Centennial history of Summit County, Ohio and representative citizens, Part 15

Author: Doyle, William B., b. 1868
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1150

USA > Ohio > Summit County > Centennial history of Summit County, Ohio and representative citizens > Part 15

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It is a pleasure to turn from these business failures to some other enterprises which were built upon a more substantial basis and thus became successes. The most conspicuous is the immense business built up by S. Straight & Co., established in 1867. Their busj- ness was the manufacture of butter and cheese and at one time they operated fourteen fac- tories. In 1870 E. A. Osborne erected his butter-tub and cheese-box factory. Other mills were those of Erastus Croy. built in

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HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY

1878; E. B. Shields, 1890; E. J. Tobdell; the Oviatt Manufacturing Company, in 1878, and the G. H. Grimm Manufacturing Company. Hudson's mercantile status is better today, perhaps, than at any time in the past. The great fire of a few years ago, which wiped out the entire western portion of the business part of town, has been the means of bring- ing about a great change for the better. Fine brick blocks have taken the place of the an- tiquated frame buildings in which business was formerly done and merchants have filled these modern rooms with larger stocks of finer goods. The Cleveland Bank failure, which brought so much loss upon Hudson merchants, through its Hudson branch, has been largely forgotten. After the fire above mentioned, Hudson possessed but one hotel, "The Delta," located near the depot, the old "Mansion House," located on the west side of Main Street, having been destroyed in that conflagration. In 1907 a fine, new hotel was opened up in the old Beebe Mansion, on the north side of the square, and called the "Park Hotel." Among the prominent merchants of the past and present should be mentioned Charles H. Buss, Edwin S. Bentley, John Whedon, George V. Miller, Dennis J. Joyce, R. H. Grimm, Sebastian Miller, James A. Jacobs, Henry Wehner, John G. Mead, C. A. Campbell. C. H. Farwell, J. N. Farrar, P. N. Shively, J. L. Doncaster, W. M. Beebe, Charles Kilbourn and others.

Hudson village was incorporated April 1, 1837. At the first election, held that year, Heman Oviatt was chosen mayor; Lyman W. Hall, recorder; Frederick Baldwin, Harvey Baldwin, John B. Clark, Jesse Dickinson and Daniel C. Gaylord, trustecs.

Hudson was one of the centers of anti-slav- ery sentiment in Ohio. Like Oberlin and Tallmadge, her citizens took an open and active part in attacking the great evil and arousing public opinion against it. Many fugitive slaves found an asylum here. When the Civil War broke out Hudson did her full duty and furnished more than one hundred and fifty men for the Union Army. Today,

nowhere in the county is Memorial Day more reverently celebrated.

Hudson Township has given us Judge S. H. Pitkin, M. C. Read and W. I. Chamberlain.

At the present time E. E. Rogers is town- ship clerk and also justice of the peace. The census of 1890 gave Hudson a population of 1,143; the last census (1900) showed a de- crease to 982.

NORTHAMPTON TOWNSHIP.

In the drawing of lands of the Connecticut Land Company the present township of Northampton fell to W. Billings, David King, Ebenezer King, Jr., F. King, John Leavitt, Jr., O. P. Holden, Luther Loomis, Joseph Pratt, Timothy Phelps, Solomon Stoddard and Daniel Wright. It was first settled in 1802 when Simeon Prior, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, brought his wife and ten children overland from the beautiful village of Northampton, on the Connecticut River, in the green hills of Hampshire County, Massa- chusetts. Other early settlers were Justus Remington, David Parker and Samnel King. Later came Rial McArthur, David Norton. Nathaniel Hardy, Sr., Daniel Turner. Northampton Township was very slow in be- ing settled. The Indians remained here lon- ger than in any other part of the country. It was not until the American forces began to assemble here for the war of 1812 that the last of the red men departed. Many of their village sites, mounds, etc., may be seen at the present time. Here was a rendezvous for mili- tia during the second war with England, and three vessels of Commodore Perry's fleet were built in Northampton and floated down the Cuyahoga to Lake Erie.

In 1836 the village of Niles, at the mouth of Yellow Creek, was platted. It never grew to anything more substantial than a vision in the minds of its projectors, Peter Voris and his associates. The site is now called Botzum. Other hamlets are Northampton Center, Steele's Corners, McArthur's Corners and French's Mill. Northampton did far more than her share in furnishing men for the

HIGH SCHOOL, CUYAHOGA FALLS

FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, HUDSON

THE GLENS, CUYAHOGA FALLS

CUYAHOGA FALLS-SQUARE SHOWING THE CHURCHES

A VIEW ON THE CUYAHOGA RIVER

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Union Army in 1861-65. More than one hundred and forty of her citizens responded to the call of the nation. In 1907 W. E. Voss is township clerk, and P. D. Hardy and L. A. Hart are justices of the peace.

