History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 49

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 49

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" Another language of great value is com- mitting to memory-learning by heart well, phrases-choice selections, gems of thought and expression, culled from the best writings of the best writers. These should be judiciously selected, so as not to be too much beyond the easy comprehension of the pupil. They should,

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above all other requisites, be pure, healthful, inspiring. The teacher should add interest to the work by relating incidents in the life of the authors. We know with what tenacity the memory clings to the simple rhymes learned in childhood. , If this work be continued as it should be, who can deny its lasting effects upon life? A refined taste and quickened intellect may be hoped for as the result of drinking in and assimilating beautiful thoughts in chaste, musical language-words of warning or of ap- proval, flashed by the memory upon the judg- ment in the time of temptation, of resistance thereto. * * * * * * * *

" One very good result of increased attention to literature in the schools is the marked in- crease in the amount of wholesome reading -- history, biography, travels, poetry, popular sci- ence and the lessened demand for dime novels and other low fiction. Few questions are, in their bearing upon the future of our country, more important than this : What are the boys and girls reading? I would not, then, have less time spent in our schools upon language, but teachers may well look into the subject, and see whether that time is spent to the best advantage. The puplic regard arithmetic, par excellence, as the practical study. It is the practical educator's strong tower, and we have it taught in season and out. The nine digits seem to have taken the place of the heathen gods, and their demand for offerings knows no cessation. Measured by any definition of the practical, as a means either to fit one directly for bread-getting in the common business of life, or as a means of mental culture and disci- pline, a large part of arithmetic, as found in our books and taught from them, falls short. Instead of introducing, at an early stage, the seience of geometry, we fritter away valuable time upon annuities and alligation, and pro- gression ; and, as for interest, one would think that mankind in general made a living by shav- ing each other's notes. Children begin early to develop the idea of numbers. It concerns matters of their daily life. The elemental steps of writing and reading numbers, or the sym- bols of numbers, naturally follow, and, usually, are not difficult of acquirement. But there is such a gap between the conditions needed for the ready learning of these things, and the more mature judgment and that knowledge of business and the world, demanded in the intelli-

gent solution of ordinarily difficult problems in discount and certain other branches of applied arithmetic. Back and forth across this stretch the boy's mind must swing like a pendulum, repelled by what it cannot comprehend, and by what it has grown tired of. He marks time, when he could so readily oblique into some other study and march forward. Then, by and by, if these advanced parts of arithmetical science are needed, their acquisition would be easy. Meanwhile, the child may give increased attention to literature and be learning interest- ing and profitable lessons about this world into which he has come, and in what he came, and how to take care of it. While these priceless practical lessons are in progress, one can faney that the arithmetic itself would enjoy the rest.

" In the time which can be saved, also a few short steps could be taken in some other branches now much neglected. The reason for, and the practical mode of, doing many things which are to be done in real life by the citizen, the man of business, thé manager of a house- hold, might be taught in the schools. Some- thing of the nature of the materials which we eat, drink and wear, and economy in the buy- ing and using, would be excellent lessons. If He is a benefactor of mankind who causes two blades of grass to grow where one grew before, the language does not furnish a name for him or her who shall cause the laboring man to know how to make $1 produce the good results for which he must now expend two. No mat- ter whether we regard the school as established primarily for the good of the children, or for the preservation of the State, we must admit that the most valuable result of all education, is the building of good characters. This, to speak definitely, is to instill correct principles, and train in right habits. Citizens with these 'constitute a State.' Men and women with these are in possession of what best assures rational happiness, the end and aim of human life."

In his report of 1878, upon the subject of Compulsory Education-a subject which is now receiving considerable attention in many of the States-the State Commissioner says : " Con- cerning the right of State or Government to pass and carry into effeet what is known as Compulsory Laws, and require parents and guardians, even against their will, to send their children to school, there does not appear to be

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much diversity of opinion. Concerning the policy thereof, dependent upon so many known and unknown conditions, there is the widest diversity. I can write no history of the results of the act of March 20, 1877, for it does not seem to have any. A great good would be wrought if the wisdom of the General Assembly could devise some means which shall strengthen and supplement the powers of Boards of Edu- cation, and enable them to prevent truancy, even if only in cases where parents desire their chil- dren to attend school regularly, but parental authority is too weak to secure that end. The instances are not few in which parents would welcome aid in this matter, knowing that truan- cy is often the first step in a path leading through the dark mazes of idleness, vagabond- age and crime.

