USA > Ohio > Ashtabula County > History of Ashtabula County, Ohio > Part 41
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# By Harriet L. Keeler.
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HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY, OHIO.
to cover its hateful deformity, men who minister at the altar in holy things sacrilegiously de- fame God their Creator and Christ their Redeemer. . . . As Christians, we ask you to do all that you can for its overthrow. In the name of humanity, in the name of Him who lived and died for man's redemption, we appeal to you. By the better principles of your nature; by the tender ties of sympathy which bind you to the whole family of man; by the pure principles of the religion of Jesus Christ; by all that is good on earth or in heaven, we entreat you to unite with us in doing all that we can to overthrow a system so vile, so demoralizing, so sub- versive of the interests and rights of man and of the government of God. Slumber we may, yet the eye of eternal justice slumbers not. To-day the death-shrieks of an innocent nation are mingling with the dismal groans of the captive in the great prison-house of American bondage, loudly calling for retribution as they ascend into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
" We ask you to aid us in rescuing the bondman from the consuming fires of slavery ; we ask you 'to labor to regenerate public sentiment so that the bondman may have his freedom ; to labor faithfully in the cause of emancipation till the last yoke be broken, till the last fetter falls from the last slave;' to do what you can to undo the heavy burdens, to give freedom to the captive, and to establish the Christian principles of love and human brotherhood."
Such words as these live; they live in the memory of those who hear them, they bear fruit unto a better life.
During the entire anti-slavery agitation Miss Cowles and her sister Cornelia were foremost in this work. Often, after a stirring address, an impromptu quar- tette would be improvised, Miss Cornelia sustaining the soprano and Miss Betsey the alto ; and as their strong, sweet voices rang out in the touching strains, " Say, Christian, will you take me back ?" or that other saddest of lamentations, ---
" Gone, gone ; sold and gone To the rice-swamp dank and lone, From Virginia's hills and waters,- Woe is me, my stolen daughters !"
bosoms, hardened before, thrilled in sympathy with an influence they could not but feel, and melted before a power they could not withstand. It is true that Benjamin F. Wade and Joshua R. Giddings represented the sentiment of Ash- tabula County in the congress of the nation; but Betsey M. Cowles, more than any other one person, created the sentiment in Ashtabula which upheld those men.
Nor was it alone for the slave that she made her voice heard and her influence felt. The position of women before the law, especially the married woman, early arrested her attention. In 1848, in Seneca Falls, New York, a convention was called by Lucretia Mott and Mrs. H. B. Stanton, for the purpose of obtaining from the constitutional convention about to meet in that State juster laws regard- ing women. Over this convention Lucretia Mott presided. The next one held was in Salemu, Ohio, for a similar purpose, in 1850, and Betscy M. Cowles pre- sided. We of this day can scarcely realize that those who wrought the mighty changes in our social fabric are either still with us, or have just now fallen by the way- side. The broad, generous, charitable thought of the present is due to the un- ceasing effort of a few earnest souls, who counted all things as naught if only they might win some to a broader outlook. Of those zealous workers not one was more earnest, and in her circle more efficient, than the subject of this sketch.
In the mean time she never swerved from her devotion to her chosen vocation. The public schools of Massillon and Canton were nursed in their infancy by her care. Among the people of both these cities her name to-day is a household word. From Canton she was called to assist in organizing and carrying forward the normal school at Hopedale, in Harrison county, Ohio, where she remained until another call took her to Bloomington, Illinois, to again apply her genius and talent to establishing the State Normal school of that city. From there she went to Painesville, where she held the position and performed the duties of superin- tendent of schools, with great satisfaction, for three years. Her last teaching was done at Delhi, New York, where she remained until admonished by threatened blindness to rest, and if possible avert the impending calamity. There, as else- where, she made for herself a place in the hearts of her pupils and of the people, and the mention of her name is but the signal for the warmest expressions of love and affection. It was during her stay in Delhi that Mr. Lincoln issued his emanci- pation proclamation, and as she read it she said, " The two great tasks of my life are ended together, -- my teaching is done, and the slaves are free."
