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 137

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 137

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).

At this meeting, which was largely attended, two committees were appointed-one to draft a constitution for the government of the Association, and the other to report, to an adjourned meeting, candidates to be supported at the ensuing township election. The objects to be attained by such action, and the motives actuating the several participants, seems to have been quite misunderstood, as appears by a wordy and somewhat personal controversy between Ansel Miller (carpenter) and Ithiel Mills (harness maker) in the succeeding numbers of the Journal.

ANSEL MILLER'S VIEWS .- In his first article, Mr. Miller, as chairman of the committee on nominations (the names of the can- didates reported are not published), after explaining the action of

1100

AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

the two meetings, and expressing the belief that the ticket " will meet the' approbation of a majority of the sober, candid and respectable citizens of Portage township" said

"As to any distinction between different classes of citizens, your com- mittee beg leave to state, that it was agreed, and we believe met with the approbation of a large majority of those present, that all honorable pursuits, whether professional or mechanical, where industry or moral deportnient renders them worthy of public confidence, were equally deserving the suf- frages of this Association. * * * It is true our citizenship does not extend back as far as the days of keg money, when the votes of a whole township could be bought with a churn of egg-nog ; when we were ruled by a set of men who have left a stigma upon this place that nothing but time can remove. * * * We lay aside all political prejudice, and party feelings, and act solely with reference to the promotion of justice, virtue and morality."

MARSHAL MILLS DEMURS .- Major Mills, who had held the office of township constable for several years, and was then village mar- shal, and also, by appointment, a deputy United States marshal, took exceptions to Mr. Miller's remarks -especially the "keg money " and the "egg-nog" portion thereof-and in a long reply, among other things, said:

"You must not think, Sir, to screen yourself from the severe castigation which you so richly merit, and with impunity trifle with the feelings of those that are but little inferior to yourself, in points that constitute the man. Citizens! you have heard the charge, are you prepared to meet it? Is the charge true or false? If true, submit in silence; if not, spurn it as you would the deeds of the midnight assassin."

MR. MILLER'S REJOINDER .- In his column and a half rejoinder, Mr. Miller goes back at Mr. Mills thus:

"For what reason do I so richly merit this severe castigation, Mr. M .? Is it because I have for years past been co-operating with others to put an end to those abominable practices? Or is it because reference is made to practices and transactions of which the gentleman dare not attempt a denial ?"

MECHANICS' TICKET DEFEATED. - The inharmony indicated in the foregoing extracts, brought defeat to the ticket nominated by the mechanics, a "People's" ticket, composed of both Whigs and Democrats, being elected as follows: William B. Mitchell, Miner Spicer and John Sherbondy, trustees; Samuel A. Wheeler treas- urer; Franklin C, May, clerk; Isaac Newton, Moses Cleveland and Warren H. Smith, constables; William E. Wright and Erastus Torrey, overseers of poor; Horace K. Smith, Joseph Cole and Constant Bryan, school inspectors.

WHAT SHALL BE DONE WITH THE FUNDS ?- In the Journal, of April 20, 1837, A. R. Townsend, assistant secretary, announces that a meeting of the Mechanics' and Workingmen's Association will be held on Monday evening, May, 1st, "for the purpose of taking into consideration the disposition of the funds now in the treasury." The result of this meeting is not recorded, but one thing is sure, the custodian of the "funds" did not abscond with them to Canada, or squander them on "margins."

THE CARPENTERS UNITE .-- May 11, 1837, the Journal contains this notice:

"The members of the Carpenters' and Joiners' Society of Akron, are requested to meet at the school house, South Akron, on Thursday 16th inst., at early candlelight; at which time committee on prices will present their price-book for adoption, and transact such other business as may be thought proper.

E. N. BANGS, Sec'y of said Society."

1101

LABOR AND POLITICS.

AGAIN IN POLITICS .- The American Balance of September 21, 1837, publishes this notice:

"The mechanics and workingmen of Portage township, are requested to ineet at the school house, in South Akron, on Monday evening, September 25, 1837, at 6 o'clock, to take into consideration the propriety of calling a county convention, to make a ticket to be supported at the next election by the mechanics and workingmen of Portage county. By order of the President.

N. FAY, Secretary."

The meeting was adjourned until the evening of September 30, but there is no record as to whether a separate workingmen's ticket was put in nomination or not, though if there was it failed of success, the regular Whig county ticket being elected.