" Whatever may be said of young children working in mills and factories, youthful idlers upon the streets of towns and cities should be gathered up by somebody and compelled to do something. If they learn nothing else, there will at least be this salutary lesson, that society is stronger than they, and without injuring them, will use its strength to protect itself. While we are establishing reform schools for those who have started in the way to their own ruin, and have donned the uniform of the enemies of civil society, it would be a heavenly importation to provide some way to rescue those who are yet lingering around the camp."

The Press of Summit County .*- We have been fortunate in finding the very " fountain head " of the copious flow of local literature-polite, political, miscellaneous and otherwise-with which the people of the territory now embraced in Summit County, have been blessed during the past sixty years. In August, 1825, Mr. Laurin Dewey, a young printer from Ravenna, after- ward well-known as a prominent Whig politi- cian in Northern Ohio, issued a prospectus for a paper to be published in the village of Middle- bury, now the Sixth Ward of Akron, to be called the Ohio Canal Advocate. To aid him in this enterprise, a subscription paper was circulated among the people of Middlebury, of which the following is a copy :

" We, the subscribers, being anxious for the prosperity of this section of the country, and the dissemination of useful information gener- ally, do severally agree to pay the sums set op-

posite our respective names, for the purpose of purchasing a printing press, types, etc., and for erecting a printing establishment in the village of Middlebury, under the direction of Mr. Lau- rin Dewey, who will edit and publish a weekly paper, devoted to the general interests of the country, advertising, etc., the columns to be en- riched by foreign and domestic news, religious intelligence, poetry, etc .; the sums so by ns paid to be considered in the nature of a loan, to be repaid whenever the editor shall consider him- self able to do so."

The names of the signers of this document, with their several contributions to the purchas- ing fund, are as follows : Charles Sumner, $10 ; Erastus Torrey, $10 ; Henry Chittenden, $5 ; Nathan Gillett, Jr., $5 ; Rufus Hart, $3 ; Ed- ward Sumner, $10; Samuel Newton, $10; Charles W. Brown, $5 ; Benajah A. Allen, $3 ; Phineas Pettis, $5 ; Elijah Mason, $5 ; John McMillan, Jr., $10 ; Spencer & Morgan, $15 ; Alexander C. Lawson, $2 ; William McGallard, $2 ; D. W. Williams, $5 ; Thomas C. Viall, $2 ; Jacob Kaufman, $5 ; Jesse Allen, $4; Ithiel Mills, $3 ; Amos Spicer, $4; William Bell, $3 ; Roswell Kent & Co., $5; Henry Squires, $5 ; Elisha Farnam, $5; Joseph W. Brown; $5; Horatio Howard, $5 ; Ambrose S. Cotter, $5 ; Henry Rhodes, $3 ; William Phelps, $2 ; Will- iam J. Hart, $3 ; R. & S. McClure, $5 ; Theophi- lus Potter, $2 ; Joshua Richards, $2; Bagley & Humphrey, $10; Leonard Chatfield, $2 ; David Jones, $2 ; Titus Chapman, $2 ; Julius A. Sumner, $3; Miner Spicer, $4; Alpheus Hart, $1 ; Paul Williams, $2; Guerdon Geer, $5. Total amount subscribed, $204, a sum scarcely adequate to the purchase of a first-class printer's outfit in these latter days. Ozias Bowen, Esq., then a resident of Middlebury (afterward a prominent citizen of Marion, and Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of that county), associated himself with Mr. Dewey in the enterprise, but before the paper was started, Mr. Dewey transferred his interest to Elijah Mason, Esq.

The Portage Journal .- The Ohio Canal ques- tion, meantime, having been substantially set- tled, and needing no further advocacy, Messrs. Bowen and Mason, before the first issue, changed the name of their paper to the Portage Journal. The first number was issued on the 28th day of September, 1825. Printing mate- rials were not as readily obtainable then as now,

* Written by Samuel A. Lane.

