USA > Ohio > Portage County > History of Portage County, Ohio > Part 36
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Seat of Justice and Public Buildings .- The act erecting Portage County designated the house of Benjamin Tappan as the place for holding the courts of said county until a permanent seat of justice should be established. This house, the second one occupied by Judge Tappan, was a frame building, which then stood about a mile east of Ravenna on what is now the Marcus Heath farm, and was erected by John McManus for Tappan about 1804. A tradition exists that on the first meeting of the Court of Common Pleas August 23, 1808, this house was found in ruins, having been burned down the previous night. The journal of that date does not mention where the Court first met, but says that after organizing and accepting the report of the Commissioners, Robert Simison, Samuel Hunter and Rezin Beall, appointed by the Legislature to select a seat of justice for Portage County, it adjourned to meet the same afternoon at the house of Robert Eaton. The journal of the Commissioners of Portage County shows that their first session was held at the house of Robert Eaton on the 8th of June, 1808. The Eaton house, which is yet standing in a fair state of preservation, is located about two miles and a half southeast of Ravenna, and is now (January, 1885, ) the residence of R. J. Thompson, Esq. It is a two-story frame structure of large dimensions, and was utilized for both Court House and Jail until the completion of the first public buildings at Ravenna in 1810.
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HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.
Ravenna was laid out by Benjamin Tappan early in 1808, and the plat acknowledged by him April 22 of that year before Henry O'Neill, a Justice of the Peace of Franklin Township, Trumbull Co. (now in Portage), Ohio, which township then embraced a large scope of territory in Portage County, subse- quently divided into several townships. The State Commissioners previously mentioned soon afterward selected Ravenna as the seat of justice for Portage County, and reported the result of their labors to the Court of Common Pleas of said county at its first session the following August. The original town plat contained 192 lots, four of which were donated by Judge Tappan for pub- lic uses, viz. : Nos. 22 and 78 for school sites, and Nos. 52 and 108 for churches. He also gave a piece of ground at the southwest corner of the town plat for a grave-yard, for which purpose it was used several years. On the 25th of April, 1809, the Commissioners of Portage County purchased of Judge Ben- jamin Tappan, as the agent of his father, Benjamin Tappan, of Northampton, Mass., Lots Nos. 55, 56 and 57, whereon the Court House and Jail now stand, for the sum of $300, the acknowledgment of the deed for said lots being made by Judge Tappan on the same date before Joseph Harris, a Justice of the Peace of Portage County. The next things necessary were a Court House and Jail, and under the date of December 5, 1809, the following item appears on the Commissioner's journal :
Mr. William Tappan entered into an agreement in behalf of himself and John Tap- pan, to erect at the seat of justice in Ravenna at their own expense a Court House forty feet long, thirty feet wide and twenty feet high, the lower story to be finished for the accommodation of the Court, etc .; and to build a log Jail two stories high, twenty-five feet long and twenty feet wide, the lower story to contain three rooms, and a chimney to con- tain two fire-places, one on each story; and the said William and John, on the completion of the said Court House and Jail, are to receive those lots given by Benjamin Tappan for the use of the county.
From the wording of this agreement we would naturally infer that Ben- jamin Tappan had donated some lots to the county, but there is not the stroke of a pen on record to show that Portage County ever received a foot of land from Judge Tappan or from any other member of the Tappan family, only what she paid for. We have already shown that the lots upon which the Court House and Jail now stand were purchased of Judge Tappan for the sum of $300, a copy of the deed for which may be found in the Recorder's office, and this is the only transaction on record relating in the remotest degree to the subject, as the lots given for the sites of churches and schools, as well as the block of land for burial purposes, were for the use of the citizens of Ravenna and not for Portage County. Judge Tappan, however, may have agreed to donate certain lots for public uses, though never legally transferring them to the county, and the Commissioners concluding to locate the public buildings on their present site, turned over their right to said lots to William and John Tappan, to whom the deed was subsequently made, yet there is not an iota of evidence on record to give any foundation for this theory, only the agreement for erecting the Court House and Jail made between the Tappans and the County Commissioners December 5, 1809.
