History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 132

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1104

USA > Ohio > Summit County > History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio > Part 132

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

ARZA KELLOGG, retired, Akron. The birthplace of our subject was in Addison Co., N. Y. His parents were David and Christiana (Traver) Kellogg. From the date of his birth, which was Feb. 11, 1799. he lived there for thirty-five years, attending school in his boy- hood, and acquiring a thorough common-school education. When he attained his majority, he began to fight his own life-battles, and farmed at that place until 1834, when he discontinued the vocation, and, with a good team, started for Akron, which place he reached in September. For several years he engaged in teaming, but when, in 1848, the "gold fever " reached Akron, he grew discontented, and, in the spring of the following year, he, in company with fifteen oth- ers, driving three six-horse teams, traversed the overland route, arriving at Sacramento in August, which was five months from the time of his leaving Akron. There he engaged in the dairy and gardening business, within two miles of Sacramento, on the river, all the products selling for high prices ; this he followed with good success for four years, at the end of which time he returned to Akron. It was in the spring of 1854 that he bought his present place, on Maple street, the lot consisting of 54 acres. In 1856, he was employed as Sexton of the Akron Rural Cemetery, which place he held for twelve years, since which time he has farmed land which he owned here. In 1874, he was ap- pointed Superintendent of the Akron Cold Spring Co., and is one of its principal stock- holders. In March, 1825, he married Miss Polly Marshall, of Starksboro, Vt., from which union one child was the issne, whom they named Julia O., and who died at Akron in her 19th year. His wife, Polly, is a granddaughter of Rev. Joseph Marshall, a noted and eccentric clergyman of Starksboro, Vt.

728

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:

SAMUEL A. LANE, Mayor of Akron, and whose portrait appears in this work, was born in Suffield, Hartford Co., Conn., June 29, 1815. His father, Mr. Comfort Lane, commonly called by his townsmen " Judge Lane," beside culti- vating a small farm, carried on quite an exten- sive carriage building establishment, his spe- cialty being the old fashioned, ante-railroad, thorough-brace stage coach ; " Judge" Lane was also something of an inventor, and beside fabricating a number of labor-saving devices for facilitating his own business, was the inventor of a cotton-picking machine called the " Suffield cotton gin," that, when perfected, he expected, would rival if not entirely super- sede the celebrated Whitney cotton gin, then and ever since mainly used by the cotton planters of the United States. The letters patent, on parchment, for this machine, bearing the autograph signatures of John Quincy Ad- ams, President, Henry Clay, Secretary of State, and William Wirt, Attorney General, and the great seal of the United States, under date of March 24, 1825, are still in the possession of the subject of this sketch. Mr Lane, the father, dying before successfully introducing his ma- chine to the public, it was never utilized, and the expenses incurred in its invention, construc- tion, patenting, etc., were of course a dead loss. The boyhood of "Lant," as he was familiarly called, was about equally divided between the district school, the farm, and the painting room of the carriage-shop, it being the intention of his father to bring him up to the trade of a carriage painter-his next elder brother, Henry Leander, being designed by the provident father to be a wood-workman in the same line of business. The death of the father, however, Sept. 20, 1828, when Alanson was but 13 years old, thwarted this plan so far as he was con- cerned, though the brother, who had already been at work a year or so as an apprentice to the trade, was enabled to secure a situation in the then celebrated establishment of George & Henry Francis, in Hartford, and complete his trade. The condition of the deceased father's affairs was such, on settlement of the estate, that it became necessary for the sons old enough to do so to win their own bread. By working for the neighboring farmers in summer and doing chores for his board while attending school winters, Alanson was not only able to provide for himself but also to contribute

