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 6

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 6

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"Good evening, Mr. Blane," I said pleasantly. "G'n'ev'ning,". he surlily responded. "I was told there was a gentleman here who wanted to see me, but I don't see any," I said, and swinging myself back into the hall, closed the door, and re-entered the bar- room, into which, by this time, had come quite a number of mechanics, merchants and others, regular boarders in the house.

It afterwards transpired that "Jim" Brown had hired the other "Jim" to give me a drubbing, not only the blackleg habitues of the house, but the rascally bar-keeper also, entering into the conspiracy, the plan being to inveigle me into the room with the bruiser, who, while his confederates were to hold and guard the door upon the outside, was to "decorate" my countenance and other portions of my corporeal economy.

A NEARLY FATAL RENCOUNTER.

Up to this time I had never gone armed, but after the occur- rence narrated, my young friend, the late Henry .J. Frost, of Wooster, then clerking for Mr. P. D. Hall, handed me an old- fashioned single-barreled brass pistol (ready loaded) with which to defend myself, should another attempt be made to inflict personal injury upon me. This weapon I carried in the right hand skirt pocket of my overcoat, while upon the street, and deposited it upon a shelf, above the editorial table, while in the office.

A few days later, having an item of business with the brother of the landlord of the hotel in question, as I started to leave the bar-room I was confronted by a six-foot, double-fisted habitue of the house, by the name of Dwight Spooner, who, seizing me by the collar with his huge left hand, began making hostile demonstra- tions towards my physiognomy with his right. Instinctively I thrust iny right hand into my overcoat pocket, at which one of the half dozen black-legs present, who were hissing my assailant on,

AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

seized my elbow and threatened to put an end to me if I attempted to draw a pistol. Quietly withdrawing my hand, I appealed to the landlord for protection. Instead of compelling the ruffian to release his hold, the landlord, opening the door, said: "If you are going to fight, gentlemen, you must go out of doors," and as my assailant backed out through the hall and front door, his brawny fist still glued to the collar of my coat, it may be taken for a fact, without substantiation by affidavit, that I didn't hang back any!

The blackleg fraternity followed us out and continued to hiss the drunken bully on, but the commotion also attracted the attention of respectable people upon the street, who immediately gathered around us. Drawing back his right fist, and pulling me towards him with his left, he would maudlinly exclaim: "Shall I strike you! Shall I mash your face.for you!" etc. Meantime I had quietly slipped my hand into my pocket, cocked my pistol, and, ås near as I could calculate, aimed it in the direction of the fellow's abdomen, with full determination to pull the trigger the instant his fist came in contact with my face, saying in response to his questions, as to whether he should strike me, "You can do as you please about it, Dwight, but I advise you not to, as you may feel bad about it afterwards."

Happily, however, for both Spooner and myself, such by- standers as Col .. Justus Gale, Mr. Lyman Cobb, Mr. James B. Taplin, Alfred R. Townsend and others, compelled him to release his hold, before bringing his drunken courage up to the striking point. His blackleg coadjutors, however, plying him still further with liquor, urged him to visit my office, and finish up the job. Half an hour later, I heard some one blunder up the stairs and open the door. . Looking around, there stood my late assailant, hanging on to the door casing, incoherently inquiring if I was going to "Buthard" him again. Seizing the pistol from the shelf, I started towards him, telling him to get out of my office, or I would Buzzard him so that he would stay Buzzarded, and he "got," falling heels over head down the stairs, and vomiting all over the landing and the platform upon the outside.

Subsequent examination revealed the fact that in addition to a large charge of powder, that pistol contained four buck-shot and three slugs of lead about one-fourth of an inch square. It makes me shudder, even to this day, to contemplate the consequences to my assailant, and possibly to myself and the by-standers, that would have followed the discharge of that pistol.

ANOTHER SHARP GAME THAT DIDN'T WIN.

In those days the village of Franklin Mills (now Kent), like many another western village (and eastern, too, for that matter), boasted of a number of very fast young men, who, though admitted

AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

to the very best society, were from time to time guilty of the most immoral practices. Among this class was a young and enter- prising business man, who, later in life, having abandoned his evil courses, not only became the head of a highly respectable family, but one of the political, commercial and financial magnates of Northern Ohio. The BUZZARD'S Franklin Mills correspondent having laid bare some of the more flagrant violations of the moral code, by this gay and festive Lothario and his associates, it imme- diately came to my ears that he was threatening to come to Akron and "whip me within an inch of my life."

