History of Stark County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 70

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? ed
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1060

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Hayes. Governor. J. 11. Goodman. Auditor and John Russell, Secretary. of the State of Ohio, it was advanced to a city of the second class, the preliminary steps to effect the change from a village to a city having been commenced on the, 12th of February of that year, in accord- ance with a numerous petition of the citizens, which petition was referred to Robert H. Fol- ger, attorney at law, with instructions to take the necessary steps to procure the advancement. Ipon the advancement being effected, the city was divided into four wards, and at the election in April. 1868, the following persons were elect- ed to the several city offices :

Mayor, Bennet B. Warner : Marshal. Milo Alden : Solicitor, Louis K. Campbell. Conn- cil- George L. Russell. Charles London, First Ward ; JJacob Herring. Francis Willenburg, Second Ward : Adam Mong. Otis G. Madison, Third Ward : Louis Gies, George Bollinger. Fourth Ward. David W. Huntsman was eleet- ed Clerk by the Council. The following gentle- men are charged with the business matters of the city :

Mayor, L. C. Cole ; Marshal. Frederick Paul ; Street Commissioner. Louis Limbach ; Treas- urer, Hermann Shaidnagle : Solicitor, Otto E. Young. Council James H. Melain. George Snyder, First Ward ; Thomas Lavier. Jonas Entz, Second Ward ; Conrad N. Oberlin, Fran- vis Willenburg. Third Ward : Anton Bamberger. Joseph Dressler, Fourth Ward.

The disasters connected with the old corpor- ation of Massillon that of 1838-have been carefully avoided by the late ones. The city owes no debts. and while it is constantly pro- gressing, and is the soundest municipal incor- poration in the State, its maxim is " hasten gently." It is able to borrow money on long loans at five per centum. It has never adopted the plan of running into debt for the purpose of making improvements, preferring to see its growth forced by the natural course of events.

For beauty of natural surroundings it is un- surpassed. "I would not have the hills sur- rounding Massillon leveled if I could." said Mr. Duncan, the proprietor of the village. in reply to a friend who objected to the location because of its hilly surroundings. " The day will come." said he, " when those hills will be covered with residences overlooking the city, to which the hills will but add beauty, and Massillon will be celebrated for its beauty."

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HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY.

What was then regarded as a wild creation of Mr. Duncan's fancy has grown into a beau- tiful reality, and vindicates his judgment as to what the future would develop.

In 1831, Judge Henry laid out an addition to the original plat, and called it West Massil- lon. That portion of the city is now included in the Second and Third Wards, and is a most important part of the city. On that tract, the south end of fractional Section 6, and former- ly in Tuscarawas Township, is located that por- tion of the Cleveland, Tuscarawas Valley & Wheeling Railway, the buildings of which cor- poration stand on the ground where stood the cabin of Judge Henry, and where he first had his home. It was in that cabin that his daugh- ter, afterward Mrs. Cummins, was born, and who was the first white female child born on the territory known as the New Purchase, the first male child being a son of Peter Slusser ; he was born on the territory now included within the limits of Tuscarawas.

The only item of a pre-historie character that has been developed in Massillon occurred in 1832, when Christian Witt, from Lower Alsace, and some fellow-laborers by the name of Miller and Simmons, while ditching what was then the swamp south of the village, and near where now stands the paper mill. found two tusks of a mammoth, each eleven feet in

length and twenty-seven inches in circumfer- ence at the larger end. They were justly re. garded as a great affair. The finders conclud- ed that there was money, if not millions in it, and arranged for traveling and exhibiting them. They employed an agent to manage the business, and Witt went to Pittsburgh with the party, when he became satisfied that there was not so much in it as he had supposed, and came home, leaving Miller, Simmons and the agent to make the most of the " show business." They went to Philadelphia where they left the tusks and came home. Similar discoveries have been made in the Tuscarawas Valley, but with the finding all information in regard to them ceased. Indian relies have been found in various parts of the township, but nothing of an uncommon character.

On the obtaining by the Government of the United States the title to the New Purchase, by the treaty of Fort Industry the tribes named in the treaty departed toward the setting sun, and few remained on the coming of the pale fares. In the language of Ossian "The chiefs of other times are departed. They have gone without their fame. Another race has arisen. The people are like the waves of the ocean ; like the leaves of woody Morven, they pass away in the whistling blast. and other leaves lift their green heads on high."