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and, as the utmost economy had to be exercised in making the "plant." the Cleveland Herald having just procured a new dress, the old types, rules, chases, stands, cases, etc., purchased from that establishment, together with an old " Ram- age " press-the press of Benjamin Franklin- constituted the entire outfit of the Portage Journal, the whole concern being transported overland, from Cleveland to Middlebury, in a couple of two-horse wagons. The size of the paper was 19x24 inches, with four columns to the page, the terms of publication being " Two dollars per annum (exclusive of postage), if payment be made within the year, or two dol- lars and fifty cents if payment be delayed until the year expires. No paper will be discontinued until arrearages are paid." In politics, the Journal appears to have been nearly neutral, with a very decided leaning toward the anti- Jackson, or Adams, party. The connection of Mr. Bowen ceased with No. 57, October 27. 1826. Mr. John McMillan, Jr. (father of Mr. George W. McMillan, of Northampton Town- ship, to whom the writer is indebted for a por- tion of the material for this chapter), purchas- ing Mr. Bowen's interest, the new firm being McMillan & Mason, who changed the name of the paper to the Portage Journal and Weekly Advertiser-a pretty long name for so small a paper. This arrangement continued just one year, Mr. Mason retiring with No. 109, his place being taken by Alvah Hand, Esq., then practicing law in Middlebury, the new firm of McMillan & Hand, with Mr. Hand as editor, continuing its publication until January or Feb- ruary, 1829, when it was discontinued for want of adequate support, the materials of the office being sold to parties in Massillon. Mr. George W. McMillan, at present living among us, vig- orous and hearty, and Hon. Hiram Bowen, af- terward founder of the Beacon, and one term Summit County's Representative in the State Legislature. and still an active business man in the State of Kansas, were both employes in the pioneer printing office of Summit County- the Portage Journal.

The Ohio Observer .- The second place in which the newspaper found a " local habitation and a name " within the present limits of Sum- mit County was Hudson. January 20, 1827, a religious paper called the Western Intelligencer, was started in Cleveland, edited by Harmon Kingsbury, J. G. and D. B. Mchain, and Kings-

bury, being the publishers. August 31, 1827, Rev. Randolph Stone became associate editor, and March 19, 1828, sole editor of the paper, with John G. Mchain as publisher, which ar- rangement continued until the close of 1829, when the publication of the paper was sus- pended. In March. 1830, a new series was commenced in Hudson, with Warren Isham as editor and proprietor, who at that time changed the name to the Observer and Telegraph. De- eember 30, 1830, Lewis Berry. a practical print- er, became a partner with Mr. Isham in the concern, but in April. 1832, Mr. Isham again became sole proprietor of the paper. May 10, 1832, the name of Rev. James B. Walker ap- pears joined with Mr. Isham, but was soon afterward dropped, the paper. about this time, taking the name of the Ohio Observer. Feb- ruary 26, 1834, R. M. Walker and S. J. Brad- street became the editors and proprietors of the paper. December 11, 1834, Rev. James B. Walker, afterward Pastor of the Congregational Church in Akron, became sole editor and pro- prietor. At the close of 1835-about which time the paper was temporarily crippled through the breaking of its press, by a few sturdy blows from a blacksmith's sledge, wielded by a prom- inent citizen of Iludson. whose moral character the paper had or was about to call in question -Rev. A. R. Clarke became its editor and pro- prietor, and transferred the paper to Cleveland, uniting it with the Cleveland Journal, Rev. O. P. Hoyt being associated with Mr. Clarke as editor. November 1, 1838, the paper was dis- continued, but its publication resumed January 9, 1839. April 16, 1840, the paper was returned to Hudson, with Prof. E. P. Barrows as editor, the pecuniary responsibility for its publication being assumed by an association of gentlemen in Hudson and other portions of the Western Reserve. October 2, 1842, Prof. Henry N. Day became associated with Prof. Barrows as one of the editors. February 14, 1844, the office, press, types, fixtures, etc., were destroyed by fire, and, for a short time, the paper was printed at Cuyahoga Falls,

After the fire, the association having charge of the publication of the paper, paid up the balance of its indebtedness and withdrew from the concern. The paper then went into the hands of A. Upson & Co .. who published it till January, 1848, at which date it was transferred to W. Skinner & Co., who. in turn, transferred

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it to Sawyer, Ingersoll & Co., in January, 1851, Messrs. Barrows and Day continuing to edit the paper until 1852, their services being per- formed gratuitously, being purely a " labor of love " for mankind in general, and the readers of the Observer in particular. J. S. Sawyer was the editor in 1852, and Rev. John C. Hart in 1853. January 11, 1854, the subscription-list of the Family Visitor was transferred to the Observer, which was continued one year longer, under the name of the Ohio Observer and Reg- ister, when, upon the failure of the publishers, the paper ceased to exist. The Observer, dur- ing its many vicissitudes, was always very ably edited. It was a religious, literary and polit- ical (non-partisan) family newspaper, specially representing the interests of the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches, under the old plan of union, and, during the nearly thirty years of its existence, its influence for good among the people of the Western Reserve can- not well be over-estimated.