"INNOCUOUS DESUETUDE."-From this time on, for fully eight years, the mechanics and workingmen of Akron, so far as political action or general organization is concerned, remained quiescent, though the different trades, such as carpenters, painters, etc., would occasionally combine to regulate prices for work, but these combinations the unstable and precarious sheep's gray-pot-metal -shinplaster-truck and dicker system of payment, heretofore detailed, would render of very short duration.

In 1845, however, there seems to have been a "movement all along the line," in the direction of bettering the condition of labor, not only for better and more stable pay, but for a shorter day.

STRIKING CARPENTERS .- The BEACON, of April 9, 1845, says:

"There has been a strike among the carpenters of Cincinnati. They turned out in a body, with music. They demand $1.50 a day, in cash, instead of $1.25 in orders."

The $1.25 per day, then paid for skilled labor in Cincinnati, was considerably higher than the average in the western country at that period. In this vicinity, in the early forties, competent mechanics (single men) could be hired at the rate of $100 per year, and board, and paid in orders on stores, and other "truck," at that; the same grade of workmen, having families and boarding themselves, commanding from $18 to $20 a month, only, with the same kind of pay; common laborers receiving from 50 to 621/2 cents per day, and finding themselves. One of the present solid men of Summit county-Mr. Peter Lepper, of Springfield, then about 20 years of age-in 1845, sawed, split, and carried up two flights of stairs for the writer, a full cord of stove wood, for fifty cents (a little under current rates, perhaps, because of his being paid in cash, instead of store goods); a reminiscence that Mr. Lep- per delights to recall whenever he and the writer chance to meet, Mr. L., perhaps, considering that hard-earned half dollar the chief corner-stone of the magnificent farm and other valuable posses- sions of which he is now the owner.

STRIKING MILL OPERATIVES .- The BEACON of May 28, 1845, chronicles a strike in a Pittsburg iron mill, for an advance of one dollar per ton; and in October of the same year, speaks of "a great excitement in Pittsburg and Allegheny in consequence of a turn- out, or strike, in the factories of the latter city, on the demand for a ten hour day, in which there had been disorderly and mobbish demonstrations, with considerable damage to property, though it was believed that most of them would soon return to work under the former system."

1102

AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

A few months later is the announcement of a strike of the workmen on the new Brooklyn, N. Y., dock, for higher wages, and fewer hours of labor, the new hands employed by the contractor being driven from their work by the strikers; the military being called out and one of the strikers killed; the house of one of the contractors being fired by the mob and destroyed. Wonderfully like the strike operations of 1891, isn't it?

AKRON OPERATIVES TRY IT ON .- In the temperance paper, the Cascade Roarer, published by the writer, under date of Novem- ber 11, 1845, is this announcement:

"The hands in one of our factories struck for higher wages last week. They generally receive their pay in woolen cloth, and as they cannot get as much for it at the stores, by two shillings per yard as they were obliged to allow for it, they entered into a solid compact, refusing to work until the price was lowered, and yesterday not one of them would throw a shuttle."

THE TEN HOUR SYSTEM .- In the issue of December 9, 1845, the writer, in speaking of the "Ten Hour System," editorially said:

"A great many employers, manufacturers and others, have recently been inquiring into the system, and it appears are indicating a determina- tion to be foremost in effecting a reformation of the slavish drudgery to which many mechanics and others are now subjected, without decent time for recreation and enjoyment."

After alluding to a similar movement in England, the writer added, in closing:

"We hope that among the manufacturers of our own country, a reform may be set in motion, which will also bring about these good results."

MASSILLON TAKES A HAND IN .- On the 5th of May, 1846, a general strike of the mechanics of Massillon is announced, " who in a body refused to perform any more labor until a reformation is effected," and who, in a circular, called upon their brother mechanics in the United States to assist them in carrying out their measures-the ten hour day, and cash payments. The Mas- sillonians became so enthusiastic that they not only formed a compact organization, similar to the modern trades' unions, but sent missionaries into other industrial towns and villages, to work up an interest in the good cause.

MECHANICS' ASSOCIATION IN AKRON .- Two of their mission- aries, Messrs. Dodd and Mathews, addressed a large meeting of our mechanics, at Military Hall, on the evening of June 23, 1846, resulting in the organization of the "Mechanics' Association of Akron," with David F. Bruner, president; Jeremiah Crissman and William S. Painton, vice presidents; H. G. Allen, recording secre- tary; D. G. Sanford, corresponding secretary, and James M. Hale, treasurer.

