USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland, (Vol. 1) > Part 50
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In 1828, before Cleveland was a city, a commodity now known as a necessity was first introduced, and its advent in town, as we look back to it now, and the attitude of the people in regard to it, is interesting history. The New Englanders, who dominated to quite an extent this new com-
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munity, were also "from Missouri," they had to be shown. In this year mentioned, Henry Newberry, father of J. S. Newberry of geological fame, shipped to Cleveland a few tons of coal by canal. He attempted to intro- duce it as a fuel. A clever agent loaded a wagon with the product and drove about town. He was unable, after a day of hard work and much argument in which he expatiated upon its good qualities, to sell a single pound. No one wanted it. Wood was cheap and plenty, and housewives objected to the smoke and the dirt creating qualities of the new fuel. He would occasionally induce some man to take a little as a gift. At nightfall
STRICKLAND BLOCK IN 1858
he drove up to the Franklin House, kept by Philo Scovill, and persuaded him to buy a portion of his load. He demonstrated its heating capacity by putting some grates in the barroom stove. This was the beginning of the coal business in Cleveland. Soon manufacturers were convinced of its good qualities, and large shipments were made, but it was a long time before it was used in the homes.
Two years after this the United States Government built a lighthouse on the bluff at the north end of Water (East Ninth) Street. It was 135 feet above the lake level and cost $8,000. The serious epidemic of sick- ness abated after a couple of years, and not till then did Cleveland take on real growth. In 1830, under the administration of Richard Hilliard, the common council ordered the grading of Superior and Ontario streets, Superior out to the present East Ninth Street, which was the eastern limit of the corporation, and Ontario as far as Central Market.
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With a lighthouse and a river harbor, with a canal now opened to the Ohio River, with health returning, with money in abundance although paper, with new manufacturing establishments, among them an iron foun- dry built and operated by John Ballard and Company, with the Buffalo Purchase on the west side, a company aiming to lay out a city over there, Cleveland and Brooklyn began to put on city airs. There were still the swinging signs before the taverns. A guide board at the corner of Ontario and the Public Square indicated the distance to Painesville and Erie on the east, and Buffalo, Portsmouth on the south, and Detroit northward. A census of the town taken in 1835 indicated a population of 5,080, showing that it had doubled and more in two years.
A little chagrined that Brooklyn, across the river, had beaten them and established Ohio City a few days ahead, thus becoming the first
CO
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PERKINS BLOCK, 1861
city in the county, the Cleveland of their dreams was brought into being by the citizens. The first mayor was John W. Willey, who was elected in 1836. The city as first established had three wards. Richard Hilliard, Joshua Mills, and Nicholas Dockstader were aldermen; Sherlock J. Andrews was president of the council; Henry B. Payne was the attorney and clerk; Daniel Worley, treasurer; John Shier, civil engineer; Ben- jamin Rouse, street commissioner; George Kirk, marshal, and Samuel Cook, chief of the fire department. In the first forty years of its cor- porate life Cleveland had twenty-one mayors, John W. Willey, Joshua Mills, Nicholas Dockstader, John W. Allen, Nelson Hayward, Samuel Starkweather, George Hoadley, Josiah A. Harris, Lorenzo A. Kelsey, Flavel W. Bingham, William Case, Abner C. Brownell, William B. Castle, George B. Senter, Edward S. Flint, Irvine U. Masters, Herman H. Chapin, Stephen Buhrer, Frederick W. Pelton, Charles A. Otis, and Nathan B. Payne. As president of the city council under Mayor Payne was John H. Farley, afterwards mayor of the city. Covering this period we note some items of interest. In the administration of the first mayor the American House was opened, and the Government bought land for the Marine Hospital, which was built later. In that of J. W. Allen, the first copy of the Cleveland Plain Dealer appeared with J. W. Gray as
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editor, and Superior Street was paved with plank. While George Hoadley was in office the Weddell House was opened, to be for a long time the finest hotel in the city. When Lorenzo A. Kelsey was mayor in 1842 the Board of Trade was established, which developed into the Chamber of Commerce. In Flavel W. Bingham's administration the first gas was furnished to the city. Mayor Case was in office when, on February 22d, the celebration of the opening of the railroad to Cincinnati was held. When Mayor Abner C. Brownell was on his first term, the Homeopathic College, located in a block at the southeast corner of Ontario and Prospect streets, was destroyed by a mob, and the Academy of Music on Bank (West Third) Street was built. During his service also Cleveland was given a new charter, and the first police court was established. The Cleveland Library was then established, but there was no tax levy made for its support until 1867. Another public enterprise of vital importance was the starting of a waterworks, and commissioners were appointed by Mayor Brownell. We now come to Greater Cleveland. The city on the east side of the river was outstripping the one on the west side. Ohio City was full of pep. It had fathered the building of the canal extension referred