriotism, five years of whose boyhood
were spent in Tallmadge, dying at New Haven, Conn., December 24,
1881, at the age of 79 years, 10 months and 5 days. Through the
courtesy of Rev. Leonard W. Bacon, D, D., of Norwich, Conn.,
EDUCATIONAL MATTERS.
1043
grandson of Rev. David Bacon, we are enabled to present to the
readers of this work the accompanying most excellent portrait of
the earnest and self-sacrificing founder of this, in all respects,
model township — reliable Old Tallmadge.
Though the planting of the church was the first and para-
mount duty performed by the pioneer settlers of Tallmadge, the
cause of education was by no means neglected. The first school,
in a small log house built for the purpose at the south four-
corners, was kept by Miss Lucy Foster, afterwards Mrs. Alpha
Wright, mother of Mrs. Horner S. Carter, the late Mrs. Sidney
Kdgerton, and Clement and Benjamin D. Wright. Other similar
-schools were opened in convenient localities, as the population
increased, but who taught them is not now remembered.
ALPHA WRIGHT, — born at
■^ Winsted, Connecticut, Decem-
ber 26, 1788 ; removed with parents to
Ashtabula county, Ohio, in 1802, and
to TaUtnadge, in 1808, being- among-
the earliest settlers of that township ;
December 12, 1811, was married to
Miss Lucy Foster, a native of Han-
over, New^ Hampshire, w^ho taught
the first school in Tallmadge, in a
log house, erected in 1810 ; in the War
of 1812 was a member of Captain
Rial McArthur's rifle company, April
18, 1814, being promoted from ser-
geant to ensign ; in 1827, with others,
organized a school for the instruction
of deaf mutes (the first in Ohio), the
Legislature, in 1828, appropriating
$1CO.OO for its support, the pupils
being transferred to the State Asylum
on its establishment at Columbus, in
1829. A great reader and a deep
thinker, Mr. Wright was a leader in
all relig-ious, educational and moral
enterprises, and especially in the
largely prevailing anti-slavery senti-
ment of his township ; a fine singer
and ready speaker, was the life and
soul of religious and social gather-
ings, and his home the seat of an
•enlightened and generous hospital-
ity. Mr. and Mrs. Wright were the
parents of twelve children — Philo,
born October 2, 1812, died December
3, 1844; Rev. William Wheeler, born
May 12, 1814, now deceased ; Lucy
Ann, now widow of Rev. Luther ^haw,
in Tallmadge ; Clement, died in
ALPHA WRIGHT.
infancy ; Abigail, now Mrs. Rev.
Loomis Chandler, of Holly, Michi-
gan ; Clement, for 40 years a mer-
chant, and for thirty-seven years
treasurer and many years postmaster
of Tallmadge ; Amelia, deceased ;
Martha and Mary, Martha, wife of Mr,
Homer S.Carter, of Tallmadge; Mary,
late wife of Hon. Sidney Edg-erton ;
Benjamin Demming-, now secretary
Akron Underwriters' Association,
still residing in Tallmadge ; Handel,
deceased ; Charles Storrs, deceased.
Mr. Wright died March 1, 1856, at the
ag'e of 67 years, 2 months and 5 days,
Mrs. Wrig-ht dying- September 30,
1875, ag-ed 85 years.
The first school house at the center was a two-story, 26x36
frame, upon the ground where the Congregational Church now
stands, commenced in 1814, but not completed until the following
year. The lower story was used for the district school, and the
upper story as an academy, and for religious meetings and other
public purposes. "Tallmadge Academy" was incorporated, by act
of Legislature, February 27, 1816, Rev. Simeon Woodruff and
Blizur Wright being among the earliest teachers. The academy
building was destroyed by fire on the night of January 12, 1820. A
jiewr building was erected, exclusively for an academy, upon the
1044
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
corner of the square and the southwest diagonal road, where the
store of Mr. Clement Wright now stands, which building was
afterwards removed to the place where it still stands, southeast of
the N. Y., P. & O. depot, a separate district school house having
been erected at the corner of the square and the southeast diag-
onal road.
DR. AMOS WRIGHT,— born Octo-
ber 8, 1808, the first white boy
baby born in Talhriadge, his parents,
Dr. Amos Wright, Sr., and Lydia
(Kinney) Wrig-ht, natives of Connecti-
cut, having settled in Tallmadge that
year, after a residence of six years in
Vernon, Truinbull county ; educated
at Tallmadge Academy till 14, and
working- on farm till 19 years of age,
then read inedicine with his father
two years, in 1831 and 1832, attending
lectures in Yale College ; in 1833,
opened drug store in Tallmadge, con-
tinuing one year ; then practiced
medicine in Trumbull county two
years, returning to Tallmadge in
1836, where he has been in continuous
Sractice ever since, fifty-five years,
[arch 31, 1831, Dr. Wright was mar-
ried to Miss Clemence C. Fenn, of
Tallmadge, having duly and appro-
priately celebrated their 60th wedding
anniversary on March 31, 1891. Nine
children have been born to them—
Stella, Ellen M., Julia I., Darwin E.,
now living, and H. M., Sarah E. and
Alice, deceased. The doctor, at 83, is
still hale and hearty, and can inter-
DR. AMOS WRIGHT.
estingly rehearse the many thrilling"
pioneer incidents with which his
still unimpaired memory is filled.
The third academy building was erected on the ground now
occupied by the Baldwin carriage shop, corner of the square and
the north center road, this building also subsequently being
burned. A town hall being built upon the south side of the pub-
lic square about this time, an upper story w^as added, by voluntary
donations, to be used for academical purposes (of \\rhich Hon. Sid-
ney Edgerton, in the early forties, was principal) and w^as so used
until that institution w^as superseded by the present graded school
system, embracing a district a mile and a quarter square, when a
nice four-room union school building was erected, a short distance
north of the public square, the High School department graduat-
ing a goodly number of thoroughly educated pupils every year.
In addition to the above, Mr. Eph'raim T. Sturtevant, having
bought the second academy building, and removed it to the place
w^here it now^ stands, east of the depot, sometime in the middle
thirties, for several years taught a select classical school, w^ith
very great acceptance to his pupils and patrons.
Pioneer Deaf and Dumb School. — In the middle twenties,
among the children of the tow^nship, of school age, there were
three deaf mutes, all daughters of Mr. Justus Bradley, and the
question of providing them vsrith an education was discussed.
There w^as at the same time residing in Middlebury a young deaf
mute by the name of Colonel Smith, who had been educated at
the Deaf and Dumb School in Hartford, Conn. An arrangement
tallmadge's church history. 1045
was therefore made with Mr. Smith to undertake the education of
the three children in question, and such other mutes as might
desire to avail themselves of his instruction. This school was
opened May 1st, 1827, in a room at the house of Mr. Alpha Wright,
one mile south of the center, on the farm now owned by Mr. Cor-
nelius A. Johnson. This was, undoubtedly, the first deaf and
dumb school in the State, if not the first west of the Allegheny
Mountains. In 1829 the deaf and dumb asylum was opened at
Columbus, Smith's pupils being sent thither, and the Tallmadge
school discontinued.
Public Library. — In connection w^ith educational matters, it
is worthy of note, that a public library was established, in 1813, on
the joitlt stock plan, supported by sales of shares, fines, assess-
ments, donations, etc., which has maintained an unbroken exist-
ence of over three-fourths of a century, and contains at the present
time some 800 volumes.
Church and Spiritual Matters. — Though the cherished plan
of its founder was to make the township purely and exclusively
Congregational, in religious sentiment and government, the effort
was, as before intimated, a failure, not only believers in o,ther
forms of faith, but many non-believers, even to downright infidel-
ity, finding a lodgment w^ithin the township; the overwhelming
sentiment, however, remaining uncompromisingly orthodox w^ith
Congregationalism in the lead.
The first sermon in the township w^as preached by Mr. Bacon,
in his own house, -where, and in the houses of other settlers, as
they were built, Sabbath and other occasional services were held
for several years. The first church organization was effected in
Mr. Bacon's cabin, January 22, 1809, Rev. Jonathan Leslie acting
as moderator. George Kilbourn and his wife, Almira; Ephraina
Clark, Jr., and his wife, Amelia; Alice Bacon; Amos C. Wright
and his wife, Lydia; Hepzibah Chapman and Justin E. Frink
being duly constituted a Church of Christ, the Sacrament of the
Lord's Supper being then and there for the first time administered
in the township, with the ordinance of baptism upon four children:
Juliana and Alice, daughters of Mr. Bacon; Amos, son of Dr.
Amos C. Wright, and Eliza, daughter of George Kilbourn.
The first regular pastor to the church w^as Rev. Simeon
Woodruff, a native of Litchfield, Conn., who w^as installed, in the
barn of Ephraim Clark, May 18, 1813, closing his labors with the
church September 19, 1823. Successive pastors to the present
time: Rev. John Keys, September 9, 1824, to April 16, 1832; Rev.
Jedediah E. Parmelee, acting pastor, January 18, 1833, to April 14,
1840; Rev. William Magill, 1840 to 1843; Rev. Carlos Smith, acting
pastor, 1847 to 1862; Rev. Seth W. Segur, 1862 to 1871; Rev. Charles
Cutler, 1871 to 1875; Rev. Wm. B. Marsh, acting pastor, 1875 to
1885; Rev. A. E. Thompson, September, 1887 to September 1889;
Rev. S. D. Gammell, December 1889 to present time, December,
1891. Present membership, 295; scholars in Sunday schqol, 298,
w^ith an average attendance of 190; benevolent contributions in the
past vear: by Sunday school, $135; by church, including one $500
legacy, $1,002.
Sensible Church Discipline. — As showing . the thorough
church discipline maintained in the early days, as w^ell as the
sound horse-sense of its members, Mr. Daniel Hine relates the
1046 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
following: The old Revolutionary hero, Captain Nathaniel Bettes^
was summoned before the church to answer to the charge of hunt-
ing on Sunday, The charge being read, and the statements of his
accusers duly listened to, the Captain arose in his defense. "Breth-
ren," said he, "I started for meeting on Sunday morning, and had
gone but a short distance when I saAv a nice fat buck standing
right in my pathway. Being rather short of provisions, I asked
the Lord if I might shoot that deer, and the Lord said 'yes.' So I
went back to the house, got my rifle, killed the deer, took it home
and dressed it, and then continued on to meeting. Brethren, did I
do right or wrong in obeying the voice of the Lord? " The vote is
said to have been unanimous that the Captain did just exactly
right.
The First Church Edifice. — The first and only house of
worship of the Congregational Society of Tallmadge, stands upon
the north side of the public square, on the same site occupied by
the original Academy building, and w^as erected in 1822. It i&
44x56 feet in size, surmounted in front by a handsonie belfry and
tow^er 100 feet high, supported by massive columns, and was at the
first a handsome structure, though sundry modern improvements,,
both outside and in, have from time to time been made thereon.
It was the fifth steeple church built upon the Western Reserve,
and as it was then the very best, it w^ill still, though nearly three
score and ten years of age, compare favorably, in point of archi-
tecture and ornamentation, \vith the majority of the rural church
structures of the present time.
The Methodist Denomination. — Under the ministrations of
Rev. Billings O. Plympton, then preaching on the Canton Circuit
of the Methodist Episcopal church, a society of that denomination
w^as organized in Tallmadge about 1825, the first class, consisting
of Jotham Blakeslee, Milo Stone, Sarah B. Stone (wife of Milo),
Mrs. Martha Stephens, Shubel H. Lowrey and Anna P. Lowrey,
his w^ife, with Jotham Blakeslee, as leader. The meetings of the
society w^ere held in the school houses and private residences of
the neighborhood until 1832, when a plain house of worship, costing
about $1,500, was erected some 200 rods from the public square, on
the northeast diagonal road. This modest structure served the
purposes of the gradually increasing congregation until 1874, ^rhen
a larger and more attractive edifice was erected on the south side
of the public square, at a cost of about $8,000. The old structure,
after its dismantlement as a church, w^as moved to near the north-
east corner of the square and the east and west center road and for
several years used as a carriage shop, and is now doing duty as a
stable for horses used in hauling clay to the contiguous sewer
pipe w^orks of the Messrs. Sperry. ,
A Curious Prize, Curiously Won. — Though all good and
pious men, the early settlers in Tallmadge, as was then the custom
everywhere, regarded the use of spirituous liquors as indispensa-
ble articles of domestic economy, and as particularly conducive to
social good cheer and public enterprise. Hence the whisky bottle
was wont to "adorn" every family side-board and to pass freely
at all raisings, huskings, trainings and other public and festive
gatherings.
In the construction of the Congregational church, the timber for
the frame was contributed by the land owners of the township
FIRST RECORDED LABOR STRIKE. 1047
generally, whether members of the church or not. The contractors
for building the church were Sebbens Saxton, Lemuel Porter,
Wylys Fenn and Joseph Richardson, with Reuben Beach as super-
intendent of construction. Having previously selected and blazed
the trees that w^ere to be cut by the several contributors, with the
length designated thereon, the 24th day of December, 1821, was
appointed as the day for hauling in the logs, and as an incentive
to prompt action. Superintendent Beach offered a gallon of whisky
as a prize to the man who should be first upon the ground with
his stick of iimber.
Gen. Bierce, in his "Reminiscences," published in 1854, says
that one Daniel Beach, w^hile preparing none himself, hitched his
oxen on to the stick that had been got in readiness by his neigh-
bor, Mr. Justus Barnes, before that gentleman was astir, drew it
upon the ground just as daylight was appearing, and got the
whisky, Avhile Hon. E. N. Sill, in his semi-centennial address, in
1857, says: "Before 1 o'clock in the morning, timber had been
brought upon the site from each of the eight roads coming into
the public square, Amadeus N. Sperry winning the honors of the
occasion." Mr. Bronson is silent upon the subject.
Strong Temperance Sentiment. — Early, however, the good
people of the township began to take an interest in temperance
matters, and for the past tifty years Tallmadge — always remark-
able for sobriety and good order — has been in the very van of tem-
perance reform, though it is even now hinted that an occasiynal
occupant of her "sacred soil" is still rather too ardently attached
to the ruddy juice of the luscious apple so abundantly grown in
every portion of the to\srnship.
The First "Strike" on Record. — Though in no sense agrarian
or anarchical in sentiment, Tallmadge may justly claim the honor,
if honor it be, of inaugurating the strike system now so common
the world over. It was not a strike for an increase of w^ages, for
everybody — mechanic and farm laborer alike — w^as then satisfied to
w^ork for from fifty to seventy-five cents per day. It w^as not a
strike for shorter hours, for then everybody expected to work from
sun to sun, and, in the Winter season, two or three hours by candle
light. It was not a strike for cash payments, for nobody expected
cash in payment for anything, for there w^as very little money
afloat in those days, the "truck and dicker" system heretofore
described, being everywhere in vogue.
But it was a strike for wool! "A curious cause for a strike,"
says the modern reader, but not so curious to those familiar w^ith
early times and circumstances by which the first settlers of the
w^estern country were surrounded. The subscriptions for the
building of the church, aggregating $3,500, were payable in labor,
lumber, wheat and other farm produce, in installments of one, two
and three years, wheat being the only cominodity convertible into
cash at all, and that only selling at about twenty-five cents per
bushel — a little mone}^, of course, being needed for the purchase
of nails, hardware, glass, paints, etc., for the new^ edifice.
But clothing for the workmen and their families >vas also an
absolute necessity, and w^ool was needed for its fabrication. The
local demand for wool being greater than the local supply, made
it a decidedly cash article, non-purchasable with ordinary farm
produce, and therefore impossible of procurement by the workmen
1048 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
in exchange for the commodities in v^rhich they were paid. Hence
the suspension of work upon the church, until the needed supply
of wool should be forthcoming.
The building committee, consisting of Capt. Amos Seward,
Asaph Whittlesey, Richard Fenn, Reuben Beach, Peck Fenn,
Lemuel Porter and Aaron Hine, called a meeting to consider the
matter, and, regarding the demand of the men reasonable and just,
by an extraordinary effort, raised the quantity of wool required —
he strike was declared off and the sanctuary duly finished.
Also Anti-Slavery to the Core. — ^The cause of the freedom of
the down-trodden slave obtained an early hearing, and the most
hearty co-operation in Tallmadge, the anti-slavery sentiment being
stronger and more unanimous there than perhaps in any other
township on the Western Reserve, excepting, possibly, the neigh-
boring township of Hudson. Many are the traditions still extant
among the people, in regard to the assistance given to fugitives
from slavery, w^hile timorously journeying through the pretended,
to the real land of freedom — Canada — in spite of the threatened
pains and penalties of the infamous Fugitive Slave Law: and as
Mr. Bronson well remarks, the man Avho would betray a fleeing
slave, or inform on his succorer, " would have found Tallmadge
rather a warm climate to live in." And w^hen, because of this
sympathy, and because of the growing determination in the free
North that the encroachments of slavery should cease, the oligarchy
impiously struck at the life of the Nation, Tallmadge buckled on
her armor and fought bravely in its defense, as "will be seen by the
full roster of her volunteer soldiery herewith given.
Coal and Mining Interests. — For what might properly be
called a purely agricultural town, Tallmadge has also achieved
marked success as a mining and manufacturing town. As early
as 1808 or 1809, Mr. Jotham Blakeslee, working at his trade as a
blacksmith, found coal on the land of Col. Meacham, in the south-
east part of the township, which he used on his forge, and in 1810
procured coal from a vein found on the land of Deacon Elizur
Wright, one mile w^est of the Center, a tradition running to the
effect that this vein \eas discovered by means of small pieces of
coal being brought to the surface by a woodchuck in digging his
burrow. Other veins were soon afterwards discovered along the
east side of w^hat has since come to be kno\vn as "Coal Hill," and
worked to some extent by Asaph Whittlesey and Samuel Newton,
w^ho, in connection with Messrs. Laird and Norton, of Middlebury
Furnace fame, built and operated a forge for the manufacture of
bar iron, at what is now known as the "Old Forge," about 1817.
Timber was so abundant in those days that there was very
little demand for coal, as fuel, or for manufacturing purposes, and
for a decade and a half, but little was mined. About 1825, Mr.
Henry Newberry, the owner of 1,000 acres of land in the northwest
corner of Tallmadge, discovered and opened a vein of coal near the
northwest six-corners, and about 1828 tried the experiment of ship-
ping it to Cleveland by hauling it in wagons to Lock 16, on the
Ohio Canal. It did not, however, prove a very profitable venture,
though, according to Col. Whittlesey, the canal receipts at Cleve-
land for four years, and before shipments from Massillon and
other points south of Akron, commenced (1833), being as follows:
1829, 108 tons; 1830, 178 tons; 1831, 294 tons; 1832, 431 tons.
tallmadgb's industrial status.
1049
About the year 1832, Dr. Daniel Upson, of Worthington, Frank-
lin county, O., where he had been several times honored with a
seat in the Legislature, removed to Tallmadge, purchasing quite a
property and engaging in farming. His attention being called to
the coal indications alluded to, the Doctor, soon, by purchase and
lease, secured control of a large portion of Coal Hill, a mile or more
west of the Center, from w^hich w^ere mined, from 1833 to 1840, con-
siderable quantities of coal for the Akron, Cuyahoga Falls and
home market.
DR. DANIEL UPSON, — born in
Southing-ton, Connecticut, March
18, 1786 ; youth spent on farm, and in
securing' an education; taught school
several years, meantime studying-
medicine ; on completion of studies,
located in Hartford,Trumbull county,
Ohio ; in 1818, removed to Worthing-
ton, Franklin county, during his
fourteen years residence there, serv-
ing several terms in the State Leg-is-
lature ; in 1832, removed to Tallmadge,
relinquishing- his practice and
engaging- extensively in farming and
coal mining, being the pioneer in
the development of that industry in
Northern Ohio ; in 1836, '37, served as
State senator for Portage county,
later taking an active part in securing
the erection of the new county of
Summit ; May 19, 1814, was married to
Miss Polly Wright, daughter of
Deacon Elizur Wright, of Talliuadge,
w^ho bore him six children — Dr. Fran-
cis Wright Upson, no-w deceased;
Julius B., died in infancy; Julia
Elmore Upson, wife of ProJF. Elias
Loomis, of Yale Colleg-e, died in 1854 ;
Daniel A. Upson, now occupying the
■old homestead ; William H. Upson,
now Judge of Circuit, for the past
forty-five years a resident of Akron ;
and James W., now^ living in Cleve-
land. Dr. Upson, w^hile teaching
school and studying medicine, wit-
DR. DANIEL UPSON.
nessed the trial trip of Robert Ful-
ton's first steambofit on the Hudson
river, in 1807, and lived to see steam
universally applied, both to river and
ocean navigation, and world-wide
land travel and machinerj^ propul-
sion. Dr. Upson died June 21, 1863,
aged 77 years, 3 months and 3 days,
Mrs. Upson dying July 30, 1872, aged
87 years and 4 days.
Early Railroad Enterprise. — ^In 1838, in anticipation of the
completion of the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal, a charter was
obtained from the Legislature incorporating the "Tallmadge Coal
Company," the stock of which was principally owned by Daniel
Upson, Francis H. Wright and Charles Whittlesey. This com-
pany constructed a tramway from their mines to the canal, near
what was known as the "Nine Locks," a distance of about two
miles. The track w^as composed of large logs, faced on one side,
laid lengthwise, on which four-inch scantling were firinly pinned for
the trucks to run upon. The cars used had a capacity of about
three tons each, a train of three or four cars being drawn by two
and three horses from the mines to the chutes upon the canal.
Tallmadge coal was nearly, if not quite, the first coal used
upon the Lake Erie steamers, the company in question furnishing
the Northern Transportation Company with over 3,000 tons in
1841. Changes in the firm were made from time to time, D. Upson
1050
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
& Co. succeeding the Tallmadge Coal Co.; Upson & Sons follow-
ing, and after the doctor's death, June 21, 1863, at the age of 77, the
business was continued by Upson Brothers, until, by reason of the
substantial exhaustion of the veins they v^-ere then working, and
the dismantlement of the canal, the business was abandoned^
except for purely domestic use and local supply, the mines, in
1887, being under lease to Philip Thomas, and w^orked to a limited
extent by Henry Thomas & Co.
It is estimated that there are yet about fifty acres of coal in the
township unworked, Mr. Horace B. Camp having recently sunk a
shaft upon the Richardson farm, near the southeast corner of
Cuyahoga Falls township. By careful computation, it is thought
that for fifty years the average output of the Tallmadge mines
was at least 12,000 tons a year, making a grand total of 600,000
tons, a very material factor in the unrivaled prosperity of the
township during that period.
GEORGE ALLISON,— born inWest-
moreland, North of England, in
1822 ; came with parents to America
when about three years old ; after a
short sojourn at Middlebury, family
started for Galena, Illinois, via the
Ohio river, but on reaching Beaver,
Penns5^1vania, both parents died,
leaving their five children among
strangers destitute. George found a
home with a farmer named Potter, at
fourteen being apprenticed to a brick
mason named Dellzell. On com-
pleting his trade he moved to Tall-
madge, near Middlebury, where he
has ever since resided. In 1851, '52,
Mr. Allison was superintendent of
masonry on the C, Z. & C, now the
C, A. & C. R. R., and later built the
Summit County Infirmary and the
Cu5^ahoga Falls and Kent High
Schools, besides numerous brick
stores and residences in Akron, at
the same time carrying on extensive
farming operations in Tallmadge.
Mr. Allison's father, George Allison,
Sr., was a soldier in the British armj'^,
participating in the celebrated battle
of Waterloo, where Wellington
defeated the great Napoleon. Mr.
Allison was married, September 14,
1843, to Miss Mary L. Bettes, daughter
GEORGE ALLISON.
of Captain Nathaniel Bettes, a Revo-
lutionary soldier, their only son,.
Byron M. Allison, being now the
successful manager and secretary of
the Akron Fire Brick Company in
the Sixth Ward.
Blast Furnace in Tallmadge. — In addition to the abundant
supply of coal, above written of, there were also considerable veins
of iron ore in the neighborhood, one on Mr. Asaph Whittlesey's
land, and another just over the line in Springfield, on the Brittain
farm, and perhaps others. About 1844 or 1845 some Welsh gentle-
men frotn Pittsburg, having some knowledge of iron making,
erected a blast furnace near the coal chutes of the Tallmadge Coal
Company at an expense of several thousand dollars, giving to it
the name of Cambria Furnace, the name of the firm being Vinton^
Lewis, Reese & Co.
On the completion of their stack the furnace was duly started^
the blast being run by steam poAver. Through some defect, or
AGRICULTURAL, MECHANICAL, ETC.
1051
mistnanagement, the charge became chilled before fully ready to
draw — it is said by persons living in the vicinity, because of the
condensation of vapors arising from the foundation of the stack,,
which had been laid in a very damp location. Be this as it may,
the chilled charge being removed after considerable labor and
expense, and the stack refilled, the blast was again turned on with
precisely the same result. After several similar failures to pro-
duce marketable pig-iron — the. company, by this time having
exhausted w^hatever means it may have originally had, besides
owing the Messrs. Upson some $3,000 for coal and other supplies —
the enterprise was abandoned, Cambria Furnace now^ being a
reminiscence, only.
T UCIUS W. HITCHCOCK, — born
J—' in Cheshire, Connecticut, Octo-
ber 10, 1801 ; common school educa-
tion ; raised a farmer ; in 1822, came
on foot to Talhnadge, where he
bought a farm, on which he lived
over half a century, moving' to Akron
in 1873. April 20, 1826. Mr. Hitchcock
was married to Miss Eleanor Wolcott,
of Tallmadge, who bore him seven
children — Wolcott Warner, born Sep-
tember 14, 1827, deceased ; Frederick,
born July 29, 1829, deceased ; Ellen
Arabella, born February 11, 1831, died
in infancy ; Elizur, born August 15,
1832, now a physician in Akron ;
George Ellsworth, born July 1, 1835,
deceased ; Oella Pamphila, born
March 31, 1839, now Mrs. Charles
Harris, residing in the State of Wash-
ington ; and Herbert Paschal, born
July 18, 1841, now a successful busi-
ness man in Akron, as elsewhere
noted. Mrs. Hitchcock dying Jan-
uary 11, 1873, Mr. Hitchcock was again
married, January 3, 1877, to Mrs.
Matilda L. (Randall) Harvey, a native
of Newburg, Orange county, New
York, and for over twenty years one
of Akron's most successful teachers,
who still survives, Mr. Hitchcock
dying April 2, 1881, at the age of 79
^rtBSS^SS"^^;
LUCIUS W. HITCHCOCK.
years, 5 months and 25 da5's. Mr..
Hitchcock was in all respects a
christian gentleman and public-
spirited citizen.
The Carriage-Making Business. — Tallmadge was for many
years favored with one of the most extensive carriage manufac-
tories in the Western country, w^hich added greatly to the pros-
perity of the village and township. About the year 1827, Mr.
Amos Avery opened a small wagon and repair shop at the Center,
Mr. William C. Oviatt, of Milford, Conn., having started a custom
blacksmith shop in the same locality, about the same time.
These gentlemen, associating with themselves Mr. Isaac C. B.
Robinson, about 1836, under the firm name of Avery, Oviatt &
Robinson, built shops on the southw^est diagonal road, and
engaged quite extensively in the carriage-making business, Mr.
Oviatt claiming the honor of making the first elliptic buggy
springs ever made in Ohio, in w^hich he w^as assisted by Mr. Jame&
M. Hale, now living in Akron, w^ho w^as a workman in the estab-
lishment for several vears.
1052
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Later, Mr. Avery sold out to William Smith and Marcus
Brundige, the firm name changing to Oviatt, Robinson & Co. In
1841, Mr. Ira P. Sperry succeeded Messrs. Smith & Brundige, the
firm name of Oviatt & Sperry continuing for nearly a quarter of a
century, w^hen Mr. Samuel J. Ritchie became a partner in the con-
cern, Oviatt, Sperry & Ritchie running the works until the death
of the senior partner, Mr. Oviatt, February 1, 1869, the surviving
partners finally closing out the business in April, 1871.
In addition to supplying a considerable portion of Northern
Ohio virith fine carriages, the firm for many years maintained a
large repository in Cincinnati, at v^rhich from $20,000 to $25,000
worth of their carriages w^ere yearly sold. Quite extensive car-
riage-making operations w^ere also carried on by Mr. James B.
Baldwin, Mr. Lucius V. Bierce and others for several years.
HON. IRA P. SPERRY, -born in
Watertown, Connecticut, Novem-
ber 24, 1818 ; at one year of ag-e came
with parents to Tallmadge, settlings
on farm ; common school edtication ;
14 to 17, blacksmith's apprentice ; 17
to 20, apprentice to carriage ironer's
trade ; at 21, a j^ear in school at Cuya-
hoga Falls ; then worked for William
C Oviatt two years at carriage iron-
ing, in 1841, purchasing an interest in
the works, which, under different
partnership relations, he success-
fully carried on for nearly a third of
a century, as elsewhere detailed. In
1870, with his brother, Dr. Willis
Sperr}'^, and Mr. Samuel J. Ritchie, he
■established extensive sewer pipe
works in Tallmadge, which, in con-
nection with his son, George P.
Sperry, he is still successfully con-
ducting. An early anti-slavery man,
Mr. Sperry, in 1858, was elected on the
Republican ticket, as Summit
county's representative to the State
Legislature, ably serving two years.
-September 27, 1841, he was married to
Miss Clarissa Carlton, of Portage
county, who has borne him six chil-
dren— Willis C, born December 12,
1847, now practicing medicine in
Julesburg, Colorado ; Charles O.,
died in infancy ; Mary A., born July
30. 1853, died in Oberlin, October 17,
1870, aged 17 j^ears, 2 months and 17
HON. IRA p. SPERRY.
days ; George P., born September 30,
1858, sewer pipe manufacturer, Tall-
madge ; Francis L., born October 22,
1861, chemist for Canada Copper Coin-
pany, at Sudbury, Canada ; and
Henry B., born November 1, 1863,
assistant secretary and treasurer of
Pennsylvania Sewer Pipe Company,
Huntingdon, Penns5'lvania.
Sewer-Pipe, Stoneware, Etc. — About the year 1868, Messrs.
Charles Tryon, Benjamin D. Wright and Alfred Sperry, under the
firm name of Tryon, Wright & Co., established sewer-pipe Avorks
at the center of Tallmadge, the clay for which was found in al^un-
dant supply a short distance west of the center, Mr. Tryon's inter-
est subsequently passing into the hands of Mr. Henry M. Camp.
In 1871, Messrs, Ira P. Sperry and Samuel J. Ritchie, having
closed out their carriage business as stated, in connection with
Dr. Willis Sperry, purchased the sewer-pipe works in question,
materially increasing their facilities, and filling large contracts in
the city of Washington and other municipal corporations, both
LATER BUSINESS OPERATIONS.
1053
east and west, Sperry, Ritchie & Co. continued to do a large busi-
ness, until the works were dsetroyed by fire in 1878.
After an interregnum of about three years, the works w^ere
rebuilt by Mr. Ira P. Sperry, and his son, George P. Sperry, and
are now (1891) manufacturing from 500 to 600 car-loads of the very
best quality of sewer pipe per annum.
SAMUEL J. RITCHIE, — born in
Boston township, November 24,
1838 ; educated in district schools,
Twinsburg Institute and Grammar
School of Western Reserve College ;
raised on farm, early engaging- in
lumbering and railroad business;
June 15, 1865, was married to Miss
Sophronia Hale, daughter of the late
Andrew Hale, of Bath, in 1867, asso-
ciated himself with Messrs. Oviatt &
Sperry, in the carriage making busi-
ness, in Tallmadge, under the firm
name of Oviatt, Sperry & Ritchie,
closing out that business in 1871, and
engaging in the manufacture of
sewer pipe, under the firm name of
Sperry, Ritchie & Co., until the burn-
ing of the works in 1878. In 1881, Mr.
Ritchie became connected with Cana-
dian enterprises — the Central Ontario
Railway, of which company he was
president — the Angio-American Iron
Company, and the Canadian Copper
Company, composed of Akron and
Cleveland capitalists, Mr. Ritchie
being also the first president of the
latter organization, with Mr. Thomas
W. Cornell, of Akron, as his succes-
sor. Though thoroughly Republican,
Mr. Ritchie has never sought or held
office, but is zealously exerting his
influence in bringing about closer
or reciprocal trade relations between
the United States and Canada, and
SAMUEL J. RITCHIE.
by his intelligent advocacy of that
cause, has secured the hearty co-ope-
ration of Hon. Erastus Wiman, Hon.
Benjamin Butterworth and other
able statesmen therein. Mr. and
Mrs. Ritchie have three children —
Lewis Andrew, born October 20, 1867 ;
Clara Bell, born April 24, 1869; and
Charles Edward, born July 16, 1877.
Tw^o or three establishments for the manufacture of stoneware
have also existed in the to\srnship at different times; the flower-pot
w^orks of Charles Iv. Clark, and the drain-tile works of Messrs. F.
B. McNeal and William Seiz being among the later establishments
of the kind in operation therfe.
In the days of sorghum culture, some tw^enty years ago, Mr.
John A. Caruthers established a steam sorghutn mill upon his
farm one mile east of the Center, which, on the decline of that
industry was converted into an apple butter factory, w^hich did
quite a large business for several years.
Mr. Albert A. Viall is the proprietor of a steam saw-mill on the
farm adjoining Mr. Caruthers, w^hich being the only mill in the
township at the present time has quite a run of business.
Trade and Traffic. — In the mercantile line, the names of
Fenn & How^ard, Christopher C. Sturtevant and Charles Clark,
Wiswell & Groff, Eleazer C. Sackett, William A. Hanford, Homer
S. Carter, Elbert V. Carter, Clement Wright and Benjamin D.
Wright are remembered .as local merchants, Mr. Clement Wright
being the present (1891) genial and accommodating incumbent of
1054
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
"the village store, on the corner of the square and the southwest
diagonal road.
C. C. Conaghan and F. K. Hinman, for many years successful
grocers and dealers in meats and other family supplies, having
sold their former place at the southeast corner, to the Messrs.
Sperry, about 1887 located near the southwest corner of the public
square.
GEORGE PECK SPERRY,— second
son of Ira Peck and Clarissa
(Carlton) Sperry, was born in Tall-
madge, September 30, 1858 ; educated
in Tallmadge public schools, and at
Oberlin Colleg'e ; at 14 engaged as
/clerk in store of Mr. Clement Wright,
in Tallmadge, later entering the
employ of Mr. William M. Dee, an
extensive sewer pipe dealer in Chi-
cago, remaining in charge of the
yards there about two years, return-
ing thence to Tallmadge and taking
a position in the sewer pipe works of
Sperry, Ritchie & Co., there ; on the
destruction of the works bj^ fire, in
1878, he engaged as manager of the
sewer pipe works of Mr. James H.
Cooke, at Cuyahoga Falls, on the
death of Mr. Cooke, in 1880, leasing
and successfully running the works
upon his own account, until the
rebuilding of the Tallmadge factory,
in 1882, of which he assuined control,
and is now an acknowledged author-
ity in all matters pertaining to the
manufacture of sewer pipe in the
United States. September 27, 1882, he
was married to Miss Jessie R. Stevens,
of Glendale, Hamilton county, Ohio.
GEORGE PECK SPERRY.
They have three children — Ira Benja-
min, born August 31, 1883; Blanche
Virginia, born October 18, 1885 ; and
George Hill, born July 13, 1888.
Travel, Transportation, Etc. — Though the Pennsylvania
and Ohio Canal was made available for the shipment of coal as
before stated, and though the "Akron Branch " railroad (now the
C, A. & C.) completed from Hudson to Akron in 1852, traversed
the township upon the west side, Tallmadge had no special means
of communication with the "outer world," until the completion of
the Atlantic and Great Western Railway (now the N. Y., P. & O.)
in 1863. By this road not only is the large output of sew^er pipe,
and other wares manufactured, shipped to distant points, but it is
also a great convenience to persons desiring to get to or from the
tovt^n by other means than private conveyance. Later, the
Pittsburg & Western, now a part of the Baltimore and Ohio
sytem, skirting the northern and western borders of the township,
has materially added to transportation facilities.
Clean Criminal Record. — During the three-quarters of a cen-
tury, and over, of its existence, Tallmadge has been exceptionally
exempt from startling crimes, not a single homicide having
occurred w^ithin her borders, nor more than t\^ro or three peniten-
tiary offenses, unless in those portions of the township embraced
in the villages of Middlebury and Cuyahoga Falls. Some minor
irregularities have from time to time prejrailed, the most, if not all,
of which were traceable to the influence of the village tavern, when
A PROUD MILITARY RECORD. 1055
under w^hisky management, and the outside roughs -which such
institutions naturally attract, coupled with the dime novel litera-
ture, that so seriously poisoned the minds of some of the young
men and boys of the township a few years ago.
MILITARY MATTERS.
The military record of Tallmadge, is second to none on the
Reserve. Among the early residents of Tallmadge, who were in
the Revolutionary Army, the names of Captain Nathaniel Bettes,
w^ho was at the storming of Quebec on the night of December 31,
1775, under the ill-fated Gen. Montgomery, and who, at his death
at Bettes' Corners, January 15, 1840, at the age of ninety-four years,
was buried with military honors by Akron's first Independent
Military Company — the " Summit Guards,"— of which the late
Gen. Philo Chamberlin was then captain; Hosea Wilcox, also a
participant in the attack upon Quebec; David Preston, who was
taken prisoner and for some time confined at the "Cedars," above
Fort Ticonderoga; Conrad Boosinger, Capt. John Wright, Deacon
Nathaniel Gillett, William Neal, Reuben Beach, Isaac Dudley,
Thomas Granger, Ephraim Clark, Salmon Sackett and Alexander
Grisw^old, the latter being captured by the British and for some
time confined in the prison-ship in New York harbor.
Other early settlers were undoubtedly enrolled in the Conti-
nental Army, whose names have not been handed down, but the
list already given is sufficiently glorious for a single township.
The War of 1812. — The writer is indebted to Andrew Fenn,
Esq., for the following full rosters of the volunteer soldiery of
Tallmadge in the War of 1812, and the War of the Rebellion, no
soldiers havang gone to the Mexican War from that tow^nship.
Previous to the War of 1812 the "Tallmadge Independent
Rifle Company" had been organized with Rial McArthur as
captain, and Charles Powers as lieutenant, and the following
privates: Almon Norton, Alpha Wright, Justin Barnes, Justin E.
Frink, Shubel H. Lowrey, Titus Chapman, Samuel and Lot
Preston, Liberton Dixon, Joseph Tousley, Edmund Strong and
Samuel Fogger. On the surrender of Hull's army, at Detroit, in
August, 1812, these fourteen men volunteered in a body to go to
the defense of the frontier, and afterwards there w^ere drafted from
the general militia, six more, as follows: Reuben Upson, John
Caruthers, Norman Sackett, Moses Bradford, Asa Gillett and
Jotham Blakeslee, who served in various places during the w^ar —
twenty in all.
The War of the Rebellion. — The following named volun-
teer soldiers andrnarines represented Tallmadge in the Union
army during the War of the Rebellion: George Ashmun, Williston
Ailing, Erastus Albert, James Buchanan, Silas W. Bettes, Lorin
Barnhart, William Boyd, Jr., Edward Butler, George Blakeslee,
H. M. Baldwin, Wellington Bettes, Albert B. Clark, Perez Clark,
John Condon, A. S. Carr, T. J. Conley, J. F. Conw^ay, Clinton
Chambers, C. C. Caruthers, E. P. Caruthers, William Dimmock,
John Davis, Alexander Douglass, Thomas Dixon, David Evans,
Thomas Evans, Edward Ellis, George Ellis, E. P. Fenn, J. E. Fenn,
John Freeze, Thomas Foley, F. C. Fulkerson, Chris Fisher, Ed.
Gearhart, Henry Golden, James Gordon, Otis Graham, James
•Gaule, John Harris, George Hunter, John Honoddle, Michael
1056 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Honoddle, James Hogarth, George Huber, Rufus M. Hinman,
Ambrose Hine, Frank Huntley, Frank Harter, Henry Hart, E. G.
Jones, Norman S. Keller, Richard Limber, Otto Limber, Allen
Limber, George Lansinger, Adam Lansinger, William Lyons, S.
Mathews, William Murray, John Moore, George C. Monks, James
Morgan, Henry McClelland, John McMuUin, David Mclntire, H.
McAlpine, Thomas Owens, John Owens, Henry Packard, Daniel
Puff, Alfred Palmer, John Patterson, George Patterson, Henry
Patterson, William Pride, Thomas Price, Albert Reeves, Ashbel
Root, John Randall, Jacob Randall, Frederick Rexford, Clinton
Ruckel, William Rinehart, Alfred Sperry, Joseph Spellman, T. W,
Screen, Fred Spafford, C. H. Sackett, Daniel Sullivan, James
Sangster, H. Stiffler, Daniel Schaaf, John Stinhour, Junius
Saunders, S. W. Schenkenberger, D. B. Treat, R. B. Treat, Jr.,
David Thomas, Adam Taggart, Solomon Upson, C. W. Wick, Amos
Wills, Leonard Winkler, O. O. Wright, S. E. Wright, J. M. Walton,
Wesley Wells, William R. Warren, O. E. Whitney, Willis Woodruff,
Henry Woodruff and Charles Young — 113 men in all.
" Squirrel Hunters." — Early in September, 1862, the Govern-
ment became apprehensive of an attempt by the rebels, under
General Kirby Smith, to make an attack upon Cincinnati and
other river towns, and in the absence of sufficient regular troops in
that vicinity to cope w^ith them, temporary volunteers, to respond
forthwith, were called for by Governor Tod, Akron and a number
of the towns of Summit county turning out in considerable force.
These "troops," dressed in every variety of costume know^n to civil
life, armed with every variety of \sreapon kno^v^n to domestic gun-
nery and sport, and w^ithout any military training vt^hatever, were
called "Squirrel Hunters." The following is Tallmadge's con-
tingent in. that "organization:" Dr. Amos Wright, L. C.Walton,
William B. Ashmun, G. T. Preston, L. H. Ashmun, D. B. Treat,
Joseph Upson, Henry Tilden, J. E. Baldwin, Hon. Sidney Edgerton,
(then member of Congress and being at his home in Tallmadge
during vacation), C. Callahan, F. H. Wright and J. O. Curtiss —
thirteen in all. The " Squirrel Hunters" were on duty about one
w^eek, when, the scare being over (General Smith undoubtedly
being intimidated by their presence), they were dismissed by the
Governor w^ith thanks, being transported from and to their homes
and subsisted during their absence at the expense of the State.
The Ohio National Guard. — In the Spring of 1864, when all
the trained forces of the Nation were needed by General Grant for
the final struggle. Governor Brough, at a meeting called at his
suggestion for that purpose, proposed to the governors of those
states that Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin should join.
Ohio in tendering to President Lincoln 85,000 of the State militia
of the several states to serve in the fortifications, or where their
services \srere needed, for the period of 100 days. This tender was
accordingly made and accepted. Of thi-s force Ohio furnished
30,000 men, consisting of forty-one regiments, averaging about 730
men each. Summit county's contingent to this force were assigned
to the 164th regiment, under Colonel John C. Lee, and mustered in
at Camp Taylor May 11, the regiment, 865 strong, starting for
Washington May 14.
Tallmadge furnished Company D, 164th Regiment O. N. G., 64
men, as follows: Norman S. Keller, captain; Francis H. Wright,
TALLMADGE IN PUBLIC QFFICE. 1057
Jr., first lieutenant, and the following named privates: L. H.
Ashmun, Henry Ashmun, Byron Allison, William Bell, Bruce
Baldwin, William H, Bronson, S. E. Barnes, C. E. Barnes, F. N.
Barnes, H. M. Camp, L. N. Camp, Frank Clark, Chris. Callahan,
J. Drake, Thomas Davis, William Denmead, Robert Ellis, David
Evans, E. Evans, F. B. Fenn, S. P. Fenn, F. F. Fenn, G. E. Hitch-
cock, S. W. Harris, Henry Harris, A. A. Hine, John Hier, Ed. Jones,
G. F. Lyman, C. A. Lyman, Jef, Limber, Otto Limber, A. F.
Means, John McNeal, Atkin Ogle, John Owen, William T. Owen,
L. B. Pierce, S, B. Pettibone, L. B. Peck, John Roudebush, William
Ripley, Jonathan Sprague, Parmenas Sprague, F. Schenkenberger,
C. A. Sackett, B. W. Skinner, Lyman Stone, F. Sperry, Dennis
Treat, J. C. Treat, O. S. Treat, L. Thomas. William L. Thomas, S.
C. Taylor, D. A. Upson, H. C. Upson, J. E. Upson, J. S. Upton,
Daniel Vogt, H. Westover and George Young.
Thus it will be seen that Puritanic old Tallmadge has never
acted upon the unpatriotic motto "invincible in peace — invisible
in w^ar" — for w^hile she has manifested a good degree of invinci-
bility in the prosecution of the arts of peace, industry and morality,
she has been conspicuously visible, when brave hearts and strong
hands were needed to establish or defend those free institutions
which have made her ow^n, and the Nation's past and present
prosperous condition possible.
HONORABLE CIVIL RECORD.
Dr. Daniel Upson. — Besides serving several terms in the Leg-
islature as the representative of Franklin county, before removing
to Tallmadge, in 1832, Dr. Upson was elected State senator for
Portage county in October, 1836, holding the position two years.
