f\, C) L~ ol £5 "^ CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY DATE DUE DECJ-O j965-inr" iDr HHeWi 9 ' ! \ GAYLORD PRINTED INU.S.A. Cornell University Library F 499A3 L26 + Fifty years and over of AI ; Entered, according to Act of Congress, / in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at / Washington, D. C, January 17, 1887, by / Samuel A. lane. / All Sights Reserred. / J X K \-.,0 CONTENTS. Autobiography of Author 1— ;ill Preliminarj' Remarks 31 CHAPTER I.— Akron's Beginning-Ancient Middlebury— A Visit from DeWitt 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 Maj'ors, Etc 4!l— 56 CHAPTER III.— Early Crookedness— Confidence Games, -'Keg Money," Etc.- Unsavory Reputation — The," Gore-y" Battle Ground— Bitter PostOflfice 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— Poetr.i,- 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— Delayed 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 Sagacitj- and Engineering t^kill of Akron's Great Benefactor, Doctor Eliakim Crosby— Rise, Progress and Collapse— Portrait and Life Historj' of its Projector, Etc.— An Instructive- Chapter 80-90 CHAPTER VII.— Summit County— Six Years' Struggle Over its Erection— 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,V lews 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" 1836-40 — "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, Lee- tures, Etc - 1««-1S^ 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 ij. CONSENTS. CHAPTKR XI.— Akron Truly a Literary Center— Ancient Middleburj- the Pioneer with the "Portage Journal" In 1825-The "Akron Post" of 1836-The "Ameri- can Balance" ot 183B— 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 CHAPTKR 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 182o-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— 259 CHAPTER XIII.— Akron and Portage Township Civil Service— Town, \'illage. 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 260—309 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 Military Operations— Brilliant Record in the War of the Rebellion— Later Local Military Affairs— A Mag- nificent Showing 350 — (46 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 Four 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 Ilhistrations- Barberton's Fatal Call, December 23, 1890, Etc 558—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— 5S3 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—59'' Cri.\PTER XXIIL— The Canadian Patriot War of 1837-1839— " 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 18i3— Great Excitement In Altron 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 HoU- Kiss— Spiritual Marriages, Etc.— Wonderful Power of Humbug 604— lil.i CHAPTER XXV.— The Geology of Summit County, by Professor Matthew Can- field Read, with Portrait and Biography of Author— Canyon Formation— Xature's Great Ice Plow, the Glacier— Structural Geology— Coal, Oil and Gas Measures, Etc— An Extremely Useful and Instructive Chapter 614— 6'.J0 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 AH 621— IB!) 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 640—1353 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— (i6il CHAPTER XXIX.— Daring Burglaries in Peninsula — .Singular Detection of Burglar— Arrest, Indictment and Ingenious Escape from Jail- Giving "Aid and Comfort" to Rebels— Confinement in Fort Lafayette— Return to his Old Quarters in Jail — Conviction and Nine Years' Iniprisoninent — Thoroughly Reformed, Etc 670-677 CHAPTER XXX.— The ]»t-ninsula Wife Murder — Henry Iverst 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 Ghastlj' Spectacle 678— 6S.'i CHAPTER XXXI.— Boston's Last Great Sensation— The Washburn-Peoples Homi- cide — A Wronged Husband's Terrible Revenge — Preparations for the Bloodj' Deed — Arrest, Trial and Conviction of Murder in the Second Degree — Imprisonment for Life — Still Doing Penance after Twenty Years 684 — 6ii4 CHAPTER XXXIL— Copley Township— Why so Named— Topography— The Big .Swamp — A Gamy Locality — Early Settlement, Organization, Etc. — Pioneer and Lciter Thrilling Incidents— Growth, Population and Business, Educa- tional, Religious, Civil and Military Status — The Bosworth Insane Homicide, Etc 693—705 CHAPTER XXXIIL— "The State of Coventry "—Origin of Xanie— 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 Chanter Well Worth Perusal 706— 7:i4 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 Prominent Citizens, ei Number of Romantic Views, Etc 7'_'5— 7(i!l 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.-- FuU History of the Case '■ 770— 7H'i CHAPTER XXXVI.— Franklin Township— Early Resources, 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— I^ersonal Biography, Etc 7iN)-»W .811-853 854—875 . USD— SKW iv. CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXXVIII— Hudson Township and Village— The Pioneer Township of Summit Counts', Founded in 1799-Perils by Water and by Land-Early Privatlons-The Grand Old Western Reserve College-Other Educational Institutions-Religious, Industrial and Military History-The Malony-Ste- pleton Homicide, Etc CHAPTER XXXIX.-Northarnpton- 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 CHAPTER XL.-The Counterfeiters of the Cuyahoga-" Dan " and " Jim " Brown -Stupendous Financial Schemes-Successes and Reverses-Brilhant Oper- ations of "Dan" the Second-Wonderful Romance of Crime aio-sui CHAPTER XLI.-Noithfield - Early Settlement, Organization and Progress- The Vlers-Charlesworth Episode of 1826 - Wrongfully Accused of Crinie- 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 CHAPTER XLII. — Northfleld's Second Great Sensation, The Murder of Catha- rine McKlsson by her Brother-in-law, David McKisson July 24, 1837— Pursuit, ^^ Trial, Conviction and Execution-A Highly Thrilling Narrative im-ni CHAPTER XLin.-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 "l** ^^^ CHAPTER XLIV.— The New Industrial City of Barberton— Wonderful Growth and Prosperity— Showing What Courage and Cash can Accomplish— Finely Illustrated CHAPTER XLV— The Township of Richlield— Pioneer Inhabitants and Inci- dents—Successes and Reverses— Educational, Religious, Sivil, Military and Criminal Status— The Big Sleigh Ride of 1856-The Great Reunion of 1880— Present Business Status, Population, Etc 941- 9jj CHAPTER XL VI. — The Hunter-Gargett Tragedy — Love-Making by Proxy- Marriage Contract " Unsight 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 950-978 CHAPTER XLN'II.- Springfield Township — Early Settlement, Organization— Progress-Industrial, Educational, Religious, Patriotic, Etc.— The Murder of John Rhodenbaugh and Punishment of Murderers— The Roof-Musson Hom- icide— Exciting Trials— Imprisonment, Pardon, Etc 979— lUO'.' CHAPTER XLVIIL— 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 Prominent Citizens, Etc 1003-KB7 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 Montez-Death, Etc 1028-1035 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—1059 CHAPTER LI.— Twinsburg, the Latest Settled Township in Summit County- First Settler a Seven teen- 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 Piirk"-Most Prosperous Local Fair in Ohio 1080-l(!Mi CONTENTS. 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 Calif ornia — 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—1110 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 11-11 -1U7 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 ^ 30 Author's Preliminary Statement 31 Absolute Chemical Company — ^^^ Adams, John Quincy, Visit to Akron in 1843 107 Advance, The 230 ^tna Furnace •IS AKRON— Beginning ; Why so Named 32 As seen by Horace Greeley in 1843 f •. 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 55i 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 j278 City Mayors 278 City Solicitors 282 City Street Commissioners , _ 282 City Guards 429 City Organization 449 City Times ... 226 Clothing Dealers 52o Coal Dealers , 528 Cold Spring Company , 45I Commercial , 228 Confectioners 52o Congressmen 308 Constitutional Delegates . 309 Contractors and Builders , 509 Cooper Shops ,.., ,,,..,...,,,. ,^,,,,, ,,,,,.,.,„,,.,,, 5;^ CONTENTS. vii. AKRON County Officials 298—307 Crockery 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, Councilmen, 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 *98 Hardware Merchants 520 Harness Makers 510 Hat, Cap and Furnishing Stores 525 Heat, Light and Power Company i98 Heating and Ventilating Company 498 Home Guards 395 528 . ...: 78 49 Hotels Hydraulic Compan3' ■ Incorporated Institute '^^ Insurance Agents ■ ^29 Iron Company •' *^° Jewelers ^^^ Journal 21fi Knife Works *™ Lawyers »1 Lecture Association ■'■'° Library Association Library Association Officers 183 Literary Association Officers 171 Lyceum and Library Association 168 Light Infantry ^ "Live Dutchman" *51 Machine and Repair Shops 510 Meat Markets ^29 Mechanics' Library ■ ^^^ Merchant Tailors • 510 Military History 33U-M6 viii. CONTENTS. AKRON Milliners ^^ Milling Company *^ Mining Company-18i9 ^ Ministerial Association ~* Musical Organizations mc_9qi Newspaper History ^ Notion and Fancy Stores ^ Novelty Manufacturing Company ""* Original "Eel Pot" ^*^ Painters and Paper Hangers "l" Paving Brick Company ^ Phllo Lexion Society ^^^ Pliotographers °® Physicians ^** Pioneer Boat Yard *^ Pipneer Lumber Yard • ^^ Pioneer Planing Mill *^ Pioneer Sash Factory *^ Pioneer Street Railway ^^ Plumbers ^25 Popular Lecture System 187 Population *^1 Postal History 315-329 Presidential Electors 308 Printing Houses 534 Printing and Publisiiing 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 ^4 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 110(3 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 OiHcers 297 Union Depot (old) 626 Union Depot (new) 628 , Vitrified Pressed Brick Company 4g3 Water Supply 45j Water Works Company 452 White Sand Company 502 CONTENTS. IX. Akron Wholesale Grocery Company 512 Akron Woolen and Felt Company 4gg Allen, David and Jesse, Pioneer Manufacturers 44. Allen, Frank P., Printer 577 Allen, Jacob, Early Manufacturer and Miller 293 Allen Mills 459 Ailing, Ethan XQgl American Balance 247 American Cereal Companj' 457 American Crayon Company 593 American Democrat 223 American Farm News 230 American Marble and Toy Company 484 American Sewer Pipe Company 479 American Straw Board Company 938 American Tin Plate Company , 508 Angel, Miss Harriet N., Teacher 424 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, McMillan 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 461 Barrel Factory Fire 1153 Barris-Cummins Homicide 1116 Barker, Myrtle Louisa, death of 1163 BATH TOWNSHIP, History of 611-653 Pioneer Settlers 641 Manufactures 641 In War of 1812 642 Organization, Name, etc 644 Civil Service Record 645 Military History s, 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 Blerce, General Lucius V 593 Bierce Cadets • ■ • ^28 Bierce Cadets, Dismissal from Service 430 Big Falls, Cuyahoga River 84 Bissell, Rev. Samuel, Teacher 1070 Blacksmiths, in Akron 511 Bitter Church Controversy— 1837 39 Bitter Postoffice War— 1837 r ^1 Boat Building in Akron 192 Books and Stationery . Boots and Shoes 518 527 X. CONTENTS. BOSTON TOWNSHIP, History of 554— 68i Village of 654 Pioneer Settlers ' 657 Organization, Name, etc 658 Early Marriages, Births, Deaths, etc , 659 Pioneer Experiences 659 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 m Buchtel, Mr. and Mrs. John R., Portraits of 150 Buckeye Sewer Pipe Company ^yg Budd, Townsend C, Machinist 49g Burglar Neatly Nabbed jjg^ "Butternut" Demonstration— 1863 ^^ o. Caldwell, Charles G j^m California, Goldseekers of 1849-'50 mg California, Perils of the Journey to 2128 California, Akron's Bonanza King ..• ,,00 California, Ups and Downs -l^gg Camp, Miss Lizzie, Teacher -o, Cainpbell, Miss Emma, Teacher ■ ,og Canadian Copper Company _.. Canadian Patriot War-l&37-'39 ..^^.... koq Canal Dover Paving Brick Company iyjn Canfleld, Horace G L,. Capron & Curtice ,-„ Carothers, Miss Sarah J., Teacher , ' ,29 Carleton, Will M., Memorial Poet o-o Cascade Mill Race ...'....■...................... .......] "^ Cascade, Village of _,„ Cascade House . CONTENTS. xi. Cascade Store 43 Cascade Roarer 225 Charleroi Plate Glass Company 508 Cheap Popular Errtertainnients 187 Chittenden, Henry 39 " Chuckery," History of 80 "Chuckery" Race, View of 80 Church, Miss Lavena, Teacher 124 CHURCH, Central Presbyterian 214 First Congregational ISO Second Congregational 180 West Congregational 211 Christian Science 213 Calvary Evangelical 207 First Presbyterian » 188 First Methodist Episcopal ISl First Baptist 194 First Universalist 19fi 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 207 Akron Hebrew Congregation 210 African M. E. Zion 212 Shiloh Baptist 212 Trinity Reformed 212 Xorth 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 523 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, Visit 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 Coffman, Miss Rebecca, Teacher 124 Cohn Manufacturing Company 502 Collapse of the Rebellion 424 Commercial Matters .' 512 Comniins & Allen ^. 455 Company B, Eighth Regiment O. A'. G 436 Company B, Official Roster 440 Company B, at Presidential Inauguration, 1889 441 Cone, Rev. Orello, D. D 160 Confectionery Dealers G20 Cook, Fairbanks & Co 481 Cooper, Samuel F., Early School Superintendent 126 gpoper BripK Company ....,,,.,, , ,..,,,,,,,,,,,,:,,.,,.,..,,,,.,., ^^^ xii. CONTENTS. C ooper bhops g^ Cooper, Jack, alias Samuel Wittum, Execution of i!0^-7m COPLEY TOWNSHIP, History of ^^^ ™^ Starting Point , , Swamp-The Great Hunt °^ Swamp— Danger, Death, etc Why so Named °^ When and by Whom Settled °°' *^ • J ■ . . 698 Organization Growth, Population, etc ^°° Business Status „^ Early Temperance Society '"; Schools, Churches, etc l^ War Record l^ Civil Service Record ™ Railroad Facilities ^^ Present Official Roster (1891) :■■•• '^ Sad Insane Homicide Cotter's Battery, O. L. A • ™° COVENTRY TOWNSHIP, History of ™ -nfi Aboriginal "Garden of Eden" '^ Early Settlement '^"' Organization, etc Why Called "The State" of J"^ Early Homicide ™^ 711 Industrial Resources I Milling Operations— The Old State Mill ''^^ Ancient Metropolis "^ Military History '^^^ Civil Service Record ™ Growth, Population , etc '"" Indian Traditions 3^ Early Crookedness '"^ Last Sad Homicide "^ Present Official Record (1891) '^'^ County Seat Contest-1840-1813 102 County Seat, Election for IW Court House and Jail 105 Court House, View of 105 County Jail, Shabbiness of 100 County Jail, Escape 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 74q Temperance Crusade 743 Musical, Fraternal, etc 745 Fine Pleasure Resort ; 74g Newspapers 748 CONTENTS. xiii. CUYAHOGA FALLS, Military History 750 Soldiers' Monument 753 Criminal Status 754 Barly 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 CD. 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 r>ucklng 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 HI 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 Mo-wer Works 467 Enterprise Manufacturing Company 497 Eves, Parvin 1022 Ewart, J. C. & Co., Roofing Tile Works .• 483 Ewing & HoUinger, 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. I 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 494 Fountain Park 1084 Free Democratic Standard , 221 xiv. CONTENTS. Free School Clarion ! 225 Friction Matches, History of *59 Fruit Dealers in Akron 528 F. Schumacher Milling Company ^^5 Fugitive Slave Law 578 Funeral Directors in Akron 528 Furniture Dealers 525 FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, History of 781 Where Located , 784 Water Courses, Lakes, etc ''*' 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 OfScial Roster (1891) 795 Gi. 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, Com pany 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, the 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 5vj3 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 i90 Hanscom, Lewis 1138 Harper's Ferry, Capture of 589 Hardware, Dealers in 520 Harness Makers ,,,,,,. ■.,,.,>,,,,,,,,,,, 51Q CONTENTS. x\r. Hftrt, 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 HiU, Merrill & Company 476 Hill, Powers & Company , 476 HIU Sewer Pipe Company 477 Hole, Prof. Israel P., Educator 125 HoUinger, 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 Hunjphrey 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. (1864) 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-Fifth 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 Status 836 Population 839 Municipal Officers 840 Newspapers °*^ 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. 44fi Insurance Agencies "" "Irrepressible Conflict " 577 Issue, The ^ Italian Orchestra •""' xvi. CONTENTS. J. Jackson, George C, & Co 537 Jackson 6c Lyman ^^ J. C. McNeil Company C *^ J. F. Seiberllng & 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 Keating'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 341 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 132 Ley-S"wartz-Thomas Homicide 722 Library Board of Control 186 Line and Packet Boat Navigation 656 Locof oco Matches 461 Locof oco Party 462 Lucifer Matches 461 Lumber and Building Establishments 484 Lyceum and Library Association 166 IVI. Machine and Repair Shops 510 Maloney— Stepleton Homicide 85o Marble's Band U5 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 McCiellan, William A., Builder 492 McCollester, Rev. Sullivan H., D. D 159 McCready, Miss Margaret L., Teacher 129 McMasters, Henry, II39 McKisson Homicide, Trial, Execution, etc 908—917 McMillan, Reuben, Early Manufacturer 45 McMillen, John 39 Mofiatt & McNeil ......[........ Meat Markets in Akron Mechanics' Association (1840) IIO2 Mechanics' Library IIO3 Mechanics' Political Organization (1848) IIO3 Mechanics' Strike for Ten Hour Day (1845) IIO2 Mechanics' Strike for Cash Payments (1845) 1102 Mechanics' Strike for Higher Wages (1845) IIO2 Members of Akron School Board, 1847 to 1891 I45 Memorial Chapel , 245 495 529 CONTENTS. xvii. Merrill, Powers & Company' 476 Merchant Tailors of Akron 510 Metropolitan Band 446 Middlebury , Ancient Village of 32 Niddlebury , Annexation to Akron '. 449 Middlebury Cemetery Association 232 Middlebury Mining Company (1S49) 1107 Middlebury Township Officers 297 Militia During the War , 426 Miller Chain Works ' 474 Millerism or Second Adventism 604 Miller & Roche, Grocers 512 Miller Match Company 474 Millinery Stores in Akron 520 Millheim 986 Miscellaneous Regiments in Union Array 407 Miscellaneous Trade and Traffic 530 Modem Military Operations 446 Mogadore, Village of V 984 Moore, Milton, Trials and Tribulations of _. 994 Morrow County Draft Riots '. 413 Morus MulticauUs 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. 1 357 Ninth Battery, O. L. 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—875 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-Whlpple 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 t 898 Rapid Settlement 899 Military Record 900 Civil Service Status 901 The Viers-Charlesworth Romance 903 The McKisson Homicide 908 xviii. CONTENTS. NORTON TOWNSHIP, History of 918-935 Origin, Name, etc - ^^^ Karly , Settlement 918 Business " Centers" ^20 Early Crookedness • 922 Ijunatic Merchant 922 Postofflce Robber Killed 924 Lost Child Excitement 925 Military History 926 Civil 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 1S37 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) , !....!.., y. ,!.... . 669 Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal .' 71—79 People's Monthly 228 People's Savings Bank 544 Perkins, Crosby & King 42 Perkins School Igg 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 j22 Pooler, Charles T., Early Superintendent of Akron Schools 125 Portage Canal and Manufacturing Company 80 Portage Furnace ^ Portage Journal -jj^g Portage Strawboard Company ggc PORTA(iE TOWNSHIP-Early Settlement .!...^. .... '^. ...'..'..'..!...'!..'.'.'.' .'^'.''' ^' ''''. 32 Assessors 097 Clerks 289 Justices of the Peace ' 295 Treasurers „gj^ Trustees 287 CONTENTS. xix. Porter Zouaves 428 "Powder Patch" 3083 "Preliminary" 31 Pryne, Miss Edfeetta, Teacher 123 Quotas, Drafts, Bounties, Etc 406 R. Railroads of Summit County 1)21—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 041-978 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) 954 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 Rooang Tile Works 483 Roof-Musson Homicide ^^i 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 5ns Second Ad ventism 604 Second Draft during the War 416 Second National Bank of Akron SS-* Second Ohio Cavalry 378 Seiberling, J. F. & Co 4C7 Seiberling Milling Company •-• 459 Selle Gear Company ■ ^^l Semler-Kepler Homicide 804 Seventy-Sixth Regiment, O, V. I 407 Sewer Pipe Manufacturers , 475 Sherbondy Hill Church of Christ 213 Sheriff Lane Victimized llf>5 Singular Boiler Explosion 621 Sixth Battery Light Artillery ^ 131 XX. CONTENTS. 443 Sixth Battery at Washington Centennial. Sixth Battery Roster for 1891 Sixth Independent Battery, O. L. A Sixth Battery Roster for 1891 ^ Sixty-Fourth Regiment, O. V. I ^^ Sixty-Seventh Regiment, O. V. I ^^ Smith Brothers ^ Soldiers' Memorial Chapel ^^ Soldiers' Surplus Bounty Fund ^'^ South Akron Flouring Mill. 459 South End News ; 229 South Main Street Church of Christ r 213 Spicer, Amos, Early Portage Township Resident ^ Spicer, Maj or Miner, Akron's First Settler ^2 Spicer Cemetery 232 SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, History of 979-1002 Early Settlement ^^ Organization, Growth, Etc ^^ Population 981 Topography, Resources, Etc ^82 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 Steinbacher, 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, OiiHcial Roster, Etc 1037 Stripe-Cooper Homicide 803 Sultana Disaster 372 Summit Beacon 219 Summit City §0 Summit City Boiler Works 496 SUMMIT COUNTY, History of ...[................................ 91—108 Abstract Company 544 Agricultural Societies 1080—1086 Benevolence 1087—1098 Journal 226 Railroads ■. 021—639 CONTENTS, xxi. Summit County Tornadoes.. ,. 558 Summit Guards 350 Summit House ' ,. ,. i^ 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 1043 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 1055 Honorable Civil Service Record 1057 Present Business Status 1059 Present Official Roster (1S91) 1059 Tappan, Charles W 1110 Taplin, Rice & Co 465 Tee-Total Mechanic * 225 Terrible Calamity " 454 Thirty-Seventh Regiment, O. \'. 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. V. 1 358 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 " 579 United States Baking Company 508 United States Stoneware Company 481 Upson, Dr. George C 1025 Upson, Julius A 1025 Upson, Dr. Daniel 1049 Upson, William H 1058 V. Valley Railway 631 Vallandigham, Clement L 374 Viers-Charlesworth Romance 1 903 xxii. CONTENTS. Village Rivalries, 1833—1845 ^ Vitrified Sewer Pipe Ind ustry 475 Voris, Judge Alvin C •, ■ • ■ 8-46 Voris, Miss Annette, Teacher 123 Voris, Judge Peter , 645 w. Waltz, Miss Laura E., Teacher 133 Washburn-Peoples Homicide "184 AVatclies and Jewelry 518 WearV, Snyder & Wilcox Manufacturing Company 485 Webster, Camp & Lane Machine Company 464 Weeks, Arthur J 481 Weeks, Frederick H 4S1 Weeks & Kingsbury 512 Werner Printing & Lithographing Company 536 W^estern Linoleum Company 508 Western Reserve College ^ 821 Wetmore, 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 A 553 Wolcott, Hon. Simon P .* 665 \Volcott, Miss Lucretia, Teacher 122 Wood and Provision Procession 419 Worthington, "Jim," Akron's Fugitive Slave , .577 z. Zanesville Street Railway Company 509 VIEWS, BUILDINGS, ETC. Acadeinj' o£ Music, East Market Street, 1891 458 Akron's First Scliool House, South Broadway, 183i ... Ill Alirou's First Hlgli Scliool Building, Soutii Summit Street, 1817 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 513 Akron, As it was in 1853, and as it is in 1891 US 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 213 Lodge, Looking East 217 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 216 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 151 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 13S- Glendale Avenue, Looking To"wards 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 13a 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, Vie^w back of Stone Mill 259 Ohio Exchange, Corner Market and Main, 1835—1853 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, West Exchange Street I30 Railroads — Original Union Depot gog. New^ Union Depot * gog New N. Y., P. & O. Depot , ^I Valley Depot ^53^ 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 44g 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 Court House, 1855 72 From Rear of Howard, 1880 n. West Side, 1891 1 .............'!..'!..!...!!] 527 Spicer School Building, Carroll Street J3j^ St. Bernard's (Catholic) 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 .y.... ................ .[.... 450 Summit County Infirmary ..j^oo Tappan Hall, Corner East Market and Main Streets, 1855 460 Trussell Hall, Corner Bast 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 ggg. View of Burkhardt's Brewery ...]] rgo 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 453 Water Works Pumping Station, Wooster Avenue, 1891 452 Windsor Hotel, Corner Mill and Broadway 518 West Congregational Church, Comer West Market and Balch 211 ^Vest 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 9i8 Alger, General Russell A 555 Allen, Albert 456 Allen, George G 140 Allen, Jacob 293 Allen, Jesse 14 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 N 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 173 Beebe, Joseph A 185 Beebe, Oliver B 753 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 Iil6 Billow, Captain George 388 Bissell. Rev. Samuel 1070 BJiss, Ambrose \V 901 Call, Moses D 1005 Camp, Hezekiah 761 Camp, William 1160 Canfleld, 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 181 Allen, Levi, Jr 720- Allen, Miner J 456 Allen, William C 325- Allen, William T 177 Ailing, Ethan 1061 Allison, George 1050 Allyn, Abel G 713 AUyn, 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 \V 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 410 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 271 Burlison, James 273 Burnham, Sanford M 163 Burton, Rev. Xathan S., D. D 195 Chapman, Willis D 290 Chase, Dr, Byron S 179 Childs, Dr. Orln D '. 516- Christy, James 297 Clark, Benjamin F 280 Clarke, William L 261 Cobbs, Charles S 285 Coburn, Dr. Stephen H 545 Cole. Dr. Arthur M 199^ Cole, Edmund H 661 Cole, Herbert W 199- Cole, Dr. Joseph lis Collins, Charles A 175- CONTENTS. XXVll. Conimins, Alexander H 455 Conimins. Dr. Jedediah D. Cone, Rev. Orello, D. D.... Conger, Col. Arthur L Conger, Mrs. Arthur L Conger, John C Conger, Kenjon B Conger, Sidnej' P Cook, John Day. Rev. William F., D. D. Dahliiian, Rev. Jacob Dick, Major Charles W. F... Dodge, Burdette L3'nde Dodge, Judge William M.... 235 160 470 470 664 , 535 662 2y8 192 202 278 525 130 Cook, Joseph 144 Cooper, Gen. Sanmel F 126 Cornell, Thomas \V 541 Crispin, Rev. William F 1162 Crosby, Dr. Eliakirn 41 Crouse, Hon. George W 152 Crumrine, Martin H 459 Curtiss, Augustus 665 Cutter, Morrill T. 463 D Doyle, Dayton A 167 Doyle, William B 488 Dudley, Plimmon H 288 Dyas, Isaac J 526 Ebright, Dr. Leonidas S 266 Ebright, Dr. Thomas Mc 137 Edgerton, Hon. Sidnej' 180 Edison, Thomas A 500 Edison, Mrs. Thomas A 500 Eichenlaub, Harry C 327 Elkins, Richard S 320 Ellet, King J 985 Evans, Mrs. Mary I. T 242 Ewart, Joseph C 442 Ewart, Robert L 982 Falor, George A 714 Falor, Hiram S 71,') Farnam, Daniel 480 Fay, Xahum li;^ Findley. Dr. Samuel 128 Foltz. Dr. Abner E 547 Foltz, Hiram H Foltz, Dr. William K.. Ford, Judge James R. Ford, Newton 138 549 114 287 Fraunfelter, Dr. Elias 129 Frederick, Henry 279 Gale, Col. Justus 47 Gamble, William B 32fi Ganter, Rev. Richard L., D. T) 200 Gardner, Omar X 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, Eorenzo 463 Hall, Philander D 46 Hammond, Roland 319 Hankey, Simon 491 Hardy, Nathaniel 859 Hardy, Perry D 861 Hardy, William 305 Harper, Erastus R 3« Hart, Henry W 307 Hart, Col. John C »&3 Henry, Milton W 1.32 Herrick, Burke C 517 Herrick, Jonathan E 1072 Hibbard, Allen 169 Hill, David E 175 Hill, George R 476 Hill, Dr. John 926 Goodrich, Dr. Benjamin F 469 Goodwin, Thomas H 311 Grant, Judge Charles R 186 Green, Judge Edwin P 153 Green, Hon. Frank M 1006 H 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 508 Hower, Harvey Y 505 Hower, John H 457 Hower, M. Otis 505 Rowland, Charles E 483 Hoy, Judge John 98 Hudson, Deacon David 812 Hugill , Joseph 509 Humphrey, Dr. Elwyn 550 Humphrey, Judge Noah M 945 Humphrey, Major Norris 942 Humphrey, Judge Van R 831 CONTENTS. IngersoU, Charles F Ingersoll, Henry Ward. Jacobs, Dr. William C. Jackson, Andrew Jackson, Erastus James, Daniel A Janes, Lewis M Jennings, Rev. Isaac .. 301 182 490 659 493 660 120 Ladd, Judge Charles G Lane, Julius S Lane, Luman Lane, Samuel A., Frontispiece. Lane, Samuel A Leggett, General Mortimer D... 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 767 . 270 . 181 .1064 1 124 IVI Mahar, Rev. Thomas F 208 Mallison, Amos 293 Mallison, Albert G 292 Marvin, David L. . .* 556 Marvin, Ulysses 1004 Marvin, Ulysses L 269 Mathews, James 56 McArthur, Col. Rial 857 McClure, Judge Samuel W 268, McCoUester, Rev. Sullivan H., D. D... 158 McDonald, William Z 291 McFarlin, John 646 McFarlin, William ,>12 McGillicudy, Captain Timothy D 432 McGregor, John 136 McKinney, Judge Henry 554 McKinnes", William 1077 McMillan, Reuben 45 McNeil, James C 495 Means, Captain John A 373 IM Nash, Rev. C. Ellwood, D. D 198 Nash, Sumner 275 Newberry, Henry 728 Newton, Samuel 33 Olmstead. Rev. Edward B 125 O'Neil, Michael 526 Paige, Albert T 519 Paige, Hon. David R 271 Parker, Richard E 644 Parmelee, Luther H 698 Parshall, Samuel W 290 Parsons, William C 472 IngersoU, 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. William 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 501 Miller, Harvey F 308 Miller, Ira M 467 Miller, Lewis WO 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. Thomas 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 15s Perkins, Charles E 277 CONTENTS. Perkins, Col. George T 157 Perkins, Henry 4(iii Perkins, General Simon 3i Perkins. Col. Simon 238 Perrin, Edward \V 319 Peterson, Dr. James H 177 Pitkin, Albert J 507 Ka-wson, Dr. Secretary 943 Raymond, William G 295 Raynolds, Thomas C 223 Read, Prof. Matthew C 614 Rexford, Rev. E. L., D. D 159 dackett, George 764 Sadler, RoUn \V 555 Sanders, Hon. Wilbur F 554 Sauford, Hon. Henry C 273 Sargent, Albert H 245 Schumacher, Ferd 155 Schumacher, Hugo 504 Schumacher, Louis 504 Scott, Dr. Daniel A 179 Scott, James F 283 Searles, Henry C 949 Seiberling, Charles W 503 Seiberling, Frank 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, Rpv. David T 211 Thomas, George 296 Thompson, Dr. Moses 821 Underwood, Dr. Warren J 546 TJpson, 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 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 Stein-bacher, 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 Wesener, Joseph E 283 Wetmore, Henry 736 Wheeler, Benjamin F 513 XXX. CONTENTS. W Wilcox, David G., (at 3O) 485 Wilcox, David G.. (at 70) 485 Wilcox, Francis A 302 Wilcox, Dr. Jeremiah C 94t Williamson, Judge Samuel C 425. Wills, 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 540 Wright, Alpha 10J3 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, STATE AND COUNTY, 1840 TO 1891, INCLUSIVE. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF WAR. WOLCOTT, Christopher P., of Akron, bj^ appointment of PresidentAbraliam Lincoln, in May, 1862, became Assistant Secretary of War, under his brother-in-law, Secretary Edwin M. Stanton, continuine- until .broken in health by the arduous duties of the position, retur;iing- to Akron in Februarj-, 1863, and dying- April 4, of that year. Portrait page 553. UNITED STATES MINISTERS, CONSULS, ETC. Cartter, David K., a resident of Akron from 1836 to 1845— Minister to Bolivia, South America, 1861 to 1863. Portrait and biography, page 552. COGGESHALL WILLIAM T., a resident of Akron from 1842 to 1847, editor and author. State Librarian from 1856 to 1862, Minister to Ecuador, Soutfi America, 1865 to 1867, dying of consumption at age, a running merry conversation being kept up during the repast, of -which the " strangers within their gates " were apparentl}^ 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 pillows, they motioned us to take our places thereon, my chum taking to the wall and m^^self turning in next to him, with 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 howl of the festive wolf, and once or twice 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 thej- had been corralled. . AGAIN UPON OUR WINDING WAY. Rising -with the earliest da-wn, harnessing our horses, paying our hosts liberally in silver coin for our entertainment, and bidding AUTOniOGKAPHY. O them all good-by, we started iu 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 wagon 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 je\\relry, 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 verj^ greatly astonished at our <;arly 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, could 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 mj^ horses, wagon and other property at Mobile, I renewed my efforts to obtain a clerkship, but without success, as was also the case at New Orleans, whither I went a couple of weeks later, there being scores of young men from the North watching for any vacancy that might possibly occur. I then " floated" up the river to Louisville and Cincinnati, where everything in that line was also found to be more than full. In the latter city I made an arrangement with 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 fire. I now determined to visit " New Connecticut," as the Western Reserve was then called, where, at Aurora, Portage County, an old family friend, 'Squire Artemas W. Stocking, a former employe of my father, was 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 SUiMMIT COUNTY. stage, before daylight, on the morning of Wednesday, March 4,. "dragging our slow length along,'' through the unfathomable cla^- 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, five miles to the eastward. 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, besides 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 wealth of which I was then possessed. My Aurora friends, -whom I had not seen for five years, made me very -welcome, and the next day the 'Squire loaned me his horse and wagon to go for my baggage, the 'Squire's younger brother, " Sam" (about mj^ o-wn 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 to-wn 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 was under the staging in front of the shop, and while turning the crank with my right hand, and holding on with the left, I observed three men approaching from the direction of the hotel, while 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 3-oung man with whom I had been quite familiar at the Twinsburg hotel. I greeted them pleasantly, and, in answer to the leader's inquiry for 'Squire Stocking, directed him to the house, the back way. through the shop. Entering the shop, I sat down on a saw-horse at one of the benches and began honing mj^ knife, holding the whetstone in my left hand, the two remaining men following me in, apparently much interested in the work I was 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 sajnng: "Your name is Lane, is it?" "Yes, sir," I replied.- "Well, Mr. Lane, I desire to ask you a few questions," said he. "All Al'TOBIOGRAPHY. 7 riglit, go ahead," said I. " Mr. Lane, w^here did you come from to Aurora?" "From Twitisburg," 1 replied. " Where from to Twins- 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 ver}- much like to go there," said T, jestingh^ "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 ?" " Ko, sir!" " Or 1)3' the name of George Davis?" "No, sir!" During this colloquj' I had continued sharpening my knife, and at this stage my interrogator said: "Mr. Lane will you oblige me by straightening out the fingers of j'our left hand?" " Suppose I can't do it, what then?" I smilingly enquired. "It will be all the better for^ou, if you can," he rather savagely replied. After a few seconds' aggravating delay, 1 suddenly extended my open hand to- wards him for inspection. "You are not the man I'm after," he stammeringly responded and then it \vas 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 who some- times called himself George Davis, about 25 A'cars old, and ans\ver- ing to my general description, but ^vith the fingers upon his left hand seriously crippled, had committed several forgeries in Detroit, and was also believed to be connected with 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 will be remeinbei-ed 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 part3' he was after had stopped off there and had gone to Aurora to visit one of the most respecta- ble men of that township, 'Squire Stocking, their statement being verified bj' the dining room girl, who had particularly' observed 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 money with me. Thus assured, he had remained at Twinsburg over night, as the man he was in pursuit of was a desperate character, alwaj^s went armed to the teeth, and a dangerous customer to encounter in the dark. On Sunday mdrning, calling to his assistance a Twinsburg constable, and taking along a young man who had seen me at the hotel, to point nie out, the Detroiter and his posse had dulv arrived at the Aurora hotel as stated. 8 AKKON AiXD .SUMMIT COUXTV. 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 with 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 spj^ 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 known much about him for five or six years, it could not be possible he was the desperado intimated. The officer, however, was positive, and called upon the 'Squire as a magistrate, notwithstanding 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, would be a mild statement. Sam was for booting the Detroiter and his T-winsburg 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 Le"wis, alias George Davis, "was ever apprehended, this deponent knoweth not; but one thing is certain, the writer, for over half a centurj^, has retained a very vivid recollection of his first visit to Twinsburg, though his intercourse v^ith many of her good people during the intervening 56 years has been both inti- mate and pleasant. ARTISTICAL, THEATRICAL, ETC. Remaining with mj^ friends nearly two months, about the first of Maj^ 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 bj^ the. silhouette process — drawing, with tracing rod and universal joint, a sideview outline of the features on white paper, deftlj- 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. AUTOBIOGKAPHY. 9 tracing- in the hair, eyebrows, eye, nostril, lips, ear, chin, wrinkles, draper^', etc., my apparatus being adjustable from miniature up to <£uarter size. After some gratuitous experiments in Aurora, my first objective "business" point was Ravenna and the contiguous townships of Shalersville and Streetsboro. Though infinitely superior to the plain black profile, oAving 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, -was 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. M}' 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 where 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 wended my way thither, sleeping the first night in the southwest 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 ancL 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 lawyer 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 abilitieSr 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 "generalitj- of mankind in general" may well 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 journej-- man, I entered the service of a house and sign painter, my first job being a piece of ornamental ^vork 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 nij^ 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 modest}', claim that I was fully as expert on general work as any of my " regularly' bred " contemporaries, while on sign-writing and ornamental work I was ahead of all competitors, with 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 noni de plume of "Jedediah Brownbread, Esq.," while still carrj'ing 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 numlier 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- Al'TDBIOGKAPHY. 11 The object of tlie yiaper was to combat and expose the black- legisin, and other crookedness and wrong doing then so prevalen,t in Akron and neighboring villages along the line of the canal. The editorials were constructed on the Yankee dialect plan, these excerpts from its salutatory being an example: " You see, I cum from Varmount about tew inunths ago. Uncle Jed was monstrous glad tu see me, now I tell you. Says he, ' Jedediah,'(3'ou see I was named arter Uncle Jed, and he tliinks a monstrous site of me), 'I'm mitj' glad you've cum and I've bin 'spectin you this tew or three years, for I ne^v that a chap of 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 ■«^as raised to the occupashun of teechin the young idee how to shute, but seein as how 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-joUj^-nothin-tu-du-w^ith-polyticks-anti-blackleg-respect- able paper will du well 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 TU jist explain it tu em. You see, a buzzard is a kind of ha^vk, an mj' "Buzzard" is near o'i kin tu the turkey-buzzard that I've hern tell on way down south, ^vhere 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 handj^ in this way. If there 's enny thing wrong goin on, I calkulate to tell on't, an expose an endevor to remove ne\vsances and so forth from the city. " THREATENINGS DIRE, ASSAULTS, ETC. As may well be imagined, the plain-speakjng of the Buzzaki> was well calculated to arouse the ire of the wrong-doers inveighed against, and manj' threats to destroy the office where it \vas printed, whip, and even shoot, the editor, were indulged in, and innumera- ble schemes for revenge were attempted, a few, 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 inquir3\ that a well-known blackleg, by the name of George Miller, had sent the message, I at once suspected that mischief was brewing, but not wishing to exhil)it 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" Brown, in confidential conversa- tion with the said George Miller, and noticed the significant glances and grimaces indulged in by the crowd. 12 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. Approaching the bar I said to the mixer of whisky toddies: ;' Your boy told me there was a gentleman here w^ho 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 town, 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 window curtains ^vere closely drawn and the room duly lighted. Keeping my hand still upon the latch of the door, I swung myself far enough into the room to discover that its only occupant, standing with his back to the grate, was a well-known local bruiser by the name of "Jim" Blane, virho 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 was a gentleman here ■who wanted to see me, but I don't see any," I said, and swinging myself back into the hall, closed the door, ^nd re-entered the bar- room, into which, 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 with 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 Henry 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 few days later, having an item of business with 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 with his right. Instinctively I thrust my right hand into my overcoat pocket, at which one of the half dozen black-legs present, who were hissing my assailant on, AUTOBIDGRAPHY. 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 you are going to fight, gentlemen, you must go out of doors," and as mj^ assailant backed out through the hall and front door, his brawn5r 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 anv! 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 immediatelj^ gathered around us. Drawing back his right fist, and pulling me towards him with his left, he would maudlinly exclaim: "Shall I strike you! Shall I mash your face for you! " etc, Meantime I had quietly 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 with m5r face, saying in response to his questions, as to whether he should strike me, "You can do as you please about it, Dwight, but I advise you not to, as j-ou maj^ feel bad about it afterwards." 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 ^vas going to "Buthard" him again. Seizing the pistol from the shelf, I started to^w^ards him, telling him to get out of my office, or I would Buzzard him so that he would 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 po'wder, 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 sotne of the more flagrant violations of the moral code, by this gay and festive Lothario and his associates, it imnie- diatel3' came to my ears that he was threatening to come to Akron and "whip me within an inch of m}^ life." A da3^ or two later, however, I received a very polite letter from the gentleman, enclosing a one dollar note, -with the request that I should send him iny "verj^ valuable paper" for one 3'ear. This I supposed ^vas tht; 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 afterwards, one afternoon, a boy brought me a note of about the following purport : " Ohio Exchange, Akron, >Iarch 7, 1838. "Compliments of Mr. Blank, of Franklin Mills, to Mr. S. A. Lane, and would be pleased to see Mr. Lane at room 24, Ohio Exchange." Knowing 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 repl}^, bj^ the boj', saying that it was inconvenient for Mr. Lane to visit the Ohio Exchange, but that Mr. Lane would be happj^ to see Mr. Blank at his office. Up to this time I had never met Mr. Blank, and not knowing exactly what kind of an adversar3- I had ,to deal with, I invited in three or four friends from adjoining offices to witness the interview. Presently Mr. Blank, a medium sized but robust young man, presented himself, accompanied b3^ a six-foot-two 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 way 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 'Jerr3^' in your last Buzzard." "Well, Mr. Blank," I replied, "I am not authorized to give you the name of the writer of that article without 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 blaiiketj^ blank's difference whether the article was true or false, I'm not goini;:; to be held up to public contemjit, through the press, without having satisfaction, and if A'ou don't give me the name of the writer of that article you will have to take tVie consequences." "Very ^vell, Mr. Blank, I'm prepared to take the consequences. But see here, 'Dan,'" said I, adopting the familiar sobriquet by Avhich I had often heard him called, "you maj^ as well understand at the outset that I don't ' scare worth a cent.' I was too sharp to ^fall into 3'our 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 Exchange, Avhere, through the 'influence' of your herculean friend, you expected to squeeze me into the disclosure of the name of my correspondent. Though j'ou might there have inflicted upon me the personal chastisement 3'ou had so fiercelj- threatened, you would have failed to learn the name of the correspondent in question. Noav, however, I am upon mj- ov^^n 'dunghill' and do not propose to l)e either -whipped or frightened." "See here, Lane," he rejoined, "I admire j^our pluck and have no desire to injure you or your correspondent. It Avas a mighty sharp article, anA^way, and I have a curiosity to know who wrote it, and if 3'ou will just tell me, I pledge you nij- Avord 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 bet^veen 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 copj- from which the article had been put in type. After scrutinizing it awhile, saving that the handwriting was very familiar to him, but he couldn't quite place it, he handed it back to me, and with his stalwart friend cordially 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 copjdng all of "Jerry's" communications, and it was my copy of the article that I had shown 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 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. Following a pretty severe castigation for some of his many acts of brutality towards his long-stiffering wife, being too co'wardly 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 was 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 down. 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 weapon from her with my right hand, and hastily opening a side door she ingloriously retreated into an adjoining room. AN EGGS-TRAORDINARY DEMONSTRATION. Exasperated 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 own hands. Among others -who 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" was on the street below, with a pocket full of addled eggs, with which "Mother Mason" had supplied him, watching for me to go to dinner, with a view of treating me to an odoriferous shower- bath. Raising a window I inquired what he was doing there. Drawing an egg from his pantaloons pocket, he made several motions as if to throw, which I dared him to do. Finally I took the old brass pistol from the shelf and asked him how 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 egg 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 without 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 whip me on sight, and whenever I would pass him on the street he would strike or kick at me with all vengeance, though always very careful not to hit me. This annoyance continued for several months, when one day ^hile he was following 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 coward, and wouldn't dare to strike or kick me, but I'll not be Al'TOBIOGKAPHY. 17 annoyed by you any longer, and if yoti 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 sinall-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 mean 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 s-wringing blow with his right fist upon the left side of mj*head, slightly staggering me, but not knocking me down. As I regained my equilibrium, a similar blow from his left hand grazed my right ej^e 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, with my irate antagonist close at my heels. Catching me by the collar of my vest,- (I was in mj^ shirt-sleeves) he gave me a whirl which 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, I kept him at bay with my feet until by-standers interfered and drove him off. This being the first actual personal injury that had been inflicted upon me, a warrant was issued for my assailant, but, in the meantime, his friends spirited him away, 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 more 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 Millt^, 18 AKRON AND SUMiHIT COUNTY. Jonathan Myers, Ansel Miller and others, was 'held on the evening of February 28, 1838, among the spirited resolutions unanimously adopted, being the following: '•jReaolt-ed, 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. •'Resolved, That we will protect and 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, now one of the leading industries of our goodly city and of the world. The pioneer establishment of this character, in Akron, was founded by the writer and the late Dr. James E. 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 were 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 Erie, 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, o^wing 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 was 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 well-known Howard street jeweler, 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, which struck Akron in the Winter of 1841-2, and my health having become somewhat impaired by too close application to the painting business, in the Spring of 1844, in connection with the AUTOBIOGKAPHY. 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 to secure a circulation for the paper, I devoted the most of my time to lecturing, a portion of the time traveling in connection ■with another lecturer, 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 while talking straight temperance, on t-wo 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, -while speaking from the Judge's bench in the Court House of Holmes County, at Millersburg, more harm coming to the audience, ho-wever, 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 -went overland to California, the details of the journey being fully set forth else-where in this volume. Not-withstanding 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 two years. Looking about among the mines for a day or two, 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 AXU SUMMIT COUNTY. $600 of which was contributed by myself, $1,400 by Caldwell and $1,000 borrowed, Mr. James G. Doav, 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 well as the firm of Dow & Co. had previously done.. Before "we had got fairly under way, hoAvever, 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 be 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 -was $600 per month for rent of store — the reader -will not be surprised to learn that though -we managed to refund our borrowed money, besides giving several months' valuable time to the "enterprise," -we sunk every dollar of our capital, and -were nearly $1,500 in debt to our landlord, Mr. Dow, who, on his return to California, a fe-w 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 day 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 with 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 Ea'stern Exchange Hotel, else- where 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 wife, with about that amount of mj^ 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, were destroj^ed by fire, involving a total loss of fully $15,000,000. As it became evident that the building I occupied would be reached by the fire, I removed such of my personal effects as I could carry by hand, two Al roiUOGKAPHY. 21 ■or three blocks awa3^ only to be obliged to remove them still further up the hill, a half hour later, the operation having to be repeated several times before 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, while a hundred dollars or so of work delivered and not j-et 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, who coined money by bringing drinking water and stove-wood from over the high range of hills west 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 away. 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 Jl^""." A few days after the fire, while seated on a stool at my impro- vised table, writing an account of the great calamity for the Beacox, I felt the entire building swaying violently back and forth, in an easterly and ■westerly direction, for several seconds, which phenomenon I instinctively thought wras 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 afterwards, I found the people of the city in a high state of excitement over an earthquake which had toppled down chimneys, cracked -walls, 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 signs, and my business was quite prosperous for several months. In the mean- time Mr. James G. Dow, with Mr. Charles W. Tappan, also of Akron, as a partner, had again embarked in the auction business, with phenomenal success, and about the middle of September, 1851, I entered their employ as a salesman, at a salary of $275 per month. Two months later a branch store was established in which I took 22 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. a one-fourth interest, with Mr. Hallet Kilbourn, now of Wash- ington City, as a member of the firm, finally becoming a half owner, with Mr. Humphrey Sawyer, of Massachusetts, as partner, the venture being reasonably remunerative. THE HOMEWARD FLITTING— CHOLERA RAVAGES, ETC. Mr. Sawyer desiring to go to the mines, we closed up our business and dissolved our partnership on the first of May, 1852. 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 w^as 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 watery grave during the last six or eight days. The transit across the Isthmus was 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, two 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, thoroughly 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 Cahfornia," the substance of which is reproduced in another chapter of this volume), I invested my savings in a clothing and merchant tailoring establishment, where the New York Clothing House now stands, on the south side of East Market Street. AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 23 With Mr. Arthur Malcohn, as senior partner and chief cutter, the firm of A. Malcolm & Co. were 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 mj- 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 after-ward 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 Republicanisin, 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 was 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 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNT'S'. jjainting 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 spontaneously fix upon me as their candidate for Sheriff, and though there were some six or seven other aspirants working 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 ha»ving 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 assuming my editorial duties, Governor William Dennison, -writhout solicitation fromi 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, i 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, was 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 wij- 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 which I had so recently, for over four years, enjoyed at their hands. AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 25 AGAIN BURNED OUT— AGAIN SHERIFF. A full histor}' of the Bkacon is given elsewhere in this volume, by 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, was 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 assumption 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 o.ffice — 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 pecuniary 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 rny constituents not to ask for the office again until 1896 — just 40 years from the commencement of my first and 20 years from the commencement of my last incumbency, at which time, should I survive till then, I shall be onlv 81 years of age. EXCITING" JAIL INCIDENTS. 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— I 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 AKEON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. sympathetic to any of the numerous cases of illness or distress -with 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 Howard and Mill streets. Pierce was a stout, burly young man, with close kinky hair, from w^hich his jail-mates nicked-named him "Curly," and Thompson was a short, spare, and rather sickly looking youth, whom his companions nick-named " Shorty." At this time the late John S. Rowan w^as temporarily acting as my turnkey, who, after locking the prisoners safely in their cells, in the evening, spent the night with his own family on Forge street. After conviction, and before sentence, "Shorty's" "sickly" symptoms rapidly increased, elicting 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, who 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" was very sick with a terrible pain in his stomach, which statement seemed to be confirmed by fearful groans apparently emanating from his cell. Thinking that perhaps a dose of strong peppermint sling might afford him relief, I warmed some water 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 threw open the inner jail door, without taking the precaution to close the guard-room door, and with 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 was 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, who 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 women, Mrs. Randall, as he suddenly popped up from the darkness of the narrow corridor, on the west end of the jail, instinctively seizing him around the waist 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 seize.d 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 with 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, which 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 showed, that out of some of their extra garments and the contents of their husk mattresses, the boys had constructed a "dummy," which had been skillfully tucked away in "Short3''s" bed. When Rowan was locking them up for the night, not seeing the "sick" boy about, he sympathetically inquired how he was, 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 Rowan was thus making his rounds, was as follows : 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 further 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 AKRON 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. Finally mistrusting that he was shamming, Mac. told him one day, that if he did not stop his fooling he would "pulverize" him, whereupon the fellow simmered down and became as quiet as a lamb, and finally confessed to Mac, that his insanity had been -wholly 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, without 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 was 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 which 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-known 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. My 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, born November 6, 1855, is head draftsman of the Schenectady (N. Y.), Locomotive Works, of which my son-in-law, 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. AUTOBIOGKAPHY. 29' Among the four, with one still unmarried, there are, at the present writing, eleven grandchildren, five boys and six girls, ranging from six months to twenty-three years, so that there is no imme- diate danger of the tribe becoming extinct, while bringing to their progenitor the proud satisfaction of knowing that whatever 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 mj^ second wife, Emeline (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 heavj' strain put upon her in the care of the jail, during my last four years'' incumbency 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 lif e-historj', 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 myself in active busi- ness, and yet not wishing, 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, which, 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 would 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 vrill 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 won 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 views 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 were 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 well as a somewhat 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 shoAving the changes of a life-time I have also had prepared, as a frontispiece to this ^vork, 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, w-as left with 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 was 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, Brown 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 work 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 -which Summit was carved, and the newspaper files in my possession, or otherwise readily accessible, covering almost the entire period written 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 drawn entirely upon my imagination, or given vent to anj- personal animosities that may have existed bet-ween 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 welfare, 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 any 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 which have, from time to time, contributed to the industrial, commercial, financial, educational and moral well-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 MIDDLEBURY— A VISIT FROM DEWITT 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. THE 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 which the three families settled in 1811 — Portage tow^nship 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, between the Cuyahoga and Tuscaraviras rivers, that name also extending to the count}^ of which the township was originally a part. A/TAJOR MINER SPICER, — born J-Vl 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 260 acres of land in the southeastern part of Portage township; in June, 1811, with his family, accompanied by his cousin, Capt. Anlos 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 small 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 many 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 months 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, 1855, aged 78 years, 3 months and 12 days, and the latter Mrs. S., March 7, 18,o6, 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 Ayres) 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. TUB A.NCIEXT VILLAGE OF MTDDLEBUKY. •A3 Down to 1825, the village of Middlebury, founded b}- Capt. Joseph Hart and Judge Aaron Norton, in 1807, embracing a corner each of Tallniadge, Springfield, Coventry and Portage townships, was 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 earlj' daA', together w^ith sundry civic and military organizations uhich 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 biography is here given. e AMUEL NEWTON,— born at New- »J port, N. H., September 13, 1782, when young- moving to Groton, Conn., and from thence to Ohio, settling in Middleburj^ October 14, 1815. Mr. Newton was for many 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 Coinpany overland to California, returning via the Isthmus of Panama in Januarj', ISioO. His wife dying- in September, 1835, Mr. Newton was again married, to Mrs. Laura Reming- ton, in November, 18,56. MrvNewton died August 5, 1871, at the age of 88 years, 10 months and 22 da5'S, 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. ml S.4MUEL XEWTO.X. 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 likely 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 Count3' on the 6th day of December, 1825. 34 sV AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. r^EN. SIMON PERKINS— born in ^ Lisbon, Conn., September 17, 1771 ; located in Oswego, N. Y.,1795 ; in 1798, employed bj' 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 settled in Warren; post- master of Warren from 1801 till 1829, also special agent of Government in establishing local offices, treating w^ith Indians, etc.; as Brigadier Gen- eral of militia. August, 1812, took command of troops in defense of north^vestern frontier ; at close of campaign, Feb., 1813, warmly com- mended by Gen. Harrison, for ener- getic 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 1825, founded the village of Akron, and in 1831, in connection with Judge Leicester King and Dr. GEN. SIMON PERKINS. Eliakim Crosbj^, 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-remembered fellow citizen, Mr. Charles W. Brown, of 966 East Market street, then living in Middlebury, "where he located in 1817, was the owner of 58 acres of uneven and rather s"wampy land, running from near the present southwest corner of South Main and Exchange streets, south- w^ardly and ■westwardly, covering w^hat is now know^n 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. Bro^wn, 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 him an offer, giving him the option of four different tracts of land for his 58 acres ; 45 acres in the eastern part of Portage township, 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. Brown took him on the 45 acres, it being a portion of the same farm on which he ever afterwards resided, and as the sequel proved, it was 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, H(J\V AND WHY SO NAMED. 35 son's Corners to Wooster, Mount \'^ernon, etc. This road ran substantially where Middlebury street, since changed to Buchtel avenue, now is, as far west as Broad-way, thence striking diagonally towards, but a little north of what is now Exchange street, and, after crossing the valley and circling somewhat around to the south, again striking the present Exchange street line near its junction with Maple ; thence rising the hill near the Perkins residence, and continuing on southwesterly towards New Portage. pHARLES W. BROWN,— born Oct. ^ 2, 1796, in North Stonington, Conn.; district school education; learning carpenter's trade, in 1817 came on foot to Ohio, reaching Middlebury, 700 miles, February 28, Mrs. Brown, nee Miss Henrietta Hal- se5', to whom he was married June 9, 1816. arriving in the following Au- gust, by ox-team ; lived in Middlebury 15 j'ears, 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 bridg-es, etc., among others opening Market and Main streets, building the Stone (late Baptist) Church, the High (Jen- nings) School building-, etc. Though a man of peace, he took an active part in earl}' local military matters, holding- a lieutenant's commission for five years. Mr. Brown w^as the father of five daughters and one son — Mary, wife of Edward F. Pulaifer, of Chicago; Prudence, wife of John W. Sabin, of Akron, (both deceased), Antoinette, wife of Benjainin Mc- Naughton, of Akron ; Lucy, wife of Robert P. Henry, of Akron,who died in CHAKLES BROWN. 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 11, 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 wras named "Akron" at the suggestion of Charles Olcott, Esq., of Medina, from a Greek word signifying "high," tlii^ being the highest point of land on the line of the canal bet-ween 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 waters 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. Lawrence; while from its southern outlet its waters 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 what they regarded a very forbidding locality, 36 AKKON AND HU>tMIT 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, Esq., and after whom the latter was named. Judge Pease "was a fine scholar, and had suggested a number of classical names, vv^ith the most ridiculous definitions, and in consulting with Mr. Olcott, also a fine classical scholar. Gen. Perkins told him that he wanted a nanle that would not only represent the topographical position of the town, 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, hev ? A very appropriate name indeed ! " Classical scholars, as "well 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 properljr 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 Middleburj', (now Akron, Sixth Ward), in spring of 1817, and was married the following June to Miss Clarissa Hart, daughter of Rufus Hart, who settled in Middle- burj' in 1815 ; in earlj- life worked at the clothier's trade, and officiated as minister of the gospel of the Baptist faith, his quite extensive congreg'a- tion being greatly decimated and altogether broken up bjr 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 talcing large droves of horses, cattle mules, etc., over the moutitains. 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 count}' nine shears, and on the organization of Sumnait Count}', 1840, was made one of its first Associate Judges, which posi- tion he held until his death, June 22, 1845, at the age of 51 years and 16 days, Mrs. Sumner dying March 3, HON. CHARLES SUMXEK. 1872, aged 75 years, 10 months and' 25 days. The daughter. Miss Louise, has never married, and is managing the fine estate left bj' her parents with admirable judgment, libei-ality 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 KA.K'UY LAiXUMAKKS. 37 Joshua King, a log structure, on the present site of County Surveyor Charles E. Perkins' residence, in the -west part of the city; a story and a-half frame building nearly opposite, on the east, kept b3^ Pliny Wilcox; the two 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 west, 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 " Ellis' 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 early proprietors, more anon. KO.SWELL AN'I) ELtZA KE.NT. R' lOSWELL KENT,- born in Lej-den, Massachusetts, Maj- 18, 1798; removing ^ with his parent.s to Hudson, Ohio, about the j^ear 1812; educational iidvantag-es quite limited; at majorit}' entered store of his brother Zenas (father of Hon. Marvin Kent, of Kent), at Ravenna. About 1820, he estab- lished a store in Middlebury, (now Akron, Sixth Ward), for his brother and Capt. Heraan Oviatt, of Hudson, buying- out the concern about 1826, and continuing- the business on his own account for several years. He then c'lio-aged in the manufacture of woolen machinery, as a member of the hrm 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), who was born Augtist 6, 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, onh-, are living -Ella K., now Mrs. Finley 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 SUMMIT 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 which 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. XHOMAS NORTON,— born in J- Oneida Co., N. Y., April 6, 1806; same year parents moved to Ohio, first to Smithfield, Trumbull Count}\ and in 1809, to Tallmadge, the father, Peter Norton, in 1813, purchasing- 200 acres of land, in Springfield township adj acent to the village of Middlebur j^, 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 bo5^, 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 ahd biography will be found elsewhere, Mr. and Mrs. Cook now occupying the old homestead, and kindly min- istering to the care and comfort of Father Norton, in his declining years. THOMAS NORTON. Mrs. Norton havingdied at the home of her daughter in Des Moines, Iowa, August 7, 1886 in the 75th year of her age. 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. npALMON BEARDSJLEY,— born in -I Delhi, Delaware Co., N.Y., De- cember 15, 1799 ; 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 oW ( 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 residina- at Adrian, Mich.; Harriet, wife of Gates A. Bab- cock, now^ living in Fremont, Ohio; Louisa D., wife of Mr. Geo. Stover, of TALMON BEARDSLEV. 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 southwest corner of Main and Exchange streets, which 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 years retained, the historic name of "Dublin." Thus, by the time the canal was 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 were on the east side of the canal, on Main and Exchange streets, several of the original structures still standing where they were then erected, though one or two grocery stores 40 AKKO.X AND SUMMIT COL'XTY. and two freight warehouses were soon afterwards located upon the west 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 warehouse also being located on the east side of the lower basin, about where the Brewster coal chutes are now. TNCREASE SUMNER,— son of -I Thomas and Elizabeth (Holland) Sumner, was born in Townshend, Vt., February 2.i. 1800 ; at 16, came to Pittsburg, where he worked for a time at nail-making-, when he caine to Middlebury, where his brother Charles was then living-, where he early became prominent in business affairs, engaging in milling, mer- chandising, contracting-, etc., bviild- ing many of the bridges and dams in Akron, besides doing considerable «tone work on the Ohio Canal. In 1849, as Captain and Treasurer of the "Middleburj' Mining Company," he Avent, by ox-team, overland to Cali- fornia, -where, mining and merchan- dising, he remained nearly three years. On liis return to Middleburj', he eng-aged in fanning, 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 January 29, 1827, having- died of consumption, at Pautuxet, R. I., whither he had INCKEASE SUMNER. gone in hopes of recovering his health, July 16, 1830, leaving two children, since deceased. Mrs. Surn- 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 & Lyman's planing mill now stands, according to the recollection of the late George Dailey, of Cuyahoga Falls, by Alexander and Edward Wheeler, the hulk of the ancient craft now h'ing 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 huxzas 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 fronri Akron to Cleveland and back, with his own team of substantial farm horses. 1)K. CROSBY AND HIS "DITCH." 41 DR. CROSBY. Doctor Kliakim 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 which 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 with Mr. Henry Chittenden taking a contract upon the ca;nal, between 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 Cuyahoga 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 Betsj' 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 vicinity, 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 inill 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, Edward 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 was sought to dam the river at, or near, what is now known as the "White Grocery," and froni thence conduct the water through Blue Pond to a point near where the Akron Sewer Pipe works now stand, thus creating a water power that would overshadow anything that the Doctor could command lower down the stream. That eminent hydraulic tmgineer, Col. Sebried Dodge, (afterwards owning and living upon, until his death, what is known as the "Dodge farm," three miles southwest of Akron) was employed 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 which the Doctor would pleasantly, but significantly reply: " Gentlemen, ^p-our scheme won't work, but mine -will; and what's more, it will cause the grass to groiv in j^our streets, and make a goose pasture of your tovrn." Thus time passed on. Engineer Dodge found that very 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 w^as 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 w^hich 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 between 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 Five on the Ohio Canal, from whence they could be used over and over again, as far as Lock Seventeen, for milling and manufacturing purposes. This was in 1831. The surveys being completed, a large force of men -wras at once set to w^ork constructing the race, a consider- able portion of -which, 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 known as 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 west. 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 m.ade 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 were 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 matision with the coin. On inquiring for Mr. Phelps, the Judge was informed that he was away 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 wait 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. Bro-wn, he executed a deed to Judge King, and took his money, a portion of which 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, was 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 AKI\'(),\ AND Sl'MMTT COUXTV. 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 cemeterj^ brook) brought in a race and "wooden 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 no-w 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. JESSE ALLEN,— sixth son of Jesse J Allen, senior, one of the pioneers of Coventry, was born in Tompkins Co., N. Y., May 1, 1807, removing with iamily to Ohio in 1811. Though his education was limited he was remark- ably intelligent, and earl3f acquired prominence in business, social and political circles. In bo5'hood worked on farm, later learning the 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- storj' building, west of the present barrel-house of the Allen Mills, and engaged in the manufacture of wool- carding and spinning machinerj^ On the retirement of Mr. McMillan, three 3'ears later, D. and J. Allen erected the shop on the west side of Loclt 7, now embraced in the Akron Building and Cabinet Company's plant. Mr. David Allen dying December 6, 1842, at the age of 42 jears 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, eng-aged in milling, later, with his brothers Jacob and Hiram, and the late Jedediah D. Commins, engaging 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, 1863, at the age of 56 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, HANK CHARTEK API'UIKD FOK. 4ri but that firm having failed, in the Spring of 1835 the building was leased to Mr. P. I). Hall, and, as lessee and o'wner, 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, vsrere rapidly followed by others, so that, when the 'writer 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. pOL. REUBEN McMILLAX,— born ^^ in Galway, Saratoga Co., N. Y., Ma5' 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 1840 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 December 18, 1835, for a bank charter for Akron, the committee composed of James W. Phillips, Richard 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 l,20a 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. KEUBEX 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 da3's. 46 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. PHILANDER D. HALL— born at -T 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 j^ear 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 May 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 blocli 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 City, 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 BITTER 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 bet-ween Middlebury and the t-wo 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 power, possessed superior manufac- turing advantages, w^as for a time fairly successful in holding its own, if not, in fact, slo^wly 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 miasms 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 Ji@°°." This was imitated by he Northenders, the board pointing towards that village also CESSATION OK HOSTILITIES. 47 reading "Akron, 1 mile JiJ^""." 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 by no means over. pOL. JUSTUS GALE, — bora in V-> 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 3-ear 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, ?> 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. COL. 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 -was a t-wo-story frame tavern, directly east, on Exchange street, kept by Dr. Rufus Pierce, and a new t-wo-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 AKRON' AND SUMMIT COUNTY. composed the two rival, and in fact, bitterly hostile, villages,, since, with the pioneer village of Middlebury, 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 the3^ and their proprietors, and some of their patrons, will play as "dramatis personse" 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, soing first to Boston, then on foot to ifiintington. 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- dlebury ; also inaking- frequent trips east, over the mountains with horses and cattle ; later carrying on a large farm, pottery and distillery, 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 Einpire Hotel on the -ivest, and the large hotel and opera house building-, cor- ner of Howard and Tallmadg-e streets. Though from time to time meeting with heavj' losses bj' fire, Mr. Suinner w^as phenomenallj- prosperous dur- ing a long business career, dying 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. JULIUS A. SUMNER. J. B. Houghton, now deceased), Eliza (Mrs. E. S. Stillwell, of Coventr}), Albert A. (deceased) and Victoria (Mrs. George S. Clark, Akron). Mrs. Sumner dj'ing in 1849, in 1853 Mr. Sumner w^as again married to tlie widow of Heman A. Bradle}', wlio died October 18, 1880. ~^$.^^~Q)3i9— AKKON INCOKPOKATED. 49 CHAPTER II. %, AKKON INCORPOKATED- -FIRST CHARTER ELECTION- 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— " MO VING" DEFENSE— INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE— ELECTED BY THE " KIDS "—SUCCESSFUL ADMINISTRATION - RE-ELECTED— PROSPEROUS FARMER— SUBSEQUENT MAYORS, ETC. ACT OF INCORPORATION. 'IPHE two villages, North and South Akron, having for the time A 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 Tuesday 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 T^oce 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 dravsrn 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 the candidates for Recorder — Charles, W. Howard (Whig), and Constant Brj^an (Democrat). Politically, the new corporation was pretty evenly balanced, but an analysis of the vote, for Mayor and Recorder, wrill shovsr 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 Lower Town frora* its very start, while Dr. Crosby was, in realitj'-, the very father thereof, by reason of his having projected and successfully com- pleted the Cascade Mill race, which made the very existence of the Lower Town possible. The vote for Mayor stood : Iredell (Whig), 91 ; Crosby (Democrat), 75; clearly indicating that the very fact that the Lower Town 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-iri-law of Dr. Crosby), receiv- ing but 75 votes, while 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 : Erastus 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, Whig), 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 vacancj^ ; 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 hj 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 very liberal allowance of five inhabitants for every vote cast, would 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 hqnor, the mayoralty, was a Pennsylvania Quaker, then about 62 years of age, but still remarkably vigorous, both physically and mentally. Though, characteristic of his sect, he was moderate in conversation, and con- SETH lEEDELL. Akron's first mayor. 51 servative in business and official inatters, he was, nevertheless, decided in his opinions, and diligent in the discharge of every private obligation and public dutj-. Thus, while he looked care- fully after the welfare of the public, and labored faithfuUj' 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 Avere bound to fight, -w'hether 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 j^ears, 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 which, 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, ^33; 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 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. J. C. SINGLETAKY. AKRON'S SECOND MAYOR. Although Mayor Iredell, as before intimated, had declined to do very much judicial business, his admin- istration had been generally satis- factory, and as the time for the new election approached, it was sup- posed he would be his own suc- cessor ; but it was destined to be otherwise. In 1834, there had come inta Akron, a stalwart young lawyer, by the name of John Curtis Singletary, Jr. He was fully six feet high, and every way well proportioned, with an intelligent and genial counte- nance, good-natured, social and kind-hearted. His father. Col. John C. Single tary, was a wealth}- and highly respected farmer of the to-wnship of Streetsboro. Young Singletary v^^as born in Aurora, Portage Countj^, December 19, 1810, and was a graduate of Western Reserve College, at Hudson, of the class of 1835. His proficiency in his studies -vvas such that he had substantially completed his course a year or more before graduation day, and had also studied law with his uncle, in Middlebury, the late Senator Gregory Powers, and had been admitted to the Bar^ by the Court in Banc, at Columbus, in 1834, Judge Reuben Wood presiding. Though not very liberally endowed with ready money, he had been provided by his father -with a good lav^ library (for those days) and started in, at the age of 24, vi^ith bright prospects of "winning for himself a brilliant career in his chosen profession; building a commodious and comfortable office on the south side of Exchange street, a little east of Main. Had the young lawyer stuck closely to his briefs, all would have been well; hut, unfortunately, like the most of his associates, he was 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, vsrith 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 Bowerj^ and West Middlebury streets, now owned and occupied by Dr. John G. Carpender. The tightening down 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 bankruptcy. Everything 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 - AKROX'S SECON'I) MAYOK. 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 filling of his own pockets. As a sample of his mode of procedure, in this regard, and of the persecutions with which he was beset, the folio-wing incident will suffice: A farmer's bo3';, from Springfield, came to to-wn 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 tolerabl}' good looking, but totally blind, horse. On dis- covering the swindle that had been perpetrated upon him, the boy sought the office of j'oung Singletary, and weepingly told his tale. "Where is 3^our horse?" enquired Singletary. " Over in the tavern barn," said the boy, and then looking out oi the veindow, 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, vintil the latter began to make some hostile demonstrations to-wards the former, when Singletary, striking straight-out from the shoulder w^ith that brawny right fist of his, knocked the trick3' boat-captain nearly half way across the street. Then, before the captain could recover his equilibrium, and his grip'upon the halter, Singletary picked up the boy, threvsr 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 bj' the entire gang, caused Singletary to be arrested for assault and battery. The warrant was issued by Justice of the Peace, John H. Cleveland, Avhose office -was located in North Akron, in the second story of a building standing where the office of the Thomas Lumber and Building Co. now stands, on the west side of West Market Street canal bridge. Justice Cleveland was a short, corpulent man, a veri- table "Dogberry," and very decidedly appreciated the importance and dignity of his official position. The case was 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- ficienth' long to have fully established his reputation as a sharp, witty, 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 bj' 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. Singletarj^ 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 what 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 a^wred into silence, by the bloated dignity of the Court " Justice Cleveland : (Hastily rising) " Stop, sir ! Stop sir ! I won't listen to you, but 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 Jur}^ 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 did employ him were as impecunious as himself; and being too proud to call upon his father for further pecuniarj- aid, he was often in dire straits for his daily bread. In addition to this, he was constantly hounded bj^ his creditors, and taunted with his failure and poverty. One daj', 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 will come bv and bj', for I intend to be your next Mayor ! " This declaration was received ■with shouts of derision, and after a few days' gossip and laughter over the boast, the circumstance was forgotten by those who heard it. Not so, however, with the moneyless and almost briefless law- yer. As the June election drew near, he announced himself as an independent candidate for Mayor. His announcement was fairly 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, morality and abilit}- could not be called in question. It is not now remembered who was placed in nomination against him, but, by concentrating the vote of both parties upon a single man, it was 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, mostl}' 5'oung tnen — 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 Avhen 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 readj^ to attend to all the duties of the office, both civil, municipal and criminal. So successful was his administration that he was triumphantly re-elected on the 5th day of June, 1838, against a prominent South End la'wyer, 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, who is still living. There have been born to them eight children — three sons and five daughters — of w^hom 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 extensive farming operations, and w^ill be happy to receive calls from an}' of his old Akron friends and constituents, at his hospitable domicile, on the north-west 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 Wads worth; 1853, Philip N. Schuyler; 1854, William T. Allen; 1855 and 1856, Nathaniel Finch; 1857 and 1858, Frederick A. Nash; 1859, George W. McNeil; I860 and 1861, Henry 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, John L. Robertson; 1873 and 1874, Henry Purdy; 1875 and 1876, Levi S. Herrold; 1877 and 1878, James F. Scott; 1879 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, Wilham H. Miller. 56 AKk'O.N A.\I) SUMMIT COUNTY. TAMES MATHEWS, -born in Wash- J ington Count3', N. Y., April 23, 1803; in boj^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 engaged in manufacturing grain shovels, in 18i] engaging in grocery business, until 1849 when he became secretary and manager 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 fire 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 by 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 ; vsras 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 married to Miss Agnes Grant, of Wells River, Vt., in January, 1833, who died in AkA)n in April, 1870, leaving three children — George H., who died JAMES MATHEWS. in December 1873, Henry G. and Charles H., now of New York. Mr. Mathews was again married, to Mrs. Isabella (Howard) Tajder, a native of Middlebury, (Akron, Sixth Ward), who now resides in California, Mr. Mathews dying December 25, 1883. aged 80 j'ears, 8 months and 2 days. Ohio, .'^prin HEXRV PURDY. XRY PURDY,--sou of Solomon Purdy, was born in Zanesville, September 30, 181.1. reinoving to (j'field t()\vii,shij5, with ])areiits. when 13 j-ears of age; educated in Putnam Academy in Zanesville and Randolph Academj^. In 1837 became associated with; his father in the manufacture of stoneware at the center of Springfield.' In 1852 Mr. Purdj' was elected Count^^ Recorder on the Whig ticket, and re-elected in 18,55 on the Republican ticket, hold- ing the office six jears; ^vas member of Council in 1857 ; Ma3^or of Akron in 1860-1861, 1873-1874 ; and Justice of the Peace for Portage Township, ■ivitli the exception of a single term, from 1868 till hi;^ resignation, by reason of failing- health, Februar3' 12, 1888. February 2, 1837, Mr. Purdy was married to Miss Diantha C. Clark, daughter of Barber Clark, of Franklin Mills, (now Kent). Mr. and Mrs. Purdy, 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. Bo3-nton, of Sala- manca, N. Y.) born Jul)' 10, 1841; and >Ielissa C. (now Mr.s. "S. K. Zwisler, .Akron) born November 29, 1847. THERE WERE "CKOOKs" I\ THOSE DAYS. 57 CHAPTER III. EARLY CKOOKEONESS- CONFIDENCE GAMES, "KEG" MONEY, ETC. -UNSAVORY REPUTATION -THE "GORE"-Y BATTLE GROUND-BITTER POST-OFFICE CON- TROVERSY'— CRIMINATION AND RECRIMINATION— SCANDALOUS CHURCH SQUABBLES — DECADENCE OF MIDDLEBURY' AND THE SOUTH END — DESPISED "CASCADE" IN THE ASCEXDE.NCY THE "WHIRLIGIG OF TIME BRINGS ALL THINGS EVEN," ETC., ETC. EARLY CROOKEDNESS. IX those early days, the Ohio, Mississippi, and other \vestern riv- ers and lakes, and the cities and villages contiguous thereto-, ^vere 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 tow^ns 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 many of the "centers" and "corners" of adjacent townships. Akron and other points w^ithin the present limits of Summit Courlty, w^ere 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, north.ward 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 my arrival in town, (1835) the average honest stranger was filled -with astonishment at the large number of finely- dressed, rufifle-shirted, plug-hatted, kid-gloved, lavishly-bejewelled, and apparentlj' w^ealthy 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 — thje 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 shovers of the " queer," for predatory 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 shown 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 town. Having duly paid over his $50 or $100 in good money, and having with due secrecy deposited the keg selected under the stra-w in the wagon, the "honest" yeoman "would depart for home, to find, on examining his treasure, that, w^ith 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 s"wallow his disappoint- ment and shame, and never be heard of again ; but now a«d then one would return to seek redress, onlj' to be told by the operator, if found, that he had never seen him before, or to be informed by his la-wyer that his own hands -were too badly soiled in the transac- tion to enable him to proceed against his confederate in crime. The game was bj' no means confined to Akron, or the neigh- borhood of the canal, as witness the folio-wing item from the Western Courier, of Ravenna, under date of September 15, 1836: "Several attempts have been made latelj', to defraud in the waj^ of what is called keg monej' speculations ; obtaining money and propert5' on a promise to deliver a keg or box of mone}^ 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 usually 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 former] 3' occurred in this countj', in Geauga and Cuyahoga, and several lately— 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 " were 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 wrapping paper, cut to proper size, while the purchase money vsras 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 by 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 ancl 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 CHl'KCH 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 3'et, 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, bj' 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 ^vhom 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, with an inkling of their operations, their successes, reverses, arrests, trials, imprisonments, etc., one or more chapters of this work Avill be devoted, as well as one, or more, to the measures that were finally taken to rid the village and countj^ of local sharps and trav- eling blacklegs and thieves. The bitterness existing between the inhabitants of the north and south villages has alread3^ been alluded to, in the " guide board war" spoken of in the first chapter, and otherwise. 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 two 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 bj- Gen. Perkins, but more particularly, perhaps, because the adherents of the several denorninations, residing in either section, were unwill- ing to worship, 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 AKROX AND SUMMfT COIN'TY. then stood on the present Court House grounds), several contrih- utors to the building fund, living north of the "gore," withdrew their subscriptions, and a few even severed their connection writh 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 animosity became intensified as the vsrork 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 which it was " Resolved, That brother Dodge has not been labored with according- to gospel discipline; that brother Dodge's conduct has rendered him unworthj^ 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 Austin (a retired minister) has acted injudiciously, 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 wa}- concerned in the late difficulties, to make very strenuous efforts to promote the peace of the church, and zealously engage in the cause of our dear Redeemer." Not^withstanding 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 Rev. Eber Crane, (pastor and building agent) Alvin Austin, H. K. Smith, Smith Burton, Richard Howe, 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- what promisicuously mingled. Though nearly, if not quite, all of the belligerents in this wordy warfare have passed away, 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 years, and finally, when 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 "UPFEk" VEKSl'S "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 Nortli 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," when it was sought to remove the postoffice from the upper to the lower 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, Esq., 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 his deputj'. As Mr. Humiston was about to leave the town, it became necessary to secure the appointment of his successor. There w^ere, 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 Harvey H. Johnson, both Democrats and both northenders. Who the southern candidates were, is not now remembered, but the contest w^as so bitter that the appointment hung fire for some time. Postmaster General Amos Kendall finallj'- intimating that unless the two factions reconciled their differences he would discontinue the office. In this emergency, after a conference w^ith that gentleman, the southenders gave in their adhesion to Mr. Johnson, and he, consequently, received the appointment some time in June, 1837; it being aftew^ards vigorously claimed that the w^ithdraw^al of their opposition to him by the southenders, -was 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. Bucldey, 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 pledged himself to those who were the active cause of his appoint- ment, has been long sanctified b)' the republicans of this countrj^, and acted on by ever}' high-ininded man, when he found himself so circumstanced." Afternearly a columnof high soundingplatitudes — "violation of solerpin pledges," "plighted faith," "stung by the viper we had nour- ished in our bosoms," "stab in the dark," "forfeited honor," "want 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 vi^ould not remove the office north of the "gore," or stone quarry. To this severe castigation, Mr. Johnson, after a fe^v prelim- inary observations, gets back at the gentlemen whose signatures are thereto attached as follows: "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 bj' what and bj' whom my private as well as my public character has been wantonly assailed. Is it not true of one of your number, that he has succeeded, to his entire satisfaction, in failing- two or three times 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 regard to another, is it not true that there is a letter in town which asks if a note of soine $30 or $40, can be collected, which was given 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 foUo-vvs: "I will only add that -where the parties to this transaction and the circumstances are kncvvn, I do not deprecate the righteous decision of a virtuous community — j'our 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. Evans, 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 further 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 whitened by the frosts of a few more winters, as you walk among mankind, and they shall hereafter see you moving 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 whole matter." DISSEXSIOXS HAPPILY ENDED. 63 But the fact remains that the Akron Postoffice n-as removed to "Cascade" just 54 years ago, and that, as water — then the most potent factor in the growth and maintenance of towns and cities — would run down hill, instead of up, the preponderance of Business and industry were largely in its favor. Comniins, 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 water power, and the rapidly increasing use of steam, as a propelling agent, has, in these latter daj^s, again brought to Ancient Akron, south of the "gore" and in fact to said "gore" itself, as well as to the ancient burgh of Middleburj', a high degree of business enterprise and prosperity, thus wonderfully demonstrating the truth of the old adage that "the whirligig of time makes all things even," while the offending postmaster was elected Mayor of Akron in 1842 and 1843, after\vards went to Con- gress from the Ashland District, and was sttbsequently U. S. Land Commissioner, in Minnesota, where he still resides. The office was, a few years later, removed still further "down town," and after several changes of location, was finally established in "Gothic Block," a view of which is here given, where it remained until removed to its present location, in 1871, as elsewhere stated. Gothic Block, erected by Ex-Mayor James Mathews, on present site of J. Koch & Go's Clothing Store.— From photo by George W. Manley, 1861. 64 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. CHAPTER IV. THE BOOM AND THE COLLAPSE— POETRY VERSUS FACT — SPECULATION RAM- PANT—WONDERFUL ENHANCEMENT OF VALUES, AND STILL MORE WONDER- 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 DECIDED BOOM. In a work of this character, it wrill, 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 forward, and at other times a back-ward 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 Pennsj'lvania and Ohio canal, com- monly know^n as the "Cross-cut" canal, from the Ohio River a short distance below Pittsburgh, to this point, gave an impetus to the boom which has scarcely been exceeded in the later gold, silver, oil and gas booms of California, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Ohio. While Howard and Market streets were then, as now, the chief business streets in North Akron, the sticking of the stakes in Main street for the ne-w canal, in 1835, caused the real estate upon that street, bet^ween Mill and Tallmadge, streets more than quad- ruple in value in a very 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, between the present City Building and the Clarendon Hotel, were immediately and eagerly sought after, and contracted for (but not always paid for) at almost fabulous prices, both on speculation and bj^ persons who really designed to improve and occupy them on the completion of the canal; one substantial three-story brick block having actually 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 was, was plentjr, and credit was seeming!}' 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 earlj^ part of the year 1836, the town 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- POETKY VKRSl'S FACT. 65 lidence in Akron's future, in the following "jingle," which we find in a local journal of the time: ■•AKRON IX 1840." Hail lovely city ! Th v unrivalled power.s, Thy feathered waters and thy lofty towers, Thy stately cars in their majestic flight, Thv rumbling Thy hundred ; coach, fast roiling through the night, , ..„„„. ^..wheels that raise the factor's din, Ihy boat, swift glidmg round each nook and Ivnn, rhy growing greatness and thy busy clan. Proclaim 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 dauntless step pursued his stealthy foe; The serpent's hiss, the war-song and the yell. Was oft re-echoed fr<;ni 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 Xature saw would rise, in grandeur drest. The great, unrivaled Princess of the West. The white man came, the savage Indian fled. The wild-beast started from his leafv bed ; The war-song ended when the mighty blow, Of Eastern genius laid the forest low;" Yon rugged hills, that sought the skv in vain. Fell by the shock, and formed a pleasant plain ; Hence grew this city, which unrivaled stands. A beacon-light to all benighted 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 w^eary 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 land, Is wafting blessings with a liberal hand. And all the world with honor deigns to bless, THE GREAT AND 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. But, alas ! how uncertain are human calculations and human prophe- cies. Not only the neMv and snappy to-svn of Akron, but the entire country was at that period on a high 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 nov^ historical panic of 1837. So disastrous was the collapse in Akron that onty 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 vi^riter leased from Col. Justus Gale the lot on Main street now covered by the handsome new brick blocks of Augustus Warner and E. 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. $1,000 each had been paid in 1835, for the period of five years, for the payment of the taxes; while hundreds of lots, thus pur- chased at boom prices, either reverted to the original owners or "were sold for taxes. GENERAL MONETARY CRASH. At that period the most of the banks of the country -were chartered under loosel3'-constructed State la-ws, 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, which had been in fair supply dur- ing the flush times, at once almost entirely disappeared from circulation. Manj^ 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 from 10 to 90 per cent. This condition of things continued for several years, Thk Beacon of June 15th, 1842, giving quotations of discounts as follows: 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, Nor-walk, 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 wants of the people in their abso- lutely necessary business transactions. Then came into existence, all over the country, 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 to be based upon real estate securities. Of this class, now 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 Company;" "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 country, with which the people of Munroe Falls, Franklin Mills (now Kent), and other THE "SHIXPLASTER" ERA. 67 places in this vicinity were severely smitten — village lots, as well as farm lands, being held and sold at fabulous prices. Immense cocooneries -were built, and ever3'body having land -went into the raising of the raorus multicaulis variety of the mulberry tree, on which to feed the silk worms. A wealthy farmer bj' the name of Barber Clark, a short dis- tance east of the village of Franklin Mills, made arrangetnents 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 j'^ear'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 gro'wn from slips, or cuttings, it will be seen that Pendleton had a might}' good thing of it, (in his eye). The first year the plant was comparatively small, but the second year he was 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 was irretrievably bankrupted and Pendleton not only did not realize his $50,000, but absolutely lost, from Clark's failure, about $2000 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 money, the bills of these local institutions circulated more or less freely, in the traffic of the vicinity 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, who would buy them up at a discount, paying for them, perhaps, in the equally worthless 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 Company 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 redemption 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, unlike the majority of the class above named, were pretty generally releemed, 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 68 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 will be so vividly remembered by the older portion of my readers, and which was operated something as follows: Country produce was bought by 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 vicinity, 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 foundry man, and agree to take his pay in cloth or castings. Then, he "would 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 new -wagon or carriage, the farmer would turn in ten or a dozen fat steers,. which the wagon maker would pass over to the butcher to be paid for in daily steaks and roasts for the family of the "wagon 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 writer once taking in part payment for a house and lot on Howard street, 40 brass clocks, which 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 ne-w Baptist Church on South Broad-way. 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 wri- 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, paj^- ments for subscription and advertising were made in trade, woolen cloths, calicoes, sheetings, shirtings, furnishing goods, boots, shoes, tinware, saddlery, etc., which in turn were traded for paper, wood, . coal, farm produce, etc., for the use of his own and his printers' families. This state of affairs was, in many respects, a very whole- some experience and discipline for both the business man and the farmer, mechanic and laborer of the day, inasmuch as the con- stant figuring and ingenuity required to transmute such commodi- ties as he could get for his own labor or products, 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 pf the strictest industry and the most rigid economy of both individuals and families. IMPRISON MEXT FOK DEBT. 69 Of course, merchants had to have sonic money to make their purchases in the East, though these were largel3r made with wool and o1:her produce taken from the farmer in exchange for goods. Mechanics would also need to have a little money, to buy their iron, steel, paints, etc., and in making their contracts would have to stipulate accordingl3^, a liberal amount of go.od Eastern money finding its waj' into circulation here, during the Summer, in the purchase of ^vheat, wool, 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, ^vas 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 ladj', who had consented to unite her destiny w^ith his, could get her own liberal collection of such articles, from her former home iil the State of New York, on the opening of navigation in the Spring. And dire, indeed, w^as the condition of the poor wight who was s(j unfortunate as to be indebted to a heartless creditor; and the town and county -was then, as now, perhaps, cursed -with a class of Shy- locks, who not only stood ready to prey upon the necessities of their fello-ws, 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 was then no exemption of real estate from execution, and but about $20 worth of personal property, such as ftxrniture, 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 washtub 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 onl}'. 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 county 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 iind 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. & 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 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. tion being called to the matter, through certain strictures in the little paper, devoted to the righting of similar -wrongs, which the writer was then publishing (the "Buzzard") Mr. Howard's dis- charge was at once ordered. Be this as it may, Mr. H. ivas released from custody, either by such order, or by the repeal of the law in question, in March 1838. Mr. Ho-wrard's case was, by no means, the only case, in which 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 by 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 customary 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 historj', Akron made but comparatively slow progress; though even then, it pluckily more than held its own with its sister towns in Ohio, and of the West generally. ^JX"-^*' View from near residence of Mr. Lorenzo Hall, "West Hill," lookin.s northeast.— From photo, by G. W. Manley, 1870. THE "cross-cut" CANAL. 71 CHAPTER V. EARLY IXTEK-STATE ENTEKPRISE— THE "CROSS-CUT" CANAL— GEN. PERKLXS, JUDGE KING AND DOCTOR CROSBY ITS ACTIVE PROMOTERS— CHARTER OBTAINED IN 1«7— PRELIMINARY SURVEY— EIGHT YEARS' SLUMBER— PRO- JECT REVIVED— OHIO A LARGE STOCKHOLDER— DELAYED BY PANIC OF 18,37 —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 TRANSPOR- 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— CAXAL SOLD— MORE NIGHT WORK— FINAL DEMISE— RAILROAD BUILT UPON ITS RUINS, 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 Aki'on to Cleveland in 1827, and through to the Ohio river in 1830. As early as 1825, however, the project of constructing a canal froin the Ohio river, a short distance below Pittsburg, to connect with 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 Penns3dvania & 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 Mahoning river, to some suitable 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 was postponed until the next session. The people along the line now became "terribly in earnest" on the subject, and numerous meetings vs^ere held at Beaver, New Castle, Warren, Ravenna, Franklin Mills, Middlebury, etc., in. -which Gen. Perkins, Judge King, Dr. Crosby, 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 Edinburg (afterwards for many years a resident of Akron), as the corporators for Portage County, 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().\ AND SUiMMIT COUNTY. ment, 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. Seb^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 bj' 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 the completion of the work. In those days the present system of exchange was not in vogue, nor were there responsible express companies everyvi^here 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, vi^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 some^vhat 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, originall}^, contemplated running the canal directly through Middleburj', with its western terminus above Lock One, on the Ohio Canal. This would have entirely given Cuyahoga Falls and North Akron the go-by. But in the interveii- CDMPLETIOX OF THE WKKK. 73 ing years a material change of interest had taken place with Gen. Perkins, Judge King, Dr. Crosby and several others of its early pfonioters, which, together with some engineering difficulties encountered by the management, and the powerful influences brought to bear by the people of Cuyahoga Falls, resulted in a change of route, b}- which, after crossing the valley of the Little Cm-ahoga, it should merge itself with, 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 waters of the race, and by so much the power and value of the jmills. View of Xorth I^Iain street from Market, showing old Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal, Market street canal bridge, etc.,— 1875. Lnder 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 Middlebury, 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 points in Pennsylvania, as well as Cleveland, Columbus and other points in Ohio, and further west and south, would be largely benefited thereby. 74 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. On this point, the Beacon of May 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 the long interruption to navigation which now occurs between the West and New York; and all the Bastern purchases will find their vv^ay to their destination by this route !" the idea also bping advanced that during the long seasons of suspension of navigation, by reason of low vsrater 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, sajang: "This very important canal -will open 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 dwelling and clothes-yard in foreground, being the present site of O'Neil & Dyas' store. On the eastern division, the first trip from Beaver to Warren was made by the packet "Ontario," May 23, 1839, quite a jollifica- tion taking place on its arrival; among the impromptu toasts offfered 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 which fact the Beacon said:: "Pennsylvania and Ohio are now united by a canal which 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- ef great importance to our already flourishing town." 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, Esq., 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., August 5, dine at Ravenna, and arrive at Franklin Mills (now Kent) the same evening; August 6 leave Franklin at 7 a. m., and with brief stops at Munroe Falls, and Cuyahoga Falls, proceed directly to the junction of the two canals, in South Akron. The programme was successfully carried out. The Pennsjd- vania party, including Gov. David R. Porter, were met at the State line, by delegations from Warren and Youngstown, and were 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 were observed at Youngstown, where the party dined, with 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, ^vith a bounteous collation, -was 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 7(i AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. celebrate, 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- lowed 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 followed by brief 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 arid speaking, in which both visitors and citizens heartily 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." Towards the close of the festivities, Mr. Spalding, offering as a sentiment: "Pennsylvania and Ohio, distinguished by unity of interest, unity of 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 joyful 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 especiall}' at the extreme cordiality that had been extended to him by the citizens of Akron and Summit Count}'. Much wonderment, and very great regret, was 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 w^as feared that he had been suddenly taken severely ill. But w^hen 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 was 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 w^as 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 celeliration in Akron, as above related, there was an impromptu reception, with rather a late supper, accompanied -with the usual liquid refreshments then so univer- sal!}' in vogue, at the Ohio Exchange, on the present site of Woods' block, corner Main and Market streets. The visitors retiring to IN SUCCESSFUL OPEKATION. 77 their several rooms at rather a late hour, were not very early astir in the morning, and when finally assembled for breakfast, Major General Seele3', 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 years of age, of genial man- ners, and a great favorite, his sudden and unexpected death, creating great excitement and the profoundest sorrow among his fello"w 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 physician 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 crj- when my dear father dies ! " Among the incorporators and active promoters of the enter- prise "was a rather eccentric and some-what 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 gleefully exclaimed : "Dom'dfine! Dom'd fine ! Went out of the world with his bellj' 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 wagons" — immense schooner-like affairs, drawn by four, six and eight horses — the products of this region, black salts.potash, wool, 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- sillou, etc. 78 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. In the meantime, 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 prosperity. 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 by 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 was 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 Avhen, 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\srners. 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 was the health of the neighborhood being imperiled by the comparative stagnation of its waters, but that a large proportion of what water did pass, was just so much wrongfully kept from the wheels of their own mills and manufac- tories, in the Spring or early Summer of 1868, the bank of the canal was clandestinely 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 would the waters mjrsterioaslr " 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 warranto 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, were appointed trustees to sell the property, rights, franchises, etc., of the Canal Company to the highest bidder, which was 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 pkth at one or two points further North, and discharging the -waters of the level upon the bottom lands, and ipto the Ohio Canal on the "west. 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 Newcastle Junction to Akron are now covered by the tracks of the Pittsburg & Western Rail^way, 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 — would 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 Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal! 80 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. CHAPTER VI. THE PORTAGE CANAL AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OR THE "CHUCKERY'' 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 XO HIS MEMORY. TRULY A MAMMOTH SCHEME. AFTER the consummation of the Cascade Mill race scheme, by which the -waters of the Little Cuyahoga river had been turned from their course, at Middleburj', and brought to North Akron, thus constituting the extensive "water-power no^w o"wrned by the Akron Hydraulic Company, and which has, in reality, made Akron "what it is. Doctor Eliakim Crosby conceived the idea of securing as an adjunct to that then potent element of manufacturing gro^wth and prosperity, the entire volume of the waters of the Big- Cuyahoga river, also. Quietly, but carefully, making his surveys, the Doctor satisfied himself that, if the right of \sray, 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 to-wn, rivalling even the most prosperous in New Tork 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 it& 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 Leicester 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 what 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 what 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 lo^wer pla- teau, embracing 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 Cuyahoga, 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, under name 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 with authority to mortgage its entire lands and franchises to secure the payment of such bonds. The first series of bonds was issued with the view of being negotiated in London, through the United 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 follo'ws: STATE OF OHIO, U. S. A. Xo . 500 £ St'g. [Canal Boat, etc.] £ St'g 500. THE PORTAGE CANAL AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, (Incorporated by the State of Ohio February, 27th, A. D. 1837) , promise to pay to the bearer of this Bond, FiVB HUNDRED POUNDS STKEUNG, on the first day of January, one thousand, eight hundred and , with interest thereon at the rate of SIX per cent, per annum from the date hereof Tiie 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. Witness the Seal of said Corporation, with the signatures of the President [SBAl] and Treasurer, at Akron, Ohio, the day of A. D. 18. . .. Treasurer. 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 discovery 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, 18il. On the succeeding day, March 31, 1841, a mortgage was executed in favor of John J. Palmer, of New 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, w^hich bonds, similar in style and execution to the others, as appears by a specimen in the hands of the writer, were as follows: [Loan of 100,000 Dollars.] [Real Estate Pledged By Deed of Trust.] STATE OF OHIO, U. S. A. $500. [Canal Boat, etc.] $500. THE PORTAGE C^NAL AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, (Incorporated by the State of Ohio, February 27, 1857), promise to pay the bearer of this Bond, FrvE HUNDRED Doi^tAES, 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 seini-annuallv, on the first days of January and July, on presenting the proper warrant for the same, at The Merchants' Bank in the City of New York, at which INSTITUTION, 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-flrst daj' of March, A. D. 1811. S. Day, Treasurer. Eliakim Ckosby, 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 power, 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 with 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, Taeing necessarily very slow, however, and after 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 superintendency of Dr. Crosby, proceeded to complete the -work. 