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 73

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 73

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In his humane, philanthropic and patriotic zeal, he truly believed that the enslaved race needed but the advent of a bold and determined leader, to instantly rally en masse, and gallantly fight their own way to freedom. Imbued with this thought, sometime in 1858, he gathered around him a few "True Friends of Freedom" at Chatham, in Canada, to whom he unfolded his plans, at which secret gathering a Provisional Constitution was drawn up and adopted, under which Brown was designated as Con- mander-in-Chief, Richard Realf, Secretary of State, and J. H. Kagi, Secretary of War.

Retaining a portion of the Kansas contributions of arms and other munitions of war, and having had fabricated a large number of long-handled double-edged pikes, for the use of those negroes unskilled in the use of fire-arms, in the Summer of 1859 Brown established his headquarters at what was known as the Kennedy farm, in Maryland, and within five miles of Harper's Ferry, Va., where one of the Arsenals of the United States was located. Here had been quietly gathered the "sinews of war" alluded to.

On the night of Sunday, October 16, 1859, about 10 o'clock, with an "army" of seventeen white men and five negroes, Brown

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took possession of the Government buildings, at Harper's Ferry, within 50 miles of the National Capitol; stopped railroad trains, captured a number of citizens, liberated several slaves and held the town nearly 36 hours. Though there were no symptoms of any uprising among the slaves, or any evidence that they had been advised of the contemplated raid for their deliverance, the whole Southern country was immediately thrown into the utmost excitement and alarm.

The citizens of Harper's Ferry, during Monday afternoon, so far recovered from their panic as to rally for their defense and the expulsion of the invaders, and quite a number of sharp skirmishes ensued, with several serious casualities on both sides, one of Brown's men being shot down, while conveying, under a flag of truce, a message from the Provisional Commander-in-Chief to the mayor of the town. A company of militia, 100 strong, arrived from Charlestown early in the afternoon, but were kept at bay by the intrenched invaders. Other troops arrived from near-by towns, both in Virginia and Maryland, during the afternoon, and by night there were fifteen hundred armed soldiers surrounding the engine house, but kept at bay by the handful of brave-hearted men therein entrenched.

CAPTURED BY COL. ROBERT E. LEE.

Monday night, the Government at Washington sent a body of U. S. troops, under the command of Col. Robert E. Lee (two years later the commander-in-chief of the greatest insurrection known to history), to subdue the insurgents. Refusing to comply with Col. Lee's command to surrender, fire was opened upon the engine house, and hotly returned by the intrenched party.

The "citadel" was at length stormed, Brown and his men fighting to the last like tigers. Thirteen of the band, including two of Brown's sons, being either killed outright or mortally wounded; Brown himself being very seriously wounded by both sword and bayonet.

TRIAL-CONVICTION-SENTENCE-EXECUTION.

Brown and his six surviving followers were taken to the Jef- ferson County jail, at Charlestown, ten miles southwest of Har- per's Ferry. Here they were indicted for inciting insurrection, and for treason and murder. Conviction followed, as a matter of course, the large array of evidence forwarded from Sunimit county, and elsewhere, as to tendency to insanity in his family, and of belief in the actual insanity of Brown himself, upon the slavery question, not proving of any avail. Brown was so weak from his wounds, that he was obliged to lie upon a cot during the trial.

He exhibited the utmost heroism and fortitude through- out, boldly proclaiming his hatred of the slave-system, the riglit- eousness of the act he had sought to perform, with the prediction that the accursed institution was doomed to speedy overthrow.

The execution occurred at 11:15 A. M., on Friday, December 2, 1859. The martyr-convict was firm and cheerful to the last, pleasantly conversing with the sheriff and guard who bore him from the jail to the scaffold, treating all concerned in the execution

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HIS TRIUMPHANT DEATH-THE PUBLIC SORROW.

with the utmost courtesy. His death was easy, the body being lowered from the scaffold 35 minutes after the drop fell and . delivered to his wife, at Harper's Ferry, who started with it the same evening, for North Elba, where it was quietly interred, in the presence of his surviving family, and a few sympathizing friends, with appropriate funeral services, on Thursday, December 8, 1859, Wendell Phillips pronouncing a fitting eulogy over his remains.

HIS LAST LETTER.

