History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 87

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 87

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The Board of Education was re-organized under the school law of 1873, on the 20th of April, 1874, by the election of L. J. Germain, President; G. W. Rice, Clerk, and W. M. Gris- wold, Treasurer. The supervision of the schools was assigned to Mr. Germain. On the 1st of August of that year the board passed a resolution to "advertise for a competent and experienced teacher as Principal of our Union Schools." George L. McMillan was the suc- cessful applicant. at a salary of $1,000. The number of schoolhouses in the district at this time was one union and one not used ; the number of rooms, exclusive of rooms used only for recitation, high school, one ; primary, three ; total, four. The value of school prop- erty was $36,000. The number of teachers employed, six. On the 4th of November, the clergymen of the village were requested to act as a visiting board of the schools. On the 26th of April, 1875, the President of the Board was " authorized to employ Mr. A. N. Bernard as Superintendent and Master of the Union School for the balance of the present school term," at a salary not exceeding $1,200 per annum. His services were continued at the rate of $120 a month salary. There were this year enrolled in the school 401 pupils.

On the 17th of February, 1876, the board or- dered that " any scholars who have been sus- pended from the public school of this district on account of exposure to the small-pox, shall fur- nish the Superintendent, before they shall be re-instated, with proof that they have been vae- cinated." Four days after this, an order passed that " hereafter no pupil shall be admitted to the schools of this village until they have fur- nished the Superintendent with proofs of vac- cination." Besides this, the schools were " sus- pended until further notice." They were not opened until the second Monday of April fol- lowing. Previous to this, at an election of the qualified voters of the district, it was deter- mined to increase the board from three to six

members. The following resolution was passed unanimously April 24, 1876 : " Resolved, That Dr. Heath be requested to furnish Mr. Bernard, School Superintendent, with a list of such fam- ilies as should, for the present, be held back from sending their children to school ; that at least thirty days should elapse after any case shall have terminated before any family shall be allowed to send their children to school, and that all school books be destroyed that may have been exposed in families who have had the small-pox."

On the 6th of May, 1878, it was stated at a meeting of the board that "it was the opinion of many that the population of our village was more than 2,500; if so, then by law it is our privilege to have our own Board of Examiners of Teachers." And they had them ! On the 28th of June, 1878, Mr. Bernard was continued Su- perintendent, at a salary of $1,100. The num- ber of pupils enrolled during this year was 502. The Union School building was fitted up with a steam-heating apparatus during the year 1879, at a cost of about $1,500. On the 21st of June, 1880, the board passed a resolution " that Joanna Cutler, Lizzie M. Richardson, Mary A. Clark, Jessie Knox, Grace E. Sykes, Rial Smith, Otto C. Richardson and Albert Kingsbury, the mem- bers of the class of the high school of 1880, be graduated on Friday evening, June 25."

The branches now taught in the Union School in Cuyahoga Falls are reading, spelling, writing, arithmetic, geography, English gram- mar, oral lessons, composition, drawing, vo- cal music, United States history, physical geography, natural philosophy, German, al- gebra and Latin. The schools are in a high state of efficiency, owing to the interest taken by the parents of the district ; to the intelli- gent labors of the Board of Education, and the wisdom and zeal of the Superintendent and teachers.

One of the first efforts in the promotion of education, outside the common school, was the organization and charter of the Cuyahoga Falls Institute, under the management of the Rev. Mr. Brooks and Charles Clark. The school was started and kept in operation some time. but the hard times which came in 1837 made it necessary to abandon the project. After the building of St. John's Church, a seminary for girls was kept in the schoolroom adjoining, by Miss Sarah Carpenter. She was succeeded by

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CUYAHOGA FALLS TOWNSHIP.

Miss Frances C. Barron, the last named by Miss Eliza Deaver.

Churches were early established in the vil- lage of Cuyahoga Falls ; but, instead of com- fortable church buildings, those who came first were obliged to meet in schoolhouses and other inconvenient places. As a consequence, church services were irregular and infrequent.