The buildings were completed in the summer of 1810. The Court House was a frame structure, and stood a little northwest of the present commodious building. The Courier in its issue of October 21, 1826, thus comments on this structure: "Portage County can boast, on the score of public build- ings, nothing but a shell, which is alternately occupied by bipeds and quad- rupeds, and which, from its dilapidated state, is equally easy of access to both -and in which, we may, at different times, hear the preachers of the Gospel, the expounders of the law, and the birch of the schoolmaster, and consequently
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HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.
the squalls of the children, the squealing of the pigs and the bleating of sheep. 'Tis, in fact, occupied as a Court House and meeting-house, and we all know it has become proverbial as the county sheep-pen."
In 1829 it was sold to Gen. Samuel D. Harris, who removed it to the site of Merts & Riddle's factory. After standing unoccupied for several years it was purchased by James Clark & Co., who converted it into a carriage-shop, which was subsequently owned and operated by N. D. Clark & Co. The factory passed thence into the possession of Merts & Riddle, and was burned down August 11, 1871. The first story of the Jail was built of hewn logs, eighteen inches square, and was floored and roofed in the same manner. The Sheriff's residence was in one side of the building, while the second story over the Jail proper was also occupied by that officer. This building stood on the south- west corner of the present Jail site, but was removed soon after the completion of the second Jail, in November, 1819. It does not seem to have given very good satisfaction, judging from the following protests made to the Commis- sioners by two successive Sheriffs.
PORTAGE COUNTY, July 16, 1810.
To the Clerk of Commissioners of Portage County .- I protest against the Jail of this county with my solemn declaration that it is an insufficient Jail. ALVA DAY, Sheriff. PORTAGE COUNTY, February 9, 1811.
I, the subscriber, do hereby protest against the Jail of Portage County, it being entirely insufficient to secure a prisoner. JOHN CAMPBELL, Sheriff.
A few years after the erection of the first Court House and Jail, a very sub- stantial one-story brick building, 30x60, was erected upon the site of the new portion of the present Court House. It contained two rooms, which were occupied as the offices of the Recorder, the Clerk, and the Commissioners' Clerk. This building continued in use until the second Court House was in process of erection, when it was torn down, and the material used in the walls of the new structure.
In April, 1818, steps were taken by the Commissioners toward the erection of a new Jail, and three lots in Ravenna, viz., No. 175, 176 and 177, were pur- chased of William Tappan for the sum of $90, the purchase being agreed to December 31, 1818, and the contract consummated on the 5th of January fol- lowing. On the last day of December, 1818, a contract was made with Oviatt & Kent for the erection of a frame Jail, to cost $1,520. As these old buildings are of some historic interest to the present generation, we here give a partial copy of the agreement. Oviatt & Kent having given bond in the sum of $3,050 for the faithful performance of the contract, the agreement goes on to say :
The conditions of the above obligation are such that, whereas, the above bound Oviatt & Kent hath undertaken to build a good and sufficient Jail for the county of Portage, thirty-two feet in width by thirty-four feet in length, two stories high, and furnish them- selves with all the materials, and finish it off complete for the sum of $1,520, the building to be divided in the following manner, viz .: The lower story, fourteen feet off one end to be built of good sound white oak timber, hewn fourteen inches square, without wane, and divided into two rooms, with a space-way between of four feet in the clear, and floored under and over with timber of the same description as the walls, with one fifteen-light window in the back end of the hall, in two sashes and very strongly grated with iron; one door out of the space-way into each of the prison rooms, and one into the other part of the house, all made double with two-inch white oak plank and covered on the inside with sheet-iron at least one-eighth of an inch thick, and doubled over the edge of the door and very strongly nailed with stout nails, and hung with large iron hinges suitable for doors of such weight and size, and one large and sufficient lock on each of the three doors. * *
Those two prison rooms were supplied with ventilation and light through an iron-grated hole, fourteen inches in height by three feet in length, cut through the log walls into the dividing hall-way. When the reader is informed that under each of those cells, and connecting therewith, were the closets or sinks
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HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.
