Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 42

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 1006

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When in Congress Mr. Giddings' physical strength and commanding person gave him great advantages over ordinary men. This with his power of denunciation and indomi- table pluck and habit of plain speaking, made him an object of intense hatred by the Southern fire-eaters. As it was his habit to carry a heavy cane, they stood in wholesome awe of the Ashtabula giant. And well they might ; for one who had passed his young life in felling big oaks down in Wayne and occa- sionally " toting " live rattlesnakes around on logs could not but be an object of wholesome respect even with a fire-eater.

My father," said Mr. G., "after his famous encounter with Black, on the floor of Congress, met an amusing incident which he used to relate with glee. He was walking on Congress avenue, as usual swinging his cane, when he met Black coming toward him. The latter happened to have his head down and did not see father until he got within about three rods of him, when on looking up he suddenly stopped short as if astounded, and then in a twinkling dodged down an alley- way."

Another anecdote is told of Giddings. Preston Brooks challenged him to personal combat. Mr. Giddings did not wish any harsh means used with his political enemies if he could avoid it. Brooks continued his threats. Finally one day when he was having a wordy combat with the bully, he got out of patience and told him he would fight him and he could choose his time, place and weapon. To this Brooks replied, "Now is my time and my weapon a pistol." "Very well," rejoined Giddings ; "all I want to settle this affair is a York shilling raw-hide." With such a contemptuous expectoration of speech as this, but two alternatives were left the bully : assassination, or a howling and gnash- ing of his teeth. Mr. Giddings was not as- sassinated.

JOSHUA REED GIDDINGS was born in Athens, Pa., in 1795, and at eleven years of age came to Ashtabula county with his parents. In 1838 he was elected as a Whig to Congress, but soon became prominent as an advocate of the right of petition and the abolition of slavery and the domestic slave trade.

In 1841 the " Creole," an American vessel sailed from Virginia to Louisiana with a cargo

of slaves, who got possession of the vessel, ran into the British port of Nassau and in accordance with British law were set free ; whereupon Mr. Webster, Secretary of State, wrote to Edward Everett, United States Min- ister to London, saying that the government would demand indemnification for the slaves. In consequence Mr. Giddings offered in the House a series of resolutions in which it was declared that as slavery was an abridgment of a natural right it had no force beyond the territorial jurisdiction that created it; that when an American vessel was on the high seas it was under the jurisdiction of the general government, which did not sanction slavery, and therefore the mutineers of the "Creole' had only assumed their natural right to lib- erty, and to attempt to re-enslave them would be dishonorable. Although he temporarily withdrew the resolutions the House passed a vote of censure, 125 to 69, whereupon he re- signed and appealing to his constituents was re-elected by an immense majority. For twenty years he held his seat in Congress, op- posing every encroachment of the slave power with a boldness and strength that won the fear and respect of its advocates. Whenever he spoke he was listened to with great atten- tion, and had several affrays in which- he always triumphed. He declined re-election from ill health in 1858 and died at Montreal in 1864 and while holding the position of United States Consul in Canada. His disease was atrophy of the heart. Towards the close of his Congressional career he had one time, while speaking, fallen to the floor. The members gathered around, thinking he was dead. For eight minutes his heart ceased to beat. He was the author of several political works, mainly essays bearing upon the subject of slavery.

BENJAMIN F. WADE was born in Feeding Hills Parish, Mass., in 1800. His parents were miserably poor and he received but a limited education. For a while he supported himself by hard labor, first at farm work and then as a digger on the Erie canal. About 1821 he removed to Ohio. At that period he had been a great reader, mastered the Euclid and was well versed in philosophy and science. He read the Bible through in a single winter by the light of pine torches in his wood-chop- ping cabin. In 1828 he was admitted to the bar and eventually became a partner with Mr. Giddings. He soon took a prominent stand from his industry, plain, strong common sense and aggressive courage. In politics lic was originally a fervid Whig but he soon came to sympathize with the anti-slavery views of Mr. Giddings. In 1851 he was elected to the United States Senate, where his long years of service won for him a never-ending repu- tation. He was in the advance in the anti- slavery movements, while his indomitable pluck, hard-hitting speech without a particle of polish rendered him a most conspicuous, effective champion. The public prints of the time abound with anecdotes illustrative of his fearlessness and ready wit. At the time of the Nebraska debate Mr. Badger, a member