NORTHFIELD.

Northfield was first settled in April, 1807, when Isaac Bason brought his family from Massachusetts and built a log-house for them about a mile and one-half from the present Town Hall. Other early settlers were Jere- miah Cranmer, George Wallace, Orrin Wil- cox and William Cranny. The township was organized May 24, 1819, when an election was held, at which Jeremiah Cranmer, John Duncan and George Wallace were elected trustees; Henry Wood, clerk; Watrous Mather, treasurer; and Abraham Cranmer and Edward Coyne, constables. In 1840 the township had a population of 1,041. It fur- nished more than one hundred and twenty- five men to the Federal Army in the Rebel- lion. In 1907 M. A. Van Horn is township clerk and O. E. Griswold and H. A. McCon- nell, justices of the peace. Flourishing cen- ters are Northfield. Little York, Macedonia and Brandywine.

NORTON TOWNSHIP.

Norton township was originally a part of Wolf Creek township, but was organized as a separate township in April, 1818. It was named for Birdsey Norton, one of its Con- necticut proprietors. It was first settled in 1810 by James Robinson, who came from New York and built a cabin for himself on Wolf Creek. Other early settlers were John Cahow, Abraham Van Hyning, Henry Van Hyning, John D. Humphrey, Charles Lyon, P. Kirkum, Seth Lucas, Charles Miller and Nathan Bates. At the organization in April, 1818, the following officers were elected : Clerk, Joseph D. Humphrey; justice of the peace, Henry Van Hyning, Sr .; trustees, Charles Lyon, Abraham Van TIyning and Ezra Way; supervisors, John Cahow, Elisha

Ilinsdale and Joseph Holines. Norton pos- sesses some of the richest land in the county and many of her citizens have amassed much wealth from agriculture and mining of coal. The township also possesses some of the most. prosperous hamlets, like Norton Center, West- ern Star, Loyal Oak, Hometown, Johnson's Corners, Sherman and Dennison.

It is also fortunate in having within its limits that marvel of the closing years of the nineteenth century, the "Magic City"-Bar- berton. It is a city that was almost literally built in a day. In 1890 its site was a typical Ohio farm, with its fertile fields, rich mea- dows, stretches of woodland, running brooks, comfortable farm-houses and huge bank- barns. In its center was a little pond of clear water, fed by springs in its bottom, and named "Davis Lake." Rolling farm lands sur- rounded it on all sides. A mile or two to the north was the village of New Portage, a sta- tion on the Erie and Cleveland, Akron and Columbus Railroads, a port on the Ohio Canal, and the southern terminus of the Portage Path, that aboriginal highway which connected the northern waters of the State of Ohio with the southern. Five miles further north was Akron, then a city of 27,000 peo- ple. In one short year all this was changed as though a magieian's wand had swept over the scene. The old farms were platted into city lots, streets, parks and factory sites. An army of men set to work, leveling the land, removing fences and grading, and curbing the streets. Hundreds of workingmen's cot- tages were commenced; splendid residences along the shady boulevard around the lake gradually took form; great factory buildings along the railroads arose day by day, and a belt line of railroad began to encircle the town. By the end of 1891 there was a popu- lation of nearly 2,000 people settled on the old Coventry farms of the year before. The reader should be cautioned that this was not a "boom" town; that its growth was not like the mushroom towns of the western mining regions: that the buildings were not tempo- rary structures to be replaced later by a more substantial construction. Here were no rough

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pine store-buildings, no tents, no "slab" sa- loons or groceries. On the contrary, severe building restrictions were incorporated in each deed of land and were strictly enforced by the grantors. The residences around the lake would be a credit to any city. The store- buildings were mainly of brick and each fac- tory building was of the most modern steel, brick and stone construction. Indeed, the thing which most impressed the visitor in those early days was the substantial, perma- nent character of all he saw about him. Dur- ing that first year the construction of the magnificent Barberton Inn was commenced. No city in Ohio had a better hotel at that time. The fine railroad station and the Bank building were also started. In a few months more than a million dollars had been invested in permanent improvements. The old farms had disappeared forever; the walls of Barber- ton had arisen to endure so long as men shall buy and sell.

