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 53

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 53

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RESISTANCE TO THE DRAFT .- By this time under the teachings of such men as Clement L. Vallandigham, opposition to the draft began to manifest itself, not only in the slums of New York City, but also in many of the more benighted rural districts in Ohio- notably in Holmes, Noble and Morrow counties, where it became necessary to reduce the recalcitrants to subjection to law and order, by military force.

In Summit county, though there were several "copperheadish" localities, the only overt disloyal manifestation was at East Liberty, on Thursday evening, August 21, at a meeting which was being addressed by Messrs. Mckinney and McNeil. At this meeting, by concerted action, a disturbance was created, and every possible effort was made to prevent enlistments and to break up the meet- ing. The next day prompt measures were taken to suppress the incipient local rebellion, and nine of the offenders were arrested, and taken before the United States commissioner at Cleveland, six of whom were admitted to bail, and the remaining three, in default of bail, were committed to jail. The latter, as elsewhere stated, after sleeping over the matter one night in jail, experienced a change of heart, and enlisted in the 107th O. V. I., all making

411

DEALING WITH REBEL SYMPATHIZERS.

good soldiers, and all laying down their lives on the field of Gettys- burg. On the final hearing before the commissioner, on Monday morning, August 25, the remaining six, on their promise to "sin no more," in that direction, were let off on the payment of the costs, about $350.00, and $120.00, to the Summit County Bounty Fund, incidentals and attorney's fees making the total expense of the experiment about $600.

A "MOIST" BUT WHOLESOME OPERATION. - Apropos of this opposition to the draft and enlistments in 1862, an earlier local war incident will here be in order. Though, as heretofore stated, on the breaking out of the war, party lines were abolished, and the majority of the Democrats vied with the Republicans in their fealty to the Government and the Union, there was an occasional nest of "copperheads," as they were called, who were very violent in their expressions against "Lincoln's Abolition War," and "Lincoln's Dogs," as they contemptuously called the Union volun- teers. Here, also, a definition of the term "copperhead" is in order. The copperhead snake, like the rattlesnake, is a very poisonous reptile, but, unlike the rattlesnake, instead of sounding an alarm and boldly attacking its enemy, face to face, creeps noiselessly and slimily upon him from the rear, and stings him in the heel. The appropriateness of the application is obvious, for while the south- ern rebels themselves were boldly and courageously fighting for the dissolution of the Union, their northern sympathizers were doing their very worst to accomplish the same object by discourag- ing enlistments and withholding supplies for the prosecution of the war.

In 1861, in the adjacent township of Sharon, in Medina county, a number of this class of persons, on the evening of the Fourth of July, after the day had been patriotically celebrated by the loyal inhabitants of that town, in secret conclave adopted, and published, a rebel-sympathizing pronunciamento, denouncing the "high- handed, unconstitutional and illegal usurpations of the party in power, which is subversive of sovereignty, freedom and independ- ence," and a variety of other similar expressions, designed to. discourage enlistments in the Union army, and to encourage enlistments in the rebel army, and resistance to the Federal authority.

These resolutions having been published in circular form, by the authors, and afterwards copied into the BEACON, and other Union papers, had created considerable excitement, among the soldier boys then just returning from the three months' service, and those. then recruiting and organizing under the three years' call, and when, on Friday, August 23, 1861, W. F. Hess and two others of the "Secesh Sharonites," as they were called, were observed upon the streets of Akron, advocating the doctrines of their resolutions, they were confronted by the indignant boys in blue, and invited to manifest their loyalty to the Government by waving the stars and stripes above their heads and hurrahing for the Union. Declining to do this they were unceremoniously treated to a plunge bath in the patriotism-inspiring waters of the Pennsylvania and Ohio canal, immediately south of the Market street bridge.

Not the soldier boys alone, but a vast crowd, of both loyal Democrats, as well as Republicans, participated in the renovating process, several prominent members of the present Democratic

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AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

organization taking a lively hand in the affair. Two of the men thus submerged needed but a few minutes soaking to so far purify them of their secession proclivities, as to cause them to wave the starry emblem vigorously above their heads, and to loudly pro- claim their love for the Union; but the ringleader-Hess-a man of powerful frame and of herculean strength, held out fully half an hour, when he, too, not only waved the flag, and shouted for the Union, but also, before emerging from the canal, took a solemn oath, administered by a notary public, to support the constitution of the United States and of the State of Ohio, and to sustain the Government in its efforts to put down the rebellion.