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, ASPIKING FOR COUNTY SEAT HONORS. 83 and James \V. 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 Eastern 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 citj'; a store being opened, about 1840, in the corner room of the historical old stone block — -where the M. \V. 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 writer'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 vear's credit, the company to provide two 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 w^ith 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 aveaue. The same building, then occupied as a dwelling bj' Mr. Seth Sackett, was destroyed by fire on the night of February, 11, 1844, with all its contents, the iamily, 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 towns 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; while Cuyahoga Falls claimed it because of its more central geographical locatioti, 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 two 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 revie"wing commissioners, at an all day's meeting held by them in the Universalist (late Baptist) Church, in 1841, to hear the question discussed, that t^ivo 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 vallej' of the Little Cuyahoga, a little east of the house now owned by Mr. R. A. Grimwood, on Glenwood avenue, built and formerly occupied by Mr. E..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" remark of bluff old Dr. Daniel Upson, of Tallmadge, -while 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 -would 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 comrnis- 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, while in these modern days of improved labor-saving expedients, and comparatively easy finances, it could have been done in one -fourth the titae, though probablj' at double the cost; common laborers upon the job then receiving but $13 per month, $2 only of which was 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 thrown across the river, from whence to draw 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. Vie-w of "Big Falls" on Cuyahofi:a River, from "Chuckery" race, opposite "Old Maid's Kitchen. ' SKILLFUL ENtllNEERING FEAT. 85 nearh' 100 feet below the general surface of the surrounding coun- -tr3', was constructed of heavy timbers, anchored to the bed rock, at the bottom of the narrow gorge where it was located, with 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 finally 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, was 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 Tipper plateau in its flo-w 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 'laeing built. To have done this by the usual modes of excavation then in vogue, the shovel, the barrow, the scraper and the cart, w^ould 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 were 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 vsrater was conducted across the nearly level plain, about a mile and a half, to the w^estern edge of the plateau, where, in troughs and properly directed sluice-ways, it was made to wash 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, which were from time to time added to, as the cavities filled up. In this way, 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, "Chucliery" race below the "Big Falls," on Cuyahoga river. from 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 work 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 Cuyahoga street and Howard street extension. The news that the water was to be let into the "Chuckery" canal, at a given hour of the day named, attracted to the spot a large crowd of interested people, T-nsjHi - • from both " Summit Cit3^" Akron ^-j3PB|ftEi V. • and the surrounding country-. hjTSgBStllS^i^- • .' . Of thiS event, Hiram Bowen, Esq., founder and editor of the Beacon, in the issue of May 29, 1844, said: "On Monday morning last the vi^ater of the Great Cuyahoga river was turned into the race, which has been for several years 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 hydraulic purposes, The water flowed freely through the rocky channel which has been made at incredible labor and expense along the precipi- tous banks of the Cuyahoga, for more than tw^o miles, w^hen it passed into that portion of the race made through the sand bank, where it makes a southerly course to'wards 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 slowly and securely on towards its destined termination, the distance through, from the commencement of the sand bank, being about two miles. Long before the v^ater came in sight a crowd of spectators from the neighboring villages, had gathered to witness the interesting spectacle. "About 4 o'clock p. m. the water was descried from the point where it vsras to flow 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 ip fine style. This was answered by the hearty cheers 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 work — the fall of the water at the end of the race into the vallev View of " Chuckerj' " race where it emerges from the roclty banlv of the Cuyahoga river, into the sandv plain towards Akron. INHARMOXY AND DISASTER. 87 below. The water came slowly 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 work, which 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 following 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 w^as to be expected, of course, that there \vould 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 dam 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 overthrow of this gigantic project, which had cost so much time, labor and mone;\', 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 companj^ and parties con- nected therewith, betvi^een 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 conveyed 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, W. 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 R. Tilden, Esq., as Special Master Commissioner; E. C. Sackett having been appointed by the court, receiver of rents, etc., pending said litigation. Having been duly advertised, said property was 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, Esq., 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 tjie 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 was destined never to be verified. The rapidly increasing use of steam, as a machinery pro- pelling power, and the constantly diminishing volume of water in the Cuyahoga river, by reason of the -wanton 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 — with 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 — now largely overgrown with bushes and trees — only serves as an object of curious interest and -wonderment to the thousands of pleasure seekers who 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 Aki-oii, a meager recognition of which has been tardily accorded in the naming of the new street running parallel with West Market street, f^om 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, who 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 known as the "Wheeler JHouse." A year or t-wo later this property was exchanged, "with Mr. Reuben Downing, for the present lot occupied by the St. Vin- -cent 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 seconc^wife Elizabeth Brackett, who 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, and the termination of the perplexing litigation connected there- with, 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, Tivas then engaged in the lumber trade; his two other sons, Henry Clay, and K. 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 city, 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 Crosby, surviving him. The next younger son, E. Darwin, recently died in Chicago, where the youngest son, Benjamin Franklin, now lives. Of Doctor Crosby'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 WiUiam 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. L. 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 Colyer, son of Rev. Dr. Robert Colyer, now living in Portland, Oitegon; 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 well-known citizen, David L. King, Esq., 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, while serving as one of Summit Count3''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), who is no"w manager of the Colorado Midland Railway, with headquarters at Colorado Springs, and -with w^hom Mrs. King no\s^ resides. Dr. CrosbA^'s youi^est daughter, (by his second wife), Elizabeth Brackett Crosby, 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. '"PHE 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 v^estern 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 tw^o tiers of townships from Portage, one tier from Medina, and a sufficient amount of territory from either Stark or Wayne, or both, to answ-er 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 ne'wspaper at that time : "PUBLIC NOTICE AND PLEDGE. " To whom it may concern: "Should the Legislature of Ohio set off and organize a New Count}', at its present session, composed of townships from Portage, Medina, Stark and Wayne counties, establishing the seat of justice in Akron, or its vicinity, then in that case, I hereby agree and obligate myself 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 t^vo 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 AKEON 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 fronj the east part at Ravenna, with 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 was left with the editor of the Review, the people of the latter village hastily prepared for publication, in the same issue, the following counter proposition: " To the Public : An effort being- made at this time to divide the county of Portage, 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 Legislature 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 signer, 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, against which we hereby publicly protest, the best interests of this part of the county 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 advantages of its situation, offers peculiar advantages for the countj' 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 buildings of said county. Henry Newberry, Joshua Stow, (By his agent B. Booth.) Ogden Wetmore." Nothing, how^ever, w^as accomplished at that, nor the five succeeding sessions of the Legislature, though continuous and and persistent efforts were 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 w^ere 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 Deerfleld, 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 COUXTY 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 as. f ollo'wrs : HON. RUFUS PAINE SPALDING, —born at West Tisburv, Island of Martha's Vineyard, Mass"., May 3, 1798; educated in academies of Bridgewater, Mass., and Colchester. Conn., and at Yale College, graduat- 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 years in. Warren, then in Ravenna, and, on organization of Summit County, in 1840, moved to Akron, several years 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 largely 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, 1858, Judge Spald- ing was again married, January 11, 18o9, to Mrs. Nancy. Sargent, eldest daiighter 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 Dajv of Ravenna, both now deceased ; Philura C, the first wife of Mr. Joseph E. Wesener, of Akron ; Lucre- tia, died j'bung ; Rufus died at the age of 19 ; Kittie, now Mrs. Mcllrath,. of St. Paul, Minn. ; Zephaniah Swift, no'W a wealthy sugar grower in the Sandwich Islands ; and George, deceased. The second Mrs. Spalding is now also deceased. Section 1, provided that the to^wnships 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 Sumniit, 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 comimissioners to locate the county seat, said commissioners to be paid by said newr 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., August 17, 1805; at 18 months of age moved with parents to Pottsdam, N. Y. ; boyhood spent on farm ; educated at home, in schools of neighborhood, and at St. Lawrence Academy, at Pottsdain, teaching part of year, 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.) Academj' and during Summer of 1829 a teacher in Ladies' Seminary, 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 Academy from 1833 to 1835 ; in Summer of 1«35 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 years edited the Constitutionalist, a Whig and anti-slavery paper, at same time studj'ing law ; admitted to bar Maj' 29, 18.38 ; in Fall of 1839 was elected Rep- resentative to Ohio Leg-islature, and in 1840 to the Senate, being the only avowed Abolitionist in either House, lighting valiantl}'^ for the rights of the colored people of Ohio in the schools and otherwise ; from 1840 to 1850 was law-partner of the late JUDGE JAMES S. CARPENTER. 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 reg'ular army, now on recruiting service in Cleveland ; Dr. William T. Carpenter, of Stambatigh, Mich., and Abbie L., now wife of Charles W. Tyler, Esq., of Warren, Ohio. Our well-known fellow-citizen, Hon. James S. Carpenter, was then — 1838^0 — the representative of Medina County, and the senator from that district from 1840 to 1842, and, in accordance with the wishes 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 \irith dismemberment, by new county projects, acted and voted with them. Prominent citizens of Ravenna and Medina were in attendance to lobby against the measure, while a number of Akron's foremost business men were sent to Columbus to -work for the project. THK PROJECT VIGOROUSLY OPPOSED. 95 The bill finallj' 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, vs^ith instructions to report the number of petitioners for and remonstrants against the project, which 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 i^pon 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 asabove 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. Xash of Meigs, moved to strike out the clause exempting Franklin and Green townships 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, of 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. 06 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. It will be remembered that the bill passed the Senate February 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 Columbus at that time, the old four-horse mail and passenger coach being the fastest mode of travel then in vogue, which at that season of the year, was not by any means fast. The news of the passage of the bill consequently 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 was^ 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 flew 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 jollity, 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 alreadj^ announced to contiguous townships that something extraordinary had happened, and many of the nearest came in to help us "make a night of it," \\rhile those more distant were in betimes next morning. Steps "were immediately taken for a general Ne^v County Cele- bration on Wednesday, March 4. A committee of twelve citizens of Akron and one from each of the to^wnships, was appointed and messengers were sent to every part of the county to spread the joyful news, and invite everybody to the banquet. Dr. Jedediah D. Commins was made President of the day; 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," between north and south Akron, the present Court House lot, w^hich was also the place selected for the celebration. At an early hour people from near and far townships began to assemble, everybody seeming jubilant and happy. The rhilitary 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 joinsU by a large cortege of ladies NEW COUNTY JOLLIFICATION. 97 dressed utiiformly, all carrying parasols, who, taking position between the committee of arrangements and the military, inarched 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 las appro- priate, by the more tonguey of the jolliflers. The full text of the regular toasts, well illustrates the popular sentiment, and are here reproduced as follows: 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 Representativ-es — Many have done well, but these have excelled them all. 3. The Countj' of Summit — An infant Hercules. Give him a wide berth, for he'll be a whopper! 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 wealthy. If such is its childhood, what will it be when it becomes a man? 7. Portage, Stark and Medina — Among them they have hatched a young eagle, full-fledged and on the wiilg. 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 will not be turned aside from the high destiny that awaits her I 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 Memory of Gregory 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 placet 12. The Memorjr 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 I 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, 1840, will long be remem- bered in Akron!" HON. JOHN HOY,— born in Adams County, Pa., July i, 1797; com- mon school education; learned trade of stone and brick inason; December 19, 1820, was married to Miss Eliza- beth Traxler; inoved 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; on the organization of Summit County, in April, 1840, was elected Count}' Cominissioner, re-elected in October following, for two j^ears, and again in 1842 for three j^ears, serv- ing in all five" years 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 day. Judge and Mrs. Hoy were the parents of six daugh- ters and one son — Sophia, married'to Adam Sorric, (now deceased); Sabina, wife of Henrj^ Daili% (deceased); Lorohama, wife of Dr. William Sisler, HON. JOHN HOY. (deceased); Amanda, now Mrs. Dr. Adam Sisler; Caroline Maria, now Mrs Samuel Gongwer; Anna, wife of Lewis Everhart, (deceased), and John F., now a resident of the city of Springfield, O. As provided b}^ law the county officers were 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 were: Commissioaers, John Hoy, of Franklin; Jonathan Starr, of Copley; and Augustus E. Foot, of Twinsburg; Auditor, Birdsey Booth, of Cuyahoga Falls; Treasurer, William O'Brien, of Hudson; Recorder, Alexan- der Johnston, of Green; Sheriff, Thomas Wilson, of Northfield; Prosecuting Attorney, George Kirkum, of Akron; Corozi er, Elisha Hinsdale, of Norton; Real Estate Appraiser, 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 same building still standing there), on Thursday, April 9, 1840. Justice Jacob Brown administered the oath of office to Commis- sioners Hoy, Starr and Foote, who, 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. LOCATINCi THE COUNTY SEAT. 99 At this meeting propositions were made for temporary quar- iers for county purposes, pending the erection of public buildings, as follows: 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. Chauncej' S. and Hiram Payne, on the southeast corner ofHo'ward 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. qp HOM AS WILSON, - Summit Coun- ^ ty's first 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 waj^, and driving- his mother's two favorite cows. He was married at BrandjTvine Mills, by Rev. Caleb Pitkin, of Hudson, to Miss Emeline H. Wallace, sister of the late James W. Wallace, December 20, 1838, who veen Front and Second streets. As elsewhere stated. Summit County was made a part of the Third Judicial District, of which Hon. Van R. 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, which 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 Ji^ly, 1841, made the following entry upon its journal: "In the matter of the review and relocation of the seat of justice for Summit Count}-, Jacob C. Hoagland 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 Cominissioner, having- returned to the Clerk of this Court 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 Hoagland and Winters be filed and entered of record. Whereupon the Com- missioners of said County of Summit appear by their attornej- and object to the filing and entering of said reports of record, for various reasons by them set forth, and the parties were heard by counsel and the Court bein^- 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 which had been had, and the County Commissioners also being divided on the same sxibject, Commissioner Foote favoring the majority report, no further action was 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 which 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- 104 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. tatives, at this session. Politically, as before intimated, the new county was largely Whig, and through certain influences the executive committee 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 townships were not represented in said convention; Capt. Amos Seward, of Tallmadge, and Harvey Whedon, Esq., 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 was 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 than 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 follow^ing result: TOWNSHIPS. d o u .a < 191 m 271 232 250 289 16 29 30 295 621 153 348 6 181 1 cc Scattering. Bath 41 54 1 2 60 1 Boston 2 Coplev '. 1 Coventry Franklin 4 1 235 132 143 12 Green 2 Hudson Northampton 7 9 2 Northfield Norton Portage 5 16 15 361 177 199 15 1 ...... 1 Richfield Spring'field 1 Stow ' 1 Tallmadge 1 Twinsburg 2,978 1,384 1 101 24 AKRON FINALLY WINS. 105 Akron's total vote 2 978 Cuyahoga Falls' total vote .....................'. 1,384 Akron's plui-alitj- 1 594 Sunimii^ity, etc.. ............ 125 Akron over all i 4(39 Summit Countv Court House, erected 1840 — 1813— Remodeled and Winjjs 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 were 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 Richard Howe, the trustees for building the court house and jail, and Ithiel ?Iills, the court house contractor, submitted the court house for inspection of the board and for their acceptance. "December 6th. Having- examined the court house the board proposed, a.'* an offset to the general bad character of the work, which the building trustees full)- admitted, to accept it, if the windows were made to work freel)^ 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 by 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, was divided into three 106 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. rooms — Sheriff's office pn the east, Treasurer's office in the center and Grand Jury room on the west, while upon the south side of the hall was the Probate office upon the east, with the Auditor, Clerk 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 were erected, and the other changes alluded to made, the cost of which 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 twx) townships, themselves. No one, how^ever, regrets the expenditure, the improvements being very greatly needed, the wing upon the south providing fairly respectable offices for the Probate Judge belo^sv 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 own interests than by taking immediate measures for the erection, upon their present sightly and beautiful grounds, a ne-w court house not only commensurate w^ith the public require- ments, but one, also, that, in point of architectural design and adornment, shall be in keeping with 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 was accepted by the Conamissioners about the first of October, 1843, and the prisoners then in custody — four in number — Avere immediately transferred from their comparativelj^ unsafe quarters in the third story of the old stone block, to the supposed to be impregnable and perfectl}- secure quarters in the xievv' stone jail, on Wednesday, October 3, 1843. Yet, notwithstanding its presumable "non-break-out-abilitj^," 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 was 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 were composed of a frame work of strips of about 2x6 whitewood plank, with canvas nailed across them. The side rails of the bunks- were' just about as long as the space between 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 QUiNCY 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 nearlj^ successful attempts have been made to dig through the soft sand-stone of which the walls are composed. Several escapes have been effected, however, through the soft-iron window gratings and otherwise, though that "danger has been par- tially obviated by the addition of inside steel window 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 Jur5^, 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 with 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, bijt stress of weather 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 vs^ithout seeing him. Early in the morning of Thursday, November 2, 1843, word was received that Mr. Adams was 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 was passing through the locks, bells were rung and messengers were 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 was 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, was greeted by an immense shower 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 AKRON AJID 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 ne"w 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 3'our 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 was 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 became merged therein. The township of Akron is entitled to three justices of ihe peace and three constsbles, only, the other govern- mental functions of the tovsrnship devolving upon the officers of the city, the law providing for the appointment, by the city council, of an Infirmary director to take the place of the township trustees in 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, HIGH SCHOOLS, INSTITUTES, ETC.— SUCCESSES AND FAILURES- THE UNION SCHOOL SYSTEM, DEVISED IN AKRON IN 1846 BUT NOW UNIVERSAL— A MAGNIFICENT EDUCATIONAL SHOWING — PRESENT STATUS OF AKRON'S PUBLIC SCHOOLS— BUCHTEL COLLEGE, WHEN, HOW AND BY WHOM FOUNDED- —HORACE GREELEY'S CORNER-STONE ADDRESS— BIG-HEARTED JOHN RICH- ARDS BUCHTEL— THE GROUSE GYMNASIUM— THE INSTITUTION A GRAND- SUCCESS— FATAL DISASTER — CONTEMPLATED NEW FEATURES, ETC. EDUCATIONAL MATTERS. WHKN the writer first came to Akron, in 1835, the pubhc schools of the village were under the jurisdiction of the township author- ities, Portage township then being divided into seven school dis- tricts. It was the fortune of the w^riter 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, with 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-wer board seats for the smaller ones. The house w^as 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 be seen, quite a large slice of the western por- tion of the present City of Akron. Then, as no-w, teachers of public schools had to be examinedr and provide themselves -with 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 lawyer 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 was retiring from the sup- per table. Making known my errand, Mr. Lyman turned to his law-student, Frederick Hudson, a young man about my own age, and with whom I had a slight acquaintance, and said: "Fred, you take Mr. Lane into the office and examine him while 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 la^v 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. i 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 which were duly wrought 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 knowledge of reading, writing and arithmetic — the three R's you know — and in all of those you've done first-rate." President Lyman soon coming in, was informed by Fred that I ■was " O. K." and a certificate for one year, w^as duly 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. Ho-wr some of the modern aspirants for pedagogic honors, in con- templation of the intricate mathematical problems, grammatical conundrums and geographical, historical, and other puzzle's which ■will be fired at them, -will envy me. My stipulated salary was $11.00 per month and " board around," some tenor twelve families thus sharing the "honor" of providing the " school master" with fresh pork, sausage and buckwheat cakes during the -winter. The average attendance -was about 30, ranging from 6 to 21 years of age. Every house -where I boarded but one, ■was of the log cabin variety; in one, my bed being in the loft, reached by a ladder, and through the long oak shingles of which, on stormy nights, the snow -would sift liberally do^wn 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 two beds, one of which was 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 mid^way bet-ween the two beds! As prolific as -were many of those early families, the enumer- ated youth of the district, of school age, -warranted the dra-wing 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 days, 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 o-wn 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 were each separate school districts, a small frame school house standing on the northeast corner of Middlebury street and Broadway, 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 Weeklx Post — issued March 22, 1836, announcing that "The Akron Lyceum and Library Association will 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 tew n ship 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 whom built, or by whom the school was taught, is not now 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 two 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 was 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, who taught for shorter or longer periods, w^ere Miss Sarah Carpender, sister of Dr. John G. Carpender, of 315 Bo^wery street, after\(rards married to Mr. John S. Harvey, one of North Akron's pioneer merchants; Miss Amanda Blodgett, sister of the late Mrs. A. R. Townsend, 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 lower 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 AKRON 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, ^w^here they "will instruct a fe"w young ladies in Arithmetic, Orthography, History, Composition, Natural Phi- losophy, 'Astronomy, Botany, Rhetoric, Chemistry, Drawing in Crayon, Mezzotinto, Ir'encil, India Ink, Japaning, Flower Painting,, etc. Terms made known on application. Those wishing 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 years of age taught fe'chool six consecutive win- ters ; then entered employ of map publishing firm of Lewis Robinson & Co., as salesman and copper-plate printer ; in July, 1836, came to Akron where the company established a map manufactory, working- for com- pany Suminers and teaching school Winters, for six years ; in October, 1843, was elected County Recorder, and re-elected in 1846, holding the office six years ; 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 buyer for several years ; Akron Village Recorder 1842, '43, '47 ; Township Clerk 1844, '45, '46, '47 ; Village Councilinau 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 cordag-e, twine, etc., bjr hand machinery, supplying the local inarkets with that class of foods for more than twenty years, n 1837 Mr. Fay waS married to Miss Lucia Ctimings, of Windsor County, NAHUM 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. Marj^ E.. Wright, September 16, 1883. July 27, 1836, "Mrs. Susan E. Dodge announces that on thelst day of August, she will open a school on the corner of Main and "Exchange streets, for Young Ladies and Misses, in -which the following 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. Ha-wkins, under the heading,, "Akron High School," gives notice that she "-will continue her school, over the room of M. C. and A. R. To-wnsend, 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, $4.00; 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 AXD "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. P)R. JOSEPH COLE, — born iii -L^ Wiufield, Herkimer Comity, X. Y., Septeinber 17, 1795 ; served in the war of 1812, 60 days at Sackett's Har- bor in 181-1 ; graduated at Fairfield Medical CoUeg-e, February 16, 182.1 ; located at Old Portage, Ohio, in Spring- of 1826, at once attaining a large practice; December 25, 1826, was married to Miss Charlotte Dewev, formerlj' of Westfield, Mass., in Spring of 1827 reinoved to Akron, where he enjo5-ed a lucrative prac- tice, and the public esteem and con- fidence until his death, October 28, 1861, aged 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 most zealous friend of educa- tion, largely aiding- in the formula- tion of the Akron School Law, and serving upon the first Board of Education, elected under said law, in 1847. Mrs. Cole survived her hus- band nearljr a quarter of a century, dying August 1, 1886, aged 85 years, 5 months. Thej^ were the parents of seven children — Josejih 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 December 28, 1831, died Jul}- 7, 18.00 ; Alvin, born Jul}^ DK. JOSEPH COLE. 18, 1834, died November 1,5, 1834; in- fant son born September lS3o, died September 19, 1835; Ben. Franklin, born September 19, 1836, died Jan- uary 29, 18.39; Harrison Dewey born June 19, 1840, inarried to Mi.ss Hai-riet A. Farnam, November 24, 1864, died April 25, 1876, leaving two children — Harrison D. and F'annj' 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 follo-ws: Jedediah D. Commins, (Akron), President; Jonathan Starr, (Copley), Vice President; Simon Perkins, (Portage), Treasurer; Horace K. Smith, (Akron), Secretarj^; John Codding,. (Granger), Erastus Torrey, Eliakim Crosby, Gibbons J. Acklej', 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 notwithstanding this solid backing, and notwithstanding the acknowledged ability of Mr. Sawtell, the attendance was so meager that, as an inducement to increase of pupilage, the Spring and Summer term, of 22 weeks, in 1838, without increased paj', was offered, Mr. Sawtell 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 publication 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 Eastern 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 Pittafield, 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 froin thence, about 1837 to Akron, •when, with others under the firm name of The Akron Manufacturing- Companj', a larg-e 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 acceptably 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 ; Marj' M. died in infanc5' ; Hobart, deceased ; Julia A., wife of Judge William H. Upson, of JUDGE JAMES K. FORD. Akron; George Tod Ford, of Akron ; and Elizabeth A., now Mrs. John F. Earl, of New York. Judge Ford died, Januarj' 2, 1851, ag-ed 53 years 11 months and 4 days, Mrs. Ford dying January 19, 1885, ag-ed 77 j'ears, 11 months and 13 daj^s. The growth of the public school system was slo-vv 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 Noi-th 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 "^V»KRON INSTITUTK." 115 Dewey, William M. Dodge, Harvey B. Spelman, Allen Hibbard, Henry W. King, Sidney Edgerton, Hon. James R. Ford, Tames 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 X,aw 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. George Bliss for partner ; originally a Democrat, in 1836-37, published and edited the Akron Journal, a Demo- cratic 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 Freesoilisni, in 1852 was elected Probate Judge by a Democratic and Free-soil coalition, serving two j^ears. May 15, 1839, he was married to Miss Sophia Den- nison, of Hartland, Vt., who bore him three children, one of whom, only, is living— Henry E., for manjr years past Clerk of the City of Columbus. Mrs. Bryan dying, March 27, 1847, at the age of 29 years, 10 months and 8 Ir. Jennings, in behalf of the committee, submitted an exhaustive report, occu- pying three columns and a half in the BeaccjiX. 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 numerousl}^ attended meeting at Mechanics' Hall, on the night of November 21, 1846, was unani- mously adopted, and a committee, consisting of Kufus P- vSpalding, Henry W. King, Lucius \^ 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 MILLER— born in Bridg-e- ■^ water, Windsor Countj^, Vt., 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 engaged 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 firin name of Storer & Miller, continuing 18 j'ears; November 7, 1860, after yoting for Abraham Lincoln, moved on to a farm in Copley township, with his son, Charles C. Miller, where he died December 16, 1879, aged 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 1.5, 1837. Mr. Miller -was a warm friend of education, often serving- as school trustee under the old systein, and, as elsewhere stated, among the very first to advocate the union, or graded school system, originating in Akron, AiSrSEL MILLEE. 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 A kron for the years 1838, 1841, 1842, 1843, 1847, 1848, 1849, 1852 and 1855. Mr. Miller was an original Anti-Slavery man, and from its organ- ization, a zealQus inember of the Republican party. Mr. Spalding, as the chairman, and Mr. King, as secretary 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. Levsris, 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 To'ivn of Akron. Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, that the electors of the Town 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 mem- 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 two directors elected and qualified. All vacancies which nia}^ occur shall be filled by the town council. THE AKRON SCHOOL LAW. 119 TTON. kENRY W. KING, — eldest ■1- -l- son of Judge Leicester King-, was born iu Westfield, 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 Crosbj-, who still survives, two children having been born to them — Harry Crosby King, dying in Arlington Heights hospital August 11, 1864, while m the hundred daj-s service in defense of Washington as a member of the 164th Regt. O. N. G.; the daughter, Julia Huntington, being married to Homer Fisher (son of Akron's foriner 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 System, as elsewhere stated; in 1850 was elected Secretary of State, whose duties, with those of Commissioner of Public Schools, he performed with singular HON. HENRY AV. KING. intelligence and fidelity. Ever active in the promotion of the business, educational and moral interest-'^ of the town and count}', his early death, November 20, 1807, at the age of 42. years and one month, was univer- sallv 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 town; 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 tow^n, 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 towrn ; 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., JUI3' 24,1822, in boyhood removing' to Derb}', Conn.; graduate of Yale Col- leg-e, in class of 1837, with Senator William M. Evarts, Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite, Hon. Edwards Pierpont and Samuel J. Tilden; taug-ht school from 1837 to 1840; grad- uated from Andover Theolog'ical Seininary in 1812; 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 sjrsteni, and formulating the "Akron School Laws" now general in Ohio and other states, the old High or Jennings school being so named in his honor. February 17, 1847,Mr.Jen- ning-s was married to Miss Sophia Day, of Mansfield, O., immediately removing to Stamford, Conn., offi- ciating as pastor of First Congrega- tional Church there six j^ears, when he removed to Benning-ton, Vt., where, as pastor of the old First Church, he faithfully and successfully labored over a third of a century, his death occurring- there Aug-ust25, 1887, at the ag"e of 65 years, one month and one daj\ Mr. and Mrs. Jenning-s were the parents of nine children, six of whom, "with their mother, survive — one son, Isaac, Jr., being a minister; one,Fred- REV. ISAAC JENNINGS, D. D. erick Beach, a lawyer, and one, Charles Green, a physician. The memory of Mr. Jennings,, whose por- trait is given herewith, though his sojourn here w^as comparatively brief, will long- be cherishedbj' all the good people of Akron, in whose behalf he so zealousl3' labored nearl}' half a century ag'o. Sec. hi 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 Juney 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, what pupils entitled to admission, etc. Sec. \'I confers upon the board power to make and enforce rules, emploj!' teachers, fix salaries, purchase apparatus, buy lands, build houses, buj^ furniture, etc. Sec. VII requires the town council to lev}^ 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, owing to the clamor of certain inimical tax-paj^ers, was modified by an amended act, passed January 28, 1848. limiting the levj- to four mills on the dollar in anj^ one j^ear. Sec. \"III places the title of all lands, houses and other school property, with power to purchase, sell, etc., in the control of the town council. Sec. JX provides for theappointment of three school examiners, by the council, for the examination of all applicants as teachers, THE LAW MADE GENEKAl, 121 granting certificates, etc., and also for quarterly visits to schools, reporting progress to council, etc. Sec. X provides for public examinations of schools, annuallj% under the direction of the mayor, council, board of education and examiners. TTARVEY B. SPELMAX,— born in ^ -*- Rootstown, Portage County, C, September lo, 1811; educated in Tall- niadg-e Academ3' find Twinsburg- Institute ; after t e a c h i n o- awhile entered employ of Xr. Roswell Kent, of Middlebviry, as clerk, afterward.-* becoming- his partner and opening- a branch store in Wadsworth ; in 1839 removed to Franklin Mills (now Kent), in 181:1, formed a partnership with >Ir. Charles Clapp, and removed to Akron, the firm occvipying the cor- ner store iu the old stone block, cor- ner Howard and Market streets. An ardent Congxeg'ationalist, he was one of the organizers of the Second Con- gregational Church, in 1842, and one of its first deacons ; strongly anti- slaverj-, he early allied himself with the Third Part5' 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 promoter of the Akron Union School system, and a member of the first board^of education thereunder in 1847; in 1851 removed to Cleveland, where he at once activelj- identified himself with the religious, edvicational and reform movements of the da\- ; in 18.56 removed to Burlington, Iowa; in 1864, under Gen. John Eaton, took charge of cotton raised ^)y "contra- bands" on lands brought under gov- •ernment control; in 1866, rj'moved to New York, there and in Brooklyn actively' engaging in business and philanthropic work. November 16, HAKVEV B. SPELMAN. 1835, Mr. Spelman was married to Miss Lucy 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, 1857, Mr. S. himself dying October 10, 1881, his remains being interred in Lake Vie^v^ Ceme- tery, Cleveland. Mrs. S. still survives, residing Avith her daughter, Mrs. Rockefeller, in New York. . Februarj^ 14, 1848, an amendment -was adopted bj' the Legis- lature, providing: "That every incorporated to-wn 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 to-vvns 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. ylkmn's First fif^KScMool BuildiVio'_l847 h .18^3, [oil site of |or€seRt Jeimiiigs Selvool}- 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 were 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. Berry, Esq., 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 were built, and the property abutting on Summit, Mill and Prospect streets, then embracing about t^vo 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, was employed as Principal of the Gram- mar School, at the "munificent" salary of $500 per year, 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 am^endment to the law was secured, limiting the rate of taxation for school purposes, in any one year, 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 to withdra\v from the schools the second j^ear for lack of adequate compensation for his exceedingly efficient services. The graded system w^as found to work well, however, there being a much greater proportionate attendance, and at a con- siderable less expense per capita, and greater proficiency, 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 was suspended during the Summer. September 3, 1849, Mr. Charles W. Palmer, assisted by. Mrs. Palmer, and Mr. Josiah Gilbert Graham, took charge of the grammar school, Mr. Palmer's engagement being for t-wo j'ears, 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 SCHOOI. BUILDING DEDICATED. 123 grammar school building, a contract for the erection of which was 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 showing 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 wings 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 Education, 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 world, 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, following 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 'which 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 were interspersed with music by the Akron Band, and closed with 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 AKKON 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 Jerusha McArthur; Mr. Root also giving especial attention to penmanship, in both the grammar and high schools. p EN. MORTIMER D.LEGGETT,— ^^<^^:*=.x 'J^ born, of Quaker parentage, in Ithaca, N. Y., April 19, 1821; at 16 emigrated to Geauga County, Ohio ; school advantag-es limited, but b)' studjr at night acquired an education -which secured the voluntary be- stowal of degrees from several west- ern coUeg-es ; though admitted to the bar at 22, his time was for several j'ears devoted to the cause of popu- lar education, being 4he organizer of Akron Union School System, now general throughout the State ; as Principal of the Grainmar School, -which position he ablj' filled for two years, as elsewhere stated, our fine new Leggett School Building, East Thornton, Sumner and Allyu streets, being so named in his honor. On retiring Mr. Leggett engaged in the practice of law at AVarren, 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 by Gov. Deunison to recruit a regiment for the Union Armv. Appointed Lieu- tenant Colonel, 78th O. V. I., Decem- ber 1861; promoted to Colonel, Jahuar\- 11, 1862 ; fought at Fort Donelson, Febrviarj'- 11, 1862 ; on sur- render of fort appointed provost- marsha) ; was in continuovis service GEN MOETIMEE D LEGGETT during the war, being- several times -wounded, with constant advances for meritorious 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, Siege 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. Leg-g-ett, 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 grammar 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 anfl teachers, in their 11th annual report expressed the conviction that the lowest Avages principle was not the most economical, and that such liberal compensatioifl. 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 Ne-vv York, was employed 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 City, who con- tinued the second j^ear, 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 SUPEKl \TE.\DENTS. 125 I7DWIN BIGEI.OW OLMSTED, -L^ born in Sidney-, N. Y., August 20, 1826; academical and collegiate education ; taught school in Sidne}', N. Y., in Virginia., in Butternuts, N. Y., in Mt. Sterling, Ky., in Geneva, O., Madison, O. Academy, as principal, in Akron, as principal of grammar school, and Fredonia, N. Y., as prin- cipal of public schools, in 1851 retu,rning 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 Mountain and Rom- nej-. After a great variety of regular and detached service, was wounded while constructing- a bridge over the Shenandoah, near Front Roj-al, and discharg-ed for disability ; in 1864, 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; coinpleted 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- ernment, without hand labor, but throug-h red-tape-ism, or favoritism, failed to reap the benefit of his invention and the larg-e ainount of labor and money expended thereon. Mr. O. then spent several years in educational work in the South, where EDWIN BIGELOW OLMSTED. he was ordained as a Bapti.'^t 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 g-overnment employ in Washington ; Ledru RoUin in the West ; and William Dennison preparing for the legal profession. Mr. O. was again inarried, to Miss M. E. 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, was a significant acknowledgment of the high estimation placed upon the services of Mr. Hole b}^ successive boards, and by the majority of the people. In January, 1868, O'wing 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 superintendent and teachers. We 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 the5' continue to merit their confidence in the future as they have in the past. We also earnestl}^ invoke the confidence and support of the community as being- 126 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. eminently 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." H^ rON. SAMUEL F. COOPER — born in Stockbridge, Mass., December 19, 1826; in 1836 removed with parents to Tallmadge, Ohio, working on farm ; from 18 taught school Winters, and attended Ober- lin College Suminers, graduating in the class of 1851 ; in August, 1851, was inarried to Miss Margaret J. Loughridge, of Mansfield ; Superin- intendent of Youngstown Union schools two 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. 1., 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- gow, Scotland. For the past ten years Mr. Cooper has been connected HON. SAMUEL F. COOPER. with the Merchants National Bank, of Grinnell, of which he is now Pres- ident, but in a recent letter to the writer, says: "For nearly a half a century m5^ 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 some 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, without disparagement to others, being Miss Harriet Amanda Ber- nard, now 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 wealth 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 showing a total enumeration of school youth between six and twenty-one years, for 1883, within the city limits to have been 5,858, as against 690 in the Akron of 1846, 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,— bora near Salem, Columbiana Co., O., April 2, 1827 ; educated in cominon schools and at select high school of G. K. Jenkins, Mt. Pleasant, O. ; from 1849 to 1856 taught part of each year in countrj' and village schools ; in 1856 was student in State Normal School at Hopedale, Harrison Co., afterward merged in Hopedale Nor- mal College, from which he holds the degree of B. S.; taught a select school in Springfield, O., seven months ; superintended Minerva, O., schools one year, Hanover, O., two years, New^ Lisbon, O., four years, Akron, O., eight years and was principal of Damascus, C, Acad- emy ten years, inaking 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 engaged 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., partly engaged in agriculture and partly promoting the public welfare, as opportunity offers. He is presi- dent of an insurance company, pres- ident of Board of Trustees of Damascus Acaderaj', and president of a gold mining company. In the Autumn of 1852, Mr. Hole was mar- PKOF. ISRAEL P. HOLE. ried to Miss Mary Miller, of Colum- biana Co. February 3, 1861, two sons — twins — were born to thein — 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 AKROX AND SUMMIT COUXTY. inusic, 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 3'ear 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 coninion schools and preparatory department of M u s - kinguin College; at 17, moved with parents to Green County, working' on farm two years, then teaching- coun- trj' 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 Iavo years. In Spring of 1857, engaged in book-selling in Moninouth, 111., for a short time, then teaching near Mon- mouth two j-ears ; in Falland Winter of 1859, operated as agent for Mon- mouth College, in Ohio; in 1860, 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 Januar3', 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 years, 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 s-iven degree of A. M. bv SAMUEL FINDLEY. Buchtel College in 1876, and of Ph. D. bj- Wooster Universitj^ in 1880, and is now editor and publisher of the Ohio Educational Monthly, with a large circulation among the teachers of Ohio. March 31, 1853, ^vas married to Miss Mary A. Hardie, of Xenia, who has borne hiin four sons and two daughters — William Clarence, Alvin Irwin, Lorena Belle, Laura Ma}-, Edwin Leigh, and Samuel Emerson, all living in Akron. By the gro-wth of the citj' 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 twelve 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 which reported the plan of the Akron school law, 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),. PKESEXT SUPERIxXTENDKMT OF INSTRUCTK ).\. 129 pLIAS FRAUNFELTER— born ol -'-- German parentai;-e, near Eastoii, Pa., April 3, 1840; came with family to Ohio April, 18-Ki, wcttliiiii- near Assli- land, working- on farm and in hotrl ; educated in countiy school and \'er- milliou Institute, Hayesville ; at 17 began teachino- ; at 20 chosen tutor of Mathematics in Vermillion Insti- tute ; August 22, 18(i2, enlisted in Co. C, 120th O. V. I., bvit soon transferred to Co. F; promoted to sergeant, orderlj' sergeant, first lieutenant and captain "for meritorious conduct in camp and in field, " serving, also, for a time, as aide-de-camp on staff of Gen. Peter Ost(?rhaus, 9tli Div. 13th Army Corps, and later as adjutant of his regiment ; participated in the various battles, skirmishes and assaults resulting in the siege and surrender of Victsburg and captvire of Jack- son, >Iiss. ; 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 " Citj' Belle " near Alexandria. La., ^lay i, 1864 ; confined in rebel prison at Camp Ford, Texas, 13 months ; exchanged at New Orleans Mav 30, 1865; by consolidation, becom- ing captain of Co. D, 114th O. V. I., reporting- for duty at Mobile, Ala., May 31, 1865, and mustered out with regiment at Columbus, Ohio, June 27,1865; August, 1S()5. resinned posi- tion in Vermillion Institute ; April, 1866, elected Professor of Mathematics in Savannah (Ohio) Academy, and in June, 1866, Associate Principal and Professor of >Iatheinatics and Natural Science, reorganizing- insti- tution and enlarging building-s, 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 Siiperintendent 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 years as president of board of school examiners for Ashland Count3^; has been a member and president of the E. FKArXFELTEK. board of school examiners for (he citj- of Aki'on since 1^77, and a mem- ber of the board of managers of thi- Akron Public Library since May 111,, 1886; received degree' of A. M. from Bethan_\- (\V. X'a.j College June, 1S73„ and of Ph. D. from Lombard (111.) Universit)' June, l.s7il. The Cajitain became a mei-nber of Buckley Post, G. A. R., May 4_, l,s.s:-{ ; was vice com- mander lS,S4-18S,i ; commander lS,S(i-S7. representing- Post in Department Encampment at Cleveland in 188(5, at Springfield in 1887, and at Cincinnati in 189(), and the Department in the National Encampment at San Fran- cisco, Cal., August, 1886, and at Boston, Mass., August, 1800; has al.so been a member of Ohio Commanclery of the Loj-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 Presb3'terian minister of Baruesville, 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 Kxibler & Beck, Akron Varnish Works. seven teachers, Miss Sarah I. 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 AKKOX AND SUMMIT COUNTY. in honor of Jesse Allen, one of Coventry's earliest settlers, said school being in what was originally a part of Coventry town- ship), nine teachers. Miss Anna M. HoUinger, principal ; Bowen School, six rooms, on North Broadway, (named in honor of Dr. William Bowen, an early and earnest promotor of Akron's public schools,) seven teachers. Miss M. Elraa Campbell, principal; Howe Perkins School House, corner West Exchani^e and -Bower^^ Streets, Fifth Ward. Cros-bv School House, corner Smith and West Streets, Third Ward. JUDGE WM. MORGAN DODGE,— J born Januar3' 2, 180.5, at Granville, V\^asliing-ton County, N. Y; came to Ohio in 1813; read la%v with Judg'e Wheeler, in Unionville; after his admission to bar settled in Middle- burj', in 18.31 removing" to Akron; in April, 1840, was elected Prosecutitig- Attorney of the then new connty of Summit, 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 Judgeof Summit Countj^ which office he ably filled until his death, Julj^ 21, 1861, aged 56 years, 6 inonths and 19 da3'S. June 4, 1833, Mr. Dodge was inar- ried to Mrs. Harvey A. Howard, nee Hannah B. Fenn, Mr. and Mrs. Howard being- the parents of the last Mrs. James MathcAvs, and Mr. Howard one of the early merchants of Middle- burj' and Akron. Mrs. Dodge, born in Milford (now Orang-e), Conn., May 28, 1808, still survives, now, iti her 8ith year, enjoying- full mental and jjhys- ical vigor, with the exception of her lower limbs, which 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' ; Einmet D., died August 2, 1882, at the age of 41 years and 28 days ; Marion E., now Mrs. M. E. Reed, and Jennie, now Mrs. George C. Heifer, of South Mound, Kansas. AKRONS LATER PRIMARY SCHOOLS. 131 Spicer School House, Carroll Street, Fourtli Ward. School, eight rooms, (named in honor of Capt. RichardHowe.an early resident of Akron, and for many years superintendent of the Northern Division of Ohio Canal),nine teachers, Miss Lucy E. Beldina:, principal ; Henry Allen School House, corner South Main and Thornton Streets, Fourth Ward. iSowen School, Xorth Broadwaj-, Ward. First Howe School House, South Bowerj', Bartges and St. Clair Streets, Fifth Ward. School, eight rooms, corner North Forge and Arch streets, (named in honor of Milton W. Henry, long a prominent merchant in Akron, and a great friend of education,) nine teachers. Miss Lida M. Dussell, principal; Kent School, eight rooms, Arlington street. Sixth Ward, (named in honor of Roswell Kent, one of Mid- dlebury'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, Allyii and Sumner streets — nine 132 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. teachers, Miss Lizzie Camp, principal; Orace School, so named in honor of the late Mrs. Grace Perkins, intersection of West MILTON \V. H E N R Y,— born in Blanford, Mass., October 13, 1816 ; in 1830 removed with family to Westfield, Medina County, Ohio; educated in common schools and Wadsworth Academj' ; 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 sti-eets ; in 1848 purchas- ed Mr. Spelman's interest, and soon afterwards associated with himself, James Zwisler, under the firm name ofM. \V. Henry & Co.; December 27, 1849, building- and portion of stock destroj-ed bj' fire, but business con- tinued in another location ; occupied new building- on old site, in 1854, sub- seqviently purchasing- the projiertj' ; admitting- to partnership some of his faitliful employes, the firm of G. C. Berry i Co., was organized in 187.5, which arrang-ement 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- holder and director Tapliu, Rice & Co., of Akron and Austin Powder Co., of Cleveland ; served iiineyears as member and officer of Akron Board of Education and eight >ears member of Akron City Council, a portion of the MILTON W. HENRY. time as its president. December 5. 1843, Mr. H. was married to Mi.ss Abigail Weeks, of Coplej', who bore him six daughters and one son : Olive C, (now Mrs. M. H. Crumrine), Ella C, (Mrs. C. E. York, Youngsville, Pa.), Julia A., (Mrs. William McFarlin), Hattie A., (Mrs. C. A. Barnes), Charles M., Grace P. and Mattie W., all of whom are still living-. Mr. Henrv died, suddenly, March 16, 1886, aged 0(1 j-ears, 5 months, 3 days. Henry School House, ^Ic)r•'h Furg Street, Second Ward. Kent School House, South Arlington Street, Sixth Ward. SOME PROMIXENT FRIENDS OF KDUCATION. 133 Exchange and South Maple streets, eight rooms, seven teachers, Miss Laura E. Waltz, princi])al. Leggett School House, AUvn, Thornton Grace School House, South Maple and and Sumner Streets, Fourth Ward. ^^ e«t 5:^9^''"'5e Streets, Fifth ^Vard. The rapid growth of the city calling for still more extended vschool accommodations, four-room additions are now (August, 1891,) being made to the alreadj' spacious Kent, Howe and Spicer buildings, in each of which four additional teachers will be •employed. HENRY WILLETT HOWE,— eldest son of Captain Richard .and Roxana Qones) Howe, was born in Bath, June 29, 1828, in infancs^ 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 until 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 manufacturing •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 Hawkins station on the Valley railway, Mrs. Howe also hold- ing the position of postmistress at West Richfield, while residing there. Mr. Howe was a member of Akron Board of Education several years Audits secretary from 1851 to 1857; represented the Second Ward in City Council in 1865 and 1866 ; 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- cultural Society, serving as director and secretary eight years, and smce 1878 has been secretary of Summit HENRY WILLET'J' 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, — bornin 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. Raynolds, 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 Doylesto-wn, Wayne Coun- tj' ; in 1835 attended lectures at Ohio Medical College, receivinghis degree in 1836 ; then practiced t-svo years in Canton and nearly 15 5'ears in Mas- sillon. In 1853 bought a farnij three miles south of Akron, dividinu- his time between medicine and agricul- ture until 1857, when he removed to Akron, where he remained in prac- tice until his death, Jan II, 1880, aged 74 j-ears, 5 months and 15 da5'S. 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 member and president of the Akron Board of Education for several j^ears, Bowen School, on Broadway, being named in his honor. In May, 1830, Dr. Bowen DR. -WILLIAM BOWEiX. was married to Miss Huldah M. Chit- tenden, of Middlebury, who bore him nine children, three onlj- of whom now survive. Miss Elina 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 Jul}' 3, 1890, aged 84 j^ears, 9 months and 4 davs. KEGIXALD WRIGHT. REGINALD H. WRIGHT,— son of Rev. A. K. Wright, was born at Wadsworth, Ohio, January 18, 1841 ; educated at Hudson, graduating- froin Western Reserve College in 1863; served as orderl}' sergeant of Co. B, (composed principall}' of students of college), 85th Regiment O. V. I., from May 27th till September 27, 1862; in 1884 teacher in Sha-nr Academj',at Collainer, Ohio ; engaged in business in Cleveland from 1864 tO' 1869 and in Toledo in 1869 ; February, 1870, came to Akron as cashier and book-keeper for Aultman, Miller & Co., now being treasurer of the com- pany ; has served several years 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, j-oungest daug-hter of the late Louis Chevrier, Esq., of Akron. The}' 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, 1883. It -will thus be seen, that, including Superintendent Fraun- felter and Prof. Nathan L. Glover, musical instructor, Prof. J. War- ren Thyng, teacher of dra-wing, and Prof. J. O. Wise, teacher of THE NEW HIGH SCHOOL. 135 Akron's New High School Building, South Forge Street. Erected in IbSU. penmanship, that Akron's pubUc 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 will compare favorably with those of any other city in Ohio, or elsewhere, while all our people have the proud satisfaction of kno^ving that the system first devised and adopted here, nearly half a century ago, is now in vogue in every state where 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 ward accommodations were 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 from pioperty DR. J O H X \V. L Y D E R,— born near Elkton, in Elkrun town- ship, Columbiana County, Ohio, December 16, 1837 ; educated in pub- lic schools and at Oberlin College ; graduated from Philadelphia (Pa.) ental CoUeg^e in 1869 ; practiced for a time in Fairfield, Columbiana County, then moved to Alliance, Stark County, 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 Society- ; from 1881 to 1883 was a member of the Akron Board of Education ; was a member of State Dental Society' Executive Committee for 1W»1 ; acting Eminent Commander Knights Temp- lar for 1891, and has filled various other offices of honor in Masonic orders for a period of twentj- years/ September 15, 1863, Dr. Lyder was married to Miss Mary V. Bedortha, of Oberlin, who has borne him two children — Frederick H., born in Alliance, November 1, 1864, a gradu- i)K. joii.v w. lyj:>ek. ate of Philadelphia Dental Cone>;-e, now practicing with his father, and Jay Walter, born in Alliance, Octo- ber 20, lK6'-i, now book-keeper in the City Xatio:ial Bank, of Akron. 13fi AKKOX AND SUMMIT COUXTY. 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 alle_y, of 190 feet ; the aggregate price paid for the three properties being $19,000. TOHN HcGREGOR, — born near J Wellsville, O., June li, 1836 ; raised on farm; graduated from Jefferson (Pa.) College in 1863 ; attend- ing Ohio Law College, at Cleveland one 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 Citj^ Solicitor two j^ears — 1869-71 ; was Treasurer of Portage Township from 1877 to 1884 ; member of Board of Education from 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 Webster, Camp and Lane Machine Company, being elected president and treasurer of that corporation, which offices he.sti]l retains. Novem- ber 11, 1868, Mr. McGregor was mar- ried to Miss Hattie E. Folger, of Akron, daughter of the late Williain M., and Julia A. (Ha5'den) Folger, who JOHN MCGKEGOK. has borne him three children F., John and Mary, all now with their parents. —Julia living Several plans were submitted by well-know^n architects, that of Messrs. Weary & Kramer, of Akron, being adopted. After various delays a contract was entered into, in the Spring of 1885, with 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 $135,000, 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, which 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 walls 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 BKXiRAPIIICAL. 137 T7RANK M. ATTKRHOLT— born -1- December 19, 1848, near New Lis- bon, Ohio ; educated ;it Xew Lisbon High School,Xational Normal School, of Lebanon, and Mount I'nion Col- leg-e, graduating- at the latter institti- tion in 1870. He was a prominent teacher in the State for several jears, and for a time was editor of the Colunihiana Register. He came to Akron in the autumn of 1879 and read law with Upson, 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 Examiners, and is a Trustee of Mount Union College. In politics he is an ardent Republi- can ; has served on the State Central Committee and been chairman of the Countj' Executive Committee. He is -an earnest member of the Board of Trade and is larg^ely financiall3' and officiallj- interested in a number of the most extensive business enter- prises of the city and with several in FKANK M. ATTERHOLT. other places. He was married Decem- ber 21, 1872, to Miss Mary E. Baird, of Columbiana, Ohio. They have one child— Frank Brj-ant, 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 Academy, arid later entering on classical course in Ohio Wesleyan University, but on reaching- the senior year failing health compelled him to return to the farm. Improving by out-door exercise, in 1847, began the study of medicine in Wooster, graduating from Starling Mecfical College, Columbus, February 22, 1851, immedi- ately commencing practice in Nash- ville, Holmes Count}', in 1857 remov- ing- to Millersburg. In Fall of '61 was appointed by Gov. Dennison surgeon of 8th Regt. O. V. L, serving as acting Brigade Surgeon and Chief Opera- ting Surgeon of division, in the Armj' of the Potomac, until the Spring of 1863, when, by reason of ill health, he resigned. In Ma}-, 1864, was appointed Colonel of the 166th O. V. I., but resigned and took the position of Surgeon to that reg-iment, being mustered out with regiment in Sep- tember, 1864, removing to Akron the following November. June 16, 1853, Dr. Ebright was married to Miss Nancy Liggett, daughter of Judge Thomas Liggett, of Millersburg, who has borne him five children, three dying- in infauc}% the two survivors — Misses Kit and Carita — both being A. B. graduates of Cornell Univer- sity. Dr. Ebright is a high degree member of the Masonic Order; 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 AND SUMMIT COUNTY. In the basement, besides the boiler and engine rooms, are the Superintendent's office; the office of the Board of Education; vault and safe room; laboratory; boys' and girls' play roomSr wash rooms, cloak rooms, halls, etc. On the first floor, besides the entrances, there is a large central court, eight school tooms, 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, t^vo recitation rooms, 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 "westerly 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 walls 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^ w^indow^s 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 farin ; August 9, 1862, with four of his brothers, enlisted in the 102d O. V. I. in the late war, serving three j'ears, being- honorably discharged May 18, 186,5; March 14, 1866, moved to Akron, and engaged in the painting busi- ness ; was member of Akron Board of Education froin 1881 to 188,5, being one of the most efficient members during the building of the High, Howe, and Henr}' School buildings ; is an active director of the Summit Countjr Agricultural Society and superintendent of Fine Arts Hall ; member of State Executive Com- mittee of the National Union; chairman of City Republican Com- mittee; member of Buckley Post, No. 12, G. A. R.; in February 1888, was appointed collector of tolls, rents, etc., on the Ohio Canal for the port of Akron, which responsible position he is still ably filling. March 27, 1862, Mr. Foltz was married to Miss Cynthia Bell Hughes, of Wooster. Thej' have two children living — Minnie M., now Mrs. Fred W. Davis, HIKAM H. FOLTZ. of the Sixth Ward, and Harry J., now clerk in gTocery and provision store of J. B. Houghton, Akron. All five of the Foltz brothers, who served throug-h 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 work, by terra cotta tablets inserted in the wall, upon the east side, as follows: "Members 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, \V. H. Rothrock, F. W. 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. Wearj', Geo. W. Kramer. Contractor.s : Louis Wilhelm, W. C. Schroeder, John Robb." GEORGE C. BERRY,— was born in Medina Co.. Ohio, June 19, 1837, removing to Akron with his parents, when three 3'ears old ; educated in Akron's Union t5chools ; at 15 entered store of Mr. Joseph E. Wegener, 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 virithdrew from firm and opened a carpet warehouse on Mill street, in w^hich enterprise he has been phenomenallj' successful, in 1888 associating with hiinself in business his son, Charles W. Berry, under the firm name of Berry & Son. In the war of the rebellion, Mr. Berry •J 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 Xo. 50, I. O. O. F. Mr. B. was married March 11, 1857, to Miss Annie Wheeler, of Akron, who bore him five children — Willis H., who died at 6 j'ears of age ; Geo. GEORGE C. BERRY. C, Jr., Charles W., Anna L., and Mary H.,— Mrs. Berry dying 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 dj^ing- 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 contemplated, 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 welcome 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 COUXTV. pEORGE G. ALLEN,— son of 'J Xenianthus and Marg-aret E. (Turner) Allen, was born in Grang'er, Medina County, Aug-ust 26, 18,5,5; boj'hood spent on farm ; at 14 moved Avith parents to Akron, graduating' from Alvron High School in 1873 ; read law in offices of John J. Hall and Edward Oviatt, Esqs., with a six inonths' course in Law Department of Michig-an Universitj^ at Ann Arbor ; admitted to the bar in Akron August 28, 1876, and immediately adinitted to partnership with Edward Oviatt, Esq., under the firin name of Oviatt & Allen, among the most suc- cessful practioners at the Summit Countj' bar. Mr. Allen was for a short time Acting Mayor of Akron in 1883 ; was elected to the Board of Education froin the First Ward in 1887, and re-elected in 1889, being- treasurer of board for 1888 and 1889, chairman of the committee 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 P. Schumacher Milling- Co. since 1887 ; director in Canada Copper Co ; in Anglo-Amer- ■■1 '^gm^fr^^' / - GEORGE G. ALLEX. 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 tw^o children — Don Oviatt Allen, born June 9, 1878, and Ben. Herbert Allen, born July 11, 1885. LEWIS MILLER. T EWIS MILLER,— born in Green- -l^ town. Stark County, August 24, 1829; educated in district schools and Illinois Academj', Plainfleld ; 1846 to 1851 worked at plasterers trade Suininers attending- and teach- ing school Winters ; 1851 became member of firm of Ball, Aultman & 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 at Akron in 1864, under the name of Aultinan, Miller & Co. Besides offi- ciating as president and superinten- dent of the companies named, Mr. Miller is pecuniarilj^ and officially connected with a large number of other manufacturi ng- establishments, banks, etc., in Akron and Canton, Mount Union College, Ohio Wesley- an L^niversity and Allegheny College ; sviperintendent of the First M. E. Sunday School, originator of pi-esent Sundaj' School rooms, and chief promoter of the Chautauqua As- sociation scheme ; has served as member of City Council and many years as member of Board of Educa- tion, Board of Librarj^ control, etc. Married, September 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 CKXSl^S, PAY OF TEACHERS, ETC. 141 PRAXK W. ROCK\YELL, -son of -L Marshall M. and Sarah (Pendle- ton) Rockwell, born in Kent, Ohio, October 31, 1851; when seAen or eight years old, moved with faniilv to ]>lis- souri; father entering- the I'nion army, came with mother to Stow, returning- to Missouri in Spring of 1863; in Spring- of 1864 removed to Andover, Ashtabula Countj-, ().; in 1S65. to Indiana; in 186(j, to Linesville, Crawford Countj", Pa.; in 1871, to Akron; common v-Ir. 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; William B. Baldwin, '87-88, full course; Anna Thomas, '88-'89; Leroy C. Eberhard, '89-'90; Myrtle Pardee,'90-'91. MEMBERS AND OFFICERS OF BOARD. Following is given what is believed to be a full list of the gentlemen who 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 LFRED W. HALL —son of Alex- -^ ander and Phoebe Elizabeth (Rosmaii) Hall, was born in Lawrence township, October 19, 1847 ; came with parents to Akron when about three 3'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 ; ena^ineer 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, 73 iniles, which position he is still ably filling. In local matters Mr. Hall was an efficient member of the old Volunteer Hook and Ladder Compan}', Mechanics No. 3 ; a direc- tor of the Suminit County Agricul- tural Societj' ; in 1890 was elected a member of the Board of Education from 1he Foiarth Ward, which posi- tion he still holds; is also a stock- ilA September 2'-!, 1870, Mr. Hall was mar- ried to Miss Jennie Letter,of Blissfield, Lennewa County. Mich. Thej- liave one son — Georg-e Alfred, born Xov- .\LFKED \V. HALL. ember 1, 1881, now a student in Akron public schools. Mathews, Judge James S. Carpenter, Dwight Newton, Judge Daniel K. Tilden, Dr. Elias W. Howard, Heurj- W. Howe, Webster B. vStorer, Joseph F. Gilbert, Gov. Sidney Edgerton, Joshua C. Berry, Edward \V. Perrin, Richard S. Elkin.s, Dr. Joseph Stanton, Samuel A. Lane, Judge Nathaniel W. Gdodhue, Jacob Snj^der, Judge Constant Br3'an, Charles B. Bernard, Ansel Miller, William C. Allen, Dr. Elias L. Munger, Rev. Samuel Williams, Dr. William Bowen, Houston Sisler, Capt. (rilbert S. Carpenter, Dr. Israel E. Carter, Milton W. Henrj-, 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, Andre\v Jackson, Hon. George W. Crouse, Col. George T. Perliins, Lewis Miller, John F. Seiberling, Judge Newell D. Tibbals, George Tod Ford, Dr. J. K. Holloway, Henrj" Young, John >1. Kirn, Adam Bahl, Levi S. Herrold, Lewis Creveling, Dr. Mendal Jewett, 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. W^'iese, Noah N. Leohner, William ]>L Heffelman, James W Stuver, Martin J. Housel, William B. Raymond, Andrew M. Armstrong, Horace G. Griffin, Frank W. Rockwell, Hiram H. Foltz, Frederick Bishop, Isaac C. Alden, Frank L. Danforth, Judge Charles R. Grant, Frank M. Atterholt, Reginald H. Wright, Dr. J. \V. 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, Louis Lauman, James A. Swinehart. Presidents: Following is as full a list of Presidents of the Board and 5'ears of service in that office, as can now be compiled: Lucius V. Bierce, 1847, 1848, 1852, 1853, 1854; James S. Carpenter, 1849, 1850; Daniel R. Tilden (probab^^ 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. William Bowen, 1869; George W. Ci-ouse, 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 Februarj', 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, 1S57; Charleys 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, 18S7; George G. Allen, 1888, 1889, 1890; Arthur J. Weeks, 1S9]. Secretaries: Harvey B. Spelman, 1847, 1S4S; Dwight Newton, 1849, 1850; Henry W. "Howe, 1851, 18.12, 18.")3, 18.54; Edward W. Perrin, 18.55, 18.56, 1857; William C. Allen, 18.58, 18.59, 1860; Hiram Viele, 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864; Charles B. Bernard, 1865; Edward Oviatt, 1866, 18(57; Alvin Rice, 18(i8; Arthur L. Conger, 18(i9, 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 new 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 ^'■I^nthii^^Istrellrm^^^^ Maple street, in the near future. 148 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. St. Mary's division of this Church, erected on South Main street, near Bartges sti-eet, in 1887, a fine two-story brick building, 30x62 feet in size, with 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 church, the lower story of which "was also used as a school room. In 1880, four school rooms were fitted up in the lo'wer 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 southwest corner of Broadway and Center streets, of brick, 72x100 feet in size, four stories high, and of imposing architect- ure, has just been completed. In the lower story, besides numer- ous other apartments devoted to the uses of the societj^, 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., contaiir eight spacious rooms; with accommodations for 100 scholars each. The cost of the building with 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 ne^sv two-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 Scliool, Quarry street, Second Ward. BUCHTEL COl.LEGE. 149 $400 and $300 per 3'ear, respectively. After confirmation, at the age of 13 or 14 years, pupils are permitted to attend the pubhc schools of the citj-. Present school directors, George Single and Henrj' Runge. Buchtel College, named in honor of principal contributor to building and endowment funds, Hon. John R. Buchtel, of Akron- Erected in 1871-2. BUCHTEL COLLEGE. This institution is the crowning educational glory of Akron, and, indeed, of Summit Countj^, 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 kno'W'n as Universalist, and its history is, briefly, as follo'ws: At the annual Convention of the Universalist Church of the State of Ohio, in 1867, its Committee on Education submitted a report in favor of establishing, at some eligible point in the State, a seminary for the ediication of the youth of the State, to the privileges of which both sexes should be admitted on equal footing. The report -was favorablj'' received by the Convention, but no definite action was taken upon it at that session. At the session of 1868, Rev. Andrew Willson, of Kent, submitted a plan for the establishment of the contemplated school, which was adopted by the Convention, but no action was had forwards carrying it into effect. At the session of 1869, the Convention, by resolution, rescinded its former action, and authorized the board of trustees, and the committee on education to take the necessary steps for the establishment of a college, instead of an academj-, as at first con- templated. The board of trustees then consisted of Rev. John S. Cantwell, Rev. Andrew Willson, Rev. Henry L. Cantield, 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, 186&, 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 soUcit funds for the erection of the necessary buildings, endow- 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, Januarj^ 18, 1820 ; education limited ; raised a fanner, working- land on shares, then buj'ing- twenty acres in Coven- try, and afterwards the 210 acre farm, since known as the Thornton farm, now a populous portion of the city of Akron; for several j'ears agent for Canton Buckeye Reaper and Mower Works, and largelj' instrumental in securing^the Aultman, Miller & Co. branch for Akron ; during the war, active in securing- enlistments, raising bount}' money, and averting the draft; largel}' promo- tive of many of the industrial enterprises of the city, including- blast fur- nace and extensive coal andiron mines in Athens County; Grant presidential elector, in 1872 ; Prohibition candidate for Secretarj' of State in 187i ; managing- trustee of Ohio Agricultural College for several j-ears. An ardent Univer- salist, while unstintedlj" liberal towards other denominations, his crowning- glory is his muuiiicence, ag-greg-ating nearlj^ a half a million dollars, toward the coUeg-e that bears his name, fully Avritten of elsewhere. Married January- 8, ISl-t, to Miss Elizabeth Davidson, never having- been blessed with children of their own, though both phjsically infirm for manj' years, Mr. and Mrs.Buchteljointlj' 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 1831, settling in Coventry ; after marriage sharing with her enterprising husband the labor of fotxnding for themselves a home and a fortiuie, and sharing equally with him the pleasure of dispensing, while living, the wealth thus jointly accumu- lated, in the founding of Buchtel College, and the promotion of the various other educational, moral and benevolent enterprises of the da^-. In June, 1881, Mrs. Buchtel was stricken with paralysis ; b>it notwithstanding- her great infirmity, and its many deprivations, she was ever cheerful and helpful of her distinguished husband, who became similarly afflicted March 21, 1887, still retaining her interest in all of their joint enterprises and benefactions, to the last, her death (occurring Friday, Ma>- 22, 1891, at the age of 69 years, 8- months and 27 dajs. AKK'OX SKCUK'EvS 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 with a 'sub- scription of $25,000 to the endowment fund and $6,000 to the building fund. Others followed with 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 by the people of Akron. AVERY SPICER,— eldest son of -^ Miner and Cj-nthia (Allen) Spicer; born at Groton, Ct., October 26, 1799 ; came with parents to Ohio in 1811, being- the first white settlers in Port- age 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, *here 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 townships, and for 15 years as director of County Infirmary, superintending- the erec- tion of present Infinnary buildings. Mr. and Mrs. Spicer were the parents of nine children — Isaac A., who died in California in 1850 ; C5^nthia, now Mrs. Geo. Coggshall, Akron ; Sarah C, late Mrs. John Newton, of Bvichanan, 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 infancj', and Ella C, now Mrs. Charles Parmenter, Waltham, Ma.ss. Mrs. Spicer, now in her 82d year, still survives. This joint body then, by resolution, formally located the "Universalist Centenary School of Ohio," at Akron, and a certifi- cate of incorporation was duly filed, -with the folio-wing 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. Jolin W. HenleJ^ Hon. Edwin P. Green, Oscar F. Haj^maker, 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 was formally declared "to be under the control of the Ohio State Convention of l^niversalists." It was made the duty of the corporators to appoint a board of 18 trustees, five of whoin were to be resident freeholders of Summit County, the first board m^ AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. appointed being as follows: John R. Buchtel, president; Henry Blandy, Philip Wieland, J. Dorsey Angier, Edwin P. Green and George T. Perkins, for three years each: Kev. Henry L. Canfield, Rev. Everett L. Rexford, Gen. James Pierce, John F. Seiberling, Rev. John S. Cantwell and Newell D. Tibbals, for two years each, and Oscar F. Haj^maker, Sanford M. Burnham, secretary, John R. Cochrane, Charles Foster, Rev. George Messenger and Avery Spicer, for one j^ear each; George W. Crouse, not a member of the board, being appointed treasurer. HON. GEORGE W. CROUSE,-born in Tallmadge, November 23, 1832 ; in early boyhood removed with his parents to Green township ; gradu- ating from district school at 17, taught schools five j-ears ; 18^5 to 1858, deputj^ in offices of Countj' Audi- tor and Treasurer ; 1858, at 25 5'ears of age^ elected Count}' 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 Buckeye mower and reaper business ; in 1865, on organi- zation of Aultman, Miller & Co., as a separate corporation, became secre- tary and treasurer, being now its president, besides being- pecuniarily and offlciallj' 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: Countj' 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 1861, 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 Kent Thev 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 citj-, 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 Universal! st, and a zealous member of the first society of that faith organized in Akron, in 1837 — the college edifice being visible from every portion of the cit}^ while the view from the top of its central tower is one of the most extensive and pic- turesque in the county. Ttae architect, Rev. Thomas W. Sillowa}^, of Boston, Mass., submitted plans for the College building, December 28, 1870, and a building committee of seven was appointed, as follows: Hon. John R. Buchtel, Avery Spicer, Col. George T. Perkins, Rev. Henry LAYING THE COKNER STONE. 153 F. Miller and Geii. Alviii C. Voris, of Akron; Rev. George Messenger, of Springfield, and Mr. Henrj^ Blandy, of Zanesville. Noah 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 v^ras laid on the Fourth of July, 1871, with the following imposing ceremonies: TUDGE EDWIN P. GREEN,-~born I in Gaysville, Windsor Co., Vt., March 10, 1828; educated in common schools and Bradford Academy; commenced studying law in Little- ton, X. 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 for Summit County, and menaber of Congressional Mili- tary Committee. Prosecuting Attor- ney X. D. Tibbals entering the ser- vice for 100 days, in 1864, Mr. Green w^as appointed prosecuting attorney ad interim; in 1883 was elected Judge of Common Pleas Court, to dBll 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 resigned and again resumed practice at the bar. Judge Green has always taken a lively interest in educational matters; for many j'ears serving as county and city school examiner; 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 Bvichtel College, serving as Trustee since its organization in 1872; member of American Bar Asso- ciation, for man3' jears its member JUDGE ED\Vli\ p. GREEX. 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, 1869; 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 Mar}' 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 with 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 Fraternity. ^ The procession formed in the following order: 1, Marshals and Assistants; 2, Babcock'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 Mathew Temperance Society; 12, Good Templars; 13. Sons of Temperance; 14, Grand Army of the RepubHc and 29th O. V. V. I.; 15, I. O. 0. 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, (^ 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 1859; Sept. 25, 1853, married Miss Lydia 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 bra 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 VORIS. 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 dyin^ March 16, 1876, the General was again married, to Mrs. Lizzie H. Keller February 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, b}^ A. H. Newcomb, G. M. F. & A. M., A. L. 5871." In the cavity was placed a casket containing copies of the Star in the ]Vest, Universalist, Gospel Banner, Unirersalist Quarterlr, Ladies' Repositorj', Myrtle, Guiding Star, Universalist Register, Akron Dailj' Beacon, Akron Citr 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. &c A. M., and by-la w.s 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 followed by "America," superbly rendered by Marble's Band, and the formal laying of the corner-stone by the officers of HON. HORACE GKEELEY S ADDRESS. 155 the Grand Lodge of Masons of Ohio, conducted bj^ 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 niacliines for inowing, And reaping, too, i>o iie came down (To set tlae thing a-goingi With thirt>' thousand of tlie pelf, He'd earned by trade and labor; He said 'twiis good to help one's self. Better to help a neiglibor; In this wa>' Buchtel (that's his name) Was bound to scatter knowledge; He gave them stamijs, thev'll give him fame, They'll build him Buchtel CoUeije." -pERDIXAXD SCHUMACHER, -T — born in Celle, Hanover, March 30, 1822 ; served 13 years (from 1.' to 28), as clerk in grocery and sugar refin- ery; in 1850 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 1856 engaged in the manufacture of oat meal, pearl barley and other cereal products, enlarging and increasing- his luills, until now, notwithstanding 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. Schumacher 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 Uui- 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 Temperaiice promoters in Ohio. Mr. Schumacher was married at Cleveland, October 7, 1851, to his cousin. Miss Hermine Schumacher, of Bevern, Brunswick, FERm.VAXD 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 secretarj- of the F. Schumacher Milling Co. HON. HORACE GREELEY'S ADDRESS. After a fev^r preliminary remarks, Mr. Greeeley, continuing, said: "Allow me now to sa}' 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 paj^ for, yet they fear that they are not no-w 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 which 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 body 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 daj^ 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 County, Conn., Febru- ary 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 «fe Wetmores, at Cuyahoga 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 later removing the business to Franklin Mills (now Kent), about 1840, engaging with B. F. Hopkins, in conducting flouring inill, saw mill, and woolen factorj', under the title of " Center Manufacturing Company," also carrying on a g-eneral merchan- dise store, continuing therein until about 1847. From 18.50 to 1860 Mr. P. -was eng-.aged in railroad construc- tion, with headquarters at Dayton 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, when he was elected to the preai- dencj' of the bank, which position, yet hale and vigorous, in the82d5'ear JOY H. PENDLETON. of his age, he still retains. Mr Pen- dleton has been three tiiues 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 Counts', -n^ho still survives. 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. Greeley, "who talk sonorously, stridently, of Law — of the Law of Development or Progress — as though they had found in a word a ke3' which unlocks all the mysteries of creation. But I am not silenced by a word; I demand its meaning, and then seek to determine how far that meaning bridges the gulf which the word 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 more than a blind, creative Energy, 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 EVEXI.NG RECEPTIOX TO MR. GREELEY. 157 wiseh' 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 undistrustfully accept and commend the gigantic strides which physical science is making in our day, 5'et 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 nobl3^ 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 no- 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 canipaig-n ; 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, Ky., October 8, 1862, two of his captains being- killed, four other officers wounded, 47 men killed and 212 w^ounded ; participated in the battles^ of Hoover's Gap, Cliicka- mauga, Chattanooga, Mission Ridge, Kenesa^v 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, 1.S70 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. GEORGE TOD PERKINS. pan J' and the Goodrich Hard Rubber Compan3' ; Married to Miss Mar}' F. Rawson, October 6, 1865; three chil- dren, one of whom, onlj-, is is now living — Mar3', 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 by feelingly thanking those vs^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 Aliron and the State — first-class in every respect. "We don't intend," said Mr. Buchtel, "to pull a shingle from off a single church, but vsrill 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 Cehtenary of Universalism in America:" Responded to by Mr. Greeley, at considerable length, defining the religious doctrines of the denomination, and his own 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 \ehen 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 Itistitutions of Learning:" Response bj' Dr. N. S. Townshend, of Elvria. CULLIVAN H. McCOLLKSTER, D. >^ D., of Scotch descent, was born in Marlboro, N. H., December 18, 1826 ; ii'raduated as A. B. from Nor- wich Universitj' in 1851 ; taking" div- inity course at Harvard Univer- sity, was ordained to the Cliris- tian ministry in 18.54; was prin- cipal of Walpole Academj-two j-ears; ?Ionnt CcEsar Seminary five years ; Westmoreland Vallej- Seminarj- tliree years ; Westbrook Seminary and Female Colleo'e eig'ht 3rears ; commissioner of New Hampshire public scliools and president Board of Education three jears, during- this time ]5reaching- Suudajs, org'anizing- a church ancl causing- a house of • worship to be erected at Swanzey, X. H., and also one on the g'rounds of the Westbrook (Xaine) 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 abl}- filled six years ; also organizing the Universalist Church in Akron and accei^tablj' filling' its pulpit two years. After leaving- the colleg'e 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. ?lr. McCollester with his family has five times made the tour of Europe — in 186(5, '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'COLLESTEE, D. D. liis D. D. from St. Lawrence Univer- sity ; is now domiciled at " Maple- side, " in his native town, preaching- Sunda}-s, lecturing- winters, and gen- erallj- engaged in literary work, being- the author of "After Thoughts in Foreign Lands and Capital Cities, " '" Round the World in Old and New Paths, " and other popular works, having- also represented his native town in the Leg-islature two years. Mr. McCollester was married to Miss Sophia F. Knig-ht at Dum- merston, Vt., in 1853. Of the four children born to them only one sur- ^■ives— Rev. Lee S. McCollester, no-w 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 l^niversalists, 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 gentlenien and the other end, just exactlj' 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 jj'ears 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 follo"wing Faculty: Rev. S. H. McCollester, A. M., Professor of Mental and Moral Philosoph}^ ; Xehemiah 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 oriniaal faculty, onU', Professor Kolbe, is now officially connected \\ ith the Colletfe. pVERETT L. REXFORD, D. D.,— 1-^ Ijorii in Harmonj', Chautauqua County. X. Y., April 21, 1S42, his father being- a Baptist minister ; fducated in Jamestown Academy and St. Lawrence I'niversity. at Can- ton, X. v., g-raduating- from the latter in 180ii : commenced his ministry in the First Universalist Church in Cincinnati in Septemljcr. isii,"), con- tinuing- three years ; was then jjastor of the Columbus U n i v e r a a 1 i vS t Church five \-ears ; in hs7i, after three months' trial (during- which the Columbus pulpit wa.s held open for his return, should he elect to do so), he assumed the pastorate of the Universalist Cliurch in San Fran- cisco, Cal., where he remained tmtil called to the presidency of Buchtel College in 1S7S, wliich responsible position he ablj' filled two jears, also officiating as pastor of the First Universalist Church of Akron, both of which positions he resigned to accept the pastorate of the newlj^ formed Universalist C h ti r c h of Detroit, Mich., where he remained eight \-ears, resigning to become the pastor of a Universalist society in Boston, Mass., where he still remains. The honorary degree of D. D. was REV. EVEKETT L. KEXFOEJ), I). D. conferred ujion him \'i\ Buchtel Col- lege in 1871. October ,1,1865, Mr. Rex- ford was married to Miss Julia Georg-e, daughter of the late Isaac George, of Dunkirlv, X. Y., who bore him one daughter, Mari,- Elizabeth, his second marriage being- with Miss Ainanda Pleasant, daughter of Daniel G. Pleasant, of Bowlixig- Green, Kj-. During the first 3'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 yfere ladies, 119 were gentlemen. It will thus be seen that from the start the sexes fairly balanced each other in the race for knowledge, 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. McCoUester 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. Everett L.. Rex- ford, a graduate of the Theological School of St. Lawrence Univer- sity, at Canton, Ne'w York, and a preacher of considerable emi- nence. Dr. Rexford, besides ably filling the presidential chair of the College for two 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'w pastor of a Universalist Church in Boston, Mass. Dr. Rexford's successor was Rev. Orello Cone, A. M., D. D., for fifteen j^ears Professor of Bibilical Languages and Literature of St. Lawrence University, at Canton, N. Y., who assumed the presi- dency of the College in 1880, his administration, during his eleven years incumbencj^, having been deservedlj' popular and successful. "DEV. ORELLO COXE, D. D.,— -I-^ born in Lincklaen, Chenango Count}-, N. Y., November 16, ISS.'S ; taught in public schools, securing an education by his own exertions and earuing'S ; in 18.18 engaged as teacher in St. Paul's Episcopal Col- lege, at Palmyra, Mo., remaining- three 3'ears ; soon after entered the Universalist ministry, preaching two years in Little Falls, N. Y. ; in 1865 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 presidenc}' of Buchtel College in Akron in 1880, which position, after eleven 3'ears of eminentl}^ satisfac- torj'- service, he still occupies. In addition to his college duties. Dr. Cone has done considerable literarj- work, having written nianj' articles for reviews, a volume on " Salva- tion, " published in 1889, his latest and most important work being " Gospel Criticism and Historical Christianitjr, " 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 Falls, N. Y., October 3, 1864, who has KEV. ORELLO C(«E, n. D. , borne him two children — Edwin F., born October 4, 1867, now studying chemisti-jf in Case School, Cleveland, after being graduated fi-oin 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 ROSTER FOR 1891-'92. tfil 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 L). 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 ; Edward W. Clay- pole, B. A., D. Sc. (Lond.), F. G. S. S. L. & A., Professor of Natural Science ; Mary B. Jewett, A. B., Pierce-Professor of English Lit- erature and Logic ; Hermas V. Egbert, 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- m.ent ; 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 Work ; 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.. Burnham, Akron; Judge Alvin C. Voris, Akron; William H. Slade, Columbus; Joy H. Pendleton, Akron; Arthur A. Stearns, A. M., Cleveland; John B\ Eddy, Bay City, Mich.; Hon. Geo. W. Grouse, 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.; Dayton 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 study 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, havingcourses of study arranged 11 162 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. with particular reference to the preparation of sludents 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 advantages 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 CoUegemuseum 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. Crouse Gynma^iuiTi — named in honor of principal contrib- utor to building fund — Hon. George w . Crouse, of Akron — Erected in 1888. 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 the 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, with a gallery 11 feet above the floor for the accommodation of such visitors as are, in the discretion of the instructor, permitted to witness 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 PKOKESSORSHIPS, ETC. 163 those who desire to board upon the premises, besides furnishing tacihties for the organization of boarding clubs for the conven- ience of such students as wish to avail themselves of that comparatively inexpensive mode of subsistence. CANFORD M. BURNHAM-.born ^-J ill Geiiessee Couiit)^, N. Y., Janu- ary 28, 1824; coiiiinoti school and academic education; in ISii taught school in Madison, Lake Count}', Ohio; then took a course of commer- cial study in Buffalo, afterwards, for a time, teaching- penmanshijD; 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.o,'); -then engaged with Austin Powder Companj' 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 vacanc3', two weeks later becoming Auditor in fact by virtue of his election thereto the previous October. After nearlj^ nine j^ears continuous service — four terms and a fraction — as Auditor, in 1872 Mr. B. -was elected as Representative to the State Legislature, ably serving ■one full terni of two jears; on his return was made secretary and a member of the Board of Trustees of Buchtel College; in 1873 was elected a director and aecretai-y of the Web- .ster. Camp & Lane Machine Coni- S,\,\'FOKD H. IJURN'HAM. pany, holding- the position 1-t years; and is now engag-ed 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 onljr 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 college 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 average 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. Rev. Oeorge Messenger, $25,000; The Hilton Professorship of Modern Languages, by John Hilton, of Akron, $25,000; 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 AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. The Messenger Fund of $30,000, by Mrs. Lydia 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 towards the endowment of which the sum of $10,000 has already been contributed. HON. NEWELL D. TIBBALS,— born in JDeerfield, Portage .County, September 18, 1833; grad- uated from McLain Acaden:y, at Salem, in 1853; read law in office of Otis & Wolcott, in Akron; admitted to bar September 1855, 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 Coinmon Pleas, second subdivision. Fourth Judicial District, re-elected in 1880, but resigned May 1, 1883, and resumed fiis law practice. In 1864, Judge Tib- bals served 117 days in front of Washington as fourth sergeant of Co. F., 164th, 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-Canip to Commander-in- Chief Gen. Russell A. Alger. Octo- ber 22, 1856, Judge Tibbals was mar- HON. NEWELL n. TIBBALS. ried to Miss Lucy A. Morse, of Akron, who has borne him seven children, five of w^hom are now liv- ing, —Martha A. (now Mrs. Wilson M. Day 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 $174,400, 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, rrlany of whom are now actively interested in the welfare 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 by 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 CDNTEMI'LATED \'E\V FKATURE. 165 The present healthy condition of the college, financially and otherwise, and its promise for the future, is highly gratifying to its friends and patrons generally, and most of all to him who gave all he had to its establishment and maintenance, the large-hearted John Richards Buchtel, whose name it so proudly bears pROF. ALBERT B. TI\KER,-son -•■ of Horace and Sophrotiia (Skin- ner) Tinker, was born in Mantua, Portag-e County, January 28. 1852; raised on farm, attending common school till 18, in 1870 enteruig Hiram Colleg-e, 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 elected 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 2o, 1876, Prof. Tinker was married to Miss Georgia Olin, of Windsor, Ashtabula County, O., who Tias borne him seven children — Olin Dale, born February 19, 1878; Ger- PKOF. ALBERT B. TIXKEK. trude Ella, born March 20, 1879; Frank Burke, born August 20, 1880; Soj)h- ronia Mary, born June 29. 1882 ; Ruby Georgia, born Septeinber 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 commodious building, to be fitted -with the most approved appa- ratus and appliances, at a cost of from $40,000 to $50,000, but the plans are not, at the closing of this chapter (August, 1891), suffi- ciently matured to give them in detail here. It may, however, be properlj' 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 dra-wing 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 sttidents were happy in anticipation of its auspicious close, and of the holi- day pleasures in store for thetn at their respective homes. 166 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. About a dozen 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 lady students being pres- ent. The young ladies in whose honor the party was being held were fantasticallyiarrayed 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, with one of their number at the piano, the other eleven ^vere 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 highly 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 thein 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 agony, found merciful relief in death, a little after midnight, ^vhile Miss Lulu Myrtle Steigmej^er, 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 Sform Lake, lo-wa; Aurelia Blair Wirick, of Storm Lake, Iowa; Dian May Haynes, of Clifton, Kansas; Addie Marion Buchtel, of Columbus, Kansas; Almira Reed Van Dusen, of Fair- play, Colorado; Dora E Merrill, Professor of English Histor3r, of Williamsport, Pa.; Mary Zuba West, of Marietta, Ohio; Estella Frances Musson, of Mogadore, and Wilbur Walter Acklej', 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 sorro-w to the friends of the sufferers, eliciting the depest sympathy from the entire community, but was especially .painful to the College authorities, lest thej^ should be charged with lack of discipline and a proper oversight of the young people entrusted to their care. There is, however, 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, bj^ either sex, among themselves, may properly, on occasion, be permitted, and it is gratif3='ing to know that while the melancholy event is still sadh- 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 schools, prepared for the Board of Education, in 1876, and is under special obligations to Superintendent Fraunfelter, ex-Superintendeut Samuel Findley, President Orello Cone, ex-Secretary Albert B. C()XCLl'SIOi\ OF AKKt)N S SCHOOL JIISTOU'V. 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 outUne of Akron's educational history during the sixtj'-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 cit)', large or small, in Ohio or elsewhere. DAYTON A. DOYLE.^son of Wil- liam B. and Harriet (S a g- e) Doyle, was born at Akron, Ohio, Sep- tember 27, 1856 ; educated in public schools of Summit Count3^ graduat- ing fi'om 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 yea"r, afterwards attending lect- ures at Cincinnati baw School, from which he was graduated May 26,1880, with the degree of LL. B. ; was admitted to the Bar in the Supreme Court of Ohio, at Columbus, May 27, 1880, and to practice in the United States Courts, at Cleveland, May 26, 1882. On admission to the bar Mr. Dojde opened a law office in Akron, in 1885 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. Do5de was married to Miss Ida M. Westfall, of Akron. nAYTO.V A. DOYLE. They have two children—Dayton A., Jr., and Julia M. CHAPTER IX. AKRON'S LITERARY ACHCEVEMEXTS— EARLY DEBATING SOCIETIES— " LYCEUM AND LIBRARY' ASSOCIATION" CHARTERED IN 1834— SHAPING THE DESTI- NIES OF THE NATION— THE "AKRON PHILO LEXION SOCIETY "—BRIEF BUT BRILLIANT — THE "AKRON LITERARY ASSOCIATIf)N " — " 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 educational 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 Payne, William B. Mitchell, William E. Wright, Charles W. Howard, Lyman Green, William M. Dodge, Woolsey Wells, Erastus Torrey, David Allen, Reuben McMillan, EHakim Crosby and James W. Phillips, and their associates, together 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 stjde of ' The Akron L3'ceura and Library Association Company,' and by their cor- porate name may contract and be contracted with, sue and be .sued, plead and be impleaded, in all the courts of law and equity' in this State, or elsewhere; may have a common seal and alter the saine at pleasure; shall be capable of holding personal and real estate, bj- purchase, gift or devise, and inay sell, dispose of and convej' the same, provided the annual income shall not exceed live hundred dollars ; they shall have power to form and ratif3' a constitution and adopt b3^-laws for the government of such Association, the arrangement and regulation of its fiscal affairs, the admission of its inein- bers and the appointment of its officers, together with all other powers necessarj- 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; anA provided, also, that the fund.s of said Association shall not be applied to anj- other purpose than the support of the above named Ljxeum and Librarj' Association. Section II. That any future Legislature may alter, amend or repeal this Act. John H. Keith, Speaker of the House of Representatives. David T. Disney, Passed February 21, 183-t. 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 Blodgett, Jonathan Myers, Ansel Miller, Robert K. AXCIENT IXEIiATING SOCrETIES. 169 BuBois, Gibbons J. Ackley, Alfred K. Townsend, John H. Cleveland, Ithiel Mills, Paris Talhnan, Arad Kent, Horace K. Smith, and others, became members of the Association b3' the purchase of stock, which was fixed at $25 per share, quite a respectable library ot books, bj' 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 years later clerking- for Ackley & Austin, and still later in partnership with Gib- bons J. Ackley, 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 j-ears book-keeper of the Webster, Camp & Lane Machine Company, and later, for nearly 20 years, and until his death, collector for the Akron Gas Company. Au- gust 22, 1841, he was married to Miss Lucj' Ann Ackle}', 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. Hibbaid was again married, November 4, 1844, to 3Iiss Nancj' J. Ackley, sister of the first Mrs. H., who bore him 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 wa.s a life-long consistent niem- ALLEN hib:;aki). ber of the Congreg-ational Church; member of Villag-e Council 1846, '47 and 1864, and Recorder for 1859. He died March 6, 1889, aged 75 years,. 5 months and 19 daj's. The last Mrs. H. still .survives. These discussions were spirited, and considerable tact and tal- ent displayed, not only by the regularly appointed disputants, but by others, while the essays and addresses, bj^ home talent, were often able and instructive. This Association maintained a fairly prosperous exigence 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 1886-37, 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 AKKON 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 equally divided between the writer and the late Hiram Bowen, founder of the Beacon. TAMES B. TAPLIN,— born in Clare- J raont, 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 last six months at Franklin Academj', in Malone, N. Y.; at 20 learned trade of carpenter and millwright; in fall of 1834 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 by 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 Byron, 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 sur^'ivors being John L., for JAMES B. TAPLIN. 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, 1855, 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. Miltimorer James B. Taplin, William H. Dewey, Henry Clay Crosby, Russell Gale, Grove N. Abbey, Henry Converse, Solomon Cbloney, 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 Military Hall-, Tappan Hall, Trussell Hall, etc., one of the most successful of which, from ISS.^ to 1861, was MECIIAXICvS AND LITEKATUKE. 171 "LJON. NATHANIEL W. GOOD- -•- -*■ HUE,— born in Lincoln County, Me., December 20, 1818; from 3 to 17 years lived with parents in Lower Canada ; in 1837 removed to Wavne County. Ohio, teaching; school Win- ters and peddling- "Summers ; in Summer of lS+0 tavight in Green s- bnro-, Summit County, and the next Winter in Greentowij", Stark County, Hon. Lewis Miller being one of his pupils ; in 1841 clerked for Johnston & Irs-in, in Middleburv, and after- wards for Kent & Co.; taught school in Middleburj', in Winter of 184,5, '46, 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 18.50, holding the office four years ; was canal collector from 18o6 to 1858; collector of inter- nal revenue for Summit County from September 1862 to September 1866 ; State Senator for Summit and Port- age district, 1873-75; Republican elector for 18th congressional dis- trict in 1880 and president of O:;:o Electoral College ; was elected Pro- bate Judge of Summit Count}- in October, 1881, ably filling that posi- tion vintil his death, September 12, 1883, aged 64 years, 8 months and 22 days. Judge Goodhue was married to Miss Nancy Johnston, of Green HOX. NATHA.NIEL W. GOODHUE. township, December 20, 1841, who bore him four children — James P., died in infancy ; Allan J., a member of the 104th O'. V. I. during the late war, now residing in Cleveland ; Mary H., wife of ftev. Samuel Max- well, of the Protestant Episcopal church, and Nathaniel P., from 1882 to 1891 Deputy Clerk in office of Probate Judge and now Clerk of Courts for Summit Count}-, "THE AKRON LITERARY ASSOCIATION." This society was composed of such men as Nathaniel W. Goodhue, Charles 13. Bernard, Newell D. Tibbals, Dudley C. Carr, Daniel B. Hadley, Edward Oviatt, Edwin P. Green, William H. Upson, David L. King, Wilbur F. Sanders, Henry Ward IngersoU, Samuel C. Williamson, Arthur F. Bartges, John J. Hall, Augustus N. Bernard, Geo. W. Grouse, Dudley Seward, Dr. Daniel A. Scott, Dr. Elias W. Howard, 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 -which 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, -would 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, elsewhere, to the Mechanics' Associa- tion of Akron, organized in 1846, and of the liberal contributions made by Judge James R. Ford and Col. Simon Perkins, ($50 each). 172 AKRON 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 Wo r thing-ton, Franklin Co Vint 3-, Ohio, January 11, 1823; moved with parents to Tallmadge, in 1832 ; graduated fr o m Western Reserve College in 1842 ; read law with Judge Reuben Hitchcock, in Painesville, followed bj' one year's study in law department of Yale College ; admitted to bar September, 184:5 ; opened law office in Akron, January, 1846, in partnership, suc- cessively, for many 5'ears, with Hons. Sidney Edgerton and Christopher P. Wolcott; Prosecuting Attorney for Summit County, 184-8 to 1850; State Senator, 1853 to 1855 ; member of Congress, 18th district, 1869 to 1873 ; delegate to Republican National Convention, which renominated Abraham Lincoln in 1864 ; delegate at large to the convention which noininated Rutherford B. Hayes, in 1876 ; many years trustee of Western Reserve College, Oberlin College and Lake Erie Female Seminary ; first president Summit County- Bar Association and member State Bar Association Executive Committee; from March to December, 1883, by appointinent of Gov. Foster, Judge of Supreine Court of Ohio ; in 1884 elected Judge of Circuit Court, draw- ing two jears' 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 City ; 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, -were supplied with choicely selectt;d libraries proportioned to size of school, "Ohio School Librarj'," 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 well as custodian of the astronomical, chemical and other apparatus provided by the State, the library being kept in a small room, between the two stair'ways 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 toevery family in the district, whether 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 years thereafter. SUCCESSKLM. UTEKAKY \'ENTUR1S. 17» pHARLES B. BERNARD,- sou of V^ Rev. David Bernard, a former Baptist clerayman in Akron ; born in Western New York ; came to t)hio in 1845 and to Akron in 18i6 ; taught school four winters, last two in Mid- dlebury, working on farm in Svim- mer ; March, 1849, entered Auditor's office as deput}-, serving six j'ears — four under N. W. Goodhue, and two under Henrj' 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- 1863; member of Board of Education — president, secretary, treasurer, etc., some seven years ; treasurer Akron and Portage township Soldiers' Bountv Fund during the war ; in 1864, served 100 days 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- retary Cleveland Stove Co. 20 years (actively about two years); chief clerk Internal Revenue two years ; first appraiser of merchandise at port of Cleveland two years; member of City .Council two years ; member 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 inarried in Akron, to Miss Mary E. Gardiner. They have two daughters — Grace and Bell, still with their tsarents. 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 "Dynamics 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. Oscanyun, Turk. The terms for the course: Gentleman and lady, $5.00; 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, $1,535.35; balance in treasury, $249.25. Lecture committee: William H. Upson, chairman; WilHam 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, Vt, April U, 1816; raised on farm ; common school edu- cation, with one term in Chester Academy ; in 1835 began stud}^ of medicine with cousin, Prof. R. L. Howard, at Elyria, Ohio ; afterwards attending- lectures at Berkshire Col- lege, Pittsfiield, Mass., coinpleting his studies with Dr. L. G. Whiting, in Windsor Co., Vt., and graduating from Berkshire College in 1838; same 5rear began practice with cousin, in Elyria, O., a j'ear later, 1839, removing to Akron, where he was in continu- ous practice over half a century; after battle of Antietam was sent b}' Gov. Tod to assist in caring for wounded Union soldiers, serving in hospital at Frederick City, one month ; the Winter following devoting several months to hospital duty at Nashville, Tenn. Dr. Howard served several j'ears on Board of Education, and four years in City Council— 1871, '72, '74, '75, the last year as president pro tern.; 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. HOWAKD. Congress in 1876. June 16, 1840, Dr. Howard was married to Miss Eliza- beth Chittenden, of Middlebury, who bore him two sons — Dr. Henry C, who died April 23, 1887, aged 4i years, 10 months and 14 days, Frank D., manufacturer of agricultural imple- ments, still residing" w^ith his mother. Dr. Howard died August 9, 1890, aged 74 years, 3 months, and 25 days. THE "AKRON LIBRARY ASSOCIATION." So successful was 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 was 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 was accord- ingly done. In addition to the quite extensive reading room already established, 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, was appointed to prepare a constitution and by-laws, which were duly reported and adopted on the evening of June 11, 1866, the first section thereof being as foUo-ws: " Sec I. The Association shall be known as the 'Akron Library Associa- tion,' having for its object the diffusion of useful knowledge and the acquirement of the arts and sciences, by the estsblishment of a librai-y of scientific and miscellaneous books, for general circulation, and a reading room, cabinet, lectures and such other measures as may be deemed expedient." The annual membership fee was fixed at $2.00, the following eight persons paying $2.00 each, and subscribing their names to the constitution, on the night of its adoption: Julian H. Pitkin, UA'STINTED LIBERALFTY. 175 Uavid L. King, Stephen H. Pitkin, William H. Upson, Charles B Bernard James H. Peterson, Julius S. Lane, Samuel A. Lane; Oeorge W Crouse. ' pHARLES A. COLLINS,— born in ^^ Richmond, Berkshire County Mass., July 26, 1816; father dying- Augnst 4, 1817, removed with mother to Tioga County, N. Y., in 1827 ; in both Massachusetts and New York, working- on farm summers and attending- district school winters. In 1830 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. James 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 1860, 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- ruarj', 1870, C. A. Collins & Son erected shops corner Main and Church streets, where the business is still carried on by the Collins Buggjr Companj-, of which Mr. Charles A. Collins is president and Mr. George A. Collins manager. Januar}' 16, 1839, Mr. Collins was married to Miss Louisa Hine, of Tallmadg-e.who has borne him seven children, four only now living — George A., of Akron ; Mrs. Josephine A. Kent, of Kent ; Charles E., of Cleveland; and Nettie E., now Mrs. C. D. Hatch.of Cleveland. CHAKLE.S A. COLLINS. While a resident of Middlebur}- Mr. Collins served for manj^ years as member of Village Council and on Board of Education ; was also Maj'or of Akron in 1862 and 1863 and mem- ber of City Council 1877-1879, the first year as president pro tern. Subsequently 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, without further payment, and in case of the decease of such life member, the privilege to ■descend to the survivor, husband or wife, and minor children, such privilege, as to such minors, to cease on attaining their majority. The first officers of the Association, under the charter, -were: 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 made known to the public that a considerable sum of money "was immediatelj^ desirable for the purchase of a library commensurate to the public needs, life memberships, at fifty 17G 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 yearlj"- memberships at three dollars each. The funds thus raised, together with the surplus, (when there was a surplus), from the annual lecture courses, enabled the Association to at once establish a highly creditable circulating library, and one in wrhich 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 adinitted to the bar in 1836 ; was elected County Sur- veyor and in 1838 elected Probate Judge, holding the ofiEice 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 years ; member of Vil- lage Council in 1864 ; served on Akron School Board several years ; 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, 1831, 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, i 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 liberallj" con- tributed by our citizens, besides which, on the recurrence of the question as to w^hat should be done with the surplus soldiers' bounty fund in the hands of Treasurer Charles B. Bernard at the close of the war, it was, by general consent, turned over to the Association, in December, 1869, on the adoption of the following resolution, and the executioii 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 hereby authorized to sign a document presented to them by a committee consisting of John R. Buchtel, J. Park Alexander, George W. Crouse and Charles B. Bernard, which document is in the following words, to-wit: AKRON LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. 177 W^ aLLIAX 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 li, 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 & Mj'ers removing to Akron in 18i4; 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 compa n i e s named, 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 «fe 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 inarried 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. DR. JAMES H. PETERSON. )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, D^ 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 dentistry, 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 mvich time to other matters — busi- ness, political, social, etc., officiating as secretary of the Republican Union Central Committee of Summit County during the w^ar; 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 Di'clf & Peterson, and Grace C, student in Conservatory of of Music at Oberlin College. 12 178 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. " Whereas, there remains in the hands of Charles B. Bernard, as Treas- tirer of a committee consisting- of John R. Buchtel, George W. Crouse, J. Park Alexander and the said Charles B. Bernard, sts'led ' Portage Township Recruiting Committee,' a balance of money contributed by 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 Librarjr 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 pa)- over said balance, now amounting- to over three thousand dollars [exact amount $3,211.26] to said Akron Library Associ- ation, " Now, Therefore, Know All Men by these Presents, that the Akron Librarj- Association, of the Citj' of Akron, Summit County and State of Ohio, an Association incorporated under the la^vs of said State, in consideration of the donation to said Association of said sum of money, do hereby obligate and promise to use said money 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 remaining in said treasurer's hands and paid over to said Association, and to save harmless fromi 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 Library 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. Congee, Secretary." Down to this time, 1870, the Association had occupied the room now occupied by Newton Chalker, Esq., on the -west side of Howard street, which was now found to be altogether too small for the uses of the Association, and a committee was appointed to secure more commodious quarters. At this time t-wo 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 somewhat bitter, but was finally termi- nated by the friends of that locality purchasing from Capt. Baldwin, 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 which, in view of the subsequent tendency of business in that direction, and of the location of the postofflce 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 empowered 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 FRKK PUBLIC LIBRARY. 