His life-long friend, Mr. Lora Case, still living hale and hearty, in Hudson, at the age of nearly 80 years, wrote him a friendly and sympathetic letter, after his conviction and sentence, to which he made the following characteristice reply, but a few moments before his execution:

CHARLESTOWN, JEFFERSON CO., VA., } December 2, 1859.

Lora Case, Esq.,

MY DEAR SIR :- Your most kind and cheering letter of the 28th of Novem- ber, is received. Such an out-burst of warm-hearted sympathy, not only for myself, but also for those who have no helper, compels me to steal a moment from those allowed me in which to prepare for my last great change, to send you a few words. Such a feeling as you manifest makes you shine (in my estimation) in the midst of this wicked and perverse gen- eration, as a light in the world, and may you ever prove yourself equal to the high estimate I have placed upon you. Pure and undefiled religion before God, and the Father, is, as I understand it, an active (not a dormiant) principle. I do not undertake to direct any more in regard to my children. I leave that more entirely to their excellent mother, from whom I have just parted. I send you my salutation with my own hand. Remember me to all your and my dear friends.

Your friend, JOHN BROWN.

THE PUBLIC SORROW.

Though many deprecated the insane scheme, as they regarded it, of attempting the overthrow of so gigantic, and at that time so thoroughly intrenched, an iniquity-backed as it then was by the entire civil and military power of the government-with such frail weapons, and such meager resources, yet having an unwaver- ing belief in the honesty of his motives, and his entire conscien- tiousness, coupled with his unflinching bravery, the public mind, everywhere in the North, was filled with sincere sorrow at his ignominious end; and with the most intense indignation at the relentless vindictiveness with which, while so severely suffering from the bayonet wounds inflicted by United States soldiers in effecting his capture, he was hurried through the merest mockery of a trial to his death.

Memorial services were held in nearly all the principal cities and towns in the Northern States. In Akron, on the day of execu- tion, flags were displayed at half mast; stores and other business places were closed, the Court of Common Pleas adjourned-bells were tolled, and in the evening a very large meeting was held in Empire Hall, in which feeling and appropriate speeches were made by Judge James S. Carpenter, Attorney General Christopher P. Wolcott, Gen. Lucius V. Bierce, Dr. Thomas Earl, Dr. Joseph Cole, Wilbur F. Sanders, Esq., Nathaniel W. Goodhue, Esq,. Newell D. Tibbals, Esq., and others, with an appropriate poem from the pen of the late James Mathews, read by the writer of

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this sketch, the exercises being exceedingly earnest and solemn throughout; similar and equally solemn and impressive services. being held at Cuyahoga Falls, Hudson and other villages in Sum- mit county.

WAS JOHN BROWN ACTUALLY INSANE?

Many anecdotes and traditions of his boyhood and early man- hood, are still rife among the people of Hudson, that, properly written out, would make interesting reading, but the scope of this chapter will not admit of their publication here. Many of his most intimate acquaintances, while maintaining unbounded faitlı in his honesty of purpose, and his religious conscientiousness, entertained the belief that, from hereditary taint, he was in reality insane. After his conviction and sentence, in Virginia, Prof. Matthew C. Read, of Hudson, procured many affidavits to that effect, from people who had known him intimately from his earliest boyhood, which were laid before the Virginia authorities, in the hope of securing a conimutation of his sentence. The affidavits were presented, and an eloquent appeal made to Governor Wise, in their support, by Akron's well-remembered talented attorney, Hon. Christopher P. Wolcott, then attorney general of Ohio, and after- wards assistant secretary of war, but without avail. Slavery was inexorable, and unimbued with the attribute of mercy. The sys- tem which could ruthlessly imprison a delicate and sympathetic woman for teaching a slave to read the Holy Bible, or giving a pant- ing fugitive a crust of bread while fleeing from bondage, had no commiseration or clemency to bestow upon the man, who almost single-handed, had insanely attempted the overthrow of the iniq- . quitous system itself. But the posthumous influence of John Brown, the martyr, was far more potent for the downfall of that system, than was the influence, while living, of John Brown, the emancipator, and the patriotic refrain, so enthusiastically sung by our Union soldiers, both in camp and on the march:

John Brown's body lies mouldering in the ground, John Brown's body lies mouldering in the ground, John Brown's body lies mouldering in the ground, But his soul goes marching along. Glory ! glory ! hallelujah ! Glory ! glory ! hallelujah ! Glory ! glory ! hallelujah ! We'll conquer as we go !