A few local "suspects" were also invited to a similar manifes- . tation of their loyalty, about those days, all of whom readily, if not cheerfully, complied, and though the methods employed were irregular, and in many respects reprehensible, the proceedings served a salutary purpose, in causing the element in question to be more circumspect in the public expression of their disloyal sentiments, though few of them, probably, ever permanently reformed.

THE DRAFT POSTPONED .-- In order to give the draft commis- sioners time to complete their examinations, and the various recruiting committees an opportunity to fill their respective quotas, if possible, Gov. Tod, by permission of Secretary Stanton, postponed the draft until September 16, and again, on account of the interruption to recruiting caused by the threatened invasion of Ohio by Kirby Smith, and the flocking of the "Squirrel Hunters" to Cincinnati, till October 1, on which day the draft finally took place.

Notwithstanding the liberality of the people of Summit county in the payment of bounties, and the general alacrity with which enlistments were made, the ides of October found all of the town- ships of the county, except Boston, Cuyahoga Falls, Middlebury and Tallmadge, short of their respective quotas, as follows: Bath, 7; Copley, 27; Coventry, 49; Franklin, 57; Green, 26; Hudson, 8; Northampton, 7; Norton, 40; Northfield, 7; Portage, 49; Richfield, 29; Stow, 1; Springfield, 42; Twinsburg 7.

PORTAGE TOWNSHIP PRIZE WINNERS .- Gates A. Babcock, Cor- nelius A. Brouse, George Bradley, William Burr, George Botzuni, Edward A. Barber, Anthony Blimm, Morrill T. Cutter, John Chitty, Jr., George W. Crouse, Hezekiah S. Camp, John Cramer, John Dunn, Henry Dreese, Samuel J. Davidson, Peter Evers, James Flowers, Silas Fisher, Joseph Gonder, Daniel Graham, Christian Grad, Conrad Gahn, William F. Hageman, Horace F. Hickok, Andrew Koch, George Lalor, Lucas Libis, John Memmer, Sylvester B. Myers, Joseph Marsh, Nathan S. Means, Antony Meyer, Jacob Miller, Hugh McFarland, Jacob Orth, Christopher Overholtz, Adam Orth, Michael Paul, William A. Palmer, John Rottammer, Samuel Rhodes, John Spelman, George Sechrist, Jacob Smith, Reuben Sherbondy, Abraham Schaier, Algernon S. Wheeler, Jefferson Wise, William Zedder.

REPORTING FOR DUTY .- In the BEACON of October 9, 1862, the writer editorially said: "The draft falls with peculiar hardship upon a number of persons, but all have promptly and cheerfully made arrangements to either furnish a substitute or go them- selves and this morning, accompanied by Commissioner Mckinney,

413.

GENERAL BIERCE AND THE "COPPERHEADS."

they started for the rendezvous at Cleveland. We feel proud of our conscript soldiers from Summit county, whose. patriotic conduct, in cheerfully conforming to the requirements of the Government, is in striking contrast with the mutinous mani- festations which have been made by some of the drafts in other counties, aided by a few of Jeff Davis' emissaries who are still per- mitted to pollute the soil of Ohio."

We have no means of ascertaining how many of the drafted men above named rendered personal service, how many furnished substitutes or how many were excused; though inquiry has revealed the fact that William A. Palmer was excused for physical disability by the examining surgeon, at Cleveland. George W. Crouse was then County Auditor, upon whom devolved the duty of preparing the tickets, and drawing them from the box, conse- quently drafting himself, among the rest. Reporting with the rest, at the rendezvous in Cleveland as stated, Mr. Crouse, in view of the difficulty of leaving the office, proposed to furnish a substitute,. but was confronted by an order from Governor Tod, that county officers should be exempted from the operation of the draft, and consequently returned to his official duties, doing his full share,. however, in the way of contributions to bounty and sanitary funds. and in 1864 giving to the Government 100 days faithful service in front of Washington, as a member of Company F, 164th Regiment Ohio National Guards. Edward A. Barber was excused on account of a broken leg, but subsequently, besides having two. brothers killed in the army, furnished a substitute in anticipation of the draft of March, 1865. James M. Malone served as a substi- tute for Morrill T. Cutter; William Beatty for Cornelius A. Brouse ;. Thomas Rhodes for his brother, Samuel Rhodes; Messrs. John Memmer, Gates A. Babcock, Reuben Sherbondy, John Spelman,. Joseph Gonder, and very probably others procuring substitutes in Cleveland. The Cleveland papers of October 17, 1862, in a table- comprizing fifteen counties of Northern Ohio, said of Summit: Number of men reported in camp, 292; number who furnished substitutes, 133; number substitutes enlisted, 87; number exenipted by surgeon, 33; which would indicate that a little over 40 per cent .. took their chances under the draft, none of the principals, as indi- cated in the table, having enlisted, while possibly some of them procured substitutes before being assigned to regiments and mus- tered in.

