USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland, (Vol. 1) > Part 12
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women are dividing public honors with the men and carrying the burdens that go with public duties this becomes more noticeable.
It is true, however, that these writers of history have consistently exalted the home and the fireside, its compelling incentive to duty, due to the genius, the faithfulness and patient care of woman. They have cited instances of heroism under trial of women as well as men. Pioneer history embracing so much of family geneaology does seem to feature the male in large proportion. This may be due to the descent of the family name, the woman losing her name in that of her husband, and he as head of the family getting the lion's share of the publicity. John Smith, or to be still more comprehensive, John Smith, and family, settled at such a place and on such a date. John Smith could not have cleared and transformed the wilderness into fields of productive beauty without he was clothed and fed, cared for in sickness and cheered in his lonely hours. The woman who shared his hardships, bore his children and worked as industriously, did a part in the upbuilding of the country as important as the man, but her name does not appear so frequently on the pages of history. There is a seeming injustice in this. Something of this thought must have been in the mind of Harried Taylor Upton, who in her comprehensive history of the Western Reserve and in its opening chapter says: "The spirit of all colonization by nations is com- mercial, the development of all unoccupied territory by companies or in- dividuals is also commercial. Men laughed at Columbus when he tried to make them see that the nation which financed his expedition would become rich and powerful. Columbus utterly failed with men and turned to a woman, a queen. It is true he told her of the eastern gold, which would be hers, and of the fame which would come to Spain, but he dwelt at great length on the opportunities that would come to her of planting her religion in a new world. History tells us that because of her devo- tion to her church she raised the necessary funds by the sale of her jewels." Isabella was a queen and history has given her the full measure of credit for her progressive devotion and foresight. The queens of the households of the pioneers should have their rightful place in history.
Brooklyn Township, as we have said, raised up municipalities only to have them swallowed up by Greater Cleveland. The first city in Cuyahoga County was formed from the township and for a time had an active existence. Ohio City was organized in the same year as the City of Cleveland, but before the organization of the latter. There was rivalry in this and the rivalry continued. Like that of Minneapolis and St. Paul and San Francisco and Los Angeles the rivalry at times became very bitter. Adam Bede illustrating the rivalry of the Minnesota cities relates that at one time a resident of St. Paul strayed over into Minneapolis, got into an altercation with an Irishman, and was killed. The Irishman, a Minneapolis citizen, knowing that concealment was impossible decided to give himself up. He sought out the sheriff of his county, related the incidents of the fight resulting in the death of the visitor from St. Paul, whom he designated as a Swede, and said he had come to give himself up for the crime. "What did you come to me for?" asked the sheriff. "Go over to the courthouse and get your bounty." The rivalry between Ohio City on the west side and Cleveland on the east side became very real. This feeling of rivalry developed into a settled feeling of envy on the part of the west siders, which remained after the union of Ohio City and Cleveland carried Greater Cleveland across the Cuyahoga.
As we have said, Samuel Lord and Josiah Barber in 1818 located at the west side of the river near its mouth. In the same section in 1831 the Buffalo Company bought land on the lake known as the Carter Farm.
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They held forth the great possibilities of this location with warehouses on the low lands and stores and residences on the bluffs. Property rose to a higher value in a few years than it was worth sixty years later. The City of Ohio, or Ohio City as it was commonly called, had great expectations. Speculation was rife and the boom in real property made sales frequent, but each succeeding sale always at a price in advance of the preceding, as is the rule with booms. The Buffalo Company excavated a ship canal from the Cuyahoga River to the old river bed, thus making an entrance enabling boats to come in at the west end. After its incorpora- tion, Ohio City built a canal from the Cuyahoga River opposite the end of the Ohio Canal into the old river bed above the ship channel. This canal was thus in effect the terminus of the Ohio Canal. Ohio City was to have a harbor of its own independent of Cleveland, be the northern
MAYOR JOHN W. WILLEY
terminus of the Ohio Canal and entirely independent of Cleveland. The city was organized in March, 1836, before the organization of the City of Cleveland, which was organized as a city the same year, and was therefore the first city in Cuyahoga County. Josiah Barber was elected mayor. It was divided into three wards. E. Folsom, C. Williams, N. C. Baldwin and B. F. Tyler were elected councilmen from the first ward; F. A. Burrows, C. E. Hill, L. Risley and E. Slaght from the second ward, and R. Lord, William Benton, H. N. Ward and E. Conklin from the third ward. The mayor and members of the council met at the office of E. Folsom on March 30th to organize. It was decreed by lot who of the twelve councilmen should serve for one year and who for two years. F. A. Burrows was chosen clerk; Richard Lord, president of the council; Asa Foote, city treasurer ; George L. Chapman, city marshal ; Thomas Whelpley, city recorder. A room in the Columbus block was secured for council meetings at an annual rental of $80.