used by the prisoners, the excrement being allowed to filter through a stoned drain, he can readily discern the great improvements that have been made in the sanitary condition of our prisons during the past three-quarters of a cen- tury. This portion of the building was to have a solid hard-head stone foun- dation, the remainder to be of common stone well laid. The other twenty feet of the lower story was divided into four rooms: a Sheriff's office, a bed- room, a kitchen and a buttery, a large fire-place at the end of the building serving the two-fold purpose of cooking and heating. A strongly-walled cel- lar, fourteen feet square, was constructed under the kitchen, and the second story was reached by a stairway from the same room. The upper story was divided into seven apartments. Two debtors' rooms were constructed imme- diately over the lower prison cells, and of the same dimensions as the lower ones, but each was provided with an iron-grated window from which the inmates might view their fellow citizens upon the outside who had not the misfortune to be burdened with the crime of poverty. Those rooms also pos- sessed a small fire-place, while the occupants of the lower cells had to get along without fire. On the opposite end from the debtors' prison were four rooms, two of which were used as sleeping apartments, and the others for various purposes. The building was covered on the outside with two-inch white oak plank laid on perpendicularly, and framed into the sill and upper plate, and pinned on the joists, and then weather-boarded with common siding. This Jail was completed according to contract by the middle of Novem- ber, 1819, and stands across the alley from the Congregational Church, on the northeast corner of Meridian and Oak Streets. Upon the erection of the pres- ent Jail the log portion was removed, and the building converted into a dwell- ing, which is now (December, 1884,) occupied as the residence of S. L. Jen- nings, Esq.
On the 5th of September, 1826, the Commissioners took into consideration the expediency of building a new Court House, and gave public notice that sealed proposals would be received at the Auditor's office until the first Mon- day in December for furnishing materials for the new structure. In the latter month the Commissioners advertised for proposals for 150,000 bricks to be delivered near the Court House in Ravenna by the first Monday of March, 1828. The contract for the erection of the building was finally let to Zenas Kent in the spring of 1828, and on the 11th of February, 1830, it was completed and accepted by the Commissioners, having cost in full about $7,000. It was a long, two-story brick building of the Grecian Temple order, six wooden col- umns on the front upholding a projecting roof, which was surmounted by a cupola. The county offices were located in the lower story, while the court- room is the same one now occupied. In the erection of the new Court House about twenty feet were cut off the front part of the old one to make room for the more modern structure.
The present two-story stone Jail on the public square had its inception June 13, 1836, when the Commissioners concluded to take the necessary meas- ures toward the erection of a new Jail, and bids were ordered to be advertised for in the county papers. The plan of the Jail, adopted September 6, 1836, was drawn by Mr. Medbury, Warden of the Ohio Penitentiary, while the small residence adjoining it on the west was an after consideration, added to the plans by John N. Skinner, the Recorder, and Samuel Foljambe, the Auditor. On the 20th of October, 1836, the bid of Ebenezer Rawson was accepted, but it was not until the 8th of December following that the contract was let to Rawson, for the sum of $9,100. Toward the completion of the building a dis- agreement arose between the contractor and the Commissioners as to the proper
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HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.
remuneration for certain work needed on the Jail, which the specifications did not expressly stipulate. The matter was left to a board of arbitration, which on the 16th of July, 1839, decided that Rawson should put in certain extras and receive $284.68 over and above the original contract price of the Jail. Rawson was evidently dissatisfied with the decision, for he neglected to fulfill its terms, and the building was finally completed, in May, 1840, by William Stinaff, whom the Commissioners employed to carry out the decision of the arbitration. The building has fully answered the purposes for which it was erected, but its location for many reasons is objectionable, and it is only a question of a few years when it will be replaced by a more modern one, located on a more eligible site. On the 13th of October, 1856, the Commis- sioners purchased of John G. DeWolf Lot 58, upon which the engine house now stands, for $1,500; and July 13, 1857, the legal right to the public alley, which originally ran east and west in the rear of the Court House, was obtained, and the alley became the property of the county.