Russell H. Ashmun was Summit county's first county sur-
veyor, elected in April, 1840, re-elected in October, 1840, holding
the office three years and seven months.
Captain Amos Seward was elected representative of Portage
county to the Legislature in 1834; as representative of the new^
county of Summit in October, 1842, and again fleeted (as a "float")
in 1847, giving to that important position three years of faithful
service.
Frederick Seward w^as elected county surveyor in October,
1846, holding the position three years.
Nelson B. Stone, in 1841, entered upon the duties of deputy
clerk, under the administration of Clerk Lucian Swift, serving in
that capacity until 1851, when he succeeded to the clerkship for
the term of three years, making in all respects a first-class officer.
Portrait and biography on page 260.
Dudley Seward, for several years a resident of Tallmadge,
after serving five years as deputy, under sheriffs Janes and Clarke,
was elected sheriff in 1852, and re-elected in 1854, thus giving to
the duties of that office nine years of continuous service. After
a bfilliant career, in the War of the Rebellion, in both the volunteer
and regular service, Colonel Seward was repeatedly elected justice
of the peace for Portage township, holding the position to the time
of his sudden death. May 24, 1882. Portrait and biography on
page 379.
67
1058 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Ira p. Sperry, from infancy a resident of Tallmadge, and one
of its most intelligent and enterprising mecl,ianics and business
men, was, in October, 1857, elected representative to the State Leg-
islature, being, during the regular session of 1857, '58, and the
adjourned session of 1858, '59, an extremely, useful and influential
member of that body.
Sidney Edgerton, while a resident of Tallmadge (having pre-
viously served two terms as prosecuting attorney, from 1852 to
1856), w^as elected to Congress from the Eighteenth District, com-
posed of Summit, Stark and Portage counties, in October, 1858,
and re-elected in 1860, giving to the position, during the most criti-
cal period in the history of the government, the most faithful and
valuable service, supporting and voting for all the important
measures necessary for the suppression of the rebellion, and the
preservation of the Union. In 1863, Mr. Edgerton vk^as appointed
chief justice of the new territory of Idaho, by President Lincoln, a
year later, on the division of the territory, being appointed gov-
ernor of Montana. Resigning that office in 1865, he returned to
Tallmadge, soon afterwards removing to Akron and resuming his
law practice. Portrait and biography on page 180.
William H. Upson, an early adopted son of Tallmadge, served
as prosecuting attorney from 1848 to 1850; was State Senator for
Summit and Portage counties from 1853 to 1855; was member of
Congress from the eighteenth district (then composed of Summit,
Cuyahoga and Lake counties) from March 4, 1869, to March 4, 1873;
was a delegate to the Republican National Convention, at Balti-
more, which renominated Abraham Lincoln, in 1864, and delegate
at large from Ohio to the Cincinnati convention, ^vhich nominated
Rutherford B. Hayes for the presidency, in 1876. On the death of
Chief Justice William White, in March, 1883, Mr. Upson was
appointed, by Gov. Foster, to fill the vacancy upon the Supreme
bench, holding that exalted position until the following December.
On the enactment of the law creating the present Circuit Court
system of the State, Mr. L^pson was elected one of the Judges for
the Eighth Circuit, composed of Summit, Cuyahoga, Medina and
Lorain counties, in October, 1885, drawing, by lot, the fractional
term of one 3^ear, and in 1886 was re-elected for the full term of five
years, in which position he is giving the most perfect satisfac-
tion. Portrait and biography on page 172.
John W. Seward, w^as elected county surveyor, in October,
1874, acceptably performing the intricate and responsible duties of
that office for the full term of three years, and is now one of the
township justices of the peace.
John C. Means, born in Northfield, but reared in Tallmadge,
having received a thorough legal training under the tuition of
Judge N. D. Tibbals, and successfully engaged in the practice of
the law, was, in 1884, elected to the office of prosecuting attorney,
which office he administered with energy and ability, until his
sudden death, which occurred at the residence of his mother, in
Tallmadge, May 8, 1886, Edwin F. Voris, of Akron, being appointed
by the court to fill the vacancy for the balance of the term. .
Andrew Fenn, Esq., besides serving as a justice of the peace
for many years, w^as one of Internal Revenue Assessor John E.
Hurlbut's most efficient deputies, during and for several years
after the close of the War.
PRESENT BUSINESS AND OFFICIAL STATUS, 1059
Tallmadge's Present Official Roster (1891). — Trustees, Wylis
P. Fenn, Samuel W. Harris, Robert P. Denniead ; clerk, C. C.
■Conaghan; treasurer, Clement Wright; justices of the peace, Wil-
liston Ailing, John W. Seward; constables, William G. Seiz, John
Chapman; postmaster, Clement Wright; the latter gentleman
having continuously officiated as treasurer of township since 1852.
Tallmadge's Present Business Status. — George P. Sperry,
manufacturer of sewer pipe, dealer in coal, etc.; Tallmadge Drain
Tile Co. (W. Ailing, F. D. Ailing; F. B. McNeil and W. G. Seiz);
Tallmadge Flower Pot Co., C. B. Skinner, manager; A. A. Viall,
saw-mill and dealer in lumber; B. W. Skinner, corn and feed mill;
W. J. Bmmett, wire picket fence; A. A. Hine & Son, threshing and
■wood sawing; Skinner & Sperry, threshing and wood saw-
ing; W. J. Bmmett, threshing and clover mill; W. W. Car-
ter, builder and contractor; W. Ailing, builder and architect; F. D.
Ailing, carpenter and builder; Lucius V. Bierce, carriage repairer,
trimmer, etc.; Charles Sharp, carriage maker and repairer; John
^. Hayden, blacksmith; W. L. Hinman, blacksmith; John Walter,
stone mason; F. B. McNeil, brick mason; W. Wagoner, carriage
trimmer; George Geylin, harness maker; John Sieber, shoemaker;
L. B. Pierce, nursery and dealer in small fruits and plants; J. P.
Howland, nursery, fruit grower, etc.; C. P. Parmelee, vegetables,
fruits, etc.; R. R. Lawrence, small fruits and vegetables; W. P.
Sperry, dealer in horses, cattle, etc.; W. E. Hinman, dealer in fat
cattle; Sidney Newport, butcher; Francis H. Wright, dealer in
milk; Henry Thomas & Co., coal miners, and dealers; Thomas
Roberts & Son, coal miners and dealers; Thomas Rhymes, green-
house, dealer in plants, etc.; Parker, dealer in milk and vege-
tables; Welton, cheese factory; Clement Wright, general mer-
chandise;. Conaghan & Hine (C. C. Conaghan and F. E. Hine),
groceries and meat market; Carl B. Skinner, general merchandise,
telephone station, etc.; practicing physicians — Drs. Willis Sperry,
S. St. John Wright; D. E. Fenn, dentist; John W. Seward, surveyor;
Oeorge M. Wright, attorney; W. E. Miller, agent N. Y., P. & O. R.
R. Co., Wells Fargo & Co.'s Express and Western Union Telegraph
Co.; ministers: Congregational, Rev. S. D. Gammell; Methodist
Episcopal, Rev. M. W, Dallas, D. D.; Welsh Congregational, Rev.
J. P. Davis.
CONCLUSION.
Thus has Tallmadge played well her part, both physically,
morally and politically — in the counsels of the county. State and
Nation, and upon the field of battle; and in the brilliant record
she has made, as above but faintly set forth, the minor faults and
foibles, that have at long intervals slightly beclouded her fair fame
may w^ell be graciously overlooked and remembered against her
jievermore.
CHAPTER LI.
TWINSBURG'S BEGINNING— FIRST CALLED " MILLSVILLE "— HOW AND WHY
CHANGED— TOPOGRAPHY, RESOURCES, ETC. —FIRST SETTLER A SEVENTEEN-
YEAR-OLD BOY, WHO BECOMES THE PIONEER FARMER, THE PIONEER DAIRY-
MAN, THE PIONEER HOTEL KEEPER, THE PIONEER STAGE PROPRIETOR, THE
PIONEER MERCHANT, ETC.— SINGULAR COINCIDENTS— EARLY BUILDINGS^
EARLY PRICES, EARLY BIRT«S, EARLY MARRIAGES AND DEATHS — PEDES-
TRIANISM VERSUS EQUESTRIANISM— BUSINESS AFFAIR.S— FATAL MISTAKE ON
THE RAILROAD QUESTION— CHURCH MATTERS— SPLENDID EDUCATIONAL
RECORD— OVER SIX THOUSAND SCHOLARS IN SIXTY YEARS— WONDERFUL
PLUCK ANDPERSEVERANCE— STILL HALE AND HEARTY IN HIS NINETY-FIFTH
YEAR — MAGNIFICENT MILITARY SHOWING — ENDURING MONUMENT TO THE
VALOR OF THE SONS, AND THE GRATITUDE OF THE FATHERS— FULL ROSTER
OF SOLDIERS— CIVIL vSTAT US— MEAGER CRIMINAL RECORD-— NOT QUITE A
HOMICIDE.
TWINSBURG'S BEGINNING.
TWINSBURG — the northeasternmost township of Summit
county — was, for reasons not now^ explainable, the last township
in the county to be settled. In the survey of the Western Reserve
into townships, in 1796, as elsewhere detailed, what is now called
Twinsburg Avas designated as township 5, range 10, and has thus
continued to be known upon the records of both Portage and Sum-
mit counties.
In the distribution of the lands of the Connecticut Land Com-
pany, by draft, as already explained, the north and northeasterly
portion of township 5, range 10, fell to Moses and Aaron Wilcox;
south and southeasterly portion to Mills & Hoadley, and the west
and northwesterly portion to Henry Champion.
Topography, Name, Etc. — Topographically, Twinsburg will
average w^ith the townships of the county. It is w^ell watered and
drained by numerous springs and runs rising in the highlands on
either side and flowing into Tinker's creek, a considerable stream
w^hich, rising in Streetsboro and Hudson, traverses the entire
township from the southeast to the northwest, emptying into the
Cuyahoga, in the township of Bedford. This creek was named by
Gen. Moses Cleveland, while making his preliminary survey of
the Western Reserve, in 1796, in honor of Joseph Tinker, one of his
most efficient assistants, Mr. Tinker being drowned by the cap-
sizing of one of their boats on Lake Erie, on the return trip to
Connecticut, in the Fall of that year.
With the exception of certain portions of the bottom lands of
the creek, and certain stony ridges both upon the east and upon
the west, the soil, generally clay, with intervals of loam, is w^ell
adapted to general agriculture, and especially valuable for grazing
and dairy purposes.
By reason of his large interest, as one of the proprietors of the
township, and of the early laying out of a village, at the falls of
the creek, some two miles southeast of the center, the name of
Millsville w^as at first given to the tow^nship by Mr. Isaac Mills^
1
TWINSBURG — WHY SO NAMED.
1061
senior partner of the firm of Mills & Hoadley, Mr. Mills, presum-
ably being a brother of Gideon Mills, Esq., and Doctor Oliver Mills,
\srell known early citizens of Hudson.
Singular Coincidents. — Moses and Aaron Wilcox were twins,
natives of North Killingworth, Conn., and at the time of coming
into the ownership of that portion of the township 5, range 10,
<lra>vn by them, were prosperous young merchants in their native
town. They did not, at first, personally visit their new posses-
sions, though a few years later becoming prominent citizens of
the township. After considerable settlement had been made, the
brothers made a proposition to the settlers, to donate six acres of
land at the center for a public square, and $20 in money towards
the erection of a school house, for the privilege of naming the
township, which proposition was accepted, whereupon the twin
brothers, Moses and Aaron, sharing the honor equally, named it
•" Twinsburg."
It is related of these brothers, as a singular concatenation of
events, that besides being born upon the same day. May 11, 1770,
educated in the same school, going into business together when
grown to manhood, and so near alike in feature, voice and man-
ners, their most intimate friends could scarcely tell them apart,
that they married sisters, Huldah and Mabel Lord, of Killing-
-worth, at the same time, had the same number of children, moved
to Ohio together, held their property in common, w^ere taken sick
^"with the same disease on the same day, died within a few days of
■each other, and w^ere buried in the same grave in September, 1827.
Twinsburg's First Settler. — Though certain settlers in Hud-
son and Aurora, for the accommodation of the people of those
tow^nships, had previously begun preparations for the building of
a saw-mill at the falls on Tinker's
Creek, erecting and partly finishing
a log shanty, and hauling several
sticks of he>vn timber on the grounci
for the frame of the mill, the first
actual settler in the township, w^as
undoubtedly the late Ethan Ailing,
father of Akron's virell known citi-
zen, Mr. Ethan Lewis Ailing. . Mr.
Ethan AUing's father, Lewis Ailing,
was raised to the occupation of a
farmer, in North Milford, Conn.,
but in the earlier years of the cen-
tury, sold his farm and engaged in
trade in the city of New Haven.
This calling w^as a few years later
re-exchanged for a small farm and
hotel, four miles west of New
Haven. Mr. AUing's first born,
Ethan, (born August 13, 1800), after
a very limited common school edu-
cation was, w^hen about fourteen
years of age, placed in the grocery store of Loomis & Johnson, of
New Haven, as clerk, his father paying his board the first year,
and a merely nominal salary being paid him for his services the
second year.
ETHAN ALLING.
1062 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
In the Winter of 1816, '17, the elder Ailing sold his farm and
other property, mostly taking notes therefor, which (guaranteeing
payment) he exchanged with Mills & Hoadley, for 1,000 acres of
land in tract 3, township 5, range 10, of Connecticut Western
Reserve, consideration $5,000, or at the rate of $5 per acre. A con-
siderable portion of the paper thus guaranteed proving ^^orthless^
only about 400 acres of the land thus purchased was finally
retained by Mr. Ailing.
Early in the Spring of 1817, Mr. Ailing, placing the fullest
confidence in the judgment and ability of the boy Ethan, then less
than 17 years of age, started him with three hired men, Zeri
Ailing, Rodolphus Wolcott and Lex Johnson, to locate the land,
and prepare for the settlement of the family thereon. Young
Ailing and his three companions started from Connecticut, March
3, presumably on foot, and arrived in Hudson, March 31. Having
a letter of introduction from the senior member of the firm of
Mills & Hoadley to Esquire Gideon Mills, of Hudson, young-
Ailing and his companions were ^^elcomed by that gentleman,
who, the next day, April 1, 1817, went with them to point out the
lands from which they w^ere to make their selection.
Following the marked line, which Mr. Mills designated the
Chagrin road, they at length came to a point which Mr. Mills said
w^as the geographical center of the to"wnship, which point w^as at
the present southeast corner of the public square. The lay of the
land at this point, and in the immediate vicinity, was so uneven
and forbidding, that young Ailing determined to look for a more
favorable location. The party accordingly followed Tinker's creek
southeasterly to the falls, above spoken of, and thence passed over
the hill, for many years past known as the Hawkins farm, and
returned to Hudson.
The next two weeks were spent by young Ailing and his men
in clearing a portion of Mr. Mill's slashing, for raising a crop of
corn on shares, one or two trips having been made in the mean
time into the new tow^nship and a location selected on the hill
spoken of. In a sketch of Twinsburg, published by Mr. Ailing, in
1861, he gives these reasons for locating here, instead of at the
center: "First — there we found excellent plow and grass land,
water, stone, timber, sugar trees, etc.; second — the water power at
the falls was the best for miles around, probably three times the
w^ater that there is there now, and we believed that the business
w^ould center there as it had centered at Middlebury, and other
places, regardless of the center; and I still think there would have
been a smart village built up had not the owners. Mills & Hoadley,
attempted a foolish speculation by laying out a village and ask-
ing from $50 to $200 for lots containing less than half an acre of
land, thus shutting out mechanics, etc."
First Building Completed. — Young Ailing and his men tem-
porarily took possession of the unfinished log shanty at the falls,,
above alluded to, April 15, taking with them, as supplies, pur-
chased from Captain Heman Oviatt: one barrel of pork at $25;^
one barrel of flour, $8; ten bushels of potatoes, $5; one gallon
whisky, $1.50; the entire outfit of kitchen utensils being one bail-
less bake-kettle, two tin bake-pans, one case knife, one iron spoon
and a board two by six feet, intended for a door, but temporarily
used for a table; individual jack knives being pressed into service
PIONEER BUILDINGS, PRICES, ETC. 1063
at meal times, witli sharpened sticks for forks, and clean broad
chips for plates, Mr. Ailing being commissary general, and the
"chief cook and bottle-washer" of the party.
May 20, Elisha Loomis and Lester Davas arrived from New
Haven, putting up at "Hotel Ailing," followed by Frederick Stan-
ley, May 31; Lewis Ailing Jr. (younger brother of Ethan), Gideon
Thompson and Zenas Ailing, July 1; and by Lewis Ailing, Sr.,
wife, and daughter Elizal)eth, Irena Thomas, Amos Cook Taylor
and Wilson Whittacus (colored boy called "Tone"), July 27. Up to
the latter date mentioned there had been fifteen arrivals in the
township, though in the mean time two — Lex Johnson and Lester
Davis — becoming disgusted with pioneer life, had taken the back
track, thus reducing the colony to a round "baker's dozen."
Previous to this, however, young Ailing and his men had
erected a commodious log house upon the hill, into which the
family moved, on the arrival of father and mother Ailing, , Mr.
Loomis having meantime built a cabin at the falls, \^here he also
that year erected a saw-mill, long afterwards known as Loomis's
mill; Mr. Elias W. Mather erecting a grist inill on the opposite
side of the creek, in 1818; a distillery also being erected in 1821 by
Joel W. Thompson.
Early in the Spring of 1818, the Allings built a frame barn, and
later in the same season raised and partly finished a frame house,
the first structures of this kind in the township; the first house
(of logs) erected at the center being that of Mr. Elijah W. Bron-
son, agent of the Wilcox brothers, probably about 1820, on the east
side of the square, the Wilcoxes building a small frame house for
themselves on the north side of the square in 1823. These gentle-
men, instead of holding their lands at speculative prices, as had
Mills & Hoadley, at the falls, sold their lots adjacent to the square
at very low^ figures, and giving outright to mechanics and trades-
men, to induce them to settle there, so that w^ithin five or six years
there were from tw^elve to fifteen families congregated about and
near the public square, the Twinsburg postoffice being established
in 1823, with Moses Wilcox as postmaster.
The Wilcox brothers were thoroughly upright men, but in the
purchase of their land they had unfortunately incumbered it w^ith
mortgages- to the State of Connecticut, while in selling they had
in most instances received payment in full. Had they lived, all
w^ould undoubtedly have been well, but their early death caused
very great embarrassment to those who had purchased under
them, and was a very great hindrance to the full development of
that portion of the tow^nship for a number of years. At length
Rev. Samuel Bissell, whose philanthropic labors in the cause of
education had become favorably known in the East, interceded
w^ith the Connecticut school fund commissioner and secured
proper relief, after w^hich the Wilcox tract became rapidly settled
and improved.
Pioneer Prices. — Provisions, except such w^ild game as could
be secured in the woods, and such vegetables as could be raised,
as well as all kinds of merchandise, were very high, Mr. Ailing
and Mr. Luman Lane, quoting prices from 1817 to 1820 as follows:
Pork, $8.00 per cwt.; flour, $8.00 per bbl.; salt, $10.00 per bbl.; cot-
ton shirting, % yard wide, 50 cents per yard; calico, 75 cents;
coarse woolen cloth, $3.00; lead, 25 cents per lb.; nails, 12i/^ cents
1064
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
(and poor at that), Mr. Ailing paying transportation on a box of log
chains, wedges, etc., from New Haven to Cleveland, $16.00 per cw^t.
Prices of farm produce were at the other extreme, Mr. Ailing, in
his memoirs, speaking of having, in 1819, received from Mr. Oliver
Brown, of Hudson, twenty-four bushels of the best white seed
wheat in payment of $9.00 in money which he had previously
loaned him.
T UMAN LANE, — oldest son of
1— ' Philip and Rebina (Nettleton)
Lane, was born in Killing-worth, Con-
necticut, October 17, 1796; his six
brothers were, Henry, Harvey, Chaun-
cey, Julius, Abner and Nathan, and
his three sisters, Lbvina, Harriet and
Polly. He came on foot from Kil-
ling-worth to Twinsburg-, in Novem-
ber, 1820, settling upon the farm in
the north part of the township, where
he resided until his death, April 17,
1879. Mr. Lane was married Novem-
ber 25, 1823, to Miss Irena Thomas,
who bore him seven children —
Charles, Albert, Charlotte, Augusta,
Edward, Emeline and Sarah. Mrs.
Lane dying, May 19, 18v38, (in child-
bed, and not from hydrophobia, as
has been erroneously stated), Mr.
Lane was again married, to Mrs.
Emma Parish, a native of Vermont,
April 16, 1839, who bore him one
child, Mary Philena, the second Mrs.
Lane dying June 4, 1879, surviving- her
husband only one month and four-
teen daj^s. Four of Mr. Lane's chil-
dren, only, are now living- — Charles,
on the old homestead ; Albert, of
Hopkins, Michigan ; Augusta, wife
/^
r-
LUMAN LANE.
of O. O. Kelsev ; and Sarah, wife of
G. H. Mills, of Twinsburg. Two of
Mr. Lane's brothers — Chauncey and
Julius — also settled in Twinsburg,
where their descendants still live.
Township Organization, Etc. — By proclamation of the coni-
missioners of Portage county, Twinsburg township was organized
in April, 1819. At this date the voters of the township, according
to the recollection of Mr. Luman Lane were: Lewis Ailing, Sr.,
William Allen, Elisha Loomis, Elias W. Mather, Joel W. Thomp-
son, Josiah Myrick, Noah P. Nichols, N. J. Palmer, Henry Ben-
nett, Amos C. Taylor, Lyman Richmond, Reuben Chamberlain,
Frederick Stanley, John Bassett, Samuel Vail, Edwin B. Vail,
Homer G. Vail, John Dodge, Isaiah Humphrey, Roman Humphrey,
Nestor Hurlbut, Ezra Osborn, Preston Pond, Samuel Alger, Cyrus
Hodgskin, N. S. Barnett, Cotton M. Leach, Emery Alger, Elijah
W. Bronson, Asa Upson, Orrin Tucker, Leonard Kilbourn, Oliver
Clark and Messrs. Perkins, Sawyer, Davis and Darling, whose
given names w^ere not remembered by Mr. Lane.
There is no authentic record now extant of this first election
except that Frederick Stanley was elected clerk; the first com-
missioned justices of the peace, elected in October, 1819, being
Lewis Ailing and Samuel Vail. Township clerk: in 1820, ElisTia
Loomis; in 1821, Elijah W. Bronson; in 1822, Luman Lane. The
first marriage was that of Emery W. Alger to Eliza Dodge, by Jus-
tice Lewis Ailing, March 19, 1821; the first birth, that of Maria
EARLY FATALITIES, PIONEER TRIALS, ETC. 1065
Stanley, November 23, 1819; the iirst death, the infant child of Mr.
and Mrs. Reuben Chamberlain, in the Spring of 1819:
Early Fatalities. — The decomposition of vegetation (as was
supposed) caused by the erection of the dam and the overflowing
of the bottom lands of Tinker's Creek, produced a great amount of
sickness and many deaths, from bilious, intermittent and typhus
fevers, in the vicinity of Loomis's Mill, in the years 1822 and 1823,
hardly an adult person living w^ithin one mile of the pond escaping
an attack, and not more than two of the age of forty years or over
recovering therefrom; among the victims, being Mr. and Mrs.
Lewis Ailing, who were laid in one grave, September 7, 1823.
Ethan Alling's Subsequent Life. — April 24, 1824, Mr. Ailing
was married to Miss Eliza Blackman, of Bridgeport, Conn.,
immediately installing her as the mistress of his Ohio farm. In
1825, Mr. and Mrs. Ailing went into the dairy business with twenty-
two cows, for which they paid $12 per head, marketing their but-
ter in Akron (where the locks of the Ohio canal were then being
built) at eight cents per pound, and selling such portions of their
cheese as, from imperfect manufacture, did not spoil upon their
hands, in Aurora, at five cents per pound; this being the first
cheese manufactured in the township for sale.
That Fall (1825) Mr. Ailing commenced the erection of a hotel
opposite the southeast corner of the public square, moving into it
December 6, 1826, and formally opening it to the public by a grand
opening ball, on Monday evening, December 25.
Pioneer Merchant. — Previous to 1829, all articles of merchan-
dise had to be obtained elsewhere, chiefly in Hudson and Aurora.
In the Fall of 1829, however, Mr. Ailing commenced keeping a few
^'necessaries" for sale in addition to the stock of liquors every
well-regulated tavern was then obliged to keep, his first invest-
ment being $3.50 for snuff and tobacco, his " store " being kept in
the six by eight apartment occupied by the bar. Other articles
w^ere from time to time added to the stock, until at length a sep-
arate building was found to be necessary to accommodate his
growing trade.
Having sold his tw^o-hundred acre farm, with all its better-
ments, for $1,500, ($7.50 per acre), in 1831 he rented his hotel to
Samuel Edgerly, (afterwards landlord of the American House, in
Hudson and the Summit House, in Akron), and moved his family
and goods into a building which he had in the meantime erected
upon the west side of the public square, placing therein the first
stock of goods brought into the township from New York. In
1835, Mr. Ailing built and stocked the commodious store still stand-
ing at the northwest corner of the public square, where he con-
tinued to do business until 1847, w^hich, in that year, exclusive of salt,
flour and farm and dairy products, amounted to over $14,000. In
1818, the business was relegated to his two eldest sons, Francis A,
and George Hoadley, the latter buying out the former, in 1851, and
continuing the business until his death, in November, 1856, the
former having deceased in October, 1854, the store now (1891) being
occupied by Mr. Seth R. Hanchett, merchant, postmaster, etc.
In October, 1827, on the death of Mr. Moses Wilcox, Mr. Ailing
w^as appointed postmaster, w^hich office he continuously held until
1839 — the amount received for postage the first year of his incum-
t>ency being $36.01; the last year, $256.67.
1066 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
* Pioneer Stage Line. — In the earlier years the stage route from
Cleveland southeasterly to Hudson, Ravenna, Pittsburg, etc., was
through Northlield, on what was then, as now, known as the State
road. With the view of enhancing the business interests of Twins-
burg, in the Spring of 1828, in connection with Mr. Jabez Gilbert,
Mr. Ailing bought out the stage line from Cleveland to Hudson,,
changing the route from Bedford directly toTwinsburg, over what
w^as then designated the turnpike, to the building and mainte-
nance of which the land owners and business men of Tw^insburg
were liberal contributors.
This enterprise was a success, so far as increasing the business
of the hotel, and the general prosperity of the town was concerned^
the public travel following the stage route, the hotel barns some-
times stabling as many as fifty horses over night, with a corre-
sponding patronage for the hotel itself; though it in reality came
very near swamping the enterprising proprietors, Mr. AUing's
individual loss, in running the line, being over $600, the first seven
months. Subsequently Mr. Ailing became the sole proprietor of
the line, running it for several years thereafter, if not with profit,,
yet without serious loss.
Benevolence, Death, Etc. — Mr. Ailing died April 22, 1867,
aged 66 years, 8 months and 9 days. Though not wealthy, in the
modern acceptation of the term, besides his ever generous hospi-
tality, and his liberal contributions to all public improvements
and benevolent and patriotic enterprises of the town, Mr. Ailing
left an estate of about $40,000, in his will, besides providing liber-
ally for his own immediate family, making quite a number of
bequests to w^orthy but needy friends, and about $5,000 to church,
Sabbath school and benevolent purposes; among the latter being
a bequest of $300 to the Baptist Church at Twinsburg; $1,000 to
the American Sunday School Union; $50 to each church Sunday
school in Twinsburg at the time of his decease, to replenish their
libraries; to the mayors of the cities of Cleveland and Akron (in
trust for said cities), all dividends upon tw^elve and eight shares,
respectively, of the capital stock of the Cleveland, Columbus &
Cincinnati Railroad Company, "for the express purpose of render-
ing assistance, by way of food and clothing, to, and thereby pro-
moting the temporal and spiritual condition of, the poor orphan,
cast off and destitute children of said cities, in providing Avays
and means by which they may enjoy the blessings of the Sabbath
school," etc.
Mrs. Ailing, though for several years helpless from paralysis, wa»
kindly cared for by her only surviving son, Kthan Lewis Ailing,
Esq., and his estimable wife, at their home, 113 Prospect street, in
the city of Akron, until her death, on the 24th day of April, 1889, at
the age of 87 years, 8 months and 8 days.
Pioneer Incidents. — Twinsburg has no pioneer Indian tradi-
tions, the aboriginal denizens of that township having "vamosed
the ranch " several years before w^hite settlement began. The usual
pioneer exploits w^ith w^ild beasts, and of individual pluck and
daring are still rife among the people, but cannot be here recorded
because of the space which the more recent history of the town-
ship will occupy in this chapter.
A few incidents, however, illustrative of the hardy nature
and invincible will of the early settlers, may not be amiss. Means
EARLY MODES OF TRAVEL, BUSINESS, ETC. 1067
of travel between Connecticut and Ohio, even as late as the
middle twenties, were so meager, that it was no uncommon thing
for emigrants to make the entire journey, of over 600 miles, on
foot, Mr. Luman Lane and Mr. Hanford White traveling in that
way in November, 1820, the last day of their journey walking 46
miles.
The Deadly Massasauger. — In 1831, Mr. Luman Lane was
bitten on the foot by a massasauger, but his life was saved by hi&
hired man cutting open the wound with his pocket knife and suck-
ing out the poison, though he nearly bled to death before the
nearest physician, Dr. Town, of Hudson, could be summoned, and,
in fact, suffered more or less pain from it to the day of his death.
Greater Endurance Than a Horse. — Mr. Nestor Hurlbut/
an uncle of Henry Ward Ingersoll, Ksq., of Akron, walked the
entire distance between Goshen, Conn., and Twinsburg, five times.
On his last trip he made a wager with a man who was about to
set out on horseback, that he would beat him in. Starting at the
same time, the horseman, of course, left the footman behind early
in the day, but by making a little longer day of it, the footman
slept at the same place as the horseman over night. Then, by get-
ting an earlier start in the morning and traveling later at night,
they kept along pretty evenly together until near the end of their
journey, when the horse, as well as its rider, began to show symp-
toms of fatigue, and by making a little extra exertion on the
"home stretch," Hurlbut actually arrived at Twinsburg about six
hours ahead of his equestrian competitor.
Even in local travel from town to tow^n, and from county to
county, pedestrianism was rather the rule than the exception, the
w^riter, in the latter thirties, having often footed it from Akron to
Ravenna, Aurora, Painesville, etc.; it being related that Mr. Isaiah
Humphrey, grandfather of C. P. Humphrey, Esq., of Akron, hav-
ing purchased an old-fashioned, heavy bull-nosed plow in Rich-
field, shouldered it and walked the entire distance to Twinsburg,
fifteen miles, without stopping to rest.
In 1817, Lewis Ailing, Jr. (then 15 years old), Zenas Ailing and
Gideon Thompson, started on foot from Derby, Conn., -with 104
Merino sheep, Avhich they drove safely through to Hudson, 650
miles, in thirty days, though betw^een the w^olves, the dogs and
disease, it proved a poor investment, nearly all being lost.
Business Status of Twinsburg. — In the two decades, from
1835 to 1855, Twinsburg w^as decidedly a business town. In addi-
tion to the original hotel, then (1835) kept by David Grant, another
house of entertainment at the northeast corner of the public
square had been erected about 1830, by Otis and Eli Boise, for
many years past known as Clark's hotel, and still ow^ned by the
widow of its late proprietor, Elmore W. Clark, Esq.
Other merchants than Mr. Ailing also abounded, w^ith the
average degree of enterprise and success, or non-success, incident
to mercantile operations. Mr. ApoUos White erected mills, in the
northern part of the township, and for many years maufactured
large quantities of lumber, the writer having, in the latter thirties
and early forties, purchased from Mr. White many thousands of
feet of the very best w^hitewood, oak, ash and hickory lumber at
from $6 to $8 per thousand. The village also had its full comple-
ment of mechanics, Mr. James Alexander for many years carrying
1068 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
on quite an extensive carriage manufactory; the handling of the
large dairy product of the township (under the old process) by Mr.
Ailing and others, being quite a large factor in the business activ-
ity and prosperity of the village; all of which was augmented by
the liberality of the people of Twinsburg and other towns along
the line, in converting the old mud turnpike from Hudson to
Cleveland, into a plank road, sometime in the middle forties,
■which greatly facilitated stage and other travel, transportation of
produce to, and merchandise from, Cleveland, etc., a hotel being
established and for many years maintained upon this road, near
the northwest corner of the township, by Mr. Ezra Starkweather.
The Railroad Era. — The advent of the railroad into Ohio,
however, very materially changed the business aspects and pros-
pects of Tw^insburg, in common Avith many of the other rural
villages of the county and State. When the Cleveland & Pittsburg
Railroad was projected, the route through Twinsburg was deemed
both feasible and desirable, being on the direct line bet\sreen
Cleveland and Ravenna, but, under the mistaken notion that it
would be a detriment instead of an advantage, the people mani-
fested so much hostility to the project that the road was finally
located three and a half miles to the w^est of the Center in the
tow^nship of Northfield, and on to Hudson, largely increasing busi-
ness there, and building up a rival business point at Macedonia
Depot, besides placing the citizens of the tow^nship at a disadvan-
tage with their neighbors in the matter of travel and transpor-
tation. Being thus isolated from railroad facilities the commercial
and mechanical importance of the village rapidly declined, with-
out any of the compensating advantages to the rural population
incident to railroad proximity. But the completion of the
Connotton Valley road (now Cleveland & Canton) through the
township, a short distance east of the Center, in 1880, while not
very materially increasing the mercantile and industrial opera-
tions of the village, is proving otherwise convenient and bene-
ficial, not only as a great means of travel to Cleveland, Kent and
other points, but also for shipment of the immense product of her
several stone quarries, hereinafter more particularly referred to. .
But the chief value of the road to the people of Tw^insburg, in
addition to the advantages named, and the ready means thus
afforded of supplying themselves with coal, lumber, etc., is the
opportunity which it offers to contiguous farmers of daily sending
the product of their dairies to Cleveland, milk stations being
established at nearly every cross road, and special trains run for
that purpose.
Church Organizations, Etc. — In chuch matters, Twinsburg
has, from the start, held a fair average with her neighbors. Relig-
ious meetings w^ere held from the very beginning of settlement,
generally in private houses, Lewis Ailing, Sr., and Asa Upson
taking turns in leading (when no preacher w^as present) until the
death of Mr. Ailing, in 1823, when Mr. Moses Wilcox took his place.
In 1822, an itinerant Methodist minister (name not remem-
bered) formed a class, w^ith Emery Alger and Asa Upson as
members. In 1821, '22, Rev. John Seward (Congregationalist)
preached one-fourth of the time on the Sabbath, after which Rev.
Willian Hanford did likewise for several years; a Congregational
church being formed in 1822, with Lewis Ailing, Sr., Robert Hurd
RELIGIOUS AND CHURCH MATTERS. 1069
and wife, J. H. Kelsey and Avife, Belizer Beach and wife, Julia Ann
White (wife of William White), Comfort Nichols (wife of N. P.
Nichols), Irena Thomas, Luman Lane, Hanford White and John A,
Wells as members, Lew^is Ailing, Sr,, being chosen deacon. Rev.
Samuel Bissell, of Aurora, was ordained as pastor April 20, 1828,
being succeeded by Rev. Mr. Hair in 1835. Differences arising,,
now difficult of explanation, a second Congregational church was
organized with Mr. Bissell as its pastor, the pulpit of the first
church being successively tilled by Revs. Treat, Ward and Chapin
until 1843, when the two churches were united with Rev. Robert
C. Learned as pastor, followed, April 5, 1848, by Rev. Horace W.
Palmer; November, 1853, Rev. Joseph H. Scott; November 21, I860,.
Rev. Sidney Bryant, an interregnum of about two years, 1859, '60,
being filled by President Pierce and Prof. Hosford, of Western
Reserve College, alternately. Successive pastors since. Revs.
Andrew Sharp, Post, Charles McNulty, William Haynes and
Charles H. Lemmon, present incumbent, w^hose pastorate com-
menced March 1, 1890. Present, membership 150, Macedonia
branch 22, total 178.
Church Edifices. — In 1823 the Congregationalists undertook
to build a small two-story house upon the public square, the upper
story to be used as a place of worship and the lower story as a
school room, hauling the timber upon the ground for that purpose.
Exceptions being taken, a tow^n meeting w^as called at w^hich it
was voted "that the public square shall remain unoccupied by any
public building at present." Notwithstanding such action, a one-
story house was soon after built, and jointly used as indicated for
several years, being tw^ice removed and finally torn down.
Fn 1831, Mr. Bissell, then teaching a select school, was empow-
ered to raise funds and build a house for church and high school
purposes, which was located east of the public square and imme-
diately north of the Ailing hotel, completed in 1832, the total cost
being' about $700. The present edifice west of the public square,
erected in 1848, originally cost about $3,000, though material
improvements have from time to time been made during the
intervening years.
Other Denominations. — The Methodist class of two members
above alluded to, formed in 1821, expanded into a full church
organization a few years later, their first house of worship, near
the northeast corner of the square, being erected in 1832, the
present structure on the south side of the square, being built in
1848. Present membership about 112. Present pastor (1891, '92,)
Rev. Ira J. Harris.
A Baptist society was organized June 15, 1832, and a house of
worship built in 1841. April 14, 1843, a Free Will Baptist Society
was organized, building a house of worship in 1847. This house
was destroyed by fire and rebuilt, in 1851. This latter society
declining in numbers and influence, in 1859 their house was sold
to Mr. Riley, who soon afterwards exchanged houses with the
Baptists, who have occupied it ever since, the house being located
a short distance north of the square, on the Cleveland road. This
society has been w^ithout a pastor for the past few^ years, and
from deaths and removals is reduced to about twenty-five mem-
bers, w^ho at present unite in w^orship with the Congregation-
alists.
1070
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Educational Matters. — In the matter of education. Twins-
burg has, in some respects, the most wonderful record of any
township in Summit county, not even excepting that long-time
•emporium of learning immediately adjoining upon the south, Hud-
son. While her common schools have fully averaged with those
of her neighbors on the Reserve, having now a fine high school
building a few^ rods south of the square, " Twinsburg Institute"
stands as a time honored and imperishable monument of what one
good, conscientious and energetic mind can accomplish, during a
well-rounded lifetime.
Samuel Bissell was born in Middlefield, Hampshire county,
Mass., April 28, 1797. In 1806, removed with his parents to Aurora,
laboring on the farm until 1816, w^hen he began to prepare for
college. Entering Yale in 1819, he
graduated w^ith high honors, in 1823.
Then ensued a rigid course of theo-
logical study, amid difficulties that
would have appalled an ordinary
man, completing his studies in New
Preston, Conn., and receiving a
license to preach in 1825. Returning
to Aurora in 1825, he opened a small
select school Tvhich he kept till 1828,
when he became pastor of the Con-
gregational church at Twinsburg,
as elsew^here stated, at the same
time conducting a private select
school, the first three years in a
small log house, and then in the
church in -which he preached, con-
tinuing this dual occupation for
seven years.
After an absence of about one year,
as pastor of the Congregational
church at Edinburg, Portage county,
Mr. Bissell, about 1840, returned to his double duty of preaching
and teaching in Tw^insburg. In 1843, owing to the rapid increase
of his pupils, Mr. Bissell resigned the pastorate and established
"The Twinsburg Institute," which has never missed a term during
all the intervening 48 years.
On his return to Twinsburg, a small school building was
erected by Mr. Bissell a short distance south of the Center, which,
after being once or tw^ice enlarged, so as to accommodate 80 or 90
scholars, was still found to be too small to accommodate all who
desired to enter the school. Mr. Bissell then purchase'd the old
Ailing hotel property, adding to it, upon the south, making the
building 102 feet long by 30 feet wide, subsequently adding a three-
story 30x30 foot wing, upon the east, and still afterwards annexing
the 30x60 foot building upon the north, formerly used by him as a
church and school house (then called "Lyceum Hall") and still
later, about 1858, annexing another school building on the north.
This composite building, or group of buildings, w^hile making
no pretensions to outside show, or interior adornment, had at one
time over 300 students in attendance, requiring, besides the princi-
pal, some seven or eight teachers and assistants to properly
SAMUEL bissell.
twinsburg's great educator, 1071
conduct the several classes therein receiving instructions, besides
the necessary household regulations for boarding and lodging, per-
haps one-fourth of the number in attendance finding homes with
the various private families and boarding houses of the village.
"Twinsburg Institute" was simply a private individual enter-
prise— no charter, no $500,000 donation, no endowment funds, but
solely the outgrowth of the persevering energy of its liberal-
hearted, self-sacrificing founder, and -wholly maintained on the
basis of the meager tuition fee of $2.00 to $4.00 per term, and the
still more meager charge of from $1.12i4> to $1.50 per week for
board and lodging.
A Vigorous Nonagexarian. — The venerable principal of this
remarkable school, now almost 95 years of age, is still (November
1891), vigorous in both mind and body, except as to impaired hear-
ing. In a letter to the w^riter, in reply to inquiries about his
school, Mr. Bissell, in 1887, said:
"As to Twinsburg- Institute I have kept no record of the number of
scholars, and can only approximate to it, as I find from some of its catalog-ues
and from meinory. It has never lost a term from its commencement, and
will averag-e 100 a year from 1840, a period of 47 j-ears, making- 4,7(X), and
from its beg-inning, in 1828, not less than 6,000; among them more than
200 Indian youth, both from the east and from the west."
And to this brief and modest mention of the gigantic labors
of this remarkable man, the writer will add that a very large pro-
portion of the instruction and sustenance imparted to the 200
dusky pupils mentioned, was gratuitous, while a goodlj^ number
of indigent vv^hite youth, of both sexes, were also taken in, boarded
and educated free of charge, or on the "manual labor" system, the
labor performed consisting of chores, and other light work about
the institution, that could have been done by regular hired heli? at
far less cost to the kind-hearted proprietor.
As illustrative of the tenacity of purpose of this philanthropic
educator, it may be stated that w^hen, by reason of his open-handed
liberality, and the embarrassments growing out of the War, he was
obliged to vacate the buildings he had occupied for nearly twenty
years, though then seventy years of age, Mr. Bissell resolutely set
about erecting another on his own private lot, a short distance
south of the public square. This is a two-story stone structure, 33x77
feet in size. Mr. Bissell himself helping to quarry and haul the
stone, and with his own hands framing and putting on the roof,
laying the floors and doing all the joiner work, except making the
-windo-w fraines and sash. The walls -were laid by a Scotchman,
over twenty years ago, with instructions to regard strength rather
than beauty, and, adds Mr, Bissell: "The rock of Gibraltar will
as soon give way, -without an earthquake," though a suit w^as
brought against him, by a neighbor, three or four years ago, on
account of its liability to fall and crush his (the neighbor's) house
upon the adjoining lot — the old gentleman feeling deeply grieved at
being compelled to defend himself from the charge of maintaining
a nuisance (his first law suit), in the 91st year of his life, the suit
being happily decided in his favor.
In closing a letter about his school, Mr. Bissell, in 1887, says:
"Circumstances are such, we expect to do but little more bj^ way
of giving instruction, and very little more than the name will con-
tinue." Mr. Bissell still survives, and in his 93d year delivered an
address before the Old Settlers' Association, at Cleveland, July 22,
1072
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
1889, with twenty of his old pupils on the platform with him, and
October 8, 1890, took part in the 90th anniversary exercises in
honor of Mrs. Anner Mary (Hudson) Baldw^in, in Hudson,
Among well-known citizens w^ho ha^^e in years past attended
Tw^insburg Institute are the following: General A, C. Voris;
Hon. U. L. Marvin; B, C. Herrick, Ksq.; Hon. Henry McKinney,
State senator for Summit- Portage district, 1869, '70, since Common
Pleas Judge in Cuyahoga county; Hons. D. W. Gage and W. S,
Kerruish, of Cleveland; H. \V. Ingersoll, Esq., Akron; Hon. E. E.
White, former president De Pauw University, Ohio commissioner
of common schools, and late superintendent schools, Cincinnati;
General Lucius Fairchild, ex-member of Congress, ex-governor of
Wisconsin, ex-U. S. consul at Liverpool, ex-consul general at
Paris, ex-minister to Spain, ex-commander Department of Wiscon-
sin, G. A. R., ex-commander-in-chief of National Encampment
G. A. R., etc., etc.
JONATHAN E. HERRICK,— one of
J the pioneers of Twinsburg town-
ship, was born in Worthington, Mas-
sachusetts, Jul}^ 11, 1804. At 22 years
of age he came to Ohio, then an
almost unbroken wilderness, settling-
in Aurora, Portage county. April 10,
1828, he was married to Miss Phila
Clark, of Twinsburg-, soon after which
he bought a farm in that township, a
mile and a quarter south of the vil-
lage, from which he cleared the
forest, and on which he resided over
sixtj' years, in 1845, erecting a fine
stone house, one of the best in the
township. Mr. and Mrs. Herrick were
the parents of five children — Burke
C. Herrick, for the past twenty years
a successful crockery merchant in
Akron ; Earl, now residing in Cleve-
land ; Electa A., now Mrs. E. L. Ailing,
of Akron ; and Olive and Cyrus M.,
deceased. Mrs. Herrick died May 7,
1889 ; Mr. Herrick, though still retain-
ing his propertj^ interests in Twins-
burg, is now living with his daughter,
Mrs. Ailing, in Akron, in the 88th
year of his age. Mr. Herrick was for
several years one of the trustees of
his township, and otherwise active
in public affairs, being chairman of
JONATHAN E. HERRICK.
the monumental committee, which
erected the beautiful soldiers' monu-
ment on the Public Square, an
engTaving and description of which
will be found elsewhere in this
chapter.