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from North Carolina, hypothetically described himself as wishing to emigrate to the new territory and to carry his old colored mamma with him-the slave woman who had nursed him in infancy and childhood, and whom he had loved as a real mother-and he could not take her. The enemies of this benevolent measure forbade him. " We are unwilling you should take the old lady there," interrupted Wade; "we are afraid you'll sell her when you get her there." .Roars of laughter fol- lowed this stinging reply, which was said by Judge Jerry Black to have been the most ef- fective single blow ever dealt a man on the floor of Congress. As chairman of the Com- mittee on the Conduct of the War no words, says Whitelaw Reid, can give an idea of the value of his services, the energy with which he helped to inspire the government, of the zeal, the courage, the faith which he strove

to infuse. He was elected President of the Senate, and consequently acting Vice-Presi- dent of the United States, shortly after Mr. Johnson's accession to the presidency, and had the attempt at his impeachment been successful, would have become President. In person Mr. Wade was six feet in height, very finely proportioned and of great physical power. An original thinker, bluff, hearty and plain spoken, he withal under this rough ex- terior carried a tender heart, as is illustrated by his once discovering a poor man, a neigh- bor, entering his corn-crib and carrying off his corn, when he quietly moved out of sight so he should not pain him with the knowledge that he saw him, no doubt reasoning in this way : "Poor devil, he has a hard enough time any way, and I don't care if he does now and then help himself to my abun- dance."

Drawn by Henry Howe, 1846.

PUBLIC SQUARE, ASHTABULA.

[On the left is shown the City Hall, in front the Baptist church, and in the distance the tower of the Public School building, an immense structure, where one morning we found the front yard black with little people; they seemed a thousand strong.]

ASHTABULA IN 1846 .- Ashtabula is on Ashtabula river, on the Buffalo & Cleve- land road, eight miles from Jefferson. It is a pleasant village, adorned with neat dwellings and shrubbery. The borough contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopal, 1 Methodist and 1 Baptist church, 10 mer- cantile stores, and a population estimated at 1,200. The harbor of Ashtabula is two and a half miles from the village at the mouth of the river. It has several forwarding establishments, twenty or thirty houses, the lake steamers stop there, and considerable business is carried on ; about a dozen vessels are owned at this port .- Old Edition.

Blakeslee and Moore, Photo., Ashtabula, 1887. PUBLIC SQUARE, ASHTABULA. The Ashtabula of that day was still suffering from a severe shock in the loss of the steamer " Washington," Capt. Brown, destroyed by fire on Lake Erie, off Silver creek, in June, 1838, by which mis-

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fortune about forty lives were lost. This boat was built at Ashtabula harbor, and most of her stock was owned by persons of moderate circumstances in this place.

Ashtabula, on Ashtabula river, and line of four railroads, is the principal town of a large agricultural and dairying district. It has about 7,000 inhabitants and is growing rapidly, owing to the development of its natural advantages as a point of shipment of coal to the lake cities of the west, and ore from the Lake Su- perior mining districts. Ashtabula has 4 newspapers ; Ashtabula Telegraph, Republican, James Reed, editor ; News, Independent, E. J. Griffin, editor ; Standard, Democratic, J. Sherman, editor ; Record, daily, Republican, F. V. Johnson, editor; also 2 Finn, semi-wecklies. 8 churches-1 Metho- dist, 1 Baptist, 1 Presbyterian, 2 Con- gregational, 2 Episcopal and 1 Catholic. Banks: Ashtabula National, P. F. Good, president ; J. Sum. Blyth, cashier ; Blakeslee and Moore, Photo., 1887. ASHTABULA HARBOR. Farmers' National, H. E. Parsons, president ; A. F. Hubbard, cashier.

Manufactures and Employees .- Ashtabula Tool Co., agricultural implements, 96 hands ; L. M. Crossby & Son, Fanning Mills, 15; Phoenix Iron Works Co., ma- chinery and castings, 18 ; Ashtabula Hide & Leather Co., 32; Ashtabula Carriage Bow Co .; London Rubber Co., rubber clothing, 74 .- State Report, 1886. Popu- lation in 1880, 4,445 ; School census 1886, 1,172. Supt., I. M. Clemens.

The principal feature of Ashtabula is its harbor, which promises to lead all the lake ports in the amount of iron ore received. From thirty to fifty vessels arrive weekly with cargoes of ore, while the shipments of coal nearly equal those of Cleveland or Erie. From 700 to 1,000 men are constantly employed on the docks, a large proportion of them being Fins and Swedes-a thrifty people and good citizens, most of them owning their homes. The harbor is three miles from the main town, but is a part of the same corporation ; it is connected with it by a street railway. The rapid development and growth of Ashtabula in the past twelve years has been owing to the enterprise of the citizens, with the aid of the National government in developing its natural harbor. When the work now in progress is completed it will have a channel with a uniform depth of eighteen feet.