So rapid was the growth of the society that a delegation of nearly 100 members attended the spirited celebration held by the Massillon Association, on the ensuing Fourth of July, chartering a canal boat for that purpose, and marching in procession, with appropriate music, banners, mottoes, etc. An oration, or address, appropriate to both the day and the cause, was delivered by Reuben McMillan, Esq. (father of Mrs. D. E. Hill, of the Sixth Ward), then a prominent manufacturer in Massillon-a former part- ner of Messrs. David and Jesse Allen, in Akron, and afterwards senior member of the firm of McMillan, Irish & Co., for several

1103

LABOR AND LITERATURE.

years extensive manufacturers of wool carding and spinning machinery in Middlebury.

ON A STRICTLY COLD WATER BASIS .- In reporting this celebra- tion, the writer, in his Cascade Roarer, said:

"The exercises were conducted on strict cold water principles, and, to their honor be it said, the mechanics would not let a grocery keeper estab- lish a stand upon the grounds, for the sale of even small beer, ginger- bread, etc."

And in the same issue, under the head of " We go for Reform," the writer editorially said:

"An interest of no inconsiderable extent, has been awakened in our village, and now, while the ball is in motion, let us urge all to take an energetic interest in keeping up the motion. Let it not be an ephemeral excitement. The cause is well worthy the unceasing exertion of all classes. If the contemplated victory is achieved, it will promote the happiness, as well as the interest, of the merchant, the lawyer, the doctor, the employer, the mechanic and the laboring man. It is a fact, if there is any virtue in civilization, that the more mankind are elevated, the better calculated are they to advance the happiness and the prosperity of the great human family."

MECHANICS' LIBRARY .- To show with what promptness and kindliness the well-to-do people of Akron responded to this move- ment, not only were the demands for the ten hour day, and cash payments, generally acceded to with a good grace, by employers, but a movement was immediately inaugurated for the establish- ment of a Mechanics' Library and Reading Room, and a system of lectures, debates and other literary exercises, for the special benefit of the laboring classes. To the library fund Judge James R. Ford and Colonel Simon Perkins, each contributed $50.00, while many other liberal donations, both in money and books, were made, resulting in the accumulation of some 250 volumes of the best sci- entific and miscellaneous works of the day, for circulation, and a large number of the best periodicals of that period for the reading room, which was open on stated evenings for the use of members of the Association, and other contributors to the library and reading fund.

ANOTHER POLITICAL TWIST .- March 3, 1848, a meeting of the workingmen of Portage township was held at Trussell's Hall, for the purpose of forming a Working Man's Ticket, at which it was

"Resolved, That this meeting recognize as workingmen only those who gain their subsistence by manual labor.

"Resolved, That this meeting set aside all party feuds, prejudices and feelings, and that we form a 'Working Man's Party.'"

At an adjourned meeting, held at the same place, March 11, a preamble and resolutions were adopted as follows:

"WHEREAS, We are thoroughly convinced that working men and working women, have never held that station in society to which their high calling entitles them-being naturally the most independent as well as the most useful part of the community, and ought to stand first and foremost in all that pertains to the good of society, the elevation of the human family and the councils of a free, intelligent and happy people ; Therefore,

"Resolved, That we will throw off all party political prejudices, and will unite for our mutual good and protection against the encroachments of wealth, aristocracy and a few unprincipled office-seekers, who act only for their own aggrandizement."

1104

AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

A committee on nominations, consisting of E. N. Bangs, J. M. Hale, W. B. Storer, C. G. Hayes, J. Crissman, S. A. Lane, D. Kirby, James Holmes and J. H. Hand, reported the following ticket, which was adopted :

For trustees, W. B. Storer, David Miller, John Ayres; for treas- urer, Zebulon Jones; for clerk, Tilman Waggoner; for assessor, John Sherbondy; for constables, Hiram Force, Jeremiah Crissman, Asa S. Mariner; for justice of the peace, Joshua C. Berry.

This ticket was duly elected, and on the 26th day of May the following ticket for corporation officers was placed in nomination by the mechanics and laboring men of Akron:

For Mayor, James Holmes; for recorder, David G. Sanford; for trustees, Ansel Miller, David F. Bruner, James M. Hale, Nathaniel Finch, Benjamin McNaughton; for school directors, James B. Taplin, William M. Dodge.

