USA > Ohio > Portage County > Portage heritage; a history of Portage County, Ohio; its towns and townships and the men and women who have developed them; its life, institutions and biographies, facts and lore > Part 49
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"COMMUNITY" NOT WANTED
In 1825, Robert Owen, the Scotch vagarist, appeared in Ravenna. He has been called the world's first Com- munist. He wanted to establish a communal enterprise in the neighbor- hood, but met with immediate op- position. He asked the state legisla- ture for a charter but was turned down. It is likely that his religious attitude has as much as anything to do with his rejection, for his thinking was of the agnostic order. After his rejection here, he went on to New Harmony, Ind., where he did estab- lish his colony.
On the present site of Hotel Ra- venna, long known as the "Etna House", once stood the Globe Tavern, with more than local renown. It was the most famous meeting place in all Portage County for political conven- tions, or meetings dealing with public improvements. The popular proprie- tor was William Coolman, a former resident of Shalersville, and previous to that, a contractor carrying U. S. mail, Cleveland to Pittsburgh. The place was easily identified by a large yellow sign, shaped like a globe, over the doorway. It was a strong rival of King's Tavern, run by David Greer,
further to the east. Another proprie- tor was "Judge" Selby. John B. King, later general, ran the Exchange Hotel. King's Tavern later became the Ra- venna House.
In 1810, Jared Mason came from Pennsylvania and started a tannery, located along South Chestnut St. He died in 1813 and his business was taken over by John F. Wells, who had married Mason's widow. Later it be- came Wells & Grant and later still, Jesse Grant. This man operated the tannery for a number of years, then left for the southern part of the state and became the father of U. S. Grant, general and president.
Soon after this tannery got its start, Joshua Woodard, who had come from New York state in 1811, constructed a dam across the Breakneck Creek, southwest of town. Here he construct- ed a grist mill, a saw mill and fulling establishment. Following this an epi- demic of malaria broke out, which residents attributed to the stagnant water of the pool. They asked Wood- ard to destroy it. He refused. A party of men then destroyed the dam, ruin- ing the water power. Thereupon Woodard moved to Kent where he became one of the leading manufac- turers and business men.
INDUSTRY SLOW
Manufacturing did not develop very rapidly in Ravenna. The place had little water power. Industries us- ually were one or two men affairs. A directory for the town issued in 1841 lists these shops: Prentiss & Gillis, leather manufacturers; Prentiss & Wygle, copper workers; G. Lane, C. H. Griffin and A. S. Collins, cabinet makers; J. A. Clark & Co., William Bond and Jonathan Minard, carriage builders.
Not until after the Civil War did
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Ravenna begin to be of importance as a manufacturing center. There was much interest in glass manufacturing. The first was the Diamond Window Glass Co., established in 1867. The Enterprise Glass Co. went into pro- duction about 1872; the Ravenna Flint Glass Co. in 1882; and the Crown Flint Glass Co. in 1883. In addition to practical types of glass, they also pro- duced many artistic articles such as bottles and house needs. Chapman Root, who worked in a glass concern here, later went to Terre Haute, Ind., where he perfected the type of bottle now used by cola manufactures.
There were also the Eagle Glass
Co. (about 1880) and the United Glass Co. about the same time. Others were the Ballinger Glass Works and a co- operative company making lamp chimneys.
Of especial interest today is the John F. Byers Co., later the Byers Machine Co., which was founded in 1873 by a man named Beyers, and has been one of the city's industrial main- stays up to the present time. It started out as a repair shop and foundry and later took up manufacture of ma- chinery for hoisting, grading, etc.
QUAKER MILLS HERE Ravenna gained some manufactur-
This building was used as the Tappan Seminary a noted preparatory school in Ravenna before the Civil War.
A structure of more than ordinary interest today stands in the northern part of Ravenna. It was built by John Hood more than one hundred years ago. He was a man of means but when he failed in business, the house was taken over in 1840 by a man named Curtiss. After he died, the title reverted to the Tappans, who had retained a financial in- terest. Changes were made and the place used as "Tappan Female Institute," an academy for girls, operated by a man named Wm. Hegerman, who was brought in for the purpose. The Institute lasted three years, after which the place was bought by A. M. Pease, a cheese dealer, who used it as both residence and business place. It was then taken over by A. M. Hazen, who made changes and added a cupola. In 1869, D. C. Coolman bought the house, made further changes and called it "Clinton Terrace." Still later it was bought by Wm. H. Beebe, who lived there many years. The place is now owned by Judge A. L. Caris.