In giving the history of St. John's Church, in Cuyahoga Falls, it is necessary to go back to the time when stately forests covered the land- scape, and over the fertile fields where now the eye rests with delight upon the evidences of civilization, but few marks of improvement were anywhere to be seen. Log cabins dotted it here and there, and some clearings were begun, but the roads went winding through the forest, and communication between points was slow and tedious. The Cuyahoga River sang its merry song in freedom, fettered only by the rocks which gave it voice. Its waters had not been forced to turn the busy wheels, and few sounds had been heard upon its banks, except the song of the birds, the howl of the wild beasts, or the more savage yell of the wild Indian. Akron had not been thought of, and Cleveland was known as a little village six miles from Newburg. Here and there a farm was opened, and the busy settlers were making the wide forests ring with the sound of their axes, which were letting in the light where long had brooded only the somber shade of its matted woods. The first settlement at Stow Corners was made by a few families from the same Eastern home, most of them relatives. Just south of Gross' Tavern, it will be remem- bered, there is an orchard, but, in 1818, there was a log cabin standing in that lot, which dis- appeared many years ago, and in it lived Josialı Wetmore, with his wife and children. No sooner were they settled than Mrs. Wetmore, who was a devout member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, gathered in her neighbors for worship, which she continued to do for three years. There was no other service hield in the settlement, and they came with ox teams and on horseback from all the region around. After they had met in that way for about a year, Mrs. Wetmore reading the service and her husband the sermon, the Rev. Roger Searle, who lived at Medina, and officiated in many places on the Western Reserve, paid a visit to the place, and preached in Mrs. Wet-

more's house. This was in 1819, and was the first sermon preached and the first service held by an Episcopal clergyman in all the region.

The people who came to these services in Mrs. Wetmore's house increased in numbers, and soon filled her house, and in warm weather the yard about it. They had no boards of which to make seats, but split logs, and hewed them into what was called puncheons, and put- ting them upon legs, raised them high enough to be used for seats for the assembled worship- ers. They had no carriages to convey them to the place of worship, but came upon sleds drawn by oxen, and on horseback, and many on foot. Thus they gathered, and there can be no doubt that as acceptable worship was offered in that humble cabin as ever went up among the fretted arches of a cathedral ; and there in that humble cabin was the first step taken, which twelve years afterward culminated in the or- ganization of St. John's Church.

After three years' residence there, Mr. Wet- more went back to New England with his family to give them such advantages of educa- tion as they could not get in this new state of society. After they left, the services were held in different places, centering, however, about the Corners. After some years they came back to Cuyahoga Falls, where Mrs. Wetmore lived until 1865, esteemed by all who knew her for her virtues, when she fell asleep in Jesus, and was buried in the cemetery, where she awaits a glorious resurrection. Mr. Wetmore lived until 1867, when he was laid beside his wife, at the age of eighty-four years.

Along the center line of Stow there were many families settled by this time who had been reared in the Episcopal Church. On the western end of that line lived Orin Gilbert, and a little way north of him was Arthur Sadler and Henry O'Brien. East of Mr. Gilbert was Frederick Sanford, and striking southeast were the Wetmores and Frederick Wolcott (who had become attached to the service since its estab- lishment), Roland Clapp, and some families of Gaylords. In Tallmadge there were also sev- eral families ; and up the river, in the western part of Franklin, were Col. Stanley, Mr. Furber, the Furgesons and some others. Some of these were young men, who with their wives had come to make their homes in the then far West, and some of them were in middle age, with half-grown children, who had reached this

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distant point after long and painful journeys ; but all were of slender means, and depended upon the blessings of a kind Providence on their labor, and the returns of strenuous effort from a generous soil.

These scattered families, spreading over not less than ten miles square, and others about them, as we have seen, had been accustomed to meet on Sundays for divine service in the use of the Book of Common Prayer, and hearing a sermon read from such collections as they had brought from their Eastern homes. These services, after the first three years, were held in different places, and were participated in by persons coming from parts of Stow, Hudson Tallmadge, Franklin, and parts adjacent, with great labor and inconvenience, to worship God as they had been taught in the homes from which they came.

Like most of the emigrants from New En- gland, they were of decided opinions and firm convictions, and the principles they had im- bibed in early life were clung to with a tenacity which showed their fitness to be founders of new societies, and to transmit to their suc- cessors the institutions under which they were reared, in their integrity. Those who had been reared in the Episcopal Church could not be satisfied to give up the church of their fathers, and showed how deeply they were attached to its ordinances by the pains they took to enjoy those ordinances, with no other than lay serv- ices.

