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 15

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 15

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).

August 15, 1832, Doctor Crosby married for his second wife Elizabeth Brackett, who died January 3, 1834, an infant daughter remaining to him as the fruit of this marriage. May 8, 1834, he married for his third wife, Mrs. Ann Hamlin West (widow of Dr. Wareham West, who died in Middlebury, December 9, 1821, at the age of 30 years), her only daughter, Mary West, then being added to the lively family circle.

After the disastrous failure of the great enterprise of his life, and the termination of the perplexing litigation connected there- with, shattered in fortune and spirits, Dr. Crosby, in 1853, removed with his wife and youngest daughter, to Suamico, near Green Bay, Wisconsin, where his youngest son, Benjamin Franklin Crosby, was then engaged in the lumber trade; his two other sons, Henry Clay, and E. Darwin, soon after going thither also. Dr. Crosby died at Suamico, September 2, 1854, aged 75 years and 6 months, his widow, Mrs. Ann Hamlin Crosby, dying at the same place Decem- ber 11, 1857, aged 64 years.

Dr. Crosby's eldest son, John B., died in Akron, September 23, 1832, aged 20 years. His second son, Henry Clay, married Mary West, (daughter of his last step-mother), and soon after the death of his parents removed to Chicago, near which city, in the pleas- ant village of Winnetka, he died May 27, 1886, in the 71st year of his age; his wife and one son, Wareham West Crosby, surviving him. The next younger son, E. Darwin, recently died in Chicago, where the youngest son, Benjamin Franklin, now lives.

Of Doctor Crosby's four daughters, Calista M., when quite young was married to Charles W. Howard, one of Akron's pioneer merchants, and for whom Howard street was named, and in 1853 was again married to Judge Leicester King, of Warren, who died in 1856. She is still living, dividing her time among her brothers, sisters and other friends at Chicago, Colorado Springs, Akron and other places; her only son, Charles O. Howard, having died in Nebraska in 1876. The second daughter, Louisa, married William Harrison Dewey, (brother of the late Mrs. Dr. Joseph Cole, of Akron), also one of early Akron's enterprising business men, who died in Chicago in 1863, leaving to the care of his widow five

AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

daughters; the eldest, Jennie, died in 1870; the second, Ione, mar- rying Gen. L. P. Bradley, of the United States Army, now retired; the third, Helen, marrying Capt. Rogers, of the U. S. Army; the fourth, Louisa, marrying Samuel Colyer, son of Rev. Dr. Robert Colyer, now living in Portland, Oregon; the fifth, Charlotte, unmarried, still living with her mother. Dr. Crosby's third daugh- ter, Mary, married Hon. Henry W. King, brother of our present well-known citizen, David L. King, Esq., the two brothers forming the law firm of King & King, in this city, from 1849 to 1851; Mr. Henry W. King also holding the office of Secretary of State and Con1- missioner of Public Schools, from 1850 to 1852, dying in Akron, November 20, 1857, at the age of 42 years and one month, leaving two children, Harry C. and Julia H. The former died in Washing- · ton in August, 1864, while serving as one of Summit County's 100- day men in the war of the rebellion. The daughter, Julia H., is married to Homer Dewey Fisher, son of the late Dr. Alexander Fisher, of Chicago, (formerly of Akron), who is now manager of the Colorado Midland Railway, with headquarters at Colorado Springs, and with whom Mrs. King now resides. Dr. Crosby's youngest daughter, (by his second wife), Elizabeth Brackett Crosby, married Charles N. White, paymaster of the N. Y., L. E. & W. R. R., with headquarters at Nyack, N. Y., where she died in Decem- ber, 1885.

View from West Hill, above Glendale Avenue, looking East .- From photo by E. J. Howard, 1879.

CHAPTER VII.

SUMMIT COUNTY-SIX YEARS' STRUGGLE OVER ITS ERECTION-SUCCESSFUL AT LAST-GREAT REJOICING OVER THE RESULT-PRELIMINARY ELECTION AND ORGANIZATION-THE COUNTY SEAT QUESTION-AKRON, CUYAHOGA FALLS AND SUMMIT CITY COMPETITORS-LOCATING COMMISSIONERS DECIDE IN FAVOR OF AKRON-BUILDING OF COURT HOUSE AND JAIL BEGUN-NEW DEAL,AND NEW LOCATING COMMITTEE APPOINTED-EXCITING DISCUSSION- STICKING THE STAKES, FIRST ON THE "CHUCKERY," THEN AT CUYAHOGA FALLS-MAJORITY AND MINORITY REPORT-A DIVIDED COURT FAILS TO CONFIRM MAJORITY REPORT - COUNTY OFFICERS DIVIDED ALSO, PART GOING TO THE FALLS, PART REMAINING IN AKRON-ANOTHER NEW DEAL -THE QUESTION SUBMITTED TO VOTE-AKRON AHEAD NEARLY TWO TO ONE-COMPLETION OF THE PUBLIC BUILDINGS-OVATION TO JOHN QUINCY ADAMS-SHABBY COURT HOUSE AND UNSAFE JAIL-SUBSEQUENT IMPROVE- MENTS-NEW BUILDINGS IMPERATIVELY NEEDED, ETC.