179 Y)R. DANIEL ARNOLD SCOTT,— -L^ eldest son of James and Harriet Pennington (Arnold) Scott, was born at Cadiz, Harrison Count}-, May 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 l.i, 18-1:2, was married to Miss Mary Burnett Phipps, of Smithfield, Jeffer- son Couutj', who bore him three daughters— Harriet Rebecca, Emma Virginia, and Mary Bell. In 1818, 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 family. Though repeatedlj' declin- ing political preferment, 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, Xo. 25, R. A. M. for 14 consecutive 3^ears, was a member of the Grand Chapter of the United States, and a member of Akron Coinmandery, No. 25, Knights Templar, froin its organ- ization. As husband and father. DK. DAXIEL AKNOLIl SCOTT. tenderly affectionate ; as a citizen, modest, warm-hearted and sincere ; as a physician, honest, faithful and sympathetic. Dr. Scott was truly beloved bj' all who knew him. He died at the age of 68 jears, 8 months and 19 days. DK. B'I'KON .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- gan ; later studying medicine with his uncle, Dr. E. W. Howard, in Akron, graduating- at Ann Arbor, Mich., beginning practice with Dr. Howard in Akron ; in 1862, entered the army as assistant surgeon of 16th Regt. O. V. I.; in June, 1863, was transferred to 53rd Mississippi (colored) Regt. as surg"eon, 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 age of 44 j^ears, 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 Daily 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, sou of Hobart and Martha (Sabin) Ford, now in the emplojr of The Diamond Match Com- pany, at Ontonagon, Mich. 180 AKEON 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 Ed-ward W. Stuart, on December 30,. 1873, the committee reported that they had tendered to the Council all the books and property of the Association, -with a perpetual lease of its rooms, on condition that the city -would 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 EDGEKTON, — born in Cazenovia, N. Y., August 17, 1819 ; thro-wn upon his o-wn 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 Lima, N. Y., -where, after spending t-svo terms, he -was employed as teacher ; in April, 184:4, came to Ak- ron, a stranger -with but $3.00 in his pocket ; entering the office of Judge Rufus P. Spalding as a la-w 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 Attorney, serving four years ; in 1858 elected to Cong^ress and re-elected in 1860, serv- ing four years ; in 1863 was appointed by 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^ hiniself, he secured the organization of Montana, of which he was made Governor by President Lincoln. Getting the territorial machinerj^ into running order, he tendered his HON. SIDNEY EDGERTON. resignation February 23, 1865, which was accepted in July. Returned with family to Akron in January, 1866 and resumed 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 daiigh- ters, seven of whom are still living. Mrs. Edgerton dying- August 3, 1883- This action was 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 payment 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 f?ou of Samuel Alansoii and Paulina (Potter) Lane, wan born in Akron, November 19, 1S41 ; educated in Akron public schools ; learned the machinist's trade at the Newark Machine Works and with Webster, Camp it Co., in Akron ; in 1866 was elected chief engineer of the Akron Fire Department, in charge of its first steamer, " Citj- of Akron, No. 1." In 1S67, occixpied the position of chief engineer of the Lake Superior Com- pany's iron mines, at Ishpeming, Mich.; 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, 188'i 7 0HN 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 member of the firm of M. W. Henry & 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 Academj' 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 successful iner- 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 COaNTY. The Library ordinance, as revised and codified July 1, 1886, is- 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 constituted 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, bs^ 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 terin 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 faithfully to carry out the terms of said deed. That the board shall have power to appoint a librarian and such other officers as they may require for the proper care of the library, and shall report semi- annually to the Council the condition of said librar5^ Sec. 283. All moneys used by said board for library purposes shall first be appropriated for such use bj^ said City Council, and no expenses shall be incurred, charg-eable 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 w^ith that regiment until December, 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 secretar}' of the second named society, and has held official DR. -H'lLLIAM 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 in companj^ 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; FK'EE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 183 J OHN W. BAKER— born in Auburn, Cayuga County, N. Y., January 27, 1827, common school education; in 1843, came with parents to Akron; a 5'ear later went to Col- umbus to learn cabinet making-, seiA'ing three j'ears, worked at trade in Akron till 1850, when he went over- land to California and eng-aged in mining, remaining two years; returnmg home, via Panama and New York, worked for a musical instrument firm until 1857, when he became a member of the Akron Melopean Companj', continuing ten years; then engaged in the manufac- ture of cigar boxes, gradual]}- 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 JOHX W. BAKER. the Second \Vard in the City Council. Ma}- 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 BON.STEDT. pARL WILHELM BONSTEDT,— ^ eon of Carl Frederic and Augusta Wilhelmina (Peschau) Bon- stedt, 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 j^ears; 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 18.55, when he came to Akron, as clerk in the grocer}' store of Ferdinand Schumacher, later being promoted 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 grocery trade in Akron, with Mr. John Krevider, at 210 East Market Street, the partnership continuing six years, on the with- drawal of Mr. K., Mr. B. continuing on his own account, until his death, October 19, 1890, 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, who bore him eig-ht sons and one daughter — Charles \V., of Greentown; Adolph; Victor E.; Ferdinand, of Lincoln, Neb.; Her- man; Williain 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. Grouse, 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. Grouse, 1866, '67, '68, '69, '70; John H. Christy, 1871; William B. Raymond, 1872, '73. Directors: 1866, David L. King, JuHus S. Lane, Julian H. Pitkin, Israel P. Hole; 1867, George P. Ashmun, George T. Perkins, Newell 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. Hower; 1872, Sidney Edgerton, John H. Hower, George T. Perkins, William 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 1865, came to Akron and engaged in the practice of his pro- fession with Dr. C. H. Bolles, later buying him out, and continuing the business with phenomenal success to the present time, having- fitted up in his own neiv 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 inarried to Miss Alice L. Randall, a native of Copies^ town- ship. The5' have one son, Cloyd M. Chapman, 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: Idesoli^ed, 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 LIBRAKY. 185 A XDRKW H. NOAH— son of Elmer -^^ and Esther iS[oah, was born in Bath, Februarjr lo, 1858, his father d3dng- in the war when he was quite small ; was raised in Peninsula, edu- cated at Oberlin CoUeg-e; taug-ht school four 3'ears at Steele's Corners, Boston Village and Chittenden's Cor- ners ; worked for the Daj'ton (Ohio), Hedg-e Companj' five j-ears, in the capacitj' of g-eneral agent, traveling throvigh Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Ken- tucky and Tennessee; December 29, 1880, was married to Miss Kittie B. McGill, j-oiingest daughter of James and Susan McGill, of Urbana, Ohio ; the}' have no children ; August 1, 1885, bought half interest in real estate business with Frank A. Wilcox ; May, 1888 was elected member of Board of Control of Akron Public Librar}', 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 org-an- ization, in 1888, being; elected secre- tarJ^ which position he still holds ; Past Grand of Akron Lodge, No. 547, JOSEPH ALVIN BE£BE. 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 postoifice, under Postmaster Joshua Stow ; in 1832 came to Cuya- hog-a 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. o n F^ast 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 years ; 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 County Infirmary and re-elected in 1883, serving six j-ears, 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. Raymond ; Frederick Wadsworth, now of Paige Brothers & Co.'s hardware corpora- tion, Akron; and Charles Joseph, now of Philadelphia. Mrs. Beebe died Deceinber 21, 1884, aged 65 years, 10 inonths and 2 daj^s, 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, l)eing $2,023.36, and for the years ending March 15, 1888, $2,325.82; 1889, $2,500; 1890, $3,700; 1891, $1,600, the library 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, WiUiam 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, Ralph P. Burnett, Charles R. Grant, Elias Fraunfelter, Andrew H. Xoah, Louis Seybold, Louis D. Seward, Charles S. Hart. JUDGE CHARLES R. GRANT,— J born October 23, 1846, in Orange, New Haven County, Conn.; at 15 enlisted in 12th Connecticut V. 1., 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 discharged. In April, 1864, locat- ed at Cuyahoga 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 ag^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 s^ear 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 o f 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 CHAKLES R. GKAxXT. 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 Alvron, who died June 8, 1880, leaving- one child— Frances Virginia, born Sep- tember 24, 1877. August, 19, 1891, was again married 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. Humphrey, 1884-86; Frank M. Atterholt, 1886, '87; Charles R Grant, 1887, '88; Olin L. Sadler, 1888, '89; Charles R. Grant, 1890, '91. POPl'LAR ENTERTAINMENTS. 187 Secretaries: George Tod Ford, 1874, '75; William T. Allen, 1875, '76; William C. Allen, 1876, '77; PaulE.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 which 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. Kummer, 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 Librarj^, w^hich 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. 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 well supplied reading room, to v^^hich 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 forward 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- GLINGS, 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. I^HIS chapter, giving an epitome of Akron's church history, is largely compiled from the more elaborate sketches furnished iDy pastors or prominent members of the several societies, with such emendations as the personal recollections of the writer 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 what is now the city of Akron. It was organized on the 15th day of December, 1831; by Revs. Benson C. Baldwin and Johi;i Hughes, with twenty-six members, one of whom, only, Mr. Edgar T. Chapman, now survives, though not now a member of the congregation; but we are without definite data as to when their house of worship was erected. Successive pastoss for twenty-four years were: Rev. Benson C. Baldwin, 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 vrithdrew 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 whose auspices it has since remained. Late pastors: Rev. C. Barnes, 1874 to 1877; Rev. J. H. Jones, 1877 to 1881; Rev. Dwight L. Chapin, September 1883 to 1889; Rev. Edward Eayport, May 1, 1889, to present time. Membership in 1883, thirty- ^ve; 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. ISO- well-known and well-worn brick church, south of the present fire station, after half a century's faithful public service, for religious meetings, political m(jetings, temperance meetings, lectures, con- certs, festivals, etc., having been razed to the ground. FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. In the earlier years of it& existence, the few Presb}^- terians and Congregational- ists of the new village of Akron, used to meet from ■week to week for conference^ prayer and praise at private residences, school houses, etc. In 1834 a Congregational church, amenable to Pres- bytery, was organized by Rev. John Pettit, and in 1835 a small house of worship, a cut of -wrhich 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, was 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 no^v 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, -was 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. Elkins, Esq., late of Ravenna, and is still standing- immediately north of the Windsor Hotel. In 1839, Mr. Walker resigned and was succeeded by Rev. James D. Pickands, who, unfortunately, embraced and preached the Second Advent doc- trines vsrhich so greatly agitated the religious world 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 m 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, who 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, which w^as dedicated in June, 1845. [This building in more recent years Mvas purchased by Mr. George Wulle, 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 was 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., by the Oneida Pres- tery in 1832 ; was pastor at Maulius, N. Y., four years ; Painesville, Ohio, eight years ; Massillon, three years ; Tallmadge, 14 years ; and of First Congregational Church in Akron 12 years— 1861 to 1873. " Father Smith, " ■was a general favorite with all classes — genial in his manner, and earnest in his pietj^, but remarkably liberal and tolerant of the views and feelings 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 ag-e 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 7o 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 CHUKCH HISTOKY. 191 being partially destroj^ed 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 centur3^ Mr. Joseph E. Wesener. REV. THOMAS E. MONROE,— son of Job and Phcebe (Collins) Monroe, of Scotch descent, was born at Plainfield, Conn., April 28, 1829; raised on farm with common school and academical education ; at 17 began teaching- in Rhode Island, continuingthree j'ears ; then entered a preparatory school in Providence, the 3'ear following- entering- Oberlin College, graduating from the clas- sical course in 1856 and from the theolog-ical course in 1858 ; ordained as a minister of the Gospel in 1859 b}^ the Cleveland Conference. Preaching one j^ear in Amherst, Lorain Countj^, 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 $38,000. April 1, 1873, Mr. Monroe became the pastor of the First Congregational Church of Akron, which position he still retkins; the society in the inter- vening 18 3'ears,besidesmaking-exten- sive improvements on its house of worship, having increased its mem- bership from 268 to 903, besides con- tributing- 100 of its members to the West Congregation a] Church, organ- First Congregational Church, South High Street. REV. THOMAS E. MOXInIOE. ized in 1888. June 3, 1859, Mr. Monroe was married to Miss Hannah Mary 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 Church, 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 -with 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 when 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, -which w^as completed and occupied the latter part of the following year. In the latter part of the Winter of 1840-^1 a protracted meeting of several weeks' 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, ■while the ser- vices -were in progress, having been intensely cold, though it was uncharitably and unchristianly insinuated by each of the t^wo 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., — sou 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 independentlj^ 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 Arts, and by Baldwin University in 1869, with the degree of Doctor of Divinit5r. He was a man of deep learning, a thorough master of Greek, a devoted student of history and a great lover of scientific research, his large library embracing the whole range of literature, with every department of which he -was thoroughly f amil iar. 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 Ceinetery. Dr. Day was for 27 years Secretary of the Erie Con- ference, and was twice honored with EEV. -WILLIAM FARNHAM DAY, D. D. an election to the General Confer- ence— 1863 and 1872, his fidelity to his own Conference, however, leading- him to decline many teinpting calls to prominent localities in other Con- ferences. Dr. Day was married in 1847 to Miss Ann Delia Grover, of Poland, C; 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 year of Methodism in America, 1866, the sum of $30,000 was- contributed towards the erection of a new house of worship that AKRON S CHL'KCII HISTORY. 193 should be commensurate with the rapidly increasing needs of the societ}^, and a fitting memorial to the beneficent aims and objects of the denomination and a credit to the city. The new structure was commenced in the Spring of 1867, immediatelj' 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 brick 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 externall3^ and internally, and its Sunda}- School rooms, planned by Messrs. Lewis 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 the church have been as follows: 1836, Thomas Carr and John F. Holmes; 1837, Daniel M.- Stearns and Thomas Graham; 1838, Hor- atio N. Stearns; 1839, John Rob- inson and Caleb Brown; 1840, John Robinson and Benjamin K. Maltby; 1841, Ira Eddy and James O. Wood; 1842, Dr. Timothy Goodwin; 1843, William H. Hunter; 1844-45, 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, Hen'rv Baker; 1877, L 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 13 First Methodist Episcopal Cliurch, < ner South Broadway and Churcli Streets. 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, 1831, 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 JVeekljr 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 Elder 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 was 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 Streets. Erected in 1836-37. Torn down in 1890 AKRON S CHURCH HISTORY. 195 ■p EV. NATHAN S. BURTON, D. D., ■•■^ ., —born in Manlius, N. Y., Feb- ruary 5, 1821, in infancj' removing with parents to Elbridge, N. Y., and in 1831, to Middle burj', Ohio; attended Village School winters and worked in father's sash factory sum- mers; taug-ht Southwest "Six Cor- ners" school, in Tallmadge, two winters; in 181:1 entered Western Reserve College, graduating in 1846, delivering the valedictory oration; taught one j^ear in Norwalk (O.) Insti- tute; in 1847 entered Theological department ^V. R. College, also acting as assistant editor of "Ohio Observer;" 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 College; on graduating, in 1850, became pas- tor of EljTia 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 1862 became pastor of the Pirst 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.) CoUen-e; in 1877 resumed the pastor- ate of the Church in Akron, remain- ing ten years, during that tiine officiating six months as President REV. NATHAN S. BURTON, D. D. of Dennison Universit}- 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 five children — Henry F., Pro- fessor of Latin in the Universit}' of Rochester; Charles S., law^yer in Chicago; Nellie, wife of Prof. W. W. Beman, University of Mich.; Ernest D., Prof, of Greek, Newton Theologi- cal Institute, and Edward F., lawyer 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 Ransted, J. M. Greg- ory, J. C. Courtney, A. Joj^. 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. Krected in 1889-90. 196 AKRON AND SUMiMIT 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 Men^LU's pottery. Among the members of that congregation were Dr. Eliakim 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 Middlebury; 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 vicinitj-. 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 two 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 slip* 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 was 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 were 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 sa 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 was 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 copy 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 •li': being Eliakim Crosby, Miner Surmounting the ball was an immense sheet-iron weather vane in the shape of an angel, with 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 $8,00(). A fine-toned bell, pro- cured by subscription of citizens, was placed in the tower, and also, a year or two later a clock, inan- ufactured, and for many years kept in repair, by' the late Henry S. Abbey. The society -was also presented with a most excellent organ, by the late Jesse Allen — probably the pioneer church organ of Summit County. The society was incorporated by Act of the Legislature, Feb- ruary 4, 1839, the incorporators 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 own 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 Count3r, where, after serving the church there for a number of years, he finally died. Mr. Loring was succeeded by Rev. Nelson Doolittle, for several years, followed by Rev. J. G. Foreman, the latter part of 1845, and in 1849 by Rev. Z. Baker. This latter gentleman leaning strongly towards the Spiritual- ist icfaith, which was then a prev- alent belief with many, alienated several members of the society ^. ,, . ,. , ,.^ , . from the true faith, begetting an First Universaliat Church, corner of . ,.„ i • i i j -ii South Broadway and Mill Streets. indifference whlch, 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. Everett 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. EUwood Nash, from May 1, 1884 to May 1, 1891, succeeded June 7, 1891, by Rev. J. F. Thompson, of Jersey City, N. J. REV. C. ELLWOOD NASH, D. D.,— son of Rev. C. P. Nash, Univer- salist clergyman at Conneautville, Pa., was born in Warren County, N. J., March 31, 1855 ; removed to Michigan in 1856, and to Iowa in 1870 ; prepared for college at Prof. W. W. Curry's private school, Newton, Iowa; entered Lombard University, 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 Divinit}' 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 divinitj^ course, from March, 1877, to March, 1878 ; called to and accepted pastor- ate of church at Stainford, Conn., December, 1878, assuming pastorate there in julj^ 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 caine to Akron as pastor of the First Universalist Church, May 1, 1884, continuing until May 1, 1891, his seven years pastorate here being y«*-^%^ REV. C. ELLWOOD NASH, D. D. highly satisfactory to the members 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 liberally 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 Kpiscopal ChapeU 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. Paul's Church and society, like those of ' the other early churches named, were at 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 v^ras rather shab- bily 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 went 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, with 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 Lyon, then -working for the ■write'r, and perhaps one or two others, were some-what bruised, but none of them were seriously injured. At this time the erection of 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 with 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 -was at once converted into a tenement house, ever since, until recently torn down, well, and sometimes notoriously, known as the " Cobb House." Besides the turning in of this propertj^ 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, w^as dedicated June 27, 1844, the parish then numbering sixty communicants. In 1870 the house ■was greatly enlarged and a new organ provided, and also a hand- some parsonage erected on North Summit street. In 1872, '73, new Sunday School rooms were 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 East 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 years of its existence, have been as follows: 1838, '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; 1848, Rev. J. K. Stuart; 1850, Rev. E. H. Gum- ming; followed a year or two 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. L. Ganter, twenty-one full years, and still popular and efficient. "DEV. RICHARD L. GANTER, D. -•-^ D., — born in AUeg-heny, Pa., July 23, 1835 ; primary education in Catholic schools of Pittsburg-; entered Kenyon Grammar School, Gambler, Ohio, in Spring of 1851; graduated from Kenyon College . Classical Course, July, 1856, and from Bexley Hall Theological Seminary in 1859 ; ordained defacon 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 Trinity Church, Iowa City, 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, „ . ■ .•wr,i; 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 a trustee of his Alma Mater, and President of the Diocese of Ohio. Akron's church hIvStory. 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 writer being Elders 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 Elders 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, was 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: Dr. 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, withdrew from the society for the purpose of establishing a mis- sion in the Sixth Ward, which 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 :yiETHODIST 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 AKKON 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, Septembet 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 -was 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, which building, devoted to secular purposes, is still stand- ing. In 1852, the Lutheran element withdrew 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 two branches mutually working for the cancellation of the debt against the church property. REV. JACOB DAHLMAN, 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- ents to 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, PennS5'lvania, New York and Michigan ; in 1855, entered Marshall College, at Lancaster, Pa., graduating- in 1860 ; then for two years attended the thelogical seminary at Mercers- burg, Pa., graduating therefrom in 1862 ; ordained to the ministry bj' the Philadelphia Classis of the Reformed Church June 15, 1862, immediately organized a congregation in West Philadelphia, known as the German Evangelical Reformed Emianuel's Church, building a fine house of worship and parsonage, with a mem- 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, Collegeville, 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- whei-e, he has served with eminent REV. 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 resignation, services in the German language, only, AKRON S CHUKCH 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 tounty, 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, followed by 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 tower 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 Ho'sve 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 old house when first suspended therein 54 years ago. The cost of the new building, wth 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 organized in the original Universalist Church, March 5, 1853, by Rev. N. Gher. In 1863 its first house of worship was established, by the purchase of the Congregational Church, of Middleburj^, and removing it to a lot purchased for that pur- pose on South Broadway, 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. Edmunds, J. Schlosser, J. F. Helm, William McCaughey, W. H. H. Snyder, S. S. Miller, J. M. Mickley, and I. K. Graff. In 1868 Rev. Edward 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 TjfBn, 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 Lothman, -was born in the villag-e of Buer, Kingdom of Han- over, January 31, 1845, at two and a half years 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 therefrom in 1862 ; then entered Concordia Univer- sity, at St. Louis, Mo., from which he was graduated in June, 1866 ; August 19, of that J^ear, ordained into the ministry, preaching in the Ger- man Lutheran Lhurch, of Elyria, Lorain Count3^ and Liverpool, Medina Count}', 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 societj' during his pastorate. The sketch of the church here given will show the success of his nearly twenty years' pastorate in Akron. June 20, 1867, he was married to Miss Betty Husinann, daughter of Rev. F. W. Husmann, of Euclid, Ohio, who has borne him six children — Emma, J^ydia, Ida, Edwin, Gertrude, KEV. WILLIAM H. LOTHMAN. and Clara, all still living at home. August 19, 1891, the silver anniver- sary of Mr. Lothman's ministry was dvily celebrated b}' his parishoners, a number of his brother ministers from Cleveland and other points participating. This society was organized August 6, 18.54, by Rev. P J. Buehl. In 1855 the society purchased from the Disciples, the house and lot formerly 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 new 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- muni cants. Sunday afternoons the pastor gives catechetical instruction to young and old. Uf'IB'nH 1 ^l-3"fll:^ ■?!■'.' ''-'Hf^^H Society maintains a parish week °jSi"B "^slf-i f^l^^H^^g day school, which children of members attend until confirmed, at the age of 13 or 14 years, when they are sent tothe 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's Hall, March 30, 1875, a letter of dismissal from the parent church wras 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 kno-wn 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 whose pastor- ate the beautiful gothic brick church edifice, on Prospect street, was 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 3'ears, 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. Trinity Lutheran Church and Parson- sonage— Prospect Street. THE UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH. Xhis 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 $3,200 Successive Pastors : J. Excell, one year ; S Castorline, two years • H. J. Becker, one year ; C. Whitney, two 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, with 14 members, Benjamin Stahl, leader. In 1867 it was made a Mission, by Conference, under charge of Mr. Sichley. A church edifice was commenced the same year, and the basement com- pleted and dedicated October 6, 1867, by Presiding Elder, Rev. John Stull, 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, costine- about $4,000. ' ^ This house though considerably enlarged and improved, being still inadequate to the rapidly growing needs of the society, an entirely new church edifice was 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. Hansel, 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 fiom time to time, the latter attending to the baptising of children, etc., from 1837 to 1842. A small frame house was commenced on Green street, in t843, by Father M. Hov^rard, 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. 0''Connor for about three years; Rev. M. A. Scanlon from Juiy, 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 th^ congregation. 208 AKKON AND SUMMIT COUXTY. 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 j^ears. 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 capacity five j'ears. August 1, 1880, b}- appoint- ment of Bishop Gilmour, Father Mahar became 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 bj' the historj' of the church, given else- where, not only having charge of St. Vincent de Paul's Church proper, on West Market Street, with a inem- bership of 275 families, but of St. Mary's division, on South Main Street, with a membership of nearly KEV. THOMAS F. MAHAR. 100 families, (soon to be erec.ed 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 kej^stone of each -window arch, upon the outside, being the finelj' carved head of some of the more prominent Saints of the Roftian Calendar. The tower, and the furnishing have not yet been full}' 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 vi'hich wras 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, gt. Mary's Division was organ- ized and a fine brick building, 36x62 feet in size, two stories high,, was erected in 1887, on South Main Street, opposite McCoy Street, in -which, 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 CHUKCH HISTORY. 209 branch of the Church, bj- his brother, Kev. William (.i. Mahar. There are at present connected with 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 rapidty increasing German element in that denomination, an amicable separation was effected in 1861, twenty-three families, of the Ger- man-speaking portion, at that time forming a new societj^ 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, Mai;ch 2, 1834, moving with parents to Mon- roe, Mich., in 1847 ; at 20 entered Assumption College, at tandwich, Ontario, remaining there three j'ears; then entered St. Thomas College, near Bardstown, Ky., from which he graduated in 1859; then spent one 3'ear in St. Mary's College, Cleveland, studied Theology at Assumption College three years, 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 monthly 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 dver 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. BEGUN, DD. success, as full}' 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 follows: 1865, residence of pastor, $2,200; 1866, cemetery, 4% 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 will be seen by an item in a preceding chapter, the society has recently purchased two 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 year, 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 was occupied until 1874, vsrhen new rooms were fitted up in Clark's block, on the opposite side of Hovsrard street, which, 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, vsras 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 societj' 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 west, 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 sotils, 175 of whom are adherents of this branch of the church, the remainder, composed mostly of other nationalities than the Ger- man, being knovsrn as " Orthodox Jews," 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- man, B. Rabbino and Rabbi Joseph Wasserman, the present incumbent. WEST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. About 1885, owing to the rapid increase of the protestant population in the west" part of the city, 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, vs-ith light and airy Sunday School rooms in basement, was 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 West Congregational Church, corner West Market and Aorth Balch Streets. REV. DAVID T. THOMAS,— second son of Thomas E. and Marg^aret Thomas, was born in Penycae, Mon- mouthshire, South Wales, July 20, 1857, emigrating- with parents to Min- eral Ridge, Mahoning County, Ohio, in 1864, three years later moving to Broofcfield, Trumbull Covinty, work- ing at coal mining; in 1876 worked on farm near West Farmington ; in 1877 attended commercial college in Youngstown ; then clerked in grocer}^ store in Sharon, Pa., fifteen months ; in 1879 entered preparatory depart- ment of Western Reserve College, at Hudson, going to Cleveland on removal of colle;ge thither, and gradu- .ating from Adelbert University in June, 1885. In Fall of that year entered Lane Theological Seminary, at Cincinnati, 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. DAVID T. THOMAS. ander. They have one child — Ruth born June 19, 1891. tt 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 organizatiofts^ the present society known as the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, having been in existence some t-welve 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 dulj^ fitted up and furnished. For some time church and Sunday School services -were conducted under the auspices of the white ladies of the Missionary Society, but no-w -wholly 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 years; Rev. Charles H. Docket, one year; Rev. A. B. Mathe-ws, t-wo 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; Sunda}- 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 own, 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 was 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 societj' 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. Hanl^s, 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 south-western portion of the citj', in June, 1889, organized a Mission Sunday School in that locality, -with such marked success that on Sunday, July 12, 1891, a handsome chapel, corner of Wabash and Euclid avenues, costing .$2,400, was dedicated. The Sunday School membership is now (July, 1891) 140 with 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, under 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 worship 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 Sunday 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. EdwardLayport, A. J. Hall, Charles- S. Pomeroy and John C. Elliott, were appointed to look over the ground, with the view of organizing a new Presbyterian Church in the central portion of the cit}^. It is understood that the com- mittee is meeting with such encouragement, in the way of pledges, that an organization vsrill soon be effected, and a commodious house of MTorship 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 denominationsr 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 w^eeks, except during the months of July and August, with such special meeting as the best interests of the Associaticm 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. \ AKROX'S NEWSPAPERS— A TRULY LITERARY CENTER— ANCIENT MIDDLEBUKV THE PIONEER, IN 18'^5— THE "PORTAGE JOURNAL"— HUDSON AND CUYAHOGA FALLS SOON FOLLOW— AKRON ALSO EARLY ON THE TAPIS— THE "AKRON POST," ESTABLISHED IN 1836— THE "AKRON JOUKNAL"— 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 COUNTY' 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 no-w Summit Countj^, was in the village of Middlebury, now 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 w^ater highway from Lake Erie to the Ohio River, could be brought through, or within a mile and a half of, that ancient emporium, fortunes for its inhabitants would speedilj"- be made. Hence an active and intelligent young printer from Ravenna, by the name of Laurin Devsrey, proposed to boom the project by the publication of the Ohio Canal Advocate, if the people of the village w^ould aid him in procuring the necessary outfit. Accord- ingly, a subscription paper was started, worded 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 Dewey, 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 McMiUen, Jr., $10 Spencer & Morgan, $15; Alexander C. Lawson, $2; William McGallard, $2; D. W. Williams, $5; Thomas C. Viall, $2; Jacob Kaufman, $5; Jesse Allen, $4; Tthiel Mills, $3; Amos Spicer, $4 WilUam 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; WiUiam Phelps, $2 William J. Hart, $3; R. and S. McClure, $5; Theophilus Potter, $2 Joshua Richards, $2; Bagley & Humphrey, $10; Leonard Chatfleld $2; David Jones, $2; Julius A. Sumner, $3; Miner Spicer, $4 Alpheus Hart, $1; Paul Williams $2; Guerdon Geer, $5. Total .^204. 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 with Mr. Dewey 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 within a year, or two dollars and fifty cents if payment be delayed until the year expires. No paper will be discontinued until all arrearages are paid." In politics the Journal was independent, with 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 Weekljr Adv^ertiser. This was 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 made self-supporting, it -was discon- tinued, the materials being sold to parties in Massillon. In subsequent chapters upon Hudson and Cuyahoga Falls, Avill be found brief histories of the Western Intelligencer (1827); the Ohio Observer [190.2); the Farailj^ Visitor [\mO); Hudson Gazette (1857); College Citjr Venture (1866); Hudson Enterprise (1875); and at Cuyahoga Falls, of the Ohio Rerieiv [IQ^d); True American (1840); the Cuj-ahoga Falls Reporter (1870); Weekljr Journal (1881); Hudson Ejcpress (1888), etc., which n6ed 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 Cuyahoga 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 weekly. 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- pfited; and the Post was suspended November 15, 1836. The 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, AKROX'S NEWSPAPEKS. 217 like the writer, a somewhat 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 Avas 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 withal 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. Galloway, of Northampton, a practical printer, procured a second-hand out-fit in Cleveland, purchased and repaired the crippled Ohio Observer 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 writer, and a practical printer, purchased Mr. Galloway's interest in the paper. Messrs. Smith & Bowen made the Balance a paper that ought to Tiave 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 newspaper 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. The 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 frona the hordes of blacklegs, counterfeiters and thieves infesting and disgracing the community. Though following 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 deinnct Journal, 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 two 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 was "Jedediah Brownbread, Ksq.," its orthography being of the Yankee dialect order, of which 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 bj^ his own proper cognomen. The Buzzard's P7a?^for«3.— 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-with-politics, anti-blackleg paper, devoted to news, popular tales, miscellany, 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 follies. 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 will encourage the honest man in well-doing and make a trans- parency of the breast of the hypocrite. In short, it will be ta society -what the common buzzard is to our Southern cities, viz. : It will, pounce upon, and by 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 literally 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, when^ 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., wrho was thus able to resuscitate his own paper, under the title of the Summit Beacon, a full history of which will be found further oh. The Pestalozzian. — From the start, Akron was well sup- plied -with enthusiastic educators, among them being our vener- able fello-w 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 Avith their O'wn advanced ideas upon the subject of education, and of systematizing the methods of imparting knowledge and conducting public schools,, the two latter gentlemen, on the 14th day of April, 18.38, 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 Neir Era. — The question of finance and banking was one of the absorbing subjects of discussion and legislative tinkering of 50 j^ears 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 quietly expired. Glad Tidings and Ladies' Vniversalist Magazine. — This was 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 literary and general local newspaper. At the close of 1840, the paper was- transferred to Cincinnati and its name changed to "2736 Star in the Westy where it continued to shine, in the interest of that AKRON S NEWSPAPERS. 219 denomination, until about the year 1881, unknown to the writer, 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 Forge;" in 1825, entered the printing office of his uncle. Judge Ozias Bowen, pvib- lisher of Middlebury's pioneeer paper, the Portage Journal, herein alluded to, as an apprentice. In 1838, in conipan5r -with Horace K. Sinith, published the American Balance in Akron, and in April 1839, on his own account, established the Summit Beacon, which he ably conducted until its sale to other parties, in 1845, though continuing to officiate as its editor one or t-wo years longer. Mr. Warren, February 6, 1815; Septeinber, 1832, married Miss Grace I. Tod, daughter of Judge George 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 Counts^, 1839, '40, and largely instrumental in securing the erec- tion of the new county of Summit ; Representative from Summit 1841, '42, securing passage of bill submitting question of locatiQn of county seat to popular vote ; trustee of Portage township ten years between 1839 and 1877 ;. charter member of Akron Rural Cemetery Association, and its president and most 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'- Novembers, 1864, and general super- intendent till November 4, 1869, sacrificing nearly 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 ag-e of 82 years, 5 months and 15 days, r^ if/ /p '^.p s) ■i'V^f 'i.u '■^'t'^^. I yr/t -,.1 ''"i>' 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 them. At a meeting of the directors named in the charter, April 9, 1839, Simon Perkins, Jr., was 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 were 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 ill 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 Cemeterj- truly "a thing of beauty and a joy forever." Lafids 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, with 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, while upon private lots are attractive monuments and tablets erected by lov- ing hands in memorj' of the dear ones there reposing. Approach- ing the grounds from the city, through Glendale Avenue, following the tortuous course of Willow 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. qPHOMAS WILLS,-~born at North- J- ampton, 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- sit Cuyahoga Falls, where he worked 12 years as florist and landscape gardener for the late Hon. Elisha N. Sill. During the war Mr. Wills h eld an appointment under the Government as sanitary gardener at Chattanooga, remaining there until 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 highly 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, August 14, 1886. Mr. and Mrs. Wills were the parents of seven children, four of w^hom 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 SUPEKINTENDENCY. On first assuming control, Mr. John M. present citizen, Henry O. Martin, of 415 Martin (father of our West Center street), 240 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 impi-oving 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 whole- 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 trairied 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: " Resolr^ed, That in thus terminating- 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 president, 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 sev'ering his connection 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 cemetery, 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 Julj^ 6, 1880, the Colonel being elected an honorary member of the board, with an urgent request to attend its meetings. David L. King, Esq., was elected as Col. Perkins' successor to the presidency, April 17, 1880, which position he continuous^ 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 AKKOX 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 was 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 law 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, butreturned to Akron in 1855, in addition to his lavj^ practice, as executor managing" his deceased father's large landed estate; abandoning the law in 1867, took an interest in, and the secretarj- ship of, the Akron Sewer Pipe Com- pany, retaining his connection there- with ten or twelve years ; 1882-88 president King Varnish Compan}', an enterprise resulting in pecuniarj- disaster ; active in all public enter- prises, his energy and liberality have largely inured to the benefit of the city of Akron, the Valley Railwa3' especially being a substantial monu- ment of his indomitable persever- ance, while our public schools, our free library, our benevolent associa- DAVII) L. KING. tions and oiir 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 Jul3', 1S91. Albert J. McNeil followed Mr. Howe, as secretary, July 3, 1876, being superseded by Albert B. Tinker in Jul}', 1879, followed, in 1880, by Edwin P. Green, with A. H. Sargent as assistant. Mr. Sargent succeeded to the secretar3'ship 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 war, in which the ladies, everj^- ■where, 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 whole 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. 16 242 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. MRS. MARY INGERSOLL TOD EVANS,— daughter of Judge George 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 December 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' Cemeter}^ Association, and bent all her energies towards the erection of the Superintendent's Lodge, at the entrance to Glendale Cemetery, which was nearing- com- MRS. MARY INGERSOLL TOD EVANS. pletioii 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 James 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, cannot afford costly monuments to mark the spot; but none are too poor to plant 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 probablj' 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. IngersoU 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 awake 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 you. 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, 18M.— From photo ^>y George E. Hitchcock. At first Mrs. Evans met with much discouraging opposition — let the sexton build or hire his own house as other people did — a burjdng 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 out of character, any way, if not absolutely sacrilegious — let the Cemetery Association make their own improvements, etc. But her plans \s'ere heartily approved and ably seconded bj' her two sisters, Mrs. Orace 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. Townsend, 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. Bro-w^n, president; Mrs. George T. McCurdj^, vice president: Mrs. Alden Gage, secretary and treasurer. 244 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 E. Abbey and other theatrically inclined young men, $200.19; total gross receipts, $1,631.54; expenses, $344.52; net proceeds, reported by Mrs. Evans, 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 ^ 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, 54th Battalion, O. N. G., Co. F, 164th Regiment O. V. I., in the hundred days' service before Washington in 1864 ; foreman of Eagle Hose Com- pany; member of Citji^ 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 ;se^rs ; District Deputy Grand Master two j'ears ; 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 E. HOWE. daughter of the late Charles Web- ster, who died March 14, 1865, aged 30- years, 5 months and 5 days, Mr. Howe dying December 7, 1875, aged 44 years, 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 was 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, was nearly $4,000, suf- ficient to -warrant the Cemetery Association in proceeding with 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 Cemeterj' Lodge, though two of its most earnest promoters did not live to witness the fruition of their unselfish labors — Mrs. Grace T. Perkins dying April (i, 1867, and Mrs. Marj^ I. T. Evans, Februarj^ 2, 1869. To add to their resources, the ladies established, and for se%'- eral j^ears 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 friends or the ornamentation of their homes. We have not space for a detailed report of the operations of the Ladies' Cemeterj^ Association, during the intervening 23 3'ears, during all of v^'hich time it has maintained not only an active but a progressive existence, its truly gigantic labors being represented bj" 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 $17,1.50, besides many incidentals for repairs of the Lodge, etc., that vi^ould ■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. Raymond, treasurer. ALBERT H. SARGENT,— son of -^ George A. and Lydia (Blount) Sargent, born in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada, October 31, 184t; raised on farm; educated in coiTiinon schools and at Montreal College, teaching- two j^ears before enteritig college; removed to Roches- ter, X. Y., in 1867; studied law four 1,-earfJ 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 \V. Seelye, of Rochester; and was en- gaged upon the parks of that city until called to the superintendenc.v of the Akron Rural Cemeterj', Feb- ruarj' 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 PMucation from the Third ward in spring of 1885, hold- ing the office six years, the last two years as president of the board; in 1886 was elected coroner of Summit county, and re-elected in 18SS, serv- ing four j'ears. June 26, 1873, Mr. Sargent was married to Miss Sue S. ALBERT H. SAKGEXT. Sargent, daughter of John and Lucj^ (Seelye) Sargent, of Jefferson count)-, N. Y., two children having been born to them— Albert H., born March 4, 1877, dying in infanc}', and Jennie L., born March 3, 1878. MEMORIAL CHAPEL. But the crowning glory of Akron's beautiful Kural 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 to the memory of such of Summit county's gallant sons as had laid down 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 and public parks. 1 el' !^.U*»*t: 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 was 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, ^vhich 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 follows: Col. Simon Perkins, Lewis Miller, John F. Seiberling, David L. Kingr George W. Crouse, George D. Bates, Alvin C. Voris, Arthur L. Conger and David W. Thomas. The board by resolution of the Post, v^ras 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, Thoinas W. Cornell; AKRON RURAL CEMETKRY. 247 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, when 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, with a receiving vault, and to raise for that purpose $25,000 by subscription, payable in six, twelve and eigh- teen months. View in Akron Rural Cemetery, looking out, 1874, before Memorial Chapel and Stone Arch over Willow Brook were constructed. This plan proved to be immensly popular with 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 follovi^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 -were 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, v^rere 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 with Messrs. George Wohlwend and Frank Lukesh for the erection of the entire structure, exclusive of windows, 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. VieWin Akron Rural Cemetery from near Robinson and Howard Monutuents, looking West.— From photo b> Geori^e E. Hitclicock, 1891. Saturda3', May 29, 1875— being Memorial Day for that year- was thought to be a fitting occasion for the breaking of the ground for an edifice which w^as to be erected to the memory and valor of deceased soldiers, and arrangements to that end were made accordingly^, the programme adopted being brieflj' as follows: At 2:30 p. M. the procession formed on Howard street, under the direction of Major Thomas McEbright, assisted bj^ Emanuel P- Holloway, Capt. William C. Jacobs, Henry Young, Hugo Schu- macher and George M. Wright, in the following order: Babcock's band, 1.5 men; Buckley Post, 50 men; Marble's band, 18 men; Akron Liedertafel, 40 men; St. Vincent de Paul's band, 18 men; AKRON KUKAL CKMETKK'Y. 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 day. ' 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. B3'ron S. Chase, Amasa F. Chandler, Harvey F. Miller and \V. Milton Clarke, sang an appropriate song. 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, written in his own terse but fervid style, and spoken in his own earnest and impressive manner, closing with this eloquent paragraph: "May this monument be fruitful of instruction to those who come after lis, as well as an honored memorial to our departed heroes, giving- evidence that this generation possesses the spirit of our ancestors in sufficient degree to defend the institutions they transmitted to us. All praise to the liberalitj' and good taste of the citizens of Akron who thus honor the memory of our heroes. May we go hence resolutelj' determined to make, preserve and transmit to the future the best human institutions that ever mankind devised, and blessed will be our inemory." 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 sorrows 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 j^ather liere, to-da3'. To honor those who gave their lives away; And so, ^vith offering heart-felt and sincere, We speak the tender words and drop a tear. When the s-weet air holds out the touch of health. And silvery blossoms promise golden wealth, A fair and goodlv portion here ^^•e 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 slumlDer 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 work was 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 ceremonj^ of laying the corner-stone was performed at 5 o'clock p. >r. Prayer was offered by Rev. Carlos Smith, of the Con- gregational Church. Gen. Alvin C. ^'oris 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. '•■n'Vt;''' View in Akron Rural Cemetery, from head of Upper Duck Pond, looking East.- From photo bj' George E. Hitchcock, 1891j 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 everj- 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 Liberty, 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 and AKRON RURAL CKMETERY. 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 wincJows, 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 war. 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 Anniversary 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 ^vith all nations;" the easterly panel, the figure of the hero of Lake Brie in the war of 1812, Commodore 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, -with his immortal utterance in closing his second brief inaugural address, March 4, 1865: "With malice toward none, and with charity for all." Smaller windo^ws, with 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 memory 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.Rpbinson 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 Sibley 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,Sipon which were inscribed, previous to dedication, the names of all of Akron and Portage township's soldiers killed in battle, or who had died, either during or after the close of the war, regardless of the place of their decease, or burial, and of all other known ex-soldiers from other localities who had died in Akron, to which has since been, and will continue to be, added those who are constantly being transferred from the ranks of Life to the grand and ever augmenting Armj' of the Dead. Two 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 §outh, and the other on a slight mound upon the west. DEDICATION OF CHAPEL. The chapel, complete in all its appointments, was 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, which was received on behalf of the Post, in AKRON KIJRAI, CEMETEKY. 253- eloquent 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 j'oiir 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-da5^ 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- j'ou these keys, the symbol of possession, in token of the transfer which is hereb3' made." COL. PERKINS' RESPONSE. On receiving the keys of the chapel from Judge Williamson,. Col. Perkins said: " Sir : In behalf of the Akron Rural Cemetery, we accept the beautiful and sacred trust, through you confided to us by the members of Buckle}^ Post, Grand Army 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, by our patriotic fathers, in spotless purity for generations to come. " The Cemetery Association will treasure the invaluable trust }ou now confide to us, and will preserve it as a sacred and loving tribute to ovir sonSr w^hose sacrifice -vi^as made for us and for our children after us. Allow me, in the name of the Akron Rural Cemetery Association to tender, through j'ou,. to Buckley Post, our grateful thanks for the confidence and honor reposed in us, 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. .-V few brief excerpts must suffice: "The occasion which calls us together to-daj^" 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 memory 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 they have- died for us and for that which is dear to us ; that their immeasurable sacri- fice has made life, happiness and prosperity possible for us and for our chil- dren. * * * As 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 way 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 ainL-^ 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 b}^ the- Akron Liedertafel,Will M. Carleton recited, an appropriate original poem, under the above title, the exercises closing with a song hyr 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 well as dead, an inestimable public con- venience, an 'ornament to our beautiful Rural Cemetery, and a source of perpetual pride to all our people. Lewis Miller's Duck Pond, loolting East from Akron Rural Cemetery, previous to the Extension of Park Place to Glendale Avenue. On finallj' closing up his accounts, it ^vas 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 with the contractors, and the liquidation of other claims. Treasurer Crouse, in addition to his own liberal contribu- tion, was out of pocket just $3,500, for which sum, by special act of the Legislature, the Council was 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 vsrindows, being $25,294.64. Aside from its preciousness, as the hallowed resting place of AJcron'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 over expended by 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, while private expenditures, for lots and ornamentation, head-stones, monuments, etc., w^ill undoubtedly aggregate fullj' $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, ISai), amounting to nearly $10,000. This fund should be rapidly augmented, so that, in the not very distant future, when the income from the sale of lots shall comparatively cease, and other and more distant grounds have to be 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 contingency or peradventure. AKRONS PUBLIC PARKS. In addition to Akron's beautiful Rural Cemetery, of fifty-seven acres, artistically laid out into romantic drives and walks, Etnd always open to the public, tourt house square, donated by Gen. Simon Perkins to Summit county, for public purposes, in 1840, and now 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 way of public parks, as follo\\rs: SOUTH AKRON OR PERKINS PARK. , The original proprietor of the land, .Gen. Simon Perkins, of Warren, in platting his new village of Akron, in 1825, laid out a " public square," on the western part of his plat, embracing what is now known as Perkins Park, 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 about five acres of ground. The larger portion, north of Exchange street, is surrounded by a substantial fence, thoroughly sodded, planted to thrifty 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 was unanimously adopted authorizing the Mayor "to 256 AKKON 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 Public 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 wife,. 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 Tovsrn of Akron," conveying to the Town Council of said town, "the w^hole of Block number thirty, (30), containing seven and seven one-hundredths of an acre of land, and the w^hole of Block number six (6) in Perkins' Addition, containing one and eighty- five one-hundredths of an acre of land, "for the purpose of public squares, or grounds, and for no other purpose w^hatsoever,. 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, thenr 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 conve3red,. bounded by Prospect street on the west, Pafk 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 wife 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. Snbsequentlj' in 1875, the city purchased from Joseph Perkins for $2,000 the strip of land lying between Elm (now North College) stre^ and the rail- roads, east and west, and Perkins and Park streets, north and south, a portion of which, including that portion of College street lying between the two 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 rows of thrifty young maples, with its well-kept walks and comfortable lawn settees, is a con- stant reminder to our people of the generosity and foresight of the AKKOX S PUBLIC PARKS. 2o7 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 between 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 work 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 west 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 citj', east of the railroads, bounded north by Thornton street, east by Grant street, south by Eagle street, and west by Washingten 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 Citj^ of Akron, and virith the care that is being bestowed upon it by the park commissioners, being fenced, graded and liberally provided "with trees, walks, etc., is in realitj^ a verv 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 bj^ 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, an4 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 well, at the corner of West Market 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 vsras 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 no-w doing daty 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 worthy 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 township. Since the annexation of that to"wnship to the city, 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, with 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 shadj^ 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, Johii Kreuder and David Rittersbach, all of whom, without compensation, j'early devote much time and attention to their AKKON S PUBLIC PARKS. 259 improvement, the annual expenses for fencing, grading and plant- ing, trimming, mo"wing, 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. f ^^ *«:*'«' 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 OFFICEKS FOE 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, county, 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 which follows, not a single instance of malfeasance in office, has been reported or suspected. As elsewhere stated Akron was incoporated as a "Town," by 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 "white male inhabitants "who have resided w^ithin 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 Tow^n 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, "with 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," which 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 full}' described in the second chapter of this work and need not be repeated here, the entire roster of to"wn, village, city and to'wnship officers, during the intervening 55 years, being as follows: Town and Village Trustees. — For 1836, Erastus Torrey, 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 vacancj'. 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 was 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.. AKROX S CIVIL SERVICE RECORD. 261 WILLIAM L. CLARKE— son of Judge George Clarke, was born in Lewisburo-, Pa., March 19, 1796; came with parents to Stark Count}', in 1810, and to Spring-field in 181i ; common school education, receiving- additional instruction from father in mathematics and surveying-; raised a farmer, early manhood divided between farming- and teach- ing-, in 1833reinoviiig- to Middleburj' ; in ISiS, was elected Slieriff of Summit county, and re-elected in 1850, ably filling that responsible position four jears, 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. Apiril 9, 1818, he was married to Miss Sarah De Haven, of Springfield, who bore him live daughters and one son — Martha, born January 28, 1819, married to Mr. James Irvin, November 2, 184:2, who died September i, 1863, Mrs. Irvin still surviving; Nancy Cynthia, born March 25, 1821, married to Perry C. Caruthers, of Tallmadge, October "22, 1810, both now living ; Sarah Lois, born Jul}- 2, 1823, married to Dudley Seward, whose portrait and bio- g-raphy appear elsewhere; Maria Jane, born January 7, 1826, married to N. D. Furri-, November 12, 1815, XELSON B. STOXE. NELSON B. STONE,— son of Milo and Sarah (Beardslej^) Stone, was born September 18, 1816, in Ma- honing County, Ohio, the family a year later settling in Tallmadge ; educated in district schools and at Tallmadge Academy; after several years 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 county clerk, Lucian Swift, serving- under Clerk Swift and Clerk Lucius S. Peck, until October, 1851, when he was 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 Cuj'ahoga Countj' ; then after a short engageinent with Aviltman, 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, secretarj-, etc., in the Sunda}^ school, since its org-anization. May 19, 18152, Mr. Stone was married to Miss Mary H. Clarke, of Akron, who died April 6,1853, leaving one son— 'Nelson C, now cashier in City National Bank of Akron. August te, 1854, Mr. Stone was ag-ain married, to Miss Elizabeth H. Beardslej', 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- A enbach, Hessian Hamburg-jPrus- sia, February 10, 1830; at ten years of age came with parents to America, settling- in Akron; educated at Akron High School ; clerked for various firms in Akron several 3^ears ; was employed bj^ County Commissioners to compile complete index of county records ; in 1858, was elected County Recorder, and re-elected in 1861, ablj'* 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 oiHce, 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 phenomenally suc- cessful, being the pioneer in that line of business in the city. Mr. Bock is emphatically self-made, an- earnest Republican, a stanch tem- perance man and a good citizen. He was married July 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 young, and Charles S., a bright, promising young man, who died suddenly, September 28, 1888, at the age of 25 j^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 January^ 1843, James Mathews was appointed to fill the vacancy; 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. Henry; 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 to^vn in October, William M. Dodge -was appointed in his place; 1851, James M. Hale, Benjamin McNaughton, William O. Sanford, Milton W. Henry, David T. Bruner; 1852, James M. Hale, William O. Sanford, Ralph P. Myers, Peter Osborn, Ansel Miller; 1853, William 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. Taplin, 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, Thomas 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, Henry Fisher; 1862, Charles Webster, John E. Bell, John Douglas, Isaac Harter, 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. Towx AXD Village Mayors. — The mayors of the incorporatd to^wn and village of Akron, like its trustees, were elected ior the term of one year only, and were successively as follows: 1836, Seth Iredell, (father of Charles and Robert S. Iredell, now both residents of Akron); 1837, '38, John Curtis Singletarj-, (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 BHss; 1851, Charles G. Ladd, (father of the present Mrs. A. C. Voris); 1852, Frederick Wadsworth; 1853, Philip N. Schuyler; 1854, Willinm T. Allen, 1855, HON. JOHN JOHNSTON,— born in Center County, Pa., Februarj' 11,1813; when a 5'ear old came with 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 hiinself in partnership with Mr. James Irvin, continuing till 184.i ; then engaged in real estate bu.si- ness, loaning money, etc. ; 1864^66 member of banking firm of T). P. Eberman & Co.; 1866-72, member of building- and lumber firm of W. B. Doyle & Co. Mr. Johnston was an active Republican ; elected Repre- sentative to State Legislature in 1861, and re-elected in 1863, ablj- filling the Speaker's chair in adjourned se.ssion of 1865; a warin friend of Horace Greeley, supported him for Presi- dent in 1872, but soon became dis- gusted with that moveinent and returned to Republican ranks, as chairman of Republican Central Committer; for several j'ears justice of the peace for Middlebury town- ship ; and for 28 consecutive years, save one, a member of Middlebury school board. February 4, 1840, Mr. Johnston was married to Miss Elizabeth R. Newton, of Middlebury, who still survives, Mr. Johnston HON. JOHN JOHNSTON. dying suddenly, of apoplexj-, Jan- uary- 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 Sum n: it Co.) ; Clara, (Mns. E. T. Hall, of TitUMville, Pa.) ; William E., of Akron ; John Jr., (lawyer in Chicago); Lizzie J., (now Mrs. Robert Watt, of Akron) ; and Samuel Newton, of Akron. 264 AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. DR. MENDAL JEWETT — of Eng-- li.sli descent, was born in Green- wich, >lass., September i, 1815; com- mon school education ; at 18 went to Boston, working- in foundry some two years ; then visited the South, where 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 Countj^ soon afterwards entering upon the study of medicine in the office of Drs. Noble & Town, in Hudson, graduating froin Western Reserve Medical College in 1839, locating and coinmencing prac- tice in Mog-adore the same year; in 1850 made the tedious and perilous overland journey to California, remaining there two years ; 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 iMorality. In 1858 Dr. Jewett removed to Middlebury, where he spent the remainder of his life in the successful 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 ALEXANDEK. JOHN PARK ALE^XANDER,— son J of John and Mary (Scott) Alex- ander, born in Bath, August 1, 1834; edtxcated in district schools, Rich- field Academy and Marlboro Normal School, in latter taking- a course in civil engineering under Prof. Hol- brook ; 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 Emily, now wife of Dr. Fred. W. Inman, Whitehaven, Florida ; Eva L., now Mrs. John DeHaven, of Akron ; Ford E., now of Canon City, 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 years proprietor of two oil refineries, till 1891 dealing exten- sively in illuminating and lubri- cating oils ; was secretary of Suminit County Agricultural Society five j'ears, from 1858, and its president seven years thereafter; treasurer State Board of Agriculture in 1872 ; member of Akron Cit5' Council 15 5'ears 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 married 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. AKKOX S CIVIL SEKVICE RECUKU. 265 \56, Nathaniel Finch; 1857, '58, Frederick A. Nash; 1859, George W McNeil; 1860, '61, Henry Purdy; 1862, '63, Charles A. Collins; 1864, GeorgQ 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; 18.59, 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; by reason of impaired health, ex- changed practice of medicine for dentistry, opening an office in Ravenna, Ohio, in 1836, where he suc- •cessfully 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 186i, ably filling the office two full terms of tw^o years each, having previously held the office of Mayor 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 Mary L. Williamson, of Ravenna, July 4, 1840, who bore him four children — Frances L., wife of Capt. T. D. McGil- licuddy, of Akron; William H., book- keeper for J. F. Seiberling Company; Mary Alice died in her fourth year, in 1853, 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 w^as 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 days. Town and 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, Ithiel 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; 18.50, 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; 18.55, Josiah J. Wright; 1856, George W. Marriner; 1857, Josiah J. Wright, William Fisher, assistant; 1858, Josiah J. Wright, Philip A. Bierwirth, assistant; ia.59, Josiah J. Wright, George W. Smetts, assistant; 1860, Josiah J. Wright, Dudley Seward, assistant; 1861, Joseph Milligan, William 266 AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. Waij-d, assistant; 1862, George W. Marriner, William Ward, assist- ant; 1863, Josiah J. Wright, David A. Scott, assistant; 1864, David A. Scott, William Ward, assistant. , ■pDWARD OVIATT— born in Hud- -L- 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 Novem- 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 Attorney 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, being 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, EDWARD OVIATT. Emma, now wife of Calvin Edg-erton, a lawyer in Los Angeles, Cal. December 5, 1855, was :narried to Miss Frances A. Lansing, of Sara- toga county, N. Y., who died August 13, 1881, leaving two children — OUvia F., wife of George G. Allen, Esq., and Edward Ailing, book-keeper in the City National Bank of Akron. LEONIDAS S. EBKIGHT. DR. LEONIDAS S. EBRIGHT,-^ son of George and Rachel (Hathaway) Ebright, born in Fairfield County, Ohio, September 26, 1844 ; common school education ; in Ma)-, 1862, enlisted in 85th Regt., O. V. I.; dis- charged with regiment in July, 1865. In February, 1866, came to Akron, 8tud5ang medicine with Drs. William Bowen and Thomas McEbright, graduating- at Charity Hospital Med- ical College in February, 1869. After- wards spent 13 months in German}', then settled down to the practice of his profession in Akron. An ardent Republican in politics. Dr. Ebright was elected to the State Legislature, in 1880, ably serving his constituents in that body two years. He is an active luember of the various med- ical associations of the County, State and Nation, has served four j-ears as health officer of the City of Akron, and was president of the decennial real estate board of eqvialization 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 axd 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 W. 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. Towx AND Village Attorneys.— 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 Edward 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 (Blanker) Kohler, was born near Read- ing, Pa., August 15, 1835, when four months old removing with parents to Franklin township, this county; edu- cated in district schools, and Lodi Academy; in 1853, apprenticed him- self to Mr. D. G. Sanford, cabinet maker, in Akron, later reading law with X. \Y. 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 w^ith Harvej' Musser, Esq. Mr. Kohler represented Sum- mit County in the State Legislature, 1880 to 1885, and served as Attornev 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, w^ho 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, o f 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 handsoinest 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 one to two years, though for several years, under a misapprehension of the law, some of the appointive offices were filled from j^ear to year. 268 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. HON. SAMUEL W. McCLURE,— born at Alstead, 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 couutj-, Ohio, meantime having- pur- sued an academical education -with the ministry in view; at 18 taug-ht school at Medina two years; then attended Allegheny College three jears, 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 law 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 abilitj'; soon afterwards formed a law partnership with James S. Carpenter, Esq., then of Medina, and Grant B. Turner, Esq., of Cuyahoga Falls; in January 1842, married Miss Matilda E. Deming, of Ashland, the next spring moving to Cuyahoga Palls; was elected Prosecuting Attorney in 1847, and in 1848 repre- sentative to the State Legislature, serving one term onlj^; 18o0 to 1864 / ■ 7 HON. SAMUEL W. MCCLURE. 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 term 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, Le-wis Miller, J. Park Alexander; 1866: First, George W. Crouse, John J: Wagoner; Second, Henry W. Ho-we, Joshua H. Collins; Third, Le-wris Miller, George Sechrist; 1867, First, John J. Wagoner, George W. Crouse; Second, Joshua H. Collins, William H. Payne; Third, George Sechrist, Jeremiah A. Long; 1868, First, George W. Croixse, John W. Hollo-way; Second, Joshua H. Collins, William H. Payne; Third, J. Park Alexander, Jeremiah A. Long; 1869, First, Charles R. Ho-we, John W. Hollo-way; Second, Joshua H. Collins, William J. At-wood; Third, Clement J. Kolb, J. Park Alexander; 1870, First, William T. Allen, Charles R. Howe; Second, William P. Cassidy, William J. Atwood; 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. Leohuer, Robert McElhinney; Fifth, James A. Metlin, Richard F. Palmer; 1873, First, Milton W. Henrv, William T. Allen; Second, James Christy, Edwin H. Merrill; Third, Henry L. Carr, J. Park Alexander; Fourth, David Lamparter, Noah N. AKKON S CIVIL SERVICE RECORD. 269- 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,, Henrj' L. Carr, Elias W. Howard; Fourth, David Lamparter, Robert McElhinnej-; Fifth, Austin J. Hamlin, James A. Metlin,. [resigned December 4, 1874, and Emanuel P. Holloway appointed to fill vacancy]; Sixth, Joseph A. Baldwin, Enoch Rowley; 1875,. First, Milton W. Henry, William T. Allen; Second, Edwin H. Merrill, Alexander Brewster; Third, Elias W. Howard, William A. McClellan; Fourth, Robert McElhinney. Joseph H. Derhammer; Fifth, Emanuel P- Holloway, Simon Hankey; Sixth, Enoch Row- ley, David E. Hill; 1876, First, Milton W. Henry, William Buchtel;. Second, Alexander Brewster, 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. Lavirton; Sixth, Enoch Ro^ey, David E. Hill; 1878, First, Charles A. CoUins, 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,, HON. 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 office of H. B. Foster, in Hudson, the next year completing his studies with Hon Sidnej' Edgerton in Akron.; admitted to the bar May 2, I860. 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, 1864, disabling him for two months; on return to duty was assigned as Adjutant on Gen. ShurtlifCs staff, goino- 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, HON. ULYSSES L. MARVIN. resigned, serving till the following- October; in 1884 was elected Presi- dential Elector for the 20th Con- gressional District, casting his vote in the Electoral College for James G. Blaine. Mr. and Mrs. Marvin have four children— David Leslie, attorney in Akron; George Ulysses, city editor Canton Daily Repository; Charles Asaliel, local editor Canton Weekly Roller, and Francis Dorena, student in Akron High School. 270 AKRON 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 Duquesne, 111., where he was engaged in the manufacture of card- ing machinery nine years, when he returned to Akron ; in 1855, was appointed Superintendent of Summit Country Infirmarj', which responsi- ble position he ably filled until 1861 — six j'cars ; 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, Septeinber 11, 1883, at the age of 68 years, 5 months, and 6 days. Five children -were born to Mr. and Mrs. Chandler— Alathea, nowMrs.Eli Wilson, of Weston, Ohio ; Lucy A., also of Weston ; Fred. W., for several years past a inember of the mlT^*^- WILLIAM CHANDLER. police force of Akron ; Mattie B., and James D., the latter a member of the book and stationery 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- uty 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 3'ear. In the Fall of 1851, he was elected as Summit Couiity's first Probate Judge, but by reason of fail- ing health was unable to give his personal attention to the duties of the office, -w-hich -were performed by Alvin C. Voris, as deputj' clerk, until the death of Judge Ladd, from con- sumption, 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 SKKVICE RECOKD. 271 ROBERT S. PAUL —son of Hosea and Ellen (Gamble) Paul, born at Cuyahoga Falls, O., October 3, 18i2 ; educated in Cuyahoga Falls union schools ; meantime teaching' in Stow and New Portage, and learning civil engineering with his father ; in 1862 survej-ed narrow g-auge 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, Pennsj'lvania 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 jears, Mr. Paul also having served as president of County Surveyors' 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, KOBERT 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 commander of Castle Garfield No. 14, Knights of the Golden Rule. HOX. 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 j'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 \'arnish 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 now building the Sodom dam and tunnel, 52 iniles in length, for supplying New York City with water ; also building double- track bridge over the Ohio river, at Wheeling, and three tunnels, at a cost of $1,2.50,000 ; was member of Akron cit}^ council 1871, '72 ; treasurer of Portage township 1873 ; treasurer of Summit Count}- two terms, 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, Edward A. Lawton; Sixth, Enoch Rowley, Frederick W. 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 W. Henry, David L. King, [Mr. King resigned September 27, 1881,, William T. Allen appointed to fill the vacancy October 17, 1881;] Second, Henry H. Brown, 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, Lewis C. Parker; Fourth, Philip Weber, Andrew Kohler; Fifth, Edward A. La^wton, George L. W. Edam; Sixth. James Housel, John P. Richardson; 1883, First, Milton W. Henrj^, WiUiam 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, Henry H. Brovi^n; Third, Henry Young, Edw^ard C. Simpson; Fourth, James M. Laffer, Thomas S. Bradford; Fifth, John Schott, Charles D. 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 3rears 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 enlistinent of its members iii the ser- vice, as elsewhere detailed. After graduation Mr. S. engaged in teach- ing- four j'ears, two years as principal of Shaw Academy, at Collanier, Ohio, having meantime studied law ; was admitted to the bar in 1866, com- mencing practice in Kent, with 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- ing 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, 186i, he was married to Miss Harriet E. JUDGE EDWARD W. STUART. Whedon, of Hudson, daughter of Harvey Whedon, Prosecuting Attor- nes^ 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, under his father. AKKON S CIVIL SERVICE KECOKl). ITS HON. HENRY C. SANFORD, - born in Portland, Me., Septem- ber 11, 1^*33 ; his father dyint;-, 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 ag'e of 18 he came to Ohio and engag'ed in rail- roading ; from fireman being rapidly promoted to engineer, running suc- cessivelj' on the Sandusky, Mansfield (t Newark and the Cleveland and Toledo Railroads, in 1855 going to Quincy, 111., and running upon what is now the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad ; six j'ears later tak- ing- a train at Augusta, 111., on which road, bj' a daring act, endangering his own life, in rtmning into and crippling- another train, which was neariug Crooked River crossing-, where the bridge had been washed away, he prevented a fearful sacrifice of human 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 and other employment, located permanently in Akron, in 1870, as a successful lawjer. having ablj' filled the offices of Pro- secuting Attorney two years, 1873, '74; HOX. HENRY C. SAXFOKD. Citj- Solicitor two 3'ears, 1879, 'SO; Representative to State Legislature two terms, 1888, '89, '90, '91. Mr. San- ford was married to Miss Kmily J. Fairchild, of Amherst, Lorain County, January 19, 18.57, who bore him three children -William H., now practicing- law with his father ; Burton I., grocer, and Maj^ F. Mrs. Sanford died March 6, 1890, aged 52 years. TAMES J Irish JAMES BUKMSON. BURLISON,— of Scotch- Welsh descent, was born in Hamburg-, Erie Count}^ 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 3-ears later coining 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 county, in 1865, and both before, and during- his four years incumbency as Sheriff, by appointment of LTnited States Mar- shal Earl Bill, of Cleveland, serving as Deputj' United States Marshal for Summit county; also giving especial attention to detective operations, a profession which he has since con- tinuouslj' and successfullj' followed, manj' 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. 18 274 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. /^HARLES BAIRD,— born in Ak- ^ ron, March 25, 1853; graduated from Akron High School in 1872; read law with Upson & Ford; admitted to practice b3- 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 January 15, 1881, resigning to take the office of Prosecuting Attorney for Summit County, to which he had been elected in October, 1880; re-elected in 1882, holding the office four j^ears, 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. February 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 BAIKD. Alvin Helen Voris, born December 3, 1882 ; Elizabeth, born August 30, 1884 ; Betsey Coe, born June 11, 1886 ; Charles, born October 15, 1888; and Katharine, born November 19, 1890. DAVin R. BUNX. DAVID R. BUNN,— born in Wells Co., Ind., May 23, 1842 ; bo3'hood devoted to farming- and attending- school two miles distant ; at 19 came to Ohio, working at farming- and in coal mines, near Do5'lestown in Wayne Co.; August 20, 1862, 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 him, the sentence was not carried into execu- tion ; after such inhuinan treatinent as to render him an invalid for five \ears, he was paroled in 1865, and returned to Doylestown, resUming work for his old employer, as clerk, on farm, and in coal bank; w^as mar- ried October 11, 1866, to Miss Almira Springer, of Doylesto-wn, who has borne him three children — two sons and one daughter ; in 1866, embarked in the grocerj' business and after- wards in the dr}^ goods trade in Do3rlestown ; in 1875 removed to Akron, and opened a boot and shoe store on South Howard street, con- tinuing three years ; in 1878 was, by Mayor Scott, placed upon the city police force, and was one of the most efficient members of that body for six years; after four j-ears efificieut service as deputy, under Sheriff William B.Gamble.was elected Sheriff of Summit County in October, 1888, renoininated b}' acclamation and re-elected in 1890. AKKON S CIVIL SERVICE KECOKD. 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. eUMNER XASH,— born in Bath »J Xaj- 10, 1836 ; raised on farm ; common school and academic edu- cation ; at 20 went to Wisconsin, working- at clearing way through for- -est for railroad, driving stage, clerk- ing, etc.; in 1858 returned to Ohio, farming Summers and teaching Winters ; August 6, 1862, enlisted in 115th O. V. I., being successively pro- moted to rank of First Lieutenant ; in 1863 commanded military forces at Dayton during the election ; in 186-t was detailed as Assistant Inspector •of railroad defences under Major Willet, which position he held till close of the war. Returning hoine in July, 1865, purchased a farm in Liv- ingston Co., 111.; March 8, 1866, mar- ried to Miss Rebecca M. Means, of Northfield, working the Illinois farm till 1868, when he returned to Suinmit Co., Mrs. Nash dying July 18, 1869, leaving one child — Maud M. Spend- ing two years on his father-in-law's farm in Northfield, and one season in Illinois, as agent for a lightning rod company, in the Winter of 1872, '73 was appointed Deputy County Clerk b}' 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, SUMNEK NASH. and holding the office two full terms of three j-ears each. Mr. Nash is now secretarj- and treasurer of the Akron Belting Company, fuUj^ 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, ) born near Holniesville, Holmes County, Ohio, March 27, 1842 ; worked on farm and attended district school during- boj'hood ; from 18 to 21 worked on farin summers and taught school winters ; attended private school of Prof. B. C. Smith, in Fred- ericksburg, several terras, and one year — 1864, '65 — Hayesville Academj^ ; in 1865 entered Princeton, N. J., Col- lege, graduating- therefrom in June, 1868, the saine year that Dr. McCosh became its president; in 1868 entered CoUiinbia College Law School, in New York, being admitted to bar in New York City, on examination, Ma^^ 12, 1869, and graduating from Law School in May, 1870 ; came to Akron August 1, 1870, and through the kind encouragement of John J. Hall, Esq., was induced to locate here, being admitted to the bar of Summit county, on examination, September 9, 1870; October 1, 1870, formed law partnership with Mr. Hall, which continued till January 1, 1877 ; in October, 1874, was elected Prosecuting Attorney for Summit county on the Democratic ticket, which office he ably filled two years, from Januarj' 1, 1875, to January 1, 1877, having since JAMES MADISON POULSO.N. been in general practice on his own account. September 28, 1875, Mr. Poulson was married to Miss Helen F. Smagg-, only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Smagg, of Akron. They have no children. removed with 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 manager, con- tinuing- nine years ; then became agent for the Merchants' Union Express Company, a year later enter- ing the emploj^ of the C, Z. & C, now C, A. & C. railwa3', serving- two or three years as ticket ag-ent ; then engaged in the flour and feed busi- ness in partnership with his father. In Februarj', 1872, was appointed County Recorder, by the County Commissioners, to fill the vacancj' caused bj' the death of Recorder Grenville Thorp, serving- till the following October; then served as deputj' in Treasurer's office till 1878, when he was elected Count5' Treas- urer and re-elected in 1880, holding the office four 5-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 mai-ried, at Flatbush,Long HENRY C. VIELE,— son of Hiram Island, to Miss Libbie F. Mack, a and Abbie M. (McFarland) native of New York. They have one Viele, was born in Washington child only — Fann}"- Mack, born June- County, N. Y., October 29, 1841; 2,1876. HENRY C. VIELE. AKKOX S CrVEL SERVICE KECDK'D. 'Zll A LBERT A. BARTI.ETT ,— born in ^ Mimi, Chautauqua County, N. Y., Jiuie 22, ISiO; common school educa- tion ; raised on farm till 17, then worked in saw-mill, the last two 3-ears on shares, until July, 1861, when he enlisted in the 49th X. Y. V. I., fpr three yeai'S or durinji" the war ; served in Armj' of Potomac until the battle of Antietam, when he was wounded, occasioning- the loss of left arm. On being' discharged, April 6, 1863, took charg-e of a small place Avhich he owned, two 5'ears later engaged as engineer in a steam saw mill at Corry, Pa., after one j^ear 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 Coun"t5^ ably filling that important office two full terms ; was iilso Third ward member of Citj' 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. i.s now conducting a planing" mill on West State street. Mr. B. is active and enthusiastic in local military 4/' ALBERT A. BARTLBTT. 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. PERKIN'S. 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 years' course in civil and mining engineering, and one j^ear in school of mines in Col- umbia {Ne"W York City) College; in 187B, was elected cit}' engineer of Akron, for two years, and on change of ordinance, appointed bj' Maj'or and confirmed by Council, for the three successive j^ears— 1875, '76, '77, holding the position in all five j^ears. In 1878, opened an agricultural ware- house on Canal street. In October, 188:-!, Mr. Perkins was elected County Surveyor, re-elected in 1886, and again for the third term in 1889, and is still ablj' filling" the position. January 14, 1880, Mr. Perkins was married to Miss M a 3' 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. Dunn;. 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 two years: 1865, '66^ Jeremiah A. Long; 1867, '68, '69, '70, '71, '72 and '76, Mills B. Purdy; 1873, '74, '75, John A. Means; 1877, '78, Adarns 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, Jacob^ Koplin; Mr. Kopliu resigning at end of first year, William H. Ragg was elected in 1878 to fill vacancy, 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; by Simon M. Stone in 1887, '88, '89, '90, and Hughlin Harrison, 1891, '92. pHARLES \V. F. DICK,— .sou of ^ Gottleib and Mary M. (Handle) Dick, was born in Akron, Ohio, November 3, 1858; educated in Akron Public, schools; clerked in hat store of Chipman & Barnes two j'ears; book-keeper for Citizens' Saving's and Loan Association Bank six years; 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 general cominission and gxain business, J. Edward Peterson succeeding' Mr. Miles in February, 1890, the firm name now being- Dick & Peterson. In November, 1886, Mr. Dick was elected Auditor of Summit count} on the Republican ticket, and re-elected in 1889, which responsible position he is noAv abl}' filling-. Being active in local militarj^ circles, Mr. Dick was, in 1888 elected Major of the Eighth Regiment Infantrj' Ohio National Guard, having- previously served, by regular promotion, as . Captain of Companj^ B, Akron City Guard. June 30, 1881, he was married to Carrie May Peterson, daughter of infancy; Carl, born October 23, 1887; Dr. Jam,es H. Peterson, of Akron. James Edward, born November 28, Four children, all boys, have been 1888, and Lucius Alfred, born Decein- born to them, the first dying in ber 6, 1890. . ^,^4'^'" # ^f-^^ CHARLES W . F. raCK AKRON S CIVIL SERVICE RECORD. 279 ■pMMON S. OVIATT— borvi in Rich- -L^ 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 j-ears. On his dis- charge from the army, 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 tV: Oviatt, con- tinuing- six j'ears; in 1884, entered the office of O. B. Hardy & Co., deal- ers and jobbers in mining and sjjort- ing- po-wders, continuing one ^ear, then entered the county teasurer's office as deputj'. Under Treasurer A. 31. Cole, continuing through the administration of Treasurer James H. Sej-mour, in November, 189(), being himself elected treasurer, the full duties of which responsible office he assumed September."), 1891. Mr. Oviatt is also a director of the City National Bank and president of the Akron EMMO.X S. OVIATT. Hardware Companj-. May 16, 18()4t Mr. Oviatt was mai'ried to Miss Mar J- A. Waters, of Brecksville, Cuj'ahoga county. They have no children. HEiNRY FKEDEKICK. HENRY FREDERICK,- -born in Wayne County, March 20, 1834 ; educated in schools of Doylestown and Copley; worked on his father's farm till 18o8 ; May 20, 18,i8, married to Miss Ellen Viere, of Norton ; Octo- ber, I8.18, rented the John C. Stearns farm, and three j^ears later the Jona- than Spafford farm, purchasing same at the end of 18 months, but later sell- ing it and in 1865 removed to Norton; in 1866 returned to Copley, and rented the 240 acre farm of Peter Weeks; in 1867, in connection ^vith Royal Brock- way, purchased 546 acres of Rhodes brothers, on the west line of Portage township ; a division being made, other tracts were bought so that Mr. Frederick's present finelj^ cultivated farm consists of 283 acres, stock rais- ing and dairj'ing being specialties. Republican in politics, Mr. Frederick served as trustee of Portage town- ship from 1874 to 1877 ; as Director of County Infirmary from 1876 to 1882, being president of the board three years, and clerk two jrears ; 1889 elected meiuber Board of County Comissioners for three years. Mr. and Mrs. Frederick are members of the First Disciples' Church of Akron. They are the parents of three cliil- dren — Charlotte Eliza, now Mrs. Harry N. Sherbondy ; Jaines McHenr'i-, (now editor of the American Farm Neu-s, Akron); and Ul3'S8es Grant, secretary and treasurer of The Thomas Lumber Co. 280 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. ATATHANIEL PERKINS GOOD- i> HUE —son of Nathiuiiel W. and Nancj't/ohi'iston) Goodhue, was born in Akron, Auij;-ust 6, 1854 ; educated in city public scliools ; from September, 1872, to December, 1878, deputy clerk i n United States Court at Cleveland; from 1878 to 1880, travelino- 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}^, Februarjr 9, ■ 1882, entered the office as deputy clerk, on the death of Judge Goodhue, September 12, 1883, continuing^ through the incumbencj' of Judge Charles R. Grant, to February 9, 1891. November i, 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 was married to Miss Mar3' Kent McNaughton, daughter of Finley and Ella (Kent) McNaughton, formerly of Akron, NATHANIEL PJERKINS GOODHUE. now of Youngstown, w^ho was born in Akron, October 31, 1858. They have no children. BEXJAMFX FKANKLIX CLARK. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN CLARK, — born in New Lisbon, O., Jan- uary 24:, 1841 ; when two year,s old moved with parents to Munroe Falls, and later to Massillon, at 16 graduat- ing from public schools of that city ; then read medicine three years with Dr. Metz; October 6, 18(n, enlisted in Co. H, 16th O. V. L, for three years ; was .scverel}^ wounded by a shell at Chickasaw Bayou, near Vicksburg, in December, 1862, and discharged on surgeon's certificate August 7, 1863. April, 1864, 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 b}' 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 verg-e of the grave ; before fairly 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 j'ear on the Daily Repuhlicaii ; in 1890 was elected County Recorder, which position he iv's now ablv filling. May 1, 1866, Mr. Clark was married, to Miss Caroline Foltz, of Wooster, who has borne him four children — Harrj' Walter, died in infancy ; Cora A. (now Mrs. Harrj- S. Brandon); George K. and Willie F. AKROX S CIVIL SEKVICE KKCoWr). i81 riEORGE W. SIEBER, -son of ^^ Joseph and Sarah S. (Moyer) Sieber, was bom on a farm near Freeburg-, Snj^der covmty, Pa., Febrn- ary 22, 1858 ; removed with parents to Akron in 1868 ; educated in Freeburg- and Akron public schools, graduat- ing- from Akron hig-h school in 1876; attended Buchtel College and Cin- cinnati law school, graduating- from the latter in 1881, wifh first honors of class ; admitted to the bar the same year 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. Gfant, 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 \V., who died at eleven months of age ; Joseph Bj'ron and Florence. KICHAKI) B. WALKEK. RICHARD B. \VALKER,--born in BeJchertown, Ma.ss., August 11, 182.5; common school education, reared to mercantile life; January 18, 18.12, was married to Miss Mary E. Jenney, of Ware, Mass.; same j^ear 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 lie becaine 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 companj^ 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 j'ears 1858, '59, and in 1859 was elected director of County Infirmary, which office, most of the time as clerk of the board he ably filled till 1868— nine 3'ears — 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, lawyer in Chi- cago; Charles, deceased; and Arthur H.,. also practicing law in Chicago. 282 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. JACOB KOPLIN,— was born near J 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 Augixst 30th of that year enlisted in Co. I), 29th Regiment O. V. I., serving nearly three years, being musterecf out June 8, 1865; after close of the war clerked for Barnes Brothers nearly ten years; in 187,5, '76 officiating as jailor and deputy sheriff under Sheriff Levi J. McMur- ray; in 1877 was elected City Marshal of Akron, serving one year, when he resigned 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 continuously held. In November, 1889, Mr. Koplin was elected a member of the Suminit Count}' Infirmary Board for the term of three years. May 30, 1849, Mr. Koplin was married to Miss Mar- garet Hile, of Norton, who bore him six children, three of whom died j^oung, the three survivors being": Jennie M., (now Mrs. S. G. Williams); Frank L., now of the shoe firm of JACOB KOPLIN. S. E. Phinney & Co.; and Orin P., machinist with Webster, Camp & Lane. Mrs. Koplin dying April 23, 1889, Mr. Koplin was again married, to Mrs. Linnie L. Bolich, — nee Long —of Wadsworth, January 1, 1890. City Solicitors. — Elected by the people — term two years: 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. Dojde; 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., \\ras done by old-time local surveyors — Joshua Henshavir, Albert G. Mallison, Capt. Richard Howe, Dwight Newton, Seth Sackett, Hosea Paul, and others, as necessity required. Under the ordinance of 1869, P. H. Dudley v^ras elected City Civil Engineer by the people for two years, and re-elected in 1871, followed by the election in the same rnanner, in 1873, of Charles E. Perkins for two years. In 1875 the office was made appointive, from year to year, by the Ma3'or, sub- ject to confirmation by Council, under w^hich 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 by the Council for two years, Mr. Gardner was again elected in 1884, followed hj Willis D. Chapman, in 1886, and re-elected in 1888. Mr. Chapman resigning early in 1889, Assistant Engineer Samuel \V. Parshall was promoted to the engineership for two 3'ears, 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 sjDecially appointed for the a'kron's civil sjervick kecord. 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 j-ears; 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 phenomenally successful mercantile business in Akron for over a third of a centurj', his operations for the last few years, in addition to the care of his tine farm adjoining the city, and his elegant Summer resort, "Monte- bello," at Newberr}^ Vt., being con- fined to agricultural implementM, giant powder, wool, fruit, etc. Mr. Weseuer served as a member and clerk of the Infirmary board in 1851, and as village Recorder in 18.i5, '.")(>. September 8, 1849, he was mari-ied to Miss Philura Spalding, daughter of Judge Rvifus P. Spalding, who bore him three children, all oi whom died in infancy. Mrs. W. d3iug- July 6, JOSEPH E. WESENEK. 18.52, he was again married, to Miss Anna J. Hopkins, who died January 1, 1876 ; was again married, Septeiuber 5, 1876, to IVfiss Alphonsene D. C'e Chevrier, who has borne him four children — Joseph E., Marj' A., Anna J. and Henry Huntington. JAME.S F. SCOTT. TAMES F. SCOTT,— born at Cadiz, J Ohio, February 18, 1828; common 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 j'ears 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, eng'aging with Messrs. Blodgett & Horton in the manufact- ure of melopeans ; January 10, 1856, was married to Miss Bell Carson, 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, 1858, now private secretary to the presi- dent of The Richard Grant Company, corner Hudson and Vestry streets. New York City ; James W. Scott, born February 22, 1860, now reading law in the office of Citj' Solicitor George M.Anderson ; Charles Brown Scott, born August 30, 1861, died March 26, 1864 ; Nellie Brown Scott, born January 2, 1868, 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 Mayor of the City of Akron, from April 1877 to April 1879; occu- pation for past 25 years, piano-tuner. 284 AKROiN 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 appointive office, Mr. Van Hyning is still serving as an appointee of the City Council. T ORENZO DOW WATTERS,— son -L^ of Hiram and Elizabeth (Cron- ing-er) Watters, was born in Carroll, Fairfield coxint3', 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 •& 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 term, as Mayor, in the Spring of 1887, Mr. Watters resumed the practice of the law on his own account, w^hich 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 SEWAKD. T OUIS DUDLEY SEWARD,— son A^ 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. Carpenter; studied law with Messrs. Edgerton & Kohler, and in office of Hon. Henry C. Sanford; admitted to bar in April, 1876, commencing practice with Olin L. Sadler, Esq.; in 1886, elected justice of the peace for Middlebury town- ship and continued under Akron township ; in 1887 elected Mayor of the city of Akron, ably serving two years, in Spring- of 1884 resuming his law practice, which he is still suc- cessfull}' pursuing. Mr. Seward is also interested in several of the industrial enterprises of Akron and vicinity. December 4, 1890, Mr. -Seward was inarried in Akron to Miss Katharine Ma^^ Johnston, daughter of County Commissioner Washing- ton G. and Mrs. Anna (Irvin) John- ston, of Green township, who was born March 19, 1870. AKRON S CrVIL SERVICE RECORD. 285- WILLIAM H. MILLER— born in Perrj' township, Stark coun1> , Ohio, April 17, 1843 ; resided on farni with parents until nearly 21 years of age ; educated in township district schools, supplemented b}' several terms of instruction in Canton Union Schools; in 1!S62 moved to Copley township, and in 1864 to Akron, working- at the machinist trade, in the Buckeye Reaper and Mower works, of Aultman, Miller & Co., for twenty-five j-ears. Demo- cratic in politics, Mr. Miller rep- resented the Fourth ward in the Akron City Council from April, 1883, to April, 1885 ; April, 1889, Mr. Miller was elected Mayor of Akron, which responsible position he still holds. Mr. Miller was married August 21, 1865, to Miss Harriet E. Manderbach, daughter of Jacob Manderbach, of Akron. Three children have been born to thein, two of whom are now living — George H., 25, now a member of the Akron Shoe Companj^, and Ada A., 16, living at home. In societj- 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 Encampment, No. IS ; WILLEAM H. MILLER. commissioned D. D. G. P. of Encamp- ment, June 8, 1886, 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 l.i, 1886. CHARLE,S S. COBBS. pHARLES S. COBBS, — born near ^ Alliance, Columbiana county, Ohio. Julj- 7, 1853; lived on farm until 18, when he entered Mt. Union College, from which he graduated in Jul J', 1877; superintendent of Malvern Union Schools two j^ears,. meantime studying law ; in Ma}', 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 City Solicitor, and re- elected in 1883, serving two full terms ; and has since acted as local attorney for the Valley Railway Companj^ 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, CoUimbiana Co., Ohio,, who has borne him one child- Charles Walker Cobbs— born Feb- ruary 15, 1889. 286 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. pEORGE McCLUNG ANDERSON, vJ —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 Allegheny College, in part defraying- the expenses of his four years' course by manual labor, man- agement of lectures, etc.; in Fall of 1880; came to Krumroy ; October 22, 1880, he was married to Miss Mary E. Jobes, of Damascus, Columbiana Co.; remained at Krumroy two years, teaching- school, working- at painting, common labor, etc., leisure hours being devoted 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 graduating, in Spring of 1884, was admitted to the Supreme Court of Michigan, and to the Courts of Ohio, June 3, 1884 ; coiumenced practice in Akron in August, 1884, and elected Citjr Solicitor, on the Republican ticlcet, in the Spring of 1889, which re.=*ponsible 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, January 21, 1886. HENRY WARD INGERSOLL. HENRY WARD INGERSOLL,— born in Richfield, October 23, 1833, moving with family to Hudson when two years old; in 1857, gradu- ated from Western Reserve College, studying- law with Judge Van R. Humphrey, in Hudson, and Wolcott & Upson in Akron, being admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court, at Columbus, March 29, 1859, immedi- atelj' opening- an office in Akron, where he has been in continuous practice since, except during his absence in the army ; in September, 1861, enlisted as member of the Second Ohio Cavalr5' Regimental Band, serving in the division of Gen. Blount, in the Western campaign. After discharge of band, by order of War Department, he was commis- sioned bj' Gov. Tod, in 1862, as cap- tain in the 124:th O. V. I., but by reason of consolidation of compan- ies, was mustered out on organiza- tion of regiinent; in 1864, at the call of Gov. Brough, served 100 da^s in defense of the National Capitol, as a member of Corapanj^ F., 164th O. N. G. In 1864 Mr. Ingersoll was elected Recorder of the incorporated village of Akron, and took the census, pre- pared the necessarj- papers, and pro- cured from the Secretary of State the charter constituting- Akron a city of the second class. Ei addition to his legal acquireinents, Mr. Ingersoll is a fine inusician, having been chorister in the Congregational and other churches of the citj^ for manj^ years. June 6, 1866, he was married to Miss Sarah A. Boaidman, of Newton Falls, who has borne him two children, Adelaide B. and Harr}^ AKKON S CIVIL SERN'ICE RECORD. 287 NEWTON FORD— son' of Marvin and Lydia (Cornwell) Ford was born in Northfield, Ohio, March 24, 18.12; raised on farm till 1863; assisted his father in postofRce at Macedonia from 1863 to 1868; in 1870, entered Western Reserve College, at Hudson, continuing- until 1873, when he beg-aii teaching- in public schools of this county; in 187i, began reading law under Horace B. Foster, Esq., in Hudson, two years later conclftding his studies in office of Foster, Mar- vin & Grant, in Akron, being- admitted to the bar, here, Aug-ust 28, 1876. In April, 1877, located in Akron for the practice of his profession, in Februar3', 1878, associating himself with Hon. Henry C. Sanford, the partnership continuing- about five years. In April, 1879, Mr. Ford was elected Citj' Clerk, by the City Coun- cil, and successivelv elected for the years 1880, '81, '82. After an interreg-- num 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 NEWTON FOKD. him three children — Howard C, born August 14, 1882; twins, boy and girl, born May 23, 1887~Bernice N., and Ethel 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 with 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, Wilham B. Mitchell, John Sherbondy, Simon Perkins, Jr.; 1840, Charles W. Brown, Jesse Allen, John Aj-res; 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. W^ilder; 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, Elias W. Howard, George Sherbondy, Robert Jackson; 1853, Joseph F. Gilbert, Robert Jackson, George Sherbondy; 18554, 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. Webster B. Storer; 18,58, George Miller, Melchiah Sherbondy, Jacob Snyder; 18,59, 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 AKKOA' AND SUMMIT COUNTY. Fisher; 1864, same; 1865, same; 1866, John R. Buchtel, James F, Scott, Clement J. Kolb; 1867, John R. 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. Hamlin, 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, Henry Frederick; 1875, same; 1876, same; 1877, Hiram Sherbondy, Simon Perkins, Abraham Sichle}'; 1878, Stephen H. Pitkin, Avery S. Beardsley, John McCausland; 1879, Stephen H. Pitkin, Albert H. MalUson, Ephraim Erdley; Mr.. Erdley dying in July, Uriah Sherbondy was appointed to fill the vacancy; 1880, Jacob Carpenter, Albert H. Mallison, Charles W. Brown; 1881, Jacob Carpenter, Albert H. MalUson, Millard F. HamHn; 1882, Jacob Carpenter, Millard F. HamHn, W. 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 ever3'' 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 ha%'ing deceased, Henry PLIMMON H. DUDLEY,— born in r Freedom, Ohio, May 24, 1843; educated at Hiram College; elected Akron City Civil Engineer, in 1869, re-elected in 1871; built Mill Street conduit, 1870, and West Market Street arch and bridge, 1871; 1872, served on commission to inspect the Public Works of Ohio; same year elected Chief Engineer of Valles' Railway, locating road, with easy curvature and ■ down grade, from Suinmit Countjr coal fields to Cleveland; 1875, '76, used his invention, the Dyna- graph, (power writer), on L. S. & M. S. Ry., demonstrating that 18 to 2U miles for freight trains was more economical than the 10 to 12 miles per hoixr then in vogue; 1876, '77, '78, emploj^ed as expert, by the Eastern Railway Association, to test the comparative inerits of locomotive trucks; 1877, awarded the Elliott Cres- son Gold Medal, by the Franklin Insti- tute, of Pennsylvania, (the sixth in 30 years), for his invention of the Dynagraph; 1877, invented system bj^ w^hich each clock on a given railway line can be set to standard time by touching electric key in main ofHce; 1878, sent Djmagraph 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 PLIMMON H. DUDLEV. rails; 1881, announced plan for pro- tecting timber from decay; 1885, elected Fellow of the New York Academy of Science; 1887, was sent to inspect the Panama Railroad; 1889,. invented sj'stem of trucks for heavj' railway service; 1890, elected presi- dent New York Microscopical Society- December 12, 1871, Mr. Dudley was married to Miss Luc}^ M., eldest daughter of the late Hiram V. and Ruth (Ranney) Bronson, of Penin- sula, their present residence being- New York City. AKKOX S CIVIL SERVICE KECORD. 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 \V. Tngalls, 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 College. In 1870 began work with Mr. P. H. Dudley, Akron's first cit5- engineer, also assisting Mr. Dudley on the survej'S for the B. & O. and Valle3' railways ; in 1878 -was elected Cit}' 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. Inl887,'was emploj^ed as special engineer bj- Nebraska's capital city, Lincoln, where he designed and superintended the con- struction of a complete sj'stem of public works — some 30 miles of separate storm and sanitar5^ sewers, luany miles of brick, cedar block and granite block paving, and an important extension of the Lincoln water w^orks 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 professionalise officiating Va'iV u- -"V. OMAR X. GAKDXEK. as consulting engineer for all branches of sanitarj' and hj-draulic works. September^, 1877, Mr. Gardner was married to Miss Ella J. Bush, of Jamestown, N. Y, who has borne him two children — a daughter, Alene, born March 11, 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 follows: 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 LOUNTV. WILLIS D. CHAPMAN— son of Dr. Brj'on and Matilda A. (Dills) Chapman, was born in Coplej-, October '[ (; rw^iovd bore him four children — William B., late treasurer of the Citizens' Savings and Loan Association of Akron, born months and 23 days. >Irs. Raymond April 5, 1841, died Jvine 10, 1888 ; John dying March (i, lS(j,"), Mr. R. was again Gilbert, born February 23, 1846, now married, to Mrs. Martha E. \"osburg, treasurer of The Diamond Drill and September 3, 1866. Mr. Raymond Tool Company of Akron ; Charlie, died April 9, 1870, aeed TiS jears, 6 who died February 7, 1854, aged 3 months and 5 days, the second ?lrs. years and 5 days; and Grace, who R. dying October 12, 18iJ0, aged (),i died March 20, 1873, aged 10 years, 9 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 count3^ of Summit, in 1840, the election returns had to be miade 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 township, was its earliest settler. Major Miner Spicer. Though perhaps not very -well up in legal learning, the Major -was 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 folio-wing 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 rteighborhood. Mr. Wolsey Wells, Akron's first postmaster and canal collector, also officiated as justice of the peace ih the late twenties and early thirties, while Mr. Jacob Brown, at the South End, and Mr. John H. Cleveland, in " Cascade," 296 AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. were doiug magisterial duty in their respective localities on the arrival of the ^vriter in Akron, in 1835. Since that time the justices of the peace for Portage township, 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, Henr_v 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, William 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, William 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 Thcjmas 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 Edwin P. Fouse east precinct, 1891-94, Solomon Koplin west precinct and Joseph M. Byerly east precinct. /':LE0RGE THOMAS,— born in Co- ^J^ lunibiana Countj', O., March 112, 1817 ; common school education ; learned tradeof carpenter and joiner ; ■worked in Millersburg", Holmes Co., four years, coming- to Akron in 18M ; during- the war establishing himself in the building and lumber business, on the presenc site of the Thomas Lumber and Building Company'." work.s. -which he successfull}' carried on till his death, October 28, 1872, at the age of Tw years, 7 months, 16 daj^s. In 1840, Mr. Thomas -was married to Miss Jane Wilson, of Millersburg, -who bore him one son — Col. David W. Thomas, his successor in business and now president of the above named company. Mrs. Thomas d3'ing- in 1812, Mr. Thomas was again mar- ried, September 25, 1815, to Miss Mary Caldwell, of Akion, who bore him six children, three dying in infancy; of the three daughters living- to adult age, Carrie F., the first wife of Mr. Daniel A.James, dying- December 22, 1S76; Eva 1.., married 'to Mr. William ¥. Picton ; and Louisa J., the present Mrs. D. \. James. Mr. Thomas was active in all public affairs, foremost among- the earl}' firemen of the vil- lage ; a member of the village Coun- cil, 1857, '5S ; a member of the First GEORGE 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 5() years. AKRON S CIVIL SERVICE K'ECORI). 297 TAMES CHRISTY— born in Spring-- J field township, February i, 1820 ; worked on father's farm during minoritj-; attended district school, and from 16 to 19, a select school in Middleburj' ; at 20 taug-ht school two terms ; at 21, in connection with his brother-in-law. Mr. James Sawj'er. ■established taunerj' on North Howard street, under the firm name of Christy & Sawyer, tog-ether with shoe manufactorj^ and store, continuing- until 1851 ; in 1852, formed partner- ship with his brother, John H., in 1856, erecting- more commodious buildings, tlie partnership continu- ing until 1879. Mr. C. then associated with himself his two sons, James Jr. and William, under the firm name of James Christj^ & 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 no-w living — Alice, (now Mrs. John E. Metlin) ; James, William and Xettie, still at home. In 1850, Mr. Christy performed the overland jour- ney to California with ox-teams, the journey from Akron to Sacramento •occupying nearly five inonths. Re- jj-**'' JAMES CHRISTY. maining about one year, part of the time in the mines, and part of the time in Sacramento, the home jour- nej' 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 tw^o 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 Tovv.xship 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, Xahum Fay; 1861, '62, Jacob H. Wise; 1863, Nahum Fay;- 1864, Charles C. Hanscom; 1865, '66, Edward A. Barber; 1867, Homer C. Ayres; 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; west precinct, Charles S. Starks; 1890, same; 1891,, east precinct, George Botzum; west precinct, Jason Bunker. AKRON IN COUNTY OFFICE. • Besides such county oflEicials 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 follows: County Commissioners. — Hiram Weston, December, 1851, to December, 1854; George Buell, December, 1861, to May, 1864; David E. Hill, December, 1863, 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, Tvhile prosecutor Tibbals -was in the hundred day 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 18.52; Samuel A. Lane, November, 1856, to January, 1861, and January, 1887, to January, 1881; James Burlison, 18S5 to 1869; William B. Gamble, 1885 to 1889; David R. Bunn, 1889 to 1893. JOHN COOK,— born in Bavaria, J Germany, April 18, 1818; educated in German schools, learning trade of stone mason; came to United States in 1839, settling- in Akron, finding- employment in ^tna Mill soon attaining to forenianship of packing- department; in 1850 went overland to California, engaging m the provision business, remaining two years, and returning via the Isthmus of Panama; in 18,55, started a grocery ou 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 > WILLIAM CHAUXCLY ALLEX. served two terms as member of the Akron Board of Education, being secretary of the board for the 5-ears 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, was, 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 two life-long Democratic politicians — William Myers and Lewis C. Parker — but owing to the intimate personal and political relations existing between Mr. Allen and ex-Congress- mati David R. 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. TaneyhiU, Deputy p 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, Harrv C. Eichenlaub, Fred H. O'Brien, William A, Caldwell, Charles C. Pomeroy, William J. Hoye, substitute ; John. Garahan, special delivery. W^ aLLIAM B. GAMBLE,— son of Samuel L. and Eliza' Jane Gamble, was born in Wabash, Ind., October 3, 1850, raised on farm, and educated in common schools; at 14, sought to enter the army, but pre- vented by father, as being too j^oung; 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 ofHce four years, and officiating as deputy under his successor two j^ears 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 inD. F. Morgan Boiler Co.; etc. In December, 1890, WILLIAM B. GAMBLE. Mr. Gamble was appointed, by Presi- dent Harrison, postmaster 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, wha 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 were willing 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. Caldwell, 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 length portrait, in the uniform of a gov- ernment letter carrier, is given herewith, is one of Uncle Sam's highly 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, prosecuting that business on Howard street, until within a few months of his death, March 4, 1873. Harry was educated in Akron public schools ; striking out 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 which 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 members of both political parties. He is also a member of one of Akron's most 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 own 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 32S AKKON AND SIJMMIT 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, c(5ntaining 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 ho-vv 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, -with an- other hundred to be added -when the gross recipts reach $60,000 per year. The present allo-wance for clerk hire is $5,000 per year, exclusive of the carriers, twelve of -whom are paid $850 per year, and the remaining t-wo $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, light 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 .33 ; 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. AKRl)X S POSTAL SKRVICI 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 rajiidly increasing, year by year, to which Avill undoubtedly soon be added that of the Sixth Ward, so that m^ore room will, in the near future, become an absolute necessity, and the long talked-of Government Building, now almost in sight, a blessing that will be duly appreciated by both the entire people of Akron and the local government officials. =;S;i©jiS>;S^iSviS?