The founder of Barberton was Ohio Colum- bus Barber, the president of the Diamond Match Company, the American Sewer-pipe Company and a hundred other companies, and the boy who, in the fifties, had peddled matches which his father had dipped by hand in the little frame building in Middlebury. Early in 1890 he associated with himself Charles Baird, John K. Robinson and Albert T. Paige, and together they purchased nearly 1,000 acres of land. Later in the year they sold an undivided one-half interest in their holdings to George W. Crouse, Sr., and a Pittsburg syndicate, the head of which was M. J. Alexander. In May, 1891, these inen organized themselves as "the Barberton Land and Improvement Company," with Mr. Bar- ber as its president. One-half of the stock was owned and held by the four men first above mentioned. Their first endeavor was to bring to Barberton as many manufacturing establishments as possible. They organized many themselves. By 1892 the following big -concerns were doing business in the new city and emploving many hundreds of workmen, namely: The National Sewer Pipe Company, with a capital invested of a quarter million

of dollars and employing 200 men ; the Amer- ican Strawboard Company, capital $6,000,- 000, and employing 200 men; the Sterling Boiler Company, capital, half a million, work- force, 300; Kirkum Art Tile Company, $300,- 000, 500 employees; Creedmoor Cartridge Company, $500,000, men employed, 200; the American Alumina Company, $500,000, em- ployees, fifty ; the United Salt Company, capi- tal one million, men employed, 150. Mr. Barber was made president of all these compa- nies, as well as of the Barberton Belt Line Railroad Co., and the Barberton Savings Bank Company, with a capital of $100,000. The . other men interested with him were elected directors and officers in nearly all these com- panies. The next year the great corporation, known as the Diamond Match Company, and which had its principal factory in Akron, be- gan the construction of its vast factory on the line of the Cleveland, Akron and Columbus Railroad just sonth of the station. When completed, the entire Akron plant was moved to Barberton and the working population of the town was thus increased by nearly a thou- sand persons. The Creedmoor Cartridge Com- pany was soon absorbed by the Cartridge trust, to the great profit of the local promoters, and the plant dismantled. The buildings, how- ever, did not long remain idle, for the Alden Rubber Company was later organized and its business grew so rapidly that large additions to the original buildings were soon necessary. Before the end of the decade had been reached the Columbia Chemical Company, with its millions of capital and its hundreds of em- ployees, had come within the zone of Barber- ton's activities. Its plant covers many acres in the southern part of the town and it has been one of the big industrial suecesses of the place. About the same time the Pitts- bnrgh Valve and Fittings Company was added to the long list of industries successfully doing business in Barberton. So, we say, advisedly, that Barberton will endure so long as men en- gage in commerce. Its foundation is as sub- stantial as any business community in the world. It has shown a remarkable power to rally from reverses. It has had several such.

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The Kirkum Art Tile Company ceased to do business after its large plant had been entirely wiped out by fire. The Barberton Pottery Company, after an unsuccessful career, was finally sold in bankruptcy proceedings. One of Barberton's two banks also found the stress of competition too severe and suc- eumbed. There were other failures which also brought great losses upon Barberton peo- ple, but they are all infinitesimal in compari- son with the colossal successes which have been won. Barberton today is a splendid monument to American energy and sagacity.

The census of 1900 was the first in which the name of Barberton appeared. The total population then was 4,354. Today it is prob- ably in the neighborhood of 7.000. The pres- ent officials are: Mayor, James McNamara; clerk, George Davis; treasurer, E. A. Miller; marshal, David Ferguson.

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP.

Green and Franklin are the southern town- ships of the county, and originally were part of Stark County, being inhabited by the de- seendants of the Germans of Pennsylvania, or, as they are familiarly called. "Pennsylvania Dutch." Summit County is made up of four- teen townships from Portage, and Franklin and Green from Stark, the formation taking place in 1840. Vigorous opposition arose on the part of Stark to this separation, both be- cause of natural affection for the parent Dutch stock and on account of the geograph- ical location of the new county seat at Sum- mit. At the time it was said that the Dutch and Yankees could not mix, but, like all idle assertions, time has shown the absurdity of that remark.

