Fifty years and over of Akron and Summit County : embellished by nearly six hundred engravings--portraits of pioneer settlers, prominent citizens, business, official and professional--ancient and modern views, etc.; nine-tenth's of a century of solid local history--pioneer incidents, interesting events--industrial, commercial, financial and educational progress, biographies, etc., Part 106

Author: Lane, Samuel A. (Samuel Alanson), 1815-1905
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Akron, Ohio : Beacon Job Department
Number of Pages: 1228

USA > Ohio > Summit County > Akron > Fifty years and over of Akron and Summit County : embellished by nearly six hundred engravings--portraits of pioneer settlers, prominent citizens, business, official and professional--ancient and modern views, etc.; nine-tenth's of a century of solid local history--pioneer incidents, interesting events--industrial, commercial, financial and educational progress, biographies, etc. > Part 106

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

856

AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

in which the majority of them took a lively interest against the United States.

The first white family to take up their abode in the township, was undoubtedly that of Simeon Prior, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Prior, and their ten children, who removed thither from near Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1802; a portion of the 400 acres of land then purchased by Mr. Prior, viz : lot 19, still being owned and occupied by his descendants, though the original log cabin inhab- ited by the family was built upon lot 25, some two miles further north. In the absence of proof to the contrary, it is presumable that the name of Northampton was given to the township by this first settler, Simeon Prior, because of his migration from the near vicinity of the very pleasant town of that name in the "Old Bay State."

A former historian gives Mr. David Parker, of Hartford, Connecticut, as the second settler in the township, and his son, the venerable Richard E. Parker (late a resident of Akron), born March 9, 1811, as the first white male child born in the township. This can hardly be, however, as Mr. Parker before his death, informed the writer that his father came to Northampton in 1810, while the same historian mentions the settlement of Samuel King at Old Portage in 1809; the building of a grist-mill at Mud Brook gorge, by Judge Norton in 1805, and the establishment of a school, by Justus Remington in 1809, it seeming improbable that among a population sufficiently numerous to require the founding of a school, there were no births previous to that of the Parker child. Mr. David Parker erected a saw-mill near the mouth of Yellow Creek, on the west side of the river, about 1820, which was of great service in supplying the then rapidly increasing inhabitants, of both Northampton and Bath, with lumber; Mr. Parker dying September 11, 1823, at the age of 55 years, 6 months and 15 days.

GROWTH, DEVELOPMENT, ETC .- The growth of the township was so greatly retarded by the causes named, that it was not until the close of the War of 1812, '15, that any considerable progress was made in the way of civilized settlement. A few families, however, had from time to time ventured in, among others Mr. Samuel King, who as above stated, in 1809, settled on the south verge of the township, on the river, at Portage, afterwards designated "Old Portage," in contradistinction to the subsequent settlement of "New Portage," at the southern end of the "overland" route of the Indians from the head of canoe navigation on the Cuyahoga river, to the head of navigation on the Tuscarawas, at the latter point; the route traversed being the now historical "Portage Path ;" in reality the datum line (though rather a crooked one) generally made use of in describing contiguous land's upon either side thereof, in the townships of Portage and Coventry, between the points named.

Later on, probably at the close of the War of 1812, Mr. King established a tavern and a store at Old Portage, then on the direct route of travel from Warren to Sandusky via the Smith Road, upon the west side of the river, between the townships of Copley and Bath. Here, too, after the opening of the Ohio Canal in 1827, Birdsey Booth, Esq., of Cuyahoga Falls, built quite an extensive freight warehouse, at which large quantities of merchandise were received for distribution to contiguous towns and villages, east as

857

NORTHAMPTON'S EARLY "BUSINESS CENTERS."

far as Warren and west to and beyond Medina, and for the shipment of farm produce to eastern markets via Lake Erie and the Erie Canal; scores of teams being almost daily found at "Boothsport," as it was then called, loading and unloading the several kinds of freight mentioned.

