USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland, (Vol. 1) > Part 8
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"Among the ladies who taught in the old schoolhouse was Isabel Cuth- bertson Ennis, who was a person of unusual refinement and strength of character. She stimulated not only the mental but the moral growth of the pupils. Julia Gould Clapp was another teacher who is remembered for her vivid and vigorous personality and for her efforts to stimulate a taste for literature and composition.
"Among the later teachers of conspicuous characteristics was R. C. Smith. He was noted for thoroughness, discipline and grammatical ex- pression. 'Not how much, but how well' was his motto. The last to teach in the old school building was Prof. O. C. Hubbell. Cooperation and good fellowship made school work a pleasure under his regime.
"In 1875 the new building was dedicated by B. A. Hinsdale of Hiram College. Dr. J. P. Robison, of ancient fame, turned over the keys to O. C. Hubbell, the teacher. The old building was used until the new one was completed. Standing in the background, its days numbered, it was sold under the hammer for fifty dollars.
"It remained for Prof. C. D. Hubbell, whose work began in the brick building on Washington Street at the head of Monroe Street, to organize the work into a graded school in 1881. There were two grade teachers the first year, Minnie Robison (Robinette) and Cora Alexander (Orchard). It was in 1885 when the first class to be called high school seniors prepared themselves for the first commencement exercises in the Bedford schools. The graduating class consisted of five members, Amelia Harrington, Etta Conant, Hattie Alexander, O. K. Wheelock and B. J. Sawyer. This com- mencement was an auspicious occasion and the whole town turned out. The superintendent at this time was C. D. Hubbell and the school board consisted of the president, J. W. Derthick; clerk, George Whitlam; treasurer, A. J. Hensey; I. M. Harrington, John Hickman and A. K. Burroughs. The teachers at this time were Flora Stevenson (Freeman), Ida Wells and Julia Benedict (Collins)."
We quote from Mrs. May C. Whitaker, nee Tarbell, now president of The Cleveland Woman's Press Club : "My educational career began with a term in the little red schoolhouse, which stood where the town hall now stands. The schoolhouse was about the size of a prosperous farmer's smokehouse and was built of red brick. Miss Hettie Culver was the teacher. My only memory is of the day when Dora Robinson, Carrie Comstock and myself dared to walk barefooted from our homes across the square to the school. It was very hot and the dust was fine and soothing to our feet, but Miss Culver was shocked * * My big brother L. P. was disagreeable when I entered high school. He magnified my mistakes and made them public, all to prove that I was too young to be there. It was not the last shock his generation has suffered because of the advance of woman in education."
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CUYAHOGA COUNTY AND
The present members of the Board of Education are William Wallace, president; Bruce Taylor, vice president; A. B. Blackman, clerk ; Justin Griess, H. M. Molder, J. Burkett. From the establishing of the first graded school the superintendents have been C. D. Hubbell, J. L. Wright, J. C. Petir, H. L. Rawdon, O. C. Kurtz and the present superintendent, A. E. Moody.
Closely allied with the schools, as encouraging the study of music therein, and creating also in the community a taste for good music, has been The Bedford Music Club. The founder and first president was Mrs. John Freeman, the present editor of The Bedford News Register. This club was organized in 1899 and was first called The Ladies' Musical Club. The meetings are held in private houses, where programmes are studied. Its concerts are held in the auditorium of the high school. Its presidents have been Mrs. John Freeman, Mrs. Alfred J. Webb, Mrs. Oliver M. Smith, Miss Maude C. Ingersoll, Miss Mary C. Burroughs, Mrs. Hugh L. Norton, now deceased, Mrs. Charles R. Hinchman, Mrs. Wil- liam B. Yost, Miss Anna Estella Maxseiner, Mrs. Bayard T. Wright, Mrs. William Wallace, Mrs. Douglas P. Handyside and Miss Trissa Hub- bard, the present president.
The settlers recognized both the law of man and the law of God. While duly organizing for the establishing of civil local government that all differences should be ironed out by the sober judgment of the law, whose principles should be in accordance with divine law, they yet gave attention to the church as did their New England forbears. Denomina- tionalism was a strong characteristic. The road to heaven was a denom- inational highway. Sermons were largely devoted to sectarian discus- sions. Revivals were frequent and the number of converts depended much upon the interest created in certain forms of worship and methods of baptism. No Billy Sunday, in those days, held meetings devoid of or apart from the question of denomination.
