USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > History of the city of Cleveland : its settlement, rise and progress > Part 4
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interest. The first official mention of the plan occurs in the inaugural address of Mayor George Hoadly, in the spring of 1846. He said :
I earnestly recommend to your favorable consideration the propriety of establishing a school of a higher grade-an academic department-the scholars to be taken from our common schools according to merit. This would present a powerful stimulus to study and good conduct. The poorest child, if possessed of talents and application, might aspire to the highest stations in the Republic. From such schools we might hope to. issue the future Franklins of our land.
On April 22, J. A. Harris, chairman of the committee on schools, reported the following resolutions: That a high school for boys be established; that the committee on schools be authorized to hire suitable rooms and fit them up for the accommodation of the school. These resolu- tions being adopted, a basement room was secured in the old Prospect Street church, where the first high school be- gan its work on the thirteenth of July, with Mr. Andrew Freese as principal. The first year eighty-three scholars were admitted; a class which has numbered, in its later history, senators, governors of states, judges of the supreme court, distinguished scientists, and men eminent in every walk of life. Never has the event shown a more brilliant justification of the forecast than in the instance of our first high school.
andrew Free ese
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CHAPTER VII.
REVIVAL OF RAILROAD ENTERPRISE-THE VARIOUS LINES-INCIDENTS OF EARLY RAILROAD HISTORY-THE GRAND RESULTS-THE OHIO STATE BANK AND ITS CLEVELAND BRANCHES-FIRST MOVE FOR ANNEXATION -PURCHASE OF WOODLAND CEMETERY-VARIOUS IMPROVEMENTS- INCEPTION AND BUILDING OF THE CITY WATER-WORKS-ORGANIZA- - TION OF THE BOARD OF TRADE.
I T remains to trace the further development of the rail- road interests which suffered so severely in the finan- cial panic of 1837. In March, 1845, exactly nine years from the day of its legal inception, the general assembly of Ohio renewed the charter of the old Cleveland, Colum- bus & Cincinnati Railroad company. The new charter permitted the company to build a road from Lake Erie to Columbus, where it might unite with any other road that should afterwards be constructed leading from that point to the southern boundary of the State. The board of di- rectors included the following gentlemen of Cleveland : John W. Allen, Richard Hilliard, John M. Woolsey, Henry B. Payne. Mr. Allen was chosen president of the new road. So far all was well. A liberal charter had been secured and efficient officers appointed. The real difficulty now appeared, the difficulty of raising funds for actual construction. After the severe schooling of the last few
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years, there was little danger that the old mistakes of financial mismanagement would be repeated. It was for- tunate for the road that the city of Cleveland was at this time induced to subscribe for stock to the amount of two hundred thousand dollars. Much difficulty, however, was experienced in negotiating the city's bonds; and it was not until late in 1847, after prolonged personal effort on the part of the directors, that the amount of subscription was brought to about seventy thousand dollars. The work of railway construction was at once begun, under the presidency of Mr. Alfred Kelly, of Columbus. Early in 1851 the first train, bearing the Legislature of the State and executive officials, and decked with gaudy flags and streamers, passed from Columbus to Cleveland. "And the people did laugh to see their rulers riding on a rail," as an old song humorously puts it; but there were many among them who regarded this tremendous innovation as something far too serious for witticism. But the legisla- tors met with a very pleasant reception at Cleveland. Here is the Herald's gratulatory offering :
On Saturday, as we saw Buckeyes from the banks of the Ohio and the rich valleys of the Miami and Scioto mingling their congratulations with those of the Yankee Reserve, upon the completion of an improvement which served to bring them into business and social connection and to break down the barriers which distance, prejudice and ignorance of each other had built up, we felt that the completion of the Cleveland, Colum- bus & Cincinnati railroad would be instrumental in accomplishing a good work for Ohio, the value of which no figures could compute. On . the morning of the twenty-first the members of the Legislature, the State officers, the councils of Cincinnati and Columbus, and citizens of Columbus and Cincinnati, in all four hundred and twenty-eight persons, left the capital on the C. C. & C. railroad cars, on a visit to Cleveland as guests.
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On their arrival they were greeted by discharges of artillery and the wel- come of thousands of our citizens.
