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 142

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 142

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AKRON'S BONANZA KING .- For several years previous to 1850, Akron had for a citizen, one "Abe" Curry, by profession a horse- jockey. With a companion named Gould, prospecting in the mountains, these two men stumbled upon a rich quartz-lead, and not having the money to purchase the necessary machinery for its development, the "Gould and Curry Mining Company" was organ- ized, an agreed upon ratio of stock being assigned to them, as a consideration for the find, but not sufficient to give them a con- trolling voice in the management of the affairs of the corporation. A few years later, by combinations, watering the stock, and other sharp practices, though millions upon millions of dollars were extracted from the mine, the original discoverers, and other small shareholders, were completely "frozen out," and at last accounts our " Abe" was reported to be impecuniously and nearly hopelessly prospecting for another find-and has probably long ere this, in miner's parlance, "passed in his checks."

FAMILY TIES STRONGER THAN LOVE OF GOLD .- While thousands upon thousands braved the dangers and privations of the plains, mountains, ocean, etc., to better the condition of their families, there were innumerable instances 'where men who had been sep- arated from their loved ones for several months, voluntarily aban- doned the fortunes within their very grasp, for the purpose of expediting their return, of which class Akron furnished the fol- lowing notable examples:

One of the writer's most intimate friends, both before and since, Mr. Lewis Hanscom-the younger of the well-known Hans- com brothers-had been in California some eight or nine months without making any particular headway. "In the Spring of 1851, pooling his little "pile" of some $450, with like amounts furnished by two other gentlemen, they opened a miners' hotel and boarding house, called the "Eastern Exchange," on Long Wharf, in San Francisco. Besides paying a rental of $600 per month, and the expense of fitting up (which occupied about a week) and all their help, their profits the first month were equal to their entire investment. During the three succeeding months their net monthly profits were $600 each.

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SUCCESSES, REVERSES, HOMESICKNESS, ETC.

Coming into my place of business one day, Hanscom informed me that he had sold out and was going home. "Sold out!" I exclaimed in surprise, "at what figure?" "Six hundred dollars," he replied. "Lew Hanscom," I responded, "You're an egregious fool ! After struggling and striving for nearly a year to get into a paying business, now that, on a $450 investment, you are clearing $600 per month, to sell out for $600, and go home with a paltry $3,000, when by holding on a few months you could realize enough to make you independent for life."

"Lane," said he, with quivering lips, and tears coming into his eyes, "I've got a wife and four little girls in Akron, and I would give one hundred dollars apiece to see them this very minute." The secret was out-homesickness. It is proper to add that "Lew" subsequently seeing "where he missed it," returned to California, this time taking his loved ones with him, where a fair degree of prosperity has attended his efforts, his time being now about equally divided between his San Francisco home and a valuable farm in Ashtabula county, Ohio, of which he is the proprietor.

OTHER SIMILAR CASES .- Similar were the cases of Akron's two well-known bakers, Henry McMasters and William Sinclair, who came home on the same vessel with Mr. Hanscom. They had been in California nearly three-fourths of a year without getting a start, when they established a bakery in a new mining camp, a hundred miles or so above Sacramento City. At the end of three months they divided $2,700 net profits each, over and above their invest- ment, when they sold out their rapidly increasing business for about what the fixtures had cost them, and pulled out for home.

On being interrogated by me as to the cause of their foolish- ness, Mr. Mac. said that his wife kept writing, "come home! come home!" declaring that she would rather live in a cabin, in poverty, than have him longer away, and that Mrs. Howe had written him that his wife was pining her life away, on account of his absence, and as he had got more than he thought would satisfy him when he started, he couldn't bear to stay away from home any longer. Sinclair's reasons were similar, both ever afterwards regretting their folly.

COMMERCIAL UPS AND DOWNS .- Mr. James G. Dow, whose trials and tribulations in reaching California, via the Isthmus, in 1849, have already been described, after barely subsisting on such odd jobs as he could pick up for several months, finally, with a young man from Massachusetts, engaged in the auction business, closing up in October, 1850, with about $20,000 each. Charles G. Caldwell, another Akron Forty-niner, who had accumulated some money in the milk, butter and egg business, at Sacramento, in company with the writer succeeded Dow & Co. with a cash invest- ment of $3,000, with the prospect of making money as rapidly as their predecessors had done. But, by reason of the stagnation of business caused by the breaking out of the cholera on that coast, and the over-importation of all kinds of merchandise, Caldwell & Co., at the end of five months, instead of having cleared $40,000, had sunk their entire capital, and were $1,500 in debt for rent. Caldwell, returning to his cows and chickens, continued to do well for a year or two, but in an evil hour invested in a quartz mill, dying, in San Francisco, some two or three years ago, in abject poverty.