to in a previous chapter, but the population of Cleveland was much ahead. Land speculation was rampant. City lots in Cleveland were going up in price, and agitation for annexation or a union of the two cities came to the front. Both cities had passed through the period of inflation and the collapse following in which the Bank of Lake Erie stood the storm, though many of its customers failed. This bank fore- closed either by legal process or agreement and became the largest land owner in the city. When its charter expired in 1842, it wound up its business. From 1836 to 1840 there was little increase in the population of either city. Manufacturing was coming, as W. A. Otis had established an iron works, and several thousand tons of coal were received over the canal annually. Superior Street and some others had been paved with plank but it was not a very satisfactory roadway. The planks became warped and worn, and down on River Street the high water often washed them away. They next tried limestone, and that crumbled, and the first successful paving was that of Medina sandstone. The population of Cleveland in 1845 was 9,073. The steamer trade made the hotels pros- perous. Churches sprang up and education was not neglected. The Cleveland Free High School was the first institution of the kind in the state. Ohio City was spreading west and north, and Cleveland east and south. The lots in Ohio City were large, usually containing two acres, .and Cleveland lots were smaller. The population of Cleveland in 1850 was over 17,000, while that of Ohio City was less than 4,000. Cleveland "was at that time a commercial city primarily. The chief business of the town was to receive produce from Northern Ohio and ship to the East and get manufactured articles in return. There was an attempt to bring copper from Lake Superior and smelt it here, but it did not continue. Before 1850 there were over 900 ships arriving with cargoes at the port of Cleveland and a still larger number of steamboats with passengers, and this only sixteen years after the first steamer, the Walk-in-the-Water, made its trial voyage.
The proposition of annexation was taken up by the appointment of W. A. Otis, H. V. Wilson, and E. T. Backus, commissioners for Cleve- land, and W. B. Castle, N. M. Standart, and C. S. Rhodes, commissioners for Ohio City. These commissioners arranged terms of annexation as follows: The four wards of Ohio City to be the eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh wards of Cleveland, and the west side to have at all times as large a proportionate number of wards as it had of population. The
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property of both cities was to belong to the joint corporation, which was to assume the debts of both. The question was submitted to the voters on the first Monday of April, 1854. The vote in Cleveland stood 892 for and 400 against the proposition, and in Ohio City or the City of Ohio, as it was officially known, 618 for and 258 against. Thus it carried by a larger majority in Ohio City. The formal ordinances were passed by the councils of the two corporations, in Cleveland June 5, 1854, and in Ohio City the next day. This added quite a population to the city, but
WILLIAM A. OTIS
there were no further annexations of territory until after the Civil war. In 1861 petroleum was discovered in Western Pennsylvania, and soon after the Standard Oil Company began operations in Cleveland. This, however, will be discussed later. In the election following the annexation of Ohio City, W. B. Castle, the last mayor of Ohio City, was elected mayor of Cleveland. In his administration the City Infirmary was com- pleted and the New England Society organized. In 1857, under the sec- ond administration of Samuel Starkweather, occurred the burning of the Old Stone Church on the Public Square. This year also land was bought by the city for the Central Market. These are merely running notes re- viving memories of the period. In 1860 the East Cleveland Street Rail- way Company was organized, and two years later the volunteer fire companies disbanded, their place being taken by the more efficient depart- ment of paid firemen. In 1865 Charity Hospital was opened, and two
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years later the Western Reserve Historical Society was founded. In this year, under the administration of Mayor Stephen Buhrer, a new addition to Greater Cleveland was made. A thriving village had grown up between Willson Avenue (Fifty-fifth Street) and Doan's Corners. It was called East Cleveland. Annexation was agitated and commissioners ap- pointed. The commissioners for Cleveland were H. B. Payne, J. P. Rob- inson, and John Huntington, and for East Cleveland, John E. Hurlbut, John W. Heisley, afterwards Common Pleas judge, and William A. Neff. It was agreed that East Cleveland was to become the sixteenth and sev- enteenth wards of Cleveland, and that the East Cleveland High School should remain as before until changed by a vote of three-fourths of the
mar. Thiago
CITY HALL, 1875
common council. This provision had to do with the retention of Elroy M. Avery as principal of the East Cleveland High School, who was an educator of high standing. The ordinance of annexation was passed by the Cleveland council October 24, 1867, and by the council of East Cleve- land five days later. During Mayor Buhrer's term the Bethel Mission, located at the foot of Superior Street and devoted largely to the relief of needy sailors, was incorporated. From about this period or a little later, the iron and oil industries had developed to such an extent that Cleveland began to be considered a manufacturing city. The Civil war, as has been said, found Cleveland a commercial city and left it a manufacturing city.