A number of other buildings were erected, and for a few years it was thought that "Boothsport" would eventually become a large and flourishing village; but increasing shipping facilities at Akron, and points below, with more favorable approaches, soon brought about a decadence of "Boothsport's" business prosperity ; its store, tavern and warehouse, have disappeared, and a single farm'-house, only, now marks the spot which sixty years ago promised to be a permanent and prosperous village; Mr. Booth, a few years later, establishing a warehouse on the east side of the canal, near the head of Lock 15, in Akron, for the special accom- modation of the people of Cuyahoga Falls, the necessity for which passed away on the completion of the P. & O. canal in 1840.

C OL. RIAL MCARTHUR,-born in

Vermont in 1783; came to Ohio in 1805, as surveyor for the Connecti- cut Land Company, later for several years keeping a general store in Middlebury, in 1817 buying land and the flouring mill originally erected by Judge Aaron Norton, on the State road in Northampton. Active in local military affairs, as captain of an independent company, in the War of 1812, under General Wadsworth, with headquarters at Old Portage, he was soon promoted to major and then to colonel of militia, not only aiding in building two of the boats with which Commodore Perry won his splendid victory on Lake Erie, September 10, 1813, but afterwards gallantly defend- ing the frontier from the attacks of the British and Indians at Sandusky. In 1832, he moved to Independence, Cuyahoga county, where he served as justice of the peace ten years ; in 1843 returned to Northampton, where he resided until his death, August 24, 1871, aged 88 years, there, also, for many years serving as justice of the peace. Col. McArthur was a life-long and highly honored Mason, his funeral being largely attended and conducted by the members of the fraternity. In 1810, he was married to Miss Almira Sprague, of Spring-

COL. RIAL MCARTHUR.

field township. They were the parents of nine children-Orange, deceased ; Eric, deceased ; Amanda, Mrs. E. R. Harper, now of Akron ; Henry, deceased ; Giles, now living in Grattan, Wisconsin; Earl, now of Delta, Ohio ; Pamela, deceased ; Martha, deceased ; Mary, now Mrs. H. P. Smith, of Northampton.

OTHER "BUSINESS CENTERS."-A mile and a half further north, at Yellow Creek Basin, quite a business point was created by the opening of the Ohio Canal. Here, also, a tavern and a store were established by Mr. Nathaniel Hardy, father of Mr. Perry D. Hardy, still living in Northampton, and of Mr. William Hardy, now resid- ing at No. 130, North Bowery street in the city of Akron. Here, also, two or more commodious ware-houses were erected, while, in about 1836, Peter Voris, Jr. (father of Judge A. C. Voris, of Akron), with two men named Henry and Snodgrass, laid out about 100

858

AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

· acres, at the mouth of Yellow Creek, on the west side of the canal, into a village plat, under the appellation of "Niles," which name it bore for several years, though not entirely losing the cognomen of "Yellow Creek Basin." But before a boom, in behalf of the embryo city, could be properly worked up, the panic of 1837 struck in, and "Niles" remained a city on paper, only, the plat afterwards being vacated and the choice corner lots thereof relegated to the . plow-share and pruning-hook.

The center of Northampton, proper, never aspired to the dignity of a village; a school house, town house, church and one or two dwellings, constituting the entire hamlet. At Steele's- Corners, a mile and a half northeast; McArthur's Corners, about the same distance southeast, and at French's mill, between the two points, upon the State road, were also small hamlets, the latter point embracing a grist-mill-the first mill erected in the township, (in 1805) by Aaron Norton, afterwards a prominent mill owner in Middlebury and one of the associate judges of Portage county.

EARLY MILLING OPERATIONS .- The propelling power of this mill was the waters of Mud Brook, a considerable stream, flowing from a beautiful little lake near the northeast corner of the township (mostly lying in Stow) formerly called Mud Pond, but now designated as Turtle Lake, a far more appropriate name, as its waters not only largely abound in turtle and a great variety of fish, but are also as clear as the clearest crystal, while its shores have, of late years, become quite a favorite resort for summer campers-out, picnickers, etc.