CHAPTER XIV .*

THE CITY OF MASSILLON - MANUFACTURING INTERESTS-RUSSELL & COMPANY'S WORKS-THE MASSILLON IRON COMPANY-OTHER INDUSTRIES-COAL INTERESTS-RAIL- ROADS OF MASSILLON-THIE BANKING BUSINESS, ETC.

" Harness me down with your iron bands." -{'utter.

IN 1832, in the presence of the writer. a casual conversation on the subject of manufact- uring pig iron sprang up between Jesse Rhodes and James Duncan, the result of which was the taking of immediate measures to erect a blast furnace at or near the village of Massillon. Mr. Rhodes had been in the employ of Laird, Nor- ton & Co., proprietors of Congress furnace, and had acquired a considerable knowledge on the subject of manufacturing pig and iron castings.

The Massillon Iron Company was formed, con- sisting of James Duncan, Joseph G. Hogan, Her- man B. Harris and Jesse Rhodes. The business was not, however, confined to the making of pig iron. Castings of all kinds were made- the old- fashioned ten plate stove-specimens of which can be found in the county, and all other kinds of ironware, now only made at foundries, in- cluding tea kettles, sugar kettles, and, in short, everything under the general nomenclature of " castings." The furnace was erected and put in operation in 1833, on the west bank of Sippo Creek, south of Main street, near the present

* Contributed by Robert 11 Folger.

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CITY OF MASSILLON.

eastern limits of the city, where some marks of its having stood can yet be found. The Mas- sillon Iron Company stopped business in 1838. when Messrs. Hart & Brown bought out the company, the furnace was abandoned. Messrs. Hart & Brown purchased the patterns and other stock requisite for a foundry and machine-shop. and started the first foundry in the county, in January, 1839. in a three-story stone building, which stood where now stands the main build- ing of the Excelsior Works. That building was burned in 1810, and was the first fire of any magnitude in the village. When burned. it was occupied by Hart & Brown as a machine-shop : McMillan. Partridge & Co. ; as a manufactory of all sorts of machinery for woolen mills ; John IT. Wheeler, carpets, and John Hartness. window sashes, blinds and doors. The brick building, lately occupied by the Excelsior Works, was built in 1813. Messrs. Hart & Brown went out of business in 1858. Of all the persons named in the foregoing article, Mr. Brown alone remains in this eity. Mr. Hartness resides in Cleveland. and the rest are, some of them dead. and some scattered over the Western States.

The first of the followers of St. Crispin, who was. and still is, at the head of his profession as in Massillon's early days. was Col. Benjamin Raser. He is one of Massillon's earliest citizens. having come into the county in 1825, and to the little village as soon as it obtained a place in history. In the earlier and better days of this city's history, when some attention was paid to the organizing and disciplining of the militia, Mr. Raser was elected Colonel of a regiment in the Third Brigade and Sixth Division of Ohio Militia, and came near being called into active service in the long-time-ago unpleasantness be- tween Ohio and her loving sister Michigan.

Col. Raser and his excellent wife, a daughter of Gritlith Cooper, one of Perry Township's pioneers, celebrated their golden wedding a few months since.

The first carpenter in the village, and who became a property holder immediately on the lots coming into market, was Hamilton Sherer. The property he purchased is now hell by his heirs, and is valuable.

The great and crowning glory of Massillon industries is the mammoth establishment of Russell & Co., manufacturers of the celebrated Massillon threshers. horse-powers, etc. It was started on the Ist of January, 1842. consequently

antedates all other manufacturing establish- ments of a similar kind now in Stark County. At the date above given, three brothers-Charles MI., Nahum S. and Clement-carpenters by trade, formed a partnership in Massillon. under the style of C. M. Russell & Co., for the manufact- ure of threshers and horse-powers, in connec- tion with their business as architects and build- ers. Their capital stock was $1.500, with which they began work forty years ago. The senior partner had seen and carefully examined the Pitts Buffalo Separator, which had already been constructed and in use, and on that examina- tion Mr. Russell believed that he saw where im- provements might be made, and with character- istic energy set about trying to make it better, and so succeeded that the improved machine took the premium at the Ohio State Fair at Columbus in 1845.