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ing fame in another line. In 1877, the Quaker Mills Co. started business as manufacturers of flour and oatmeal. H. B. Crowell was president and E. R. Crowell, treasurer. When the com- pany was taken over by the American Cereal Co. in 1890, it was moved a- way, but the name of Quaker Oats is now known all over the world.
The J. A. Clarke & Co. mentioned above was the start of an industry that was long one of Ravenna's most im- portant. Established in 1831, it was bought in 1861 by Merts & Riddle and before the end of the century, had become the Riddle Coach and Hearse Co. The proprietor, Henry W. Riddle, had come here from Pittsburgh to work for Clarke in 1860. He was wide- ly known in this industry. It is said that Lincoln, Hayes, Garfield, and Mckinley were all carried to their resting places in Riddle hearses.
From 1855 and thereafter for several years, The Ravenna Carriage Mfg. Co. was occupied with buggy making.
Ravenna had hardly got settled as a staid frontier town when something new appeared on the horizon that gave promise of better things. The only means of communication with other places was by stage coach or horse power, including light freight lines. While ordinary light merchandise could be transported this way freight in bulk could not be moved. There was little market for farm products and prices paid were extremely low. Mail facilities were meager.
CANAL MAKES BUSINESS
When the Ohio Canal was built south from Cleveland to Akron in 1826, it was only a part of the canal building fever that was sweeping the country. Men saw an opportunity for a new canal cutting through Portage
County, that would open the county to outside markets. This was the P. & O. canal, running from Akron to con- nect with Pennsylvania. Its history is told in another chapter. Ravenna men were in the thick of the promotion of the canal and its building. Hon. Jon- athan Sloane did a vast amount of work in this respect and money was subscribed liberally. But it was a "shot in the arm" not only for Raven- na, but the entire county. Business forged ahead and farm prices went up. Ravenna was on the "summit" of the waterway.
Ravenna played an important part in the building of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad, the county's first. It's citizens not only had a hand in financing and promoting it, but in its management. This line was promot- ed as early as 1836, when "railroad fever" was sweeping the country. Its first years followed the pattern of most pioneer railroads with a series of delays, lack of money, lack of interest and lack of knowledge. It's charter was amended in 1845, work was re- sumed, and in 1851 the first train ar- rived in Ravenna from Cleveland. From that time the present C & P has served Ravenna with very good trans- portation. Cyrus Prentiss, of Ravenna, was for years its president.
The second railroad to reach the county seat was the Atlantic & Great Western, today the Erie system. This road, too, was built after a series of exasperating delays, but the line was opened from Warren to Ravenna, Sept. 20, 1862, but was not opened full length until the following Jan- uary. The first freight shipment re- ceived at Ravenna from the East was ten barrels of sugar. This line has served Ravenna well, particularly as a freight conveyor.
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B. & O. ARRIVES
Ravenna's third trunk line railroad was the last. This is the present Balti- more & Ohio, one of the nation's truly great lines. It started from New Castle, Pa., in 1882, as the Pittsburgh, Cleveland & Toledo. It was opened for business in Ravenna in 1884. Later the name was changed to Pittsburgh, Toledo & Cleveland, then the Pitts- burgh & Western. In 1891, the B. & O., looking for a short line to Chicago, gained control and about 1898, be- gan to improve and shorten it.
Another railroad, the Lake Erie & Pittsburgh, passes through Ravenna on the tracks of the Pennsylvania and B & O lines. Its own line, west of Brady Lake, was finished in 1911. It is a purely freight carrier.
Of more than ordinary importance were the electric or "interurban" rail- roads over a period of 30 years. The Northern Ohio Traction Co. Line, from Akron and Kent, reached the town in November, 1901. In 1912, a trolley line was built to Alliance and about 1915, another line went to War- ren. Though connected with the Northern Ohio, the system was known as the C.A. & M.V. All these com- panies went out of business in 1932, or before.