This mill was afterwards run by Mr. Daniel Turner (grand- father of Mrs. Word. Babcock and Mr. Daniel Turner, of Akron), who moved from New Jersey to Northampton in 1812, until his- death in 1825, at the age of 65 years. The mill then passed into the hands of Colonel Rial McArthur, who also erected a distillery near the southwest corner of the present iron bridge across the stream at that point. Later, when the manufacture of whisky was abandoned, the building, after being used awhile as a dwelling house, was converted into a meeting house and school house-thus. literally bringing good out of evil.

The grist mill was finally abandoned, when the property passed into the hands of Thomas J. French, who converted it into. a saw-mill, afterwards associating with himself Mr. Jesse Hays, quite an extensive business being done by the firm for several years in converting the surplus timber of the neighborhood into lumber, for the Cuyahoga Falls and Akron markets, as well as for neighborhood consumption. Several years ago this mill passed into the hands of Mr. John Hart, and was run by himself and his son-in-law, Adam G. Steele, and is now the property of Mrs. Steele as the heir of Mr. Hart, and is at present standing idle.

At an early day, also, Moses and Oliver Dewey established a saw-mill a quarter of a mile lower down the stream, but though a good mill, with a fair fall and power, being inconvenient of access, it soon went into disuse and consequent dilapidation. A mile or so further up the stream, in 1824 Elisha Prior and Elisha Perkins, brothers-in-law, erected a saw-mill which did quite an extensive business for several years. This property passed into the hands of Mr. Harry Pardee, father of Henry Pardee; Esq., of Ghent, and Edward K. Pardee, of Northampton, in the early forties, who added

859

WHISKY, CASTOR OIL, CHEESE, FLOUR, ETC.

thereto a woolen factory, chair factory, etc., which since the death of Mr. Pardee, and the concentration of such industries at railroad centers, and in cities, villages, etc., has also gone into disuse and dilapidation.

POTATO WHISKY, CASTOR OIL, CHEESE, ETC .- Near the mouth of Mud Brook, in the valley, a distillery for the manufacture of potato whisky was erected in 1814, by Mr. Abel Vallen, which did quite a spirited business for a few years; but was afterwards con- verted into a castor oil factory, which proved too lax a business to be remunerative, the site being subsequently covered by a cheese factory, whose operations, though probably far more palatable and wholesome, for some unknown reason proved unremunerative and the business was discontinued.

NATHANIEL HARDY, SR.,-born in Massachusetts, October 11, 1796; when young, moved' with parents to Western New York ; at 16 came to Ohio to the vicinity of Old Portage, working at farming, and later helping to build several of the locks on the Ohio canal. On the completion of the canal, built and for many years kept a hotel and small store at Yellow Creek Basin, after- wards called Niles, and now known as Botzum station. Later, Mr. Hardy bought 250 acres of land, on the east side of the river, which he success- · fully cultivated for many years, after- wards selling it to his sons, William and Norton R. Mr. Hardy served many years as justice of the peace and township trustee, and active in ridding the township of the early disreputable characters and practices elsewhere alluded to. About 1824, he was married to Miss Rebecca Reed, of Delaware, Ohio, who was born June 11, 1805. They were the parents of eight children - Caroline, born July 9, 1825, 110w Mrs. Jasper B. Drake ; William, born March 11, 1829, whose portrait and biography appear else- where; Norton R., born December 15, 1831, died June 3, 1880 ; Perry D., born April 11, 1834, now a prosperous farmer in his native township; Mary

NATHANIEL HARDY, SR.

E., born September 25, 1836, now Mrs. Hiram J. Ayres, of Akron ; Harriet, born July 3, 1840, now Mrs. Henry Hall, of Akron ; Clarissa, born April 20, 1842, now Mrs. Charles Watters, of Cuyahoga Falls, and Nathaniel, Jr., born July 19, 1844, now of Akron! Mrs. Hardy died July 11, 1865, and Mr. Hardy, December 4, 1866.

