USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland, (Vol. 1) > Part 39
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. a requirement of three days' work for each man, regardless of his wealth in property. The fellow whose sole possessions were a straw hat, overalls and suspenders, and cowhide boots, came under this requirement in com- mon with the largest landowner. Their work was done with plow and scraper and shovel. Gravel was sometimes hauled from the bed of streams and deposited in the low places. These roads of dirt were a great advance over the primitive trail in dry weather but often became great stretches of mud at other times. The building of dirt roads was greatly facilitated by improved tools. A new scraper was invented that at the first glance was condemned by the gang, but after being put in operation called forth this remark from a member: "By thunder, that thing deceives its looks."
In 1850 the first plank road was built. The Center road was planked for some distance by a company but after these planks gave way they were not replaced. In 1870 the Cleveland and Warrensville Plank Road Com- pany built five miles of plank road extending from the city limits of Cleve- land to a point three-quarters of a mile east of the Center. The road run- ning south from the Center, and that from Randall northwest to New- burgh was also planked. Now came the railroad, that wonderful trans- former of a continent, and with it the old song, with its refrain: "Bless me, it is pleasant, this riding on a rail." The Cleveland and Mahoning and Atlantic and Great Western Railways were built through the south- western part of the township. These roads used the same roadbed but had tracks of different gauge. Randall Station came into being with the advent of railroads. How did it get its name? In this wise. In 1868 a postoffice was established here and it was named after Alexander W. Randall, who was then postmaster general of the United States. Before the postoffice was established it was called "Plank Road Station." Impor- tant and interesting landmarks of the early days are the taverns. In 1848 George Lathrop put up a tavern called the Plank Road House. This became widely known and was patronized by a multitude of local and dis- tant travelers. After him the landlord was Otis Farrer, and Charles Grass- meyer followed Farrer. Another called the Blue Tavern was opened at the Center by Charles Wickerson. At that time the Center included a Methodist Church, town hall, and eight or ten dwellings. Four years before the Plank Road House was built, Dwyer Sherman built one. Fol- lowing him as landlords were Nickerson, Teed, Kingsbury, McKee, and Birchard. In 1877 A. A. Gillette opened a fine country hotel one and a half miles west of the plank road.
Since the jolly party at the house warming in the log cabin of Daniel Warren, since the town meeting that was called to order and presided over by Daniel Warren, since the same gentleman entered upon his duties as justice of the peace, with an emphasis on the last word, many men have served the township and their names as public officers in "town meeting" government, represent many of the most prominent of the pioneer families of Warrensville. Among those who have served as trustees in the first half century and more, were James Prentiss, Peleg Brown, William Sickel, Gabriel Culver, Daniel R. Smith, Robert Prentiss, Ralph Russell. Caleb Baldwin, Caleb Litch, Asa Stiles, Caleb Alvord, Josiah Abbott, David Benjamin, Enoch Gleason, Solomon Buell, Jedediah Hubbell, John Prentiss, Milo Gleason, Orrin J. Hubbell, Moses Warren, Daniel Warren, Beckwith Cook, Nathaniel Goodspeed, Andrew Wilson, Horace Hamilton, John Woodruff, Moses Warren, Jr., Samuel M. Prentiss, Bazaleel Thorp, Solyman Hubbell, Nathaniel Lyon, Frederick Sillsby, Amos Birchard, Warren Thorp, Asa Upson, John J. Proper, Everett Holly, Erastus Smith, Oliver Ransom, Pliny S. Conkey, Linus Clark, Albert Kingsbury, Otis Lyon, Russell Frizzell, Henry Wetherby, Thomas Cain, John Hewett,