In 1865, having lost an eye through an unsuccessful surgical operation, she went back to her childhood's home to spend the remaining days of her life. She went back to no ignoble rest, no useless repining, but to do as she had always done,-carc for the weak, counsel the doubting, aid the strong, encourage all who came within her influence. Those who were privileged to enjoy her intimate asso- ciation during this time feel that at no period of her life were her labors more helpful to others than then. In June, 1869, her sister Cornelia died, and for the first time Betsey staggered under a blow which seemed heavier than she could bear. Their love for each other had been as the love of David and Jonathan, and half of Betsey's life seemed stricken away. Soon, however, she rallied, and how deeply she mourned Cornelia's death was never known until, after her own departure, the daily entries of her diary attested it. For seven years had she kept the time by years and weeks since the day of her great bereavement:
" 6 yrs. and 45 weeks since dear Cornelia left us. The Lord is my helper.
"6 yrs. and 46 weeks since the light of our house went out. Do they love there still ?"
And the last entry, July 16, nine days previous to her own death, she writes: " 7 years and 7 weeks since our dear Cornelia was hidden from sight."
The last recollection the writer has of her is of that nature to which we can always turn with consolation when thinking of a departed friend. It is the mem- ory of that sweet, strong voice ringing out, with a pathos which was not human and a passion which was not mortal, the words ---
" He leadeth me; Hc leadeth me ; By his right hand He leadeth me."
Those who knew her intimately during the last years of her life could not but observe how the strong faith of her youth surged back, in an overwhelming tide, either to sweep away or to fill with its own completeness all the doubts of a life- time, and the words of that passionate hymn were but the expression of the firm trust of her own spirit, -- " He leadeth me."
The last public work in which Miss Cowles was engaged was the building of the new Congregational church in Austinburg. It was mainly through her exer- tions that the structure was erected, and the first public gathering within its walls was the funeral service held over her remains.
She died July 25, 1876, at the homestead in Austinburg, after an illness of a single week. Her death was sudden and unexpected. A long ride in the heat, a hearty meal when exhausted, an acute attack of inflammation, and death. Her friends, save those in Austinburg, were scarcely notified of her illness ere the tele- graph bore them the sad news that she was gone. Her diary, however, attests that this result might not have been wholly unforeseen, since for three months previous the sad refrain of every exercise was, "So tired; I am so tired." The weakening of the vital forces was slowly going on ; but she never complained, and no one knew until it was too late.
Her ashes lie buried in the little cemetery opposite her home, whose care for the last ten years had been her charge, and for which she made provision in her will.
To that place of graves her own is added. Green grass covers it, blue skies arch it, the birds sing near it. But greener than the grass, fairer than the sky, sweeter than the birds, and more hallowed than the grave itself, is the memory of her name and virtues enshrined in the hearts of those who knew and loved her.
Useful as was her life, fitting as were her words and deeds, all who knew her felt that she herself was greater than all she did. " It was not so much," writes one who loved her, "what she said and did, as the atmosphere she created, which influenced all hearts." So sunny and genial and hospitable was that great soul, it secmed as if the instinct of all sufferers drew them to her side. From her counsels none went empty-handed away. To her all occasions were equal, and she was equal to all occasions. She was indecd a perfect woman, uobly planned.
CORNELIA RACHEL COWLES.
In this work the biography has been given of a woman of whom Ashtabula may well be proud-Miss Betsey M. Cowles. In order to make that biog- raphy complete, a sketch is given of the life of her sister Cornelia. These sisters had a most intense affection for each other, for they had lived together, traveled together, sympathized with each other, drawn from a common fund, advocated the same cause, and lived apparently only for each other. Their names are house- hold words in many homes throughout Ohio, and their social acquaintances ex- tended over the land between the Atlantic and the Pacific and the Lakes and the Gulf, and they were known only to be loved and admired.
Cornelia Rachel Cowles was one of the nine children of the Rev. Dr. Cowles. She and her twin-brother, Lysander, were born in Bristol, Connecticut, in the year 1807. As stated in the sketch of her sister, her father moved with his family to Austinburg in the year of 1811, when the country, to use a common but emphatic expression, was a howling wilderness. She grew up with the growth of civiliza- tion on the Western Reserve, under the teachings of her learned father, the in- fluence of her Christian and intellectual mother, and amidst the circle of the superior class of minds that were wont to partake of the ever-ready hospitality of her father's housc. Her mother was a woman of great force of character, of culture and refinement, gifted with a most sweet voice for music, and in her younger days, according to the language of the late Judge Quintus F. Atkins, " When she stood up at the baptism of her eldest child she was the most beauti- ful woman I ever set my eyes upon." Cornelia and Betsey both inherited from their mother their strong sense, their naturally refined feelings, their amia- bility of character, and their musical gift. In addition, nature made Cornelia
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HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY, OHIO.