The welcome was sufficiently demonstrative, and the or- atory of the occasion all that could be desired, if we may judge from the list of speakers, among whom appear the names of Alfred Kelly, H. B. Payne, Governor Wood, and Cyrus Prentiss.
On March 11, 1845, the Legislature passed an act reviv- ing the charter of the Cleveland, Warren & Pittsburgh rail- road, which had come into being during that prolific spring session of 1836. The revised charter authorized construc- tion from Cleveland to the Ohio river, along that route which should prove "the most direct, practicable and least expensive." James Stewart, of Wellsville, was elected pres- ident of the new road, A. G. Cottell, secretary, and Cyrus Prentiss, treasurer. By the first of November the line had been completed to Hanover, a distance of seventy-five miles from Cleveland. The need for this road appears in the fact that the gross earnings for 1851-rather for a part of that year - were ninety thousand dollars. In 1849 the city of Cleveland became a subscriber to the stock of this road in the amount of one hundred thousand dollars.
Two other lines (afterwards consolidated) must be men- tioned, which, under various names, have figured largely in the industrial development of Northern Ohio. The Junc- tion railroad was incorporated in March, 1846. This act, together with amendments subsequently passed, provided for railway construction from Cleveland to the west line of the State, the choice of routes and other details, accord-
-
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ing to the liberal fashion of that time, being left to the dis- cretion of the directors. Another charter was issued creat- ing the Toledo, Norwalk & Cleveland road. In 1853 these companies were consolidated under the name of the Cleve- land & Toledo railroad, with a capital stock of five mil- lions of dollars.
The first railway connection between Cleveland and Erie, Pennsylvania, was secured by the opening of the Cleveland and Erie road in the fall of 1852. The unusually large outlay required for construction taxed the company's means to the very uttermost, and for some time hope of a successful out- come was abandoned. In this emergency recourse was had to Mr. Alfred Kelly, who was accorded unlimited author- ity as general agent for the company. It is needless to add that Mr. Kelly's marvelous executive ability, with the tradition of success which had come to be associated with his name, secured for the enterprise a new prosperity.
Our enumeration will close with a brief mention of the Cleveland and Mahoning railroad. This enterprise was chartered in 1851. Unexpected difficulties arose, and it was not until 1857 that the line was finally completed between Cleveland and Youngstown. This railway, trav- ersing the Mahoning valley, did much for the coal and iron interests of Cleveland .* Dating from this period rail-
* In 1828 the first coal was brought to Cleveland and hawked about the streets. A few bushels were purchased for experiment, but the house- wives objected to it on account of its blackness, preferring wood, a much cleaner and at that time more abundant article of fuel.
An event of interest in connection with the coal industry of Ohio was the opening of the old Brier Hill coal mine, near Youngstown, in 1845, by D. P. Rhodes and David Tod. The first iron ore that landed in Cleveland was shipped by the Cleveland and Marquette Iron company in half a dozen barrels in the year 1853.
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road enterprise in Northern Ohio has progressed slowly and surely under the lead of enterprising men. Men- and men of enterprise-were not wanting in the earlier days; but experience and means, two factors not less essential, were frequently almost entirely wanting. The fact that when the latter of these factors had been par- tially supplied the absence of the former did not prove fatal to success, is sufficient testimony to the abound- ing energy of the time. In illustration of the difficulties that presented themselves, and the spirit in which they were met, we quote the following interesting descrip- tion, from a paper by Mr. George F. Marshall, of the opening labor on the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati road :
In order to save the charter, which had lain dormant for a time, it was thought best to make a show of work on the line already surveyed. One bright autumn forenoon about a dozen men got themselves together near the ground now occupied by the Atlantic & Great Western railway depot with the noble purpose of inaugurating the work of building the Cleveland Columbus & Cincinnati road. Among the number were Alfred Kelly, the president; T. P. Handy, the treasurer; J. H. Sargent, the engineer; James A. Briggs, the attorney; and H. B. Payne, Oliver Perry, John A. Foote and others, besides your humble servant. On that memorable spot one could look upon those vast fields of bottom lands, and nothing could be seen but unbroken wide meadows. The brick resi- dence of Joel Scranton, on the north and the mill in the ravine in Wal- worth Run on the south were the only show of buildings in all that region round about. These gentlemen had met to inaugurate the work on the railway, yet there was a sadness about them that could be felt. There was something that told them it would be difficult to make much of a railroad without money and labor. Yet they came on purpose to make a show of a beginning. Alfred took a shovel and with his foot pressed it well into the soft and willing earth, placing a good chunk in the tranquil wheelbarrow close at hand, repeating the operation until
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a load was attained, and dumping it a rod or so to the south. We all shouted a good sized shout that the road was really inaugurated. Then Mr. Handy did a little of the same work, as well as Sargent and Briggs, while I sat on the nearest log, rejoicing to see the work going on so lively and in such able hands. . All that fall and winter one man was kept at work on the great enterprise, simply to hold the charter. .
