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 93

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 93

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OLIVER B. BEEBE.

istration of President James K. Polk, but later, as a stanch Republican, held the office of mayor and other positions of trust and honor.

The assessors' returns for 1863, '64, '65 (found since the foregoing list was compiled) show the following additional names, though a number of those above given do not appear upon the returns in question: Sheldon Alley, Julius Beck, Andrew Brock, Christopher Cook, James Condon, Barney Conley, Lewis F. Derrick, Edward Damp, Henry Durstine, L. H. Delano, D. Douglass, Edgar C. Edsil, James Etsmingher, Edwin Farmer, Noah N. Faze, William Finkle, Joseph Freeby, Amos E. Griffith, Harvey Hogue, Watson Hoyt, Curtis A. Hall (died in service), Hiram Ingalls (died in service), William H. James, John Jones, George W. Koons, John Lapp. William Lyons, Frank Moore, Christian Maley, Wallace Perry, Lawrence Pfeisterer, Charles Payne, Sherman Seymour, Frank Thorp, George H. Wetmore, Daniel Williams, Samuel Weeks.

THE SULTANA DISASTER .- On page 372 will be found a full account of the destruction of the steamer Sultana, presumably through rebel malevolence, by which the lives of nearly 1,000

753

CASUALTIES DURING THE WAR.

Union soldiers-exchanged prisoners of war-were sacrificed, the following Cuyahoga Falls boys being among the number: Captain Demming N. Lowery, Lieutenant John Eadie, Corporal John W. Eadie, J. C. Cook, 2d Lieutenant John C. Ely, Thomas Evans, Robert Gaylord, C. Nealy, James J. Patterson and Isaac J. Woods, a total of 10, probably not more than one-third of Summit county's victims of the disaster in question.

OTHER CASUALTIES AND DEATHS .- Seneca Blood, died at Knox- ville, Tenn., May 10, 1864; Albert Buchanan, died April 16, 1863; John Condon, died at Hazle Grove, Ky., Oct. 2, 1861; 1st Lieutenant Gurley G. Crane, died at home, of disease contracted in the service, April 27, 1865 ;. George W. Deering, of consumption, 1864; Charles A. Downey, mortally wounded at Dalton, Ga., May 9, 1862; Henry E. Eadie, died at Platte City, Mo., Feb. 19, 1862; Arthur K. Good- rich, died at Murfreesboro, Tenn., Nov. 30, 1864; Edward Green, died at Andersonville, July 17, 1864; Robert Green, shot by rebel guard at Atlanta, July 1, 1864; Isidore Hagle, died at Hilton Head, S. C., Oct. 22, 1863; George L. Holden, died at Cincinnati, Aug. 23, 1863; Hiram Ingalls, killed at Cold Harbor, May 31, 1864; John B. Lyons, died at Louisville, Ky., Sept. 26, 1862; William Lyons, killed at Murfreesboro, Dec. 28, 1864; David McGrath, died in Anderson- ville prison; Charles E. Moon, died at Atlanta, Ga., July 9, 1864; 1st Lieutenant John Murphy, wounded at Stone River and died at Nashville, Jan. 9, 1863; F. B. Purine, killed at North Anna River, Aug. 25, 1864; John Patterson, died in Louisville, Ky., March 14, 1862; John Shellhorn, died in field hospital, near Atlanta, Ga., in 1864; John G. Schnabel, died at Nashville, Tenn., May 4, 1865. Quite a number of the ex-soldiers of Cuyahoga Falls have died since the close of the war whose names cannot be here given.

MUNIFICENT TRIBUTE TO PATRIOTISM .- That the people of Cuy- ahoga Falls duly appreciated the patriotism and heroism of her volunteer soldiery, in the War of the Rebellion, is evidenced by the splendid monument which she erected to their memory and valor at the close of the war. The monument occupying a sightly . position in the village cemetery, consists of a finely wrought mar- ble shaft, upon a triple sandstone base. It is ornamented with a variety of military devices, the whole originally surmounted by a life-like representation of the American eagle, standing upon a globe, and gallantly sustaining and protecting the Shield of Liberty and the Stars and Stripes. A few years later, by some means, the wings of the eagle were broken, and the apex remodeled so that the shaft is now a simple obelisk. On the squares of the shaft the names of the soldiers of the township who died in the service are neatly inscribed, together with the regiment to which they belonged, and the date and manner of their deaths. On the four sides of the plinth sustaining the shaft, in relief, are patriotic and war-like emblems, as follows: East side, flag and anchor, repre- senting the Navy; south side, stack of muskets, representing Infantry; west side, cannon, representing Artillery; north side, crossed swords, representing Cavalry, the front of the marble sur- face bearing the Latin motto: "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori"-"It is sweet and honorable to die for one's country."