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James Clapp, William Bowler, John T. Radcliff, Asahel Lewis, William H. Cole, Gad E. Johnson, James K. Quayle, H. N. Clark, B. F. Eddy, Otis Farrer, John Radcliff, Jr., Robert Drake, D. L. Wightman, J. P. Thorp, William H. Warren, L. B. Prentiss, John Caley, G. W. Harland, Elermie Earl, T. Nelson, A. S. Cannon, L. Leppert, Jr., R. Walkden, A. J. Conkey, John C. Teare, W. W. Smith, Sebastian Fieg and James Smith. Clerks, F. G. Williams, Ansel Young, Martin Clark, Almon Kings- bury, P. L. Brown, Orrin J. Hubbeli, Luther R. Prentiss, William H. Cole, Parker Boynton, Milo Gleason, William H. Warren, Linus Clark, W. S. Cannon, Solyman Hubbell, E. Holley, William Taylor, J. M. Burke, Ham- mond Clapp, Edwin Taylor, W. W. Blair, W. W. Smith, and H. B. Ham- mond. Treasurer, Caleb Baldwin, Daniel R. Smith, Edmond Mallet, Charles Risley, Beckwith Cook, John Prentiss, Salmon Buel, Sylvester Carter, Enoch Gleason, Peleg Brown, Asa Stiles, Daniel Pillsbury, Moses Warren, Orrin J. Hubbell, Asa Upson, William H. Cole, Elijah W. Bron- son, David Birchard, Amos Birchard, Truman Eggleston, William H. Warren, Oliver Ransom, Hart Taylor, Milo Gleason, J. T. Radcliff, John M. Burke, O. B. Judd, G. E. Johnson, D. P. Badger, D. Nowack, John Shirringer, and David Wade. In the '80s William S. Corlett and William B. Sanders were serving as justices of the peace. The present officers of the township are Myron J. Penty, justice of the peace; trustees, Harry Deeks, James L. Doyle, D. H. Ton Benken; clerk, William Malchus; treasurer, William Shankland; assessor, O. M. Wetmore; constable, Guy O. Peck.
In 1819 the total tax of Warrensville was $12.50 and out of this 80 cents was not collected. In 1821, after Orange was organized, the tax was only $6.50. This was all collected and paid out as follows: Paid Aruna R. Baldwin, constable, 54 cents; Ansel Young, clerk, $1.18; Asa Stiles, trustee, $1.55 ; Ebenezer Russell, trustee, $1; Josiah Abbott, trustee, $1; George Cannon, collector, 60 cents, and Chester Risley, treasurer, 18 cents. It may be assumed that the treasurer got what was left out of a distribution based upon relative services. In 1828 the vote for president in the township was, John Adams, thirty-two votes, and Andrew Jackson, fifteen.
A village can pass ordinances that are laws of local application and particularly since the advent of automobiles many villages have come into being, usually formed by action of the county commissioners or by vote of the people in connection with action by the township trustees. Formed in whole or in part from the territory of Warrensville have been Idlewood Village, Shaker Heights Village, East View Village, since annexed to Shaker Heights, North Randall, Beachwood Village, and Cleveland Heights, now advanced to a city. East View was formed May 1, 1906. In 1920 the territory was made a township for judicial purposes, and at various times portions were annexed to the city of Cleveland and to the village of Shaker Heights, and in 1920 the entire remaining village was annexed to Shaker Heights. The officers of the village who last served, were: Mayor, E. J. Kehres; clerk, H. M. True; treasurer, C. R. Mack ; council, Bruce Bessler, R. W. Kehres, J. Litnel, H. T. McMyler, J. T. Newton, and Bert Rhodehammel. Idlewood Village was formed by action of the county commissioners May 27, 1907. Two years later it was made a township and five years later a portion of the village was annexed to Cleveland Heights Village. The present officers are : Mayor, John J. How- ard; clerk, W. A. Horky; treasurer, John J. Bartenstein ; council, Judson Sambrook, Martin Huge, Albert Crawford, Carl Papier. A. Geiger, and Tom Paulet. North Randall Village was formed May 2, 1908, by action of the county commissioners. Here is located the racetrack that has been
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the scene of many historic races. It took its name from the name given to the postoffice as first established. The present officers are: Mayor, B. O. Shank; clerk, Myron J. Penty ; treasurer, Ralph Lougee; marshal, J. E. Wise ; council, F. J. Breekranz, Frank Caton, Win Kinnan, William S. Lougee, Harry Morgan, and Vin Stengel; board of education, H. J. Ellicott, George Nichols, and Arthur Thorp.