The elegant and commodious Court House now adorning the public square in Ravenna, was built by authority of a special act of the Legislature passed March 11, 1881, " to authorize the Commissioners of Portage County to build a fire-proof addition and to remodel and repair the present Court House in said county and to issue bonds therefor." The design of the building was pre- pared by Samuel W. Lane, Esq., of Cleveland, Ohio, and the contract for the erection of the new structure and remodeling the old one was awarded to Mr. P. B. Carpenter, of Conneautville, Penn., in June, 1881, for the sum of $32,- 226, but subsequent changes in the specifications ran the cost up to $39,622.90. The new building was completed and occupied in September, 1882, and the old portion subsequently remodeled and finished. The following figures are an authentic estimate of the original cost of the Court House: Contractor, $39,622.90; architect's labor, $1,540; steam-heating apparatus, $4,600; vaults, $619.35; furniture, $3,815; clock, $1,250; grates and mantels, $435; gas fix- tures, $340.22; carpets for court room, $293.13; stone pavement in front of Court House, $444; total cost, $52,959.60. It is a handsome brick structure, two stories and a half in height, with a lofty mansard roof (making the build- ing more than three stories high), and with its artistic stone trimmings, both modern in design and finish, will favorably compare with the best county buildings of the State. A fine clock occupies the tower, and a large figure of justice surmounts the dome. At the main entrance is a substantial stone portico, upheld by six handsome stone pillars, adding much to the beauty of the front view of the building. On the first floor are the offices of the Recorder, Treasurer, Auditor, Commissioners, Sheriff, Prosecuting Attorney and Surveyor; and on the second floor those of the Probate Judge and Clerk, also the court room and jury rooms. The whole interior is hand- somely finished in black walnut and butternut, and the stairways partly in cherry, while the large, well-lighted offices, furnished in black walnut, and possessing fire-proof vaults, where the valuable records are absolutely safe from destruction, harmonize thoroughly with the progressive spirit of the age. The halls and stairways are wide, and the ceilings high and airy, while a general air of utility and comfort pervades throughout the building.
Prison Bounds .- Upon the establishment of the American Government, many of the laws previously existing under English rule were partly or wholly retained on the statute books of the young Republic. Imprisonment for debt was one of those relics of barbarism which existed for seventy-five years after the Declaration of Independence. This law was an outrage upon honest pov- erty, and the cause of untold misery to hundreds of struggling pioneer families.
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HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.
The prisoner confined for debt, upon giving good security to his creditors, was allowed his freedom inside of a certain defined limit surrounding the Jail known as the "prison bounds," but by crossing the established line he forfeited even this small grain of liberty. In 1799 a law was enacted by the Terri- torial Assembly establishing 200 yards as the dimensions of the prison bounds. This was increased in 1800 to 440 yards, but reduced in 1805 to 400. In 1821 the village or town limits became the boundary line, and in 1833 the "bounds" were made co-extensive with the county. Thus they remained until the adop- tion of the Constitution of 1851, when the law having almost become a "dead letter," was expunged from the statutes of Ohio. At the April term of the Court of Common Pleas of Portage County, in 1809, the Court assigned the following prison bounds: "Beginning at a stake and stones eleven chains north, forty-five degrees east from said prison, thence south twenty chains; thence west fifteen chains; thence north twenty chains; thence east fifteen chains to the first bounds." The action of the Court was in conformity with the then existing State law; but with the progress of civilization all such laws become obnoxious to the spirit of humanity which true civilization engenders, and therefore give way to a more just and enlightened policy.
County Infirmary .- Throughout the pioneer days of Portage County each township supported its own poor, but finally this duty devolved upon the county, and the indigent were "farmed out" to those who would keep them the cheap- est. This method did not prove very satisfactory, as the unfortunate poor were in many cases treated badly. It was finally decided by the Commission- ers to establish a county farm where the poor could be collectively supported, and at the annual election held in April, 1839, the citizens of Portage voted in favor of the proposed institution. The Commissioners advertised at once for a cultivated farm of from 125 to 200 acres on which to erect a "County Poor House," and on the 29th of April accepted the proposal of David McIn- tosh, to sell them his farm in Shalersville Township, consisting of 162 acres of land, in Lots Nos. 62 and 79, with buildings, stock and farming imple- ments thereon, for the sum of $5,000. On the 3d of May following the pur- chase was completed and possession given, and on the same date the Commis- sioners appointed Darius Lyman, David McIntosh and Frederick Williams, a Board of Directors to take charge of and manage the affairs of said poor farm.