The oldest church in Bedford, dating from its first inception, was the Methodist Episcopal. As far back as 1830, the Rev. John Crawford, a circuit rider, whose field of operations was from Hudson to Cleveland, along the east side of the Cuyahoga River, stopped off at Bedford. He met Nathaniel Haynes, the village or township blacksmith, who had been holding some religious meetings, getting together those of the Methodist faith, like himself. Reverend Crawford organized them into a church. There were seven original members, Nathaniel Haynes and wife, Abraham Turner, wife and two daughters and Mrs. Betsy Fitch. Soon after Mr. Fitch, Joseph Skinner, David Skinner, and Daniel Baldwin were taken in as members. The first meetings were held in a schoolhouse and were conducted by circuit riders. The first regular ministers were Ira Eddy and William F. Day. The meetings of the church, as its numbers increased, were later held in a building erected by Mrs. Fanny Willis. For some time this building was the meeting place of all the religious denominations, but was finally given to the Methodist Church on the con- dition that it be moved to another lot. Hezekiah Dunham then gave the church a lot on the corner of Columbus and Washington streets and here the building was moved in 1849. In 1885, the present structure at the corner of Main and North streets, was built. The present minister is Rev. S. F. Ross.
The Church of Christ was organized in 1832 and its house of wor- ship built in 1838. Like the Methodist Church, it had no settled pastor for some time, the elders and occasionally a traveling evangelist officia- ting. The first regular pastor was Rev. J. O. Beardsley, who afterwards went to Jamaica, as a missionary. This church grew in numbers and
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THE CITY OF CLEVELAND
became one of the largest in the county, becoming a sort of parent church. No less than fifty churches have been organized in different sections as offshoots of the Bedford Church of Christ. Among those who have been pastors of the church since its organization, are many, whose names are familiar to the older residents of the county. J. Harrison Jones, Lathrop Cooley, W. A. Knight, and E. C. Harris, with Reverend attached to their names, are among the number.
The First Baptist Church of Bedford was organized in 1854 and until the present church was built occupied a building, now torn down, near the site of the church now occupied. The old structure was a frame build- ing while the new one is built of brick, attractive in appearance, a modern building with a large auditorium, having a seating capacity of 400 and a Sunday school assembly room capable of seating 100 more. The new building, however attractive, cannot divert the minds of the older residents, who are proud of the fact of their attendance, in worship, in the old. The new church was built in 1893. Among the early members of the church we note Newman Robinson, George Cowin, Mrs. Sheets, Mrs. Burns, Mrs. Ruth and Anne Hunt, and as pastor, Rev. Mr. Tallhurst.
Of later date than the churches mentioned comes the organization of the Christian Science Church in Bedford. Its history runs like this : Mrs. Kate Senter Reid first called a meeting at her home of those inter- ested, with a view to holding meetings in Bedford, March 21, 1916. These meetings continued at her home until 1918, when the place of meet- ing was changed to the Knights of Pythias hall. Later, this group of people, which had formed themselves into a society, bought a house on Grace Street, which they remodeled for their use. In this building their services are now held. There is a Sunday school and reading room, and the society has a membership of twenty-five.
In the section of Bedford Township, annexed to the village in 1922, and now a part thereof, a splendid parochial school building has been erected. It is located in the vicinity of the McMyler Interstate Company. The building is of Spanish architecture, surrounded by large pleasant grounds and is equipped with attractive and suitable furniture for its work. This building was erected in 1912 and the school opened with fifty pupils. It now has doubled in numbers, having 100 pupils, and is under the direction of Dr. John R. Hagan, who was a classmate of Father Frey, secretary to the bishop of this diocese, Bishop Schrembs.
In view of the innumerable accidents in our streets, due to the auto- mobile traffic, it may be of interest to recount the enterprise of one of Bedford's citizens in the early years. Squire Dunham was the first elim- inator of grade crossings. His farm extended to Washington Street and over it he built a bridge for a driveway and for the passage of his cattle and other stock. Squire Dunham will be remembered as one of the first officers of the township at its organization in 1823. Says H. W. Ham- mond in a reminiscent article about early Bedford: "When Squire Dun- ham laid out Dunham Street, he sold the lot at the corner of said street and Wade Street to my grandfather, John Hammond, who built a home there. In the deed was an agreement that Dunham should have the right of way over this bridge and the privilege of relaying the driveway and repairing the bridge. Few people living in Bedford today can remember the old bridge under which we used to drive." Mr. Hammond adds : "Dear old Bedford! I think I could fill a ream of paper telling about the good old days, the old boys and all the good people, who lived in our village."