By 1885, Ravenna had grown into a good sized town and people wanted a modern system of water supply. By vote of the people, a bond issue of $75,000 was authorized for this pur- pose. The source of the supply came from what later was called Crystal Lake. After this, the village had water available for fire protection and the fire department was also modernized.
LOUDIN WINS FAME
A group that brought fame not on- ly to themselves, but honor to its home town, was the F. J. Loudin
Frank Lowrie, Ravenna chief of police in the '80s.
Jubilee Singers, who were active in the 1890's. It was made up entirely of Negroes under the direction of Frank J. Loudin, a native of Charlestown township. Loudin had sung with the Fisk Jubilee Singers before organizing his own singers. They achieved re- markable popularity, not only in this country, but in Europe and Australia. In Europe they sang before crowned heads of many countries and in Aus- tralia made a record by singing in the same hall 80 consecutive nights. Lou- din's booming bass voice was itself a feature of note. His talent was ob- tained from all parts of the South.
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Loudin owned a fine home on Walnut St. and is buried in Maple Grove Cemetery. He died in 1904.
There were various public and semi-public schools and select schools, but the first public high school de- veloped about 1857. At that time work started on the new "Unión School" on South Chestnut St., which later was known as the Chestnut St. School. While the building was being completed, high school classes were being held in the old Gretzinger- Schweitzer building on Chestnut St., opposite the court house; in rooms over the Second National Bank, and in a West Main St. building. Examina- tions were required to permit entrance to the high school. The first high school commencement was held in the spring of 1862, with Emily Robinson and Hattie Lewis receiving diplomas. A strong force in the establishment of Ravenna's first high school was Isaac Brayton, once a Nantucket sea cap- tain, who later became a teacher and then migrated to Ravenna. He was a friend of the educator, Horace Mann, and was intensely interested in good school systems. He was called the "father of the Ravenna School system."
About 1825, and several years later, the Ravenna Academy operated at the corner of Cedar and Prospect Sts. This was a select school with a wide range of studies. In 1834, the school had 69 boys and 82 girls as students, a re- markable number for that early date. Tuition charges were $2.50 to $4.00 per term.
SCHOOL IN CABIN
Schools got their start early, but in a small way. In 1803, Miss Sarah Wright, sister-in-law of Benjamin Tappan, came from the East to con- duct a school in a log cabin in the
Tappan settlement. It was for the Boosinger, Ward, and Eaton families only. In 1806, David Root conducted a school. After Ravenna became a town, Miss Acsah Eggleston was brought from Aurora to instruct chil- dren of the Jennings, Carter, and Smith families. Others came and went, but there was no really "public" school for many years. It is related that about 1814, Major Stephen Ma- son, who was then sheriff, conducted a part time school in the court house when he had time.
As the town grew, schools were provided in various ways and when taxation for school purposes was auth- orized, buildings were erected for all. The actual start of a "system" came about 1853.
In Ravenna township, schools were provided by districts, at one time nine in number.
An able and well loved superin- tendent of schools was D. D. Pickett who served about twenty years and was succeeded in 1890 by F. A. Mer- rill. Following Mr. Merill was E. O. Trescott in 1906 and he served until 1925. O. E. Pore was school head from 1925 to 1933, being succeeded by C. R. Dustin, who served from 1933 to 1939. Since 1939 H. Larry Brown has been superintendent, holding longest tenure of any.
The current school board is com- posed of E. G. Willyard, Pres .; Dr. C. L. Naylor, Dr. J. C. Beal, Miles Friend and Robert H. Mitchell.
W. E. Watters is principal of Ra- venna High School; James Whittak- er, principal at Highland Elementary School; D. E. Stewart, principal at West Main St. School; and Paul Shive- ly, principal of Tappan Elementary School.
The present fine high school on
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Dr. W. W. White, founder of White Hospital.
East Main St. was built in 1923. The Tappan school was constructed in 1951. The new Highland School and the West Main St. schools were built in 1954.