There was a serious hindrance in the progress of the work, which came in this wise: The laborer who had so great a job on his hands took a look and thought of what he had to do. It was one hundred and forty miles to Columbus, and it was best to hurry up or the road would not be ready for use for quite a spell tocome. He set to work with renewed energy for a while, then threw himself quite out of breath on the ground for a brief rest, when the rheumatism took hold of him and sciatica troubled his limbs so much that the great work was brought to a standstill. He struck for his altars and his fires at home, while the next fall of snow obliterated the line of his progress toward the south, and the directors got together to devise ways and means to keep the work moving onward.
These various lines, when finally in operation, made pos- sible a rapidity of development which otherwise could never have been attained. Cleveland no longer depended solely for her importance upon her advantageous situation as a lake port. All the advantages of such a situation still remained, but the point of view was shifted and the range enlarged. She was now a center not merely for the western trade or for the eastern trade, but also for the teeming industrial life of the vast interior. Her develop- ment as a city from this time forward is not matter of simply local interest. It is a phenomenon in the economic history of the country.
In 1844-45 the Legislature passed the celebrated act es- tablishing the State Bank of Ohio. This measure, so ben- eficent both in its immediate and more remote results, was due to the energy and statesmanship of Mr. Alfred
Magazine of Western History
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Kelly, who at that time represented the Columbus district in the State Senate. The act provided for a bank capital of six million one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, to be distributed among the twelve branch-districts provided for in the act of incorporation. Boards of control and supervision were appointed, whose functions were to ex- amine at stated intervals the status of the several banks, and regulate the issue of their currency-which was in every case redeemable in gold or silver coin. On the firm basis of this system three banks were incorporated at Cleveland during 1845, the Commercial bank, William A. Otis, president, with an original capital stock of one hun- dred and fifty thousand dollars; Merchants' bank, P. M. Weddell, president, capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars; and the City Bank of Cleveland, Reuben Sheldon, president, with one hundred and fifty thousand dollars capital. The last named was not a branch bank, but re- ceived its charter under a provision of the general act.
The local legislation of the decade preceding the union of the cities, aside from the matter relating to topics already discussed, presents few points of interest. In Jan- uary, 1843, a very curious incident occurred in council. A petition was circulated praying for the repeal of the city charter. Among others the following reasons were assigned :
(1.) It (the charter) is very expensive, thereby increasing taxes. (2.) The city can be governed as well by town officers. (3.) Those who gov- ern by making city officers pay little or no taxes, and have nothing to: lose . . would retain the present organization.
We call this petition a mere incident, as it did not, ap-
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parently, express any definite sentiment or policy on the part of the citizens of Cleveland. January 19, 1846, "Mr. Hughes introduced a preamble and resolution on the sub- ject of annexing Cleveland and Ohio City, appointing the mayor and Messrs. Bingham, Heard, Williams and Hughes a committee to meet one from Ohio City and re- port at the next meeting of the council." This was thefirst official utterance of a desire which had long been cherished by discerning business men in both communities. During the years following, until the consummation of the union, the matter was frequently discussed, and always with the result of bringing nearer the inevitable conclusion. A few steps in this progress are shownin the following measures : In March, 1851, Mr. McIntosh prepared a resolution de- claring that "an effort being made by several individuals to obtain . a law annexing Ohio City to the city of Cleveland, the city council declares that such action at this time is not desirable, and is not believed to meet the views of our citizens at so short notice." This resolution was adopted. Others followed, until finally, October 14, 1851, the question was submitted to the people and de- feated at the polls. Eight hundred and fifty votes were cast for annexation, and one thousand ninety-eight against it. But even this result showed progress.