Along the banks of the Ashtabula river are thousands of feet of docks, from which twenty to forty vessels are con- stantly loading or unloading their cargoes. The iron ore is shipped to the manufac- turing regions of Youngstown, Pittsburg and farther east, while thousands of tons of coal are conveyed here by the railroads from the great coal field of Ohio and Penn- sylvania and shipped to Chicago, Duluth and other lake cities in the west.

Ashtabula harbor is supplied with the ASHTABULA BRIDGE. most improved machinery for handling coal and ore of any of the lake ports, and it is not unusual for propellers carrying 2,400 tons of iron ore to be unloaded in- side of twelve hours.

In 1872 this district about the river and harbor contained less than 200 in- habitants, two or three struggling stores, and one or two old decaying warehouses, relics of former industry. Now it has more than 2,000 inhabitants, is a flourishing community and a scene of ceaseless activity night and day.

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THE ASHTABULA RAILWAY DISASTER, which occurred at this place early in the night of Dec. 29, 1876, was one of the most memorable in the history of railway tragedies. The night was cold and bitter, a blinding snow-storm blowing at the rate of forty miles an hour in full progress, as the Pacific Express No. 5, westward bound over the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, broke through the iron bridge over the Ashtabula river and plunged into the chasm, just seventy-five feet from rail to river. The time was exactly 6.35, as afterwards ascertained by a clock in the engine.

The train was composed of eleven coaches, drawn by two heavy engines, having

RUINS OF THE ASHTABULA BRIDGE.

on board 156 human souls. The span of the bridge was 165 feet lang between abutments. At the moment of the crash one engine had gained the west abutment, while the other engine, two express cars, and a part of the baggage car rested with their weight upon the bridge. The remaining eight cars were drawn into the gulf. Of the persons on board at least eighty perished in the wreck ; nearly all the others were wounded ; five died after rescuc. The wind was at the time blowing a perfect gale, the cars caught on fire and those unable to extricate themselves per- ished in the flames. From the burning mass came shrieks and the most piteous cries ror help, and with these sounds mingled the fire-bells of the town, whose in- habitants hurried to the spot to be agonized by the sight of the awful scene of wo.

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Two weeks later Charles Collins, chief engineer of the railroad, shot himself with a revolver. He was universally esteemed, and lost his mind through an undne sensitiveness that the public would hold him responsible for the calamity. Nine- teen of the unrecognizable dead were buried by a public funeral in the Ashtabula cemetery ; the sad proecssion was over a mile in length. Among these were sup- posed to be the remains of P. P. Bliss, of Chicago, and wife. He was the author of the famous hymn " Hold the Fort." One of the engravings shows the bridge before the disaster, the other the spot after it. The debris was about fifteen feet deep. The railroad company promptly paid all claims for damages, the disburse- ments amounting to nearly half a million of dollars, averaging about $3,000 per head for the killed and wounded.

TRAVELLING NOTES.

Ashtabula, Thurs., Oct. 8 .- A pretty cus- tom is that of a hotel in this town where I am stopping. The house itself is an ordinary two-story, wooden structure standing off on a little side street, but its appointments are ex - cellent. Its name is the "Stoll House," but it is known far and near as the "Bouquet House." This because at each guest's plate is placed a freshly-plucked button hole bouquet neatly wrapped in tin foil, with a pin thrust through it. The pretty waiteresses often volunteer their services to pin these on the lapels of the gentlemen guests, an extra pleasant duty, I fancy, where they happen to be fine, fresh-looking young men, as I find them to be now. I know not how there can be a more fragrant prelude to tea and biscuit. In the evening the hotel office was filled with a dozen commercial travellers, each with the inevitable bouquet on his lapel, all apparently happy and full of joviality ; a natural effect of the combination of a good supper with feminine smiles and flowers.