Of the fraternal orders in Bedford, Masonry holds a large place. Bedford Lodge No. 375, Free and Accepted Masons, has
a
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CUYAHOGA COUNTY AND
history dating back to the close of the Civil war. Its dispensation was granted October 17, 1866 and its charter October 16, 1867. The charter members, all of whom are now dead, were J. B. Hains, C. N. Hamlin, A. A. Benedict, R. C. Smith, W. H. Sawyer, Levi Case, Enoch Allen, A. J. Wells, J. J. Brittan, S. S. Peck, L. C. Hains, Samuel Patrick, E. Cowles, and H. H. Palmer. It has a present membership of 294. The first Master was J. B. Hains, and the present presiding officer is H. W. Davis. A Past Masters' Association of this lodge was organized in 1920 and now has ten members. John Freeman is its president. Summit Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, was organized in Twinsburgh in 1856 and removed to Bedford in 1886. It has a Past High Priests' Association of ten members, of which J. B. Kenyon is president, and has at present 206 members. Bedford Chapter Order of the Eastern Star was organ- ized in 1915 and now has 193 members. Mrs. Alice P. Green is Worthy Matron and Miss Laura S. Berena, secretary. Its first Worthy Matron was Mrs. Eliza B. L. Tinker.
Among the other fraternal orders having lodges in Bedford are Royal Dunham Post of the Grand Army of the Republic, Golden Rod Lodge Knights of Pythias, Winchester Circle No. 46, Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic. A lodge of the Independent Order of Foresters, Unity Hive No. 428 Ladies of the Maccabees, Tent No. 562 Knights of the Maccabees, Dewey Camp No. 4099 Modern Woodmen of America, a lodge of the Woodmen of the World, and Prosperity Lodge No. 4774 Royal Neighbors of Prosperity.
The Bedford Board of Trade has been for some years a vital factor in the prosperity of the town. It had in 1912, when it published a booklet called "Beautiful Busy Bedford," a membership of seventy-six, and its officers were O. K. Wheelock, president; O. W. Kurtz and H. E. Lowry, vice presidents; R. F. Thomas, secretary; C. J. Wheeler, treasurer ; P. D. Metzger, John Freeman and E. H. Collins, trustees. Its first secretary was H. A. Adams.
In writing of industrial Bedford, first in point of interest comes the chair industry. Bedford chairs are known over the world. We have referred to the beginning, when Benjamin Fitch, long before the township was organized, began making splint bottom chairs. The first advance of primitive man toward civilization has been marked by getting him up from the ground into a chair. The Indians left no chairs and used none. Chairs are distinctly a product of advancement. W. O. Taylor, in 1833, worked with Benjamin Fitch making chairs. All the details are not known to history but in due time he married his daughter. This indus- trial romance advanced the chair industry. In 1844, Mr. Taylor began the manufacture of chairs on his own account as W. O. Taylor and Sons. This firm developed into the Taylor Chair Company, in whose chairs "all the world is rocking." Benjamin Fitch made many improvements and invented devices for saving labor in the manufacture. His descendants followed his example. In 1865, Vincent A. Taylor, Joseph F. and Wil- liam E. Taylor, were associated with their father, W. O. Taylor, in the factory. This continued for some years. As early as 1856, The Taylor Chair Company won the medal at the State Fair in Columbus. In 1876, this company won the "Gold Medal" at the World's Fair in Philadelphia. The certificate of award is preserved in the Taylor family. The award was made for durability, cheapness, and compactness. In 1869 the factory was burned but it was immediately rebuilt, although from lack of adequate insurance, the loss was heavy. Vincent A. Taylor, president of the com- pany, has directed the manufacture to permanent success by specializing in many lines. More than 60,000 "comfortable rockers" have been manu-
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THE CITY OF CLEVELAND
factured and marketed in a single year. It has been said that this is the largest, exclusive, high grade, rocker plant in the world. Mahogany comes to this plant in the log from Cuba, and is sawed into lumber in its own mills and then made into rockers, all the work being done in this factory. We will speak of Mr. Vincent A. Taylor later, but we are not through with the chair industry in Bedford.