Twinsburg's Patriotism. — The first settlement being more
than forty years removed from the Revolutionary struggle, and
several years after the close of the War of 1812, we find no recorded
or traditionary history of the participation of any of her citizens
in either of those wars, though it is very probable that a number
of her early settlers were soldiers in the latter, and probably some
in the former struggle; nor is it thought that Twinsburg furnished
a single volunteer for the Mexican War, of 1846-48.
The township paid some attention, however, to early military
matters, keeping the patriotic ardor of New England fully glow-
ing for many years, under the old militia system of Ohio, Mr.
Luman Lane recording that Elisha Loomis was captain of the
soldiers' monument, dedication, etc.
10^3
first military company, Joseph Myric, second and Asa Upson,
third. This is all of the early military history of the township
that has come down to us. But in the War of the Rebellion — 1861-
65 — her patiotism and valor was second to no other township in
the county, according to population, having furnished a total of
one hundred and seventeen soldiers for the Union Army.
A Magnificent Tribute. — Not only were the customary boun-
ties promptly raised and paid to her volunteers, and their dependent
families kindly looked after during their absence, but after the
close of the War, a splendid monu-
ment was ejected on the public
square, in memory of her fallen,
and in honor of her surviving,
heroes. This monument, located
near the north side of the square,
is of the following dimensions:
First base (paradoxical as it may
seem, the "crowning" glory of the
superstructure), is a solid sand-
stone block, quarried one mile west
of the village, containing 358i/^
cubic feet, and weighing 50,549
pounds ; Second base, also a single
block, 120 cubic feet, 16,920 pounds;
Third base, 48 cubic feet, 5,768
pounds, all firmly resting upon a
solid sandstone foundation. The
monument proper consists of seven
pieces of handsomely wrought
Italian marble, measuring 100%
cubic feet, weighing 18,120 pounds,
the main shaft being surmounted
by a splendidly carved spread
eagle, the entire height, above the
foundation, being 28 feet, and the
total cost not far from $2,500.
Dedication of the Monument. —
July 4, 1867, was truly a gala day
for the people of Twinsburg — a triple celebration — the 91st anni-
versary of American Independence ; the Semi-Centennial of the
first settlement of Twinsburg, and the unveiling and dedication of
the beautiful soldiers' monument in question.
Jonathan'E. Herrick, Esq., was president of the day and Horace
P. Cannon, Esq., was chief marshal. A mammoth tent had been
erected about the center of the square, in which the chief literary
and oratorical exercises w^ere held, a free banquet being provided
in a neighboring orchard, the central figure of Avhich was a one
thousand pound steer, roasted whole, flanked by a very great
variety of gustatory viands.
The Declaration of Independence was read by Isadore Roskolp,
Esq., of Cleveland; Hon. O. S. Griswold, of Cleveland, being the
orator of the day. Hon. N. D. Tibbals, of Akron, responded to the
toast, "Our Citizen Soldiery;" President Henry L. Hitchcock (who
had lost a son in the army), to "Our Sons Who Never Returned;"
Dr. H. J. Herrick, of Cleveland (a native of Twinsburg), to "The
68
Twinsburg's Soldiers' Monument,
on Public Square.
1074 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Surgeons of the Army;" Rev. S. Bryant to "Woman in the Hos-
pital and Woman at Home;" Edward Oviatt, Esq., of Akron, to
"The Day We Celebrate;" S. A. Lane, editor Summit County Bea-
con, to " The Press; " Ethan Ailing, to " The First Settler of Twins-
burg."
The exercises were interspersed by the firing of cannon,
martial, b^nd and vocal music, and general good cheer, scarcely
dampened by the drenching rainstorm w^hich occurred early in
the afternoon.
INSCRIPTIONS ON MONUMENT.
North Sidk. — ^"Semi<-centennial settlement of this . town —
Twinsburg."
West Side.—" To the memory of our sons who fell during the
Rebellion of 1861-65." Killed in Battle: — Charles Stearns, 7th
regiment, March 23, 1862-22; Edward Bissell, 19th regiment, shot
on guard duty, July 28, 1864-24; Dryden Ferguson, 125th regiment;
Charles Weatherbee. Died From Wounds: — Anderson Oviatt, 19th
regiment. May 1, 1862-19; Elmore C. Hinckston, 7th regiment, Jan-
uary 29, 1864-24; Charles H. Springer, 41st regiment, June 2, 1864-
22. Died From Disease: — Warren Wait, 19th regiment, December
4, 1861-18; George Gaylord, July 18, 1862-29; Edwin H. Hanks, 19th
regiment, February 25, 1863-20; George W. Hanks, 104th regiment,
May 10, 1861; Walter Chamberlain, 177th regiment, February 14,
1865-16. Casualties: — Louis Schroeder, 7th regiment, drov^ned in
Fall of 1862-24; E. Thompson, 115th regiment, drowned. Sultana,
April 27, 1865-45; H. Crocker, 115th regiment, killed on cars at Col-
umbus, October 24, 1862-25; G. E. Pease, 10th cavalry, died in
Andersonville prison; John E. Carter, 177th regirrent, fate
unknown. Having Friends Here: Wm. H. Bliss, 63rd Pennsyl-
vania, September 29, 1862; H. G. Bennett, 19th Wisconsin, July 18,
1865-26; Samuel Eells, Iowa cavalry, December 4, 1862-30; Isaac F.
Smith, 43rd Illinois, July 16, 1865-41.
South and East Sides. — List of soldiers who survived: H.J.
Herrick, surgeon; 19th Regiment: — Wm.H. Andrews, E.R. Andrew^s,
A. D. Barber, Harlow Bissell, Elmore Barney, Joseph Carter, Milo
Corbett, J. Chamberlain, John Dell, Edward Hanks, Sherman Lane,
James Malone, D. W. Turner, Albert Upson, Wesley Upson, Geo.
Williams, Newton Wait; 115th Regiment:— Fred Barney, H. G.
Beardsley, Cassius Baldwin, Samuel Chamberlain, Wm. McKin-
ney, J. C. Smith, C. S. Tyson; 84th Regiment: — Carl Herrick;
177th Regiment: — Geo. Andrews, Henry Bissell, Morris Blodgett,
John Booth, Fred Baldw^in, Frank Bailey, Wm. Dodge, Monroe
Freeman, John Flohr, Henry Flohr, Wm. Flohr, F. C. Hull, Henry
Holcomb, Spafford Heather, Clinton Heather, Charles Harlow^,
Chauncey Lane, Henry Livingston, John Mead, Lyman Oviatt,
Edward Powers, Evelyn Parmelee, R. R. Redfield, Thomas Stark-
w^eather, Aurelius Tucker, Wilber Upson, Orville Upson, Sherwin
Wilcox, Henry Wait, Nelson Wright; 41st Regiment: — Jarvis Bar-
ber, Caswell Barber, John Hansard, Wm. Hansard, Julius Jones,
Isaac Lanning, Arthur Mason, Nathaniel Mason, Henry Pratt,
Augustus Seymore; 23rd Regiment: — John H. Bull, John Chap-
man; 85th Regiment: — J. C. Coffee; 103d Regiment: — Benj.
Franklin, David France; 42d Regiment: — Pitkin Gray, Benj.
Oray; 104th Regiment:— Alton Griswold, Charles Parks; Unknown:
EARLY MILITARY REMINISCENCE.
1075
'Wm. J. Beardsley, Andrew Lamb, Willard Prentiss, Giles Post,
Geo. Sodon, Geo. Thompson, Sidney Varney; Died in Service: —
Edward Webster, E. F. Wilcox; Battery: — Wm. C. Calander,
Joseph Oviatt, Geo. L. Stanley, Charles Webster, H. M. Wright;
6th Cavalry: — Howard Chaffee, Virgil Richmond, Edward Sodon;
.2d Cavalry: — A. A. Maxam, Henry Mead, Calvin Smith; Music: —
David Crankshaw, J. W. Fessenden, F. M. Fessenden, H. C. Fes-
senden, S. H. Hull, Alfred Hawkins, Orrin Redfield. The follow-
ing names not on the monument were also returned by the Twins-
burg assessor, as soldiers from that tow^nship: Hiram Holton,
Harvey McLain, Eldridge Post, George Palmer, Irving Wilcox,
A. S. Meakin, William Penhale, S. D. Jones and George Read.
ORRIN P. NICHOLS, — born in
Hatnpden county, Massachu-
setts, June 21, 1817 ; at six years of age
removed with parents to Trumbull
county, Ohio,* and afterwards to
Franklin Mills (now^ Kent) ; inarried
in 1840 to Miss Lemisa Crow, the same
3'ear purchasing- a 70 acre farm north
of Twinsburg- Center, on the Cleve-
land road, subsequently adding-
thereto several other farms, also for
a number of years conducting exten-
sive lumber operations in Western
New York. Mrs. Nichols dying in
1844 (their two children having died
in infancy), in November, 1847, Mr.
Nichols married Miss Wealthy C.
Baird, who still survives ; three of
their four children: Fremont A.,
Orrin P., and Katie A., all married,
living upon the several fine farms
left them by their enterprising father.
Though of limited education, Mr.
Nichols was a man of large intelli-
g-ence, broad views and great per-
sonal and political influence. In
October, 1875, Mr. Nichols was elected
as Summit county's representative to
the State Legislature, serving with
eminent ability, until his unfortunate
death, April 28, 1877, superinduced, as
ORKIN p. NICHOLS.
was believed, by the shock to- his
system, received in a slight railroad
accident, between Akron and Colum-
bus, during his incumbency ; his age
at the tiine of his death being 59
years, 10 months and 7 days.
Captured by " Ingens." — Mr. Luman Lane relates of Twins-
burg's first military company, that while it w^as captained by Asa
Upson (probably about 1825), the company was invited by his
father, Mr. Saul Upson, to a dinner to be served in his new frame
barn. While marching through the w^oods it was suggested by
the captain that one of his subordinate officers select a squad of
men and go on ahead to play Indian, for the purpose of demon-
strating the military skill and prowess of the captain and his
command in case of an attack. Giving the "Indians" a good
start, the company started forward keeping a sharp lookout for
the "enemy," and were beginning to w^onder what had become of
the supposititious "red-skins," when suddenly they sprang forth
and seized the redoubtable captain before he could use his sword,
and captured and disarmed the entire company before they could
bring their w^eapons to a position for defense. It was a bloodless
victory, but one that afforded a vast amount of merriment at the
1076 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
expense of Captain Upson and his discomfited " braves." The
dinner, consisting of roast pig, turkey, chicken-pie, etc., was rel-
ished alike by all, while the after-dinner patriotic and pioneer
stories, songs, etc., were most heartily enjoyed by all, both
"friend" and "foe."
The Ancient "Toboggan." — F'or years there were very few
w^agons in the to^vnship, especially the northern portion of it, so
that other means of transportation than the horseback and "foot-
back" process heretofore alluded to had to be devised. Rude
sleds were, therefore, made use of, both Summer and Winter^
while w^hat Tvas known as the sap-boat — a sort of toboggan-shaped
vehicle, made out of long flat puncheons, turned up at the front,
fastened together with strong cleats and wooden pins — wa»
brought into requisition in hauling grists to mill, women and chil-
dren to meetings, parties, etc., while ancient 3'oung America would
sometimes ride in sap-troughs hitched to the rear of the larger
vehicle, as modern j^oung America hitches his modern coaster to
every passing sleigh or "bob," that he can possibly " catch on " to.
Dangers of the Wilderness. — People in those days often lost
their bearings while traveling through the woods, even in the day
time, a number of instances of which are related by Mr. Lane;
one being that of Professor Rufus Nutting, of Western Reserve
College, while going to Solon to preach, who, becoming bewildered
in passing through a swamp in the southwest part of Solon tow^n-
ship, with his horse remained all night in the woods, covering hi&
feet with his saddle to keep them from freezing. Mr. Lane also
rescued, one evening, near his place, a Mrs. Bull, of Solon, who,
having gone into the woods to hunt up her sheep, had lost her
bearings, and, but for the prompt response of Mr. Lane to her call,
w^hich he at first mistook for a panther, must have remained in
the woods all night, and perhaps have perished; Mrs. Reuben
Henry, of Tw^insburg, having also been similarly rescued by Mr,
Lane w^hen, after dark, she was headed toward Solon, in which
direction it was six miles to the nearest house.
Locust Grove Cemetery. — The earlier burials took place on
the farms where the deaths occurred, the first township burying
ground, of one acre, being laid out northeast of the public square,
in 1823. Mr. Ethan Ailing, feeling the importance of having a
suitable resting place for his own dead, and believing that indi-
vidual rights would be more satisfactory than rights in eommon
in a public burial ground, in 1846 bought an acre and a half of
land a short distance vt^est of the center, which he caused to be
graded, platted, fenced and planted to locust trees, and which he
named "Locust Grove Cemetery." There were 130 lots in all,
besides a portion of the ground set apart for individual graves,
and for the gratuitous- use of those unable to purchase a burial
place for their dead.
Up to 1860, some eighty-five or ninety of the lots had been
sold, the prices being originally from $3 to $5 per lot, to be
enhanced from year to year, by an amount equal to simple annual
interest on those sums. It \\ras now^ (1860) found that a new fence
w^as fast becoming an imperative necessity, and the lot owners
w^ere invited to join Mr. Ailing in putting a solid stone w^all
around the grounds that w^ould never decay or need repairs.
Responses w^ere made by eighty-two of the lot ow^ners, in sums
TWINSBURG UNION FAIR.
1077
ranging from $5 to $45 which, with the liberal contributions of Mr.
Ailing and his brother, Lewis, swelled the total amount of the
fund to $1,140.
Not to trench upon the original ground, Mr. Ailing bought a
strip three feet in width on each side, on which to build the wall.
Four courses of the best Twinsburg free stone compose the wall,
as follows: First course or foundation stone, twro feet square; sec-
ond course, eighteen inches bed, sixteen inches thick; third course,
fifteen inches bed, sixteen inches thick; fourth course, tw^elve
inches square; the wall being three and a half feet high above the
foundation; the only entrance gate being of iron, and the total
cost being $1,079.66.
The care and custody of this noble monument to Mr. Alling's
memory, by the will of the father has been relegated to the only
surviving son, Ethan Lewis Ailing, Esq., now a resident of Akron,
but w^hose property interests are still largely in Twinsburg.
WILLIAM McKINNEY,— born in
Franklin county, Ohio, Decem-
ber 29, 1833, when young- removing
with his mother to Cuyahog-a county,
his father having died in 1834; edu-
■cated in district schools ; .at 16
apprenticed to shoemaker, serving
three years ; worked at trade in
Twinsburg-, and in Iowa and Kansas
several years ; in 1860, returned to
Twinsburg and opened a shoe shop ;
in 1862, leaving shop in charge of a
brother, enlisted in company G., 115th
Reg-'t, O. V. I., serving till close of
Wai-, first as corporal and later as 2nd
sergeant ; while in command of
block house, at Luverne, near Nash-
ville, on December 5, 1864, was cap-
tured by Forrest, and with the rest of
his command, held as prisoners,
being moved , to Black River, near
Vicksburg, the following- March,
w^here he escaped, making his way to
Vicksburg and finally home, his
•weight being reduced to eighty
pounds. Receiving his discharg-e a
month later at Camp Chase, he
resumed shoemaking- in Twinsburg;
in 1871, was made postinaster of
Twinsburg, holding- the office until
January 1, 1881, when he removed to
Akron, to enter upon the duties of
sheriff, to which office he had been
WILLIAM MCKINNEY.
elected the previous October ; re-
elected in 1882, serving- four years.
Februaj-y 8, 1853, Mr. McKinney was
married to Miss Sarah A. Carver, of
Twinsburg, who has borne hiin six
children, three of whom are living-,
Clara (now Mrs. Charles Mallison),
Perry A., and Paul.
Twinsburg Fair. — Owing to its distance from the county seat
and the lack of proper facilities of getting to and from the regular
county fair, and with the view of stimulating the dairy and agri-
cultural interests of the township, a series of local fairs were held
upon the public square of Twinsburg, for three or four years in
the early fifties. These fairs attracted more than a local interest,
and several of the contiguous townships of both Summit, Portage,
Oeauga and Cuyahoga counties joined with Twinsburg in the for-
mation of the "Union Fair Association," purchasing and fitting up
with buildings, trotting track, etc., about thirteen acres of land, a
short distance east of the public square.
1078 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
The first meeting of the association was held in September^
1856, and was a grand success, both in the variety, magnitude and
excellence of its exhibits, and in attendance. This interest mainly-
through the energy and public spirit of the people of Twrinsburg^.
was vigorously maintained for some ten or twelve years. Its
patrons, how^ever, being largely engaged in dairying and stock-
growing, a succession of extremely dry seasons, in the latter
sixties, and the decease and removal of several of the most active
promoters, so dampened the ardor of the remaining members,
that the meetings were at length discontinued, the last fair being
held in 1871. The grounds were sold and the affairs of the associ-
ation w^ere closed in 1872, though the memory of " Tw^insburg
Union Fair," and the lively interest and pleasure inspired by it&
annual recurrence, is still dear to the heart of the average
Twinsburgian.
TWINSBURG'S CIVIL STATUS.
Though not as extensive an "office holder" as some of her
sisters, Tw^insburg has a highly honorable civil record, as the fol-
lowing brief mention will clearly demonstrate:
Augustus E. Foote was elected to the office of county com-
missioner, on the organization of the new county of Summit, in
April, 1840, and re-elected in October of the same year for a full
term, rendering much valuable assistance to his colleagues, both
on the board and in the other county offices in organizing and har-
monizing the business of the several departments, holding the
office three years and seven months; Mr. Foote also serving as rep-
resentative to the State Legislature, in the session of 1843, '44, as-
the colleague of Hon. John H. McMillan, of Middlebury.
Nelson Upson, was chosen commissioner in 1860, and
re-elected in 1863, faithfully serving his constituents five years and
five months, resigning the office in March, 1866.
Orrin p. Nichols, one of Twinsburg's most successful farm-
ers, and for several years engaged in the lumber trade in Western
Pennsylvania and Northern New^ York, was elected as a represen-
tative to the State Legislature in October, 1875, being a very popu-
lar and influential member of that body, until his universally
lamented death in 1877.
William McKinney, for many years a resident of Twinsburg^
and one of her brave soldier boys during the War of the Rebellion,,
was elected to the responsible office of sheriff, in October, 1880, and
re-elected in 1882, ably filling the office for the full constitutional
period of four years ; another Twinsburg " boy," Mr. E. A. Parmelee^
acting throughout as his efficient deputy.
Horace P. Cannon, in 1858, was, after several years' service as a
director, elected vice president of the Summit county Agricultural
Society, promoted to president in 1859, and again elected in 1863r
being faithful and energetic in the discharge of the duties devolved
upon him.
THE TWINSBURG OF TO-DAY (1891.)
I
General Merchandise. — Seth M. Hanchett, A. L. Nelson and
George W. Mizer; Stoves and Tinware— Edward Grouse; Meat
Market — R. B. Sawyer; Blacksmiths — G. L. Andrews and James-
PRESENT BUSINESS AND 'OFFICIAL STATUS.
1079
Fisher; Wagon-Maker — N. A. Chapman; Painter— E. A. Par-
melee; Carpenter — W. C. Prentiss; Agent, C. C. & S. R. R. — A. J,
Webb; Coal and Feed — A. W. Greer; Clark Hotel — George
Luke; Cheese Factories — ^John Adams, 1; F. Hurd, of Aurora, 2;
Physicians — L. G. Griste and S. Freeman; Stone Quarries —
Nelson Doubrava, Boose Brothers, H. Dunshee, A. N. Stanley, N.
Herrick and D. & C. F. Herrick.
Present Official Status (1891): Trustees, Chauncey B.
Lane, Lincoln H. Oviatt, George L. Andrews; clerk, Darius L.
Chamberlain; treasurer, Edward Crouse; justices of the peace,
Almon J. Brown and William A. Rudd; constables, Eugene E.
Lewis and Edward B. Crouse; postmaster, Seth R. Hanchett.
J
CHAPTER LII.
SUMMIT COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY— ORGANIZED IN 1849— EARLY FAIRS
ON COURT HOUSE GROUNDS, WITH COURT ROOM AS FLORAL AND FINE
ARTS HALL— GENUINE AGRICULTURAL EXHIBITION— PLOWING AND PULL-
ING MATCHES — THIRTY-FOUR YOKE OF OXEN IN ONE STRING — FIFTEEN
SPAN OF HORSES IN ANOTHER— HOME-MADE STRAW BONNET ON EXHIBI-
TION—FAIR GROUNDS FITTED UP ON SOUTH MAIN STREET— REMOVAL TO
SUMMIT GROVE, A MAGNIFICENT LOCATION— PHENOMENAL SUCCESS— MUNI-
FICENT OFFER REJECTED— ANOTHER CHANGE OF BASE— TEN SUCCESSFUL
YEARS ON THE HALL GROUNDS— FIVE YEARS' CONTROVERSY OVER PUR-
CHASE OF NEW GROUxXDS—" POWDER PATCH" SELECTED— OPPOSITION
FAIR ORGANIZED—" FOUNTAIN PARK " A GRAND SUCCESS— THE BEST
GROUNDS AND THE BEST FAIR IN OHIO— LOCAL FAIRS AT RICHFIELD,
TWINSBURG AND CUYAHOGA FALLS, ETC.
SUMMIT COUNTY'S FAIRS.
'"pHE records of the Summit County Agricultural Society, pre-
■■- vious to 1859, were destroyed by fire, but a careful search of the
files of the Beacon, prior to that period, made by the writer for
another purpose, a few years ago, w^ill insure a pretty full and
accurate history of that important public institution. Though,
under fostering legislative action, the Ohio State Agricultural
Society, and several county societies in different portions of the
State, had been previously organized, the first definite move in that
direction, in Summit county, was in the Fall of 1849, though as
early as May 14, 1844, a notice appears in print requesting the
"officers and executive committee of the Summit County Agricul-
tural Society to meet at the American House, in Akron, May 22, for
the purpose of adopting such rules and by-laws as may be neces-
sary for the government of the society," signed by Van R. Humph-
rey, president.
Pursuant to notice issued by County Auditor Nathaniel W.
Goodhue, Esq., on the 31st day of October, 1849, a public meeting
was held at the court house, November 11, 1849, of which Captain
Amos Seward, of Tallmadge, w^as president, Henry G. Weaver, of
Springfield, vice president and N. W. Goodhue, secretary.
At this meeting Lucius W. Hitchcock and William A. Hanford,
of Tallmadge, Talmon Beardsley, of Coventry, Sylvester H. Thomp-
son, of Hudson, and John Hoy, of Franklin, were appointed a com-
mittee to report a constitution and by-law^s for the government of
the society. About seventy names were presented for member-
ship, at this meeting.
Society Fully Organized. — An adjourned meeting was held
November 18, 1849, at which the constitution reported by the above
named committee was unanimously adopted, and permanent offi-
cers elected as follows: President, Simon Perkins; secretary,
William A. Hanford; treasurer, William H.Dewey; /Managers, John
Hoy, Sylvester H. Thompson, Avery Spicer, Philo C. Stone and
James W. Weld. Of these officers. Secretary Hanford now alone
survives.
INITIAL AGRICULTURAL FAIR. 1081
First Annual Exhibit. — The "Summit County Agricultural
Society " being thus legally organized, was entitled to draw from the
county treasury $137.50 yearly, tow^ards its support, and the people
generally^ — villagers as well as farmers — worked harmoniously and
energetically for its success. At a meeting of the directors, August
22, 1850, a committee was appointed to prepare and publish a premium
list, and Wednesday and Thursday, October 2d and 3d, 1850, was
fixed for holding the first annual fair, the premiums offered being:
Cattle, $1 to $8; sheep, $2 to $5; swine, $2 to $4; horses $3 to #;
best kept dairy, $10; best butter, $3; best cheese, $3; farm imple-
ments, $1 to $3; domestic manufactures, 50 cents to $3; factory
cloths and flannels, $2 to $3; grains and seeds, $1; vegetables and
fruits, $1 to $2; field crops, $1 to $5.
The society, at this time, had no grounds of its own, and by
permission of the county commissioners, the fair was held on the
court house grounds, the court house itself being used for the
exhibition of fruits, flow^ers, domestic fabrics, fancy work, etc.,
among other domestic handiwork exhibited, being a strain bonnet,
made from straw^ raised in Summit county. In the bovine and
equine display w^as one team of 34 yoke of oxen, and another of 15
span of horses, both from Tallmadge. Though some attention
.was given, at this initial fair, to blooded stock and fancy driving,
the chief interest centered in the plowing matches, upon the com-
mons, east of the jail, with both oxen and horses, and the pulling
tests, upon both loaded wagons and stone-boats, stumps, etc. No
prizes for racing or fast trotting were then offered by the society,
though a year or two later, a track was improvised on the west
side of the road, about where the Barber Match Works now stand,
on which private prizes were competed for by the local high-step-
pers of that early period. The receipts were from membership
fees, $1 per year, no admission being charged, the total receipts,
including amount drawn from county treasury, being $327.53, the
total amount of premiums awarded being $100.
Fair Grounds Fitted Up. — Officers elected November 20,
1850: President, Simon Perkins, of Akron; vice president, Amos
Seward, of Tallmadge; J'rea surer. Nelson B. Stone, of Akron; sec-
retary, Nathaniel W. Goodhue, of Middlebury; directors, Henry
Van Hyning, of Norton; Daniel Hine, of Tallmadge; Milo Stone, of
Tallmadge; James M.Hale, of Akron; Harvey Baldwin, of Hudson.
The fairs of 1851 and 1852 were also held upon the court house
grounds a tempory structure, 40x60 feet, being erected each year
upon the north side of the court house, for the display of fancy
work, farming implements, agricultural products, fruits, etc., the
floral and fine art display being in the court room, to which a
small admission fee w^as charged.
At the annual meeting, November 21, 1851, among other busi-
ness transacted, the following resolution was unanimously
adopted: ^^ Resolved, That this society will award no premiums
on any thing that will intoxicate."
Colonel Simon Perkins having, with characteristic generosity,
tendered to the society the free use of six acres of land on South
Main street, opposite the present Rubber Factory, the grounds
-were enclosed, and a floral hall, 40x100 feet erected, with stock
pens, sheds, etc., in time for the fourth annual fair, which was
held on the new grounds on Wednesday and Thursday, October 12
1082 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
and 13, 1853. The total cost of fitting up the grounds was $1,800,.
mostly paid by voluntary contributions. At this fair an entrance
fee of ten cents was charged, by w^hich, and the annual member-
ship fees, between $700 and $800 was realized.
Removal to "Summit Grove."— The attendance increasing
from year to year (the receipts growing from $800 in 1854 to $903 in
in 1855, $1,230.50 in 1856, and $1,350 in 1858), the six acres were
found to be too small, and though Colonel Perkins offered to sell
to the society the land already occupied at the rate of $125 per acre,
and as much more as was needed, adjoining upon the south, at $80
per acre; or an exchange, acre for acre, on the west side of the
road, w^here the Rubber Works, and Match factory buildings
now stand, the society delayed action until the contiguous lands
had been disposed of, so that a change of location became an
imperative necessity. Under this condition of things a spirited
rivalry for the location sprang up, the people of Cuyahoga Falls
offering to donate $6,000 to the society if the location offered there
should be decided upon.
At this juncture, David L. King, Esq., tendered to the society,
on a reasonable rental, for five years, nearly thirty acres overlook-
ing the city on the w^est, where the fine residences of Hon. Lew^is
Miller, and Colonel Arthur Iv. Conger are now located, Mr. King
stipulating to either sell the grounds to the society, at a price to be
named by him, or to pay the society for its buildings, fences, etc.,
at their appraised value, at the expiration of the lease.
A Magnificent Location. — The greater portion of the tract in
question being covered by large forest trees, and affording such a
fine view of the city, it was one of the very handsomest and most
convenient locations for county fair grounds in the State. The
new grounds were fitted up and the buildings and fences from the
old grounds removed thither in September, 1859, at a total expense,
including new cattle sheds, trotting track, etc., of $3,128.60, of
w^hich amount the citizens of Akron voluntarily contributed
$1,870.07, in money, a large amount of labor of men and teams
also being donated by the people of Akron and contiguous towns.
From this time on the Summit county fair became the fair of
Northern Ohio, not only constituting a grand harvest home fes-
tival, in October of each year, for the people of Summit county,
but annually attracting thousands of visitors from contiguous
counties, and many from more remote portions of Ohio and con-
tiguous States.
The Society Again "Miss It." — On the expiration of the
lease, Mr. King, pursuant to agreement, subniitted to the officers a
proposition to sell them the entire tract for the sum of $5,000, on
very easy terms of payment, stipulating, only, that should the
grounds cease to be used for fair purposes, they should revert to
him and his heirs. In the mean time, the directorship had been
increased from five to eighteen — one from each township. Unfor-
tunately for the interests of the society and of the county, Mr.
King's truly magnificent proposition w^as not accepted, the major-
ity of the directors, comparing the price named with the value of
unimproved farm lands more remote, and less eligibly situated,
being unable to realize the magnificent prize they were rejecting,
until it w^as too late, the option expiring and the offer not being
renew^ed.
PURCHASING GROUNDS OF ITS OWN. 1083
A Second Removal. — In 1864, the society leased of Mr. P. D,
Hall thirty acres of ground, covered for the most part with forest
trees, at the corner of South Maple and Balch streets, for the
period of ten years. To these grounds the buildings and fences
were removed from "Summit Grove," a new trotting track graded,
at an expense of over $1,000 to the society, besides a large amount
of labor and money contributed by citizens of Akron and sur-
rounding townships.
The fair of 1864, though less convenient of access for many
than the old grounds, was a grand success, and was followed from
year to year with such increasing interest and attendance, that at
the end of its ten years' lease, the society had several thousand
dollars in its treasury, as the nucleus of a fund Avith w^hich to pur-
chase grounds of its own. In the meantime, however, the rapid
growth of the city had so enhanced the value of the grounds then
occupied, and contiguous lands, as to place them beyond the sup-
posed ability of the society to pay for.
The " Powder Patch." — ^Anticipating the expiration of it»
lease with Mr. Hall, in 1870 the society began to agitate the ques-
tion of a new^ location, and a permanent home of its ow^n. Pro- •
posals for sites w^ere invited, and offers w^ere made as follows: S,
W. Bartges, on Wooster avenue, thirty-five acres, at $500 per acre^
S. H. Coburn and Samuel Thornton, south line of city, west of
Main street, thirty acres, $400 per acre; General A. C. Voris and
Major E. Steinbacher, twenty-six acres, south line of city, east of
Main street, $500 per acre; Allyn and Falor, north line of Coventry,
any desired quantity, $400 per acre; J. H. Kramer, twenty acres
along the canal, south of city, $250 per acre; James McAllister,
thirty acres, one mile and a half w^est of Akron, $200 per acre.
A committee, appointed October 24, 1870, w^ere instructed ta
purchase the Coburn tract, but subsequently empowered to pur-
chase such grounds as in their judgment would be for the best
interest of the society. This committee, consisting of James
Hammond, of Copley, Edw^ard Cranz, of Bath, and David S,
Alexander, of Akron, decided upon and bought the McAllister
tract in 1872.
This location, being so remote from the business center and
from railroad facilities, gave very great dissatisfaction to the
people of Akron, and of the eastern, northern and southern town-
ships of the county, and a heated controversy of nearly two years'
duration ensued. In the meantime, A. T. Burrows had offered
forty- five acres on the "Chuckery," at $400 per acre; fifty acre»
near Bettes's Corners, known as the Fouse tract, had been offered
at $200 per acre, and the lands in the valley of the Cuyahoga river,
known as the "Powder Patch," had been offered to the society on
favorable terms.
At the annual meeting of the society, in January, 1875, it wa»
voted 336 to 212 to sell the McAllister grounds and purchase the
Burrow^s tract. This joint duty the committee appointed for the
purpose w^ere unable to satisfactorily accomplish, and at a meet-
ing of the directors, June 26, 1875, after a personal inspection of
all the localities named, the Powder Patch was selected by one
majority. The tract purchased contained about forty-five acres,
the consideration for which was the McAllister tract and $5,000
in money.
1084 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
The tract formerly belonged to the Austin Powder Company,
their extensive mills, from 1833 to 1860, being located along the
banks of the tortuous Little Cuyahoga river traversing the same.
Hence the name. Some seven or eight acres, at a cost of $200 per
acre, have since been added to the grounds upon the north, mak-
ing a total of about fifty-two acres. The first meeting of the
■society upon its ow^n grounds, was held in October, 1875, and not-
w^ithstanding the prognostications of failure, by those who had so
bitterly opposed their selection, there was a very large attendance,
as well as a very considerable increase in the variety and volume
of exhibits.
PopuiwAR " Fountain Park." — Though in its then rough and
unimproved condition, the location seemed to many to be most
forbidding, the wisdom of the society in its purchase is now pal-
pable to all. Naturally picturesque and romantic, by the judicious
expenditure of a reasonable amount of money and labor yearly,
it has become one of the most desirable places of resort in the
vicinity, not only for fair purposes, but for private and public
meetings, picnics, etc.
The tracks of four railroads — the Clev^eland, Akron & Colum-
bus, the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio, the Pittsburg Sc West-
ern, and the Valley Rail\vay— are in close proximity to the
grounds, affording the most ample transportation to and from the
fair, ^vith equally easy access by private conveyance, and w^ith
abundant hitching facilities for the thousands of teams that
yearly there do congregate.
A high picket fence surrounds the grounds. Extensive build-
ings— mercantile hall, agricultural hall, mechanics' hall, floral and
fine arts hall, dining halls, machinery stands, stables, sheds, trot-
ting track, grand stand, with lakes, fountains, ornamental shrub-
bery, etc., serve to make it one of the most perfect of its class in
the State.
As showing the rapid grow^th as well as the increasing popu-
larity of Summit county's harvest home festival, its semi-decen-
nial gross receipts for the years named, are abundantly significant:
1850, $320; 1855, $903; 1860, $2,100; 1865, $2,800; 1870, $3,698; 1875,
$5,014; 1880, $7,444; 1886. $11,257. 16; 1887, $12,323.21; there being a
slight falling off in 1888 by reason of unfavorable weather, the
receipts being $9,431.53, but increasing again in 1889 to $16,608.94,
and to $16,883.60 in 1890. In 1891, the weather being very forbid-
ding the first two days, there was a slight falling off in receipts,
the total amount being $11,985, and the disbursements for interest
on bonded debt, premiums, current expenses, etc., being $9,675,
showing a surplus for the year of $2,310.
This munificent increase of patronage, has not only enabled
the society to yearly very greatly improve the grounds and build-
ings, materially enlarge its proverbially liberal premium list, and
pay its necessarily heavy running expenses, but also, besides pay-
ing the yearly interest, to very materially reduce the heavy indebt-
edness incurred in the purchase and fitting up the grounds.
The directory now consists of one director from every town-
ship and each city ward, twenty- four in all. Officers for 1891:
William C. Sackett, of Copley, president; Anton McFarlin, of Bath,
vice president; Robert Turner, of Portage, treasurer; Albert Hale,
of Springfield, secretary. Directors: — Anton McFarlin, of Bath;
DIVERS AND SUNDRY OTHER FAIRS. 1085
George C. Stanford, of Boston; William C. Sackett, of Copley;
George W. Brewster, of Coventry; David J. Thomas, of Cuyahoga
Falls; Levi M. Kauffman, of Franklin; J. W. Kreighbaum, of
Green; James Doncaster, of Hudson; Joseph Hartzell, of Norton;
B. A. Robinet, of Northfield; James Harrington, of Northampton;
Robert Turner, of Portage; W. R. Townsend, of Richfield; Albert
Hale, of Springfield; George W. Bailey, of Stow; D. E. Fenn, of
Tallmadge; L. H, Oviatt, of Twinsburg; D, W, Thomas, first ward,
Akron; C. E. Sheldon, second ward; H. H. Foltz, third ward; W.
H. Evans, fourth ward; A. W. Hall, fifth ward and J.M.Wills,
sixth w^ard. '
SUMMIT COUNTY FAIR ASSOCIATION.
During the agitation of the purchase of permanent Fair
grounds, personal and sectional feeling ran so high that, on the
final determination of the matter, a counter organization w^as
formed, under the name of the " Summit County Fair Association,"
which, being duly incorporated, with a capital stock of $5,000,
leased the Hall grounds, vacated by the old society, refitting them
in good style w^ith new^ buildings, sheds, pens, fences, etc., and in
September, 1875, held a very successful fair, both in point of dis-
play and attendance, the officers of the association being: James
Hammond, of Copley, president; Frank A. Foster, of Copley, vice-
president; Wellington Miller, of Norton, secretary; and Philander
D. Hall, Jr., of Akron, treasurer.
The fair of the association, for 1876, was also reasonably suc-
cessful. Exhibitors and visitors, tiring of contributing and attend-
ance upon, two fairs so near together, and the predjudice against
the new grounds gradually subsiding, interest in the "ne\^rfair
upon the old grounds," correspondingly diminished, and a year or
two later, the association disbanded, its affairs being placed in the
hands of a receiver for liquidation.
The new grounds of the county society not proving so danger-
ous to life and limb, by reason of their proxmity to railroads, as
had been anticipated, the roads on the contrary, being of immense
advantage in conveying visitors to and from the grounds, the feel-
ing of antagonism rapidly abated, and now the farmers and citi-'
zens of all parts of the county are harmoniously united in their
efforts to make the Summit County Agricultural Society, what it
is everyw^here conceded to be, the very best and most prosperous
local organization of its class in Ohio, if not in the United States.
OTHER FAIR ASSOCIATIONS.
In 1851, "Richfield Agricultural Club," was organized, w^hose
annual exhibits and exercises became so popular, that, in 1858,
Bath and Boston, in Summit; Brecksville and Royalton, in Cuy-
ahoga; and Granger and Hinckley, in Medina, joined with Rich-
field in the organization of the " Union Agricultural and Mechanic
Art Society," \srhich, on ten acres of leased ground, midw^ay between
the east and w^est centers, for ten years, was very popular and
prosperous. Later, about 1868, the society reorganized as a stock
company, purchased the grounds, and with increased vitality, con-
tinued to prosper for several years longer, but finally disbanded
in 1875, selling its grounds and buildings and closing up its affairs
in 1876.
1086
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
At Twinsburg, also, in the middle fifties, after several suc-
cessful annual township exhibitions, a "Union Fair Association "
was organized, comprising the townships of Tw^insburg, Hudson
and Northfield in Summit, Aurora in Portage, and Solon and
Bedford in Cuyahoga. The first meeting of the society was held
in September, 1856, upon its ow^n handsomely fitted up and fur-
nished grounds a short distance east of Twinsburg Center, and, as
with the Richfield society, its annual fairs for several years w^ere
very popular and successful. The death and removal of some of
its more active promoters, together with the recurrence of several
dry and un'productive seasons in that locality, so diminished the
popular interest, that, with the fair of 1871, its meetings w^ere dis-
continued, its grounds being sold and its affairs closed in 1872.
A " Union Fair Association" was also organized and quite
extensive grounds fitted up at Cuyahoga Falls, in 1859, upon
which three quite successful annual fairs, and one exclusive trot-
ting fair (with the celebrated Flora Temple as a competitor) were
held, but the Civil. War and other matters claiming the attention
of the people, the project was abandoned.
Experiments and sectional rivalries having thus ceased, the
people of every portion of the county now unitedly vie w^ith each
other in adding to the interest and continued prosperity of the old
reliable, and ever entertaining and pleasant Summit County Fair.
CHAPTER LIII.
SUMMIT COUNTY'S BENEVOLENCE— GREATLY IMPROVED METHODS OF CARING
FOR THE POOR— THE COUNTY FARM— ORIGINAL INFIRMARY BUILDINGS-
ADDITIONAL LANDS PURCHASED — NEW AND ENLARGED STRUCTURES —
MODERN IMPROVEMENTS — ONE OF THE VERY BEST IN THE STATE — THE
CHILDREN'S HOME— A MUCH NEEDED INSTITUTION—THE DE ROO HOSPITAL
— MUNIFICENT BEQUEST— A WORTHY EXAMPLE FOR OTHERS TO FOLLOW —
OTHER CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS— MENDICANCY DIMINISHED BY TEACH-
ING THE POOR HOW TO HELP THEMSELVES, ETC.
SUMMIT'S BENEFICENCE.
PREVIOUS to 1849, although the law authorized county com-
missioners to establish "County Poor Houses" (name after-
w^ards changed by statute to "Infirmary"), the poor of the several
townships of Summit county were provided for by the trustees of
the townships themselves — the "keep" of the unfortunates being
generally let to the lowest bidder, sometimes in bulk to one person,
and sometimes each individual pauper to a separate bidder — a
system that did not always secure the most humane treatment, or
the tenderest care.
In Portage tow^nship, including the village of Akron and a
portion of Middlebury, a regular poor-house w^as established — a
one-story board shanty, perhaps 20x60 feet in size, being erected
on the south side of the marsh, traversed by Wolf Ledge Run, on
the east side of South Main street, opposite Brew^sters' flouring and
saw^-mills. This institution was, by contract w^ith the overseers of
the poor, or poor masters, as they were generally called, assigned
to the care and custody of the late Silas \V, Wilder, a hotel and
boarding house keeper in Akron for many years, from its estab-
lishment until the inauguration of the County Infirmary system,
as hereinafter stated.
Summit County Infirmary. — January' 12, 1849, county commis-
sioners Mills Thompson, of Hudson, James W. Weld, of Richfield,
and Henry G. Weaver, of Springfield, bought what was then known
as the McCune farm, on the corner of Medina and Portage roads,
about a mile and a half west of Howard street, in Akron. The
farm, but partially cleared, contained a trifle less than 150 acres of
land, upon the front end of which there was a story-and-a-half
dwelling house and a moderate sized frame barn, the consideration
being $3,953.33, or at the rate of about $26.50 per acre.
In addition to the buildings already mentioned upon the farm,
the county commissioners caused to be erected a plain but sub-
stantial two-story frame building, about 20x60, and sundry out-
buildings at a cost of $1,966, w^hich w^ere accepted from the
contractor, Mr. Leander Starr, of Hudson, July 10, 1849. July 11, as
provided by law, the commissioners appointed Messrs. Roswell
Kent, of Middlebury, Avery Spicer, of Coventry, and Lucius V.
Bierce. of Akron, a board of directors for the 'management of the
farm and the care of the county's poor, to hold their offices until
1088
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
the ensuing October election. The board iminediately organized
with RosAvell Kent as president, and L. V. Bierce as secretary, and
by the appointment of Mr. Abraham Sichley as superintendent.
Under the fostering care of the county commissioners, these
four gentlemen laid, firmly and deeply, the foundation of Avhat, in
the intervening forty years, has grown to be one of the very best of
the many local public charities of the State, our present magnifi-
cent Summit County Infirmary.
In May, 1856, the commissioners bought from Mr. Morgan
Sweeney 43.62 acres of land adjoining the farm upon the west, at
a cost of $1,828.80, being at the rate of about $42 per acre ; and still
later, in 1879, an additional parcel of 37.54 acres was purchased
from the late James McAllister, for the sum of $4,223.25, or at
about the rate of $112.50 per acre, making an aggregate of about
230 acres for infirmary purposes, less two acres on the northeast
corner, sold to Mr. Michael Mull, June 27, 1881, for the sum of $1,200,
and two and three-fourths acres, fronting on Portage road, sold to
Mr. Aaron Teeple, April 15, 1882, for the sum of $1,100. Other
similar small parcels, for private residences, fronting on Medina
road, or West Market street extended, may possibly yet be disposed
of without serious impairment of the farm for infirmary purposes,
and at prices which w^ill somewhat reimburse the county in the
large outlay in lands, buildings and improvements that has from
time to time been made.
Summit County Infirmary, Erected in liM'A. '<)5— Addition in 1S73.
Though small additions were from time to time inade to the
original frame structures, it was at length found that better and
larger facilities for the care of the county's wards, and the econom-
ical management of the county farm, were imperatively needed,
and on the 23rd day of March, 1864, by special act of the legislature
the county commissioners were authorized to build an Infirmary
at a -cost not to exceed $16,000.
INFIRMARY FORMALLY DEDICATED. 1089
The site for the new building w^as selected near the center of
the original Infirmary farm, on the south side of Exchange street
extended, an approach to it from West Market street extended,
also being made on the north line of the farm.
The brick for the new building w^as made upon the ground,
largely b}' pauper labor, under the direction of Frank T. Husong,
and Mr. E. C. Briggs, a practical brick maker, several hundred
thousand brick being disposed of at remunerative prices to out-
side parties, thus bringing the cost of the brick used in the new
structure down to a comparatively low^ figure.
The stone foundations and the walls w^ere erected under the
supervision of that thoroughly experienced brick mason, Mr.