The first step toward organization was to ob- tain, from Bishop Chase, licenses for Roland Clapp, a young man from Vermont, and Col. Stanley, of Franklin, as lay readers, who were authorized to gather the people together and hold regular service, with the reading of such sermons as were specified by the Bishop. Thus their love for the church was fostered, and some were led to unite with them who were reared under other influences. But ministers were very scarce in those days, and those who loved the church were obliged to content themselves with lay services for a long time after they were accustomed to meet for social worship.

The next minister of the church who offi- ciated for them was Rev. William N. Lyster, who was acting as a missionary in Trinity Church, Cleveland, then a small village upon the lake shore. He came on foot, and preached in Hud- son and Stow on the first Sunday in February,

1830. He came again on the first Sunday of the following month, and preached in Franklin (now Kent) in the morning, and in Stow in the afternoon. Two months after this, he preached in the morning in Hudson, and at Stow, in the tavern, in the afternoon. During that visit, the first steps were taken toward the organization of a parish. Their lay service was continued by uniting from all parts within reach, till the following winter, when Rev. James McElroy, who had succeeded Mr. Lyster in his mission- ary work at Cleveland, paid them a visit. He preached in Hudson in the morning, and in Stow in the evening, and, before they separated, they organized the parish of " St. John's Church, Stow." This was in 1830. The organization of the parish of Christ Church, Franklin, was effected some time afterward, but the prospect of establishing the church in Hudson was not thought encouraging enough to warrant any further effort there, and all the members in Hudson Township were enrolled in St. John's Church.

After the organization of the parish, lay serv- ices were held regularly until 1834. A dam had been built near the present railroad bridge, and a mill had been erected upon it, and sev- eral houses were built in the neighborhood ; and, among others, a log schoolhouse. The services were held in this house, which stood in the south part of what was long known as the "old village." It was supposed that the town would be built at this point. After a time, a building was erected for a store further north ; it stood on the west side of the present railroad, between the two crossings. The serv- ices were then removed to that building, but Stow Corners was most convenient for the wor- shipers, and larger numbers could be gathered there, and, as the services were first begun there, they were taken back, and continued to be held there until the present edifice was ready for use.

But the water-power at this point had been brought into use, and the town had been rapidly filling up with a busy population, and it was manifest that there was to be an important vil- lage lower down the stream than they first be- gan to build ; and when the society was ready to build, they resolved, after long debate, to have the church at Cuyahoga Falls. In 1834, Rev. C. V. Kelley was appointed a missionary at Ohio City, with instructions to give every

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alternate Sunday to the parish at Stow. He had not been officiating long under this ar- rangement, before it was thought best that he should go to New York to solicit aid for these feeble churchmen in building their church ; and after a protracted absence he returned, and paid over for this purpose $700, which was used in the erection of this church. He then returned to New York and took charge of St. Bartholomew's Church, and St. John's was without a minister.

In the spring of 1835 they chose this site, and began the work of building. The town had grown very much, and manufactures of many kinds were introduced, and it was thought that a very large population would soon be gathered ; and it was seen that here was the place for the church. But the services were still held at the Corners. While they were building it was thought best also to secure the services of the minister, and they proceeded to secure the services of a minister, and they pro- ceeded to call Rev. William H. Newman, of Bristol. R. I., who accepted the rectorship on the 10th of November, and continued in charge of the parish till June 18, 1837, when he re- signed and removed to Newark, Licking Co., Ohio.

The church edifice was completed in 1836 and consecrated to the worship of Almighty (od by Bishop Mellvaine on the 10th of July of that year. It is the oldest church within a very large area, unless it be the Congregational Church at Tallmadge, which stands to-day as it was originally built. The plan adopted was the same essentially as that of old Trinity Church, Cleveland, except that the front of the building was more showy, and the chancel more elaborate and expensive. But such as it was at first it remains to this day, except the change in the chancel made last year. There were present at the consecration, Rev. Abraham Bronson, of' Peninsula, and Rev. Thomas Bar- row, missionary at Akron, and the Rector.

The first Sunday school was organized the same month, and has continued till the present day without intermission. After the removal of Mr. Newman, the Rev. Zachariah Mead, of Virginia, was called to the rectorship, but he was not pleased with the people of the North, and after spending three or four weeks in the parish, he returned to Virginia.

After him the Rev. Mr. Cushman was called,

but he remained only a short time, and noth- ing is found upon the records as done by him.