MEAGER CRIMINAL CALENDAR .- Though the atrociously cruel and ghastly murder of William Beatson by James Parks, on the night of the 13th day of April, 1853, elsewhere fully detailed, was

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AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

perpetrated within the corporate limits of Cuyahoga Falls, that fearful crime should by no means be debited to that generally peaceable and orderly village; but, on the contrary, her people should be credited with the promptness and energy with which they entered upon the search for the body of the victim and the apprehension of the murderer. While not entirely exempt from the occasional disturbances incident to aggregated heterogeneous humanity, especially where the traffic in, and use of, intoxicating liquors prevail, no fatal collisions, so far as the writer is advised, have ever occurred among her citizens.

THE WRIGHT-PARKER AFFAIR .- The nearest approximation thereto, was the unfortunate affray, between Mr. William Wright and Mr. Isaac Parker, on the 2d day of August, 1842. The exact cause of the collision, except that one or both were inflamed with liquor, is not now remembered, the result being that Mr. Parker very narrowly escaped death from the discharge of a loaded musket at the hands of Mr. Wright. At a preliminary hearing, before Justice Charles W. Wetmore, Mr. Wright was bound over to court to answer to the charge of shooting with intent to kill.

Summit county's first Prosecuting Atttorney, William M. Dodge, Esq., at the September term, 1842, laid the transcript before the grand jury, who returned a bill against Mr. Wright for shoot- ing with intent to kill. Without any of the vexatious circumlocu- tions incident to modern criminal proceedings, the case was brought to trial at the same term, before Judges Van R. Humphrey, Charles Sumner, Hugh R. Caldwell and Robert K. DuBois, and the regular jury for that term, who, after a careful investigation returned a verdict of guilty of shooting with intent to wound, and Judge Humphrey, with impressive remarks about the danger of indulging in the use of intoxicating liquors, sentenced Mr. Wright to imprisonment in the penitentiary for the period of four years. After an incarceration of about one year, a numerously signed petition was presented to Governor Wilson Shannon, who finding · that his conduct had been exemplary during his confinement, restored Mr. Wright to liberty and citizenship on the 14th day of October, 1843. Mr. Wright returned to Cuyahoga Falls, and though he never fully reformed from his intemperate habits, was ever thereafter a law-abiding citizen, and the father of quite a large family of highly respectable sons and daughters.

THE BIRZLEY-JACKSON AFFRAY .- Mortimer H. Birzley, was one of the patriotic young men of Cuyahoga Falls who served in the Union army in the Civil War. But, alas! like too many other young men, both in and out of the army, he had acquired the habit of using intoxicating liquors to excess. Andrew Jackson, (or "Tobe" Jackson as he is familiarly called) was a plantation slave up to the breaking out of the war, in the early portion of which "'Tobe" was sent as a "contraband" to Akron, by the late Dr. B. S. Chase, then assistant surgeon of the 16th O. V. I., afterwards surgeon of the 53rd Mississippi (colored) Infantry. "Tobe" was industrious and enterprising, and is now one of the well-to-do col- ored citizens of Akron. In the early part of October, 1865, three bibulous young residents of Cuyahoga Falls, being on a drinking bout, in Akron, managed to pick a quarrel with "Tobe" who hap- pened to visit the beer-selling grocery store where they were carousing, and inflicted very serious injuries upon him, with their

755

PUBLIC BUILDINGS, LITERATURE, ETC.

fists, iron weights, etc. A few days later, and before "Tobe" had fully recovered from his injuries, he was again assailed, upon the street, by a portion of the same crowd, during which Mortimer H. Birzley deliberately drew a revolver from his pocket and, at near range, discharged its leaden contents into "Tobe's" body. Birzley was immediately apprehended, and examined before Justice Wil- liam L. Clarke, who held him to answer to the Court of Common Pleas, on the charge of shooting with intent to kill.

At the November term, Prosecuting Attorney Edward Oviatt brought the matter to the attention of the grand jury. Three indictments were returned against the accused-two for shooting with intent to kill, and one for shooting with intent to wound.

The defendant was arraigned on the 28th of November, 1865, and entered a plea of not guilty on all three indictments. The next day, however, he changed his plea to guilty of shooting with intent to wound, which was accepted by Prosecutor Oviatt, and the defendant was sentenced by Judge Burke to two years' impris- onment in the State Penitentiary.