More than seventy years ago another chair industry began in Bedford. It is now known as the B. L. Marble Chair Company. Like the Taylor Company, it began in a small way. In 1851 it employed five men. Today it employs some 250 men, and like the Taylor Company specializes in certain lines. The two factories give employment to over 500 workmen. From 1851 it was B. J. Wheelock, then Wheelock and Wright, then another firm, M. A. Purdy and Son, then in 1867 united under the name of The Bedford Chair Company, then Marble and Shattuck, then The B. L. Marble Chair Company. Success has at- tended these men because of devoted service. B. L. Marble and A. L. Shattuck have devoted each a lifetime to the improvement in the manu- facture of chairs. As the public became more discriminating, this com- pany called art to its aid and combined it with economic handling of material and scientific methods of shipping the finished product. De- signers were constantly employed but before a particular design was placed upon the market the public were called as a jury to decide. Samples were placed on sale and the merits decided upon by a practical test. It was not what ought to suit the public but what actually did suit that counted. Marble chairs are found in the furnishings of statehouses and government buildings in many parts of the country. Mr. B. L. Marble, after a lifetime devoted to this industry, has retired from active participation, but has a son, L. L. Marble, who is active in the company. From "Beautiful Busy Bedford" we quote: "The development of the chair industry in Bedford reads like a romance, and is full of experi- ences of deepest interest to all. Ever since the days of the old log cabin and open hearth, with grandmother's high backed rocker, has the work of building Bedford chairs gone on, until it is today a splendid industry in the permanent building of Bedford."
Of the more recent industries of Bedford there is The Franklin Oil and Gas Company, The Best Foundry Company, The McMyler Interstate Company and The Mason Tire and Rubber Company. The Best Foundry Company manufactures stove castings for a variety of makes and for some of the largest stove manufactories in the world. In 1905, the first finished product was turned out. By 1912, it was said to be the largest foundry of this kind in the world, employing 600 men, and with an annual pay roll of $500,000. The general manager, Mr. Henry M. Molder, is a prominent figure in the industrial life of the town. The McMyler Interstate Company was incorporated in 1902, located in Cleve- land and later removed to Bedford. Its products are structural steel loco- motive cranes and other special machinery. This company has placed extensive installations in many parts of the world, including England, Japan, and Australia. It but recently constructed the largest locomotive crane in the world and placed it in the League Island Navy Yard at Phil- adelphia. One more industry should be mentioned, that of the Bedford China Company. This is of recent establishment but is a factor in the industrial life of the town.
At present Bedford has two newspapers, The Bedford News Register, which is in its twentieth year, edited by Mrs. John Freeman, and The Bedford Herald, conducted by C. P. Smith, son of R. C. Smith, referred to in connection with the school history of the town. On February 2.
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CUYAHOGA COUNTY AND
1922, The News Register published a High School Edition, a very cred- itable number, which reflected credit on the editor, Mrs. Freeman. The Herald has but recently started and its future is to be determined.
The present officers of the Village of Bedford are mayor, N. Ray Carroll; clerk, E. L. Allen ; treasurer, W. O. Cameron ; marshal, Fred M. Clampitt; police justice, John A. Flick; solicitor, L. R. Landfear ; city engineer, B. T. Wright; councilmen, J. A. Squire, L. L. Horton, Fred Oldham, W. C. Warren, E. R. Stillwell, W. L. Avery.
In writing of the growth and development of Bedford I am reminded of the lines of Tennyson :
"We rise on stepping stones of Our dead selves to better things."
In 1866, a Rolling Mill Association, with a large capital, was formed and this capital was largely subscribed by Bedford citizens. A plant was erected and business started but after a short but precarious existence, it was removed, the Bedford plant dismantled, and the stockholders left with valueless certificates. This was a loss to the town in many ways.
The care of the sick and disabled has not been neglected in the progress upward from the log house era. The town has a General Hos- pital, located on North Street, with a corps of trained nurses and a med- ical staff, composed of Dr. R. S. Hubbard, Dr. W. H. Wycoff, Dr. W. F. Golling and Dr. R. R. Seidel.
The Bedford Bank of The Cleveland Trust Company, with George C. Flickinger, as manager, furnishes the general banking facilities, while The Bedford Savings and Loan Company, organized under the loan com- pany laws, encourages the building of homes by construction loans. We must mention The American Legion Post, No. 350, Frank G. Hoeffler, post commander, by soldiers of the World war; The American Legion Auxiliary, president, Mrs. G. L. Bartlett ; the Boy Scouts, F. C. Kramer, scout master ; The Pythian Sisters, Mrs. Fern Pinnell, M. E. C .; D'An- nunzio Lodge, Bedford Retail Merchants' Association; The Ladies Benefit Association of the Maccabees, commander, Mrs. Lettie Avery ; The Federated Parent-Teachers Club; The Woman's Athletic Associa- tion, president, Mrs. H. W. Davis, and the Volunteer Fire Department, of which reference has already been made, with C. S. Brown, as chief.
