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 17

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 17

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A special act was passed March 29, 1867, authorizing the County Commissioners to make certain greatly needed improvements to the court house edifice without submitting the question to a vote of the people. Under this act the two wings upon the front or west end were erected, and the other changes alluded to made, the cost of which was paid out of the general fund as collected from the taxpayers of the entire county, notwithstanding the inhibition clause of the original new county act in regard to the taxing of Frank- lin and Green for county building purposes for the period of 50 years, that provision having been entirely lost sight of, both by the officials and the tax-payers of those two townships, themselves.

No one, however, regrets the expenditure, the improvements being very greatly needed, the wing upon the south providing fairly respectable offices for the Probate Judge below and the Clerk of the Courts above, and that upon the north for the Recorder on the ground floor, and the. Jury room above; though the structure is still very inadequate to the constantly growing necessities of the public service, and the people of Summit County cannot better subserve their own interests than by taking immediate measures for the erection, upon their present sightly and beautiful grounds, a new court house not only commensurate with the public require- ments, but one, also, that, in point of architectural design and adornment, shall be in keeping with the proverbial good taste of its enterprising and public spirited citizens.

The contractor on the jail, Mr. Sebbins Saxton, dying in August, 1841, pending the controversy over the location of the county-seat, on the final settlement of the "vexed question," the trustees, Messrs. Perkins, Commins and Howe, on the 13th day of April, 1842, adver- tised in the BEACON for proposals for the erection and completion of the jail, a new contract being finally entered into with Mr. Harvey Saxton, a younger brother of the former contractor.

The jail was accepted by the Commissioners about the first of October, 1843, and the prisoners then in custody-four in number -were immediately transferred from their comparatively unsafe quarters in the third story of the old stone block, to the supposed to be impregnable and perfectly secure quarters in the new stone jail, on Wednesday, October 3, 1843. Yet, notwithstanding its presumable "non-break-out-ability," the very next night, those same four prisoners liberated themselves from "durance vile " with perfect ease in the following ingenious manner: One of them, by the name of Garner Miller, charged with "tinkering with the cur- rency," was a machinist by trade, and perfectly understood the principle and power of leverage and purchase. He was not long, therefore, in devising a plan for testing that power, and his own skill upon the walls of the new jail. The beds of the prisoners were composed of a frame work of strips of about 2x6 whitewood plank, with canvas nailed across them. The side rails of the bunks were just about as long as the space between the outer and the inner walls. Using one of these bed rails horizontally as a lever, and another as a pry, with the inner wall as the fulcrum, the united strength of the four men readily pushed one of the huge

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OVATION TO JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

blocks of sand-stone entirely out of the massive wall, thus demon- strating that at least one important point of strength in the construction of the new bastile had been entirely overlooked, viz .: the anchoring of the several courses of stone as they were laid.

This defect was remedied, in part, by drilling obliquely from near the upper edge of each stone, into about the middle of the tier below, inserting iron dowels, and filling the orifice with cement. No escapes from that cause have since been made, though many nearly successful attempts have been made to dig through the soft sand-stone of which the walls are composed. Several escapes have been effected, however, through the soft-iron window gratings and otherwise, though that danger has been par- tially obviated by the addition of inside steel window gratings, and by boiler plating the walls, but the fact remains that the jail is, as it has been so often declared to be by the Grand Jury, a nuisance-inconvenient and insalubrious to both jailor and pris- oner-which should at once be abated by the erection of a building not only creditable to the intelligence and ability of the people of the county, but also in accord with the advanced humanitarian and reformatory status of the age.

A FITTING DEDICATION.

In the autumn of 1843, Ex-President John Quincy Adams, "The Old Man Eloquent," was invited to deliver an address on the occasion of laying the corner stone of the Cincinnati Astronomical Observatory -- the first of its kind on this continent. Being prior to the advent of railroads in the West, Mr. Adams traveled exclu- sively by those ancient "fast" modes of conveyance-the stage- coach, the canal packet and the steamboat, making brief calls, and receiving enthusiastic ovations at prominent points along the route.

Learning that it was his intention to visit Ohio's then most distinguished statesman, Hon. Joshua R. Giddings, at his home in Ashtabula County, a delegation was sent to Jefferson to invite Mr. Adams to visit Akron, but stress of weather on Lake Erie prevented him from calling upon his warm personal friend and anti-slavery colleague in Congress, as he had designed to do, and the committee returned home without seeing him.