Birzley was conveyed by Sheriff Burlison to the penitentiary on the 5th day of December, 1865, and on the petition of a large number of the most respectable people of Cuyahoga Falls, he was pardoned by Governor Jacob D. Cox, on the 6th day of April, 1866, his term of service being four months and one day, only. Young Birzley did not return to Cuyahoga Falls, after his release from prison, but is still a resident of Summit county, and is represented to have been exemplary in his conduct, industrious in his habits and a good citizen.

EARLY BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, DEATHS, ETC .- The first birth in the "New Village" of Cuyahoga Falls is said to have been that of Edward Wetmore, a son of William Wetmore, Jr., in 1827, the "boy" being now a gray-haired resident of Northampton township; the first death a young son of the same family, about one year old, in 1826; the first adult death the wife of Hon. Elisha N. Sill, and daughter of Henry Newberry, Esq., in 1829; the first marriage, a daughter of Deacon Jabez Hamlin to Washington Butler, given name of the bride and date of marriage not now remembered.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS .- Besides the churches and school buildings, Clifford Inn, the hotel of George S. Buoys, and the several pleasure resorts already alluded to, Apollo Hall, in the third story of the brick block, on the southeast corner of Portage and Front streets, is arranged with a fine stage, dressing rooms, etc., has a seating capacity of about 500, with, in cases of emergency, standing room for about 200 additional. Hitherto dependent upon chance accom- modations for trustee and council meetings, caucuses, elections, etc., in 1883 a fine two-story town hall, 45x80 feet, with basement, was erected on the northwest corner of Front and Broad streets at a cost of about $10,000. First story, Council Chamber, School Board, library (two rooms), band. Upper floor, one room, used for caucuses, gymnasium, etc. Basement, fire department, mar- shal's office and lock-up.

LYCEUM, LIBRARY, ETC .- At an early day a village lyceum was organized, the Ohio Review of April 5, 1833, giving the officers elected at the last meeting as follows: President, Henry New- berry; vice president, William H. Taylor; treasurer, Oliver B. Beebe; secretary, Charles W. Wetmore; curators, Henry Wetmore, Timothy

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AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

P. Spencer and Dr. Richard Fry. The question for discussion at the next meeting was: "Ought United States senators in all cases to be bound by the instructions of their respective State. Legislatures ?" But we are entirely in the dark as to the decision of the judges on this important question.

Members were requested to bring to this meeting such books as could be conveniently spared for the purpose of forming a library, in accordance with a late resolution of the society to that effect. This was the beginning of the fine public library, of prob- ably 1,000 to 1,200 volumes, so highly enjoyed and cherished by the people of the village at the present time.

H OSEA PAUL, SR.,-born at North- field, Vermont, April 6, 1809; common school education; in early life clerking in drug store and study- ing surveying ; in 1833, at Canaan, Vermont, of which village he was postmaster, he was married to Miss Ellen Gamble, a native of County Down, Ireland; in 1834 moved to Ohio, living one year in Wadsworth, then settling in Cuyahoga Falls, where he passed the balance of his life ; for a time engaged in the inanu- facture of flour, later resuming his profession of surveyor and civil engi- neer, doing much of the original sur- veying, establishing grades, etc., in the then new village of Akron ; also, officiating as division engineer in the building of both the C., A. & C., and N. Y., P. & O. railroads. In October, 1855, Mr. Paul was elected county surveyor, on the Republican ticket, being successively re-elected in 1858, '61, '64 and '67, continously holding the office until his death, May 29, 1870, nearly 15 years, being also occupied during part of 1863 and 1864 as assist- ant U. S. engineer on military rail- roads and fortifications, District of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Paul were the parents of seven children-Har- rison D., born August 3, 1835 ; George, September 8, 1837; Mary, September

HOSEA PAUL, SR.

9, 1839; Robert S., October 3, 1842; Hosea, Jr., January 17, 1845; T. Dwight, July 21, 1848; Edward J., November 30, 1851, all of whom have attained and maintained honorable positions in life. Mrs. Paul died November 9, 1889, aged 76 years and 18 days, the age of Mr. Paul, at the time of his death, being 61 years, 1 month and 23 days.

UNION FAIR ASSOCIATION.

In 1859, the Summit County Agricultural Society, needing more extensive grounds than they were then occupying, and the management being at loggerheads in regard to location, the peo- ple of Cuyahoga Falls offered the Society a bonus of $6,000 in caslı to locate in or near that village. The proposition not being accepted, a number of the citizens of the village and contiguous townships organized a "Union Fair Association," and handsomely fitted up grounds a short distance north of the village, on the Hudson road. The first meeting, September 1, 2, 3, 1859, was a decided success, both in display and attendance, the receipts being some $600 above expenses. A supplemental meeting was held October 28, the saine year, for a trial of speed between the then celebrated trotters, Flora Temple and "Ike Cook." The weather proving inclement,.

