USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > History of Cuyahoga County, Ohio > Part 17
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Some of these vessels attracted especial attention when thrown among a lot of English ships which were wind-bound at Land's End. The latter were entirely unable to beat around the point, but the American vessels, by their superior sailing qualities, were able to run elose to the wind, unload, reload, and sail on another voyage before one of the others could make its way around the " End."
Direct trade with Europe promised to be an in- portant part of the commerce of the country, but it was driven by the rebellion into English hands.
In 1858 it was found that the brick court-honse, built thirty years before, was entirely inadequate to the rising business of the county, and it was not thought desirable any longer to ineumber the public square of Cleveland with county buildings. Accord- ingly, in that year, a substantial stone edifice, of two stories, was erected on ground on the north side of Rockwell street, facing the northwest corner of the square.
The panie of 1857 had had a depressing influence upon Cuyahoga county, as upon the rest of the coun- try, but it was so light in comparison with the finan- cial earthquake of 1837 that old stagers did not eon- sider it as a very serions matter. By 1860 all busi- ness interests were in the way of rapid recovery.
By the census of that year the population of the county was seventy-seven thousand two hundred and six, of whom forty-three thousand four hundred and seventeen were in the city of Cleveland, while the re- mainder occupied the various townships in the fol- lowing numbers: Bedford, 1,098; Brecksville, 1,024; Brooklyn, 5,358; Chagrin Falls, 1,479; Dover, 1,284; East Cleveland, 3,011; Enclid, 1,769; Independence, 1,663; Mayfield, 1,079; Middleburg, 2,592: Newburg, 2.810; Olmstead, 1,410; Orange, 1,095; Parma, 1,480; Rockport, 1,793; Royalton, 1,297; Solon, 1,009; Strongsville, 958: Warrensville, 1,554.
Among the events of the year the most interesting was the celebration of the anniversary of Perry's vie- tory, and the erection of a monument to that hero. The idea originated with Hon. Harvey Rice, who in- trodneed a series of resolutions to that effect in June, 1857, into the City Council of Cleveland, which unan- imously adopted them. A committee of five members of the Council was authorized to contraet for the erection of the monument, and to solicit subserip- tions to meet the expense; it consisted of Harvey Rice, chairman; O. M. Oviatt, J. M. Coffinberry, J. Kirkpatrick, and C. D. Williams.
In the autumn the committee contracted with T. Jones and Sons, proprietors of marble works at Cleve- land, who agreed to provide all materials and ereet a monument surmounted with a statue of Perry, in the best style of the sculptor's art, subject to the approval of the committee, in time for the celebration on the tenth of September, 1860. The price was to be six thousand dollars, if so much eonld be obtained by
Stwemson Bunke.
THE PERIOD FROM 1840 TO 1861.
subscription from the citizens of Cleveland, as to which the contractors took all the risk.
After corresponding with various artists, Messrs. Jones and Sons procured the services of Mr. William Walentt as the sculptor of the statue. A block of rough Carrara marble was imported from Italy, and the entire work of shaping the statue was performed in the studio of Messrs. Jones and Sons at Cleveland. On account of the increased cost of the monument, as finally approved, the contract price was increased to eight thousand dollars-always provided it could be obtained by subscription.
The work went forward, and in the forepart of 1860 the council sent out a larger number of invita- tions to the approaching fete. These included the son, daughter and other relatives of Commodore Perry; all the survivors of the battle, the governor. State officers, etc., of Ohio, the governor, State officers and legislature of Rhode Island (the State of Perry's residence), and numerous distinguished individuals throughout the country. It was determined to locate the monument in the center of the public square, at Cleveland.
The celebration was fixed for Monday, the 10th of September, 1860. On Saturday, the 8th. Governor Sprague, of Rhode Island, with his staff, the State officers and many members of the legislature of that State, and the Providence Light Infantry, arrived at Cleveland; being received with a speech of welcome by Governor Dennison, of Ohio, who was already in the city. Immense crowds of people also came by all the railroads, so as to be ready for the celebration on Monday. Thousands upon thousands also came by teams on Saturday and Sunday, from all the country round.
During Monday forenoon every railroad brought an almost continnous succession of trains; all the cars being loaded with people, inside and out. After careful computation it was estimated by cautious and experienced men that at least one hundred thousand visitors were in the city during the afternoon of Monday.