something toward the replenishment of the family larder until the spring of 1831, when, by an arrangement made for him by his eldest brother, Comfort U. Lane, who had been for sev- eral years a clerk in the store of Owen & Hurl- but, extensive paper manufacturers in the village of South Lee, Berkshire Co., Mass., he entered the adjoining store of Mr. Billings Brown, quite an extensive mill owner in the same vil- lage-the distance from Suffield to South Lee being about fifty miles. Commencing with Mr. Brown May 1, 1831, being then not quite 16 years old, the relations of the merchant and his clerk were of the most friendly and confiden- tial character for a year and a half, when Mr. Brown, by reason of his other more important interests, substantially abandoned his mercan- tile business, and, in the fall of 1832, young Låne's clerkship was transferred to the store of Mr. Austin Hayden, in the more important vil- lage of Pittsfield, in the same county. Here he remained until the spring of 1833, when, on visiting home (after an absence of just two years, during which time he had outgrown the knowledge of his most intimate acquaintances), he entered into an arrangement with a Hart- ford book publisher to canvass Merrimack Co., in the State of New Hampshire, for Goodrich's History of the United States. Simultaneously with his arrival at Concord, the county seat of Merrimack Co. and the capital of the State, was the arrival of Gen. Andrew Jackson, President of the United States, who, with his Cabinet, was at that time making a grand triumphal tour through New England. The military and civic display on that occasion was probably greater than was ever witnessed in that State, either be- fore or since, and though the embryo book agent was obliged to sleep for two consecutive nights in a stage coach in the stable yard of the hotel where he had intended to stop, he laughingly remarks that he has always felt gratified at the honors then and there paid to him and "Old Hickory." Though his father had been a stanch Democrat before him, the sight of the old hero and the "pomp and circumstance " of that oc- casion, probably had a tendency to confirm young Lane in his Democratic proclivities, and in making him, for many years after attaining his majority, an active member of the Demo- cratic party. The display over, the canvassing business was vigorously proceeded with, every family and business establishment in the city

729

CITY OF AKRON.

and county being visited, and the work so sat- isfactorily done, that on his return to Hartford, though then but a little over 17 years old, he was detailed to do similar work in Georgia and South Carolina, with his headquarters at Au- gusta. Arriving at his destination in January, 1834, the principal towns in the river counties above that point, in both States, were canvassed during the winter, spring and early summer, and a good portion of the books delivered. A hitch in the receipt of books from the North occurring, in the latter part of the summer, young Lane entered the office of the South- ern Spy, an anti-nullification or radical Union paper, as assistant editor and general helper, in the village of Washington, Wilkes Co., Ga., then and for many years afterward the home of the since notorious Southern politician and rebel General, "Bob" Toombs. At the close of the election campaign, in October, 1834, in which the Unionists of Wilkes Co. were tri- umphant over the Nullifiers for the first time in several years, and having closed his canvassing matters, young Lane, with a view of resuming mercantile operations somewhere in the South, visited Mobile and New Orleans, in both of which cities, in January, 1835, he made a dili- gent effort to obtain a clerkship, but being a stranger, and there being at least twenty appli- cants to each vacancy, he was unsuccessful, and concluded to return North. Leaving New Or- leans by steamer, and making short stops- at Louisville, Cincinnati and Columbus-he reached Cleveland about the 1st of March, whence he proceeded directly to Aurora, in Portage Co., where an aunt and other ac- quaintances from Connecticut resided. After a somewhat prolonged visit among his Aurora friends, and a short time spent at Ravenna, the county seat of Portage Co., he wended his way to the then new village of " Cascade," now the busiest portion of the city of Akron, taking up his abode at the " Pavillion House," kept by Mr. Charles B. Cobb, now residing on his mag- nificent farm just west of the city limits. This hotel stood on the northwest corner of Howard and Market streets, where the fine brick block of Dr. E. W. Howard and Edward Oviatt, Esq., now stands. Being now rather short in funds- in fact, substantially "dead broke"-our young adventurer was glad to avail himself of Mr. Cobb's offer to let him work for his board- clerking, tending bar, waiting on guests, etc .---

until something more favorable should “ turn up." This was on the 10th day of June, 1835, and nineteen days before he had attained his 20th birthday. Mercantile clerkships being less plenty than aspirants therefor, and no eli- gible situation presenting itself, our impecunious young friend continued to mix whisky toddies and perform the multifarious duties of a village hotel tapster for about two months, when he was offered and accepted a temporary situation in the shop of a house and sign painter by the name of Burt, as a sort of half-apprentice, half- journeyman, at very low wages, and to board in the family of his employer-the very first jobs assigned to him being some ornamental work beyond the skill and capacity of his em- ployer and so-called instructor. Applying him- self diligently to the business in hand, with his natural taste for designing, lettering, etc., and his youthful experience in and about his father's carriage-shop, he was in three months the peer of his employer in all branches of the business carried on, and, in some, his superior. This arrangement continued until about the 1st of December, 1835, when work substantially closing down for the winter, our young " artist " returned to his old quarters at the Pavilion. Shortly afterward, however, he was offered and accepted the position of "pedagogue," in School District No. 7, Portage Township, about a mile and a half west of Akron, on the Medina road. Though not liberally educated, having graduated from the district school of his native town at the age of 15 years, and though several of his scholars were older than himself, and one or two in some branches greatly his supe- riors, he managed to get creditably through his term of three months, or at all events to draw, if not earn, the munificent salary which the Trustees had stipulated to pay him, to wit : $11 a month and board 'round. In the spring of 1836, yielding to his natural tastes in that direction, his dire necessities, and the encour- agement of his friends, Mr. Lane, then not quite of age, rented a shop and started in busi- ness on his "own hook," as a full-fledged " house, sign and ornamental painter," soon at- taining, and for many years maintaining, a fair standing in that profession.