EARLY NEW COUNTY AGITATION.

THE opening of the Ohio Canal, from Cleveland to Akron, in .

1827, and through to the Ohio river, in 1830, greatly increasing the facilities for travel and transportation, very materially changed the currents of trade, diverting business from old established cen- ters, like Ravenna, Canton, Wooster, Medina, etc., to such points as Akron, Massillon, Canal Fulton, Clinton, etc., on the line of the canal.

As early as 1833, therefore, the farmers of the western portion of Portage, and the eastern portion of Medina Counties, in connec- tion with the people of the new and enterprising village of Akron, began to agitate the question of a new county, to be composed of two tiers of townships from Portage, one tier from Medina, and a sufficient amount of territory from either Stark or Wayne, or both, to answer the constitutional requirements in regard to area.

To facilitate the project, on the 14th day of December, 1833, Dr. Eliakim Crosby, in behalf of the people of Akron, published the following in the Ohio Review, at Cuyahoga Falls, Akron having no newspaper at that time :

"PUBLIC NOTICE AND PLEDGE.

"To whom it may concern:

"Should the Legislature of Ohio set off and organize a New County, at its present session, composed of townships from Portage, Medina, Stark and Wayne counties, establishing the seat of justice in Akron, or its vicinity, then in that case, I hereby agree and obligate myself to raise and appropri- ate, or secure to be given and appropriated, towards the New County Buildings, a sum not less than TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS.

"AKRON, Dec. 14, 1833.

E. CROSBY."

It is proper to say, here, that at this time two other projects were being agitated, and advocated with considerable earnestness, by the people of the localties interested; one, the project of remov- ing the county seat of Portage County from Ravenna to Franklin Mills (now Kent), which was supposed to be destined to become

AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

a large manufacturing city; the other to retain the regular county seat at Ravenna, with Cuyahoga Falls as a half-shire; that is, the business pertaining to the west part of the county to be trans- acted at Cuyahoga Falls, and that from the east part at Ravenna, with perhaps an alternation of commissioners' meetings, court sessions, etc. For these reasons, not only the people of Ravenna and the eastern townships, vigorously opposed the new county movement, but Franklin Mills and Cuyahoga Falls, also, and when Dr. Crosby's proposition was left with the editor of the Review, the people of the latter village hastily prepared for publication, in the same issue, the following counter proposition:

"To the Public: An effort being made at this time to divide the county of Portage, and, from a part of this and the counties of Medina, Wayne and Stark, to form a new county, the seat of justice to be at Akron, and public notice having been given that if the Legislature of the State shall, at its present session, locate the seat of justice at that place, and in conformity with the terms therein offered, then that the signer, E. Crosby, will pay, or cause to be paid, two thousand dollars towards the new public buildings :

"We, the undersigned inhabitants of Cuyahoga Falls, believing that said attempt to divide this county is premature and uncalled for by the best interests of the county, and believing further that if it should be determined to divide the county at this time, against which we hereby publicly protest, the best interests of this part of the county require that the county seat shall not be placed at Akron, but that other places would be more eligible, and that this place, from its location, its superior healthfulness, and the many natural advantages of its situation, offers peculiar advantages for the county seat, if such county shall be formed, do hereby pledge ourselves, that if the Legislature, at its present or next session, will locate the seat of justice of a new county, to be formed of such portions of the adjoining counties as to them shall seem proper, at this place, we will pay, or secure to be paid, the sum of FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS towards building the new county buildings of said county.

HENRY NEWBERRY, JOSHUA STOW, (By his agent B. Booth.) OGDEN WETMORE."

Nothing, however, was accomplished at that, nor the five succeeding sessions of the Legislature, though continuous and and persistent efforts were made to work up a public sentiment in the territory interested, and to influence the members of the Legislature elected from time to time, in the counties named, to look favorably upon the proposition.