The procession was of great length: General J. W. Fitch being marshal of the day. It was headed by eighteen companies of uniformed militia, of which the folowing were of this county: Cleveland Light Artillery regiment, under Colonel James Barnett and Lieutenant Colonel S. B. Sturges, consisting of com- panies A, B, D and E, commanded respectively by Captains Simmons, Mack, Rice and Heckman; the Brooklyn Light Artillery under Captain Pelton; the Cleveland Light Dragoons, under Captain Haltnorth; the Cleveland Grays, under Captain Paddock; the Cleveland Light Guards, under Captain Sanford.
The military was followed by Govs. Dennison and Sprague and their staffs; the guests from Rhode Island; the mayor and common council of Cleveland: Messrs. Jones and Sons, contractors ; officers and soldiers of the war of 1812; survivors of the battle of Lake Erie; descendants and relatives of Commodore
Perry; William Walcutt, the sculptor; George Ban- croft and Dr. Usher Parsons (surgeon in the battle, ) orators of the day; and the judges and clergy of the vicinity. Following these eame a very large number of the Masons of northern Ohio and neighboring States, marshaled by their respective officers; the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows; and a long array of citizens and strangers.
Among the distinguished persons present, besides those already named, were Oliver Hazard Perry, the son of the Commodore; Rev. Dr. G. B. Perry, a rel- ative of the commodore, and chaplain of the day; Commodore Stephen Champlin, a cousin of Perry, and commander of the " Scorpion " in the battle; and Capt. Thomas Brownell, pilot of the " Ariel."
The monument and statue had been set up in the public square, which since that time, and in honor of the occasion, has been called Monumental Park .* The services were held there; the statue being unveiled by the sculptor. The pedestal is of Rhode Island granite, twelve feet high, while the statue, of Italian marble, is eight feet two inches in hight. Of course it faces the lake which was the scene of the great victory. On the lake front of the monument is a representa- tion, in alto reliero, of the celebrated scene when the hero passed amid a shower of bullets from the deck of the stricken " Lawrence " to that of the " Niag- a.a." The statue itself is very spirited in design and exeention, and. while we do not feel competent to speak of those technical points which a sculptor would observe, yet we can truly say that not only was it highly satisfactory to those who knew the commodore, as a piece of life-like portraiture, but it is in exact harmony with all American traditions regarding the brave, handsome, dashing, high-spirited vietor of the battle of Lake Erie. Since the celebration two smaller figures by the same artist, a " Sailor Boy " and a " Midshipman," have been placed on the monu- ment, on either side of the chieftain.
George Bancroft, the distinguished historian, de- livered the principal address, and Dr. Usher Parsous narrated the events of the battle, as they came under his observation. The proceedings at the square were closed by the impressive ceremonies of the Masonic order.
One of the most interesting events of the day, to the people at large, was the mock battle on the lake, which followed the ceremonies at the square, in which the two fleets which had met in deadly combat forty- seven years before, were faithfully reproduced by vessels of similar size, and in which, after a furious cannonade and the representation of the principal incidents of the real combat, the British ships, one after the other, struck their colors to the victorious Americans.
The following day the military companies present held a grand parade, and were reviewed by Governors
* Ax most of our readers are probably aware, the monument has been moved during the present season to a point nearer the sontheast corner of the park
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GENERAL HISTORY OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY.
Dennison and Sprague. This closed by far the great- est and most interesting celebration that Cuyahoga county had ever seen.
We have described it at considerable length, for it was not only a brilliant event of itself but it was the most striking occurrence in this county, during the last year of peace. The patriotie memories of the past were insufficient to restrain the madness of the of the slave-propagandists, and when next the streets of Cleveland resonnded with the tread of hurrying crowds, there was no moek battle in prospect.
The political campaign, which was in progress when the great celebration took place, resulted, as is well known, in the triumph of the Republican party, and the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presi- dency. It is needless here to recount at length how this manifestation of the people's will was made an excuse for rebellion by the slave-holders of the South; how State after State abandoned its allegiance, and how the coming of spring found a Southern Con- federacy already organized and armed, in defiance of the authority of the republic for which Perry fought.
Here, as elsewhere throughout the North, men looked on in amazement at this disloyal madness, and it was not until the blow actually fell upon the walls of Sumter that they could bring themselves to believe in the reality of such senseless infamy.