Thus encouraged. the new tiri pushed ahead, sparing no effort, and met with continued en- couragement in their progress. They continued to improve all their machinery, and Jed all competitors in the race for popularity. When the far-reaching influence of what is now the great railway system of the Western Continent reached Massillon in 1817, the firm of C. M. Russell & Co. at once gave it their influence. As the history of the Ohio & Pennsylvania Railroad attests, they took stock. the elder Mr. Russell was a contractor who built large por- tions of the road, and with all their other busi- ness, built ears for freight and passengers. After the road was opened to Massillon, Mr. C. M. Russell was elected a director, which place he held by successive re-elections until his death in February, 1860, which made a break in the business of the firm, which had gone on uninterruptedly for eighteen years. The death of the senior partner dissolved the firm of C. M. Russell & Co., and the survivors immedi- ately re-organized by the name and style of N. S. & C. Russell, which continued until January 1. 1861, when the brothers Joseph K., Thomas 11. and George L. Russell purchased an interest and were admitted as partners, and the firm Dame changed to Russell & Co., which it still bears. One year later. W. K. Miller and Thomas 11. Williams. Esqs .. were admitted to member- ship in the firm.

In 1837. Mr. Miller perfected and patented the Peerless, originally called the Russell Mower and Reaper, and this successful ma

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HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY.

chine was manufactured by Russell & Co. up to 1871. In the spring of that year. the " Peer- less " was sold to C. Russell & Co., of Canton. and its production transferred to that city, Mr. Miller withdrawing to take the superintendency of the Canton establishment. Prior to 1865, the shops were located on Erie street, between Tremont and South, north of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway, but the busi- ness having outgrown their producing facilities, at this time the firm decided to erect more com- modions and convenient buildings just south of the railway. Accordingly, in 186-4-65, the pres- ent extensive and substantial buildings were put up and equipped with improved machinery, tools, and every convenience requisite to the rapid and economical manufacture of their in- creasingly popular products. In the summer of 1868, Mr. T. H. Williams retired from the firm. In December, 1871, Mr. Allen A. Russell, the youngest brother, and Alanson A. Rawson, since deceased, a nephew of the brothers Russell, became members. On the 1st of January, 1878, the firm was dissolved by mutual consent, Mr. Clement Russell, one of the original members, retiring, and has since had no connection with the house.

On the 17th of May, 1878, just as they were fairly under way for the season's business, tire destroyed all their iron working machinery, wagon stock and thirty-six years' accumulation of patterns, the latter having cost not less than $75,000, and throwing 250 men out of employ- ment. The entire south wing and one-half of the Erie street front of the main building, were destroyed, involving a loss, exclusive of that in patterns, of $75,000. The whole amount of insurance realized was $53,100. Many of the valuable patterns could never be replaced, and the net loss by the disaster was estimated at $50,000. The fire broke out soon after 1 o'clock, A. M., and had it not been for the almost superhuman exertions of the fire depart- ment, aided by citizens, the entire works would have been destroyed. Fortunately about two- thirds of the main building was saved. At daylight the next morning seventy men were set to work on the ruins. and two of the part- ners started, one East and the other West, to procure machinery to replace that destroyed. Such promptitude and pluck are characteristic of the enterprise of the firm. By the kindness of C. Aultman, Esq., of Canton, and Capt. J.

H. Kauke, of Wooster, machinery which they bad in charge as assignees. was promptly loaned to the firm until new machinery could be pro- eured. Gas was put into the works and a sup- plementary engine attached to run the foundry; so that just one week from the time of the fire they were running the iron department double time to make up for lost time, and within thirty days were turning out their full complement of machines. The Erie street front was rebuilt during that summer, and in order to make more room in the works, the office was removed, and the present elegant and spacious two-story office building was erected the same year, and, in the winter of 1880-81, erected a four-story new brick warehouse 250 feet in length.

In the fall of 1878, Russell & Co., under the general law of Ohio, without a change of style, became an incorporated body. The corporators were J. E. Mcbain, N. S. Russell, J. K. Russell, T. H. Russell, G. L. Russell, A. A. Russell and J. W. MeClymonds. Capital stock, $500,000. The first election resulted in the selection of Nahum S. Russell, President ; J. W. MeCly- monds, Secretary and Treasurer ; T. H. Russell, Superintendent ; since which they have created the office of Assistant Secretary and Treasurer, to which position Mr. C. M. Russell has been elected. The works have . been repeatedly enlarged and improved until they now comprise one of the largest and most complete manufaet- uring establishments on the Western Conti- nent. The premises have an area of about seven acres. A convenient side-track connect- ing with all the railroads runs alongside the shops with excellent facilities for receiving materials and shipping products. The works are splendidly equipped with every mechanical appliance calculated to expedite manufacturing operations and processes, thus reducing to the minimum the cost of production, and enabling Messrs. Russell & Co. to place upon the market their superior machines at figures which dety competition. The entire establishment in all its parts is governed by a perfect system and discipline. The several departments are under the watchful and vigilant care of practical members of the company, who see to it that nothing in the way of labor or material is neg- lected or executed in any unworkmanlike man- ner. Mr. Thomas HI. Russell is charged with the general superintendency of the establish- ment. Mr. Joseph K. Russell has the purchas-