Among the disadvantages coming with the advent of large manufac- turing establishments and the increase of population was the contamina- tion of the water supply. It was proposed to go out farther into the lake, and the first waterworks tunnel was begun. This was completed in 1874. In 1869 Lake View Cemetery was laid out, and in 1871 the work- house on Woodland Avenue was opened to receive offenders and, as another item of historical interest, the Early Settlers' Association was organized with Harvey Rice as its president. In the following year oc- curred the epidemic among the horses, called the epizootic, when, not
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having learned to harness electricity and gasoline to labor, the cars stopped running in the streets, and business was at a standstill. In this horseless age we can look back upon this episode with a new interest. Perhaps the realization brought so forcibly before the people at that time, of their dependence upon that faithful servant, the horse, had its effect, for the next year the Cleveland Humane Society was organized. In 1873 the Cleveland Bar Association was organized. This organization in the present year held a banquet celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of its formation.
WEST SIDE MUNICIPAL MARKET HOUSE
In 1873 also another boost was given to Greater Cleveland by the annexa- tion of its early rival, Newburgh, on the south, which became the eighteenth ward of the city, and about this time the city limits were ex- tended to include a large belt of territory from the townships of East Cleveland and Brooklyn. The population of the city had now reached 100,000.
We have omitted to mention as one of the first acts of the city govern- ment under its first mayor, John W. Willey, the grading of the Public Square. This was a notable change made in the transition from a village to a city government. The gift of Boston Common to the City of Boston, Massachusetts, provided that it should remain in its natural state, and the City of Boston has no right to grade or put streets through its territory, but there was no such restriction attached to the Cleveland public square. W. A. Wing, afterwards a resident of Strongsville, was given the con- tract of grading. The square was quite uneven, a cow pasture, and the
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improvement was very marked. Where the Society for Savings Building stands, on the north side, there was a low marsh providing a convenient place for depositing the surplus earth. When the great building was con- structed in later years there was difficulty in getting a suitable foundation and this was provided by laying an immense body of concrete reinforced by railroad iron of track length and this crossed tier upon tier.
Since the annexation of Ohio City in 1855 there have been twenty- three mayors of the city, ten of those first elected serving only their one term of two years. W. G. Rose, R. R. Herrick, John H. Farley, George W. Gardner, Robert E. McKisson, Tom L. Johnson, Newton D. Baker, and Harry L. Davis, among the later mayors, serving for longer periods. The water supply came from wells, springs and cisterns until, under the administration of W. B. Castle, the Kentucky Street reservoir was built and the water pumped in from the lake to be distributed in pipes through- out the city. Thus the modern mound builders came into existence, their earth works constructed for a different purpose than those built in pre- historic times.
Up to the administration of Mayor Castle, also, the marketing was done on the streets. In 1857 action was taken by the city council, and the Central Market established. After sixty-six years of existence it is now in active operation, and its history, if told in full, would fill a volume. Like the old French Market of New Orleans, it could be made the central theme of many an interesting story. A part of a cosmopolitan city, it speaks in many languages, but all closely interwoven with the official lan- guage of the United States.