The Fins .- What largely tends to render our country increasingly interesting is the great variety of people arriving among us, so we need not go abroad to study foreign cus- toms and ideas. A new element has lately

come into this region, cmigrants from Fin- land ; but recently subjects of the Czar. Down at Ashtabula harbor is a large colony of Fins and Swedes, numbering several hundred, who are employed as lahorers on the docks. They are highly thought of; their religion is Lutheran. Fins, young men and women, are scattering on the farms in this part of the State as laborers and domestics, and are noted for their industry and honesty. Their marriage ceremony is peculiar, lasting half an hour ; it is partly kneeling and partly praying. The festivities run through several days, consisting of dancing and carousal, dur- ing which the dancing capacity and endurance of the bride is taxed to the utmost ; cach gentleman is expected in turn to dance with her and at its conclusion to pass her over fifty cents as his contribution to her dowry. Those able dance many times with the bride. On their first arrival they wear their own home- woven garments, woolen and linen. Instead of bonnets the women wear shawls; also home woven and plain black silk. In their own country a man's yearly wages on a farm are twelve dollars and his boots! Ohio says to them "Come ! we welcome you and at your option, with boots or without boots."

GENEVA is three miles from Lake Erie, forty-five miles east of Cleveland, on the line of the L. S. & M. S. and N. Y. C. & St. L. Railroads. The P. A. & L. E. R. R. is expected to complete its line to the harbor, three miles north of Geneva, within the coming year. It is forty-five miles east of Cleveland. Free gas and free fuel are offered by its enterprising citizens as inducements to manufacturers to locate here. The Eastern Division of the Black Diamond Railroad passes through the town.

Newspapers : Times, Republican, J. P. Treat, editor ; Free Press, Republican, Chas. E. Moore, editor. Churches : 1 Congregationalist, 1 Methodist, 1 Episcopal, 1 Baptist, and 1 Disciples. Banks : First National, P. N. Tuttle, president, N. H. Munger, cashier ; Savings Exchange, J. L. Morgan, president, L. E. Morgan, cashier.

Manufactures and Employees. - Geneva Manufacturing Co., carpet sweepers, 12 hands ; Eagie Lock Co., cabinet locks, 110; Enterprise Manufacturing Co., house furnishing, etc., 27 ; Geneva Manufacturing Co., carpet sweepers, 15; Geneva Tool Co., forks, hoes, cultivators, 95; Goodrich, Cook & Co., planing mill, 25; Eagle Loek Co., locks, 26 ; Enterprise Manufacturing Co., hardware, 31 ; N. W. Thomas, planing mill ; Geneva Skewer Co., skewers, 26 ; Geneva Machine Co., machinists' tools, 75 ; M. S. Caswell, flour and feed ; Goodrich, Cook & Co., planing mill, 13. -State Report, 1886. Among the other industries are Dickinson's nickel plating

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works, Anderson's flour and feed mills, Maltby's extensive apple, jelly and cider manufactory, Waters & Wade's bed spring factory, Lane & Moreland's steam injector factory, Tibbitt's machine shop, Jackman's flour and feed mills, C. R. Castle's fruit basket factory, Cadle's bottling works, Bedell, Bartholomew & Co.'s lumber mill, Reid's extensive brick and tile works, Geneva prepared chalk works, and W. P. Simmons & Co., wholesale florists, growers and importers. Population in 1880, 1,903 ; school census in 1886, 577.

The village of Geneva until the year 1888 had long been the home of Miss Edith M. Thomas, the noted American poetess, a notice of whom, with portrait, will be found under the head of Medina county, in which she was born.

PIOCAAPHS

Frank Henry Howe, Photo., 1888.

CENTRAL VIEW IN GENEVA. The Soldier's Monument appears in the distance.

TRAVELLING NOTES.

Geneva is a pleasant name, and the town- ship has an enduring fragrance in my memory, for within its limits in my original tour over Ohio in 1846 I passed several most enjoyable days, a recipient of the hospitality of a man of rare character and usefulness, the late Platt R. Spencer. The home was a quaint, comfortable old farm house in a level country, with the surroundings of grassy lawn, orchards and forests, about two miles from Lake Erie. It was in the heats of summer; a severe drouth prevailed throughout this region, the home well had given out and I remember I daily rode Pomp, the faithful companion of my tour, and his willing burden down to the lake for his drinks. Mr. Spencer was at the time the secretary of the Ashtabula County Historical Society and had collected nearly a thousand folio manuscript pages; it was a rare mine, from whence I took nearly all the historical materials embodied under the head of this county as well as much elsewhere. Mr. Spencer was born on the first year of this century in the valley of the Hudson ; when a boy of ten, came with his family to this county and died eighteen years after my visit to his home. The great work of his life was as a student and teacher of penmanship. For this art he was a born genius. President