inclined to be somewhat witty, which, combined with the self-reliance she had in common with her sister, and moving in all circles of society from the brightest and most cultivated to the humblest, the higb standing she had in the estimation of all who knew her can thus be realized. She was educated mainly in the humble district school in vogue during the early days of the Western Reserve. and finished her education in her " father's study." which at that time had the largest and most complete library in the county, and which contained many of the standard works of the day. The educatiou she thus acquired-" picked up" as some would call it-under all these disadvantages was far more thorough and practical than is obtained by many daughters of wealth at tbe fashionable seminaries of the present day. Sbe acquired her musical education at the singing schools and singing clubs under the leadership of Squire Lucretius Bissel, who was quite proficient as a leader for those days. In 1837 she sang on a salary in the Rev. Dr. Aiken's church, Cleve- land. The following year she went to New York city, and sang in St. Peter's Episcopal church. Brooklyn, as a professional, and placed herself under the instruc- tion of Professor Ives, who was then celebrated as a teacher of music. In 1840 she returned to her home, and afterwards taught music in some of the neighbor- ing villages. In 1845 she was employed to sing in the Rev. Dr. Tucker's church, Buffalo, and afterwards she sang in a prominent church in Cincinnati.
In 1836 the family circle was composed of her brother Lysander, Rachel, his wife. Lewis, Martha, and Betsey. This circle received a most acceptable addition in the person of Dr. Theodore Harry Wadsworth, a grand-nephew of Dr. Cowles, and who came from Farmington, Connecticut, and was connected with the old Wadsworth family of that State. Although only twenty-four years of age, he was a thoroughly-educated physician, and of a scientific turn of mind. He made his home with his maiden cousins, Betsey, Cornelia, and Martha, and to the time of his death was considered as a brother. His attainments, generous nature, perfect integrity, honor as a man, and fine conversational power made him a favorite with all, and he was a welcome visitor wherever he went. He never would allow anything to interfere with the performance of his professional duties. Many were the times that he has risen at night and ridden several miles through storm and clay mud to visit a poverty-stricken patient, knowing all that time he never could expect any pay, except in gratifying his benevolent heart and having the consciousness of having performed his duty to suffering humanity. From this it can be seen that his nature was in full sympathy with those of the sisters, hence the brotherly and sisterly feelings between them.
In 1843, while in the discharge of a professional duty, in making a post-mor- tem examination. a cut finger came in contact with the blood of the subject, and the poisonous virus was instilled into his system. After his arrival home he felt ill, and he promptly realized that he was beyond the reach of human aid. After enduring in a most heroic manner intense suffering, that young man passed away to join his kindred in the blessed land. He was surrounded by the weeping household and friends, and everything that the hands of affection could do to alle- viate his suffering was done. His funeral was attended by nearly the entire com- munity, and largely from the neighboring towns, among whom were his poor, non- paying patients, who felt they had lost a noble-hearted friend. The death of Dr. Wadsworth was a severe affliction to the sisters. Miss Betsey was absent at the time in Portsmouth, Ohio, where she received the sad intelligence, and she was stricken with sorrow, for she loved the " noble-hearted Harry" as her own brother.
Cornelia, assisted by the magnificent alto voice of Betsey, and the sweet tenor of her brother Lewis, frequently sang some of tbe stirring anti-slavery songs at Anti-Slavery and Free-Soil meetings. In those days the " Cowles Family" was considered a necessary adjunct to a meeting of that kind. Their singing by many was considered superior to that of the famous Hutchinson Family. Cornelia's voice was a most powerful soprano, and yet she could sing as softly as an angel's whisper. In 1860 her brother Lewis died, leaving a sad vacancy in that trio of sweet singers.
