History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 48

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

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the fair ones, and many a prayer for their hap- piness was breathed by the recipients of these timely favors. But we will not pursue the subject. Full justice to these angels of mercy cannot be done in our limited space. We will only add, in conclusion of the chapter, a hope that their efforts may never again be called into play in a similar contest.

CHAPTER V .*

EARLY CHRISTIANITY-PIONEER MINISTERS-ESTABLISHMENT OF SCHOOLS-EDUCATIONAL STA- TISTICS-COUNTY NEWSPAPERS-THE PRESS OF TO-DAY-RAILROADS- -THEIR INVENTION-BENEFIT TO THE COUNTY.

GO ye into all the world, and preach the X Gospel to cvery creature-was the com- mand given over eighteen centuries ago by the Man of Nazareth. Nor was it intended alone for the salvation of those nations who, year after year, brought tribute to Cæsar. With prophetic vision, the world's great Redeemer gazed on nations then unborn, and heard the cry of those who, in all ages, even at the "ends of the earth," groaned beneath the yoke of sin. Then, for the redemption, He gave to His disci- ples those commands which in later years have caused His people to widely spread God's glo- rious truth. When from Atlantic's coast, even from Plymouth Rock, the Star of Empire first renewed her journey westward, and the pioneers of a mighty race descended the western slopes of the Alleghanies, then in the van of the great army, the heralds of salvation bore aloft the Cross of Calvary. In the broad valley of the Mississippi, destined to become the home of a greater nation than any Cæsar ever ruled, the solitary settlers rejoiced to hear those early mes- sengers proclaim the "glad tidings of great joy," or wept at the story of Pilate, the crown of thorns, and the agonies of Golgotha and Calvary. The dark and gloomy forests were pierced by the light that shone from the Star of Bethlehem, and the hymns of praise to God. were mingled with the music of the woodman's ax, for in those early days, it could well be said that

" The groves were God's first temples."

*Contributed by W. H. Perrin.

The introduction of Christianity into the wilderness of Ohio was coeval with the settle- ment of the territory. Pioneer preachers and ministers, sent out by missionary societies of the older settled States of the East, wandered to the Ohio Territory, when few human beings, other than Indians, were to be found within its limits. And what is now Summit County was, in this respect, equally blest with other portions of the Western country. With the pioneers themselves, came missionaries, many of whom devoted ycars of energy and faithful labor to the Indians, teaching them "the way unto eter- nal life." A case of this kind is recorded of Rev. Mr. Badger, a missionary from Blanford, Mass., who is said to have been the first minis- ter ever on the Reserve, and for years devoted his time equally to his white and red brethren. Gen. Bierce, in his history of Summit County, says : " Mr. Badger came out and examined his field of labor in 1800, and so well pleased was he with the prospect, that he returned. re- signed his charge in Blanford, where he had labored fourteen years, and removed his family to the almost trackless wilderness. He divided his labors between the whites of the Reserve and the Indians of Sandusky and Maumee. He was not only a preacher of peace, but a man of war. He was in Harrison's army during the war of 1812, and at the siege of Fort Mcigs. In 1835, he tired of increasing civilization, and removed to Wood County, Ohio, where he died in 1846." Rev. Mr. Badger established the first church, of which we have any record, in

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HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.

Summit County, on the 4th of September, 1802, at the house of Mr. Hudson, in Hudson Town- ship. The society consisted of thirteen persons, not one of whom but has been called to account for " the deeds done in the body." A full his- tory of this pioneer church will be found in the chapter devoted to Hudson.

