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 126

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 126

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The course of the tornado seemed to be from southwesterly to northeasterly, some effects of it being visible near Gilbert's Cor- ners, three-fourths of a mile west, while it was evident, from the moisture and sand found about the Sanford premises, that a con- siderable portion of the water and mud, in what is now known as Crystal Lake (formerly Cochran's or Hart's pond), were scooped up and carried along by the storm. Mr. Sanford's barn was partly unroofed, and an adjoining shed entirely demolished; the barn doors blown open and a fanning mill standing on the barn floor carried away; a cart and barrow left standing in the street, south of the house, were found some distance beyond the barn; the two buggies left standing in the yard were entirely demolished and "carried away; a plow standing near the house, after being made to plow quite a long circular furrow, was dashed to pieces, and nearly all the chickens upon the place were killed and stripped of their feathers. The household furniture was entirely demolished, and the family clothing, bedding, etc., all destroyed or blown away, some of it being found in Streetsboro, some five or six miles away, and other portions nearer by, folded and in good order, as when laid away by their respective owners.

Easterly from the scene of the chief disaster, Mr. Maxwell Graham's barn was unroofed and house somewhat racked; a log house further east occupied by a family named Wells, the house of R. M. Barnes, a short distance beyond on the same street, and that of Mrs. Butler, upon the Hudson road, were unroofed and other- wise more or less injured, Mrs. Butler finding fragments of her own buggy, which had been loaned to the Sanford's, as above stated, in the loft of her own house after the storm was over. For- tunately, however, no other persons than those named, were killed or seriously injured, though quite a number of domestic animals were either killed or more or less crippled, while fences and a large

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number of forest and fruit trees were uprooted or twisted off by the gyrating besom of destruction, in its brief but fearful march through the township.

The funeral of the four persons thus suddenly deprived of life, was held at St. John's church, Cuyahoga Falls (of which Mr. and Mrs. Sanford were communicants on its first organization in Stow, as elsewhere mentioned), October 23, the very impressive.services being conducted by Rev. Boydon, rector of Trinity church, Cleve- land, the burial being in the cemetery at Cuyahoga Falls. A new house was afterwards built upon the foundation of the demolished structure, which is still standing. Mrs. Sanford died February 12, 1849, at the age of 61 years. Mary was married to Mr. William L .. Hanford, on the 18th day of February, 1844, and, with her highly respected husband, still lives upon the site of her fearful and mournful experience of 54 years ago.

VITAL STATISTICS .- The first marriage in the township is helieved to have been that of John C. Singletary, of Streetsboro, to. Harriett Powers, daughter of Captain Gregory Powers, by Justice William Wetmore, in 1806, though Joseph Darrow, of Stow, was married to Sally Prior, in Northampton, as early as 1803; William . Lappin, of Northampton, being married to Elizabeth Walker, of Stow, by 'Squire Wetmore, in 1807.

There is some discrepancy of recollection as to the first birth in the township, a former historian having recorded that Betsey Walker was born in the Fall of 1803, Mary Campbell in 1804, Samuel Walker in 1805, and Clarissa Rice, daughter of Thomas Rice, the same year, though Mr. Henry Wetmore is of the opinion that the last named was the first white child born in the town- ship.

The first death reported in the township was that of Mrs .. Gregory Powers, in February, 1807; the second that of Elizabeth Gaylord in 1809; third that of George Darrow, November 20, the same year.

"LO! THE POOR INDIAN."-On the first arrival of the whites in Stow, Indians were abundant, especially in the neighborhood of the river and lakes, Mr. Henry Wetmore reporting that from 1808 to 1812 there was a continuous line of wigwams around the south- ern end of the lake, about where the wagon road now is, and another camp near the river, at which points there must have been at least 500 Indians, men, women and children. They were. generally on very friendly terms with the whites, though misun- derstandings would now and then arise, with perhaps occasional instances of treachery and cruelty on the part of the savages, and retaliation on the part of the whites; especial emphasis being given, in the traditionary lore of the neighborhood, to the Indian- killing exploits of Jonathan Williams (the slayer of the Indian Nickshaw, as detailed elsewhere); at least three townships-Hud- son, Stow and Northampton-claiming the honor of Williams' prowess, in the selfsame transactions, while a resident of their respective townships, fuller mention of whose reputed exploits will be found in another chapter.