This first city of the county continued in existence until 1855, but was first only in date of organization, when it was annexed to Cleveland. By a deal which induced the citizens of Ohio City to consent to the union, or at least aided the proposition, William B. Castle, the last mayor of Ohio City, was made the first mayor of Cleveland, after the annexation. Thus ended the dream of the west siders for a great lakeport city on the west bank of the Cuyahoga. One of the most interesting episodes in
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connection with their struggle to exceed or keep pace with Cleveland on the other side was the socalled "bridge war." An account of this has found a place in all of our local histories, but it illustrates more than an abstract statement, the spirit of rivalry displayed by the two sections in that day. The spirit of progress displayed by a real estate firm and an overt act of the City of Cleveland at the river was the beginning of the war. In 1833 James S. Clark and others allotted the land in the first bend of the Cuyahoga, the flats, and laid out Columbus Street through this tract to the river and, later, in 1837, on the other side of the stream, within the limits of Ohio City, they laid out a large allotment, which they called Willeyville after Mayor Willey of Cleveland. Through this allotment they laid out what became an extension of Columbus Street to connect with the Medina and Wooster turnpike at the south line of Ohio City. This was an expensive and extensive project for those days and reflected credit on the firm. They graded the hill to the river, built the roadway, and then spent $15,000 dollars in building a bridge across the river. The bridge is described in the first city directory of Cleveland as "supported by a stone abutment on either shore and piers of solid masonry in the center of the river. Between the piers is a draw sufficient to allow a vessel of forty-nine foot beam to pass through. The length is 200 feet, the breadth, including the sidewalks, 33 feet, and the height of the piers above the surface of the water may be estimated at 24 feet. The whole, with the exception of the draw is roofed and enclosed, and presents an imposing appearance, and reflects much credit on the architect, Nathan Hunt. This splendid bridge was presented to the corporation of Cleveland by the owners, with the express stipulation that it should forever remain free to the public, although the Legislature had previously chartered it as a toll bridge."
This bridge and the extension of Columbus Street through the flats and the Willeyville allotment to the turnpike completed a short route to Cleveland from the south and west with a fairly easy grade up Michigan Street to Ontario Street. This route practically side-tracked Ohio City, which lay nearer the mouth of the river and the people of that ambitious city saw traffic from Elyria, Brooklyn, and the intervening farm country avoid their town and pass over the new bridge to their rival on the east side of the river. To make the situation worse, by what provocation we know not, an act of aggression on the part of the City of Cleveland was formulated and carried out. The twin cities were connected by a float bridge (pontoon) across the river at Main Street, now Superior. The Cleveland City owned the east half and the Ohio City the west half. The city council of Cleveland voted to remove their half of the bridge. The authority given by the council was carried out at night and there- upon the people of Ohio City held an indignation meeting and declared the new bridge a nuisance. Thus began the war between cities that as Professor Avery says were sisters and almost twins. A regular battle began on the new bridge between citizens and officials of Ohio City and Cleveland. It was argued by the west siders that Cleveland only extended to the center of the river and that that portion of the new bridge from that point was theirs to destroy, as the city had destroyed their half of the float bridge at Main Street.