George Allison, of Tallmadge, and the wood \srork w^as done on
contract, by the late George Thomas, the whole under the super-
vision of Infirmary Director Avery Spicer, and County Commis-
sioner David E. Hill, the latter being appointed general
superintendent of the w^ork by the board, June 4, 1865.
The economical plan of construction indicated brought the
cost of the edifice nominally within the figures prescribed by the
legislature, though adding the value of home material furnished,
home labor performed, the actual cost of the improvement was
probably not far from $20,000.
The building, as then erected, w^as of the follow^ing dimensions:
central building, two stories, exclusive of basement and attic, 26 x
40; two wings, same height, 25x32; rear wing, 30x32, with a still
further rear extension for the insane, 30x36.
The exterior of the building is of a mixed order of architecture,,
approximating the gothic, with bracketed cornice and gables, and
its interior plainly but substantially finished, and divided into con-
venient apartments for the use of the family of the superintend-
ent and the accommodation of the inmates.
Though somewhat earlier occupied, the new^ building was for-
mally dedicated on the evening of February 3, 1866, by a public
supper, under the auspices of the directors and Superintendent
Husong. In addition to the trustees of the several townships,
many invited guests from Akron and elsewhere enjoyed the fes-
tivities of the occasion.
At the close of the supper, George D. Bates, Esq., was called
to the chair, and congratulatory speeches w^ere made, by Gen. A.
C. Voris, WiUiam T. Allen, S. A. I^ane, Dr. E. W, Howard, and
others, at the close of w^hich, the following resolution was unani-
mously adopted:
"Resolved, That the county conunissionersand directors of the county
infirmary, together with those who have so faithfully aided them in the
undertaking-, are entitled to the thanks of the citizens of Summit county, for
the able manner in which they have planned and prosecuted to completion
the erection of an infirmary edifice, which is at once an ornament and an
honor to the county, and a inark of the exalted humanity and liberality of
its people."
Barns and other out-buildings have from time to time been
erected and the grounds handsomely laid out and planted to
ornamental trees and shrubbery, making them both pleasant for
the inmates and attractive to visitors, while the farm itself, by
reason of the careful and judicious tillage given to it by its several
superintendents, has become one of the most productive in the
county, giving healthy employment to such of the inmates as are.
60
1090 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
mentally and physically able to perform manual labor, and at the
same time making the institution largely self-supporting.
As ample as the above described buildings were thought to be,
at the time of their erection, as the population of the county, and
particularly of the city of Akron, increased, it was at length found
that additional accommodations were needed.
At the instance of the county commissioners, therefore, through
the efforts of Senator N. W. Goodhue, of Akron, and Representa-
tive Hiram H. Mack, of Bath, the legislature, on the 7th day of
March, 1875, passed a special act authorizing the commissioners to
levy a tax not to exceed, in the aggregate, $10,000 for the purpose
of erecting an addition to the infirmary building.
Under the supervision of Architect Jacob Snyder, the con-
tractors, Messrs. Derhamer, Steese & Co.. erected, in the Summer
of 1875, an addition, adjoining the west wing, as above described,
corresponding in general style of finish to the central building,
32x42 feet, the several stories being conveniently divided up into
sitting room, dining room, sick room, bed rooms, clothes rooms,
etc., the total cost of this improvement being not far from $8,000.
In 1880, a separate two-story brick building, 20x30 feet was
erected for laundry and storage purposes, a short distance east of
the rear wing, and a year or two later, a separate one-story build-
ing, 30x57 feet, southwest of the original insane department, was
erected for the better care of the insane; and in 1887, an inter-
mediate two-story brick, 33x60 feet, wras erected, and the whole
re-arranged, now making one of the most complete local insane
hospitjils in the State.
This year also (1887), the storage and laundry building above
spoken of, gave place to a substantial combined boiler and engine
house and laundry, 36 x 24, in the lower story of w^hich is a battery
of two medium-sized tubular boilers, with a small but first-class
engine and pump for supplying the entire institution with steam,
hot and cold water, and running the laundry overhead, which is sup-
supplied w^ith first-class washing, drying and ironingappliances,the
last improvements mentioned (1887), including machinery and
plumbing, costing about $13,000. The directors of the infirmary
for the present year (1891), are Joseph Moore, Eli Smith and Jacob
Koplin: superintendent, Sherman B. Stotler,
CHILDREN'S HOME.
Up to 1866, the children of indigent and unfortunate parents
were provided for at the various poor-houses and infirmaries of the
State, with the exception of the fe"w Avho were so fortunate as to be
received into the occasional orphanages established by private
munificence as at Cleveland, Cincinnati, etc. But for many years
the growing humanitarian sentiment of the people has deplored
the practice of consigning bright and healthy children to the com-
panionship, and often to the care and nurture, of the diseased,
imbecile and sometimes vicious inmates of these institutions.
This sentiment communicating itself to the law-makers of the
State, an act was passed by the Legislature, March 20, 1866, author-
izing county commissioners, at their discretion, to establish
Children's Homes in their respective counties, to which orphans
and abandoned and neglected children, under 16 years of age,
should be admitted and properly provided and cared for.
I
I
SUMMIT COUNTY CHILDREN'S HOME.
1091
Sundry amendments to the law in question were made from
-time to time, among others that passed March 22, 1876, providing
that the question of establishing a Children's Home should be
.submitted to the voters of the proper county, by the commissioners.
August 8, 1881, the county commisioners, Messrs. Dr. William
Sisler, of Akron, Moses D. Call, of Stow, and Hiram Hart, of Rich-
field, on the petition of 200 tax-payers of the county, authorized
Auditor Aaron Wagoner to issue a notice to the electors of the
-county, to vote at the ensuing October election, on the question of
issuing bonds for the purchase of a site and erecting the necessary
buildings for a Children's Home for Summit county.
Summit County Children's Home, South Arlington Street, Purchased, Fitted
Up and Occupied in 1890.
The vote stood 5,810 ballots for, and 1,091 against the proposi-
tion, showing a clear majority in its favor of 4,719 votes. With
this magnificent backing the commissioners felt w^arranted in going
ahead, and various propositions for sites were made and duly con-
sidered, the Cooke property at Cuyahoga Falls (the old Henry New-
berry place, east of the covered bridge), being selected at the meet-
ing of the commissioners on the 20th day of February, 1882.
March 20 a resolution was adopted to issue the bonds of the
county in the sum of $25,000, for the purpose named, but on the 3d
day of April the proposition w^as w^ithdrawn by the representatives
of the Cooke estate.
August 12, 1882, the commissioners closed a contract with Mr.
George Allison, of Tallmadge, for the purchase of his farm, a short
distance north of Bettes' Corners, on the Cuyahoga Falls road.
This purchase consisted of 142.27 acres, the price paid being $110
per acre, or an aggregate, in round numbers, of $15,650.
August 14, 1882, the commissioners appointed as trustees
of the Children's Home, George W. Crouse, of Akron, George
Sackett, of Cuyahoga Falls, and E. S. Gregory, of Hudson. The
trustees and commissioners, acting conjointly, in canvassing the
1092 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
matter of erecting suitable, buildings on the farm thus purchased^
found that the balance left, after paying for the land, would be
inadequate for the erection of such a structure as they deemed
fitting, and on March 6, 1883, authorized Auditor Wagoner to issue
notice for a vote of the county, at the ensuing April election, upon
the proposition to issue bonds to the amount of $12,000 more.
By this time, the impression had become quite prevalent, that
so large a farm as had been purchased Avas not needed, and much
dissatisfaction was also manifested at the location which had been
selected, and furthermore that $37,000 in addition to the yearly tax-
levy for its support, was a larger sum than should be invested in
such an institution. Feeling thus, the vote on the last proposition
resulted as follows: "For," 1,818; "Against," 3,195; the adverse
majority being 1,377.
The Home Inaugurated. — Finding themselves thus handi-
capped, yet realizing the importance of establishing the Home in
question, the commissioners and trustees, on the 27th of Novem-
ber, 1885, leased the property known as the " Buckeye House,"^
nearly opposite the Court House, on South Broadway, for the
period of two years, for the sum of $600 per year.
Mr. William A. Hanford, of Cuyahoga Falls, \vras appointed
superintendent, and Mrs. Hanford, matron, who entered upon
their arduous duties as soon as the house could be put in proper
order and appropriately furnished; Mr. and Mrs. Hanford being
succeeded by Mr. and Mrs. William Grubb, of Franklin to^vnship,
in November, 1887.
The report of the trustees for the year ending September 1,
1890, shows an average daily attendance of 55 children, some being
provided from time to time, with permanent homes in private fam-
ilies, their places being speedily filled by new accessions. The
levy, this year, for the running expenses of the Home,thl-ee-tenth&
of a mill, w^ill probably be in excess of its necessities.
PART OF THE TALLMADGE FARM SOLD.
Believing the Tallmadge farm purchased from Mr. Allison
largely in excess of the necessities of the institution, even if that
location should finally be determined upon for the permanent
building, on the 7th day of March, 1887, the commissioners, Messrs.
King J. EUet, of Springfield, Charles C. Hine, of Hudson, and John
C. Hill, of Akron, sold to Mr. C. I. Bettes, 40.06 acres, and to Mr. M,
J. Hogue 46.07 acres, for the aggregate sum of $5,225, or at the rate
of about $63 per acre.
The avails of these sales, w^ith the balance of the original
$25,000 realized from the sale of the bonds above spoken of,
amounted to about $15,000. Through the efforts of Representative
Henry C. Sanford and Senator J. Park Alexander, the Legislature,
during the session of 1888, '89, passed an act authorizing the com-
missioners to sell the entire Tallmadge farm, and to purchase such
other site for the Home as might be jointly agreed upon by the
commissioners and the trustees, w^ho finally decided upon, and
purchased, the Jewett homestead, and some contiguous lands
(in all seven acres), on Arlington street, in the south part of the Sixth
ward. The large dw^elling house, under the plans of Architect
Jacob Snyder, approved by the board of State Charities, has been
remodeled to meet the present and immediate future needs, of the
THE DE ROO HOSPITAL FUND. 1093
institution, the price paid for the property being $11,000, and the
expense of remodeling and furnishing $9,000, a total outlay of
$20,000. The present trustees of the Home (July, 1891): John J.
Hall, Lewis Miller and David E. Hill, Mr. Grubb still being con-
tinued as superintendent, and Mrs. Grubb as matron.
The balance of the Allison farm is still owned by the county
and rented on shares, largely furnishing vegetables and other sup-
plies to the Home, and paying a fair interest upon the investment.
THE DE ROO HOSPITAL.
On the death of Boniface De Roo, a native of BVance, an
unmarried and eccentric but industrious and economical resident
of Middlebury and the Sixth ward for many years, his will was
found to contain the following provisions:
"First, the payment of his just debts and funeral expenses; second,
$200 for the purchase of a lot in the Akron Rural Cemetery ; third, $300 for
the trustees of the cemetery, in trust, to be invested on interest for beautify-
ing- said lot ; fourth, $500 for a granite monument of obelisk form ; fifth, $100
for good metallic coffin without plate or ornament, no funeral services to be
held over his remains and bodj^ to be deposited in vault a sufficient length
of time to prevent intrusion, then to be buried on lot ; sixth, the balance of
his estate, real and personal, to the city of Akron, to be held in trust and
.appropriated by said city for the buying of real estate and the erection of
the necessary buildings and maintenance of the same for a city hospital,
wherein invalids and infirm persons, without distinction of race, nationality,
color or sex, ma}^ be provided for without charge or compensation in case of
inability to paj^ for the same."
The will further stipulated that in case the funds so
bequeathed were insufficient for the purchase of the necessary
real estate, and the expenses of carrying on said institution, said
funds Avere to be invested until, supplemented by additions of like
character, and appropriations w^hich it is anticipated may be made
by the city, shall be sufficient to create and maintain said hospital;
*the testator also expressing the desire that said hospital shall bear
the name of the person donating the largest sum of money for
the erection and maintenance of the same.
Protracted Litigation. — The will of Mr. De Roo was executed
August 5, 1883, with Edward Oviatt and George G. Allen as wit-
nesses, and Messrs. William Rowley and John F. Viall named as
executors. Mr. De Roo died on the 3rd day of November, 1883 the
\srill being duly probated on the 5th day of that month.
It was at first thought that the net amount of this benevolent
and humane bequest would be fully $10,000, but that sum was
considerably diminished by the proceedings which follow: The
deceased had boarded for many years in a family of the same
nationality as himself, by the name of Pouchot, having regularly
paid his board at a stipulated price per week, the last $20 due
being paid by him upon the day of his removal to other quarters,
September 28, 1883.
Subsequently, however, Mrs. Pouchot presented a claim to the
-executors for the sum of $2,016.67 for nursing, care and attend-
ance, including washing and ironing, from November 5, 1877, to
September 28, 1883, at the rate of six and two-third dollars per
week. This claim being rejected by the executors, suit w^as
brought for its enforcement in the Court of Common Pleas, and at
the May term, 1885, the jury rendered a verdict in favor of the
plaintiff in the sum of $1,645.46.
1094 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Attorneys for the defense filed a motion for a new trial, one of
the grounds of which "was that the verdict was excessive, and
another that a verdict for plaintiff was not sustained by the evi-
dence and w^as contrary to law^. The court, on due consideration
of the motion, made the following entry in the case: "The court
being of the opinion that the amount of damages a\\rarded by the
jury is excessive in the sum of $800, and the plaintiff, now here in
court, consenting to remit the excess aforesaid, therefore the Court
overrules the motion for a new trial, and that the plaintiff recover
from the said executors $845.46, the residue of the damages by
the jury awarded, together with costs, taxed at $132.14.
TRUST ACCEPTED BY COUNCIL.
On the final settlement of the estate, the executors turned ov^er
to the city the sum of $8,012- 16, which was duly accepted by an
ordinance passed February 1, 1886, the ordinance also providing
for the appointment of three resident freeholders of the city of
Akron to act as commissioners of said hospital fund, for the pur-
pose of keeping said fund properly "invested until such time as
said sum, with its accumulations, and such additions as may be
made thereto by donations, or appropriations, shall be sufficient to
erect and maintain an institution which shall be at once a credit
to the city, and an honor to its founders." The present trustees
(1891) are Henry Perkins, president, Burdette L. Dodge, secretary,
and Joseph Kendall. Amount now in fund, July 1, 1891, $10,200.16.
OTHER CHARITABLE OPERATIONS.
While the people of Akron, and the county generally, have
ever been liberal in the dispensation of private charities, as indi-
viduals, much has also been done by organized and systematic
effort in that direction. Most of the churches of both Akron and<
the surrounding villages and townships through appropriate com-
mittees, afford abundant relief to their own invalid and indigent
people, while all of the beneficiary orders also look carefully after
their ow^n sick and needy members. In addition to this, in special
hard times, and in extremely severe Winters, county and society
aid has for many years been supplemented by organized action
through citizens' committees.
Akron Board of Charities. — ^The duties of such committees
ceasing with the emergency which called them into existence, it
■was at length deemed advisable that some more permanent
system should be devised. Accordingly, on a numerously signed
petition, in December, 1884, the council appointed a committee of
citizens consisting of Messrs. O. C. Barber, W. H. Upson, N. D.
Tibbals, Michael O'Neil and T. C. Raynolds to see what could be
done in the premises. On the report of this committee, to a public
meeting, held January 13, 1885, the Akron Board of Charities -was
organized, all contributors to be members for the current year, the
aims of the board being tersely stated thus: "1. To see that all
deserving cases of destitution are properly relieved. 2. To prevent
indiscriminate and duplicate giving. 3. To make employment the
basis of relief. 4. To secure community from imposture. 5. To
reduce vagrancy and pauperism and ascertain their true causes."^
Present officers: (1888) N. D. Tibbals, president; Nathan
Morse, secretary; B. C. Herrick, treasurer, with four trustees — two'
AKRON UNION CHARITY ASSOCIATION. 1095
ladies and two gentlemen — in each ward to investigate and report
cases of destitution in their particular localities, and order such
relief as may be deemed necessary.
The resources of the board are voluntary contributions, the
amounts distributed, ranging from $500 to $1,500 per year.
Women's Benevolent Association. — This is an institution
similar in. design but operated on somewhat different methods
from the board above named. By the generosity of our citizens,
the Association is the owner of a Home, on South High street,
immediately north of the Congregational Church, costing, with
the heating apparatus, $4,750. It is maintained entirely by ladies,
and advisory board of six gentlemen — one from each w^ard — its
present officers (1888) being as follows: Mrs. J. A .Long, president;
Mrs. L. A. Meacham, treasurer; Mrs; J. W. Lyder, recording
secretary; Mrs. E. A. Josselyn, corresponding secretary; with one
vice president for each ward and with Miss Lou Lusk as
missionary.
Though much direct aid is given from time to time, the main
feature of this institution is to teach the needy to help themselves.
To this end Avhat are denominated "Mother's Meetings" are held
at the Home, weekly, at which mothers of families are taught to
cut, make and mend garments for themselves and children, pro-
vided w^ith the necessary materials in return for a reasonable
amount of labor, such as tying comforters, making carpets, and
any plain sewing that members of the society and other ladies
desire to have done, from 80 to 120 mothers thus assembling and
industriously w^orking every Friday, not only receiving full pay
for the work they thus do, but, far better, receiving such intelli-
gent instructions as will enable them* to do more and better >vork
at their own homes, on the other days of the week, than they
otherwise could do.
There is also a kindergarten, and an industrial department, for
girls and young children, with a roll of 185, and an average attend-
ance of 110 on Saturdays; the girls being taught to do plain sewing
and other domestic w^ork, and given such educational and moral
instruction as their several necessities seem to require.
Since the foregoing was compiled and published in serial form,
the two societies have been consolidated, under the title of
THE UNION CHARITY ASSOCIATION OF AKRON.
The Association w^as duly incorporated December 4, 1889, the
corporators being A. L. Conger, A. P. Baldwin, Ferd. Schumacher,
Mrs. W. K, Foltz, Mrs. L. A. Meacham, Mrs. Henry Perkins, Mrs.
Anna L. Booth, Mrs. Celia Baldwin, Mrs. Martha Manderbach,
Miss Clara W. Botsford, Mrs. Frances Sweitzer,. R. H. Wright, N.
D. Tibbals, O. C. .Barber, Mrs. Sumner Nash, Mrs. L. J. Brewster,
Mrs. Laura K, Fraunfelter, and Miss Lou A, Lusk. The constitu-
tion of the Association is as follows:
Akticle I. — This organization shall be called the " Union Charity Asso-
ciation."
Article II.— Its aim shall be to see that all deserving- cases of destitu-
tion are properly relieved, and to make employment the basis of relief ; also
to promote the moral, educational and industrial interests of all who may
come under its care, and by a system of thorough visitation and investiga-
tion to prevent wasteful and indiscriminate alms-giving.
1096 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Article III. — Section /.—All cash contributors, of g'ood inoral char-
acter, who shall have subscribed to the charter, shall be eligible to member-
ship. Section II. — Meinbers may be elected at any reg"ular ineeting- of the
association, by a inajority vote, after the tiominations have been referred to
and reported from a prudential committee.
Article TV.— Section I. — The officers shall be elected annually, by
ballot, on the first Tuesday in October, and shall consist of president, two
vice presidents, treasurer and secretar}". Section II. — There shall also be one
lady trustee from each ward, who shall be elected by the association, whose
duty it shall be to have charge of the work in the ward, each trustee to choose
the needed assistants, the names of such persons to be presented to, and
approved by, the association.
Article V. — The trustees shall consist of the president, vice president,
secretary and treasurer of the association, and one gentleman and one lady,
for each ward, who shall have charge of real property, stock, or bonds, or
evidence of indebtedness and contracts belonging' to the association. They
shall approve of all transfers of real property, stocks or bonds, before the
same shall be legal. They shall approve of the investments of funds of the
association.
Article VI. — The executive committee of this association, shall con-
sist of the president, vice president, trustees, secretary and treasurer, who
shall hold monthly meetings, as they may designate. At these meetings a
majority shall be a quorum, for the transaction of all business. They shall
prescribe the duties of all executive officers of this association, not herein
prescribed, and inay appoint such coinmittees as the}^ may deem necessary,
to carry on the work, under their supervision and control. Thej" shall also
make all necessary rules and regulations for the maintenance of the rooms.
A concise and practical code of by-laws was also formulated
and adopted, under which the work of the Association is now
being harmoniously and most efficiently prosecuted, the present
officers (November, 1891), being as follows: Colonel A. L. Conger,
president; Mrs. L. A. Meacham, first vice president; Judge N. D.
Tibbals, second vice presidjsnt; B. F. Clark, secretary; Mrs.
Anna L. Booth, assistant secretary; M. T. Cutter, treasurer;
Mrs. Sumner Nash, superintendent kitchengarten; Mrs.
N. D. Tibbals, superintendent industrial department; Mrs.
Alexander Brewster, assistant; Miss Lou A. Lusk, matron
of Home and city missionary; Mrs. Lucy Stall, superintendent of
industrial school. Trustees, elected in October, 1891: First ward,
R. H. Wright and Mrs S. M. Dussell, Mrs. Mary J. Crain, assistant;
Second ward, Michael O' Neil and Mrs. W. K. Foltz, Mrs. Henry
Perkins, assistant; Third ward, Rev. T. F. Mahar and Mrs. A.
P. Baldwin, Miss Kate Hurley, assistant; Fourth ward, John A.
Wagoner and Mrs. E. Hitchcock, Mrs. L. A. Chisnell, assistant;
Fifth ward, Frank D. Cassidy and Mrs. S. W. Pike, Mrs. J. W.
Dunn, assistant; Sixth ward, Harvey Baldwin and Miss Sarah
Buckingham, Miss Eva Gregory, assistant. Standing Committees:
Entertainment, Mrs. Henry Perkins, M. T. Cutter, Michael O'Neil
and N. D. Tibbals; Prudential, Mrs. Alexander Brewster, Mrs. A.
P. Baldwin, R. H. Wright and Ferd. Scliumacher.
AKRON DAY NURSERY.
October 18, 1890, the "Heart and Hand" and the "Wayside"
Circles of the Order of the King's Daughters, jointly established a
Day Nursery, for the purpose of giving a home during the day to
the children of working women, being temporarily given the use
of a room in the Home of the L^nion Charity Association, 116
South High street, the members, on organization, being: Mrs,
Mary Raymond, president; Miss Anna Ganter, vice president;
MARY DA,Y NURSERY. 1097
Miss Carita McEbright, secretary; Miss Bessie Raymond, treas-
urer; Misses Belle Adams, Gertrude Commins, Addle Commins,
Julia Crouse, Mary Crouse, Mrs. Rose Christy, Misses Belle Green,
Helen Humphrey, Maud Watters, Mary Buell, Lizzie Griffin,
Martha Henry, Julia McGregor, Mary Miller, Helen Storer, Harriet
Wise and Alice Work.
Rules for receiving and caring for children in the nursery,
were adopted as follows:
I. No child shall be received permanently in the nursery, until the
chairman is satisfied, by thorough investigation that such child is a proper
subject for admission,
II. No children can be kept at the nursery, but those whose mothers are
At work away from their homes during- the day, or are engaged at home in
such work for wages that they cannot give their children proper care.
III. The admission fee shall be five cents a day for one child; twelve
cents where three come from one family; fifteen cents -where four come
from one family.
IV. No child shall be admitted free of charge, nor unless the mother is
willing to conform to, and have her child obey the rules of the nursery.
V. No child shall be received before 6:30 A. M., or remain after 7 P. M.
VI. No child shall be received in the nursery, who has anj^ contagious
•disease or who comes from a home where such disease exists.
VII. The matron shall see that every child is properly washed, on
arrival in the nursery, and neatly dressed, when necessary in garments from
the nursery wardrobe. These garments shall never be worn away from the
nursery.
Besides liberal contributions from several persons, funds have
from time to time been raised by tableaux and other entertain-
ments, so that the expenses of this most worthj'^ benevolent enter-
prise have thus far been readily met, for of course, the moderate
per diem fee charged for admission and care of such children as
come to them w^ill not go far towards defraying the cost of its
maintenance, one of the most successful entertainments in its
behalf being the musicale given at Irving Lawn, the fine new
home of Col. and Mrs. A. L. Conger, on the evening of September
21, 1891, by which $200 were added to the treasury.
MARY DAY NURSERY.
After gratuitous occupation of quarters in the Home of the
Union Charity Association, for about one year, on the evening of
October 20, 1891, the Nursery Association gave a general and largely
attended reception in its own well-appointed Home, 406 South
High street, the house and lot being generously donated to the
Association by Colonel George T. Perkins, in behalf of his first
grandchild, little Mary Raymond, in honor of whom the name
was changed from the Akron Day Nursery to the "Mary Day
Nursery," and under that name was duly incorporated September
18, 1891, five trustees being elected as follows: Colonel George T.
Perkins, Frank M. Atterholt, Henry C. Corson, Mrs. Charles B.
Raymond and Miss Helen A. Storer; the original officers, as above
given, being re-elected for another year; Miss Flora E. Hanchett
being chosen matron.
In her first annual report the secretary says: "There are
eighteen children on the roll; aggregate attendance, 571; average
daily attendance, three; there was no day without children, the
largest attendance in one day being eight."
1098 « AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
The new Home, so generously provided, was furnished in a
like generous manner, by useful and timely gifts of furniture,,
stoves, crockery, cutlery, silvervi^are, tinware, kitchen utensils,,
clothing, fuel, oil, etc., by dealers whose names cannot be enumer-
ated here, and it may safely be predicted that the Mary Day Nurs-
ery is destined to become one of the most useful of the many
purely philanthropic institutions of our proverbially benevolent
city and county — one of the designs of its managers being the
establishment of a kindergarten in connection w^ith the Nursery
at an early day.
OTHER PHILANTHROPIC WORK.
Besides the local church and other benevolent operations in
the several villages and townships of the county, there are also, in
Akron, in addition to those enumerated, the Young Men's Christ-
ian Association, with Rufus Wright, president; Othello W. Hale,
vice president; R,- B. Carter, secretary; and Will H, Hunt, .treasurer,
under the very efficient management of General Secretary J. New-
ton Gunn; the Women's Christian Temperance Union, with
Mrs. G. C. Berry as president, Miss H. Hall as secretary, Mrs.
M. J. Crain as treasurer, and Miss Mary A. Cushman as missionary
and friendly visitor; and the Young Women's Christian Temper-
ance Union with Miss Maud A. Le Fevre as president, and Miss
Maud C. Miller as secretary, all very efficient aids in the benevo-
lent and reformatory ^vork of the city. ,
It w^ill thus be seen that both Summit county and the city of
Akron are fully abreast with the enlightened and humanitarian
spirit of the age, in charitable deeds and methods, as w^ell as in
educational, agricultural, commercial and manufacturing enter-
prise.
CHAPTER LIV.
LABOR FIFTY YEARS AGO — HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF — DISSATISFACTION,
STRIKES, RIOTS AND BLOODSHED — LABOR ORGANIZATIONS — SHORTER
HOURS AND INCREASED PAY DEMANDED — KICK AGAINST THE "TRUCK
AND DICKER" SYSTEM— POLITICAL COMBINATIONS—SUCCESSES, DEFEATS^
ETC. — MECHANICS' ASSOCIATION, READING ROOM, LIBRARY, ETC. — FINAL
OUTCOME, LESSON INCULCATED, ETC.
THE TWELVE HOUR DAY.
REFERRING to, and apropos of, the matters, and things treated
of in chapter IV., a concise history of the status of labor in
Akron, and else^vhere, half a century ago, •will be in order here.
Then in all departments of mechanical labor t\Nrelve hours consti-
tuted a day's w^ork, necessitating the working from two to three
hours by candle-light five nights in the week, during the Winter
months.
Growing Dissatisfaction.— This elongated day's work, taken
in connection with the lowness of w^ages, and the "truck and
dicker" system of payments heretofore described, created the most
intense dissatisfaction among the laboring classes, and called
forth many efforts and schemes for the amelioration of their con-
dition, with frequent strikes, and occasional mobs and bloody riot»
in different cities of the country.
Besides the precarious nature of his pay, the wages of the
mechanic and the laborer were scarcely half the present rates,
while a very large proportion of the necessaries of life — clothing
of all kinds, calicoes, cotton cloths, boots and shoes, sugars, teas,
coffees, crockery, cutlery, etc., were, on the average, nearly double
present prices, though of course, farm products were considerably
cheaper then than now.
First Labor Movement in Akron. — As early as March 2, 1837,
The Akron Journal (Judge Bryan's paper) contains this notice:
"The mechanics of Akron and vicinity, are requested to meet at the
school house in South Akron, on Monday evening next at 6 o'clock, with a
view to the formation of a Mechanics' Association. It is hoped that every
mechanic in the place will be punctual to the hour in his attendance.
At this meeting, which was largely attended, two committees
w^ere appointed — one to draft a constitution for the government of
the Association, and the other to report, to an adjourned meeting,
candidates to be supported at the ensuing township election. The
objects to be attained by such action, and the motives actuating
the several participants, seems to have been quite misunderstood,
as appears by a wordy and somewhat personal controversy
between Ansel Miller (carpenter) and Ithiel Mills (harness maker)
in the succeeding numbers of the Journal.
Ansel Miller's Views. — In his first article, Mr. Miller, a&
chairman of the committee on nominations (the names of the can-
didates reported are not published), after explaining the action of
1100 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
the two meetings, and expressing the beUef that the ticket " will
meet the approbation of a majority of the sober, candid and
respectable citizens of Portage township" said
"As to auy distinction between different classes of citizens, your com-
mittee beg- leave to state, that it was agreed, and we believe inet with the
approbation of a larg^e majoritj^ of those present, that all honorable pursuits,
whether professional or mechanical, where industry or moral deportment
renders them worthy of public confidence, were equally deserving the suf-
frages of this Association. * * * It is true our citizenship does not extend
back as far as the days of keg money, when the votes of a whole township
could be bought with a churn of egg-nog ; when we were ruled by a set of
men who have left a stigma upon this place that nothing- but time can
remove. * * * We lay aside all political prejudice, and party feelings, and
act solely with reference to the promotion of justice, virtue and morality."
Marshal Mills Demurs. — Major Mills, who had held the office
of to\^nship constable for several years, and was then village mar-
shal, and also, by appointment, a deputy United States marshal,
took exceptions to Mr. Miller's remarks — especially the "keg
money" and the "egg-nog" portion thereof — and in a long reply,
among other things, said:
"You must not think. Sir, to screen yourself from the severe castig-ation
which jrou so richly merit, and with impunity trifle with the feelings of those
that are but little inferior to yourself, in points that constitute the man.
■Citizens! you have heard the charge, are you prepared to ineet it? Is the
charg-e true or false? If true, submit in silence; if not, spurn it as you
would the deeds of the midnight assassin."
Mr. Miller's Rejoinder. — In his column and a half rejoinder,
Mr. Miller goes back at Mr. Mills thus:
"For what reason do I so richly merit this severe castig-ation, Mr. M.?
Is it because I have for years past been co-operating- with others to put an
end to those abominable practices? Or is it because reference is made to
practices and transactions of which the gentleman dare not attempt a
denial?"
Mechanics' Ticket Defeated. — The inharmony indicated in
the foregoing extracts, brought defeat to the ticket nominated by
the mechanics, a "People's" ticket, composed of both Whigs and
Democrats, being elected as follows: William B. Mitchell, Miner
Spicer and John Sherbondy, trustees; Samuel A. Wheeler treas-
urer; Franklin C, May, clerk; Isaac NcAvton, Moses Cleveland and
Warren H. Smith, constables; William E. Wright and Erastus
Torrey, overseers of poor; Horace K. Smith, Joseph Cole and
Constant Bryan, school inspectors.
What Shall be Done With the Funds? — In the Journal, of
April 20, 1837, A. R. Townsend, assistant secretary, announces that
a meeting of the Mechanics' and Workingmen's Association will
be held on Monday evening. May, 1st, "for the purpose of taking
into consideration the disposition of the funds now in the treasury,"
The result of this meeting is not recorded, but one thing is sure,
the custodian of the "funds" did not abscond with them to
Canada, or squander them on "margins."
The Carpenters Unite. — May 11, 1837, the Journal contains
this notice:
"The members of the Carpenters' and Joiners' Society of Akron, are
requested to meet at the school house. South Akron, on Thursda}'- 16th inst.,
at early candlelight; at which time committee on prices will present their
price-book for adoption, and transact such other business as inay be thought
proper.
E. N. BANGS, Sec'y of said Society."
LABOR AND POLITICS. 1101
Again in Politics. — The American Balance of September
21, 1837, publishes this notice:
"The mechanics and workingrnen of Portage township, are requested to
meet at the school house, in South Akron, on Monday evening', September 25,
1837, at 6 o'clock, to take into consideration the propriety of calling a county
convention, to make a ticket to be supported at the next election by the
mechanics and workinginen of Portage county. By order of the President,
N. FAY, Secretary."
The meeting was adjourned until the evening of September
30, but there is no record as to whether a separate w^orkingmen's
ticket was put in nomination or not, though if there "was it failed
of success, the regular Whig county ticket being elected.
"Innocuous Desuetude." — From this time on, for fully eight
years, the mechanics and workingmen of Akron, so far as political
action or general organization is concerned, remained quiescent,
though the different trades, such as carpenters, painters, etc.,
would occasionally combine to regulate prices for work, but these
combinations the unstable and precarious sheep's gray — pot-metal
— shinplaster^ — truck and dicker system of payment, heretofore
detailed, w^ould render of very short duration.
In 1845, hovi^ever, there seems to have been a " movement all
along the line," in the direction of bettering the condition of labor,
not only for better and more stable pay, but for a shorter day.
Striking Carpenters. — The Beacon, of April 9, 1845, says:
"There has been a strike among the carpenters of Cincinnati. They
turned out in a body, with music. They demand $1 .50 a day, in cash, instead
of $1.25 in orders."
The $1.25 per day, then paid for skilled labor in Cincinnati,
was considerably higher than the average in the western country
at that period. In this vicinity, in the early forties, competent
mechanics (single men) could be hired at the rate of $100 per
year, and board, and paid in orders on stores, and other "truck," at
that; the same grade of workmen, having families and boarding
themselves, commanding from $18 to $20 a month, only, w^ith the
same kind of pay; common laborers receiving from 50 to 62^
cents per day, and finding themselves. One of the present solid
men of Summit county — Mr. Peter Lepper, of Springfield, then
about 20 years of age — in 1845, sawed, split, and carried up two
flights of stairs for the writer, a full cord of stove wood, for fifty
cents (a little under current rates, perhaps, because of his being
paid in cash, instead of store goods); a reminiscence that Mr. Lep-
per delights to recall w^henever he and the writer chance to meet,
Mr. L., perhaps, considering that hard-earned half dollar the chief
corner-stone of the magnificent farm and other valuable posses-
sions of w^hich he is now the ow^ner.
Striking Mill Operatives. — The Beacon of May 28, 1845,
chronicles a strike in a Pittsburg iron mill, for an advance of one
dollar per ton; and in October of the same year, speaks of "a great
excitement in Pittsburg and Allegheny in consequence of a turn-
out, or strike, in the factories of the latter city, on the demand for
a ten hour day, in which there had been disorderly and mobbish
demonstrations, with considerable damage to property, though it
was believed that most of them would soon return to work under
the former system."
1102 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
A few^ months later is the announcement of a strike of the
■workmen on the new Brooklyn, N. Y., dock, for higher -wages, and
fe\vrer hours of labor, the new hands employed by the contractor
being driven from their -work by the strikers; the military being
called out and one of the strikers killed; the house of one of the
contractors being fired by the mob and destroyed. Wonderfully
like the strike operations of 1891, isn't it?
Akron Operatives Try It On. — In the temperance paper, the
Cascade Roarer, published by the writer, under date of Novem-
ber 11, 1845, is this announcement:
" The hands in one of our factories struck for higher wag-es last week.
They generally receive their pay in woolen cloth, and as they cannot get as
much for it at the stores, by two shillings per yard as they were obliged to
allow for it, they entered into a solid compact, refusing to work until the
price was lowered, and yesterday not one of them would throw a shuttle."
The Ten Hour System.— In the issue of December 9, 1845, the
w^riter, in speaking of the "Ten Hour System," editorially said:
"A great many employers, manufacturers and others, have recently
been inquiring into the system, and it appears are indicating a determina-
tion to be foremost in effecting a reformation of the slavish drudgery to
which many mechanics and others are now subjected, without decent time
for recreation and enjoyment."
After alluding to a similar movement in Kngland, the w^riter
added, in closing:
"We hope that among the manufacturers of our own country, a reform
may be set in motion, which will also bring about these good results."
Massillon Takes a Hand In. — On the 5th of May, 1846, a
general strike of the mechanics of Massillon is announced, " w^ho
in a body refused to perform any more labor until a reformation is
effected," and who, in a circular, called upon their brother
mechanics in the United States to assist them in carrying out
their measures — the ten hour day, and cash payments. The Mas-
sillonians became so enthusiastic that they not only formed a
compact organization, similar to the modern trades' unions, but
sent missionaries into other industrial towns and villages, to work
up an interest in the good cause.
Mechanics' Association in Akron. — Two of their mission-
aries, Messrs. Dodd and Mathews, addressed a large meeting of
our mechanics, at Military Hall, on the evening of June 23, 1846,
resulting in the organization of the "Mechanics' Association of
Akron," w^ith David F. Bruner, president; Jeremiah Crissman and
William S. Painton, vice presidents; H. G. Allen, recording secre-
tary; D. G. Sanford, corresponding secretary, and James M. Hale,
treasurer.
So rapid was the growth of the society that a delegation of
nearly 100 members attended the spirited celebration held by the
Massillon Association, on the ensuing Fourth of July, chartering
a canal boat for that purpose, and marching in procession, with
appropriate music, banners, mottoes, etc. An oration, or address,
appropriate to both the day and the cause, was delivered by
Reuben McMillan, Esq. (father of Mrs. D. E. Hill, of the Sixth"
Ward), then a prominent manufacturer in Massillon — a former part-
ner of Messrs. David and Jesse Allen, in Akron, and afterwards
senior member of the firm of McMillan, Irish & Co., for several
LABOR AND LITERATURE. 1103
years extensive manufacturers of wool carding and spinning
machinery in Middlebury.
On a Strictly Cold Water Basis. — In reporting this celebra-
tion, the ^vriter, in his Cascade Roarer, said:
"The exercises were conducted on strict cold water principles, and, to
their honor be it said, the mechanics would not let a grocery keeper estab-
lish a stand upon the grounds, for the sale of even small beer, ginger-
bread, etc."
And in the same issue, under the head of " We go for Refortti,"
the writer editorially said:
"An interest of no inconsiderable extent, has been awakened in our
village, and now, while the ball is in motion, let us urge all to take an
energetic interest in keeping up the motion. Let it not be an ephemeral
excitement. The cause is well worthy the unceasing exertion of all classes.
If the contemplated victory is achieved, it will promote the happiness, as
well as the interest, of the merchant, the lawyer, the doctor, the employer,
the inechanic and the laboring man. It is a fact, if there is any virtue in
civilization, that the inore mankind are elevated, the better calculated are
they to advance the happiness and the prosperity of the great human
family."
Mechanics' Library. — To show with what promptness and
kindliness the w^ell-to^do people of Akron responded to this move-
ment, not only w^ere the demands for the ten hour day, and cash
payments, generallj'' acceded to with a good grace, by employers,
but a movement w^as immediately inaugurated for the establish-
ment of a Mechanics' Library and Reading Room, and a system of
lectures, debates and other literary exercises, for the special benefit
of the laboring classes. To the library fund Judge James R. Ford
and Colonel Simon Perkins, each contributed $50.00, while many
other liberal donations, both in money and books, were made,
resulting in the accumulation of some 250 volumes of the best sci-
entific and miscellaneous w^orks of the day, for circulation, and a
large number of the best periodicals of that period for the reading
room, which was open on stated evenings for the use of members
of the Association, and other contributors to the library and reading
fund.
Another Political Twist. — March 3, 1848, a meeting of the
w^orkingmen of Portage township w^as held at Trussell's Hall, for
the purpose of forming a Working Man's Ticket, at w^hich it w^as
"Resolved, That this meeting recognize as workingmen only those who
gain their subsistence by manual labor.
"i?eso/Ke(i, That this meeting set aside all party feuds, prejudices and
feelings* and that we form a ' Working Man's Party.' "
At an adjourned meeting, held at the same place, March 11, a
preamble and resolutions w^ere adopted as follows:
"Whereas, We are thoroughly convinced that working men and working'
women, have never held that station in society to which their high calling
entitles them— being naturally the most independent as well as the most
useful part of the community, and ought to stand first and foremost in all
that pertains to the good of society, the elevation of the human family and
the councils of a free, intelligent and happy people ; Therefore,
"Resolved, That we will throw off all party political prejudices, and will
unite for our mutual good and protection against the encroachments of
wealth, aristocracy and a few unprincipled ofifice-seekers, who act only for
their own aggrandizement."
1104 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
A committee on nominations, consisting of K. N. Bangs, J. M,
Hale, W. B. Storer, C. G. Hayes, J. Crissman, S. A. Lane, D. Kirby,
James Holmes and J. H. Hand, reported the following ticket,
which w^as adopted:
For trustees, W, B. Storer, David Miller, John Ayres; for treas-
urer, Zebulon Jones; for clerk, Tilman Waggoner; for assessor,
John Shei'bondy; for constables, Hiram Force, Jeremiah Crissman,
Asa S. Mariner; for justice of the peace, Joshua C. Berry.
This ticket was duly elected, and on the 26th day of May the
following ticket for corporation officers w^as placed in nomination
by the mechanics and laboring men of Akron:
For Mayor, James Holmes; for recorder, David G. Sanford;
for trustees, Ansel Miller, David F, Bruner, James M. Hale,
Nathaniel Finch, Benjamin McNaughton; for school directors,
James B. Taplin, William M. Dodge.
By invitation a couple of young lawyers of the village made
addresses at the nominating meeting, as appears by the following
card published in the American Democrat, of June 1, 1848:
"The mechanics and working- men of Akron, desire to express their
thanks to Messrs. Edward Oviatt and Charles G. Ladd, for their instructive
speeches, on Saturday evening", at Trussell's Hall, and especially for their
explanation of the laws of nations and of the qualifications necessary for
workingmen to have, before they can go on a foreign mission, or represent
their constituents in the Senate of the United States."
This labor ticket, however, was defeated, the following mixed
or people's ticket being elected : Mayor, Israel E. Carter; recorder,
Arad Kent; trustees, Ansel Miller, John M. Cutler, Nathaniel
Finch, George W. Bloom and Benjamin McNaughton; school
directors, Harvey B. Spelman and James S. Carpenter.
First Legal Ten Hour Day. — This item in the American
Democrat, of September 7, 1848. so far as the writer is advised,
announces the first legislative action in favor of the ten hour day
in the United States:
"The Ten Hour Law.— A law restricting the hours of labor to ten
hours a day, has been passed by the Legislature of Maine, in accordance
with the wishes of the mass of operatives in that State. Thus is the good
work g-oing forward. Thus will the masses be induced to contend for their
rights in such a manner as to teach the money owners thaf their labor is of
equal, and even greater importance, than mere money wealth."
The Final Outcome. — The radical changes in the nature of
Akron's industries — the woolen factory, with its "sheep's gray
legal-tender currency," having entirely disappeared — and the
improved methods of performing and rewarding labor, that have
taken place within the past forty years, has also brought corre-
sponding changes in the nature and objects of labor organizations,
in the process of w^hich the old Mechanics' Associations, here and
elsewhere, became obsolete. The fine collection of books consti-
tuting the library of the Akron Association, vs^as generously turned
over to the Board of Education, and became a part of the Ohio
School Library, of Akron, for many years maintained by Legisla-
tive authority and State aid, the whole being subsequently merged
in the present splendid Free Public Library of the city of Akron.
The Lesson Inculcated. — Though there still exists a vast
amount of unrest among the laboring classes, of the country, those
of Akron and Summit county, by a close analysis of what has been
EARLY AND MdDERN LABOR CONTRASTED.
1105
here and heretofore written, will see that their condition and
advantages are infinitely superior to those of their brethren of
half a century ago, and that, w^ith the same degree of economy
and abstemiousness w^hich ive were then obliged to practice, they
might, from the present emoluments of their yearly toil — excelling
feven their existing condition of comparative independence— soon
achieve "capitalistic," if not "monopolistic" eminence and power.
70
CHAPTER LV.
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY IN CALIFORNIA— INDEPENDENCE AND 'ANNEX-
ATION OF TEXAS — WAR WITH MEXICO — CONQUEST OF CALIFORNIA —
CAPTAIN JOHN AUGUSTUS SUTTER— GOLD FIRST DISCOVERED IN HIS MILL
RACE — THE CAPTAIN UTTERLY RUINED BY GOLD HUNTERS AND SQUAT-
TERS—PENSIONED BY CALIFORNIA, IN HIS OLD AGE— THE WHOLE WORLD
EXCITED — AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY EARLY ON THE MOVE — THE
PLUCKY "FORTY-NINERS" — THE GREAT EXODUS OF 1850 — PRETTY FULL
j£lST OF LOCAL .ADVENTURERS— INCIDENTS OF THE JOURNEY, THRILLING,
LUDICROUS AND SAD— DEATHS FROM CHOLERA AND OTHER CAUSES— UPS
AND DOWNS OF CALIFORNIA LIFE — FORTUNES EASILY MADE AND AS
EASILY LOST— A CHAPTER FULL OF PRESENT AND REMINISCENT INTEREST
TO ALL. .