Shaker Heights Village, which includes in its boundaries the lands once owned by the Community of North Union, is unique and beautiful. Its streets are winding roads, well paved, and its territory is dotted with homes of taste and variety, not in close proximity but scattered in places as were the log cabins of the settlers. Its school buildings reflect the substantial and characteristic taste of the inhabitants. The high school building at South Woodland and Woodbury roads located on twenty-five acres of ground, on which $200,000 has been expended in beautifying the grounds, has no equal in the county in size and locality of the school grounds. The land and building cost over $500,000. A junior high school building is in process of construction on the same grounds and will be opened in part this year. This new building includes everything known in the way of up-to-date school facilities. There are twenty-five teachers in the high school, a number doing special supervising work. The enrollment of pupils
this year at the close of the spring term was 360. The graduating class numbered thirty-three, and the junior class numbers forty-four, indicating a growth in advanced pupils. As indicating the class of people sending pupils to the high school it is ascertained that over 90 per cent of the graduates from this school enter college. The principal is R. B. Patin. Shaker Heights Boulevard School at Southington and Drexmore roads employs ten teachers and has an enrollment of 310 pupils. The principal is Mrs. Mae McClaren. East View School at Lee and Kinsman roads has three teachers and has an enrollment of eighty pupils. The principal is Miss Isabelle Campbell. Sussex School at Norwood and Sussex roads has five teachers and 105 pupils and the principal is Miss Isabelle Campbell, who is also in charge of East View. Malvern School at Mal- vern and Falmouth roads has six teachers and 120 pupils. The principal is Mrs. Violet Stone. Onaway Building at Woodbury and Onaway roads has a corps of fifteen teachers and an enrollment of 325 pupils, and the principal is H. D. Snook. The school board of the village maintains twelve tennis courts, football and baseball grounds with other outdoor athletics. The football team of the high school played the past season with only one defeat to record and that to Cleveland Heights High School players. The school district is not co-extensive with the village, including a portion of other territory. The assessed value of the property in the district is $34,000,000, and the population about 4,000 souls. The village has no bonded indebtedness, improvements have been paid for entirely by assessment, and no part out of the general fund. The school district has a bonded indebtedness of about $1,500,000. The salary schedule ranks up with the best of the county schools and attracts teaching talent in keep- ing with the progressive spirit of the school system. The superintendent is Dr. C. B. Cornell; the business manager and clerk of the board is J. W. Main, in active charge for the Board of Education, which consists of Starr Cadwallader, president, H. H. Hampton, vice president, Miriam K. Stage, Bessie C. Newton, and L. L. Parish.
Just when the Shaker Community pulled up stakes and left the town- ship is not definitely recorded in the annals but their exodus was complete with one solitary exception, and that, as related to the writer, is in this wise. On leaving, the Community exhumed the dead and removed the bodies to another resting place where the living located. For some reason,
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known only to the inner circle, one man had offended the authorities and was not permitted to be buried on Shaker soil, he had been ex-communi- cated or something. On one of the winding roads of the beautiful village his grave remains with its monument marking the spot, the sole reminder of the one time presence here of the pioneer, thrifty, peculiar colony of Shakers. Just what his offense was is not known, but by it he became in a sense historical and his grave, if not a shrine, is a historical landmark.