«S>;S>2 East side of Howard Street, looking Xorth from near Cherry Street. From plioto bj- E. J. Howard, 1873. CHAPTER XVI. AKKON'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. TDREVIOUS to 1839 there -was no definitely organized fire depart- -•- ment in Akron, other than the appointment, by the Council, of five fire >vardens 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 Fa}^ Frank Adams and Samuel A. Lane, The "North Akron Fire Company" was organized December 11,. 1839, with 32 members as follows: Nahum Fay, Samuel Mannings Levi Manning, Sylvanus G. Gaylord, Elias L. Munger, Elisha 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. Townsend, 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 town, in the latter part of 1841, of the front end of the diminutive building shown in the accompaning engraving, just 10 ? 15 feet in size, and located over the race in Mill street, fronting on Howard. This machine was purchased from the stockholders, by the town, 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, with 47 members, was 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 two, in the latter part of 1848 the Council caused to be erected for its use the small two-story brick building, after- wards for some years used as a lock-up, and still standing, on Tallmadge street, between Howard and Main. Tornado Number 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 ne^sr 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, w^ho organized themselves into "Protective Fire Company, Number Four," which continued in operation about two years, when both house and engine -were taken to the West Hill and planted on Myrtle Place, where, for several years, it v^ras maintained by an independent com- pany of "West Hillers" — the writer among the number, who novsr retains as a relic, the two pieces of siding, on which w^as originally painted, by his own hand, in 1841, "Fire Co. No. 1," the "1" after- Tvards being changed to "4." Various Other Volunteer Companies. — Though there was no pay, a vast amount of hard work, and a very great lack of apprecia- tion, connected with 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 very 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 with first- class steamers, double hose reels and hook and ladder apparatus, and the fourth with a fine two-horse hose carriage, and all provided with 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 writer 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 rhost 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 winter, 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 drawing it with hook and bucket from the parsonage cistern, and passing it from hand to hand by the bucket brigade, we soon froze up, and while nothing could be done towards saving the church itself, "we 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, 1846, the carriage factory of Collins & Co., in Middlebury, (now Akron's prosperous Sixth ward), corner East 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 was 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 with the hotel, about where Kr3'der's feed-store now stands, in addition to housing the horses of the guests, was also largely devoted to livery purposes, Mr. Cobb also running tri-weekly 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, straw, grain, etc., between 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 with 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, west 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. 'S'S'3 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 building, 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. ^Etna Furnace Destroyed. — January 13, 1847, the ^tna Fur- nace, west side of the Ohio canal, opposite lock 12, owned bj- the late Judge James R. Ford, but operated by the Akron Manufactur- ing Company, under the management of the late Arad Kent, -was 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 How^ard street, w^as consumed, w^ith much of the contents of the several establishments. ^Vmong other sufferers were 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, were the largest losers, (amount not stated), being the owners of the corner block (the old Pavilion Hotel) and several of the contiguous buildings. West Side of South Howard Street. — September 16, 1848, the west side of Howard street, from the Cornmins & 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, owned respectively by John K. Foster, Henrj- S. Abbey, Alfred R. Townsend and Seth Iredell. The losses were: H. S. Abbey, 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 dweUing house of Mr. Charles Cranz, on Pros- pect street, fronting Grace Park, now owned by John McGregor, then approaching completion, was burned. Though working to great disadvantage for want 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, was crushed to death by the falling of the porch roof, through the thoughtless- ness, it was asserted, of some person in knocking out one of the props by which it was temporarily held in place. >Ir. Miller was 334 AKRON AND SUMiMIT COUNTY. a member of Niagara Fire Co., No. 2, and one of its most energetic members. The brick walls 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.— On the night of Dec. 27, 1849, the territory between the famous old Stone Block, a solid three-story stone building covering the present sites of the Henry and Stein- bacher blocks, Howard and Market streets, was covered as far south as the building no'w occupied by Wilson G. Robinson, by two-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 was 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 wall, losing its supports, toppled over, falling inward, in doing which the lower portion sprang outward, shoving the adjoining tw^o-story frame store building of J. D. Ed son & Co. over into the alley, com- pletelj' demolishing the low^er story, but leaving the upper story, including the roof, doors, windows, etc., intact. The sufferers by this fire were : Milton W. Henry, dry goods ; Henry Rattle, dry goods ; McCurdy & 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. HoTvard ; Otis & Wolcott, Pleasants & Harris, Upson & Edgerton, Philip N. Schuyler, lawyers. The individual losses were not given in the papers of the day, but the aggregate loss was estimated at $50,000. Hall's Corner Next. — On the night of February 17, 1851, the entire block bounded by Howard, Market and Canal streets, south to the alley, was burned over, including the dry goods stores of P. D. Hall & Co., A. Hibbard & 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 were 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- tirely consumed. The structure was a light one, but the patterns and castings destroj'ed 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 Rawson, 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. & ft ^ ^ Northeast Corner Howard aKd Market. — Dec. 8, 1854, the northeast corner of Howard 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 ; \V. 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- bacher'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, $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 strefet, 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, nea-r the present site of Phoenix block, belonging to Judge Constant Bryan, and occupied by Ayers & Beadle, grocers, vsras burned on the night of March 26, 1856, at a loss to Judge Bryan of $2,300 with $1,500 worth of insurance, and to the occu- pants of $1,500 with $1,000 insurance. A Second Severe Scorc.hing. — After the disastrous fire of June ■9, 1848, at the north-west corner of Howard and Market streets, Messrs. Baldwin & Kilbourn, and other lot owners, immediately replaced the buildings with substantial t-wo and three-story brick blocks, all of which found ready occupation. On the night of Dec. 29, 1856, the Baldwin & Kilbourn portion of the block, embracing four store rooms on Howard street, and one on Market street, -were again destroyed. Among the losses by this fire, besides the tri- fling loss the parties, in whose grocery and m(;at market, on Market street, the fire started, Bald-svin & Kilbourn's loss \7as probably from $10,000 to $12,000; Henry W. Wetmore, agricultural 336 AKRON 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 t-vventy-j^ear old daily, with fully twice as much reading matter as the original weekly, 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 incendiarj' origin, nothing had so tangibly implicated the perpetrators thereof as the circum- stances attending this case. Two young men from the contiguous tovi^nships of Coplej^ and Bath, tiring of farm life, purchased a small stock of groceries, in the room \vhere the fire originated, in- voicing but $250, upon -svhich, on the alleged intention of largely replenishing, they had secured insurance to the amount of $1,000, At the time of the fire, not onl3' had no addition been made to the stock, but considerable sold out, while 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 was partiality investigated bj' the Grand Jury, then in ses- sion, nothing ^vas done about it until nearly a year afterwards, when, through the detective operations of Marshal J. J. Wright, with the heartj' co-operation of Sheriff S. A. Lane, Deputy Sheriff A. R. Townsend, and Prosecuting Attorney, Henry McKinney, a chain of direct and circumstantial evidence was forged b}^ which not only the principals but their chief confederate, (a hitherto respectable j'oung farmer from the township of Northampton) were sent to the penitentiary for five years each, and the tool, who 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 particularit3'^ 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 were pardoned b3^ Governor Dennison, the chief spirit of the enterprise, and instigator of the crime, soon floating off into the western country where, 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 strictlj^ 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 tavern, part of which, now owned by Mr. Israel Isbell, is AKRON S KAKl.Y KIKKS. 337 still standing, was devastated, the buildings, mostly cheap wooden structures, belonging principally to Judge Constant Bryan, William G. Raymond, 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 works of the Akron Barrel Company, on the present site of the Miller Chain and Match Works, with all its val- uable machinery and material was consumed, presumablj' the work of an incendiary, and surmised to have been the work of local coopers who 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 largelj- used, not having then come in vogue. The loss to the company was $12,000. A reward of $1,000 w^as offered for the detection and conviction of the incen- ^ diary, but though one or two slight clues were struck bj^ 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 bj' >Ir. 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 well-known nurseryman Mr. Lucius Rose, succeeding to the business in 1855, purchasing for that purpose "Central Block," a three-storj'- brick 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 was 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 vsrorkmen 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 which 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 works, corner of North Main and Tallmadge streets, were burned with all their contents. Loss, $10,000, 22 338 AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. MiDDLEBUKY Carriage Works Again. — January 2, 1860, the carriage works, blacksmith shop, etc., of Mr. Charles A. Collins, corner of East Market and Arlington streets, with most of their contents, were again burned. Loss $10,000. Another Mill Burned. — Between twelve and one o'clock, on Saturday night, February 24, 1866, the Varietj^ 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. Lewis 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 R. 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 l.'i, 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 well as a dwelling owned and occupied by Capt. George Billow, 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. Park Alexander, and G. N. Abbej^ & Co., near the Railroad Repair Shops, "were burned. Mr. Alexander's loss $5,000, with no insurance. Abbey & Co's loss $12,000, with $2,500 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 East Market Street. — In those days 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 activitjr, those on the south being occupied as follows: 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, dwell- 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, jeweler, John Byrider, shoemaker; 222, A. Litchfield, groceries; 224, J. G. Reifsnider, groceries; the buildings being owned, 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 firks. 339 Orth, restaurant, Mrs. Sullivan, residence; the buildings belonged to Robert P. Henrj', Wright & Freer, Bittman Brothers and Jacob Oood. The fire originated in the saloon of C. Vogt, on the south side, iit 2 o'clock Sunda5' morning, March 11, 1869, and the structures being all of the most inflammable material, and the wind high, the flames spread with fearfxil rapidity, not only speedily destroying the 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, which were only saved from ■destruction by the utmost exertions of the firemen and citizens. The losses, bj^ this fire were respectively as follows: Storer, Xoble & 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 4v500; Joseph Fritz, $250; J. S. Ha.wkins, $2,800; Amos Herman, 4!250; Louis Cohn, $1,200; Henry and Mrs. McMaster, $4,000; \Vm. 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, $300; R. P. Henry, $3,500; Wright & Freer, $4,500; Bittman Brothers, $3,000; John Bakody, $200; Adam Orth, $1,600, Jacob Good, $1,500; Mrs. Sullivan, $100. Total loss, in round numbers, $70,000. Total insurance, $20,000. Mr. Louis Cohx's Narrow Escape. — During the progress of the fire, Mr. Louis Cohn, occupying apartments in the upper stor}"- of the old Trussell Hall block, after getting his family safely out went back to secure some of his valuables, but was so hard pressed toy the flames and stifling smoke, that he was obliged to leap from the window to the ground in the allej' upon the east side, and in doing so sustained an injury to one of his ankles, from which he never fully recovered. SuM^riT Oil Works. — On Thanksgiving morning, November ;25, 1869, the oil refinery of John T. Good & Co., in the north part of the cit}^ 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 $20,000, 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 heavil}- covered by insurance, and the owner was indicted and tried for arson, but was finally acquitted. Subsequent Fires.— August 25, 1871, the Fire Brick Works of J. Park Alexander, on South Canal street, were 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 works, 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 liub factory of Sidney H. Bass, on the adjoining lot, north, was also burned at a loss of $500. THE GREAT BEACON OFFICE DISASTER. From the diminutive affair of 1839, with its single hand press, and 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 was 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, was destroyed by fire, 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 lower floor of which, then, as now, "was occupied by J. B. Storer & Co., jewelers, (also considerable losers) was injured to the extent of about $2,000, while 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 windows, but doing no further very serious damage. The building of G. H. Heifer & Son, north of the Allen block, was also, with 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 newspaper 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^ven, 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 & Howe'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 Citj'- 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 which 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 two -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 Mathews, was discovered to be on fire in the attic. The lower story was 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, attorne3', 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- pied 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 liv 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 was 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 of August 23, 1872, the barns of Dr. William Bowen and Gen. G. W. McNeil, on the alley between High street and Broadway, were 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, was 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 was discovered in one of the apartments of Phoenix Block, w^hich 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 city enjoyed comparative immunity from that class of conflagrations. 1873 — Rather a Light Record. — April 30, 1873, the tin and stove store of Wright & Freer, a story and a half frame building, near the north end of the present beautful Arcade Block, South Howard street, with 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 were for- tunately, 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 firemen, 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 Daily 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 b}^ insurance, Mr. Canfield's net loss being $3,000. July 29, "The Block," (in an early daj' 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 $6,000 with $4,000 insurance. Septem- cer 11, Excelsior Stone-ware 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, two-story frame building oh the present site of Barber'& block. South Howard street, o\vned 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. Loss $2,000. 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, dwelling 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 Middleburj^ 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, which were soon communicated to the carriage works of C. A. Collins & Son, upon the west, the dwelling .house of Mr. John Prier, on the east, as well as to several buildings on the north side of Church street,, which were all destroyed, with nearly 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 two- and three o'clock p. m., the box and variety works of Baker & Mc- Millen, west of canal, on Bowery street, were totally destroyed, at a loss of $5,000, immediately followed b}^ the burning of the office and lumber in the yard of S. N. Wilson, east of postoffice, $400, and Akron'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 two 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, j^ears 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 was acquitted ; Langendorf and Lej' forfeited their bonds, $500 each ; and Glatthar and Steinel were convicted and each sentenced to five years imprisonment. The lesson though severe, was wholesome, not only to the boys implicated but to other mischievously inclined youngsters, not to allow 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, were con- sumed with an alleged loss of $65,000 with a partial insurajice only. 1877 — Record Comparativ^ely 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 nearbj^ buildings. Losses reported ; Limbert, $4,000 on building, $13,000 on stock, and $800 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, vsras 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 $6,000. 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 iMusic, belonging to Mr. John F. Seiberling, were 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, with millinery goods, and Mr. John Sebring, with 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 & Co., dry goods; the sec- ond floor by Upson, Ford & 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. John Sebring — 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 tilled with the escaping vapor. The indignation of the people w^as intense, for a time nearly reaching the lynching point. Mr. Sebring -was 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 was something crooked about the transaction. Losses to tenants ^were: Lohmann (one-third of stock saved) $8,000, 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, pottery of Gamble & Morton, Sixth Ward. Loss $2,000; insurance, $1,600. 1879 — Losses 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, brewer}' of Burkhardt & 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 AKI\'()i\'8 LATER KIKES. 345 Streets, $3,426.44. July 3, liveiy stable of John Wilson, Sixth Ward, $2,000. August 1, brick brewery of Fred. Horix, North Forge street, $2,454. 1881 — Losses Proportionately Light. — 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 & McMiUen, west of canal near Ash street bridge, $1,300. July 30, frame dwelling house of F. 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 Ixcrease 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 dwrelling 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, $20,000, 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 Howard street; loss on contents $1,370. E. W. Howard, on building, $638. Fully insured. Decemiber 16, strawboard works of J. F. Seiberling& Co., Sixth Ward, building and machinery, $25,000; contents $8,000, insurance $5,744. December 31, McNeil & Baldwin, JBtna 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; fulh' 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 alarms 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 $1,000; 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 $10,000, con tents, $3,000, insurance recovered $4,415. William Brown, 17-year- old son of James Brown, 121 Arch street, w^as killed and several others seriously -wounded by the explosion. 1887. Increased Calls — Diminished Losses. — Total calls 88 — total losses $41,918 on an a:ggregate insurance of $308,855. April 7, dwelling house of John Howe, north of citj' limits $1,800, insurance paid $950. May 30, Lewis Miller, dwelling house. Oak Place; loss on building $1,200, contents $200. 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 Wulle, corner of North Main and Tallmadge streets. Loss on building $2,000, contents $2,700- insurance paid $4,000. December 3, Miller Match Works, Rubber street. Loss on building $2,500, 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. Wilham 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 $2,300, 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. G. 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 "whiskey." 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. Deceinber 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, OCR) 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 warehouse, 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, vSouth Howard street. Loss on bviilding $500, on contents $6,100; fullj^ insured. July 22, William Poole, Thornton street, bakerj"-. 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- ware 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. Whitelav^r, 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 Electric Co., $800; total insurance paid $10,841.83. November 6, Bert T. Wills, 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 $3,50t); 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, dry 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. May 8, William Schroeder, brick block, South Howard street, building $1,700; contents, Stanton & Son, photograph gallery, $1,300; insurance paid $2,800. June 4, Akron Paper Mill, West Exchange street, building, $550; contents, $3,000; insurance paid $3,550. Livery stable, West Exchange street, F. Schumacher, building, $1,616.85; John T. Adkins, contents, $4,900, 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, $6,50; Currycomb Co., $1,100; insurance paid $1,-520. November 2, Mor- gan Boiler Co., south of city limits, building, $4,.500, contents, $8,000, insurance paid $5,500. December 10, R. Thomas, corner Broadwa}^ .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 more import- ant early fires have been overlooked. But enough has been given to shovsr 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 v(rater drawn from virell, 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 $3,702,314 (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- worked, 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, with the present thoroughly organized, well housed, carefully drilled and liberally paid department, aided by its instan- taneous alarm devices, and the improved hydraulic advantages, which the citj^ water works afford, very materially diminishes the risks with 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. PRESENT STATUS OF DEPAKTMENT. 349' 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 with one second size Ahrens steamer; one two-horse hose carriage; one two-horse hook and ladder truck,, and 1,200 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, Andrew Boehmler, and Charles Jost; with t-welve call hosemen and three call steamer men. Central Fire Station, corner South High and Church Street.s. Station No 2: Corner East Market and East Exchange streets, (Sixth ward), one third size Silsby engine, one two-horse hose carriage, and 1,100 feet of hose; JamesDunn, engineer; GusRyan, fireman; George Head, driver of steamer; Harry Wilson, driver of hose carriage ; Charles Smith, pipeman; five call hosemen; t^vo 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 N( Akron, Sixth 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 Y. Criss, engineer; Frank A. Myers, fireman; Peter J. Hoh- man, driver of steamer; Abe L. Eberly, driver of hose carriage; John T. Mertz, pipeman ; five call hosemen, and two call steamer men. Fire Station No. 4, South Main Street, Fourth Ward. CHAPTER XVII. AKKON'S MILITARY HISTORY, ANCIENT AND MODERN — OLD-TIME 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 SOLDIER BOYS— OFF FOR THE FRONT— END OF THREE MONTHS' SERVICE— ENLISTING FOR THE WAR— NINETEENTH, TWENTY-NINTH, THIRTY-SEVENTS, 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 work. That among the earlier settlers of Middlebury and Portage township there were some Revolutionary soldiers is quite proba- ble, though their names have not been handed down, 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 war 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; Middleburj'- John C. Hart, Henry Spaffqrd, 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 war of 1812 the pay of privates and musicians was $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 two 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 Trhiskv, with two 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-known citi- zens of Akron, then or since, who served in that "war, may be EARLY MILITARY OPERATIONS. 351 mentioned the following: Ezra Tr3^on, Adams Hart, Oliver Perry Barney, George Dresher, Joseph Gonder, Jereboam B. Creighton, Thomas Thompson, Cornelius O. Wa}' and Valmore Morris. Of these. Hart, Barney, Tryon and Creighton, were also soldiers in the civil war of 1861-65. In the Mexican war Barney was a ser- geant, and one night, while on picket duty near Monterey, he was lassoed bj^ the Mexicans and dragged quite a distance, but was rescued by his comrades before being entirely strangled to death, and was always very fond of showing the marks made upon his neck by the lariat. He afterwards became somewhat dissipated, and one Winter night, from exposure while 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 Local 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 militarj^ age, were enrolled into com- panies, regiments, brigades, divisions, etc. Quite a number of independent companies also flourished for longer or shorter periods, among virhich 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 proininent, and -with their nobby blue uijiforms, 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 tc-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 which Hiram Bovs^en, Esq., founder and editor of the Beacox, said: "We cannot here refrain from a favorable mention of the ' Summit Guards.' It was the largest company present, and in appearance was the admiration of all. It was with pride that -we answered 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 Le^svis 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 who will be ambitious to make the corps equal to the foremost in appearance, drill and discipline. The officers are as follows : Capt., William L. Everett; first lieut., Henry G. Powers; second lieut., Dudley Seward; third lieut., Augustus Brothwell; ensign, William B. Doyle; judge advocate, Alvin C. Voris: surgeon. Dr. 352 AKRO.X AND SUMMIT COUNTY. Jacob J. Smith; recordinj; secretary, Oliver Hazard Perry Ayres; financial secretary, K. F. Gibson; treasurer, John H. Christy." "Marriner Riflkmen" — 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 W. 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 \V. McNeil and staff, consisting of Major Erhard Steinbacher, Capt. John T. Good, Capt. Jacob B, Dussell, Capt. A. Zipperlin (surgeon), and Capt. Thomas Earl (chaplain). The two companies above named, on the breaking out of the war, "went to pieces, the most of their number entering the service 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 vsrere 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 watched -with the most intense interest, the proceedings at Washington and else-where, and vi^hen, 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 follo-wing Mr. Lincoln's call for troops, a meeting of the citizens of Akron and vicinity, without 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 MAGNIFICENT UPRISING. ■X)',i effort for the preservation 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 rec[uisition for troops should be at once responded to, and doubled and trebled, if necfessarj- ; that an overwhelming force be at once organized that, "in one campaign, shall wipe out the rebellion of pettj' tyrants, and restore peace and prosperity to our country." ' ■'-:J|il yf ■* J PI r^ SI I i.J"1 ■" J- Ml Ei Recruiting Scene, corner Howard and Marlset Streets, at be^'inning of tlie War in 1881.— From plioto by li. F. Battels. Akkox Uxiox Light Infantry. — To the first call for T.l.OOO vol- unteers, issued by President Lincoln April 15, 1861, Akron and Sum- mit county were 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 Infantrj^, 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.] were Lewis P. Buck- ley, Capt.; Andrew J. Fulkerson, First Lieut.; Gilbert S. Carpen- ter, Second Lieut., with the following members : Charles A. .Vcklej', FrankC.Ackley, William G. Alexander, Henry E.Bryan, J. E. Bruce, W. W. Buck, N. B. Bigelow, Gates A. Babcock, Avery S.'Beardsley, Charles M. Brown, Jr., Cornelius A. Brouse, Byron S. Chase, George A. Collins, W. 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, Henrj^ Ward Ingersoll, Oscar C. Jackson, Hiram A. Kepler, John Kiel5^ 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- burj'; 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. Hollinger, 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. HoUoway, of Cu5^ahoga 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. Kirbj', 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- win, Samuel J. Crawford, Wellington Cook, Christian Conrad, Mortimer Danforth, Isaac D. Dailey, George W. Dice, Joseph C. Evans, Abrani Foiiser, John H. BVancisco, Thomas J. Falor, Robert Fairbanks, David C. Fisher, Daniel D. Grim, Bird Green, Andrew Hunsicker, Harvej' Hull; Horace H. Heath, William D. Haynes, 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, Weslej^ 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, Ed-ward L. 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, on 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 we 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 Rhodenbaugh, 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 state 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-afms, etc., with 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 Infantrj^ was formed in line, on Market street, between Howard and Main, the entire street being thronged with intensely interested specta- tors, when, on being successively called from the ranks, presenta- tions were made, with appropriate speeches and responses, as follow^s : William H. Upson, Esq., to Lieut. Gilbert S. Carpenter, a Colt's revolver, saying : "I present j-ou this revolver which I trust may be useful to 3'ou. I know you will always be true to the noble cause in which you have enlisted' and may the blessing of God go with you." Lieut. Carpenter responded : "1 receive this weapon from your hands, Sir, with emotions I cannot express. I will endeavor to so use it that it will never speak less firmly and surelj- 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 b3' you as an effective argument against the traitors of our native land ;" and to Mr. Ingersoll saying : "In behalf of Charles Cranz, the Patriot, -and at his request, I present to you this instrument of death, fully believing that in your hands it will never be dishonored, and that when the time arrives, at least one traitor will meet his just deserts." Mr. Ingersoll'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 ^iven 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 well to live, and shield it from the polluting touch of traitors — the enemies of Liberty and ■God — say to him that with 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. Ood bless you, sir, and him; shield us and return us again safely to our homes, wrhere we may live and enjoy the blessings of peace and prosperity together." Other presentations were 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 AKKON AND SUxMMIT COUNTY. Marriner, a revolver to Joseph W. Swaggard; on behalf of his fellow 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 you will all equally do your duty, and that I would 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 jou have families, and you are anxious to know if they will be taken care of during your absence. Let us know where your families are, and if, on your return, thej^ 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 only then have done — as j^ou will do during your absence — your duty." Ralph P. Waterbury, for the Akron Stove Companj-, presented a revolver to N. B. Bigelo^w, 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 & 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 Coplej^, 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 city generously supplying the boys with rations, blankets, etc. Here, on Monday, April 29, 1861, Philip P. Bock presented Capt. Buckley with a verj^ fine revolver; Mr. C. J. Sloeum, on behalf of citizens of Middlebury, presented the boj's from that village with 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; Rev. Henry Adams, of St. Paul's Church, in behalf of the Christian people of Akron, presented each meinber of the several companies with 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 white 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 women of this place, I present you this flag of our Union, feeling assured that there is need of no word of ours to inspire you with courage in its defense. That the Ruler of Battles may guard and protect you, and after giving you a victory over the enemies of freedom, bring j'ou in safetj' to your "goodies" for the boys in camp. I}57 homes, will be the dail}' prayers of those whose fingers have fash- ioned this emblem, and in their behalf I bid 3^ou (rod 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 IstjGen. 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 inarched from Camp Akron to the depot, -where an immense crow^d of jo5'^ful yet tearful friends had assembled to witness their . 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 j^ears, as editor and publisher of the Akron Commercial and its successor, the People 's Monthljr- Among the Twrenty-Ninth boys who died in the service, besides those mentioned above, "were: 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 AXD SUM.'^IIT COUNTY. John S. Clemmer, December 25, 1862. James B. Storer was pro- moted from sergeant of Company H, to sergeant major, February 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 -wounds received at the battle of Cedar Mountain, Va., August 8, 1862, Lieutenant James Treen was 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,, not 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, -was commissioned as captain of Company D, 197th O. V. I., in -which 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, was 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 was 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, riear Mansfield, the home of the Senator, in November, 1861, and was a part of what was known 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 townships 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. 3H5 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 successivel3^ captain of the company, Messrs. Carr and Chamberlin succes- sively sergeant major of the regiment, while Mr. Sanders was 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, June 28, 1862. THE SIXTY-FOURTH IN BATTLE. The Sixty -Fourth wras also one of the fighting regiments of the war, having participated in the following 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., July 28 to September 2, 1864; Jonesboro, Ga., August 31, September 1, 1864; LoYejo^' 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, was assigned to duty in Texas, where, 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., Ma}^ 9, 1864. Deaths from wounds received in battle: Corporal Jacob Boone, wounded at Chickamauga, Ga., September 20, 1863, died October 16, 1863; Sergeant Duncan Thompson, wounded 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 while 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 Wooliey; 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. pAPT. 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", Shiloh, Perrysville, Stone River, Chatta- nooga, Looliout Mountain, Atlanta, Jonesboro, Spring Hill and Nash- ville, was mustered out at Coluiubus, O., Sept. 1, 1865, for gallantry at Spring Hill, being tendered a com- mission in the regular arm3', bj- corps cominander, Gen. D. S. Stan- lejr, which he declined. On return home formed partnership with the late Henry 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 Company, serving in that capacitj' till April 1, CAPT. AAROX p. BALDWIX. 1886, since which time he has been its efficient General Superintendent. Capt. Baldwin is a prominent mem- ber of the G. A. R. having officiated as Post Commander ; Q. M. Gen. Dep't. of Ohio, and upon staff of National Commander. Nov. 10. 1863, was married to Miss Celia Ayres, of Akron, who has borne him four children — James A., John Sherman, Susie and Mary Alice. THE SIXTH INDEPENDENT BATTERY. One of the most efficient light artillery organizations of the war was the Sixth Ohio Independent Battery, attached to the Sherman Briga ie. The battery, consisting-of two sections, was provided with four ten-pound Parrott and tw^o six-pound bronze Rodman guns, with horses and other equipage to match. One sec- tion of this battery was 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. Baldwin, 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, David 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. Moody, 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 Shewrey, John Smith, James Spelman, Thomas W. Screen, Benjamin Stroker, Ezra Tryon, Charles Toy, Elias W. Turner, Gustave Thrise, Har- rison Trisselle, Ezra Whitnej^, 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 added to the battery: George W. Barber, George Boyd, Samuel T. Brandon, George Case, Frank C. Chapman, Seth Conej', George Chamberlin, John Earl, B. French, Anselo French, Ed-ward 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, Xewton Thayer, Charles M. Waite, John Wilder, Henry Worden, William P. Warren. 7 0HX C. WEBER,— son of Florence J and Margaret (Steinbacher) Weber, was born in Monroeville, Ohio, August 20, 184:4, removing- with par- ents to Akron the following October; educated in Akron union schools; at 17, enlisted in Sixth Ohio Batterj-, organized at Camp Buckingham, near Mansfield, October 9, 1861, serv- ing till October 24, 1864, being among- the joungest, 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 ■day. Soon afterthe close of the war, Mr. Weber removed to Cleveland, and •engaged in brewing, returning to Akron 1885, as a niember 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. WEBEK. M., born March 20, 1878; Bertha T., born January 26, 1880, and Florence C, born September 11, 1882. In the organization of the battery. Captain Cullen Bradley, an experienced U. S. Army Artillery officer, was placed in command, with 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, wheelwright, and F. W. Beebe as company clerk. 368 AKKON 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 constantlj-- engaged during the 120 days of that sanguinary contest, and being very highly complimented by Gen. O. O. Howard for its accurate firing before Kenesaw. The battery was re-equipped at Atlanta,, afterwards, under the command of Captain A. P. Baldwin, partfc- ipated in the battles of Franklin and Nashville, on the second day 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 battery marched to Huntsville, Ala., and from thence started for Eastport, 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 war: Deaths from wounds, 16; disease, 26; discharged for wounds, 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 W. Smetts was severel}' wounded at Chickamauga, and several other casualties to Akron boys occurred during the war, of vv^hich we cannot here definitelj' speak; among the deaths from disease while in the service being James and Samuel T. Brandon and Ezra Whitne}'. THE HUNDRED AND FOURTH O. V. I. Companj^ H, and parts of several other companies of this regi- ment, were 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 ^th the following Akron and Summit county boys as officers: Captain, Walter B. Scott; first lieutenant, HobartFord; 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. Brown; third, Adolphus French; fourth, William Dunn; fifth, Louis Stair; sixth, William Rinehart; seventh, Jacob Hollinger; 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 writer has been able to compile them, are as follows: 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, William 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 Gamble, Allan J. Goodhue, John HoUister, Eli Hope, Oscar C. Jackson/ John Jackson, Noble THE HUNDRED AND FOUKTM O. V. I. BCD M. Jewett, A. Jackson, Albert Lepper, Denis J. Long, William Lambrecht,Jay Maranville, Perry G. Marshall, IthielJ. 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, Erastus 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. Kirby 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 L'nion 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, and perfecting itself in drill, (carrying off the honors in a competitive drill -with 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 was resumed, its objective point being Danville, where it had some slight skirmishes with the enemj' in aiding to intercept Gen. Morgan, who vi^as then raiding in that vicinity. From Danville the regiment veas 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 works and receive the arms and stores of the surrendered rebels. Returning to Knoxville, the 104th was on active dutj^ 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 wounded; participated in the battle of Jonesboro the latter part of August; lost several men in its almost daily skir- mishes with 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 AKRON 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 relieve Gen. Jacob D. Cox, who was menaced by a superior force. Proceeding from Kingston to Goldsboro, and from thence to Raleigh, the 104th was highh' compUmented by Gen. Sherman for its soldierly bear- ing and efficiency 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 was sent to Camp Taylor, at Cleveland, where, on June 27, 1865, the surviving members, 640 in number, were paid off and mustered out. CASUALTIES, 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 Cjeek, Ga., July 17, 1864; Corporal Albert Schultz, February 20, 1865, at battle of Town Creek, N. C; Willard H. Bass, Daniel Conrad and Burtis \V. 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, ^vounded 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 Gingery and John Kleckner, at battle of Town Creek, N. C, February 20, 1865;' Lewis Heath, at Dallas, Ga., May 31, 1864; John Winkleman, wounded and captured at battle of Franklin, Tenn., November 30, 1864. Captured: Cyrus O. Osborn and John Stroker, at battle of Danville, Kj^., 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; EH Hope, at Franklin, Kj-., 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 2^ 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., November 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 1, of the 115th regiment, were composed of Summit county boys, most of them Ijeing from the northern part ofthe county, and whose names will duly appear in the rosters of their respective townships, as given in this work. The original officers of Company C were as follows : John A. Means, of Northiield, (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, second lieutenant ; Kobert Sears, of Stow, orderlj^ sergeant ; Lewis F. Derrick, of Cuyahoga Falls, second sergeant; John C. Ely, of Cuyahoga Falls, third sergeant ; Alexander Forbes, of Northfield, fourth 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 Twinsburg, 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 Companj^ 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 RisdSn, of Richfield, fifth corporal ; Perrj' H. Alexan- der, of Bath, sixth corporal ; Joseph C. Freebj-, of Cuyahoga Falls, seventh corporal ; William McKinney, of Twinsburg, eighth cor- poral ; the original roster containing the names of 80 privates — total, with officers, 96 men. It is to be greatly regretted that no local record of the organi- zation of Company I has been preserved, though it is believed that the only officer in that company from Summit county, was Edward Buckingham, late auditor of the countj^ who went out as first lieutenant, but was 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-ward Buckingham, George E. Buckingham, Simon Bonfield, Levs^is M. Carpenter, Michael Doyle, Byron Gifford, Michael Kirwin, William Limric, John McAllister, Vincent A. Malone, Mills B. Purdy, Aaron Pardee, Jacob Randall, Albert Shenkel, Harrison Shaaf, Enoch Thompson, John Jackson Tate, 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 services October 4, 1862, the 115th was ordered to Cincinnati, not being in time to take part in th'? " 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. -Early in November, 1862, Lieutenant Colonel Boone's battalion was 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, was 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, v^^ith a loss of three men killed and seven wounded 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 wounded. 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 Gr 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 -when, -with others, they were 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 newly 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 were 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 with terrible havoc to the boat and passengers, the boat also taking fire and burning to the water. 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 were either blown to atoms by the explosion, burned to death, or drowned, among whom were UNSURPASSED GALLANTRY. 373 some 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, by 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 -were reported. December 9, 1864, Block-House Number 2, -was attacked and a con- tinuous fire from three rifled cannon was kept up from early morn- ing till dark, killing tw^o and w^ounding 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. pAPTAIN JOHN A. MEANS,— ^ born near Pittsburg-, Pa., Febru- ary 1, 1811 ; common school educa- tion ; learned trade of tanner and ■currier ; November, 1833, came to Ohio, teaching- school in Springfield; 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- rait county in 1860; August, 1862, leaving office in enlarge of his son Nathan, entered the army, as captain • of Company C, 115th Regt, serving till close of the war ; detailed as assistant topographical engineer, departinent 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 dj'ing in infanc}', AVilliam S. drowned while father was in the army ; Rebecca (the first Mrs. CAPTAIN JOHN A. MEANS. Sumner Nash), died 1869; Nathan (the eldest), died in Akron 1886; Elvira, the youngest, married to Rev. W. B. Marsh, now of Springfield, Ohio. Mrs. Means dying in 1879, Capt Means subsequentls' married Mrs. L. C. Walton, with whom, in the 81st year of his age, he is now happily living in Tallmage. On being relieved from garrison and guard duty at Murfrees- boro, and along the line of the railroad, between Nashville and Tullahoma, at the close of the war, the survivors of the 115th were 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 men. THE VALLANDIGHAM EPISODE. Captain Edward Buckingham, 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 Middlebury in 1844; at 18, engaged as clerk in wliolesale house in Cleve- land, afterwards serving three years as clerk in postofficeat Indianapolis, Ind.; in August, 1862, enlisted in 115th 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 j'ears. In politics, Capt. Buckingham ■was an uncompromisingRepublican, 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 BUCKI.XGHAN. Akron, who bore him six children^ four of whom are living— Georg-e E., John S., William J., and Huklah. Capt. Buckingham died Aug\ist 3(V 1881, at the age of 46 jears, 1 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 greatl}' re- tarding enlistments and encouraging resistance to the draft under the various calls of President Linco'ln 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 vi^ithin our lines who 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 committing 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 Hnes of their friends. It must be distinctly understood that treason, expressed or implied, will not 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 was 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 was 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 vs^ere present, let them go and tell him so. Captains Means and Hill, (the latter having taken full hotes of the treasonable utterances), having made their report, Capt. Hut- ton, of Gen. Burnside's staff, with a squad of regulars, w^as sent to Dayton to make the arrest, the larger part of Co. C, 115th O. V. T., accompanying the expedition for patrol duty, though taking no part in the arrest. The detachment arrived in Dayton between 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 window, at the top of his voice, shouted, "Asa! Asa! Asa !"» which was evidently a pre-concerted signal for advising his friends of imperiding danger, for presently the fire bells of the city 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 anj^ effective show^ of resistance. Copperhead Mob — Martial Law. — Mr. Vallandigham's politi- cal organ, the Dayton Empire, the follow^ing 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 Journal, (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, by 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. IV^eans' command. Company C. A Dastardly Outrage. — While on duty, as provost guard at Dayton, the "copperhead" element there was 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 SUMHIT COUNTY. Lieutenant Waterman Captain Means writes: "I want to say of Lieutenant Waterman that he was 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 with treason, and the conviction of Vallandigham was the means of bringing those people to respect and have a little fear of the law." 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 every 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, sajdng: "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 follows: • 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 f urnisned with a blanket and at least two daj^s' rations. Railroad companies are requested to furnish transportation for troops to the exclusion of all other business. David Tod, Governor. A Wondbrful 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 two 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. Sidney Edgerton," the residence of the latter — then member of Congress from the Eigh- 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 Ijeen 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 necessarj^" THE "SQUIRREL HUNTERS" OF 1862. 377 A portion of the boj^s from here, were armed with the old-style Harper's FerrA- 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 thej^ 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 Edgerton), 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 — -wrill have to be relied upon for the reproduction of the few others that can here be given. " So sudden was the depart^ure, that there was no opportunity for organization before leaving home. But on the cars, between Orrville and Crestline, officers were elected as follows: Daniel W. Storer, captain; Charles R. Ho^ve, 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" -were: J. Park Alexander, Henry E. Abbe3^ Milton Abbey, John W. Baker, William Bell,MillsH.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 was 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 by 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 paj- for litho- graphing and printing discharges 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 shovsring the Great seal of Ohio resting upon the National Flag. The document reads as follows: THE SQUIRREL HUNTER'S DISCHARGE. Cincinnati was menaced by the enemies of our 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 HOXORABLE DISCHARGE. September, 1862. Chakles W. Hill, Adj. Gen. of Ohio. Approved hy David Ton, 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, Companj'^ A being wholly, and one or two other companies partially, made up of Summit county boys. The regiment was organized, under special authority of Secretar3^ of War Simon Cameron, in the Fall of 1861, at Camp Wade, near Cleveland, being mustered in October 10th of that year, with Charles Doubleday as colonel, and was purely a Western Reserve regiment. Company A was officered as follows: George A. PuringtoOr 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 merit, 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. pOL. DUDLEY SEWARD,— born in V^ Utica, N. Y., Jan. 14, 1819; edxi- cated in common schools ; in 1835 en- tered general store in Manchester, N. Y., clerking- four years ; then worked on farm Summers and taught school Winters till 1842, when he came to Ohio, first locating in Middlebur}-, then Wadsworth, then Tallmadge and finally in Akron. In Fall of 1847, was appointed Deputy by Sher- iff Lewis M. Janes, continuing also through the two succeeding terms of Sheriff William L. Clarke, and in 1852 he was elected Sheriff, serving- two terins ; in April, 1861, enlisted in Co. G, 19th O. V. I., of which he was sergeant. At end of three months' 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 from the volun- teer service — mean-while 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. DUDLEV .SEWARD. 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 Williain 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 was 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 Cavalry. Orderly Sergeant Henry O. Hampson w-as 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 township, afterwards 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 war, Messrs. Purington and Seward were members of the Nineteenth O. V. I., 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 AKKON 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, -was armed \srith 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 Second forming a part of the force that captured Fort Gibson in the latter part of July. Early in August, 18S2, 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 was made by a part of the regiment, in pursuit of a large force of rebel raiders and guerrillas, vv^ith almost constant skirmishing. Organizing a Batt'ery. — About this time two officers and 150 men of the Second were placed in charge of a light battery, and by order of the War Department were 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, with the battery, went 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 year of service, properlj^ 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, where, during the Winter of 1862, '63 it was fur- nished with fresh horses, new arms and equipments, and with 60 recruits. Here the original 12 companies vsrere consolidated into eight, and four companies raised for the Eighth, were 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 gallantry." Reassembling and refitting at Stanford, Ky., on September oth 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 Knoxville, PART OF SHEKIDAn'6 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 Armj^ of the Cumberland, after marching thirty miles towards Knoxville, the Second vs^as 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 livelj' scrimmage with Wheeler's rebel cavalry. During the siege of Knoxville, the Second operated upon the flank of the enemy, and when the siege was raised went in pursuit of the retreating rebels. December 2, a spirited engagement was had with Longstreet's cavalry, at Morristovsrn, and two days later the Second was the advance regiment of a brigade ^vhich 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 PoToiviAC. — Reassembling at Cleveland,. March 7, 1864, with 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 Newtown, capturing rebel commissary stores and forage. Under "Phighting" Phil. Sheridan. — By order of Lieutenant General Grant, the Second was 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 SJJMMIT 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 two 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 Early on the 19th, 22nd, and two or three subsequent sharp encounters -with the impetuous rebel, the Second bore a conspicuous part, going Avith the division to Boonesborough on the 26th, camping en route, on the battle-field of South Mountain, and naarching over the battle-field of Antie- tam. Plaudits of Skcretaey Stanton. — August 30, the Second assisted in driving the enemy from Berrysville, Va.; in September did picket dut}' on the left of Sheridan's army, frequently engaging the enemy; September 13 went on a reconnoisance to Winchester, where Earlj- had his headquarters, drove in the rebel cavalry, and with the aid of a New Jersej^ regiment, captured a rebel infantry regiment, taking them to Berrysville, for which gallant exploit the Secretary of War made special commendatory mention. The Second aided, by four hours hard fighting, in carrying a line of hills betAveen Opequan and Winchester; on Early's retreat, joined in the pursuit; on the 20th drove Wickham's cavalry through Front Royal; marched 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- w^ater, and during Sheridan's march down the valley, being annoyed by Rosser in the rear, turned upon him, 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 day- break until nine P. >i.; occupied the center on the Valley Pike, near Middletown, and aided in the shout of welcome to Sheridan, on his arrival at the front, on his famous ride to " Winchester town," and participated in the charges "which 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 weeks, on November 12, the Second Was attacked by Rosser's division and driven in, the fight lasting all day, resulting in the entire defeat of the enemy; was hotly engaged with 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, with Sheridan's other cavalry, started on the last raid of the war, on March 2nd capturing the remains of Early's army, the Second alone capturing five pieces of artillery with caissons, thirteen wagons and ambulances, seventy TWENTY-SEVEX THOUSAND MILES. 283 horses and mules, thirty sets of harness, 350 stands of small arms and 650 prisoners, for which magnificent 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 wagons, 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 went to Springfield to relieve State troops. Remaining there until September 1, the Second was transferred to Camp Chase, where, 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 Middlebur3- and Portage townships (including Akron), for the invincible and almost omni- present Second Ohio Cavalrj^: Clinton Allen, Milton F. Abbey, Watson C. Atwood, Augustus X. 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 Hanscom, 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. Montgomery, Daniel McNaughton, Eugene Pooler, George A. Purington, George Richards, F. A. Remington, John Roahl, Virgil Robinson, J. Gilbert Raymond, (musician) Dudley Seward, 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, \*rill be found in the lists of their respective townships. A GLOWING TRIBUTE TO THE SECOND. Whitelaw Reid, late editor-in-chief of the Nen- York Tribune, now United States Minister to France, upon whose " Ohio in the War" we 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 five 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 twelve batteries, was 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 months' 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 boy, as captain, and Batter3^ D, with Andrew J. Konkle,of Cuyahoga Falls, as captain. CAPTAIN COTTER'S BATTERY. As before stated. Captain Charles S. Cotter, of Middlebur}', recruited Company A, First Ohio Light Artillery, for the three years' service, which was mustered in at Camp Chase, Columbus, September 6, 1861, immediately leaving for Louisville, Ky., receiv- ing its equipment while en route at Cincinnati, and was the first Ohio Battery to report in that dtipartment. Moving with Gen. McCook's Command to Qreen River, and from 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, Tullahoma, Shelby ville, 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 Bowling Green, October 31, 1862, and Lotaisville 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 was disabled, and afterwards aided in working other batteries upon the field. Battery A Reorganized. — After the capture of Murfrees- boro, by the Union forces, Januarj^ 3, 1863, the battery was re-or- ganized and re-equipped, and, as part of the Second Division of the Army of the Cumberland, participated in the movements on Tullahoma, 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 COTTKK'a* AXD KO.NKLE's I3ATTERIES. 385 nearly surrounded, extricated its guns by a sudden change of front, its loss on that eventful day being 17 men killed and wounded. 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 constantlj^ engaged with 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 which it took a lively hand in the several engagements -with Hood's rebel armj', at Pulaski, Columbia, and other points, arriving at Nashville just in time to haul the daptured rebel artiller3r 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 Clevel&nd, 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 heav3^ 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." Akrox IX Cotter's Battery. — Besides Captain (afterwards Colonel) Cotter, Akron's representatives in Battery A, First Ohio Light Artillery, so far as can be learned, were: Thomas Corwin (or Kirwin), James Courtney (mortallj' wounded at Chickamauga September 20, 1863), Henry Geer (wounded in same 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 Yeoraans, as belongipg to this battery. Captaix Konkle's Battery. — At the close of the three months service, as above intimated, Battery D, First Ohio Light Artillerj% was recruited for the three years' service by Andrew J. Konkle, of Cuyahoga Falls, who was made captain of the battery, with 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, with 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 with 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 battery was overwhelmed by the enemy, and all its men and material captured. S5 386 AKRON AND SUMMIT COU^^TY. Though unfortunate in this regard, they were more fortunate than thousands of their fellowr-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 duly 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 East 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 -whom died in the prison-pen at Andersonville, Ga. During the entire siege at Knoxville, Battery D was effectively engaged, and immediately after the siege w^as raised, the men re-enlisted and -were sent home on a thirty-daA's' 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 vi'ith Sherman's army w^lien the march on Atlanta began, and participating in all the engagements of that gloriously successful campaign; afterwards engaging in the battles of Franklin and Xashville, and after driving Hood's army across the Tennessee River, went with the Third Armj' 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 Artiller3^, were the following Akron and Middlebury boys: Daniel Ackerman, George H. Brown, William Delong, Versel 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. Townk /. THE FIFTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT O. V. I. Thi.i 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; MiUiken's Bend, La., August 18, 1862; Chickasaw Ba5^ou, 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. E: ' Joseph Bergdorf, THEY "FIT MIT SIGEL." 387 Thomas Dill, George Fry, L. F. Grether, Charles Henning, Henry Rinehart, 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 Fr\", mustered out on expiration of enlistment, January 14, 1865; Louis F. Grether, discharged for disabilitj^ 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 5vas also a German regiment, organized in August, 1862, under a special order from Ohio's Patriotic Democratic War Governor, David Tod, to "fight niit Sigel," Company I was in part composed of citizens of Summit county, Richard Feederle, of Akron, being elected captain, W. F. Bechtel, of Akron, second lieutenant, Captain George Billow, Akron's present well-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 war. As showing the interest taken by the Germans of Akron, in the recruiting of this regiment, v/e 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 war experience of the 107th, was in 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 Hagerstown, 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 will appear elsewhere in this chapter, at a public meeting held at East Liberty for the purpose of encouraging enlistments, while 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 which they had unwittingly placed themselves, would 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 say 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 wounded, falling almost side, by side, at the battle of Gettysburg, July 1, 1863. pAPT. GEORGE BILLOW,— born ^ in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, April 2, 1833; carae to United States with parents in 1844, settling on farin near Sandusky, O.; at 17 began learn- ing wagon-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 regiment, of whose services a full account is 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, Julj' 10, 1865, Captain Billow returned to Akron, engaging in the grocer}' business with M'r. C.J. Kolb for about two years ; then took charge of the co-operative grocerj^, afterwards for a year 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, 1875, returned to Akron. Here he established hitn- self as an undertaker, which busi- ness he is still successfully pursuing, also officiating as Notary and agent CAPT. GEORGE BILLOW. for ocean steamship 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 Februarj^, 1864, to Florida, and in December, 1864, back to South Carolina, where,, and in Georgia, besides being for a while employed in provost duty, it took a lively hand in the closing scenes of the war, 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 R Bechtel, Philip A. Bierwirth,. Joseph Bimler, Joseph Decovey, Robert Deitzhold, Richard Feed- erle, Frederick Fischer, Christian Fischer, Peter Ginther, Theobold PROM(.)T[OA'S, L'ASUALTIKS, ETC. 389 Hassman, Frederick Latidenberger, 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 countj" 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 -war. 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- ber 28, 1863, of w^ounds 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 with company; John J. Bussard, killed at Gettysburg, July 1, 1863; Robert Deitz- hold, transferred to companj^ K, 25th O. \' I., July 10, 1865; Chris- -tian Fischer, died August 2, 1873, at Newark, X. 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, 1865; Conrad Metzler, died at Jacksonville, Fla., May 10, 1864; Charles Remmy, discharged for disabihty, at Hilton Head, S. C, May 14, 1865;" Jacol) 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 was engaged during tlie war, as given in Ohio Roster: Chancellors ville, 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, with liberal accessions from Summit and other counties in Northern and Western Ohio. October 1, 1861, at Camp Dennison, near folumbus, 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 AND SUMMIT COUNTY. minor officers being selected from those who had seen service under the three months' call. The regiment reported to Gen. Kosecrans in West Virginiar early in October, 1861, operating in the Kanawha Valley; in January,. 1862, went on a raid to Logan, C. H., after hard lighting capturing the place and destro3'ing war material — an officer and one private killed; March, 1862, in a raid on the Virginia and East Tennessee Railroad, lost one officer and thirteen men killed, two officers and forty-six men wounded and fourteen men missing, the National forces retreating to Flat Top Mountain. At Wyoming, C. H., in April, 1862, a detachment -was ambuscaded and surrounded, but fought their way out vsrith 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 July 4, 1863, with a loss of 19 men killed and 7& vs^ounded, including its commander, Ivieut. 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 northward march of the victorious army; after the surrender of Lee and Johnston marching to Washington i-ia Richmond, Va., and participating in the Grand Review, at the National Capital, Maj'' 25, 1865. After the review, the regiment was transported by rail, to Louisville, Ky., and from thence, the latter part of June, to Little Rock, Ark., where it remained until August 7, 1865, when it vsras 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 companj' Octo- ber 2, 1864 — Veteran; Christian Koehler, mustered out with com- pany, August 7, 1865 — Veteran; Benjamin Stroker, died at Wahiut 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 was organized at Camp Wood, near Cleveland, October 11, 1861, with 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 BATTEKY. 391 June 7, 1864; William H. James, of Cuyahoga Falls, promoted to second lieutenant, Ma3^ 9, 1864, to first lieutenant, November 16, 1864, resigned January 21, 1865; George \V. Church, of Hudson, promoted to second lieutenant, June 27, 1864, to first lieutenant, February 10, 1865, mustered out -^ith 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 commanding the ferry on the Cumberland River, over which rebel troops were being transported, by its well-directed shots, at a range of nearl}^ two miles, setting fire to the steam ferrj^-boat and compelling the speedy surrender of the rebel works. For this galla«t 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 with ammunition, having several sharp encounters with the enemy on the way, 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 with everj'^ 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 no'wr 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 Januarj', 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, vsrho tied the hands of their prisoners behind their backs, and then deliberately shot them and threw their bodies into Elk River. Two 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, was issued, making an assessment on the neigh- borhood in the sum of $30,000 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 fur yy2 AKKOX AND SUMMIT CUUXTY. 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 Batterj' 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 1864, 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 Lewis P. Buckley for the three year's service. Before the organization was completed, however, Governor William Dennison tendered to him a second lieutenant's com- mission with 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, with 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 w^as the first regiment to engage the enemy, commanded by Stonewall Jackson, the next morning, and w^hen 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-fourths of a mile, on a double- quick, exposed to the enemy's fire, forming his men on the left of Gen. Tyleris 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-wall would not protect the enemy 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, well-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 SIXTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT O. \'. I. 393 •career. The Sixtj^-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 with the barge, which had, by this time, become an almost perfect -wreck. Col. Voris w^as himself upon the barge at the time of the catas- trophe, and to his coolness and good management was largely, if not w^hoUy, 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 wreck — boarding the steamer sans sword, sans hat, sans coat, sans everything, but shoes, stockings, shirt, pants and vest. The Assault on 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 Jslorth 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 w^ound 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 artillery, was stationed about eleven miles from Petersburg, on the Richmond turnpike, with instructions to hold that point at all hazards. On the morning of May 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, was . recaptured by a portion of Company F. This 10th 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 were killed and ^vounded 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. Terry 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 w^as recommended for promotion as a Brigadier General of- Volunteers. Winning a Magnificbnt Trophy. — May 20, 1863, the 67th was designated, -with other regiments, to recapture a portion of our lines which had fallen into the hands of the rebels, w^hich was accom- plished by a charge in -which the 67th lost sixty-nine officers and men, killed and wounded. In this engagement the rebel General W. H. S. Walker, was 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 with 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 w^as almost constantl3' in action, "and it is said," says Whitelaw Reid, "by 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 vi^ant of space, but may say, briefly, that in the Spring of 1865, it -was 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, -writh 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 . shown himself an energetic, faithful and just officer. He leaves with 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, two 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 was 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 which Col. Voris was wounded, at Fort Wagner, split upon the ring of his sword belt, and as, on probing, only a small piece of the ball was found, it was supposed that the larger portion had glanced off without penetrating the body. 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, which finally developed into T\'hat 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, w^hen, 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 instantly 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 j^ears 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 gravity, 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 sj^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 ^vas 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 who, for any reason, had not entered the volunteer service, -who, under the general appellation of "Home Guards," took lessons in military tactics, supplied themselves -with 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 W. 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 Purdj% 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 AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. David G. Sanford, George L>. Bates, James Christy, George Thomas, Constant Bryan, Erhard Steinbacher, George W. McNeil, John L. Robertson, John H. Christy, J. Park Alexander, B. F. Wheeler, Henry S. Abbej^ 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, betvi^een the ages of 18 and 45, but also providing for the organization of volunteer companies, battalions and regiments, who w^ere 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 w^ith 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 prevent 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 when 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, while performing such service. Fifty-Fourth Battalion, O. N. G. — Under this law Summit county furnished three volunteer companies, as follows: Akron, Compan}- 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 were 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 E. 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 W. Howe, L. A. Hastings, E. M. Hastings, H. \V. Hawkins, H. W. Ingersoll, 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, Jame& 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. Yiele,. Andrew T. Wilson, George Wellhouse, George C. Weimer, John Wolf, J. K. Weygandt, Henrj' W. Wetmore, A. A. Washburn, Daniel Zeisloft. Officers, Flag Festival, Etc. — The commissioned officers, elected at the time of organization, ^ivere: William L. Everett, cap- tain; Daniel W. Storer, first lieutenant; Chas. R. Howe, second lieutenant, with 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 companj^ 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- crowded with an interested audience, to witness the presentation ceremonies, a dime admittance fee, for the benefit of soldiers' fam- ilies, 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 (?uards : — To you I come, in the name of the young- ladies of Akron, not to present to you the olive wreath, emblematic of peace, but with the Flag of Your Country, the ensign of war. To you we look for protec- tion while our fathers and brothers are fighting on the bloody field for the salvation of our common country. * * * Xo you T 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 quiet drills at home, 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 your 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 dut}' to our country, and inay it fill our hearts with the spirit of resist- ance to all rebel foes, — aye, with a double contempt for all northern traitors, till the3^ are haunted south of the line bj^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 which we quote as follows: Officers of the 'Akron Guaru': — We meet you to-night, clothed in the habiliments of war, with words of greeting and good cheer, and extend to j'ou a hearty welcome ! Selected by your 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 victorjr and to glory, it becomes j'ou to gird j'ourselves well for the task that you may acquit j^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 j'ou and j'our command. Each of 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 well 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 western states. To this end, at his suggestion, a meeting of the governors of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa, was held at Washing- ton, and on April 21, 1864, a tender was 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 daj^s from the acceptance of the proposition. PROMPT AND NOBLE RKSPONSE. 399 President Lincoln, through his Ohio Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, promptly accepted the tender, on being advised of which, on April 23, 1864, Adjtxtant General R. B. Cowen, in Gen- eral 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, Maj^ 2, 1864. THE GRAND UPRISING IN OHIO. While it was 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 Cowen had received reports that more than 35,000 men were 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 3't)u w^ill meet all its requirements with fidelity and honor. The praj^ers 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. ; t^vo 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; tw^o to C'amp 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; Company C, 88 men — total, with chaplain, 266. Between the organization and reporting for duty, a number of changes had occurred, some having moved away, some already 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; Edward Oviatt, ensign; John E. Bell, first sergeant; William B. Raymond, second sergeant; George A. Collins, third sergeant; Newell 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. Miathews,. eighth corporal. Privates: J. Park Alexander (substitute, L. R. Harper), Franklin C. Ackley, Watson C. Atwood, W. E. Allen, Joseph H. Alexander, William J. Atwood, 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. Canfield, Orion Church, William H. Carter, George W. Cam^p (substitute, Henry E. Abbey), David Dressier, H. A. Grubb, C. W.. Gunther, J. Goldsmith, G. Guyer, Henry C. Howard, George H.. Heifer {substitute, Clinton E. Heifer), John W. Hutton, H. W. Ha'wkins, 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. Purdj^ Wilson G. Robinson (substitute, Henry Crosby King),. J. Rinehart, David Snyder, Henry M. Sanford, William Sichley, 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 o4th Battalion, 266 strong, reported at Camp "Taylor, where, the next day, it was consolidated with the Fortj-- 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 Sixty-Fourth Regiment^ O. V. I., with John C. Lee, (late of Toledo) as colonel, Cliarles 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 foUovsrs, A to F; B to H; C to D. On examination, by the proper officers at Camp Taylor, a number of men from each compan3^ were 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 v^rithout data. Tallmadge — Company D, 164th O. V. I. — Following is the roster of Company D, reported from Fort Woodbury, Va., Maj^ 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, second corporal; Robert Ellis,, third corporal; William Bell, fourth c'orporal; G. F. Lyman, fifth corporal; Byron M. Allison, sixth corporal; S. W. Harris, seventh corporal; W. B. Crane, drummer. Privates: L. H. Ashmun,. K.\-ROUTK 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, Wilham Ripley, L. Rickardo, J. Rowinsky, John Roudebush, O. Sprague, P. C. Shenkenberger, C. A. Sackett, B. W. Skinner, L3'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. W^estover, George Young — total 88. Grken 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; Cjtus 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. Chamberhn, W. W. Coale, B. Chisnell, \V. 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. Krj^ster, 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, Maj^ 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 from Cleveland, the Herald said: "As they marched down Superior street, at about 8 o'clock in the evening, the rain was descending in sheets, with an occasional blinding flash of lightning, and the boys were drenched with rain and covered with 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 whole column of about a thousand men tramped along, singing as with one voice ' Rally Round the Flag, Boys ' and marking the close of each verse with terriffic cheery and yells." S6 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 Early's invasion the regiment was kept on duty almost constantly and every night was 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, via Baltimore, Harrisburg and Pittsburg, where it was mustered out, August 27, 1864." Sickness, Deaths, Etc. — Letters from members of the several Sum^mit county companies to the vsrriter, and published in the Beacon, while on duty in front of Washington, sho-w 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 sorro^wful 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 with 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. Two 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 HenYy 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 with 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, hy the people of their respective townships, goes without saying, for though they had rPot participated in any such bloody scenes of carnage as had laid so many of their comrades lo-w in death, they had, at the most critical period of the war, given to the Union army an equal number of trained and experienced soldiers, while THE nation's thankfulness. 403 £Lt the same time affording ample protection to the National •Capital, and other Union cities menaced by the rebel army. Many interesting reminiscences are rife among the boys of iheir "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 Days, 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 Iarket street, in four-inch -cast-iron mains, with lead service pipes to the several residences -along the route, these cast-iron mains, after nearlj^- half a century's service, being replaced by wrought-iron pipes in 1891. This is the very softest and purest water in the citj', 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 AKh'OX AND SUMMIT COUNTY. Lorenzo Hall, S. E. Phinney, George A. Kempel, 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 W. Bloom, -where the office of the Schumacher Milling Company now stands, corner of Broadway and Mill streets. March 14, 186.5, Morrill T. Cutter, Hiram Viele, William G. Raymond, James M. Hale and Lorenzo Hall, directors of the duly incorporated Howard Street Water Company, by 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 works were quite convenient to those interested for several j'^ears, but paving, sewering, etc., at length so interfered with a free flow of water and the extension of the system, that the project was abandoned. City Water Works. — Sometime in the latter sixties, the question of city water works for fire protection and for manufactur- ing and domestic purposes, began to be agitated, and on December 27, 1871, an ordinance was passed as foUow^s: Section 1. Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Akron^ That water works for the purpose of furnishing said cit3^andthe inhabitants thereof, witli a supply of ^vater, are hereby ordered to be built and con- structed. This was supplemented by an ordinance passed Januarj' 8, 1872, authorizing the election of a board of three water works trustees, and at the ensuing April election a non-partisan board was elected as follows: John R. Buchtel, Alexander H. Commins and Charles Cranz. Expert h3'draulic engineers, were emploj^ed^ and estimates made from various points of possible supply, but various hindrances intervened, and the scheme Avas never con- summated, the ordinance being repealed March 29, 1876. Akron Water Work.s Company'. — July 1, 1880, an ordinance was passed granting to M. S. Frost & Son, and their associates, the privilep-e of usins: the streets, alleys and public grounds of the cit}- 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 bj' said company. The works were accordingl)' built, the supply being obtained from a large well upon the Mal- lison farm, on Wooster avenue, with a reservoir upon Sherbondj' Hill in the west part of the city. The works were completed and put in operation early in 1881, but as the years passed by the supply from the well was 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 subsequently an arrangement made with the State by which the waters of 1 K— ^' 6 T ii-J.. ?^V>« .^'■3.—U4^ ^'^'5?^'!^%^ Akron Water Works Pumping Station -1891. CHANGES l.\ A THIRD OK A CEiX'TURY. 47)3 Summit Lake, still furthfer south, are used as occasion requires, and with other more recentl_y added wells, both in point of quantitj' and quaht}' Akron's water supplj- is equal to that of any other citj^ 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, showing old City >lill, old Wooden Bridge over Canal, and the original and then onlv Sidewalk on West Hill.— From photo by S. J. Miller, ISSS. West Market Street, from Howard, 1881.— From photo by George E. Hitchcock. 454 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. The present officers of the Akron Wdter Works Company are; President, Frank Adams; vice president, George W. Crouse; secre- tary and treasurer, Horace C. Starr; mechanical engineer and superintendent, Bdward 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 rapidh' extended. Cereal Operations. — It will be remembered that in its earlier history, milling \\'as Akron's chief industry, which, while not very 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, Crosb}' and others in 1832, was the pioneer, foUcwed by the ^tna, by WilHam B. Mitchell and Samuel A. Wheeler in 1838; the Center Mill, by Joseph A. Beebe and WilHam 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 Ayhffe Mill, (afterwards the Carter & Steward Oatmeal Mill); the Pearl Mill, by William G. Raymond, Abraham Fulton, A. M. Barber and others, (now the Hower 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 New York and other Eastern markets. A Truly "Live Dutchman." — But it was reserved to Fred. Schumacher, to bringto 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 block, 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, which 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 was 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 SuiTimit street. Sundry additions were 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 with modern machinery, the Cascade Mill, near Lock Fourteen, Ohio Canal, originally built by Mr. William B. Mitchell, in 1840. Terrible Calamity. — Other mills were added to the original plant on Summit street, including the celebrated eight story "Jumbo" mill, a large drying house, fronting on Broadway, and the splendid office building on the corner of Mill and Broadway,. IMMENSE MILLING OPERATIONS. 455 the whole with several small dwelling houses, mostly owned by Mr. S., covering the entire square, bounded by Summit street upon the east, Mill street upon the north, Broadw^ay street upon the west, and Quarry street upon the south. These immense mills, filled throughout with expensive machinerj', were being driven to their fullest capacity to meet the demands of the wonderful busi- ness vs^hich 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 Barlej' Mill, ^vith their valuable contents, were destroj'ed by fire, involving a loss to Mr. S., over and above insurance, of $600,000, besides a prospective serious interruption to his business. A LEXANDER H. COMMINS,— eld- ■^ est son of Dr. Jedediah D. Coni- mins, was born at Lima, Livingston county, X. 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 1S45, when, with Col. Simon Perkins, Jesse Allen and others, he became a mem- ber of the Perkins Company, erecting- the brick building 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 Cominins & 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 — A. H. COMMINS. Cora, Catharine B., now Mrs. H. F. Smithers, Gertrude P., Addie H., A. Daisy, 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 daj'S. 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, vsras jlist fairly getting into operation. Between this company and Mr. Schumacher, a consolidation was effected, by which the several milling properties of both were l)rought together under one corporation — The F. Schumacher Mill- ing Company — with an authorized capital stock of two millions of dollars, the business thus being carried right along with but a comparatively slight interruption; the officers of the company being Ferd. Schumacher, president; Louis Schumacher, vice- president; F. Adolph Schumacher, secretary; Hugo Schumacher, treasurer. 456 AKKOX AND SUMMIT COUNTY. A I.HERT ALLEN— son of Levi and -^ Phct'be (Spicer) Allen, was born in C()ventr_v, March 12, 1827; raised on farm with common school education; on attaining- his majoritj^ learned the niillwrig-hting trade at which he worked about nine j'ears, 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 management of the mill, and abh' filling the position for abovit ten years. In 1867, in connec- tion with Mr. Alexander H. Com- mins, 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 executor of Mr. Commins' large estate, until it was merged in The F. Schumacher Milling Compan}', April 5, 1886, of which company Mr. Allen was a director and the vice pres- ident until the tiine of his death, Sep- tember 25, 1888, at the age of 61 years, 6 months and 13 days. Mr. Allen, though never inarried, enjoyed the comforts of a fine home on Bowery street, with his sister. Miss Cynthia Allen, as his housekeeper, rearing- and educating his niece, Miss Minnie E. Allen, now wife of Henr3' M. Stone, Ksq., of Denver, Col. Mr. Allen was an ardent Republican and a zealous member of the Disciple church, in ALBEKT ALLEN, 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 Missionar3r Society, and 10 per cent jointly to the General Chris- tian Home Missionary' Society and the First Disciple church, of Akron, besides having pledged the payment of $1,000 to Buchtel College. M^ J^riNEK J ALLKN. riNER J. ALLEN,— son of Levi and Phoebe (Spicer) Allen, was born in Coventry, November 11, 1829; educated in township district schools; worked at farming- until 1867, when 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- Companj', 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 Pha?be, February "ll, 1882, and Chris- tina Cynthia, August 22, 1883. Politi- cally, >Ir. Allen has been a life-long Republican, and active in public affairs, but not an office seeker, thoug-h, while a resident of Coventry was several years a member and clerk of local school board. Both Mr and Mrs. Allen are devoted mem- bers of the Fix-st Disciple church, of Akron. THE AMEKICAX CEREAL COMPAXY. 457 The German mill, the elevator and the dr3nng hovise, together with the office building, have been rebuilt, a second larger elevator erected, and it is confidently 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 verv largest and best establishment of their kind in the world. JOHN H. HOWER," born in Stark J county, Februars' 22, 1822; educat- ed in ooniniou schools ; from 18 to 30 working- on farm summers and teach- ing- -vpvinters ; five years in trade and two years in pottery business in Doylestown, Wayne count}' ; original member of Excelsior mower and reaper firm at Doylestown, retaining his interest therein until 1875 ; one of the organizers 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 follo-ws : John H. Hower, president Harvey Y. Ho-wer, vice president ; M. Otis Hower, secretary^ Charles H. Hower, treasurer. Mr. Hower is also one of the corporators and president of the newly organized Reed and Rat- tan Company, and also largely interested in several of the other lead- ing industries of the citj^ Married, in 1852, to Miss Susan Youngker, of Doylestown, three children, onl}', as above, having been born to them. In earl}' manhood a Democrat in pol- itics, Mr H. has been an ardent Republican since the organization of that party, the family being zealous members of the English Lutheran Church, of Akron, of -which Mr. H. has "officiated as trustee for many years. JOHX H. HOWER. Thb Hower Oatmeal Mills. — What was formerly the Pearl Mill, 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 Companj', 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 2,000 pounds, in 1880, to nearly 30,000 pounds of bulk and package cereal goods, in 1888, for which a rapidlj'^ 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 AKRON 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. Hi jt-»'¥^^P^jf|»l)S5a^^t 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, afterwards becoming its Master; in 1875 becaTue a Royal Arch Mason and member of Washington Chapter No. 25; in 1877 became a Knight Templar in Akron Commandery No. 25; entered the Grand Coiumanderj' 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- tor5', and is now a luember and min- ister of the State of the Northern Ohio Consistor5^ 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 January 12, 1868, still residing with her parents. The Buckeye Reaper and Mower Works. — 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, secretar3'; and R. H. Wright, treasurer. These vsrorks, with a floorage capacity of over 700,000 square feet, are among the very best class in the world, 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 ^ Lewis and Mary V. (Alexander) Miller, was born in Canton, Ohio, August 2i, 1856, removing with parents to Akron in 186i ; educated in the public schoois 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- retary, 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 Julj^ 20, 1SS7. Family residence, 60,5 East Market street. IRA >r. MILLEK. JOHN FRANKLIN SEIBEKLING. JOHN FRANKLIX SEIBERLING, J —born in Norton, March 10, 1834 ; educated at Western Star Academj' ; 1856-58 druggist in Akron ; 1858, '59, while running saw mill in Norton, invented "Excelsior" mower and 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 Com- panj' in Akron ; withdrawing from companj', in 1869 commenced build- ing his now popular "Empire" machine ; in 1871 organized the Akron Straw Board Compan3', in the Sixth ward, successfully conducting same until its sale in 1887 ; in 1883 organized the Seiberling Milling Companj', erecting the six-story brick flouring" mill described else- where ; in 1889 exchanged Acad- einy of Music block for controlling interest in Akron Electric Street Railvsray ; has numerous other industrial, mining and financial inter- ests in Akron and elsewhere ; has been a member of School Board, and for many j^ears trustee of English Lutheran Church, and is among the most benevolent and liberal of Akron's many public-spirited citi- zens. Married September 6, 18.59, 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 J., Kittle G., Mary B. and Ruth. Empire Reaper and Mower Works. — In 1865 works of the J. F. Seiberling Company w^ere 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. Extensive 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- drawn from the company, and had commenced, on a small scale, the manufacture of an improved machine of his own invention,, which he called the " Empire." 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 & 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 mowers. TEREMIAH A. LONG, — born at ) Albanj^ N. Y., April 10, 1837; common school education ; at 14 clerk in lumber yard ; 1855 came to Akron, teaching school eleven terms, with varied employment during vacations ; 1864 to 1869 boolt-keeper for Aultman, Miller & Co. ; 1869 appointed secretary and treasurer of Akron Iron Compan5r, which has quadrupled its capital and business under his management; is also vice- president of the Falls Rivet and Machine Conipanj', at Cuyahoga Falls. Though not himself in the army, Mr. Long- was active and liberal in securing- enlistments, pi"0- viding bounties for recruits and fur- nishing sanitary supplies during the late war. Republican in politics, though not an office-seeker, Mr. Long, besides service on Central Committee, -was Akron's first city clerk, 1865-67, and ineniber of City Council from 1867 to 1869. November 10, 1859, Mr. Long was married to Miss Mary A. Falor, daug-hter of the late George A. Falor, one of the pioneer settlers of Coventry township, Mrs. Long being a inost active promoter of all the benevolent enterprises of the daj^ Thirteen children have been JEREMIAH A. LONG. born to Mr. and Mrs. Long, seven of whom 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., Mary A. and Lloyd G. The Akron Rolling Mill. — These works, owned and operated by the Akron Iron Company, in the south part of the citj', 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 liose 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, with 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- iendent. About 700 skilled workmen 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., November 4, 1841 ; educated in schools of Fredonia.N. Y., and Austin- burg, O.; graduated at Western Medi- cal College, Cleveland, February, 1861; entered the army as hospital steward ■oi 9th N. Y. V. C; promoted to assist- jant surgeon in Spring of 1862, serving- till September, 1864, part of time in charge of hospital at Aquia Creek ; 1865 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 Company" — w^as organized with Dr. Goodrich as president, Alansou AVork, 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 Rubber Company," with the Doctor also as its president. [See history of works elsewhere]. Dr. J drew and Lurancy (Thomas) Wilson, was born in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, October 19, 1843; re- ceived an academic education, after onej'caratOberlin CoUeg-e, enlisting- 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 Broug-h, as else- where stated. The regiment 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- SOLON N. WILSON. 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 officiall}' connected with a number of the most important business enterprises of Altron and vicinitj'. SI WON HANKEY. CIMON 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 j'ard now carried on by the Hankej^ Lumber Companj', at 1,036 South Main street. Active in public affairs, Mr. Hankey ably represented the Fifth ward in the City Council during the years 1875 and 1876. February 17, 1859, Mr Hankey was married to Miss Charlotte A. Man- derbach, of Coventry, who bore him 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 manag-er of the Hankey Lumber Coinpany, and Wil- liam S., vice president of said com- pany, Mrs. Hankey being its presi- 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. Hanltey was so badly in- jured as to cause his death a few hours'Iater, 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 Hankey Lumber Com- pany as elsewhere stated. ■492 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. The Akeon 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 Januarys, 1889; authorized capital, $100,000; directors, Daniel A. James, 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 in Paris, Portage county, Ohio, October 13, 1846; comnaon 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 biisiness 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 Company, 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 (daldwell) Thomas, who died December 22, 1886, leaving no children. February 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- DANIEL A. JAMBS. 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 Water street, (Lock Two Ohio Canal). Num- ber of hands emplo3'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£)hio Canal held s-way, 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 work, the first boat to navigate the waters of the Ohio Canal — the "Ohio" — was built in Akron, on t,he 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 fainily 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 farm. 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 hoine, 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 pvir- chased another inEdinburg, Portage cdunty; 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 propertj', 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. Return- 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 PhcBbe (Bronson) Payne, was born in Lorain county, O., August 10, 1822 ; common school education ; from 1845 to 1864, OTHELLO W, HALE. Cleveland, a widow with one son Henry Irving", born September 22. 1872. They have one child, Blanche E., born December 14, 1881. Februarj' 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 secretary of the Akron Building and Cabinet Company. w^orked at boat building in Boston township, in the latter 3^ear remov- ing to Akron, and purchasing 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. 49i 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 entirely monopolizing the canal boat building trade of the State for many years. Southeast Corner Main and Mill Streets, Hotel Buchtel, 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 now 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, which the writer, 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 works one year longer. Besides repairs, an average of six or eight new boats per year 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 bj^ 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 which, 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 sotith of the city, between the C, A. & C. and the N. Y., P. & O. railroads, two years later erecting similar and larger works 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 Strawboa.rd Com- pany, 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 in Onon- J daga count}-, N. Y., May 8, 1836 ; came with parents to Ohio in 1838, settling in Coshocton count}-, 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 years ; w^orked six years for Cleve- land & Mahoning R. R. Co., three and a half years in shop and tw^o and a half years as engineer on road ; returning to Akron had charge of machinery in Akron Barrel Factory two and a half years, when, with Mr. Robert L. Moffatt. he established the Akron Boiler Works ; on the retire- ment of Mr. Moffatt, four years later, Mr. McNeil becoming sole proprietor of the works, which he successfully and profitably conducted until his death, November 26, 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 most 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 w^hich he was Chief from 1866 to 1869. April 6, 1859, Mr. JAMBS C. M'NEIL. McNeil was married to Miss Mary Gale, youngest child of the late Col. Justus and Mrs. Sarah (Hyde) Gale, who bore him two children — Grant C, born Septeinber 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 AKRON 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 vsrorks, in the Sixth ward, manufacturers of papermakers' 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.; discharg-ed Septeinber 25, 1862; re-enlisted October 11, 1862, in Coin- pany I, 10th O. V. C; wounded in left shoulder at Lovejoj^'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 bravery 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 volunteers by President Lincoln, and assigned to U. S. C. T. at Macon, Ga.; discharged 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 work going to every portion of .the United States, to Canada, LESTER M. BIGGS. Mexico, South America, Japan and' China. January 1, 1867, Mr. Bigg* 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 CoMrANv, 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 employed 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- madge, July 18, 1841 ; raised on farm ; educated in common schools, and Tallmadge 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 secretarj' of the Werner Printing and Lithograph- ing Company ; president Diamond Drill & Tool Company, and pecuni- arily and officially connected with several other important industrial HEKBEKT HITCHCOCK. and financial enterprises in Akron,. and elsewhere. August 16, 1863, >Ir_ 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 B. 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; works 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. 3S 498 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. Akron File Works. — Theodore Gorner and Adam Plantz, proprietors. Shop east of Buckeye Works, between M^iddlebury 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 $3,500 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, Foundry, 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, -writh one stofy 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. Viefle, 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. Brown, 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. Tpie 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, graduating 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 Summit county, in 1882, which office he ably filled for two consecutive terms of two years each. Dr. Cole was marrried to Mrs. Lucy J. Trus- <;ott, 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 city, of which company he was secretary, treasurer and manager, till merged ARTHUR 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 Edmund 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 that year, entering the county treasurer's office as deputy treasurer, under his brotlier, 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 laeen secretary and treasurer from the beginning ; 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. .T-^ THOMAS A. EDISON. MRS. THOMAS A. EDISON. THOMAS A. EDISON, — the greatest inventor of his own or any other age- in the world's progress, is entitled to a prominent position in this work^ not only because of the many advantag-es which have accrued to Akron from his inventions, but especially because of his alliance, by marriage, with the family of one of our own best-known, most enterprising and most pro- lific inventors. Thomas Alva Edison was born at Milan, Erie county, Ohio,. February 11, 18i7 ; removing with parents to Port Huron, Mich., at seven years of age, his only education, except two months 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 young- 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 w^ith 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 practicallj' 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 Marj^ V. (Alexander) Miller, was born in Akron, July 6, 1865 ; after graduating from the Akron High School, for a time attending Mrs. Johnson's academy, in Boston, Mass., followed by a European tour, becoming an accomplished musician, and familiar with a number of modern languages. Meeting- with Mr. Edison, while visiting with mutual friends, in the East, and later at Chautauqua, a marriage engagement 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 family home^ "Glenmont," at Llewellyn Park, N. J., where they still reside. They have two children— Madeline, born May 31, 1888, and Charles, born August 3, 1890.. AKRON S MANUFACTUKES. 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; <;apital, $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 years' course at Ohio Wesleyan Uni- versity in Delaware, and two years at Stevens' Institute of Technology at Hoboken, N. Y. After completing ■his 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 inining 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- able industrial enterprises. Mr. Miller is still unmarried and resides -with his parents, at Oak Place in Akron. EDWARD B. MILLER. ROBERT A. NFLLER. "DOBERT A. MILLER, -son of -1^ 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 by the rebels— hence the name ; removed with parents to Akron in 1864 ; educated in Akron pviblic schools, and at Eastman's Coinmercial institute at Poughkeep- sie, N. Y., where he remained three years; on concluding-his studies was book-keeper in the Akron Iron Com- pany's office, at Buchtel, in the Hock- ing Valley; on the sale of the works, there, became a.ssistant superintend- ent of the Bucke3'e Reaper and Slower Works, of C. Aultinan & Co., in Canton, on the death of his uncle, Mr. Jacob Miller, in 1889, becoming the superintendent and general mana- ger of the works. January i;5, 1887, lie was married to Miss Louise Igoe, of Indianapolis, Ind.. who has borne hiin two children -Robert Anderson Miller, Jr., born July 21, 1889, and Alice Rachel, born March 6, 1891. 502 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. Thb 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. Hower, president; Charles H. Hower, sec- retary and treasurer; hands employed, 30. The Akron Silver Plate Company, works on Bluff street; building, 40x110, three stories, wing 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- intendent; Joy H. Pendleton. Capacity of works, 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 awnings, tents, flags, oiled clothing, horse goods, etc.; incorpora- tors: Solomon H. Cohn; James McBride, John McBride, Oscar H. Cooley, James H. Greenwood, and George M. Anderson. Shop near South Main street railway 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 employed, 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, two 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 wood, 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. AKRON S MAXUF^VCTUKES. 503 ■pRANK A. SEIBERLING- oldest •T son of John K. and Cathai-iiie L. (Miller) Seiberling-, was born on a farm near Western Star, October 0, 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 sviperin- tendeut of Akron schools ; at close of first year's course in high school, entered Heidelberg College, at Tiffin, remaining- two years ; at close of Junior year left college to assist his father in business, having just started manufacturing the Empire Harvester in the old " Hawkins Rake Factory," on South Main street, on the org^anization 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 Lithog-raph- 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. SEIBERLING. Manufacturers' Mutual Fire Insur- ance Association. October 12, 1887, was inarried 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 Dojdestown 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 two years' eclectic course ; then returned home and assumed 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 Company and several other manufacturing enterprises in Akron ; is a director in the Akron Street Railroad Company, and largely interested in the South Akron Land Syndicate. 504 AKieON 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 GUIS SCHUMACHER, — sou of J— Ferdinand and Hermine Schu- macher, was born in Akron, August 28, 1852 ; attended Akron public schools jtill 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 liis father, and has since been activelj' eng-aged 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- macher, of Akron, their family domi- cile being at 224 Fir street. They have no children. LOUIS SCHUMACHEK. HUGO SCHUMACHEK. TTUGO SCHUMACHER, — eldest -'-T- son of William Schumacher, was born in Saxonj-, Germany, June 14, 1853 ; when six years 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 holding the respon- sible position of treasurer of the F. Schumacher Milling Company, organized 1886. Mr. Schumacher is also president of the Akron Building and Loan Association ; secretar5r of the Akron Electric Company, and vice president of the Millers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Canton. Maj' 12, 1875, he was- married to Miss Alice Amelia Wills, daughter of Mr. Thomas Wills, for nearly twelve years the able superintendent of Akron's beautiful Rural Cemetery. Thej' have one child — Ferdinand Hvigo, born December 3, 1880. AKROX S MAN'l'FACTUkES. 505 HARVEY Y. HO WER,— eldest son of John H. and Susan(Youngker) Hower, was born in Doylestown, AVayne county, October 16, 18,io ; educated in Doylestown and Akron public schools, and at Sniithville Normal Academjr ; on completion of studies worked in shop- and field for J. F. Seiberling & Co., of the old Excelsior Works, and two j-ears 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., organizing the firm of Hower & Co., incorporated as " The Hower Company," 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, and its local manager of the Hower Mill ; is also a stockholder of the Akron Reed and Rattan Co. Nov- -ember 29, 1877, Mr. Hower was married to Miss Helen M. Stone, sister of City HAKVE\ \ 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. in county, Ohio, removed with 1866; educated Akron public ; one of the incorporators Hower Company, oatmeal MILTON OTIS HOWER,— second son of John H. and Susan (Youngker) Hower, was born Doylestown, Wayne November 25, 1858 ; parents to Akron in •in Doylestown and schools ; of 'I'he manufacturers, corner Cherry and Canal streets, and secretary of same from its organization, 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 promotion of all private and pub- lic enterprises. Mr. Hower was mar- ried Novemlser 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. Family resi- dence, 204 South Forge street. The Humphrey Turbine Company, South Broadway, manu- facturers of hydraulic and power transmitting machinery, etc.; incorporated June 15, 1889; capital, $50,000; 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. pHARLES H. HOWER— third son ^ of John H. and Susan (Young-ker) Hower, was born in Akron Aug-ust 31, 1866 ; was educated in Akron pub- lic schools and at Oberlin College ; at 17 commenced traveling- for the oatmeal firm of Hower & Co., which, though probably the youngest "druinmer" upon the road, he suc- cessfully followed until the incorpo- ration of the Hower Company, 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 II. HOWER. STEPHEN SAMUEL MILLER. 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 MatcJ} Companj', successfullj^ managing- the works until their sale to the Diamond Match Company, 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- panj', elsewhere written of. 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; secretary, treasurer and manager, WiUiam W. Heib; employes, about 25. AKRON S MANUKACIURES. 507 A LBERT J. PITKIN —son of Rev. ■t^ Caleb Johnson and Elizabeth J. (Bancroft) Pitkin, was born in Northampton township, March 2L', 1851; 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 year 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, remaining four and a half years; in September, 1880, ac- cepted a call from Rhode Island Locomotive Works, at Providence, serving as mechanical engineer 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. PITKIX. 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. OTEPHEN H. PITKIN,— son of »-5 Rev. Caleb J. and Elizabeth (Bancroft) Pitkin, was born at Tro}% 111., October 26, 1860; educated in high schools of Monticello, 111., and Akron, Ohio. In the Summer 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 company, in 1887, was elected secre- tary and general manager, which responsible position he is still ably filling. February 27, 1884, Mr. Pitkin was married to Miss Ada M. Maltby, of Cleveland. ' They have one child — Marian Maltby, born March 30, 1887. 0()8 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 railwa5' station; incorporated February 25, 1890; capital, $50,000; officers: John Grether, president; S. Sam. Miller, vice president; Frank Reif snider, 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 w^ith 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 works 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 wrorking up 40 barrels of flour per day; works, 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- iions elsewhere, 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 INDUSTKIES. ri09- The Paige Tube Co., Warren, Ohio; The Nevacker Sprinkler Co., 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 HUGILL,— born in York- J 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 JOSEPH HUGILL. 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, djang 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 Allyn; 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 ^. 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 «fe 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 AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. Daniel McGarry, 206 Locust; John P. McGarry, 208 Locust; Peter Leiser, 516 East Exchange; August C. Miller, 5031/^ 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, 3581/2 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; Edwin 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 Edward B. Anderson), 214 West Market; De Forest 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 & 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; Edward J. Putnam, 321 East Market. Bakers.— Akron Cracker Co., 143, 149 North Howard; Albert Punk, 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 Howard; Herman Langer, 347 West North; Almond C. Lodwick, 106 North Howard; Charles Eoewing, 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. Furnace; U. S. Bakery, N. Howard. Blacksmiths. — Akron Carriage Works, corner Main and Buchtel avenue; William A. Allen, Lock Seven, Ohio Canal; John Angne, 943 South Main; Robert Baird, 118 North Main; Ball & Wilson Ir_ Ferd. Schumacher, as grain bviyer,. 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 City. October ,30, 1845, Mr. Wheeler was again mar- ried, to Miss Catharine Butts, of Columbiana countj% 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 Harrj' E., of Akron. A stanch temperance man for over half a centui-3', Mr. Wheeler has also been a zealous member of Sumiiiit Lodge, No. 50, I. O. O. F., since 18.-)1 - treasurer, three terms ; secretary. one; Noble Grand, one; permanent secretary, 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 county, Pa., January 31, 1883 ; losing' hiw father ■when four months of age, and his mother soon after, was adopted b}"^ his uncle, John Houg'hton, of Stark county, Ohio, with whoin 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 with Mr. Charles A. Sumner, then a merchant in Akron, to Baraboo, Wis., remaining there seven years ; 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 whom, 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 Del] a L., JOHN BiiNJAMIX 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, aged 50 years and 4 days. COKNELIUS A BROUSE pORNELlUS A. BROUSE,— son of ^ William Brouse, born in Chip- pewa, Wayne Co., Ohio, June 3, 1837, at five years of age moving- with par- ents to Wadsworth, Medina Co.: edu- cated in Wadsworth schools, Wtrftern 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., w^hich is now one of the most exten- sive and prosperous dry g-oods firms in the city. October if, 1863, Mr. Brouse was married to Miss Kate Wesener, of Akron, who has borne him 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 STATl'S. 515 ALFRED M. BARBER— born in ^ Bath township October 2, 1830 ; losing 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 Januarj', 1859, removing to Akron, buying- the Pearl Mill (now the Hower Mill), with which he was con- nected four years ; then engaged in -the grain and produce business, which has become very extensive, his transactions amounting 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 Company, and in several other important industries both in Akron jand 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 day. JACOB KCKH. JACOB KOCH,— son of Henry and J Mary (Loeb) Koch, was born in Bserstadt, 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 cl oth ing in Akron, the senior member of the 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 Grcjcery Company, at 150 and 150i2' 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. Pillmore, George B. Clarke, Frank A. Wilcox, John Kreuder and Cyrus Miller; president, R. M. Fill- more,' vice president, Cyrus Miller; secretary, F. A. Watkins; treasurer, George B. Clarke, Mr. John Lloyd Jones, one of the organizers of the company, having disposed of his stock to liia associates and returned to his former home, Rome, N. Y. Herrick & Son. — (Burke C. and Oakle}' C.) successors to Her- rick & Cannon, dealers in crockerj' and glassware, 108 Howard street, established in 1868, have for several years done quite an extensive importing and jobbing trade, w^hich is from j'ear to j'ear rapidly extending. The Paige Brothers Company. — (Successors to Paige Broth- ers, established in 1867) 146 and 148 South Main street, jobbers in hardware, factory and railroad supplies, window glass, powder, cutlery, Taplin, Rice & Co.'s stoves, etc.; incorporated April 1,. 1889; capital, all paid in, $75,000; volume of business in 1890, $2C0,- 000; officers: Albert T. Paige, 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,, v^holesale 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.. SpuUer, John T. Donahue; president, Horatio T. Willson; general manager, Joseph H. SpuUer; secretary and treasurer, JohnT. 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 (Philander D .and Lorenzo Hall), corner Howard and Market streets, established in 1835; Brouse & Co. (Cornelius A. and Mj'ron 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 & Polsky (Samuel Myers and Abraham Polsky), Arcade block. South Howard street, 1885; John W. Payne, 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 ArUngton street. AKRON S MERCANTILE STATUS. 517 BURKE C. HERRICK,- born in Twinsburs", October 2."), lcS'3) ; educated at Tvviasburg- Institute, g^raduating- at 18 years of age ; taught school ten Winters, working- on father's farm and in steam mill Sum- mers ; married February 4, 18,i8, to TVIiss Hannah C. Cannon, of Streets- boro, who has borne hiin three children — Oakley C, Winnifred C , and 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, sold interest in store and purchased farm in Twinsburg ; March 1, 1868, with his brother-in-law, W. B. Canrion established in Akron the well-known wholesal e, retail and importing crock- .erj' 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,, they are now importing about 200 crates of crockery yearly. Mr. Herrick has for many years been president of the Summit County Bible Societj^ the Free Medical Dispensary and the HUKKB C. HEKRtCK. Mercantile Association ; secretarj^ 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, Sunday school and benev- olent work. WILSOX G. ROBINSON. WIESON G. ROBINSON,— eldest son of John C, and Margaret •(Kelly) Robinson, was born near Middlebury (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 Sawj^er, 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 Company 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 man- 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 — TSessie, who died at eight inonths 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; Chandlei", 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. — 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, l73 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; RohP'-t D. Nelson, 624 South Main. IlL Ma Northeast corner Mill and Broadway — Windsor Hotel — Ferd. Schumacher, owner—George M. Cad well, proprietor— 1891. The Windsor Hotel, northeast corner of Mill and Broadwaj', This hotel has a history. The main building was originallj' the Methodist church, standing at the corner of South Broadway and Church streets. On the completion of the present elegant church structure, the old building was purchased by Mr. Ferd. Schumacherr 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 Empire. 