History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 79

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 79

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On the ruins of the old Pentagon enterprises is now established the flourishing factory busi- ness of S. Straight & Son. The senior partner of this firm was, at the time of the Hudson depression, a member of the firm of Straight, Demming & Co., commission merchants of Cincinnati, and had done considerable business with the produce dealers here. One of the the Hudson dealers becoming involved, secured the Cincinnati firm on a part of this property here. which, in the end, was bid in for the Cin- cinnati house. Subsequently, when Mr. Straight retired from active relations with the Cin- cinnati business, this property attracted his attention to Hudson, and was influential in determining his locating here. He began the cheese-factory business in Hudson in 1867, by the purchase of two and the building of one factory. He secured the Pentagon building and fitted it up with shelving for 15,000 cheeses for his business, at a cost of about $7,000 ; later, admitted his son to the business, and has enlarged the business from year to year, until now the firm owns and operates thirteen cheese-factories, making the milk of over 6,000 cows into 50,000 cheeses annually. In 1878, the firm erected a large brick curing- house in the rear of the Pentagon, 60x60 feet, with two stories and a basement, at a cost of $10,000. This building is supplied with an engine and boilers, steam elevators, three large exhaust fans, and shelving for 12,000 cheeses. The basement has storage capacity for 250,000

pounds of butter. An ice-house, with a stor- age capacity of 450 tons of ice, is provided with a series of pipes through which the air is drawn by the exhaust fans for the cooling of the curing-house. In addition to the large amount of cheese manufactured by this firm, they buy immense quantities in Illinois and elsewhere, shipping it East or storing it in their buildings in Hudson until the market will warrant its shipment. The firm employs sixty- five hands, and buys all the milk of the farm- ers, each factory working up the milk of from two hundred and fifty to six hundred cows. The capital invested in fixtures is esti- mated at $100,000, and the business of the firm is rated among the few large Western firms in this business.

Closely connected, historically, with these enterprises is the Hudson Butter-Tub and Cheese-Box Company. In 1870, Mr. E. A. Osborne, in connection with E. Croy, built a small building and started this business. These gentlemen had had a connection with the enter- prises that preceded the grist-mill and with- drew to supply the demand which the cheese trade of S. Straight & Son began to make. The business rapidly developed, and seven or eight hands were constantly employed in the manu- facture of cheese-boxes. In 1873, the ma- chinery for the manufacture of butter-tubs was added, and the business prosecuted together until 1878, when the partnership was dissolved. The firm is now E. A. Osborne & Sons. They turn out in the busy season about one hundred tubs and two hundred cheese-boxes per day. The timber is taken in the log and worked up with little waste, the parts unsuitable for the boxes and tubs are worked up into staves, heading and spokes. The business demands an outlay of about $500 per month. Their boxes are sold principally to S. Straight & Son; the tubs are sold in Chicago, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Closely adjoining is the saw-mill and cheese-box works of E. Croy, who estab- lished an independent business on the dissolu- tion of partnership in 1878. This covers the manufacturing business of the village at pres- ent, save the Oviatt Manufacturing Company. This company was organized in January, 1878, for the purpose of manufacturing the " Oviatt Grain-Thresher," the " Common-Sense Wagon," and the "Independent Runner Sled." The patents are held by S. E. Oviatt and it was

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HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.

proposed to build up a manufacturing enter- prise of considerable extent. The company was composed of eight members, principally mechanics, on the co-operative plan. In a short time, four of the company bought the stock of the other four, but a lack of the nec- essary capital has greatly restricted the enter- prise thus far. Their products have met with abundant encouragement wherever placed upon the market, and the expectation is that at no distant day the necessary capital will be se- enred and the business developed.