MYSTERIOUS EXODUS .- Soon after the inauguration of the War of 1812, between England and the United States, it was suddenly noticed by the white settlers, that something unusual was trans- piring in the camps of their tawny neighbors; their visits to the

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INDIANS, RATTLESNAKES, ETC.

cabins of the whites had entirely ceased; there was much hurrying to and fro, from camp to camp, and from lodge to lodge, the men holding frequent consultations and apparently engaging in impor- tant discussion; the apprehension rapidly spreading that mischief was brewing for the pale-faces, who quietly put themselves and their cabins in as good a state of defense as their limited resources would admit. of.

But early one morning it was found that, during the night, the Indians had all departed, in a westward direction, leaving their wigwams standing intact. After the war, the few that temporarily returned, disclosed the true inwardness of their "sudden taking off." A British emissary had visited the camps, in the disguise of an Indian, and persuaded them that they had been swindled in the ceding of their lands to the United States, promising that if they would rise and massacre the whites, by whom they were surrounded, and join the British army, after the Americans had been conquered by the English, their lands should be restored to them. They assented to the proposition to join the British army, and fight for the reclamnation of their hunting and fishing grounds, but utterly refused to massacre, in cold blood, those who had always treated them kindly, but on returning with the victorious army, give their old neighbors a chance to fight for their posses- sions, or run for their lives. The many other traditioniary Indian reminiscences extant in the township will have to be omitted here, for want of space.

THE VENOMOUS "SARPENT."-In the early times immense num- bers of rattlesnakes abounded in the vicinity of the river, and in the gorges traversed by the smaller streams, particularly in the rocky fastnesses of Wetmore Creek, between Stow Corners and the river. At length a sort of club was formed by the neighboring settlers, devoting a certain amount of time to the destruction of the venomous reptiles, which was joined by Samuel Baker, a blacksmith, on condition that he might do his share on Sunday, as he could not spare the time during the week.

One Sunday morning he discovered a large number of snakes issuing from a cleft in the side of the gorge, south of the cemetery, and sunning themselves on a narrow ledge of rock. When all were apparently out, Baker stripped off his coat, and, with a long pole, shoved it into the fissure from whence the snakes emanated, to prevent their returning to their den. He then descended into the chasm, and with his pole began an onslaught upon the squirm- ing and writhing, but half torpid, mass.

While Baker was thus engaged, Deacon Butler and his devoted neighbors were holding religious services in a log cabin near the Corners, and while the Deacon was in the midst of a fervent prayer, Baker's little son came running up to the open door of the cabin, yelling, at the top of his voice, "O, dad's killed a lot of snakes! Dad's killed a lot of snakes!" "Amen!" said the deacon, abruptly closing his prayer, and the entire congregation hastened to the gorge to witness the discomfiture of man's original enemy, and found the entire product of Baker's Sunday morning "devo- tions" to be, upon actual count, just sixty-five dead rattlesnakes. On blasting open the den, the next day, one old patriarch, only, probably the ancestor of the entire batch killed, was found therein. From this time such vigilance was exercised that the entire

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venomous race wholly disappeared within a few years, though not before one young man had lost his life and several fatalities to ani- mals had occurred from their virulent bite; and it is related by Mr. Henry Wetmore, as a singular fact, that with the disappearance of the Indians and the rattlesnakes, the plant used by the former as an antidote for the bite of the latter, entirely disappeared from the woods, also.

HORRIFIC INCIDENT .- One, only, of the many narrow escapes. from fatal casualty, by contact with rattlesnakes, can be here given: A little three-year-old child of John Campbell had been given a cup of milk and a spoon, and left sitting on the rough cabin floor for a few minutes, while the mother absented herself from the room. On her return, hearing the little one cooing and prattling to itself, as she supposed, she looked through the small window at the end of the house, to see what it was doing. To her intense horror she saw a huge rattlesnake coiled up, almost in the child's lap, licking up the milk which had been spilled upon its apron, and the child delightedly patting the snake upon the head with the spoon. The frightened mother uttered a piercing" scream and rushed to the rescue of her child, whereupon the snake glided beneath the floor, through a crack between the puncheons, where Mr. Campbell and Mr. William Wetmore soon afterwards found and killed it.