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AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

Charles W. Tappan, proprietor of the well-remembered Tap- pan Hall block, on East Market street, after nearly dying from a gunshot wound and Panama fever, upon the Isthmus, in the Spring of 1851 arrived in San Francisco without a dollar.

Entering into partnership with a Mr. Guild, of Cincinnati (the latter furnishing $3,000 capital on which he was to draw ten per cent. a month· interest), he engaged in the same business (auc- tion) that had so recently swamped Caldwell & Co., and at the end of the first month, besides expense of fitting up, help, and the stipulated ten per cent. to Mr. Guild, Mr. Tappan's share of the profits was $2,700.

Dow and his former partner, having meantime returned from the East, purchased Mr. Guild's interest, the business continuing equally profitable for a year or two longer, when they entered into a general jobbing trade in which their gains were larger still, finally retiring from this business, two or three years later, pos- sessing from $125,000 to $150,000 each. Tappan invested in real estate and embarked in the lumber and coal business. For a time his profits were larger than ever, but after a year or two a panicky shrinkage in values of the large stocks of coal and lumber that he had purchased, and of his real estate, the title to most of which proved worthless, every dollar was sunk, a calamity from whichi he never recovered, afterwards keeping lodging houses, for longer or shorter periods at Elko, Nevada, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Deadwood, Wyoming Territory, being killed at the latter place, in March, 1878, by a pistol-shot at the hands of a drunken gambler whom he was endeavoring to eject from his premises; Mrs. Tap- pan dying at Oakland, California, in absolute poverty, in 1888.

Mr. Dow, also, swamped everything in real estate speculations, except a few thousand dollars, invested in the name of his wife, in the stock of the "Gould & Curry," on which, after three years of litigation, in resistance to the "freezing out" process referred to, in 1867 she obtained a judgment for $36,000 in gold, which, bear- ing a high premium at the time, netted her from $50,000 to $60,000 in currency, one-half of which was securely invested in New York City, by Mrs. D .; Mr. D., after sinking about one-half of the bal- ance in mining operations, in Montana, investing the residue in, and becoming the cashier of, the First National Bank of Bozeman, where he died in the Winter of 1881, '82.

THE SUMMING UP .- Many incidents and reminiscences of Cali- fornia life-floods, fires, earthquakes, murders and robberies, vigi- lance committee operations, etc .- might be given that would doubtless be exceedingly interesting to the present generation, as well as to surviving gold-seekers themselves. But space forbids.

It may be proper, however, in summing up, to say, that while a very large percentage failed to realize their expectations, Sum- mit county may congratulate herself that she did her full share in the commercial, agricultural and financial development of one of the most intelligent, enterprising and loyal states in the American Union.

CHAPTER LVI.

EARLY CRIMES AND OTHER INCIDENTS WITHIN THE PRESENT LIMITS OF SUMMIT COUNTY-CAPTAIN SAMUEL BRADY'S FLIGHT AND WONDERFUL LEAP FOR LIFE -SHOOTING OF DANIEL DIVER, OF DEERFIELD, BY THE SENECA INDIAN, JOHN MOHAWK-PURSUIT OF INDIANS INTO HUDSON, BOSTON AND RICHFIELD-KILLING OF NICKSHAW, AND ESCAPE OF MOHAWK -CAPTURE, TRIAL AND ACQUITTAL OF THE INDIAN CHIEF, BIGSON, AND OTHER MEMBERS OF HIS TRIBE-SHOOTING OF CANAL DRIVER, NATHAN CUMMINS, BY ABNER S. BARRIS-CAPTURE OF THE MURDERER-EXAMINA- TION BEFORE JUSTICE JACOB BROWN, OF AKRON -TRIAL IN SUPREME COURT OF PORTAGE COUNTY-CONVICTED OF MURDER IN SECOND DEGREE -SENTENCED TO PENITENTIARY FOR LIFE-SUBSEQUENT DEATH, ETC.