Among the new buildings of note and now under construction that of the Church of Christ on North Street should be mentioned. The cor- ner stone was laid October 22, 1922. Under it were placed, as announced by Judge John A. Flick at the service, a bible, which had belonged to Squire Charles A. Ennis, a souvenir plate commemorating the seventy- fifth anniversary of the old church, which had belonged to Mrs. Ellen Nelson Marble, late wife of Mr. B. L. Marble, church and Sunday school publications, copies of The, Bedford News Register and the Bedford Her- ald, Bedford Music Club Year Book, Hiram College Year Book, and envelopes containing names of members of various church organizations. The speaker of the day, Dr. Arthur J. Culler, dean of Hiram College, gave an historical sketch of the church known as "Christian" or "Disciples of Christ." Doctor Culler spoke for the restoration of the rural church and deprecated the practice of the members staying at home on Sunday and sitting by the roadside and selling fruit to passing autoists. He referred to the fact that James A. Garfield, who was a student at Hiram College, when it was called Hiram Eclectic Institute, had spoken before the Bed- ford Church.
Historical incidents are not wanting in the early history of Bedford.
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THE CITY OF CLEVELAND
Our local histories all give in detail the hanging of John O'Mic in 1812. This, the first execution in the county, is important as showing the reign of the civil law and the sober execution of criminal justice. O'Mic was an Indian, who killed two trappers, and was tried and executed at Cleve- land in that year. After the murder, O'Mic hid for several days in the deep woods along Tinker's Creek. It was near the A. B. C. Railway bridge or near where that crosses the creek in Bedford, that he was finally captured by one of his tribe.
It is related that in 1813, during the War of 1812, a band of British soldiers encamped on Euclid Creek, near Cleveland, and two of their num- ber, out on a foraging expedition, wandered to the home of Elijah Nobles, already referred to as the first settler in Bedford. He took them in and kept them over night, then piloted them to their camp, telling them he would shoot them if they came back. This story is more believable as the incident probably occurred after the victory of Commodore Perry on Lake Erie. Before that time the settlers were in fear and trembling. That victory, although the war did not end until 1814, put courage in the hearts of the settlers.
When the Cleveland, Akron & Columbus Railway was completed it was dedicated by an excursion over the line. A number stopped off at Bedford, including the governor and other state officials, to view the glen, and three of the number were left behind, when the train pulled out. These were taken in a row boat to Cleveland, by way of Tinker's Creek and the Cuyahoga River.
P. T. Barnum was a great advertiser and when he opened his first show in Cleveland, he gave ten free tickets to prominent people of Bed- ford. Train service not being available and not wishing to lose the ben- efits conferred on them, the donees went to Cleveland on a hand car. This car was stolen during the evening, and the delegation, manfully, walked home after the show.
Bedford was a safe station on the Underground Railway in slavery days. The woods, glens, and homes furnished an excellent hiding place for refugees, before their final entrance into Canada. It is related that although most of the people in the town knew of the presence, from time to time, of runaway slaves, their presence was never revealed.
We have referred to "Mother Parker's" Tavern, and its popularity in the early days. It is related that one night two travelers came to the hos- telry and engaged lodgings, the one a fine looking, large man, and the other quite small, apparently a boy. They left early without paying for their lodging, escaping the vigilant eye of "Mother Parker." Some months later she received a letter enclosing several times the amount, which she had charged on the books to "lost." In the letter was a confession that her visitors were an exiled prince and his young bride from one of the leading countries of Europe. Who this scion of royalty was she never would tell, as the letter in terms requested that the secret of the pair be kept from the public. Dame rumor, however, had it that the prince became, later, the ruling monarch of an empire across the seas.
In 1915, the Village and Township of Maple Heights was formed from the Township of Bedford. The township is merely a judicial town- ship, having a justice of the peace. Its territory the same as the village, is entirely separate from the original township. Bedford Township in- cludes the village, and taxes are assessed at a different rate outside the village, but the work is equitably divided. The township cares for the poor, the township roads, outside of the village, and little else. The schools are united and pupils transported, as we have described. Maple Heights being entirely separate has its own school system. It had in its schools
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