CHAPTER XV. DURING AND SINCE THE WAR.
The Uprising of the People-Camp Taylor-Our Plan of Showing Ser- vices of Soldiers-Lists of Soldiers-The Ladies' Meeting-Permanent Organization -Co-operation with other Societies-Dr. Newberry-The Soldiers' Aid Society of Northern Ohio-Numerons Subordinates Fort Donelson-Pittsburg Landing-The Territory Tributary to the Society-No Slate Lines-Pressed for Means-A Gift of Ten Thousand Dollars-"Soldiers' Acres" and "Onion Leagnes "-The Northern Ohio Sanitary Fair-Its Success-Immense Returns-Other Labors-A Threatened Draft Riot- Dispersal of the Mob -- The "Squirrel Hunters" -Cuyahoga Governors -- Ted and Brough-Brough's Exertions in 1864-The Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad-The Soldiers become Men of Peace-Prof. Newberry-The Census of 1870-The Crisis of 1873-The Fourth Court-House-The Jail -Conclusion.
ON the 14th of April, 1861, the storm burst. The Cleveland papers of the next morning contained a full account of the assault upon Sumter. As the High- landers of three centuries ago sprang to arms when the fiery cross was sent among them by their chief- tains, thus, and almost as swiftly, responded the men of the North when the daily newspapers told the story of their country's danger. The sons of Cuyahoga connty were ready with the foremost. From the stores and offices of the city, from the shops of the villages, from the farms of the country, they came forward to do battle for the integrity of the nation. The Cleveland Grays and Company D of the Cleveland Light Artillery were two of the very first companies to take the field for three months, to give an oppor- tunity for the organization of a permanent force.
On the 22d of April Camp Taylor was established at Cleveland by the governor, and made the rendezvous
of the volunteers from northern Ohio. By the 27th of the same month several thousand men were in camp, coming from nearly all the counties of the section named. Cuyahoga county furnished three companies, and parts of several others, who became members of the Seventh infantry.
In order to give even an idea of the services of the soldiers of Cuyahoga county during the war, we find it necessary to furnish a separate sketch of each regiment and battery in which it were represented. As Cuyahoga had soldiers in no less than sixty-two regiments of infantry and cavalry, and seventeen batteries of artillery, many of these sketches must of necessity be exceedingly brief. Their size is made proportionate, so far as possible, to the number of men from this county in each organization, and to the amount of service rendered.
Each sketch of a regiment or battery is followed by a list of the soldiers serving in it who were residents of this county at the time of the war, with a state- ment of their respective enlistments, promotions, discharges, etc. These have been compiled with great care from the records in the adjutant-general's office at Columbus, and are perfect transcripts from them. It is possible that there may be defects in the rolls in the adjutant-general's office, either from the soldier's giving the wrong residence, or from acci- dental causes, but this we cannot avoid.
So far as the historical sketches are concerned, we have depended largely on Reid's "Ohio in the War," the correctness of which we find to be endorsed by all the Ohio soldiers who have examined it and whom we have talked with on the subject. In regard, how- ever, to those regiments which are largely represented from this county, we have taken pains to consult with surviving members and obtain from them an account, not only of the principal services of each command, but of some of the numerous incidents which lend variety to the story of life in the field. When regimental or battery histories have been pub- lished, these have been the principal sources of in- formation.
These historical sketches, each with its accompanying list of soldiers from Cuyahoga county, follow immedi- ately after this chapter; being arranged according to the regimental or battery number in, successively, the infantry, cavalry and artillery arms of the service.
The people warmly sustained the efforts of their gallant soldiers, and the ladies were especially zealous in doing so. On the 20th of April, five days after the President's first call for troops, the ladies of Cleveland assembled for the purpose of offering what- ever aid they could give, though as to what it would be they, like every one else, were profoundly ignorant. For a few days the more active seraped lint and made bandages, and made "raids " on the people to obtain blankets for new volunteers, as yet unprovided with those necessary articles.