In September, 1837, while successfully pursu- ing his chosen avocation as a painter, availing himself of the slight knowledge of the printing business and journalism acquired in the office

730

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:

of the Southern Spy, and taking an active interest in the reformatory measures then being inau- gurated for ridding the village of certain profes- sional gamblers and other disreputable charac- ters, Mr. Lane commenced, and for a year and half maintained, the publication of a small semi-monthly paper, under the unique title of the Akron Buzzard, a more extended history of which will be found under the head of the " Press of Summit County," Mr. L., however, continuing his painting business without inter- ruption. November, 11, 1838, Mr. Lane then 23 years old, was married to Miss Paulina Pot- ter, of Castleton, Ontario Co., N. Y., the foster- sister of Mr. Paris Tallman, now living in happy retirement from active business, at No. 803 East Market street. A few days later, Mr. Henry L. Lane, the carriage builder heretofore spoken of, arrived in Akron from Connecticut, with the view of establishing himself in busi- ness here, and at the earnest solicitation of the brother, and to allay the fears of his young wife for his personal safety, by reason of his fearlessly exposing the disreputable charac- ters and practices of the village, combined with other causes, in March, 1839, the Buz- zard was discontinued, and a copartnership was formed between the two brothers, under the firm name of H. L. & S. A. Lane, for the purpose of carrying on a general carriage mak- ing and painting business. Shops were erected on the site now occupied by the brick black- smith-shop of James A. Moody, on South Main street. Though quite limited in means, every- thing in those days having to be done on the " truck and dicker " principle, a fair business was being done, when, on the 20th day of July, 1841, the elder brother, Henry L. Lane, sud- denly died, about two months, only, after his marriage to Miss Sarah Hovey, of Granville, Ohio. The surviving junior partner continued the business, though to great disadvantage, by reason of his non-acquaintance with the main branches thereof, until the close of that year, when he associated with himself an old gradu- ate of his father's establishment, lately arrived from Connecticut, Mr. Jonathan Remington, the father of Mr. O. H. Remington, the jeweler The now doing business on Howard street.

new firm of Lane & Remington continued in operation about two years, when the concern was sold to other parties. Too close applica- tion to his own branch of the business (paint-

ing) having by this time very materially im- paired Mr. Lane's health, and having meantime also become deeply interested in the success of the Washingtonian Temperance Reform, then agitating the country, in the spring of 1844, Mr. Lane again embarked in the newspaper business, in connection with Mr. William T. Coggeshall, as detailed elsewhere, reviving the Buzzard as a temperance organ, but soon changing its name to the Cascade Roarer, which was continued with a fair degree of success for something over two years, Mr. Lane leaving to his partner the general conduct of the office, and devoting most of his own time to lecturing, canvassing for subscribers to the paper, corres- pondence, etc. One novel feature adopted by Mr. Lane, as a lecturer, was to take the other side, i. e., traveling in connection with another lecturer, and discussing the question pro and con, Mr. Lane using the same arguments in favor of drinking, selling, etc., usually urged by drinkers and venders, and by carrying them out to their legitimate results, with the introduction of ludicrous illustrations to show that the use of intoxicating liquors, instead of shortening, prolongs life ; instead of poverty, brings riches ; instead of sorrow, happiness, etc., often produ- cing a greater impression upon the minds of those addicted to their cups, and those engaged in the traffic, than the most eloquent straight- forward lecturing could possibly do, the " dis- cussions," unlike the regulation temperance lect- ure, calling out the very classes sought to be reformed and benefited. On the discontinuance of the Cascade Roarer, in the fall of 1846, Mr Lane continued to occupy the lecture field, for the most part, until the fall of 1847, when, with improved health, he again embarked in the painting business, assiduously devoting himself thereto until the spring of 1850, so closely, in fact, that during the previous year a serious re- lapse of his old malady-a sort of paralysis of the stomach, or an aggravated form of dyspepsia -had substantially unfitted him for that or any other active business. With the view of bet- tering his physical as well as his financial con- dition, with some 200 other Summit Co. men, he started overland for California on the 14th day of March, 1850, and though many of his friends believed that, in the precarious condi- tion of his health, he would never live to reach the Pacific Coast ; and though the journey was very hazardous and fatiguing, he not only got