PROMPT ACTION OF MAJOR LUCIUS V. BIERCE.

Allusion has been made to Morrow county, as one of the few localities of the State where resistance was made to the draft. While the enrollment of those subject to military duty was being made, in certain portions of that county, in the Spring of 1863, the- opposition became very virulent, the manner of dealing with which was thus described in the BEACON of June 4, 1863:

Our late Senator, Gen. L. V. Bierce, now assistant adjutant general with the rank of major, received a telegram, on Wednesday last, from the provost marshal of Morrow county, that his enrolling officer was meeting with resistance, his life being threatened, if he proceeded with the enroll- ment, and that he had been twice fired at. Major Bierce immediately made a requisition on Gen. Mason, at Camp Chase, for a sergeant and a squad of ten men, with a supply of ball cartridges and two days rations, and at 4 o'clock P. M. started for the scene of operations. Reaching Gilead on the C. C. & C.

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AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

R. R., 52 miles from Columbus, he marched 14 miles on foot, captured three of the ring-leaders, searched all the secesh houses in the neighborhood, seized a lot of United States arms, and just at daylight started back with his prisoners and booty, delivering his prisoners to the United States Marshal at Mount Gilead, and ariving at Columbus at 11 o'clock A. M. The butternuts of the neighborhood were evidently thoroughly organized, for those pounced upon blew their horns, and sent their women to arouse the faithful, but nary a rescuer put in an appearance, the Morrow county rebellion being effectu- ally squelched by the Major's prompt and vigorous action.

G EN. LUCIUS VERUS BIERCE,-

born in Cornwall, Conn., Aug. 4, 1801 ; at 15 came with father to Nel- son, Portage county, O., soon after entering Ohio University, at Athens, also engaging in the study of the law, later traveling, teaching and studying three or four years in the South, where, at Athens, Ala., in 1823, he was admitted to practice, a year later being admitted to the Bar in Ohio; from 1826 to 1837 was prose- cuting attorney of Portage county ; in 1836 changed his residence from Ravenna to Akron; in the Fall of that year was married to Miss Frances C. Peck, a teacher in Ravenna, who bore him one son-Walter-who died in infancy. Mrs. Bierce dying suddenly, of heart disease, June 23, 1839, Gen. Bierce was again married, to Miss Sophronia Ladd, a teacher in Akron, Jan. 1, 1840, who bore him a daugh- ter-Ella S., who died Dec. 11, 1864. Taking a great interest in local mili- tary matters, he early became a brig- adier general of militia, and in the so-called Canada Patriot War, of 1837-39, became commander-in-chief of the Patriot Army. Gen. Bierce served as State Senator from 1861 to 1863. In the War of the Rebellion, besides raising several squads of re- cruits for the artillery and navy, Gen. Bierce served two years as assistant adjutant general, with the rank of major, in office of provost marshal at Columbus; in May, 1865, was sent to Madison, Wis., to muster out troops, and then to the command of Fort Washburn, at Milwaukee, being himself mustered out October 7, 1865.

GEN. LUCIUS VERUS BIERCE.

Gen. Bierce was mayor of Akron during the years 1839, '41, '44, '49, '67, '68, and President of Akron's first Board of Education, in 1847. He was a prominent Mason, being elected Grand Master in 1853. Gen. Bierce died Nov. 11, 1876, Mrs. Bierce dying April 24, 1882, having, on September 15, 1875, deeded their homestead, cor- ner High and Market streets, to the city, on condition that it should be forever called "Bierce Park," and that the city should pay them $1,500 a year during their joint lives and $1,000 to the survivor during life, the net cost to the city thuis being about $6,500.

A "BUTTERNUT" DEMONSTRATION.

Hess and his rebel-sympathizing compeers evidently took the oaths and pledges alluded to with many mental reservations, for in 1862 they had so far taken partisan form as to put distinct can- didates in the field for both general and local civil officers, on plat- forms of decided hostility to the government, while in 1863 they placed in nomination for governor, against that tried and true Democratic patriot, John Brough, the convicted and banished trai- tor, Clement L. Vallandigham, supporting him and his incendiary doctrines, both in their papers and upon the rostrum, with the most bitter denunciation of the administration and the brave boys who were fighting for the preservation of the Union.

415

A HOME "BUTTERNUT" DISPLAY.