Meanwhile, the "internal improvements" of the de facto village had kept pace with its busi- ness enterprise. The earliest frame building was the barn of Mr. Hudson, built ahnost en- tirely of black-walnut lumber, sawed at Norton's mill. This was followed, in 1806, by the house which Mrs. Baldwin now owns and occupies as a residence. These pioneer frame buildings were soon followed by others as there was neither a dearth of timber nor scarcity of mills. In 1826, the college was established and the buildings, gradually put up, improving the ap- pearance of the town and stimulating its citi- zens to build more comely structures for dwell- ings. The soil rendered the supply of brick in- exhaustible and cheap. The brick needed for the spacious hearths and great chimneys of Mr. Hudson's house, were made by a Mr. Lyon on the site now occupied by the Atheneum, the mud being tramped into condition for molding by two yoke of oxen. The first brick dwelling was put up by Julian Lusk, on the site occu-

pied by Farrar's Block, and ante-dated

the

college buildings some three years. being erected in 1823. An early brick house and perhaps the second one was that erected by Asahel Kilbourne and now occupied by Sher- man P. Thompson, situated south of the village. The college brought a large accession to the population of the village, and the village began to expand. It was the design of the founders that the town should gather about the geo- graphical center of the township, but there were several obstacles in the way. The ground toward the south was low and undesirable for dwellings and the owners of these lands were rather reluctant to sell in small parcels, and the village early began to extend northward and eastward to the higher ground. The loca- tion of the college buildings, secured by a liber- al donation of land by Mr. Hudson, had some-

thing to do with the direction in which the ex- pansion of the village took. With all this growth, however, such improvements as munic- ipal government grants to a community, was left to the voluntary action of the people with- out any very great results, and it was not long before the citizens began to agitate the desira- bility of securing a village de jure. with its ad- vantages in this respect. On April 1, 1837, an act of the Legislature was signed, incorpor- ating the village to be known thereafter as " The town of Hudson." The boundaries, inclosing an area one mile by one and a half miles, are described in the act as follows : " Beginning at the southwest corner of the herein contemplated corporation limits, at a stake and stones 160 poles west of the north-and-south center road, leading through said township of Hudson, and 240 poles south from the cast-and-west center road, running through said township ; thence from said southwest corner, running north in a line parallel with said north-and-south center road 480 poles to a stake and stones ; thence east in a line parallel with said east-and-west center road, 320 poles ; thence south in a line parallel with the west line, 480 poles to a stake and stones ; thence in a line parallel with the north line, 320 poles to the place of beginning." These limits have not been found to interfere with the metropolitan aspirations of the village, and no extensions have been made. A few un- important additions have been platted on the Aurora road, and somewhat built up, but there has been no positive demand on the part of the owners of this property to be admitted to a share in the municipal taxes.

The first election under the act of incorpora- tion was held on the first Tuesday in May, 1837, resulting in the choice of Heman Oviatt as Mayor ; Lyman Hall, Recorder ; Frederick Baldwin. John B. Clarke, Jesse Dickenson, Harvey Baldwin, Daniel C. Gaylord. Trustees. The largest number of votes received by any candidate was nineteen. The records of the Board of Trustees. or, in more modern phrase, of the Council. are devoid of any particular in- terest in the early years. One or two entries, however, afford a striking illustration of the vanity of all aspirations for wealth, when they appear on the tax lists. The real estate valna- tion of the village, in 1837, was placed at $93,- 967.58, and personal property at $19,474; in 1844, the next entry of the tax list, the real es-

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tate had shrunk to $30,427, and the personal property to $12,177. The attention of the Council during the first eight or ten years was to sidewalks and streets. The latter had been pretty well provided for by land owners before the incorporation of the village, and needed but little attention in the way of originating high- ways. The sidewalks was a subject of more portentous proportions, and gave the average Councilman no end of worry. It was first or- dained that the sidewalks should by constructed of " brick, four feet wide, and curbed with heavy timbers," plank was afterward allowed as a sub- stitute for the brick, and represents the char- acter of nine-tenths of the sidewalks in the town at this day. Stock was "ordered off the streets," and a " pound " provided for, at the first meeting of the Council, but it was a year before the structure was ready to serve the public, and cost about $20 In 1852, the first step was taken to improve the pub- lic square. As early as 1812, the tendency of the village to extend northward was ob- served, and the Township Trustees took steps to modify the " public green " to suit the new or- of things. By exchanging portions of the original green, that portion of the green above Church street was secured. Nothing was done to improve it save to clear it of the timber un- til 1852. The Council then provided a fence, seventy-four trees and had it plowed, sowed to oats and "seeded down." In 1854, the sub- ject of proper protection from fire came before the Council. Neither the township nor village had suffered severely from fire, if the terrible fatality in connection with the destruction of the cabin of Nathaniel Stone, in 1845, is ex- cepted. Mr. Stone was one of the early settlers, and was then occupying a cabin where his son. Roswell Stone, lives, when it caught fire. A son and daughter occupied the upper cham- bers. and, when they were aroused, the stair- way was in flames, having ignited from the fire-place. The chambers were filled with smoke, but the son, making his way to a win- dow, escaped ; but the daughter, some twenty- two years of age, stifled with smoke and be- wildered with fright, was too late, and perished in the flames. Undoubtedly this tragedy made a lasting impression, and the growing village rendered the danger of fires more threatening. A small, rotary engine was bought at Middle- bury, but before it was paid for the au-