731

CITY OF AKRON.

safely through, but heavier by thirty-two pounds than when he left Akron, and six pounds heavier than ever before in his life ; a condition of things-thanks to the pure air, vigorous ex- ercise and coarse food of the plains and mount- ains, and the salubrious climate of California- more than maintained during his entire two years sojourn upon the Pacific Coast. Arriving at Placerville, the first town entered in Califor- nia, August 4, 1850, after a day or two spent among the mines, and a stop of one day at Sac- ramento, Mr. Lane proceeded immediately to San Francisco, where he remained during his stay in California, making his rooms the general head- quarters of Summit Co. gold-seekers visiting the city, whether en route for home or on their way to the mines via the Isthmus route; also acting as the regular semi-monthly correspond- ent of both the Beacon and the Democratic Standard, in keeping the "loved ones at home " posted as to the movements of their friends in the mines and other portions of California-a service very greatly appreciated by the people of Akron and Summit Co.

On reaching San Francisco, a few days were spent in " prospecting," and finding nothing bet- ter suited to his tastes or his finances, Mr. Lane, having thoroughly regained his health and youthful vigor, then being 35 years of age, again embarked in the painting business, rent- ing a small second floor room for a shop, and earning with his own hand over and above his board and expenses, about $200 per month. At that time, Mr. James G. Dow, a former Akron merchant, one of the "Forty-niners," was en- gaged in the retail auction business, which was netting him about $3,000 per month. In Octo- ber, Mr. Dow disposed of his stock of goods, with the view of spending the winter with his family in Massachusetts. Before leaving, Mr. Dow advised Mr. Lane and Mr. Charles G. Cald- well, also a " Forty-niner," and an Akron boy, then operating a small " ranch "-growing milk, butter, eggs, etc .- at Sacramento, to embark in the auction business, in which he had done so well, offering to lease to them for six months a building owned by him, on the corner of Jack- son and Montgomery streets, for which he was then receiving $800 per month in rents, for $600 per month, $350 of which was to be paid monthly in advance to the land-owner, the re- maining $250 to remain in their hands until his return in the spring. The plan appearing

perfectly feasible, Mr. Lane added his little " pile" of about $600 to the Mr. Caldwell's cash surplus of about $1,400. the firm of Lane & Caldwell borrowing $1,000 from a mutual friend, and with a cash capital of a little over $3,000, " sailed in," Mr. Dow aiding them in the purchase of their goods and in getting started. The " grand opening " took place Dec. 1, 1850, and for a time gave promise of abundant success. Within three weeks, however, and al- most before Mr. Dow had got outside the har- bor, one of those sudden and disastrous com- mercial revulsions then peculiar to the Pacific Coast-a regular panie and stagnation in al- most every branch of trade-occurred, in con- sequence of which not only was it almost im- possible to sell anything, at any price, but affecting the wholesale trade to such an extent that they could go into the market and dupli- cate the very goods they had in stock at less than one-half the prices they had paid for them. This condition of things continued for several months, the result being, that though they struggled hard, and held on in hopes of better times, they sunk every dollar invested (though managing finally to refund their borrowed mon- ey), besides coming out, at the end of the six months, nearly $1,500 in debt to their generous- hearted landlord ; the building, however, having been destroyed in the big fire of May 4, 1851, about one month before the expiration of the lease. Before this, however, Mr. Lane had re- turned to his paint-pots and brushes, and Mr. Caldwell to his cows and chickens, which, in the mean time, had been in charge of Mr. Will- iam H. White, also an Akronian, and now the head miller in the Allen Mills of Akron. On his return, about the 1st of June, 1851, Mr. Dow, after listening to the lugubrious story of the broken-down merchants, philosophically re- marked : " Well, boys, you've had a pretty rough time of it, but it's all in a life-time ; and there's one consolation about it, the more you have of it the shorter'll be the life-time. But," he continued, "I'll not be hard on you, boys, for I know how it feels to be a ' busted-up com- munity ' myself. and if you'll make me up 50 cents on the dollar, I'll call it square." This offer was of course gladly accepted, each contributing his equal share, Mr. Lane at this time earning at his trade about $300 per month, net. Soon after this, Mr. Dow and Mr. Charles W. Tap- pan, a lately-arrived Akronian, embarked in the