In the beginning of the war, the Union boys had nicknamed the rebel soldiers "Butternuts," from the fact that the major- ity of the southern people, and soldiers before being supplied with gray uniforms, dressed in butternut colored clothing-a sort of a yellowish brown-and, whereas the emblem of the old Jackson Democracy was the hickory tree, emblematic of the inflexible cour- age and firm tenacity of purpose which gave to Andrew Jackson the sobriquet of "Old Hickory," the bastard democracy, ignoring the Old Hero's hatred of treason, and to manifest their sympathy with traitors, adopted the butternut tree as its emblem, carrying butternut trees and boughs in their processions and wearing upon the lapels of their coats and shirt fronts pins fabricated from the central portion of the butternut shell.

A UNIQUE PROCESSION .- In the early Fall of 1863, during the exciting gubernatorial campaign alluded to, headed by that life- long and patriotic Democrat, John Brough, on the one hand, and by Ohio's expatriated traitor, Clement L. Vallandigham, from his safe retreat just over the border, on the other, the object of the local adherents of the " Martyr" was to make a big demonstration . at the capital of " Abolition" Summit county. After several weeks spent in scouring Summit, Portage, Medina, Wayne, Stark and Holmes counties, said demonstration came off on Thursday, Octo- ber 8, on the fair grounds, overlooking the city on the west, the Grand Army coming in two divisions, from the southeast and the southwest, the latter headed by the water-soaked "Captain" Hess. The procession, mostly on horse back and in two-horse lumber wagons, loaded promiscuously with men, women, boys and girls, by actual count just 1,453 persons, one-third of whom were possibly voters. The horses and wagons were embellished with butternut saplings and every species of anti-administration and anti-war mottoes, but not a single National flag, and nearly all the men and women wore the butternut pin-the latter being especially promi- nent in the disloyal display.

Though the speakers were very bitter in their denunciation of President Lincoln and Governors Tod and Brough, and the soldiers then battling for the Union, they were quietly listened to by hun- dreds of true and loyal men, including many soldiers then home on furlough, and everything passed off peaceably, until the eastern division of the procession, in passing along Howard street on their return, commenced to jeer at the boys in blue, and to brandish the huge clubs, butcher-knives and revolvers with which many of them were armed, with an occasional volley of stones from the wagons, at the crowd of spectators upon the sidewalks-one large stone, evidently aimed at the writer, then editor of the BEACON, hitting a now prominent Democrat upon the knee.

These wantonly hostile demonstrations were too much for the furloughed soldiers, many of whom had been wounded by real rebel missiles, and in spite of the efforts of many prominent citi- zens to prevent a collision, the veterans "sailed in," unhorsing and disarming their mounted assailants, stripping from horses and wagons rebel-sympathizing emblems and mottoes, and relieving a good portion of the crowd, both men and women, of their butternut pins. At one time, at the corner of Howard and Market streets, a serious and bloody riot was imminent, but, happily the affair ter- minated without serious personal injury to either side.

416

. AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

Politically, the result of the campaign was, in Summit county, a Union majority of 2,276, exclusive of the vote of soldiers at the front who cast 423 votes for Brough, to 11 votes for Vallandigham, swelling the Union majority in the county to 2,688, while in the State the Union majority, exclusive of the soldiers' vote, was 61,752, the 39,806 majority given by the boys in the field swelling the patri- otic Brough's majority, over his unpatriotic and disloyal com- petitor, to the grand total of 101,598.

SUBSEQUENT CALLS, DRAFTS, ETC .- As the war progressed, calls for additional troops became frequent and urgent, and the efforts of our people to raise bounty money and recruits were correspond- ingly increased. In 1863, however, owing to the fact that Ohio had hitherto sent a larger proportion of men into the field for three years, than other states, the requisition upon her was compara- tively small, about 8,500 only. In the meantime, also, the govern- ment had increased its offers of bounty to $300 for new recruits, and $400 for re-enlistments, while the local bounty, in Portage township, raised by individual subscription, was at that time $150, the recruit being permitted to choose the regiment in which he should serve, with corresponding liberality in other portions of the county and of the State, so that not only Summit county's but Ohio's full quota was made up previous to the day fixed for the draft, October 26, 1863.

Under the call of October 17, 1863, for 300,000 more troops to be raised by January 5, 1864, the special government bounties were continued, President Lincoln closing his proclamation in these words: "I address myself not only to the governors of the several states, but also to the loyal people thereof, invoking them to lend cheerful, willing and effective aid to the measure thus adopted, with a view to reinforce our victorious armies now in the field, and bring our military operations to a prosperous end, thus closing forever the fountains of sedition and cruel war."