In a short time the Ladies' Aid Society of Cleve- land was permanently organized. As this soon be-
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DURING AND SINCE THE WAR.
came the head of the various movements in northern Ohio in aid of the soldiers, and in six or seven months assumed the name of the Soldiers' Aid Society of Northern Ohio, it should properly be considered as an institution of a general character, and some of its acts should be narrated in the general history of the county. The first permanent officers were Mrs. B. Rouse, president; Mrs. John Shelley and Mrs. Wm. Melheich, vice presidents; Mary Clark Brayton, see- retary; and Ellen F. Terry, treasurer. In the spring of 1863, Mrs. Lewis Burton became vice president; Mrs. Shelley having removed from the county. The secretary and treasurer served faithfully throughout the war, and have since published a handsome and interesting book on the workings of the society, en- titled "Our Aere and its Harvest," from which we have derived the items given here.
The leaders of the Cleveland society speedily in- vited the co-operation of the smaller places, sending out an immense number of circulars to clergymen, prominent citizens, ladies, etc. Numerous societies were soon organized in nearly all the townships of this county and the adjoining counties; some being start- ed independently and some on account of the sug- gestions of the Cleveland organization, but almost all being soon drawn into affiliation with it; being con- vinced that they could best attain their object by act- ing in subordination to it.
In September, 1861, Dr. J. S. Newberry, of Cleve- land, was made secretary of the Western department of the United States Sanitary Commission, and thenceforth had general supervision of the affairs of that association in the valley of the Mississippi. In the following month the Cleveland Aid Society was made a corresponding branch of the United States Sanitary Commission. On the 30th of November, 1861. its name was changed to the Soldiers' Aid Society of Northern Ohio, as already mentioned. Thenceforth its acts and fame were national rather than local. Its benevolence was not even bounded by State lines, but extended to all who wore the Umon blue.
At the time of the change of name just noted, the society was receiving contributions from two hundred and forty-three towns of northern Ohio, of which a hundred and twenty had branch organizations. Find- ing that steady contributions were necessary. rather than spasmodic efforts, the Aid Society prevailed on a large number of citizens to make pledges of small, regular amounts weekly, on which the officers conld rely to supply increasing needs.
After the capture of Fort Donelson, a thousand sets of hospital clothing and a hundred and sixty boxes of supplies were sent forward. But it was after the bat- tle of Pittsburg Landing that the greatest excitement prevailed. Nearly every regiment from the Western Reserve was present, hundreds of men from Cuya- hoga county were among the killed and wounded, and the whole community felt the shock. Thou- sands of contributions of every description flowed in
upon the ladies of the society, by whom they were forwarded to the suffering soldiers.
By the first of July, 1862, there were three hundred and twenty-five societies organized as branches of the Soldiers' Aid Society of Northern Ohio. These associations collected funds and supplies in their own way, receiving suggestions from the Northern Ohio Society as to what was best to be done. The sup- plies were then forwarded to the latter association which sent them to whatever points they were most needed. The officers of the Northern Ohio Society refused to receive money from any of the subordinate organizations; thinking it better that it should be in- vested in material, prepared for use by the members of the various associations at home, and then for- warded by means of the facilities which the Northern Ohio Society could furnish. There were tributary to it at this period, and during the latter part of the wasr, nearly all the societies in the counties of Trum- bull, Ashtabula, Mahoning, Columbiana, Carroll, Stark, Tusacarawas, Portage, Geanga, Lake. Summit, Wayne, Hohes, Ashland, Lorain, Huron, Erie, Me- dina and Cuyahoga; besides a small part of North- western Pennsylvania.
A list of contributions was published weekly in the Cleveland Herald. The ladies also availed themselves of the offer made by Mr. Edwin Cowles of the use of two columns weekly of the Cleveland Leader, for such use as they might find necessary. It will be rement- bered that the society was not only a sort of general agency for all northern Ohio, but was also the di- reet agent for all Cleveland contributions. It were impossible to tell the story of a hundredth part of the services performed by it; of delicacies of all kinds sent to the wounded and the sick; of clothing and bed furniture supplied to hospitals; of friends fur- nished with information: these and hundreds of sim- ilar services were performed day after day, month after month, year after year, from the beginning to the end of the war, for soldiers of every State from Maine to Kansas; alike for the stalwart heroes of Minnesota and the persecuted Unionists of Tennessee.
In the winter of 1862-3 the society had over four hundred branches. Yet money and contributions then came in slowly, for taxes were heavy, prices of all kinds were high, and the exertions of the last two years had told seriously on the resources of the people. It was aided by lectures by the celebrated Elihu Bur- ritt, and by the scarcely less celebrated Artemus Ward (whilom a resident of Cleveland under the name of Charles F. Brown), and ere long it received a gift of ten thousand dollars, part of a large dona- tion from California. This seemed then like a very large amount, being accepted only in instalments. and previous efforts to secure a permanent supply being steadily continued.