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POPULATION-CONFLAGRATIONS, ETC.

the attendance was slim, the expenses of this meeting eating up the profits of the first, though the trot came off according to programme, Flora winning the first and third heats-time, 2:28; 2:34; 2:33.

In 1860-October 5, 6, 7-there was a fine exhibition but slim attendance, the receipts scarcely covering expenses. In 1861- September 23, 24, 25-the display was also fine, with special attrac- tions, in the military line, prizes being contested for by the Bath Guards, Captain Schoonover; the Buckeye Zouaves, of Copley, Captain Sackett, and the Cowles Tiger Zouaves, of Bedford, the first prize, a silk banner, being won by the Bath Guards and the second prize, a worsted banner, by the Copley Zouaves, the Bed- ford Company being ruled out on account of being one member short of the. stipulated number. The "Secesh" army was also .represented by a company of 75 or 80 mounted "fantasticals" (Cuyahoga Falls boys), while the Tallmadge Artillery, Captain Barnes, and the Young America Gun Squad, of Cuyahoga Falls, furnished "thunder" for the occasion.

As a show, this third fair was a success, but financially a fail- ure, the expenses largely over-balancing the receipts. The war, then fairly on, thenceforth engaging the public attention, no further meetings were held, and the Union Fair Association of Cuyahoga Falls, of 1859-61, is now a pleasant reminiscence, only.

POPULATION GRADUALLY INCREASING.

A writer on Cuyahoga Falls, in 1837, says: "The population of the village is now, probably, about 1,250; three years ago it was but 375." The decennial listings do not even proximately show the distinct population of the village during the first half century of its existence, for the reason that its inhabitants were included in the census returns of the several townships out of which it had been formed. The census of 1870 gave the population of the village and township at 1,861, and the census of 1880 at 2,294, a gain of 433 in the ten years, the census of 1890 placing the number at 2,614, showing a gain in the last decade of 320.

CUYAHOGA'S FIERCE FIRES .- While Cuyahoga Falls has never been visited with any such sweeping fires, as have from time to time devastated Akron, and other near-by towns, yet many thou- sands of dollars of valuable property, have been sacrificed, and serious injury to her industries has been caused, by the devouring element, during the past 60 years, as will be seen by what follows:

In 1833, a large paper and paper-stock warehouse belonging to Stow & Wetmores, on the east side of the river, was destroyed with all its contents. Loss and amount of insurance if any, not now remembered.

Sometime in the early forties, probably, the woolen factory and the stone saw-mill, heretofore alluded to, standing on the west bank of the river, north of the present works of The Turner, Vaughn & Taylor Co., were burned to the ground, the factory belonging to Ogden Wetmore and the mill to Henry Newberry; amount of the losses is not now remembered. They were never rebuilt.

In 1851, the large flouring mill of Stow & Wetmores, on the east side of the river, north of Portage street, was totally destroyed. believed to have been the work of an incendiary. Loss not stated,

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AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

On the night of November 25, 1853, the fine new paper mill of J. M. Smith & Co., on the west side of the river, was entirely burned. The mill, stock and machinery was valued at $20,000, but about $5,000 worth of machinery being saved, made the net loss- about $15,000. The mill had been in operation but a few days. Mr. William A. Hanford, the "Co." of the firm, had made applica- tion for insurance, and the papers were to have been executed the next day, so that the loss was total.

For many years the bagging and twine factory of John Hinde & Sons, in the south part of the village, (now known as the Glen Wire Mill property,) was one of the most prominent of the varied industries of Cuyahoga Falls, giving employment to a large num- ber of hands, and consuming immense quantities of flax from the farms of the surrounding country. This mill was destroyed by fire about the year 1860, entailing a very heavy loss upon its pro- · prietor, but it was at once rebuilt, and soon in running order again. The exact date of the fire, losses, etc., and the causes of the final decline of that industry are not now accessible to the writer.