thorities desired to "back out." The sel- ler would not accede to their wishes in this matter, and the coffee-mill affair was brought to scare the fire fiend away. Res- ervoirs were constructed from time to time, but the inadequacy of the engine became more and more apparent, and, in 1858, the Council bought the present machine of Button & Blake. The pumps are 9 and 7 inches, 173- foot brakes, 16-foot suction hose, and wheels of 28 and 35 inches diameter. The cost was $725. The company organized to work the first engine took this in charge, and of this organization the fire department consists to-day. There is a chief of the department, and the company is allowed a small remuneration for attending the fires that occur. The engine-house is found in the rear of the Congregational Church, to to which it belongs, but is given rent-free to the village so long as it is used as an engine- house and the machine kept there. In 1879, the Council re-organized this department, pro- posing to pay each member $1 each six months, provided that the number should not exceed forty. In 1870, the corporation rose to the dignity of a "lock-up." This was situated upon a corner of the school-lot, and was a wooden affair, with some iron supports about the windows, erected at a cost of some $125. It fell into disrepute with certain citizens, and was set on fire. it is supposed, by some one who had had a more intimate acquaintance with it than he enjoyed, and totally destroyed. An effort was put forth by the Council this year to im- prove the streets by the use of cinders from the rolling mills at Cleveland. This material was bought at the mills at $1.50 per car. and freighted here by rail at $6 per ear load. A part of Main and College streets were treated with a layer of this material. covered with gravel from the vicinity of the village, with very beneficial results. Some portions of other streets have been treated in like manner, with some variation in the price of materials. In 1877, lamps for lighting the streets were pro- vided, on condition that certain parties who were chiefly benefited would supply the material for the lighting and care for the lights. A year later the Council took the matter into their own hands ; and from a start of thirteen lamps, in 1877, the number has doubled at the present. In 1878, the subject of a town hall began to be agitated. The Council had met in various

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HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.

rooms and offices about town, and after the lock-up was burned, there was no provision for municipal criminals, and the demand seemed to be pressing. The Township Trustees took the proposition in hand, and, after submit- ting the matter to a vote, made preparation for the erection of such a building. The Coun- cil then proposed to join with them and provide for the need of the corporation in the same structure. Such an agreement was made, the Council buying the site of the old Congrega- tional Church for $800, and leasing it to the Township Trustees for ninety-nine years, in consideration of the latter providing a coun- cil-room and cells, with an upper hall open alike to both parties. The contract for the building was let in 1878 to Thomas Crisp and Charles W. Stewart, for $4,575, and finally a further allowance of $215 for extra work was paid. The building is a two-story brick, with a large hall on the second floor, neatly seated, and two rooms below for the use of Trustees and Council with two cells in the rear for cor- poration culprits. The first meeting of the Council in their new quarters was on Novem- ber 11, 1879. The Council took action in May of this year to support a public reading-room and library. This project had been set on foot by private enterprise, but was likely to fail, and the Council stepped in and has maintained it since. There is no library in connection, although the original plan contemplated such an addition. Another department of the mu- nicipal government is the cemetery.