Franklin is noted in natural features for the possession of numerous small lakes. The Tuscarawas, in early days a much larger stream than at present, offered a water supply apparently unfailing, and Turkeyfoot Lake seemed to hold out large promise. The coal deposits have always been large, and during the first settlements the cranberry crop was an unfailing source of revenue, great quantities

of this berry being sent east. The peach erop was also large, and from this a compound known as peach brandy was made, and thor- oughly tasted before shipment abroad. In 1833 distilleries were established, but flour- ished for a comparatively short time. The more stable product of lumber enriched the possessors of forest, and great quantities of it were shipped up to Cleveland, and from thence to the more distant Lake ports.

The early settlements of Franklin were Cartersville and Savannah. The first was named for a Wheeling quaker, who owned large traets of land on which his town was lo- cated. Inability to withstand the eneroach- ments of the rivers made this place speedily uninhabitable, and shortly after its founding, 1806, it was abandoned. In 1816 David Har- vey planted and planned the town of Savan- nah, but after a struggle of ten years, this settlement yielded to the superior merits of Clinton. The latter had all the advantages re- sulting from proximity to the eanal. Clin- ton was originally laid out in 1816, and from the first was a consistent business mart. It became the center of business for several ad- joining counties. Large storehouses for grain were erected, doctors, lawyers and merchants settled there, and the increased shipment of coal made the town a veritable emporium. After flourishing till about 1850, Clinton de- elined in influence and, owing to the en- eroaehment of Akron and several allied towns, decreased in power and influence. The pass- ing of the railroad beyond its borders con- signed it permanently to the role of the rural village. The town of Manchester was started in 1815, and, being inland in location, never rose to anything like the business gait of Clin- ton, but, nevertheless, has had a steady, sub- stantial growth.

The township organization took place in 1817. Previous to that, in 1811. it, with Green and Lake and Jackson. Townships of Stark, had had one set of officers. In matters of education and religion Franklin has been second to none. While it is somewhat uneer- tain as to the first teacher, yet it seems that a Mr. Mishler has that honor. Rev. J. W. Han-

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HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY

mond was the first preacher and varied the language of his sermons according, as the majority of his hearers were German or Eng- lish speaking. The township has an. honor- able Civil War record, and was very active in the promotion of the celebrated "Underground Railroad."

At the present time Franklin has a tax val- uation on all its property of over a million dollars and from her people have gone forth men who have served with fidelity and intel- ligence in all the walks of life.

The township has given to publie life Hon. Hugh R. Caldwell, judge of common pleas; Hon. John Hoy, judge of common pleas; Hon. Jacob A. Kohler, representative, 1883- 85; attorney general of the State of Ohio, 1886-88, and judge of common pleas, 1900- 1906.

GREEN TOWNSHIP.

Green, the sister township of Franklin, has had a varied experience. In the first place, her Indian history, like that of all early set- tlements, has been full of romance. Turn as we may from time to time to the old stories, as we read that of Green the thought of the sufferings and hardships of those pioneers in conflict with the red man must absorb our at- tention. What battles were fought there we may not know, but from time to time great masses of flint arrow-heads have been turned up, also an old mass of stones with its awful suggestion of an altar for human sacrifice- these are matters that divert our minds from the prosy life man has been condemned to live with only work as a mitigating circum- stance. However numerous the Indians were, they were driven out shortly after the war of 1812, supposedly because the aborigines sided with the British. With them gone, the "Dutch" were allowed to turn their energies to the cultivation of their farms. At first there was some promise of coal, but this failed and at this time the township is experiencing a boom from clay found there, which is worked up in the village of Altman. As is often the case there is some question as to who

was the first settler, but the consensus of opin- ion gives that honor to John Kepler, with others claiming that it was either William Triplett or John Curzen.

A distinct township organization was ef- fected in 1814, and in 1840 occurred the sep- aration from Stark County with the promise that there should be no tax on public build- ings in the township till 1890. Probably the nearest Green ever came to a boom was the event surrounding the organization and up- building of the Seminary. This was a Meth- odist school, started in 1854, with a capital of $2,000, divided into shares of $50 each. At one time some one hundred and thirty stu- dents attended the seminary and it passed through various stages till its final decline about 1875.

The towns of Green are: Greensburg, founded in 1828 by David Baer; East Lib- erty, founded in 1839 (as might be expected these towns have been rivals in a quiet way, but this feeling has shown itself chiefly in po- litical contests) ; Myersville, founded about 1876, has importance chiefly because it has railroad facilities and has shown some ele- ments of steady and vigorous growth.

George W. Crouse was reared in Green Township. He has served as county treas- urer, State senator, 1885-87, and federal rep- resentative, 1887-90.

RICHFIELD TOWNSHIP.