Early in the morning of Thursday, November 2, 1843, word was received that Mr. Adams was coming up the canal, en route to Columbus. The committee were hastily convened, who procured a carriage, met the distinguished visitor at Lock Twenty-one, and escorted him to a hotel. As he could only remain while the boat was passing through the locks, bells were rung and inessengers were sent from house to house, notifying the people that a recep- tion would be tendered to Mr. Adams at half past eight o'clock. As short as the notice was, the new court room was crowded to its utmost capacity, by men, women, children and babies.

The distinguished visitor, on appearing in the Judge's desk, by the rear entrance, was greeted by an immense shower of enthusiastic cheers from the men and the waiving of handker- chiefs from the women. Mayor Harvey H. Johnson, made a brief and fitting address of welcome, the response of Mr. Adams, though occupying only about twenty minutes, giving quite a comprehen-

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sive review of the history and progress of our whole nation, and of his surprise at, and admiration of, the evidences of enterprise and prosperity which met him at every step of his initial visit to the great West, saying among other things equally happy: "It seems as though a person in this Western country was witnessing a new creation-a new world rising from discord and chaos to order, happiness and virtue! What will this country be in half a century from this time? Cherish this spirit of improvement which has made it what it is-apply your mighty energies to the work,- invoke the aid, encouragement and protection of your country in your enterprise, and may God speed you."

Mr. Adams' remarks were frequently interrupted by enthusias- tic applause, and at the close he stepped forward and took each one by the hand, gallantly and graciously kissing each of the ladies and all of the the babies in attendance.

It was truly a fitting dedication of the new court house, which had not as yet been formally accepted by the County Commis- sioners.

ADDITIONAL TOWNSHIPS.

The aggregate territory of the county remains the same as in 1840, though there have been some changes in the arrangement of the townships, there being now eighteen instead of sixteen as originally. In March, 1851, the township of Cuyahoga Falls was erected by the County Commisssoners, out of portions of the four original townships of Stow, Tallmadge, Portage and Northampton, being on the average, about two miles square. In like manner the township of Middlebury was erected in March, 1857, out of portions of Tallmadge, Springfield, Portage and Coventry, and though subsequently annexed to the city of Akron, as its Sixth Ward, it retained its distinctive township features to the extent of having one justice of the peace and one constable, until the erection of the new township of Akron, by special act of the Legislature, in March, 1888, when, the latter being co-extensive with the city, the former became merged therein. The township of Akron is entitled to three justices of the peace and three constsbles, only, the other govern- mental functions of the township devolving upon the officers of the city, the law providing for the appointment, by the city council, of an Infirmary director to take the place of the township trustees in looking after the township and city poor.

CHAPTER VIII.

EDUCATIONAL MATTERS-PIONEER SCHOOLS-"MODEL" EXAMINATION AND A "MODEL" TEACHER OF A "MODEL" SCHOOL-EARLY SELECT SCHOOLS, HIGH SCHOOLS, INSTITUTES, ETC .- SUCCESSES AND FAILURES-THE UNION SCHOOL SYSTEM, DEVISED IN AKRON IN 1846 BUT NOW UNIVERSAL-A MAGNIFICENT EDUCATIONAL SHOWING-PRESENT STATUS OF AKRON'S PUBLIC SCHOOLS-BUCHTEL COLLEGE, WHEN, HOW AND BY WHOM FOUNDED. -HORACE GREELEY'S CORNER-STONE ADDRESS-BIG-HEARTED JOHN RICH- ARDS BUCHTEL-THE CROUSE GYMNASIUM -- THE INSTITUTION A GRAND SUCCESS-FATAL DISASTER-CONTEMPLATED NEW FEATURES, ETC.

EDUCATIONAL MATTERS.

W HEN the writer first came to Akron, in 1835, the public schools of the village were under the jurisdiction of the township author- ities, Portage township then being divided into seven school dis- tricts. It was the fortune of the writer to teach the school in district number seven, in the Winter of 1835-6. The school house, about 16x18 feet in size, was built of logs, with a huge stone fire- place at one end, surmounted by a stick and mud chimney; plain board desks running lengthwise around the sides of the room, with slab benches for the older scholars, and an inner circle of lower board seats for the smaller ones. The house was situated on the northwest corner of Medina and Portage roads (opposite the north- east corner of the present Infirmary farm), and the "deestrict" extended from Old Portage on the north, to, and including, the Perkins homestead on the south, and from, and including, the McGuire farm upon the west, to the Ohio Canal upon the east, embracing, as will be seen, quite a large slice of the western por- tion of the present City of Akron.