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^ L. 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 STATUS. r)19 A LBERT T. PAIGE —born in Mad- ■^ ison, Lake county, Ohio, March 19, 1850 ; moved with parents to Painesville in 1860; educated in Painesville public schools ; from 1860 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. Paig-e, under the firm name of Paiae Brothers, and is now presi- dent of the Paig-e Brothers Compan>-, of Akron ; is also treasurer and g-en- eral manager of the Paige Tube Company, of Warren ; was one of the four original purchasers of the land at Barberton, andinterested in nearly all the industrial enterprises of that rapidly growing little city. In 1890 Mr. Paige built Albert Hall on South Mai ii street, Akron, the finest block in Akron and the finest hall in Ohio. Mr. Paig'e was also for several years treasurer of the Summit County A^i cultural Society, larg^ely contrib- uting- by his labor and influence in making it one of the most prosperous and popular in the State. May 25, 1875, Mr. Paige was married to Miss Carrie J. Adams, 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 VIALL. riEORGE VIALL. — only child of ^-J Thomas C, and Mahala(Atwood) Viall, was born in Middlebury (now Akron Sixth ward) March 12, 1834; educated in Middlebury public schools ; at 19, engag-ed in the gro- cerj' business at Old Forge, contijiu- ing a year and a half ; then pur- chasing a boat, followed boating- three Summers ; then three years in g-rocery busine.«s in Middlebury ; then three years in same business in Tappan Block ; then eight j'ears 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 vicinitj". 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) Sweene}^ December 7, 1887. .)2() AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. China, Glasswak-e, 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. CLOTHI^JG, Hats, Caps, Etc. — J. Koch & Co. (Jacob Koch and Louis Loel)), 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 (Henrv Kraus and John Holdstein), 134 South Howard; Morris Price," 109 South Howard; B. Heskins, 205 East Market; Abraham Polsky, 1140 East Market. Confectioners. — Becker & Auman (Adolph Becker and Fred A. Auman), 143 South Howard; Blumenstein 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. Rampanelli, 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, I4OV2 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 B6wery; 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. Bar- 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), 129Poward; A.M.Feltu's & 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. Smith (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. AIvKOX 8 M^KCWrrLE STATUS. 521 Abstkacteks ok Titles. — William H. Evans, 116 South How- ard; Paul Brothers, 147 South Howard; Wilcox & Noah; 404 South Pligh; Summit Countj- Abstract Company, 324 East Mill. Carriage and Wagon Makers. — Collins Buggj' 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; Johri Angne, 943 South Main; John A. Funk, rear 522 South Main; Harpham & Lutz (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., ^02 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 &c 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, 2I61/2 South Maple; Kasch Brothers 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. 5i() AKKON AXU SfMMIT COUNT-^- 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 began the study of medicine, g-raduating from Jefferson Medical College, Philadel- phia, in 1864 ; August 10, 1862, entered the arm}' as medical officer of the 19th P. V. M., afterwards officiating as assistant surgeon in hospital, also at Chambersburg and Camp Curtin, and later as surgeon of the 151st P. V. I. In the Spring of 1864 came to Ohio, practicing three 3'ears in Canal Fulton, when, in August, 1867, he came to Akron, where he was 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 whorfi, onlj', now survives — Edward S., now, practicing medicine in Akron, H-A-'i^ DK. ORIN D. CHILDS. "TjR. ORIN D. CHILDS,— son of -L^ 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. alraa mater. Jefferson Medical Col- lege, Philadelphia. February 28, 1887, Dr. Underwood w^as 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. high schools; taught four terms, first term pupils ranging from four to 25 3'ears, 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 Homoeopathic Medical College, graduating there- from in Spring of 1867 ; at once open- ing an office 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 HomcEO- pathic Medical Society; member of American Institute of Homoeopathy; member of Railway Surgeons' Asso- ciation ; trustee of Cleveland Medical College ; 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 original 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, Was^ne county, Ohio, Januarj- 29, 1810 ; educated in district schools and Sharon Acad- -eniy ; learned trade of cai-penter ; 1857 to 1862 taught school. In August, 1862, enlisted in Company 1, 102d O. V. I., (five brothers in same company servingf 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 «, 1870, Dr. Foltz was married to Miss Frances C. Bowen, dauafhter of the DR. ABNER E. FOLTZ. 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- -wa-y; 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 (WilHam J. Emery and Albert A. Kohler), 207 East Mill; Henry M. Fisher, 198 South Howard; Abner E. Foltz, 156 South Broadway; Foltz & Foltz (William K. and Kent O. Foltz), 181 South Howard; Alvin K. Fouser, 161 V2 South Broadway; Hitchcock & Welty (EUzur Hitchcock and Cullen F. Welty), 116 East Exchange; Luther M. Holloway, 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. Loughead, 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 E. 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; Louis 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- WiUiams, 419 East Mill. DR. ELIZUR HITCHCOCK— born in Tallmadge, 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. I., 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. Dkntists.— 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; Lucien G. Thorp, 118 North Howard; Chamberlin & Brockway (Frederick N. Chamberlin and Casper L. Brockway), 223 East Market; Lambert 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. Hillman, 125 South Howard; William J. Hotten- stein, Windsor Hotel; Frank W. Knowlton, 217 East Market; John H. Laney, 131 South Howard; George B. Williamson, corner Main and Exchange. Vetkrinary 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 11, 1845; removed with parents to Bureau county, 111., when young; educated at Dover Academy, and at Poug-hkeep- 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 Citj', 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 forethought for the comfort and welfare of his family is evinced by the fact that at the time of the fatal casuality he w^as carrying life and accidental insurance to the amount of $105,000. He was a member of the various medical associations, county, .state and national, a member of the local pension board and sur- geon of the jM. 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 Breinigsville, 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. WILLIAM K. FOLTZ,- born in Mifflin county. Pa., November 15, 1829; came with parents to Wayne •countjr, Ohio, in 1831; educated in district 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 1855 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 College^ 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 August removing to Akron where he has since continuously practiced. Dr. Foltz is a member 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 Wayne 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 (Waite) Humphrey, was born in Twinsbur^, Summit countj', Ohio, May 29, 1836; after receiving' a common school and academical education, he studied medicine, graduating- from the medi- cal departinent of Western Reserve College, in 1865, his home being then at Peninsula, where he successfully practiced medicine and surgery for more than twenty years. Ip the Spring of 1885 Dr. Humphrey moved to Akron, where he is now enjoying an extensive and lucrative practice. December 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 daughters now living- with their parents in Akron. Dr. Humphrey is a meinber of the Northeastern Ohio Union Medical Association. DR. ELWYN HUMPHREY. ^SlflBiPfPfj Residence of Col. Arthur L Conner, lr^lnJc Lawn, conii:leted anci occupied m 18i«i. Axh Street, AKKdX LAWYERS, ANCIENT AND MODERN. 551 AKRON'S LEGAL STATUS. Attorneys-at-Law. — Among the early lawyers of Akron were: Wolsey Wells, Gregorj- Po^wers, Alvah and Seneca L. Hand, Wil- liam M. Dodge, Harvej^ 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, -with 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, while walking along the old "Chuckery" race, near Cuyahoga Falls, on August 13, 1891, by a misstep he w^as 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, ci^nd 8.") 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 lo the bar was law partnerof Mr. Cartter for several years ; w^as 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, ably 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. 1., 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 studj'ing 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 citj' building; Johnson A. Arbogast, 209 East Market; Baird & \^oris 552 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. (Charles Baird and Edwin 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 Ho'ward, Jeremiah Deline, Arcade Block; Doyle & Brj^an (Dayton A. Doyle and Frederick C. Bryan), room 3 Academy of Music; Green, Grant & Seiber (Ed-win P. Green, Charles R. Grant and George W. Seiber), Akron Savings Bank Block, corner Mill and Main; John J. Hall, Commercial Block, 209 East Market; Ernest C. Housel, 109 South Ho'ward; 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; Lee 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 L. 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. Sawyer), 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 j'ears of age ; oame to Akron in 1836, forming' a partnership with Alvah Hand, Esq., under the firin 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 18-tS was elected to Cong-ress, as the candidate of the Democratic party, and was re-elected in 1850, serving four years ; in 1853 reinoved 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. DAVin K. carttek. AKRON LAWYERS, ANCIENT AND MODERN. 553 in 1860, securing- the transfer of a sufficient number of votes of the Ohio delegation from 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, ably filling- that position a year and a half ; in 1863, was appointed Chief Justice of the Supi;eme Court of the District of Columbia, which important office he continuously held nearlj^ a quarter of a centur3', his death occurring April 17, 1887, aged 74 years, 9 months 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 former dying in service, the latter now a prominent physician and surgeon, and the orwner and manager 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, removing to Akron and forming a partnership with William S. C. Otis, Esq., and on the removal of the latter to Cleveland becoming associated with Hon. William H. Upson, under the firm name 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 incumbency being the most impor- tant in the history of the State, •covering the Breslin Treasury defalcation and the Wellington Rescue Fugitive Slave Law episode, his argument before the Supreme Court of the United States, in Janu- ary, 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, 1862, 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 posi- tion, saying: "I know I ought not to ask it of you, and fear the work will HON. CHKISTOPHER 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 onlj^ too true. Enter- ing upon the duties of the position with his customary energ}^ 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, dyin g at his home in Akron, April 4, 1863. Mrs. Wolcott, sister of the late Edwin M. Stanton, still survives, residing at Sewickly, Pa. HON. HENRY McKINNEY,— 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. Farmington Academy and Twins- burg Institute ; studied law with Judge J. W. Tyler, of Garrettsville, and Judge S. W. McClure, at Cuya- hoga Falls, and after admission to the bar, in 1850, entering into partner- ship with the latter, holding- that relation 15 years ; electedprosecuting 554 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. attorney of Summit county in 1856, and re-elected in 1858, serving four years ; removed to Akron in 1864, 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 was elected state senator for Suin- mit and Portage counties, serving two years ; in 1873 removed to Cleve- land ; in 1880 elected judge of Cuya- hoga 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. -^f^^^ HON. WILBUR F. SANDERS. HON. WII.BUR F. SANDERS,— born in Leon, N. Y., May 2, 1834 ; September, 1854, cameto Akron, teach- ing in High School and reading law with Upson & Edgerton ; admitted to bar in 1856; October, 1861, enlisted in the army, recruiting Companj' " G," 64th O. V. I., and mustering in Sixth Ohio Battery, both part of Sherman's Brigade, organized by Hon. John Sherman, at Camp Buckingham, near Mansfield ; elected second and then first lieutenant of Companj- " G," on organization of regiment was selected adjutant, and on assuming command of the Brig-ade, by Col. Forss'^th (of the reg'ular 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, forming that triangle of transporta- tion so efficient in supplying the troops in the center of our army of HON. HENRY M'KIXXEY. advance. Failing health compelled his resignation m Summer 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 as military experience, organized the- merchants, miners and other citizens into a vigilance committee, of which he was the prosecuting officer, and 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' ; was 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 — Jaines, now a lawyer in Helena; Wilbur, mining engineer; Lewis, now a student in CoUunbia College. AKRON LAWYERS, ANCIENT AND MODERN. 555 r^EN. RUSSELL A. ALGER,— born ^ in Lafayette, Medina county, O., February 27, 1836 ; raised to farm" life; educated in district schools and Richfield Academ5', workino- for his ' board, teaching- school the last two winters of his course ; 1857-59 read law in office of AVolcott & Upson, in Akron, and admitted to the bar by Supreme Court at Columbus, prac- ticing a short time in Cleveland ; in 1860 eng-aged 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. ALGER. benevolent and patriotic schemes of the day. In 1884 Gen. Alger was elected governor of Michigan, ably serving 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 jnost popular and successful leaders that patriotic order has ever had. KOLIN \V. SADLER. ■p OLIN W. SADLER,— born in Cen- -•-^ terville,St. Joseph county, Mich., July 7, 1856; at the age of eleven re- moving to Bryan, 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 phenomenallj^ 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- Compan3', the Akron Tool Company, the Enterprise Manufacturing Com- pany, with other material interests in Akron and elsewhere. 556 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. NEWTON CHALKER— son of James and Eliza (Hyde) Chalk- er, born at Southing-ton, Ohio, Sep- tember 12, 1842; educated in district schools and at Western Reserve Semi- nary, Farinington, Ohio, teaching- school winters from 16 to 20 years of ag-e; 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- nary, 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 MAKVIN. T^AVID LESLIE MARVlN.-sonof -L^ Judge Ulysses L. and Mrs. Dorena (Rockwell) Marvin, was born at Kent, Ohio, November 17, 1862, removing with parents to Akron in 1867 ; educated in Akron public schools and at Kenyon College, at Gambler ; in November, 1882, was appointed an examiner in the U. S. Pension office, at Washington, by faithful service, earning-^ 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 member 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 ability and fidelitj^ 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., and lola Chapter, P. S. I. Upsilon Fraternity. A.\ APPROPRIATE CONCLUSION. 557 AKRCIN'S ORIGINAL PROPRIETORS. JUDGE LEICESTER KING, — born J in Suffield, Conn., May 1, 1789; married to Julia Anne Hnntington, 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 slaverj-, in 1817, settled, as merchant, in Warren, Ohio ; in 1831, with Gen. Simon Perkins and Dr. Eliakim Crosbj^ laid out North Akron, and constructed the Cascade Mill race, giving to Akron its start as a manufacturing- center ; Associate Judge of Trumbull Count}' one term of seven years ; State Senator, two terms, 1835-39; large promoter of Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal ; in 1842 Libertj' 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 married, 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 Count}', 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, -was 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 which the purchasers had made substantial improvements, thereby enabling many persons, during the several early panics written 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 wise labors in what, in the beginning, was a very forbidding locality. CHAPTER XIX. SUMMIT COUNTY'S TORNADOES— 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— AKSON'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 w^hich is very remote indeed. Numerous gaps in the primeval forests, strewn with broken- off or uprooted trees of large growth, however, indicated to the early settlers that in the creation of these extensive "windfalls," as they were called, very furious tornadoes must have previously, from time to time prevailed, while -wide-apart localities have occasionally been thus visited since the settlement of the country began — the course of such storms being generally from west 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 blown away, -with occasional loss of poultry and other farm stock, by these severe w^ind-storms, the first tornado in w^hat is novsr Sumrnit county, involving the loss of human life, occurred in the township of Stow, on the night of October 20, 1837, just north of what is now kno-wn 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, however, 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 when approaching or or departing. Striking the ground near Gilbert's Corners, on the ■west, or diagonal road from Cuyahoga Falls to Hudson, pursuing a northeasterly course, and evidently scooping up a considerable portion of the -water, sand, weeds, etc., of the intervening pond (now known 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 two 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. Between 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 west portion of Sharon township. It was seen approaching, and many people sought safety in cellars, thus escaping serious personal injury, but all were not so fortunate. The first building destroyed -was the large barn of Mr. James Hartman, next the house and barn of Uriah Werstler, of Wadsworth, 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. Brown, -was 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, blowing down 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 wagon 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 away, and Mr. Bramley deposited among the falling timbers several rods away, with serious internal injuries, eight horses remaining standing in their stalls unhurt. The house of Mr. Bramley was 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. Plowing its way through a dense piece of timber, the tornado next struck the house and barn of Mr. Hughes Frank, on the east line of Sharon to-wnship. Hearing the storm coming, Mr. and Mrs. Frank started for the cellar, but before reaching it, the build- ing was lifted from its foundation, and, amid breaking and falling timbers, both of them were hurled several rods away, the wreck of the two buildings being scattered along the track of the tornado fully 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 was 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 was milking a cow in the yard, -was carried 150 feet away 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 tornado- 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. S^vsreitzer, with their t'wo children, were on the cellar stairs, seeking a place of safety, and though suddenly dropping to the bottftm of the cellar, as the stairs were wrenched from under them, they escaped with 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 Robinson -was unroofed, and about the same distance beyond, the Washington Rhodanbaugh house was unroofed and the barn blown down. 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 mow^ing down a large tract of heavy timber for Mr. George Wise; next totally demolishing the barn of Mr. Abraham Heimbaugh, killing several cattle; blowing aw^ay the log house of a Mr. Callahan; testing from its foundation the house of Mr. Elias Lill}^, unroofing the house and barn of Milton Pontious; blowing away the barn and sheep shed of Mr. Andre'wr 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 sho-wers, with quite a stiff southwesterly breeze. After a short respite, and a partial clearing up, about 5 o'clock, a half hour later, tw^o dense black clouds from the southwest and northwest, respectively, w^ere observed rapidly approaching each other, with angry roars near the southwesterly corner of the city. On coming in contact, like t-wo mighty giants wrestling, they seemed to engage in a nearly stationary, but fear- ful struggle for a moment, when, 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 devastation 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 Tliornton streets, badly damaging the houses and trees of E. Colloredo and J. L. Serfass, west side of Coburn, and the premises of 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 tininjured, the tornado began to get dow^n 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 northeasterlj' its ravages were almost unintermitted as the following list of casualties will show: One-story house of Dominick Gritter, 404 Cross street, partly unroofed, windows 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, badl}' damaged; house of John Bruegger, 207 Washington street, twisted from its foundation and badly wrecked; house of Peter Austgen, 406 Cross street, turned half around and badly shattered; August Schaffer's shoe shop, 178 Grant street, turned upside dcwrn; 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, which was also badly w^recked, roof partly torn off, window^s crushed in, siding broken by flying timbers and interior deluged with water; here also a horse hitched to a wagon was instantly killed by a displaced electric wire falling across its neck; on the east side of Grant street, the house of Anthony Mennel w^as turned over and other damage done, as showrn in the accompanying cut. Overturnefl House of Anthonv Mcnticl, 17.") Crant Street. 36 562 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. View of Havoc on Bast 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 wrecked, the kitchen in which 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 wreck to extinguish the flames; Mrs. Hermann and one or two 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 sho-wrn by the camera the following day. Rear of Mrs. Margaretha Burkliardt's Brewery, looking towards Turner Halle. SUMMrX COLTNTY S TORNADOES. 563 The tornado now leaped diagonally across Wolf Ledge, and dip- ping into the gorge, struck the brewery of Mrs. Margaretha Burkhardt, 154, 156 Sherman street, totally demolishing the barn, wrecking the dormitorj^, ice house, etc., and partially unroofing the brewery as shown in part by the preceding and following cuts. Wreck of Dormitory and other damage 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 windows, 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 damaged. Residences of Otto Miller and Frank Kuntz, 306 and 302 Allyii 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 out: Residences of August C. Miller and Allen Coup, on AUyn 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 Brown 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 oi George Roussert, -was moved several feet on its founda- tion and badly wrenched; the house occupied by A. J. Christman, 117 Kling street; the houses o'wned by Frank Howe, occupied hy D. Bart Curran, 115, George A. Rost, 113 and Thomas Gilligan, 211 Kling street were quite badly damaged, every window of the latter being blown in, and a large hole made in the roof. Remorselessly rushingon,thelarge tw^o-story frame buildingof Mr. Orin C. Baker, northeast corner Brown and Exchange streets^ the first floor occupied as a grocery store, and the second story as a family residence, was 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 wall, 20 feet square, being blown 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- west corner Brown and Exchange streets, was 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 COl'XTYS TORMADOES. 565 that it had to be killed. The house occupied by Edwin 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-stor3^ 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 liole 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 «ide, and Henry Strunk's house was badly shattered, both outside and inside. Leveling intervening outhouses, trees, fences, etc., the next serious damage to buildings was at the works of the Ohio Stone- ware 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. Following 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 awa}^, together -with some 25 or 30 fine chickens, "while the slate roof and chimneys upon Mr. Knapp's house were also- seriously damaged. Ruins of Franlf 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 Louis Benson's hovxse, 842 Carroll street, cutting off several feet of the gable, then bounding over the house of Edv^rard Osterstock, stripping off its chiinney only, it utterly demolished the house of Malvern S. Irish, at SiiO 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 boys started for the cellar, followed none too soon by Mr. Irish, who was at first rather inclined to scout the idea of danger, for w^hile yet on the Stairs the crash came, a heavy beam knocking him down and falling across his thighs, imprisoning him in the wreck. Both Mr. and Mrs. Irish were pretty badly shaken up, physically and mentally; but providentially escaped serious injurj^, 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 E. 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 ■which was crushed in and the building moved several feet from its foundation, Mrs. Jew^ell and her son George wisely seeking safety in the cellar. Leaving the two 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 thrown from its foundation, in an opposite direc- tion from that of its neighbor, as seen in the accompanying cut. Residences of Alvin D. Alexander and Mr--. Kate O'Connell, 367 and 369 Carroll 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 East Market street, was partiallj' 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 somewhat damaging the house of Mrs. George Barber, the storm, sweeping northw^ard through ""Cotter's woods," and after doing considerable damage to chim- neys, out-buildings, fences, trees, etc., on Hazel, Upson and Jewett streets, lifted itself from the valley and took its way towards Tall- madge, 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 ^vere probably from $30,000 to $50,000. A .considerable portion of this loss — orchards, shade trees, etc., was 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, were less fortunately situated, depending w^hoUy upon their daily 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, was being_ erected, in the fall of 1890, by the Creedmoor Cartridge Company, a three story brick factory, 40 x 150 feet in size. The walls had been nearly completed and the workmen w^ere engaged in placing upon them the timbers for the roof, when, at about 3:30 o'clock P. m., Tuesday, December 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 -with 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 Mallor3^ 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, was 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 Barberton, with his characteristic liber- ality, promptly contributed $500 for the benefit of the sufferers. CHAPTER XX. .AKRON'S FIRST, LAST AXD 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 STJFFERING 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. '"PHOUGH many deaths have resulted from sudden quarrels -L 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 which a person has ever been put upon trial for wilful and premeditated murder, committed within the limits of ihe city, during its entire history. PARTIES TO THE TRAGEDY. Walter Henry was 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 was 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 ahd now in the employ of Taplin, Rice & Co., and residing on Adams street. They soon afterwards engaged in saloon keeping at No. 143 Water street, the property of the tw^ain, both real and personal, being vested in the wife. The saloon and family resi- dence w^ere 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 pastime, on complaint of neighbors, he was brought before the vsrriter, as mayor, 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 ^s the quantity of liquor drank was concerned, often becoming grossly intoxicated in his own 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 AKKON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. wife, who remarked that when she next saw the man who had taken him away, she ^vonld tell him what she thought of him. At that " Watt " knocked Mrs. Henry down w^ith his fist, and, while 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 wounds,) 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's Story. — Recovering consciousness, Mrs. Henry crawled to her bed, w^here, without undressing, she remained alone, without light or fire, all night. The next morning, about eight o'clock, a neighbor, Mrs. Phoebe Barlo■w^ 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 sw^ollen, 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 cam^e 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 fatally injured- Coroner Brown finding that the deceased came to her death by reason of blo-ws 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 wife, 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 was 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 mortar and brick began to fall from the ceiling and avails. The cry w^as immediatelj' 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 armory floor below 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 Bsfi^rd, assisted by 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 rio 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 FIRS't 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, unlawfully, felo- niously, purposely atid of deliberate and premeditated malice, to kill and murder, and that the said Walter Henry, with both his hands and feet, the said Bridget Hehrj^ to and against the floor of the house of the said Bridget Henry there situate and being, then and there unlawfully, feloniously, purposelj^ 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 unlawfully, 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. ■Green occupying the bench, the prisoner was brought into court, and seated beside his counsel, Messrs. Kohler and Sadler, Prose- cutor Baird being assisted by Gen. A. C. Voris, on the part of the State. The entire day was consumed in empanelling the jury, which, 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 -ward; E. H. Bishop, Stow; J. B. Creighton, Fourth ward; Emory E. Lewis, Hudson; Samuel Findley, Third ward. 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 w^ife, Bridget Henry, by knocking her down with his fists, kicking and jumping upon her while she was down, from w^hich 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 b}^ 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; w^e expect to show, 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 jurj' 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 wife 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 tViat there was any malice or premeditation in the affair. We expect akkon's only homicide. 573' to show how Henry sobered up before his wife died, and nursed her, and exhibited much anxiety for her recovery — even going for a doctor several times. And we claim," concluded Mr. S.,'"that no greater verdict than manslaughter can be brought against him." Argument of Gen. V^iris. — 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 Thursda3\ After a brief recess. Gen. Voris opened the argument on the part of the State; reading from the statutes, 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 what he was doing, said that in la-w, intoxication is no palliation for crime. The man who voluntarily assumes a position or con- dition by w^hich 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 shown by the evidence; knocking his wife 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 jur)' 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 laws 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 with the laws of Ohio. The thing you are sworn to try is, whether that man (Henry), is guilty of the crime he is charged with. 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 wife 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 v(rarranted — that of manslaughter. 574 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. Mk. Kohler's Plea. — 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 wrarrant. He animad- verted upon the evils of intemperance and commiserated the inebriate. He spoke of Henry being an honest, hard--svorking man until he -went into the saloon business with his wife, 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 w^ere weapons at band 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 would 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 laws relating to homicides, defining malice, intent, etc. He reviewed the lives of these people, of the threats and assults which had been made by the defendant against and upon his wife; of the time -when she ran out of the house, towards a group of men, screaming for protection, followed by Henry, who knocked her down, and when 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 why he had so horribly beaten his wife, 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, when asked by a party from whom he tried to borrow a quarter, why he did not go to his Q-wa. 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 drew tears from man}^ 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 with his heels, he then and there forfeited his life and you do not deprive him of it. I want 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 grow- ing fainter and fainter. With your verdict, gentlemen, under the evidence and the charge of this Court, we will be content. 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 which 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 were lucidly explained. The law fixes no definite length of time. A purpose maliciously to kill, deliberated upon before the act is committed, how^ever 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 what -was 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 iact was committed, is to be of w^eight. 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 crim^. Crime, when all the acts of hand and mind which constitute it actually exist, is not the less criminal, or the party the less guiltj^, 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 while so drunk did ^vhat he before that time premeditated, and with delib- erate malice had resolved to do, the fact that he w^as drunk at the time he did the deed would be no defense. I say to you that this defense of drunkenness, under the rules which 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 trulj^ try, 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 -with the most intensely interested and excited specta- tors, so large a portion remaining in and about the building all day long, while the jury were 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, -while the counsel and friends of the defendant, of course, felt that a verdict of manslaughter, with a limited term of imprisonment, -would 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 Henry : You were indicted by the g'rand jury of this county, atid by said indictment were charged with purposel3', of deliberate and premedi- tated malice, murdering Bridg'et Henry, your wife. Upon this charge 30U wrere put upon your trial before a jury so well selected that against no one of the jurors coinprising' it had your counsel the least objection, and the result of this trial, conducted on your behalf by 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 conformity to law and evidence as they heard it after they were sworn as jurors, and was in no jot or tittle influenced by outside opinion; and for this you certainly have great reason to be thankful, as you must Itnow, what every unprejudiced mind, upon reading or hearing the witnesses detail the manner in which you assaulted your wife, and which assault caused her death, would at once say how you ought to be punished. And so \vould each of said jurors, as men, have said ; but as jurors they patiently listened to all the evidence, all that was urged 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 j^our standpoint, with all your knowledge of the facts, you might well eay Ihat the jury erred on the side of mercy, and in a manner exercised the pardoning power. The statute for the offense of ■which you have been convicted leaves no discretion for me, but prescribes the exact penaltJ^ and there is nothing for me to do but to pronounce the judgment which the law has provided. The j-udgment 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 solitary confinement." In the Penitentiary — The Costs, Etc. — The prisoner was taken to the penitentiary bj' Sheriiil: 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 w^ife, he inherited her propertj', the estate being administered by John H. Auble, Esq., from whom the prosectiting 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 " IRREPKESSIBLE CONFLICT "—THE INFAMOUS FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW— EVERY MAN, WOMAN AND CHILO A " BLOOD-HOUND" — DASTARDLY ATTEMPT TO KIDNAP AKRON'S WELL-KNOWN BARBER, "JIM" WORTHING- 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 QUEEN 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 within 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, w^hile 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 >vithin their own 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 what 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 $15,000,000, 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 whole of Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. On all of this territory there was 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 COUNTll. viz: Vermont in 1791, Oliio 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 tovi^ards emancipation, but when the contrary was discovered, and that the tendency was towards 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 northwest would thereby be subjected to the same fate, the spirit of freedom in the North was 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, whilst an equally non-partisan stand in its favor was taken by the several delegations from the southern states. Th^ 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 forward the "great pacificator," Henry Clay, senator from Kentucky, with what was afterwards known as the "Missouri Compromise," in which it was solemnly ordained, that, in consideration of the admission of Missouri without restriction as to slavery, involuntary servitudCr 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 were 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 -svill 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 was 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 would never do to doom the virhole 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 admissio-n of California as a free THE UNDERGROUND KArLRCJAD. 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. This iniquitous law not only authorized the slave owner to enter and traverse anj^ 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, when called upon, to act as a posse coxnitatus, 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 waj' 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 which a fugitive, and some- times entire families, could be transported to places of safety, caused the system to be know^n 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 willing tools, in and out of office, in the North, the friends of freedom put on renewed zeal .and diligence; the "lines" were increased, the "stations" rapidly multiplied and the "agents," "conductors," "engineers," etc., became aggressive and alert. The Slave-Catchers ix Akron. — During the three or four years immediately succeeding the passage of the law, many former slaves -were of course returned to their masters, while many free colored men and v^romen 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 were 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 were 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 vsrere in Akron, and Summit county, several well-known agents of the U. G. R. R., and plenty of others who had aided thfe "panting fugitive" in his flight towards Queen Victoria's Dominions — Canada — and though it Avas 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 AKKON AND SUMMIT 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" Woethington. — Sometime in the early forties there had come into Akron a tall, athletic and very 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 'with 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" was 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 w^hat w^as then known as " Spicer Town," the same building now being known as number 534 East 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 afterwards 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 ^was 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 widowed 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 week's option, took his departure. "Jim" little dreamed that it was himself, personally, instead of his house, that was being examined. Marshal J. J. Wright Victimized. — One of the most efficient local rogue-catchers, and criminal detectives of that day, was 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 -was 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 was a deputy United States Marshal from Newark, Ohio. They informed Wright that they were after an extensive gang who w^ere making and circulating counterfeit silver coin, one of whom was a barber by the name of Jim Worth- ington, -who 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 w^hat purported to be a w^ar- 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 went along to show them the way, 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 Newark 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, where some of his accomplices were already in custody. He •declared that he had no accomplices, and had done nothing wrong, .and insisted on seeing counsel w^hich they promised he should have, but took him direct to the depot, and refused to go further. The Kidnappers Foiled. — By this time Marshal Wright began -to surmise that he had been imposed upon, and started upon the double-quick to find Gen. Bierce. In the meantime Mr. Eleazer 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, Esq., then living on Broad-way, 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 -warrant was -exhibited, -which purported to have been issued by direction of U. S. Judge Leavitt at Steubenville, to which place they alleged they vsrere going to take the prisoner for examination. But the paper lacked every legal feature, having no apparent genuine signature, .and 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 who should attempt a rescue. An Infuriated Crowd. — The threat of the kidnappers to shoot, infuriated the cro-wd. Uncle Fred. Wads-worth (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 -would result in their being torn to pieces; Rev. N. P. Bailey (no-w 582 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. of Massilloii) 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, ncir 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 Jim, and edged backwards to^wards the cars, which they were permitted to board, and to depart Avithout 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^w, the counterfeit dodge was played to avoid the popular clamor that an open arrest of a fugitive from slavery would 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 w^ith 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 which he received the following reply: U. S. Deputy Marshal's Office, ) Newark, O., June 12, 1854. ) J. J. Wright. Sir : — Yours of the 9th inst. came to hand bj^ 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 every 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 U. 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, who 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 comes over him every time he thinks of the part he unwittingly played in the capture of poor "Jim." But he has no occasion, whatever, for feeling thus; for his very promptness, in obeying what he believed to be a call to official duty, was the very means of thwarting 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 would have arrived at the station with their victim just as the train was ready to leave, and would thus have got safely off with him. Singular, wasn't it, that though deceived into aiding in the perpetration of a ivrnngful actr Mr Wright did precisely the right thing to prevent its successful consummation. "JIM" safe in CANADA. 583 Judge Vokis Responsible. — Section 7 of tlie Fugitive Slave Law, among other things provides, that "Wlioever 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 thousand 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 Broadway, for several days, until his business matters could be properly arranged for a protracted absence, after w^hich 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 Procla- 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. Other 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, intelligent countenance and in every sense of the word a perfect gentleman, by the name of Edw^ard 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 w^ere two very comfortable two-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 w^hich he had been know^n 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 were very prosperous, and with their earnings here, and the rents from their Columbus property, bought the lot noTv 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, which 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 were escaped slaves, or because, having been born free, but with colored skins, they were fearful of being kidnapped into slavery, as had, in several well authenticated instances, already been done. CHAPTER XXII. OUR OWN JOHN BROWN — "OLD OSSAWATOMtE " —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 WILDERNESS— REPEAL OF THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE— "SQUATTER SOVEREIGNTY "—" BOEDER RUF- FIANISM" IN "BLEEDING KANSAS "—SYMPATHETIC SUMMITONIANS— FREE- DOM AT LENGTH VICTORIOUS— GUERRILLA WARFARE ON THE "PECULIAR INSTITUTION"— STUPENDOUS PROJECT IN BEHALF OF FREEDOM— CAPTURE OF HARPER'S FERRY — DESPERATE RESISTANCE TO STATE AND 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 GROUND," BUT " SOUL STILL MARCHING ALONG ! " OUR OWN JOHN BROWN. 'T^HOUGH 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 towrn, in those early days. Possessing a sternly religious bent of mind, it was early designed that He should become a minister of the gospel, but that project was finally abandoned on account of an affection of the eyes which interfered with the pursuit of his theological studies ; whereupon 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 was married to Miss Dianthe Lusk, of Hudson, by whom, during the twelve 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 buseness lifb. 585 About one 3^ear 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 of 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 wool were 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 snowr-white poodle was handed him, when he instantly responded, "gentlemen, if you have any machinery that will work up dog's hair I w^ould 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, Crawford county. Pa., where 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 what was known as as the Haymaker farm, of betw^een one and two hundred acres, in the western por- tion of what is now the village of Kent, for the consideration of $7,000. Early in the Summer of 1838, this farm w^as 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 was 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, afterwards the Franklin Silk Company, together with 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 by 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 lo^wrer mill, erected for a boarding house, 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, bringing back w^ith him a small flock of choice sheep, as the nucleus of the immense business in that line, in which he afterwards embarked. In 1840, in connection with Capt. Heman Oviatt, a large land owner of Hudson and Richfield, he went quite extensively into the sheep and w^ool 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 wool depot in Springfield, Mass.^ not only for the sale of their own product, but also for the storage and sale, on commission, of the product of most of the other fine- wool gro-wers 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 w^ool-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 ta arise betw^een 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 ■were 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 was no especial demand for the extra-fine grades of wool of which his cargo w^as composed, and after paying storage on it for a considerable length of time, it was 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 wholly, upon Col. Perkins^ and the Springfield establishment w^as 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 slaves could not only be legally taken to, and held iui 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 was 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 — with 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, was attached a provision for the formal repeal of the Missouri Compromise. RESISTANCE TO " BOKDER RUFFIANISM." 587 In THE Adikondacks. — 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 which is now known as the "North Woods," or "Adirondacks," so popular as a cool retreat from the mid-Summer heats of the Eastern and Southern States. Here, at North Elba, "the world forgetting and by the world forgot," for four or five j^ears he quietly, but with characteristic energy, grubbed out from his rugged acres a comfortable living for his still rapidly increasing family — his older children bj' first wife, being already in active business for themseives. " 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" bet"ween slavery and free- dom, Kansas being the arena. The border slave state of Missouri at once threw into the nevv^ territory an immense horde of what 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 vs^ere 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 lov^a, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, wended their w^ay thither for peace- able and permanent settlement. 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 for"ward, 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 subjected to the most fearful indignities and outrages, accompanied by the most flagrant and brutal usurpations and frauds whenever and wherever elec- tions, either local or general, were 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, were 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 Brown 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 whilom 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 tnaking raids upon the camps and settlements of his blood-thirsty enemies, as ■svell. The remarkable skill with which he, with a mere handful of men, routed a large force of "border ruffians" at the settlement •of Ossawatomie, gave to him the sobriquet of "Old Ossawato- mie," by which 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 two 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 was not admitted to the Union until the withdrawal 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 warlike 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 whom 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 writer to be a member. 589' Rifles, shot-guns, revolvers, pistols, swords, butcher-knives, powder, 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 which aided in freeing Kan- sas, Nebraska and contiguous territory from the curse of slavery, and, possibly, in precipitating that infinitely more bloody conflict which 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 w^ay, for a year or two, much was done towards paying off the large indebtedness of himself and his famil3' for the great indignities and wrongs that had been inflicted upon them, as above set forth. But, to the prolific mind of John Brow^n, it soon became apparent that this mode of warfare against America'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 own way to freedom. Imbued with this thought, sometime in 1858, he gathered around him a few "True Friends of Freedom" at Chatham, in Canada, to whom he unfolded his plans^ at which secret gathering a Provisional Constitution was drawn up and adopted, under which Brown was 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 Brown established his headquarters at what was known as the Kennedy farm, in Maryland, and within five miles of Harper's Ferry, Va., where one of the Arsenals of the United States was located. Here had been quietly gathered the "sinews of war" alluded to. On the night of Sunday, October 16, 1859, about 10 o'clock^ with an "army" of seventeen white men and five negroes. Brown 590 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. took possession of the Government buildings, at Harper's F^erry, within 50 miles of the National Capitol; stopped railroad trains, captured a number of citizens, liberated several slaves and held the tovsrn nearly 36 hours. Though there were no syrhptoms of an}' uprising among the slaves, or any evidence that they had been advised of the contemplated raid for their deliverance, the whole Southern country w^as 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, yss being much the greater. On the 16th, having received reinforcements, the British forces, to the number of about 300, completely surrounded the wind mill, and with their heavy ord- nance opened fire upon the mill and other stone buildings occupied by the insurgents, who 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 were all, with but a single exception, taken prisoners. The one exception ^nras a countryman of the commanding general, a Pole, who escaped the vigilance of the captors by donning the uniform of a British officer who 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 known 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 w^ere taking place upon Canadian soil, •Gen. Scott w^as 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 only w^ere arms and muni- tions of -war, large contributions of -which were 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 outla-wed the leader of the rebellion, Mackenzie, and placed a heavy price upon his head; but there being no extradition regulations, b}'- which 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 western district of New York, convicted and sentenced to twelve months imprisonment in the Rochester jail. On the expiration of his sentence, Mackenzie went 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, where 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 soil,, the entire populace would not only -welcome them with open arms, but vsrould 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 secretlj' drilled in military tactics, and ordered to quietly rendezvous in Detroit, the latter part of November, 1838. In this way some 400' 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, everything being in readiness, on the night of the 3rd day of December, 1838, the men were 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 who 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]ijich latter place was 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 town. Approaching the barracks, just at day-break, a man was seen running from the river towards the barracks, who it was surmised had rowed across the river to give the alarm. He was brought down by a shot from a patriot musket, and proved to be a Detroit saloon-keeper, on the errand surmised. That shot, however,. GKXKRAL BIERCE IN CANADA. 599 aroused both 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 fire from the loop-holes of the braracks, which was 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 -wrere taken away from those captured, whO; after a short detention, were 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, which 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 Putnam 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 without knowing who the invaders were. On approach- ing the line, he was ordered to surrender by Capt. Scott. The doctor, apparently not realizing what -was up, asked, "to whom shall I surrender?" "To the Patriots," answered Capt. Scott. The doctor, quickly dismounting, started to Avalk 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, who, in noticiilg this feature of the affair says: "Only part of our force fired — the rest, among whom I was one — thinking it unnecessary to go to the extremes with so brave a man." * 600 AKKOX AND SUMMIT COU.NTV. Doctor Hume carried by his side a magnificent surgeon's sword, which w^as detached from his body and handed to General Bierce, w4io retained it as a trophy, and, in after years during his Ufa, he deUghted to exhibit it, when " fighting his battles o'er again," to interested if not admiring lisbeners. This sword was, by will, among other relics, bequeathed to Buchtel College by Gen Bierce, in the following words: "My sword, 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 w^ar of the rebellion from Ma5s 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 w^ar, 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 was sufficient to enable Mr. Harmon to instantly divine the speedy collapse of the expedition. The orchard w^as surrounded by about 400 Canadian soldiers, under command, as was afterwards learned, of Col. John Prince, of Sandwich, and other experienced British officers, whose sharp firing was playing sad havoc with the little Patriot phalanx of about 100 men only, while 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 hope'ess retreat. Being wounded in the leg, the brave Kentuckian faced about and commenced firing at his pursuers, and when his ammunition was 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," when a precipitate retreat of the thirtj' men who had held the town, was begun. Supposing that the steamer Champlain was still at the landing, four miles al)ove, 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 were not immediately pursued. On arriving at the landing, the Champlain was found to be nnn e.sf, and the fleeing Patriots searched the shore of the river for skiffs and canoes in which 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 were 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 IGXOMlXIorS COLLAPSE. 601 expedition, and the whispered but distinctly audible threats in which the}' indulged towards 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 w^aters, and there being no positive proof that the men had been in Canada, they were 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 fello-w 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 •dependencj' of a nation with whom it was at peace. The "Hunt- ers'" lodges incontinently disbanded, and the interest in Canadian independence rapidly waned. It was said, however, and generally believed, in this vicinity, that the Canadian government had ■offered a reward of £2,000 for the capture, and delivery within its borders, of the American commander-in-chief of the defunct Patriot Army, Gen. Lucius Verus Bierce. Whether true or not, the writer has reason to know that the General firmly believed the report, and for many years observed the utmost caution when vis- iting any of the Lake cities, and even believed that secret emis- saries were prowling about his own home, v^ith 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, which, 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 shadowy impression that instead of suffering an ignominious defeat, immortal glory had inured to the Patriot cause from: "THE BATTLE OF WINDSOR." The sun had set on Erie's -wave, The snow-clad 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 victory.'' 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 cry 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 stre"wed upon the plain, Make fuel for the burning chain, Of barracks burning rapidly. Now fiercer grew the dreadful fight; No"w higher rose the lurid light, And shouts, and groans, as morning light Appeared, werere mingled horribly. Ah, dreadful sight! As morn arose, The mingled corse of friends and foes, Bestrewed the ground amid the snows That formed their onl5' 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 barracks 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 was twice 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 own "Historical Recollections of Summit County," in closing his account of the Battle of Windsor, he says: "Thus terminated, as Gen. Bierce had foreseen it would, 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 written, as to whether, 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 was 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 who 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 was 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, with a liberal supply of arms, amraunition and money, in addition to the "moral" aid of public meetings, resolutions, patriotic speeches, etc., as above set forth. CHAPTER XXIV. SECOXD ADVENTISM— 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 "Millerism," 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, will be in order. William Miller was 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 was 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 wrorld, w^ould occur in 1843. The precise day was not at first named by him, but later on, either by himself or his followers, the time was 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 wrinding 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 afterwards 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 EVKNT FAILS TO EVENTUATK. 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, w^ho, after a vain endeavor to work a reformation in his theology, or to accomplish his dismissal, themselves withdrew^ and on the 8th daj'' of June, 1842, organized the Second Congrega- tional Church of Akron, being the same societ3' that is now known as the First Congregational Church of this city, building for themselves a house of worship on North Main street, the same building lately occupied as a livery stable bj' Mr. George Wulle. From this time on, Mr. Pickands rapidly gravitated towards 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 were with 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 withdrew^, holding their meetings in the groves and woods, 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 d^te 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 -with "Ascension Robes," of purest w^hite, in which 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 would 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 were 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 Bkacon 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 beg-in on Thursday, the 17th day of August next, in Springfield, Summit County, Ohio, about six miles southeast of Akron, on the Canton road, at the same place occupied last year by a camp meeting. All who love the appear- ing of our Lord, are earnestly requested to attend, prepared with tents, to remain throug^hout 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, Needham, Poe, Baker, McCae, Sheldon and Pickands. Come up, brethren and sisters, to the feast — let nothing hinder you. Remember the time is short. This call vs^as signed by parties living in Springfield, Moga- dore. Canton, Middlebury, Cuyahoga Falls and Akron, several of whom 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- mated that from three to five thousand persons were on the ground on Sun- day last. We cannot learn that they are making many new converts to their doctrines, most of the people attending through mere curiosity. 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 advertisements, Wilcox, Huse &: Co., of Middlebury, manufacturers of chairs, heading their advertisement, " If Time Continues," and Harry Pardee, in the same line of business, giving a counter blast under the head of " Time Continues ! " The Beacon, ofi December 20, 1843, contains this item: Father Miller lately visited Rochester, New York, where he devoted one whole week to dealing out e.Khortations 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 day of March, Gentile time, is equivalent to the 23rd day of April, Jewish time. During the whole time of his sojourn there, he was listened to by congregations, daily and nightly, 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 went, like other similar days since the dawn of time, and great was the grief and disappointment among the true and earnest believers, while 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 CRAZK RAPIDLY AND RABIDLY INCREASES. 607 gone by and he must confess that he knew nothing about it. Yet notwithstanding 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 continued their labors, but were constantly promulgating new dogmas and adding new features to their modes of public worship and their private teachings and practices. ' FATHER MILLER IN AKRON. On the 13th day of August, 1844, Father Miller visited Akron and addressed large cro^wds of people, assembled in and about the Tabernacle, both in the afternoon and evening. His discourses, delivered in a plain and unostentatious manner, were 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 w^atching 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 which there were 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 Crj- and the Bible Examiner, as w^ell as one of the most powerful preachers of the dogma, say- ing, in a sermon published in the ISxaminer, early in October, 1844, that the -world would positively 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 element of the Second Advent creed, at length came to be so regarded, and about this time many of the old believers, and all of the ne-wr 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 awful day, and in sundry and various other ways, 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. Early in November, 1844, Brother Storrs, in his Midnight Cry 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 absolutely necessary tor present necessity." In commenting upon this, his neighbor, the New^ York True- Sun, pertinently said: "What compensation is the confession to hundreds who 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 miisery, -wretchedness and idespair 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: "Moke 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 now upon the town, under the doctor's care, await- ing the Second Advent, or the end of time, which it is thought may soon take place for him, as it is somewhat doubtful whether he will escape the consequences of his rash act, even with 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 will here add, that there were several others in this immediate vicinity — notably women — 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 Adventistc 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 we are all now in Eternity, and that the awful 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. TIIK tiRlC.VT APOSTUS (U\'ES IT UP. (;()9 the floor, etc., their conduct, in some instances, lieing revoltinji; in the extreme." Tlie day of g-race and Eternity- theor\', did not ohtain here, to any extent, but tlie kissing, feet-washing and roll- ing upon the floor — stricken down by the 'power of the hol3' spirit' — tom-foolery was adopted by a portion of the local faitiiful, though it is but simple justice to say, right here, that the more intelligent and well-balanced among the believers drew the line on these practices, and that only the more infatuated, and the dis- honest among therjn, 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 nightly, at which none but the most faithful of the faithful were admitted, though there was 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 JMillerism — P^ather 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 daj^ or even month, or year, for the final "wind up," continued to promulgate new dogmas, and fulminate ne^v 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 holj-, of that extremely holy people. Among the very earliest of the con- verts to the Second Advent faith was a Mrs. Green, 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 with the delusion, readily accepting, and conscientiously entering into, all the dogmas that were from time to time proclaimed, and who, 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 -with 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 what virtue there was in the la-w for the redress of his grievances. Accordingly criminal proceedings -were instituted against her pastor, charging him with assault and battery upon the person of Mrs. Green, in saluting her -with the holy kiss, -washing 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 39 610 AKRfJX AXD SUMMIT COUA'TY. Akron, December 13, 184r), Gen. Lucius V Bierce acting as attor- ney for the State, the accused officiating in his own defense. The ^vitnesses were all, necessarily, members of the "Band," who, disavowing all allegiance to human laws, refused to be sworn, but finally 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 worship, 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 tow^n, which was at first supposed to be the explosion of one of the Austin Powder Company's mills, located on -what 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 powder 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 how 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 -we 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, whose 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 woman, 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 was carried back into the house, where, notwithstanding a physician was called by an unbelieving neighbor, it was sought by the faithful to re-unite the broken bones through the efficacy of prayer, the grand master pf ceremo- nies, meantime, peremptorily commanding the suffering woman to "rise up and walk." But though the prayers w^ere vehement and confident, and though the command to "rise up and walk" "SPIRITUAL MARRIAGES. 611 Avas authoritatively and unctuously repeated, the brojsen 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 manj' peculiar tenets of faith embraced and practiced by a portion of this peculiar people, -was that of spiritual marriages, and about the middle of February, 1846, a couple ^lo 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 la^vs, 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, Erie 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 Avas 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 Avould put the piety of those embracing and practicing the doctrine. Mr. Charles Clapp, and Mr. William J. Hart, being called as witnesses, 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 wherewithal to pay his fine. The defendants, claiming no justification except the direction of the Spirit, and the -warrant of Scripture, the carnal justice of the peace, not seeing the evidence of either, and not ackno-wledging any higher authority in such matters than the statutes and juris- prudence of this -wicked world, bound them over to the Court of Common Pleas of Summit county, 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, who 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 walls aforesaid did not tumble, and the deluded and lecherous t-wain were compelled to .abide their time, and suffer the penalties of outraged public sentiment and violated layf. The principal headquarters of the local saints at this time, was at the house of aMr. 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 spiritualljr 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 most respected Methodist citizens — long an honored resident of Akron, often led to her neglected children, the wife 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 was harbored, and encouraged in her disregard of her wifely 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 Ho-wrard 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-wa»hing has given place, as all supposed it would, to the more intimate communion; and under the guise of spiritual marriage, husbands and wives are ve^ry uiicereinoniously 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 cordially welcoiued 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 many deeply deplore, leaving home and wife and children, has gone forth, pedestrian- wise, under 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 money 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 NorDi- 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 growling interests, pub- lished in Cleveland by the late S. N. Goodale, formerly of Akron,. THE EXD OF THK DELUSION'. 613 ,«tid 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- ilj' 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 who for the past forty-five years has been a highly respected and useful member of that societj''. The many other members of the Second Advent church quietly accepted the situation, and though some became confirmed skeptics and scoffers at every form of religion, the most 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 briefly given a historj^ of one of the most wonderful, as well as one of the most exciting religious delusions of the Nine- teenth Century, and especiall3^ 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 Williamsfield, Ashta- bula count3% Ohio, August 21, 1823; at 12 removed with parents to Mecca, Trumbull count}' ; worked on farm and attended district schools till 18 ; pursued preparatory studies in West- ern Reserve Seminary, atFarmington, 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 w^ar officiated as general relief agent of United States Sanitary Commission, Western Department ; at close of war was deputy revenue collector, and later assistant geologist on the Geological Survey of Ohio ; had charge of archfeological exhibits of Ohio at Centennial Expositions at ■\l' /I MATTHEW CANFIELD KEAI). Philadelphia and New Orleans, and for several years held the position of lecturer on Zoolog-y and Practical Geologj' in Western Reserve College ; also, besides having filled several local offices — township clerk, justice of the peace, mayor, etc. — in addition to his law practice has been exten- sivelj' employed in the exploration of mineral 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 Lake, and the summit between the Scioto and Miami, in Logan county, 975 feet, which 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. CA.NYOX Ft)KMATIO.\. 615 When lifted above the ocean, to au elevation mucli 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 substantiall}' occupied bj- the Little Cuyahoga, and b}' the Cuyahoga from their junction to the Lake. Another coinniences 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 canj^on 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 was disintegrated and a soil formed capable of sus- taining a forest vegetation, but, from the w^ant of a mingling of the material, everywhere lacking in some of 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 with the debris of all the north- ern rocks. This w^ork w^as done l:)j' Nature's great ice plow, 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 tow^nships 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 countj'^, the ^vaters flooring from the retreating glacier carried avi'aj' the most of the claj', ground the residue into sand, and left the surface diversified by swamps and lakes, the sites of immense masses of grounded 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 topographj' in other respects. The filling of the canyons diverted many of the streams from their old beds and compelled them to seek neyv channels. The most conspicuous instance is that of th(^ Cuyahoga river, which has cut itself a new channel, mostl\' through solid rock, from above Kent, in Portage county, to its 61() AKK'OX AXJ) SL'MMIT C'dUXTV. junction with the Little Cu\ahoga. Other streams emptying- into the Cuyahoga have opened similar but smaller rock channels. The time required for such results is very long, but not as long as a superficial observation would indicate. If the surface wear of the running water alone did the w^ork the time required would be almost illimitable. The work accomplished by this agencj' is shown at Kent, Portage county, and by the rock chan- nel above Cuyahoga Falls, where the superficial action of the run- Tiitig sti-eam has been the only excavating agencj^ At Cuyahoga Falls, and below, it has been an undermining process. The soft argillaceous shale, under the sand rock, has rapidly disintegrated, making an abrupt precipice, at one time over one hundred feet high, %vith a protruding overhanging rock which finally broke down b^' its own ■weight, and this process, continued, carried the falls up stream many thousand times faster than would result from surface erosion alone. Such is the mode of all rapid canyon making. STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY. Something about six hundred feet in thickness of the rocks of the county can be studied from their out-crops. The lowest is Devonian, the upper part of the Erie shale, of which about one bundred feet is exposed in the valley of the Cuyahoga, from the north line of the county to near Peninsula. It is a soft argilla- ceous shale, w^ith thin bands of impure fossiliferous limestone, and contains no valuable minerals. There is a sharp transition from the Erie to the Cleveland shale directly above it. This is a highly bituminous black shale, lying in blocks anly from wells should 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 Cuj^ahoga, STKrCTL'RAL UKULOGV. ()17 and therefore more easilj- disintegrated. Its out-crop is j>enerally concealed bj' its debris, covered with soil and vegetation, but in some places, in Boston tcnvnship, there are saudj' 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 countj", 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 countr3^ Some of it is nearl}' white, very hard, with a sharp grit and can be quarried in almost anj' size desired. It rises above the bottom of the vallej', near the south line of Boston tow^nship, 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 curiously covered with calcareous tufa, deposited from the -water 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 w^ell 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 Cuj'ahoga river below Cuyahoga Falls. It is, in this county, about one hundred and seventy-five feet thick, and composed mainlj^ of soft argillaceous shale. Near the top, belovvr Cuyahoga Falls, it carries a band of impure lime- stone which makes a fair water lime, and was 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 about tv^renty feet of verj' hard, fine-grained sandstone, vsrhich 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 Trumbull county, successfully used in Warren, and to some extent in Akron. The bed in this county is in thicker layers, harder, will resist abrasion better, and, although harder to quarry, will make a more durable road-bed than the Trumbull countj^ 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 with bands of blue carbonate of iron, and is probably not organic, but a peculiar senii-cr3'stallization of clay. Above this is the carboniferous conglomerate, a conspicuous feature in the landscape at Cuyahoga Falls, at the Boston ledges, and 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 f(jundation stone, and some of them furnish excellent building stone. At Wolf's quarry, near Akron, 618 AKKON 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, w^ith little stripping, for all ordinary uses. Its fossils, so far as known, are all vegetable. This is the base of the coal measure rocks, and should be care- fully studied hj 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.low^est coal was deposited, and rose in many places above the marshes, so that coal may be found at a loiver- 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 Xo. 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 this- coal may be found, embraces substantially the whole 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 anj' large area, but lies in a series of connected basins of verj^ irregular sliape. 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, liave had the 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 county 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 worth- less, it may lead, by a channel sometimes tortuous and narrow, to- "workable deposits. This coal, in the "swamps," or central part of the old marshes, reaches a thickness of from four to six feet. It 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, and above this a heavy sand rock from fifty to seventy-five feet thick. This sandstone sometimes comes down to the coal, and sometiiaies "cuts out the coal." This cutting out of the coal, by the sandstone, maj' require a word of explana- tion for the reader not conversant \vith geological literature. All the rocks of the count}' are sedimentary, deposited in ^vater. OIL AND GAS POSSIBILITIES. 61i* 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 with it nothing but clay. The sandstone above shows a more rapid movement of the water, with force enough to bring in sand and carry away the clay to quieter water. Some- times the current was so rapid as to carry away the clay already deposited, removing it down to the surface of the old marsh, and sometimes carrying away, also, the accumulation of carbona- ceous matter which was waiting its change into coal. This is the cutting out of the coal b3^ 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 two hundred and fifty feet below the surface. It is probable, in many cases, test borings have not been 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 Avith 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 quality, with four feet of limestone above it, which, in places, carries a fair equality of iron ore. There is an interval of about thirty feet between this 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 bj' the scattered granite boulders brought in by the drift, and the Isanks of water-washed gravel, to put all the roads in the county in good condition. This is a w^ork which would 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, where 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 county, represent the first stages in coal making, and the same causes which resulted in the under- 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, novi^ used. The peat, which must 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 -will 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 count3^ if persevering search be made for it. The singular phenomena occurring in Coventry township, where there have been repeated explosions with a Assuring of the surface, as if by miniature earth- quakes, indicate a constant escape of gas which, in winter. 620 AKROX AND SUMMIT COUNTY. imprisoned by the frozen earth, has at times acquired a tension sufficient to rupture the frozen covering 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 county, and the deep -wells drilled in the Cuyahoga valley have in several instances yielded gas. Further, all the well known hori- zon of gas and petroleum are below the surface of Akron, and may be reached b}^ drilling. But the horizon of the Mecca oil, the Berea sandstone, is cut by the Cuyahoga valley and so thoroughly drained that there is little chance of obtaining from it any important j^iAld. The Huron shale which underlies the Erie, the latter being the lowest rock exposed in the county, is an important horizon for the hydro-carbons. But the sandstones which are found above it in ihe productive regions, are wanting here, and the conditions fav- oring a large production do not exist. Many virells drilled into the Erie 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 of oil and gas, but, as far as is now shown, only along the summit of anti-clinals, and in limited areas where 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 by the search either for gas or oil. 41- ' W V Y CHAPTER XXM. SUMMIT COUXTY's RAILKOAI).S— ANCIENT AND MODERN — FINISHED AND UN FINISHED— RISE, PROGRESS AND COLLAPSE— 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 130 MILES — WONDERFUL PROGRESS IN 60 YEARS — AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY- IN THE VAN -A TRUL'S' INTERESTING CHAPTER. BRIEF REMINISCENT HISTORY. A T the beginning of the present century railroads were wholly -^*- unknown, either in the Old World or the New, and though some rude tramways had come into vogue, for mining and grading purposes, the longest railway in the United States, as late as 1827, was that froni 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 w^ere constructed for passenger travel in the Eastern States, propelled by horse-power, the first locomotive to turn a wheel, 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, runnings according to the Charleston Courier, "on the wings of the wind, at the varied rate of fifteen to twenty miles an hour, annihilating time and space, and, like the renowned John Gilpin, 'leaving all the world behind.' " SINGULAR BOILER EXPLOSION. The "Best Friend" was used in the completion of the road, a Mr. Darrell acting as conductor and engineer of the construction train, with 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 was blowing off, and wasted as he supposed, placed his hand upon the lever of the safety valve, causing an explosion by "which the boiler 622 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. was thrown twenty-tive 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 was 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 what is now Summit county, was the project to build a road from the Hudson river, through the states of Ne^w 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 was accomplished. "AKRON AND PERRYSBURG RAILROAD." In Akron's first newspaper — the Weekly 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, Harvey 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 fraternitj^, 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 becoming- a great central point, it being- at the junction of the Ohio and Mahoning- Canal, and the Akron and Perrysburg- railroad, thereby opening cominunication, via the Wabash canal, south to Cincinnati and New Orleans, b}'^ water, and to Charleston, S. C, via the Charleston and EARLY RAILWAY ENTEKPK'ISKS. ()23 Cincinnati railroad, and also by canal and railroad to Pittsburt;- and Phila- delphia, thus uniting- the eastern communication from New York and other places terminating; at Bufifalo, with the wewlern line of communication forming a junction at Akron, being- one of the most imi^ortant 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 them have never yet been fullj^ 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 nearlj' 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 always 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 was granted for a road bearing the above title, with a capital of $200,000, to be' divided into 8,000 shares of $25 eacli, 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 to-wns in Summit county, became alive to the importance of a connection there-with, at Hudson, and in February, 1851, largely through the efforts of the late Col. Simon Perkins, an amendment to the charter of that road -was 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 Columbus; 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 was 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 AKKON AXD SUMMIT COUNTY. to the benefit of the entire county, a special act of the Legis- lature was passed, on the 24th day of March, 1851, authorizing the countj' commissioners, with the consent of the legal voters, to subscribe for $100,000 of the stock of the company, and to borrow the monej^ 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 21st day of June, 1851, with the following result: For Afjainst Bath 78 102 Boston 40 94 Copley 160 ,56 Coventrj' 104 .i8 Cuyahog-a Falls 275 12 Franklin ■ ■ 95 170 Green 69 177 Hudson 258 20 Middleburv 56 72 Northfield" 33 165 Northampton 03 57 Norton 175 40 Portage 737 3 Ricnfield 48 70 Springfield 89 167 Stow 88 72 Tallmadge . . '. 31 114 Twinsburg- 3 156 Total Vote 2432 1605 1605 Majority for , 827 Pursuant to this authoritj' Countj' Commissioners Edwin Wetmore, of Stow, James \V. 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. Tn the process of negotiating these bonds, and after about one- half of them had actually been sold by Col. Perkins and Treasurer McMillen, it was discovered that the bonds were defective in that they did not shoAv upon their face that they vsrere issued by the authority of the State of Ohio, and, on the 17th of February, 1852, a new and correct series was 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 was completed to Cuyahoga Falls, by June 1, 1852, and to- Akron July 4, the same year, and speedily thereafter through to Orrville and Millersburg. KliVEKSKS AXI) KliDKCiAXtZATION.S. ()25 There was, of coiii-se, considerable griiinbliiip; at the increased taxation to pay tlie interest and principal of these bonds, but though the county, in coiTinion with individual stockholders, never realized any dividends, and in fact sunk the entire amount of the stock itself, the tax-payers of county were well re[>aid for the investment, 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 of Summit countj', the name of the " Akron Branch" was changed to "Cleveland, Zanesville and Cincinnati Railroad," 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 w^as sold by David L. King, Esq., as special master commissioner, to George \V. Cass and John J. Marvin, of Pittsburg, who in turn transferred it to the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad* Company, Col. Perkins being continued as its general superintendent. Julj^ 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- non and London Railroad Company, of which Gen. G. A. Jones, of Mt. Vernon, was appointed general superintendent; Col. Perkins, after faithful service as presiderit and general superintendent for nearly 20 years, retiring. While Col. Perkins, by his zeal in the furtherance of the en- terprise, assumed liabilities, which, 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, MOUNT VERNON AND DELA\YARE." December 20, 1869, the name was again changed as above, by the 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, and 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. Upson, 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 $1,140,200. 40 620 AKKOX AXD 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 District Court. April 24, 1882, Mr. George D. Walker was appointed receiv- er, by the Court of Common Pleas of Summit county, 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 new 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 which the case had been carried on exceptions. The purchasers, under the sale last mentioned, organized under the name of the " Cleveland, Akron and Columbus Railway Company," taking possession of, and beginning to operate, the road January 1, 1886, with N. Monsarrat as president and general mana- ger, by whom it is now being successfully managed and operated; connecting wdth 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 way, 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 Railway Company, it is confidently believed it will be a valuable adjunct to that road, as well 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 18t»l. ' Peace to its ashes ' -i.sriU- f.NION 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 io 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 East 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 intervie'wrs -with "Nypano" officials at Cleveland, and the outcome of it all was 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 w^ith the erection of a union depot. This arrangement, however, w^as not carried out. The t-wo 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 work, 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- erty. 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 widen 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 f.r- «»™-^.s.„i =, , Spring of 1891, and was occupied I July 1. of that year. It is a hand- I some structure costing about A. »/*'^i'-#«,- $20,000, and as much of an orna- M^^^i' ' ■ ment, as the old tumble-down ^^^rt „. -wooden depot was, for a genera- I P!^^f^r^2^ tion, an eye-sore and reproach. \ ^^^^l^fatfHJ^fesMMW^ The C, A. & C. depot which was :yi^'"^Wr ^^\T^_^l__^g/^g^ built of pressed brick and in the f ^MjlOIBBHMijilMfiBWB^BHJjtJ Romanesque style of architect- ^^^B J^^allBi^^ B^gii ure, cost about $30,000. It was i^^^^'.-Zi:^---jiS ka |^^^^ff^y^^- _ ; finished in the early Summer of New York, Pennsylvania ife Ohio Rail-' 1891, but the WOrk of widening road Depot-firected in 1890. '91. ^jjg ^33^ Market street bridge and of preparing the depot surroundings delaj'ed occupancy until the latter part of the season. The whole expense of the depot and of 628 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. the other improvements made along 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 Railroad Company. The com- 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 by 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 New Union Passenger Station, Cleveland, -t i ,1 x> r^ ' „x Akron and Columbus and Baltimore road, also the B. & U. g property, & Ohio Railroads,^ East Market 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. & 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 gro^wing population of that part of the city. Another important move of the C, A. & C.,. made in June of 1891, was the acquisition of several acres of land in the tract of the South Akron Land Syndicate (Steiner & Co.) It is the intention to cover 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 growing suburb. "THE ATLANTIC AND GREAT WESTERN." In 1850, Hon Marvin Kent, an enterprising young business- man and large property owner of the village no-w 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 two 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 vi^ith 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 geatlemen: Simon Perkins, Lucius V. Bierce, Harvey B. Spelman and Dr. Daniel Upson, the charter, written by Mr. Kent himself, providing for a capital stock in any amouritnot exceeding $2,000,000, with power to continue to the State line, on the east, and in the southwesterlj^ direction to connect with any other road in the State as may be deemed advisable; also to con- solidate its capital stock writh, and use the name of, any company with Avhich it might connect. ATLANTIC & GWEAT WESTKK'N'. 029 HOX. MARVIN KENT— born in Ravenna, Ohio, Septeinber 21, 1810 ; academic education ; bred a merchant, at niajorit}- becoming- a partner with his father, Mr. Zenas Kent, in the mercantile business at Franklin Mills (now Kent) ; also for nian3' years engaged in milling, inan- ufacturing- the celebrated brand of flour known as " Kent's Extra," and ■carrying on quite an extensive tan- nery ; in 1850 Mr. Kent, with others, established a window-glass factorj- in Kent, and about the same time he inavig"urated, and bj' his influence, unstinted liberalitj' and indomitable perseverance, consummated the great enterprise w^hich has proved -SO beneficial to the people of Portage and Summit counties — the Atlantic and Great Western Railway (now the N. Y.,P.& O.), fully written of elsewhere, Mr. Kent being its President for manj^ j'ears, and also President of the Kent National Bank since the death of his father, in 1865. In the history of Portage county it is written : •' In early daj's the pioneers devoted them- selves to the task of building up a town on the Cuyahoga -with remark- able energj' ; 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 properl3' be ascribed the industrial and commer- HOX. MAKVIN KENT. cial prosperity which the pleasant village bearing' his name now enjoys. In October, 1875, Mr. Kent was elected State Senator for Portage and Sum- mit counties, ably serving two jears. December 24, 1840, he was married to Miss Maria Stewart, daughter of Col. Williain Stewart, formerly of Middle- bury ; of the two sons born to them. Henry L. Kent, born February 14, 1843, died suddenly, in New York Citj', April 21, 1873 ; William S. Kent, born August 21, 1847. is now a merchant in Kent. The company was organized June 19, 1851, ^vith Mr. Kent as president, and Dr. Daniel Upson, of Tallmadge, as one of the directors, the name being changed to the "Atlantic & Great Western Railroad Company," in 1854. Skirmishing for C; AKD SUMMIT COUNTY. The "Clinton Line" was so named in honor of Gov. DeWitt Clinton, the projector of New York's great water highway, the Erie Canal, and who, previous to his death, in 1828, had suggested the plan of building a great continental railroad from the city of New York to the Missouri River. By reason of financial embar- rassments, the three roads in question were sold under decrees in foreclosure, the Clinton Line l?eing purchased, in April 1861, by 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 Summerof 1887, Prof. M. C. Read, of Hudson, about the only person in the place who had faith that the road would ever be built, at the instance of Mr. D. M. Yeomans, an enterprising capitalist and contractor of Kinsman, Trumbull countj-, 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 w^ould 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 Y'ork and Ohio Railway. — Mr. Yeomans, with four associates, organized the New Y'ork and Ohio Railway Company, together subscribing $100,000 to its capital stock, having later, as was 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 with the company to transfer their several interests to the new organization, o'n the condition of the construction of the road to Hudson within 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 with the Che- nango system, and on the west, with 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 investment. For some reasons not now apparent, the work upon this road was not prosecuted as contem- plated, and in the Spring of 1890 Mr. Yeomans sold his interest to Benjamin F. Holmes, of New Y'ork Citj^, president of the American Live Stock Express 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 delaj'ed beyond the extended period OUR LATER ACQUISITIONS. 635 t of time granted by the trustee for the bondholders, he has an arrangement for the sale, to other parties, who will surely build the road. The Massillox 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 Railroad 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 \^ernon and Delaw^are 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 Railway Company, since w^hich time it has been opera- ted by the Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne and Chicago. Between one and two miles only of this road is in Summit county, running through the southwest corner of the township of Franklin, but is properly here briefly mentioned as one of Summit county's railroads. Lake 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- west corner of Franklin township, and crossing the Cleveland, Akron and Columbus Railway 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 Stdrk 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 was 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 which 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 "Pittsburg and Western." — Early in 1881, Chauncey H. Andrews, Esq., and other wealthy gentlemen of Youngstown, projected what was then called the "Pittaburg, Youngstown & Chicago Railroad." The company was 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 county at Mogadore, passing westward down the \'alley 636 AlvKO.N AND SUMMIT COVXTY. of the Little Cuyahoga to the Sixth ward, in Akron, and from thence along Wolf Ledge in the southern part of the city, 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 Cuyahoga Falls, it enters Akron at the Old Forge, its present western terminus. For several years this road has had an arrangement with the Cleveland, Akron & Columbus Railway, by which 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 6f 1891, which made it an important link in a New York-Chicago through line, under B. & O. control, as is more fully explained below in connection with the history of the Akron & Chicago Junction R. R. "New Yokk, Mahoning and Western." — In 1887, '88, a com- pany figured in Wadsworth, Seville and Lodi, in Medina county and other points west, under the above title, of which 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 Youngstow^n, 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 surveyed line of the N. Y., M. & W., but the funds expected bj' the projectors could not be secured when needed. Sub-contractors and others levied on ties and other material at Findlaj', O., and one or two other places; and vsrith 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 Companj' was incorporated, at Col- umbus, by W. A. Lynch, of Canton, and others, including Col. A. L. Conger, Lewis Miller and David E. Hill, of Akron. The com- pany proposed to construct from Akron -westward, to Chicago Junction, or to some otlier 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 directlj' to Pittsburg. It was expected that the building of the link would matei;ially shorten the distance between New York and Chicago by 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. Surveys were made and the route determined upon. Funds for construc- tion purposes could not readily be negotiated, however, and the project lagged. Mr. Lynch, who was general counsel for the PITTSBURG, AKRON A WESTERN. 637 comijaiiy, kept at work, however, and in the end his patience and energy were rewarded with success. The name of the compajiy was changed November 10, 1883, to the Pittsburg, Akron & Western Kailwa3' Company. That was the chief event in the history of the enterprise for six years. In October, 1889, new Ufe was given to the "Lynch line" project, as it was called, by a consolidation of the Pittsburg, Akron & West- ern Railway Company and the Cleveland & Western Railroad Company, the new company taking the name of the Pittsburg,. Akron & Western Railroad Company. The Cleveland & Western w^as a narrow gauge road, running between Delphos and Carej', O. Its principal owners were William Semple, an Allegheny merchatit, 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 wa& held about this time, resulting in the choice of D. E. Hill, A. L. Conger, Lew^is Miller, of Akron; James M. Semple, of Toledo, [tak- ing the place of William Semple, Sr., of Pittsburg, then recently deceased]; Chas. G. >rilnor, of Pittsburg, [to take the place of James Callery, deceased]; A. W. Jones, Youngstown; James- Schoonmaker and Josiah N. Davidson, AUeghenj-; James D. Callery, Pittsburg. An election of officers resulted in the choice of James D. Callerj'', president, in place of Wm. Semple, Sr.^ deceased; W. A. Lynch, secretary and general counsel; Chas. G, Milnor, treasurer; William Semple, general manager; James H.. Sample, chief engineer. The contract for the building of the line from Akron to Carey, 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 begins at Old Forge, runs along the old P. & O. canal, almost to Summit street, crosses over to the north side of the water way, crosses North High street and North Main street^ striking North How^ard 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 browr of West Hill, out to Silver street, and thence on to Copley. 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 Pittsburg over the P. & W., while the B. & O. lease made 638, AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. the P- & W. the eastern connection at Akron, of the Akron, & Chicago Junction, the Pittsburg, Akron & Western's rival. Plans are being laid, however, 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. Road 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 western points. AKRON & CHICAGO JUNCTION. In the Summer of 1890, Akron was headquarters for two rail- road construction companies. They Avere rivals, too, each giving out that it was to build the long expected east and west link. One of these companies was McCracken & Semple, building the P., A. & W., as sketched above. The other was Ryan & McDonald, who had under contract the building of ^vhat was called the Akron & Chicago Junction Railroad. Each of these roads depended tipon 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 v^rere tvs^o lines -well under -way, and in the Spring of 1891, both were practically done, giving two links where but one was needed. The Akron & Chicago Junction Railway Company, which •was understood from the beginning to be an arm of the B. & O., was incorporated at Columbus early in the Summer of 1890. Wil- 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 with 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 was made to run over the C, A. & C, bet\veen Warwick and Akron. The Akron & Chicago Junction is known as the Akron Divis- ion of the B. & 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 v^est 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 onlj' thirteen miles longer than over the Lake Shore. AKRON AS A KAILKOAD CENTER. fi39 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. & \V. 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. W. Patton, of the B. & O., was 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 westward from Pittsburg. The connection of P & W. and A. & C. J. tracks, and of Valley tracks with both, was made at Old Forge, which 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 j^et 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 w^ater-po'wer village of less than 2,000 inhabitants that it yiras 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 ; -while 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 TOWNSHIP OF BATH— EARLY SETTLEMENT— INDIANS AND WILD "BEASTS— THE WAR OF 1812— PERRY'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— SKIPS TO INDIANA —BROUGHT BACK ON THE AFFI- DAVIT OF HIS FORMER CAPTAIN "JIM" BROWN— FINAL ACQUITTAL— BATH IN THE WAR OF THE REBELLION— LN COUNTY AND STATE AFFAIRS, ETC. BATH TOWNSHIP— TOPOGRAPHY, ETC. 'T^HE Township 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 well-tilled farms are found on the broader plateaus of the bluffs, and in the intervening valleys. The central and western portion of the township, however, is- -well adapted to general agriculture, and especially to stock-grow- 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 w^as no berme-bank at this point, the waters of the creek covering quite a large area upon the west side ; and hence its original name, Yellow^ Creek Basin. This stream, rising in the adjoining township of Granger, on the west, and having quite a numlaer of smart tributaries, on either hand, as it passes through the township, with quite a rapid descent, has furnished a large amount of motive powder for manufacturing 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 vsrhich establishments, in spite of the vicissitudes of time, fires, floods and other disasters, are still in successful operation. BATH'S PIONEER SETTLERS. It is not now known as to precisely when the first white people took up their abode in what is now the tov^rnship of Bath. It was- not ceded by the Indians to the United States until 1805, at the treaty of Fort Industry. The township was surveyed into lots by Col. Kial McArthur, in 1805, who, in his field-book, gave it the BATH S liKGI.NN'I.XG. ()41 name of " Wheat lield," the reason why nut heing' now apparent, as its topography and soil are not especialh- achipted to the raising of wheat. The first two permanent settlers in tiie township were Jonathan Hale, of Glastenburj-, and Jason Hammond, of ]3olton, 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, immediatel}' started for their new^ possessions in what w^as then called New Connecticut, where they arrived sometime in Julj' ; from twenty to thirtj- days then being required to make the journey that can now be accomplished in about half as many hours. TONATHAN HALE,— Born in Glas- ) tenbury, 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, Julj^ 13, being the first bona BcJe 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 him; Mr. Hale's fam- ily coming on with Mr. Jason Hain- mond and family 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 sugge.st- 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 mar- 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. JOXATHA.X 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 j'ears and 21 days, his remains reposing- in the little cemeterj' 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 ()42 AKRON AND SUMMIT COfXTY. most of them, probably, the previous year; Aaron Miller having built a cabin upon the purchase of Mr. Hale, and into v^^hich Mr. Hale moved with his family, residing therein for several years, and until the present brick structure now occupied by 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- what 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- burjr. Conn., Jul}' 5, 1806, came with parents to Bath in 1810, where, on a portion of the old homestead, he resided until his death, Januarj^ 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 Tallmadge, who Ir. Hale was a great sufferer from a neuralg-ic affection of the head, his death occurring, upon the farm ANDREW HALE. where he was born, JUI3' 29, 1884, aged 72 years, 7 months and 2'i da3'S. Mrs. Hale, now 69 )'ears of age, is affection- atelj' cared for by her eldest son, C. O. Hale, at the old fainily 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 freelj' 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- ware, etc., are still occasionallj^ found on the hills and in the valleys of the township. It does not appear that there wei-e 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 townships, 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, however, the "Noble Red Man" was no more seen within the limits of the township. Every species of wild beast was also very plenty on the advent of the earlier vsrhite settlers of the township, many of whom proved to be very expert hunters, and many thrilling" hair breadth 'scapes " were formerly, and perhaps, are still to be found in the traditionary lore of the township. 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 vs^riter has often listened with the most intense interest to the graphic stories of the late venerable William Cogsw^ell, and other old timers, of their encounters with the denizens of the forest, which, if they could be correctly put in print, would make might5^ interesting reading. RICHARD ENGLISH PARKER,-r- 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 I'hildren, all of whom are still living - -Henrj'^ A., Hartwell A., and Frank W., of Akron; David L., of Copley and Perry E., of Bay City, Mich.; Mrs. Dora S. Trumbull, of Orangeville, Trumbull county; Mrs. PhcEbe M. Low, of Granger, Medina countj' ; 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 7, 1884, aged 69 years and 17 days, Mr. Parker survivinghiacoin- panion four years and one week, dying August 14, 1888, aged 77 years, WMr RICHARD ENGLISH PARKER. 5 months and 5 days. Mr. Parker ^vas 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 M. Hale, announcing Jonathan Hale as a ti-ustee, 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 Avas considered. As before stated, by reason of the Hatamond 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 w^aggish, withal, exclaimed: "O, call it Jeru- salem, Jericho, Bath, or anything but Hammondsburgh ! " A motion was thereupon immediately made to call it Bath, which was carried by a large majority, and Bath it has remained to the present day, and is, alphabetical!}^, 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, with the remark that in point of agricultural achievements, manufacturing ■enterprises, and educational and moral worth, Bath stands fully at par w^ith 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: Petee 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 w^ith his colleague, Capt. Amos Se\vard, of Tallmadge, served his constituents thoroughly and well. In the Spring of 1850 Mr. Voris was, bj^ Governor Seabury Ford,, appointed associate judge of the Court of Common Pleas, io fill the vacancy 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, 18.52, having pre- viously served as deputy county clerk for about two years. RoLAXD O. Hammond, 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 AKRON 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 count3\ N. Y., Jul)' 27, 1805; came to Ohio with parents when a boy, 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, five 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 horastead. 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 11, 1877, aged 72 years, 1 montfi and 17 daj^s, 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 1861; during his second term of three years, amid much opposition, join- ing heartily with the other niem- 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 Judge Sylvester H. Thomp- son, of Hudson, to represent Summit county in the State Legis- lature, holding that office two years. In 1861, that gentlenjan entered the army as lieutenant colonel, of the 67th Regiment, O.- V. I., which he personally recruited, serving through the war^ and winning 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 ablj^ filling. Grenville Thorp, one of Bath's braye 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 the 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 KOLL OF l-IONOK. (:47 council of Akron, ably served the people of Svmiinit county as their representative in the State Legislature from January 1, 1882, to January 1, 1884, and as State senator from the Summit-Portage- Geauga-Ashtabula district, from 1887 to 1891. SuMN'ER 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 principal from February, 1885 to February, 1891, six years. Charles Oviatt Hale, as this chapter goes to pret-s (October, 1891), is the regular Republican nominee for representative to the State Legislature, to which position he Avill undoubted! j' be elected. pHARLES OVIATT HALE, — son ^ of Audrew 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, bj' inherit- ance and purchase from other heirs, the sole ojvner, and entirely free from debt; besides attendance upon the schools of the neighborhood, Mr. Hale attended the preparatory- 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 verj' rarely, if ever, absent from partj- caucuses, and has probably repre- sented his township in more countj^ conventions than anj' other man of his age in the count}' ; has officiated three j^ears as township trustee and several years as school director, and is now (October 1891) the duly nominated candidate of his >. ^ CHARLES OVIATT HALE. party for Representative to the State Legislature for Summit countj'. Maj^ 20, 187.i, Mr. Hale was married to Miss Pauline Cranz, of Bath, previously, for five j'ears, a teacher in Akron public schools. The^- have no chil- dren. BATH'S MILITARY RECORD. Besides doing her full duty in defense of the frontier, in thc 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 following 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: 048 AKRON AKD SUMMIT COUNTY. I'errj- H. Alexander, Nathaniel Averill, Benjamin 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 Barney, 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. Damon, Cassias Evans, James L. Forguson, 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, Henr3' 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. Mcrre, 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), Charles Richmond, Norman Salisbury (died in service), Franklin J. Smith, James Stanbridge, Joseph Scanlin, Adam Stoner, Philenus Smith, William Stoton, William H. Spears, Ephraim Sutton, William Sherman, Richmond Shaw, John Spears, Thomas G. Trembath, Edward Tewksbury (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 Zeal5', Jacob Zimmerman, BATH AS A RAILROAD CENTER. In 18.13, the Clinton Line Extension Railroad, from Hudson to Tiffin, ^vas organized, with Prof. Henrj^ 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 Cu3'ahoga \'alley near the residence of the late James R. Brown, in Northampton, and running up the Yellow Creek vallej', through the township of Bath. About $70,000 were expended in grading the road between Husdon and Ghent, a large quantit}' 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 w^ere stimulated, stores multiplied, hotels flourished, etc.; the northernmost of the two hotels, then existing there, near where the road was laid, being rechristened the "Railroad House." But alack! and alas! for the inetropolitan 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 MOKAL STATITS. ()49 between 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 w^as somewhat smirched by the depredations of the gang of " crooks," w^hose 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 w^ere 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, Latta'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," whose biography will be found in full in -another chapter of this history. This man, Latta, vs^as a fine speci- men of physical manhood, tall, well-proportioned, pleasant featured .and, though of quite a limited education, was singularly urbane and persuasive in his manners and conversation, alw^ays 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, always well dressed and with 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-w^orking, but illy remu- nerated, yeomanry 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, -when 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 seriouslj^ implicated. It is but justice to the township, how^ever, to say, that in consider- ation of their having been the victims of malign and adverse influences, rather than inherently dishonest, and of the valuable information imparted to the officers in regard to the leaders of the gang, the most of those w^ho had been taken into custody, or placed under surveillance, were not proceeded against, and thenceforth led honorable lives in the several communities where they resided. A MIDNIGHT ADVENTURE. Of course, there were exceptions to this rule, in which the evil-doers w^ere 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 wrrong-doers duly punished or forced to leave the neighborhood. But ever, and always, the majority of the early inhabitants of Bath were honest, and ready to co-operate with the 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 perniit, 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, w^hom 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, 1799 ; 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 iew permanent residents of the town- ship, at that time, being the Hales, the Hammonds, the N ashes, the Bald- wins, the Millers, and later, Peter Voris, with his large family of boys, including' Judge Alvin Voris, now of Akron. Mr. Alexander was a man of great energy and courage, largelj' 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 biographj- are given elsewhere; fP' JOHN AI.EXAxnER, JR. and William G., of Toledo, born November 12, 1839, the other three dying in infanc3r. Mr. Alexander died September 25, 18.55, at the age of 55 years, 10 months and 7 days ; Mrs. Alexander, born February 14, 1799, dying June 29, 1878, aged 79 jears, i montlis and 15 days. follow, when 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 ^i^hich.he carried. Being^ obliged, in the melee, to release his hold upon the bridle, the horse started back towards tlie Basin, and Mr. Alexander went in pur- suit of it. Having secured his horse he returned to gather up hi& prisoner, but found him 22022 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 Johnny 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 KoirrNC OUT the " crooks." 651 premises was made, and a fellow was fished out of the loft with 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 jurj^ of Portage countj', 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 mone5' 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 answer 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, would 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 Avere not found by the authorities, when the latter was 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. L; $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 while the great "generalissimo" of the fraternity, "Jim" Bro"wn,was under $10,000 bonds in Medina county, $9,000 in Portage county, and $1,000 in Cuyahoga county ($20,000 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, while in Boston, that he also had the other plates and the money above spokeo of. On this affidavit, a warrant was issued, and Constable Warren H. Smith (brother of the late L. N. Smith), following the clue given by Brown, went to Indiana, secured Latta's arrest, and, as he was unwilling to come to Ohio without a requisition, lodged him in jail, and returned home to procure one. This, it should be remembered, was before there -were any railroads or telegraph facilities here, as now. Latta's Extradition to Ohio. — Deputy L^nited States Marshal, Ithiel Mills, Esq., immediately, on Smith's return, went by stage to ^52 AKKOX AXl) SUMMIT CUL'XTV. , •Columbus, and, securing a requisition, proceeded by 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 th^ Ohio officer, Latta went 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" BroAvn, Justice Jacob Brown held Latta to bail in the sum of $15,000, in default of which he was •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 was postponed until the September term of ■court, 1839. Latta Again at Liberty. — In the meantime, as will be seen by a perusal of the chapter pertaining to that gentleman, "Jim" Brown, had so succeeded in "working" the witness against him, as to be beyond immediate danger. Latta's case vsras 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 answer any ■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 nollied, Latta imme- diately disappeared, and so far as the writer is aw^are, w^as 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. EDTKATIONAL, RELIGIOUS, ETC. Though not maintaining any academical or so-called high schools w^ithin her borders, the educational facilities of Bath, with a full complement of snug and well-equipped district school build- ings, have alvs^ays 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, spcial 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 grow^th in population was steady and comparatively rapid, so that in 1840 its population was 1,425. For POPULATION -OFFICIAL KOSTEK, ETC. 633-- the past twenty-five or thirty years, however, owing 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 introduction of agricultural labor-saving machinery, by which 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 sotils 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" TOWXSHIP— EARLY SETTLEMENT— ORGANIZATIOX, XAME, ETC.— PIO- NEER INCIDENT AND EXPERIENCE— THE I.NDIAN'B PARADISE— MANUFAC- TURING RESOURCES— MILITARY PROWESS— BOSTON IN COUNTY AND STATE AFFAIRS— COUNTERFEITING HEADQUARTERS — THE GANG BROKEN UP — "COL." WILLIAM ASHLEY'S ARREST, COiNVICTION, IMPRISONMENT AND DEATH— FULL HISTORY' OF THE NOTORIOUS "JIM" BROWN— SUBSEQUENT EXCITING CRIMES, MURDERS, BURGLARIES, ETC.— MODERN BOSTON, MORAL INTELLIGE.NT, ENTERPRISING. BOSTON'S TOPOGRAPHY. The tow^nship of Boston, like most of the towns 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 exceedinglj' tortuous through the entire town- ship, and, a little north and west of the geographical center, it makes an abrupt turn to the eastward, and circling around to the north and west, 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 nearlj^ 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 power is secured, which has been utilized for milling purposes for nearlj^ three- quarters of a centurj'. 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 virater-power for manufacturing purposes, upon both sides of the river. In the construction of the A'a*llej" Railwajr, the entire volume of the water of the river has been let through the narrow neck of the peninsula, east of the mill. The water pow^er of the mill is considerablj^ improved therebj^ while the iDottom lands of the peninsula are less liable to overflow in case of freshet. This arrangement also greatly facilitates the operations of the railway, and the making, harvesting and shipping of ice from the old bed of the river, which is amplj^ supplied for that purpose, through a small creek formed by several large springs in the ledges to the eastward. 