The pioneers of Summit County had been brought up under the rigid system of Puritan- ism, imbibed, as it were, from Plymouth Rock itself, and hence, when they came to "New Connecticut," as this region was then called, these religious principles were still held, and most scrupulously guarded. A writer upon this subject, whose ripe scholarship and vast experience entitles his opinion to some weight, says : "They brought to this new land a relig- ious spirit that eagerly seized upon 'The Re- serve,' as a means to propagate a theology that had hitherto flourished only within the rock- bound limits of New England. In their native land, hedged about by traditions that had com- manded the unquestioning respect of parents and children for many generations ; opposition had been thrust out, and the people began to feel, like the Jews of old, that they were espe- cially aided of God, and that they alone had kept the faith undefiled. But, hitherto, it had not been successfully transplanted, and, when the 'Western Reserve' was placed in the con- trol of those ' to the manor born,' a prominent thought in their minds was that now favorable circumstances were to aid in transplanting the Puritan faith to a spot peculiarly guarded, from which its influence, like the light, should dispel the the darkness, and make the Church of New England the church universal. Ac- cepting the dogma of 'original sin,' they got beneath the denunciatory preaching of their native land, with a meekness that was satisfied, if, by the rigid rule of practice laid down, they might, peradventure, be saved. But under this quiet exterior, there was a true war-like spirit, and the mind of each member of the church, that had reached maturity of thought, was an arsenal of theological weapons. At church meetings, in the social circles, and on the street, the ponderous themes of ' election,' 'fore-ordina- tion,' ' the perseverance of the saints,' and kin- dred subjects, were prominent topics, and wielded with a power and an address that viv- idly recalls the physical combat of mediæval times. On coming to the new country, how-

ever, these characteristics experienced a change. The standing army had been mobilized, and each member was imbued with the enthu- siasm of a crusader, but they found here an enemy, to subdue whom their arsenal held no adequate weapon. Their fulminations of the decrees were met with an appeal to common- sense philosophy ; dogmas were met with the demand for freedom of thought ; and the result here, as in many a physical conflict, was that the light-armed forces completely demoralized those strong only in their defensive armor, and forced them to accept, and, in the end, to cham- pion, that freedom of thought that they had early learned to denounce as heresy."

The early religious history of "The Reserve" would make an interesting volume, and one of considerable magnitude, but our space will not admit of more than a passing glance in this chapter. The early missionaries and pioneer preachers, as we have said, came to the county with the early settlers themselves. Rev. David Bacon was one of these pioneer soldiers of the Cross, and the next minister in this section, per- haps, a Mr. Badger. He established a " Church of Christ," in Tallmadge, in 1809. This early temple of God consisted of ten members, five males and five females, and, " having no meet- ing-house, they met in private houses and barns." Of the church, established by Mr. Bacon, Gen. Bierce says : "Imbned with the spirit of New England theology, Mr. Bacon conceived the project of transplanting it into the Western world. A religious colony was his favorite theory, in which all should believe alike and be bound to contribute to the support of the Gospel by a tax on the land, which should be tantamount to a mortgage on the property. * * * Mr. Bacon had previously pur- chased from Tallmadge & Starr 12,000 acres of

This land at $1.50 per acre. * purchase gave him a controlling interest in the township. In all subsequent sales by him, he inserted a clause in the contract charging every one hundred acres of land sold, with a tax of $2 a year for the support of the Gospel-and none but believers in the Saybrook platform could have any land at any price, or on any condition except that of joining the church." Doubtless the reverend gentleman was looking forward to that good time coming, when "the lamb and the lion shall lie down together," and we shall all see alike and be alike and love

* *

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HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.

each other like one great family. But the world was not old enough nor ripe enough for so grand and glorious a scheme, and hence Mr. Bacon was doomed to a bitter disappointment. Other individuals and companies holding lands, sold them "unincumbered by restrictions as to religious beliefs," and free of any tax for church or Gospel purposes. The liberality and freedom of these titles, compared to the entailed incum- brance of the Bacon system, soon broke up the latter and the "theory of an exclusive relig- ious community failed." Members who, of their own free-will and accord, were willing to contribute to the support of the Gospel, pro- tested against being driven into support of it, whether they were willing or not, and, as a natural consequence, a spirit of bitterness was engendered in the church "which brought forth anything but holiness." The feeling against Mr. Bacon became so strong that he was finally forced to resign his charge. This he did in the spring of 1812 ; also, " gave up his land con- tract and abandoned his Utopian scheme." He was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Woodruff, who, it seems, did not continue in the high esteem of the church for any length of time. His resig- nation was earnestly sought, and, when ten- dered, was eagerly accepted. The history of this church will be given more fully in another chapter.

A log meeting house was erected in Tall- madge in 1814, and in 1817 an edifice for church purposes was built in Hudson. Elder Newcomb was an early divine of Copley Town- ship, and preached the first sermon in that division of the county. The first society organ- ized there, however, was by Mr. Pettitt, a Con- gregational minister, in 1832. Religious meet- ings were held in Twinsburg in 1820. A Con- gregational Church was formed in that town- ship in 1828, by Rev. Samuel Bissell. Thus the Gospel spread and churches were organized as the county became peopled by the whites, until now, side by side with the schoolhouse, we find in every section, those

"Steeple towers And spires, whose silent fingers point to Heaven."