In 1837, Rev. Albert T. Bledsoe, who was one of the converts at West Point, under Bishop MeIlvaine's chaplaincy, and was ordained by him, was called ; but, after about four months, he became dissatisfied with his profession, and resigned both the rectorship and the ministry, and went to Virginia. where he has long held a professorship in the University of Virginia.

After his removal, the parish was vacant until the 10th of April, 1839, when a call was given to Rev. James Bonnar, Deacon, of Utica, Licking Co., Ohio. He accepted the call, and was ordained Presbyter, together with Rev. Charles C. Townsend, in this church. He re- mained less than a year, and, resigning, went to Marietta, Muskingum County.

In February, 1840, Rev. Thomas B. Fairchild, of Grafton, was called to the vacant rectorship, and entered upon his duties immediately. In the meantime, a parish had been organized in Franklin, called Christ Church, which took several members who had been enrolled in St. John's Church ; but he found upon the list the names of forty persons. In 1842, he organized the parish of Christ Church, Hudson, which took several prominent members. He remained un- til 1844, when he resigned, and went to Wooster, Wayne County, leaving upon the record sixty- four resident members.

He was succeeded by Rev. Alvah Guion, who stayed not over a year. Rev. David J. Burger was called to fill his place in the summer ; but died suddenly, after a few months in charge here, while on a visit to Toledo, where he had previously lived.

Upon his death, a call was given to Rev. Levi L. Holden, of Grafton, who removed to the parish in July, 1847. He held the rectorship till 1867, twenty years, when he resigned, and went to Wooster, leaving a large circle of friends, both out of the church and in it, who remember and speak of him with esteem and affection.

Services were held at irregular intervals, by Rev. Mr. Fairchild, then at Hudson, and Rev. E. B. Kellogg, of Gambier, until the next sum- mer, when Rev. George Bosley, Deacon, was sent by the Bishop to fill the parish. The next year, he was advanced to the Priesthood, and continued in charge till 1871, when he resigned, and went to Marion, Ohio.

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HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.

In March, 1871, Rev. T. B. Fairchild, Rector, in charge of St. John's Church, Kewanee, Ill., was called back to his old charge, and, on the first Sunday of April, began his labors. He continued in charge until March 8. 1879, when he died. His successor was Rev. George W. Williams, the present Rector.

When Mr. Newman left the parish, there were forty-nine members upon the record. Of these, only two remain-Roland Clapp, Mrs. Lucy Rice. The rest have died or removed ; proba- bly most of them have passed away from earth. " There were no entries made in the church record from his removal," writes Mr. Fairchild in 1875, " until my residence, but there were forty communicants when I came. During my first rectorship, fifty-three were added to the number. The organization of the parish in Hudson took several valuable members ; but, of those added during the four years and three months, there are now twenty members upon the list. After my removal, I was present at the visitation of the Bishop, and presented ten persons for confirmation, who had been prepared for it before I left. Of those ten, not one is left. Nine were added by Mr. Burger, but they are all gone. During Mr. Holden's rectorship, I find 72 names entered in his hand-writing, but of these only 20 are members to-day. After his removal, your present Rector held services for a while in the afternoon, and, as the fruit of that labor, 14 were confirmed, and 10 of those are members still. During Mr. Bosley's resi- dence, 50 names were added, but only 23 of these are members now. Sinee my return, 24 have been added, and 6 of these have died or removed, leaving 87 resident members. The whole number, from the beginning, being 305 members.

" Upon the record of baptisms, I find recorded by Mr. Newman 22, Mr. Bonnar 8, Mr. Guion 4, Mr. Holden 94, Mr. Bosley 50. and by myself 90, making 279 persons since the organization of the parish. But I am persuaded that there were many baptisms in its earlier days which have not been recorded, as there were no entries made until Mr. Newman's time.

" The first confirmation recorded was held by Bishop MeIlvaine, but there are several persons whom I know to have been confirmed before this, whose names are not recorded. There are, however, 154 names upon the record, and may safely be reckoned at nearly two hundred,

showing that at least two-thirds of all the mem- bers who have lived here, first made their pro- fession in this church.

" Of marriages, Mr. Newman solemnized 2, Mr. Guion 4, Mr. Holden 75, Mr. Bosley 15, and myself 23, making 119 couples in all.