The township of Shaker was formed in 1911 from a portion of Cleve- land Heights Village and with the ultimate object of forming a village, as stated in the petition to the county commissioners. An election was held in August of that year, the petition having been granted by Commissioners Eirick, Fisher, and Vail. At this election W. J. Van Aken, John L. Cannon, and O. P. Van Sweringen were elected trustees ; C. A. Palmer, clerk ; B. L. Jenks, treasurer; Ira C. Farley, justice of the peace ; James Farley, con- stable ; and B. O. Speith, assessor. The following board of education was elected : E. A. Petrequin, James H. Rogers, E. W .Davis, G. N. Wasser, and W. L. Evans. John L. Cannon was chosen president of the board of trustees. Soon proceedings for the forming of a village was under way, an election was held and no votes were cast against the proposition. The first officers of the village were: Mayor, Ford N. Clapp; clerk, Carl A. Palmer; council, John L. Cannon, T. S. Grasselli, James H. Rogers, Max J. Rudolph, William J. Van Aken, and - Rickey. The present officers are : Mayor, William J. Van Aken ; clerk, Carl A. Palmer ; treasurer, William J. Pinkett; assessor, W. C. Weiding; marshal, W. E. Arnold; justice of the peace, W. J. Zoul; council, John L. Cannon, Frank Alcott, William T. Cashman, John Hecker, C. B. Palmer, M. J. Rudolph. Shaker Heights Village maintains a paid fire department, the volunteer fire depart- ment, as conducted in so many villages not being possible here, where a collection of stores and shops in near proximity provide the personnel of the force. There are eight paid men, as follows : John K. Irwin, chief ; Henry S. Mackey and Merle Hand, lieutenants; George Frank, John Lumsden, Harry Annis, Otto Lehman, George Jumont, Harry Hrumadka, and Joseph Kirchner. There are eight other than the lieutenants. They have a chemical and a pump engine of the latest model and two thousand feet of hose and provide ample protection against the fire demon.
The annexation to Shaker Heights Village of East View was con- summated in 1919. On August 8th of that year the council of East View passed an ordinance of annexation and on November 4th a vote was taken in each village. The vote in East View was ninety-four for, and fifty-four against, and in Shaker Heights, one hundred and fifty-five for, and sixty- seven against annexation. So the vote in each village carried and the annexation was consummated.
One of the enterprises of the past few years that has been a great boon to the thriving village has been the construction of a rapid transit line from Cleveland. It operates two lines of cars, Shaker Heights direct, and Shaker Heights Boulevard cars, which bring rapid transit to the doors of a large population, and is particularly well equipped, for it has its private right-of-way the whole distance. A ride over its route on the fast moving cars makes the mud and stump era seem to be far in the mists of antiquity, and the wilderness that once was here, yes, but a century ago, we think of as a fabled vision,
"But thou hast histories that stir the heart
With deeper feeling; while I look on thee
They rise before me. I behold the scene
Hoary again with forests; I behold
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The Indian warrior, whom a hand unseen
Has smitten with his death-wound in the woods, Creep slowly to thy well-known rivulet, And slake his death-thirst. Hark, that quick fierce cry That rends the utter silence! 'tis the whoop
Of battle, and a throng of savage men With naked arms and faces stained like blood, Fill the green wilderness ; the long bare arms Are heaved aloft, bows twang and arrows stream; Each makes a tree his shield, and every tree Sends forth its arrow. Fierce the fight and short, As is the whirlwind. Soon the conquerors And conquered vanish, and the dead remain Mangled by tomahawks. The mighty woods Are still again, the frightened bird comes back And plumes her wings. *
* So centuries passed by, and still the woods Blossomed in spring, and reddened when the year Grew chill, and glistened in the frozen rains Of winter, till the white man swung the axe Beside thee-signal of a mighty change."
Cleveland Heights, having at the last census a population of 15,025, is rapidly increasing its numbers and gaining in wealth. Its tax dupli- cate has increased in eight years from $40,000,000 to $90,000,000. The high character of its schools has been a great factor in its development. The Board of Education consists of George A. Coulton, president; Mrs. Alice C. Tyler, vice president ; Edward W. Keen, Alfred M. Corcoran, and Harrison B. McGraw. The clerk and treasurer is Wallace G. Nesbit.