The original cemetery purchased by the Township Trustees was situated on the Brandy- wine Creek, southwest of the village. The first death in the settlement was that of Ira Nobles, a child eight years old, who died Aug. 23, 1801, and, it is supposed, was the first burial here. It was used as a burial-place until 1808, when, on the occasion of the death of Mrs. Owen Brown, it was found too wet, and Mr. Hudson effected an exchange for the ground on College street. Here Mrs. Brown, with a babe resting upon her arm, was the first occupant. This continued to be used until 1855, when Markellie laid out one in the north- west part of the village. At his death in 1869, he willed the ground to the corporation, the gift being accepted in the spring of that year. Since then it has been cared for by a regular appropriation. It has been enlarged

since then, systematically laid out, and is the only place for burial in the corporation. Burials have been forbidden in the old burial ground on College street, and efforts have been made to remove the remains from that place, but it has been resisted hitherto. There are a num- ber of cemeteries about the township, some private and others for neighborhood purposes. Of the latter, an acre contributed by Mr. O'Brien in the southwest part of the township and Maple Grove Cemetery, on Darrow street, are the more important.

Hudson village, of the present, is pleasantly situated, of some seventeen hundred inhabitants, noted for its neat dwellings, its general air of cul- ture, and the seat of the Western Reserve College. The business portion, situated principally on Main street and about the public green, con- sists of four general stores, four saloons, three hardware stores, three meat markets, five black- smith-shops, three harness-shops, two groceries, two barber-shops, two drug stores, two wagon- shops, two livery stables, a bakery, millinery store, undertaker's establishment, boot and shoe store, merchant tailor store, jeweler's shop, and one hotel. Of the public buildings, there are three church buildings, the town hall and the Adelphi Hall, or better known as Farrar's Block. This is composed of two large store- rooms below, with offices on the second story, and a fine large hall which occupies the whole of the upper story. The hall has a seating capacity of 900, is provided with commodious dressing rooms, a spacious stage and fine scenery. Such a hall, accessible to an apprecia- tive community, attracts some of the finest entertainments, and Hudson is favored far beyond the average village of its size. This block was erected in 1866 by C. W. Farrar and Dr. A. E. Berbower.

Hudson Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, No. 510, finds a home here. Its lodge, room is in the upper part of the old bakery building. The lodge was organized November 25, 1874, and worked under a dispensation until a charter was issued under date of October 18, 1876. The first officers were Lewis Lemoin, W. M .; James K. Frost, S. W .; S. E. Judd, J. W. The charter members were J. K. Frost, S. E. Judd, C. H. Buss, and twenty-one others. They have a fine rented hall pleasantly furnished. There was an early lodge established here, of which many of the prominent citizens-D. Hudson,

JOHN BUCHTEL

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HUDSON TOWNSHIP.

Harvey Baldwin and others-were members. During the excitement succeeding the abduc- tion of Morgan, the lodge was abandoned, and an opposition sprung up to this fraternity that lasted for years.

In a settlement founded upon the principles upon which Hudson was established, it would be natural to find the church organization among the earliest institutions of the place. The difficulties in the way of such an organi- zation should not, however, be underrated. Ministers were few, and could not have been adequately supported by the scattered com- munities then planted in the wilderness, if there had, been more. Providentially the de- mands of the time and place were met by the representative of the Connecticut Missionary Society, Rev. Joseph Badger, whom Congrega- tionalists delight to call the "Apostle of the Reserve." From his printed diary, the first inception of the Hudson Congregational Church is learned as follows: He had come from Cleveland to Newburg. "In coming from Cleveland to this place, I fell in company with a man from Hudson, who wanted to know if I was going there to form a church. I replied that if I found suitable characters, I should. ' Well,' said he, 'if you admit old Deacon Thompson,' and some others he named, 'it shall not stand; I will break it down. I will have an Episcopal Church.' I observed to him, 'You must undertake a dangerous work to break down the church of Christ; I advise you not to meddle with such an undertaking.' I went on to Hudson, preached on the Sabbath, and on Wednesday organized the church in that place, in which Deacon Thompson, Esquire Hudson and others were united." This was on September 4, 1802, the original members being Stephen Thompson and Mary, his wife; David Hudson ; Abraham Thompson and Susanna, his wife ; Stephen Thompson, Jr., and Abigail, his wife; George Kilbourne and Almira, his wife ; Heman Oviatt and Eunice, his wife ; Amos Lusk and Hannah Lindley. These were all members of the Congregational Church, at Goshen, Conn., save the last two, who were members of the same denomination at Bloom- field, N. Y.