By invitation a couple of young lawyers of the village made addresses at the nominating meeting, as appears by the following card published in the American Democrat, of June 1, 1848:

"The mechanics and working men of Akron, desire to express their thanks to Messrs. Edward Oviatt and Charles G. Ladd, for their instructive speeches, on Saturday evening, at Trussell's Hall, and especially for their explanation of the laws of nations and of the qualifications necessary for workingmen to have, before they can go on a foreign mission, or represent their constituents in the Senate of the United States."

This labor ticket, however, was defeated, the following mixed or people's ticket being elected : Mayor, Israel E. Carter; recorder, Arad Kent; trustees, Ansel Miller, John M. Cutler, Nathaniel Finch, George W. Bloom and Benjamin McNaughton; school directors, Harvey B. Spelman and, James S. Carpenter.

FIRST LEGAL TEN HOUR DAY .- This item in the American Democrat, of September 7, 1848, so far as the writer is advised, announces the first legislative action in favor of the ten hour day in the United States:

"THE TEN HOUR LAW .- A law restricting the hours of labor to ten hours a day, has been passed by the Legislature of Maine, in accordance with the wishes of the mass of operatives in that State. Thus is the good work going forward. Thus will the masses be induced to contend for their rights in such a manner as to teach the money owners that their labor is of equal, and even greater importance, than mere money. wealth."

THE FINAL OUTCOME .- The radical changes in the nature of Akron's industries-the woolen factory, with its "sheep's gray legal-tender currency," having entirely disappeared-and the improved methods of performing and rewarding labor, that have taken place within the past forty years, has also brought corre- sponding changes in the nature and objects of labor organizations, in the process of which the old Mechanics' Associations, here and elsewhere, became obsolete. The fine collection of books consti- tuting the library of the Akron Association, was generously turned over to the Board of Education, and became a part of the Ohio School Library, of Akron, for many years maintained by Legisla- tive authority and State aid, the whole being subsequently merged in the present splendid Free Public Library of the city of Akron.

THE LESSON INCULCATED .-- Though there still exists a vast amount of unrest among the laboring classes, of the country, those of Akron and Summit county, by a close analysis of what has been

1105

EARLY AND MODERN LABOR CONTRASTED.

here and heretofore written, will see that their condition and advantages are infinitely superior to those of their brethren of half a century ago, and that, with the same degree of economy and abstemiousness which we were then obliged to practice, they might, from the present emoluments of their yearly toil-excelling even their existing condition of comparative independence-soon achieve "capitalistic," if not "monopolistic" eminence and power.

CHAPTER LV.

AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY IN CALIFORNIA-INDEPENDENCE AND ANNEX- ATION OF TEXAS-WAR WITH MEXICO .- CONQUEST OF CALIFORNIA - CAPTAIN JOHN AUGUSTUS SUTTER-GOLD FIRST DISCOVERED IN HIS MILL RACE-THE CAPTAIN UTTERLY RUINED BY GOLD HUNTERS AND SQUAT- TERS-PENSIONED BY CALIFORNIA, IN HIS OLD AGE-THE WHOLE WORLD EXCITED-AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY EARLY ON THE MOVE-THE PLUCKY "FORTY-NINERS" - THE GREAT EXODUS OF 1850 -PRETTY FULL LIST OF LOCAL ADVENTURERS-INCIDENTS OF THE JOURNEY, THRILLING, LUDICROUS AND SAD-DEATHS FROM CHOLERA AND OTHER CAUSES-UPS AND DOWNS OF CALIFORNIA LIFE-FORTUNES EASILY MADE AND AS EASILY LOST-A CHAPTER FULL OF PRESENT AND REMINISCENT INTEREST TO ALL. .

ACQUISITION OF CALIFORNIA.

1 `EXAS, formerly a part of Old Mexico, under the lead of General Samuel Houston achieved her independence, and established a separate government, in 1835. Though acknowledged as such by the United States, England, France and other foreign nations, Mexico herself refused to sanction the claim, and when, in December, 1845 the "Lone Star" was formally annexed to the United States, Mexico sought to reclaim the valuable territory of which she was being despoiled by force of arms. This precipi- tated the War of 1846, between the United States and Mexico, resulting not only in the relinquishment of the claim of the latter to the territory in dispute, but also in the cession to the United States of the immense territories of New Mexico and California, though early in the war the latter had been taken possession of by Generals Fremont and Kearney, and Commodores Sloat and Stockton,