" Upon the record of burials I find eleven by Mr. Newman. On the 21st of October, 1837, when the parish was vacant, that terrible tor- nado passed over Stow, and Rev. Ebenezer Boyden, of Cleveland, was called to lay its four victims in one grave. Mr. Guion buried 4, Mr. Holden 112, Mr. Bosley 26, buried by myself 72, by other persons 22, making in all 242 per- sons, of whom 136 were adults and the rest children and youths. Of those committed to the ground, I think hardly a family connected with the parish has failed to furnish a part, while in some cases, whole families have joined the great congregation. The consolation of its funeral rites has been given freely to all, and few in this region have not shared them. I have myself in all these years, preached 5,579 times ; baptized 296; married 149 couples, and buried 302 persons."

As will be seen by these statements, the hindrance to the growth of St. John's Church has been its continual losses by removals, which have been very heavy from the first. The ad- ditions by removal from other parishes have been comparatively small ; and the great pro- portion of the members we have lost from this cause, has been of those who first became com- municants here, and then removed to other parishes.

The history of the Methodist Episcopal church is this : The "Twinsburg Circuit " was organized November 1, 1832. The society in Stow Township, now Cuyahoga Falls, was one of the appointments. The members met in a storehouse at the "old village," as it is now known. The first Presiding Elder was W. B. Mack. The circuit preachers were Thomas Carr and John E. Akin. They preached once in two weeks alternately. Carr was re-ap- pointed for 1833, and L. D. Prosser as his col- league. The preachers for the next year (1834) were Ira Eddy and A. Reaves. At this date, William Stevens was Presiding Elder. In 1835, E. H. Taylor and J. L. Holmes were sent to the circuit. The meetings were then held in the basement of the church building, at the Falls. The circuit preachers, in 1836, were E.

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CUYAHOGA FALLS TOWNSHIP.

H. Taylor and Horatio N. Stearns. In 1837 and 1838, Rev. E. T. Kinney was in charge. Arthur M. Brown was preacher in 1839, and Wesley Maltby was his assistant. The Falls then became a station. Rev. Timothy Good- win was station preacher for the next two years-1840 and 1841. He was succeeded, for 1842, by Rev. W. French, and the latter, in 1843, by A. Calendar. The successor to Mr. Calendar was Rev. D. Prosser. This was for the year 1844. The latter was re-appointed for the next year, 1845. B. W. Hager was the preacher for 1846. For the next two years (1847 and 1848), Rev. A. M. Brown. The fol- lowing Pastors have since had charge ; 1849, A. Hall; 1850, A. Hall ; 1851, A. Rogers ; 1852, A. Rogers : 1853, Thomas Stubbs; 1854, Jolın Trib- by ; 1855, John Tribby ; 1856, D. C. Wright ; 1857, D. C. Wright ; 1858, E. J. L. Baker ; 1859, G. W. Chesbrough ; 1860, G. W. Chesbrough ; 1861, E. S. Gillet ; 1862, E. S. Gillet ; 1863, J. E. Chapin ; 1864, J. E. Chapin ; 1865. C. T. Kingsbury ; 1866, C. T. Kingsbury ; 1867, J. R. Lyon; 1868, J. R. Lyon; 1869, R. M. Bear; 1870, R. M. Bear ; 1871, E. A. Squire ; 1872, E. A. Squire ; 1873, E. A. Squire ; 1874, 1875 and 1876, G. W. Gray ; 1877, 1878 and 1879, Dr. S. M. Hickman ; 1880, Dr. W. A. Davidson.

The church edifice was commenced on the lot deeded to the society, on the public square, about 1834; meetings were held in the base- ment until the structure was completed. This was in 1840, the dedication of the building being on the last day of that year. The house was enlarged in 1864, and the inside materi- ally changed. The edifice will seat comforta- bly 500 persons. The organization has been from the beginning very prosperous. The members number at present 200. The only town clock in the village is in the steeple of this church. The organ cost $1,600.

The following are the officers of the church : Trustees, Israel James, Jacob Weidner, Hi- ram Gaylord, Alexander J. Billman, Orin James, Mathew Crawford, Hiram W. Carter, Arthur Lewis and Isaac Reid ; Stewards, Israel James, Edgar Inskeep, Henry Plum, William Hill, Isaac Reid, Richard Blood, Jacob Weid- ner and Simeon Dickerman ; Class-leaders, Rich- ard Blood, A. R. Knox, L. D. Williams and H. W. Carter.

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History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 87

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