IN OPERATION NEARLY HALF A CENTURY .- About the year 1840, Mr. William Prior (oldest son of Simeon Prior, and father of the late William Prior, Esq., associate editor of the Cuyahoga Falls Reporter and Western Reserve Farmer), and his two sons, Edward and Henry W., erected a flouring mill in the wild gorge about 20 rods west of the iron bridge on the State road, and below the old French & Hays saw mill. A massive stone dam was built about eight rods above the site of the mill, from whence, in a wooden flume, the waters of the brook were conducted to a twenty- foot over-shot wheel, by which the machinery of the mill was pro- pelled. The mill was equipped with two runs of French buhrs, improved bolting apparatus and first-class machinery throughout, but did not prove a paying investment. The junior members of

860

AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

the firm having previously withdrawn, on the death of the senior member, in 1872, the property was sold by the administrator at one-fourth its original cost. This property is now owned by Mrs. Adam G. Steele, as heir at law of the late John Hart, and though still capable of doing good work, when kept in proper repair, is at the present time (1891) lying idle.

REMARKABLE FECUNDITY AND LONGEVITY .- It will be impossi- ble, from the data now available, to give the names of all the early settlers, or the date of their arrival in the township, did the space allotted to this work admit of it. As characteristic of the customs in vogue in that early time, however, I quote from the writings of the late William Prior, the fact that Robert Thompson, a shoe- maker, and Barclay Hogue, a harness-maker, used to ply their respective callings from house to house, which was also done to a considerable extent by tailors and perhaps other mechanics of those ancient days. Mr. Prior is also authority for the following case of phenomenal fecundity and longevity on the part of a couple of Northampton's pioneer settlers, Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Ellis. Mar- ried at the age of 14 years, Mrs. Ellis became the mother of twenty children; the first born when she was but 15, and the last when she was 65 years old. They afterwards removed to Michigan, where Mr. Ellis died, in 1879, at the patriarchal age of 100 years, while the prolific matron was still living, in 1881, at the ripe old age of 81 years.

ORGANIZATION, POPULATION, ETC .- The date of Northampton's organization is involved in obscurity. The only record extant,, previous to 1820, is part of a tally sheet, without date, in posses- sion of Mr. James M. Hale, of Akron, of one of the earliest, if not the first election held in the township. It will be recollected that previous to its organization, in 1818, Bath was connected with Northampton, in local governmental affairs, and as the tally sheet in question contains a number of names of persons known to have been residents of Bath, the organization of Northampton must have been previous to the date named-a total of 18 voters only being enrolled on the tally sheet in question. Whatever the date of that election, the officers elected were: Jonathan Hale (a resi- dent of Bath), Simeon Prior and David Norton, trustees; Samuel King, clerk; Wylie Hamilton, overseer of the poor; Elisha Perkins, constable; William Prior, Israel Parker and Jason Hammond (also of Bath), supervisors; Luman Bishop, fence viewer, and Simeon Prior, treasurer; the first justice of the peace being Samuel King. At the election in 1820, the principal officers chosen were: Wil- liam Prior, Abel Woodward and James French, trustees; Aaron French, clerk; and Daniel Turner, treasurer.

GROWTH, PROGRESS, ETC .- From this time on, settlement, though not remarkably rapid, was quite steady, so that by 1840, according to the census of that year, the township had a popula- tion of 963. Forty years later, as shown by the census of 1880, the population was only 977, an apparent increase of but 14 souls, the meagerness of which increase may in part be accounted for by the detaching therefrom of a populous corner, in the erection of the new township of Cuyahoga Falls, in 1851, and partly by the shift- ing of business centers and methods in the intervening 40 years. The census of 1890, gives to the township but 896 inhabitants showing a falling off, in the ten year's, of 81.

861

NORTHAMPTON IN WAR.

Nevertheless, the township has made commendable progress, physically, industrially, intellectually and morally,during the period indicated. It has been entirely redeemed from the former taint of crookedness fastened upon it by comparatively few of its early inhabitants; its schools and religious appliances will compare favorably with those of contiguous townships; its rude agricul- tural beginnings in the wilderness have been succeeded by thoroughly cultivated farms, tilled by the best and most improved modern implements and methods, while the primitive log cabin, and its scarcely more pretentious successor, the plain story and-a-half frame house, are rapidly being displaced by commodious and imposing structures in the best style of modern architecture, with barns and other necessary out-buildings to match.