Then, as now, teachers of public schools had to be examined, and provide themselves with certificates, to enable the trustees to draw their proportion of the school fund, but, unlike the present usage, in addition to the half or quarter yearly examinations, the president of the board was authorized to make examinations and issue certificates during vacation, as occasion might require.

Akron was then a dependency of Portage County, the presi- dent of the board of examiners being, at that time, Darius Lyman, Esq., a prominent lawyer of Ravenna. Riding on horseback, via Middlebury, Old Forge, Cuyahoga Falls, Stow Corners and Frank- lin Mills (Kent), 18 miles to Ravenna, on a cold December Saturday afternoon, I reached the house of Mr. Lyman, a short distance east of the public square, just as the family was retiring from the sup- per table. Making known my errand, Mr. Lyman turned to his law-student, Frederick Hudson, a young man about my own age, and with whom I had a slight acquaintance, and said: "Fred, you take Mr. Lane into the office and examine him while I go to the barn and do the chores."

Repairing to the office, after a few preliminary questions as to where I was going to teach, size of school, etc., Fred shoved a law book across the table, requesting mne to read a few sentences, which I accordingly did. Then handing me a sheet of paper and a stubbed

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goose quill pen, he asked me to write a line or two, and I "writ." Next a sum in simple interest, and a problem in the "Rule of Three" were submitted which were duly wrought out.

"That'll do," said my examiner. "What!" I exclaimed, "don't you examine in geography, grammar, etc .? " "No," said Fred, "the law only requires a knowledge of reading, writing and arithmetic- the three R's you know-and in all of those you've done first-rate."

President Lyman soon coming in, was informed by Fred that I was "O. K." and a certificate for one year, was duly executed, and, paying the customary fee of 75 cents therefor, I wended my way back to Akron, inthe face of a blinding snow storm, rejoicing at having slipped through the dreaded examination-mill so easily. How some of the modern aspirants for pedagogic honors, in con- templation of the intricate mathematical problems, grammatical conundrums and geographical, historical, and other puzzles which will be fired at them, will envy me.

My stipulated salary was $11.00 per month and "board around," some ten or twelve families thus sharing the "honor" of providing the "school master" with fresh pork, sausage and buckwheat cakes during the winter. The average attendance was about 30, ranging from 6 to 21 years of age. Every house where I boarded but one, was of the log cabin variety; in one, my bed being in the loft, reached by a ladder, and through the long oak shingles of which, on stormy nights, the snow would sift liberally down upon the coverlet. The house where I boarded the longest, had two rooms; one kitchen, dining room, parlor and bed room, combined, the high bed in the corner being occupied by the old folks, and the trundle- bed, beneath, by the two younger children; the other room con- taining two beds, one of which was occupied by the "Master" and a twelve-year-old boy, and the other by the three older girls of the family, with a linen sheet suspended midway between the two beds!

As prolific as were many of those early families, the enumer- ated youth of the district, of school age, warranted the drawing of less than half the amount of public money needed to pay the teacher's salary, as meager as it was; consequently a roll of attendance had to be kept, even to the half days, and the deficit assessed, pro rata, and collected from the parents, a task which proved so irksome to the acting director, the late Sidney Stocking, that he finally gave up the job in disgust, paying the last ten dollars out of his own pocket.

AKRON'S EARLIER SCHOOLS.

Besides this and other outside schools, in the Ayres settlement, the Sherbondy neighborhood, the Spicer settlement, the Old Forge, etc., North and South Akron were each separate school districts, a small frame school house standing on the northeast corner of Middlebury street and Broadway, afterwards replaced by a one- story stone building, which is still standing.

That school house, a cut of which, from memory, is here given, was the only place for holding public meetings-religious, political, literary or otherwise, the first number of Akron's first newspaper-the Weekly Post-issued March 22, 1836, announcing that "The Akron Lyceum and Library Association will meet at the School House in South Akron, on Friday next, at 6 o'clock

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EARLY SCHOOL HOUSES, TEACHERS, ETC.

P. M., to discuss the question: 'Ought the right of suffrage to be extended to foreigners ?'" and the further announcement that "the electors of Portage township will meet at the School House in South Akron, on. Thursday, the 31st inst., at 7 o'clock, for the purpose of nominating candidates to be supported at the ensuing elec- tion;" and a few weeks later this: "A meeting of the mem- Akron's First School House Cor. Mid, and Broadway- 1894 bers of the Akron and Middle- bury Baptist Church and Society will be held at the School House, in South Akron, on Wednesday, June 16, at 4 o'clock P. M., for the purpose of organizing under their charter;" and also this: "The citizens of Akron and vicinity are earnestly requested to meet at the School House, in South Akron, on Saturday evening at 7 o'clock precisely, for the purpose of ascertaining the public feeling in this place with regard to constructing a Railroad from Akron to Richmond, on Grand river in Geauga County."