Garfield, writing of him in 1878, said : " He possessed great mental clearness and origi- nality and a pathetic tenderness of spirit. I have met few men who so completely won my confidence and affection. The beautiful in nature and art led him a willing and happy captive. Like all men who are well made he was self-made. It is great to become the first in any worthy work, and it is unques- tionably true that Mr. Spencer made himself the foremost penman of the world. And this he did without masters. He not only became the first penman, but he analyzed all the ele- ments of chirography, simplified its forms, arranged them in consecutive order, and created a system which has become the foun- dation of instruction in that art in all the public schools of our country." Mr. Spen- cer's early struggles to learn writing show the strength of a master passion. Up to eight years of age he once wrote he had never been the rich owner of a single sheet of paper ; having then become the fortunate proprietor of a cent he sent by a lumberman twenty miles away, to Catskill, for a single sheet. When he returned it was after night. Platt was in bed, when he arose all enthusiasm but could not produce a single letter to his mind after an hour's feverish effort, when he re- turned to his bed and to be haunted by un-

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happy dreams. Paper being a luxury rarely attainable in those days he had recourse to other materials. The bark of the birch tree, the sand beds by the brook and the ice and snow of winter formed his practice sheets.

In his twelfth year he for a time enjoyed the privileges of a school at Conneaut. He then began as instructor in penmanship for his fellow-pupils. Being anxious to complete his studies in arithmetic he walked bare- footed twenty miles over frozen ground to borrow a copy of Daboll. On his return night overtook him, when he slept in a set- tler's barn, too timid to ask for lodgings in the cabin.

Mr. Spencer was for twelve years county treasurer : was a strong advocate of the tem- perance cause and that of the slave. He was the pioneer in the establishment of commer- cial and business colleges. His copy books

have been sold into the millions, and the Spencerian pens are widely favorites with rapid writers.

Interesting and strange are often the little minor surprises of life. We all have them. In conclusion I will relate one to myself. Twelve years since I happened to be one evening at the home of a lady in Washington City of whom I had never before heard. Ac- cidentally a book of exquisitely graceful pen- manship from her hand met my eye. I could not help expressing my admiration, where- upon she replied, "I ought to be a good writer, for I am the daughter of Platt R. Spencer." "Ah! I was once at your father's house-do you remember me ?" "I do not -when was that?" "In the summer of 1846." "Therein," she replied, " you had quite the advantage of me-got there several years before I did."

.....

We give here some amusing incidents copied by us in 1846 from the MSS. of the County Historical Society. Although trivial in themselves they have an illustrative value.

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Morse's Slough. - There is a stream in Geneva, called "Morse's Slough," and it took its cognomen in this wise: For a time after the Spencers, Austin, Hale, and Morse commenced operations clearing the woods on the lake shore, in the northeast corner of Geneva, they plied their labors there only a week at the time, or as long as a back-load of provisions, that each carried, might hap- pen to last. Whatever time of the week they went out, those having families returned on Saturday night to the settlements, and those without returned whenever out of provisions. The main portion of provisions by them thus transported consisted of Indian or corn bread ; and whoever has been used to the labors of the woods, swinging the axe, for instance, from sun to sun, and limited to that kind of diet almost solely, will know that it requires a johnny-cake of no slight dimensions and weight to last an axeman a whole weck. It must, in short, be a mammoth of its species ! Such a loaf, baked in a huge Dutch oven, was snugly and firmly pinioned to the back of James M. Morse, as he, with others, wended his way to the lake shore, intent upon the labors of the week.

The stream was then nameless, but never- theless had to be crossed, and Morse must cross it to reach the scene of his labors. Al- though a light man, he had become ponder- ous by the addition of this tremendous johnny- cake. The ice lay upon the streams, and men passed and re-passed unloaded without harm. Not so those borne down with such encum- brance as distinguished the back of Morse, who was foremost among the gang of pioneers, all marching in Indian file and similarly encum- bered. They came to the stream. Morse rushed upon the ice-it trembled-cracked- broke-and in a moment he was initiated into the mysteries beneath, with the johnny-cake holding him firmly to the bottom.

The water and mud, though deep, were not over his head. The company, by aid of poles, approached him, removed the Gloucester hump of deformity from his shoulders, re- lieved him from his uncouth and unenvied attitude, and while he stood dripping and quivering on the margin of the turbid ele- ment-amid a shout of laughter they named this stream "Morse's Slough."

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Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 42

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio Number of Pages: 1006

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 1006