BEARS, WOLVES, ETC .- Bears, wolves and other wild animals and game, both large and small, were abundant, some of which, though not regarded as especially dangerous, were a very great nuisance. Mr. Henry Wetmore informs the writer that one day, when quite a small boy, being in the woods, he saw their drove of hogs running rapidly towards him, in the direction of the house, and stepping from the path to let them pass, a large bear bound past him in hot pursuit; while he himself started in the wake of the bear. The hogs dodged through a gap in the fence which was too small to admit bruin, who, when Mrs. Wetmore came to the door to ascertain the cause of the disturbance, was standing on his hind feet looking over the fence at the porkers with wistful eyes- and watering mouth. Motioning her boy to go around, as soon as- she found that he was safe, the plucky woman seized some con- venient weapon and sallying forth drove the discomfited quad- ruped away. At another time Mr. Jacob Cochran, being at Mr. Wetmore's, saw a bear seize a good-sized shote and make off with it. Mr. Cochran gave chase, and on going through a thicket the bear dropped the hog between two saplings, which so delayed its movements that Mr. Cochran came up and shot the bear. The hog was so seriously injured that it had to be killed, also, both car- casses being hauled to the house by Mr. Wetmore's oxen and cart. Other families had similar "pleasurable" experiences, which can not be given within the limits of this chapter.

PIGEONS BY THE MILLIONS. - Elsewhere reference is made to the ancient pigeon roosts in Copley swamp. In this township, also, at Mud Brook Swamp, was a similar resort for millions of pigeons, every Autumn, while stopping, in their flight southward, to feed upon the beech nuts and acorns of the adjacent forests. For an hour. or two, night and morning, while going to and returning from their feeding grounds, millions of them would fill the sky, obscuring the sun like a dense black cloud, and in their

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LARGE BUT TRUTHFUL PIGEON STORY.

flight producing a noise like the roar of a mighty wind. In 1815, Mr. Wetmore, with several companions, visited the swamp one night for the purpose of securing a supply of the birds for the family table, the noise of their wings and their chatter, at the dis- tance of half a mile, resembling the rumble of a heavy waterfall, and when close at hand being so great that the visitors had to raise their voices to a high pitch to be heard by each other. Not only the large trees but the smaller bushes of the swamp were thoroughly covered with the birds, large branches of lofty elms being broken down by their weight; the company being able to capture and bag what they needed, with their hands, within a very few minutes. This may seem incredible to the modern reader, but from similar experiences in Copley swamp, the writer can vouch for its entire truthfulness, myriads being thus captured every season, from forty to fifty years ago, for the Akron and Cleveland markets, to say nothing of the immense numbers consumed by the inhabitants of contiguous localities.

STOW'S TAVERN ACCOMMODATIONS. - At an early day, Ezra Wyatt, built a house of entertainment, at the Stow Corners. on the northeast corner of the Hudson and Kent roads, which was for many years, under its successive proprietors, one of the leading country hotels in the State. The old mail stage route from Cleveland to Pittsburg, on the east, and to Middlebury, Canton, Akron, Wooster, etc., on the south, was through Hudson and Stow, the latter point being the junction of the diverging routes, and the hotel in question being the "stage house" for the entertainment and transfer of passengers.

With a large dancing hall, and an ample dining room, it was also a popular resort for sleighing and other social parties, and the headquarters for the annual militia " trainings," so vigorously kept up for many years after the close of the War of 1812; as well as the scene of many a carouse, and an occasional disgraceful fight, between the bummers attracted thither from neighboring local- ities, by its well furnished bar.

In the later years of its existence as a hotel, this house was kept by General Oliver E. Gross, who afterwards bought and fitted up the "Cliff House," just around the corner on the Munroe Falls road, the original old Stow Corners hotel being now fenced in and relegated to private use.

STOW'S MILITARY HISTORY .- There is no adequate record in regard to the early military history of Stow. That a number of her original settlers had performed honorable service in the War of the Revolution is quite probable, though the names of four, only, have been handed down, viz: those of Isaac Steele, Charles Wooden, George Darrow and Gregory Powers. In the defense of the frontier, in the War of 1812, quite a large proportion of her adult male citizens took an active part, the names of Josiah Starr, Samuel Flanders, Oscar Harvey, Ambrose Roswell, William Burn- ham, George Darrow and Harry Wilcox, being mentioned in that connection, by Colonel Schoonover, in his contribution to the Mili- tary History of Ohio.