The Heights High School on Lee Road, principal, Carl D. Burtt; the Coventry School, with Miss Mary Jack as principal; the Fairfax School, Lee and Scarborough roads, with Miss Lillian Cleland as principal ; the Lee School, on Lee Road, with Miss J. Belle McVeigh as principal ; Noble School, near Noble Road, with Miss Gertrude McGuire as principal ; Roxbury School, on Roxbury Road, with Miss Iscah Rhodes as principal ; Severance School, on Taylor Road, with Miss Anna Gage as principal, and Superior School, on Superior Road, with Miss Josephine Armstrong as principal, include the principal schools of the city. L. B. Brink and Albert B. Harvey are Junior High principals, and these named, with a superintendent of large and varied experience and a corps of splendid teachers, make up a school organization of unusual merit. There are enrolled in the High School 750 pupils, in the Junior High schools, 1,000, and in the grade schools 3,150, making a total enrollment of nearly 5,000 pupils. There were 152 in the graduating class of this year. James W. McLane, the superintendent, who voluntarily retires this year, has had a teaching experience of over forty years. He was at West High in Cleve- land for six years, at Central High for eight years, was principal of Lin- coln High for eight and a half years, and of the Normal School five and a half years, and completes a long service as superintendent of the schools of Cleveland Heights. We quote from his interesting report of this year a brief paragraph illustrative of the change that has come to us since the days of the log cabin, when parental authority was supreme: "We live in a time of the supremacy of the child in the home; and the deference shown to childish and youthful complaints, especially when accompanied by a summer-shower of tears, is amazing. No child or youth can ever be made ready for the inevitable conflict that life is,
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unless he has been reproved, disappointed, opposed, defeated, and re- quired to subordinate some of his selfishness to larger things. We should always preserve youthful rights, but we must also emphasize youthful duties and responsibilities, if this republic of ours is not to prove itself a disastrous experiment in self-government."
Superintendent McLane has as a personal staff Miss Eda G. Wil- lard, assistant superintendent; Miss Marion G. Clark, supervisor of upper grades, and Miss Minnie Lee Davis, supervisor of primary grades. There is a board of medical inspection consisting of Dr. H. F. Staples and Dr. Ethel Harrington, and Mrs. Ada G. Willard and Miss Edna K. Ellis, school nurses. The school libraries are under the supervision of a library board, appointed by the Board of Education. It consists of an efficient body of prominent people, Charles Adams, president; Alfred Clum, secretary ; Charles K. Arter, F. W. Ramsey, Mrs. Fred B. Becker, Mrs. T. E. Borton, and T. H. Hogsett. There are 15,500 volumes in the library, which is located in the Coventry School Building, with branches at Fairfax and other schools. The librarian is Miss Helen Keeler. We have given this brief outline of the educational activities of this city, but its police and fire departments, its activities in the way of public improvements are in keeping with all the rest. This being, like Shaker Heights, a residence town and in reality a residence section of Cleveland, but with its own government, we will speak of the churches in a review of the county at large. Cleveland Heights, formed out of East Cleveland and Warrensville townships, was established as a village May 10, 1905. Its rapid growth permitted its advance to a city, and it is now one of the three cities, outside of Cleveland, in the county. The three are Lakewood, East Cleveland, and Cleveland Heights. The present officers are: Mayor, F. C. Cain; clerk, H. H. Canfield ; treas- urer, E. B. Merritt; council, Frank C. Cain, R. E. Denison, W. C. Dunlap, A. W. Ellenberger, W. G. Hildebrand, R. E. Purdy, and J. W. Smith.
The Village of Beachwood, formed in part from Warrensville, was erected by virtue of a petition and a vote of the people in 1915. The first election was held June 15, 1915. The present officers are: Mayor, L. F. Lavin ; clerk, Elmer J. Corlett; treasurer, W. W. Cowle; assessor, Charles Fehr ; council, O. C. Sell, George McVeigh, George E. Walkden, John Bieger, Fred Neal, and B. W. Truscott.