PERRY DELAZEN HARDY,-so11 of Nathaniel and Rebecca (Reed) Hardy, born in Northampton, April 11, 1834; in boyhood nicknamed "Commodore Perry," during the Mex- can War, because of his tenacity of purpose, changed to "Old Zack," after General Zachary Taylor, the princi- pal hero of that war ; educated in the primitive mud-chinked and slab- seated log school house; raised on farm, which calling he still success- fully pursues. Thoroughly Repub- lican, during the War of the Rebel- lion, was active in raising bounty money and securing recruits for the Union army ; for several years served as constable, by his vigilance ridding the township of the gang of toughs, for many years known as the "Nor- wegians ;" served four years as town- ship trustee, and eight or nine years as school director of district 9, one year as president, and balance of time as clerk, and ex-officio member of board of education. In 1854, was married to Miss Elizabeth A. Lan- phier, teacher, who has borne him nine children, three dying in infancy, the survivors being-Ida S. born October 2, 1855, married to William Darrow, of Hudson, October 1, 1888;

PERRY DELAZEN HARDY.

Harry B., born November 1, 1857, still at home; Willis P., born December 10, 1865, married to Ida Lilley, April 18, 1887, now in employ of Akron Tele- phone Company; Nellie B., boril July 2, 1869, teacher ; Mertie I., born December 18, 1871, teacher; Vinton M., born January 15, 1874, the three latter still at home.

NORTHAMPTON'S PATRIOTISM. - In the Revolutionary War, Northampton's pioneer settler, Simeon Prior, bore an honorable part in the Old Bay State's gallant contingent in that long and sanguinary struggle. Mr. Prior died in 1836, at the age of 82 years. Nathaniel Hardy (father of the late Nathaniel Hardy, Sr., whose por- trait appears in this chapter), a native of Massachusetts, was also a soldier in the Revolutionary War, losing a leg on the battle field by a cannon shot. After the War, moved to western New York, and later to Canada, but on the breaking out of the War of 1812, finding that his son, then but 16 years of age, was about to be pressed into the British army to fight against his native country, he secretly hustled him over the border, from whence he soon afterwards came to Ohio, as elsewhere stated, the father after- wards coming thither, and spending the balance of his days with his children and grandchildren in Northampton. There were

862

AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

undoubtedly other Revolutionary heroes among her early settlers, but unfortunately their names and records are not now ascer- tainable.

In the War of 1812, the independent company of Captain Rial McArthur, composed of residents of Northampton and contiguous townships, besides serving under General Wadsworth, at Old Portage, as already stated, afterwards went to Sandusky in defense of the frontier against the British and Indians. In the Mexican War of 1836-38, no recruits were called for and none furnished.

In the War of the Rebellion, however, Northampton was . equally patriotic, in proportion to population, with her sister townships of Summit county, furnishing nearly 130 recruits, all of whom nobly did their duty, and one-fifth of whom either laid down their lives upon the field of battle, starved to death in rebel prisons, perished on the ill-fated Sultana while en-route for home on the Mississippi river, or died from diseases contracted in the service; while many others, possibly, like Northampton's patriotic son, Colonel Jonas Schoonover, have since died, or are now suffer- ing untold daily tortures from exposures and hardships endured in the salvation of the Nation and the preservation of the Union.