The marshal of Ohio City organized a posse of deputies and the new bridge was damaged by a charge of powder exploded under the Ohio City end. Two deep ditches were dug at the approaches at each end and traffic over the bridge suspended. Then a mob of west siders lead by C. L. Russell, one of their leading attorneys, marched down to the bridge only to meet the mayor of Cleveland prepared for defense with a number
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of militiamen, a crowd of his constituents, and having for a barrage a cannon that had been used for Fourth of July celebrations, probably a relic of the War of 1812. This piece was planted on the Cleveland side in position to rake the bridge. A battle was fought but without artillery, for Deacon House had spiked the cannon with an old file. Pistols, crow- bars, stones and fists were effectively used and some injured but none fatally. The sheriff of the county and the marshal of Cleveland finally stopped the battle. Several were landed in jail. An armed guard was put over the bridge, after the battle, by authority of the council of the City of Cleveland. The matter was taken into court and settled there. In the spiking of the gun by Deacon House he is given credit for benevolent forethought. He being a west sider it cannot be recorded, in the high state of excitement at that time, what he would have done if the cannon had been pointed the other way. Ohio City, formed from the Township of Brooklyn, lived as a distinct municipality for eighteen years, when it was annexed to Cleveland. The mayors in the order of their service were: Josiah Barber, Francis A. Burrows, Norman C. Baldwin, Need- ham M. Standart, Francis A. Burrows, again, Richard Lord, Daniel H. Lamb, David Griffith, John Beverling, Thomas Burnham, Benjamin Sheldon and William B. Castle. The latter, as we have said, serving as the first mayor of Cleveland after the union of the two cities.
One of the oldest municipalities, born of the original Township of Brooklyn, was Brighton. Situated south of Big Creek or Mill Creek, it was the apex of roads leading south and southwest and became early a settlement of considerable importance. As early as 1833, some put it, which would make it older than Ohio City, the Village of Brighton was incorporated. Its first mayor was Mr. Babcock, father of Hon. Charles H. Babcock, who was justice of the peace in Brooklyn Township for many years and, in 1864 and 1866 represented this county in the Legislature, being speaker pro tem of the House of Representatives during his term in the Fifty-sixth General Assembly. The organization of Brighton was short lived, as the village organization was allowed to lapse in the years following the administration of Mayor Babcock. It went back under the township organization until 1890, when, with much opposition, it was organ- ized as a village under the name of South Brooklyn. The opposition to the incorporation of South Brooklyn was carried on by certain manufacturing plants, who, it was said, were fearful that the village officers would place too many restrictions on their business, restrictions as to the public health by the health officers of the village, and others that might interfere with the liberties they had enjoyed under the township government. The Cleve- land Dryer Company brought injunction proceedings, but the village won the suit. This was carried to the Court of Appeals and to the Supreme Court with the same result, Charles L. Selzer representing the village as special solicitor. The fight for its life by the Village of South Brooklyn was quite intense and exceeded only by the fight a few years later, when the village was annexed to the City of Cleveland.
The first mayor was George Guscott, who is now living on Broadview Avenue, and the first clerk was Ora J. Fish, now a resident of California. This mayor served four years. Mr. Guscott was followed by H. H. (Ham) Bratton, and he by Lyon Phelps. Then in their order, James Rodgers and Fred Mathews, Mathews being mayor at the time of the annexation to Cleveland. As in most of the municipalities formed out of Brooklyn, there was in South Brooklyn violent opposition to annexation. The mayor and a part of the council were favorable, and, as a vote had been taken at the regular election and the result was a majority in both Cleveland and South Brooklyn for the annexation, the mayor and the
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councilmen that stood with him, were for carrying out the will of the voters as expressed at the polls. The excitement was caused by those councilmen who tried to block the proceedings, and their efforts were clev- erly defeated. The council was composed of six members, requiring four for a quorum. Leonard Fish and Chauncey Brainard, councilmen, stood by the mayor in his efforts to carry out the wishes of the villagers, expressed at the election, while J. A. Nusser, C. J. Collister, George Miller and a Mr. Williams, while not wishing to enter the council chamber and vote against the peoples' wish, hit upon the plan of breaking a quorum. Meetings were held for some time, but no quorum was in attendance. Finally J. A. Nusser moved out of the village and his seat in the body became vacant by reason of that fact. Now a council of five members remained and only three were required to transact business. Mass meet- ings were held in the village and the excitement ran high but no quorum of the council obtained. Finally Charles L. Selzer, acting as special solicitor for the village, brought quo warranto proceedings to oust Mr. Col- lister from office on the ground that he was not a citizen of the United States. The court granted the petition and Mr. Collister was ousted from office. He had been acting under the belief that his father was a natural- ized citizen, which the court found to be otherwise.