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ing of the lumber and the general management of the wood-working department. Mr. George L. Russell has charge of the metal working department. Mr. Allen A. Russell has super. vision of the finished machines and territorial agencies, several hundred in number. His resi- dence is in Indianapolis.

Russell & Co. have branch houses at Indian- apolis. Ind., Mr. G. W. Harbaugh, manager ; Council Bluffs, Iowa. Mr. V. S. Russell, mana- ger ; St. Joseph. Mo., Mr. George O. Richard- son, manager ; Dallas, Tex., Mr. F. R. Rowley, manager ; MeGregor, lowa, Mr. G. W. Prim. manager .- The number of workmen employed in all departments is 125. whose monthly wages exceed 818,000. The aggregate product of their. extensive establishment approximates $1.500 .- 000. A description of the different kinds of work manufactured by Messrs. Russell & Co .. does not come within the scope and design of this work. It is sufficient to say that they invite competition. They are the only establishment that has taken hold of the threshing machine business in the city of Massillon and reduced it almost to au exact science. their labors are rewarded by a market for their products all over the United States and Territories. Ger- many, Russia. South America, Australia and New Zealand.

While the old firm of C. M. Russell & Co. were not the first to engage in the building of threshing machines, they were first to see what the business could be brought to by care and attention. The first machines that were built in Massillon were called the " Pitts Separator," and were introduced by II. D. Jameson. from Rochester, N. Y .; he built 100 in one year. in 1838 or 1839, when his works were closed by his sudden death. Messrs. Knapp & MeLain embarked in the business about the same time, but did not continue.

The making of pig iron received little or no attention until 1853. when the late M. D. Well- inan conceived the idea that that branch of in- dustry could be successfully carried on here. and by subscriptions of money added to his own capital, which had become much impaired by unsuccessful ventures, he erected the fur- nace lately torn down to make room for the glass-works now about to be erected, and which was a success as a manufactory of pig-iron. and a source of wealth to the owners. During much of the time that it had an existence. the

fluctuations of business after it had passed out of Mr. Wellman's hands, ruined the iron manu- facturers, and the " Massillon Furnace " passed out of existence, and as incidentally noticed above, in its place is to be glass-works. In 1855, Messrs. Hiram B. Wellman, James S. Kelley and others seeing the success of the Massillon Furnace, as it was called, determined to build another, and accordingly the Volcano Iron Company was incorporated under the gen- eral law of Ohio, and went into operation. It was a failure. and made bankrupt many of the stockholders, was sold, and is now owned by the Volcano Furnace Company, the principal stockholders of which are James Lee, Esq., and llon. Anthony Howells, late Treasurer of the State of Ohio, under whose judicious manage- ment it promises success. As this work goes to press a new enterprise for the Tuscarawas Valley and the city of Massillon. in the shape of glass works for which Massillon affords abundant facilities, is fully inaugurated with ample capital, skill and experience on the part of the proprietors.

Inside of the city limits are the Merchant Flouring Mills : Messrs. Warwick & Justus, and Isaac N. Doxsee. in the Sippo Valley : Messrs. Kitchen & Sons, on Tremont street, west of the Tuscarawas River, on the line of the ("., T. V. & Wheeling Railway ; MeLain Brothers. on Ex- change street, in the heart of the city; .. . 1. Taylor, Esq., on North Erie street, and George Heppert. on the northwestern boundary of the Third Ward. Messrs. Kitchen, Melain Broth- ers and Taylor use steam exclusively, while the rest use steam and water. Just above the city limits is the Crystal Spring Mill, also owned and run by the Mclain Brothers, making seven extensive flouring mills in and near the city ; and which. if they are not already, can be put within call of each other by telephone, and which consume more wheat annually than was ever consumed or purchased during the busiest days of the wheat city. Independent of the great coal interests of the city. Massillon supports more than fifty establishments of various kinds, manufacturing. commercial and industrial, and in addition to those above enumerated. including an extensive paper mill, under the general man- agement of C. T. Bicknell, Esq .. also foundries and machine-shops. each carrying on a healthy and paying business. Its stone quarries within and just outside the city limits are a great

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HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY.

source of revenue, and furnish employment to all who want work. A sale of the stock in trade and fixtures of a single one of these establish- ments, in the early part of June, in the present year, for $35,000. exhibits the importance of that branch of trade in this city.