ACQUISITION OF CALIFORNIA.
'T'EXAS, formerly a part of Old Mexico, under the lead of General
^ Samuel Houston achieved her independence, and established
a separate government, in 1835. Though acknowledged as such
by the United States, England, France and other foreign nations,
Mexico herself refused to sanction the claim, and w^hen, in
December, 1845 the "Lone Star" was formally annexed to the
United States, Mexico sought to reclaim the valuable territory of
which she w^as being despoiled by force of arms. This precipi-
tated the War of 1846, between the United States and Mexico,
resulting not only in the relinquishment of the claim of the latter
to the territory in dispute, but also in the cession to the United
States of the immense territories of New Mexico and California,
though early in the war the latter had been taken possession of
by Generals Fremont and Kearney, and Commodores Sloat and
Stockton,
Captain John A. Sutter. — Amongthe limited number of adven-
turers into California, previous to its conquest by, and cession to,
the United States, was Captain John A. Sutter, a native of
Switzerland, who, emigrating to the United States in 1834, had
made his way via Santa Fe, to the Pacific slope, and having pro-
cured from the Mexican Government a grant for a large tract of
land, covering the present site of Sacramento City, building a fort
and making other improvements, had established himself as a
stock growler and dealer in furs, hides, etc., surrounding himself
w^ith quite a following of Mexicans and native Californians, and
giving to his ranch the name of " New Helvetia." During the
war his services to the United States troops were invaluable, and
at its close Captain Sutter sought to do all in his power to aid and
encourage immigration both from the States and Europe, not only
"with the view of advancing his own personal interests, but also of
developing the agricultural and commercial resources of "Uncle
Sam's" newly acquired possessions.
First Gold Discoveries. — To this end, in the Fall of 1847, he
commenced the enlargement of the saw^-mill w^hich he had pre-
viously built, some distance above his fort, in doing which, w^hile
FIRST GOLD DISCOVERIES IN CALIFORNIA. 1107
<ieepeningthe tail-race, in February, 1848, the man in charge of the
Avork, named Marshall, observing yellow glittering particles
^among the sands of the race, submitted a portion of them to
•Captain Sutter, who in turn procured an examination to be made
by such metallurgists as were available at San Francisco, who
pronounced it gold of superior quality.
The news of the discovery spread like a prairie fire, and in a
very brief period of time almost the entire population of San
Francisco, and of the territory, were delving for the precious
metal. As soon as vessels could reach other portions of the world,
the wonderful stories told caused innumerable expeditions to be
fitted out, and before the end of the year tens of thousands of
adventurers, from almost every country on the globe, were ran-
.sacking the placers and gulches of California for gold.
CAPTAIN SUTTER UTTERLY RUINED.
So helpless was the hapless Captain Sutter, in the then chaotic
state of public authority and government, that his entire domain
Avas staked off into claims and taken possession of by squatters,
:and the Captain himself would have been reduced to beggary in
his old age, but for a pension of $3,000 per year, which was after-
w^ards granted to him by California, he having settled in
Pennsylvania in 1873, dying there in 1880, at the age of 77 years.
Summit County Excited. — The golden reports began to reach
the interior portions of the Western States, by the middle of the
year 1848, and by the Winter of 1848, '49, expeditions of greater or
less magnitude were projected in most of the principal towns in
the Ohio and Mississippi valleys for the new^ Eldorado, the greater
portion going overland, across the plains and mountains, others
by water, via the Isthmus of Panama, while a few ventured upon
the longer, but less perilous trip around Cape Horn.
Akron and Summit county were not, of course, to be left in the
lurch in the scramble for gold, and in the Spring of 1849, com-
panies for the overland journey were organized as follows:
The first company, styled "The Akron Mining Company,"
started on the 7th day of March, 1849. It was composed of Lewis
P. Buckley, John O. Garrett, Arza Kellogg, Russell Abbey, Ira
Rose, Erhard Steinbacher, George Ayliffe, J. R. Gilbert, J. L.
Oilbert, Charles Gressard, Henry S. Long, John Decker, Gilbert
Carr, Louis Philtendorf, and P. Fisher — fifteen souls in all.
Route and Mode of Travel. — Having provided themselves
with substantial wagons, harness, camp equipage, clothing, bed-
-ding, and such needed supplies as they could obtain here, includ-
ing of course, a full quota of rifles, ammunition, etc., they -were
<iriven, by hired teams, to Wellsville, from w^hence they proceeded
by steamer, via the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, to St. Louis, and
from thence, by another steamer, up the Missouri river to
Independence, where they completed their outfit by the purchase
of such animals — mules or oxen — as they deemed best adapted to
the successful accomplishment of the long and perilous journey
before them — horses and mules in about equal number being
selected.
"The Middlebury Mining Company." — The second company
to leave, two weeks later, bearing the above title, was composed as
1108 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
follows: Thomas B. Hickox (father of the late Mrs. Henry H^
Brown), Increase Sumner, Samuel Newton (father of Mrs. John
Johnston), Frederick A. Nash, Nelson Palmer, William A. Ostrom,
George W. Rhodes, Aaron S. Cleveland, of Middlebury, J. W.
Olmstead, Nelson Waite, Francis Watt and James Evans, of
Hudson, and E. Brooks, Samuel Farber and Samuel Brittain, of
Elyria, also fifteen in number. This company, similarly provided
as the first, and proceeding by the same means and route, on
reaching Independence, fitted themselves out with ox teams, with
such saddle horses as they needed, the bo\"ines, if not quite so
fast, proving quite as reliable as the equines, in accomplishing the
journey.
By the Isthmus Route, Also. — March 19, 1849, John Scupholm
(or as usually called, John Addy), Jeremiah Yockey, Clark Elliott,
Henry Prior, and a Mr. Benum and son, of Cuyahoga Falls, and at
about the same time Nicholas Rector (brother-in-law of General
George W. McNeil), Porter C. Rector, James G. Dow, Eucian B,
Raymond, Charles G. and Thomas Caldwell and several other
Akronians started via New^ York, the Isthmus of Panama, etc., for
the same destination.
Though the overland route bristled with perils and hard-
ships, the Isthmus route was, at that early day, far worse. There
w^as, of course, abundance of transportation from New York, and
other Atlantic ports, to the Isthmus, but the rub was to get from
the Isthmus to San Francisco. There were, at that time, but tw^o
regular steamers plying between Portland, Oregon, and Panama,
w^ith long intervals between arrivals and departures, w^hile coast-
wise sailing vessels on the Pacific were also few and far between.
Unscrupulous proprietors and agents of transportation lines
upon this side would assure all applicants that there would be no
difficulty in securing passage from Panama, as several steamers,
w^hich had been sent around the Horn, would surely be there in
time to accommodate all. The transit of the Isthmus itself w^a&
filled w^ith perils, hardships, disease and death. Arriving at
Chagres, the only mode of travel to Gorgona, thirty miles, was in
open boats, slow^ly poled or paddled up the Chagres river by
nearly naked natives. From Gorgona to Panama, thirty miles
further, the emigrant had to foot it through narrow, deep-worn
mountain trails and almost bottomless marshes; the natives acting
as pack-horses for the transportation of baggage, and sometimes
of humans, upon their backs.
Finally arrived at Panama, then came the " tug of war." Wait-
ing for days, and sometimes w^eeks, for a chance passage, their
money rapidly diminishing for subsistence, many despairing of
reaching California alive, would retrace their steps, while others,
overcome by exposure and disease, would simply lie down and die,
Mr. Nicholas Rector's Return. — About the middle of Aprils
1849, Mr. Nicholas Rector returned to Akron, the account given by
him adding very greatly to the anxiety of those whose friends had
gone by that route. When he left Panama there were over 3,000
emigrants awaiting transportation, and hundreds daily arriving,
and not a vessel in the harbor. Passage tickets on the expected
steamers around the Horn, as well as those already upon the
coast, were held at from $600 to $1,200, a sum beyond the ability of
the majority to pay, necessitating the securing of cheaper
HARDSHIPS OF THE ISTHMUS ROUTE. 1109
transportation, or returning to their homes disgusted, as did Mr.
Rector.
Akrox PivUCk and Perseverance. — Yet the majority of those
^who did not die upon the Isthmus, or upon the overcrowded ves-
sels, upon which they finally did secure a passage, managed by
^'hook or by crook" to "get there."
As a sample of pluck and perseverance, under the most appall-
ing difficulties, the bitter experience of three Akron gentlemen
may properly here be cited. Messrs. James G. Dow, Lucian B.
Raymond and Porter C. Rector, after remaining upon the Isthmus
several weeks, and until their individual funds were nearly
exhausted, finally, by pooling their resources, managed to secure
passage upon an old schooner. She w^as a poor sailer, at the best,
and being laden largely beyond her capacity, and beset by head
■winds, calms, etc., her progress ^ras very slow indeed, and, after
being on the ocean nearly three months, and being reduced to
nearly starvation rations, Messrs. Dow and Raymond, with many
others, went on shore and footed it nearly a thousand miles up the
coast, begging their scanty daily subsistence from the sparse and
not at that time very hospitable Mexican population, and getting
into San Francisco considerably in advance of the old tub in
which they started, Mr, Rector, and others w^ho remained on board,
during the last ten days out, having to subsist almost wholly upon
w^ormy and mouldy beans.
The Great Exodus of 1850. — Reserving, for the present, a
•description of the experiences and hardships of the "overland"
journey, we will only say of the Forty-niners from here, that, so
far as known, all got safely through, though all did not realize
their fond expectations of rapid wealth, w^hile some laid dow^n
their lives in their efforts to secure a competence for themselves
and families.
In January and February of 1850, Messrs. John O. Garrett,
Russell Abbey, Samuel Newton, and one or two other members of
the companies above named, returned, Wa the Isthmus, some of
them bringing such favorable accounts of their own and others*
success, that the " yellow fever " soon began to rage. The Beacon,
of February 27, 1850, in speaking of the intention of Messrs. Gar-
rett and Abbey to return, editorially saying:
"About thirty of our best citizens expect to start overland for Califor-
nia within three weeks. They gfo under the lead of Mr. Garrett, and several
will be accompanied by their wives. A number of our citizens also go by
the Isthmvis."
It should be added that in the intervening year, transporta-
tion facilities between Panama and San Francisco had ver^
greatly increased, while mule locomotion had been added to the
western portion of the transit across the Isthmus, though the hor-
rors of that portion pf the journey were not entirely obviated until
the completion of the Panama Railroad, in 1855.
Tme Grand Cavalcade. — The Beacon of March 20, 1850,
under the heading "California-Bound," said:
"Nearly 200 persons have left Akron and Summit county, during- the
past week, via St. Joseph, Missouri, and a number more are making their
arrangements to go. A large proportion of the whole number have hitherto
t)een residents of Akron and among our most useful citizens — chiefly
1110 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
mechanics. About forty wag-ons left on Thursday last, making- a fine pro-
cession. The streets were crowded with the friends of the fearless adven-
turers, and inany hearts ached as parting- words were uttered, and the trairt
disappeared ainid the roaring- of cannon. Several females were in the
companjr, and Mr. Garrett, the leader, who recently returned from Sacra-
mento, took his whole family, intending to make a permanent settlement itt
California."
To show that Akron was not alone a sufferer, in the loss of
"useful citizens," the same issue contains a clipping from a Mas-
sillon paper to the effect that a company of about the" same size
left Massillon the same week. And so it was all over the Western
states, and in fact the whole country, it being estimated that some
200,000 crossed the plains in 1850, besides the large contingent who
went from both the East and the West via the Isthmus, to say
nothing of the immense influx from almost every other civilized
and semi-civilized country on the globe.
A Roster of the California- Bound. — It will, of course, be
quite impossible to furnish a stricly accurate list of all who com-
posed the Akron and Summit county wing of this Grand Army,.
but from a list furnished The Beacon by Mr. Garrett, and the
writer's recollection of the names of those composing his own.
company, who left a week later, and other data at his command,,
an approximately correct list from 1850 to 1852 is as follows:
Russell Abbey, O. H. P. Ayres, John Allen, George Andrews,.
Lewis Anser, C. Ayliffe, Levi Allen, Edwin Allen, John Allen, Mar-
tin Asper, Stephen Ayres, John Ayres, Cordelia M. Ayres, Orrin
H. Ayres, Hiram J. Ayres, Thomas Ayres, Allen Ayres, Henry
Anson, William B. Ashmun, William C. Allen, Samuel B. Axtell^-
Augustus G. Babcock, A. B. Bradley, Harvey Baldwin, Noah
Baldwin, Michael Breem, William Barker, George Best, Milton
Briggs, Hugh Boyd, William E. Bradley, Henry Baker, G. Bates,
M. Bishop, John Biddle, E. Beach, L. Bradley, David H. Bliss,.
Ephraim Bellows, P. Beales, Alexander Brewster, Daniel Balch,,
John W. Baker, William Baird, Butler, G. C. Briggs, wife and
sister, E. Crain and wife, Charles Curtiss, O. Bell, Truman Barnett,,
J&mes Birge, Edward Brown, James Boyle, Adam Bergert, George
Bechtel, Samuel Britton, George Beckwith, William Barr, John
G. Carpender, James Christy, Archibald Christy, Robert Carson^
Edward Cummings, S. Chandler, John Cook, Charles Carner, A.
Coke, Robert Cochran, George E. Clark, E. Cooke, A. Chapman, L,
M. Comstock, Warren Clark, S. Chandler, James Coggeshall, Orion-
Church, John Cutshaw, Elihu Chilson, S. M. Cobb, E. P. Cook,.
Gilbert Carr, L. B. Curtiss, John Cross. Orrin Cooke, Linus Culver^
E. Comstock, Jerry Conrad, Abraham De Haven, L. Davis, Edward
Dugan and wife, B. F, Dickerman and v.dfe, Miss Maria Dickerman,.
Davis, John Devin, C. C. Dewey, John Dulin, Samuel Dulin,.
Dixon, William Denaple, Perrin De Puy, J. C. Dickerman and
wife, John and Edmund Dunn, Lyman Davis, D. Everett, E. Fry,^
Jesse Felt, John Falor, William Finch, Jonath-an F. Fenn, A. Fenn,.
Theodore Fenn, Richard Fassett, C. G. Field, B. B. Green, N. Geer,
John Gatz, Peter Graffleman, S. Gibson, John T. Good, W. Gunder
J. Gardiner, John O. Garrett, wife and five children — Emily, John
Jr., Hiram, Sarah and Henry— D. C. Gillett, William H. Garrett. J.
B, Gibbons, Edwin Gilson, Eli Goodale and wife, George M. Griffin,,
George W. Greeley, J. B. Gleason, Jacob Good, Calvin Hall, Setb
Hamlin, John Hamlin, Adam Hart, David Hanscom, Lewis Hanscom^
SUMMIT county's GOLD-SEEKERS. 1111
James Holmes, M. Hennessy, C. Holflemany, John Herman,
C. J. Hays, E. Hull, John Hill, P. Hickox, C. Harkins, Calvin Holt,
Bruce Herrick and wife. Captain Richard Howe, Richard G. How^e,
William Howe, H. Hestler, E. Hays, Walton Hulin, Dr. Mendal
Jewett, James R. Jewett, Henry Jewett, William Ives, John Johns,
J. S. Jones, William B. Judd, William H. Jones,- Janes, Rees
Jones, Peter Jahant, Z, Jones, George F. Kent, Horace Kent,
Henry Kenyon, John Krytzer, R. C. Kimball, Levi Kryder, Adam
Kempel, Lew^is Kilbourn, John Kidder, Joseph Kidder, David
Kirby, B. Kirby, John E. King, Charles Kempel, Hallet Kilbourn,
Edward Kilbourn, Oscar Kilbourn, John Kuhner and wife, Calvin
Kidder, A. Kilbourn," King, Leroy S. Kidder, Chris. Killifer,
Samuel A. Lane, J. H. Leavitt, H. Lye, H. C. Lacey, George Lillie,
William Lewis, W^illiam Lamb, Gilbert Lanphier, Albert Lanphier,
B.Lockwood, O. C. Lee, James M. Livenspferger, Burton Lockvv^ood,
Jonas Leach, Giles L'Homm^dieu, J. J . Myers, Norris Miller, N. May,
W.D. Myers, George McKay, John McKibben, William Meese, W. B.
McCune, Michael Metzler, D. Marshall, James McKelvey, Felix
Morgan, Andrew Martin, F. Masters, Nathaniel Morton, S. D.
McNeal, John D. Miner, W. D. McClure, Henry McMasters, Daniel
Martin and son Henrv, James M. Mills, W, Mayer, A. McDonald,
William T. Mather,' James M. Moore, Ithiel Mills, Mrs.
McArthur, W. Moses, Dr. L. Northrop, Owen O'Neil, James O'Neil,
James Newing, Marvin Oviatt, Wallace Nelson, George Ore utt,
Stephen Neighman, A. Nixon, Mason Oviatt, Orlen Ncav-
comb, Judson Olmstead, John Pendleton, Levi Post, John Pat-
terson, Moses R, Paine, Luther E. Payne, A. Packard, Jr., M.
Porter, Daniel Powles, S. S. Peck, Benjamin Peart, — — Powers,
H. B. Pomeroy, S. E. Phelps, J. T. Powers, Elijah Poor, J. Rhinie,
Daniel Richmond, James Root, Leonard Root, J. Reynolds, Jona-
than Remington, George Richey, Frank Rumrill, J. Radick, Samuel
Rattle, William Rattle, E. Randall, Robbins, Edward Robin-
son, Alonzo Rogers, Caleb Smith, Frederick Steese, Thomas Smith,
George W. Smith, Hiram Stott, John Stine, J. W. Sherw^ood, Wil-
liam Shaw, S. L. Shaw, Christian Scriber, William Smagg, George
Sumner, F. Sumner, King Smith, John Stineberger, David Santom,
J. Spicer, S. Sparhawk, R. B. Smith, B. Stanton, W. B. Stone,
Joseph Spiker, S. Snow, Richard Smetts, William Smetts, Ira P.
Sperry, Alvin N. Stone, John C. Stanley, Warren H. Smith, David
Simpson, William Sinclair, A. J. Smith, J. M. Sheppard, Edward
Sumner, Sizer, William Smith, Seth Sackett, Julius Stock, D.
R. Stoffer, O. E. Shepard, John Teucher, H. Taylor, William A.
Taylor, William J. Taylor, Charles W. Tappan and family, Charles
O. Turner, Leander Titus, William Thompson, George Wells, R.
Weltz, N. White, Leander Washburn, Miss Lorinda W^ashburn, M.
A. Wheeler, Jesse Widoe, J. Wohmein, Mayer Weil, H. Willard,
Mrs. Willard, Theodore Willard, H. O. Willard, J. D. Whitney, H.
B. W^illiams, D. Wright, O. Wright, Judge Samuel A. Wheeler,
Thomas Wilson, Elijah, Frederick and Henry Wadsworth, Orrin
L. Walker, Jefferson Walker, Edward Waite, Philo E. Wright, Ben-
jamin D. Wright, Wm. H.White, A. Wood, J. W. Wilbur, Benjamin
K. Waite, Henry S. and Solomon Whetstone, F. P. Warren, Joseph
Wallace, Cyrus Wirt, David H. Wood, Wm. Walling, J. Waggaman,
Henry C. Wadhams, Theo.Williard and wife, Geo. York, L.Y.Young,
A. Vaughn, J. M. Yocum, J.Vickers, Dorsey W.Viers, H.S.Vaughn.
1112 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. .
Included in the foregoing list of fully 350 names are several
residents of contiguous counties, who joined the Akron companies
in crossing the plains and mountains, in 1849, '50, as well as quite
a number w^ho made their way to the Pacific Slope the two foUow^-
ing years, during the writer's sojourn there, but doubtless omit-
ting many whom he did not meet or have knowledge of. It
may thus be safely stated that not less than 400 people went from
Summit county to California during the years 1849 to 1852, while
hundreds of others have wended their w^ay thither, for business or
pleasure during the intervening forty years. All who started,
however, did not live to reach their destination— King, Stineberger
and Smith, of Akron, Finch, of Richfield, and Cook, of Cuyahoga
Falls, dying at or before reaching St. Joseph, and a number of
others dying en route upon the plains or ocean.
It is proper to remark here that the majority of those who left
this vicinity, in the Spring of 1850, enrolled themselves under the
banner of Captain Garrett, by reason of his experience of the year
before. Others, however, organized or united with smaller com-
panies, the sequel showing that while proximity to number3,
en route, was an element of safety in passing through the terri-
tory of hostile Indians, moderate sized companies were more readily
handled, more harmonious and more successful in overcoming the
difficulties of the journey, and averting disaster to themselves and
their animals, the liability to, and magnitude of, which will faintly
appear in what follows.
The writer, w^ith some forty-five or fifty others from Akron and
vicinity, starting a ^veek later than Captain Garrett's Company, by
the same route and means, reached Wellsville, March 22, 1850,
where, with wagons, horses and other property, we embarked on
the steamer " North River," for St. Louis, the river transit occu-
pying just six days.
Overland Through Missouri. — Satisfying ourselves on inquiry
that, owing to the backwardness of the season, we had a v^^hole
month to spare before it would be safe to start out upon the plains,
and that mules and other needed supplies could be bought cheaper
at St. L/Ouis than at St. Joseph, we determined on making the
journey through Missouri, some 350 miles, by land, instead of
water, both as a matter of economy and accustoming ourselves
and our animals to the work before us and them, as well as to
enable us to remedy any defects of outfit we might discover before
passing beyond the bounds of civilization.
Several members of the company had taken horses w^ith them
from home, but such mules as were needed had to be purchased
there. The majority of the mules in the market were " green," or
unbroken, and to say that the boys had lots of fun breaking them,
w^ould be drawing it mild, our present veteran drayman. Uncle
"Dick" Smetts, at one time getting a whack upon the abdomen,
from a pair of hoofs, that threatened serious results for several
days, and at another time dislocating his shoulder in wrestling
w^ith a mule; w^hile the dignified Judge Wheeler w^as doubled up
like a jack-knife, and the serious-minded Deacon Jonathan F.
Fenn, at one end of a lariat, vt'itli a gyratory mule at the other end,
w^as straightened out like a w^hip-lash; and even the writer hiin-
self, getting a severe tap upon the knee that produced a painful
limp for several days, and at another time, incredible as it may
OVERLAND THROUGH MISSOURI. 1113
:appear, a pair of heels passed in such close proximity to his face
^s to knock off his wide-brimmed hat, without hitting his nose!
The price of mules varied from $65 tb $85 per head, for green,
and from $90 to $100 for those broken to harness. The mess to
which the writer was attached, consit«ting, besides himself, of
James Holmes, Robert Carson and John McKibben, bought two
span of well-broken mules at $90 a head, which, with our four
equally well-broken horses, taken from home, made us a most
excellent team, and that, too, without the wear and tear of muscle
and temper, to which the purchasers of the unbroken animals were
subjected, to say nothing of the detriment of the breaking-in pro-
cess to the animals themselves.
Generous Hospitality. — Having shipped the bulk of our pro-
visions and luggage by steamer to St. Joseph, we were in readi-
ness for a start from St. Louis, on Saturday, March 30. Meantiirie
Mr. William P. Fenn, a former resident of Tallmadge, then the
proprietor of an extensive dairy farm, six miles west of St. Louis,
and directly upon our route, had invited the entire company to
spend the Sabbath with him, w^hich invitation was cordially
accepted, and right royally w^ere w^e entertained.
On Monday morning, April 1st, we started on our journey, Mr.
Fenn and one of his men kindly accompanying us far as St. Charles,
a distance of twenty miles. Here we crossed the river, and, upon
the north side of the Missouri, pursued our way leisurely to our
final starting point, St. Joseph, then the extreme western verge of
civilization.
Undue Fastidiousness. — The many interesting incidents
encountered in that slave-cursed State cannot be here given, for
want of space. One, only, as bearing upon the later trials and pri-
vations of the journey must suffice. On the supposition that
provisions of all kinds could be readily obtained from the planta-
tions we might pass, w^e took very little with us, but found that, so
far as bread was concerned, we could obtain none whatev^er,
except in two or three villages which we passed through; every
tneal, from bread up, as in all other slave States, being literally
prepared from " hand to mouth." Our wagon being in the lead,
one day, w^e stopped at a w^ay-side horse-power grist-mill, and
bought half a bushel of coarse-ground corn meal. Judge Wheeler
coming up, as I \\ras pouring the meal into our provision chest,
exclaimed: "Lane, what in the world are you going to do with
that?" "Make it into griddle cakes," I replied. "But how are you
going to manage to sift it?" inquired the Judge. "Cook it without
sifting," I replied. "Well," said the Judge, contemptuously, " You
can eat coarse-ground, unsifted corn meal, if you like, but I w^as
better brought up!" Before we get to our journey's end, we
shall see.
Organizing for the Journey. — We arrived at St. Joseph,
March 25th, finding that Captain Garrett's train, w^ith about forty
w^agons and 160 men, had started out upon the plains some tw^o or
three days before. Loading up our supplies, w^hich had been for-
w^arded by water, -we ascended the river about five miles, and,
crossing over, encamped on a high bluff, in the Indian territory,
w^here we remained a few days, visiting town daily, to put the fin-
ishing touches upon our outfit, one indispensable item of which
^vas as much corn and other feed as we could haul upon our
1114 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
wagons, or pack upon the backs of our loose animals, for their
subsistence, from the fact that not a single spire of the green grass
that had been depended upon for that purpose, was yet visible.
Deeming thorough organization of the first importance, a
meeting was held on the morning of April 27th, of which Captain
Richard Howe was made chairman and S. A. Lane, secretary. At
this meeting Captain Ho\v^e was unanimously elected captain of
the train, Judge Samuel A. Wheeler, assistant, and Henry Anson,
sergeant of the guard. James M. Mills, Ira P. Sperry and Jonathan
Avery (of Adrian, Mich.) were appointed a committee on rules,
■who, the same evening, reported the followring:
"Resolved, That we recommend that this division of the California
emigration be named 'Howe's Train.'"
"Resolved, That, for the protection of our train, no member shall dis-
charere a gun incainp, or put the same loaded and capped either into tent
or wagon, without being so ordered by the officers of the train.
"Resolved, That each member stand guard as his name appears on the
roll, and the captain shall have power to increase or diminish the guard as
circuiu stances maj^ require.
"Resolved, That the train shall be formed as the captain may direct.
"Resolved, That if other persons, with wagons, wish to join the train,
the company may elect or refuse, as a majority may determine.
"Resolved, That three hours be the time of standing guard, from 8
o'clock until daylight, to be divided into three equal watches, and that the
roll be formed by taking one name in turn from each mess, as given in, the
names to be taken in regular rotation, in the formation of the guard."
The list as given in, and the several messes originally consti-
tuting "Howe's train," were as follows : Richard Howe, Kdwin
Gilson, Edward Waite, J. S. Jones, George Wilcox, Samuel A,
Wheeler, Richard Smetts, William Smetts, Richard G. Howe,
Augustus G. Babcock; Ira P. Sperry, Benjamin D. Wright, Philo
E. Wright, Alvin N. Stone; James M. Mills, Henry Anson, Henry
McMasters, William Denaple; John T. Good, John Cook, Michael
Metzler, J. Waggaman; James Holmes, Samuel A. Lane, Robert
Carson, John McKibben; John G. Carpender, Leander Titus, Felix
Morgan, A. Nixon; Warren Clark, J. Vickers, Daniel Martin,
Henry Martin; Owen O'Neil, James O'Neil, John Patterson, Wil-
liam Shaw, Hugh Boyd; Mr. and Mrs. Edward Dugan, Mr. and
Mrs. John Kuhner; Jonathan F. Fenn, Leonard Root; Walton
Hulin, James Boyle, (from Trumbull county); Elihu Chilson, J. M.
Sheppard, William Thompson; Jonathan Avery, Moses L. Gore,
Philip Roberts, Henry Price, Morgan Brazee, P. O. Cook (the latter
six from Adrain, Mich.); 56 persons, with 85 head of horses and
mules, all told.
It should be properly added, here, that besides the messes,.
above enumerated, a German by the name of George Bechtel, wha
had been employed in the warehouse of Mr. P. D. Hall, went
through upon his "own hook," writh a single mule, upon w^hich
was strapped his blankets and provisions, picking up, kernel by
kernel, the corn ^^^asted by our o>vn and other trains, on which his-
own mule w^as kept fat and sleek, w^hile other animals, by the
thousand, succumbed to the rigors of the journey and the scanti-
ness of their feed.
The "Military" Train. — While the great mass of the wagons
of the emigrants were covered with w^hite or brown canvas, it so
happened that the most of ours were covered with black rubber
ROUTINE TRAVEL AND CAMP DUTY. 111&
cloth, \srhich fact, together with the circumstance that that prince
of drummers, Henry McMasters, had his drum along, and our
Trumbull county neighbor, Hulin, an equally skilled musician^
had his life with him, upon w^hich instruments they w^ould aw^ake
the echoes of the plains and mountains w^ith soul-stirring martial
music, nearly every evening, gave us the title, among our neigh-
bors of the "Military Train," and possibly afforded us immunity
from disturbance by the hostile Indians through whose hunting
grounds we w^ere obliged to pass, from w^hich so many trains that
year and the year before were annoyed and despoiled of their
animals and other property, and often of their lives, upon the
journey.
Camp Duty — Standing Guard, Etc. — But notwithstanding
this supposed immunity, w^e by no means relaxed our vigilance.^
In a mess of four, tw^o Avere assigned the task of caring for the
animals, one as cook and the other as general utility man, by
courtesy called the "chambermaid," whose duties w^ere to pack and
unpack the wagon, set up and take dow^n the tent, make beds^
gather fuel, water, etc. The captain, or his assistant, having by
riding ahead secured a proper camping ground — usually selected
w^ith reference to proximity to feed and water — at about 6 o'clock
w^ould conduct us into camp. The w^agons w^ere arranged in cir-
cular form, w^ith our tents between, and our camp-fires on the
inside. On getting into position, the first care was for the animals,
"which w^ere securely tethered by lariats attached to iron pins driven
into the ground, the teamstiers being sometimes obliged to go quite
a distance to find good pasturage.
Meantime the cook skirmishes around for fuel and water^
kindles his lire and prepares his meal, while the "chambermaid "^
unpacks the ^vagon, pitches the tent, unrolls and adjusts the bed-
ding, sets the table, etc. — the latter piece of "furniture" consisting'
of a piece of oilcloth, about four feet square, spread upon the
ground, the "crockery" consisting of tin plates, tin tea and coffee
pots and cups, iron spoons, knives, forks, etc., w^ith the frying pan
in the center, surrounded by pans of rice, beans, bread, stewed
apple, etc., from w^hich each messmate, sitting flat upon the ground,
helps himself, without stint or ceremony. And such appetites!
Little wonder that the w^riter increased his avoirdupois over thirty
pounds on that journey, fatiguing and wearing as it was.
At eight o'clock the stock is gathered up and securely picketed
inside the ring, and then to bed. And w^e had beds, too. First
rubber blankets spread upon the ground, then light cotton mat-
tresses, w^oolen blankets, comforters, feather pillow^s, etc, and
making it a rule to regularly undress, as if at home, except in casea
of supposed danger, stress of ^veather, etc.
The night was divided into three watches — from eight till
eleven, eleven till two, and from two till daylight — w^hen the camp
was aroused by the firing off of the guns. Regular beats w^ere
maintained around the camp, at times a very hazardous operation,
as was evidenced by the fact that a number of the guards of other
trains were killed by Indians while thus on duty, either from sheer
savage w^antonness, or for purposes of plunder by stampeding the
stock, as was frequently done.
The routine duty of the morning was, first, for the teamsters to
get the stock to the feeding grounds, the cook meantime preparing
1116 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
breakfast, while the "chambermaid" rolled up the bedding, struck
ihe tent, packed the wagon, set the table, etc. The morning meal
over, the dishes were washed and packed, the animals gathered in
and tackled, and everything made ready for a start — the team first
in readiness being the leader for the day; a halt of from one totw^o
hours being made in the middle of the day for baiting our animals
and ourselves.
Commissary Stores, Fuel, Cooking, Etc. — Our main reliance,
in the provision line, was cured side pork and sea biscuit, what
have since, in w^ar parlance, come to be know^n as " sow^-belly" and
-"hard-tack," though each company w^as provided w^ith such
■" luxuries," as the taste and purses of its members might suggest
or w^arrant — corn meal, flour, dried beef, dried apples and peaches,
■coffee, tea, sugar, cheese, etc.
The most of the cooking w^as done over the open camp-fire, and
was, of course, more or less seasoned w^ith flying dust, and flavored
by odors of the different kinds of fuel accessible to us — dry grass,
w^eeds, green sage-brush, buffalo "chips," etc., for often, for hun-
<lreds of miles, not a twig or splinter of wood was within our reach;
the "chips," by the by, being about the best fuel encountered upon
ihe journey.
The writer's own mess was provided with a small two-story
sheet-iron stove, with oven, boiler holes, etc., by which we w^ere
enabled to provide a variety of bakery goods — biscuits, short-cake,
gingerbread, apple-pies, etc , that but few of our neighbors could
indulge in — the writer officiating as cook through Missouri, and
Mr. James Holmes upon the plains.
Incidents of the Journey.— To re-produce even the brief daily
record of the journal kept by the writer, would occupy more space
than could be given to it here. A few^ of the more salient incidents
therefore must suffice. We left our camp upon the bluffs at pre-
■cisely 10 o'clock on the first day of May, to the pluck-inspiring
music of the fife and drum, our first objective point being Fort
Kearney, 300 miles distant, on the Platte River, which we reached
May 16, having averaged about 20 miles a day. Though w^e were
almost at the head of the emigration that year, a record kept at
ttCb fort showed that 1,952 wagons and 6,152 souls had preceded us.
For the first t^vo w^eeks, so backward was the season, we had to
rely principally upon the corn and other feed carried with us, by
the aid of sickles, hatchets, knives, etc., converting the prairie grass
of the year before, mixed w^ith middlings, into "chop" \\rhich the
animals devoured with great avidity and seeming relish. Those
w^ho did not thus take along feed, had to depend solely upon this
<lry grass for the subsistence of their stock, which soon began to be
painfully manifest by the constantly increasing number of dead
animals along the route.
Death on the Trail. — On our fourth day out we saw our
first grave, that of a man from Michigan, who died the
year before. At the head of the grave was a small board giv-
ing name, age, residence, date of death, etc., the mound
being surmounted by the huge branching antlers of a prai-
rie elk, with its prongs firmly implanted in the ground. This
grave, on a knoll several rods from the road, had a deep-worn path
to, and from it, indicating that nearly every passing pilgrim to the
land of gold, paid a visit thereto, an unavoidable sadness pervading
INCIDENTS UPON THE PLAINS. 1117
the minds of all who viewed it, lest in the long and perilous jour-
ney before them, they or their friends might share the fate of the
one who had thus fallen at the very outset of the journey. The
sight became a very familiar one, however, as we proceeded, many
others of those who died the year before, from cholera and other
diseases, with many fresh mounds under which were quietly sleep-
ing those who, but a few days before, were as eagerly pursuing
their quest for gold as ourselves.
Buffaloes by the Million. — Soon after leaving Fort Kearney,
we struck the buffalo pasture grounds, "chips" for fuel being
plenty, l)ut for several days none of the animals in sight, except
an occasional herd in the distance, seen from the bluffs. The day
after leaving the fort, towards night, a solitary buffalo was descried
a mile or two to the left, towards the bluffs, and our cook shoul-
dered his rifle and sauntered off that way, thinking to get a crack
at him, and then make his way towards the train. We w^ent into
camp at about the usual hour, in a small ravine, a short distance
from the road, but no Holmes put in an appearance. The
"chambermaid" got supper, the animals were duly cared for, bed-
time arrived, but still no Holmes. By this time the camp was
thoroughly alarmed. The drum \vas beaten and guns were tired
to guide the wanderer into camp, but still he came not. Thinking
that he might have got bewildered in some of the gulches of the
bluffs, a searching party was organized, which, armed with lan-
terns, guns, drum, fife, etc., started for the bluffs. Finally, at
about eleven o'clock, and just before the return of the searching
party, the lost one came slowly marching into camp, almost utterly
exhausted. It appeared that on returning to the road about where
we would be likely to be encamped, w^e were not in sight, being in
a ravine as before stated. Inquiring at another camp for the " mili-
tary train," he was told that we were behind, and back he walked
several miles, w^hen he w^as told that we were ahead, and ahead he
w^ent to be again and again told that we were to the right or to the
left, finally striking a company who told him that early in the
evening the beating of a drum and the firing of guns was heard
in a given direction, w^hen he marched right into camp. The
unsuccessful searching party soon returned \srith sorrow^ful coun-
tenances, but when they learned that the lost was found, their sor-
row was turned to joy, and tired as he was, and as we all w^ere, an
impromptu midnight jollification was held over the happy out-
come of the adventure. Holmes kept pretty near home after
that. ,
Animals Frightened Off. — Three days later, while lying by
for lunch, an immense herd of buffaloes was discovered to be bearing
directly down upon us from the north. All hands made a rush for
the teams, but before all could be secured six head had pulled
their lariat pins and escaped — two mules belonging to Mills and
Anson, and two mules and two horses belonging to Kuhner and
Dugan. The two former were recovered during the afternoon, but
the four latter, after a thorough search of a day and a half, being
now^here to be found or even seen, it being stated by old buffalo
hunters, that domestic animals thus frightened, will run with, and
become merged in the herd from w^hich they are endeavoring to
escape. Having two large horses left, by such aid as was afforded
them by other members of the train, the unfortunate couple, with
1118 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
iheir wives, w^ere enabled to pursue their journey Avithout much
inconvenience.
A Neat Mechanical Operation. — ^We were now far enough
upon our journey to require occasional repairs upon our w^agons.
Several spokes had been broken out of one of the hind wheels of
Wheeler's w^agon, w^hile it w^as becoming musically evident that
the tires upon all of the w^heels of our wagon needed to be re-set;
but how could it be done, w^ith no wood or coal, no bellows or anvil
or other appliances -with which to cut and shut the tire? But the
skill of the practical carriage-maker and blacksmith at the head of
the Tallmadge mess, Mr. Ira P. Sperry, was adequate to the occa-
sion. Having previously supplied ourselves w^ith the necessary
timber from the crippled wagon of another train ^vhich was being
dismantled, taking advantage of our involuntary delay "while
searching for the missing stock, stripping the tire from the wheels
in question, new^ spokes were speedily adjusted to the one, and to
compensate for our inability to contract the diameter of the tire,
the diameter of the w^heel itself w^as increased by tacking thin
tapering strips to the outer surface of the felloes. Then the proper
expansion of the tire was effected by the use of buffalo "chips" for
fuel, and, when in place, contracted by the waters of the near-by
creek, giving to the wheels, when cooled, as sound a ring as when
first turned from the shop in old Tallinadge.
" Slaughter of the Innocents." — During our day and a half
sojourn, as stated, numerous buffaloes passed near us, and the
hunters of our party gave chase, killing from twelve to fifteen of
them, so that our entire train fared sumptuously upon fresh beef,
so long as it could be kept from spoiling with the appliances we
had. Of course w^e could use but a small portion of the slaugh-
tered animals, some of them being too far from camp to be brought
in, while other portions were given to the members of contiguous
trains. Immense herds were also seen bro\vsing upon the north
side of the Platte, w^hile many similar herds crossed our path, and
were seen upon either hand, for several days, so that it is safe to
say that we saw millions of the shaggy-maned bovines within the
<iistance of 100 miles on this portion of our journey.
Perils of the Murky Deep. — About 100 miles from Fort
Kearney we came to the forks of the Platte, and passing up the
left bank of the South fork about forty miles, crossed the river, and
over a succession of steep ridges into Ash Hollow, on the North
Platte. The South Platte, where we crossed it, was about half a
mile in width, but the ford being diagonally across, just about
doubled the distance. The water was about three feet deep, and
extremely muddy, from the washings of the soft rocky-earthj'^ bluffs
through which it runs higher up. It is the South Platte that
gives its muddy character to the main Platte, which, in turn dis-
colors the Missouri and the Mississippi, both the North Platte and
the upper Missouri and Mississippi, being as clear as crystal.
The South Platte, at the crossing, had a rapid current and a
C[uick-sand bottom, with the exception of narrow bars of solid
ground from fiteen to twenty rods apart. Once in the stream, men
and animals had to keep moving, from one bar to another, or the
sand would w^ash out from under their feet and down they w^ould
go. The animals, as well as the humans, instinctively realized
the danger, and pulled for dear life, though an occasional one.
"DISTANCE LENDS ENCHANTMENT TO THE VIEW." 1119
^weakened by travel and poor care, Avould sink down exhausted,
and have to be pulled through by his companions, being some-
iiinies drowned in the operation.
Sublimely Beautiful. — The country between Ash Hollow and
Fort Laramie, 150 miles, w^as lovely in the extreme, the broad and
fertile valley of the river, being flanked on either side by high
bluffs, to which, in the clear atmosphere of the region, distance
lent the most delightful enchantment. These bluffs, as w^e
approached and passed them, presented the appearance of turreted
•castles, handsome villas and magnificent cities, with their domes
and spires, but a few miles distant, but w^hich in reality were from
tw^enty-five to fifty miles away. An occasional isolated fragment,
standing out in bold 'relief, would attract the curiosity and incite
a visit from the emigrant.
The first of these was called " Court House Rock," \srhich, as
'we approached, strikingly resembled the regulation stone court
liouse, w^ith a lofty dome upon its summit, tw^o or three miles from
ihe road, over a seemingly perfect level prairie. It was visited by
thousands, mostly on foot, who found that instead of two or three,
it was seven or eight miles from the road, with deep ravines, and
one or two considerable streams of water intervening. With
several of our company, on muleback, I visited the " Court House."
We found it to be an irregular soft, clayey lime-stone formation,
ihree-fourths of a mile around the base, and from 150 to 200 feet
Tiigh, the "dome" being an almost perpendicular shaft of some
iorty-five or fifty feet in height, and fifteen feet across the top.
Thousands of names of emigrants w^ere carved upon the surface
of this rock, from base to top of dome, the only one recognized by
the writer being that of "William Smagg, Akron, Ohio, May 17,
1850," just ten days before our visit, indicating that our train and
Oarrett's w^ere making about the same time.
Thirteen miles beyond, "Chimney Rock," five or six miles from
the road, is also visited by thousands. This w^as a conical mass of
rock, about 150 feet in height, with a perpendicular shaft of 100
feet or more rising from its center, giving it, from a distance, the
appearance of a huge factory smoke-stack.
Thirty miles beyond, we arrive at and pass through, a romantic
-chain, called " Scott's Bluff," which has been seemingly but a few
miles ahead for four or five days, and twenty miles further brings
us to Fort Laramie, 600 miles from St. Joseph, which we reached
on the morning of May 30, having maintained an average of
twenty miles per day, including the Sundays and other occasional
■days that we did not travel.
Though for the most part our road has thus far been seem-
ingly almost upon a dead level, along the valley of the Platte and
its tributaries, we have been gradually going up hill, Fort Laramie
being 4,770 feet higher than the Gulf of Mexico, and at the base of
the far-famed Rocky Mountains.
Property Values upon the Plains. — About fifeen miles this
side of Fort Laramie, by the sliding of our wagon, in passing over
a sideling gulley, one of our hind w^heels was turned inside out,
but we were fortunate in securing another w^agon, from another
company, for the moderate sum of $20. Transferring our luggage
to the new purchase, we hauled the crippled w^agon to the fort,
•with the view of getting it repaired, if possible. We indeed found
1120 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
a repair shop there, but as the fellows running it wanted $20 for
filling the wheel, and would not promise to do it for two or three
days at that, w^e sold them the wagon that we had paid $90 for^
three months before, for the paltry pittance of $12, and pushed
ahead, with the plainer and lighter, but stronger one purchased as
above stated. A few days later we had the pleasure of seeing our
familiar old w^agon pass our camp, and on inquiry learned that its
then owners had traded a still heavier wagon for it, and paid $35
to boot.
The Journey a Temper Tester. — The overland journey was
admirably calculated to develop the perverse and selfish instincts
of human nature. If, as was often the case, companies found them-
selves overloaded with provisions or articles which they had
thought to carry through for use on the other side, or concluded ta
abandon their wagons, tents, etc., and pack the rest of the journey,
the universal practice was to destroy what they could not sell.
Wagons would be chopped to pieces or burned; tents torn into
shreds, gun-barrels bent, chains, and iron and steel implements
sunk in the streams, etc., it being reported of a well known Akron
lady, that, finding she must dispense with her cherished flat-ironSr
she hurled them writh her own hand, into the middle of a near-by
river.
So, too, little differences of opinion in regard to train manage-
ment, care of stock, selection of camping ground, lying by or
going ahead on Sunday, etc., would develop into angry quarrels^
that would not only cause some very circumspect people, w^hen at
home, to use extremely " sulphurous" language, but to frequently
break up messes, and sometimes entire companies, each member
thereafter going it upon his OAvn hook; broils of that character not
infrequently terminating in bloody and fatal fights, or life-long
bitter enmities.
Our little company w^as comparatively exempt from that clas&
of disasters, and though splits were sometimes imminent, writh a
single exception the messes of "Military Train" remained intact
to the end. The exception alluded to was the sudden falling out
between Mr. and Mrs. Kuhner and Mr. and Mrs. Dugan, the cause
of w^hich was never fully apparent to the rest of us.