During the War of the Rebellion the hearts of the sisters were with the gal- lant boys in blue. They aided in forming the Austinburg branch of the Northern Ohio Soldiers' Aid society. At many entertainments given for the benefit of that society the music of their songs were invariably called into requisition. During the height of the war their niece, Mrs. Helen C. Wheeler, a daughter of Dr. E. W. Cowles, a brilliant specimen of the daughters of Ashtabula, a woman of most majestic presence and of remarkably fine appearance, was living in Washington. She spent her entire time visiting the hospitals and ministering to the wants of the gallant Union wounded. She saw great suffering among the thousands that could have been greatly alleviated by simple articles, such as fans, handkerchiefs, napkins, certain kinds of vegetables, canned fruits, jelly, etc. She wrote a series of letters to her aunts vividly describing the sad scenes she had wit- nessed in the hospitals, and suggesting that the women of Ashtabula should take hold and provide these articles to the fullest extent of their power. These letters were published in the Sentinel. and they awakened the most intense interest
among the wives, mothers, sisters, and affianced of the two thousand sons of Ash- tabula who were then in the service, for they thought a loved one might be among the occupants of the hospitals. They went to work and collected a large number of boxes and barrels of supplies, and forwarded them to Mrs. Wheeler, to be distributed by her in the hospitals.
In 1864 the community was shocked by the sad intelligence of the death, at the attack on Petersburg, of a nephew of the sisters,-Sergeant-Major Giles H. Cowles, son of Mr. William Elbert Cowles. This young man was the favorite among the nephews of the sisters, and in common with the venerable, grief- stricken parents, they were almost crushed. At the breaking out of the war young Cowles was a student at Grand River Institute, and enlisted as a private in the Ashtabula regiment, and participated at Harper's Ferry and some other engagements. At the end of his term of enlistment he returned to his home, and resumed his studies. In 1863 his feelings of patriotism impelled him to enlist again. When at Camp Chase he applied to Governor Brough for permis- sion to be examined before the board with a view of promotion, which was granted, and he was appointed sergeant-major of his regiment. At the siege of Petersburg his sense of duty required him to expose himself to the fire of the enemy by passing up and down the line of his regiment, intrenched as it was behind low earthworks, and he was killed. This gallant student-soldier, the light of his venerable father, was only twenty-one years old when he gave up his young life on the altar of patriotism.
Miss Cowles died in June, 1869, at the old homestead, after an illness of two weeks, aged sixty-one years. Her sweet voice was silenced, never to be heard again in this world. It has pleased Him " who doeth all things well" to trans- fer her from the earthly choir where she sang so long during her life to the great Heavenly choir, where her golden-toned voice is being heard by her kindred who have preceded her, and where it will be heard forever. She lies buried by the side of her twin-brother, Lysander Mix Cowles. Of all her brothers and sisters only two are now living,-William Elbert, aged eighty years, and Martha Hooker, aged seventy-four years. She was followed in 1872 by her eldest sister, Mrs. Sallie B. Austin, and by ber sister Betsey, in July, 1876.
JUDGE SAMUEL COWLES.
Hon. Samuel Cowles, of San Francisco, a son of Austinburg, was born in that township, in March, 1823. He was a sou of Dr. E. W. and Almira MI. Cowles, and a grandson of the Rev. Dr. Cowles. His boyhood days were spent in Mantua, Austinburg, Detroit, and Cleveland. He attended Grand River institute for several terms, and finished his education at the Western Reserve college. In 1844 he studied law in Cleveland. with the Hon. S. J. Andrews, Hon. John A. Foot. and Hon. J. M. Hoyt, then composing the firm of Andrews, Foot & Hoyt, and in 1846 he finished his legal studies in the office of the Hon. S. B. Prentiss and his brother, F. J. Prentiss, and was admitted to the bar that year. He formed a copartnership with Loren Prentiss, Esq., practiced law with him till 1850, when they dissolved, and he then formed a partnership with Edwin B. Mastick, Esq., and they practiced till March, 1852. That year they were taken with the California fever, and, although they had built up a very respectable practice, they concluded they would emigrate to the new Eldorado and try their fortune there. In common with thousands of the early Argonauts they had their full share of the deprivation of the comforts of life. In 1856 he was elected police judge of the city of San Francisco by the law and order party, in spite of the opposition of the gamblers and lawless portion of the population, and served with credit to himself and to the cause of justice. In 1860 he was elected on the Republican ticket to the office of judge of the court of common pleas, and was re-elected in 1863, and served till January 1, 1868. It was on the bench that he made for himself the reputation of being a profound lawyer and jurist, which is proved by the fact that of all his decisions, many of tbem involving intricate Mexican land- titles to the amount of millions of dollars, that had been appealed to the State supreme court during his entire judicial career of six years, only three were reversed. At the expiration of his term he was presented with a series of reso- lutions, engrossed on parchment, signed by the entire bar of San Francisco, regard- less of political affinities, expressive of their appreciation of his eminent integrity as a judge, his standing as a jurist, and their regret at his leaving the benchi. Previous to his re-election he was pressed to accept the nomination for the State supreme bench, but declined on account, as it is generally supposed, of his being afflicted with too much modesty. In 1856 he took part as a member of the famous vigilance committee that was formed to punish the assassination of James King-of-Williams, the editor of the Bulletin, and to rescue the government of tbe city from the control of the prize-fighting, gambling, and thieving portion of the
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HISTORY OF ASHTABULA COUNTY, OHIO.