NORTHAMPTON'S ROLL OF HONOR. - Charles J. Ayliffe, Levi Bonesteel, Henry Bruner, John Best, Henry Baker, James Baser, Thomas Barrett, Moses Barrett, George Bonesteel (died in service), Ezra Bonesteel, David Bonesteel (died in services), John Baugh- man, David Baker, Willianı Baker, William Best, James Billman, Lewis D. Clements (died in service), George Chart, Willard Corey, William Culver, John Cackler, Alvin Cox, Oscar Chilson, Alexan- der Corey, Leroy W. Chase (killed in battle), Luther J. Chase, Dwight Croft, Rufus Cook (died in service), Almon Chase (died in rebel prison), E. Chilson, Simon Coy, George Chase, Increase Chase, Fred Chilson, Matthias Coffman, Willard Cox, John Chart, Henry Doolittle, Riley Dickerson (lost on Sultana), M. V. Dealy, Alvin Dennison, D. D. Dewey, John Dickerson, Gillis W: Eatinger (lost on Sultana), Lorten Filley, Newton Filley, William Flanigan, William B. Galloway, Pomeroy Galloway, Adam B. Galloway, Edmund Gray, Charles Hamlin, Samuel W. Hart (in rebel prison), Newton S. Harrington (died in service), John Homan, Beardsley Hull, Carleton C. Hart, William Howland, Thomas Hardesdy, Dar- win Hall, J. D. Hall, Andrew Hall (died in service), Robert Hogue (died in service), William H. Jones, A. P. Jaques, Winsor Lappin, Jr., Alvin Kelso, Jackson Mott, L. D. McWayne, Orrin Markham, Philander Markham, Albert Malone (rebel prisoner and survivor of Sultana disaster), William H. Norton (in rebel prison and also survivor of the Sultana disaster), Frank J. Norton, William Oaks, George W. Prior (died in service), Clark Prior, Horace Pardee, Silas Payne, George Payne (lost on Sultana), Alson F. Prior, William Price, Alvin Perkins (died in service), Elijah Pardee, Stiles A. Prior, Charles Payne, Edward Parks, Israel Potts, Fred- erick Palmer, Reese J. Purine, Frank Purine (killed in battle), Andrew J. Robinson, William Robinson, Randolph Robinson, Isaac Roose, William L. Rice (in rebel prison) Lorin Ruggles, Elias Ream, Henry Scott, Jonas Schoonover, Jesse Stahl (in rebel prison), Jacob Senn, Charles Stevens (lost on Sultana), William Stevens (lost on Sultana), Charles Stout (lost on Sultana), James Stahl,

863

NORTHAMPTON IN PUBLIC OFFICE.

Philip Smathers (died in service), William Smathers (lost on Sul- tana), John Shellhorn (died in service), Henry Simonds, Alexander Steel, Sherman Seymour, John Thompson, Hawthorn Thompson, Orlow Thompson (died in service), Julius A. Upson (died in ser- vice), Philo B. Upson (died in service), Lorenzo Vallen, Alexander Wallace, William Waterman (lost on Sultana), Peter W. Weaver (lost on Sultana), C. W. Way (lost on Sultana), C. A. Wilson, Alfred Waite, Oliver Wright, Edward Wetmore, Joseph Wallace, George F. Young.

NORTHAMPTON'S CIVIL SERVICE .-- In the civil service of Summit county, Northampton has been less conspicuous and less favored (or more favored as the case may be) than the average of the town- ships, two important county offices, only, having been allotted to her, as follows:

SULLIVAN S. WILSON, in 1858, hitherto a highly respected and prosperous farmer, near the center of the township, was selected by the Republican county nominating convention as its candidate for the important position of county treasurer, and was elected by more than the average majority accorded to the rest of his ticket. Discharging the duties of his office with commendable fidelity and urbanity, in 1860 he was renominated by acclamation and re-elected by an increased majority. All went well, without the faintest shadow or suspicion of wrong, until near the close of his second term, in February, 1863, when, one evening about the time for closing up the public offices at the court house, Mr. Wilson stepped across the hall into the Auditor's office, and handed the keys of the Treasurer's office to Auditor George W. Crouse, with the simple remark: "I've got through." To Mr. Crouse's inquiry as to what he meant, he briefly answered: "They're after me, and I've got to leave."

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Author: Lane, Samuel A. (Samuel Alanson), 1815-1905 Publication date: 1892 Publisher: Akron, Ohio : Beacon Job Department Number of Pages: 1228

Author: Lane, Samuel A. (Samuel Alanson), 1815-1905
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Akron, Ohio : Beacon Job Department
Number of Pages: 1228