In the War of the Rebellion, however, through the foresight and courtesy of Mr. William Southmayd, formerly a resident of Stow, afterwards of Cuyahoga Falls, but now deceased, we are enabled to include in this work a full list of the patriotic young

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AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

men who went into the Union army from that township, which is as follows: George W. Bailey, Frank D. Bailey, Charles Beckley, Benjamin Boon, Samuel B. Bradley, Charles Buchanan, Benjamin F. Buckelin, William Burdick, Elmer Barney, Norman Cochran, E. T. Curtis, A. B. Curtis, Oscar Champney, Seeley H. Chapman, Asa Clapp, J. W. Chamberlin, Alexander Corey, Henry Cedar, A. H. Cole, John C. Castle, Theodore Castle, Embury Castle, John Campbell, Norman L. Darrow, James M. Darrow, James Dailey, Frank Davis, Albert G. Eves, Leonard E. Gaylord, Robert Gaylord, Samuel Gaylord, Hannibal Grinnell, Sylvester Gaylord, William Gaylord, Charles H. Gridley, Albert R. Hewitt, Thomas Hoover, William Hazzard, Arthur A. Jones, Clayton Kelso, Luther Lend- say, Henry Lendsay, Walter Lewis, Richard Lewis, Wesley E. Loomis, Ferdinand Lord, Thomas Morris, Milton Miller, Lyman C. McAdams, Ulysses L. Marvin, George E. Nichols, Henry Nicker- son, Theodore Nickerson, Albert Nichols, Jesse D. Post, Levi D. Post, William Peate, Ransom C. Parks, Edward Peebles, Frank Peck, Andrew Peck. Eugene Pendleton, William Puts, Albert Reeves, Frank M. Root, George Ray, Horace Southmayd, J. S. Sweeney, Edwin A. Season, Chauncey F. Smith, William R. Smith, Edwin S. Smith, L. B. Stark, Charles H. Stark, Henry Smith, Alan- son Standish, Dwight Shumway, St. Clair Steel, Martin Schrady, Henry F. Stewart, Robert Sears, John Scanlin, Robert Scanlin, Edgar Sears, Thomas Steel, Newell Stratton, George S. Turner, Lorenzo Talcott, Adelbert Thomas, Charles G. Talcott, Edward Thompson, James Tothaker, James Turner, Henry Victor, Julius O. Williamson, Alson Wetmore, Samuel Wooldridge, Clarence Wil- cox, Lemuel Wilcox, Charles H. Wetmore, Joseph Wallace, Warren Wright, John Wooldridge and William W. Wetmore, 104 in all, the last two being in the 100 days' service in 1864, in addition to which Samuel Gaylord and William C. Nichols joined the Squirrel Hunters to repel the projected attack of the rebel forces, under General Kirby Smith, on Cincinnati, in September, 1862.

Space will not permit a full record of the service of each vol- unteer, as named above, a brief synopsis of which, as furnished by Mr. Southmayd, was published in the Summit County Beacon, September 7, 1865, and was also, probably, spread upon the records of the township. The aggregate term of service of the 104 per- sons named, was, as computed by Mr. Southmayd, 181 years. Of the entire number, though in a great many engagements, one only, Samuel Wooldridge, is definitely known to have been killed in battle, shot through the head at Buzzard Roost Gap, May 8, 1864, though two others, Alanson Standish and Benjamin Boon, were so reported. Seventeen died in service from various causes; two (Jesse D. Post and Henry Victor) from starvation in rebel prison at Andersonville; two (Robert Gaylord and Charles H. Wet- more) after six or eight months of terrible suffering in the prison pens of Meridian and Andersonville, lost their lives by the blowing up and burning of the steamer Sultana, on the Mississippi river, while en route for home, April 27, 1865; there being but two . deserters in the entire number, and only ten discharges for disa- bility before expiration of their several terms of service, several of whom, on recovery re-enlisted.

In addition to the above, Hiram Gaylord, being drafted in October, 1862, procured a substitute for three years; in May, 1864,

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MILITARY AND CIVIL AFFAIRS.

Charles Southmayd, Elias Shick, Alexander Gettys, John Buch- anan, George W. Hart and Lyman Gilbert, were drafted, the two former paying $300 commutation each and the four latter furnish- ing substitutes. In the Fall of 1864 the following persons fur- nished substitutes before the draft: Hobart Wolcott and William McGrew, one year each; Henry Southmayd, two years; Marcus Darrow, Henry O'Brien and George S. Richardson, Jr., three years each. The assessor for 1865 returns the following, as having died in the service: Samuel B. Bradley, Norman L. Darrow, Ransom C. Parks, Horace Southmayd, Edwin Smith, Edward Peebles, Henry Victor, Samuel Gaylord. It will thus be seen that Stow, notwithstanding the frightful episode connected therewith, to be hereinafter detailed, was loyal and patriotic to the core, in the bloody conflict of 1861-65, for the defense of the Union and the supremacy of the stars and stripes.