In North Akron there was then no public school house, such brief terms as were taught being dependent upon such hired rooms, in private houses or stores, as could be procured, though there was erected in 1835, back of where the Congregational Church now stands, a small house for a select school, but by whom built, or by whom the school was taught, is not now remembered.

In this house, also, religious, political, literary and other meet- ings were held, until the completion of the Congregational, Methodist, Baptist and Universalist churches, and the halls in the old stone building, in North Akron, May's building in South Akron, and Stephens' building, between the two villages, were completed in 1836-7.

Of the earlier public teachers, the writer has no definite recollection, but the proportion of public money for the payment of teachers was then so meager, and the term so short and uncertain, that many parents preferred to send their children entirely to select schools, which were quite numerous about those days. Among those recalled, who taught for shorter or longer periods, were Miss Sarah Carpender, sister of Dr. John G. Carpender, of 315 Bowery street, afterwards married to Mr. John S. Harvey, one of North Akron's pioneer merchants; Miss Amanda Blodgett, sister of the late Mrs. A. R. Townsend, and later the wife of the late Dr. William P. Cushman; and our present well preserved 80-year-old fellow citizen, Nahum Fay, Esq .; Mr. Fay teaching the North Akron district school for five successive Winters-1836-7 and 1837-8 in a store-room in Lewis P. Buckley's building, where the post- office now stands; 1838-9 in a store room belonging to Elisha N. Bangs, where the Allen block now stands, and 1839-40 and 1840-41 in the new school house, below referred to, on South High street; his sister-in-law, Miss Emily Cummings, teaching in the lower story of the same house; the first Mrs. Fay also at one time teach- ing a small public school in a rented room on West Hill, near the present residence of Dr. John W. Lyder. Advertisements of other select schools are found in the newspapers of the period, as follows:

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May 20, 1836, "M. and A. C. Joyce respectfully inform the inhabitants of Akron, and vicinity, that they have opened a school in South Akron, where they will instruct a few young ladies in Arithmetic, Orthography, History, Composition, Natural Phi- losophy, Astronomy, Botany, Rhetoric, Chemistry, Drawing in Crayon, Mezzotinto, Pencil, India Ink, Japaning, Flower Painting, etc. Terms made known on application. Those wishing to attend to Reading, Writing, Geography, Grammar, etc., $3 per quarter."

NAHUM FAY,-born in Reading, Vt., July 26, 1811; common school and academic education ; rais- ed on farm; from 18 years of age taught school six consecutive will- ters ; then entered employ of map publishing firm of Lewis Robinson & Co., as salesman and copper-plate printer ; in July, 1836, came to Akron where the company established a map manufactory, working for con- pany Summers and teaching school Winters, for six years; in October, 1843, was elected County Recorder, and re-elected in 1846, holding the office six years; served as Deputy County Treasurer, under the respec- tive terms of Treasurers William H. Dewey, Frederic Wadsworth and Chester W. Rice, from 1849 to 1855 ; afterwards grain buyer for several years ; Akron Village Recorder 1842, 43, '47; Township Clerk 1844, '45, '46. '47; Village Councilman 1844; Town- ship Assessor of personal property 1847, '51, '52, '54, '61, '62, '64, also several times assessor of real estate, school enumerator, etc .; in 1860 commenced the manufacture of cordage, twine, etc., by hand machinery, supplying the local markets with that class of goods for more than twenty years. In 1837 Mr. Fay was married to Miss Litcia Cumings, of Windsor County,

NAHUM FAY.

Vt., who bore him two children -- Henry C. M. (deceased) and Emma V., wife of James W. Chamberlain, superintendent of the Webster, Camp & Lane Machine Co., of Akron. Mrs. Fay dying October 23, 1882, Mr. Fay was again married, to Mrs. Mary E. Wright, September 16, 1883.

July 27, 1836, "Mrs. Susan E. Dodge announces that on the 1st. day of August, she will open a school on the corner of Main and Exchange streets, for Young Ladies and Misses, in which the following branches will be taught: Reading, Writing and Spelling, $2.50; Grammar, Geography and Arithmetic, $3.50; Rhetoric, Philosophy, Botany, Map-drawing and Needle-work, $5.00; Paint- ing (water colors) 24 lessons, $5.00, Landscape Painting, $5.00. Term eleven weeks."