On the Sunday morning after the unfortunate loss of their
animals, as above detailed, -while we were encamped on the Platte
river, getting into some trivial controversy, Kuhner's " Dutch "^
became excited and Dugan got his "Irish" up to such an extent
that, before any of us were aw^are of what w^as going on, they had
divided all of their effects, cutting and sawing right dow^n through
the center of the top and body of their splendid rubber-top
w^agon and converting it into a couple of bob-tailed carts. Pre-
vious to the loss of their animals, as stated, Kuhner had purchased
from an Indian trader, for his wife to ride on, an Indian pony,
w^hich he now^ harnessed up with his large horse to the cart, made
from the forward portion of the wagon, *while Dugan, mounting
his horse, rode some ten miles to the bluffs, w^here he secured a
couple of pine poles, out of w^hich he constructed shafts to the
hinder portion, and w^ith these unique rigs they continued on ^vith
the train, the rest of us giving the ^vomen frequent rides on our
own wagons, and also helping the late belligerents over the hard
spots on the journey.
POISONOUS WATERS AND GRASSES. 1121
California Prices Already, — From Fort Laramie, the snow-
capped peaks of the Rocky Mountains are distinctly visible, and
their chilling influence, these last days of May and first days of
June, uncomfortably apparent, for though in midday the sun
shines bright and warm, the nights are sufficiently cool to form
ice from an eighth to a quarter inch in thickness upon our water-
buckets and the shallower streams of w^ater of the vicinity. Pass-
ing over a spur of the Black Hills, forty miles brings us again to
the valley of the North Platte, which we foUow^, between lofty
ranges of solid granite, about eighty-five or ninety miles.
At this point, 125 miles from Fort Laramie, w^e cross the river,
which, earlier and later in the season, is easily fordable, but during
the melting of snow in the mountains the current attains a depth
and velocity that renders the fording process impracticable.
Hitherto, in such an emergency, emigrants had, at great risk, fer-
ried themselves and their effects over in wagon boxes, or on impro-
vised rafts, as best as they could, the animals and many of the
men, having to swim for it, many lives and much property being
lost in the operation. But this year parties from the fort had
established a ferry here, having five boats rudely constructed
from the large trees found along the river bank at this point, and
propelled across by the current, by means of cables stretched
across the stream, and kept in proper tension by windlasses on
either side, — the width of the river being about 300 feet. The
ferriage fee was onJj^ four dollars per u^agon, and tjventjr- five
cents for each animal, the humans being generously crossed
without charge.
At the ferry we found, upon a tree, the names of Hallet Kil-
bourn, Frederick Wadsworth, David H. Bliss, and several other
Akronians, under date of May 27, showing that we were all mak-
ing about the same speed, as it will be remembered that Garrett's
train started ten days ahead of us, and it is now the 6th day of
June. Many other names and messages were here and elsew^here
inscribed upon the trees and rocks, indicating to following friends
the progress that was being made, and the welfare of those ahead
of them.
Poisonous Waters, Grasses, Ktc. — A few miles from the ferry
we started upon our heaviest climb, thus far, over the divide
between the Platte and the Sweetwater, a distance of about sixty
miles. In the intervening vallej'S between the tw^o rivers, w^e for
the first time strike the poisonous alkaline springs and meadows,
so fatal to the animals of the emigrants. In one place we passed
what, as we approached, looked like a lake of milk, but which
proved to be a solid bed of what was found, by experiment, to be
a fair quality of saleratus. In these valleys w^ere innumerable
poisonous springs, almost side by side with springs of pure and
wholesome water, requiring the utmost vigilance, on the part of
emigrants, to prevent disaster to themselves and stock, as evi-
denced by the hundreds of dead horses, mules and oxen visible
to both the optic and the olfactory organs, on every hand. Emi-
grants of the year before, who had suffered from this cause, had
thoughtfully posted cards indicating the more prominent of these
poisonous spots, but many others Avere not thus indicated. One
afternoon, w^hile riding one of our ponies and leading two of our
mules, I turned aside into what appeared to be a patch of nutritious
71
1122 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
meadow grass, while the train passed on. Allowing the ani-
mals to graze half or three-quarters of an hour, I started forward
to overtake the train. Soon after reaching the road, I discovered
that the pony I was riding was sick. He would stop, crouch
nearly to the ground, retch as if trying to vomit, and groan as if
in great distress. Hastily transferring the saddle to one of the
mules, I pushed on as rapidly as possible, but soon found that
both of the mules were affected the same ^way. Thanks to Mr.
Russell Abbey, from his experience of the year before, we had
provided ourselves with antidotes — tartaric and citric acids. On
reaching the train, which had gone into camp, we drenched the
three animals with a solution of the acid, and in fifteen minutes
the mules were apparently as well as ever, and the pony a good
deal better, though it was several days before he entirely recov-
ered. Later on, when the very best water we could procure was
more or less impregnated w^ith alkali, we made free use of the
acids in question, with great benefit to our animals and ourselves,
our company getting through with every head of stock we started
with, excepting those frightened off by buffaloes, as heretofore
stated.
"Independence Rock" — "Devil's Gate," Etc. — Soon after
reaching the Sweetwater, a beautiful stream about six or eight
rods wide, and from two to four feet deep, we cross to the north
bank, and halt for lunch under the shadow^ of "Independence
Rock" — a solitary mass of granite 1,800 feet long, 360 feet wide,
and from 300 to 400 feet high, so named not only because of its
standing on the level plain of the valley, independent of the neigh-
boring chain of mountains, but also because one of the earliest
trains that went through to Oregon celebrated the Fourth of July
at its base, and planted the Stars and Stripes upon its summit.
This rock vi;^as literally covered — not w^ith patent medicine
advertisements, as perchance it may be now — but with the names
of thousands of emigrants, inscribed in every variety of style,
color and material — w^hite, red and black paint, tar, lampblack and
grease, chalk, charcoal, etc., some being even chiseled into the
hard granite.
A short distance beyond Independence Rock, is w^hat is
denominated the "Devil's Gate." A sharp spur of the mountain,
around which the river originally ran, perhaps being undermined
by the current, had apparently split off, the outer portion filling
up the bed of the river, and forcing the water through the cleft in
the rock. The sides of the cleft were some 400 feet in height, and,
being considerably narrow^er than the channel of the river on
either side, the water rushes through with considerable force, and
a roar resembling that of Niagara Falls at a distance.
Mountain Sheep, Goats, Etc. — Camping over Sunday, just
beyond the "Devil's Gate," a number of our boys clambered to the
top of the mountain, several thousand feet, Avhere they saw range
on range beyond, vi^ith broad, heavy timbered valleys between,
w^hich seemed the more singular from the fact that there w^as not
a tree or shrub in the valley of the Sweetwater, except the odorif-
erous sage-brush. Many mountain sheep and goats w^ere seen by
the boys, but they were unable to approach sufficiently near to get
a shot at them.
ON THB SUMMIT OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 1123
Gold Excitement Extraordinary. — At this point, also, great
excitement \vas produced by the discovery of what seemed like
innumerable particles of gold among the sands of the Sweet-
water. The first impulse w^as to wash out a few thousands and
return, but when it was found that the shining particles were
much lighter than the sand, and w^ould all float off on attempting
a separation by w^ashing, that project w^as abandoned and we con-
cluded to push forward to the Pacific slope, where we could shovel
up the big- lumps.
Snow-Clad Mountains. — Leaving the "Devil's Gate" on Mon-
day morning, June 10, we foUo^v the general course of the Sweet-
w^ater nearly three days, fording it several times, passing between
snow-capped mountains, and over a number of high ranges, on
the top of one of which we found an almost level sandy plain,
sixteen miles, without water; on another of about the same
dimensions, several creeks and marshes, and sno^v drifts.
On the night of June 12, while encamped on Willow creek, we
-were visited w^ith a furious storm of sleet and snow^, and on the
morning of June 13, found the w^ater in our half-filled tin >vater-
dish frozen solid. It was a curious sight, that, to see bright and
fragrant flowers sweetly blooming on the icy margins of these
slowly melting snoAv-banks, where a person could easily gather a
snow-ball with one hand and a beautiful bouquet with the other.
"Squeezing Through" the South Pass. — Crossing the Sweet-
w^ater for the last time, a short ten miles brings us to what was
then, and perhaps still is, known as the "South Pass" of the
Rocky Mountains, and, what may seem singular, the five miles on
either side is almost a dead level, and the road quite sandy.
Indeed, so gradual is the ascent and descent, that the emigrant
only knows that he has really passed the summit, when he finds
the waters of Pacific creek running in the opposite direction from
those he has lately been traversing.
And what of the pass itself? Instead of a narrow, rough, zig-
zag fissure through craggy rocks, it is a broad plain, eighteen or
tw^enty miles in extent, north and south, our road being near its
southern verge, and skirting along huge drifts of snow on the
northern slope of the lofty mountain range to the south of us.
At this point we are 960 miles from St. Joseph, and 7,490 feet
higher than the Gulf of Mexico, the extreme rarefaction of the
atmosphere not only rendering it extremely difficult for men and
animals to properly inflate their lungs, or to walk or work without
panting, but also making it almost impossible to do any cooking,
particularly beans and rice, water boiling at so low a temperature,
as to have very little impression on that class of edibles.
Diverging Routes. — Eighteen miles beyond the pass, the road
forks, the right being the old Oregon trail, via Fort Hall, and
the left the Salt Lake road, the travel being about equally
divided between the two routes. The most of Garrett's train, as
w^e learned by cards posted at the fork, had taken the Salt Lake
route, but our train, by a nearly unanimous vote, kept the old trail.
Three miles from the fork is the Little Sandy river, and six
miles beyond the Big Sandy, after crossing w^hich is a stretch of
fifty miles, without water, and called a desert, though grass is
abundant. Kept advised as to w^hat w^as before us, by guide-
books, compiled by parties who made the journey the year previous.
1124 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
we took along as much water as our rubber tanks and other
vessels could contain, thus obviating the serious suffering from
thirst that would otherwise have occurred to ourselves and stock.^
More Jumbo Ferriage Charges. — Getting down, by steep and
difficult grades, from the plateau just described, we came to Green
river, one of the principal tributaries of the Rio Colorado. The
river w^as sixteen rods wide, and ordinarily fordable, though dan-
gerous at the best, from the rapidity of the current, but now,
from the melting snows, it was from twenty-five to thirty feet
deep. Here, ten days before, Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Herrick, of
Akron, lost their entire stock of provisions and other property, as
did also many others, together with considerable loss of animal
and human life.
But this year, just before our arrival, some Mormons from
Salt Lake, and an Indian trader, had established a ferry here, with
tw^o boats, or rafts. Unlike the North Platte ferrymen, they had
no cables, steering their crafts across with paddles, as best they
could, landing fully a quarter of a mile below, and, after unload-
ing, towing the boats up stream, with a yoke of oxen, a sufficient
distance to enable them to strike the landing from w^hence they
started. The process was slow, from tw^o to four days being
required for the several companies to reach their turns. We
reached the ferry on Sunday, June 16, about 1 o'clock p. m., not
being able to remain in camp through the day, as w^as our cus-
tom, for lack of w^ater as above stated, and our turn at the boats
did not come until Tuesday morning.
The ferry charges w^ere $7 for each wagon, and $1 for each
head of stock, owners gratis. There being no feed along the nar-
row margin on the east side, the stock had to be taken to the west
side for pasturage, the larger portion being made to swim the
river, though many of the weaker animals were thereby lost, the
tendency being to get confused, on reaching the middle of the
rapid current, swimming round and round until exhausted. Our
mess had taken along a small cow^-bell, by the sound of which
such of our animals as w^ere permitted to run loose were taught to
follow. Taking this bell across to a spot where we wanted our
stock to land, and gently tinkling it as the animals were headed
into the stream, they followed the sound straight across, and
landed without an accident or hitch.
Snow-Storm — Packing Mania, Etc. — On this Sunday night,
June 16, though we have descended 1,240 feet, since leaving the
South Pass, there is a fkll of about five inches of snow, though
the most of it disappears in the warm sunlight of the following
day. It is now forty-seven days since we left St. Jo, and we are
just about half way. Feeling that his progress is too slow, a sort
of mania here seizes the emigrant to abandon his wagons, and
tents, and pack, or else to lighten them up to the narrowest verge
of safety, so as to enable him to increase his speed. Hence, not
only large numbers of wagons, harnesses, tents, etc., w^ere con-
verted into pack-saddles and fuel, but clothing and other necessa-
ries and conveniencies thrown away, and surplus provisions sold
to such as w^ere already short, the supposition being that by per-
forming the last half of the journey in thirty days, instead of
consuming a month and a half, as on the first half, a third less pro-
visions ^vould be needed to carrj'^ them through. On this
SEPARATING FROM THE CROWD. 1125
hypothesis, though still retaining their wagons, several of the
messes of our train sold considerable quantities of pork, hard
bread, etc., at fifty or sixty cents per pound, w^hich, being six or
eight times their cost, was supposed to be a good speculation.
Whether such was the case, we shall see before we get through.
All safely across the river, and somewhat refreshed by our
three days' rest, we pluckily resumed our journey. A succession
of rugged hills, the last range being the Bear River Mountains,
with intervening muddy valleys, and difficult crossings of creeks,
' brings us to Bear river, which, where w^e struck it, runs about
northwest, but sixty-five miles further on turns abruptly to the
south and empties into the Great Salt Lake, 150 , miles to the
southw^ard.
An Indian Philosopher. — A few miles before reaching the
bend of Bear river, we passed a number of now celebrated soda
springs, and geysers, including steamboat spring, in the bank of
the river, ejecting at intervals of a second or two jets of water and
vapor, w^ith a sound resembling the puffing of a low-pressure
steamboat.
From the bend of Bear river, the old Oregon trail runs in a
northerly direction, through a fertile valley, about twenty miles,
and then over a low divide into the valley of Lewis' Fork, of the
Columbia river, on which Fort Hall is situated, the road forking a
few miles beyond the fort, the right keeping on northw^esterly
into Oregon and the left running southwesterly towards California.
The year before, as above stated, about one-half of the emi-
grants went via Fort Hall, the balance by Salt Lake. This year,
however, an early emigrant, by the name of Sublette, had discov-
ered a so-called "cut-off," by which, proceeding due west from the
bend of Beaver river, over a succession of rugged mountain ranges
intersecting the regular trail on the other side, about one-half of
the distance, could be saved. Imbued with the desire to "get
there " as quickly as possible, nearly the entire northern w^ing w^ent
that way.
Having been advised by Captain Grant, an agent of the Hudson
Bay Company, whom we met here, to go by Fort Hall, instead of
by this "cut-off," when we reached the diverging point we stopped
to hold a " council of w^ar." The train was about evenly divided in
sentiment, when an old Snake Indian, who seemed to comprehend
the situation, volunteered to enlighten us upon the subject.
Pointing westward, by a motion of his hand, he indicated the
number of high mountain ranges w^e would have to climb and
descend, Avith rapid intervening streams to cross, as vsrell as the
scarcity of feed, by the Sublette route, and, by similar signs, the
avoidance of difficult hills with plenty of feed, by the Fort Hall
route, clinching his pantomimic argument by raising the bail of
one of our water-buckets, to a perpendicular and tracing the circum-
ference with his hand, and then laying it down on the edge of the
bucket, going through the same motion, indicating that it really
was no further to go around the hills than to go over them, w^hile
the labor for both men and teams would be less and feed far better.
We finally took the old Indian's advice, and though rather
lonesome, until w^e again fell in with the Grand Procession, we had
no reason to regret our choice, besides lying by a day or two on
account of sickness, actually reaching the junction ahead of many
J126 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
•who left the bend of Bear river about the same time we did, thus^
demonstrating, anew, the old adage that " the longest way around
is'the shortest ^vay home."
A Characteristic Incident. — In crossing Ham's Fork of Bear
river, a narrow but rapid stream, on descending the steep bank,
by the mismanagement of our driver, John McKibben, the off hind
mule became entangled in the evener and whippletrees of the
leaders, and was thrown beneath the pole with his head under
w^ater. Holmes, who was on the wagon, and Carson and myself,
■who were horse-back, rushed to the rescue, and by "sloshing
around," waist-deep in the muddy water ten or fifteen minutes,
succeeded in straightening out the tangle and saving the animal's
life.
The Magic Cheese. — Among the provisions taken from home
by our mess, was a rich, fifty-live pound Tallmadge-built cheese.
This, in a closely-fitting box, was packed in the bottom of the wagon^
There it remained undisturbed for about three weeks, when, get-
ting cheese hungry, I cut out a wedge of five or six pounds for
present use, replacing the balance in the box. Two v^eeks later, in
seeking to replenish our provision chest, on opening the box, I
found the cheese apparently as perfect as w^hen taken from the
press. By brushing off the mould which had gathered upon the
surface, I found w^here the cut had been made, took another ^vedgCr
precisely the same size, and replaced the box, as before. Another
fortnight passes by, when a third requisition on the supply finds
the cheese again w^hole, though by this time quite a visible diminu-
tion in the thickness of the oleaginous product is apparent, the
constant motion of the wagon causing the pulpy substance of the
cheese to settle and adjust itself to the dimensions of the box.
Measures Avere then taken to prevent its further spread, a pre-
caution that w^ould scarcely be^ necessary with most of the cheese
product of the present day.
A " Pale " Brandy Episode. — While many emigrants took
along, as a primt necessitv, a good supply of whisky and other
liquors — generally to their detriment — very little was taken or
used by the members of our train. Holmes, however, as purveyor
for our mess, purchased, at St. Louis, a half gallon of pure pale
brandy, for use in case of sickness or accident, the precious fluid
being stored in a tin canteen. Stowed away in the lower depths
of our wragon box, the "medicine" remained intact for about six
■weeks, -when, unfortunately, the stifle joint of one of our mules
became dislocated. Thinking that bathing it with brandy might
aid in keeping the weakened joint in place, -when re-set, I extracted
the canteen from the wagon, our good-natured mess-mate, McKib-
ben— Avho Avith several others were watching the operation with
■watering mouths — saying: "WuU, I'm bound to have one good
s-wug at it, onyhow!" But lo! and behold! on uncorking the can-
teen, the "pale" brandy panned out as black as ink — the fiery
liquid having, by corrosion, been converted into a very pronounced
solution of tin and iron. The swiggers declined to sw^ig, and finding
no further use for it, as an external remedy, the residue was poured
upon the ground.
Something About Indians. — After passing the Indian agency
and mission school for the Sac, Fox and Iowa tribes, thirty miles
■west of St. Joseph, the entire country traversed, before crossing
INDIAN BEGGARY, COOKERY, ETC. 1127
the South Platte, was inhabited by Pawnees, though many of them
having taken the cholera from the later emigration of the year
before, they fought shy of us, and excepting a few about Fort
Kearney, were only seen at a distance.
Beyond the junction of the north and south branches of the
Platte, however, Indians were abundant. At the head of Ash Hol-
low, was a small village of the Sioux (Soo) variety, the stalwart
chief greeting the emigrants with: "How! How! How! Do! Do!
Do!" and an affectionate shake of the hand, and presenting a
paper from a government agent asking for contributions to com-
pensate the Indians for the loss of their cattle (buffalo, elk, etc.),
grass and fuel, and nearly every mess chipped in a little pork,
bread, beans, rice, sugar, matches, tobacco, etc., the collections for
the day being stored on buffalo robes spread upon the ground. A
few miles further on was a much larger tow^n, with a herd of sev-
eral hundred head of horses and mules and some oxen feeding
upon the plains near by, many of vsrhich were undoubtedly stolen
from the emigrants, for we had already met several companies
returning home on account of having lost their stock. Quite a
traffic was carried on here, a small quantity of provisions, tobacco,
blankets, etc., purchasing a pretty good horse or mule, though they
didn't seem to understand much about the value of money, and
w^ouldn't pay any attention w^hatever to the cheap brass rings and
trinkets, taken along by many of the emigrants for the purpose
of traffic.
Model Culinary Operations.— And then, such arrant beggars!
Scarcely would we get our camp-fires kindled, than, if permitted to
approach, w^ould a hungry-looking squaw, with t^vo o'r three still
hungrier-looking youngsters, squat themselves down near-by, and
watch our every movement while cooking and eating our meals,
and by signs make known their anxiety to secure a portion of the
savory viands, every morsel throw^n to them being devoured w^ith
the greatest avidity.
And their manner of cooking! In the absence of larger fresh
game, the prairie gopher — a little burrower between a squirrel and
a rat — was found to make quite a palatable stew^. Hunting for a
mess one day. Holmes only succeeded in bagging one, which w^as
thrown aside as not worth dressing and cooking. A full grown
young Indian, by signs, asking if he might have it, on being
answ^ered in the affirmative, went to a neighboring camp fire, cov-
ered said gopher with hot ashes and embers for fifteen or tw^enty
minutes, when raking it out and scraping off the ashes and singed
hair with his fingers, he devoured the entire rodent, hide, entrails
and all, with great gusto.
One Sunday, when encamped on Ham's Fork of Bear river,
several members of our train visited one of the numerous villages
of the Snake Indians found in the vicinity. While there, our
w^onderment at the large nutnber of w^olf-looking dogs they kept
was solved by an old squaw knocking one of them on the head
w^ith a club, and, almost before it had done kicking, singeing off
the hair, over the fire, and without further dressing, placing it in
a large stone kettle to boil! / didn't staj^ to dinner.
Unique and Fanciful Toilets. — The earlier tribes passed
were much better dressed than those encountered later — the adults
among the latter being rather sparsely clad in dirty blankets, w^hile
1128 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
many of the ju"eniles were entirely naked. Some of the adults,
however, had become possessed of sundry cast-off " civilized " gar-
ments, the novel modes of wearing which, very greatly amused the
emigrants. If a stalwart buck could secure a high plug hat, he
cared for little else. A sleeveless shirt, a ragged coat, vest or pair
of pants were to them mines of wealth. One strapping fellow had
his long arms stuck through the legs of a dilapidated pair of pants,
"with the waistband buttoned around his neck, while a gay and fes-
tive young squaw^ had thrust her legs through the sleeves of an
old red and white blanket coat, with the skirts fastened about her
waist — her head being adorned w^ith a rimless and crownless
chip hat.
Murders, Stratagems and Spoils. — Notices were found
posted, from time to time, warning us of depredations committed
by Indians — stealing stock, and provision, killing guards, etc. As
before stated, through our extreme vigilance, we were not seriously
incommoded, but came very near it one night. There being no
feed near the road, our entire stock was taken to a large meadow
or swale, about a mile from camp, and picketed there for the night,
w^ith an extra large guard for their protection. Though the night
•was bright starlight, the dense forest surrounding the meadow
created intense darkness. Having eaten their fill the animals laid
down to rest, about midnight, and soon not a sound was to be
heard, save the tread of the guards, with an occasional word on
meeting at the end of their respective beats. Just before daylight,
^without an object having been seen or a sound heard by the guards
to produce such a result, every animal at the same instant sprang
io its feet and made a frantic effort to escape, all in the same
direction. Fortunately, however, the lariat pins all held, and not
one of the seventy-five or eighty animals thus tethered, escaped,
lyighting their lanterns and circulating among the stock, the boys
— little less frightened than the animals themselves — soon restored
them to quiet, though many frightened glances w^ere pointed in
the direction from w^hence the alarm had apparently conae.
Though nothing had been seen or heard by the guards, it was
supposed to have been an Indian stratagem to stampede the
stock, to be gathered in by them in the neighboring woods the
next day. Many animals were thus lost, and hundred of emigrants
compelled to abandon their wagons, and other effects, and with
such subsistence as they could carry upon their backs, foot it the
last 500 or GOO miles of their journey.
Forts, Troops, Shipwreck, Etc. — At Fort Kearney there were
175 soldiers, besides the officers and their families, and at Fort
Ivaramie 200 soldiers with the usual complement of officers, women,
and children, and quite a number of government teamsters,
mechanics, etc. — about 250 souls in all. The new government
buildings and property at Fort Hall, were guarded by a single
soldier, only, the troops, owing to change of the current of emigra-
tion this year, and the trouble made by the Indians on that route,
having been transferred to Fort Bridger, on the Salt Lake route.
'The original Fort Hall was then merely a trading station, occupied
by agents of the Hudson Bay and American Fur Companies and
their families, from whom we obtained a limited supply of milk
and butter, the first at 10 cents per quart, and the latter at 50 cents
per pound.
SERIOUS ILLNESS FROM MOUNTAIN FEVER. 1129
The representatives of several tribes of Indians were found
here, the Snakes predominating. Just beyond the fort were a
■couple of difficult rivers to cross, the Port Neuff, 300 feet wide, and
the Pannack, 350 feet, both rising in the " Cut-off" Mountains and
emptying into Lewis' Fork of the Columbia river.
An old Walla-Walla Indian and his son, mounted on excellent
horses, volunteered to pilot us across these streams. Plunging
into the Port Neuff, they showed us that the water would reach about
six inches above the bottom of the wagon boxes, making it neces-
sary to raise the box up on blocks, resting upon the rocker and
bolster, to prevent our supplies from getting wet, as we had often
had occasion to do. Arrived at the Pannack, by the same process
they showed us that to go straight across at that stage of the
water, our animals would have to swim, in the rapidest part of the
stream, but by heading up stream after getting into the water, and
making a long circuit, it could be readily waded. All our wagons
got safely over but that of Mills and Anson. The driver, William
Denaple, inadvertently driving too far out; before turning up
stream, the wagon box was lifted from the blocks, and becoming
<:apsized, floated down the river. By rushing down the river bank
and plunging in, on either side, the boys succeeded in saving
nearly everything, though in a decidedly moist condition.
Dentistry Extraordinary. — Compensating our tawny guides
w^ith liberal contributions of bread, sugar, tobacco, matches, etc.,
w^e soon after went into camp to give our water-soaked comrades
ijn opportunity to "dry-up;" the rest of us exchanging as much of
our hard-bread for their soft-bread, as w^e could consume before it
w^ould be likely to sour or mould.
Eight yeas before, the late well-known dentist. Dr. I. E. Carter,
had inserted four nice porcelain teeth in the upper jaw of the
writer, on hickory pegs. A too ravenous attack on a piece of our
hard-bread had twisted off one of the pegs aforesaid, and while
the drying process was going forward I thought I Avould see if I
could not remedy the inconvenience occasioned by the absence of
said porcelain incisor. Splitting off a fragment from the but-end
of our well-seasoned hickory whip-stock, I carefully adjusted one
end to the orifice in the tooth, and the other to the orifice in the
jaw^, and, after extracting the moisture with a little cotton batting
purloined from a bed-comforter, on the point of my darning-needle,
I placed the tooth in position and drove it home w^ith a horse-
shoeing hammer, w^here it firmly remained for some eight or ten
years thereafter.
Many other mechanical and "professional" operations were
performed upon that journey, without either proper materials or
tools, that would do credit to home skill and ingenuity, again and
again demonstrating the well- w^orn truism, that " necessity is the
mother of invention."
Illness of Mr. Sperry. — The so-called mountain fever, after
getting fairly among the "Rockies," became quite prevalent, and
many deaths from that cause occurred among the emigrants.
Several of the members of our own company were more or less
affected, the most serious case being that of our well-known fellow-
citizen, Hon. Ira P. Sperry, of Tallmadge. The second morning
after the mishap above recorded, Mr. Sperry w^as found to be too ill
to travel, and the train remained in camp, a few miles below the
1130 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Atnerican Falls, on Lewis' Fork of the Columbia river, three days,
Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Impatient at the delay, the
majority of our men voted to move for\srard, on Monday morning,
whether Mr. S. Avas able to travel or not. Monday morning came
and the patient was apparently no better. The balance of the
train accordingly pulled out— some of us with sad hearts — leaving
Mr. S. and his mess alone in camp, excepting that Mr. James M,
Mills took the place of Mr. Philo Wright, w^ho w^as also quite
unwell, transferring Mr. W. to his ow^n w^agon; Mr. Jonathan F.
Fenn, of Tallmadge, and his man, Leonard Root, also remaining
behind.
It was understood that we should travel slowly, so that if Mr. S.
did get better they could overtake us, notwithstanding which,,
and the difficult nature of the roads, the end of the Aveek found us
on the further side of " Thousand Spring Valley," fully 150 miles
from the point where we had left our sick friend, on Monday
morning.
The Fever Broken. — Fortunately, the day we left him, Mr,
Sperry's fever abated — possibly from the copious draughts of cold
citric-acid "lemonade," administered to him by the writer, \srhile
w^atching w^ith him the night before — and early on Tuesday morn-
ing, at his urgent request, making as comfortable a bed for him as
possible in the wagon, his attendants again started forward with
him, making such good time — keeping advised of our movements
by the notices posted from point to point — that they came up 'with
us at the place indicated above, about 5 o'clock on Sunday after-
noon.
Mr. Sperry has since told me that he never before or since
experienced such pleasurable emotions as were produced by the
motion of the wagon as they started from that lonely camp. And
no wonder! For three or four days he had been lying there, upon
the hard earth, with a reasonable prospect that it w^ould soon open
to receive his lifeless body — aw^ay from his wife and children and
every civilized comfort; abandoned by those whom he had so often
laid under especial obligations, in the earlier stages of the journey;
and noAV to feel that he was once more in motion; that though
still very weak, he w^as improving; that his destination might
possibly be reached; and above all, that he might once more be
permitted to join his family and friends in old Tallmadge, were
certainly emotions far more easily imagined than described.
Steeple Rocks — The Glorious Fourth, Etc. — Soon after leav-
ing "Sick Camp," as stated, we left the Oregon trail to the right,
passing up Raft river (also rising in the " Cut-Off" mountains) and
the principal tributary. Rattlesnake river, with their innumerable
muddy and mirey crossings, and on the second day, arrived at the
junction with the cut-off road, when it really seemed as though
we had got home again, one or two small trains, only, besides our
ow^n, having been seen on the Fort Hall route. On comparing
notes, we found that, deducting the time we had laid by for sick-
ness, we had made better time in reaching that point than those
who had taken the so-called "cut-off."
From Rattlesnake river, \sre passed over the low but rough
and nearly barren range of mountains between the Rattlesnake
river and Goose Creek, about twenty miles, passing the junction
w^ith the Salt Lake road, about mid-w^ay when the grand procession
THE DEADLY HUMBOLDT RIV'ER. 1131
again became a unit. It was also learned, from the notes
posted at the junction, and from conversation Avith emigrants, that
the Salt Lake w^ing had scarcely made as good time as we did,
while the hardships of travel and casualties had been fully as
great, their only advantage being in the opportunity to replenish
supplies at the extravagant rates prevalent among the saints.
Just before reaching the junction, we found a series of curious
granite formations called " Steeple Kocks" — blocks from twenty to
forty feet square, being piled one on top of another to the height
of one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet, or more, some of the
columns quite regular, and others so over-lapping that seemingly
a sudden mountain zephyr might topple them down. Camping
under the shadow of these rocks on the night of July 3, on the
morning of the Glorious Fourth, the day was duly remembered by
a patriotic rendition of " Yankee Doodle" by our martial band, and
and by a few extra discharges from our rifles, but though feeling
pretty "independent," we could not tarry for a more elaborate cele-
bration.
Thousand Spring Valley. — The mountain range we had just
crossed is the divide between the Columbia and Humboldt valleys.
Soon after descending into the latter Ave reach the head of
"Thousand Spring Valley," a sandy but generally grassy basin
about thirty miles in diameter, peculiar from the fact that the
large number of considerable streams of pure water which flow
into it from the surrounding hills, sink into the sand near the bor-
der, to reappear near the center in thousands of springs, or more
properly wells, flush w^ith the surface, some of them being
unfathomable with any sounding appliances at the command of
the emigrant.
The Pestilent Humboldt. — Thirty miles from Thousand
Spring Valley, brings us to the north fork of the Humboldt, and
thirty miles further to the south or main branch of that celebrated
river, which at that point was found to be fordable, b^-- raising our
w^agon boxes as heretofore indicated. The previous year, the
emigrants had crossed and re-crossed the river its entire length,
three hundred miles, at pleasure, but this year, by reason of high
water, we w^ere obliged to keep entirely upon its western or sterile
side, often making long detours into the neighboring hills to get
around impassable sloughs. Nearly its entire length, grass for
our stock was only obtainable by swimming the river, w^ading
through water-two or three feet deep, from one to two miles, cutting
with sickles and knives, carrying it in bundles upon the back, and
towing it across the river with ropes.
Nearly a Fatal Swim. — Though less than one hundred feet in
w^idth, this river w^as one of the most dangerous streams to swim
across, encountered upon the journey. In a high stage of water
innumerable eddies are formed, getting into the influence of which
the most expert sw^immer, being carried round and round, can
make no headway'', and soon becoming exhausted, sinks to rise no
more. One evening, Benjamin D. Wright, of Tallmadge, and
Henry Anson and Warren Clark, of Akron, all good swimmers,
having arrived w^ith their back-loads of grass, started to swim
across so as to be ready to assist in towing the bundles over, when
the other grass-gatherers should arrive. Getting into an eddy in
mid-stream, they were unable to extricate themselves, while we
1132 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
non-swrimmers on shore were unable to render them any assist-
ance with such appliances as w^e had. The boys Avere rapidly
becoming exhausted, w^hen, providentially, a stranger, from Michi-
gan, came along, and comprehending the situation at a glance,
divested himself of his clothing, and seizing the end of a lariat
between his teeth, the end of which, by splicing w^ith others, w^as
retained by strong hands on shore, succeeded in rescuing all of
them from a w^atery grave.
It transpiring that the stranger's company, having lost their
stock and provisions, virere footing it through, and subsisting as
best they could, he was gratefully taken into the Tallmadge mess,
and treated as one of the family during the balance of the journey.
Hot Springs, Ashes, Dust, Btc. — Innumerable volcanic indi-
cations had been seen upon the journey, notably in the neighbor-
hood of Soda Springs, and at the head of Bear river. But the west
bank of the Humboldt, for three hundred miles, was little else
than solid packed scoria and ashes. The ashen sage-bush bottoms
in the traveled road, were w^orn dow^n from six to tw^elve inches,
and the plod, plod of the animals, and the continuous grinding of
the Avagons raised a cloud of fine alkaline dust that permeated
everywhere and everything — eyes, ears, nose, moth, clothing, pro-
visions, etc., making the emigrant, w^ith his best efforts at cleanli-
ness, a fit companion, externally, for the "Digger" Indians, the
most squalid and filthy of all the tribes encountered, who infested
the last four or five hundred miles of our journey.
At several points, especially at the foot of several volcanic
hills over w^hich we passed, hot springs -were to be found almost
side by side with springs of normal coolness. It was said of a
Teutonic member of a neighboring train, that lying down to drink
from the first of these w^arm springs encountered, on nearly scald-
ing the tip of his nose, he sprang to his feet and exclaimed:
"Trive on, poys ! Trive on ! for hell ish not more as two miles from
dish blace !"
A Harvest of Destitution. — It was along this river that the
most destitution and suffering prevailed among the emigrants.
Brackish from the start, the water becomes largely impregnated
w^ith alkali, from the volcanic rocks and ashen soil through which
it passes, and the innumerable alkaline springs adjacent thereto.
Hundreds, and perhaps thousands, are without teams or pro-
visions, and many without money with which to buy, even had
their more fortunate neighbors provisions to sell, and later in the
season scores were driven to the necessity of eating their own
famished horses and mules.
The most of our company, though running out of "sorts," gen-
erally had enough to prevent serious suffering, and one or two
had some provisions to sell generally, in such cases, favoring the
members of our own train, though suffering no outside applicant
for a bite to go unrelieved.
The "Law" of the Plains. — Speaking of selling brings us to
prices and the mode of adjusting differences, and dispensing jus-
tice upon the plains. At any time after reaching the Humboldt
Valley, all kinds of provisions — bread, flour, meat, rice, beans,
pork, sugar, etc., sold readily at a dollar per pound, a pint of all the
measurable articles named being counted a pound. On reaching
that point in the river, where grass had to be obtained from the
ADMINISTERING JUSTICE UPON THE PLAINS. 1133
Opposite side, a member of the company who could not swim, but
who had a surplus of bread, made a bargain with the boys of
another mess, who were running short, that if they would supply
him with grass, he would pay them in bread — a pound for each
back-load. The grass was accordingly furnished from day to day,
as long as the necessity therefor existed, but when, a few days
later, the boys demanded their bread, they were tendered a dollar
a load in money, the party of the first part declaring that he had
no bread to spare. This the boys refused to receive — they had not
risked their lives to obtain the grass for money, but for bread, and
bread they would have.
In the course of the discussion it transpired that the surplus
bread promised to the boys had been sold to outside parties, for $2
a pound, but as it viras w^orth only one dollar when the bargain
was made and the grass furnished, that was all that he would pay
them. Things were assuming a serious aspect, when other mem-
bers of the company proposed that the matter be settled by arbi-
tration, w^hich w^as agreed to, each party choosing an arbitrator
and the two the third.
The "High Court" being duly organized, the statements of
the parties were listened to, and other evidence adduced, and the
general summing up and verdict of the arbitrators w^as about
this: First, that a fair-sized back-load of grass, obtained in the
manner indicated, was worth more than a pound of bread; sec-
ond, that if a pound of bread was w^orth $2 in money, a load of
grass was \^^orth $2.50, and that in the absence of bread, the
defendant must pay to the plaintiffs, at that rate, in money, for
the quantity of grass furnished. The defendant put in a demur-
rer after judgment, but finding that the verdict of the arbitrators
was approved by the balance of the members of the train, the
money was reluctantly paid over.
Sequel to that Better "Broughten Up." — Apropos of the
bread question, and of the general shortness of provisions at this
stage of our journey, recalls the unsifted corn-meal episode of Mis-
souri, and a subsequent incident w^hich demonstrates anew the
aphorism, that "circumstances alter cases." It will be recollected
that we all took along a supply of corn for the subsistence of our
animals, in the absence of grass, on the first part of our journey.
Knowing that we had at least one forty-mile desert to traverse,
w^ithout grass or v^rater, further on, the most of us had reserved a
small portion of grain to help us over that hard spot.
While not entirely out of provisions, the Wheeler and Howe
messes began to run pretty short of "sorts," particularly of bread.
A day or two before reaching the desert, looking across the camp,
I saw Judge Wheeler and his boys vigorously twisting away at the
coffee mill attached to the box of oneof their wagons. On drawing
near I found them grinding the corn which had been hauled 1,500
nriiles to feed to the mules upon the desert, then almost in sight.
"Hello, Judge! What are you going to do with that?" I
inquired. " Make it into griddle cakes," said he. "But hoAv in the
w^orld w^ill you manage to sift it?" I asked. " Eat it w^ithout sift-
ing," responded the Judge. "Well," said I, with a grin, "you can
eat coarse, coffee-mill-ground corn meal, without sifting, if you
choose to, but I was better brought up!" The Judge good-
naturedly " acknowleged the corn" by saying that I had fairly
1134 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
turned the tables on him, and afterwards declared that those
coffee-mill griddle cakes were the sweetest he ever tasted.
Humboldt Sink, Desert, Etc. — The minor peculiarities of the
pestilential Humboldt, are above faintly set forth, but its chief
characteristic remains to be mentioned, in that, in a run of perhaps
400 miles it suddenly disappears on the northern verge of a forty-
mile desert lying between it and Carson river. This year, however,
the "sink" — an extensive marsh — by reason of extra high w^ater,
had spread itself out into sloughs, several miles on to the desert,
making the distance to be traveled, in crossing it, from five to ten
miles further than in ordinary seasons.
It is now the 23rd day of July, and though the mountains to
the right and left are covered with snow, it is almost suffoca-
tingly hot in the valley and on the desert. It is the better plan,
therefore, to make as much of the journey across at night as w^e
possibly can. Arriving at the sink about ten o'clock in the morn-
ing, w^e rest there until five o'clock in the afternoon, in the mean-
time having provided ourselves w^ith a supply of dry grass, and as
much w^ater as we have vessels for.
Starting out with comparative freshness, we hope to reach
the Carson soon after daylight the next morning. The first twenty
miles were, like the valley of the Humboldt, of a solid ashen foun-
dation, sparsely covered with sage brush; then about two miles of
heavy sand, then five or six miles of sage brush, and the remainder,
sixteen or eighteen miles of heavy fine sand, unrelieved by a
single shrub or blade of grass or other vegetation. Ten miles out
we stopped two hours to feed and rest, and ten miles further — on
the narrow strip of sand spoken of— two hours and a half, by this
time using up nearly all our feed and water, and yet not half way
across.
Moonlight and Poetry.^ — The night was clear and bright —
just the full of the moon — a night ^vell calculated, in spite of
adverse surroundings, to inspire poesy and melody in the most
prosy mind. Our four mules and the two larger horses were
attached to the wagon, which for the first twenty miles was in
charge of Carson and McKibben, w^hile to Holmes and myself was
assigned the care of the two ponies, the Aveakest of the eight. As
along the Humboldt, dead animals line the road on either hand, by
actual count fully twenty to the mile.
Marching along side by side, in the bright moonlight, and
odoriferous atmosphere, each towing a pony, silently ruminating
upon the pleasures of the journey, Holmes, remembering the
familiar song beginning:
" The moon had climbed the hig-hest hill
That rises o'er the source of Dee,"
suddenly broke out :
"The moon had climed the hig^hest hill !
Hesitating a moment, here, I caught up the refrain by adding :
" That rises o'er the Humboldt sink" —
Holmes continuing :
" And a.s we travel o'er the plain " —
I completing the stanza :
" Whew ! How those old dead horses stink ! "
THE TERRORS OF THE DESERT. 1135
Abandoning Wagons on the Desert. — On striking the first
belt of heavy sand, Wheeler and Howe were compelled to leave
their wagons to save their animals; out of the abandoned material
constructing pack-saddles for the transportation of provisions,
clothing, and such other necessaries as they must carry along.
Striking the sixteen-mile stretch of sand about daylight, our
progress was slow and fatiguing in the extreme. Leaving Holmes
w^ith Carson and McKibben, to manage the wagon, I started for-
w^ard alone, w^ith the two nearly done-over ponies, having almost
literally to pull them along by main strength. Six miles out upon
this burning sandy desert, a couple of enterprising emigrants had
established a water station — hauling Avater from the Carson river,
and selling it to their famishing comrades at twenty-five cents
per quart. Happening to have a loose quarter about me, I bought
a quart, gave about half of it to the two ponies and divided the
balance betw^een myself and a stranger who was destitute of
money, and -who afterwards told me that but for that drink of
w^ater he should never have got through alive.
The Life-Invigorating Carson. — ^Thus refreshed, with my two
ponies I pushed, or rather pulled forward, but when a mile or tAvo
further on the sagacious animals seem to sniff the fresh waters
and grasses of the Carson Valley, and pricking up their ears, and
quickening their pace, I had to step quite lively to keep up with
them the last two or three miles.
I reached the river about 11 o'clock and by noon our entire
company, w^ith every animal alive, w^ere snugly encamped in the
grateful shade of the immense cotton-wood trees that lined the
banks of the Carson river at this point.
The thirst created by that last sixteen miles of desert travel,
between broiling sun and blistering sands, w^as fearful to contem-
plate—men plunging into the river and drinking like cattle, while
the animals themselves, if not restrained, would rush into the
middle of the river, and, turning their heads up-stream, literally
let the water run down their throats.
Relief Stations — Speculators, Etc. — Here, in the Carson
Valley, we met so-called relief trains — speculators, who, in antici-
pation of the distress w^hich would prevail among the emigrants,'
had come from Sacramento with provisions, " whisky," and other
necessaries, which they sold at high figures to such as had naoney,
but giving, in limited quantities, to such as w^ere destitute — their
prime object being to buy the famished animals of the emigrants
at low figures, and recruit them for the California market.
But a few days later we met the real relief trains, sent out by
the generous-hearted people of Sacramento and San Francisco, on
the report of the earlier emigrants, that there was likely to be ter-
rible suffering among those yet to follow, these trains not only
affording needed relief to those in the the Carson Valley, but
crossing the desert, and extending their humanitarian efforts some
distance up the Humboldt.
Packing Becomes General. — Owing to the weakness of our
animals, and the extreme labor of getting v^ragons over the almost
impassable ridges of the Sierras, the rest of us, except the
Tallmadge messes, also concluded to pack the balance of the way.
We left our wagon and tent intact, and such other conveniences
1136 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
as we had to dispense with, in good order. Another company
w^ith ox-team, observing our operations asked permission to sub-
stitute our lighter wagon for their heavier one, which was granted
on condition that they Mrould leave theirs standing in like good
order. Many " household " conveniences, of course, had to be
abandoned with the wagons and tents, but nearly every one had
some highly cherished article that he very greatly desired to carry
through. The w^riter, for instance, slung his nice little seven and
a half pound rifle across his shoulders, but in a day or two it
became so burdensome, that he "cheerfully" gave it aw^ay. So,
also, with McMasters and his drum — his constant companion for
tw^enty years, and which was such a source of comfort to us all
upon the journey — light as it w^as it got so heavy that on the
second morning of our packing life, it was left, not exactly
" hanging upon the willows," but on the limb of a large cotton-
w^ood tree.
Carson Valley, w^hich we traversed for about 100 miles, was
really the Garden of Eden of our journey, abounding in innumer-
able streams of fresh water, luxuriant meadows of timothy, clover
and other w^holesome grasses, w^ith a sufficiency of fuel for culinary
purposes.