During the administration of Tom L. Johnson as mayor of the City of Cleveland, and Rev. Harris R. Cooley, director of public welfare, a large tract of land was purchased in Warrensville for a workhouse and city infirmary, and hospital. It is a tract of good soil, and offenders con- fined for misdemeanors are given the forced opportunity to earn their own living by working on the farm. It is a "back to the soil" movement and while the health of prisoners is much improved and conditions much better than under the old system of indoor shops for the employment of offenders, yet the opportunity to engage in the activities there are not eagerly sought out. It is a great reform, and perhaps no better place could have been selected than the section of Warrensville chosen for its location. In another chapter we will describe in detail the institution as a part of the criminal history of the City of Cleveland. An effort is on foot to annex to the City of Cleveland the Township of Warrensville as now existing, which if carried out will bring this farm into the city and complete the passing of the township.
This millstone on the Public Square was one of a pair used in Newburgh in the first grist mill, and they were the first millstones turned on the Western Reserve. The mate is on Broadway, near the site of the old mill.
This stone is the property of the Western Reserve Historical Society and was mounted in its present location by the city.
Historic Old Stone Church in the background.
CHAPTER XXII
NEWBURGH
Survey township number 7 of range 12 was one of the first to be settled in Northern Ohio. Just how the name was selected and just who was the first settler does not appear in the early annals. The original township "Old Newburgh" was bounded on the north by Cleveland and East Cleveland, on the south by Independence, on the east by Warrensville, and on the west by Brooklyn. The historic Cuyahoga River was on its western boundary, and we say "was" because the township as originally formed has passed with the years. Mill Creek flowed across its southern part, providing good water power. This was early utilized. At its falls in 1799 William J. Wheeler and Major Wyatt built the first gristmill on the Western Reserve. The Connecticut Land Company furnished the irons, and David Bryant and his son, Gilman Bryant, who had been quarrying grindstones at Vermillion River, came to Newburgh and made a pair of millstones. They were quarried about half a mile north of Mill Creek falls. In later years these stones were great objects of interest and today one is resting, as it has been for years, on the public square in Cleveland, and another on Broadway in the old Eighteenth Ward. To the pioneer the gristmill was a supreme blessing, and we today can hardly realize how important a function it filled in pioneer life. No wonder the older members of the community preserved these relics of bygone days from the Newburgh mill. To this mill came settlers from all the surrounding territory, and its history, beginning before the nineteenth century came in, is linked with much of early pioneer life. When this mill was completed and ready for grinding, invitations were sent out for a grand celebration. At that time there were ten families in Cleveland (none west of the river), and a few single men. Quite a number came from Euclid, for there was a settlement in that town. The celebration was a success, for they were celebrating the completion of the first grist- mill on the Western Reserve. Newburgh has this distinction, and that is a notable one in pioneer history.
The first who came to the township found a fertile soil, and as clearing progressed, good pasturage. Being near Cleveland it was one of the first to take up gardening, and as the city grew the gardens were multiplied and dairies were also increased to meet the demand for milk. It was originally surveyed into 100 acre lots. We have mentioned Major Wyatt and William W. Wheeler. Among other settlers were Philip Brower, wife and seven children, who came in 1816 from New York State to Newburgh and located near the Independence line, where David L. Brower had bought 270 acres of land. Here David lived out his life, dying at the age of eighty-five. When David Brower came to Newburgh he became the neighbor of Darius Warner, who came from New York State in 1816 with his wife and five children. James Walker followed after with both pioneer and romantic intentions, for he married into the Warner family. The old Walker farm was carried on by a son, Spencer, after the father's death. In the spring of 1820 Nehemiah Marks, Wilson Bennett, Richard Treat, and a Mr. Clark, young men of Milford, Con-
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