At this time there was a cry for more vegetables. on the ground that seurvy was appearing in the army. The Northern Ohio Society promptly forwarded large quantities of potatoes and onions, and at the
11
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GENERAL HISTORY OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY.
same time endeavored to enlist the people within its influence in providing for a permanent supply of those and similar articles. Many farmers set aside a " soldier's acre" for this purpose in the spring, and even the children parodied the " Union leagues " of the day with " Onion leagues," which cultivated beds of that useful vegetable for the benefit of the nation's defenders.
In February, 1864, the Northern Ohio Sanitary Fair was organized under the management of the association; an immense frame structure being built in the center of Monumental Park, at Cleveland. over Perry's statue, at a cost of ten thousand dollars. As this was half as much as the gross receipts of any sanitary fair yet organized, it was deemed a very haz- ardons expenditure. The fair was inaugurated on the twenty-second of February, and after a most brilliant display and numerons successful entertainments it was found that the gross receipts were a trifle over a hundred thousand dollars, while the expenses were but about twenty-one thousand dollars. The sub- stantial surplus thus acquired enabled the ladies of the association to extend their operations, and to supply a much larger number of siek and wounded soldiers than before with comforts and delicacies, which in some degree mitigated their sufferings.
The labors of the association were continued to the end of the war, and even after its close thousands of invalid soldiers received its aid, while the families of the dead were assisted in the procurement of pen- sions, and in numerous other ways.
We have spoken at some length (considering the many subjects requiring mention in such a book as this) of the association and its work; for during those fateful years it was really one of the great institutions of Cuyahoga county, and was also a faithful exponent of the feelings of the people.
Nearly all the quotas called for from the county were filled by volunteering. A draft was ordered, however, in September, 1862, to fill some vacancies, and at one time serious trouble seemed imminent. A mob of five hundred or six hundred persons, armed with clubs, pistols, etc., surrounded the othice of Hon. Harvey Rice, commissioner of the draft, on account of imaginary unfairness in its management. Meeting them firmly, he sent to Camp Cleveland, on Wood- land lights, for military aid. Shields' Nineteenth battery, just organized, was there, awaiting orders to go to the front. They were armed with venerable Austrian muskets, and with an old six-pounder used to fire salutes with.
They came hastily down: their muskets being loaded with ball cartridge, and their solitary cannon half filled with a miscellaneous assortment of nails, serap iron, bullets and other death-dealing missiles. When the mob made some extra violent demonstrations, the command, acting as infantry, charged bayonet and drove them from the square, but. fortunately for both parties, was not called on to fire the miscellaneous load out of the cannon. Mr. Rice then permitted
the people to send in a committee to examine the operations of the office, who found that every thing was conducted with the utmost fairness. This was the only serions attempt at rioting, or opposition to the law, made during the war, in Cuyahoga county.
Besides the numerous organizations mentioned in the following chapters, when the State was threatened with invasion by Bragg in 1862, and a large number of " squirrel hunters " were called on to help defend it, a company marched to the front, from Berea and vicinity, armed with their "squirrel rifles," and ready to aid in repelling the enemy if necessary. They were not called on to do so, however, and some returned homo ..
It was not strange that Cuyahoga county mani- fested so much energy and zeal in the Union cause; for two of the war governors of Ohio resided wholly or partially within its limits. Hon. David Tod, who was elected governor by the Union Republican party in the autumn of 1861, taking his seat on the 1st of January following, had a residence at Cleveland, and also one outside of the county. Hon. John Brough, the leonine statesman who was elected by the Repub- lieans over Vallandigham in the autumn of 1863 by a hundred thousand majority, was also a resident of Cleveland, and president of the Bellefontaine railroad company. In the spring of 1864 he consulted with other western governors and proposed that they call out a hundred thousand men for a hundred days, to guard posts and otherwise aid in achieving success in the campaign of that year. All agreed, as did the war department at Washington. The latter tele- graphed for thirty thousand Ohio militia in ten days. Thirty-eight thousand responded within the time. This sturdiest of Unionists and most ener- getie of governors died in the office he had done so much to dignify and make useful.
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