Crossing the Sierra Nevadas. — Taking leave of Carson
Valley, we pass through a five-mile zig-zag canon with vertical
walls a thousand feet in height, traversed by a rapid mountain
creek with many difficult crossings, in which many of the animals
of the earlier emigrants had stuck fast and perished, though
before our arrival the approaching relief parties had humanely
constructed corduroy bridges over the worst of thein.
Getting through this canon, w^e encountered a succession of
beautiful valleys sandwiched between lofty and almost inacces-
sible mountains, up and do^wn the craggy sides of w^hich men and
animals climb with the utmost difficulty, and over v^hich wagons
and other similar commodities had to be carried, piece by piece,
and hoisted and lowered over the most difficult places, by ropes.
Over Perpetual Snow. — The tops of these mountains w^ere
covered w^ith snow, and on ascending the highest, properly
denominated "SnoAv Mountain" — 10,000 feet above sea-level — on
July 31, we passed over hard-packed sno^w apparently from 50 to
100 feet in depth, the continual tramping of animals and menw^ith
a slight softening by the midday sun, having sunk the traveled
road from fifteen to twenty feet below^ the general level. Over-
coats and blankets were by no means uncomfortable at high noon,
while in the valleys w^here v^^e encamped, ice would form upon
the streams at night nearly half an inch in thickness.
On the Home Stretch. — On the western slope of the Sierras,
the road was tolerably good but feed scarce and difficult of access,
being found only in narrow^ valleys and ravines, considerable dis-
tance from the road. But w^ay-side (tent) gr(>ggeries w^ere abun-
dant, and it was strange to see men, reputed to have been abste-
miious and thoroughly temperate at home, throwing off all restraint,
and becoming uproariously intoxicated on this the last stage of
their long and perilous journey, though I am happy to say our
entire company should be excepted from that imputation.
Hay Fiv^e Hundred Dollars a Ton. — At one point, where
our guide books advised us that there was a large meadow of good
HAY FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS PER TON. 1137
grass three miles from the road, we found orie of these whisky-
shops— a cloth affair— called the "Mountain House," the proprie-
tors of which had caused all the grass of the meadow in question
to be cut, cured, hauled to the road and stacked, to be sold to the
incoming immigrants at 25 cents per pound, or at the rate of
$500.00 per ton. Other similar philanthropists were found further
on, every available blade of grass being thus appropriated, though
the price declined, first to 20, then to 15 cents per pound, or $300.00
per ton. Of course, the owners of animals had to have it, our mess
treating each of our eight head of stock to half a pound or so, each,
twice a day.
Fairly in the "Diggings." — On the westward slope of the
Sierra Nevadas we saw large areas of the more diminutive of the
celebrated big trees of California — one of the smaller of which, a
redw^ood, straight as an arrow, having been broken off several feet
from the ground, and with the top entirely gone, measured five
feet in diameter and 240 feet in length.
Leaving our last camp about 8 o'clock, on Sunday morning,
August 4, 1850, at 10 o'clock we rode triumphantly into the mining
town then knovi^n by the confidence-inspiringname of " Hangtown,"
so-called because of the summary execution, by strangulation, of
two or three offenders against the unwritten "code" of the mines,
on a tree standing in front of the principal (cloth) hotel of the
village, a year or so before. It has since been known by the more
euphonious, and equallj^ appropriate name of " Placerville."
Here w^e found several Akronians, the Garrett crowd having
got into the " diggings" about two weeks ahead of us, and having
had about the same pleasurable experiences that we had enjoined.
Here, too — Sunday though it was — our animals and other saleable
effects were disposed of — the four horses for $250.00 and the four
mules for $175.00, just about one-half what they had originally
cost us.
We had now been just four months and a half from home,
ninety-four days of which had been consumed in making the
journey from the Missouri river, a distance, by the route traveled,
of just about 2,000 miles, involving, in addition to the time con-
sumed, an amount of labor, fatigue and privation that can scarcely
be conceived by those who now, in a palace car, perform the
journey in less than one w^eek.
In the Golden Metropolis. — Spending one day in . the mines,
among old acquaintances and obtaining a little inkling of the
modus operandi of deiving for, and the immense amount of down-
right hard labor involved in securing, the coveted metal, I hied
me to Sacramento City, and after spending a day with the " boys"
there, to San Francisco, where I remained until the first day of
September, 1852, my rooms being the headquarters of the Summit
county boys, w^hen visiting the Bay City, either on business, or
en route from the mines for home, via the Isthmus, or, by the
same route, from home to the mines; also, during the entire two
years, w^riting semi-monthly letters to the Beacon, and part of the
time to the Democratic Standard, thus keeping the good people
at home largely advised of the movements and w^elfare of their
loved ones upon the Pacific coast.
Early California Life. — Of course, space would not permit,
nor the patience of the reader endure, even w^ere the data at my
72
1138
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
command, a full history of the individual fortunes and misfor-
tunes of all of those who went from Summit county to California,
in those early days. It should, perhaps, suffice to say that while a
few " struck it " reasonably rich, and a somewhat larger few
secured fair compensation for time and labor expended, and the
privations endured, the great majority of those who lived to get
home, were infinitely worse off, financially, physically, and, in some
instances, morally, than Avhen they started.
One of the great drav^backs to the success of the average
miner, >vas restlessness and impatience. Getting fairly .at work on
a claim yielding a fair return for his day's labor — say $6 or $8 —
reports reach him that in the newly discovered "Humbug Dig-
gings," one hundred or two hundred miles away, from $100 to $500
can be gathered in a day, and incontinently off he goes, to find
either every inch of the new territory occupied, or the dust less
plenteous than in his former claim in which, meantime, his more
patient successor may have struck a regular bonanza. Then off
he goes again to some other reputed rich placers or gulches, only
to be again disappointed, and so on to the end of the chapter.
Akron's Bonanza King. — For several years previous to 1850,
Akron had for a citizen, one "Abe" Curry, by profession a horse-
jockey. With a companion named Gould, prospecting in the
mountains, these two men stumbled upon a rich quartz-lead, and
not having the money to purchase the necessary machinery for its
development, the " Gould and Curry Mining Company" \^as organ-
ized, an agreed upon ratio of stock being assigned to them, as a
consideration for the find, but not sufficient to give them a con-
trolling voice in the management of the affairs of the corporation.
A few years later, by combinations, watering the stock, and other
sharp practices, though millions upon millions of dollars were
extracted from the mine, the original discoverers, and other small
shareholders, w^ere completely "frozen out," and at last accounts
our "Abe" was reported to be impecuniously and nearly hopelessly
prospecting for another find — and has probably long ere this, in
miner's parlance, "passed in his checks."
Family Ties Stronger Than Love of Gold. — While thousands
upon thousands braved the dangers and privations of the plains,
mountains, ocean, etc., to better the condition of their families,
there w^ere innuinerable instances where men who had been sep-
arated from their loved ones for several months, voluntarily aban-
doned the fortunes w^ithin their very grasp, for the purpose of
expediting their return, of which class AJcron furnished the fol-
lowing notable examples:
One of the writer's most intimate friends, both before and
since, Mr. Lewis Hanscom — the younger of the well-known Hans-
com brothers — had been in California some eight or nine
months without making any particular headway. 'In the Spring
of 1851, pooling his little "pile" of some $450, with like amounts
furnished by two other gentlemen, they opened a miners' hotel
and boarding house, called the " Eastern Exchange," on Long
Wharf, in San Francisco. Besides paying a rental of $600 per
month, and the expense of fitting up (which occupied about a
w^eek) and all their help, their profits the first month w^ere equal to
their entire investment. During the three succeeding months
their net monthly profits were $600 each.
SUCCESSES, REVERSES, HOMESICKNESS, ETC. 1139
Coming into my place of business one day, Hanscom informed
tne that he had sold out and Avas going home. "Sold out!" I
exclaimed in surprise, "at what figure?" "Six hundred dollars,"
he replied. "Lew Hanscom," I responded, "You're an egregious
fool ! After struggling and striving for nearly a year to get into a
paying business, now that, on a $450 investment, you are clearing
$600 per month, to sell out for $600, and go home with a paltry
$3,000, when by holding on a few months you could realize enough
to make you independent for life."
"Lane," said he, with quivering lips, and tears coming into his
eyes, "I've got a wife and four little girls in Akron, and I would
give one hundred dollars apiece to see them this very minute."
The secret was out — homesickness. It is proper to add that " Lew "
subsequently seeing "where he missed it," returned to California,
this time taking his loved ones w^ith him, -where a fair degree of
prosperity has attended his efforts, his time being now about
equally divided between his San Francisco home and a valuable
farm in Ashtabula county, Ohio, of which he is the proprietor.
Other Similar Cases.— Similar were the cases of Akron's two
well-known bakers, Henry McMasters and William Sinclair, who
came home on the same vessel with Mr. Hanscom. They had been
in California nearly three-fourths of a year without getting a start,
w^hen they established a bakery in a new mining camp, a hundred
miles or so above Sacramento City. At the end of three months
they divided $2,700 net profits each, over and above their inv^est-
oaent, when they sold out their rapidly increasing business for
about what the fixtures had cost them, and pulled out for home.
On being interrogated by me as to the cause of their foolish-
ness, Mr. Mac. said that his w^ife kept writing, "come home! come
home!" declaring that she w^ould rather live in a cabin, in poverty,
than have him longer aw^ay, and that Mrs. Howe had written him
that his wife was pining her life aw^ay, on account of his absence,
and as he had got more than he thought would satisfy him w^hen
he started, he couldn't bear to stay away from home any longer.
Sinclair's reasons w^ere similar, both ever afterwards regretting
their folly.
Commercial Ups and Downs.^ — Mr. James G. Dow, whose
trials and tribulations in reaching California, vin the Isthmus, in
1849, have already been described, after barely subsisting on such
odd jobs as he could pick up for several months, finally, with a
young man from Massachusetts, engaged in the auction business,
closing up in October, 1850. with about $20,000 each. Charles G.
Caldwell, another Akron Forty-niner, who had accumulated some
money in the milk, butter and G^gg business, at Sacramento, in
company with the writer succeeded Dow & Co. w^ith a cash invest-
ment of $3,000, with the prospect of making money as rapidly as
their predecessors had done. But, by reason of the stagnation of
business caused by the breaking out of the cholera on that coast,
and the over-importation of all kinds of merchandise, Caldwell &
Co., at the end of five months, instead of having cleared $40,000,
had sunk their entire capital, and were $1,500 in debt for rent.
Caldwell, returning to his cows and chickens, continued to do well
for a year or two, but in an evil hour invested in a quartz mill,
dying, in San Francisco, some two or three years ago, in abject
poverty.
1140 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Charles W. Tappan, proprietor of the Tvell-remembered Tap-
pan Hall block, on Bast Market street, after nearly dying from a
gunshot wound and Panama 'fever, upon the Isthmus, in the
Spring of 1851 arrived in San Francisco without a dollar.
Entering into partnership w^ith a Mr. Guild, of Cincinnati (the
latter furnishing $3,000 capital on which he was to draw ten per
cent, a month interest), he engaged in the same business (auc-
tion) that had so recently swamped Caldwell & Co., and at the end
of the first month, besides expense of fitting up, help, and the
stipulated ten per cent, to Mr. Guild, Mr. Tappan's share of the
profits was $2,700.
Dow and his former partner, having meantime returned from
the East, purchased Mr. Guild's interest, the business continuing
equally profitable for a year or tw^o longer, vt^hen they entered into
a general jobbing trade in which their gains were larger still,
finally retiring from this business, two or three years later, pos-
sessing from $125,000 to $150,000 each. Tappan invested in real
estate and embarked in the lumber and coal business. For a time
his profits w^ere larger than ever, but after a year or two a panicky
shrinkage in values of the large stocks of coal and lumber that he
had purchased, and of his real estate, the title to most of which
proved worthless, every dollar was sunk, a calamity from w^hich
he never recovered, afterwards keeping lodging houses, for longer
or shorter periods at Elko, Nevada, Salt Lake City, Utah, and
Deadwood, Wyoming Territory, being killed at the latter place, iu
March, 1878, by a pistol-shot at the hands of a drunken gambler
w^hom he w^as endeavoring to eject from his premises; Mrs. Tap-
pan dying at Oakland, California, in absolute poverty, in 1888.
Mr. Dow, also, swamped everything in real estate speculations^
except a few^ thousand dollars, invested in the name of his w^ife,
in the stock of the " Gould & Curry," on w^hich, after three years
of litigation, in resistance to the " freezing out" process referred
to, in 1867 she obtained a judgment for $36,000 in gold, which, bear-
ing a high premium at the time, netted her from $50,000 to $60,000
in currency, one-half of w^hich was securely invested in New York
City, by Mrs. D.; Mr. D., after sinking about one-half of the bal-
ance in mining operations, in Montana, investing the residue in,
and becoming the cashier of, the First National Bank of Bozeman,
where he died in the Winter of 1881, '82.
The Summing Up. — Many incidents and reminiscences of Cali-
fornia life — floods, fires, earthquakes, murders and robberies, vigi-
lance committee operations, etc. — might be given that would
doubtless be exceedingly interesting to the present generation, as
w^ell as to surviving gold-seekers themselves. But space forbids.
It may be proper, however, in summing up, to say, that while
a very large percentage failed to realize their expectations. Sum-
mit county may congratulate herself that she did her full share in
the commercial, agricultural and financial development of one of
the most intelligent, enterprising and loyal states in the American
Union.
CHAPTER LVI.
BARLY CRIMES AND OTHER INCIDENTS WITHIN THE PRESENT LIMITS OF
SUMMIT COUNTY— CAPTAIN SAMUEL BRADY'S FLIGHT AND WONDERFUL
LEAP FOR LIFE — SHOOTING OF DANIEL DIVER, OF DEERFIELD, BY THE
SENECA INDIAN, JOHN MOHAWK — PURSUIT OF INDIANS INTO HUDSON,
BOSTON AND RICHFIELD— KILLING OF NICKSHAW, AND ESCAPE OF MOHAWK
—CAPTURE, TRIAL AND ACQUITTAL OF THE INDIAN CHIEF, BIGSON, AND
OTHER MEMBERS OF HIS TRIBE — SHOOTING OF CANAL DRIVER, NATHAN
CUMMINS, BY ABNER S. BARRIS— CAPTURE OF THE MURDERER— EXAMINA-
TION BEFORE JUSTICE JACOB BROWN, OF AKRON — TRIAL IN SUPREME
COURT OF PORTAGE COUNT Y— CON VICTED OF MURDER IN SECOND DEGREE
— SENTENCED TO PENITENTIARY FOR LIFE— SUBSEQUENT DEATH, ETC.
PIONEER LIFE AND INCIDENT.
npHOUGH, of course, largely traditional, the thrilling advent-
^ ures, and the wonderful nerve and prowess attributed to our
pioneer settlers, in their contact w^ith the aboriginal ow^ners and
occupants of the beautiful country w^hich their descendants and
successors now inhabit, possess an interest and charm that
w^ill steadily increase as the years go by.
Among the most authentic, as well as among the most heroic,
of those early episodes, in which Summit county has a direct
interest, were the wonderful exploits of Captain Samuel Brady,
briefly narrated as follows:
Captain Samuel Brady. — Captain Brady, who is described as
of medium stature, but of wonderful nerve and great power of
endurance, was a resident of Western Pennsylvania, on Chartier's
creek, near the Ohio river, and was one of the most daring and suc-
cessful, of the many daring and successful "Indian Hunters" of
those early times. The cause of his implacable hostility to the
Indian is said to have been the massacre, by a marauding expedi-
tion from the Falls of the Cuyahoga, of several families in the
neighborhood w^here he, when a boy, resided with an uncle, he
alone escaping; another boy about his ow^n age — an adopted son
of his uncle — named Simon Girty, being captured and carried into
captivity by the Indians. Young Brady then swore eternal hos-
tility to the entire savage race, and as he grew to manhood, most
faithfully and fearfully did he fulfil his oath.
Tradition is rife with his almost innumerable and superhuman
efforts in this direction; but with one, only, can we properly deal.
And of events immediately leading to this, in the data before us,
there are several different versions. One account states that
about the year 1780, on one of his excursions west of the Ohio
river, accompanied by three or four trusted companions, they were
surprised, near the Sandusky river, his companions all killed, and
himself captured and taken to the Sandusky Indian village.
'There was great rejoicing over his capture, and great preparations
were made for torturing him by slowly burning him at the stake.
AVhile the ghastly preparations for his torture w^ere going forward
1142 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
before his eyes, Brady recognized, in one of the chiefs who ha(f
come in to take part in the savage pow-wow, his youthful friend,.
Simon Girty, who, grown to manhood among his captors, had
adopted their customs, and by his prowess, risen to the high posi-
tion he then occupied. Brady appealed to his former playmate to
assist him to escape, but without avail.
A Desperate Expedient. — The hour ot execution arrived; the
captive was lashed to the stake; the combustibles were laid; the
fires were lighted; the savage orgies commenced; the flames circled
nearer and nearer; the withes about his arms and legs began to
crackle from the effects of the heat; but, watching his opportunity,
he suddenly, by almost superhuman strength, broke the bands
that held him to the stake, and seizing a handsome young squaw,
w^ho w^as circling near, threw her upon the blazing fagots, and,-
in the confusion of the moment, made his escape into the darkness
of the surrounding forest.
The very audacity of this act, and the momentary horror and
panic resulting therefrom, delayed pursuit, until a considerable
distance into the wilderness had been gained by the fugitive. A
vigorous pursuit was begun, how^ever, and kept up for over a hun-
dred mile^ to, and across, the Cuyahoga river, in what is no\v the
township of Northampton.
Another version of the story is that Brady and his companions
were following a band of Indians, ^vho w^ere returning from a
predatory excursion into Pennsylvania, and that on nearingthe Cuy-
ahoga river, in the present township of Northampton, they encoun-
tered a larger force of Indians than they could successfully cope
w^ith, and that Brady, ordering his men to separate, and each take a
different direction, himself started directly east, toward w^hat is noAV
the village of Kent, in Portage county, with the entire band howl-
ing like demons at his heels; his companions being too small game
to merit consideration at their hands.
"Brady's Leap " — Whichever of these and of the several other
versions is the correct one, all accounts of the flight from the
Cuyahoga river eastward, the pursuit and escape, are substan-
tially agreed. To properly understand the situation, it should be
stated that the Cuyahoga river, rising in Geauga county, pursues
a southwesterly course through Portage county into Summit,
where, a mile and a half north of Akron, it turns abruptly to the
north, emptying into Lake Krie at Cleveland. Thus, in going
from Bath, in Summit county, to Ravenna, in Portage county, on a
direct line, two crossings of the river would necessarily have to be
made.
Brady forged steadily ahead, intending to make the eastern
crossing at a point known as " Standing Stone," a short distance
above the present village of Kent. The Indians, how^ever, being
in considerable force, divining his intentions, had spread them-
selves out in that direction, and were making a superhuman effort
to intercept him before he could gain the crossing. Seeing this,
Brady sought to turn to the right and make a crossing lower down;
but in this, also, the Indians had anticipated him, and were likely
to head him off there, too.
In this extremity, Brady's mind w^as instantly made up to-
attempt the dread alternative — a leap for life across the rocky
gorge, with a span of nearly, or quite, 22 feet, a few rods above the
Brady's wonderful leap for life. 1143
present site of the fine stone bridge across the Cuyahoga river at
the village of Kent. The Indians, who were now close upon his
heels, could have killed him at any moment, by a shot from any
one of their rifles; but their great object and desire w^as to secure
him alive, in order to glut their savage and brutal vengeance upon
him; never dreaming that he would attempt what the most agile
among their ow^n number would not dare to do.
Perilous Predicament. — On, on, they come, yelling like
demons incarnate. Their hated foe is, in imagination, already
w^ithin their fiendish clutches. The brink of the precipice appears
in view, with no perceptible diminution of speed, of either the
pursued or the pursuers. Knowing full well the terrible death
that awaits him, if taken alive, and reflecting that the failure of
the attempt he w^as about to make could only result in a less cruel
death, Brady summoned all his remaining powers of bodj' and
mind for the one supreme effort of his life, and, to the horror of
his pursuers, sprang boldly across the fearful chasm.
The point whence he sprang was a large flat overhanging
rock, from twenty-five to thirty feet above the surface of the
w^ater; the opposite side, also overhanging the river, being some-
w^hat lower, and covered with small evergreen trees and bushes.
In landing, Brady struck upon the edge of this bushy projection,
and came near falling back into the seething waters below; but,
clutching hold of the scraggy bushes, he finally drew himself
upward and forward, and escaped into the timber, on the east side
of the river.
The Indians, for a moment, could only hold up their hands in
sheer astonishment, and utter unintelligible ejaculations of sur-
prise. Realizing, as they almost immediately did, that their prey
w^as about to escape them, several shots were fired at him, as he
was clambering up the bank, only one of which took effect, pro-
ducing an ugly flesh wound in the right thigh.
The Flight Not Yet Ended. — Taking a momentary breath-
ing spell, to recover somewhat from the shock of his fall upon the
edge of the ledge, Brady, though suffering severely from his
w^ound, continued his flight eastward, but speedily became avt^are
that the Indians, having effected a crossing both above and below
the scene of his daring exploit, were again in pursuit, on either
flank. He now made directly towards a large pond, a mile or so
east of the river, where, in full view of his pursuers, he boldly
plunged in, and started as if to swim to the opposite shore. After
swimming a short distance, however, he dove beneath the surface,
and changing his direction, made for a dense mass of pond lilies,
or as some accounts state, the top of a fallen tree, under which he
managed to hide himself, with his nose and mouth above the sur-
face, and so near the shore that, understanding their language, he
could hear the speculations of his bloodthirsty enemies as to his
probable fate; their belief being that he had become exhausted
from his long run and leap, and from the wound that, from the
blood left along his track, they knew he had received, and had
sunk to the bottom and drowned. The Indians, at length satisfied
that their mortal enemy was surely dead, left the vicinity of the
pond and retraced their steps, to tell to their astonished fellows
the almost incredible story of the w^hite man's daring "Leap for
Life," and his subsequent death from drow^ning.
1144 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
To make sure that they were not still lingering about the
shores of the pond, Brady remained in his uncomfortable position
through the night, when, hearing no sound, nor seeing any signs
of further pursuit, he leisurely continued his weary way to his
home in the Valley of the Ohio; and from this event, and the
other traditional story that upon the banks of the same pond
Brady and his companions still later ambushed and slaughtered a
considerable body of Indians, it has long been, and will probably
continue forever to be, known as
"Brady's Lake." — This beautiful little lake has, within a few
years, become quite a resort for picnic parties, and other Summer
pleasure seekers in Portage and adjoining counties. The
encroachments of modern improvements, canals, railroads, etc., to
saj' nothing about the encroachments of time, have very greatly
changed the aspect of the various points of pioneer, as well as
Indian prowess and adventure, so that it is difficult, at this remote
period, to tell the exact distance covered by the intrepid Brady in
his alleged "leap for life." The late Frederick Wadsworth, who
pretty thoroughly investigated the matter, some forty-five years
ago, found the distance from point to point to be then a trifle less
than twenty-five feet. But as nearly, or quite, half a century had
then gone by since the reputed adventure, it is probable that
time's unceasing abrasions had already wrought a marked change
upon the edees of the overhanging rock, though the leap, if made
at all at the point named, w^hich the w^riter sees no reason to
doubt, even if but twenty-two feet, as most versions state it, was
one of the most wonderful ever achieved by mortal man; although
men, in desperate straits, have since been known to make w^onder-
ful leaps; three persons, within the knowledge of the writer, hav-
ing been caught in the upper part of a burning building in San
Francisco, Cal., in 1851, savirfg their lives by ascending to the roof
and jumping across a sixteen-foot alley to the roof of another
building a few feet lower.
At the annual meeting of the Portage-Summit Pioneer Asso-
ciation in September, 1886, it was suggested by the secretary, Dr.
A. M. Sherman, that a movement be inaugurated by the Associa-
tion towards erecting a suitable monument, at the point on the
river bank where Brady's wonderful leap is alleged to have been
made, in commemoration of the event; a proposition that the
people of both counties should have a deep interest in carr3^ing
into effect.
The Shooting of Daniel Diver. — A more recent reminiscent
incident of pioneer intercourse and trouble with the Indians, is
compiled from reasonably reliable data, and may, therefore, be
considered substantially accurate; though there is some discre-
pancy of authority as to the exact cause of the trouble, and the
name of the tribe to which the Indians implicated belonged; one
account naming them as " Moha^vks," and others as " Senecas,"
the preponderance of evidence being in favor of the latter.
Be this as it may, in the Winter of 1806, '07 there was an encamp-
ment of Indians in the township of Deerfield, in Portage county,
which had been opened to settlement about seven years. Among
the white inhabitants at that time were two brothers by the name
of John and Daniel Diver. The former had traded a mare and colt
to an Indian named John Nickshaw, for an Indian pon}'^, and
RED-SKIN MALIGNITY — WHITE-SKIN REVENGE. 1145
though it does not appear that either had obtained any consider-
able advantage in the trade, for some reason or other the Indian
became dissatisfied and wished to trade back, which Diver declined
io do.
On the 20th of January, 1807, while John Diver was entertain-
ing a sleighing party at his house, five Indians from the camp,
John Nickshaw, John Mohawk, John Bigson and his two sons, all
under the influence of whisky, rudely intruded upon the party,
and on some pretense, endeavored to decoy John Diver to their
camp. Failing in this, they became quite boisterous, but were
eventually quieted down by the mildness of Daniel Diver. A little
later they renewed the disturbance, charging Daniel Diver with
having stolen their guns, but w^ere finally persuaded by him to
leave the house.
The night was bright and cold, there being about two feet of
«now^ upon the ground. Stepping out of doors, about 10 o'clock,
Daniel Diver saw the five Indians standing in a row in a slight
ravine a short distance from the house. Going rapidly towards
them he saluted them pleasantly, and viras, in turn, cordially
greeted by the Indians; each shaking hands with him as he passed,
until the last one, John Mohawk, was reached, who not only
refused to shake hands with him, but, as he w^as turning to go
back to the house, the treacherous savage raised his gun and shot
him through the temples, destroying both eyes. Hearing the
report of the gun, John Diver ran to the assistance of his wounded
brother, the Indians fleeing to their camp, and from thence, the
same night, into the wilderness in a northwesterly direction.
Although Daniel Diver was not killed, he never regained his sight,
though afterwards raising a family and dying in 1847.
Seeking Vengeance on Mohawk, But Killing Nickshaw. —
Before daylight the next morning, so rapidly had the alarm spread,
a party of twenty-five determined men were on the track of the
murderous red-skins. The weather was intensely cold, and several
of the pursuing party froze their feet and hands, and their places
were filled by other settlers along the route. The night following,
the five fleeing Indians were surprised and surrounded, in their
camp, on the west side of the Cuyahoga river, in the west part of
Boston, or the east part of the present township of Richfield. John
Bigson and his two sons were captured, but Mohawk and Nick-
shaw got away. They were followed by two Hudson men named
George Darrow and Jonathan Wi-lliams, overtaken, and com-
manded to surrender, but not obeying the summons, Williams fired
upon them, instantly killing Nickshaw; but Mohawk, the Indian
who shot Daniel Diver, entirely escaped. A squaw belonging to
the p^rty was said to have been left to take care of herself, and it
was afterwards reported that she perished in the snow. Bigson
and his two sons were returned to Deerfield, and, being examined
before Justice Lewis Day, were committed to the Warren jail.
They were subsequently tried in Court of Common Pleas and
acquitted.
An Indian War Imminent. — The excitement attendant upon
this affair, both among the whites and Indians, was most intense,
and came very near resulting in a bloody war between the two
races. Considerable correspondence w^as had between the citizens
of Deerfield and Gen. Klijah Wadsworth, of Warren, then the
1146 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
military commander for Northern Ohio, and bet-ween Gen. Wads-
worth and Judge Samuel Huntington, of the Supreme Court, at
Cleveland ; several personal interviews also being had between
Judge Huntington and Chief Seneca, in behalf of the tribe of
Indians involved in the difficulty.
The people of Deerfield demanded that John Mohawk, the
shooter of Diver, be delivered up for trial; the Indian Chief as
strenuously insisting that Darrow and Williams should also be
arrested and tried for the killing of Nickshaw, and promising to
surrender Mohawk when legal steps for the punishment of the
white murderers should be taken. Seneca, in his talks with Judge
Huntington, Major Carter and others, said he did not want to go
to war; he simply w^anted justice. Nicksha^v had been murdered;
shot in the back, while fleeing for his life. He, with Major Carter
and Mr. Campbell, had gone to the place w^here Nickshaw^ was
killed, and had buried him. There was no evidence of any struggle,
and Nickshaw had fallen in his tracks with the bullet hole in his
back. Seneca sententiously remarking: "Indian may lie; white
man maj'^ lie; but snow tell no lie," and adding that all he Avanted
■was, that "the same measure of justice should be dealt out to the
Indian as to the white man."
The excitement finally died away, and neither Mohawk nor
Williams or Darrow^ Tvere ever brouffht to trial, though it was a
long time before the parties w^ere restored to their former friendly
relations; the event, taking all the circumstances into consider-
ation, furnishing additional proof that the greater portion of the
trouble betw^een the early w^hite settlers and the Indians grew out
of the fact that the former w^ere not as ready to do justice to the
latter as to exact it from them.
Murder of Nathan Cummins, a Canal Driver.— Though a lit-
tle out of its chronological order, the follo\\ring account of a Tvan-
ton homicide, perpetrated within the present limits of Summit
county, may properly come in here. On the night, of the 8th day
of September, 1832, a dissipated fellow by the name of Abner S.
Harris, living in a log shanty on the w^est side of the Ohio canal,
near Old Portage, got upon the canal boat " Victory," some dis-
tance belowr, to ride up as far as his own place. On the way he
got into a ^svrangle w^ith the hands upon the boat, accusing them
of stealing his w^ood, demanding pay for the same, etc., and was
put off the boat, in w^hich operation he was either purposely or
accidentally throw^n into the Water, by the steersman, w^hose name
w^as Hart Lepper. Threatening vengeance upon Lepper, he dis-
appeared into the bushes, in the direction of his house.
Later in the night he appeared upon the bank of the canal,
further south, carrying a gun, and hailing the steersman of the
dow^nward bound boat, " Fair American," inquired for the boat
upon w^hich he had been riding, saying that they had stolen his
w^ood, pushed him off the boat into the canal and snapped a gun at
him, and that if they wanted bush-w^hacking, he would give them
plenty of it, for he had a gun and plenty of ammunition, and knew
how to use them, too. When the "Fair American" reached the
lock, below Old Portage, an up-bound boat was found in the lock,
and while waiting there, the report of a gun was heard by the two
crews, it being presently discovered that the driver of the up-bound
boat — the "Victory" — a boy about seventeen years old, by the name
MURDER IN THE SECOND DEGREE. 1147
of Nathan Cummins, belonging in Cleveland — had fallen from his
horse, fatally shot through the neck.
Barris was, of course, immediately suspected, followed and
captured, while skulking in the bushes, near his own shanty. He
w^as brought to Akron, and being examined before Justice Jacob
Brown, was committed to the Portage county jail, at Ravenna, to
answer to the charge of murder. At the May term, 1833, of the
Court of Common Pleas for Portage county, an indictment was
found against Barris, charging him with deliberate and premedi-
tated murder. To this indictment Barris entered a plea of not
guilty, and elected to be tried in the Supreme Court, to convene
early in the following September.
Trial in Supreme Court. — The Supreme Court, for Portage
county, for 1833, convened at Ravenna on Monday, September 2,
with Judges Ebenezer Lane, of Norwalk, and John C. Wright, of
Cincinnati, upon the bench. L, V. Bierce, then prosecuting
attorney for Portage county, and Hon. Peter Hitchcock, of Geauga
county, appeared on behalf of the State, the defendant being repre-
sented by Van R. Humphrey, Esq., of Hudson, and Eben Newton,
Esq., of Canfield.
The trial w^as short, only eleven witnesses being sworn and
examined on both sides, the entire proceedings, including the
empaneling of the jury, examination of w^itnesses, arguments of
counsel, charge of Court, verdict of jury and sentence of prisoner,
occupying less than two days, being in striking contrast to the
"long drawn out" trials in similar cases in these modern days.
The killing of the boy was not denied by either Barris or his
attorneys; the former, on being brought to the hotel of William
Coolman, Jr., on his arrival from Akron, saying to that gentleman,
w^ho had previously known him, that "it was not Barris, but it was
whisky that did it." The principal effort of counsel for the defense
w^as to bring the offense down to manslaughter; but the jury,
under the able charge of Judge Lane, brought in a verdict of
murder in the second degree.
Judge Lane immediately pronounced sentence upon the pris-
oner as follows :
"Abner S. Barris : — You have been found guilty, by a jury of your own
selection, of murder. In most countries, for this offense you would pay the
forfeit of your life; but under the benig^n provisions of that section of the
statute under which you are convicted, you do not forfeit your life ; but the
law adjudg'es you unworthy long'er to associate with your fellow citizens.
This law leaves with the Cotirt no discretion. We have no alternative but to
deprive you of your liberty for the remainder of your life. Your sentence,
therefore, is that you be taken hence to the Penitentiary of the State of Ohio,
and that you be there confined at hard labor, for and during the remainder
of your natural life."
No effort was ever made for his pardon, and Abner S Barris,
forty years of age at the time of his conviction, fully expiated the
offense committed by him while under the influence of that incar-
nate devil, of all earthly devils, w^hisky, by faithful service to the
State until released by death, February 3, 1842, just eight years,
four months and five days from the date of his incarceration.
CHAPTER LVII.
SOME SHARP DETECTIVE OPERATIONS— WEALTHY FARMER TURNS DETECTIVE
TO AVENGE THE MURDER OF HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW — FOLLOWS THAT
CALLING AS A DUTY TO SOCIETY— MARSHAL WRIGHT "ARRESTS" HIM AND
MAYOR NASH "COMMITS" HIM ON THE "CHARGE" OF FORGERY — TWO
DAYS AND NIGHTS IN A FELON'S CELL— HIS DISCOVERIES WHILE IN JAIL
— HIS RELEASE ON "BAIL" — TAKES WITH HIM A LETTER OF INTRODUC-
TION TO THE BROTHER OF AN ALLEGED COUNTERFEITER — MAKES THE
ACQUAINTANCE OF SAID BROTHER AND HIS PALS — CONTRACTS TO PUR-
CHASE A BURGLARIZED STOCK OF BOOTS AND SHOES FROM THEM— FAILS
TO KEEP HIS APPOINTMENT, BUT OFFICERS WRIGHT AND TOWNSEND
PROMPTLY ON HAND— THE BURGLARS ARRESTED WITH THE "SWAG" IN
THEIR POSSESSION — TRIED, CONVICTED AND SENTENCED TO THE "PEN"
FOR THREE YEARS — DISCOVERY OF PLOT TO ROB THE TREASURY OF
SUMMIT COUNTY — ROBBER CAUGHT IN THE ACT— TRIAL, SENTENCE AND
CONVICTION EXTENSIVE GANG OF COUNTERFEITERS BROKEN UP, ETC.—
SOME DECIDEDLY "CLEVER" WORK BY "HOME TALENT."
A VOLUNTEER DETECTIVE.
'T^HOUGH not claiming to have much detective talent myself, it
-^ w^as nevertheless my good fortune to have assisted in some
very clever detective operations, during my first two terms as
Sheriff of Summit county, from November, 1856, to January, 1861.
A year or two previous to my accession to that office, the brother-
in-law of a w^ealthy and enterprising farmer, near Loudonville, in
Ashland county, had- been killed in a neighboring city, by being
struck on the head with an iron dray-pin. The authorities of the
county where the crime v^^as perpetrated failing to trace the
murderer, our farmer friend, whose name was E. W. Robeson,
started out upon a line of detective operations on his o^wn hook.
Though not'succeeding, after long and patient search, in running
down the slayer of his kinsman, yet he obtained such an insight
into the existing crookedness of the day, that for the benefit of
society at large, he gave himself up, almost exclusively, to the
detection and exposure of crime, and in aiding 'the authorities of
his ow^n and contiguous counties, in bringing the rascals of their
several localities to justice and merited punishment, and that, too,
w^ithout compensation or expectation of pecuniary rew^ard, other
than his actual expenses w^hen operating away from home.
With this justice-loving gentleman Marshal J. J. Wright and
Constable James Burlison had become acquainted, and had often
co-operated with him in ferreting out crimes in several of the
counties to the south and west of us; the latter gentleman at one
time actually buying out, and for some time running, a saloon in
one of the most notorious "Rogues' Hollows" in Holmes county ;
and in the denouement of w^hose discoveries, and consequent police
requirements, Marshal Wright, Deputy Sheriff Townsend and
Constable David A. Scott took a prominent and exceedingly lively
hand.
EARLY DETECTIVE OPERATIONS. 1149
"Working" the County Fair. — Among the large number of
huckster's stands at the ninth annual fair (October, 1858) of the
Summit County Agricultural Society, upon their original six acre
grounds, on South Main street, opposite the present Rubber
Works and Match Factories, v/as one kept by a man by the name
of J. M. Foster, hailing from Franklin Mills (now Kent), in Portage
county. Something about the fellow had early attracted the
attention of the officers who w^ere policeing the grounds, but no
overt act, on which an arrest could be based, was detected until
towards night on the last day of the Fair. Then Marshal Wright
and Constable Burlison caught him in the act of passing a coun-
terfeit two dollar bill upon a young man from the country, took
him into custody, and lodged him in jail.
Marshal Wright having already had some inkling of the
crooked propensities of the Fosters, of Franklin Mills, thus having
one of them in limbo, thought it would be well enough to apply
the "pumping" process to him, and accordingly wrote to Mr.
Robeson to come to Akron at once, w^hich summons was promptly
responded to.
Akron's Original "Eel Pot." — At that time the late Frederick
A. Nash was m^ayor of Akron, and to fully carry out our plans, as
in "council of war" agreed upon, he was taken into our confidence
and promised us a hearty co-operation. At that tiine, too, the
Hanscom brothers — George, Charles and Davids— were the keepers
of the principal grocery and family supply store of Akron, in their
new^ brick block, on the northeast corner of Howard and Market
streets. This grocery store was the evening loafing place of that
time — the original "Eel Pot" of Akron— and among the numerous
other loafers there congregated on a given evening, were Marshal
J. J. Wright and Sheriff S. A. Lane.
While old-time jokes and antique "chestnuts" were being
rapidly fired at each other by the congregated "eels," a rather
rough-looking stranger entered the store and "Dave" Hanscom
pulled himself out of the charmed (or, more properly speaking,
charming) circle, and stepped tow^ards the front to wait upon his
new^ customer. Calling for a paper of "fine-cut," which "Dave"
produced, the stranger threw upon the counter a two dollar bill in
payment. Glancing at it, "Dave" indignantly exclaimed :
"You don't think I'm big fool enough to take such stuff as
that, do you?"
"Why, 'aint that good?" innocently inquired the stranger. "I
took it from the captain of the boat I come from Cleveland on."
"Good! Thunder, no! A blind man could see that that was
counterfeit, by just feeling of it!" replied "Dave."
By this time the attention of the "eels" w^as attracted to the
conversation between "Dave" and the stranger, and Marshal
Wright hastily stepped forward, saying: "Here, let me look at
that," and after scrutinizing the bill a moment, said : "Yes, that's
counterfeit, fast enough!" Then, looking at the stranger, the
Marshal exclaimed : "Hello, you're just the man I've been looking
after for some time!" and pulling a pair of handcuffs from his
pocket, undertook to slip them upon the wrists of the stranger.
This was vigorously resisted, however, and quite a tussle ensued,
• but the stranger was finally subdued and triumphantly escorted
before the mayor.
1150 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
"Committed" to Jail. — The entire crowd of intensely interested
"eels," the writer included, followed the marshal and his "pris-
oner" to the office of Mayor Nash. The mayor gravely read the
warrant to the "prisoner," charging him, under the name of
"John Doe," "Kichard Roe" or some other equally accurate cogno-
men, w^ith having forged the name of some other equally mythical
personage to a bank check. To this charge the "culprit" put in
an emphatic plea of "not guilty," and w^aived an examination,
w^hereupon His Honor required him to enter into bonds in the
sum of $1,000, for his appearance before the Court of Common
Pleas, and in default of bail filled out a mittimus in due form
committing him to jail. Saying that he >vould be all right as soon
as he could get word to his brother, a w^ealthy merchant at Canal
Dover, he started with Marshal Wright and myself for the jail —
the handcuffs, of course, being removed on leaving the mayor's
office and getting beyond the observation of the keen-sighted and
highly interested "eels."
The Pumping Process. — At that time every cell in the jail was
occupied, and it Avould never do to put a "criminal" of that grade
in so insecure a place as the "Debtor's Room" on the upper floor.
So it was arranged to have the newr man bunk in with Foster, as
being the previous latest comer. Of course, the reader under-
stands by this time that the supposititious forger is our detective
friend, Robeson. Foster at once "took" to him, confiding to the
stranger everything he knew about either himself or his friends,
w^hile in turn the stranger told Foster everything he knen^, and
probably several things that he didn't know.
A number of other prisoners also sought the confidence of the
new, but jolly and wide-awake, "prisoner." and made certain reve-
lations to him which w^ere afterwards of great value to the officers,
Robeson possessing one of the most retentive memories, as to
names, places and dates, of any person that I ever knew^. He
remained in the jail, living upon regular jail rations, and submit-
ting to prison regulations and accomodations, for two days, until,
by a preconcerted signal, he intimated to me that he had thor-
oughly mastered the situation, vehen I handed in to him what
purported to be a letter from his brother, enclosing a certificate of
deposit for $1,000 for him to deposit with the clerk of the Court, in
lieu of bail, for his appearance for trial.
A Complete Success. — On reaching my office, in the court
house, Robeson gave to myself and Deputy To wnsend a full history
of his experience while in "durance vile." Foster told him that
he had a l)rother at Franklin Mills, who with certain confederates,
w^ere carrying on quite an extensive store-cracking business, and
who then had in their possession large quantities of different kinds
of merchandise. To this brother Foster gave Robeson, under his
prison cognomen, a letter of introduction, together with minute
directions for the fabrication of a saw^, w^ith w^hich to ^work himself
out of jail, in case an indictment should be found against him.
Having a matter of business to look after in the neighborhood
of Ravenna, I dispatched Deputy Townsend thither, w^ith that >vell-
remembered span of gray horses I then owned, taking Robeson
w^ith him to within a short distance of the village of Franklin
Mills, with the understanding that he would pick him up at the
same point on his return to Akron the next morning. Though
BURGLARS HANDSOMELY NABBED. 1151
quite dark when he walked into the village, Robeson had no diffi-
culty in finding the Foster domicile, so minute had been the direc-
tions given him by his late room-mate in the Summit county
bastile. On presenting his credentials, Robeson was received with
open arms, as it were, by the brother and his family, including a
brother-in-law confederate. During the evening they not only
opened up to Robeson in regard to their crooked operations, but
absolutely made arrangements to transfer to him, for a stipulated
cash equivalent, a large quantity of boots and shoes, to be deliv-
ered at the hotel in Clinton, in the south part of Summit county,
at a given time.
He Fails to "Materialize." — The day agreed upon duly
arrived, and so did the "Commercial Travelers," with several
large trunks full of boots and shoes. These were taken into the
parlor of the hotel, while their team was taken to the barn by the
ever-attentive hostler. But for some (to them) unaccountable
reason their expected " cash customer" failed to put in appearance.
Not so, however, with Marshal Wright arid Deputy Sheriff
Townsend. Having approached the village, on an indirect and
somewhat obscure road, they had taken the precaution to leave
the gray team a short distance out of tow^n and had managed to
reach the hotel unobserved. As they entered the sitting room,
though utter strangers to the Franklinites, those gentlemen
instinctively scented danger and hastily retreated from the room
— one breaking for the rear and the other for the front door of the
hall. Wright overhauled the one just as he w^as passing through
the back door, while Townsend froze to other as he w^as climbing
over the railing to the front platform. They both struggled des-
perately, but the officers were too much for them. They were
securely ironed and, with their plunder, taken to Ravenna and
delivered to the authorities of Portage county.
Of this arrest, the Beacon of February 16, 1859, (A. H. Lewis,
Esq., editor), said :
"On Thursday last, Deputy Sheriff Townsend and Marshal J. J. Wrig-ht,
arrested at Clinton, in this county, two men named Foster and Clark, charg-ed
with robbing- the store of Coffin & Co., in Ravenna, some weeks ag-o. The
prisoners, and some $400 worth of boots and shoes, which were recognized as
belonging to Enos & Martin, of the former place, were taken to Ravenna, and
as they waived an examination. Justice Conanfheld them in $1,000 each for
appearance at the next term, for that burglarJ^ In default they were com-
mitted to jail. Our detectives are as keen at scenting scoundrels as terriers
after a rat ; and they rarely fail, if any game is within their bailiwick."
Trial — Conviction — Sentence. — The two men thus hand-
somely nabbed, were respectively named, William H. Foster and
Charles Clark, and at the February term of the Court of Common
Pleas of Portage county, for 1859, they were jointly indicted for
both burglary and larceny, and for receiving and concealing stolen
goods the property of the boot and shoe firm of Enos & Martin.