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, bj^ means of a substantial dam thrown across the river, its waters have been used for milling purposes since HOSTON S BECitNNING. 055 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 township being made here, in the year named, bj' Capt. Watrous Mather, who afterw^ard, 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 Maj' 18, 1844, aged 66 years. C^EORGE STANFORD, — born in ^ Beaver countj^. Pa., October 9, 1800 ; came with parents to Warren, O., in 1802, and to Boston in 180(i, which township his father, James Stanford, assisted Alfred Wolcott, Sr., in surveying the 5'^ear previous, and being the second famil}' to set- tle in the township, the 196 acre farm on the east bank of the Cviyahoga river being now occupied b3' the grandson of the original proprietor, George C. Stanford, Esq. George Stanford was married to Catharine Carter, of Boston township, January- 17, 1828, who died December 20, 1872, aged 68 years, having- borne him eight children, one of whom only, 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. 1883, aged 82 j-ears, 4 months and S da3-s. George C. Stanford, born April 18, 1839, was married to Miss Lida W'etmore, daughter of William Wetinore. Esq., one of Stow's pioneer GEORGE STA.NFOKI). settlers, December 23, 1869. Thej' have three children — Ellen, born February 6, 1871 ; Perkins W., born Maj^ 2, 1874 ; Clayton J., born August 4, 1877. George C. was postmaster at Boston from 187,'5 to 188,o. "Johnny Cake" Lock. — Near the south line of the township is quite a hamlet kno"wn 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- siderable stream, ordinarily, empties into the canal, as a feeder. Ill 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 crews 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 vicinit}^ being sparse and meagerly supplied with provisions, corn meal — " Johnnj'-cake timber" — soon became the only edible obtainable, and Johnny Cake it was, morning, noon and night, until tlie blockade was raised, and Johnny Cake Lock it has been ever since, though for a number of 3'ears 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 tliere 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 was considered the very acme of speed, comfort and convenience. For this purpose quite large bo-wr cabins were fitted up in good style, with sleeping and table accom- modations for from 12 to 20 passengers, with corresponding culi- nary accommodations at the stern; the midships, only, being devoted to freight. Instead of every boat owner going upon his ow^n hook, as now, regular freight and passenger lines w^ere estab- lished, with 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 vicinity, 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 emporium; especially during the packet-boat era from about 1837 to 1852. MR. HEKMON BRONSOX. MRS. HERMON BRONSON. M^ FR. AND MRS. HERMON BRONSON,— were natives of Waterbury.Conu., '- the former born December 17, 1774, the latter (Mary Hickox) December 17, 1777 ; were married in Waterburj-, December 18, 1795 ; moved to Ohio in 1801, settling^ in Cleveland, then a verj^ small hamlet, Mr. B. working at the carpenter's trade ; in 1812, he enlisted in the army, she returning to Waterburs'^ on horseback, with her four children, the youngest a babe. At the close of the war they removed to Lorain county 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 successfuUj' conducted the pioneer saw and grist mills at that place, besides liberally 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. Payne, and later Mrs. Jacob Barnhart ; and Hiram Volnej', whose portrait and biog- raphy will be found on another page. Mr. and Mrs. Bronson were both liberal and public spirited, he having- filled many local positions of trust and honor ; in 1835, organizing a Protestant Episcopal Church, building at hie own expense, a comfortable house of worship (still standing), dedicated by Bishop Mcllvaine, in 1839, as "Bethel Episcopal Church," the building- being- remodeled 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 February 18, 1858, aged 80 years, 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 other town- ships of Summit 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 was 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 be known as Boston tow^nship. 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, which 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 was 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 Ewart 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,~sou 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 Marj' 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 iniproved,he continuous!}' occupied until his death, March 17, 1891, aged 79 years, 1 month and 19 dajs. In 1869 Mr. Wolcott was elected, on the Republican ticket, to the State Legislature, serving two years; also served as assessor and in many 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 Svimmit 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.. graduate of Western HON. ALFRED WOLCOTT. Reserve Colleg"e, 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. I., 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. liigh lands are always healthy and low lands alwaj's unhealthj' ; 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 Gaylord, of Stow, daughter of Alfred Wolcott, Sr., claiming that it was named by her father, when making the survey, as above stated, while other accounts show that about 1807 Messrs. Wolcott, Stanford, Ewart, Teale, and a few others, held a consultation upon the subject, at which Mr. Wolcott suggested the name of Wolcotts- burg, and Mr. Ewart that of Ewartsville, neither of which cogno- mens found favor with the majority, and that finally Mr. Stanford proposed the name of Boston, which wras unanimously adopted. HIRAM VOLXKY BRONSON,— sou of Herinon and Mary (Hickox) B];onson, was born in Cleve- land, December 12, 18H ; removing Avith parents to Peninsula, in 1824 ; educated in schools of vicinit3' and ai(;led his father in conducting his lifrge farming and milling interests in and about Peninsula. Mr. Bronson was active in politics, first as a Whig and later as a Republican, served several years as justice of the peace, was Peninsula's first postmaster, serving eight years, was also Penin- sula's first mayor, and during the AVar 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, 188.1, 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 — Lvicy, born May 1, 1838, now Mrs. P. H. Dudley, of New York City ; Emily, born May 7, 1843, now Mrs. Co). A. L. Conger, of Akron, and Hermon, born August 15, HIRAM VOLNEY BKONSON. 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 Cuflningham were chosen as justices of the peace; William Beers, clerk; Aaron Miller, Andrew 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, were re-elected, John Duncan being substituted for Launcelot Mays as treasurer, and POPULATION, GROWTH, ETC. 659 additional offices tilled 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 named were .elected to two 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 daj^s. ■pRASTUS JACKSON,— born Sep- J--' tember 16, 1810, in the Province of Upper Canada, 50 miles west of Kingston, reinoving ipvith parents, in infancy, to Western New York; educated in common schools; minor- ity passed on farm; in Winter of 1831, '32 taught school; in Spring of 1832 <;ame 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 grocer j' 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 1811, in company with Mr. John Conger, en- gaged in brick malting, supplying brick for the Empire House, and many of the earlier business blocks and private residences of Aliron. Mr. Conger dying November 30, 1853, Mr. Jackson continued the business for two j'ears in partnership w^ith the two sons of Mr. Conger, when he withdrew and has since been suc- cessfullj' 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 ERASTU.S JACKSON. politics an earlj- Whig, and later an ardent Republican, besides serving- as township clerk five years, justice of the peace twelve years, and treas- urer several j'ears, Mt. Jackson was postmaster- of Boston from 1849 to 1853, and postmaster of Peninsula from 187T 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 showing 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 work. Boston and vicinity was, hoAvever, 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 w^hich 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. T EWIS M. Janes,-born in Hart- -L^ ford, Conn., Feb. 6, 1798, in early manhood engaged in inerchandising in Central New York and Montreal, Canada ; in the earlj' thirties moved to York, Medina Count}', Ohio, and about 1834 to Peninsula, where he engag-ed in the lumber trade. In 1844, Mr. Janes was elected sheriff of Summit county, which office he ablj- filled two full terms, aflerwards offi- ciating as deputy for several of his successors. In 1863, Mr. Janes was elated a justice of the peace for Portage township, acceptably filling- that position until his death bj' 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, ■whose maiden name was Abb}' Phil- lips Allen, was an invalid for man}- years, her death occurring- in Akron, October 23, 1847, at the age of .50 years and 15 days. The}' were the parents of eight children — Th.omas Muinford, Martha Cornelia, Frances Henrietta, Mary Mumford (wife of Rev. Abra- ^mmiiiiiiipm LEWIS M. JANES. ham E. Baldwin), Lewis Frederick,, Elizabeth Louise, Edward Plympton 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 now 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 18*2, 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 worked 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 party generally ahead — were obliterated, and the members of that part^- vied with their Republican neighbors in responding to the several calls for troops during the existence of that bloodj' struggle, as the complete roster given below abun- dantly demonstrates: I7DMUND H. COLE, — Born in ■L> 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 Associated himself with Frederick xind 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 County Fair, and during the war giving freely of his time and money EDJIUN'D 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 inen of the city 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 Chamljerlin, James Courtney (killed in battle), William H. Chapman, Samuel Case, Adelbert B. Coe, George Corp, George Cassia (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. Humphrej^ Alonzo W. Hancock, John Halpin, John D. Hall, Andrew 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), Andrew^ Ozman, William Patterson, George Post, Samuel W. Perry, Clark Pierce, George H. Post, Sumner Pixley, Benjamin F. Price, Luman 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), Barne}'' 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 Tracy, William \^an 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, Andrew Wolcott (died in service), Jerome O. Wing, George Welton, Edward Whitney, John H. Zerly. CIDNEY P. CONGER,— 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 eng-aging- largely in farming, dairy- ing, etc. Nov. 6, 1853, Mr. Cong-er was inarried to Miss Bridget I. Cody, of Boston, who died in January, 1861, leaving two children — Lucia Jean- ette (now Mrs. Frank Warburton, of Akron), and Sidnev 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 daj^s. 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 count5^ affairs, fllling- inany local positions of trust, and ably serving as county commis- sioner, to fill the vacancy occasioned SIDNEY P. CONGER. b}- the death of Commissioner Nelson Upson, from May to December, 1866. Mrs. Conger and her children now reside in Akron. MUNIFICENT MEMORIAL. Col. Arthur Latham Conger, now a citizen of Akron, was born in Boston township, and was also one of her L^nion s )ldiers in the MUNIFICENT MEMORIAL. 663 late war, his wife, Mrs. Emily Broiisou Cotig;er (daughter of the late Hiram V. Bronsou, 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- ■which is herew^ith given, a dress being delivered by donors, Kenj^an B. Conger; ment being done by their Conger, Jr., a still younger Conger, dressed in the urii- of the Republic, and mount- acting as orderly of the The monument is of West- stone being six feet tw^o 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 w^hich her brave boys Five Forks, Cedar Creek, sur-base stands a hand shaft, of nearly surmounted bj' carved c a p i t o 1 , s o m e 1 3^ execu- badge on the whole being sur- finely propor- a soldier, six feet height, in fa- standing at pa- entire structure work of art, and Soldiers' Monument, presented to Bost Township, by Col. and Mrs. A. L. Conger, July 4, 1889. 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 two 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 Ihe Immediately under the sur- of the many engagements participated: Nashville, and Appomattox. On the scmelj' tapering square tw^enty 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 a monument not only to the patriotisni of 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 two 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 tl:e points named. 664 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. JOHN C. CONGER, -born in Bos- J ton village, December 29, 1835; educated in district schools ; on leav- ing school served one season under Lieutenant Kaynolds, upon the Uni- ted States topogTaphical 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. Cong-er has served as township clerk and in other positions of honor and trust ; is a member 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., January 23, 1844, who has borne him seven children — Fannie S., born December 26, 1868, married to Dr. W. O. Huston, December 28, 1887 ; LuenJ., born June JOHN C. CONGER. 20, 1870 ; Elmer B., born February 8, 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, ho-wrever, largely through the advent of railroads, other elements of industry have been developed, so that, as a -whole, the to-wnship is fairly holding its o-wn at the present date (1891), if not slo-wly 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 count}' and State affairs, Boston has fairly divided the honors and responsibilities with 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 A^ears 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 whose property he was selling on legal pro- cess, afterwards lost his life on the ill-fated steamer, Pewabic, on Lake 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, Januarj' 30, 1837, in infancy removing- 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 from 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 continuously resided. In addition to his law prac- tice, Mr. Wolcott has officiated as Mayor of Kent two terms; member 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 Assembly, 1881 to 1885. July 17, 1866, Mr. Wolcott was married to Miss Mary 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 CURTISS. AUGUSTUS CURTISS, — born in ■^ Boston township, February 17, 1836; moved with parents to North- field in 1840 ; worked on farm till 1852; at house painting till 1855; in gold mines of California 18.55 to 1859 ; served in 2nd Ohio Cavalry 1861 to 1862, discharged at Fort Leavenworth for disability received at Carthage, 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. McMurra}^, the most impor- tant event of his own incuinbency being the execution of John H. Hunter, for the murder of Mr. and and Mrs. Robert Gargett, in 1872, as elsewhere detailed ; January, 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 Company, and on his owq. account, he has for the past eight j'ears 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 following 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, was, in 1866, elected county treasurer, which office he filled with marked ability and satisfaction for t-wo successive terms; after-wards, taking an interest in the Whitman & Barnes Manufac- turing Company, of Akron, extensive manufacturers of reaper and mower knives, sickles, etc., of \v^hich corporation he is still an active and influential member and officer. Alfred Woecott, 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 f-wo years' record in that bodj'^, his constituents have n» reason to be ashamed. Simon Perkins Wolcott, eldest son of Hon. Alfred Wolcott, a graduate of Western Reserve College, no-vv practicing la-w in Kent, -was, in October, 1881, elected State Senator for Portage and Sum- mit counties, and re-elected in -1883, serving his joint constituency -with more than average ability and satisfaction. Arthur M. Cole, also a Bostonian, "native to the manor born," -was 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 were 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 evei* 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 within the gift of the people of Summit county, the fact still remains that her fair fame has been smirched, and her bright escutcheon sadly tarnished, by certain early adverse influences, the prevalence of bostcn'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 Edgerlj^'s hotel, the store of Wood, Cole & Co., and the dwelling house of Frederick Wood, . Esq., in I860; the Kerst wife-murder in 1861; the Washburn- Peeples tragedy in 1871, etc., to the most of -which separate chap- ters will have to be devoted. "Col." William Ashley. — William Ashley was a native of the state of Vermont, and though of good family, carefully reared and well educated, early became associated with an expert band of counterfeiters in his native State. In the middle twenties Ashley was arrested by the Vermont authorities, and placed under bonds to ans-wer 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, w^here 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 climate of Boston. Here he became a favorite with, and a part of, BroAvn, Taylor, Holmes, Latta & Co., though still carrying on some very impor- tant "financial" operation upon his own hook. In his prime, Ashley was 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 sporitaneously attached to his name the mili- tary prefix of "Colonel." "Moving 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 furnishinjf 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 Summer 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 j'ears, until finally 668 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. destroyed by fire. Ashley -was taken into custody, and on being arraigned before Jacob Brown, Esq., of Akron, waived an exami- nation and was held in the sum of $10,000 to ans'wer to the Court of Common Pleas of Portage county, in default of which he was committed to jail at Ravenna. He ^vas indicted at the September term of the court, for having counterfeit money in his possession with intent to pass the same, to -which, 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 "was pronounced guilty as charged in the indictment. SENTENCE— IMPRISONMENT— DEATH. In pronouncing sentence upon "Col." Ashley, Judge Van R. Humphrey, w^ho had personally known him for several j'ears, was greatly affected, remarking that passing sentence upon a fellow- being, under any circumstances, was truly a solemn duty; but in. this instance, where the court had been intimately acquainted with the prisoner for many years; a man whose intelligence and address better fitted him to occupj' 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 was 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 was evident that quick consumption had marked him for its own. Though he was sen- tenced to seven years' imprisonment in the penitentiary, it was thought to be almost, if not quite, impracticable to convey him thither. But he was 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 (whose portraits and biographies will be found herein), on the west side, the Methodist Episcopal 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 liberall3^ 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; clerk, Charles M. Petersen; treasurer, Henry Kerst; marshal, Brigham Roswell; councilinen, 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 COUNTY— ARREST, EXAMINATION AND COMMITTAL— INDICTMENT BY GRAND JURY— INGEN- IOUS ESCAPE FROM JAIL, AIDED BY A LUNATIC— ABETTING TREASON- CONFINEMENT IN FORT LAF A Y'ETTE— 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 were committed in the compact little village of Peninsula, fourteen miles north of Akron, upon the Ohio Canal. Stephen Edgerly -was 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 -was quite deaf, and consequently a good subject for burglars to work upon. But Mrs. Edgerly was in possession of all her facul- ties, and generally a very w^ide-awake sort of a woman. 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 -went to sleep again. In the morning it was 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, -with his watch 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, which 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 with 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 wrorthless one- dollar bill was thrown away, while the mark made by lighting a match was 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, with 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 was 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 was supposed at the time that the several victims must have been chloroformed by the skilful operator, but my subsequent acquaintance with 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 followed 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 which had been stolen. One of these circulars fell into the hands of a merchant by the name of Converse, at the center of Roots- town, in Portage county, Mr. Converse also being the postmaster of that town. In the same town, making his headquarters Avith his father- in-law^, a Mr. Bassett, about two miles south of the center, near the Randolph line, was 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 neighborhood. General Joel B. Burnett, then, I believe, residing in Missouri, but now, if living, as I think he is, a w^ealthy citizen of Ne\v 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 Rootstown, 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 well-dressed and seemingly flush of money, jewelry, 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 establishinents. "Putting Hih 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 mechanism,, 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 IBurnett, 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 w^riter, 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. Scott, with Mr. Wood, to Roots- town 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, vsrhich 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 was being made by the entrance of the officers, had already arisen from their bed, though hardly in appropriate costume for receiving visitors. Burnett was immediately placed in irons, the officers assisting him to dress, while the wife was incautiously permitted to gather up her -wardrobe and leave the room before the proper search was instituted. The missing watches were, therefore, not found, nor anything else that could in any way implicate him in the Peninsula robberies, but sundr)- 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 w^atch ^vhich Burnett had show^n him w^as 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 which, 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 bpth 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 would take place, in due course, at that term of court. In the meantime there had, in Octo- ber, been an election at which Mr. Jacob Chisnell had been elected I'l.AXi\I.\c; TO BREAK JAIL. ()73 to succeed tiie as sheriff, his ferni 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 tlie 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, T ordered my jailer to keep each prisoner confined to his own cell, instead of giving them the customar)'^ range of the corridors, during the daj'; letting them out a few-mintites, only, 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 why I was keeping him and his fellow prisoners in such close confinement. "Well, Burnett," I replied, "I'll tell j'ou. It isn't because we have any fears of j^ou fello\vs breaking out of jail, as we do not depend upon the strength of these soft sandstone avails for keeping you, but upon the 'length' of our ears and the sharpness of our eyes. But every few days j'ou make the attempt, putting us to the trouble and expense of repairs, and I am keeping j'ou shut up simply to keep you from nautilating the walls." " Now, sheriff," said Burnett, " I w^ant to make a bargain with you. I am going to get my trial put over until the January' term, which will carry it beyond your time as -sheriff. Now, if you ^vill give us the run of the jail again, I pledge you my vi'ord and honor that there shall be no more attempts to break out, while ^'Ol^ are sheriff. I won't try it m3'self, 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 mry 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 jfou are sheriff, but when that nevi^ chap comes in I'm going out ! And Out He Does Go. — Mr. Jacob Chisnell, hitherto a resident of Green township, superseded me as sheriff, on Monday, January 7, 1861. Previous to this, Mr. Chisnell had had no experience in the handling of criminals. On the daj'' of his accession, both myself and County Auditor Charles B. Bernard, Esq., 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 me! " 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 rhy question, "What's the ne-ws?" rather huskily replied, "Burnett's gone!" How IT WAS Accomplished. — In the construction of the jail, the floor between the prison proper and what was then called the " Debtors' Rooms," in the upper story, was composed 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 turnkey before entering the jail, had managed to convey to him a long-handled two-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 which 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 Mras 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 gna^wing of a rat. It would gnaw a^vhile, and then it -would stop a while, and kept at it t-wo or three days. But there was one thing curious about it, it did not gna-w 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 -where it would come out. "By and by I saw -what I thought -was the rat's tooth coming through the floor in the corner, there, but after -watching 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 down 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 wanted to get outside, if the coast was clear, and I told him I w^ould go down and see. So I went do-wn, and the family were all eating supper in the dining room. I came back up stairs and told him if he was going, I thought he had better go then, and that v^rhen he got out of the back door he had better run. After he left. AIDING AND ABETTINti 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 deyil!" EFFORTS TO RKCAPTURE THE FUGITIVE. Though the escape was soon afterwards discovered, and a vig- orous pursuit at once instituted, his tracks were so carefully con- cealed as for several days to entirelj' baffle the efforts of his pursuers, it afterwards transpiring that a team, by preconcerted arrangements with his friends, was waiting in the gloaming to rapidly carry him to some, previously provided, secure hiding place. Prosecuting Attorne5', Henry McKinney, Esq., had, two weeks before the escape of Burnett, been succeeded in that office by Newell D. Tibbals, Esq. 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 i&w minutes too late; it afterwards recur- ring to him that the fugitive must have passed him between Akron and Middlebury, as he met a team driving very rapidly in that direction, 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, w^ho 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- where, and on being driven, late in the night, to his father-in-law's xesidence to bid his -wiie good bye, preparatory to leaving the country, on discovering that the house was 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- lile 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 was 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 was 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 ■war 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 was 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 was 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 New York, Wa Pittsburg and Philadelphia (the A. & G. W. was not then finished), where he arrived Mondaj' 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. Townsend by mail, on Tuesday, and on Wednesdaj^ he went to Albanj^, 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 & Erie and Lake Shore route, arriving in Akron Saturday noon, just one week after the receipt of Chief Kennedy's telegram. Of course, Burnett was 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 court, 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 motion was promptly overruled by Judge Stephenson Burke, with the remark that the accused had had ample time, during the 3^ear or more that he had been out of jail, to hunt up all the testi- 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 penitentiarj'^. This abrupt termination of the affair was somewhat of a sur- prise to Prosecutor Tibbals, w^ho had expected from General Bierce, and his associates, a most stubborn resistance, at every point, to meet vsrhich, 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 work a conviction if spread out before the court and jury. It was 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 guilty to guilty, a proceeding, too, which 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 watches, wrapped in cotton batting, and enclosed in an old oyster BURXEin^'s THOROUGH R'El'ORMATR)N. (l77 can, having been buried near the barn of Mr. Bassett, the father- in-law. These watches were placed in the safe of Messrs. Bierce & Baldwin, and after his escape from jail, restored to their owners, 1)3' General Bierce, upon their paj'ingto him $40, to cover expenses, that being, as he alleged, the onl}- compensation they 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. Btrxett'.s Life ix Prison. — The prison life of Burnett seems to have been of the "gentlemanlj'" 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 w^as, at that time, a report in circulation among his Portage countj' acquaintances, that in a similar manner to that in which he had been supplied with tools to work 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 verj' near liberating a large num- ber of prisoners. It w^as also rumored that for this act, he w^as sub- ject to the severest punishment know^n 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 were consequently some- Tvhat fearful for the safety of their property and persons, when his liberation should finally take place. But immediately^, on gaining his libertj', Burnett visited all of the persons he had threatened, and frankly told them that 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 where 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 vsrith 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 vv^arning to boys against w^aj^wardness and wrong 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 PENIXSULA UXORICIDE— HENRY KEKST, THE WIFE MURDEREK— 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. TLJENRY 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 fiftieSp settling in Peninsula, in this county. Kerst was a quarryman and stone-cutter by trade, which business he followed at Peninsula, but, after a few years, sought to increase his income by the sale of whisky, at his house on the bank of the canal, in the south part of the village, his wife, 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" was one of his own best customers, being frequently intoxicated, and at such times exhibiting great violence of temper, especially towards his own 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 w^hom 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 wife 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 kill me," bringing a neighbor to the house to quiet the disturbance; proceedings being instituted against him for assault with 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 his cruelty, returned to her wifely duties. DivoRCK 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 familj' of Mr. Frederick N, THK MURDER, ARREST, ETC. 679 Boies, a short distance south of the village, on the upjier 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 Ma}', 1861. Early in the afternoon of that day, accompanied by Mrs. Boies, Mrs. Kerst went to the village to ht)ld 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 -was swaggering about the village carrying a gun, which circumstance was not thought to have any special significance, inasmuch as, being then 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 militarj' 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 w^omen, about 4 o'clock, again started for the Boies homestead. When about half way, 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 vsromen 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 murderer 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, were 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 answer to the crime of deliberate and premedi- tated murder, placing the mittimus in the hands of Special 680 AKRt).\ AND SUMMIT COUNTY. 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. Plea 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 jury had been impaneled, another motion was made for continuance on account of the illness of one material w^itness, 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 testifj^ing in laehalf 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 verj' closely contested on both sides, Hon. William H. Upson assisting Prosecutor Tibbals on behalf of the State. The killing at the time and place, and in the manner charged in the indictment, was admitted bj' 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 with 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 was 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 c|uarrelsome character of the defendant, and his brutal and inhuman treatment of his wife, he so for forgot the role he vSENTE.N'CED TO BE EXECUTED. 681 -was plaj'ing, that, in his anger, he S])rang to his feet, and seizing the chair upon which he had been sitting, essayed to strilie 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 testimon_v for the defense, the case was ablj' argued on botb sides, occupj'ing nearly two full days. 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 w^as not warranted by the evidence, and for several other alleged reasons, mostly of a technical nature, wrhich motion, after full argument for and against, w^as 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 successfull}'^ imitating a driveling idiot, or the stupid, maudlin appearance of a drunken man." The court room was cro'wded, 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 wife, who had foUovs^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 slie kept back the money. You complained that she -was 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 down and died, and her spirit went to her God and your God. 682 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. "The stormj' 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 will 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 to- 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 arms 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, you, 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 was 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 counsel and friends, to 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, a» hereafter recorded — was stored in the loft of the jail barn, ready to- 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 watch" 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 town 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 Chisuell very properly per- mitting the bodj- to reinain in the position in which it was 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, by 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. Holloway, who the same day issued a asvarrant to Constable Merrick Burton to summon a jury of inquest, which was 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 was 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, while the writer, in his eight years' experience, as sheriff of Summit county, was fortunateljr spared the disagreeable duty of executing a human being — though having one or two very narrow escapes — he was 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, thu& 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 wife-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 -warning to all, especially the young, to forever totally abstain from the use of every species of intoxicating drinks. CHAPTER XXXI. boston's last great sexhatiox — the washbuen-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 watks four miles to gi\'e himself up— magistrate fails to comprehend the situation— walks back home again and quietly 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 re-mar- 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 wrell 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 was, b}' profession, a teacher, and w^hile 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 removed his family into a cabin, standing between the canal and the river, a short dis- iance 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 wrhat 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 bj^ several of his own and neighbor's children, who were in attendance upon his schpol. A Terrible Catastrophe. — On the morning of February 14, 1839, taking ^vith hirn 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 drowned, Mr. Washburn himself narrowlj' 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 j'ears 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. HSS- 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 war, in 1861. Though then but 16 years old, the heart of young Washburn was at once fired with patriotic ardor, and though considered rathei; too young to be received into the volun- teer service, yet, being robust of stature, b)^ representing himself as 18 years of age, he secured enlistment in the regular army, vv^ith which he served three full years, 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, was "Vendruth," only. But, probably from the fact that the accent, in the pronunciation of the name, was 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 day 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 Kllen 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 newly 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 thej' lived quietly and, so far as is know^n, happily, until the Summer of 1870, two little girls, then respectively four and two years old, having in the meantime been born to them; the husband comfortably supporting his little family by general labor among the neighboring farmers. Trouble in Store for Them. — Charles Peoples, a young sin- gle man 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 washing 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 which, from certain developments, Washburn became cognizant of the fact that, taking advantage of his absence, and in spite of the rela- tionship existing between them. Peoples had criminally and 686 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. forciblj' invaded the sanctity of his home. This knowledge very naturally aroused within him a very deep sense of indignation, and he determined 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 therewith. This, it was afterwards claimed by Washburn, was done without any intention of using the weapon upon Peoples, himself, but for the purpose of enabling his w^ife 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 went 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. Lockert'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, with the little girl, soon started on together. It does not appear that their conversation, or their actions towards each other, were 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. Jolinson, returning from the spring with a pail of water, 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 ^s^ith Peoples, and Johnson, pleas- antly remarking that he would have gone before if he had told him to, took up his pail of water and started. He had gone but a short distance when 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 water, 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", -which accusation Peoples at first denied, but finally acknowledged, and to Washburn's inquiry as to what he (Peoples), -would do were PLANNINC; HIS DEFENSE. 687 he in his (Washburn's), place, he replied that he would tr}' 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 would do as he had a mind to, started from the lounge, when Washburn raised his revolver, which he had previously taken from the nail w^here it was hanging behind the door, .and fired. Peoples rushed irotn the house and fled into the -woods, Washburn following and firing as they ran, both climbing over the fence in the rear of the liouse in their flight. About thirty or fortj' 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 part of the head. Another "McFarland Affair." — About a year previous to Ihe events here -written of, there had been enacted a domestic tragedy in the city of New Vork, 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 writer), and Mr. Albert Deane Richard- son, a writer on the New York Tribune, and who 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 Ijestowed upon his talented -wife, by her many male admirers, and at length became so unkind and abusive that a separation -was bad, the oldest of their two children remaining -with 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, -with the custody of the jyounger child confirmed to her, soon afterwards returning to Ne-w York and resuming her literary labors. In these troubles she had been especially befriended by Mr. Richardson, ^vho, after her return from Ne-w York, became very attentive to her, -with a vie-w 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 wrath, 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 had been married, by Rev. Henrj' 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 -with full opportunity, by himself and through his counsel and friends, for vtritness and jury mixing, was brought to trial with the anticipated result of a triumphant acquittal, on the ground that the murderous attack and fatal shooting were done -under 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 lie had probabl}' killed his victim, Washburn- called to his neighbor Johnson, who, though hearing the shots 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, with 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 ^vhere 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 was- extinct. Telling Johnson why he had killed Pepples, 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 w^hether 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 him self 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 ^svhat 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 t-wo 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 w^here- 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 allo-w him to remain with his family until morning, when he WQuld report at any place that officer might name, which, had his request been granted, he undoubtedly would have done. THE PRISONER ON TRIAL. 689 A Last 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 the 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 w^as abundantly apparent, from the repeated declarations of Washburn, Mayor McNeil deeined it necessary to hold a coroner's inquest over the remains. The body, therefore, was removed, on Sunday morning, to the town house in Penin- sula, where, during the day, an autopsy was made by Drs. Sumner Pixley and Elwyn Humphrey, to enable them to intelligentlj' 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 preliminarj^ 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 five 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 vsrere 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. Boj'iiton 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 foUow^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 conapre- liensive statement in behalf of the accused, from -which, as show- ing the theory of the defense, -we quote as foUo-ws: "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, w^ho 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 way- 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- lows: "We expect to sho-wr that the seeds of insanity -were planted in his system by the law^s 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 -were 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 foUo-ws: Daniel Peck, Mrs. Newell 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 witnesses for the defense were: Merrill Boody, Dr. Sum- ner Pixle3^, 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 Bovi^en, 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 were introduced as follow^s: James W. Lockert, George Greenleese, S. M. Campbell, John Cole, Dr. W. C. Jacobs, Sidney P. Conger, Alexander Snow, Holland Sno-w, 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 JEdgerton 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 supposed invasion of his marital rights, would 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 lavsrs governing the trials for homicide, the utter fallacy of the theory of insanity, either hereditary or impulsive, as applicable to the case on trial, because of the manifest planning and deliberation — the pro- curing 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, vi^hether 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 ma;licious 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 tjy you should be controlled by, 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 692 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. to you, you should acquit him. If not, and you are clearly satis- fled 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 few 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. Edwin 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 new trial, or arrest of judgment, by proceed- ings in error, and on Monday, November 21, 1870, the prisoner was brought into court for sentence. On being asked the usual ques- tiori 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 wras written a request for a private inter- vie\v with 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, will make any difference with what \(rill be done with me in this case. When I shot it was 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 w^hat 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 who 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, away from all help, closed the door, took down the pistol from -where it was hanging, and, as your victim was hitching along the lounge tow^ards the door, in the vain hope of escaping, you delib- erately shot him, and folio-wed 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 which crime the jury have found you guilty, which 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 — DIVOECE, ETC. 693 Conduct of the Prisonek. — The bearing of the prisoner in jail liad 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, stoutlj^ resisted Sheriff Curtiss and his deputy in their attempt to lock arms with 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 somewhat 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 with 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 w^orld by the gloomy walls 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 time 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 daj^ 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 jnight be divorced, with custody of children, etc. A copy of this petition, accompanied by the usual summons, was duly served upon Washburn in the penitentiary, by the sheriff •of Franklin county. Washburn at once returned the copy of the petition to County Glerk 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 I 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 w^ithout committing the criine 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 such circumstances as •exist in this case, and to marry a^ain is for her to live in adultery. 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 ain now placed. Fourth, I still have 694 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. SO great a degree of regard for the inother of iny children as to desire heir best good, and to desire tliat she commit no further crime. Fifth, I do- therefore send her this solemn warning — warning her to turn from sin and from crime, and to escape temporal and eternal punishment 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, notwithstanding this solemn warning, the petition was not ^srithdrawn, and the decree- of divorce was duly granted, with the custody of the children, then eight and six years old, respectively, confirmed to the mother. Mrs. Washburn was subsequently married to Mr. James Hall, of Boston township, with whom she is still living. The two daugh- ters, now 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 EMBRYO — 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. THJE STARTING POINT. PREVIOUS to the erection of Summit county, in 1840, Copley -'- was part and parcel of Medina county, -which, though desig- nated as a separate county, was legally associated with Portage county until its own distinct organization, in 1818. Copley was originally a part of what was designated as Wolf Creek township, embracing the present townships of Copley, Norton, Wadsworth, Sharon, Guilford, and Montville. In the original survey, Copley was 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 townships both north and south of it, quite a large proportion of the township 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 west, 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 w^est side, are three quite extensive bodies of wraterj 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 man}' years, swarmed w^ith myriads of pigeons, of which thousands upon thou- sands were captured and slaughtered annually by the surrounding inhabitants. At an early day, also, larger game — wolves, bears, deer, wild-turkeys, etc., — was abundant, a circular hunt occurring in December, 1821, in which some 200 persons participated, sur- rounding Copley swamp, and at a given signal marching towards the center. The result of the day's -work, 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, was one of the chief managers of the hunt), 100 deer, 18 bears and two wolves, besides a great variety of smaller game. 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 age of 13, in 1835, came with parents to Ohio, set- tling- in Coplej'; raised on farm with common school education; -at 22, commenced the studj of medicine with his brother William, then prac- ticing in Coplej-, attending lectures two t^rms in Cleveland Medical Col- lege, from which he was graduated in March, 18i7. Dr. William Chapman dj'ing, soon after his g^raduation, lie took charge of his brother's patients and has been in constant and suc- cessful practice in Coplej' and vicin- ity ever since. December 23, 1847, he was married to Miss Matilda A. Dils, of New Hudson, Oakland county, Michig-an,a native of Cayuga countj', New York, who has borne him two children — Willis D., whose por- trait and biography will be found elsewhere, and Fannj' P., widow of the late Albert E. Heistand, now liv- ing with her father in Coplej'. 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- DR. BYRON CHAPMAN. ests of the countj-, state and nation, being especially efficient in supply- ing the government with the sinews of war, during the great slaveholder's rebellion. For several years after the writer came here, (1835), each recurring Winter would bring to the Akron market a liberal sup- ply of venison 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 remembered; 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 weather, 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 any 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 -nratcli the barn door to keep the hogs out, -while the farm hands were in the field after a load of grain, being probably seized with 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 clinied 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 — Found 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 was 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 without obtaining any clue whatever, 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 foUo^ved the ditch leading from the pond to Pigeon Creek, until he sank exhausted down to death. The body was in such a stage of decomposition as to be recognized only by its clothing. The parents w^ere promptly notified, a coffin procured, and the remains removed to the family residence, where the funeral was largely attended by sympathizing friends and neighbors on Thursday, August 15. Efforts 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 svvamp 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 by 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 townships 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 maiden 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 west of Montrose. Turner was a member of Major Crog- han's battalion, in the war 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 Lower Sandusky, in the Summer of 1813, where, with 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 war, 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 between w^hite and red men, are to be found among the traditionary lore of this township. T UTHER H. PARMELKE,-son of -L- Elisha and Roxa (Stanley) Par- melee, natives of Goshen, Conn., was born in Mt. Morris, Livingston count}-, 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 family to Hudson, Ohio, working on father's farm Sum- mers and teaching school Winters; in Spring- of 1835, entered store of Oviatt & Baldwin, at Cople}^ Center, as clerk; in 1838 formed mercantile partnership with Leavitt Weeks, con- tinuing until 184'5, when he reinoved to Akron, where he resided 10 years. May 14, 1838, Mr. Parmelee was mar- ried in Copley, to Miss Tamma In- gersoll, daughter of Noah and Mary (Stickels) Ingersoll, who has borne him 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 Henry 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 1855. While a resident of Coplej^ Mr. Par- melee served as township clerk, assessor, trustee and member of board of education, and since resid- ing in Kent has held the offices of township trustee, clerk, school director, justice of the peace, meiri- LUTHBE H. PARMELEE. ber of the board of education and treasurer, village councilman, 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 township, but of those coming thither previous to 1820 we may mention the following: George Hawkins, 1815; Lawrence More, 1816; Allen Bosworth, 1817; Jaco.b Spafford, Nathaniel Davis and Jonathan Starr, 1818, and Chester Orcutt, 1819. Copley was organized, as a distinct township, in July 1819, one year, only, after the organization of Medina county, of which 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 was the first town clerk,, as well as the first justice of the peace (elected in 1820), though Mr. Lawrence More, who 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 othe_r 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 1840 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 township 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 ta the work-shop, for the fabrication of labor-saving agricultural implements; aided, toQ, by the concentration of mercantile and mechanical operations, that used to be done at township centers^ in the larger villages and cities. Copley's Business Status. — -Aside from the swampy 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 a& well tilled and cared for, and its farm buildings as commodious- and carefully kept, as those of any other community in Ohio^ Copley may, 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 water, Copley never possessed any considerable amount of machinery-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 gristmills 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 years, was unfor- tunately destroyed by fire, and never rebuilt. Quite a number of sawmills have also existed from time to time in the township, driven by both water and steam power, some of which — 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 " blkck salts," or potash, was also quite 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 wagon), 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 \*rithin 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 was 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 JOHx\STON,--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 meager schools of that earl5' day afforded; reinained with parents until 29 j'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 thoroughly posted in af- fairs, in politics originally 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 county. Besides fining various township offices, 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- madge, and John M., born August 13, 1844, now residino- upon the family WILLIAM JOHNSON. homestead in Coplej', the latter also having abty served on the Infirmary Boardsix years— 1882 to 1888, the last two j-ears as clerk of the board. Mrs. Johnston still survives, residing with her son vipon the old homestead. Early Temperance Movement. — Hence, as earlj-^ as October, 1829, a temperance organization was effected, believed bj' 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 County," 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 unnecessarj^ use of ardent spirits. Art. 3. The luembers of this society agree not to use ardent spirits them- selves, unless necessary for the promotion of, or restoration to, health, and iilso to discourage their use by others. EDUCATIONAL — RELIGIOUS, ETC. 701 Art. 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 knowledg-e 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, considerablj' diminishing the use of distilled liquors and the respectability of their manufactiire 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 3'ears 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 growing city of Akron. At the present time there is very little cheese made in the township, the private dairies of those who do not sell their milk, as above noted, being devoted to butter making, large quantities of which, of a most excellent quality, find a read}" maket at remu- nerative prices. Education and Religion. — It is a little difficult to determine, at this late day, who ^sras 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 with as good school houses, and as efficient teachers, from the beginning, as any of its neighbors, vsrhile, 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, w^ith 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 within the past few years, a small but fine house of worship 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, -a 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 ^rdor, Copley's record is remarkably fine. Of her ex-Revolutionary heroes, nothing can no'wr 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, while 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, Andre-w 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, Lewis Ball, Benjamin F. Boughton, More Briggs, Jacob Ballinger, Conrad Ballinger, Samuel Briggs, J. T. Barn ett, Stephen Bloomfield, W. H. Bloomfield, David Conrad, Daniel Conrad (killed in battle), Albert Capron, Christopher Conrad, Joseph Chalfant, Albert Coon, William Conrad, Marion Cogsw^ell (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 ■Griffith, Amos Griffith, Alma Griffith, James Griffith, Emanuel Ging- ery (died in service). Freedom Green, Aaron Golden, George W. Hollo- way, Samuel Hoagland (died in service), HarveyHull (died in service), Irving Hull, Martin Hutchinson, Amos Hutchinson, Dieterich Heath- man (died in serwce), George Heppart, Sylvester Hull, Luther Hollo- way, James Heathman, John Hatfield, A. Hoagland, WilliamHawk, George 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, Waltet 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. Tewksbury, 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 oirganization of Summit county, in 1840. Jonathan StX.rr 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 organizing 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 was 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 below, 13 feet, and was instantly killed. William Johnston was not only a model farmer arid 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 -was 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, ^vhich position he ably filled for three years. Rev. John Encell, then a resident of Copley, as the nominee of the Republican party, in October, 1885, -was elected to represent ■Summit coiinty in the State Legislature, which he ably and effi- ciently did for fwo 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 was re-elected in October, 1885, serving six years. 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 aresponsibility, as stated elsewhere. 704 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. Copley's Railroad Facilities. — One of the principal disad- vantages with which Copley has had to contend, is that hitherto, since the advent of railroads into Summit county, she has been thoroughly "inla'nd," 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 Railroad,, through the central portion of the tow^nship, f?om east to west, with 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 w^hich 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 highlj^ 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, 181S, ■was, in early and middle life, one of the most enterprising and influential citizens of the township. 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 fanaily 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, which not only very greatly impaired his physical health and enterprise, but also verj' greatly weakened and deranged his mental powers, involving serious financial embarrassment, by which the family homestead was 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 wife 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 papns, John, S3^1vester, Elijah, Elisha and Bennett, and one daughter, Mary. One of the sons, only, Elijah, -was married, occupying a house in the same lot, and but a few feet distant from the family residence, in -which the other four sons and the daughter, all grown up, resided with the widowed mother Two of the sons, John and Sylvester, were, un- dEortunately, somewhat addicted to the excessive use of intoxicat- ing liquors; and on the 12th day of January, 1838, had spent the ■day aw^ay from home, but how, or -where, 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 -was, to which 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 Sylvester 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 blo-w 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 forcibb'. 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 was evident to her that he had received a fatal wound, and when Sylvester, on comprehending -what he had done, also thre-w himself down beside the body of his brother, exclaim- ing, "Oh, John! Brother John!" the podr 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 physician, but before the latter could be got to the house John was dead,, having lived less than half an hour after the fatal blow was 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, which of course, would speedily result in death, without instant attention from a skillful surgeon. A Grief-Stricken Family. — Not only the mother, the sister, and the remaining brothers, Elisha, Elijah and Bennett, were- deeply stricken with grief, at the dreadful calamity which had befallen them, but Sylvester, also, was 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 la-w. Trial and Punishment. — On being brought before Justice Thomas D. Viers, of the township of Coventry, the circumstances- of the fatal affray were briefly narrated by the distressed mother and sister, and corroborated by Sylvester himself, -whereupon he was 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, when he -was indicted by the grand jury for murder in the second de- gree, and put upon his trial. The case was conducted by Prosecuting Attorney Lucius Y, Bierce, assisted by Rufus P. Spalding, Esq.', then of Ravenna, on behalf of the State, and the accused was ably defended by David K. Cartter, Esq., of Akron, and Eben Newton, Esq., of Canfleld. The charge to the jury, -was delivered Uy President Judge, Van R. Humphre}^ and, after brief 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 -was 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 allowable by law for the crime of manslaughter. Died of Grief in Prison. — Immediately after receiving his sentence, Sylvester was conveyed to the penitentiary at ColumbuSv Coventry's industries. 711 by Sheriff George Y. Wallace, where he was duly turned over to the prison authorities on the 18th day of February, 1838. Soon after his incarceration h6 was 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 Marj', 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 3'ears ago at the age of about 1(10 years. Agriculture, Mining, etc. — With the several lakes alreadj^ alluded to, and the Tuscaraw^as river traversing its entire w^idth, from east to west, and forming fully one-half of its western bound- ary, there was originally a good deal of what might properly be called waste 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 Coventrj', Green and Franklin townships, into permanent bodies of water, with which, by a judicious use of races, sluices, flood-gates, etc., the canal is kept properly supplied; these iiumense 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 laarn having given place to commodious frame and brick structure^, which will compare favorably -with those of any other township in Summit county. Portions of the township, during the past 40 j^ears, have yielded vast quantities of the very best bituminous coal, and though several of the veins opened have been apparentlj' 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. — fn an early day, before Akron was, find while Middlebury, even, was 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 with 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 AKEON 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 Fourth 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. TSRAEL ALLYN,— born in Groton, I Conn., December 2-1:, 1790; raised to trade of carpenter, with g-ood com- mon school education ; in the War of lMr2 served a short tiine as a soldier ; August 1, 1812, was married to Miss Lucy Gallup, and in March, 1819, came to Ohio, settling- on a farm in the north part of Coventry, now occupied bj' his two daug-hters, LucyR., and Hannah S. Mr. and Mrs. Allyn were the parents of seven children — George H., born October 31, 18] 4, died March 5, 1857; Israel M., born June 20, 1818, died May 13, 1885; Abel G., born October 4, 1820, whose portrait and biography are given elsewhere ; LuC}' R., born September 15. 1822, now residing on the old homestead in Coventr3^ ; Austin, born August 20, 1828, died April 15, 1871 ; Lydia, born June 16, 1831, first wife of General Alvin C. Voris, died March 16, 1876 ; Hannah S., born August 15, 1833, still residing- with her sister Lucj', on the old homestead Mrs. Allyn, born March 22, 1789, died July 2, 1850, aged 61 years, 3 months and 10 days, Mr. Al'-yn dying May 7, 1873, aged 82 yf .rs, 4 months and 13 days. Mr. A .lyn was one of the most enterpris- ing- farmers of his day, as evidenced ISRAEL ALLYN. by his finelj' appointed home sur- roundings, and nicelj- cultivated fields, was patriotic and liberal in all public affairs, and the recipient of inany 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 -where the present north and south road, south of Svvartz'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 -which, 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 was 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 always 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 BEL G. ALLYN, — son of Israel ■^ and L,uc5' (Gallup) Allyn, was born in Coventry Township, October i, 1820; educated in district schools; raised a fanner, 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 malting- dairying- a -specialty in suppljing 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 Februarj' 20, 1866, to Preston Barber, of Akron, who died December 13, 1886); Charles, born May 25, 1851, now a farmer in Summit, Greelej' count5', Nebraska, of which place he has officiated as postmaster for several years; Ida, born February 15, 1854, noTv wife of States A. McCoy, a native of this countj^, now a prosperous far- mer in Leonidas township (Mendon P. O.), St. Joseph countj', Mich.; Leora, born May 14, 1860; Ettie, Jan- uary 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. ALLYN. offices, and being for some or twelve or fifteen years Coventry's member of Board of Directors of Summit county's highly prosperous Agricul- tural Society. Mrs. Allyu died August 24, 1888, aged 59 j^ears, , 8 months and 3 days. THE CELEBRATED OLD STATE MILL. The construction of the reservoirs, as above stated, -svith their several feeders, destroyed most of the minor mill-privileges of both Coventry, Franklin and Green townships. 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 where the -wrater 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 was the property of the late Ebene- 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 widow of Mr. Pardee, informed us that the consideration was 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 was later known as the Thornton farm, now a populous portion of the city of Akron; remained with father till 25, when he bought the well-known Falor farm, in Coventry, which, in addition to somewhat extensively plying- his trade of stoneiuason, he successfully cultivated for luany years. Mr. Falor ■was three times married, his wives being- sisters, respectively named Nancy McCoy, Rachael McCoy and Mrs. Jane (McCo5') Wilson. Several years before his death Mr. Falor, re- tiring from 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 deceased; James M., Lucinda R. (now Mrs. John (Sott- walt); Hiram Silas, George W., now deceased ; Oliver Perry, Mary Ann (now Mrs. J. A. Long); Thomas J., William Wallace, deceased ; Heni-y Clay (died at Massillon, December >#" GEORGE ADAM FALOR. 27, 1890); Martha Ellen (now Mrs. Henry Acker); Lilly Annette, (now^ Mrs. George L. Adkins); Perry 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, w^hich, 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), who successfullj' carried it on, until his death, in 1866, nearly a quarter of a centur3^ This mill, during Mr. Baughman's lifetime, was a very popu- lar place of resort for the farmers of the surrounding country, w^ho, ^vhile awaiting the grinding of their several grists, would, in turn, grind out large grists of neighborhood gossip to each other, or enter into friendl3', but oftentimes spirited, discussions upon the social, moral and political questions of the time, the conduct of the war, etc. The State mill was, 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 sinuosities, 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 jears ; in 1860, clerked in wholesale store in San Francisco, worked in mines and established pioneer harness shop in Virginia Citj', Nev.; in 1861, orja;'a- nized and as captain tendered Vir- ginia City Guards to the government, but for lack of transportation facili- ties offer declined ; 1863 returned to Akron,5}'ears 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 ; secretarj- Summit County Ag- ricultural Society two years and assistant secretary two j^ears ; 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 ; in ember of Masonic order 85 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, onl3', are now living — Claude Emerson, now in regular army, at Fort Sam Houston, HIKAM --[LAS F-VLOR. Texas, and Minnie Florence, now Mrs. Elmer C. Ellsworth, of Coven- try. Mrs. Falor dying January 4, 1873, Mr. F. was again married, to Mrs. PhcEbe A. Lutz, of Westfield, Medina county, July 16, 1873. They have two children — Hiram Garcelon, born August 12, 1879, and Phoebe Fanny, born March 6, 1881. The Ancient Metropolis. — New Portage, in the early twenties, before the Ohio Canal had been projected, or the city 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 hune 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 b3' 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 similar 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 straw^board and stravsr lumber manufactory, mammoth sewer pipe works and other important industries, upon the Nor- ton side of the line, giving emploj'ment to a large number of men aiid teams; so that, with the store, postoffice, railroad stations, and other minor branches of business carried on there. New Portage is now^ enjoying a higher degree of prosperit3', than for the past forty years. JOHN BUCHTEL,— born in Myers J township, Center countj', Pa., November 6, 1797 ; came with parents to Ohio 1816, settling- in Coventry ; a few 3'ears later removinvhich liquors were 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: Henry Butler, Washington L. Butler, John J. Gajdord, Henry Wetmore, Ogden Wetmore, Rev. David Bacon and Dr. Orlando Wilcox; that in the latter part of December, 1827, Rev. George 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) vsrould join the society, he would deed to the to'svnship 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 pbtained, and the lot duly selected, but, for reasons not now explainable, the conveyance 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, vs'itli Mr. Ogden Wetmore as the orator of the daj^. A Whisky Strike. — Apropos of this temperance movement, Mr. Henry Wetmore relates that at the time of its inauguration. Stow & Wetmores were employing some thirty mechanics and laborers, on their varied improvements upon the river, to whom rations of grog were 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 went on a strike; but within 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 quantitj'^ 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 sufficient 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 heavj' stick of timber, from the effects of which he ■died within 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 lie died April 3, 1886, at the ripe old age of 84 years. Municipal Organization. — The town of Cuyahoga Falls was 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 townships, Tallmadge and Stow. The boundaries of the corporation -were fixed by the charter as follows: "Beginning at the northvi^est corner of the township 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 will thus be seen that about an equal amount of territory was taken from the two tow^nships named, "with pow^er to add thereto indefinitely, without resort to any further Legislative action. The act of incorporation fixed the first Tuesday of the ensuing April, as the day for electing municipal oJHcers, but for reasons not no"w apparent, due notice of the passage of the act, was not received until that day had passed, and to avoid the possi- bility of illegality, the organization w^as postponed to aAvait 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, when 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, Birdsej^ 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, «tate, county and township officers. To obviate this necessit}', 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, Henry Newberry, Jr., and Porter G. Sonaers; 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, coming- with parents to Ohio in 1804 ; with such limited education as the pioneer schools afforded, young Wetmore aided his father on the farm and in the mercantile and manufacturing 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 j'ears 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 WETMOKE. public office, Mr. Wetiuore has ever sought to advance the best interests of his villag-e and county, and both he and his faithful companion are very highly esteemed by all who know theiu. 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 w^as 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 which the council adjourned without date. Municipal Functions Resumed. — The single township 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 0\E 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, August 31, 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 widely known institutions of Cuyahoga Brails, was the "Portage Mutual Fire Insurance Company." It was at first organized at Ravenna, in 1832, under a charter which 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 New^berry, 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 was located at Cuyahoga Falls. The organization, as above given, was 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 was elected to fill the vacancy. Many millions of dollars of property were insured, and hun- dreds of thousands of dollars of losses were paid by this company. The mode of procedure was about this: Instead of a given per cent, in cash on the amount insured, being paid to the companj\ so-called premium notes w^ere 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 ^ibarrassments followed, by which, in 1858, the company was compelled to suspend operations, and go into liquidation. One Year a County Seat. — When the project of a new county was first mooted by the people of Akron and Middlebury, in 1833, the people of Cuyahoga Falls opposed the movement, 47 738 AKRON AND SUMMIT COCNTY. 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 1840, 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, while 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 favnr of Akron, and buildings vs^ere 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 review, -which 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 were 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 Review, of September 27, 1834, that he will 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 Fr}' 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, -wTaich 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. Brooka 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, with a primary department, in charge of an assistant, continuing until about 1848, when, 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. pRAXT B. TURNER, ESQ.,— bom vJ in Blooming- Grove, New York, ■October 17, 1810, moving- -with parents to Trumbull count}-, Ohio, in 1818, coming to Cuyahoga Falls in 1828 ; ■common school education ; learned printer's trade in office of Western Intelligencer, Hudson ; -was four years deputy sheriff for Portage county ; studied law, practicing that profession for several 3^ears, a portion -of the time as a partner o^ Judge James S. Carpenter and Samuel W. XcClure ; in 1856, in company with several other gentlemen, founded the Variety Iron Works, under the firm name of Turner, Parks & Co., after- wards changed to Tvirner, Vaughn & Co., incorporated Januarj- 11, 1889, as The Turner, Vaughn & Taylor Com- pa 11}', 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, who bore him three children — Au- gusta, 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 paralysis. GRANT B. TURNER, 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, 4 months and 4 days, 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 township, 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, with 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 Iowa 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. McMiUen, 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 was 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 t-wo 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 own Board of Examin- ers of teachers, seeking only to secure the very best, the branches- taught in the several departments being reading, spelling, writing, arithmetic, geography, grammar, oral lessons, vocal nwisic, draw- ing. United States history, physical geography, natural philoso- phy, algebra, Latin, German, etc., and the schools of Cuyahoga Falls are no-w, as they ever have been under the present system^ 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 Sto-w, 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, -was erected in 1835, and consecrated as a house of worship, by Bishop McIlvainCr July 16, 1836. The first rector of the society, after its location at the Falls, was 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, who, 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, whose term of service was also very brief, followed 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 ORGANrZATIONS. 741 J. Burger, who died suddenly after a few months' service only; Eev. 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- -win, 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 Bying- ton until Ma3^ 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 vsras chiefly supplied by Rev. William C. Foster until October 12, 1847, at which date he %vas installed as pastor, serving in that capacity until May 24, 1849, ■when he, too, vi^as 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 was 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 Tjy 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 afterwards in the Lyceum building, near the site of the present brick edifice, on the south side of Broad street, between Front and Second, which was 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 churcli edifice on the public square, fronting on Portage 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 18B4. 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 town clock in the village^ the funds for the purchase of which were contributed by the citi- zens of the village generally. We cannot name the scores of ministers who have officiated in this church during the more than half a century of its existence, many of whom were very able men, several serving to the full limit (three years) 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 no"w 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 was 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 Societ}^ 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 Southmaj^d, 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 th^ir request. State Evangelist Elder R. Moffat convened a conference, to consider the proprietj^ 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 which was effected by Elder Moffat, on the date above given. The first officers in the ne^v society were: A. S. Wheeler, William Southmayd, elders; O. M. Hart, John I. 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 twenty-five families, or one hundred souls. A STIRRING TEMPERANCE EPISODE. 743 TOSEPH T. HOLLOWAY, — com- J monly called " Father Hollowa\'," was born in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, August 1, 1796 ; when quite a young man spent some time in the then truly " Wild West," niostl}' among- the Indians of Western Missouri ; return- ing to the home of bis 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 Cvij'ahoga Falls; here, in addition to successfully 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, inore weddings and more funerals than any other one ininister in Summit countj'. "Father HoUoway" also served as justice of the peace for many years, and two fuB 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 Wesle}% well-known railroad inaster JO.SEPH T. HOLLOWAY. mechanic in Akron ; Ahnira, uow Mrs. Henry Hitclicock, of Cuj-ahoga Falls; J^ouisa H. (Mrs. H. C. Lock- wood), died in 1S().t; Wilbvir Fisk, inventor and manufacturer, Cu3'a- hoga p-alls ; Albert E., late of Akron, deceased. "Father HoUowaj' " died August 22, 1S7S, aged 1^2 years and 21 daj'S, the wife of his youth, and tlie naotherof hischilch-en, having passed away March 13, 18(i3, at the age of 02 j-ears. 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., wielded b}^ their own good right arms. The Washingtonian refornaation of the earl3' and middle forties, followed by the efficient operations of the Sons of Temperance for several years, made Cuyahoga Falls, Akron and man}^ 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 were such as to produce serious alarm among the good women of Cuj^ahoga 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 with only partial success. Ax Army With Banners. — It 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 women, 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, thej' 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 were equal to the emergency, and soon whisky, Otard brandy, and other liquors, were flowing in miniature torrents towards the Cuyahoga river. Courteous Reception. — The next point visited was the place of Mr. John Tifft, who received his callers with great courtesy, placing before them a collation of doughnuts, pies, etc., pleaisantly 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 Bro^d street, near the covered bridge, had been "cleaned and garnished " for their reception, b}' the removal of all liquors to the rear of his store and covering them with rubbish. But the women were too keen-scented and sharp-sighted for the success of this ruse, and Jones' two barrels of whisky, ^nd other liquors were soon mixing with the pellucid waters of the Cuyahoga. The saloon of " Hen" Lindsey, across the wa3', was next visited, a few^ bottles only — said to have been filled with 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 down 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 was 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 was stated that such arrangements had been made, that had entrance to the store been effected, the dis- charge of certain chemicals -would 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 rniuors and otherwise. 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 br.and}', the justice giving him a MUSICAL, FRATERNAL, ETC. 745 judgment for $60. The defendants appealed the case to the Court of Common Pleas, E. N. Sill and J. T. Hollaway going upon the ^ appeal bond. The trial of the case w^as 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 Xfivy L. Wilcox, John H. Brainard, Reuben Upson, Lyman Sperry, Horace Y. Beebe, Chas Thornburg, and Israel James, Mr. Bill being 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-Summit 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, was 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, while 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 RESORT. For the past twentj^-five years, Cuyahoga Falls and vicinity,, has been one of the best known 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 3'ears past. Later, "Gaylord's Grove," over- looking the river, on the west, opposite the "Old Village," fitted up vi^ith 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 what 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" racer ■with 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 nortliward, 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 darn, in tlie Glens, the Falls of the Cuyahoga. A PICTURESQUE VIEW. 747 Viei llti.lge Glens, Cuyahoga River, below the Village of Cii3'^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 many 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 ^vith Horace Canfield and Timothy Phelps Spencer, a couple of enterprising young printers of Hartford, Conn., to remove to Ohio, and start a ne^wspaper and job printing office at Cuyahoga Falls. Shipping their outfit in the early Autumn, via the Connecticut river and Long Island Sound, to Ne\\r York, thence pa'athe 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 " Cuj^ahoga 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 countrj' coinbining- such great advantages as are possessed by this vicinity, must present a strong inducement for tne settleinent 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 ■with prominent business men, the name of the paper was 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 Penlisyl- 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 "Review." — 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. Cantield & 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 Revien- 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 — with 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., -were 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 whom edited is not no-w remembered. "The True American." — During the county seat contest — 1840-42 — a vigorously conducted weekly newspaper, 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 ne-w county of Summit in that village. The general editorial management of the True American, according to the recollection of the -writer, 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 ne-ws, and crisp local happenings, as well as from the advertising facilities -which it furnished to the business men of the village, has madedtself an indispensable neces- sity to the people of Cuyahoga Falls and surrounding country. It is now called the Cuj^ahoga 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 to-wnships, 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 widow, Mrs. Ellen Knox. The " Weekly Journal." — April 15, 1881, Frederick H.Duffy and Frederick A. Douglass, a couple of enterprising young printers of Cuyahoga Falls, cjommenced 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 were ardent Republicans. pAPTAIN ISAAC LEWIS, — born ^ in Utica, New York, Januarj^ 15, 1809 ; at two years of age moved 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 year 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 j'ears, owning- and running, successivel3', the "Joshua Stow," the "Joseph S. Lake," the "Alice" and the "Cuyahoga;" also owning 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 inost popular mode of travel in this vicin- ity. In 1851, Captain Lewis engaged with the "Akron Branch," no%v the C, A. & C. R. R., as conductor, running the first train into Akron, Juls^l, 1852, and freighting the first lump coal bj' rail to Cleveland, continuing on the road between Hudson and Millers- burg, five J'ears. Maj' 13, 1858, em- barlied in grocery trade in Cuj^ahoga 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 months and 17 daj'S. Thk " 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 puljlishing 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, with 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 — T^Umadge, 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 provsress is also obscure, as is also that of the War of 1812, and the Mexican War, though it is certain that those wars were 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 worked shoulder to shoulder in s'welling the ranks of loyalty in defense of the dear old flag. A correspondent of the Bbacon, 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 no^v 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 which many of our best and most prominent citizens are to be found. It is to be organized under the la-w 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, we were provided with the following roster of the soldiers furnished by Cuyahoga Falls, during the prog- ress of the w^ar 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 Brew^ster, Charles Buchanan, F. E. Brainard, H. E. Brown, Lyman W. Boys, George Bitterman, Or- lando Beardsley, M. H. Birzlej^, 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 Daughertj', 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. Holloway, 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 McCuUough, Henry McClelland, Charles Maloney, C. A. Maloney, -David McGrath, L. H. McAdams, George Musson, Nelson Marshall, 752 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. John McLeish, George Newberry, 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 Powell, 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. Shewey, 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 Cuyahaga Falls and estab- lished himself as a book-binder and stationer ; in 1848, embarking in the dry goods trade, which he sxiccess- fully conducted until his death, Sep- tember 1, 1881, at the age of 73 years, 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 Cuj'ahoga Falls, as partner with, and successor to, his father, is now a member of the dry 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 sincethe 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, Edward Damp, Henry Durstine, L. H. Delano, D. Douglass, Edgar C. Edsil, James Etsmingher, Edwin 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 which the lives of nearlj' 1,000 CASUALTIES DUKIXG TIIK WAR. 753 Union soldiers — exchanged prisoners of war — were sacrificed, the following Cuyahoga Falls boj^s being among the number: Captain Demming N. Lowery, Lieutenant John Eadie, Corporal John W. Eadie, J. C. Cook, 'id 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 axd 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. Downej", mortally wounded at Dalton, Ga., May 9, 1862; Henrj^ E. Eadie, died at Platte City, Mo., Feb. 19, 1862; Arthur K. Good- rich, died at >Iurfreesboro, 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. Lyons, 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., Julj- 9, 1864; 1st Lieutenant John Murph}', 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 whose names cannot be here given. Munificent Tribute to Patriotism. — That the people of Cuy- ahoga Falls 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 w^ar. 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 3'ears later, by some means, the wings of the eagle were broken, and the apex remodeled so that the shaft is now a simple obelisk. On the squares of the shaft the names of the soldiers of the township who died in the service are neatly inscribed, together with the regiment to which 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 war-like emblems, as follows: East side, flag and anchor, repre- senting the Navj'; south side, stack of muskets, representing Infantry; vs^est 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 village; 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 w^here 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, w^as 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 iiarrowly escaped death from the discharge of a leaded 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 Judges Van R. Humphrey, Charles Sumner, Hugh R.Caldwell and Robert K. DuBois, and the regular jury for that term, who, after a careful investigation returned a verdict of guilty of shooting with 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. .Vfter an incarceration of about one year, a numerously signed petition was presented to Governor Wilson Shannon, who 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 family of highly respectable sons and daughters. The Birzley-Jacksox Affray. — Mortimer H. Birzley, was one of the patriotic young men of Cuyahoga Falls who served in the Union arm3' 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 war, in the early portion of \vhich "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" was 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 grocerj' store where they were carousing, and in,flicted very serious injuries upon him, with their PUBLIC BUILDINGS, LITERATURE, ETC. 755 fists, 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 deliberatel}' 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, \vho 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 Edward Oviatt brought the matter to the attention of the grand jury. Thfee indictments were 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, however, he changed his plea to guilty of shooting with intent to wound, which ^vas accepted by Prosecutor Oviatt, and the defendant -svas sentenced by Judge Burke to two j^ears' impris- onment in the State Penitentiary. Birzley was 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 da}', onl}'. Young Birzley did not return to Cuyahoga Falls, after his release from prison, but is still a resident of Summit countj', and is represented to have been exemplary in his conduct, industrious in his habits cand 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 Wettnore, Jr., in 1827, the "boy" being now a gray-haired resident of Northampton township; the first death a young son of the same famil}', 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. — Besides the 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 stor}' of the brick block, on the southeast corner of Portage and Front streets, is -arranged -svith 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 northwest corner of Front and Broad streets at a cost of about $10,000. First story, Council Chamber, School Board, library (two rooms), band. U])per 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 was ■organized, the Ohio Review of April 5, 1833, giving the officers elected at the last meeting as follows: 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 was: "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 -were 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- field, Vermont, April 6, 1809; common school education ; in early life clerking; in drug^ store and stnd5'- 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 moved to Ohio, living^ one year in Wadsworth, then settling in Cuyahoga Falls, wrhere he passed the balance of his life ; for a time engaged in the manu- facture of flour, later resuming his profession of surveyor and civil engi- neer, doing much of the original sur- veying, establishing g-rades, 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, 1855, Mr. Paul was elected countj^ survej'or, on the Republican ticket, being successively re-elected in 1858, '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 military rail- roads and fortifications, District of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Paul were the parents of seven children — Har- rison D., born August 3, 1835 ; George, September 8, 1837 ; Mary, September 9, 1839; Robert S., October 3, 1842,' Hosea, Jr., Januarj^ 17, 1845; T. Dwight, July 21, 1848; Edward J., November 30, 1851, all of whoin have attained and maintained honorable positions in life. Mrs. Paul died November 9, 1889, aged 76 years and 18 days, the ag-e of Mr. Paul, at the time of his death, being 61 years, 1 month and 23 da5'S. 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 -was 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, though 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, 2-1, 25 — the display was also fine, with special attrac- tions, in the military line, prizes being contested for by the Bath Ouards, 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 worsted 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" iCuyahogSL Falls boys), while the Tallmadge Artillery, Captain Barnes, and the Young America Gun Squad, of Cuyahoga Falls, furnished "thunder" /or the occasion. As a sho-w, 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 now 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 was l)ut 375." The decennial listings do not even proximately show the distinct population of the village during the first half century of its existence, for the reason that its inhabitants w^ere included in the census returns of the several townships 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 with any such s'weeping fires, as have from time to time devastated Akron, and other near-by towns, 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 vi^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 tiank of the river, north of the present works of The Turner, Vaughn & Taylor Co., were 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 ^ide 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 entirely burned. The mill, stock and machinery was valued at $20,000, but about $5,000 worth of machinery being saved, made the net los& about $15,000. The mill had been in operation but a few 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 kno^vn as the Glen Wire Mill property,) was 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 was destroyed by fire about the year 1860, entailing a very heavy loss upon its pro- prietor, but it was 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 writer. On the morning of October 24, 1866, several business blocks on Front street, including Gillett's grocery store, Tifft's meat market. Dr. P. G. Somers' office, postoffice, Steadman's je\velry store, and the fine stone block, known as the Bank Building, the lower floor of which was occupied by H. C. Lockwood, as a dry goods store, were consumed by fire. The town having no fire engine of its own, 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, Moses- Cummins, with their newlj' purchased $550 team, were promptly on hand, but not a livery man would 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 was 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 j^oung 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 while thus engaged in removing goods from Lockwood's store, he sank exhausted behind the counter, and though afterwards found and carried inta the open air, and every effort made for his resuscitation, he did not recover consciousness, and soon afterwards 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 >vith 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 " Phoenix." Passing into the possession of Hanford & Yeomans, it was again burned at noon, on the 30th daj' 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 j'eais 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. \\'. 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 want 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 which, w^ith 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 two and part three stories high, above the basement, and all filled with first-class machinery and valuable stock. The wind, blowing brisklj' from the east, soon carried the flames from the combustible machine shop to the mill, and soon that, too, was being rapidly consumed, and was totallv 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 with the Phoenix, is now owned by George Sackett, Esq., and has for several years past been operated by the Cuyahoga Paper Companj^. 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 sef (jnd and third stories were destroyed, the lower story with its macliinery and a large quantity of wire ready for shipment being saved, though in a somewhat damaged condition. The large new ware- house and annealing rooms were saved by the faithful work 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 which 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 were fatal. On the evening of September 28, 1882, 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 owing to the delay in shipping steamer by rail, did not reach the Brails 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., was totallj' 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 Epipire Paper Mill, and the buildings of the Sterling Chain Company, owned by Turner, Vaughn & Taylor w^ere considerably damaged. The planing mill buildings were o^vned by Mr. H. Snj'der 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 "was 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 B'ourth of July- At the hour of 6:30, on the evening of Decembers, 1887, the roof of the moulding department of the Falls Rivet Company was 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, -was 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 ajvay 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 ^vell 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 were 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 L Jones, $1,000; grocery of Callahan & WilUams, $1,500. CIVIL SERVICE RECORD. 761 Inadequate Fire Protection. — Cuyahoga Falls has never been the owner of a fire 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 establishments, 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 w^ritten 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. HEZEKIAH CAMP,— soiiof Keziah and Seth Camp, born in Whites- town, New York, Januarj^ 3, 1797; g-Qod common school education ; in 1827 came to Ohio, teaching- in Can- ton and Kendall, now a part of Mas- sillon, later, in Trenton, Tuscarawas county, eng-ag-ing- 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 Springfield, 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 member of the firm of Hill, Merrill & Co., pioneer manufacturers of water and sewer pipe in Suinmit county, later locating at Cuyahoga Falls, where his only son, Mr. Horace B. Camp, as senior member of the firm of Camp, Thompson & Co., is now extensively engag^ed in the same line of business. December 7, 1830, Mr. Camp was married to Miss Abi- gail Fosdick, of Kendall, born in New Baltimore, New York, September 18, 1812, their only li-ving- child being the son above mentioned. Mr. Camp . I 1 six .: i'h:^ HEZEKIAH CAMP. died August 1, 1872, aged 75 years, 6 months 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 chapter 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 Wettnore, Judge Elkanah Richardson, and others living in, or largely inter- ested in Cuyahoga Falls, had previously filled important official positions in Portage county, and notwithstanding her original opposition to the erection of the new county, the civil service xecord of Cuyahoga Falls, in Summit county, is one that she may well feel proud of. BiEDSEY Booth, at the initial election, in April, 1840, was elected county 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 well 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 elsewhere stated, nearly compassing its removal and permanent location at Cuyahoga Falls. Hon. Samuel W. McClurk was elected prosecuting attornej' in 1846, serving tw^o 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 t^wo 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., was 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 countj^ surveyor by the county commissioners, to fill the vacancj' 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 1877 and 1880, giving to the position, in all, about ten years efficient service. Hon. Henry McKinney was elected prosecuting attorney in October, 1856, and re-elected in 1858, making a first-class officer for two full terms; was draft commissioner for Summit county during the war; State senator for the Summit-Portage district, 1869 to 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 STATU.S. 763- George Sackett was elected county commissioner in October, 1867, serving one full term of three years, and in October, 1879, was- 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, betvsreen 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, v^as, from September, 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 war; engaged in rail- road construction in Georgia, low^a, 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 works of Ohio from 1878 to 1884, two full 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, L,orain & Wheel- ing, Canada Southern, Bellaire & Southwestern, Chicago & Atlan- tic; engineer first division Ohio public works, and employed in locatingbranchesof 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 ttiggs, 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, 62x1 74 feet; hands employed, about 2n'i. 764 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. Pkarl Flouring Mill, Howe & 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 wrapping papers; capacity when running full- handed, five tons per day, noAv, October, 1891, operated in part only. The Holloway Reading Stand and Dictionary Holder, use- ful and popular; Wilbur F. Holloway, inventor and manufacturer. ( ^ EORGE SACKETT,— son of Aaron VJ and Huldah (Tanner) Sackett, was born in Warren, Litchfield -county, Connecticut, Januarj' 6, 1821, moving- with parents to Tallmadg-e in 1838 ; educated in common schools and Tallmadge Academj'; raised a farmer, later purchasing a large tract of land contiguous to the village of iCuyahoga 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, abl}^ serving three years ; in 1879, was elected a member of the State iDoard 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 largely interested in manufactures, being- president of the Cuyahoga Paper Company, extensive manufacturers oi 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 -week. Lewis W. Loomis, corner Front and Portage streets, stoves, tin, sheet-iron and copper -ware, crockery, glassware, notions, etc., with 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 custom sad- dle and harness work, 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, <-l()th and rubber goods, findings, etc. PRESENT BUSINESS STATUS. 165- 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 I. Lewis, dealer in staple groceries and provisions^ country produce, etc., Front street. Simon Brown, an old residenter, practical cabinet maker, keeps fully abreast with 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 BAKERf 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. Suspension Bridge over the Rapids in the Glens, be- low the Village of Cuyahoga 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. Harvey Westover, stone quarry, contractor for masonry, sidewalks, cisterns, etc. Thomas Brothers (Reese J. and Thomas J.), Broad street, miners and wrholesale 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. Weidner, cooper. North Front street, west side. HON. GEORGE PAUL, — second son of Hosea and Ellen (Gamble) Paul ; was born at Cuyahog-a Falls, September 8, 1837 ; educated in public and select schools of Cuyahoga Falls, and a private school in Philadelphia ; meantime assisting his father as sur- vej'or and civil engineer ; 18ii7 to 1860 learned machinist trade, planning- the first steainboat that plied on the Ohio canal ; 1860 to 1862, worked in various Eastern shops ; in 1862 en- tered the regular service in U. S. Navjf, serving" three years in South Atlantic Squadron, under Admirals Dupont, Dahlgren and others ; at close of war, resumed the business of survejror and civil engineer, also for a time, in 1867, carrj'ing on ma- chine shop at Cuyahoga 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 year,s ; in 1878 was elected mem- ber of State board of public works, and re-elected in 1881, serving six j'pars, and president of board three years, having special charge of Ohio canal, froin Cleveland to He- HON. GEORGE PAUL. bron,18.'J miles; Wal bonding", 2.'i miles, and Western Reserve and Maumee road, 46 miles. May 10, 1871, Mr. Paul was marrfed to Miss Olive A. Babcock, daughter of Austin and Eliza (Tajdor) 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. \V. 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. LivEKY 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 alle}', 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. "prGENE OAKLEY KNOX, -bora -t-^ in Danville, Livingston countj', New York, November 17, 1849, remov- ing to Cuj-ahoga Falls with parents when young; educated in Cuyahoga Falls public schools ; at 17, com- menced reading medicine Avith an uncle in Corning, New York, a jear 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 Cuya- hoga Falls Reporter, a 28-column folio weekly newspaper, which, not- withstanding the total destruction of liis office in September, 1882, through his indoinitable energy, attained a phenomenal success, in later years being made a 48-column quarto. De- cember 2i, 1874, Mr. Knox was married to Miss Ellen Lyttleton, of Cleveland, who bore him four children — Oscar Albert, born March 8, 1877, now a stu- dent in "Western Reserve Academy ; Percival Angelo, born October 18, 1878, died February 2, 1881; Portia Irene, born November 3, 1882, and Kenneth Julian, born November 21, EUGE.N'E (lAKLEY KXOX. 1884. Never ph3'sically rugged, in Januar)-, 1891, Mr. Knox was taken seriously ill, and though seeking re- lief in the warmer climate of the South, the end came, from valvular disease of the heart, at Hot Springs, Arkansas, May 7, at the age of 41 years, 5 months and 20 daj'S. The Reporter is now being ably con- ducted bv Mrs. Knox. George F. Callahan, groceries and provisions. Front street. TowLER & IxsKEEP, dealers in dry goods, South Front street. B. B. McCoNNAUGHEY, standard and fancj^ dry goods. South Front street. F. Chart, dealer in fruits, candies, etc.. South Front street. JosgPH 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 W. 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 maker 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, news 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 hollow 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; Matthe'w Crawford, 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 gro"wer; William Duerr, lunch room; L. C. Fenton, boarding house, fruit stand, etc., near Glens; George Fiedler, saloon. Broad; Fisher Brothers (William and Isaiah), saloon near Glens; David Rosen- bom, wines 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 show 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-BLOODED BUTCHERIES IN THE ANNALS OF CHIME— 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. [Thoug-h the parties to the horrible affair now to be written of were not, in the reinotest sense, citizens of Cuyahoga Falls, the fact that the fearful crime narrated was perpetrated within her borders, and of the active part taken by her people in bringing- 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. Some time in the year 1838 there emigrated from^ England to America a reputed daring and desperate young poacher, highw^ay 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- -ward making his headquarters at or near Philadelphia. A Ghoulish Operation. — While a resident of Rhode Island, he, ■with 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 sold, and being detected was thrown into prison. While thus confined, awaiting trial, he pro- cured a pair of pistols from a political prisoner (a participant of the Dorr rebellion), who w^as carelessly incarcerated w^ithout 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 was concerned in a high- wray robbery, in which his accomplice 'was arrested and convicted, but he escaped. From there he found his way to Philadelphia, in the vicinity of which he participated in several robberies and burglaries, in one of which — the robbery of the house of a wealthy manufacturer named Kempton, at Manayunk, Pa. — he was 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, finall}' 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 tera. 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 with 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 very 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 w^hich commodity, it was intimated at several places, by Parks, his friend was the posssessor of from $800 to $1,000 worth. 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, which Beatson assented to. Tickets were accord- ingly bought, being paid for with 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 was considerably drunker than -when they started, vs^hile Parks, though taking as frequent pulls at the bottle, was 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 which 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, wrhen the conductor came around, the "mistake" was discovered, and the 772 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. twain were set down at Cuyahoga Falls, in the midst of a driving- rain, and at about 10 o'clocfc 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 was, 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 -was 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 Englishmen during the night. But early the next morning, while a young man, named Henry F. Waters, vsras passing along the wagon road, leading from Cuyahoga Falls to what is now knov^rn as Gaylord's Grove, he Tvas startled at discovering large splashes of fresh blood high up on one of the- abutment walls of the railroad bridge, under which 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 metal button of the same pattern as those -worn upon the vest of the drunker of the two Englishmen, the stock which he wore, and the cane which he carried, together vsrith the neck of a bottle corresponding to that from which they had so frequently drank on the cars and while 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 wildest 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, however, failed to- discover the severed head, though the clothing of the murdered man -was 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 -was 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 was immediately forwarded to Akron, Cleveland and other points. About tUe time the telegram was received in Akron, Mr. Tyler Robinson, a farmer living some three miles west of town, 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 MURDKRER — 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 Cu3^ahoga. 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 Infirmar}^ 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 bugg5^, near Richfield, 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 they were pursuing. Sh€,riff Dudley Seward also, on the same da3^ 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 ■were 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 w^ere 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, with her 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 la-w, and others, -the county commissioners promptly authorizing Sheriff Seward -to offer a reward of $500 for his apprehension. The vigilance of -the authorities was finally successful. United States Deputy Mar- bhal Joseph K. Tyler, of Buffalo, having spotted and taken him into custody, while working his w^ay 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 was 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,- which -was supposed to have been taken from the body of the murdered man. The alleged murderer was brought from^ Buffalo to Akron, by^ Sheriff Seward, and Chief of Police Mike Gallagher, of Cleveland^ on Tuesday, April 19; the news of his arrest and progress towards the scene of his horrible crime, attracting large crowds of excited people at almost every station along the route. The prisoner being" committed to jail, by Sheriff Seward, at his request the prelimi- nary examination w^as deferred one w^eek, 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 w^ere introduced, occupied two full days, the court room being' densely cro-wded throughout. On the part of the State, Prosecuting Attorney Sidney Edger- ton, Esq., was assisted by William H. Upson, Nathaniel W. Goodhuer Roland O. Hammond and Ed-win P. Green, Esqs., while the defense was conducted by William S. C. Otis, Christopher P- Wolcottr George Bliss and John A. Pleasants, Esqs. The counsel for the- defense offered no testimony, and, w^ithout argument, the sitting' magistrates remanded the prisoner to jail to answ^er to the charge of murder, at the June term of the Court of Common Pleas for Summit county. Sbarch 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 draw 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 down as the Old Forge, at which point it was supposed the fleeing murderer had left the canal, and below ■which the Little Cuyahoga river was carefully dragged and rakedr 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 a later stage of proceedings, offered to take the officers to the spot where he had thrown it into- the Big Cuyahoga river, if they ■would 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 hardl3' be recognizable, evenif found, the offer v/as 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 Jame» Dickinson, did murder William Beatson, by throwing 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 way or manner and by some means, instruments- A CURIOUS DEFENSE. 775 and weapons, to the grand jurors unknown. The remaining four counts were the same as the above, except that the person murdered w^as to the grand jury unknown. On Monday, June 20, 1853, the accused was brought into court for arraignment, and entered a plea of not guilty, whereupon 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 Humphre}^- ville, and the following 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 Coventrj'; Isaac T. Welton, of Richfield; John C. Wallace, of Northfield, and Orrin P. Nichols, of Tw^insburg. Judge Humphreyville assigned Messrs. Bliss and Wolcott to the defense, who were assisted in their labors by their respective law partners, Messrs. Pleasants and Otis, while Prosecuting Attorney Edgerton v^^as 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, to-ward what is novi^ 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 throw^n 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 ground where 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 9n the part of the defense, giving an apparently candid and truthful history of the accused from 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 the river bridge when 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 would 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 waist, and proceeded to sever the head from the body, taking Beatson's ow^n 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 th,e river, and took the head with him below, where he also threw that in the river; the clothing being disposed of "wherever 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 w^all and ground with his blood. The Testimony — Arguments — Charge to the Jury, etc. — On the conclusion of the statements, the jurj' w^ere taken by Sheriff Seward to Cuyahoga Falls, to view 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 was caused by 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, while Beatson possessed comparatively but little. The argument of the prosecution was opened by General Bierce, occupying about one hour and a half. Judge Bliss opened for the 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- rey ville delivered his charge to the jury, which -was, in every respect, a -well-considered, fair and impartial presentation of the law in the case, and the rules of applying the testimony which had been adduced upon the trial, together with 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 Humphreyville'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. Abput 9 o'clock their verdict of murder in the first degree was 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 SKNTENCE — STATEMENT OF PRISONER. 777 •venue changed to another county where an impartial trial might be obtained. Prosecutor Edgerton 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 Be^tson; you have been tried by a traverse jury, before whom j^ou have had the benefit of able counsel. They have brought to j'our defense a laborious and searching examination of the evidence against you, as well 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. Plave 3'ou anything to say why the sentence of the la-w should not he pronounced against you ?" Mr. Parks responded in a firm voice: — "Maj' it please your Honor, I have the best reason in the world why sentence should not be passed. I have represented that through m^' 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 me 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, where, between the hours of 9 o'clock in the forenoon, and 2 o'clock in the afternoon, you will be hanged by the neck until you are dead." Parks Makes a " Statement." — ^The report of the trial was soon afterwards published in pamphlet form, to wrhich -was added a document of nearly twenty pages, written 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 England, 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 work in arraying himself in Beatson's coat tied about his waist 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 what is done with a dead body, providing it does- not injure the feelings of living friends. I did not do any crime Tvhatever, and I can vindicate myself by the laws of heaven and of I'eason. The previous tyrannical conventionalism of society imposed the task on mie; I never sought for it, and did not like it. 1 may have sinned. Nay, I hare sinned, but I have suffered, have repented, but I could not be forgiven. When w^ill 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. Ho'wr often is the law made the weapon of the vilest malignity and its- 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 -wras made to Judge Bartley, 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 -writ and the postponement of the execution, created the most intense excitement throughout the county. Sheriff Seward had already had a gallows constructed, and was making other prepa- rations for the execution, all of which w^ere no'w indefinitely post- poned. Yet, notwithstanding the fact that the postponement w^as widely published, and notwithstanding the hanging, when consummated, would be private, and within the walls of the jaiU on the day set for the execution a large and excited crowd of peo- ple, men, women 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 somewhat emphatic demonstrations of the crowd — fearing an uninvited visit of Judge Lynch, and expressed a desire to be locked up in his cellr 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 wrong of hanging an innocent man. His speech, ho'wever, 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 was the belief that he was guilty of the horrible crime attributed to- him, it only needed a bold and determined leader to have essayed the attempt, though the authorities were pretty well prepared against the consummation of such an effort. Planning to Escape From Jail. — Among the prisoners con- fined in the jail, at this time, was a man named Case, whose brother, from Kent, was 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 was rewarded 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 which the following are copies: Dear BeotheR: — The bearer of this is a. friend of mine. Help him to what he wants, a key and a saw — good saw. Be sure, if you do, old Copper Knob is safe. Taterslej^ gunsmith, or soine 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 more 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 made 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 him 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 writ 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 a 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 was made for a change of venue, on the ground that on account of the prejudice against the acc'used, he could not have a fair and impartial trial in Summit county, which motion was granted by Judge Humphrey- ville, who ordered the case to be transferred to Cuyahoga county, though Parks himself expressed a wish to be tried in Portage county. In accordance vv^ith this arrangement, on the 5th daj'' of January, 1855, Parks was taken to Cleveland and transferred to the custody of Sheriff Spangler by Sheriff Seward. The case was 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 bee.n assigned to the defense in Summit county, would be unable to further act in the premises, and Mr. Parks chose Hiram Griswold, Esq., and the court named Amos Coe, Esq., 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 vie-w the scene ■of the murder, by Sheriff Spangler, accompanied by Messrs. Edger- ton and Griswold. 