A day or two later, however, I received a very polite letter from the gentleman, enclosing a one dollar note, with the request that I should send him my "very valuable paper" for one year. This I supposed was the mode of "vengeance" that he had finally concluded upon, instead of inflicting the threatened personal chastisement.

But this proved to be an erroneous conclusion, for a short time afterwards, one afternoon, a boy brought me a note of about the following purport :

"OHIO EXCHANGE, AKRON, March 7, 1838.

"Compliments of Mr. Blank, of Franklin Mills, to Mr. S. A. Lane, and would be pleased to see Mr. Lane at room 24, Ohio Exchange."

Knowing that room 24 was in the rear end of the third story of the hotel, and surmising the true intent of the "call," I dispatched as polite a reply, by the boy, saying that it was inconvenient for Mr. Lane to visit the Ohio Exchange, but that Mr. Lane would be happy to see Mr. Blank at his office.

Up to this time I had never met Mr. Blank, and not knowing exactly what kind of an adversary I had to deal with, I invited in three or four friends from adjoining offices to witness the interview. Presently Mr. Blank, a medium sized but robust young man, presented himself, accompanied by a six-foot-two stalwart friend, whom he introduced as Captain Pierce. After mutual introduc- tions, and a little desultory conversation, Mr. Blank expressed a desire to speak with me in private. Leading the way to a back room I invited him to a seat and to state his wishes. Thereupon, in stentorian tones that could be heard all over the neighborhood, he exclaimed:

"Mr. Lane, I have come down here to ascertain who wrote that blankety blank scurrilous article signed 'Jerry,' in your last BUZZARD."

"Well, Mr. Blank," I replied, "I am not authorized to give you the name of the writer of that article without his consent. But if there was anything unjust or untrue in the article, of course I stand ready to make the 'amende honorable.'"

AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

""It don't make a blankety blank's difference whether the article was true or false, I'm not going to be held up to public contempt, through the press, without having satisfaction, and if you don't give me the name of the writer of that article you will have to take the consequences."

"Very well, Mr. Blank, I'm prepared to take the consequences. But see here, 'Dan,"" said I, adopting the familiar sobriquet by which I had often heard him called, "you may as well understand at the outset that I don't 'scare worth a cent.' I was too sharp to fall into your trap. After attempting to allay suspicion by sending me a sop in the shape of a dollar for the paper, you sought to inveigle me into a back room in the third story of the Exchange, where, through the 'influence' of your herculean friend, you expected to squeeze me into the disclosure of the name of my correspondent. Though you might there have inflicted upon me the personal chastisement you had so fiercely threatened, you would have failed to learn the name of the correspondent in question. Now, however, I am upon my own 'dunghill' and do not propose to be either whipped or frightened."

"See here, Lane," he rejoined, "I admire your pluck and have no desire to injure you or your correspondent. It was a mighty sharp article, anyway, and I have a curiosity to know who wrote it, and if you will just tell me, I pledge you my word and honor that no harm shall come to either you or him."

"It's of no use, Dan," said I. "That would be a breach of confi- dence and good faith between publisher and correspondent that would be entirely unjustifiable."

"One thing more," said Dan, "will you show me the manu- script ?"

"O, certainly," I replied, and handed him the copy from which the article had been put in type. After scrutinizing it awhile, saying that the handwriting was very familiar to him, but he couldn't quite place it, he handed it back to me, and with his stalwart friend cordially took his leave.

Afterwards, becoming very well acquainted with Dan, in talking over the episode in a friendly chat, I disclosed to him the fact that having a printer from Franklin Mills at work in the office who would be likely to recognize his chirography, I went to the trouble of copying all of "Jerry's" communications, and it was my copy of the article that I had shown to him.

"That was the cutest part of the whole transaction," said Dan, with a hearty laugh. "Shake!"

COWHIDED BY A WOMAN.

Among the minor subjects treated by the BUZZARD was an indolent, whisky-guzzling, wife-beater by the name of Chandler.

AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

Following a pretty severe castigation for some of his many acts of brutality towards his long-suffering wife, being too cowardly to attempt it himself, he, by threats of additional violence, compelled her to undertake the task of giving me a whipping. They lived in the garret of a building in the second story of which was located the Balance office where the BUZZARD was printed, both reached by a common stairway. One day as I started up'I observed the lady coming down .. As we reached the central platform, she suddenly drew a rawhide from under her apron and made a pass at me. Catching the blow upon my left arm, I took the weapon from her with my right hand, and hastily opening a side door she ingloriously retreated into an adjoining room.

AN EGGS-TRAORDINARY DEMONSTRATION.

Exasperated at the failure of his cowhiding scheme, and claiming that in the scrimmage on the stairs I had choked his wife, "Old Hod" as he was called, determined to take the matter of inflicting adequate punishment upon me into his own hands. Among others who had fallen under the ban of the BUZZARD was "Mother Mason," of questionable repute, whose husband was the keeper of a grocery, located directly under the BUZZARD office on the present site of the Arlington Hotel on West Market Street. Just before noon, one day, a friend informed me that "Old Hod" was on the street below, with a pocket full of addled eggs, with which "Mother Mason" had supplied him, watching for me to go to dinner, with a view of treating me to an odoriferous shower- bath. Raising a window I inquired what he was doing there. Drawing an egg from his pantaloons pocket, he made several motions as if to throw, which I dared him to do. Finally I took the old brass pistol from the shelf and asked him how he liked the looks of that. This seemed to inspire him with the idea that rotten eggs would fail to do the subject justice, and thrusting the egg into his pocket, he stooped down to pick up a stone, in doing which he broke all of the eggs in his pocket!

"Hod" withdrew for repairs and I went to dinner without moles- tation. Having again "charged his batteries, " he watched for my return, and, starting towards me on the run, again broke his eggs in his pocket. "Hod" then changed his tactics, and expressed a determination to whip me on sight, and whenever I would pass him on the street he would strike or kick at me with all vengeance, though always very careful not to hit me. This annoyance continued for several months, when one day while he was following me and going through his "monkey shines" on West Mill Street, I turned upon him and said: "Now, Chandler, I've stood this tom-foolery long enough. You are a consummate old coward, and wouldn't dare to strike or kick me, but I'll not be

AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

annoyed by you any longer, and if you ever make a motion towards me again, or even speak to me, I'll shoot you on the spot-and (drawing from my vest pockets a pair of small-sized pistols which a friend had in the meantime presented to me) I've a good mind to do it now!" "Oh, for God's sake, Lane, don't shoot; I didn't mean to hurt you!" Then ordering him to "about face! march!" he left me, and that was my last personal rencounter with old "Hod."

A "BUTTONED-UP" EYE AND A BLOODY NOSE.

Somewhat later, a notorious pugilist and negro-dancer, by the name of John Kelley, whose action in fraudulently and forcibly obtaining possession of a hall occupied by a religious society, in which to give a disreputable exhibition, had been severely criticised in the BUZZARD, confronted me on the northeast corner of Howard and Market streets. His first salutation was a swinging blow with his right fist upon the left side of my head, slightly staggering me, but not knocking me down. As I regained my equilibrium, a similar blow from his left hand grazed my right eye and the bridge of my "rather prominent" nose, almost instantly closing up the former and causing a copious flow of "claret" from the latter. Well- knowing my inability to cope with the burly athlete, I dodged under his up-raised arm and started at a two-forty gait for the stone-block corner, with my irate antagonist close at my heels. Catching me by the collar of my vest, (I was in my shirt-sleeves) he gave me a whirl which threw me to the ground, I instinctively seizing the skirt of his fine broadcloth frock coat, to ease my fall, and tearing it entirely up the back. Here the ferocious gymnast endeavored to kick and jump upon my body and face with his heels, but by making pivotal gyrations on my back, I kept him at bay with my feet until by-standers interfered and drove him off.

This being the first actual personal injury that had been inflicted upon me, a warrant was issued for my assailant, but, in the meantime, his friends spirited him away, and thenceforward Akron was relieved of his pestiferous presence. In the next issue of the BUZZARD, in alluding to the affair, I said editorially: "It makes us feel more sensibly the high responsibility that devolves upon us. Go it, blacklegs, rummies and sympathizers-we would quietly submit to a good sound thrashing every day, for a month to come, if for each one we could rid the community of the baneful influence of twenty or thirty individuals whom we could mention."