community. That committee was composed of sixty companies of one hundred men each, six thousand in all, comprising the entire law-ahiding and business eom- munity of San Francisco. The murderers of King-of-Williams were formally tricd according to rules of law, and executed, and the leaders of the lawless clement were driven from the State, and from that date the prevalence of order and decrease of crime were noticeable features of the result of the doings of that committee. It was not a vulgar mob,-it was a revolutionary body.
In 1877, during the prevalence of the great railroad strike, which had spread all over the country, resulting almost in a reign of anarchy, the lower and foreign elements of San Francisco commenced a series of riots against the Chinese resi- dents of that city. Although the authorities had succeeded in keeping the mohs in check, yet it was deemed that the situation was terribly critical, and great danger existed of the city being sacked. Judge Cowles was a member of the committee of safety, consisting of twenty-five of the principal citizens, which was appointed, into whose hands, in conjunction with the authorities, the protection of the city was placed.
After Judge Cowles retired from the bench he formed a copartnership with A. N. Drown, Esq., and has practiced his profession ever since with distinguished success.
He was married in 1849 to Miss Anna L. Wooster, a great-granddaughter of General Wooster, who was killed in one of the battles of the War of the Revo- lution. He is a brother of Mr. Edwin Cowles, editor of the Cleveland Leader ; of Mr. Alfred Cowles, of the Chicago Tribune; and of Mrs. Helen C. Wheeler, of Butler, Missouri. He has a family of six children, mostly grown up.
ALFRED COWLES.
Alfred Cowles, printer and publisher, was born in Mantua, May 13, 1832, a son of Dr. E. W. and Almira M. Cowles, and grandson of the Rev. Dr. Cowles. His early days were spent in Cleveland, Detroit, and Austinburg. At the latter place he attended school at Grand River institute for several terms. For some years previous to attending that school and afterwards he picked up his trade of printer in the printing-office of his brother, Mr. Edwin Cowles. He finished his education in the University of Michigan, and in 1853 entered the office of the Cleveland Leader as book-keeper. That paper at that time was published by John C. Vaughan, Mr. Joseph Medill, now of the Chicago Tribune, and Mr. Edwin Cowles, its present editor. In 1855, Messrs. Vaughan and Medill sold out their interest in the Leader to Mr. Edwin Cowles, and moved to Chicago, and purchased the Tribune. Appreciating the husiness ability of Alfred, then a young man of only twenty-three years, they offered him inducements to take charge of the business department of the Tribune, then in a deplorahle financial condition, which he accepted. The result of the swarming out of the Leader office of these three gentlemen was the resuscitation of the Tribune, then con- sidered on its last legs, and the making of that paper what it has been since, one
of the foremost journals in the land, both editorially and financially. The success of this great paper was owing to the editorial abilities of its leading writers, at various periods, Messrs. Mcdill, Dr. Ray, Horace White, and Governor Bross, and to the management of the business and mechanical departmcuts by Mr. Cowles. Measuring the standing of the Tribune hy the amount of its business and its profits there are only two papers that excel it in these respects, namely, the New York Herald and Philadelphia Ledger, the New York Times taking equal rank with the Chicago Tribune. When it is considered that this remarkable specimen of journal- istic success is located in Chicago, a new city of less than half a century's growth, and only one-third of the size of New York and Brooklyn, which are properly the field of the New York papers, and a city one-half the size of Philadelphia, the field of the Ledger, a realizing sense can be attained of the newspaper talent shown by Mr. Cowles. Furthermore, the Tribune publishes more telegraphic news, several times over, more general news, and more reading matter than are given by the greatest of European journals, the London Times, backed as it is by a city of seven times the size of Chicago, saying nothing of the almost innumerable cities and villages within a few hours' ride of that great metropolis.
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