The cause of education received the early attention of the pioneers of Summit County, and among these Connecticut Yankees it found a congenial soil in which it flourished, and has brought forth fruit a hundred fold. In the

early settlement of this part of the State, there were a great many influences that worked against general education. Neighborhoods were thinly settled, money was scarce, and the peo- ple generally were poor. There were no school- houses, nor was there any public school fund to build schoolhouses, or even to pay teachers. All persons of either sex, who had physical strength enough to labor, were compelled to take their part in the work, the labor of the females being as heavy and important as that of the men ; and this strain upon their industry continued for years. Another drawback to education was a lack of teachers and of books. Taking all these facts together, it is a great source of wonder that the pioneers had any schools at all. But the early settlers, who came principally from New England, the seat of learning and the birth-place of liberal educa- tion, deserve the highest honors for their prompt and energetic efforts in the establish- ment of schools. Just as soon as the settle- ments would at all justify, schools were opened at each one, and any vacant cabin, stable, barn or other outhouse was used as a temple of learning. The schools were paid for by sub- scription, at the rate of about 50 or 75 cents a month per scholar. Although the people of Ohio and of Summit County displayed this early interest in the cause of education, yet, when the State Legislature passed a law in 1825, making education compulsory, it raised quite a tempest for a time. The taxpayers of the country at large very heartily indorsed the Legislature in passing the Canal Law, which voted away millions of money, but as heartily condemned it for passing a law compelling them to support "pauper schools," and the poorer classes were loud in their condemnation, be- cause the law made " pauper scholars " of their children.

Those who remember the early school-laws of Ohio will remember the frequent changes made in them, and how erude and imperfect they were as compared to the present law. The early laws were changed every session of the Legislature, until they became a perfect chaos of amendments, provisions, etc., which none were wholly able to explain or understand. One district would act under one law, and an adjoining district under altogether a different one. But the adoption of a new Constitution gave the State a revised school law, said. at

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the time of its adoption, to be the best and most perfect within the bounds of the Union. And from that day to the present, it has kept its place as the best and most liberal school law of any of the States.

The early schoolhouses, as a general thing, were of the poorest kind. In towns, they were dilapidated buildings, either frame or logs, and in the country they were invariably of logs. Usually but one style of architecture was used in building them. They were erected, not from a regular fund or by subscription, but by labor given. The neighbors would gather together at some place previously agreed upon, and with ax in hand the work was soon done. Logs were ent from sixteen to eighteen feet in length, and of these the walls were raised. Broad boards composed the roof, and a rude fire-place and clapboard door, a puncheon floor, and the cracks filled with "chinks," and these daubed over with mud completed the schoolhouse, with the exception of the windows and the furniture. These were as rude and as primitive as the house itself. The window was made by cutting out a log the full length of the building, and over the opening, in winter, paper, saturated with grease, served to admit the light. Just under this window, two or three stout pins were driven in the log in a slanting direction, on which a log puncheon was fastened, and this was the "writing desk" of the whole school. For seats, they used benches made from small trees, cut in lengths of ten or twelve feet, split open, and in the round side two large holes were bored at each end, and in each a stout pin, fifteen inches, was driven. These pins formed the legs, and on rough and uneven floors, hardly ever more than three of these legs " touched bottom" at one and the same time. And the books ! They were as promiscuous as the house and furniture were rude. The New Testament was the most popular reader. " Introduction to the English Reader," "Sequel to the English Reader," and finally the reader itself, were in the collection of school-books of the time. The New England Primer was one of the primary books. The higher spellers were Dilworth's and then Webster's. Gram- mar was scarcely ever taught; when it was, the text-books used were Murray's and Kirk- ham's Grammars. But it is unnecessary to follow the description further. Those who have known only the perfect system of schools of

the present can scarcely form an idea of the limited capacity of educational facilities in this favored region fifty to seventy years ago. There are doubtless, however, many still living in Summit County who. from personal experience, know something of pioneer schools and school- houses.