The mayors of Cleveland during the Civil war were Edwin S. Flint, Irvine U. Masters, and Herman H. Chapin. The activities of that period were many, but the great problem of saving the Union was foremost in every mind, and local problems to a large extent were crowded to the rear. Stephen Buhrer, whose term began in 1867, served for four years. He was followed by Frederick S. Pelton, and he by Charles A. Otis. It may be said of the three mentioned that they were men of high character and prominent in the business world. Their service to the city was marked by high ideals. Each looked upon his service as a public duty to be per- formed for the interests of the city they were called upon to serve. Nathan B. Payne, who followed Mayor Otis, was fortunate in having as president of his city council, John H. Farley, and here Mr. Farley studied the problems of the growing city which he was later to come in contact with in the mayor's chair. George W. Gardner, Commodore Gardner, was president of the city council during the administration of Mayor R. R. Herrick, and later became mayor of the city. Others who have served as Cleveland's mayor have first had experience in another capacity in the city government. Thus the city has not been in the hands of inexperienced men, but its affairs administered by men of high standing who have studied the problems of city government. To the municipal government then we must give due credit for that wonderful transformation that has brought forth from a little settlement on both sides of a sand-choked river a modern industrial city of 1,000,000 inhabitants, with a land value alone of $1,250,000,000, and producing manufactured products valued at $400,000,000 annually.
Following the first administration of John H. Farley, from '83 to '85, came the first administration of George W. Gardner. He was followed by Brenton D. Babcock. Mr. Babcock was a successful business man, but not ambitious for public office. He was drafted into the race for mayor against William M. Bayne, who was charged with being a politician, as "ad served efficiently as the head of the city council and was active in
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politics. The slogan of a business man for mayor proved effective, and Mr. Babcock was elected. The friction attending the duties devolving upon the office of mayor were not attractive to the new mayor. It is re- lated of him that on the first week of his term he kicked several appli-
THEOPELAN
Courtesy of the Cleveland Leader
FOURTH OF JULY, 1875, IN CLEVELAND Notice the horse-drawn vehicles. The automobile was not known and yet there was traffic congestion.
cants for position out of his office, and said if the Lord would let him live to the end of his term he would never hold public office again, and he lived through and kept his word. This incident is not given here to dis- parage Mr. Babcock, who was a most excellent man and a good mayor, but to show the trying duties attending the office. In Mr. Babcock's term the Central Viaduct at the foot of Superior Street was completed and
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dedicated, the first great structure crossing the Cuyahoga, and at that time of world-wide interest. It was the first great physical tie uniting the east and west sides in one, as they had previously been united politically.
In 1882, during the administration of Mayor R. R. Herrick, Wade Park was accepted by the city, having been given to it by J. H. Wade, but with certain conditions that must be complied with on the part of the city. The next year, under the second administration of Mayor William G. Rose, the title to Gordon Park was given to the city, another large acquisition to the park system. Under the administration of Mayor Rob- ert Blee, West Cleveland and Brooklyn were annexed to the city, and another large increase of territory and population acquired.
In 1860 the East Cleveland Street Railway was organized with J. H. Hardy as its president. This was the first street railway in the city. Like similar enterprises in growing cities it was a private enterprise operating under a franchise from the municipality. As the city grew, the value of the franchise increased in a corresponding ratio, and the terms of renewals and of additional franchises became important, and so the street railways got into politics. From the building of the East Cleveland Street Railway other franchises were given and more and more invested. Aside from getting good service the people of the city were interested in getting the lowest possible rate of fare. Robert E. McKisson, who succeeded Mayor Blee, began an assault upon the street railways in his campaign for mayor and advocated lower fare. He has been credited with being the first advo- cate of 3-cent fare. This naturally was a taking proposition with the people not interested otherwise in the roads. Mr. McKisson was a young man, born on the Western Reserve. Coming to Cleveland he practiced law and in a few years was elected to the city council. He immediately became prominent in that body. He advocated with great spirit the col- lection and disposition of garbage, which up to that time had been thrown into back yards, buried, burned or otherwise disposed of in a manner that became a menace to the health of the citizens. Other measures of public import which he championed brought him into prominence. He made a vigorous campaign for mayor, and was opposed for the nomination by the adherents of M. A. Hanna, who was a large owner in many enterprises in the city, including the street railways. The republican party was then the dominant party in the city, and it was soon divided into the Hanna and McKisson factions. This condition existed during the four years of Mr. McKisson's administration and for some time afterwards. The con- test between these two factions became so bitter that when Mr. Hanna became a candidate before the Legislature to succeed himself as United States Senator, Mr. McKisson became a candidate against him. Mr. Hanna was just coming into prominence as a great national leader, and the members of the Legislature from this county who entered into the plan to defeat him were sharply criticised in the public prints, and the breach of the factions became wider.