The Family Visitor .- Hudson's second news- paper venture was the Family Visitor, com- menced January 3, 1850, also in Cleveland, the names of Prof. J. P. Kirtland and O. H. Knapp, appearing as editors. On May 2, 1850, Mr. Knapp's name was dropped, the paper at that time being published simultaneously in Cleve- land and Hudson. In January, 1852, the paper was wholly transferred to Hudson, and, in the spring of that year, Prof. Matthew C. Read be- came its sole editor, continuing to act in that capacity with great acceptance of the patrons and readers of the ever-welcome Visitor until January 11, 1854, when its subscription list was transferred to the Observer and Register, as be- fore stated. The plan of the publishers and editors of the Visitor was to furnish a family paper-scientific, literary, religious and agricult- ural-of a high moral tone, excluding every- thing in any respect objectionable. It had sub- scribers in every State in the Union, who deeply regretted its discontinuance. It was the first of quite a large class of high-toned papers, which have since become successful ; but, being in ad- vance of the times, had to be given up, because under the disaster-inviting credit system then prevailing among newspaper publishers, and their so-called "patrons," the proprietors could not afford "to labor and to wait" for the future harvest which was surely coming.

The Hudson Enterprise .- This paper was es-

tablished as an amateur sheet, in connection with a small job office, in May, 1875, by H. M. McDonald. It was a five-column folio, using "patent " outsides, the inside of the paper, only, filled with local and general news, advertising, etc., being printed in the office of publication. The Enterprise, which by this time had come to be an indispensable necessity in many of the households of the village and surrounding town- ships, was bought by Mr. J. H. Meek, in July, 1876, who in turn sold it to Col. Sullivan D. Harris, the former able editor of the Ohio Cul- tivator, in April, 1877. Col. Harris dying a few weeks after his purchase of the paper, it was bought by its present proprietor, Mr. C. G. Guil- ford, who changed it into a five-column quarto, the entire paper now being " set up " and printed at home. The Enterprise, for a purely local journal, is all that its name implies, and is eminently worthy of the increasing prosperity it now enjoys.

College City Venture .- In July, 1856, Mr. E. F. Chittenden, an old compositor on the Visitor, established a small weekly paper at Hudson, under this title, calling to his assistance as edi- tor, M. C. Read, Esq., but only a few numbers were issued, though while it did live, it was very ably conducted, indeed.

Hudson Gazette .- In November, 1857, Rev. Alexander Clark, afterward becoming a D. D. and man of note in the Methodist Episcopal Church, in Pennsylvania, now deceased, started a small paper at Hudson under the above title. It was devoted to "Commerce, Education, Agri- culture, Arts and News," and was quite ably edited but continued in existence on a few weeks.

The Ohio Review .- The next point, in chro- nological order, to be illumined by the effulgence supposed to emanate from the printing press, was Cuyahoga Falls. Largely through the in- fluence of Judge Joshua Stow-then the owner of a large proportion of the lands of the vil- lage-Horace Canfield and Timothy P. Spencer, a couple of enterprising young printers of Hart- ford, Conn., were induced to remove to Cuya- hoga Fails and open a newspaper and job print- iug office in 1833. After many delays in getting together the necessary materials, the first num- ber of the Ohio Review was issued by Messrs. Canfield & Spencer November 30, 1833. The paper was neatly printed and quite ably con- ducted, and, being neutral in politics, was well-

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liked by the people ; but its circulation being necessarily very limited, and the income of the establishment not proving sufficient to meet its current expenses, the Review, after an existence of something over one year, was temporarily discontinued December 12, 1834, Messrs. Can- field & Spencer removing to Cleveland, and from there, soon afterward, to Medina. The printing office, however, remaining at the Falls, the publication of the Review was soon after- ward resumed by " An Association of Gentle- men "-names not given-with Mr. James Low- rey as printer. The exact date of its discon- tinuance we have been unable to ascertain ; but as Mr. Henry Wetmore has a number of the fourth volume, dated April 13, 1837, in his pos- session, and as an Akron contemporary of May 5, 1838, says : "There are four papers now published at Cuyahoga Falls, three of which are castigators, viz., the Renovator, the Young Buz- zard and the Telescope," the three papers men- tioned being ephemeral affairs, it is probable that the Review was still in existence at that date, and very likely continued for some years thereafter.