During the summer of 1848 the first steps were taken towards securing a new cemetery, resulting, August 19, 1851, in the passage of a resolution for the purchase of land, which was afterwards laid out as Woodland ceme- tery .*
* ' This resolution, introduced by Mr. Bliss, directed the mayor to pur-
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HISTORY OF CLEVELAND.
In the summer of 1848 the Cleveland Gas Light and Coke company presented a petition asking for the exclu- sive use of the streets for a term of years for the laying of gas pipes. This company had been chartered February 6, 1846. Late in 1849 gas was first used for illuminating the streets of Cleveland.
In the summer of 1847 Mr. H. B. Ely moved in council that the Lake Erie Telegraph company be permitted to erect a line through the city. Permission was granted. This was the first step toward the introduction of communication by wire. A few months later the first telegraph message was received in the city.
At this time the board of health was ordered to purchase land for a city poor-house. The attention given during the earlier part of this year to sanitary matters is of inter- est, in view of the fact that during the July and August ensuing one hundred persons died of cholera within the city limits.
The popular question of whether the city should or should not be supplied with pure water took practical form when, on March 22, 1853, the plans and specifications of thecom- mittee, appointed in 1849,* to investigate and report upon
chase sixty and sixty-two one hundredths acres of land . . .; and that the mayor be authorized to issue in payment for said land bonds of the city of Cleveland in sums of one thousand dollars for the aggregate sum of thirteen thousand six hundred and thirty-nine dollars."
On May 18, 1853, Mr. George F. Marshall moved in council that the cemetery be called " Woodland."
* Following is the resolution of Mr. Hughes, passed in council in 1849, on the above subject :
Resolved, That the committee on fire and water be and are hereby
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the subject were submitted to the council and accepted. This report recommended an outlay of four hundred thou- sand dollars. Although determined to have water, the council did not feel justified in voting so great an outlay without special instruction from the public. At the spring election of 1853 the question was accordingly put to the people and carried, the vote in favor of the expenditure being one thousand two hundred and thirty, and that against it five hundred ninety-nine. At the same time H. B. Payne, B. L. Spangler and Richard Hilliard were chosen water- works commissioners. Subsequently the city issued and delivered to the commissioners bonds to the amount of four hundred thousand dollars. On October 12, 1853, the council adopted a resolution declaring that the water- works should be located on the West Side, and measures were at once taken to appropriate the necessary land. Recognition is due to the first trustees of the water-works for their wise, careful and judicious management of the first great public improvement of thecity. They accomplished the designated results with the funds appropriated there- for-a precedent frequently not followed by the commis- sioners of public works.
In closing our account of this period mention must be made of the inception of an honored and useful organiza-
directed to ascertain the cost of bringing the water from the opposite side of the river, or from any other point, to some convenient place upon the summit in this city, where a general reservoir may be located; the cost of said reservoir, and the expense per rod for feeding it. Further, that the chief engineer of the fire department be associated with said committee, and that they may call to their assistance a competent per- son to assist them, and report to the council as soon as possible. Adopted.
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tion which has been an important stimulus to the commer- cial development of Cleveland, but whose achievements and history belong to a later time. The Cleveland Herald of July 8, 1848, contained the following :
At a large meeting of the merchants of this city, held pursuant to notice, at the Weddell House, on Friday evening, the 7th inst., Wm. Mil- ford, Esq., was called to the chair, and S. S. Coe appointed secretary. After a statement from the chair of the object of the meeting, it was re- solved: That the merchants of this city now organize themselves into an association to be called the Board of Trade of the City of Cleveland.