Thus matters stood up to the Summer of 1839. Politically, Portage County was largely Whig, and as long as party lines were adhered to, that portion of the county opposed to division were able to nominate and elect candidates for the Legislature inimical to the measure. But at the annual election in 1839, the Whigs of Akron, and the western townships, united with the Democrats of Portage County, and elected their candidates for Representative, Hon. Rufus P. Spalding, then practicing law at Ravenna, and Hon. Ephraim B. Hubbard, an enterprising farmer, of Deerfield, both pledged to the New County project; Col. Simon Perkins having been in 1838, elected State Senator for two years.

NEW COUNTY BILL INTRODUCED.

The Legislature convened on Monday, December 2, 1839, and, true to their pledges, Messrs. Spalding and Hubbard formulated a bill for the erection of the County of Summit, which was favor-

NEW COUNTY BILL REPORTED.

ably reported by Hon. James Hoagland, of Holmes County, chairman of the Committee on New Counties, and read the first time on Tuesday, December 17, a full synopsis of the bill being as follows:

H ON. RUFUS PAINE SPALDING, -born at West Tisbury, Island of Martha's Vineyard, Mass., May 3, 1798; educated in academies of Bridgewater, Mass., and Colchester. Conn., and at Yale College, graduat- ing from latter in 1817; studied law with Chief Justice Zephaniah Swift, of Conn., to whose daughter, Lucretia A., he was married October 1, 1822. Soon after finishing his law studies, he emigrated to Ohio, practicing for several years in Warren, then in Ravenna, and, on organization of Summit County, in 1840, moved to Akron, several years later going to Cleveland, where he resided until his death, August 29, 1886, at the age of 88 years, 3 months, 23 days. In 1839, Mr. Spalding was elected representative to the Legislature, on the New County issue, and was largely influential in securing its erection ; was re-elected, by his new constituency, in 1841 and made Speaker of the House; in 1848-9 was appointed Judge of Supreme Court of Ohio, ably serving three years; in 1862 was elected Represen- tative to Congress from the 18th dis- trict, and twice re-elected, ably serving six years. Mrs. Spalding dying February 21, 1858, Judge Spald- ing was again married, January 11, 1839, to Mrs. Nancy Sargent, eldest daughter of Dr. William S. Pierson, of Windsor, Conn. By the first Mrs. Spalding he had seven children-

HON. RUFUS PAINE SPALDING.

Emily, married to Judge Luther Day, of Ravenna, both now deceased; Philura C., the first wife of Mr. Joseph E. Wesener, of Akron ; Lucre- tia, died young ; Rufus died at the age of 19; Kittie, now Mrs. Mellrath, of St. Paul, Minn .; Zephaniah Swift, now a wealthy sugar grower in the Sandwich Islands; and George, deceased. The second Mrs. Spalding is now also deceased.

SECTION 1, provided that the townships of Twinsburg, Northfield, Boston, Hudson, Stow, Northampton, Portage, Tall- madge, Springfield and Coventry, in Portage County; Richfield, Bath, Copley and Norton, in Medina County, and Franklin and Green, in Stark County, be erected into a separate county, to be known by the name of Summit, and that, for the purpose of restoring to Medina County its constitutional limits, the town- ships of Homer and Spencer be transferred from Lorain to Medina.

SECS. 2 AND 3, provided for the prosecution of suits already commenced, in the several original counties; the collection of the taxes should proceed as if no change had taken place, and that justices of the peace, constables, etc., continue to act until the expiration of the terms for which they were elected.

SECS. 4 AND 5, provided for the election of county officers on the first Monday of April, 1840, to hold their respective offices until the ensuing annual election, and that the courts be held in Akron, until the permanent location of the seat of justice.

SEC. 6, provided for the appointment of commissioners to locate the county seat, said commissioners to be paid by said new

AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

county; with authority "to receive propositions for the erection of county buildings by the citizens of such towns and villages as may desire to have the seat of justice established within their respective limits," and that "in no event shall any tax for the erection of county buildings for said County of Summit be imposed upon the citizens of the townships of Franklin and Green, which townships are taken from the county of Stark, for and during the term of fifty years, from and after the passage of this act."

JUDGE JAMES S. CARPENTER, -born at Swanzey, N. H., August 17, 1805; at 18 months of age moved with parents to Pottsdam, N. Y .; boyhood spent on farm ; educated at home, in schools of neighborhood, and at St. Lawrence Academy, at Pottsdam, teaching part of year, from 17 to 20; in Winter of '25-26 taught in Franklin Co., New York; 1826 to 1828 taught in Canada, part of the time in Montreal; then became assistant teacher in Amherst (Mass.) Academy and during Summer of 1829 a teacher in Ladies' Seminary, at Springfield ; then entered Amherst College, but from failing health returned home, resuming teaching and yet keeping up the studies of his college course. In June, 1832, came to Ohio, teaching in Cleveland, Massillon and Ravenna, being Principal of Ravenna Academy from 1833 to 1835; in Summer of 1835 worked on farm; May 1, 1835, was married to Miss Frances C. Saltonstall of Geneva, N. Y .; in November, 1835, went to Medina and for four years edited the Constitutionalist, a Whig and anti-slavery paper, at same time studying law ; admitted to bar May 29, 1838; in Fall of 1839 was elected Rep- resentative to Ohio Legislature, and in 1840 to the Senate, being the only avowed Abolitionist in either House, fighting valiantly for the rights of the colored people of Ohio in the schools and otherwise; from 1840 to 1850 was law-partner of the late