January 2, 1837, Miss B. M. Hawkins, under the heading, "Akron High School," gives notice that she "will continue her school, over the room of M. C. and A. R. Townsend, in North Akron, during the Winter term of twelve weeks. Tuition: Ortho- graphy, Writing, Grammar, and Geography, $2.50; History, Arithmetic, Rhetoric and Composition, $3.00; Geometry, Chemistry, Botany, Intellectual Philosophy, Natural Philosophy, Natural Theology, $4.00; French Painting, $5.00."

In the Spring of 1837, Mr. S. L. Sawtell, an eastern college graduate, opened a select school in Stephens' block (present site of

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VARIOUS "SELECT" AND "HIGH" SCHOOLS.

Merrill's pottery) giving such satisfaction, that on the 15th of November, the "Winter term of the Akron High School," with Mr. Sawtell as instructor, is announced,-the price of tuition for a term of 11 weeks, ranging from $3.00 to $5.00.

DR. JOSEPH COLE, - born in Winfield, Herkimer County, N. Y., September 17, 1795; served in the war of 1812, 60 days at Sackett's Har- bor in 1814; graduated at Fairfield Medical College, February 16, 1825 ; located at Old Portage, Ohio, in Spring of 1826, at once attaining a large practice ; December 25, 1826, was married to Miss Charlotte Dewey, forinerly of Westfield, Mass., in Spring of 1827 removed to Akron, where he enjoyed a lucrative prac- tice, and the public esteem and con- fidence until his death, October 28, 1861, aged 66 years, 1 month and 11 days. Dr. Cole was among the earliest Temperance advocates in Ohio, a bitter foe to human slavery and a most zealous friend of educa- tion, largely aiding in the formula- tion of the Akron School Law, and serving upon the first Board of Education, elected under said law, in 1847. Mrs. Cole survived her hus- band nearly a quarter of a century, dying August 1, 1886, aged 85 years, 5 months. They were the parents of seven children - Joseph Keep, born April 7, 1828, died July 4, 1829; Harriet F., born November 24, 1830, married to Dr. A. H. Agard, October 10, 1849, died November 14, 1854, leav- ing one child, now Mrs. Helen L. Epler, of Saratoga Springs, N. Y .; Amanda L., born December 28, 1831, died July 7, 1855; Alvin, born July

..... ..

DR. JOSEPH COLE.

18, 1834, died November 15, 1834; in- fant son born September 1835, died September 19, 1835; Ben. Franklin, . born September 19, 1836, died Jan- uary 29, 1839; Harrison Dewey born June 19, 1840, married to Miss Harriet A. Farnamn, November 24. 1864, died April 25, 1876, leaving two children-Harrison D. and Fanny F., both now living with their mother, 603 South High street.

This seems to have been a regularly organized institution, but whether chartered or not is.not remembered, and the manage- ment seems to have included gentlemen from several neighboring townships in both Portage and Medina counties (Summit not having yet been erected), the officers named in the advertisement being as follows: Jedediah D. Commins, (Akron), President; Jonathan Starr, (Copley), Vice President; Simon Perkins, (Portage), Treasurer; Horace K. Smith, (Akron), Secretary; John Codding, (Granger), Erastus Torrey, Eliakim Crosby, Gibbons J. Ackley, Justus Gale, Samuel A. Wheeler and Joseph Cole, (Akron), Roan Clark, (Middlebury), Lewis Hammond, (Bath), Allen Pardee, (Wadsworth), and Henry Van Hyning, (Norton), Trustees.

But notwithstanding this solid backing, and notwithstanding the acknowledged ability of Mr. Sawtell, the attendance was so meager that, as an inducement to increase of pupilage, the Spring and Summer term, of 22 weeks, in 1838, without increased pay, was offered, Mr. Sawtell seeking, at the same time, to create an interest in his school, and the cause of education generally, as well as to piece out his income, by the publication of the "Pestalozzian,"

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which had an existence of six months only, both his paper and his school being discontinued in the Fall of 1838.

In the American Balance of December 27, 1837, is an announcement that "on January 3, 1838, a select school will be opened on the corner of Middlebury and High streets, South Akron, under the superintendence of Miss M. E. Hubble, of New York, where pupils will receive instruction in all branches usually taught in our Eastern Female Seminaries. Terms per quarter (11 weeks) from $3.00 to $5.00 according to studies pursued, and for music, $8.00, including use of piano."

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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