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 -was 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 glo-wing 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 argument, on behalf of the State, concluded as follows: Mr. Edgerton closed his remarks with a powerful and eloquent appeal to the jurj', displajang- the enormity of the offense, and the horrible facts -connected therewith; characterized the case as without a parallel in the history of crimes in Ohio, and beg-ged of the jury to lose sight of the hus- band and father, and see only before them their duty tothe community and to a fellow man. Mr. Edgerton was solemn, eloquent and iinpassioned, and spoke with such feeling as showed that the responsibility 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 ^ury 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- wold 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 allowance of a writ of error, on several purely technical groundSr which application, on full hearing, was denied, and preparations were accordingly made by Sheriff Seward, of Summit, and Sheriff Spangler, of Cuyahoga, for carrying out the seritence. 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 two 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 which -were prevented by his wary custodians. A Most Blasphemous Letter. — The day previous to his exe- cution, and before his last desperate attempt to take his ovs^n life,, he penned a bitterly ribald and blasphemous tirade, from which the following is an extract: When I meet Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven, he will congratulate me, for my case is parallel with his, with only a little exception. There were only two false witnesses ag-ainst 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 and found plentj' who were ready to- testify against me. The reason why m5r case is parallel with Christ's is this: Thej' 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 the}' will sit down and watch my body 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," It may 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 gallovs^s which had been con- structed for his execution here — in addition to the various " statements" previously furnished to the press, bj^ permission of Sheriff Spangler, making the following speech: Well, gentlemen, there are but comparativel}' few present, and my 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 yourverdict; you did your dutj'. 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 froin the reproach which this will bring upon them. I knew that I 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 1T15' mind and the scope 782 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. ■of my understandiag' are misunderstood, I never dreamed of murder. My conscience would never have dared to conceive of it. That I murdered Beat- son for his money is absurd. He was a poor man, with less money than myself. I had no malignity towards him, and feel none towards any human 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 dfeath 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 •wife and child. Resuming his remarks, after speaking in warm praise of Sheriff Se'ward, Sheriff Spangler and the other officers w^ho had had him in their care, and the several attorneys who had defended him, concluded his speech as follows: We cannot recall the past. 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 j^our kindness to my wife. I have no clergj'man 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 -was granted by Sheriff Spangler, and a handker- chief -was placed in his hand for that purpose. The cap was dra-wn down over his face; a moment or two of silence followed, when 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 Edgerton. — It, will be remembered that a considerable sum of money, mostly in gold coin, was found upon the person of Mrs. Parks and her brothers, when they were arrested at Utica, which was supposed to have been taken by Parks from the body of his victim. The major part of this money was claimed by Mrs. Parks to be her individual property, while the balance was claimed by her two brothers, the small sum of about $50, only, being admitted; by Parks, to have been taken from the body of Beatson, while he was engaged in the bloody work of preparing it for concealment. There was consider- able conflicting testimony as to the amount of money possessed by Beatson, and some evidence tending to show that what 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 was 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 w^ithin 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 OF TOWNSHIP— FRANKLIN'S INDUSTRIES — MILITARY SERVICES— THE SAUTER-SHEETES TRAGEDY— OSTER-KEENAN HbMICIDE— HONORABLE CIVIL RECORD, ETC. FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. WE 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 to call us, and to descend into "Dutchdom," as Stark, Wayne, and other Pennsylvania and German settled counties "were for- merly designated by the dwellers upon said Western Reserve. Curious Legal Question. — Like Coventry, Franklin township- is formed of two distinct parts, from tw^o 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 Eben- 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 somewhat complex legal question as to the ownership c>f 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, wrould the Ohio law of prescription, or adverse possession of over tvsrenty-one years, hold good, and if so to w^hom, the United States government itself, the State of Ohio, or the individual owners of the abutting lands upon either side of the- streams in question? Where and How Located. — Franklin is designated on the records as Township 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 township, and its eastern neighbor. Green, are each nearly six miles square, while it will 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 two townships originally connected with 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 w^est. 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 township. There are also quite a number of smaller streams, in various por- tions of the township, which, w^ith 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 water 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 Village 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 Chippewa 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 w^as 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, with 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, however. 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 50 786 AKEON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. 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, w^ool 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 yearlj' 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 Harve3\ 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 Pumroj' 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 were 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 grow^ing importance of other business cen- ters — Akron, Massillon, Canal Fulton, etc. — Clinton remained about stationary for several years, and finally, with the advent of railroad communication v^rith near-by localities, in the earlj' 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 every-day 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 w^as named Nimi- silla, probablj^ from the river or creek of that name, a short dis- tance south of the village. Mr. Adam Clarke Stewart vsras the the father of Mrs. George W. Manly, of Canton, and Mrs. Henry E. Canfield 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 county, Marj^- land, November 27, 1794, in early life removing- 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 Richmond ; Orlando Stewart, of Akron ; Mr?. George \V. Manly, formerly of Akron, now of Canton ; Mrs. J. R. Hague, of Columbus, and Mrs. Henry E. Can- field, of Akron. Mr. Stewart was a cabinet maker bj- trade, which busi- ness, together with that of under- taking, he carried on in Richmond for about forty j'ears, also oiBciating as justice of the peace during the last twenty-five or thirty years of his ADAM CLAKKE STEWART. life, his death occurring December 25, 1870, at the age of 76 years and 28 daj's. Manchester, being an inland town, with 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 vs^orld, during the three-quarters of a cen- tury of its existence. With its two 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 w^hich 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 betvi^een the two villages. Now, ho'svever, the township is divided into two sepa- rate election precincts, with 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, w^ho 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 was of New England 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 Halliwell, 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 farmeV. Jacob Burgner, from east of the AlleghanieSr settled in Jackson township in 1812, and in April, 1814, removed to Franklin township; and is believed, by his descendants, to have been the first actual settler in the township. Other settlers soon afterwards began to flock in, among them Mr. Jacob Hollinger,. 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"wicks, Clays, Spidels, Waltenbergers, McMurrays, Wholfs, Rightleys, Scotts, Wises, BroTvns, Chapins, Hooks, Groves, Rossitters, Greenloes, Stumps, Wagoners, Teeples, Blilers, Hoys,. Wirts, Hamms, Bears, Ro"wes, Troups, Sorricks, Wiltrouts, Stew- arts, Harveys, Flickingers, and others -whose names are not now recalled. Births, Marriages, Deaths, Etc. — The first birth in the town- ship w^as 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, with Joseph Mishler, from Lancaster, Pa., as teacher, Mr. Mish- ler afterwards 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 being Mahlon Stewart, Jacob Hollinger and Michael Bra- denburg, -with David Harvey 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 Industries. — In the early days there were a num- ber of sa-w-mills and grist-mills 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 them, probably, being the grist-mill of George Rex, at the outlet of Turkey Foot Lake, erected about the year 1817, the power of which was destroj^ed by the construction of the reservoirs in 1840. Nearly thirty-five years 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 by a company, composed principally of Akrou 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 whisky; 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 j^ears ago became totally extinct. Would it were so throughout the entire ■world! From quite an early day the mining of coal has been quite extensive in several portions of the township, but at the present time little, if any, more than supplies the local demand is being mined. It is thought, however, by those thoroughly posted upon ±he subject, that there are still quite extensive veins of coal under- lying the broad wheat fields of the township, that are only await- ing better facilities for transportation, to secure their profitable development. p EORGE WAGONER, — born in ^ Cumberland count3'-, Pennsyl- vania, November 22, 1790; September 6, 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. Wag-oner died, having borne him six childfen, 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, ia 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- ship, during his long life taking an active interest in public affairs, both local and general, in politics being a stanch Republican, and in every sense an upright christian gentle- man. Mr. Wagoner, after an illness of three days, of heart disease, died April 2,3, 1873. aged 82 years, 5 months and 1 day. Mrs. Wagoner died March GEORGE WAGONER. 2, 1886, aged 83 j'ears, 3 months and l.i 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 history. Being originally mainly settled by immigrants from patriotic old Pennsylvania, it is not improbable that quite a num- ber of ex-Revolutionary heroes were 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 no-w 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 courtesj' 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), Lewi& 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, W^illiam Diehl, Isaac Daily, Amos Dailey, William 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 Hoy, 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 athome), 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, Levi 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), William 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, David Shanebrook, George Slusser, Samuel Simmons, William Traxler, Joseph Traxler, Aaron Teeple^ Isaac Teeple (killed in battle), George Teeple, Samuel Teeters, William Tagg, Samuel P- Wolf, Henry Wolf, Freeman Whittlesej^ Robert Wilkins (killed in battle), William Wolf, Joe Weil, William Whittlesey, David Welty, Alfred Wolf, John Wolf, J. F. Whittlesey, Aaron Wagoner, Isaac Wells, Silas Williams, Isaac Winkleman, John Wilson, Samuel Young (killed in battle). FRANKLIN'S 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 j'ore, so often disgraced Clinton, and sev- eral of the mining 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 township, one of those oft recurring fatal tragedies incident to indulgence in intoxicating drinks. The parties involved were Germans, named, 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 July. Liquors were freelj^ 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 Chippewa 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, betw^een w^hom and Sauter there had previously been some ill-feeling, commenced taunting the latter, calling him a coward, and asking him why he was walking 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 \\rhich he died the day following; the wounded man walking 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 submissive; expressed great sorro\*r 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, who 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 s-pecial grand jury, who returned a bill of indictment, against Sauter, charging him with murder in the first degree. To this indictment Sauter entered a plea of not guilty. On further 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 was pardoned by Governor Chase, October 14, 1859, after a service of three years, two months and twenty-one days, and, so far as the writer 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 3'ears, 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 whisky, chiefly the latter, but without success. On the 29th day of April, 1864, young Oster, seeing Kernan passing the field where he was working, 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 h'im, he could try it then, whereupon 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 w^hich 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, which was 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 Friday, 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, w^ith Judge Stephenson Burke upon the bench, and Edwin P. Green, Esq., acting as prosecuting attornej' 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 array of witnesses 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 793 iservice 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 .and upright citizen. HONORABLE CIVIL RECORD. In the civil annals of Summit county, Franklin holds a highly honorable position, as the following roster will demonstrate: Dr. Hugh R. Caldwell, a successful physician, and enterpris- ing business man of Franklin township, 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, w^ith 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, \sras elected one of the first commissioners of the ne'w 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 1;he 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 to^wnship, and in 1862 was appointed, by the treasury department, government inspector ■of liquors and oils for the 18th Congressional District, and after- wards commissioned as general ganger of the district; serving in that capacity until the winding 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 would 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 two 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 L5'Coming county, Pennsylva- nia, September 12,1819; came to Man- chester in 1840, teaching- and farming three years; 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. H03', opened a drug store, continuing until 1879; in October, 1875, was elected count3^ commissioner and re-elected in 1878, serving six years ; in 1887 was ap- pointed trustee of Children's Home, serving two years. July 23, 1846, Dr. Sisler was married to MissLorohama R. Hoy, daughter of Hon. John Hoj', of Manchester, one of the first com- missioners of Summit county, and associate judge from 1845 to 1852. Of the six children born to Dr. and Mrs. Sisler, three onlj^ are now living — DR. WILLIAM SISLEE. 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 was 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 no\i^ (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, which occurred on the 8th day of November, 1886. FRANKLIN'S POPULATION. Unlike most of the out-lying townships of Summit county, notwithstanding 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 to'wns 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 l.,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. ^^^^ . - ; -K- CHAPTER XXXVII. GREEN TOWNSHIP— WHEN AND BY WHOM SETTLED— A FALSE PKEDICTION— INDIAN TEADITIONS— 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 STRIPE- 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 what was 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 township 12, range 9. A False Prkdiction. — In the discussion preliminary to the •erection of Summit county, it was held that the people of the two townships to be taken from Stark county, being largely Pennsyl- vania Germans, could never be brought to fraternize with the ■" blue-bellied" Yankees, bj^ whom 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 well undertake to make a Dutch plow^-horse and a broad- horned Yankee ox work evenly in the harness, as to expect the inhabitants of the t-wo sections to harm.onize and pull evenly together in county affairs." In fact, the majority of the people, of both Green and Frank- lin, were 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 want 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 was a proviso that those two townships should be exempt from taxation for public buildings for the period of fifty years, which 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 who was, 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 Hartman, 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 well as those who came later, were sterling men and women, w^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 they and their descendants now enjoy. A BRAHAM W. JOHNSTON,— born ■^ in Center county, Pennsjdvania, 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 gentleman ; in early life learned trade of weaver, at which he worked in Greentown nine years ; then pur- chased the old famil J' hoinestead, 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 count}', Pennsylvania, February 27, 1814, -who still survives. They were the parents of five children — Washington G., bora 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 16, 1852, married October 28, 1878, to Corbin Dillinan, now of Joliet, Illinois, the three daughters being educated at ABRAHAM W. JOHNSTON. Greensburg Seminar}^, and the son at Oberlin and Mount Union Col- leges. Though a thorough Republi- can, Mr. Johnston filled many posi- tions of trtist and honor by the votes of his Democratic neighbors. liMDiAN Experiences. — Although the Indian title to the lands embraced 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-eyed Young America, around the family base-burner, with thrilling interest and solemn awe. Township Organization. — Green, like Franklin on the west, is six miles square, its other neighbors being Coventry 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 3'^ear, 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, was 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 -were chosen trustees; Robert Lawson, clerk; Daniel Wise, treasurer; David Hartman and Thomas Parker, constables. From this time on settlement was steady, so that upon the erection and organization of Summit county, in 1840, the township had a population of 1,536, with 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 Jifty years may seem like a very small ratio of increase, but when 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 w^heat, 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 water, and numerous creeks and runs in various localities, by which 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 southwestern portion, having been a well-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 MERCANTILK 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," -was 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 was 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 Are. WASHINGTON G. JOHNSTON,— sou 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, w^orking 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 county, after the death of his father pur- chased the homestead, 153 acres, which he has since successfullj' farmed. October 1, 1863, Mr. John- ston was married to Miss Anna Irvin, adopted daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Irvin, of Akron. They have five children — James Irvin, born Atxgust 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 countj^ cominis- 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 twenty 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 few 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 was 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 ownership 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 -was quite successfully managed for some three or four years. It was then placed, rent free, under the con- trol of Professor J. R. Davis, who, for two or three years, 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 was 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 own as the local business point for quite a large section of the rich farming country by vi^hich 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 establishments, but not possess- ing any special elements of enterprise, and being so near the city of Akron, can hardly expect to attain to anj'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 I.N'DUSTKIAL, 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 to'wnship. 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 hie 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., Idlth 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 Berg-er 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. 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 maintained 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 want of proper transportation facilities, quite an extensive mine now (1891) being operated by the Lake View Coal Company, near East Liberty, the s'witch of the Valley Road to their Coventry mine, being extended to this. Iron ore was mined 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. Kducational Matters. — Green has been represented by former "historians" as lacking in educational enterprise and 51 802 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 -were 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 township — 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 bet-ween that village and East Libert3\ The Legislature of 1886, '87, ho-wever, 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 whichever 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 to-wnship was the death of Michael Myers, -who was 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 with; the forepart of one leg, from the knee do-wn to the foot, being burned to a coal, and the foot of the other Teg charred to the ankle, while his hands and other portions of his person -were also badly burned, and what appeared to be a smiall 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, -not only in the immediate neighborhood, but in the adjoining -townships, 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 Elijah Bowers, ^nd 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. Notwithstanding the large -array of magisterial wisdom before w^hom 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 newspapers of the day again alltjde 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 jur3', or having the transcript filed in the Court of Common Pleas. The Stripe-Cooper Tragedy. — In 1862, Mr. John Stripe and Henry Cooper were operating contiguous coal mines, in the south- eastern portion of Green township, Mr. Stripe's mine being in charge of his son, Isaac, then about 19 years old. Between Isaac ^nd Cooper business jealousies had arisen, eliciting, as was -alleged, threats of personal chastisement against Cooper by young Stripe, with perhaps counter threats on the part of Cooper. With this feeling of enmity existing between the t^vo 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 wished to have a talk with him, but, as Stripe maintained, in a menacing manner, w^ith 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 with a shovel, and wanted a pick or something to make it sure. But when Stripe, accompanied by Dickerhoof, came to the place vsrhere Cooper had fallen, he was not there, having so far recovered as to get up and ;and walk to his home, distant about 40 rods. After informing his family what had happened, Mr. Cooper was 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 with Stripe, while washing 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 ithe 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 answer 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 blows 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 — a discount for good conduct of one naonth 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 to-wnship, 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 Railway. The Semler-Keplkr 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 East 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 wife 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 duringthe day,as usual returning home considera- bly intoxicated. Showing the picture to his wife, and asking how she liked it, she replied that it -was 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, towards morning, that he was at length sound asleep, Mrs. Semler quietly awoke her three children — two girls and one little boy — and dressing herself and theni left the house, but instead of this time 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, the}' were met by Semler, carrying a gun, who, threatening to shoot her, twice snapped the gun at her, but which, by reason of not being loaded, or owing to a defect in the lock, failed to go off. THE SEMLEE-KKMLER HOMICIDE. 805 Arriving at her father's house, but hesitating about obtruding tier domestic troubles further upon her parents, who 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 w^ere at once taken into the house and provided with lodgings for the night. About 10 o'clock, while Mrs. Semler and her parents w^ere 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 wife should go home with him, which she declined to do, iis the children had gone to bed, but promised to do so early in the morning. Seeming satisfied with this promise, Semler left the house, and the two -women -svent 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 ^vas probably asleep, urged him to go a-way, 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 vsrith such severity ihat 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, which he did. The party then sat down in the kitchen to talk the matter over, ihe old gentleman in the meantime standing the cane-gun in -one corner of the kitchen. Semler again demanded of his vfiie that she should at once go home w^ith him, but she declined to do so, saying that he had snapped his gun twice at her that evening, to which 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-la-sv to go up tow^n -with 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 -wife should go home with him, which 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 down near the door, started towards his wife, as if to forcibly drag her home -with him. Divining his inten- 'tion she took refuge behind the settee upon -which her father was sitting. As Semler seized hold of his wife the old gentleman inter- posed, and being rather the stronger of the t-wo, a terrible hand-to- hand struggle ensued, both falling to the floor. In the struggle, ■Semler, 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 lower 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 were 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, who held Semler to bail, in the sum of $1,800, on the charge of stabbing with intent to -wound, 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 -wound 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 -was 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 which charge he -was 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, with 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 with their usual vigor and ability. The charge of Judge McClure was an able exposition of the- law governing homicides and the rules of applying evidence in cases of that character, the jury, after a brief consuUation 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 was sentenced to the State Penitentiary for a period of GREEN TOWNSHIP IN WAR. 807 five years, whither he was conveyed by Sheriff August Curtiss, on 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 -was granted a divorce, at the January term, 1872, with the restoration of her maiden name, custody of children, control of propertj^ etc., and on the 31st day of December, 1874, she w^as married to Freder- ick Gindling, of Green township, 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 \vho 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 Pennsjdvania, 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 were 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 vi^ith the necessary equipage, consisting principally of a gun, knapsack, and blanket. Andrevsr 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 foUo-w 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, ■were duly mustered into service at Camp Taylor, in Cleveland, May 16, 1864, as a part of the 164:th 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 above, included. Such of these drafts as -were 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, Henry Jarrett, Beneville Kinzy, Jonas Kahler, John P. Kepler, David Kline, Martin Kline, Alchia A. Koontz, Jonathan B. Kreighfcaum, 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, IshmaelLong, 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 Royer, John Stevens (died in service), Samuel Steese, GREEN IN PUBLIC OFFICE. 809 John \V. Steese (killed in battle), William F. Spidel, Ezra Spidel, Ira Spidel, Isaas Shutt, David H. Shutt, Elias 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, Urias 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 Witwer, 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, was elected as Summit county'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 connty, 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 ihe county w^ith 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 tovsrnshi]). [See portrait and biography on page 101.] County Sheriff. — Jacob Chisnell, a resident of Green town- ship, was elected to the important office of sheriff, in October, 1860, taking possession of the office on the first Monday of January, 1861. In accordance Avith the custom, and for faithful service during his first term, Mr. Chisnell was re-elected for two years, in October, 1862, his four years, while perhaps rendered more onerous thereby, iDeing probably somewhat less remunerative, by reason of the war which continued through the entire two terms of his incum- bency. County Auditor. — George W. Crouse, though born in staid old Tallmadge, rejoices in being known 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 E. Hill, of Middle- bury, George Buell, of Akron, and Nelson Upson, of Twinsburg — 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 was 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 Representative in Congress, from March 4th, 1887, to March 4th, 1889, the duties of which position he performed -with 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, WilUam 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, was designated as Township 4, Range 10, and is so kno"wn on the county records and tax duplicates at the present time. In the distribution of the lands by draft, as elsewhere 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 which was 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 was swamp, 10,000 additional acres, in the "equalizing" townships of Norton and Chester, was 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 were detaiiied eleven days preparing for their long and perilous journey. Here, also, Mr. Hudson fell in with Mr.. Benjamin Tappan, the proprietor of Ravenna, afterwards 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 two yoke, and two cows, which were placed in charge of Mr. Hudson's man, Meacham, and two 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 township 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, with 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. Lacey, 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 inarried 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 countj^ July 28, 1863, from a gunshot wound received during the raid of the rebel John Morgan through Ohio; Milo Lee, born October 15, 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 August 31, 1816, Deacon Hud- son was again married, June 1, 1817, to Miss Mary 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 DEACOX DAVin HUDSON. Hudson, as one of the original pro- prietors of Hudson township, and as the first actual settler in what is now Summit county, was not only an ex- tensive farmer, but largelj' interested in many of the earlier mercantile and luauufacturing enterprises of his township and village, and especially active in the promotion 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, with 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, iDut with such a heavy swell and head winds, as to prevent further advance until the 29th. It was 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 allowed 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 with an ax and set him to w^ork felling trees and chopping them up into cord wood, while the rest of the men were sleeping. Afte.r a few hours' labor in that line, Lindlej', 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 wood 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 which, 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 water, wetting all their provisions and other goods, and that on which were Blin and McKinley, having a hole stove in her bottom, through which 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 Tvith 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 which w^ere 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 afterleaving Geandiquot Bay, a remarkably quick passage, indeed, under the circumstances), Mr. Hudson's boat having been plundered one night -while 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 white outlaw, -who were kno-wn 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 s-wamp 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 with the cattle, arrived the day after the "fleet" anchored at Brandywine. Rude sleds were constructed, by the use of which, drawn by the three yoke of oxen, which had, with immense labor, but good management, been brought safely 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 \\rould soon begin to suffer for food while pursuing their labors in ■clearing a patch of land for a crop of wheat, 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, with 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 down 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, who had, a year or two before, squatted upon the present site of the city of Cleveland; borrowing 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 w^olf, hunger, at a respectful distance, though several of the party were assailed with the various forms of disease incident to change of climate, exposure, etc. The first rude shelter (of bark) was 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 to"wnship 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 Bald^vin, 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 Darro-w, 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, would be able, or willing, to undertake to emulate. In raising recruits for his settlement, Mr. Hudson seems to have been exceptionally succ'essful, and singularly fortunate. Offering a bounty of 40 acres to the first recruit, the first party to FIRST FOURTH OF JULY CKLEBRATION. 815 step forward and claim the prize was Miss Ruth Gaylord — denom- inated by a contemporaneous writer as "an ancient maiden" — who 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 Gaylord, 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, which 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 twenty-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 Bloomfleld, to make preparations for the journey westward in the early Spring. In addition to his own boat, which he caused to be thoroughly repaired, Mr. Hudson procured four ■other boats, which he loaded with 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 follow 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, -were speedily erected for their accommodation. Before leaving Bloomfleld, 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, who had brought them through " perils, seen and unseen," safely to their ■destination, and also took immediate measures to resume public worship on the Sabbath, which had been suspended during his absence, but which 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, with 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 day has never since been celebrated with a greater degree of patriotic " vim," in Hudson, or on the liberty-loving Western Reserve. Eak'ly 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 was 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. Baldwin was born in Trum- bull county, married in Portage county and now lives in Sum- mit county, but has al-ways, -with one brief exception, resided upon the same farm where she -was born, a paradox readily explained by the fact that Trumbull county, -when 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 to-wnship, that of George Darro-w 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 liave 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 -welcome 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, who 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. Heman Oviatt, Deacon and Mrs. Stephen Thompson, Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Thompson, Mr. and Mrs. Stephen PROLIFIC AND LOi\G-LI\ED. 81 7 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 ]>Irs. 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 nearlj^' 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 no^v 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 j'et 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 wittiin the intervening 56 years, one lived to the age of 90; five, 80 to 90; fifteen, 70 to 80; five, 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, while 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 j^ears, respectively, while several others had very nearlj' reached their golden anniversaries; a con- dition of longevity and of connubial intercourse, that few of the townships of the count)', or country can surpass, or ever? equal, either in ancient or modern times. Organization of Township. — Aside from the judicial authority of Justice Hudson, b)' appointment of Governor St. Clair, early in 1801, Hudson was 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 township under the general name of Hudson. The first election was held at the house of 'Squire Hudson, April 5, twenty electors being present, Mr. Hudson being chairman. The officers then elected were as follows: Trustees, Heman Oviatt and Abraham Thompson, of Hudson, and Ebenezer Sheldon, of Aurora; clerk, Thaddeus Lacey, of Hudson; poormasters, Elias Harmon, o'f Aurora, and Samuel Bishop, of Hudson; fence viewers, Aaron Norton, John Oviatt and Jotham Atwater; appraisers of houses, JohnGaylord and Elias Harmon; supervisors of highways, 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,— 8on of Stephen Baldwin, born in Goshen, Connecti- cut, September 17, 1798 ; common school education ; in 1814 caine to Hudson, clerking in store of his brothers, Augustus and Frederick, about three years ; October 6, 1817, was married to Miss Anner Mary Hudson, daughter of Deacon David Hudson, born October 28, 1800, and the first white child born in what is now Suminit county. The j'oung couple settled on a farm two and a half miles northwest of the center, where they remained two or three years, when, at Mr. Hudson's request, they returned to the home farm, where thej' 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 carrying 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 farin), 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 publiclj' 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 west of the Cuyahoga river, which 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 two races. This, largely through the liberality and fairness of INDIAN AND WILD BEAST TRADITIONS. 81 9 Mr. Hudson and the fearless good sense of Mrs. Hudson, was pretty generally maintained, though some turbulent and alarming episodes — chiefly caused by fire-water — would occasionally occur. After the shooting of Daniel Diver, in Deerfield, in the Winter -of 1806-7, elsewhere written of, the course of the fleeing Indians was through Hudson, two 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 Richfield, 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 when under the influ- •ence of whisky — to frighten the white women and children, when found alone in their cabins, and that upon one occasion, after one of his customary ugly visits to the house of Mrs. Newell, living in the southw^est 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, wolves, deer, turkeys and other wild animals and game w^ere, as in all the neighboring townships, abundant in Hudson in ihose 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 woods 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 own cabin in the west part of the township, encountered a huge bear, who grappled writh him, and would undoubtedly have squeezed the life out of him, but for the timely arrival of Colonel Oviatt, w^ho 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, with whom she lived, some three miles distant. Losing the trail, she became lost in the woods, and night coming on she lay down beside a log, and during the darkness some w^ild animal came and after smelling of her a few minutes, left her unmolested, Luna, young as she was, having the presence of mind to lie perfectly still. As soon as she was missed, searching parties were organ- ized, provided with tin horns, to signal each other. Her uncle 820 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 was soon overtaken. Signaling the others, the entire party repaired to the village, where there was very heartj^ rejoicing over the recovery of the lost child, which child, now Mrs. John Ramsey, is still living in CoUamer, nearly- 80 years of age. Religion, Churches, Etc. — As we have seen, on his arrival in his new^ township, to w^hich his co-proprietors insisted his own name should be given, Mr. Hudson immediately established religious services, both private and public, and, in 1802, in connec- tion with Deacon Stephen Thompson and Captain Heman Oviatt, he took measures for the organization of a church in the new settlement, of which 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, w^hile 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 written or oral stipulations, seek to compel his associates, or subordinates, to adopt his own peculiar theological dogmias, 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 utrnost 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,, was essentially Congregational, though for a time amenable to the Grand River Presbytery — afterwards coming under the jurisdic- tion of the Portage Presbytery — the organization being effected September 4, 1802, 'svith 13 communicants, as follows: Mr. Hud- son, Stephen Thompson and Mary, his wife; Abraham Thompson and Susanna, his wife; 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 two latter of the church at Bloomfield, New York. 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 with a Connect- icut Missionary Society, a regular supply for two or three years. Thus, sometimes with, and sometimes without preaching, but without omitting worship 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 communicants, with quite a large society membership and congre- gation. Mr. Hanford ministered to the congregation until 1831, adding 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, 18,58-74; 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, Connecticvit, January ■22, 177(); liberal education, including- t^tudy 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 650 miles in twelve daj^s ; in Spring of 1801, returned to Ohio with wife and one child, settling- on farm two miles southwest of center of Hudson, where he afterwards resided, until his death, frotn an accident, Xovember 20, 1858, 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 iake Erie south nearly fift}' miles. During the War of 1812, Dr. Thomp- son served as surgeon in the armjr ; at close of the war engaged in raising and selling agricultural products in in Southern markets, Louisville, Xashville, Huntsville, etc. Mrs. Thompson shared with her husband the hardships and privations of pio- neer life, both heartilj' promoting the religious, educational and material ■enterprises of the time, Mrs. Thomp- DK. MOSES THOMPSOA'. son, a member of the Congregational Church of Hudson, from 1808, dj'ing November 20. 1850. Ttieir children were : Eliza Eemira, \vife of Horace Metcalf, deceased ; Susan, wife of Horace Holbrook, deceased ; Mills, deceased; Emily, widow of Samuel Woods, deceased ; Sylvester H., deceased ; Virg-il 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 djing- in infancj'. 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 no-w occupied b3' the Town Hall; the house, costing about $5,000, being dedicated in March, 1820. As, with all 822 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. church structures of New Eueland, 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, with 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, oru Aurora street, in 1865, when it was sold to private parties and con- verted into a public hall, for which purpose it was used until 1878^ when 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 Gaylordr 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 with 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 Northwest 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, w^ere 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 f urnishingSr provided with a fine-toned church organ, and 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 thirteen years, resigning the pastorate to go to Canon City, Colorado, being followed November 1, 1888, by Rev. James A. Brown, for about two- 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 matteks. 823 Mary's Church, on Raih-oad 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, novsr 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 Academj- ; studied medi- cine three years with Dr. Bass, in Middleburj', Vermont, with two courses of lectures in medical depart- ment of Dartmouth College ; in Spring- of 1812, started weet, 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 dav. In 1813, Dr. Metcalf bought 290 acre.-^ of land, one mile east of the center, building a comfortable log-house thereon. December 26, 1814, was mar- ried to Xiss 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 1858; Mary, now wife of Rev. E. Chester, 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- DOCTOK JOA'ATHAX 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 daj' and genera- tion ; the former djdng Jul}' 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 Reserve, 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, northwest and southwest; the central district being divided in 1838, and three 82-t AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. other districts created, making in all nine districts in the town- ship. In 1855 the two 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 to be treated of further on, a number of private seminary eriterprises had been inaugurated, with 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 Eggleston, of New York; and Miss Upham. In 1834 an academj' 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 Eunice Town, Miss Rebecca H. Dana and Miss Mary Strong, the latter erecting a new building on Main stret, in 1845, -which she christened the "Hijdson Female Seminary." Contemporaneous with this was 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 Ueven acting as principal of Mr. Phelps' school. Though pursued with commendable vigor, these several competing enterprises proved unremunerative, and grad- ualh' subsided. in 1853, Mr. J. W. Smith fitted up and furnished a suite of rooms in the " Pentagon," and employed Miss Elizabeth Burt, a graduate of Mount Holj'oke Seminary, as principal, the school being reasonably successful, until the general business collapse of 1855, '56, when 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, afterwards purchas- ing the propertj', and by her enterprise and good management, conducted the school with fair pecuniary returns for some tw^elve or thirteen years, Rev. H. B. Hosford and daughters, about 1874, reviving the academj^ 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 was not granted. Ekie Literary Institute. — At the first session of the State Legislature, however, in the Spring of 1803, an act was passed incorporating the "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, w^hen, through a combination of untovsrard circumstances, it ^ceased to exist. REV. CALEB PITKIN,— born in New Hartford, Connecticut, Feb- ruary 27,1781; graduated at Yale College 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 missionarj' 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 .1, 1864, at the age of 82 years, U months and 8 days. June 1,5, 1807, Mr. Pitkin was married to Miss Anna Henderson, of Milford, Connecticut, who died in Akron, December 6, 1882, at the age of 98 years, 3 months and H days. Their children -svere — 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- KKV. CALEB PITKI.N. ber 4, 1812, died May 19, lcS^<7 ; James, borfl 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 with the Burton school for them to study there; a joint committee from the several presbyteries interested, reporting in favor of establish- ing the "Literary 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, which 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 River, 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 were submitted from Hudson, Cleveland, Burton,. Euclid, 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 becure the location of the institution to that town, of vt^hich amount Mr. Hudson, himself, contributed over $2,000, besided donating 160 acres of land to secure the location of the college buildings, where 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 p'erhaps some modifications of the original draft, was finally overcome and the act of incorporation duly passed on the 27th day of Februarj', 1826. The first board of trustees, under the charter, were: David Hudson, Elizur Wright, Joshua Bradford Sherwood, 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, was appointed tutor pro teni, for the examination of applicants. Orrin Cook Thompson, Charles Merriman Preston, Ellery Bascom and Joseph Welch Barr, were admitted to the freshman 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 crowd 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 w^as 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 was 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 with 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. "pREDERICK BALDWIN, — fourth J- son of Stephen and Susannah Baldwin, born at Goshen,Connecticut, March 17, 1794 ; educated in Goshen district schools ; at 18, with his elder brother, Augustus, 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 until about 1844, when he went into the cattle business on his farm, south of the center, where he resided until 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 infancj^ November 9, 1836, and Caroline A., born December 17, 1841, now the wife of Mr. Perry H. Babcock, former] 3' 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 16, 1881. Frederick Baldwin was FKEDERICK BALDWIN. well known as in everj^ respect a just and honorable man, and honored most bj' those who most intimately knew him. Manual Labor Introduced. — At that time, so-called rrjanual labor schools were largely i-n vogue, by which 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 -was on, the thing worked smoothly enough; but it was soon discovered that a good many of the students (like a good many outsiders), were disinclined to manual labor — duties were shirked, rules were 828 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. ' evaded, exemptions were obtained, jealousies' aroused, caste dis- tinctions engendered, and the general interests of the college interfered with, and after a few years of friction and dissatisfac- tion the project was abandoned. Thk Slavery Question. — But the most disastrous cause of dissension in college circles, about this time, was the agitation of the slavery question. President Storrs, and several of the profes- sors, as well 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 warm friends of the college, elsewhere, tended to promote w^ithdrawals, prevent accessions, diminish subscriptions, donations and endowments, and to greatly retard its usefulness and prosperity; (anti-slavery people believing, from the action of the Board, that the institution was 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 w^as 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 manj' 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 was 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 with 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 writer, 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 town, the writer being something of an "artist," in connection with 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 would permit us to carry out the little design we had concocted. PRESIDENT PIERCE S ADMINISTRATION. 829' which he assented to. We accoi'dingly 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: ]i@°°"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,— son 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 Hudson ; 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 18,'i9 was elected representative to the State Legisla- ture, serving two years ; in 1864, was HON. SYLVESTER H. THOMPSON. appointed commissioner; 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 years, 5 months and 17 days. Reorganization, New President, Etc. — For a full year, after the culmination of these dissensions, the college was without 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, was 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, Advkrsity, Etc. — Our limited space will not permit us to minutely follow the fortunes and misfortunes of the college, through the twenty-one years of President Pierce's administration.' The first ten years had been decidedly auspicious and prosperous, both in attenda'nce, efficiency of professors and tutors, and profi- ciencj' of pupils, as well as financially successful, considering the general monetary stringency of the last half of (that decade. But the last eleven years of President Pierce's incumbency were 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 largfe expenditure for new buildings, and in maintaining the new professorships w^hich had been established, (although no excessive salaries were paid,) had created a large permanent indebtedness (at one time as high as $28,000) which 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 emer- gencies, w^hich, though done in good faith, and with 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)' ■was 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 RKSIGNATION AND DEATH OF PRESIDENT HITCHCOCK. 831 personal effort was 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 wonder 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 w^as 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. TUDGE VAN RENSSELAER HUM- J PHREY,— born in Goshen, Con- necticut, July 28, 1800 ; common school education ; at 17 engaged in teaching, at the same time studying law under Theodore North, Esq., being admitted to the bar, September 26, 1820, while yet under 20 j^ears of age ; April 17, 1821, was married to Miss Stella Beach, of Goshen, the fol- lowing June einigrating 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 ability 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 inarried, 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 'f^//////:"' ■'///// " JUDGE VAN RENSSELAER HUMPHREY. are now living— Stella (now Mrs. ex- U. S. Senator Conger, of Michigan), 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. Theologicai, JDepartment Abolished. — Though the establish- ment of Western Reserve College, as a distinct institution, grew out of dissatisfaction with the arrangement which 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 COCNTY. 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 was such a dearth of subscriptions to its endow- ment fund, that it w^as 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, which success, even with the additional burdens placed upon him, was co-extensive with 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 means to place the institution on an endowment basis commensurate w^ith 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 would 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, afterwards, also, providing in his will for a bequest of $100,000 additional. Hudson People Justly Indignant. — To this proposition — munificent as was 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 — well and favorably known everywhere^ — -was really in the height of its usefulness, with 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 bj^ which it had been so long and so affectionatelj' 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 Colleofe Preparatory School four years ; 1858 to 1860, traveling- salesman for his father in -wholesale cracker business ; September 4, 1861, enlisted in regimental band of 2d O. V. C. ; discharged b}' general order No. 91, war department, September 4, 1862 ; tendered commission in 12th O. V. C, but, being needed at hoine, 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 j-ear entei'ed 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 meinber 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- CAPTAIX JAMES H. SEVMOUK. ber of Sherinau Post, No. (iS, G. A. R., post coniniander eight } ears, and post adjutant seven years, witli still higher honors in the' order, both State and National. In 1SS7, was elected treasurer of Summit county, and re-elected in 1889, serving four years. Captain Sej^mour was married Jul}- 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, however, the majority of the trustees voted to accept Mr. Stone's proposition and the transfer was made 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, Presiden-t 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, Rey. H. C^ Haydn, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Cleveland, was elected to the pret«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 own, in point of yearly attendance and graduations, with the venerable institution which it despoiled of its fair name and time-honored heritage. Hudson Still a Liteeary 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 follo'w 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 were 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 theological 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 -was concluded that woman -was the "Jonah" who was sinkingthe magnificent ship, and at the annual commence- ment in 1888, the trustees formally decided against co-education, but established a Ladies' Department, and so far as the writer 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 was proceeded with, the people of Hudson subscribing liberally, in lands, for right of way, money, etc., the road being finally completed from Cleveland to Hudson in the winter of 1851-52. pHARLES C. HINE— son of Hial V^" M. and Marj^ (Pease) Hine, was born in Twinsburg, Maj' 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 consecutive j-ears. 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. CHAKLES C. HINE. Meantime, the people of Hudson, Cuyahoga Falls and Akron had projected the " Akron Branch," now the Cleveland, Akron & Columbus railroad, on an amendment to the charter of the first named road, to which road, completed to Akron, in 1852, Hudson was 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 vsras to be one of the links of " The Great American Railway," from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific, was organized, in 1852, the people of Hudson were 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 which 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. Humphrey as principal trustee, like liberal investments were 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 t)y Hudson's public spirited inhabitants. These three projects, in the furtherance of which Hudson had literally turned her pockets inside out, -were 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 do-«vn, together with the difficulty of raising additional local subscriptions, or even collecting maturing installments upon those already made, necessitated the suspension of work on all the roads named, early in 1856. While most of the impoverished con- tributors have graduall}^ recovered from the financial embarrass- ments resulting therefrom, the three roads in question have since- remained in statu quo, the lands on which they were located hav- ing mostly, if not all, reverted to the original o-wners; 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 century 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 to^wnship is bucolic — almost literally so — for while her thousands of fertile acres are capable of gro-wing 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 we are pleased to note that within the past year many fine field* 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 wrought 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 worked up, by uniform and scientific processes, into merchantable cheese and palatable butter. Through the kindness of S. Straight & Co., we were 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 we condense as follows: 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 industrj' 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 would not fall much, if any, short of $50,000. Early Manufactures. — The first grist-mill, nearer than the Valley of the Ohio, accessible to the earlj' settlers of Hudson, wras ■at Newburg, erected in 1800, and access to this, through the dense forest, and over unbridged streams, was both difficult and danger- ous. The distance was but 22 miles, but three days' time — one in going, one in waiting for the grist and one in returning — were consumed in performing the journey. The first wheat 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 Hour, 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 -with 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 onlj' persons fond of fire-'water, even among the generally staid and sober pioneer settlers of Hudson. Several saw-mills ■were erected on the different streams running through the township and a number of tanneries -were also established, the jirst that of Owen Brown, father of the immortal John Brown, of Harper's Ferry fame, that hero, himself, also ■w'orking at the business for a number of years. The ashery business also, during ihe 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 al-ways 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 ihe 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, Avhich 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 -svas kept by Captain Heman Oviatt, in his log cabin, one mile sQuth of the center, trade being mostly with Indians, exchanging blankets, shawls, powder, lead, w^hiskey, etc^ for skins, which were transported on horses to Pittsburg, and his- 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 -with 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 following document copied from the records of Portage county is reproduced : "Received, Hudson, December 6th, 1800, of David Hudson, a certain three-year-old black cow 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 dwelling house, in good flesh unless said cow is killed by lightning; or in case I do not return said cow on that day, I am to pay for said cow in good merchantable, yard-wide linen brown cloth at 33% 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, ) „,-., "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 & Buss, Buss & Bond, Hart Brothers, John Buss, Sawyer, Ingersoll & Co., D. Marshall & Co., J. C. Snyder, I. C. Dow, Morrell & Ingersoll, Wm. M. Beebe, H. R. Seymour, M. Dewey & Co., Farrar & King, O. W. Farrar, N. V. Wadsworth, John Markilie, Richard Hanson & 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 town 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 well 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, stereot3'ping, book-binding, etc., requisite for successful competition with the best Eastern 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 working up the large amount of building material to meet the requirements of the boom. A large steam flouring mill w^as built and put in operation a little west of the present union passenger depot, by Henry A. Tallmadge and ex-Sheriff Le^vis M. Janes, afterwards transferred to ex-Sheriff Thomas Wilson, but a few- years later was destroyed by tire ; large butter, cheese and produce warehouses were established, near the old depot by J. C. Snyder and I. C. 13ow", 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 was 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 fallingoff 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 we are informed that within the past year or tw^o, Mr. Straight has sold the majority of his factories to other parties. Othkr Industries. — As an adjunct- to the immense business just written of, the cheese box and butter tub factory, of Mr. E. A. Osborne, established in 1870, with a capacity of about 300 boxes and 100 tubs per day, is -worthy 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 w^as 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 -was 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 Business 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. Beritley; stoves and tin-ware, 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; ne-ws 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 hj 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 west 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. Ashman; 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, WilUam 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 the27personswhohave 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 -with the great problems of grading, paving, sev^^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 irfterests of the com- munity, having, in connection -with the township, in 1878, '79, erected a handsome two-storj' brick town hall, 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 avail 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 AKEON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. was established in Cleveland, which after several changes wa& 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 February, 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 Slkdgk-Hammkr Episode. — The Observer was not only a profound religious sheet, and a good family newspaper, generally^ but it -was 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 w^ere 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, borrowing a heavy sledge, deliberately entered the Observer office and not only knocked the entire form into pi, but thorough ly crippled the press by demolishing the heavy cast-iron bed plate. It is not no-w remem- bered that any legal proceedings for damages were ever instituted against the wielder 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. Revivification. — Printing presses were not as readily obtain- able in those days as now; and the Observer ■was removed to Cleveland and consolidated with the Cleveland Journal, ^ev. O. P. Hoyt being associated with Mr. Clark as editor. The Journal was 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, when the office was destroyed by fire. For a short tiipne the paper was now printed at Cuyahoga Falls, but soon after- wards with a new oiitfit re-established in Hudson, and with many changes qf 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 Familjy 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 was in every way a first-class scientific, literary, religi- ous and agricultural family newspaper, but a quarter 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 CiU' 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. D., 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 ago discontinued. Hudson Gazette. Hudson's last local newspaper, a sprightly 32 column sheet, started November 23, 1888, by D. B. Sherwood & 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, w^e are entirely without data as to Hudson's part in the \\rar 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 written history has been handed do^vn. The people of the Western Reserve, of that day, were not otily 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 with their red-skinned neighbors. To this end, the able-bodied settlers of Hudson and vicinity were early organized into a military company, w^ith Amos Lusk as captain; this company with others, forming a battalion, w^ith George Darro-w 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 ne-ws 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 Wadsworth, and from thence, when the scare was over, to Old Portage, then the headquarters of the Reserve militia. Later, Major Darrow and his battalion were assigned to the work of opening a road through to Camp Huron, near Sandusky, 844 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. before completing which, learning of the trouble which the American troops were meeting with at the hands of the red-coats and red-skins, in the vicinity of Detroit, he hurried forw^ard 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 was ordered to Maumee, to assist in the building of Fort Meigs; the names of Zina Post, Eben Pease and James G. Bishop, only, being monu- naentally recorded, in the cemeteries of the township, so far as the writer is advised, as being soldiers in that ^var, though there must have been at least a score besides those herein named. In regard to the Mexican War, of 1846-48, we can find no historical indica- tion that Hudson furnished a single soldier. Education and Patriotism. — In the War of the Rebellion, ho'wever, Hudson -was 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 war, to say nothing of those who entered the service from the preparatory and medical departments, and of -whom 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, -with 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 Companj^, 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 the 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 twenty-three members of the preparatory school were in the army. Of Company B, Professor Charles A. Young (now 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 corporal; 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 88th 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 845 Cavalry; promoted to major, lieutenant colonel and colonel; after the War joined the Regular 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 were 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. Ellsworth, Harry Eggleston, James M. Foley, Charles Felton, Daniel Francis, Arby P. Farwell, Foster V. Follett, Henry Farwell, George W. Golden, ' George W. Gaylord, Nicholas D. Gilbert, Prosper Gott, Charles Harris, Jarvis Holcomb, L. F. Humiston, John F. Hitchcock, John C. Hart, Henry Hitchcock, Albert A. Herkner, Robert L. Hubbell, Al. Hinckston, Julius Harris, Marquis Holden, Henry Ward IngersoU (Band), Isaac Isbell, Albert Isbell, Edwin Ingersoll, William Jones, Edward King, Charles Lusk, Amos M. Lusk, E. Lusk, Charles Leach, Henry Leach, Russell Lucas, Joseph Morgan, Dwight Murray, J. McCulloch, Charles A. Miller, Andrew S. Miller, John Mehow, Andre-w 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 Row^e, Joseph Row^e, Jackson Rowe, Addison H. Richardson, J. B. Reed, Albert A. Ruger, William Rubbins, Foster Rubbins, Adam Rubbins, Elihu Richmond, Charles Robinson, Edward Seasons, Theron W. Smith, Joseph E. Smith, Alfred E. Smith, William B. Straight, Benja- min Sovacool, [Boston also claims this recruit, who was 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. Wads worth, 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, 846 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. 9th 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, Companj' 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. L. A., died at Tullahoma, Tennessee, March 21, 1864 ; F. O. Stone, 9th O. L. A., died at Somerset, Kentucky, March 1862 ; ■Charles W. Clapp, 29th O. V. L, died at Camp Giddings, Ohio, December 5, 1861 ; Marquis Holden, 1st O. L. A., killed at Lost M^ountain, 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 ; William 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 -were destroyed by fire in 1803 ; a year or two later removed to Northampton, where he embarked in a similar enterprise ; in 1807, removed to Middle- bury, where he became interested in a mill project, in company with 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 was attached to the third district, thus coming under Judge Hurtlphrey's jurisdic- tion, who served with 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 with honor to himself and his constituents for about one year, when 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 was 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 fuil term of two years. Sylvester H. Thompson, in October, 1859, was elected to represent Summit county in the lo'wer House of the General Assembly of Ohio, as the colleague of Hon. Alvin C. Voris, serving one full term of two 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 was 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 Ne wburg, 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 Octolaer, 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 Family- Visitor, 1852 to 1854; teacher in grammar 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; township 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, lo^wa, one of the most success- ful institutions of its kind in the United States. Charles C. Hine, a representative farmer of Hudson, was elected county commissioner in October, 1885, and re-elected in 1888 for six years, making in all respects a first-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 with 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; was 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 her sons have taken in the civil affairs of life, both local and general. • PRESENT OFFICIAL ROSTER— (1891). Village Officers. — Council, J"ohn 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 \V. 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, Matthew C. Read, Edward E. Rogers; constables, George W. Church, Thomas \V. 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 lower floor being his salesroom, the rear roorn his shop, the attic used for sleeping rooms, storage, etc. The next building north was Hinckston's dw^elling house and the building south was 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 tire had been purposely set, and pointing very strongly towards Hinckston, himself, as the incendiary, notwith- standing the fact that his own son, w^ith one of the workmen, occupied the sleeping room above, with no other means of egress than by the stairs under w^hich 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, w^ho 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 w^ere 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 AND SUMMIT COUNTY. once applied, the entire fabric would be almost instantly in flames. Had a fire thus got fairly started, with the limited fire extinguish- ing appliances Hudson then had, not onl3' Hinckston's three build- ings would have been burned, but the entire street, including the Mansion House, and the dwelling houseof Mr. D. D. Morrell, would 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 inflicting summary 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 warrant was issued by Justice M. C. Read, who, 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 o"wn got fairly started, was sufficient to hold him to answer to the grand jury, and he was so held. Esq. "V^oris 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 was 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 folio-wing session of the Legislature — 1859, '60 — in which Hon. A. C. Voris was Summit county's representative, and Hon. J. A. Garfield was the State senator from the Summit-Port- age district, the law 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 were thrown into the wildest 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 following 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 was a young man of the same nationality, in his 21st j^ear, whose 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 frequentl}' visiting THE DEADLY BLUDGEON. 851 IHudson, 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 Calnau, that he was fighting a little shy of both the young lady and of the village of Hudson itself. On Saturday, May 12, 1860, while Stepleton was en route from Mantua to Hudson, to spend the Sabbath, he met Maloney at Macedonia, and urged him to "come on down to Hudson where 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 w^as 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 wsely but too well" couple were accordingly joined in the bonds of holy wedlock by Father M. A. Scanlon, of Akron, pastor of St. Vincent De Paul's Church, on Sunday, May 13, 1860. While it does not appear that Mr. and Mrs. Maloney, were 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, -when he falsely told him she w^as not in Hudson. This was the status of the existing feeling between the hitherto warm friends, w^hen 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 iown also. On meeting, Maloney began to upbraid Stepleton for his per- fidy, 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 <:ompany 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 with 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 Ellen 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 two young men, -with Ellen Ryan and Ann Morris, about 10 o'clock reached the gate of President George E. Pierce, of the Western Reserve College, in -whose family Ellen Ryan lived.. 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 hy his voice as John Maloney. Plucky Ellen Ryan. — Even before the first blow was struck,. John Jones started upon a run towards 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 away 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 threw away his club and started on the run^ to-wards 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 was groaning, to his feet, but finding himi helpless and unconscious, laid his head upon the step, and then ■went for help. M. C. Read, Esq., with Doctor George P. Ashmun were soon upon the spot, with others of the neighbors, but by this- time life was found to be extinct. Arrest OF THE Murderer. — The news of the homicide spread from house to house with great rapidity, and, as might have been expected, caused the most intense excitement among the staid and peaceful denizens of Hudson. The m,urderer was almost imme- diately followed to Macedonia, where he w^as found in bed witb his young wife, as calm as though nothing extraordinary had occurred. He was taken into custody and conveyed to Hudson the same night, where he was kept, closely guarded, until Monday morning, w^hen, on preliminary examination before Justice Harry C. Thompson, he w^as held to answer for the crime of murder and duly committed to jail. Indictment, Trial, Sentence, Etc. — Though the May term of the Court ^vas still in session. Prosecuting Attorney McKinney did not deem it advisable to impanel a special grand jury, and the trial -was consequently postponed until the Noveniber term. At that term an indictment was returned, charging the defendant w^ith wilful 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 which to select the necessary number to try the case. The case -was 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 -witnesses, the arguments of counsel, the charge of the IMPRISONMKNT, 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 <:harge of Judge Carpenter, occupying a full hour in its delivery, was 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 penalt3'- 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 abpve 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, was the Life Convict, John Maloney. John was quiet, thoughtful and apparently exceedingly regretful for what he had done, freely expressing to the writer 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 won and continued to hold, the good will of the officers and those under whom 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, which 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, vi^ith the wife to whom he -was wedded under such adverse circumstances, he has since lived happily and uprightly, and is an industrious and respected •citizen of the community in which 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 whatever station or condition in life, will do w^ell to thoughtfully ponder and conscientiously heed. CHAPTER XXXIX. NORTHAMPTON'S BEGINNING — INDIAN AND FKONTIER MATTERS — PIONEER- 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. ^^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 townships. The Big Cuyahoga river traverses its entire length, north and south, in the western portion of the township. Bordering upon the river on either 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 lotterj^ scheme, or drawing, 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, Luther Loomis, David King, John Leavitt, Jr.^ Ebenezer King, Jr., Timothy Phelps, and Fidelio King, the six last named gentlemen being townsmen 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 w^ere some of the most extensive and important Indian mounds, fortifications and other works in the entire w^est, 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 militiar under command of General Elijah Wadsworth, of Warren, was stationed, in the vicinity of Old Portage, for the protection of the BOATS FOR COMMODORK PERRY. sria frontier; reinforced, after the cowardly surrender of his armj' at Detroit, by General William Hull, August 16, 1812, by a battalion of militia, under the command of Major George Darrow, of Hudson, one com^pany 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 boatwasbeinglaunched, and the third from the circum- stance that at the pineries, in Northfield, where the boats were being fitted with masts and spars, it w^as discovered that near the top of the tree selected for the mast of the boat in question, there was 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 ; came with familj^ to Ohio in 1802, his father, Simeon Prior, being- the first white settler in Northampton township, coining- by ox-teams to Lake Ontario ; from thence, in open boats, I'la Lalce 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, bravelj"- defended his cotintry in the War of 1812 ; on attaining his majority, j'oung Prior went South and pre-empted a tract of Congress lands,but shortly afterwards returned to Northampton, and purchased 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 j'ears holding commissions as justice 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, Henry W., Robert and Simeon — and three daughters, Susan, Katha- rine and Sarah, all now deceased, except Sarah, residing in Marysville, WILLIAM! PEIOR. Missouri. His second wife was Polly Culver, "who bore him two children — William, who died suddenlj^ at his home near Cuyahoga Falls, Septem- ber 7, 1891, aged 66 years, 4 months and 17 clays, and George W., killed in the battle of the Wilderness, Mav 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 lively interest against the United States. The first white family to take up their abode in the township, was 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 was built upon lot 25, some two mile^ further north. In the absence of proof to the contrary, it is presumable that the name of Northampton -was given to the township by this first settler, Simeon Prior, because of his migration from the near vicinity of the very pleasant town 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, while 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 was not until the close of the War of 1812, '15, that any considerable progress was made in the way of civilized settlement. A few families, however, 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, between 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 via 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 warehouse, at which large quantities of merchandise were 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 via 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. r^OL. 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 buying land and the flouring mill originally erected by Judge Aaron Norton, on the State TOad in Northampton. Active in local military affairs, as captain of an independent company, 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 fraternitj'. In 1810, he was married to Miss Almira Sprague, of Spring- COL. RIAL MCARTHUR. field township. Thej' 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 was 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, two or more commodious -ware-houses were erected, while, in about 1836, Peter Voris, Jr. (father of Judge A. C. Voris, of Akron), ■with two men named Henry and Snodgrass, laid out about lOO 858 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. acres, at the mouth of Yellow Creek, on the west side of the canals into a village plat, under the appellation of "Niles," which 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 mjje and a half northeast ; McArthur's Corners, about the same distance southeast, and at French's mill, between the two points, upon the State road, were also small hamlets, the latter point embracing a grist-mill — the first naill 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 waters of Mud Brook, a considerable stream, flowing from a beautiful little lake near the northeast corner of the township (mostly lying in Sto\\r) 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, while 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), ■who moved from New Jersey to Northampton in 1812, until his 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 dwelling 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, afterwards associating with himself Mr. Jesse HaySr 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 well 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-la-w, 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 De'wey established a saw-mill a quarter of a mile lower down the stream, but though a good mill, with 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 which 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, CHKESE, FLOUR, ETC. 859' 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, Cheese, Etc. — 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, which did quite a spirited business for a few years; but was afterwards con- verted into a castor oil factory, which proved too lajc a business to be remunerative, the site being subsequently covered by a cheese factory, whose operations, though probably far more palatable and wholesome, for some unknow^n reason proved unremunerative and the business was discontinued. NATHANIEL HARDY, SR.,— born in Massachusetts, October 11, 1796 ; when young, moved with parents to Western New York ; at 16 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 man}' years kept a hotel and small store at Yellow Creek Basin, after- wards called Niles, and now known as Botzum station. Later, Mr.* Hardy bought 250 acres of land, on the east side of the river, which he success- fully cultivated for many years, after- wards selling it to his sons, William and Norton R. Mr. Hardy served many years as justice of the peace and township trustee, and active in ridding the township of the early disreputable characters and practices elsewhere alluded to. About 1824, he was married to Miss Rebecca Reed, of Delaware, Ohio, w^ho 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 biographj^ 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 ; Mary NATHANIEL HARDY, SR. E., born September 25, 1836, now Mrs. Hiram J. Aj'res, of Akron ; Harriet, born July 3, 1840, now Mrs. Henry Hall, of Akron ; Clarissa, born April 20, 1842, now Mrs. Charles Walters, of Cujahoga Falls, and Nathaniel, Jr., born July 19, 1844, n o w of Akron. Mrs, Hardy died July 11, 1865, and Mr. Hardj^ 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 two sons, EdVard 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 whence, in a wooden flume, the waters of the brook were conducted to a twenty- foot over-shot wheel, by which the machinery of the mill was 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 ■withdra'wn, 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 w^ork, -when kept in proper repair, is at the present time (1891) Ij'ing idle. Remarkable Fecundity and Longevity. — It will be impossi- ble, from the data now available, to give the names of all the early settlers, or the date of their arrival in the township, 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 part of a couple of Northampton's pioneer settlers, Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Ellis. Mar- ried at the age of 14 years, Mrs. Ellis became the mother of twenty children; the first born when she was but 15, and the last when she was 65 years old. They afterwards removed to Michigan, where Mr. Ellis died, in 1879, at the patriarchal age of 100 years, while the prolific matron was 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 lo6al 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 were: 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 IN 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 few of its early inhabitants; its schools and religious appliances will compare favorably with 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 J^ of Nathaniel and Rebecca (Reed) Hardy, born in Northampton, April 11, 1831; in boyhood nicknamed " Commodore Perry," during the Mex- can War, because of his tenacity of purpose, changed 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 bountj' 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-officio member 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 honje; 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 Revolutionarj' 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- wards 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 went to Sandusky in defense of the frontier against the British- and Indians. In the Mexican War of 1836-38, no recruits "were 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-fiifth of -whom either laid down 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, Lewis D. Clements (died in service), George Chart, Willard Corey, William Culver, John Cackler, Alvin Cox, Oscar 'Chilson, Alexan- der Corey, Leroy W. Chase (killed in battle), Luther J. Chase, Dwight Croft, Rufus Cook (died in service), Almon Chase (died in rebel prison), E. Chilson, Siraion 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. Eatinger (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. McWayne, 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 Stnathers (died in service), William Smathers (lost on Sul- tana), John Shellhorn (died in service), Henry Simonds, Alexander Steel, Sherman Seymour, John Thompson, Ha'wthorn 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 to-wn- ships, two important county offices, onlj^, having been allotted to her, as follo\es: Sullivan S. Wilson, in 1858, hitherto a highly respected and prosperous farmer, near the center of the to^vnship, 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. Crouse, with the simple remark: "I've got through." To Mr. Grouse's inquiry as to -svhat 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 vsras an elopement the same night that he handed the keys over to Auditor Crouse, the eloping couple taking refuge in a neighboring Western State, living 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 immediately summoned by Auditor Crouse, were found to be intact, with 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. Crouse 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 C. 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 Industeies. — Farming, stock-raising, dairying and fruit-gro-wing 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\7hat exten- sive lumbering operations with portable steam-driven saw-mills in different portions of the township. There are at the present time (1887) t-wo 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, v^ith satisfactory results. [Since the above was w^ritten, Mr. Samuel McNeil has become the proprietor of the Hawkins' Station plant, w^hich, 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, vsrhileitis estimated that fully $3,000 w^orth 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, while fruits and the production of almost every variety of vegetables, grain, etc., serve to make Northampton, not- withstanding its natural physical disadvantages, and its former questionable moral status, one of the most prosperous townships of Summit county. NORTHAMPTON'S OFFICIAL ROSTER (1891.) Trustees, Edward Donohue, Frederick Harrington, Ada«n Botzum; clerk, William Kline; treasurer, Wallace Scott; justioT' ^6f th£ peace, Henry W. Howe, A. L. Hart; constables, Edwirr^ B. IL|.;we, Wjilliam Voss; postmasters, Henry W. Howe, Ira, (Hawkins' f'^^ition); Jacob P. Harris, Buckeye, (Botzum Station) ;^Adah Roose, ester, (Steele's Corners.) NORTHAMPTON'S CRIMINAL RECORD. The killing of the canal driver, Nathan Cummins, in 1832, by Abner S. Harris, 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, with the traditional killing of one or two troublesome Indians within the township, 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 township. In minor crookedness, ho^wever, her early history, if fully w^rit- ten up, would 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 burg- 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: THK DUNN-WHIPPLE HOMICIDE. 8()r> Patrick Dutvn was born in Tipperary count3', 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, where he remained a few months, when, 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 faithfullj^ 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- w^est part of the township of Northampton. Dunn w^as rather small of stature, quiet and pleasant in his bearing, and industrious and economical in his habits, Mrs. Dunn being somewhat more sprightly and sociablj^ inclined, with little or no education and refinement, but withal 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 farin in her name, both jointly working faithfully for its improvement for several years. Beginning of the Trouble. — Family matters appear to have go''e along smoothly enough, until about 1875, or 1876, when dii 2nces seem to have arisen between the husband and the wife, the ^xact nature of which is unknown to the writer. In these d' "-, ferences their oldest child, and only son, Harrj^ W., then so ue 17 i >-. 18 years of age, seems to have sided with his mother, while certai of the neighbors also appeared to take quite a lively interest ir 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, owners 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 wrords had ensued between Dunn and Mix, in regard to the matter, and when finally, while standing vacant in the Fall of 1876, the shanty was 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 Dunn, before Justice Abial L. Waite, charging Dunn with arson, placing the value of the burned shanty at $50 and, largely on the strength of the testimony of the wife and son, Dunn was 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 Newell 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 AKKOX AND SUMMIT COL'.XTY. guilty, 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. Pktition for Divorce. — These accusations and proceedings very greatly augmented the family discords, and undoubtedly drew forth many hard w^ords from Dunn, and equally spirited retorts from the wife and the grown up son, Harry, the oldest daughter, Mary, then about 15 years old, partially siding with 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 with gross neglect of duty for three years last past, and with extreme cruelty, and praying that she be granted a decree of divorce, with 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 w^hich 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 w^orked 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 wife, the son and oldest daughter, a number of the neighbors testified against Dunn, Elisha 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 alimonj', 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 was entered accordingly. 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 Elisha Whipple whom he regarded as very largely 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. Edward McCauley, in the south part of Hudson township. Here he faithfully worked until the latter part of October, when lie 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 HIMSKLF WITH A REVOLVKR. 867 Lingering Affection for Family. — Though working faithfully, ^nd at times manifesting considerable cheerfulness, Dunn talked £i 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 woman, 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 was 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 vsras a balance of some $20 or $25 due from Dunn to him on some previous business transactions, the validity of which 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 wages, 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 vsrhich, if not inspiring in the breast of Dunn a spirit of vengeance at least caused him to anticipate trou.ble 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 Du.nn visited Hudson Village, where he bought from Mr. John L. Chapman a «mall 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. JVEcCauley 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 with 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 wife, who 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 west road, and 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 Elisha 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- nantlj' inquired what he (Whipple) was doing there? Maddened at the vile name applied to him, Whipple rushed upon Dunn, and being much the 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, w^ere Mrs. Dunn through the open door, and the little four-year-old girl; Mrs. Dunn afterwards testifying that Dunn crifed " 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 were no w^itnesses to what followed, except that Mrs. Dunn saw Dunn rush past the window followed by Whipple. 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 own life he drewr 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 who had climbed to the window, Mrs. Dunn ^rose 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, w^hich w^as then lying upon its back. Dunn, who in the struggle to free himself from the weight 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, w^here 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 foUow^s: James 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 testimonj' of Harry Dunn, Catharine Jones (the late Mrs. Dunn), Frederick Hart, Merwin Gibbs and Drs. J. M. Crafts and W. S. Hough, was INDICTMKNT, 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 t)reast 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 warrant 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 writer's very efficient jailor at that time. Indictment, Trial, Etc. — At the May term of the Court of Common Pleas, 1879, Ju4ge 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. Thompson, John Allen -and A. V. Amerman. A "true bill " charging the defendant with premeditated and malicious murder w^as returned. On this indictment the prisoner was arraigned on the 23d day of June, 1879, entering a plea of not guilty. Gen. Alvin C. Voris and Gov. Sidney Edgerton defending, £Lnd Hon. Henry McKinney, of Cleveland, assisting Prosecutor Stuart, on behalf of the State. Obtaining a Jury. — A full day and a half was 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. L. 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 \\ard; •George F. Kent, Sixth Ward; and Smith Pangborn, Fourth Ward. The examination of vs^itnesses 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 were made by either, elaborately explaining to the jury "the different 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, who, 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 -were recharged by Judge Tibbals upon that point. At 2:35 p. M., the jury, through their foreman, Mr. David Hansconir 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 a-ware 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 solemnlj^ 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 jury, a proceeding" that -would have invalidated the verdict, had it been kno-wn, and advantage- taken of it at the time, and, if so, is it yet too late for the friends of the pris- oner to make it available in his behalf? Pronouncing Sentence. — No motion for a ne-w 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 -was proceeding to comment on the fearfulness of the offense -which had been committed, and the presumption that when a man thus took the la-w into his own hands to redress a real or supposed provocation, the party .must be a desperate character, and unsafe as an associate for his fellow men. At this point Dunn again spoke: " I had no idea, Your Honor, -when I went to my -wife's houser 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. When I SEXTEXCE, 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 irrevocablj-, 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 secrecy with which it was done, indicate that. The fact that the difficulty arose in a sudden quarrel, whether provoked by Whipple or not, and that then you decided to carry out your, purpose, justified the jury in finding as thej' did, and 1 ain 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 when 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 wanted 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. It 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 your 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 what 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 gloomily asseverated that he 872 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. would 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 finally, on the, suggestion of his friends, who 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 July, 1879, with 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 was done, together -with the fatal bullet, as w^ell as the uuexploded cartridges, to the w^riter, by whom 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 bj^ those, for w^hom 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 whether 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 an3^- thing about " them fellows," but he did know me, and he would prefer to have me keep it for him, and he would write me from time to time how 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, w^hich 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 moneA' with 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. Dunn's order, and if she would 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 "them fellows," he ordered the money sent to the prison authorities to be placed to his credit on the books of that institution, which vsras accordingly done on the 29th day of October, 1880, my receipt to Dunn having been duly returned to me by Warden Noah Thomas; the disposition since made of said funds being to the writer unknown.. The divorced wife — 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 THK KILLING OF JOHN TEDROW BY THOMAS BROOK. 873 ihe fearful tragedy, of which, then but four years old, she was the -only eye-witness. *" Dunn's Prison RKCORD.^On his first commitment, Dunn was assigned to the clothing department, where he was employed in keeping the uniforms of his fellow-convicts in repair, but whether he is still doing that comparatively light and easy work 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 or 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^nd 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; afterwards for many years called ''Niles," and upon the advent of the Valley railway, rechristened "Botzum" — vsras fully described earlier in this chapter, besides being often referred to in connection with the doings of sundry distinguished characters who 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 -waterways and railway 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- dle life, was the keeper of a boarding house, or house of enter- tainment, in the original hotel building, on the east side of the •canal, north of the road leading to the covered bridge across the river. Thomas Brook, an Englishman 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 two or three years, making his home with his brother, Mr. John Brook, who, as tenant, was work- 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, who had resided in the neighborhood some six or seven years, working wherever he could find employ- ment among the farmers of the vicinity. Tedrow was a good worker, and when sober -was pleasant and -well-liked by those who ■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, with a white companion, had been to Akron, from whence 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, where Tedrow's drunken "pleasantnesses"" began to manifest themselves in seizing hold of landlord Thomas, and roughly pushing and pulling him about; pushing or knock- ing Thomas Brook from the porch and falling upon hinir 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. »A.fter 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 Ellen 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, Ellen 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 Ellen 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 commenced jerking him around. Seeing her lover menaced, Ellen 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, Ellen Thomas between the two men^ Tedrow received a severe blovsr 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 Examination. — The ax, with which the fatal blow^ w^as struck, belonged to Charles Thomas, and, as stated by him, ■was left as usual, the evening before, at the -wood-pile, some 50 feet distant from the house, and the question was, by whom atid for what purpose was 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 f^om 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, charging 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 await 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 being 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 homicides of the world, in that it is directly the result 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 more 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. Voris 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 defendant, Thomas Brook, guilty of murder in the second degree, as charged in the indictment, but we 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 which was that the verdict was not warranted by the evidence. This motion, after being" fully argued pro and con. by counsel, was overruled by Judge Tibbals, w^ho immediately, in impressive language, especially animadverting on the folly and danger of indulging in intoxicat- ing liquors, the use of which, as developed by the testimony, wa& directly the cause of the crime under consideration — sentenced the defendant to twelve years imprisonment in the penitentiary. Parole, Subsequent Life, Etc. — Peaceable and quiet through- out, Brook was 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, where 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 REMAKABLE CAREER— WONDERFUL ROMANCE OF CRIME. THE COUNTERFEITERS OF THE CUYAHOGA. A WORK of this character w^ould most certainly be very incom- -^^ plete without a pretty full history of the life and operations of our late fellow-citizen, James Brown, commonly know^n as -"Jim" Brown, and incidentally something of his subordinates and lieutenants. And yet so much has been written and published by parties -wholly unacquainted with Mr. Brown and his doings, and «uch 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 remarkably 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 would 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, ^vhich has given to him world-wide 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 ye,ars -of the struggle. After the close of the war he settled in what is now Livingston county, N. Y., where he engaged in farming, and where he was soon afterwards married. Here his two 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 presertt 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 PROSTRATKD BY LIGHTNING. 877 the west side of the Cuyahoga river, a little below the present village of Boston. Here Mr. Brown 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 well-known fellow-citizen, Hiram H. Brown), then 20 years old, remained one Winter with Judge Kirtland, attending school at Youngstown, the next Spring following the family to Boston, where for several years he worked upon his father's farm. He enlisted as a soldier in the War of 1812, and at the close of the war w^as 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 were apt scholars, however, -which, 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 tq 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, between Pittsburg and New Orleans, inter- spersed with occasional trips to the Eastern 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, with 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 west side of the river, a little below^ the present Boston bridge. Here, too, in 1825 or 1826, James built a t-wo-story frame store-house, and, with one William G.Taylor, of Cleveland, embarked in trade, with 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 was 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 afterwards presided over as landlord for several years. While sitting in his door one day when a terrible thunder- sto'rm was 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 Mras prostrated by the stroke, and for a considerable time remained insensible, but was finally restored to consciousness, and his usual health and vigor, Avith no permanent marks of the fear- ful visitation remaining upon his person. It ^waa 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 Appearanck, 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 tw^o inches, straight as an arrow, with rather a dark complexion, black or very dark brown hair and black, deep-set penetrating eyes. Though not corpulent, his frame was 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 earlj' times, and his traffic therein as merchant and inn- keeper, his ow^n early habits in that regard w^ere 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, ihe two brothers were first initiated into the mystic art of illicit financiering, can novsr 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 Valley, with the two Browns, as its leaders. Their principal coadjutors, in this vicinity, were Wil- liam G. Taylor, of Cleveland, Abraham S. Holmes 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; w^ith 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 knov.^n, 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 w^ay, the products of those experiments. A Mammoth Scheme. — At the time about which we are now writing, 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 current in every country on the globe with which 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, with horses, with the view of resuming his trading operatioris 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 was, -that instead of placing the spurious United States notes they w^ere 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 -world. 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 were let into the secret. Pro- ceeding to New Orleans, in the Winter of 1831, '32, a large vessel w^as 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, silks and other merchandise, to be disposed of in the various ports of Europe and America. Several thousand dollars worth of export merchandise, suited to Oriental trade, was placed on board the vessel, with $1,500,000 of the spurious notes, together with material and the necessary apparatus for turning out $2,000,000 more. In addition to the o-wners, and the cre-w proper, for the man- -agement of the vessel, a number of artists, expert penman, etc., -were included in the company 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 Avould be safe from both detection and pursuit, and its final success assured beyond a peradventure. The Expedition Comes to Grief. — As several months would elapse before they would again stand upon terra £rnia, or revel in the delights of city life, the two whilom mercantile partners, "Jim" Brown and ''Bill" Taylor, w^ent on shore in the evening to •"paint the town red." Ne-w Orleans -was at that time, as perhaps it still is, a pretty "gay" city — with 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 wealth, in treating them- selves and others, and certain extravagances of action and speech, attracted the attention of the police. Being tl^enceforth shadowed, ■when, late at night, they were 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 Browns and Taylor — were held for trial. Taylor, through friends in Cleveland, secured bail, and he and one Henry 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 was 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 w^itnesses. were in attendance. Mrs. Lucy Mather Brown, -wife of James Brown — a finer w^oman than whom 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, however, 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, nov,' in possession of the w^riter, being singularly reticent on the subject. General Bierce, in his "historical reminiscences," says: "James Brow^n was used as a witness against Taylor, who vras acquitted, and became a vagabond on the earth," w^hile other accounts state that Taj^lor was convicted, and imprisoned on Brown's testimony. Mr. Hiram H. Brow^n's recollection (though not on the ground himself) is that Taylor arranged with the prosecutor to turn State's evidence against his uncle "Jina," and that his aunt Lucy had come on to Cleveland and obtained a large number of affidavits from well-known reputable citizens, tending to impeach Taylor's character for veracity, with w^hich she was returning to New^ 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 -wrest the papers from her by force and vio- lence; that both Brown and Taylor were acquitted on the charge of counterfeiting, upon the technicality that it did not appear that they intended to utter their spurious money vrithin 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 eithei:, of these theories is the correct one, cer- tain it is that Brown immediately returned to his home in Boston, while 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 w^as accordingly done. Elected Justice of the F*eace. — Returning from 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-kno-wn 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, while the writer was temporarily sojourning at Ravenna, and afterwards in his frequent calls at Mr. C. B. Cobb's Pavilion House, where the writer boarded during his first two years' residence in Akron; and from thenceforth, his movements and operations will be written of from personal know^ledge, newspaper reports and official records. Traditionary Exploits. — There are innumerable traditions extant regarding his wonderful powers 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 was established, the court deciding that, with the fastest mode of travel then kno'svn, no living man could have performed the journey in the time intervening between 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 la-w. Whatever the pro- portion of fiction and reality these legends contain, each reader must judge for himself, as the writer 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 hiir^self, it was for several years general headquarters for himself and his "friends." Early in 1839, Brown built for himself a family residence, on the south-west corner of State and Bowery streets, some two or three years later transferring the property to William S. C. Otis, Esq,; the house, vsrhile 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 writer, 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 what 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 Richfield. Hitherto, since the collapse of his Chinese enterprise, Brow^n, in the var3'^ing vicissitudes of the gang, had managed to keep out of the clutches of the law himself, but now immunity and impunity both receive a sudden check. Another Mammoth Scheme. — In February, 1838, "Jim" was arrested in Akron, charged w^ith 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" Brown was taken before Jus- tice Jacob Brown, 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 witnesses were not forthcoming, and Brown was discharged, his connection with 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, w^as one Jona- than DeCourcey, a tavern keeper at Johnson's Corners, in Norton township, and one of the Brown's most trusted lieutenants. Finding himself fairly in the toils, DeCourcey sought immunity FIRST START TOWARDS THK "PEN." 883 l)y turning informer against his principal. Brown -was accord- ingly arrested by Constable Hurlbut, of Richfield, and examined before Justice James \V. 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 renewed, with 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, with Abel T)ickinson 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, -with 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 Brown's trusted henchmen, William Hicks, of Canal Fulton, he managed to give i;he officers the wink, and both DeCourcey and his escort were overhauled and brought back to Medina and lodged in jail in time for trial; Brow^n also being taken into custody on a Bench war- rant, and lodged in jail. Convicted and Started for the " Pen." — The trial of Brown iinallycame off early in March, 1839, and though the most eminent counsel of the time were employed in his defense, and though every effort was made to break do^wn 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. Ax 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 Brunswick to Medina, meeting Mather midway, about an hour before sunset. The clay roads of that vicinity were then almost impassable, making travel- ing very slow, and on my suggesting that, as they would probably start Brown tow^ards Columbus early in the morning, he could hardly make it, he replied that he had relays of horses provided, and would be sure to get back to Medina before daylight the next jnorning. 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 Brown 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 two assistants, immediately started for Columbus. Simul- taneous -with the starting of the coach, another swift 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 Thkm. — 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 -was pulling out of Loudouville, 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 wend their way back to Medina, where they arrived at just about the same hour of leaving the evening before ; the -writer meeting and "greeting" them about midway 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 "was again called for trial, but the main witness for the State — the slippery DeCourc^ — was found to be non est, having finally been " spirited a-way," re- sulting in a continuance of the case, until the March term, 1840, -when 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 with Brown's Medina trial: Constables Culver and Hurlbut had but one horse between them, on ^vhich 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 when he came up. Hurlbut, being fond of practical jokes, failed to get tired, until he reached Richfield, leaving the owner 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, "Jini" Brown, directing where 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 Howard street, in Akron. Finding the money as indicated. Mills, under a warrant issued upon the affidavit IN THE GRIP OF "- UNCLK 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 w^as duly found, and the day for the trial fixed. A jury was inapaneled and the witnesses were called, all of whom responded but Mr. Willard W. Stevens. The main witness for the State had "mysteriously" disappeared and the memories of those who were 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" Brown. Stevens never again returned to Summit county, but spent sev- •eral years in Georgia, after-wards rejoining his family in Western New York, where 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 ■cases above written 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 fellow^s. Uncle Sam Grapples With Him. — His immediate active coadjutors — Asvalked 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 was all right. It was 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 was all right. Notwithstanding the finding of the Grand Jury that Pierce was insane, no steps -were taken towards sending him to the Insane Asylum, and he confined to carry on his grocery business, with his customary diligence, at Wolf Creek Lock. Though still giving frequent manifestations of mental unsoundness, nothing serious happened for about two years, when 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 \frith 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 would 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 was immediately apprehended, by Constable Merrick Burton, of Akron, and taken before Justice William L. Clarke, of Akron, -wrho, 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 w^ith 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 oJE the court, w^hich was granted. At the November term, a long and exciting trial was had, the costs in the case amouuting 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, when he was taken to the county Infirmary, where he was confined for over a quarter of a century, a good share of the time in a separate cell, to prevent his doing injury to others, 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 was sold by Sheriff Burlison, in February, 1866, for $960, of which amount, after satisfying the judgment and costs, $326.50 w^as 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 ■well 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, was carrying on quite an extensive stoneware POSTOFFICE BURGLAR KILLED. 925 manufactory at New 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 watching, 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, Corwin, on the night of November 4, 1869, Mr. Welch entered upon his vigil. No disturbance occurring, about 1 o'clock Mr. Welch sent Corwin 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, Tvent out. Not recognizing his visitor, in thiat momentary flash, Welch raised his gun and fired in the direction where 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 belo'w 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 witnesses, 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 follows: "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, v^randered a"way from home, and, as it afterwards appeared, traveled west to Wadsworth, north to Sharon, east to Copley, and northerly, again, in a zig-zag course through Bath, into Richfield, -where 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 was searched for in the neighbor- hood, by the parents and neighbors, but vsrithout 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 whereabouts or fate. On Sunday, in the neighboring churches, the little one's loss was proclaimed, persons who 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 ans^ver to inquiries, she had told the family who 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 word 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 wranderer, the demonstrations were very marked and enthusiastic, indeed — the wonder, 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 who noticed her — a strange child, and alone — as she traversed the several to^vnships and neighbor- hoods, on her long and devious journey. DR. JOHN HILL,— born in Hast- ings, Sussex county, Eng-land, October 26, 1823 ; came with parents to America in 1828, settling' near Utica, New York; removed to Orange, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, in 1832 ; the familygoing" thence to Illinois in 1843. With such education as the schools of the vicinity afforded, after teach- ing a few j^ears, 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 May, 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,continuingstudies atjefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, grad- uating therefrom in March, 1856; prac- ticed medicine one year in Sharon, Medina county ; March 26, 1857, ixiar- 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- vatio-n of his fine farm at that place ; elected county cominissioner in 1870, 1873 and 1876, serving' nearly nine years ; elected State representative in DE. 