PIONEER LIFE AND INCIDENT.

T HOUGH, of course, largely traditional, the thrilling advent-

ures, and the wonderful nerve and prowess attributed to our pioneer settlers, in their contact with the aboriginal owners and occupants of the beautiful country which their descendants and successors now inhabit, possess an interest and charm that will steadily increase as the years go by.

Among the most authentic, as well as among the most heroic, of those early episodes, in which Summit county has a direct interest, were the wonderful exploits of Captain Samuel Brady, briefly narrated as follows:

CAPTAIN SAMUEL BRADY .- Captain Brady, who is described as of medium stature, but of wonderful nerve and great power of endurance, was a resident of Western Pennsylvania, on Chartier's creek, near the Ohio river, and was one of the most daring and suc- cessful, of the many daring and successful "Indian Hunters" of those early times. The cause of his implacable hostility to the Indian is said to have been the massacre, by a marauding expedi- tion from the Falls of the Cuyahoga, of several families in the neighborhood where he, when a boy, resided with an uncle, he alone escaping; another boy about his own age-an adopted son of his uncle-named Simon Girty, being captured and carried into captivity by the Indians. Young Brady then swore eternal hos- tility to the entire savage race, and as he grew to manhood, most faithfully and fearfully did he fulfil his oath.

Tradition is rife with his almost innumerable and superhuman efforts in this direction; but with one, only, can we properly deal. And of events immediately leading to this, in the data before us, there are several different versions. One account states that about the year 1780, on one of his excursions west of the Ohio river, accompanied by three or four trusted companions, they were surprised, near the Sandusky river, his companions all killed, and himself captured and taken to the Sandusky Indian village. There was great rejoicing over his capture, and great preparations were made for torturing him by slowly burning him at the stake. While the ghastly preparations for his torture were going forward

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AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

before his eyes, Brady recognized, in one of the chiefs who had come in to take part in the savage pow-wow, his youthful friend, Simon Girty, who, grown to manhood among his captors, had adopted their customs, and by his prowess, risen to the high posi- tion he then occupied. Brady appealed to his former playmate to- assist him to escape, but without avail.

A DESPERATE EXPEDIENT .- The hour of execution arrived; the captive was lashed to the stake; the combustibles were laid; the fires were lighted; the savage orgies commenced; the flames circled nearer and nearer; the withes about his arms and legs began to. crackle from the effects of the heat; but, watching his opportunity, he suddenly, by almost superhuman strength, broke the bands that held him to the stake, and seizing a handsome young squaw, who was circling near, threw her upon the blazing fagots, and, in the confusion of the moment, made his escape into the darkness. of the surrounding forest.

The very audacity of this act, and the momentary horror and panic resulting therefrom, delayed pursuit, until a considerable distance into the wilderness had been gained by the fugitive. A. vigorous pursuit was begun, however, and kept up for over a hun- dred miles to, and across, the Cuyahoga river, in what is now the township of Northampton.

Another version of the story is that Brady and his companions. were following a band of Indians, who were returning from a predatory excursion into Pennsylvania, and that on nearing the Cuy- ahoga river, in the present township of Northampton, they encoun- tered a larger force of Indians than they could successfully cope with, and that Brady, ordering his men to separate, and each take a different direction, himself started directly east, toward what is now the village of Kent, in Portage county, with the entire band howl- ing like demons at his heels; his companions being too small game to merit consideration at their hands.

"BRADY'S LEAP"-Whichever of these and of the several other versions is the correct one, all accounts of the flight from the Cuyahoga river eastward, the pursuit and escape, are substan- tially agreed. To properly understand the situation, it should be stated that the Cuyahoga river, rising in Geauga county, pursues. a southwesterly course through Portage county into Summit, where, a mile and a half north of Akron, it turns abruptly to the north, emptying into Lake Erie at Cleveland. Thus, in going from Bath, in Summit county, to Ravenna, in Portage county, on a direct line, two crossings of the river would necessarily have to be- made.

Brady forged steadily ahead, intending to make the eastern crossing at a point known as "Standing Stone," a short distance above the present village of Kent. The Indians, however, being in considerable force, divining his intentions, had spread them- selves out in that direction, and were making a superhuman effort to intercept him before he could gain the crossing. Seeing this, Brady sought to turn to the right and make a crossing lower down; but in this, also, the Indians had anticipated him, and were likely to head him off there, too.