The church thus established depended up- on Mr. Badger and other missionaries for what preaching they had. Services were held in the log schoolhouse that was erected in 1801, and

which served for all public gatherings relating to church or State. The absence of a minister did not prevent public worship and it is re- lated with pride that not a single Sabbath since the latter part of June, 1800, has passed with- out public religious services of some character. The Rev. David Bacon, who had gone in be- half of the Connecticut Missionary Society as a missionary to the Indians in 1801, was re- called to New Connecticut in 1804. "In the month of Angust he left the isle of Mackinaw, with his wife and two children, the youngest less than six weeks old, and, after a weary and dangerous voyage, some part of which was performed in an open canoe, they arrived safe on the soil of the Western Reserve. About the 1st of October they were at Hudson, where they found a temporary home."* The church proposed then to hire him one-half of his time, provided the society would retain him in their employ for the balance. This ar- rangement was effected-the first time that the Gospel was administered in any township oth- erwise than by occasional visits of itinerant missionaries-and continued until 1807, when he moved to Tallmadge. On the 19th of April, 1811, it was voted unanimously by the church that " Benjamin Whedon be appointed a committee for us, and in our behalf to pro- cure a minister of the Gospel to dispense the Word and ordinances in this place, and the said Mr. Whedon is hereby requested and author- ized to make such negotiations and arrange- ments on the subject as he shall judge prudent and proper." The result of this action on the part of the church was a vote, February 27, 1815. to call the Rev. William Hanford. The call was issued under date of June 10, 1815, and brought an affirmative response under date of August 10, 1815, followed by the in- stallation of Mr. Hanford by the Grand River Presbytery, on the 17th of August, 1815, the church having come under the care of the Presbytery shortly before this occasion.

It would be interesting to note here that " Plan of Union" which eventually agitated church circles throughout the Reserve, and found in Hudson its main support and exponent. Eventually the church became divided upon this subject, and, in 1826, the article prescribing the form of its prudential committee was erased from its regulations. In 1830, a movement *Address of Rev. Leonard Bacon.

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HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.

was inaugurated to sever the connection of the church with the Presbytery, and, five years later, the Presbytery granted a release. Since that time, it has been what it was originally, a Congregational Church. The organization still retains a large Presbyterian element, which, in connection with the majority, works harmo- niously to the end of all church effort. The internal growth of the church has been regular and uninterrupted. Up to the pastorate of Rev. William Hanford twenty-seven members had been admitted, principally by Revs. Joseph Badger and Abraham Scott, both missionaries of the Connecticut Society. During Mr. Han- ford's pastorate, from 1815 to 1831, 133 were added ; in the pastorate of Rev. Amri Nichols, from July to December, 1832, nine were added ; by Rev. Giles Doolittle, supply, 1832-40, fifty- two were admitted ; by Rev. Josiah Town, July to October, 1840, eight were admitted ; Rev. Mason Grosvenor, during his pastorate, 1840- 43, admitted fifty-six ; Rev. William Hanford, in October, 1843, admitted two ; Rev. John C. Hart, in his pastorate, 1844-52, admitted 122 ; Rev. N. Barrett, 1853-58, admitted ninety- seven ; Rev. G. Darling, 1858-74, admitted 196; Rev. E. W. Root, 1874-76, admitted twenty-six ; Rev. J. Towle, 1876, admitted two ; and Rev. T. Y. Gardner, 1876. -; the present pastor has admitted forty-one up to October 6, 1878. There are now about 200 members.

The outward improvement of the church be- gan in 1819. On the 26th of June, 1817, at a " town meeting" held in the "Center School- house," it was voted that "there shall be a place selected for the purpose of building a house of publie worship, according to a sub- seription paper now in circulation, provided the different denominations do not unite in building a house together. Voted. that the house shall stand on the west side of the green, the southeast corner to stand where there is now a stake stuck in the ground, and to extend thence north from said stake, and as far back as it shall be necessary to build said house. Voted, that Joel Gaylord, Daniel H. Johnson and Owen Brown shall be a committee for the purpose of adopting some method upon which to unite in building a meeting house for differ- ent denominations of Christians." At this time there was a great deal of denominational differ- ence among the members of the community.

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History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 79

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