On the morning of October 24, 1866, several business blocks on Front street, including Gillett's grocery store, Tifft's meat market, Dr. P. G. Somers' office, postoffice, Steadman's jewelry store, and the fine stone block, known as the Bank Building, the lower floor of which was occupied by H. C. Lockwood, as a dry goods store, were consumed by fire. The town having no fire engine of its. own, sent a messenger to Akron, hunted up Mr. Thomas W. Cor- nell, then a recent comer from Cuyahoga Falls to Akron, who got permission from Mayor Mathews for Akron's steamer to go to their assistance. Engineer Julius S. Lane, and his faithful driver, Moses Cummins, with their newly purchased $550 team, were promptly on hand, but not a livery man would furnish an extra team to help draw the steamer up the "Chuckery" hills. (Howard street exten- sion had not then been made.) "Come on, boys!" exclaimed Cor- nell, "we can double up on the hills," and some 18 or 20 Eagle Hose boys, with hose reel, and others, actually made the run with the steamer, on foot, manning the ropes, and pulling for dear life on heavier grades. Their progress was, of course, comparatively slow, and they were met about a mile from the village by a mes- sage that the fire was under control.

The goods in the several establishments burned were mostly removed, but the buildings were a total loss, amounting to many thousands of dollars; but the saddest result was the death of Mr. John M. Hinde, a young recently married man of 24, and a soldier of the late war. Though young Hinde was troubled at times with heart disease, he was among the foremost in trying tosave the prop- erty of those who were being burned out, and while thus engaged in removing goods from Lockwood's store, he sank exhausted behind the counter, and though afterwards found and carried into the open air, and every effort made for his resuscitation, he did not recover consciousness, and soon afterwards expired.

HANDSOMELY DONE .- Under the above heading the BEACON, of October 24, 1866, said: "The citizens of Cuyahoga Falls, notwith- standing their own severe loss by fire this morning, contributed $105.00 to the firemen of this city, who so promptly turned out with steamer, hose, etc., to aid them in subduing the fire. Though they were in readiness to start within fifteen minutes from the

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DESTRUCTIVE FIRES.

time of receiving the notice, and made all possible speed, the fire had nearly spent itself before their arrival, the messenger to turn them back meeting them about a mile this side of the village."

The west side paper mill of J. M. Smith & Co., burned as above stated, in November, 1853, was immediately rebuilt by that firm, and rechristened the " Phoenix." Passing into the possession of Hanford & Yeomans, it was again burned at noon, on the 30th day of October, 1867. Loss $25,000 to $30,000; insurance about $12,000. The mill was again rebuilt by Messrs. H. & Y. and supplied with first- class machinery and is now a part of the plant for some years past operated by the Cuyahoga Paper Company.

About 1 o'clock on the morning of September 18, 1872, the large machine shop of Alford, Pitkin & Co., successors to A. G. & H. W. Bill, on the east side of Water street, was discovered to be on fire, and owing to the stiff breeze that was blowing at the time, and the want of proper fire-extinguishing appliances, was speedily con- sumed. The main building was a two-story frame, 35x130 feet in size, with office, blacksmith's shop and other small buildings attached, all of which, with their valuable machinery, tools, etc., were totally destroyed. Loss, $20,000; insurance, $3,000; net loss, $17,000.

Nearly across the street stood the fine new brick "Empire Mill" of Hanford Brothers, devoted to the manufacture of fine cover papers, the structure being part two and part three stories high, above the basement, and all filled with first-class machinery and valuable stock. The wind, blowing briskly from the east, soon carried the flames from the combustible machine shop to the mill, and soon that, too, was being rapidly consumed, and was totally destroyed. Loss, $32,000; insurance, $14,000. At this fire, Thomas O'Neil stumbled and fell, a large box falling on his leg, breaking it above the knee, and Mr. James Peebles was overcome by heat and carried to his home in an unconscious condition, but both speedily recovered. This mill was immediately rebuilt, and, after a great variety of vicissitude, together with the Phoenix, is now owned by George Sackett, Esq., and has for several years past been operated by the Cuyahoga Paper Company.

On the night of March 31, 1881, the three-story building of the Falls Wire Manufacturing Company, was discovered to be on fire in the roof, about 10 o'clock, by Marshal Richard Reid and Mr. C. A. Vaughn. The alarm was immediately sounded, and though the citizens promptly rallied, and fought. the fire vigorously, the second and third stories were destroyed, the lower story with its machinery and a large quantity of wire ready for shipment being saved, though in a somewhat damaged condition. The large new ware- house and annealing rooms were saved by the faithful work of the "bucket brigade." Loss from $8,000 to $10,000, covered by insurance.

At this fire Mr. Carleton H. Reeve was quite seriously hurt, by the falling of the ladder on which he was working; Mr. Charles F. Harrison injured in one of his eyes, and another man somewhat bruised by a falling ladder, though fortunately none of the injuries were fatal.

On the evening of September 28, 1882, the hollow-brick block belong to the estate of George H. Lodge, the lower floor occupied by G. C. Cook, groceries; A. Seadschlag, merchant tailor, and George Martin, pretzel baker, and the upper floor by the Reporter office of

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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