In this extremity, Brady's mind was instantly made up to. attempt the dread alternative-a leap for life across the rocky gorge, with a span of nearly, or quite, 22 feet, a few rods above the

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BRADY'S WONDERFUL LEAP FOR LIFE.

present site of the fine stone bridge across the Cuyahoga river at the village of Kent. The Indians, who were now close upon his heels, could have killed him at any moment, by a shot from any one of their rifles; but their great object and desire was to secure him alive, in order to glut their savage and brutal vengeance upon him; never dreaming that he would attempt what the most agile among their own number would not dare to do.

PERILOUS PREDICAMENT .- On, on, they come, yelling like demons incarnate. Their hated foe is, in imagination, already within their fiendish clutches. The brink of the precipice appears in view, with no perceptible diminution of speed, of either the pursued or the pursuers. Knowing full well the terrible death that awaits him, if taken alive, and reflecting that the failure of the attempt he was about to make could only result in a less cruel death, Brady summoned all his remaining powers of body and mind for the one supreme effort of his life, and, to the horror of his pursuers, sprang boldly across the fearful chasmn.

The point whence he sprang was a large flat overhanging rock, from twenty-five to thirty feet above the surface of the water; the opposite side, also overhanging the river, being some- what lower, and covered with small evergreen trees and bushes. In landing, Brady struck upon the edge of this bushy projection, and came near falling back into the seething waters below; but, clutching hold of the scraggy bushes, he finally drew himself upward and forward, and escaped into the timber, on the east side of the river.

The Indians, for a moment, could only hold up their hands in sheer astonishment, and utter unintelligible ejaculations of sur- prise. Realizing, as they almost immediately did, that their prey was about to escape then, several shots were fired at him, as he was clambering up the bank, only one of which took effect, pro- ducing an ugly flesh wound in the right thigh.

THE FLIGHT NOT YET ENDED .- Taking a momentary breath- ing spell, to recover somewhat from the shock of his fall upon the edge of the ledge, Brady, though suffering severely from his wound, continued his flight eastward, but speedily became aware that the Indians, having effected a crossing both above and below the scene of his daring exploit, were again in pursuit, on either flank. He now made directly towards a large pond, a mile or so east of the river, where, in full view of his pursuers, he boldly plunged in, and started as if to swim to the opposite shore. After swimming a short distance, however, he dove beneath the surface, and changing his direction, made for a dense mass of pond lilies, or as some accounts state, the top of a fallen tree, under which he managed to hide himself, with his nose and mouth above the sur- face, and so near the shore that, understanding their language, he could hear the speculations of his bloodthirsty enemies as to his probable fate; their belief being that he had become exhausted from his long run and leap, and from the wound that, from the blood left along his track, they knew he had received, and had sunk to the bottom and drowned. The Indians, at length satisfied that their mortal enemy was surely dead, left the vicinity of the pond and retraced their steps, to tell to their astonished fellows the almost incredible story of the white man's daring "Leap for Life," and his subsequent death from drowning.

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AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

To make sure that they were not still lingering about the shores of the pond, Brady remained in his uncomfortable position through the night, when, hearing no sound, nor seeing any signs of further pursuit, he leisurely continued his weary way to his home in the Valley of the Ohio; and from this event, and the other traditional story that upon the banks of the same pond Brady and his companions still later ambushed and slaughtered a considerable body of Indians, it has long been, and will probably continue forever to be, known as

"BRADY'S LAKE."-This beautiful little lake has, within a few years, become quite a resort for picnic parties, and other Summer pleasure seekers in Portage and adjoining counties. The encroachments of modern improvements, canals, railroads, etc., to say nothing about the encroachments of time, have very greatly changed the aspect of the various points of pioneer, as well as Indian prowess and adventure, so that it is difficult, at this remote period, to tell the exact distance covered by the intrepid Brady in his alleged "leap for life." The late Frederick Wadsworth, who pretty thoroughly investigated the matter, some forty-five years ago, found the distance from point to point to be then a trifle less than twenty-five feet. But as nearly, or quite, half a century had then gone by since the reputed adventure, it is probable that time's unceasing abrasions had already wrought a marked change upon the edges of the overhanging rock, though the leap, if made at all at the point named, which the writer sees no reason . to doubt, even if but twenty-two feet, as most versions state it, was one of the most wonderful ever achieved by mortal man; although men, in desperate straits, have since been known to make wonder- ful leaps; three persons, within the knowledge of the writer, hav- ing been caught in the upper part of a burning building in San Francisco, Cal., in 1851, saving their lives by ascending to the roof and jumping across a sixteen-foot alley to the roof of another building a few feet lower.