The first school taught in Summit County was by George Pease, in the fall and winter of 1801. The house in which it was taught stood on the southwest corner of Lot 56, of Hud- son Township, and " near the center of what was then the public square." The next school in this settlement was taught in the same house by Miss Patty Filer. The first school was taught in Norton Township by Sarah Wyatt, in a little log cabin near John- son's Corners. In 1809, a school was taught in Northampton by Justus Remington, and in Richfield a Mr. Farnum was the pioneer peda- gogue. In the winter of 1812, Reuben Upson wielded the birch and ferule in Springfield Township in a little house that stood near Cass' Camp-ground ; Miss Lucy Foster performed the same office in Tallmadge Township in 1810, in a small log shanty that stood south of the cen- ter. Rachel Hammond, in 1811, taught the first school in Bath Township, in a house be- longing to Aaron Miller, and Lois Ann Gear taught the first in Boston Township, in the summer of the same year; in 1817, Joseph Mishler taught the first school in Franklin Township, in a log house that had been built for a church.

From these facts it will be seen that the pioneers of Summit County lost no time in establishing schools in the new country to which they had come. As we have said, there were no free schools then, but all schools were paid for by general subscription.

The county, in addition to its excellent sys- tem of common schools, has, at the present time, several colleges, academies and high schools in successful operation. These will be written up fully in the respective townships in which they are located. The educational his- tory of each township will also be given, from the small beginnings already noticed, through its various changes and improvements, to its present perfect state.

The following statistics, from the report of the State Board of Education, will be found of general interest :

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HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.

MONEY RECEIVED WITHIN THE YEAR.

Balance on hand September 1, 1878 .... $67,558 30

State Tax .... 22,405 26

Irreducible School Fund. 1,688 58

Local Tax for School and Schoolhouse Purposes . 84,371 49

Amount received on sale of bonds .. 1,040 20

From fines, licenses and other sources. . 3,130 77

Total receipts. $180,194 60

Amount paid teachers. . .

. .

$70,226 10

Managing and superinten'g 2,005 00

Sites and buildings. . . 19,477 50

Interest on redemption of bonds. 6,683 49

Fuel and other contingent

expenses 18,610 53

Total expenditures. .

. .

$117,002 62

Balance on hand September 1, '79, $63,191 98

Payment to Summit County.

$19,362 00

Received from Summit County. 22,003 28

Excess of Receipts from county ..

$2,641 28

Section 16 Fund .. $ 588 70

Western Reserve Fund. 1,115 52

Total $1,704 22

Youths between six and twenty-one years- White, males, 6,601 ; females, 6,241. 12,842

Colored, males, 51 ; females. 55 106

Total. 12.948

Number of Schoolhouses in County- Townships, primary, 144; high, 1. 145

Separate districts, primary, 17 ; high, 7, 24

Total. 169

Total value of School Property- Townships, primary, $141,792 ; high, $6,000. $147,792 Separate district, primary, $157,500 ; high, $38,800. $196,300

Total. $344,092 Number of different teachers employed- Townships, primary, males, 125; fe- males, 124 ; high, males, 2. . 251

Separate districts, primary, males, 3 ; females, 68 ; high, males, 7 ; females, 13.

Total. 342

Average wages paid teachers-

Townships, primary, males, per month, $35 26 primary, females, per month, high, males. 62 high, females . 00

Separate districts, primary, males. . 113

primary, females. . 40

high, males.

high, females. 70

No. of different pupils enrolled within the year- Townships, primary, males, 3,092 ; fe- males, 2,552 ; high, males, 28; fe- male, 23. . 5,665

Separate districts, primary, males, 1,- 742; females, 1,743; high, males, 346; females, 430. 4,261

Total. 9,926

Average daily attendance- Townships, primary, males, 1,536 ; fe- males, 1,231 ; high, males, 13; fe- males, 11. . 2,791

Separate districts, primary, males, 1,- 326; females, 1,313; high, males, 210; females, 309. 3,158

Total

5,949

Per cent of average daily attendance of monthly en- rollment-Townships, .75 ; separate districts, .92.