In the meantime the council had been holding frequent meetings, adjourning from time to time only to add to the minutes of its proceedings "no quorum." Following the ousting of Mr. Collister, Mr. Williams, one of the conspiring councilmen, slipped into the council meeting to ascertain what the next move on the municipal chess board would be. When his name was called he refused to answer, but Mayor Mathews said: "Mr. Williams, I see you are present, you are a councilman of the village, the clerk will record you as present, I stand upon the Tom Reed rules of Con- gress, and I now declare a quorum present for the transaction of busi- ness." Mr. Williams, greatly incensed, rose and said: "Mr. Mayor, I resign as councilman of this village." The mayor responded : "Put your resignation in writing and it will be considered." Mr. Williams thereupon wrote out his resignation, which was immediately accepted and Charles Miller was elected to fill the vacancy. The council immediately passed the necessary annexation legislation. There was a great demonstration by the citizens on the final close of this drama of a Brooklyn municipality, almost equal to that when it was born, and when, over the heights above Brook- side Park, a cannon roared its approval. We should add that in the final meeting referred to, Dr. Linden was chosen councilman in the place of Mr. Williams and Charles Miller in the place of Mr. Collister, his period of service, like that of Mr. Miller, lasting only an hour.
Brooklyn Village, as distinct from South Brooklyn, included territory north of Big Creek, and extended north beyond the Daisy Avenue of the present. It was organized in 1867. The first election was held November 27th. The officers elected and qualified were: Mayor, Bethuel Fish; recorder, Leonard Foster; trustees, corresponding to councilmen of the present time, were A. W. Poe, J. S. Fish, Adam Kroehle, Dr. C. B. Galen- tine, and George Storer. In 1878, the officers of the village were : Mayor, Henry Ingham; clerk, James H. Richardson ; councilmen, Beaser, Farns- worth, Naaf, Quirk, Roberts and Towl. Among the mayors of the village in the last period of its separate existence were Seymour Trowbridge, M. H. Farnsworth, Carlos Jones, William Prescott, Frank Bliss, Charles L. Selzer and W. R. Coates. All save the three first named are now living. The village grew in population and wealth from year to year but the menace of annexation was ever present. In 1888, Charles S. Whittern and Delos Cook, residents of the north end of the village began the circu-
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lation of a petition which had for its ultimate object the annexing to Cleveland of all that portion of Brooklyn Village north of Daisy Avenue and the first fight was on. At this time the Mail and News and The Cuyahogan, weekly papers, were published in the village. The Mail and News favored annexation and The Cuyahogan was opposed. Personalities were indulged in and the rivalry was of the kind illustrated by Artemus Ward when working on the Advertiser, one of two rival local papers in Norway, Maine. Artemus was a "printer's devil" on the Advertiser. It is related that he noticed the continual boasting of the rival paper. A new window was put in, and later the casing was painted and other matters were announced as showing the enterprise of the management and reflect- ing glory on the establishment. In the next number of the Advertiser an article by Artemus was published as follows: "We have bored a new hole in the sink and put a bran new slop pail under it. What have the hell- hounds across the street got to say to that?" It should be mentioned that the first paper published in the village was a little sheet called The Town Crier, which was published by H. M. Farnsworth. This, full of spice and local items, was enlarged in two years and named The Cuyahogan and later sold to A. E. Hyre, who continued its publication for some years. The Mail and News was published by John and William Schmehl. The fight for the annexation of the north end of Brooklyn Village to Cleveland, the central topic of the two village papers, begun in 1888, ended in 1890, and all of the village north of Daisy Avenue, excepting a portion in the northeast, which was retained, was annexed to Cleveland, and became a part of the Thirty-ninth Ward. The outcome of this contest begun and carried forward by Messrs. Whittern and Cook started the agitation for the annexation of the while village. As indicating the bitter- ness of the contest in the rival papers we quote from an issue of one after the annexation : "On the 24th of February the north end of the Village of Brooklyn made application to the City of Cleveland for annexation. The City of Cleveland by its council passed a resolution asking the county commissioners to detach the territory. After permitting an amendment whereby twenty-four voters, eighteen of whom are remonstrants, were left in the village, the petition was granted. The whole matter would have been laid before the council for final action had it not been for the inter- ruption caused by the filing of a petition for injunction. As our readers know, Judge Hamilton sustained the annexers. This successful end in the face of one of the shrewdest bodies of men in any village, reflects credit on those who had the courage to beard the lion in his den. Not only has the village organ (referring to the other paper) repeated and revamped its old worn-out and exploded arguments against annexation but it has resorted to the use of vile epithets and most disgusting phrases against those gentlemen in the north end, who faced the artillery of the gang. It now remains to be seen what will be done in reference to the annexation of the remainder of the village." Following this release to Greater Cleveland of a portion of its territory, the citizens opposed to annexation began the agitation for the advancement of the village to a city hoping by this method to forestall the annexation of any more of its territory to the City of Cleveland. This was voted upon at the following election. An incident illustrating the anxiety over this proposal will show for itself. Charles L. Selzer, the candidate for mayor at this election, who was a very popular candidate, found in a printing office campaign cards for himself with the legend "To Advance to a City -- Yes," printed in bold type at the bottom. Not running on that issue, he threw them in the stove and paid the printer for the loss. Mayor Selzer served four years and was succeeded by W. R. Coates, who was elected on an annexation plat-
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form in a campaign in which there was a great deal of politics to the square inch, notwithstanding that both the City of Cleveland and the Vil- lage of Brooklyn had voted at a previous election for annexation.