At the annual meeting of the Portage-Summit Pioneer Asso- ciation in September, 1886, it was suggested by the secretary, Dr. A. M. Sherman, that a movement be inaugurated by the Associa- tion towards erecting a suitable monument, at the point on the river bank where Brady's wonderful leap is alleged to have been made, in commemoration of the event; a proposition that the people of both counties should have a deep interest in carrying into effect.

THE SHOOTING OF DANIEL DIVER .- A more recent reminiscent incident of pioneer intercourse and trouble with the Indians, is compiled from reasonably reliable data, and may, therefore, be considered substantially accurate; though there is some discre- pancy of authority as to the exact cause of the trouble, and the name of the tribe to which the Indians implicated belonged; one account naming them as "Mohawks," and others as "Senecas," the preponderance of evidence being in favor of the latter.

Be thisas it may, in the Winter of 1806, '07 there was an encamp- ment of Indians in the township of Deerfield, in Portage county, which had been opened to settlement about seven years. Among the white inhabitants at that time were two brothers by the name of John and Daniel Diver. The former had traded a mare and colt to an Indian named John Nickshaw, for an Indian pony, and

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RED-SKIN MALIGNITY-WHITE-SKIN REVENGE.

though it does not appear that either had obtained any consider- able advantage in the trade, for some reason or other the Indian became dissatisfied and wished to trade back, which Diver declined to do.

On the 20th of January, 1807, while John Diver was entertain- ing a sleighing party at his house, five Indians from the camp, John Nickshaw, John Mohawk, John Bigson and his two sons, all under the influence of whisky, rudely intruded upon the party, and on some pretense, endeavored to decoy John Diver to their camp. Failing in this, they became quite boisterous, but were eventually quieted down by the mildness of Daniel Diver. A little later they renewed the disturbance, charging Daniel Diver with having stolen their guns, but were finally persuaded by him to leave the house.

The night was bright and cold, there being about two feet of snow upon the ground. Stepping out of doors, about 10 o'clock, Daniel Diver saw the five Indians standing in a row in a slight ravine a short distance from the house. Going rapidly towards them he saluted them pleasantly, and was, in turn, cordially greeted by the Indians; each shaking hands with him as he passed, until the last one, John Mohawk, was reached, who not only refused to shake hands with him, but, as he was turning to go back to the house, the treacherous savage raised his gun and shot him through the temples, destroying both eyes. Hearing the report of the gun, John Diver ran to the assistance of his wounded brother, the Indians fleeing to their camp, and from thence, the same night, into the wilderness in a northwesterly direction. Although Daniel Diver was not killed, he never regained his sight, though afterwards raising a family and dying in 1847.

SEEKING VENGEANCE ON MOHAWK, BUT KILLING NICKSHAW .- Before daylight the next morning, so rapidly had the alarm spread, a party of twenty-five determined men were on the track of the murderous red-skins. The weather was intensely cold, and several of the pursuing party froze their feet and hands, and their places were filled by other settlers along the route. The night following, the five fleeing Indians were surprised and surrounded, in their camp, on the west side of the Cuyahoga river, in the west part of Boston, or the east part of the present township of Richfield. John Bigson and his two sons were captured, but Mohawk and Nick- shaw got away. They were followed by two Hudson men named George Darrow and Jonathan Williams, overtaken, and com- manded to surrender, but not obeying the summons, Williams fired upon them, instantly killing Nickshaw; but Mohawk, the Indian who shot Daniel Diver, entirely escaped. . A squaw belonging to the party was said to have been left to take care of herself, and it was afterwards reported that she perished in the snow. Bigson and his two sons were returned to Deerfield, and, being examined before Justice Lewis Day, were committed to the Warren jail. They were subsequently tried in Court of Common Pleas and acquitted.

AN INDIAN WAR IMMINENT .- The excitement attendant upon this affair, both among the whites and Indians, was most intense, and came very near resulting in a bloody war between the two races. Considerable correspondence was had between the citizens of Deerfield and Gen. Elijah Wadsworth, of Warren, then the

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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