Teachers employed in private schools- In townships, 5; separate districts 40 45

Pupils enrolled in private schools- Separate districts, males, 205 ; females, 250. 455

No. of students in attendance at Buchtel College- Males, 104; females, 52. . 156 No. of students in attendance at Western Reserve College- Males, 93 ; females, 6. 99

The following is from David Ellet, County Examiner, to the State Board of Education : "The schools of this county are slowly and steadily improving in efficiency and usefulness. They will compare favorably with those of the adjoining counties. Many of our teachers de- sire to know more of teaching as a profession, and, as a result of this, avail themselves largely of the opportunities furnished in this direction by our county institutes. Our schools need more good teachers-teachers better qualified by edu- cation, by experience, and by devotion to their work. They want more good school officers, and more earnestness, more enthusiasm, a greater sense of responsibility in all who are connected with the schools. In some localities an improved state of opinion is needed among those who patronize the schools, a more intelli- gent acquaintance with their present condition, and a more enlarged appreciation of their capa- bilities." The above is sound doctrine, and should be well considered by those who are concerned in the cause of education.

A few extracts from the annual report of Hon. J. J. Burns, State Commissioner of Schools, appear to us so appropriate in this connection that we give place to them. He

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says : "How shall we cause our pupils to make the largest possible attainments in these foundation branches, and also have them, when they leave school, thirsting for more knowl- edge, and possessing trained mental faculties so that they may acquire it; the organ of these faculties to be contained in a healthy body, while mind and body are under the guidance of correct moral principles ? To avoid waste of time and labor is to be able to better do the work in hand, and to apply the savings to something beyond. A search for wastage is a highly practical thing, and economy here, a moral duty. I have often asserted that there is a wastage in having pupils spend time in learning to spell hundreds-yes, thousands-of words which they never have occasion to use outside of the spelling-class, while probably the dictionary, which should be in constant use, rests in pensive quietness on the teacher's desk, if, indeed, there is one in the room. The meaning of words and their pronunciation are of far more moment than their spelling. The best text-books from which to learn these are the reader and dictionary ; and the best proofs of progress are correct oral reading and written compositions. Is there anything better than a common spelling-book exercise to cause pupils to think that we learn words for the sake of knowing how to spell them ? that we are seek- ing not kernels but shells ? In penmanship, we want more drill in writing from dictation, in having the pupils put their thoughts or recollec- tions upon paper rapidly and neatly. Copying that beautiful line at the top of the page with care and patience is a good exercise, but some better gymnastic is required to fit the writer for hours of real work. In one way and another, language rightly claims a large share of the at- tention of the teacher. It is the grand charac- teristic which distinguishes man from the other animals, the most direct product of his inner consciousness.

" The child has begun the study of language before his school life commences. Learning to talk seems as natural as learning to laugh, or cry, or play. But so much of knowledge and of the world is hidden in books, that a key must be found to unlock these treasures, and that key is reading-the power to translate the written word ; to recognize it as the graphic symbol of an idea before in possession, so that the ability to reverse the process will follow, and printed

words become the source of ideas. As the pupil masters words and their meaning, he is getting into his possession the tools with which he may dig in books for further knowledge, make his own knowledge more useful to him as a social being, and secure a body for his thoughts, without which incarnation they are as little subject to control as the weird fancies of a dream. The art of silent reading deserves more attention in school-practice in grasping the meaning of a passage in the shortest possible time, and reproducing it with pen or tongue. But along with this, in its earlier stages, and a short time preceding it, is the oral reading exercise, wherein the reader must serve as eyes to the listeners, so that they may, through his voice, see the printed page. How much inspiration is there in this work when each listener has the page before his own eyes ? The translation of a written sentence into a spoken sentence is much more than the mere transla- tion, in their right order, of the words of the written sentence ; and to do this well requires, besides the names of the written characters, culture of voice, training of eye, quickening of emotion. To serve as a medium through which others may know the printed page, catching its syllables upon the ear, is not low art. To breathe life into dead words, and send them into the depths of the moral and intellectual nature of the hearer, and that with power to convince, to arouse, to subdue, greater than if the hearer had been his own interpreter, is high art indeed. We cannot, however, afford the time, even if that were the only obstacle, to train all our school children to be readers in this artistic sense. We must content ourselves with the more modest aim, and remember that, after all, the prime object of the reading exer- cise in school is not to train the youth to shine as elocutionists, or serve as a mirror for others, but to impart to them the ability to get knowl- edge from books, and to keep alive a hunger for it, thus 'determinating the pupil to self- activity,' which Hamilton calls the 'primary principle of education.'

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History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 48

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