did more to inspirit the Union soldier, upon one hand, and to- superstitiously dispirit the cohorts of treason, upon the other, than any other one moral instrumentality, and in less than half a decade from the date of his ignominious death, the end he thus "madly" sought to accomplish, was most effectually consum- mated through the " madness" of the very men who so mercilessly clamored for his execution.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE PATRIOT WAR-" HUNTERS'" LODGES-CAMPAIGN OF 1837, '38-PATRIOTS DEFEATED-EXECUTION OF GENERAL VON SCHULTZ-BANISHMENT TO VAN DIEMAN'S LAND-BURNING OF THE STEAMER "CAROLINE"-PROCLAMATION OF PRESIDENT VAN BUREN-GENERAL SCOTT AND U. S. TROOPS INTER- FERE-PATRIOT LEADER WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE CAPTURED-TRIAL AND SENTENCE UNDER LAWS OF NEW YORK-GENERAL LUCIUS V. BIERCE APPOINTED COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF-CAMPAIGN OF 1838, '39-INVASION OF CANADA OPPOSITE DETROIT-BATTLE OF WINDSOR-BARRACKS CAPTURED AND BURNED-BRITISH SURGEON KILLED AND HIS SWORD SECURED AS A TROPHY-BURNING OF CANADIAN STEAMER "THAMES"-PATRIOTS DE- FEATED BY BRITISH REGULARS-FLIGHT OF COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF BIERCE, WITH THE REMNANT OF HIS ARMY-IGNOMINIOUS COLLAPSE -ARREST AND TRIAL OF ALLEGED BURNER OF THE "CAROLINE," ALEXANDER MCLEOD-RUPTURE BETWEEN ENGLAND AND THE UNITED STATES IMMI- NENT.

AKRON IN CANADIAN REBELLION.

`HE prominent part played by citizens of Akron in the Canada L Patriot war of 1837-39, calls for a pretty full history of that stirring episode in the international affairs of England and the United States. As early as 1836, it began to be whispered all along the line, from Lake Ontario, on the East, to Lake Michigan on the West, that the good people of Canada were getting very restive under British rule, and, with a little encouragement and aid from patriotic Americans, were ready to make an effort to throw off the galling yoke, and establish an independent gov- ernment of their own. This movement was inaugurated by one William Lyon Mackenzie, of Scotch descent, and editor of the Colonial Advocate, a journal published at Niagara, in opposition to the then governing party in Canada.

In 1828, Mackenzie had been elected to the provincial par- liament, but was refused his seat on account of his disloyalty to the Crown. He was four times successively re-elected to this posi- tion, with a like result, the government finally refusing to issue another writ or order of election. In 1832, he visited England, bearing a numerously signed petition of the Canadian reform party, praying for redress of grievances, but without success.

RESORT TO REVOLUTION .- Returning to Canada, Mackenzie continued the agitation of his reforin measures, with such marked success, that in 1836 he was elected Mayor of Toronto. While occupying this position he headed an armed force and demanded of Gov. Head that he should call a convention to discuss Canadian grievances and reform, which demand was not acceded to. He then determined to resort to open revolution, by seizing arms, arresting the governor and his cabinet, and declaring Canada a Republic. But his force was not strong enough, and the govern- ment troops, under Sir Allan Macnab, as colonel of militia, drove him from his position on Montgomery Hill, December 7, 1837, and, after considerable severe skirmishing, and the capture of quite a

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number of his men, forced him to retire to Navy Island, in the Niagara river, a short distance above the falls, and within the juris- diction of the United States.

From this safe retreat Mackenzie issued a proclamation calling for volunteers, and offering, as bounties, Canadian lands, in value from $100 to $300, when the revolution should be successful. This appeal, and the then munificent offer accompanying it, served to very largely enthuse the patriotism of "Yankee Doodle"-both native and adopted-and rally to his standard some six or seven hundred recruits, with quite liberal contributions of money, arms, ammunition and other army stores. Here, in comparative secur- ity, Mackenzie directed his warlike operations, in the furtherance of which he employed a small Buffalo steamer, called the "Caro- line," for the transportation of his men and supplies from the American shore to the Island, and from the Island to the Canada shore, as circumstances might require.