PORTAGE TOWNSHIP UP TO TIME .- The time for raising the quotas having been extended, the BEACON of February 4, 1864, announced that the quota of Portage township, 65, had been filled, with a surplus in the bounty fund of $550.00 In the meanwhile, however, an additional 200,000 men had been called for. This had been rendered necessary, from the fact that the large number of soldiers in the field then re-enlisting as veterans, were credited on the quotas of their respective townships, thus reducing the 300,000 call in reality to about 100,000, whereas it was deemed necessary to put the full 300,000 additional troops into the field. In announcing this call Gov. Brough said:

CITIZENS OF OHIO! Shall we hesitate in complying with the requisition laid upon us? Shall we falter in the good work as the end draws near? Shall we be laggard under the call to man an army sufficient in a single season to strike the death blow to this rebellion? The loyalty of Ohio was appealed to last fall at the ballot box, and her people returned a noble response. The patriotism of the State is appealed to now; the answer must not be hesitating or uncertain.

SUMMIT'S SECOND DRAFT .- At the instance of Secretary Stanton, Congress, by joint resolution, extended the special bounties of $300, and $400 till April 1, 1864, thus postponing the draft under the 200,000 call until that date, and afterwards until Saturday, May 7th, when the draft for Summit County came off at the provost marshal's office in Cleveland. Green, Richfield, Northfield and

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SUPPLEMENTAL DRAFT ORDERED.

Twinsburg, were found to be "out of the woods," and the rest of the townships were found to be delinquent as follows: Bath, 2; Boston, 3; Copley, 14; Coventry, 1; Cuyahoga Falls, 5; Franklin, 11; Hudson, 4; Middlebury, 4; Northampton, 13; Norton, 13; Portage, 11; Springfield, 2; Stow, 6; Tallmadge, 4.

AKRON'S ROLL OF HONOR .- Including Middlebury and Portage townships, Akron's Roll of Honor in this draft, was as follows: Moses Huggins, Russell H. Kent, Martin Tobin, Oliver Perry, George Davis, 2nd, Thomas Maloney, George Morris, Standard W. Hase, Ezra Leonard, Eber Hawkins, Frank Edgerly, John Sud- bottom, Foster Tarbell, John Pinkney, Horace Hill, Jacob Shull, Corwin Hamlin, Patrick Costole, George W. Fairbanks, Orlando H. Wilcox, Thaddeus Schnell, Alvin Rice, Lucius Risden, Ezekiel S. Phinney, John Franklin Weygandt.

In the previous drafts, fifty per cent more names than the quotas called for were drawn, to provide for exemptions and rejec- tions on final examinations, but in this draft, the exact number called for only were drawn, so that all thus excused would have to be made up by a supplemental draft, or under subsequent calls. We have now no means of knowing how many of the above named drafts were excused (except Alvin Rice excused for defective vision) nor how many personally responded, but the probabilities are that the most of them furnished substitutes, or purchased immunity from service with commutation money. The Govern- ment had by this time provided, by law, that any person drafted, or liable to draft, might purchase exemption by the payment of a commutation of $300, the Government thus undertaking to procure substitutes wherever they could be had. To make matters as safe and easy as possible for each other, "pools" were formed-a given number paying a given amount, from $10 to $100, with the understanding that if any member of the pool should be drafted, he could draw the amount of $300 from the common fund, to be used either as commutation to purchase exemption, or as a bounty, should he elect to go into the service himself. Geo. W. Fairbanks, belonged to a pool of 45 members who chipped in $10 each, making an aggregate of $450. Being the only member of the pool drafted, after drawing his $300 from the fund, the remaining $150 was equally divided among the members, "Wash" thus getting out of the affair for the moderate sum of $6.6633.

SUPPLEMENTAL DRAFT .- To make up for those excused under the last draft named, a supplemental draft was ordered to come off early in June, 1864, Summit county's shortage being as follows: Boston, 3; Copley, 8; Cuyahoga Falls, 3; Franklin, 6; Hudson, 4; Middlebury, 1; Norton, 6; Northampton, 4; Portage, 7; Springfield, 2; Stow, 1; all the other townships being full. The deficiencies, however, were promptly made up by the several recruiting and county committees, mostly recruits obtained in Cleveland, and Summit county was again "out of the woods," the committees sent to Columbus, to secure a fair distribution of credits, announcing its success, and the fact that Portage township was for the time being secure from conscription lightning by the following telegram which will speak for itself:

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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