STOW IN CIVIL AFFAIRS .- While Stow has furnished no presi- dential incumbents of the White House, at Washington, or any ministers plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James, or Envoys Extraordinary to the king of Cannibal Islands, she nevertheless presents a civil record in county and state affairs that will com- pare favorably with the average of her sister townships of Sum- mit county.

WILLIAM WETMORE, Stow's earliest permanent settler, besides being the first justice of the peace of the township, was one of the associate judges of Portage county, on its organization, in 1808, resigning which honorable but profitless position, after about two years service, he officiated as both clerk and recorder of the county until the breaking out of the War of 1812, through which he served as commissary of the army, as heretofore detailed.

TITUS WETMORE, brother of the above, was the first regularly elected recorder of Portage county, holding the office two years, from 1808 to 1810, though its duties were mainly performed for him by his brother, Judge William Wetmore, as elsewhere stated.

GREGORY POWERS, JR., was elected representative to the Legis- lature from Portage county in 1832, serving one year, and elected state senator in 1838, but died before the expiration of his term, July 10, 1839.

WILLIAM WETMORE, JR. (the eldest son of the Judge), was state senator for the Portage-Summit district, from 1844 to 1846, filling the office very acceptably to his constituents in both counties for the full term of two years.

EDWIN WETMORE, (the second son of Judge Wetmore), for three consecutive terms, of three years each, from 1849 to 1858, was one of the very best county commissioners that Suminit ever had.

GENERAL OLIVER E. GROSS, for many years a citizen of Stow, besides filling important positions in the local military organiza- tions of the county for many years, very acceptably filled the office of coroner, from 1853 to 1855, and again for two consecutive terms, from 1868 to 1872.

ULYSSES L. MARVIN, a native of Stow, though for many years past, a resident of Akron, besides his honorable military service in the War of the Rebellion, gave to the people of Summit county able and faithful service as probate judge, for two full terms of three years each, from 1869 to 1875. On the resignation of Judge

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AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

N. D. Tibbals, May 1, 1883, Judge Marvin was appointed, by Gover- nor Charles Foster, to fill the vacancy upon the common pleas bench, which he very acceptably did until the induction of his successor, Judge Edwin P. Green, in the following October, Judge Marvin also being the presidential elector for the Twentieth Con- gressional District, composed of Summit, Medina and Stark coun- ties, for 1884, casting his vote in Electoral College for James G. Blaine, for president and John A. Logan for vice president.

SAMUEL C. WILLIAMSON, though born in Portage county, may properly be regarded as a Stow boy, having spent much of his boyhood with relatives there. For faithful service, both in the volunteer and regular army, he fully earned his several promo- tions in the latter, from sergeant to captain; and though after- wards manfully battling with the fell disease, contracted in the service, which finally carried him to his grave, gave to the office of probate judge, to which he was twice elected-in 1875 and 1878- six years of unswerving fidelity and more than average ability.

MOSES D. CALL, for many years one of the justices of the peace for the township, with whose interests he was identified for nearly half a century, was elected county commissioner, in October, 1877,. and re-elected in 1880, making an extremely faithful and painstak- ing officer for the full period of six years.

WILLIAM SOUTHMAYD was born in Stow, May 16, 1830. Always active and public spirited, after having served as township clerk for nearly 20 consecutive years, in October, 1879, was elected infirmary directory for one year, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Captain Alfred R. Townsend, and in 1880 was re-elected for the full term of three years. While serving in that capacity, Mr. Southmayd had personal supervision of the first re-construction of the insane department, and to the close personal labors which he bestowed upon that noisome job, Mr. Southmayd very largely attributed the malady which finally resulted in his death.

HON. FRANCIS MARION GREEN, was born in Norton, September 28, 1836, removing with his parents to Stow when eight or nine years old. Educated at Hiram College, under President James A. Garfield, following the example of his father, Elder Philander Green and his uncle, Elder Almon B. Green, both well-known preachers of the Disciple Faith, he early adopted the ministry as his life calling. In addition to his very acceptable ministrations in Stow, and elsewhere, Mr. Green for several years did good ser- vice on the editorial staff of the Christian Standard, and made numerous and valuable contributions to the Ministerial and Sun- day School literature of the Church of Christ, receiving from Bethany College, in 1884, the Honorary Degree of Master of Liter- ature. Coincident with his clerical duties, Mr. Green has always taken an active interest in political matters, as an uncompromis- ing Republican, and, in 1885, was elected by his party to the State Legislature, for two years serving his constituents as ably and as faithfully as any representative that Summit county ever had.

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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