JUDGE JAMES S. CARPENTER.

Judge Samuel W. McClure; in 1846 removed to Akron and has practiced law here ever since, with the excep- tion of the five years, from 1856 to 1861, that he occupied the Common Pleas Bench. Judge Carpenter is the father of three children-Gilbert S., captain in regular army, now on recruiting service in Cleveland ; Dr. William T. Carpenter, of Stambaugh, " Mich., and Abbie L., now wife of Charles W. Tyler, Esq., of Warren, Ohio.

Our well-known fellow-citizen, Hon. James S. Carpenter, was then-1838-40-the representative of Medina County, and the senator from that district from 1840 to 1842, and, in accordance with the wishes of a majority of his constituents, opposed the ineasure, slicing off as it did, some of the very best townships of that county. For a like reason Representative Bliss and Senator Birch, of Lorain, and Representatives Smith and Welch, and Senator Hostetter, of Stark, also vigorously fought the project at every step, while the representatives and senators of other counties threatened with dismemberment, by new county projects, acted and voted with them.

Prominent citizens of Ravenna and Medina were in attendance to lobby against the measure, while a number of Akron's foremost business men were sent to Columbus to work for the project.

THE PROJECT VIGOROUSLY OPPOSED.

The bill finally passed the House on the 6th of February, 1840, by the close vote of 34 to 31-a majority of three only. The bill was read the first time in the Senate, February 7, and passed February 28, by a vote of 19 to 15, a majority of four; and was engrossed and signed by Thomas J. Buchanan, Speaker of the House, and William McLaughlin, Speaker of the Senate, March 3, 1840.

Space will not permit a full detail of the artifices resorted to to defeat the measure, nor the skill with which our representa- tives and senator engineered the bill through, though the follow- ing extracts from the House and Senate journals will suffice to show the persistence with which the project was fought throughout.

In the House, Deceinber 21, the bill being taken up for consideration, on Mr. Spalding's motion, Mr. Welch moved to postpone until the second Tuesday of January, which was carried by a vote of 42 to 28. On the day named, the bill was taken up on Mr. Spalding's motion, when Mr. Welch moved to commit it to the Committee on New Counties, with instructions to report the number of petitioners for and remonstrants against the project, which was agreed to. January 17, the bill being under consider- ation, Mr. Welch moved to postpone further action until the first Monday of the following December, which was lost, 28 to 32, and the bill laid upon the table. January 27, Mr. Spalding moved to take the bill from the table which inotion was lost, 25 to 30. February 6, Mr. Spalding moved to put the bill upon its final passage, which, after considerable delay, caused by Mr. Welch's demand for a call of the house, was done, and the bill passed, as as above stated, 34 to 31.

In the Senate February 27, Mr. Hostetter moved to strike out the territory belonging to Stark County. Lost, 15 to 18. Mr. Nash of Meigs, moved to strike out the clause exempting Franklin and Green townships from taxation for public buildings for 50 years. Lost 14 to 19. February 28, on the third reading of the bill, Mr. Thomas, of Miami, moved to re-commit to Committee on New Counties with instructions to so amend as to strike out the part exempting Franklin and Green from taxation. Lost, 13 to 21. Mr. Hostetter moved to postpone the further consideration of the bill to the first Monday of December. Lost, 7 to 27. Mr. Birch, of Lorain, moved to refer to Judiciary Committee, with instructions to strike out the two Lorain townships. Lost, 9 to 25. 'Mr. Hostetter moved to amend so as to submit to voters of the pro- posed new county at the next October election. Lost, 10 to 24. The bill was then passed as above stated, 19 to 15.

A joint resolution passed both Houses, without opposition, appointing Jacob J. Williard, of Columbiana County, James McConnell, of Holmes County, and Warren Sabin, of, Clinton County, as commissioners to locate the seat of justice of the new county, as did also the organizing bill providing for the election of officers, the proper care of paupers, idiots and insane; the col- lection of taxes; giving to the new county its proportion of the government surplus revenue, $29,330; the time of holding courts; attaching Summit to the Third Judicial District, embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Trumbull and Portage, and to the Fifteenth Congressional District, embracing Cuyahoga, Portage, Medina and Lorain counties, etc.

AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

It will be remembered that the bill passed the Senate February 28, which was on Friday, 1840 being leap year. It will also be rec- ollected that there was neither telegraphic nor railroad communi- cation between Akron and Columbus at that time, the old four-horse mail and passenger coach being the fastest mode of travel then in vogue, which at that season of the year, was not by any means fast,

The news of the passage of the bill consequently did not reach Akron until Monday evening, March 2, three full days. The effect of the news upon the people of Akron was thus graphi- cally stated in one of the local papers:

"With the rapidity of lightning the news was spread from house to house, and in less than half an hour the whole town was. in motion. Cheers, congratulations, ringing of church bells, bon- fires and illuminations were the order of the day, while the deep- toned thunder of the cannon continued to proclaim the birth of the new county to all the surrounding country. Such a spon- taneous burst of feeling has seldom been witnessed under any circumstance. It was a scene to be looked upon, but cannot be described; such a noise as the shrouds make at sea in a stiff teni- pest-as loud and to as many tunes. Hats, caps and cloaks flew up, and had their faces been loose this night had lost them."

The recollection of the writer, looking backward through the dim vista of the intervening half century, is clear and distinct that throughout that entire night unrestrained jollity, if not absolute revelry, prevailed.

Nor did the people of Akron confine the jollification business entirely to themselves. The booming of the cannon, the ringing of the bells and the reflection from the bonfires, had already announced to contiguous townships that something extraordinary had happened, and many of the nearest came in to help us "make a night of it," while those more distant were in betimes next morning.

Steps were immediately taken for a general New County Cele- bration on Wednesday, March 4. A committee of twelve citizens of Akron and one from each of the townships, was appointed and messengers were sent to every part of the county to spread the joyful news, and invite everybody to the banquet. Dr. Jedediah D. Commins was made President of the day; Col. James W. Phillips, Col. Justus Gale and Justice Jacob Brown, of Akron; Col. Frederick A. Sprague and Benjamin Rouse, of Richfield, and Col. Solomon Markham, of Green, Vice Presidents; Gen. Lucius V. Bierce, Mar- shal, and Col. Erastus Torrey and Major Ithiel Mills, Assistant Marshals.

At sunrise, on Wednesday morning, a national salute of 13 guns was fired from the suminit of the "grove," between north and south Akron, the present Court House lot, which was also the place selected for the celebration. At an early hour people from near and far townships began to assemble, everybody seeming jubilant and happy. The military display was very fine, indeed, partici- pated in by the Summit Guards, Akron Light Infantry and Cav- alry, Copley Light Artillery, the Military Band and the Akron Brass Band, under the leadership of the late Henry S. Abbey.

The procession of several thousand men and boys, after march- ing through several streets, was joined by a large cortege of ladies-

NEW COUNTY JOLLIFICATION.

dressed uniformly, all carrying parasols, who, taking position between the committee of arrangements and the military, marched the balance of the route to the place of feasting, the din- ner, though hastily prepared, being both abundant and palatable.

Space will not permit a detailed report of the after-dinner pro- ceedings, consisting of the customary thirteen regular toasts, and a great variety of volunteer toasts, with responses more or les appro- priate, by the more tonguey of the jollifiers: The full text of the regular toasts, well illustrates the popular sentiment, and are here reproduced as follows:

1. The Legislature of Ohio-They have at length done jus- tice to themselves and to us. Better late than never.

2. Our Senators and Representatives-Many have done well, but these have excelled them all.

3. The County of Summit-An infant Hercules. Give him a wide berth, for he'll be a whopper!

4. . Our Struggle-Almost another Trojan siege! The pangs and throes it has cost our parents to bring us forth are a certain presage of future greatness.

5. Akron-Look at her as she was, as she Is and as she 1 WLL BE!

6. Our Young County- The pride of our affections; unsur- passed in the elements of future greatness; already populous and wealthy. If such is its childhood, what will it be when it becomes a man?

7. Portage, Stark and Medina-Among them they have hatched a young eagle, full-fledged and on the wing. She will soar above them all.

8. The Buckeye State-A germ of future empire, marching right ahead in the road of prosperity. She will not be turned aside from the high destiny that awaits her!

9. Our Canals and Public Improvements-If such things be done in the green tree, what will be done in the dry?

10. The Late Meeting at Ravenna-Malignity feeding on envy; daws pecking at eagles; a striking instance of folly reacting on itself !

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