732

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:

same business which had proved so disastrous to Messrs. Lane & Caldwell, in which, the panic being over, they made money very rapidly, their net profits averaging over $150 per day for a year or more thereafter. Mr. Lane con- tinued to wield the brush with varied success all the time, however, earning good wages, un- til about the middle of September, 1851, when he entered the service of Messrs. Dow & Tap- pan, as an auctioneer, on a salary of $275 per month. About the 1st of November, the firm established a branch store on the same street, with Mr. Lane and a young Massachusetts Yankee by the name of Humphrey Sawyer, as salesman. Dec. 1, Messrs. Lane and Sawyer, and Hallett Kilbourn, another Akron boy, (now a well-known operator in Washington City), each bought a one-fourth interest in the " branch," Messrs. Dow & Tappan retaining the other one-fourth, Mr. Dow doing the purchas- ing, and the junior partners running the " che- bang." Feb. 1, 1852, Mr. Kilbourne withdrew, Messrs. Lane & Sawyer, then, with the old firm of Dow & Tappan, becoming each one-third owners. March 1, Messrs. Lane & Sawyer bought of Dow & Tappan the remaining one- third interest, thus becoming the sole owners of the concern, Mr. Dow still doing their purchas- ing on a small commission. The plan was to buy at auction from wholesale houses, by cata- logue, goods that would retail readily, such as clothing, boots and shoes, hats, blankets, watches, jewelry, revolvers, notions, etc., and sell them either at auction or private sale, al- ways, of course, aiming to obtain a good liberal margin over and above the original cost of the goods, but very often selling them at less than one-half the original cost of production. Busi- ness slowing up somewhat during the months of March and April, Mr. Sawyer became dis- heartened, and insisted on closing the concern out, which was accordingly done on the 1st day of June, 1852, Mr. Lane not having sufficient capital to purchase his partner's interest and run it alone. Dividing their goods, Mr. Saw- yer immediately disposed of his share at a loss, through a wholesale auction house, while Mr. Lane packed and stored his share to await the "logic of events." While "waiting and watching " for something else to " turn up," Mr. Lane something more than paid his current expenses by doing occasional jobs of lettering for an established house and sign painting firm,

until the latter part of August, when, yielding to a strong desire to see his wife and children, from whom he had then been absent about two years and a half, and the rather urgent so- licitations of several Akron boys just in from the mines, en route for home, he sold his goods at a slight margin above cost, closed up his affairs, and on the 1st day of September, 1852, on the new and stanch steamer "Win- field Scott," set sail for Panama, by no means rich, but still with quite a fair showing for his thirty months' time and labor, considering the utter failure of the first half thereof; and with what was far better than gold, good health.

In the spring of 1853, Mr. Lane invested his California savings in a clothing and merchant tailoring establishment in Akron, which busi- ness he conducted with reasonable success until the spring of 1855, when every dollar was swept away by fire. In the fall of 1853, the Temper- ance Reform party of Summit Co. put Mr. Lane forward as an Independent candidate for Representative to the State Legislature, in com- petition with the regular nominees of the Whig Democratic and Free-Soil parties. Afterward, an arrangement was made between the friends of Mr. Lane and the Whig and Free-Soil leaders, by which all three candidates should submit their claims to a union mass convention, which was accordingly done, the contest being between Mr. Lane and Dr. Porter G. Somers, of Cuya- hoga Falls. Union Hall was completely packed, and the vote was taken by passing around the hat, with no check whatever as to the number of ballots cast, or the right of any person to vote. The count resulted in a small majority for the Doctor, who was triumphantly elected over the pro-slavery, pro-whisky, Democratic candidate; though it was more than suspected at the time that the honest sentiment of that mass conven- tion was defeated by partisan "strategy," and that Mr. Lane should have been, by right, de- clared its nominee. In January, 1854, Mr. Lane was appointed by the Town Council of Akron to fill the vacancy in the Board of Edu- cation of the incorporated village, occasioned by the death of Mr. Horace Canfield. On the re-organization of the board in the following April, Mr. Lane was elected Treasurer of the Board, holding the position until the expiration of his term in 1856. In the fall of 1855, Mr. Lane having been thrown out of business by the fire above spoken of, and having naturally allied

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 132

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848- Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey Number of Pages: 1104

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1104