Richfield, like the other townships of the Western Reserve, became the separate prop- erty of individuals upon the drawing of lands conducted by the Connecticut Land Com- pany. It was settled soon after by families who came from Connecticut and Massachu- setts. The first settler was Launcelot Mays, who came in 1809. The township was or- ganized in April, 1816, and John Bigelow was elected clerk; Isaac Welton, treasurer; William Jordan, Daniel Keys and Nathaniel Oviatt, trustees, and Isaac Hopkins, con- stable. The population then was in excess of 150. In 1840, it had grown to 1,108. In 1818 a Union church organization was ef-

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fected, which, in a few years, became the First Congregational Church. The Metho- dists, Baptists and United Brethren also or- ganized societies very early in the history of the township and have been uniformly pros- perous, thus indicating the sound basis upon which society in Richfield is built. The in- fluence of Richfield has always been exerted in behalf of the personal and civic virtues. Her schools are among the best in the coun- try. In 1836 the Richfield Academy was opened and attracted many pupils from out- side the township. Some of its graduates aft- erwards acquired a national fame. It after- wards became the East High School, was burned in 1887 and replaced by a fine modern building. There is also a brick high school building at the West Center. Richfield Cen- ter is composed of two parts-the East. Cen- ter and the West Center, situated about a mile apart. Both centers had a hotel and a post- office. The West Center has now a fine ho- tel which is the equal of any of the rural hotels in the county. Of late years Richfield has been gaining prestige as a summer re- sort, many wealthy Cleveland families coming here to spend the summer. Owing to the lack of transportation facilities, Richfield has never had any manufacturing industries. Mr. H. B. Camp, of Akron, is now (1907) pro- moting a railroad from Cleveland to Akron, which, if built, will pass through the centers, In mercantile life, however, many of her citizens have been successful. Among such may be mentioned William C. Weld. Everett Farnam. George B. Clarke, Frank R. Brower, Henry C. Searles, Baxter H. Wood. The ho- tels have been successful in the hands of Lewis P. Ellas and Fayette Viall. Other village en- terprises which have been successfully con- ducted, some of them for many years, owe their success to John Ault, Peter Allen, Seth Dustin, T. E. Ellsworth, Z. R. Townsend, C. P. Townsend, S. E. Phelps, Henry Killifer, Michael Heltz, C. F. Rathburn, Henry Green- lese, Percy Dustin, Samuel Fauble, George L. Dustin. Julius C. Chapman, Asa P. Carr and E. D. Carr. Mention should be made of the tile factory built by Ralph Farnam and

Berkly S. Braddock. The former was an ex- pert in ceramies, and a large factory and pot- tery was built upon the old Farnam farm about 1890. About the same time, these two gentlemen equipped the finest stock farm in Summit County for the raising of fine horses and cattle. One stallion alone cost them $5,000. The tile industry proved unremu- nerative, owing to the long distance from a railroad. Both men sunk their large private fortunes in these enterprises. Ralph Far- nam afterwards went to New Jersey and was very successful in the tile business. The old farm finally passed into the possession of Charles F. Brush, of Cleveland. Richfield gave over 150 men to the cause of the Union in 1861-65. Two men of national fame have gone forth from Richfield in the persons of Russell A. Alger and Samnel B. Axtell. The present township clerk is R. II. Chapman and O. B. Hinman is justice of the peace.

SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP.

Springfield township was first settled in 1806, when Ariel Bradley moved from Suf- field to what is now the village of Mogadore. Other early settlers were Thomas Hale, Ben- jamin Baldwin, John IIall, James Hall, Na- than Moore, Reuben Tupper, Abraham De- Haven. the Ellet family, the Norton family, Patrick Christy, James McKnight, William Foster et alii. The township was organized in April. 1808. The manufacturing of the township is all in the pottery line, as great beds of potter's elay are found here. Coal is also mined. Mogadore is the principal vil- lage. North Springfield, Brittain, Thomas- town, Millheim and Krumroy are also flour- ishing hamlets. Springfield furnished nearly 150 men to the Federal armies in the Civil War. At the present time, J. Ira Emmet is township clerk, and R. C. Gates, Milo White and M. S. Mishler are justiees of the peaee.

STOW TOWNSHIP.

Stow Township is named after Joshua Stow. the original proprietor by grant from the Connecticut Land Company. The first

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Centennial history of Summit County, Ohio and representative citizens, Part 15

Author: Doyle, William B., b. 1868 Publication date: 1908 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1150

Author: Doyle, William B., b. 1868
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1150