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 month 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. Henr}^ Van Hyning, a native of the State of New York, who 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 will be remembered that there were but few accessions to the population of the township until after the close of that-war, 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, however, Norton was well repre- sented, furnishing her full quota under the several calls, mostly 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. CTEPHEN D. MILLER,— born Julj- »^ 19, 1827, in Northampton countj^ Pennsylvania ; common school edu- cation ; raised a farmer ; in 1843; removed with parents to Ohio, set- tHng in Norton ; November 6, 18.54, married to Marj' Ann Musser, three years his junior, who bore him six children, as follows : Sarah Jane (now Mrs. Columbus Seiberling), born Juljr 1, m^'i ; Albert, May 21, 18'59 ; Norman F., October 26, 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 Seiberliug, Miller & Co., of Doylestown, for some 15 years. Though an earnest Republican, ever in the minoritj' in Norton, Mr. Miller was often honored with important township offices ; during the War, was two 3'ears 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. Infirmar}-. Faithful to every public and private obligation, his sudden death, at the age of 62 years, 2 months and 25 days, was universallj^ 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 the 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. Hewitt, 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, La-wrence 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 Sha^v, 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, William 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 to^ssrnship, 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. Gkorge Kirkum, Esq., son of Philemon Kirkum, one of Nor- ton's earliest settlers, and at whose house the first election ever had in "Wolf Creek township" was held, and at which he ■was elected town clerk, gre'w from a small boy to manhood in Norton town- ship. Reading law with 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 owned and occupied by Mr. Benjamin McNaughton, corner of East Middle- bury and Kirkwood streets. In 1842, Mr. Kirkum was elected prosecuting attorney for the new county of Summit, serving for two years, with marked ability, when, in 1844, he was elected as representative to the State Legislature, serving through the session of 1844, '45, with great acceptance to his constituents. A few years later Mr. Kirkum moved to the city of New York, and NORTON S CIVIL SERVICB. 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 257 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 inDoylestown,Wayne county, as an employe of the mower, reaper and binder firm of Cline, Seiberling- & Co., established in 1860; in 1865, 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 -svelfare 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 with marked fidelity and good judgment. Dr. John Hill, on the close of his third term as commissioner, was in October, 1879, elected as representative to the State Legis- lature, where, 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 western portion of the township, -was during the War one of Internal Revenue Collector John E. Hurlbut's most efficient deputies for Summit county, and -was 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. 59 930 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 management of farm and saw inill, 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 EUwood, of which he is general manager, being also a stockholder in tlie Hartford City (Indiana) Glass ^vorks, and owner of a fine hundred acre farm in Norton. November 6, 1862, he w^as married to Miss Sarah Miller, daughter of John Miller, who settled in Nortotl, in 1843. They have had ten children, eight of wfiom are now living — Emma, Alton, Katha- SAMUEL HARRISON MILLER. SAMUEL 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 '* #k '^ \ MONROE SEIBERLING. rine, Ella, Frederick, Laird, George and Grace. Mr. Seiberling is an earnest Republican, and an active inember 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 Kokoino, Indiana. 15, 1863, engag-ed as bookkeeper with Cline, Seiberling- & Hower, manufac- turers of reapers and mowers, at Doylestown, Ohio ; September 1,1865, became a member 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, Montgomery county, Pennsjdvania, 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 ; Sidn ey 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'LISTKR-WELSH TRAGEDY. 931 In the mining district of Norton township, two boys, Joseph "Welsh and Robert McLister, grew up together as playmates and iellow-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 w^hich 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 were 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 two young men, provoked, it was said, by Welsh, in w^hich McLister, on being attacked, struck Welsh upon the head with a billiard cue, he, in turn, being knocked down and otherwise .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 would "cut his heart out of him the first tinae he met him," etc. Evidently fearing to remain in the saloon, McLister slipped out of the back door and went 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, however, 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 coat, 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 •causing him to fall to the ground. Without waiting 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 walked 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 was 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 COIfNTY. 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, w^hile at the same tirhe 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., with several companions, when Welsh w^as seen approaching by Williams w^ho 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 Awanted 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, when, 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 with you!" Williams, the saloonkeeper, and his- brother-in-lavs^, 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 weapon from his hip pocket. At this point McLister fired two 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 v^^all 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 wildest of excitement throughout the entire neighborhood. McLister made no attempt to escape, but later the same night was 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 3.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 •Grand 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 shooting 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 _grand 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 w^ere 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 was 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 was 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 £Lt 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. jyriller, John Stutz, T. N. Ganyard, E. P. Holloway and Henry Pederick. 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 iact 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, while 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 two 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, when 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 follow^ing 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 newly discovered evidence material for the defendant, which he could not -with reasonable diligence have dis- covered and provided for; 4th error of law in the sustaining hy the court of the State's demurrer to the defendant's plea in abate- ment of indictment; 5th errors of law occurring at the trial. The motion for a new trial being overruled. Judge Green pro- ceeded to sentence the defendant as follows: "Robert McListee, you may stand up. Have you anything further to- say why the sentence of the law should not be pronounced ?" The prisoner making- no replj', Judge 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, by shooting- Upon being arraigned, you entered a plea of not guilty, and you were put upon trial before an intelligent and impartial jury. Your defense was con- ducted bj' 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 degree — 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, the)' were compelled to return. It now becomes my painful dutj' to pronounce the judginent the law prescribes for your crime.' It is that you be taken hence to the common jail of the county, and that j'ou there be safely kept^ and within thirty days you be taken from thence to the penitentiary of this State, and that there you be imprisoned during life." The prisoner received his sentence without apparent emotion,, and, Avithout being hand-cuffed, accompanied the officer quietly back to the jail, where, with conduct every way becoming the gen- tleman that he naturally is, he remained until the 11th day of March, 1885, vsrhen he was removed to the penitentiary at Colum- bus, by Sheriff William B. Gamble. Thus, through evil associations and habits, in the very bloom 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 portals of his prison-house, as, afteran 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 way, 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. SINCE 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 vie^ of founding thereon a new manufacturing city, the fee of the entire purchase being at first vested in Mr. Albert T. Paige, and subsequently transferred to the attorney 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 water 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 was 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." dlHaving thus quietly perfected their plans, liberal inducements were 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. Grouse, 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. i I May 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 wife, 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 Improvernement Company, and the number of $100 shares of the $240,000 capital stock held by each, is as follows: Ohio C. Barber, 300; 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 new city are simply perfect. BARBERTON INN. As illustrative of what 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, we note its present business status as follows: Branch of American Strawboard Company. — Capital $6,000,000, w^ith Ohio C. Barber, as its president, occupies 40 acres of ground with four brick buildings, 70x300 feet each; one 30x100 feet; two 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 works. The National Sewer Pipe Company. — Capital $250,000, the larg- est w^orks of their kind in the world; 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. Paige. HOUSES FOR WORKMEN. J?e/iJi{aro'£N6 f- ■> 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; XDharles 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) fiavorably pro- gressing. Barbeeton 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, rail"way 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 works 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 EICHFIELD — EARLY SETTLERS — PIONEER INCIDENTS — RESOURCES— RIVALRIES, ETC.— PUBLIC SPIRIT— MILITARY OPERATIONS, ETC. — SPLENDID CIVIL RECORD— THE BIG SLEIGH RIDE OF 18.56— RICHFIELD'S GREAT RE-UNION OF 1880 —CRIMINAL MATTERS —A SINGULAR CASE OF LUNACY— HUNTER-GARGETT TRAGEDY, ETC. RICHFIELD'S BEGINNING. RICHFIELD, 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 afterwards was 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 "drawing" 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 township, -were Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge, Captain John Smithy Uriel Holmes, J. Wilcox and two others named Edwards and Green, all of Connecticut, none of w^hom, 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 township,. 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 western portion is more level and abounds in fertile and nicely cultivated farms, being especiallj^ adapted to the raising of fine stock and the growing of choice fruits. At first, Richfield was attached to Boston and several other townships in electoral and official matters, but was 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 will disclose the fact that at least three persons were elected to two offices each. Up to this time the justices of the peace elected in Boston township, of which 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 wa% elected justice, his commission (still in the family) bearing date July, 1816. A/TAJOR NORRIS HUMPHREY,- -l-'-l born in Canton, Hartford county, Connecticut, August 14, 1806 ; emi- grated with parents to Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1816 ; educated in district schools ; learned blacksmith- 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 sixty years ; helped to organize first militia com- pany of the township, becoming 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 Acadeiuy, etc., with the strictest fidelity, lacking a few votes only of receiving the nomi- nation for State Representative, in 1869. Mrs. Humphrey died Januarj^ 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 jears), 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 (married 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 mental facul- ties, the following document testi- fying to the major's earlier militarj- " prowess," above alluded to : To NoREis 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 you, and are accountable for any misdemeanor in you as Corporal. Given under my hand at Vernon, this 2d day of September, 1821. C. H. WILCOX, Captain. Early Settlers, Incidents, Etc. — The first white settler, according to Dr. A. E. Ewing and Schuyler R. Oviatt, was 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 i&ct that both townships were 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. Bro^wn, 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 township. 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, however, settlement was quite rapid, sq_that by the organization of the township 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 were 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 township was 1,253, being an increase of 145 in the forty years ; though midway 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 1880, 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 with eminent New England 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 library company in Richfield, soon accumu- lating quite a larg-e collection of valuable books ; aided in subduing the wilderness, erecting the regula- 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 Tiouses, 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 year, 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 ^nd incidents says of "Old Dave Smith," a noted local story-teller, that he once boasted that while himself and others were mowing in a field a deer rushed past them, the mowers 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 was so prone to "mix" things, that the church took him in hand on the charge of lying, when he Jiumbly bfegged 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 world, and I have shed barrels and barrels of tears over it, but 1 can't get over the habit." Business Resources, 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 was a church, one or two 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. DK. 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 energj', Dr. Wilcox was among the most highly respected of Richfield's many 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 was secured, churches instituted, manufac- tures inaugurated, etc., until at one time, in the early forties, Rich- field was one of the very snappiest inland points in Northern Ohio, not only stimulating the general prosperity of the township 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, with several contiguous townships, 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 township. Besides the usual complement of well-attended district schools, Richfield, in 1836, established a well-equipped academy, in a commodious building erected for that purpose between the two villages, which was liberally patronized, not only by the peo- ple of the townsliip, but many pupils from abroad were here educated, many of whom, without 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 beeu replaced by a handsome and still more commodious structure. JUDGE NOAH M. HUMPHREY,— J born in Goshen, Connecticut, June 18, 1810 ; educated as farmer's boy during' minority ; in September, 1833, came to Ohio, entering law office of Humphrey & Hall, in Hudson, studying- three years, teaching- school winters ; admitted to bar, in Medina, September 5, 1836 ; began practice with Van R. Humphrey and Harvey Whedon, under firm naine of Hum- phre5',Humphrey &Whedon, changed a year later (on appointment of Van R. Humphre3" to president judge- ship), to Humphre3' & Whedon. Sep- tember 24, 1840, was married to Miss Velina Hannum, of Brecksville, set- tling in Richfield, in addition to legal work, teaching, farming-, dealing- in stock, etc. ; in 1852, '53, represented Summit county in State Legislature ; in 1854 elected probate judge, remov- ing to Akron in Spring- of 1855; re-elected in 1857, serving six years. Mrs. Humphrey dying Septeinber 24, 1855, on January 12, 1859, Judge Hum- phrey was again married, to Mrs. Elizab.eth Young, daughter of the late David Allen, of Akron ; in Fall of 1862, reinoved to Taylor's Falls, Chisago county, Minnesota, where he has since continuously resided, and where he ha.s received many 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 hoine, in "Fergus Falls, Minnesota, April 18, 1885. RiCHFiELu'.s Religious Status. — Originally settled bj' Puritanic- stock, i?ichfiekl has, from the first, been duly observant of religious- worship, and tile 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 remained 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 liberal contributions of all the people of the township, aided bj^ generous donations from former residents living elsewhere, among the latter being Governor Kussell 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 earl3' day (about 1832), which remained only partly finished until 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 hotise of worship at the vilest center, erected in 1838, which has also been remodeled and. enlarged, within a few years, \vhile 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, with per- haps, quite a large contingent of independent religious faith and practice, Richfield's "calling and election" may be regarded as tolerably sure. KICHFIELD'S MILITARY CARKER. It is believed that among her early settlers there w^ere 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 Allman, 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 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. TN the distribution of the lands of the Connecticut Land Com- -•- pany, by draft, as elsewhere explained, Township 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 water, in small portable boats, via Lakes Ontario and Erie, 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 — was held, con- sisting of a national salute, with such fire-arms as they possessed, martial and vocal music, toasts, speeches, poetry, etc., w^hich 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 consenlr 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 — ^vas whisky, a goodly quantity oi 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 which, 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 vJ Lynn, Connecticut, April 11, 1801; common school education ; at 17 commenced 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 w^oolen mill in Lynn ; in 1829, moved to Ohio, settling on an uncultivated farm in Stow, which he largely cleared and cultivated 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, married 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 count5r, now practicing law in Akron, whose portrait and biography appear elsewhere. Mr. Marvin was for over thirty-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 dying-, 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 New York. While, in pursuance of his work. 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 1 '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 covmty, New Hampshire, July 12, 1815 ; raised on farm with common 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 county, 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 ye&rs, been the principal owner and mana- ger of the Hudson cheese factory. He held the oflRce 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 daj'. 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 township 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 w^hat, 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, v^here, afterwards purchasing the same, he resided until his death, and where his descendants still live, his brother Robert, and a sister, afterwards 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 after-wards 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 fanner ; edu- cated in district schools, and Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, at Hiram; teacher from 1855 to 1863, since niainl3^ devoting- himself to preaching as a minister among- the Disciples of Christ, filling, at different times, the responsible positions of general missionarjr, 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 67th General Assembly— 1886, '87. For the past sixteen j'ears, Mr. Green has resided in Stow, his venerable father. Rev. Philander Green (-who, with his father, Samuel Green, emigrated froin 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 Sto-iy 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, 1864; Mary Tarissa, January 26, 1867, died February 14, 1881 ; Frank Albert, now student in Hiram Col- lege, December 7, 1868 ; and Daisy Almira, September 30, 1871, now Mrs. William R. Hillyard, of Cleveland. Subsequent Comers. — Our limited space will onl3' permit the barest mention of those, nearly all from Middletown, who 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 following: 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, TOPOGRAPH fCAL, ETC. 1007 Richmond, Ezra 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 Lovvery, 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 count3^ 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 versalitj' 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 Forward, 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 handwriting 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, with 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 was organized the same year as Port- age county was (1808), but there is no record now extant, as to who its early officers -were, 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, find the material, educational and moral interests of the township, 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 wise 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 waste land, as in some of the other largely watered localities of the county. Both Silver Lake, Crystal Lake and Turtle Lake, are beau- tiful bodies of w^ater, 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; with its beautiful grove, upon its western border, tastefully fitted up with conveniences for shel- tering and feeding the multitude, and -with 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 w^ill 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 to-wnship, both affording large manufacturing facilities, that should, perhaps, be credited to Sto^v, but "which being alluded to in connection -with those villages, need not be repeated here. In addition to various w^orks at those pointsr 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 Sto^w Corners, but which was 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, which 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 township — portable saw- mills now doing such occasional local work as may be needed in that line. That modern lacteal institution, the cheese factory, however, has for several years been a prominent industrial feature of the neighborhood, several of which, in different localities acces- sible to suitable streams of waters, 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. 1C09 In this connection the fact should not be omitted, that among- the very earliest of Stow's supposed to be indepensable industries was 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 heavj' expense from Pittsburg, Commissary Wetmore, in 1812 or 1813, erected a distillery upon the east side of Stow Pond (now Silver Lake) in which Mr. John Graham, who had worked at the business in Scotland, was emploj'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 wrongfulness 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, -within the original limits of Stow, now Cuyahoga Falls. Education, Morality, Religion, Etc. — It has been repre- sented, in certain quarters, that the leading early sentiment of Stow being atheistic in its character, the township 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 to-wnship. It is very possible that some of her pioneer settlers, as well 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 to-wnships; 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 lay 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 south-west 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, when, the Disciples having obtained a strong following in the to-wnship, 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 AKEON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. Episcopalianism 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 w^hose house, at Stow Corners, the meetings were first held; Orrin Gilbert, Frederick Sanford, Henry O'Brien, Arthur Sadler, Frederick Wolcott, William Wetmore, Rovs^land Clapp, sev- eral of the Gaylords and others whose names are not now recalled. Lay services, with occasional preaching, were 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, which, being completed in the Spring of that year, was 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 years, in the northwestern portion of the tow^nship, at the point so long designated as "Little Ireland," but w^hose postoffice desig- nation is no^v " Metz" a United Presbyterian Church and society, with a snug little house of worship, and quite a large membership, -while 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 without hope, in the world," lies — under a very grave misapprehension. In the matter of education, v^rhile 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 west 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 ^tory-and-a- half frame house, with a frame barn standing some 12 or 1,5 rods northeasterly therefrom. The family consisted of Mrs. Sanford, his wife, Clarissa, their two 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 which purpose, in addition to their own, 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 Tiouse 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, almdst instantly killed. The bodies were all found between the house and barn, Mary being the farthest from the house. Mrs. Sanford's collar bone was broken, and she was otherwise considerably cut and bruised; but Mary, found in an unconscious condition, lying upon a gate which 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 which 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 everj^-day dress, w^hich, on retiring, she had laid upon the bed ready for use in the morning. Mr. Sanford -was 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 -which 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 southwesterly to northeasterly, some effects of it being visible near Gilbert's Cor- ners, three-fourths of a mile -west, -while it -was evident, from the moisture and sand found about the Sanford premises, that a con- siderable portion of the water and mud, in what is no-vv known as Crystal Lake (formerly Cochran's or Hart's pond), were scooped up and carried along by the storm. Mr. Sanford's barn -was 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 two buggies left standing in the yard were entirely demolished and .carried away; a plow standing near the house, after being made i:o plow quite a long circular furrow, was dashed to pieces, and nearly all the chickens upon the place were killed and stripped of -their feathers. The household furniture -was entirely demolished, -and 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 away by their respective owners. Easterly from the scene of the chief disaster, Mr. Maxwell -Graham's barn was unroofed and house somewhat racked; a log liouse 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 or less crippled, while fences and a large 1012 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. number of forest and fruit trees w^ere uprooted or twisted off by the gyrating besom of destruction, in its brief but fearful marc I* 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. Sanford were 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 12r 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 is 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, was 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, Mkry 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 was the first white child born in the town- 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 Wetmore 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 no^w is, and another camp near the river, at -which points there must have been at least 500 Indians, men, "women and children. They were generally on very friendly terms with the whites, though misun- derstandings would 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 whites; especial emphasis being' 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' . prowess, in the selfsame transactions, while a resident of their respective townships, fuller mention of whose 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 -was 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 was found that, during the night, the Indians had all departed, in a westward direction, leaving their wigwams 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 whites, by whom 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 fight for the reclamation of their hunting and fishing grounds, but utterly refused to massacre, in cold blood, those who had always treated them kindly, but on returning with the victorious army, give their old neighbors a chance to fight for their posses- sions, or run for their lives. The man3' other traditionary Indian Teminiscences 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 «ettlers, devoting a certain amount 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 be 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 apparentlj^ out. Baker stripped off his coat, and, with a long pole, shoved it into the fissure from whence the snakes emanated, t;o prevent their returning to their den. He then descended into the chasm, and with his pole began an onslaught upon the squirm- ing and vs^rithing, but half torpid, mass. While Baker was thus engaged, Deacon Butler and his devoted neighbors were 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, abruptly 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, i^'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 woods, also. HoKi^iFic Incidknt. — 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 window at the end of the house, to see -n^hat it -was doing. To her intense horror she saw a huge rattlesnake coiled up, almost in the child's lap, licking up the milk which 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, Etc. — 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 ^vake 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 wistful eyes- and watering mouth. Motioning her boy to go around, as soon as- she found that he was safe, the plucky w^oman seized some con- venient w^eapon 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 between two saplings, which 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 swamp. In this township, also^ at Mud Brook Swamp, was 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 two, 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 theijr 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 wings and their chatter, at the dis- tance of half a mile, resembling the rumble of a heavy waterfall, and when 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 swamp, the writer can vouch for its entire truthfuhiess, mj'riads being thus captured every 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 Taverx Accommodatioxs. — At an earh- 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 was kept by General Oliver E. Gross, -who 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 Stovsr. 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 Tsaac 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, how^ever, through the foresight and courtesy of Mr. William Southmayd, formerly a resident of Stow, afterwards of Cuyahoga Falls, but now deceased, we 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 Gaylord, 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 Lewis, 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 Shumway, St. Clair Steel, Martin Schrady, Henry F. Stewart, 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, 104 in all, the last two being in the 100 days' service in 1861, in addition to ■which Samuel Gaj'lord 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. Sp^ce \vill 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, -was published in the Summit Co ant v 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 j'ears. 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, ■were so reported. Seventeen died in service from various causes; two (Jesse T>. 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 ■whom, 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 comniutation 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 Darrow, Henry O'Brien and George S. Richardson, Jr., three years €ach. The assessor for 1865 returns the following, as having died in the service: Samuel B. Bradley, Norman L. Darrow, Ransom ■C. Parks, Horace Southmayd, Edwin 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 will 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, was 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, was 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. Gejsieral 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 acceptably 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, May 1, 1883, Judge Marvin was appointed„by Gover- nor Charles Foster, to fill the vacancy upon the common pleas- bench, which he very acceptably did until the induction of his 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 -with 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 average ability. Moses D. Call, for many years one of the justices of the peace for the township, with whose interests he was 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 with his parents to Stow when eight or nine years old. Educated at Hiram College, under President James A. Garfield, following the example of his father. Elder Philander Green and his uncle. Elder Almon B. Green, both well-known preachers of the Disciple Faith, 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 always- taken an active interest in political matters, as an uncompromis- ing Republican, and, in 1885, was 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, was, 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, was deemed to be sufficient reason for summary action against both the property and the person of the recalcitrant; but in the North, the utmost freedom of speech and action, short of down- right treason, was generally quiescently, if not cheerfully sub- mitted to. As the War progressed, however, and as the danger to the Union became more imminent, 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, when troops were 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 townships to appoint commit- tees for the purpose of assessing and collecting the required amount from business men and property owners, in proportion to- their supposed ability to pay, liability to draft, etc. And in some instances, when, from parsimony or partisanship, persons able to contribute refused to do so, a species of coercion w^as resorted to — or "raiding," as it was termed — bj^ 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. Begixnixg 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 w^ealthy and enterprising farmers of the to-wnship. During the presidential campaign of 1860, Mr. Graham had many exciting political discussions vi^ith 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 township, both Democrats and Republicans — apportioned to Mr. Graham the sum of $50, on his property possessions, arjd $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 elsewhere — 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 supply 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 with 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 west 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 would not undertake to sequestrate any of his property, and sent one of their number, a -warm personal and political friend of Mr. G., forward to assure him of their pacific and friendly intentions. While quietly proceeding on his way, and -while opposite the lands of Mr. Edwin 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, were 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 -west, while the other turned back towards the main body up the road, the original delegate also starting for- ■ward 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 served 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, -worked east- •ward towards the committee, and assuming a threatening attitude, the committee dismounted, using their horses as a breast.-work, 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 ■wounded 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 work, and assist him and Mr. Filley to carry the wounded man to his house and endeavor to save his life. But the appeal was wholly 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 wounded friend. The ball also entered Mr. Filley's right thigh, causing him to leave his djang 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 Guaed 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 own house, he was met 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 whether the wounded men were liv- ing or dead. Some distance before reaching the wounded 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 what he wanted, the doctor explained that he had been sent to look after the wounded men, whereupon 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 ta 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 w^ith a w^agon and a single assistant, to remove the bodies, Graham declared that the bodies should 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 warrant, issued by Justice Charles W. Wetmore, of Cuyahoga Falls, was placed in the hands of Constable Julius A. Upson, who started, unarmed except as to the legal process indicated, for the truly "dark and bloody" ground. There were, by this time, hundreds of terribly excited men at Stow Corners, who endeavored to dissuade the constable from approaching the infuriated man alotie 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 hitn in the arrest, but finding the crowd decidedly averse to facing the desperate man -who had already laid two of their neighbors low in death, he accepted the proffered services of the late Parvin Eves 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, ^t Cuyahoga Falls, vsrho was known to be the possessor of a very tine 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 weapon on the officer, to immediately fire upon him, with 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 which the gun was loaded cut- ting quite a gash on the side of his neck, the remaining slugs rid- 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, July 11, 1804. At 22 years of ag-e 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 sixty 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 property interests in Twins- burg, is now living with his daughter, Mrs. Ailing, in Akron, in the 88th 3'ear 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 comtnittee, which erected the beautiful soldiers' monu- ment on the Public Square, an engraving 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. 1073 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 erected 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- Ca;inon, Esq., was chief marshal. A mammoth tent had been erected about the center of the square, in which the chief literary and oratorical exercises were held, a free banquet being provided in a neighboring orchard, the central figure of which was a one thousand pound steer, ro§sted whole, flanked by a very great variety of gustatory viands. The Declaration of Independence was read by IsadoreRoskolp, Esq., of Cleveland; Hon. O. S. Griswold, of Cleveland, being the orator of the day. Hon. N. D. Tiljbals, 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, band and vocal music, and general good cheer, scarcely dampened by the drenching rainstorm which occurred early in the afternoon. INSCRIPTIONS ON MONUMENT. North Side. — "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, 12oth 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, drowned 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. Andrews, 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. McKinr ney, J. C. Smith, C. S. Tyson; 84th Regiment: — Carl Herrick; 177th Regiment: — Geo. Andrews, Henry Bissell, Morris. Blodgett, John Booth, Fred Baldwin, Frank Bailey, Wm. Dodge, Monroe Freeman, John Flohr, Henry Flohr, Wm. Flohr, F. C. Hull, Henry Holcomb, Spafford Heather, Clinton Heather, Charles Hkrlow, Chauncey Lane, Henry Livingston, John Mead, Lyman Oviatt, Edward Powers, Evelyn Parmelee, R. R. Redfield, Thomas Stark- weather, 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. Gray; 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 township: 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 Hampden county, Massachu- setts, June 21, 1817 ; at six years of age removed ivith parents to Trumbull county, Ohio, and afterwards to Franklin Mills (now Kent) ; married in 1840 to Miss X,emisa Crow, the same year purchasing' a 70 acre fariu 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- gence, 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 time 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 was 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 woods 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 wonder 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 weapons 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., w^ere most heartily enjoyed by all, both "friend" and "foe." The Ancient "Toboggan." — B'or years there were very few w^agons in the township, 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 what -was kno'wn as the sap-boat — a sort of toboggan-shaped vehicle, liiade out of long flat puncheons, turned up at the front,, fastened together with strong cleats and wooden pins — was brought into requisition in hauling grists to mill, women and chil- dren to meetings, parties, etc., while ancient j'oung America would sometimes ride in sap-troughs hitched to the rear of the larger vehicle, as modern 3roung 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 southw^est part of Solon tow^n- ^hip, with his horse remained all night in the woods, covering his 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, which he at first mistook for a panther, must have remained in the woods all night, and perhaps- have perished; Mrs. Reuben Henry, of T-winsburg, having also been similarly rescued by Mr. Lane when, 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 ^vould be more satisfactory than rights in common in a public burial ground, in 1846 bought an acre and a half of land a short distance west 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 f6r individual graves, and for the gratuitous use of those unable to {)urchase 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 was now (1860) found that a new fence was fast becoming an imperative necessity, and the lot owners were invited to join Mr. Ailing in putting a solid stone wall around the grounds that would never decay or need repairs. Responses were made by eighty-two of the lot owners, in sums TWINSBUKG 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, two feet square; sec- ond course, eighteen inches bed, sixteen inches thick; third course, fifteen inches bed, sixteen inches thick; fourth course* twelve 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. AUing'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 whose 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 Cuyahoga 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 War, first as corporal and later as 2nd sergeant ; w^hile in command of block house, at Luverne, near Nash- ville, on December 5, 1861, 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, where he escaped, making- his way to Vicksburg and finally home, his w^eight being reduced to eighty pounds. Receiving his discharge a month later at Camp Chase, he resumed shoemaking in Twinsburg ; in 1871, was made postmaster 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. February 8, 1853, Mr. McKinney was married to Miss Sarah A. Carver, of Twinsburg, who has borne him 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, Geauga and Cuyahoga counties joined w^ith 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 Twinsburgr was vigorously maintained for some ten or twelve years. Its patrons, however, 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 m'ost 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 were closed in 1872, though the memory of "Twinsburg Union Fair," and the lively interest and pleasure inspired by its- 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, Twinsburg 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 Ne-wr 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 1863,. being faithful and energetic in the discharge of the duties devolved upon him. THE TWINSBURG OF TO-DAY (1891.) 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. f CHAPTER LII. SUMMIT COUNTY AGEICULTUEAL 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 GROUNDS — " 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. THE records of the Sumtnit 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, will 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-law^s as may be neces- sary for the government of the society," signed by VanR. 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-laws 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 ^vas 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, towards its support, and tlie people generally— villagers as well as farmers— worked harmoniously and energetically for its success. At a meeting of the directors, August ■21, 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 $8; 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, flowers, domestic fabrics, fancy work, etc., :among other domestic handiwork exhibited, beinga s^rawfcowrie^, made from straw raised in Summit county. In the bovine and equine display was 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- tnons, 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; treasurer, Nelson B. Stone, of Akron; sec- retarjr, Nathaniel W. Goodhue, of Middlebur}'; 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 txpon 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 was 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 which, and the annual member- ship fees, between $700 and $800 was realized. Removal to "Summit Grovk." — 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 w^as needed, adjoining upon the south, at $80 per acre; or an exchange, acre for acre, on the west side of the road, where 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 west, where the fine residences of Hon. Lewis Miller, and Colonel Arthur L. 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 wrere 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 which 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, submitted 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 was too late, the option expiring and the offer not being renewed. 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 fence* 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 with which 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 its lease with Mr. Hall, in 1870 the society began to agitate the ques- tion of a new location, and a permanent home of its own. Pro- posals for sites were invited, and offers were 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 west of Akron, $200 per acre. A committee, appointed October 24, 1870, were instructed to 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, Edward 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 towri- ships of the county, and a heated controversy of nearly tw^o years'^ duration ensued. In the meantime, A. T. Burrows had offered forty-five acres on the "Chuckery," at $400 per acre; fifty acres near Bettes's Corners, know^n 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 was voted 336 to 212 to sell the McAllister grounds and purchase the Burrows tract. This joint duty the committee appointed for the purpose were 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 own grounds, was held in October, 1875, and not- withstanding 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. Popular " 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 no-w 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 Cleveland, Akron & 'Colum- bus, the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio, the Pittsburg & West- ern, and the Valley Railway — are in close proximity to the grounds, affording the most ample transportation to and from the fair, with equally easy access by private conveyance, and with abundant hitching facilities for the thousands of teams that yearly there do congregate. A high picket fence surrounds the grounds. Bxtensive 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 gro^vth 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, secon'd ward; H. H. Foltz, third ward; W. H. Evans, fourth ward; A. W. Hall, fifth ward and J.M.Wills, sixth ward. 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 was ' 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 -with 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 "new fair 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 antagonisrri rapidly abated, and now the farmers and citi- zens of all parts of the county are harmoniously united in their efforts to rAake the Summit County Agricultural Society, what it is everywhere 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, whose 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," which, on ten acres of leased ground, midway between the east and west 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 Twinsburg, 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 own 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 were very popular and successful. The death and removal of some of its more active promoters, together with the recurrence of several dry and unproductive seasons in that locality, so diminished the popular interest, that, with the fair of 1871, its meetings were 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 abandoried. Experiments and sectional rivalries having thus ceased, the people of every portion of the county now unitedly vie with 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- wards 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 township, including the village of Akron and a portion of Middlebury, a regular poor-house was 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 Brewsters' flouring and saw-mills. This institution was, by contract with the overseers of the poor, or poor masters, as they were generally called, assigned to the care and custody of the late Silas W. 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 know^n as the McCune farm, on the corner of Medina and Portage roads, about a mile and a half west of How^ard 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, which were 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 immediately organized ■with Roswell 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 -what, 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 We^ Market street extended, may possibly yet be disposed of w^ithout serious impairment of the farm for infirmary purposes, and at prices which will somewhat reimburse the county in the large outlay in lands, buildings and improvements that has fronx time to time been made. /) ^m^ifm^Wi^^^m j,^^,^ ^^ Vi"y ^ Sum n t County Inflrniar^ Erected in 18r4 fa— Addition n 1873 Though small additions were from time to time made 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 was 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 was made upon the ground, largely b3' 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 were erected under the supervision of that thoroughly experienced brick mason, Mr. George Allison, of Tallmadge, and the wood Tvork was 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 work 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, was of the following 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 were made, by Gen. A> C. Voris, William T. Allen, S. A. Lane, Dr. E. W. Howard, and others, at the close of which, the following resolution was unani- mously adopted: "Resolved, That the count}^ commissioners and directors of the county infirmary, together with those who ha*e 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 mark 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, tnaking 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 69 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 s^oirt 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, was erected, and the whole re-arranged, now making one of the most complete local insane hospitals 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 -which 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 with 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 w^ere provided for at the various poor-houses and infirmaries of the State, with the exception of the fe"w who 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 coiximunicating 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. SUMMIT COUNTY CHILDREN S HOME. 1091 Sundry amendments to the la-w 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 propercounty, 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 Countv 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 warranted 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 was withdrawn by the representatives of the Cooke estate. . August 12, 1882, the commissioners closed a contract with Mr. Oeorge 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 Hudsori. 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 was 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, Mras 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 Homk 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 tw^o years, for the sum of $600 per year. Mr. William A. Hanford, of Cuyahoga Falls, was 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 township, 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, three-tenths- of a mill, will 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. Ellet, 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, -vs^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, who 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 dwelling 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 KOO 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 follo-wring 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 ; Bfth, $100 for good metallic coffin without plate or ornament, no funeral services to be held over his remains and bod5' 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 triast 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, may be provided for without charge or compensation in case of inability to pay 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 were to be invested until, supplemented by additions of like -character, and appropriations which 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 will being duly probated on the 5th day of that month. It Tvas 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 laeing 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 $2,046.67 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 was 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 was 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 awarded 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 over to the city the sum of $8,01216, 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 no\(: 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 own 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 ward — 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; w^ith 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 w^hat 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 "with 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 working 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 work 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 work, 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 was 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: Article 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 moral char- acter, who shall have subscribed to the charter, shall be eligible to inember- ship. Section II. — Members may be elected at any regular meeting of the association, by a majority vote, after the nominations have been referred to and reported from a prudential committee. Article IV. — Section Z-^The officers shall be elected annually, by ballot, on the first Tuesday in October, and shall consist of president, two vice presidents, treasurer and secretary. 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 naines 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 sliall prescribe the duties of all executive officers of this association, not herein prescribed, and may appoint such committees as thej' naay deem necessary, to carry on the work, under their supervision and control. They 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, uader 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 president; 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, E. H. Wright and Mrs S. M. Dussell, Mrs. Mary J. Crain assistant; Second ward, Michael O' Neil and Mrs. W. K. Foltz, Mrs. Henry t'erkins, 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. Schumacher. 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 hoiTie during the day to the children of working women, being temporarily given the use of a room in the Home of the Union Charity Association, 116 South High street, the members, on organization, being: Mrs, Mary Raymond, president; Miss Anna Ganter, vice presiderit; MARY DAY NURSERY. 1097 Miss Carita McEbright, secretary; Miss Bessie Raymond, treas- urer; Misses Belle Adams, Gertrude Commins, Addie Commins, Julia Grouse, Mary Grouse, 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 iu 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 <;ents 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, w^ho has any contag-ious ■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 will 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 Gol. and Mrs. A. L. Conger, on the evening of September 21, 1891, by which $200 were added to the treas-ury. 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 Alfron 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, silverware, 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 with 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. LeFevre as president, and Miss Maud C. Miller as secretary, all very efficient aids in the benevo- lent and reformatory work of the city. It will 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 well as in educational, agricultural, commercial and manufacturing enter- prise. CHAPTER LIV. LABOK 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. "D EFERRING to, and apropos of, the matters, and things treated -•-^ of in chapter IV., a concise history of the status of labor in Akron, and elsewhere, half a century ago, will be in order here. Then in all departments of mechanical labor twelve hours consti- tuted a day's -work, 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 -wages, 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 riots 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 no-w. 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 ■were 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, as 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 any distinction between different classes of citizens, your com- mittee heg leave to state, that it was agreed, and we believe met with the approbation of a large majority 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-Aog ; w^hen w^e w^ere 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 solelj' with reference to the promotion of justice, virtue and morality." Marshal Mills DEMURS-^MajorMjlls, who had held the office of township 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 — arid in a long reply, among other things, said: "You must not think. Sir, to screen yourself from the severe castigation which you so richly merit, and with impunitj' 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 meet it? Is the charge 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 castigation, Mr. M.? Is it because I have for years past been co-operating w^ith 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 follo^ws: William B. Mitchell, Miner Spicer and John Sherbondy, trustees; Samuel A. Wheeler treas- urer; Franklin C, May, clerk; Isaac Newton, 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 \7ill 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 Thursday 16th inst., at earlj' candlelight, at which time committee on prices will present their price-book for adoption, and transact such other business as may 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 working-men 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 countj^ convention, to make a ticket to be supported at the next election by the mechanics and workingmen 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 workingmen's ticket -was put in nomination or not, though if there was it failed of success, the regular Whig county ticket being elected. "Innocuous Dbsuetude." — 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., w^ould occasionally combine to regulate prices for w^ork, biit these combinations the unstable and precarious sheep's gray — pot-metal — shinplaster — truck and dicker system of payment, heretofore detailed, would render of very short duration. In 1845, however, 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 casA, 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, with 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 whenever he and the writer chance to meet, Mr. L., perhaps, considering that hard-earned half dollar the chief corner-stone of the naagnificent farm and other valuable posses- sions of •which he is now the owner. 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 fewer 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 Opkratives 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 lagt 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 writer, 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 England, the writer 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, "who 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 w^ork 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," with 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 groTvth 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 writer, 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 Reform," 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 mechanic and the laboring man. It is a fact, if there is any virtue in civilization, that the more mankind are elevated, the better calculated are they to advance the happiness and the prosperity of the great human famil}^" Mechanics' Library. — To show with what promptness and kindliness the well-to-do people of Akron responded to this move- ment, not onlj' -were the demands for the ten hour day, and cash payments, generallj' acceded to with a good grace, by employers, but a movement was 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 works 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 workingmen of Portage township was held at Trussell's Hall, for the purpose of forming a Working Man's Ticket, at -which it ^^vas "Resolved, That this meeting recognize as workingmen only those who gain their subsistence by manual labor. "ReaolT'ed, 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 were 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 fainily 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 office-seekers, who act only for their own aggrandizement." 1104 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. A committee on nominations, consisting of E. 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 was adopted: For trustees, W. B. Storer, David Miller, John Ayres; for treas- urer, Zebulon Jones; for clerk, Tilman Waggoner; for assessor, John Sherbondy; 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 t6 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 working-men 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 going forward. Thus will the masses be induced to contend for their rights in such a manner as to teach the money owners that 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 which the old Mechanics' Associations, here and elsewhere, became obsolete. The fine collection of books consti- tuting the library of the Akron Association, was 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 MODERN LABOR CONTRASTED. 1105 lere and heretofore written, will see that their condition and dvantages are infinitely superior to those of their brethren of lalf a century ago, and that, with the same degree of economy nd abstemiousness which ire were then obliged to practice, they night, from the present emoluments of their yearly toil — excelling ;ven their existing condition of comparative independence — soon ichieve "capitalistic," if not "monopolistic" eminenc'e and power. to 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 — AKROX AND SUMMIT COUNTY EARLY ON THE MOVE — THE PLUCKY "FOEJTY-NlriERS" — THE GREAT EXODUS OF 1850 — PRETTY FULL LIST 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. ■^^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 when, in December, 1845 the "Lone Star" wras formally annexed to the United States, Mexico sought to reclaim, the valuable territory of Avhich she was being despoiled b}' 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 J834, had made his way r'ia 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 Citj', building a fort and making other improvements, had established himself as a stock grower and dealer in furs, hides, etc., surrounding himself with 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 which he had pre- viously built, some distance above his fort, in doing which, while FIRST GOLD DISCOVERIES IN CALIFORNIA. 1107 -deepening the tail-race, in February, 1848, the man in charge of the -work, 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- isacking 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 was 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. Gilbert, 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 cotirse, a full quota of rifles, ammunition, etc., they were driven, by hired teams, to Wellsville, from whence they proceeded by steamer, i-ia 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 ±he 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 bovines, if not quite so- fast, proving quite as reliable as the equines, in accomplishing the- journey. By THE Isthmus Routk, Also. — March 19, 1849, John Scupholm (or as usually called, John Addy), Jeremiah Yockej', 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, Lucian 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 troixr the Isthmus to San Francisco. There >vere, at that time, but two- regular steamers plying between Portland, Oregon, and Panama, with long intervals between arrivals and departures, -while 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 na difficulty in securing passage from Panama, as several steamers, which had been sent around the Horn, -would surely be there in time to accommodate all. The transit of the Isthmus itself was- filled with perils, hardships, disease and death. Arriving at Chagres, the only mode of travel to Gorgona, thirty miles, was in open boats, slowly poled or paddled up the Chagres river by nearly n^ked natives. From Gorgona to Panama, thirty milea further, the emigrant had to foot it through narro-w, 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 " tiig of war." Wait- ing for days, and sometimes weeks, 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 April, 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. Whe^n he left Panama there were over 3,000 emigfrants 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. Akron Pluck 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 was a poor sailer, at the best, .and being laden largely beyond her capacity, and beset by head winds, calms, etc., her progress was very slow indeed, and, after teing 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 <;oast, 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 who remained on board, during the last ten days out, having to subsist almost wholly upon wormy 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, while some laid down -their lives in their efforts to secure a competence for themselves -and families. lu 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, via the Isthmus, some of -them bringing such favorable accounts of their own and others' success, that the " yello^v 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- TiisL within three weeks. They go under the lead of Mr. Garrett, and several w^ill be accompanied by their wives. A number of our citizens also go by the Isthmus." It should be added that in the intervening year, transporta- tion facilities between Panama and San Francisco had very greatly increased, while mule locomotion had been added to the ■western portion of the transit across the Isthmus, though the hor- Tors of that portion of the journey were not entirely obviated until the completion of the Panama Railroad, in 1855. The Grand Cavalcade. — The Beacon of March 20, 1850, tinder the heading " California-Bound, "«said: "Nearly 200 persons have left Akron and Summit county, during- the past week, Wa St. Joseph, Missouri, and a number more are luaking their ^rrangeiuents to go. A large proportion of the whole number have hitherto laeen residents of Akron and among- our inost 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 manj-^ hearts ached as parting- words were uttered, and the train disappeared ainid the roaring of cannon. Several females were in the companj^, and Mr. Garrett, the leader, who recently returned froiu Sacra- mento, took his whole family, intending to make a permanent settlement in California." To show that Akron was not alone a sufferer, in the loss of "useftil 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,. James 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 wife. 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, Jonathan 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, Seth Hamlin, John Hamlin, Adam Hart, David Hanscom, Lewis Hanscom,,. SUMMIT county's GOLD-SEEKKRS. 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 Kichard Howe, Richard G. Howe, 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,' Lewis 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, William Lamb, Gilbert Lanphier, Albert Lanphier, B.Lockwood, O. C. Lee, James M. Livensperger, Burton Lockwood, Jonas Leach, Giles L'Hommedieu, 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 Henry, James M. Mills, W. Mayer, A. McDonald, WiUiam 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 Orcutt, Stephen Neighman, A. Nixon, Mason Oviatt, Orlen New- 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, FrankRumrill, 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. Sherwood, 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 Washburn, M. A. Wheeler, Jesge Widoe, J. Wohmein, Mayer Weil, H. Willard, Mrs. Willard, Theodore Willard, H. O. Willard, J. D. Whitney, H. B. Williams, 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 oames 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 who made their way to the Pacific Slope the two follow- 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 Avent from Summit county to California during the years 1849 to 1852, while hundreds of others have wended their way 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 show^ing that while proximity to numbers, 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 w^riter, w^ith some forty-five or fifty others from Akron and vicinity, starting a w^eek later than Captain Garrett's Company, by the same route and means, reached Wellsville, March 22, 1850, w^here, with w^agons, horses and other property, >ve embarked on the steamer " North River," for St. Louis, the river transit occu- pying just six daj'^s. Overland Through Missouri. — Satisfying ourselves on inquiry that, owing to the backwardness of the season, we had a w^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. Louis 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 with 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, ■would 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 \vrestling -with a mule; while the dignified Judge Wheeler was doubled up like a jack-knife, and the serious-minded Deacon Jonathan F. Fenn, at one end of a lariat, w^ith a gyratory mule at the other end, was straightened out like a ^vhip-lash; and even the writer him- 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 as to knock off his wide-brimmed hat, without hitting his nose! The price of mules varied from $65 to $85 per head, for green, and from $90 to $100 for those broken to harness. The mess to which the writer was attached, consiisting, 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- gress 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. Meantime 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, which invitation was cordially accepted, and right royally were we entertained. On Monday morning, April 1st, we started on our journey, Mr. Fenn and orre of his men kindly accompanying us far as St. Charles, a distance of twenty miles. Here we crossed the river, and, upon Ihe 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, we took very little with us, but found that, so far as bread was concerned, we could obtain none whatever, -except in two or three villages which we passed through; every meal, from bread up, as in all other slave States, being literally prepared from " hand to mouth." Our wagon being in the lead, one day, we stopped at a way-side horse-power grist-mill, and bought half a bushel of coarse-ground corn meal. Judge Wheeler -coming up, as I was 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 was 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, with about forty wagons and 160 men, had started out upon the plains some two or -three days before. Loading up our supplies, which had been for- warded by water, we ascended the river about five miles, and, ■crossing over, encamped on a high bluff, in the Indian territory, where we remained a few days, visiting town daily, to put the fin- ishing touches upon our outfit, one indispensable item of which -was 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 gras& 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 Howe w^as 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 following: "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- chara-e a gun in camp, 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 inember stand guard as his name appears on the roll, and the captain shall have power to increase or diminish the guard as circumstances may require. "Resolved, That the train shall be forined 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 S 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 follo-ws : Richard Howe, Edwin Gilson, Edward Waite, J. S. Jones, George Wilcox, Samuel A, Wheeler, Ricliard 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; JohnG. 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. Fenri, 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, who had been employed in the warehouse of Mr. P. D. Hall, went through upon his "own hook," with a single mule, upon which was strapped his blankets and provisions, picking up, kernel by kernel, the corn wasted by our o-wn and other trains, on which his own mule was kept fat and sleek, ^svhile 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 -white or brown canvas, it so happened that the most of ours were covered with black rubber ROUTINE TRAVEL AND CAMP DUTY. 1115- cloth, which 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 which instruments they would awake the echoes of the plains and mountains with 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 were obliged to pass, from which 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, we by no means relaxed our vigilance. In a mess of four, two were 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 were to pack and unpack the wagon, set up and take down the tent, make beds, gather fuel, water, etc. . The captain, or his assistant, having by riding ahead secured a proper camping ground — usually selected with reference to proximity to feed and water — at about 6 o'clock ;would conduct us into camp. The wagons were 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 were securely tethered by lariats attached to iron pins driven into the ground, the teamsters being sometimes obliged to go quite a distance to find good pasturage. Meantime the cook skirmishes around for fuel and waterr kindles his fire and prepares his meal, while the "chambermaid"" unpacks the wagon, 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 which each messmate, sitting flat upon the ground, helps himself, without stint or ceremony. And such appetites I Little wonder that the writer 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 -we 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 cases- of supposed danger, stress of weather, etc. The night -was divided into three watches — from eight till eleven, eleven till two, and from two till daylight — -when the camf>- was aroused by the firing off of the guns. Regular beats were 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 wantonness, or for purposes of plunder by stampeding the stock, as was frequently done. The routine duty of the morning was, first, for the teamsters ta get the stock to the feeding grounds, the cook meantime preparing: 1116 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. breakfast, while the "chambermaid" polled up the bedding, struck the 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 to two 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 war parlance, come to be kno-wrn as " sow-belly" and ^'hard-tack," though each company was provided with such " luxuries," as the taste and purses of its members might suggest or warrant — 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 lefes seasoned with flying dust, and flavored by odors of the different kinds of fuel accessible to us — dry grass, weeds, green sage-brush, buffalo "chips," etc., for often, for hun- dreds 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 the journey. The writer's own mess was provided with a small two-story sheet-iron stove, with oven, boiler holes, etc., by which we -were 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 life and drum, our first objective point being Fort Kearney, 300 miles distant, on the Platte River, vsrhich we reached May 16, having averaged about 20 miles a day. Though we were almost at the head of the emigration that year, a record kept at the fort showed that 1,952 wagons and 6,152 souls had preceded us. For the first two weeks, 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 -with middlings, into "chop" which the animals devoured with great avidity and seeming relish. Those vsrho did not thus take along feed, had to depend solely upon this -dry 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, but 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 went 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 was 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 ca.me slowly marching into camp, almost utterly exhausted. It appeared that on returning to the road about where we would be likely to be encamped, we 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, when he was told that we were ahead, and ahead he went to be again and again told that w^e 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, when he marched right into camp. The unsuccessful'searching party soon returned with sorrowful 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 were, an impromptu midnight jollification w^as 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 dovsrn 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 — tvsro 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 nowhere 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 which 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. their wives, were enabled to pursue their journey without much inconvenience. A Neat Mechanical Operation. — We were now far enough upon our journey to require occasional repairs upon our wagons. Several spokes had been broken out of one of the hind wheels of Wheeler's wagon, while it -was becoming musically evident that the tires upon all of the wheels of our wagon needed to be re-set; but how could it be done, with 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 with the necessary timber from the crippled wagon of another train w^hich 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 wheel itself was 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 Tallmadge. "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 frpm spoiling with the appliances we had. Of course we 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 w^ere given to the members of contiguous trains. Immense herds w^ere also seen browsing upon the north side of the Platte, while niany 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 distance 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-earth j' 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 bey IS also now erecting- a fine six-store business block on the old Abbey homestead, adjoining the M. O'Neil Company on the north,witli a frontage of 120 feet and a depth of 100 feet. Mr. Schumacher will also im- mediately erect a thirt3--foot addition to his block, on the south, in connection with a hne faft3--foot two and three-story block by Mr. William A Palmer while north of the new Abbe/Block Major Erhard Steinbacher and the estate of the late John T Good are preparing to erect a fine sixty-foot build- ing Still further north Messrs. S. E. Phinney, Levi Kryder & Son and John B. \\ oods, ^v^ll probably build at an early day, while negotiations are pend- ing for the improvement of the remaining open space between the Akron baviiigs Bank and the new Palmer Block. The east side of the street, laro-ely owned by the estate of W.B.Doyle, will also be handsomely improved in the not verj' remote future. ^x, '^^ *H*^ South End, Akron's original hotel, and the first house erected in the newly laid out village, in 1825, on the north-east corner of Main and 1 o^o> "^®.®**'^®*®' ^^^ '^'^'^" ^o™ down, and Mr. Charles Parisette is now (June, ims) erecting a handsome three-story brick block in its place. The several burned blocks, elsewhere noted, are all being rebuilt, and many others erected in every portion of the city, and all of them fully occupied, so that the very last word in this history (June, 1893) leaves Akron's wonted growth and prosperity unabated, 822 building permits havino- been issued by City Clerk E. A. Hershey during the year ending March I.^ISOS. TTOUSTON KEPLER,— son bf Jacob -•- ■'- and Susan (Marsh) Kepler, was born in Coventry, now in Suinmit County,Ohio,August 25, 1839, upon the same farm on which he now resides; was educated in Coventrj^ common schools and at Greensburg- Seminary; raised a farmer, and has always been prominent in local affairs, having- been township clerk six j'ears, treas- urer one year, member of school board ten j'ears and justice of the peace 2-1 3'ears. November 8, 1892, Mr. Kepler was elected Coroner of Sum- mit County, the first Democratic incuinbent of that ofifice in the historj' of the county, entering upon its duties January 2, 1893. April 2, 1863, Mr. Kepler was married to Miss Cath- arine Foust, of Green Township, who has borne hjm four children — Clara Alice, born Feb. 24, 1864; Laura Jane, Aug. 11,1867; Maggie Elizabeth,Oct. 13, 1872, and Nelson Eugene, May 6, 1877. HOUSTON kepler. BUSINESS CHANGES. The general store of Hall Brothers, corner of Howard and Market streets, after a Continuous and prosperous existence of 57 years, was closed in July, 1892, the junior partner, Mr. Lorenzo Hall, having deceased on January 9, 1892, the senior partner, Mr. Philander D. Hall, now in his 87th 5^ear, giving his attention to his real estate interests in Akron and elsewhere. The many other commercial changes and accessions that have occurred during the year cannot be here noted, though the starting in business for themselves at 107 E. Market Street, of those two native born Akronians and experienced hardware men, Fred. W. Beebe and George S. Scott, under the firm name of Beebe & Scott, is, without disparagement to others, worthy of special mention. The Whitman & Barnes Manufacturing Company, in addition to extensive additions to their Akron works and facilities, have located still more extensive knife and sickle works at West Pullman, a new and rapidly growing suburb of Chicago. The Buckeye Reaper and Mower Works of Aultman, Miller & Co. have added to their facilities an immense new foundrj^ and made other improve- ments that will very largely increase their manufacturing capacit}'. 12 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. The B. F. Goodrich Company have also made large additions to their plant, rendering it now one of the most extensive and prosperous rubber works in the United States. The Summit City Boiler Works, described on page 495, on August 1, 1892, were consolidated with those of the J. C. McNeil Company, with Mr. Lester M. Biggs as general superintendent. November 9, 1892, the Summit Works were burned as elsewhere noted. On April 17, 1893, Mr. Biggs resigned the superintendencj' of the McNeil Company, and organizing The Akron Boiler Company, with a capital of $100,000, has in accordance with his original design erected a substantial plant on the Hart Allotment in the Sixth Ward. Directors: George R. Hill, president; L. M. Biggs, vice president and superintendent; F. V. Stewart, secretary and treasurer; J. A. Baldwin, James Viall. J. Ben. Campbell is now the general manager of the J. C. McNeil Company. The Akron Marble and Novelty Company, organized January 18, 1893, capital $10,000; Frank B. Wagner, president; Philander D. Hall, Jr., secretary and treasurer; Samuel C. Dyke, superintendent. Works at Boston village, driven by water power of Cuyahoga river. Marbles made from blue shale rock find ready sale. Office, second floor Hall's Block. JOHN B. BETZ,— son of John and J Rebecca (Bej^er) Betz, born in Norton, Summit County, Ohio, Octo- ber 25, 1844; common school educa- tion; raised a farmer; at 18 enlisted in Company G, 177th Regiment O. V. I., serving till end of the war, two brothers also entering the army, one dying in the service, the other severely wounded in the left arm (see Roster on page 927) the father also dying Februarj' 1, 1863, from the effects of camp fever contracted while on a visit to his sons in the army. Mr. Betz is a member of Buckley Post, G. A. R., has always been active in local affairs, holding the position of township trustee during the years 1890, '91, '92, November 8, 1892, being elected a director of the County Infirmary for three years, entering upon the duties of that office January 2, 1893. August 13, 1867, Mr. Betz was married to Miss Catharine Weaver, of Norton, who has borne him six children— Franklin S., born May 22, 1868; Minerva R., January 12, 1870; George H., March 10, 1872; Nora E., JOHN B. BETZ. '^^y. January 14, 1874; Daniel O., April 4, 1876; Maud E., April 7, 1879, the latter dying March 4, 1880. AKRON CITY HOSPITAL. The City Hospital project, alluded to on page 40, Table of Contents, has, meantime, become an accomplished reality — and is proving a very great boon to our people. Besides the general wards, several rooms therein were furnished by private parties, and several of the church and beneficial organizations of the city. Though it is essentially a city institution, it is controlled by a private association, the De Roo Fund (nearly $11,000) having- been placed at its disposal by the proper authorities, which by the donation of $10,000 by the late Thomas W. Cornell, and $12,000 by Hon. Ohio C. Barber, secured the purchase of the property in question and the necessary changes and repairs, the title of the property being vested in Mr. Barber as trustee for the Association. Organization, Officers, Etc.— The City Hospital Association of the City of Akron was organized April 30, 1892. The board of trustees then elected were as follows: Thomas W. Cornell, David E.Hill, George T. Perkins, William McFarlin, Charles E. Sheldon, Charles Baird, George W. Crouse, Paul E. Werner, Frank M. Atterholt, Erhard Steinbacher, Ferdinand Schu- macher and Isaac C. Alden. Thomas W. Cornell, president; Ohio C. Barber, vice president; Henry Perkins, secretary; William McFarlin, treasurer. On CITY HOSPITAL, PUBLIC LIBRARY, ETC. 13 the death of Mr. Cornell, as elsewhere noted, Hon. Jacob A. Kohler was chosen to fill the vacancy on the board and Hon. Ohio C. Barber elected president, and Col. George T. Perkins, vice president. Superintendent — Miss Rachel C. Simms. Medical Staff— Dr. William C.Jacobs, president- Dr. Elizur Hitchcock, vice president; Dr. Henry W. Fisher, secretary. Consulting Surgeons— Drs. William C. Jacobs, Henry W. Fisher, Elizur Hitchcock. Visiting Surgeons— Drs. J. W. Eabe, H. H. Jacobs, T. C. Parks. Consulting Physicians— Drs. L. S. Ebrig-ht, J. P. Boyd, William Murdoch, W. W. Leonard. Visiting rh_ysicians—Brs. L. F. Sweitzer, F. C. Reed, H. E. Conner, O. D. Childs. J. J. Baug-hman, Kent O. Foltz. Oculist — Dr. Albert Hoover. f'athologist—T)r. E. S. Underwood. Indigent persons, residents of Akron, are admitted and cared for free of charge, and pay patients, whether residfents of Akron or not, are admitted upon reasonable terms. The hospital was formally opened October 11, 1892, and vip to May 1, 1893, there have been 19 free, and 32 pay patients admitted, many of them of a very aggravated nature, the deaths numbering eight— two charity, and six pay patients. Akron City Hospital. Endowment Fund.— The nucleus of a handsome endowment fund has been formed by subscriptions of $2,000 each, from Ferd. Schumacher, William Buchtel, George W. Crouse, John B. Woods, David E. Hill, Henry Robinson, Jacob A. Kohler, Erhard Steinbacher, Alfred M. Barber, Paul E. Werner, Joseph C. Ewart, Arthur L. Conger, George T.Perkins and John H.Hower, and of $1,000 each by Frank M. Atterholt, Isaac C. Alden, Alvin C. Voris, Martin H. Crumrine, Charles Baird, William McFarlin, William A. Palmer, Jacob Koch. Several other parties have also indicated their intention to contribute like amounts, and a number of smaller donations have already been made, while it is known that quite a number of liberal bequests have been provided in the wills of parties favorable to the institution, so that the trustees are encouraged to believe that a fund of from $100,000 to $200,000 is only a ques- tion of a very brief period of time. AKRON PUBLIC LIBRARY. This popular institution is rapidly outgrowing its present quarters in the Masonic Temple building, and though the city has a fee simple title of the rooms for library purposes, it is fondly hoped, and confidently antici- pated, that some of our able-handed and liberal-minded citizens will provide for the erection, at an early day, of a new and elegant building for library, literary and scientific purposes. The present members of the Board of Control (1893) are: Charles R. Grant, president; Henry K. Sauder, secretary; Ralph P. Burnett, treasurer; Louis Seybold, Erastus R. Harper and William C. Allen. Librarian, Miss Mary Pauline Edgerton; Assistant, Mrs. Jennie M. Proehl. 14 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. THE GOVERNMENT BUILDING. The new postoffice building, alluded to on page 40,Table of Contents,is not yet (June, 1893) erected, but is "in sight." The fine site decided upon— the Union Club House property, corner of High and Market streets — has been purchased by the Government, the old Howard-Bartges structure removed, plans prepared and approved, and Contractor James Brown, of Akron, appointed by Secretary Carlisle as superintendent of construction at a salary of $6 per day, and work upon the foundations will soon be begun and pros- ecuted to completion as rapidly as the nature of the work will permit. CHERMAN G. SWIGART, — oldest *^ son of George S. and Laura E. (Oviatt) Swigart, was born at Copley Center, Summit County, Ohio, June 28, 1865; worked on father's farm and attended village school until 18, then attended Buchtel College several terms; in Fall of 1885 began survey- ing as chainman, etc., first w^ith Hosea Paul, Jr., in Cleveland, Ohio, then with a party of Baltimore & Ohio railway surveyors, under George Tod, Jr., surveying a line near the one since built on by the Pittsburgh, Akron & Western; then taught school one winter; in spring of 1888 went to California, where he was engaged in civil engineering and surveying about one year; then returned to Ohio, working at his profession with Robert S. Paul and Charles E. Perkins until the Spring of 1890, when he began business for himself, occupy- ing a desk in the office of H. W. Ingersoll, at 119 Howard Street. At the November election, in 1892, Mr. Swigart was elected County Surveyor, SHERMAN G. SWIGART. entering upon the responsible duties of that office January 2, 1893. CHILDREN'S HOME. During the past 3'ear the County Commissioners sold the balance of the Allison farm in Tallmadge (64 acres) to Thomas F. Walsh, Esq., for $8,000, so that now the Home domain consists of the Sixth Ward property only, as described in Chapter 53. The trustees, as at first organized for 1893, were David E. Hill and Lewis Miller, Republicans, and Andrew M. Armstrong, Democrat, but as a recent enactment provides for a strictlj^ non-partisan board, a second Democrat, Mr. M. J. Betts, of Cuyahoga Falls, was duly appointed by the Commissioners, June 5, 1893. HOTELS. The status of Akron's excellent hotels remains as a j'ear ago, except that Mr. Jacob I. Brenizer has succeeded Mr. George M. Cadwell as proprietor of the Windsor, corner of Mill and Broadway, and Mr. Frederick Hedenian has purchased and thoroughly refitted and refurnished the Arlington, corner Canal and West Market streets. NEWSPAPER CHANGES, ETC. The Akron City Times (see page 226) passed into the hands of Mr. J. L. Patterson in December, 1891, and on December 10, 1892, was transferred to the Akron Democrat Company, below mentioned. The Akron Daily Democrat. On April 21, 1892, William B. and Russell T. Dobson established a seven-column daily in Akron, under the above title, afterward increasing it to an eight-column paper. Later a stock company was organized, under the title of " The Akron Democrat Company," which is now (June, 1893) under the management of the following named board of directors : Thomas F. Walsh, president ; Louis B. Wilhelm, vice president ; William B. Dobson, manager; Russell T. Dobson, secretary; William T. Sawyer, treasurer ; George F. Kratz and Ed. H. De La Court. NEWSPAPERS, RAILWAYS, ETC. 15 The Sunday Republican (see page 228) not being- deemed a public necessity by its new proprietors, the Akron Printing- and Publishing- Com- pany, was discontinued with tlie issue of September 18, 1892. The American Farm News (see page 230), though then in the full tide of popular success, was, on December 1, 1892, merged in the American Farmer at Springfield, Ohio, and its publication transferred to that citj'. The Akron Printing and Publishing Company (see pages 222 and 534) still continues the publication of the Akron Daily Beacon and Republican and the Summit County Beacon, Mr. Thomas C. Raj'nolds being, on January 1, 1893, succeeded by Mr. Herbert S. Saxton, an experienced newspaper inan of Canton, as business manager, with Mr. Oliver S. Hart as assistant manager, and Mr. Elmer E. Paine as editor-in-chief; Mr. Ra3'nolds being now manager and editor-in-chief of the Wooster Daily Republican, with Mr. Francis C. Whittier, late superintendent of the Beacon and Republican manufacturing department, as his assistant. TJie Werner Company. After the completion of the main portion of this work, The Werner Printing and Lithographing Company,mentioned on page 536, added a large new building to their plant in 1892, and are now (1893) about to erect another, thus nearly doubling their floorage area and manufacturing- capacity. December 29, 1892, a consolidation was made with the R. S. Peale Book Publishing Company, of Chicago, under the above corporate title, with a capital of $3,500,000, with Paul E. Werner, of Akron, as president and treas- urer ; George C. Berry, Jr., of Akron, as assistant treasurer, and Hans Otto Beck, Charles B. Denaple and George C. Berry, Jr., managing directors of the manufacturing department in Akron ; James T. Edson, a native of Summit County, being secretary and one of the managers of the book publishing department in Chicago. TAMES V.WELSH,— son of Edward J and Sarah (Briceland) Welsh, was born near Noblestown, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, February 19, 1850; moved with parents to near Salineville,Columbiana County ,Ohio, in 1851; educated in common schools and Mount Union College, from which he was graduated in 1875; read law with Clark & McVickers, in New Lisbon; admitted to Columbiana bar in May, 1877; came to Akron in July, 1877; in partnership with Ex-Mayor John M. Fraze four years and with John J. Hall, Esq., four years, since practicing alone; was the Fifth Ward member of the Board of Education from 1888 to 1890, and elected City Solicitor April 3, 1893, which respon- sible office he is now ably filling. April 5, 1883, Mr. Welsh was married in Columbus, Ohio, to Miss Maggie J. Lant, of Blairsville, Pennsylvania. They have two children —Mary A., born February 17, 1884, and Edward James, born September 8, 1887. JAMES V. WELSH. RAILWAY EXTENSION, OIL, ETC. The railway status is substantially as before written of, except that the Vallev»for its Akron terminus, now occupies jointly with the C, A. & C. and the B & O , the new Union Depot on East Market Street, and that the long- talked-of Akron & New Castle road is now upder contract, and work begun between Akron and Mogadore. . „ M=.^Ve+ The Electric Street Railway is being rapidly extended, the East Market Street track now running to Blue Pond, and the North Howard Street track to Cuyahoga Street, on North Hill, it being the design of proprietors (The Akron Street Railway Company) to immediately extend the line to Cuy- ahoga Falls and Silver Lake. The Cuyahoga Falls and Akron Rapid Transit Company also have a line nearly completed between Akron and Silver Lake via the "Old Forge" and Cuyahoga Falls, the extension of one or both of 16 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. these lines to other points north, east and south, being among the early prob- abilities. Cleveland capitalists are also agitating the scheme of constructing an electric railway from that city to Akron via Brecksville, Richfield, Bath, etc. Another most promising enterprise for Akron is the oil well now being drilled on the farm owned by Mr. John F. Seiberling just east of the city limits. Drilling has already (June, 1893) reached a depth of 3,500 feet, and a few feet into oil bearing rock. During the casing process, several hundred barrels ot a fine quality of oil have (for lack of storage facilities) been pumped into the river, and it is the opinion of experts, and the parties in interest, that on resuming drilling a permanent •' gusher" will soon be reached that will abundantly repay its enterprising projectors, and create a genuine boom for not only that pleasant suburb, but for the entire citj"- of Akron and Summit County. LOCAL MILITARY MATTERS. Since closing Chapter 17, some changes have occurred in the materiel • and official roster of Company B, and the Eighth Regiment O. N. G. Major C. W. F. Dick was, on January 26, 1893, re-elected, and the Eighth, by the addition of new companies at Canton, Alliance and Mansfield, becoming entitled to a third Major, Captain Frederick C. Bryan, of Akron, was at the same time elected to that office. In December, 1892, by reason of the resigna- tion of First Lieutenant George H. T. Dunn, Second Lieutenant George C. Conger was promoted to First, and First Sergeant Fred H. O'Brien to Second Lieutenant, the promotion of Captain Bryan also giving these officers further advancement, the official roster of Company B now (June, 1893) being George C. Conger, Captain; Fred H. O'Brien, First Lieutenant; Charles C. Benner, Second Lieutenant. In April, 1893, the law was amended so as to give each Battalion Commander a staff, under which, on recommendation of Major Bryan and Major Dick, respectively. Sergeant Major Alexander \V. Maynes and Corporal James A. Thomas of Co. B, were appointed, by Colonel George R. Gyger, to be Second Lieutenants and Battalion Adjutants, Regimental Adjutant Albert A. Bartlett at the same time being- promoted to Regimental Quartermaster, and Joseph \V. Young, of Co. B, to be Battalion Sergeant Major. FIRE LOSSES FOR 1891-1892. The losses for 1891 were comparativelj' light, though somewhat in excess of those of 1890. Total alarms, 96. Losses on buildings, $30,531.89— contents, $84,047:4:0 ; total, $114,579.29. Insurance paid on buildings, $24,591.41 ; on con- tents, $63,840.70 ; total insurance paid, $88,432.11. Net loss, $26,147.18. Losses of $1,000 or over : January 8, "The Hub " shoe store, 106 East Market Street, building (estate of John T. Good) $1,095, fully insured ; contents, $7,483 ; insurance paid, $3,433. February 18, Enterprise Works, E. F. Pflueger & Co., Ash Street, building $2,695.69, fully insured; contents, $27,938.39; insurance paid, $21,596.69. February 18, Akron Paper Mill, Thomas Phillips & Co., West Exchange Street, building, $12,000; insurance, $10,080 ; contents, $36,000; insur- ance paid, $32,000. March 4, William H. Diehl, carpet cleaning works, North Summit Street, building, $800; insurance paid, $500; contents, $1,000; insurance $450. March 23, James Christy, South Howard Street, building, $2,200; insur- ance paid, $657; contents, Donovan Dye Works, $2,400; insurance paid, $970; April 11, J. A. Kohler, residence East Market Street, building, $1,500; contents, $500, fully insured. July 5, F. Hedeman, South Main Street, stable, $1,200; insurance paid, $900; contents, $1,400; insurance paid, $800. July 11, Frank Jackson, residence Jewett Street, $850; insurance paid, $660; contents, $500, fully insured. August 11, T. Casterton, west of city limits, barn struck by lightning, building $1,200; insurance paid, $500; contents, $500, fully insured. November 4, Mrs. Rentschler, East Market Street, building, $1,020, fully insured; contents, $375, insurance paid, $42. * * The losses by fire in 1892, with the exception of 1886, were the largest in the history of the city, there b^ng 108 runs with a total loss of $304,000, and a total insurance of $238,000. Losses of $1,000 or over : March 26, The Baker, McMillen Company, Ash Street, $35,000; insurance, $23,000— replaced by larger brick structure a few rods further south on Bowery Street. March 27, Good- rich Hard Rubber Company, Rubber Street, loss, $1,100. April 6, Akron Twine & Cordage Co'mpany's warerooms. Hill Street, $2,500, insured. June 7, Robin- son Brothers, Sewer Pipe Works, Forge Street, $75,000, insurance, $56,000. June 9, J. K. Simmons, three-story brick block, Howard Street, $4,000, insured. July 2, Akron Belting Works and adjoining property. North Main Street, $4,000 ; CUYAHOGA FALLS, HUDSON, ETC. 17 partially insured. July 14, Thomas Price, corner Thornton and Washington streets, $1,0(X), partiallj- insured. July 17, Western Linoleum Company, Steiner Allotment, $80,000, insurance, $76,500; now being rebuilt. July 21, Akron Stoneware Company, Sixth Ward, $3,'5,000, insurance, $18,000. July 24, W. B. Cannon, and estate of J. H. Pendleton, brick block (Rohrbacher & Miller, hardware, occupants) $18,000; insured. October 31, Mrs. A. Weary and K. Rentschler, barns, $l,.50O, insured. November 9, The J. C. McNeil Compans^'s Boiler Works, Sixth Ward, and dwelling house of L. M. Biggs, loss $12,000; insurance paid, $4,553. December 29, St. Nicholas Hotel (former residence of Mr. George D. Bates) East Market Street, $4,000; insured. Still Greater Efficiency.— The Department, as complete as it is, still falls short of the rapidly increasing requirements of the city, and is to be immediatelj'' enlarged b3' the erection of new stations, and the placing of steamers and other apparatus on West Hill and at other appropriate points, at an estimated cost of $50,000, an expenditure that the property owners and tax-payers of the city will all cheerfully acquiesce in. CUYAHOGA FALLS MATTERS. Official Roster for 1893 :— Samuel Higgs, mayor ; H. E. Willems, clerk; Orlando Wilcox, solicitor; John H. Williams, marshal ;. Robert Adams, street commissioner. Council : D. Frank Felmly, C. P. Richardson, Jacob Senn, David J. Thomas, Samuel K. Fretz, William J. Clarkson. Board of Education : Samuel Higgs, president ; McConnell Moore, clerk ; Charles A. Davis, treasurer ; George F. Patterson, M. D. Card, A. C. Fargo; Freder- ick Schnee, superintendent of schools. Justices of the Peace : George Parks, Richard Blood. Early in 1892, The Keeley Institute, for the treatment of alcoholism, was established in the large stone mansion originally built by Henry Newberr}' Sr., more recently known as the Cooke House, which has proved itself a very successful and useful institution. The Knights of Pythias, of Ohio, being about to establish a " Home " for the orphan children of their members, through the etiforts of Mr. George E. Hitchcock, of Akron, earl5'- in 1893, secured an option for the purchase of the above named property for the sum of $13,000, and at the annual session of the Grand Lodge, at Piqua, May 24,1893, the report of the committee for its pur- chase, after spirited competition and full discussion, was adopted, $5,000 addi- tional for repairs and improvements being appropriated. If the present plans are carried out, the Home will be both a valuable accession to the village and county and a credit and blessing to the Knights of Ohio and their dependents. The mercantile and inanufacturing status of Cuyahoga Falls remains substantially as reported in Chapter 34. The Cuyahoga Falls Reporter and Western Reserve Farmer, estab- lished in 1870, by the late Eugene O. Knox, is now owned and conducted by the Cuj^ahoga Publishing Companj^, with Mr. W. W. Warner as editor and business manager. HUDSON'S GREAT DISASTER. April 28, 1892, the entire row of business buildings on the west side of the public square, from and including the store of Mr. Charles H. Buss upon the south, and the Farrar Block upon the north, and the Mansion House midway, was destroyed by a believed-to-be incendiary fire, with an aggregate loss of about $l.oO,000, and an aggregate insurance of about $50,- 000 only. Among the sufferers were: Charles H. Buss, loss $45,000, insur- ance $20,000 ; Miss Belle Mills, millinery, loss $1,000 ; A. W. Lockhart, saloon, loss $2,500, insurance $1,500 ; Postmaster J. B. Jones, government property saved, personal loss $300; A. A. Edson and F. A. Ball, Mansion House, loss $8,000, insurance $4,000; William Kridler, barber; Henry Wehner, general merchandise; William Saywell, meat market; Fletcher & Ball, jewelers; Sebastian Miller, boots and shoes ; Dennis Joyce, groceries ; R. T. Miller, bakery • George Miller, meat market and groceries ; Jesse Cornelius, barber ; Philip 'Wendling, meat market ; C. A. Campbell, harness ; J. B. King and Mrs Berbower, owners of Farrar Block and occupants thereof ; E. S. Bently, druggist ■ Opera House, G. A. R. rooms, O. U. A. M. rooms, M. C. Read's law office and dental and medical rooms of Doctors E. E. Rogers and G.L. Starr. Though at first nearly overwhelmed and discouraged by the calamity, the indomitable enterprise and recuperative energy of the people are shown in the fact that, within the intervening year, a good portion of the burned district has been rehabilitated with a better class of structures than the majority of those destroyed, as follows : Charles H. Buss, two-story brick, 18 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. store at a cost of about $6,000 ; A. W. Lockhart, iron-clad frame buildiug- $1,000 ; Henry Wehner and J. B. Jones, one-story brick (two stores), $3,000 ; Sebastian Miller, two-story briclt, with offices and hall on second floor, with one-story side addition, $3,000 ; J. G. Mead, two-story brick, with Pythian Hall and two offices above and two store rooms below, one occupied by himself as a harness store and the other by John Jacobs as a grocery and provision store, $5,000 ; Georg-e Miller, one-story double brick, one room occupied bj' himself as a meat market and provision store and the other by Ralph Miller as a bakery, $3,000 ; C. A. Campbell, two-story brick with offices above and three store rooms below, one used by himself as grocery and meat market, the others, at this writing (June, 1893), not yet entirely finished, $6,000 ; L. Oviatt, on site of Farrar Block, two-story brick, hall and offices on upper floor and three store rooms below, one for bank, one for E. S. Bentley's drug store, the other not yet rented, $6,000 ; the aggregate expended within the year, including the nice Berea stone sidewalk the entire length of the row, being not far from $40,000. BARBERTON, TORNADO, FIRE, ETC. July 25, 1892, the new city of Barberton was visited by a furious tornado which blew down the north half of the National Sewer Pipe Company's main building, involving a loss of $20,000, and also instantly killing Harrier Peters and seriouslj' injuring Michael Roemer, employes of the Company, the same storm giving the Tile Works of J. C. Ewart & Co. a lightning call as it passed on its way to the northeast, though the fire was extinguished before serious damage was done. March 5, 1893, the Kirkham Art Tile Works, an elegant brick building, in the full tide of successful activity, was destroyed by fire, involving a loss of $250,000. It will probably be rebuilt. Since the issuance of the main portion of this work, Barberton has become an incorporated village (including the ancient village of New Por- tage) its municipal officers, elected April 3, 1893, being: Edson Bishop, mayor ; George W. Kosier, marshal ; J. W. Perry, assistant marshal ; William R. McQuigg, clerk ; P. C. Buel, treasurer ; W. A. Witner, sealer. Council : John Paul, B. F. Tracy, Eli Frederick, Frederick Willems, Morris Young, Jacob Miller. Board of Health : Edson Bishop, president ; John R. Davis, secretarj' ; H. P. Fraze, W. P. Welker, H. Kreighbaum, Wellington Miller, Alonz Humphrey. Health Officer, T. Eliot Tait, M. D. Board of Education, John McNamara, president; H. A. Fritz, clerk; W. P. Welker, Georare Stevens, H. P. Fraze, E. M. Buel. Superintendent of Schools, W. S.Robinson. Post- master, A. A. Moore. The Barberton News, a sprightly 24-column newspaper, edited by Prof. John R. Davis, is by no means the least of Barberton's present accomplish- ments. Besides many additional business and residence structures, Barberton Inn, one of the finest in the State, has been completed- two elegant churches — Methodist Episcopal and United Brethren — costing $10,000 each, and two less expensive but handsome churches by the Lutherans and Catholics, have been built and dedicated, and two $10,000 school buildings authorized to be built, and much other work, both public and private, accomplished. TALLMADGE ADDENDA. In the chapter on Tallmadge (Chap. 50), it was inadvertently omitted that in 1881, the citizens of the township having generously secured the title thereto, the grandsons of Rev. David Bacon (sons of Dr. Leonard Bacon), caused to be placed upon the site of the original cabin of their venerable ancestor, in the south partof the township, a huge granite boulder, on which was inscribed: " Here the first church in Tallmadge was gathered in the house of Rev. David Bacon, January 22, 1809. June 2, 1881." Mr. George P. Sperry, having deceased, as elsewhere stated, the Tall- madge Sewer Pipe Works are now conducted by the Sperry Sewer Pipe Com- pany, organized December 6, 1892, with a capital of $55,000. Directors : Ira P. Sperry, president; David E.Hill, Mrs. Virginia S. Sperrj^, George R.Hill, treasurer and general manager, R. A. Lowrey, secretary. SUMMIT COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. The pre-eminent success of this truly worthy institution still continues, the total receipts for 1892 being $13,763.74 and the total disbursements $13,635.22. Officers for 1893, George W. Bailey, presi- dent; John W. Kreighbaum, vice president; George W. Brewster, IN MEMORIAM — REMARKABLK LONGEVITY. 19 treasurer; Albert Hale, secretary; Dr. L. S. Ebright, marshal; D. T. Thomas superintendent of races. Directors same as in 1891, exceptino- that M L Sprankle succeeds A. McFarlin in Bath; John F. Moore, W. C Sackett' in Copies-; Georg-e Wheatley, W. R. Townsend in Richfield; F. Glass C E Shel- «°5k'" ^Tt''^^w-^? = P-}^^- ^°}}o^v■^^y, W. H. Evans in Fourth Ward, and L. S. Ebrigfht, J. M. Wills in Sixth Ward. LIFE PRISONERS PARDONED. Patrick Dunn, of Northampton, convicted of murder in the second deo-ree for the inurder of Elisha Whipple, in July, 1879, as related in Chapter 39, was pardoned by Governor William McKinley, June 2i, 1892, and is now as the writer is informed, in the Soldiers' Home at Das^ton. Vendruth D.Washburn, under life sentence for the murder of Charles Peeples,in Boston, July 16, 1870, as stated in Chapter 31, after an incarcer- ation, of 2Z years and 18 days, was pardoned December 16, 1892, by Governor Mcllmlej^, and is now, as the writer is advised, quietly residing- with his daughter in the city of Columbus, and also a pensioner of the government tor faithful service rendered during the War of the Rebellion. IN MEMORIAM. ripKA^'wy?,^?^ ?"f i"^"'"?? ^^'^'^^ ^^^ issuance of the first installment of this work, THE Great REAPER has been busy among the parties therein mentioned, and other represent- ative citizens, as the following brief summary will sliow- •^'-uci represent Mr-NT^PR^Mj^w^t^^^"' *°''-,'^ years a resident of Akron, one of the founders of the ^»^f 3iSh nl.^ i°/^lm^'^"'=°.i'?,"^™'"^' ?„"'^ "'^"'''^ promoter of Akron's efficient Fire Depart- ment, died Dec. 11, 1891, aged 61 years, 10 months and 12 days. at,^t?!ff?f ='^H^'„®7'^^i^^'^' f native of Twin.oburg. and enterprising business man of Akron, died suddenly of apoplexy, January 7, 1892, aged 44 years, 10 months. 9 days. JOHN DEVBRT, a well-knowri resident of Akron for nearly half a century, died of an affection of the lungs, January 20, 1892, aged fi2 years, 4 months, 19 days iiun-„S^/^S®^%^'^^/ ^?, ,^'^'■.1^ "^'^^f V"* '" Akron and a prominent "MiUerite" from 1841 to 1846 [See Chapter 24 ] died at Union Village, Ohio, January 24, 1892, aged 84 years, 7 ,^^^5' ^"^^F,? -^^ PlCKANDS, widow of one of Akron's best known early ministers and local leader of the Second Adventists, as narrated in Chapter 24, died in Marquette, Mich., January, 1892. aged 86 years. Stephen dales, one of Copley's most successful pioneer farmers, father of Mr. George S. Dales and Mrs. Wilham Hardy, of Akron, died January 29, 1892, aged 89 years, 10 months and 4 days. MRS. JANE Turner, wife of Robert Turner. Esq., resident of Akron for over a third of a century.died suddenly, of heart disease, February 10,1893, aged 58 years, 5 months, 23 days. ZENO Culver, a pioneer settler of Northampton, but for many years a resident of Akron, died February 19, 1892, aged 88 years, 4 months and 22 days. GEORGE M. SBIDEL, an early res'ident of Akron, but for over a third of a century one of the leading citizens of Northfield, died suddenly, of heart disease, February 16, 1892, aged 70 years. GEORGE KIKK, one of the most highly respected citizens of Bath for nearly half a cen- tury, died of paralysis, March 10, 1892, aged 72 years, 6 months, 3 days. Mrs. Hannah Whitney Wilcox, wife of Akron's pioneer sash, door and blind man- ufacturer, David G. Wilcox, whose portraits at 30 and 70 are given on page 485, died in Min- neapolis, Minn., April 4, 1892, aged 67 years, 7 months, 20 days. John E.Bell, early manufacturer and ex-councilman of Akron, died April 12, 1892, aged 66 years, 17 days. Mrs. Carrie M. (Lane) Pitkin, only daughter of the author of this work, and wife of Albert J. Pitkin, whose portrait is given on page 507, died at Schenectady, N. Y., of typhoid fever, April 20, 1892, aged 34 vears, 24 days. Mrs. Annbr Mary Baldwin, Summit County's first-born white child, whose por- trait is given on page 818, died in Hudson on the farm where she was born, April 25, 1892, aged 91 years, 5 months, 27 days. Mrs. Samantha CARPENDER, wife of Dr. John G. Carpender, a resident of Akron since 1835, died April 28, 1892, aged 87 years. Mrs. HARRIET Goodrich Payne, widow of the late Luther E. Payne, and mother of Ex-Countv Recorder George H. Payne, died April 29, 1892, aged 74 years, 10 months. 15 davs. REV. Dr. Gilbert De La MATYR, pastor of First M. E. Church of Akron, died May 17, 1892, aged 66 vears. Thomas W. Cornell, President First National Bank of Akron— portrait and biography on page 541 — died June 6, 1892, aged 72 years, 5 months and 2 days. Hon. John Richards Buchtel. founder of Buchtel College, whose portrait is given on page 150, died of paralysis. May 23, 1892, aged 72 years, 4 months, 5 days. Joseph Corns, first superintendent of the Akron Rolling Mill, later for many years proprietor of Massillon Rolling Mill, died in Massillon June 24, 1892, aged 72 years. Frank H. Allen, son of Jacob Allen, whose portrait is given on page 293, member and New York representative of the milling firm of Allen & Co., died In Akron June 29, 1892, aged 51 vears. 5 months, 8 days. Mrs. Julia (Janes) PAYNB, wife of Ex-Councilman William H.Payne, whose por- trait will be found on page 493, died July 2, 1892, aged 69 years, 1 month, 13 days. Rev. Dr. George W. Clarke, a pioneer M. E. minister of Akron, brother of the late Ex-Sheriff William L. Clarke, whose portrait appears on page 261, died suddenly, of heart disease, July 18, 1892, aged 82 years, 7 days. ELISHA C. Briggs, prominent brick manufacturer of Akron, died July 20, 1893, aged 76 Mrs. HuLDAH M. Jacobs, wife of Dr. William C. Jacobs ( see portrait page 182 ), died after a long and painful illness, July 23, 1892, aged 48 years, 11 months, 4 days. 20 AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. Frank E.HINB, Drominent young business man of Tallmadge, died August 8,1892, aged 34 years, 9 months, 25 days. LIDA M. DUSSEL, for many years principal of Henry School, died from injuries received in alighting from electric car, Aug. 10, 1892, aged 38 years, 3 months, 10 days. Mrs. Sarah ( Hydk ) Gale, widow of Akron's pioneer merchant and manufacturer. Col. Justus Gale, whose portrait is given on page 47, died September 4, 1892, aged 90 years, 4 months, 8 days. Benjamin Franklin Wheeler, pioneer business man and prominent Odd Fellow of Akron, died Sept. 3, 1892, aged 84 years, 2 months and 22 days. Portrait, page 513. Mrs. GEORGE Crouse. mother of Hon. George W. Crouse, pioneer resident of Tall- madge and Green townships, died in Akron, Sept. 8, 1892, aged 87 years. Dr. a. H. Agard, son-in-law of the late Dr. Joseph Cole, whose portrait is given on page 113, died in Oakland, Cal., Aug. 31, 1892. aged 69 years. Dr. Amos Wright, first white male child born in Tallmadge, died September 22, 1892, aged 83 years, 11 months, 14 days. Portrait, page 1044. Matilda E. McClurE, widow of the late Judge Samuel W. McClure, whose portrait is given on page 268, died September 24, 1892, aged 73 years. William hardy, prominent business man and ex-councilman of Akron, died Oct. 31, 1892. aged 63 years, 7 months and 19 days. Portrait on page 305. Joel F. Webb, enterprising farmer of Springfield, died November 4, 1892, aged 68 years, 11 months. 4 days. Albert C. LOHHAN. prominent business man of Akron and Cleveland, died suddenly in Akron, October 24, 1892, aged 47 years, 8 mouths and 19 days. Charles B. Cobb, pioneer hotel keeper and prominent farmer of Akron, died November 9, 1892, aged 82 vears, 10 months and 26 days. Mrs. Maria E. STORKR, wife of Ex-Postmaster James B. Storer, died November 10. 1892, aged 48 years, 11 months. Luke VOSSLER Wykoff, a native of SomervlUe, Somerset Co., N. J., a California Forty-niner, and for many years an enterprising farmer of Bath, died suddenly, of heart disease, November 15, 1892, aged 63 years, 7 months and 23 days. Joseph Kennedy, one of Copley's best known and most thrifty farmers, died of con- sumption, November 11, 1892, aged 53 years. George P. Sperry, proprietor Tallmadge Sewer Pipe Works, died at his home in Akron, November 17, 1892, aged 34 years, 7 months, 17 days. Portrait, page 1054. Ex-Mayor Samuel E. Judd, of Hudson, died December 24, 1892, aged 82 years. Deacon Thomas E. Ellsworth, a native of Terringford, Conn., and a prominent citizen of Richfield for over 70 years, died July 29, 1892, aged 95 years, 4 months, 23 days. Edward W. Perrin, Postmaster of Akron from 1853 to 1857 (Portrait on page 319), died . in Toledo, Ohio, October 18, 3892, aged 72 years, 28 days. Robert McElhinney. well-known contractor and ex-councilman of Akron, died sud- denly. January 2. 1893, aged 55 years, 3 months and 18 days. Mrs. Emma BENNETT, early fashionable milliner of Akron, widow of Philo Bennett, died January 2, 1893, aged 81 years, 1 month and 18 days. Mrs. Isabella H. Matthews, widow of Ex-Mayor James Matthews, whose portrait is given on page 56. died in Berkeley, Cal., December 27, 1892, aged 65 years, 1 month, 27 days. Major Norris Humphrey, an excellent likeness of whom will be found on page 942, died at his home in Richfield, January 5, 1893, aged 86 years, 1 month and 21 days. DANIEL Hine, a highly respected resident of Tallmadge, and successful farmer and grape culturist, died January 6, 1893, aged 86 years, 7 months, and 13 days James B. Taplin, pioneer manufacturer of Akron and president of Taplin, Rice & Co., died, of erysipelas, January 23. 1893, aged 80 years, 5 months, 11 days. Portrait on page 170. Mrs. Elizabeth R. Johnston, widow of Hon. John Johnston (see portrait page 263) , died January 23, 1893, aged 72 years, 7 months and 23 days. Mrs. Lucy Wightman Pangburn, wife of Lewis Pangburn, pioneer resident of Akron, died February 1, 1893, aged 78 years, 8 months and 15 days. James Alexander Lantz, ex-veteran of the War of the Rebellion, and Ex-Recorder of Summit County, died at Los Angeles, California, January 28, 1893, aged 50 years, 6 months. 3 days. Robert G. Marshall, pioneer settler and long time Justice of the Peace of Norton township, died February 13, 1893, aged 79 years, 11 months and 26 days. Emily G. Merrill, widow of Akron's pioneer stoneware manufacturer, Edwin H. Merrill (see portrait, page 480), died February 23, 1893, aged 75 years, 10 months, 18 days. Lieut. James K. Polk Souers, Ex-Union Soldier, and one of Akron's oldest and most eflScient mail carriers, died March 13, 1893, aged 47 years, 7 days. REV. DR. Richard L. GANTER, rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church of Akron for nearly a quarter of a century, died March 26, 1893, aged 57 years, 8 months, 3 days. Portrait, page 200. Charles B. Bernard Esq., Ex- Auditor of Summit County, whose portrait isfgiven on page 173, died in Cleveland, March 25, 1893. aged 64 years, 10 months. ALVIN Rice, (see portrait and biography, page 299) died April 10, 1893, aged 70 years, 11 months and 8 days. Edward Mize, for many years the faithful auditor of the Cleveland, Zanesville & Cincinnati Railway, and its successor. The Cleveland, Akron & Columbus, died in Chicago, April 19, 1893, in his 79th year. Thomas H. Goodwin, a pioneer resident of Akron (see portrait, page 311), died May 3, 1893, aged 82 years, 6 months and 23 days. Mrs. Mary Ann (Carter) Singletary. wife of Hon. John C. Singletary, Akron's second Mayor (see portrait on page 52) , died in Streetsboro, November 18, 1892, aged 70 years, 5 months, 21 days. Morgan D. Pratt, a pioneer settler of Copley, died September 9, 1892, aged 84 years, 8 months. HENRY PURDY, Ex-County Recorder, Ex-Mayor, etc., died May 31, 1893, aged 77 years, 8 months, and 1 day. Portrait, page 56. Mrs. HERMINE Schumacher, wife of Mr.Ferdinaiid Schumacher, whose portrait and biography appear on page 155, died June 1, 1893, aged 69 years, 5 months, and 20 days. Mrs. Laura M. (Pease) Humphrey, widow of Judge Van R. Humphrey (portrait page 831), died in Cleveland, June 1. 1893, aged 86 years, 3 months, 4 days. Erastus Jackson, well-known citizen of Peninsula, died June 10, 1893, aged 82 years, S months and 24 days. Portrait page 659. There are here recorded 67 names, ranging from 34 to95, and averaging nearly 72 years, a highly satisfactory showing of longevity, truly.