BURNING OF THE STEAMER "CAROLINE."-Through this instru- mentality a number of raids, of greater or less magnitude, were made from time to time, resulting in the loss of several lives on both sides, and the destruction of considerable property on Cana- dian soil. To put an end to this annoyance, though the steamer was owned by private parties, and when not in use, was generally moored at her own dock in the harbor of Buffalo, Sir Allan Mac- nab determined upon her summary destruction. Accordingly, on the night of December 27, 1837, an expedition was sent out, in command of Captain Drew, who, with a picked squad of volun- teers, and militia, crossed over to Schlosser, where the boat was temporarily moored, overpowered the unarmed watch, several of whom were killed, cut the moorings of the steamer, towed her into Canadian waters, set her on fire and cast her adrift, to float down the river and over the Falls of Niagara.

One of the alleged active participants in this affair was one Alexander McLeod, who, a year or so later, being found on the American side, was arrested by the authorities of the State of New York, and held to answer for both murder and arson. These events caused the utmost excitement, both in the United States and Canada, as well as in Great Britain. Macnab was Knighted, and Capt. Drew was promoted by the British authorities, and the United States governinent applied to Great Britain for redress, upon the one hand, while the British government demanded the release of McLeod on the other.

Voluminous correspondence between Secretary of State Forsyth, and British Minister Fox, took place, and long and earn- est discussions, in both Congress and Parliament, were had, the danger of a serious conflict between the two governments at one time appearing iniminent. This was happily averted, however, by the acquittal of McLeod on the final trial, the almost positive testi- mony of his guilt being met with such strong evidence, tending to prove an alibi, as to throw a slight doubt into the jury box, and thus save him from the fate which had previously been so promptly, not to say ruthlessly, meted out to the brave Polander, Von Schultz, as hereinafter detailed.

PUBLIC MEETING IN AKRON .- As showing the interest taken by the people of Akron in these stirring events, we find in the Ameri- can Balance, of January 11, 1838, the proceedings of a public

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AKRON HIGHLY "HONORED."

meeting held January 6, 1838, at the Methodist Church, presided over by Justice Jacob Brown, and of which Arad Kent and Horace K. Smith were secretaries; the meeting being opened with prayer by Rev. Henry Carr, of the Baptist Church. Alva Hand, Esq., one of Akron's leading lawyers at that time, offered, with a spirited preamble, the following patriotic resolution:

Resolved, That as true friends of the great cause of liberty, as good and worthy citizens of the United States, and as patriots, we cannot remain silent when oppression stretches forth her hand to smite her victim; stand unconcerned when we see our shores invaded by the armed bands of the hostile slaves of despots whose tender mercies are cruelty and death; nor will we remain idle and senseless when our country calls us to her defense.

This preamble and resolution, after spirited discussion, were unanimously adopted, whereupon Col. Justus Gale offered the following, which was enthusiastically concurred in:

Resolved, That the attack, massacre, and destruction of the steamboat Caroline, by British troops, when lying in an American port, is an insult upon the American flag, and an outrage too flagrant to be brooked by a free and independent people.

Mayor John C. Singletary, Jr., then offered a series of resolu- tions of so fiery a nature as to call out a somewhat animated debate, whereupon Constant Bryan, Esq., offered the following as a substitute, which was accepted by the Mayor, and unanimously adopted by the meeting:

Resolved, That the seizure of the steamboat Caroline, in American waters, and the cold-blooded butchery of twenty-two of our fellow citizens, is a high handed outrage, an atrocity unparalleled in the annals of civilized warfare, demanding the most prompt interference of the National execu- tive.

David K. Cartter (late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia) offered the following:

Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be signed by the chair- man and secretaries, and published in the American Balance and other papers of this county.

GEN. BIERCE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF-"HUNTERS" LODGES, ETC.

Early in 1838, at a meeting of representative patriots, in Buffalo, Gen. L. V. Bierce, of Akron, Ohio, was chosen com- mander-in-chief of all the patriot forces, and plans devised for a vigorous campaign all along the line. To better facilitate their operations, and secure the sympathy and co-operation of the people of the States, a secret order was instituted under the name of "Hunters," with lodges in all the principal cities and villages of the several counties contiguous to Lake Erie, from Ogdensburg to Detroit.

The emblein of the order was the snow-shoe, and, on being initiated, its members took the most solemn and blood-curdling oath, never to speak, write, indite or delineate, or by any sign, gesture or device whatsoever, to disclose to any outsider the character of the emblem itself, or the existence, aims and inten- tions of the order it represented. Of course there were pass-words, signs, counter-signs, signals, grips, etc , by which members could gain access to lodges, recognize a fellow-Hunter on sight, secure succor when in danger and prompt relief when in distress; the

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newly initiated being especially enjoined to render every possi- ble aid towards liberating their oppressed Canadian brethren from the galling bondage in which they were held ..