SUSTAINED BY PUBLIC OPINION.

In view of these hostile demonstrations, and other disreputable operations, a very large meeting of the more reputable citizens of Akron, such as Col. Justus Gale, Gibbons J. Ackley, Seth Iredell, Horace K. Smith, Alvin Austin, Erastus Torrey, Ithiel Mills,

AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

Jonathan Myers, Ansel Miller and others, was held on the evening of February 28, 1838, among the spirited resolutions unanimously adopted, being the following:

"Resolved, That S. A. Lane, publisher of the BUZZARD, is entitled to the thanks of this community for his exertions in holding up to public odiuni the gamblers and counterfeiters who have hitherto infested this village.

"Resolved, That we will protect and sustain the public papers of our village, in holding up to merited contempt the gamblers and counterfeiters."

A FABRICATOR OF "LOCO-FOCO" MATCHES.

In Chapter XIII, of this volume, is given a detailed history of the rise and progress of the match-making business, now one of the leading industries of our goodly city and of the world. The pioneer establishment of this character, in Akron, was founded by the writer and the late Dr. James R. Miltimore, in the Spring of 1838, the mode of manufacture being fully described in the chapter referred to. The business not proving remarkably remunerative, and both the writer and the Doctor forming other business connections, the works were transferred to other parties, and the business soon afterwards discontinued, Dr. and Mrs. Miltimore both being drowned on the occasion of the burning of the steamer Erie, off Silver Creek, Lake Erie, on the afternoon of August 9, 1841.

MARRIAGE, BUSINESS CHANGES, ETC.

On the 11th day of November, 1838, I was united in marriage to Miss Paulina Potter, the foster sister of the late Paris Tallman, a week or ten days later being joined by my elder brother, Henry L. Lane, a carriage maker by trade, who had concluded to establish himself in business here. In the Spring of 1839, owing to fears of personal violence to myself naturally indulged by my young wife, and the desire of my brother that I should join him in business, the BUZZARD was discontinued and a carriage shop erected on the present site of Paige Brothers' magnificent block on Main street, there being then, also, an open space on the West to Howard street. Here quite an extensive carriage making, painting and blacksmithing business was entered into under the firm name of H. L. & S. A. Lane. My brother dying July 20, 1841, I soon after- wards associated with myself Mr. Jonathan Remington, a former employe of my father in Connecticut, and the father of Mr. Orson H. Remington, our present well-known Howard street jeweler, the business being disposed of to other parties in the Fall of 1843.

TEMPERANCE LECTURER, EDITOR, ETC.

Entering heartily into the Washingtonian Temperance move- ment, which struck Akron in the Winter of 1841-2, and my health having become somewhat impaired by too close application to the painting business, in the Spring of 1844, in connection with the

AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

late William T. Coggeshall, (afterwards State Librarian for several years, and later Minister to Ecuador, South America, where he died in 1867), I revived the BUZZARD as a temperance paper, its name being afterwards changed to the CASCADE ROARER, as elsewhere stated. To promote the cause of temperance, as well as to secure a circulation for the paper, I devoted the most of my time to lecturing, a portion of the time traveling in connection with another lecturer, and "discussing" the question-I taking the side of the liquor drinker and saloon keeper, using their customary arguments, but by a series of ludicrous arguments and illustra- tions often producing a more salutary effect upon the minds of both drinkers and venders, than the most eloquent straight- forward lecturing could possibly do-that mode of procedure, notwithstanding the burlesque nature of the defense, securing a full attendance of saloon-keepers and their customers, as well as out-and-out temperance people, besides securing immunity from disturbance and violence so often visited upon Temperance and Abolition speakers in those early days; attempts being made to "egg" the writer while talking straight temperance, on two different occasions, once in the Summer of 1846, at the small village of Mccutchensville, Wyandot County, while lecturing in the village school house, and later, the same year, while speaking from the Judge's bench in the Court House of Holmes County, at Millersburg, more harm coming to the audience, however, than to myself.

ACROSS THE CONTINENT IN SEARCH OF GOLD.