CAPTAIN JOHN A. SUTTER .- Among the limited number of adven- turers into California, previous to its conquest by, and cession to, the United States, was Captain John A. Sutter, a native of Switzerland, who, emigrating to the United States in 1834, had made his way via Santa Fe, to the Pacific slope, and having pro- cured from the Mexican Government a grant for a large tract of land, covering the present site of Sacramento City, building a fort and making other improvements, had established himself as a stock grower and dealer in furs, hides, etc., surrounding himself with quite a following of Mexicans and native Californians, and giving to his ranch the name of "New Helvetia." During the war his services to the United States troops were invaluable, and at its close Captain Sutter sought to do all in his power to aid and encourage immigration both from the States and Europe, not only with the view of advancing his own personal interests, but also of developing the agricultural and commercial resources of "Uncle Sam's" newly acquired possessions.

FIRST GOLD DISCOVERIES .- To this end, in the Fall of 1847, he commenced the enlargement of the saw-mill which he had pre- viously built, some distance above his fort, in doing which, while

1107

FIRST GOLD DISCOVERIES IN CALIFORNIA.

deepening the tail-race, in February, 1848, the man in charge of the work, named Marshall, observing yellow glittering particles among the sands of the race, submitted a portion of them to Captain Sutter, who in turn procured an examination to be made by such metallurgists as were available at San Francisco, who pronounced it gold of superior quality.

The news of the discovery spread like a prairie fire, and in a very brief period of time almost the entire population of San Francisco, and of the territory, were delving for the precious metal. As soon as vessels could reach other portions of the world,- the wonderful stories told caused innumerable expeditions to be fitted out, and before the end of the year tens of thousands of adventurers, from almost every country on the globe, were ran- sacking the placers and gulches of California for gold.

CAPTAIN SUTTER UTTERLY RUINED.

So helpless was the hapless Captain Sutter, in the then chaotic state of public authority and government, that his entire domain was staked off into claims and taken possession of by squatters, and the Captain himself would have been reduced to beggary in his old age, but for a pension of $3,000 per year, which was after- wards granted to him by California, he having settled in Pennsylvania in 1873, dying there in 1880, at the age of 77 years.

SUMMIT COUNTY EXCITED .- The golden reports began to reach the interior portions of the Western States, by the middle of the year 1848, and by the Winter of 1848, '49, expeditions of greater or less magnitude were projected in most of the principal towns'in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys for the new Eldorado, the greater portion going overland, across the plains and mountains, others by water, via the Isthmus of Panama, while a few ventured upon the longer, but less perilous trip around Cape Horn.

Akron and Summit county were not, of course, to be left in the lurch in the scramble for gold, and in the Spring of 1849, com- panies for the overland journey were organized as follows:

The first company, styled "The Akron Mining Company," started on the 7th day of March, 1849. It was composed of Lewis P. Buckley, John O. Garrett, Arza Kellogg, Russell Abbey, Ira Rose, Erhard Steinbacher, George Ayliffe, J. R. Gilbert, J. L. Gilbert, Charles Gressard, Henry S. Long, John Decker, Gilbert Carr, Louis Philtendorf, and P. Fisher-fifteen souls in all.

ROUTE AND MODE OF TRAVEL. - Having provided themselves with substantial wagons, harness, camp equipage, clothing, bed- ding, and such needed supplies as they could obtain here, includ- ing of course, a full quota of rifles, ammunition, etc., they, were driven, by hired teams, to Wellsville, from whence they proceeded by steamer, via the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, to St. Louis, and from thence, by another steamer, up the Missouri river to Independence, where they completed their outfit by the purchase of such animals-mules or oxen-as they deemed best adapted to the successful accomplishment of the long and perilous journey before them-horses and mules in about equal number being selected.

"THE MIDDLEBURY MINING COMPANY." -The second company to leave, two weeks later, bearing the above title, was composed, as

1108

AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

follows: Thomas B. Hickox (father of the late Mrs. Henry H. Brown), Increase Sumner, Samuel Newton (father of Mrs. John Johnston), Frederick. A. Nash, Nelson Palmer, William A. Ostrom, George W. Rhodes, Aaron S. Cleveland, of Middlebury, J. W. Olmstead, Nelson Waite, Francis Watt and James Evans, of Hudson, and E. Brooks, Samuel Farber and Samuel Brittain, of Elyria, also fifteen in number. This company, similarly provided as the first, and proceeding by the same means and route, on reaching Independence, fitted themselves out with ox teams, with such saddle horses as they needed, the bovines, if not quite so fast, proving quite as reliable as the equines, in accomplishing the journey.

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