The Village of Brooklyn was annexed to Cleveland in 1894. The usual injunction suit was brought in the courts, heard before Judge Walter Ong of the Common Pleas Court and the injunction refused. Fred F. Klingman, a member of the last council of the village, was the first coun- cilman from the new territory to the Cleveland City Council, and was fol- lowed by William Prescott, a former mayor The next was William Townes, who died while in office and was succeeded by his son, Clayton C. Townes, now president of the council.
West Cleveland, formed from territory on the west line of Brooklyn, was organized in 1875. The first mayor was Mr. Mitchell and the first clerk, Alfred H. Leece. The records are incomplete and do not show the other officers. Then followed Mayor Forbes and next came John C. Hawley. In 1879, L. H. Ware was mayor and Charles E. Farrell was clerk. O. Alger was mayor in 1883-1888. The clerks during that time being D. W. Batchelder and A. W. Fairbanks. W. J. White, known later as the manufacturer of Yucatan gum, and who served as a member of Congress from this district, was mayor from 1890 to 1891. Fairbanks was clerk during his administration. Gustav Schmidt was mayor in 1892 and 1893 and J. V. McCauley was clerk. E. N. Thompson was mayor and F. P. Thomas clerk at the time of the annexation of the village to Cleveland, which occurred February 26, 1894, the same year of the annex- ation of the Village of Brooklyn, and this village became the Forty-first Ward of Cleveland. There was the usual division of opinion on the question and a fight before surrender. Unlike South Brooklyn, in this case the mayor was inclined to block proceedings and the council favorable to the annexation of the village, and so acted.
In 1872 George Linn, Robert Linn, C. J. Thatcher and A. K. Moulton purchased a large tract of land in the southwest part of Brooklyn Town- ship, which they named Linndale Village Allotment. On the first of May, 1873, they sold an allotted tract to David Beaty for $165,000, receiving a down payment of $15,000. The deal with Beaty did not progress and some time later he refused further payments and sued for the $15,000, which he had paid. Beaty did not receive title and in 1874 another deal was put through, which might have carried the creators of the Linndale allotment to success but the panic of 1876, coupled with the failure of Jay Cook, which weakened the Cleveland bank that was expected to aid in financing the enterprise, occurred. The dream of the Linns was not realized and the project languished. Law suits and discouragements have been the fruits of the enterprise. It started out with much promise. A newspaper called the Linndale Enterprise was published and an apparent boom was on but it soon died out. In 1900, the Village of Linndale was incorporated. The first mayor was Frank Seither, who was elected by "the long straw," as it was expressed. In the first election, Mr. Seither and George Linn received each the same number of votes and they drew lots to decide the election, Mr. Seither drawing the long straw and being declared mayor-elect. In the fall of the same year, that portion of the village in which Mr. Seither resided was annexed to the City of Cleveland and his term as mayor expired automatically, the president pro tem of the council acting as mayor until a successor was elected. From that time on George Linn has served continuously as mayor, being elected and re-elected at every succeeding election. The records in the county record- er's office show the officers at present to be : Mayor, George Linn; clerk, Harvey E. Dorsey; treasurer, Assunto Lembo; marshal, Edward De
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