Retiring from the ROARER, in the Fall of ,1846, I again took up the brush, continuing the painting business until the Spring of 1850, when, my health again becoming precarious, I went overland to California, the details of the journey being fully set forth elsewhere in this volume. Notwithstanding its almost incredible hardships, I found, on reaching the first town in California, Placerville, on Sunday morning, August 4, 1850, that I had gained 32 pounds in weight-six pounds more than I had ever weighed at home, which condition of corpulency I more than maintained during my entire residence upon the Pacific Coast, over two years.

Looking about among the mines for a day or two, I immedi- ately proceeded to San Francisco, spending but a single day among the Summit County boys in Sacramento City. With health fully restored, then 35 years of age, I again embarked in the painting business, earning, over and above my expenses, about $200 per month.

About the first of December, 1850, in company with Mr. Charles G. Caldwell, of Akron, a "Forty-niner," then located at Sacramento, I embarked in the auction business on the corner of Jackson and Montgomery Streets, San Francisco, with a cash capital of $3,000-

AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

$600 of which was contributed by myself, $1,400 by Caldwell and $1,000 borrowed, Mr. James G. Dow, also of Akron, having accumu- lated quite a handsome fortune in that business during the pre- ceding six or eight months.

AN IGNOMINIOUS FAILURE.

The firm of Caldwell & Co. got a good start, with a fair prospect of doing as well as the firm of Dow & Co. had previously done. Before we had got fairly under way, however, owing to the over- stocking, of the market with all kinds of merchandise, and the appearance and fearful ravages of the cholera at Sacramento and other portions of the upper country, a commercial panic ensued, by which the same class of goods we had upon our shelves, could be bought at one-half, or less, than we had paid for ours, while retail sales could hardly be made at any figures.

With our heavy expenses-one item of which was $600 per month for rent of store-the reader will not be surprised to learn that though we managed to refund our borrowed money, besides giving several months' valuable time to the "enterprise," we sunk every dollar of our capital, and were nearly $1,500 in debt to our landlord, Mr. Dow, who, on his return to California, a few months later, generously abated one-half the amount of his claim.

AGAIN AMONG HIS POTS AND BRUSHES.

On winding up our disastrous venture, Mr. Caldwell returned to his cows and chickens, at Sacramento, which in the meantime had been in charge of Mr. William H. White, the present head miller at the Allen Mills, and I returned to my pots and brushes, in the upper portion of the building spoken of. On the first day of March, 1851, though still in possession of my painter's kit and sundry household goods, furniture, stove, bedding, etc., I hadn't a dollar in money with which to buy a meal of victuals. On the first day of April I sent my wife a draft for $150, had paid out a hundred dollars for stock, clothing, etc .; had paid a month's board in advance by work on Morton & Hanscom's Eastern Exchange Hotel, else- where alluded to, and had about $50 of finished work still in the shop. On the first day of May I transmitted another $150 to my wife, with about that amount of my earnings for the month still in hand.

A FIFTEEN MILLION DOLLAR FIRE.

Early on Sunday morning, May 4, 1851, commencing in the upper part of the city, eighteen squares, comprising the principal business houses, banks, hotels, etc., of the city, were destroyed by fire, involving a total loss of fully $15,000,000. As it became evident that the building I occupied would be reached by the fire, I removed such of my personal effects as I could carry by hand, two

AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

or three blocks away, only to be obliged to remove them still further up the hill, a half hour later, the operation having to be repeated several times before a safe place was found for them. My individual loss, in stove, table, benches, heavy sign boards, etc., and my proportion of the store fixtures burned, amounted to perhaps $200, while a hundred dollars or so of work delivered and not yet paid for was afterwards found to be non-collectable.

SINGULAR EARTHQUAKE EXPERIENCE.

The course of the fire had left intact a number of small buildings on a lot considerably below grade nearly opposite our old stand, mostly occupied by a company of Chilians, who coined money by bringing drinking water and stove-wood from over the high range of hills west of the city, on the backs of donkeys. One of these buildings, just 10x20 feet in size, planted on blocks about a foot in height, I secured for a shop, at a rental of $30 per month, also securing, at the same figure, a lodging room on Telegraph Hill, nearly a mile away. Painting on cloth, and fastening to the end of my shop, a suitable sign, I also nailed upon the charred lamp-post at my old corner, a guide-board, pointing in the proper direction, bearing the legend: "S. A. Lane, Sign and Ornamental Painter, just over yonder fe

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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