Mr. McKisson, as mayor, inaugurated many public improvements of great value to the city. The intercepting sewer, the widening of the river, the reclaiming of the lake front, the garbage disposal plant, the new water- works tunnel, Edgewater Park, the Rockefeller Boulevard, and the Group Plan are some of the most important ones. During his administration the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the city occurred. The first steps in the project were taken by the Early Settlers' Association at their annual meeting in 1893. A committee was appointed to confer with the city council, the Chamber of Commerce and other local bodies urging some action in regard to celebrating the day. The president, Hon. Richard C. Parsons, appointed a committee consisting of Hon. John
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C. Covert, Gen. James Barnett and others, and much enthusiasm was aroused. The Chamber of Commerce, the same year, passed a resolution favoring the celebration, and Pres. H. R. Goff appointed Wilson M. Day, H. A. Garfield, S. F. Haserot, V. C. Taylor, and L. F. Loree as a committee to further the project. A centennial commission was selected in 1895. It consisted of Governor William McKinley, Secretary of State
GENERAL JAMES BARNETT
Samuel M. Taylor, Auditor of State E. W. Poe, President of the Senate A. L. Harris, Speaker of the House Alexander Boxwell, Mayor Robert E. McKisson, Directors Miner G. Norton, Darwin E. Wright, President of the City Council Dan F. Reynolds, Jr., and Director of Schools H. Q. Sargeant. The Early Settlers' Association was represented on the com- mission by R. C. Parsons, George F. Marshall, A. J. Williams, H. M. Addison, and Bolivar Butts. Other members of the commission were W. J. Akers, Henry S. Brooks, Charles W. Chase, Wilson M. Day, M. A.
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Foran, L. E. Holden, Moritz Joseph, George W. Kinney, Jacob B. Per- kins, and Augustus Zehring.
As the expense of the celebration had to be met by private subscrip- tions many meetings were held in 1905 and much oratory indulged in. Among those who addressed Cleveland audiences on the subject were Governor Mckinley, James H. Hoyt, L. E. Holden, H. R. Hatch, and John C. Covert. These were but a handful to the number who spoke during the celebration, which was one of the most eventful occasions in the history of the city. An illustrated volume of the centennial was com- piled by Edward A. Roberts, historian of the occasion, who was secretary of the commission during its active life, as many changes were made before the final celebration occurred. In this may be found the addresses delivered by many, including Mrs. Elroy M. Avery, Adj. Gen. H. A. Axline, Mrs. Sarah K. Bolton, Governor Asa S. Bushnell, W. F. Carr, Gen. James R. Carnahan, J. G. W. Cowles, Mrs. T. K. Dissette, Gen. J. J. Elwell, Mrs. Lydia Hoyt Farmer, Dr. Levi Gilbert, Rabbi Moses J. Gries, Senator Joseph R. Hawley of Connecticut, B. A. Hinsdale, Mrs. W. A. Ingham, Asa W. Jones, W. S. Kerruish, Governor Charles Warren Lip- pitt of Rhode Island, John T. Mack, editor and president of the Ohio associated dailies ; Judge U. L. Marvin, William McKinley, introduced as Major Mckinley, H. C. Ranney, John D. Rockefeller, Senator John Sher- man, Mrs. N. Coe Stewart, Mrs. B. F. Taylor, Mrs. Harriet Taylor Upton, author of the History of the Western Reserve ; L. H. Jones, super- intendent of the Cleveland Public Schools; Mgr. T. P. Thorp, Presi- dent Thwing, of Western Reserve University; Prof. Jeremiah Smith, of Harvard; Rev. H. J. Ruetenik, of Calvin College, and poems by Col. J. J. Piatt, Miss Hannah Alice Foster, and Frederick Boyd Stevenson. A log cabin was built on the Public Square and a centennial arch, 70 feet high, 106 feet wide, and 20 feet thick. A centennial medal was struck and placed in circulation.
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