The proof as to their having actually entered the store, and per-
sonally stolen and carried away the goods, being a little obscure,
w^hile the fact of their having the goods in their possession w^as
abundantly evident, they were convicted upon the latter charge,
only, and sentenced to the Penitentiary for three years each.
The reading of this article, if they are still living, and it should
perchance fall under their observation, will probably give them
their first inkling as to why their anticipated purchaser failed to
1152 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
come to time, and how it happened that the Summit county offi-
cers appeared upon the scene just in the nick of time to "gobble
them up" with the evidence of their guilt so conspicuously
palpable.
The Original Foster Goes Scott Free. — The original Foster
arrested by Wright and Burlison upon the fair grounds, for
passing counterfeit money, was not indicted by the grand jury of
this county, no other spurious money having been found about his
person or belongings, and the evidence being not at all conclusive
that he was aware that the bill passed by him was other than
genuine; but if he ever "caught on" to the little game that was
played on him by "weuns"and our friend Robeson, it probably
taught him not to "talk too much with his mouth "even to a sup-
posed kindred spirit, occupying jointly with himself a felon's cell.
"L/ISHe" Wait and George Sapp. — Among Northampton's
"celebrities," from 1850 to 1860, was "Lishe" Wait, who was not
only extremely fond of whisky, but also possessed of an inordinate
desire to finger other people's belongings. Though often in
"durance vile " on serious charges "Lishe" w^as generally sharp
enough to escape conviction, or at least get off with very light
penalties. Far less sharp, but equally inclined to whisky-guzzling
and crookedness, w^as George Sapp; one of their alleged joint oper-
ations being the burglarizing of the house of Thomas J. French,
and stealing therefrom the sum of $500 in money, on the night of
August 27, 1854. For this crime they were indicted and tried, but
though morally certain of their guilt the evidence w^as too obscure
to warrant the jury in legally so finding and they were accord-
ingly discharged.
This narrow escape did not cure their drinking or thieving
propensities, and both were often in limbo on minor charges, Sapp
being in jail on a thirty day's sentence for stealing a quantity of
wheat from one of his neighbors at the time our detective was
there, as above related. Though Robeson sought to confine his
"pumping" operations to Foster, among the most pertinacious to
pour his "tale of w^oe" and his schemes of vengeance into the
detective's ear, w^as the aforesaid George Sapp.
George Sapp's Grievances.— George had been unjustly dealt
with; Lishe Wait had euchred him out of his share of the
"Tommy" French swag; he had been several times unjustly
imprisoned or sentenced for longer terms than his light offenses
warranted, and he was botrnd to have revenge; when he got out
of jail there would be a few bon-fires; several barns had already
been touched off and several more would be; Akron had been
pretty well scorched and w^ould soon be lighted up again; the bar-
rel factory made a hot blaze and he knew who touched it off, etc.
The Barrel Factory Fire. — For many years the millers of
Akron had wholly depended upon the local coopers of the several
adjacent townships for their supply of barrels, flour in those early
days not being so largely sold in sacks as at the present time.
This mode of supply not being reliable, and perhaps too expensive,
a number of interested parties organized the Akron Barrel Com-
pany sometime along in the iniddle of the fifties, and erected a fac-
tory on the site lately occupied by the Miller Chain Works and
Match Factory, and commenced the manufacture of barrels bj'^
machinery.
COUNTY TKEASUKY KOBBEK XABBED, 1153
This scheme w^as regarded by local coopers as inimical to their
interests; but it vv^as not believed that the frequent threats of
demolition >vhich from time to time found whispered utterance,
would ever materialize. On the morning of October 7, 1858, how-
ever, the second day of the Fair of that year (the Fair grounds
then being directly opposite on the east side of Main street), the
barrel factory was burned under circumstances \vhich rendered it
almost certain that the fire w^as of incendiary origin; the company
immediately offering a rew^ard of $1,000 for the detection and con-
viction of the incendiary.
Sapp's pointed allusion to the matter, in his confidential com-
munications to Robeson, was strongly presumptive, to the local
officers, that a clue to the perpetrators thereof might be reached
through him. Accordingly, after the expiration of his sentence,
the services of our >vhilom " forger," Robeson, were called into
requisition. Sapp w^as visited in his native haunts, but though he
talked freely in regard to his prospective crookedness, he w^as
quite reticent about w^hat he knew (if anything), in regard to the
burning of the barrel works, further than that a certain young
man, ^vhose name he declined to disclose, had been hired to set
the fire, and that he had since gone west.
" Bigger Game" In Pro.spect. — But one important scheme was
developed by the interview, w^hich was no less than the project of
robbing the county treasury by himself and two "other fellers" —
well-known crooks — whom he named, w^hich project w^as only
aw^aiting the "dark of the moon" to be carried into execution.
This declaration wras deemed of sufficient importance, by the local
officers, to be followed up. The treasurer's office then occupied
only one-third of the space it now" does, the sheriff's office being"
then upon the east, and the grand jury room upon the w^est; there^
being no vault in the treasurer's office then as now, the public
funds being confided to the keeping of one of the old-fashioned
boiler-plate safes; the only fastening to the single window^ of th&
room being a nail over the low^er sash. In anticipation of the con-
templated raid, a night w^atch was organized, consisting of the
writer. Marshal J. J. Wright, Deputy Sheriff A. R. Townsend, Con-
stables David A. Scott and James Burlison, Auditor Charles B.
Bernard, and Deputy Clerk Alden Gage, who were to take turns in
watching, the sheriff's office being the rendezvous, and well-sup-
plied with buffalo robes, blankets, etc., to make us comfortable
during the long cold w^intry nights, no fire or lights in the room
being permissible, while the most profound silence was deemed
absolutely necessary.
Watching and Waitincj. — Thus for several nights the vigil was
kept up, but neither George Sapp, nor any "other feller " put in
an appearance. But while still continuing our vigilance, it was
thought best to have our detective "accidentally" run across
George again, to ascertain the occasion of the hitch. George said
they w^ere on hand at the time designated, but became apprehen-
sive that the court house was being watched, as one night, about
11 o'clock, they thought they saw a flash of light in one of the
rooms as though a match had been struck, w^hich had actually
been done by one of the watchers to ascertain the time of night..
"But," continued George, "they're not w^atching now, and as soon
as the nights get dark again, we will do the business sure."
73
1154 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY,
Arson as Well as Robbery. — So the watch was kept up, but
no longer from the sheriff's office. At that time the jail coal-house
stood flush with the street, about where the driveway now is
between the jail and the large brick building upon the north.
From the interior of this building, Marshal Wright and Deputy
Sheriff Townsend kept watch for several nights after the moon
began to darken, while Constable Burlison occupied another point
of observation near by.
About 11 o'clock on the night of January 29, 1859, while the
attention of the people of the town was drawn towards a burning
school house at the corner of Middlebury and Spicer streets
(believed to be a part of the robbery game), the sharp eye of
Marshal Wright caught sight of a man stealthily creeping across
the court house yard, diagonally from the northeast corner.
Reaching the court house, he hastily passed entirely around the
building (this was before the wings were added), and then, turning
upon his heel, ran around the other way, stopping at the treasury
w^indow. Presently, the officers saw him disappear through the
w^indow, when, leaving their covert, they closed in upon him,
observing, as they did so, another man rapidly running down the
hill upon the west side of the grounds.
Caught in His Own Trap. — Summoning the burglar to come
forth, and receiving no response. Marshal Wright, with revolver in
hand, boldly entered the office, through the open window, and
groping around got hold of his man, w^hom he at once shoved
through the window into the hands of Deputy Tow^nsend, by
w^hom he was immediately invested with the proper "jewels," and
forthwith placed in jail.
Procuring a light, it was found that Sapp had pried the win-
doviT open w^ith the broad blade of an old-fashioned mattock, with
which primitive implement it w^as evidently the intention of the
burglars to w^ork their w^ay into the safe in question; scientific
safe-cracking not being as well understood then as it is now,
though some extensive jobs were even then successfully accom-
plished with as simple means as the clumsy mattock in question.
Trial — Conviction — Sentence. — At the March term of the
court, 1859, Sapp w^as duly indicted, tried and convicted of bur-
glary, but in consideration of his rather "weak intellect, and the
failure of his enterprise, as well as the probability x)f his being
simply the tool of sharper heads. Judge Carpenter gave him the
shortest sentence known to the law for the crime of burglary —
one year's imprisonment in the penitentiary.
As to his alleged accomplices nothing was developed further
than his statement to the detective, and the shadov^ry glimpse of
the second party as he w^as fleeing down the hill on the night of
the burglary; though the fact that the principal one, on Sapp's
arrest, immediately absented himself from the county, and has
never returned, would seem to corroborate Sapp's statement in
that regard.
Sapp's Subsequent Life. — Having served out his term, Sapp
returned to his old home in Northampton, but a few years later
floated off West, where, at last accounts, he was living w^ith a
brother-in-law, in the State of Indiana, a poor demented wreck,
occasionally returning to Summit county, w^here, under the real
or simulated hallucination of ownership, he attempts to assume
SOME OTHER NEAT OPERATIONS. 1155
■control of his "farm" — several thousand acres, extending from lot
18 to the river, north of Cuyahoga Falls.
Large* Gang of Counterfeiters Broken Up. — Clues obtained
by the detective in question, and others, being followed up by the
-officers named, and their JRavenna coadjutors, resulted in the
breaking up of an extensive gang of counterfeiters in Portage,
Columbiana, Mahoning and Cuyahoga counties. In these raids
some $15,000 or $20,000 of spurious money — paper and coin — and a
full wagon load of apparatus and material, consisting in part of a
bank note press, rolling mill, machine for stamping coin, dies, coin
in the rough, finished coin, engravers' tools, crucibles, galvanic
batteries, paper, ink, acids, chemicals, and a lot of dentists' tools
and daguerreotype apparatus, under cover of which the bogus
business w^as carried on.
Several quite important parties w^ere captured, w^ho, with the
evidences of their guilt, were turned over to the authorities of the
several counties interested, and of the United States authorities
at Cleveland. But as these operations were outside of Summit
county, it is not necessary to follow them here, and are only
alluded to in this connection to show how extensively the counter-
feiting virus ramified the social fabric a third of a century ago,
and as demonstrative of the zeal and skill exhibited by the public
and private officers and detectives of Akron and Summit county,
in the detection and punishment of crime, during the same
period.
THE SHERIFF HIMSELF VICTIMIZED.
During the Avriter's first incumbency of the sheriff's office,
from 1856 to 1861, among other official civil transactions was the
closing, on attachment, of quite an extensive dry goods store at
Cuyahoga Falls. Delaying the appraisement for a few days, to
give the parties an opportunity to amicably adjust matters with
their creditors, if possible, it was found, on proceeding with the
inventory, under the direction of the chief clerk of the firm, that
about one thousand dollars' worth of choice goods had meantime
been abstracted from the stock.
Efforts were immediately made to trace the robbers, among
other things a copy of the private cost mark of the firm being sent
to Chief of Police Michael Gallagher, of Cleveland. This was on
Friday. On Saturday morning I took Marshal J. J. Wright with
me to Cuyahoga Falls, to aid in the investigation. We soon struck
a supposed clue, by which it was deemed important to intercept a
box and several packages of goods w^hich had been shipped to
parties in Detroit a few days previously. There w^as then no tele-
graph office in either Akron or Cuyahoga Falls, and at about 11
o'clock A. M. I started, by team, for Hudson, for the purpose indi-
cated.
When about half way between Cuyahoga Falls and Hudson,
on the diagonal road, I met a young man in a buggy driving as
rapidly as myself, who, recognizing me as we passed, shouted that
he had a message for me. On tearing open the envelope, I found
it to be a telegram from Chief Gallagher, saying: " I've got the
thieves and the goods stolen from Cuyahoga Falls. Come quick."
Finding, on inquiry, that a Cleveland bound train w^as due in Hud-
son in about twenty minutes, I let that little grey team of mine go,
pulling up at the Hudson depot just as the train was pulling in.
1156 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
Giving my ponies to a boy to take to a livery stable, I boarded
the train for Cleveland. On reaching police headquarters, I found
two large satchels full of the Cuyahoga Falls goods, *with a por-
tion of the cost marks still attached, and on going to the jail I
found tw^o most villainous looking fellows w^ho had been captured
w^ith said goods in their possession. It appeared that they had
boarded a Detroit steamer, and had endeavored to exchange a por-
tion of the plunder for transportation to Detroit, but exhibited
such awkwardness in handling, and such ignorance in regard to
the value of the goods, as to excite the suspicion of the clerk of
the boat, who put the police upon their track. Being found
shortly afterw^ards in a river saloon, endeavoring to sell their
plunder, they were taken into custody, and on arriving at the
police station, Gallagher needed but a glance at the contents of
the satchels to indicate the source whence they came, and wired
me as stated.
Borrowing the necessary "jewels" from the Cleveland offi-
cers, I chained the tw^o "commercial travelers" together and
brought them and their plunder home with me. The goods cap-
tured amounted in value to perhaps $50, ^vhile as near as could be
calculated at least $1,000 w^orth had been stolen. The application
of the "pump" failed to elicit any definite information in regard
to the missing goods, though it was found, from them and other
sources, that the fellow^s had, for several weeks, without any visi-
ble occupation, been making their headquarters with a brother of
one of them living on the outskirts of the village. The next daj''
(Sunday) this house and vicinity were most thorougly searched by
myself, i)eputy Sheriff A. R. Townsend, Marshal J. J. Wright, and
Constables James Burlison and David A. Scott. The only clue
found to the missing goods was several cost mark tags, in a cavitj^
found on the top of a buckw^heat straw-stack, where they had evi-
dently first been concealed until they could be removed to safer
quarters.
The house in question stood on a sidehill, being a story and a
half in front, w^ith a basement kitchen in the rear, and a small cel-
lar opening out of it under the front part of the house. In this
cellar I noticed quite a quantity of loose, gravelly dirt, in a sort of
bin, across one end of the cellar, creating an impression on my
mind that the goods in question might be concealed in the cavity
below, w^hence said dirt had come, the proprietor of the house, in
replj" to our questions, saying that in excavating for the basement
kitchen it had been saved to make the mortar for plastering the
kitchen, adding that though he knew it was not very good plaster-
ing sand the plasterer thought it w^ould do, for a rough job like
that.
Apparently accepting his statement as true, we left the prem-
ises without discovering any further traces of our goods. But
that dirt continued to agitate the minds of both Wright and my-
self, and the next day w^e repaired again to that cellar, armed with
the proper implements, determined to ascertain what there was
underneath the dirt. Shoveling the dirt out of the bin, we found
the cellar bottom perfectly hard and sound. Assuring ourselves
that no excavation had been made there, in which the goods
could have been concealed, we shoveled the dirt back into the
bin, and began exploring the other parts of the cellar. The space
UNEARTHING THE BURIED PLUNDER. 1157
heing a little cramped for two to work to advantage, I left Wright
to continue the digging there while I went on a prospecting tour
elsewhere. There was a small pantry underneath the stairs lead-
ing from the basement kitchen to the room above, and it seemed
to me that, on removing the flour barrel and sundry other articles
from the pantry, the floor could be raised up like a trap door.
This supposition, however, was found to be incorrecf, but on feel-
ing around, in the darkness, I fished out of a little cubby-hole in
the lower angle of the stairs, about a bushel of packages of spices,
sauces, etc., which the marshal recognized as part of quite a quan-
tity of goods stolen a week or two previously from the grocery
store of Adam Schaaf at Bettes' Corners, and also a quantity of
carpenters' tools recently stolen from the pattern shop of the
Akron Stove Company.
Loading this find into his buggy, Wright proceeded to Akron,
and arrested the owner of the house in question, who was work-
ing there during the day, and lodged him in jail. The next day,
being unable to go myself. Constable Burlison accompanied
Wright to the scene of operations, with instructions to dig until
they found those goods, if they had to tear up the kitchen floor, or,
if necessary, dig over the entire lot. Commencing w^here Wright
had left off the evening before, they had not been long at work,
before, close to the partition between the cellar and the kitchen,
they struck into soft earth, and presently, a foot or so below the
surface, came upon a large tool chest and a smaller box, which, on
being elevated to the surface and opened, were found to be filled
w^ith the burglarized goods in question. On taking an inventory,
the total of the goods thus found, at cost prices, w^as found to be
about $800, the chief clerk of the firm, from his familiarity with
the stock, insisting that about $200 worth of the stock was still
missing, though the most diligent search of myself and others
failed to discover them.
A SIXTEEN- YEAR-OLD BOY IMPLICATED.
Further investigation implicated the sixteen-year-old son of
one of the most repectable families of the neighborhood, and in
whose straw-stack the cost-tags above spoken of were found, and
he, too, was taken into custody. On being interrogated by Prose-
cuting Attorney Henry McKinney, he made a clean breast of it,
relating how he had been inveigled into the schemes of the bur-
glars and had assisted them in removing the goods from the store
to the straw-stack, whence, on a subsequent night, they were
transferred to the place where found, but that no part of the plun-
<ier, or the avails thereof, had as yet come to him.
The outcome of the affair was that the two parties arrested in
Cleveland were convicted of the crime of burglary and grand lar-
ceny, and sentenced to the penitentiary for ten years each; the
owner of the house where the goods were found, having beeri
shown by the evidence to have known thereof, though taking no
part in the burglary itself, was convicted of concealing stolen
property and sent to Columbus for one year, while the boy, by
reason of information imparted to the authorities, and impor-
tant testimony given for the State, w^as discharged without
prosecution.
1158 * AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
THE "MISSING LINK" FINALLY FOUND.
At that time there was living at Cuyahoga Falls an "American
Gentleman of African descent '' by the name of Robert Hurst, for
short called " Bob," who was reputed to be the possessor of a full
complement of extremely "light fingers," and who had many
times been arrested and punished for petty pilfering. About a
year after the occurrence of the events above narrated, a raid was
made by the local officers on " Bob's" domicile, in the loft of which,
ingeniously concealed, was found nearly a thousand dollar's worth
of almost every conceivable kind of property — shirts, sheets, calica
dresses, clothing, hats, caps, boots, shoes, crockery, hardware, dry
goods, etc., and among the rest, in perfect good order, the
remainder of the goods stolen from the store in my Custody as nar-
rated, and invoicing just about $200. The only thing that we
could get out of " Bob," in regard to them, was that the two ten
year convicts above written of had given the goods to him to keep
for them, and it has ever since remained an open question whether
"Bob" had a hand in the main robbery, or whether he had inde-
pendently raided the store in question on his own hook. Owing to
this uncertainty, "Bob" w^as indicted for, and convicted of, receiv-
ing and concealing stolen property, only, and sent to the peniten-
tiary for one year.
A few years later "Bob" immigrated to Akron, w^here he
mainly resided until his recent death, and though seemingly dili-
gent in the pursuit of a legitimate "profession" — that of hod-
carrier — his theiving proclivities probably clung to him to the end,,
a raid by Akron officers, on his premises a few years ago,,
unearthing a quantity of miscellaneous goods and chattels, nearly
equal in value to the find at Cuyahoga Falls, as stated.
HOW "BOB" FOOLED THEM ALL.
Apropos of the foregoing, while " Bob" was in jail during the
long vacation, awaiting trial for the offense named, he apparently
went into a rapid consumptive decline. Being lean and lank in
build, failing to consume his customary rations, with an appar-
ently distressing cough, and an occasional spitting of blood, my
kind-hearted and sympathetic jailer, the late John L. Robertson,
transferred him from the lower to the upper jail, where he could
be made more comfortable, and more readily cared for. Here,
though carefully doctored and nursed, he rapidly grew worse, his
face, from nearly a jet black, assuming a sallow hue, with an
increasing flow of blood from between his gradually bleaching lips,
and it was thought by both the jailor and the attending physician
that "Bob's" days on earth were numbered. In my occasional
visits to the jail, I at length became suspicious that "Bob" was
shamming, and determined to keep an eye upon him.
One day, on visiting him, I found him very feeble indeed,
hardly able to speak above a whisper, and apparently exceedingly
troubled for breath. After sympathetically expressing the hope
that he would soon be better, I took my leave, closing the outer
door and turning the key in the lock with a snap, but quietly
reversing the bolt and leaving the door unfastened. I then walked
down the stairs with a heavy tread, and removing my boots noise-
lessly ascended the stairs in my stocking feet, and applying my
AN INGENIOUS EXPEDIENT. 1159
eye to the peep-hole in the door, I found, as I anticipated, that the
invalid was skipping around the corridor, with the agility of a
French dancing master. After watching his antics for a few min-
utes, giving him no warning of my approach, by the usual sounds
of ascending the stairs and unlocking the door, I noiselessly threw^
back the door and confronted him in the midst of a half-executed
pigeon-wing. By thus simulating sickness "Bob" had hoped
that either he would be sent home to die, from w^hence he could
have skipped to parts unknown, or that his enfeebled condition
would so enlist the sympathies of the court and jury as to save
him from the penitentiary on the pending charge. On investiga-
tion I found that the copious discharges of blood had been
produced by the puncturing of his gums with a sharp-pointed nail
concealed about his mattress, while the pallor upon his face and
lips was produced by the use of dry lime procured by scraping the
w^hitewash from the walls of his room.
HOW "BOB" ESCAPED A SECOND TERM.
A year or two after his return from the " pen " " Bob " found him-
self in " durance vile," charged with a states-prison offense. As
the day of trial approached, it w^as discovered by his keeper that
he was unable to walk, having, to all appearance, entirely lost
the use of his right leg. Believing that the fellow^ was agajn
shamming, physicians were called in, and some very severe tests
were made, such as violently pinching the leg, thrusting needles,
pins, etc., into the flesh, etc., but without producing the slightest
indication that there was any feeling in the leg whatever. The
trial of the case had consequently to be postponed until the next
term and during the vacation " Bob " was sent home to be taken
care of by his wife. Here he was occasionally seen by the neigh-
bors hobbling about his yard on crutches, and it was generally
supposed that he would never again be able to walk or work, or
even steal. Under these circumstances, the proper authorities,
believing that he w^ould be worse than useless to the State, if con-
victed, and deeming it inadvisable to carry the case longer upon
the calendar, a nolle was entered at the ensuing term of the Court,
and "Bob" left to hobble through the balance of his life, on
crutches or otherwise, as best he could. Soon afterwards, how-
ever, the neighbors were surprised to see "Bob" without his
crutches, cavorting around his lot as nimble as an organ-grinder's
monkey, bis "paralysis" having "mysteriously " left him.
On inquiring of "Bob," subsequently, how he managed to
stand all those pinches and punctures without wincing, he very
frankly explained that he had produced the numbness in his leg
by applying a ligature of black silk or linen thread to his thigh,
drawing it so tightly, that it was so covered by the indentation of
the skin, as to escape the notice of those who examined him, while
at the same time deadening its nervous susceptibilities as indicated.
1160
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
\y\/ltLIAM CAMP,— born in Hart-
» » ford, Connecticut, February 1,
1809; educated in city public schools,
learning- the trade of cabinet maker,
"which business he followed until his
removal to Akron, in July, 1854; a few
months later associating hiiuself
with his old playmate and first
cousin, the late Charles Webster, and
Mr. James B. Taplin, in the machine
business, under the tiriu name of
Webster, Taplin & Co.; changed on
the withdrawal of Mr. Taplin, in 1860,
to Webster, Camp & Co., and in Jan-
uarj^ 1869, on the accession of Mr.
Julius S. Lane, incorporated as The
Webster, Camp & Lane Machine Com-
pany, which name it still bears.
November 2, 1831, Mr. Camp was inar-
ried, at Weathersfield, Connecticut,
to Miss Lucy Butler, born in Weath-
ersfield, September 11, 1814, who bore
him one child, Lucy Frances, who
died at six years of age. Mr. Camp
-was not only zealously devoted to the
business interests of his firm and of
his adopted city, but a most liberal
supporter of the National g^overn-
tiient during the War. After long
and severe suffering, from kidney
affection, Mr. Camp died, March 30,
1869. at the age of sixty years, one
ALFRED R. TOWNSEND.
ALFRED R. TOWNSEND,— born in
Cazenovia, New York, February
14,1810; educated in common schools,
learning tailor's trade, in which bus-
iness he established himself in
Akron in 1834, on March 24, of that
year being married, in Akron, to Miss
Evelina Blodgett, a native of Starks-
boro, Vermont. A few years later
Mr. Townsend traveled extensively
in Ohio and Kentucky as agent for
WILLIAM CAMP.
month, and twenty-nine days, his
remains being' taken to Hartford,
Connecticut, for interment. Mrs.
Camp, in the enjoyment of a fair
degree of health, excepting seriously
impaired eye-sight, still survives and
still retains her stock interest in the
prosperous corporation, which her
husband aided in founding, over a
third of a century ago, and which
still bears his name.
Akron's pioneer map publishers.
Mannings & Darby; was then for
several years employed as collector
for Akron's first tinware and stove
manufacturer, Col. Justus Gale, after
his death assisting Mrs. Gale in set-
tling estate; then for several years
ran a packet boat, between Columbus
and Chillicothe, on Ohio canal ;
was Akron's first village marshal
and tax collector; 1856 to 1861, deputy,
under Sheriff Samuel A. Lane; 1861
to 1867, director of County Infirm-
ary; 1862 to 1873, Deputy United
States Internal Revenue Assessor;
1873 to 1879, Infirmary director and
clerk of board, resigning by reason
of failing health. The high esteem
in which Mr. and Mrs. Townsend were
held was evidenced by the fact that
on their 50th wedding anniversary
thej^ were presented with a purse of
$1,086.50 in gold b}^ their neighbors
and friends. Their children were
Henrietta S., married to Mr. James
H. F)mrich, of Sandusky, deceased;
Emil3^ G., deceased; and John A.,
chief telegraph operator at Dunkirk,
New York, their only grandson,
Charles A. Townsend, now occupy-
ing the family homestead, 512 West
Market street. Captain Townsend
died November 16,1887, aged 77 years,
9 months, 2 days, Mrs. Townsend
dying January 22, 1888, aged 83 years,
1 month and 16 days.
PERSONAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL.
1161
ELISHA NASH BANGS, — son of
James and Martha (Nash) Bang's,
born April 10, 1800, at Stanstead, Lower
Canada, parents having, about four
months earlier, removed thither from
Hampshire county, Mass.; common
school education; learned carpenter's
trade, at 19, removing with parents to
Norwalk, Ohio, where, in 1821, he was
married to Miss Abigail Wallace, a
native of Petersham, Mass.; in 1825,
removed to Richfield, and engaged
in farming, in 1836 removing to
Akron and resuming work at his
trade andatmill-wrighting. Mr. and
Mrs. Bangs were the parents of two
sons Henry L. and William Wallace,
both deceased, and four daughters —
Adeline A., now Mrs. Barnard, of
Chicago; Mary M., now Mrs A. A.
Tinkham, of Akron; Louisa H., now
Mrs. Simmons, of Chicago; and Celes-
tia E., now Mrs. P. J. Moersch, of
Akron. In Politics Mr. Bangs was
■originally a Whig, casting his first
vote for John Quincy Adams, for
president, in 1824; later he became an
ardent anti-slavery man, allying
himself with the Republican party
on its organization, in 1855; was chief
fire warden of Akron many years;
First ward assessor seven years;
school enumerator seven years, and
ELISHA NASH BANGS.
canal inspector four years. Firmly
believing in the fatherhood of God,
and the brotherhood of Man, and
that religion consisted in doing
right, because it was right, Mr. Bangs
died November 18, 1878, at the age
of 78 years, 7 months and 8 daj^s; Mrs.
Bangs dying September 24, 1880, aged
78 years.
PBTKR J. MOEKSCH.
pETER J. MOERSCH,— son of Peter
^ and Catharine (Wollmer) Moersch,
w^as born in New York City, January
12,1842; educated in public schools
and at Anglo-German-Franco Col-
lege, of New York, with Franz Siegel;
at 18 learned printer's trade in office
of Schoharie Patriot, edited by Gen-
eral Husic Mix; in 1859 worked in
office of New York Sun; in 1866 came
with father's family to Ohio, settling
in Buena Vista, Tuscarawas county;
owing to failing eyesight, changed
occupation, working at carriage
painting, atShanesville and in Cleve-
land, from there eoming to Akron
with Mr. Henry Gentz, in 1869, to start
tVie Akron Gerrnania, on which he
operated as superintendent and local
editor two years. November 13, 1871,
was married to Miss Celestia E.
Bangs, youngest daughter of the late
Elisha N. Bangs, who has borne him
one son— ^Wallace P., now a clerk in
business office of Akron Daily Bea-
con and Republican. Mr. Moersch
was for six years, 1878-83, inclusive,
clerk of Portage township; six years
— 1882-88 — justice of the peace; assist-
ant secretary of Summit County
Agricultural Society twelve years ;
publisher of Fair premium lists, and
of Christmas Magazine and Almanac
for many years, and is at present in
charge of the advertising department
of the Akron Daily Beacon and
Republican.
CHAPTER LVIII.
MISCELLANEOUS MENTION- PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHY OF REV. WILLIAM
FROST CRISPIN— BUCHTEL COLLEGE ADDENDA— ANOTHER VICTIM OF THE
FEARFUL HOLOCAUST OF DECEMBER 13, 1890 — DEATH OF A WARM SUP-
PORTER AND TREASURER OF THE COLLEGE, MR. JOY H. PENDLETON—
OTHER RECENT DEATHS OF WELL-KNOWN CITIZENS— THE GREAT HOWARD
STREET DISASTER OF NOVEMBER 7, 1891, WITH A FINE VIEW OF THE
COLLAPSED BUILDINGS— NEW HIGH STREET CHURCH OF CHRIST, ETC.
REV. WILLIAM FROST CRISPIN,
--son of William and Mary K.
(Van Kirk) Crispin, born November
14, 1833, near New Martinsbiirg", Fay-
ette county, Ohio, being of Eng-lish
ancestry, the remotest known being-
Rear-Adiniral William Crispin, of the
British Navy, brother-in-law of Sir
Admiral Penn, uncle of William
Penn, the American ancestors being
Friends ; removed with parents to
Highland county, when young; early
education very limited, in log school
house; at inajority borrowed money
at ten per cent, interest to go to Ohio
Wesleyan University one term, work-
ing for father at $18 per month, to
pay note ; next suiumer taught home
school, and next winter taught in
Illinois ; then chopped wood, at fifty
cents per cord, to go to what is now
the National Normal University, at
Lebanon, Ohio, where, by self-board-
ing and teaching winters, he received
the teacher's degree (I. J.), in 1860;
after partly completing Senior
course, in Spring of 1862 was called
home by illness of father; later
teaching, in all 'about five years,
mostly in Highland and Clinton
counties. May 25, 1865, was married
to Miss Drusilla D. Evans, of Green-
field, who bore him three children —
Mary Frederica, Fannie Forester and
Willie D., the latter dying in infancy,
the mother, preceding him, dying
May 16, 1872. Was again married,
June 28, 1876, to Miss E. Emma Reed,
of Sabina, Ohio. After first marriage
engaged in drug and grocery trade,
continuing until 1876. Though raised
a Democrat, Mr. Crispin early
espoused the anti-slavery cause,
REV. WILLIAM FROST CRISPIN.
allying himself with the Republican
party, on its organization ; served as
census enuinerator for his township
in 1880, but for the past ten years has
been a zealous Prohibitionist. Relig-
iously a Universalist, besides occa-
sionally preaching and lecturing,
since 1870, traveling for denomina-
tional publishing house two years,
and in the interest of Buchtel College
nearly six years, and published a
book on Universalism in 1888; since
his ordination in 1890, has, unaided,
established a Mission, resulting in
the organization of a Church in
Mansfield, and preached for a time
in the city of Springfield, Ohio,
besides officiating, since 1885, as the
fortnightly (paid) correspondent of
the Chicago Universalist.
A PROPOS of the foregoing portrait and biography of Rev.
^^ William Frost Crispin, a few words, in addition to the pretty
full history of Buchtel College, given in Chapter VIII. of this
w^ork, are due to that gentleman for his arduous and self-sacrificing
DEATH OF ANOTHER LADY STUDENT. 1163
labors in the interest of that beneficient institution. Notwith-
standing the munificence of Hon. John R. Buchtel and others of
its founders, there was a time, about 1879, '80, w^hen the College
was struggling under such an incubus of debt (about $65,000) as
to very seriously embarrass its operations, if not absolutely to
threaten its existence. In this emergency, by reason of his strong
love for the Universalist ChurcTi, and his interest in the cause of
education, Rev. J. S. Cantw^ell, D. D., recommended Mr. Crispin to
the board of trustees as a suitable successor to Rev. D. C.
Tomlinson, as financial agent of the College. In accordance with
this recommendation the Executive Board made an arrangement
w^ith Mr. Crispin, by which he entered upon the work of can-
vassing the southern half of Ohio, and Summit county, Rev. W.
P. Burnell being employed to canvass the rest of the northern
half of the State. In this ^work Mr. Crispin was so successful that
he was soon regularly employed as financial agent at a stated
salary and expenses paid, removing his family to Akron in the
Spring of 1881. By reason of the embarrassments alluded to, and
other causes, the work of raising money w^as at this period at
a standstill, many of its friends having so nearly lost faith in its
success that it w^as very difficult to rally them to its support.
But through the tact and perseverance of Mr. Crispin, these
difficulties were overcome and disaster to the institution averted
— unremittingly laboring through the week, soliciting money and
students, and often lecturing on education or preaching on
Sunday. This strain, in the language of Mr. Crispin, was kept up
for about five years w^ithout vacation — travelling in all sorts of
ways and weather, often in the night and broken of rest, and fre-
quently with the very poorest of accommodations, \vhich, w^ith the
care in part of his wife in her severe sickness, w^recked his own
health, producing nervous prostration and partial paralysis, prac-
tically "shelving" him for many years, if not for life. Besides
largely aiding in the cancellation of the debt alluded to. by
collections on old and new subscriptions, Mr. Crispin secured
nineteen one thousand dollar scholarships, being the first to interest
Mr. Henry Ainsworth, of Lodi, in the College, securing first from
that gentlemen properties valued at $7,500 and later properties
valued at $10,000, also interesting him in the chair of mathematics
w^hich he subsequently endowed with $30,000, his total benefac-
tions and bequests amounting to over $70,000. Besides the securing
of many other smaller sums, the College was thoroughly adver-
tised through Mr. Crispin's lectures on Education before some
twenty High Schools, and doubtless his work, in cultivating
loyalty to the College among the Universalists of the State, w^ill
bear good fruit in years to come, all the money secured by him,
outside of Akron, being Universalist mone}^ given for the mainten-
ance of a college under the auspices of the Universalist church,
which could have been secured for no other purpose, Mr, Crispin's
experience being that soliciting money is the most difficult, the
most unpleasant and the least appreciated employment in which a
person can engage, and yet a most essential part of the work of
founding and maintaining a college.
SAD ENDING OF ANOTHER YOUNG LIFE.
In this connection, recurring to the appalling disaster in the
College, on the night of December 13, 1890, by which two of the
1164 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
lady students were deprived ot life, and several others severely
burned, as described in Chaptei^ VIII, of this work, it is proper to
say that since that Chapter was printed, another of the injured
young ladies — Miss Myrtle Louisa Barker, of Peru, Ohio, has also
passed away, as a result of the injuries then received. After
removal to her home, the burns healed rapidly, and though still a
great sufferer, she pluckily returned to the College, and, passing
safely through the Spring term of 1891, was promptly in her place
again on the opening of the Fall term. But though her mental
powers were unimpaired, her physical and nervous system could
hot stand the strain, Miss Barker dying suddenly, October 9, 1891,
to the general grief of not only her family friends, and of her
college 'mates and the faculty, but of the citizens of Akron gener-
ally. The rest of the injured young ladies, so far as known, have
substantially recovered from the fearful results of that unfor-
tunate event.
DEATH OF MR. JOY H. PENDLETON.
Since that chapter was printed, also, one of the most devoted
friends and liberal supporters of the college, Joy H. Pendleton,
Esq., has passed away, his death occurring October 10, 1891, at the
age of 81 years, 8 month and 9 days. Mr. Pendleton was a mem-
ber of the board of trustees, a member of the executive committee
and treasurer of the college, Hon. George W. Crouse having been
appointed to succeed him on the executive committee, and Albert
B. Tinker as treasurer, the vacancy in the board of trustees not
yet having been filled.
In this connection, and as a closing word in behalf of the col-
lege, it is proper to say that the prospects for the speedy erection
of the Science Building alluded to on page 165 are still bright,
while the college authorities are negotiating for the purchase of
several acres of land, a short distance south of the college, for ath-
letic grounds, which, if secured and properly fitted up, will prove
a source of healthful amusement to the students, and of pleasure
to the citizens of Akron generally.
THE HOWARD STREET DISASTER.
Originally, the entire west side of Howard street, from Market
street south to the present site of Rohrbacher & Allen's hardware
store, w^as covered w^ith one and two-story frame business and
residence buildings, with the exception of the two-story brick
tavern, immediately south of what is now Phoenix Hall, a part of
-which is still standing, the Perkins Company, heretofore written
of, about 1845, erecting the three-story brick block, now occupied
by Greenwood Brothers, as a clothing store.
On the night of September 16, 1848, all of those wooden struc-
tures, between the Perkins block and the alley on the north, were
destroyed by fire, as described on page 333, of this work, involving
a total loss about $25,000. The burned buildings were replaced by
plain, but substantial two and three-story brick structures, dur-
ing the years 1849, ^50, the present Dussell block being erected by
one of Akron's early druggists, the late Leverett J. Ives, a brother-
in-law of our well-known citizen. Thomas H. Goodwin, Esq.
On the night of February 17, 1851, the entire square, bounded
by Canal, Market and Howard streets, and the alley, was devas-
tated, except the partial escape of the two-story building on the
THE HOWARD STREET COLLAPSE. 1165
alley, belonging to the estate of the late Col. Justus Gale, on the
present site of Cutter's fine brick block, the aggregate losses being
from $25,000 to $30,000, the sufferers being Johnson & Pratt,
auctioneers, corner Market and Canal streets (where the fire origi-
nated), P. I). Hall & Co., corner Howard and Market, general mer-
chandise; I. P. Sanford & Co., clothing; A. Hibbard Sc Co. (the
old " green store"), dry goods; Abbey & Rose, dry goods; and Sum-
ner & Co., general merchandise; a large proportion of the contents
of several of the stores named being removed, how^ever, before the
ilemes reached them.
These burned frame structures were also replaced by plain,
but substantial three-story brick buildings as rapidly as the
mechanical facilities of that day would admit of, the block of P.
D. Hall & Co., on the corner, extending back, on Market street to
the corner of Canal street, and including that portion on How^ard
street now occupied by the City National Bank; the building
lately occupied by S. B. Lafferty, by the late Allen Hibbard, and
that lately occupied by Herrick & Son, by C. Johnston & Co. (Cor-
nelius Johnston and Daniel McNaughton), the old Gale building,
on the alley, saved from the tire, about 1865 giving place to the
fine brick block, still standing there, erected by Cutter & Howe
(Morrill T. Cutter and the late Charles R. Howe), all of the build-
ings, as then erected, being show^n in the upper engraving, on
page 462.
These several buildings, exteriorly, have since remained sub-
stantially as originally erected, except the Johnston block, which,
then occupied as a clothing store by one Jonathan Long, was
" mysteriously " burned out on the night of June 28, 1872, in rebuild-
ing w^hich its present ow^ners, Messrs. Israel Isbell and Henry H.
Clark, added a handsome stone front, as shown in the lower
engraving on the page above named.
Thus matters have remained, with occasional changes of ten-
ants for the central blocks, until Saturday, November 7, 1891, the
tw^o blocks named, belonging respectively to the estate of the late
Dr. E. W. Howard and Messrs. Isbell Sc Clark, the former occupied
by Mr. Shepherd B. Lafferty, and the latter by Herrick & Son, as
above stated. Though the owners and occupants had for some
time been aware that the foundation of the division wall was
defective, and were planning for repairs at an early date, no fears
of immediate disaster were entertained. On the day named,
bright and balmy, the streets of our always busy city were unusu-
ally thronged, and its business places crowded with customers,
the noon hour being an especially busy one in the dining hall of
the Lafferty establishment.
About 1 o'clock, after the rush was substantially over, but
while several of his customers were still at the tables, Mr. Lafferty
became aware, from certain crackling sounds, and from falling
plaster in the front part of the store, that danger was impending,
and hurried his help and customers to the rear part of the room.
A moment later, the entire front of the building, together with
that occupied by Messrs. Herrick & Son, fell to the ground with a
mighty crash, the front walls, composed of brick and heavy blocks
of stone, covering the sidewalk and extending nearly half across
the street. And, most wonderful to relate, with from twenty to
twenty-five persons in the two buildings, and with the street and
1166
AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.
sidewalk crowded w^ith men, \vonien and children, no loss of
human life resulted from the catastrophe, and but one serious
accident — Miss Frances Miner, from Johnson's Corners, being
borne down by the falling debris, and so badly injured as to
require the amputation of the right leg, at the knee, a few hours
later; a horse, however, belonging to John H. Stauffer, of Copley,
being instantly killed by the falling -walls.
While the inmates and visitors in the two collapsed buildings
w^ere severely shaken up, and of course very greatly frightened,
immunity from death or serious injury was largely due to the fact
that the rear end of both buildings remained intact, while the
inner portion of the upper floors and roofs, follow^ing the crumbling
wall, left the outer portion, at quite an angle, resting against the
w^alls of the contiguous buildings, thus preventing the serious,
if not fatal, consequences to the several parties involved, that
must inevitably have otherwise resulted ; one of the most mirac-
ulous escapes from instant death being that of Frank Zimmerman,
a candy-maker, just returned from his dinner to his wrork in the
front part of the third story of the Lafferty block, who was carried
down with the building and, to the great surprise of the rap-
idly gathering and horrijfled spfectators, was presently seen crawl-
ing out from amid the wreckage, and w^ho, on recovering from the
daze into which he was thrown, and pulling himself together,
-was found to have a sprained w^rist and a few slight bruises, only,
to remind him of the fearful peril from which he had so providen-
tially escaped.
Messrs. Herrick & Son, with their characteristic energy, on
the following Monday morning, established themselves in the
commodious east store room of the Academy of Music building,
THE CONCLUSION.
1167
-where, with the uninjured portion of their stock, a considerable
part of which was still in original packages in the basement, and
with immediately ordered large additions, they are now (Decem-
ber, 1891), serving their customers as usual, while Mr. Lafferty,
with similar promptness, removed his confectionery store and din-
ing hall to 204 East Market street, his bakery, in the rear of the
old stand, remaining intact, and his customers supplied with their
daily bread without interruption.
The owners of the collapsed buildings have not as yet fully
perfected their plans for rebuilding, but it is understood that both
blocks will be rebuilt in accordance with the most approved style
of modern architecture at an early day.
The foregoing view of the collapsed buildings, a zinc
etching reproduced by the Werner Printing & Litho. Company,
from a photo taken by George E. Hitchcock immediately after the
catastrophe, more graphically illustrates its nature and extent,
and its w^onderfuUy fortunate outcome, than could any word paint-
ing at the command of the w^riter, who, though already largely in
excess of his originally designed limits, while deploring the losses
and injuries involved, is pleased to embody it in his book, as being
among the most wonderful of the many wonderful events herein
recorded of "Fifty Years and Over of Akron and Summit County."
THE NEW HIGH STREET CHURCH OF CHRIST.
As a fitting- close to this history, and as evidence that the moral and
spiritual sentiment of our people is keeping- fully abreast -with their indus-
trial, commercial and financial enterprise, a cut, from the architects' drawing",
is here g-iven of the new church edifice to be erected by the High Street
Church of Christ, in 1892. See history of Society on page 201.
ADDENDA, ERRATA, ETC.
IN a work of such a character and magriitude as this, and covering several
years in its compilation, and several months in its publication,
numerous errors will unavoidably have crept in, and many changes in
firms, corporations, occupations, locations, etc., will have taken place, while
some of the parties, whose portraits and biographies were printed herein
when they were still in actual life, may possibly have meantime passed
away. While it will be impossible to advert to all the errors, of ommission
or commission, that a critical perusal will disclose, in addition to the
deaths of Mr. Pendleton, as given on page 1164, and of Judge James S.
Carpenter, noted on page 551, after their portraits and biographies had
been printed, so, also, Mr. Robert L. Ewart, of Springfield, father of Major
Joseph C. Ewart, of Akron, suddenly passed away, November 19, 1891, at
the a^e of 79 years, 8 months and 1 daj', his portrait being given
on page 982.
In the sketch of Akron's well-known machinist, James B. Taplin, Esq.,
on page 170, an error appears, in that he should be credited with service
as a member of Council of the Incorporated Village of Akron, for the
year 1854, and with re-election in 1855, though resigning, as stated, before
entering upon his second term, as is shown in the official roster on
page 262.
In a portion of the edition, as printed. Mr. Ulysses Marvin, of Stow,
father of Judge U. L. Marvin, of Akron, is recorded as having been born
in "Ljain," Connecticut, when it should have been "Lyme," an error which
his more intimate friends and acquaintances will readily be able to
rectify.
Rev. Frank M. Green, is also given as still a resident of Stow, though
now located at Wilmington, Clinton countj', Ohio, Mr. Green saying in a
recent letter to the writer: "While away, 'Theologically,' I am 'at home,'
. in heart, in Summit Countj^ and Stow."
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