The list of original members was as follows: Joseph Weatherly, W. F. Allen, Jr., Charles W. Coe, R. T. Lyon, John B. Warring, Richard Hilliard, E. M. Fitch, L. M. Hubby, J. Gillette, William Milford, Philo Chamberlain, Stephen Clary, Augustus Handy, S. S. Coe, Charles Hickox, Thomas Walton, Sheldon Pease, S. S. Stone, James Ran- som, John E. Lyon, William Mittleberger, R. K. Winslow, N. C. Winslow, Arthur Hughes, Eli Morgan, Samuel A. Foote, M. B. Guyles, M. B. Scott, George Woodward, W. F. Otis, B. F. Smith, Eli Parks, J. G. Ransom, George Bradburn, O. M. Oviatt, John F. Warner. Joseph L. Weatherly was the first president, Charles W. Coe, secre- tary, R. T. Lyon, treasurer.
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CHAPTER VIII.
THE UNITED CITIES-COMPARISON OF POPULATION-SANITARY MEASURES TO PREVENT CHOLERA-IMPROVEMENT OF THE "OLD RIVER BED"- OPENING OF TRADE WITH LAKE SUPERIOR-FIRST MEETING OF THE JOINT COUNCIL-SERIOUS CONFLAGRATION-FAILURE OF THE CANAL BANK-DEDICATION OF THE NEW COUNCIL HALL-THE GRAYS' NEW ARMORY-RIVALRY IN NATIONAL POLITICS-THE PUBLIC SQUARE CON- TROVERSY.
I N November, 1853, the long debated question of annex- ation was again revived, in a resolution providing for the appointment of a committee to consult with another from the Ohio City council, with a view to "taking initia- tory steps towards the annexation of said city to the city of Cleveland." Thisresolution wasadopted. On the first day of February of the following year, the report was pre- sented, as follows:
"Resolved-That we recommend to the councils of the two cities to pass an ordinance submitting to the voters thereof the question of annexing their municipal corporations."
On the third day of April the election occurred, with the following result: In Cleveland the vote for annexation was one thousand eight hundred and ninety-two; against, four hundred. In Ohio City the vote was six hundred and
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eighteen for annexation and two hundred and fifty-eight against .*
The commissioners on the part of Cleveland were W. A. Otis, H. V. Willson and F. T. Backus; those for Ohio City, W. B. Castle, N. M. Standart and C. S. Rhodes.
The union of Ohio City and the city of Cleveland was the result of great wisdom and foresight of both commu- nities, and may be regarded as the prime initiatory act of consolidation of diverse and rival interests-an example which has since been adopted and followed by railroad, telegraph and other corporations, and in private business enterprises, both west and east-on the principle that in union there is strength.
The census of 1850 credited Cleveland with a population of 17,034, and the sister city with 3,950. The census the year following the annexation was estimated at 33,885, an increase of 21,850 over the last decennial period. Much pride was taken in what was termed the extraordinary growth of the city in five years. While such an abnormal increase of population was not literally true but only con-
* At this election there was no canvass for mayor, theterm having been extended to two years. Following is an extract from report of the com- missioners appointed to draft terms of Union, adopted June 5, 1854: "That the territory now constituted the City of Ohio shall be annexed to, and constitute a part of, the city of Cleveland, and the First, Second, Third and Fourth wards of the former city as now established shall con- stitute the Eighth, Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh wards respectively of the last named city ; and the present trustees of said wards . . shall hold their offices for the terms for which they have been severally elected."
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structively so by reason of nearly doubling the population by annexation, yet the figures were rather inspiring to the whole community and gave fame to the city as surpassing all others in rapidity of growth.
There was then not a square yard of stone paving on either side of the river, except on Superior street hill from Water street to the public landing on the river. Soon fol- lowed, however, the paving of Union street, from River street, to its intersection with Superior street hill, while Superior street from the public square to Water street was a slushing, twisted and rotten plank road, and every other street in the city was a mud road of almost unfathomable depth in the rainy season.
The present extensive and admirable system of sewerage traversing miles of streets and costing millions of dollars was then unknown and hardly contemplated, except dimly as a possible future necessity when the water-works should be completed, which great work was then in pro- cess of construction under a wise and judicious board of trustees.
As an illustration of the deficiency of sewerage, the rec- ords of the council show that as a sanitary measure to prevent the ravages of cholera, an ordinance was passed prohibiting persons from throwing dirty water into the streets and alleys of the city. Against this the citizens protested for the reason that there were no sewers ade- quate to receive it and recommended that temporary drains be cut to answer as sewers.
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