It may well be imagined that, among a people so universally patriotic as were the early settlers of the western states, these lodges would very naturally gather in and bring together, face to face, the most diverse and incongruous elements of the community in which they were instituted. For instance, while engaged in the publication of a paper specially devoted to the exposure of crime, and the purification of the moral atmosphere, the writer, on being initiated into the order, at the instance of one of the most highly respected and enterprising merchants of Akron, found him- self in the presence of, and "cheek-by-jowl" with, the most notori- ous counterfeiter of his time and several well-known gamblers, together with village councilmen, justices of the peace, lawyers, doctors, merchants, manufacturers, etc.

But, while a large proportion of the criminal and dissolute classes identified themselves with the Patriot movement, the great majority of the members of these lodges were from the more reputable classes of society, who, heartily sympathizing with their believed to be oppressed and suffering neighbors, were willing to aid them to the extent of their pecuniary ability, and some of them with their good right arms, and military prowess, if necessary, to- accomplish their object.

UNCLE SAM TAKES A HAND IN THE GAME.

The Winter of 1837, '38 and the ensuing Spring and Summer were attended by such war-like preparations and demonstrations, operated and directed from the American side of the line, that sometime in October or November of that year, President Van Buren issued his proclamation of neutrality, warning all citizens or residents of the United States against committing any acts of hostility against the people or the government of Canada, assuring them that he will not interfere in their behalf, if they are taken prisoners "but that they will be left reproached by every virtuous citizen, to be dealt with according to the policy of the government whose dominion they have, in defiance of the known wishes of their own government, and without the shadow of justification or excuse, invaded." Lieutenant General Winfield Scott had also previously been ordered to the Niagara frontier, with an adequate force of U. S. troops to enforce the neutrality laws between the two governments. In the meantime, however, some very stirring scenes were being enacted in the vicinity of Prescott, opposite Ogdensburg, on the St. Lawrence river.

BATTLE OF WIND MILL POINT.

On November 14, 1838, the patriot forces, under the command of Gen. Von Schultz, intended to have attacked Prescott, but, by the mismanagement of the steamer on which they had embarked, they were compelled to land at Wind Mill Point, a mile and a half below the town. Here, in the stone wind mill and other stone buildings, the command of Gen. Von Schultz, from 200 to 300 in num- ber, remained over night. Early the next morning they were attacked by the British troops, which were several times repulsed,

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Gen. Von Schultz, during the engagement, making a sortie, with some fifty men, in the face of the whole loyalist force, and captur- ing a cannon which was firing upon the mill. The battle lasted about two hours, several casualties occurring on either side, the British loss being much the greater. On the 16th, having received reinforcements, the British forces, to the number of about 300, completely surrounded the wind mill, and with their heavy ord- nance opened fire upon the mill and other stone buildings occupied by the insurgents, who were at length obliged to abandon their position and seek safety in flight. On emerging from the buildings, they made a desperate rush to break through the British lines, but being completely surrounded they were all, with but a single exception, taken prisoners. The one exception was a countryman of the commanding general, a Pole, who escaped the vigilance of the captors by donning the uniform of a British officer who had been slain. This defeat was a serious blow to the Patriots, but by no ineans the end of the contest.

GEN. VON SCHULTZ HUNG.

Notwithstanding a large deputation of the most influential citizens of Ogdensburg visited Canada, in behalf of the prisoners, the Canadian authorities made short work of the matter by hang- ing Gen. Von Schultz and several minor officers and transporting the majority of his followers to the then supposed to be entirely out-of-the-world English penal station, Van Dieman's Land, now known as Tasmania, in the South Pacific Ocean, and one of the most fertile and prosperous of great Britain's colonial possessions. While these stirring events were taking place upon Canadian soil, Gen. Scott was by no means inactive upon the American side of the line. Notonly were inflocking recruits intercepted and prevent- ed from joining the insurgents, and not only were arms and muni- tions of war, large contributions of which were made by the "Hunters," and other sympathizers in the movement, seized and confiscated, but the U. S. troops broke up their Navy Island rendezvous, and also placed the instigator of the movement, Mackenzie, under arrest.

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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