The formation of the Massillon Iron Company, which was a voluntary association of individuals, was followed by the obtaining of a charter for the Massillon Rolling Mill Company from the Ohio Legislature ; and but for the panic of 1837, would have given the place a start in manufactures that would have made it one of the most important manufacturing points in the State. The charter was extremely liberal. The capital stock named in the charter was $600,- 000, the company having power to do anything but a banking business. It invested a large amount in real estate, city lots and farms ; and, under the pressure of the panic referred to al- ready. sunk all the capital subscribed. The stockholders, most of whom resided in Boston,

became discouraged, and the Massillon Rolling Mill Company, of which James Duncan was President, and H. Wheeler. Jr., Superintendent, is now only remembered in the description of premises where the " Massillon Rolling Mill Company's alteration and subdivision of cer- tain lots in the city of Massillon " forms a part.

The coal interest alone in Massillon is repre- sented by $840,000 of capital invested by the following-named persons and companies : Camp Creek Mine, O. Young & Co., $80,000 ; Pigeon Run, Pigeon Run Coal Company, composed of Hon. John G. Warwick, Hon. Anthony Howells and James Lee, Esq., Massillon, and Hon. W. S. Streator, Cleveland ; capital, $80,000. War- mington Coal Company, Messrs. Robert Rhodes & James Rhodes, sons and successors of the late HIon. D. P. Rhodes, Mark A. Hanna and George Warmington, Esqs., Capt. Henry Foltz and Hon. J. G. Warwick ; capital, $80,000. The Grove Coal Company, first organized under that name and style by Charles Il. Clarke and Orlando Grove. This company and its extensive mines have been merged in a syndicate able to com- mand all the capital required. The amount of capital at present invested is about $60,000. The Massillon City Coal Company. composed of Capt. Henry Foltz, the Nestor of all coal oper- ators in the Tuscarawas and Newman's Creek Valleys, and James F. Pocock, Esq. This well- known company commands all the capital it

needs, and its operations are extensive, extend- ing into Tuscarawas County. The Sippo Coal Company, an incorporated company, Hon. Clem- ent Russell President, and Milton Wilson, Esq., Secretary and Treasurer. These gentlemen are the principal stockholders; capital invested, $60,000. The Willow Bank Coal Company : This company operates through a slope and shaft, and have a capital invested of $60,000. The Mountain Mine : This is a most extensive organ- ization, and has invested $80.000. The Ground Hoy. $40,000. The Ridgeway Coal Company : The nominal capital of this company is $60,- 000 ; but commands all the capital required for its extensive operations. It is under the man- agement of J. P. Burton, Esq., one of the most energetic operators in the Tuscarawas Valley. The Oak Hill Coal Mine is under the general management of James Neall, Esq., and is owned by him. John Albright and others. Its capital invested is $40,000.

The above mines give steady employment to at least fifteen hundred persons, operatives of all kinds, inside and outside of the mines, and make Massillon a shipping point, in connection with the other industries of the city, from which a greater tonnage is shipped than from any other railroad center in the interior of the State.

In 1831, when Capt. James Allen was a member of the House of Representatives in the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, an act was passed incorporating the Massillon & Pittsburgh Railroad Company. The necessary reconnoissance was made by a corps of engi- neers, at the head of which was Lient. O. M. Mitchell, just then graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, and a member of the United States Topographical Corps. In those piping times of peace, Lieut. Mitchell resigned his position in the United States Army, and cultivated the arts of peace, and became a resident of Cincinnati. At the breaking-out of the war of the rebellion, he tendered his services to the Government, which were accepted, and while in command of the Tenth Army Corps, with the rank of Major General, he died on the 30th of October, 1862, at Beaufort, South Carolina.

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History of Stark County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 70

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? ed Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey Number of Pages: 1060

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? ed
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1060