For ten years no additions were made to the farm, which was found ample for the necessities of the institution; but the number accepting its benefits kept increasing with the growth in population, and in April, 1849, the Com- missioners purchased of Erastus Chapman an additional tract of 129.47 acres, located in Lots Nos. 63 and 64, for the sum of $2,524.60. In June, 1850, they exchanged 56.41 acres of land in Lot No. 62, being the north part of the original farm, with Noble Haven for the same amount in Lot No. 61, adjoining the farm on the south. The buildings finally became inadequate, and a new one was regarded as a necessity, therefore, in April, 1858, the Commissioners advertised for bids to erect a new brick Infirmary building. The plans of H. N. Bostwick, Esq., were adopted, and in May the contract was let to Samuel H. Bloomer, Abraham Bloomer, Elisha Brigham and J. S. Brigham, for the sum of $4,988, the building to be completed by the 25th of November, 1858. This structure, together with the frame buildings standing there when the farm was purchased, served the purposes of the institution for about fourteen years, but on the 8th of February, 1872, the contracts for an additional wing to the main Infirmary building were let as follows: The masonry, brick work, etc., to Messrs. Brigham & Jennings, for the sum of $5,400, and the carpen-
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HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.
tering, painting, glazing, etc., to Johnson & Babcock for $4,588. The addi- tion was completed in the fall of 1872, but extras ran the cost a good deal above the original contract price. Brigham & Jennings were paid in Novem- ber, 1872, $1,091.59 for flagging and repairs; while Peter Martin, of Cleve- land, received $4,000 for putting in the heating and ventilating apparatus, making the total expense of the improvements carried out in 1872 over $15, - 000. The main Infirmary building is an L shaped brick structure, two and a half stories high, but a portion of the original building purchased with the farm is yet standing and in use. The farms now contain about 300 acres of first-class land, while the institution is self-supporting, and pays a good inter- est on the capital invested, besides having furnished through the passing years a comfortable home for hundreds of unfortunate poor.
Political Statistics .- The political history of Portage County, even if written correctly and devoid of prejudice, would be of very little utility to the average reader, and when we take into consideration the utter impossibility of accomplishing such a task, we think it best, for the sake of historical truth, to illustrate the county's political complexion by simply giving the vote it cast for each Gubernatorial candidate since 1808, together with that polled in a few of the Presidential contests. It may, however, be of some interest to the present and future generations to know who the candidates for the several county offices were at the first election, held June 8, 1808, also the names of the voters at that election. The polling place was at the house of Benjamin Tappan, which stood where Marcus Heath's residence now stands, east of Ravenna. Eighty-seven votes were cast, distributed as follows: For Commis- sioners, Abel Sabin, of Randolph, 86; Joel Gaylord, of Hudson, 84; Lewis Day, of Deerfield, 49; Elias Harmon, of Mantua, 42. For Sheriff, Alva Day, of Deerfield, 47; John Campbell, of Charlestown, 38 (these two gentlemen were again the candidates for Sheriff in October, 1808, with the following result: Alva Day, 151; John Campbell, 140). For Coroner, Lewis Day, of Deerfield, 38; Samuel Andrews, of Rootstown, 31; David Root, of Rootstown, 14. All of the successful candidates were supporters of President Jefferson's administration.
The following list of voters at the election of June 8, 1808, together with the present names of the townships in which they then resided, were copied from the returns made at that time, and are therefore reliable. John Campbell and Abel Sabin, though candidates, did not vote:
Silas Tinker, Jr., Mantua.
Heman Oviatt, Hudson.
Frederick Caris, Jr., Rootstown.
Stephen Upson, Suffield.
Benjamin Tappan, Ravenna.
Horatio Day, Deerfield.
Joel Baker, Shalersville.
Frederick Caris, Sr., Rootstown. John Caris, Rootstown.
John Creighton, Ravenna.
William Chard, Ravenna.
David Hudson, Hudson.
Samuel Bishop, Hudson.
Benjamin Whedon, Hudson.
Samuel Simcox, Ravenna.
Josiah Ward, Randolph.
Moses Thompson, Hudson.
James Robinson, Northampton.
Aaron Norton, Tallmadge. Robert Walker, Ravenna.
David Jennings, Ravenna.
John Wright, Sr., Ravenna.
William Wetmore, Stow.
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