The Cuyahoga Falls Reporter .- In the year 1870, Mr. E. O. Knox, a practical printer, but with very little money and absolutely no jour- nalistic experience, commenced the publication of a handsome nine-column weekly paper, un- der the title of the Cuyahoga Falls Reporter. Its outside pages are replete with choice litera- ture, interesting miscellany, and carefully col- lated foreign and domestic news, its inside col- umns being devoted to local intelligence, ad- vertising, etc. The Reporter is edited with ability, and, in point of newsy sprightliness, is far above the average weekly papers of the State. The Reporter, now well into the eleventh year of its existence, is steadily growing in pub- lic favor and circulation, and is exerting a pow- erful influence in promoting the industrial in- terests of the village, and in maintaining the proverbial reputation of Cuyahoga Falls for in- telligence, morality and thrift.

The Akron Post was the first paper ever pub- lished in Akron proper. It was a five-column weekly sheet, Democratic in politics, and edited and published by Madison H. White, the mate- rials having been imported from Medina. The press was of the "Ramage " persuasion-a wooden-framed affair, with stone bed, wooden platen and screw power, each form requiring

two separate "pulls," the distinctness of the impression depending altogether upon the mus- cle and avoirdupois of the pressman, the forms being inked with huge sheep-skin balls, stuffed with cotton, even the glue-and-molasses hand- rollers not being used in this far-off country at that time. The first number of the Post was issued on the 23d day of March, 1836, and the last number on the 15th day of November of the same year, the duration of its life being a short two-thirds of a year only.

The Akron Journal, also Democratic, was the next candidate for the public favor of the good people of Akron. It was of about the same size and general character as the Post, but far more ably conducted, its editor and proprietor being our present venerable, well-preserved fel- low-citizen, Judge Constant Bryan. The first number of the Journal-printed with the same press and types as its predecessor-was issued on the 1st day of December, 1836, and contin- ued until the 15th day of June, 1837, the pe- riod of its existence being six months and two weeks only.

The American Balance, devoted to the inter- ests of the people of Akron, the State of Ohio and the United States in general, and of the Whig party in particular, was started by Hor- ace K. Smith and Gideon G. Galloway on the 19th day of August, 1837. The materials were second-hand, mostly procured in Cleveland, the press being the same on which the Ohio Ob- server had formerly been printed, and which had been broken by an irate citizen of Hudson a year or so before, as previously related, a new bed having been made for it at the foundry and machine-shop of Benjamin R. Manchester, then located on the east side of the Ohio Canal, at Lock 7, in North Akron. Mr. Smith, a man of education and a vigorous writer, was the ed- itor of the Balance, while Mr. Galloway, being a practical printer, conducted the mechanical branch of the business. Early in 1838, Hiram Bowen, also a practical printer, as well as a sharp writer, purchased Mr. Galloway's interest in the Balance, and, with the care, labor and talent bestowed upon it, Messrs. Smith & Bowen ought to have made the American Balance a pe- cuniary success. But, as with its two Democratic predecessors, the fates were against them, the conspiring causes being, first, in the general stringency of the times, making it next to impos- sible for publishers anywhere in Ohio to get in

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money enough from subscriptions. advertising, etc., to pay running expenses ; and second, be- cause Akron, being a mere dependency of Por- tage County-though then of more commercial importance than its county seat-no official patronage could be brought to the support of any paper outside of Ravenna. while, at the same time, for the same reason, the circulation of the local paper was confined almost exclu- sively to the immediate vicinity of its publica- tion. The Balance, therefore, after a precarious existence of just one year, was discontinued on the 9th day of August, 1838, though the job department of the office was still kept running by Messrs. Smith & Bowen.

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History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 49

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