MEN OF ABILITY
As we go down through the years of Ravenna's history, we soon dis- cover that each period had one or more men of outstanding business, industrial or professional ability. In the earlier days probably the merch- ants and office holders dominated af- fairs. The Days, the Kents, the Swifts, and others had much influence. But of all Portage County's able business men, Cyrus Prentiss of Ravenna was one of the most successful and in- fluential. Born in New Hampshire, he reached Ravenna by way of Orangeville, when he was seven years old. After some service as a clerk in Cleveland, he organized the Perry &
Prentiss store in Ravenna at the age of 25. Later he took entire control of it under the name of Prentiss, Hop- kins & Co., retaining it until his death. He helped promote the P. & O. canal and the Cleveland & Pittsburgh railroad, later becoming president of that road. He was also offered the presidency of other railroads but de- clined.
Mr. Prentiss was the largest single contractor in building the P. & O. canal. To facilitate construction ex- cavation, he contrived a mammoth plow weighing 600 pounds, which cut a furrow 14 inches wide and which was pulled by 18 oxen. It was largely due to his energy that the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad was finally put through after many delays.
He was also one of the incorporators of the A. & G.W. Railroad. He died in 1859.
Another man of more than ordinary ability was Enos P. Brainerd. First a Randolph resident, he was elected county treasurer in 1845 and at the end of his term, remained in Raven- na. First he was in the hardware busi- ness, then became cashier of the Franklin Bank of Portage County, at Kent. In 1859, he was made secretary of the new Atlantic & Great Western Railroad, and was later a director for many years. In 1855 he was elected treasurer of the line. He was also president of the Portage County Branch of the State Bank of Ohio at Ravenna and was an active force in many other business enterprises as well.
N. D. Clark, carriage manufacturer, was also an early business leader.
Ravenna was incorporated as a vil- lage in 1853. O. P. Brown was its first mayor.
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FACTORIES IN VARIETY
If Ravenna industries were slow in coming into existence, there was a diversity in them when they did ar- rive. The '70's and '80's were particu- larly fruitful. The Star Agricultural Works appeared in 1874, their most important product being a fodder cutter. To care for the farm trade the Ravenna (flour) Mill and the Atlantic Mill were in operation by 1881. The Knapp Pump factory began business in 1872. D. L. Baldwin & Sons had a large planing mill started in 1863. One of their products was cheese box- es. Work & Yeend had a flourishing lumber business and E. B. Griffin manufactured hubs and spokes. Also in the wood working line, Kingsbury & Sons had a planing mill, started in 1867; and Grohe's Planing Mill, start- ed in 1884.
In the hardware line were the Zel- ler Valve Mfg. Co., beginning in 1881; and Stockwell, Griffin & Co., from 1873. There were also the Haley Foundry & Machine shop, founded in 1881; and Doig's Foundry, 1876.
A forward step was taken when the. Ravenna Gas Light & Coke Co. was set up in business in 1873 as its prod- uct brought a new type of both home and street lighting as well as use for cooking.
About 1848, Joseph Gledhill es- tablished a woolen mill along the canal near Campbellsport. The family operated it there some time in the '60's, when the factory, buildings and all, were moved to Ravenna, locating on Cleveland Ave. Mr. Gledhill died in 1878 but his son continued the business until 1890, when operations stopped. The building still stands on Cleveland Ave., used by Klein's.
The Gledhill Ravenna Woolen Mills Co. and Turner Worsted Mills,
established in the early '80's, were the advance guard for another in- dustry that gave employment to many people in the next 75 years. The Ra- venna Mills eventually became the Cleveland Worsted Mills Co. with its Redfern Mill making yarns and cloth; and the Annevar Mill for dyeing. At the height of their operations they employed several hundred workers and were the city's largest employer. Because of labor trouble and general industrial conditions, the stockholders of the Cleveland Worsted Co. voted to disolve the business in the winter of 1955-56. R. C. Anderson was then manager.
GIFT INSURES WATER SUPPLY
Early in its life here the Worsted Co. acquired Lake Hodgson (formerly Muddy) for a private water supply. During the process of company dis- solution in 1956, this lake was sought by the city of Ravenna to be used as a reserve supply of water for the grow- ing city. After long negotiation an agreement was made with the Wor- sted Co. for the purchase of the lake, it being made possible by an outright gift to the city of about $200,000 for this purpose by H. R. Loomis, lawyer, banker, and business man who be- came interested in the project.
In 1893, a going industry was set up here in the A. C. Williams Co., which was moved from Chagrin Falls, following fires there. It has been in operation continuously since that time and has been one of the steadiest employers of labor. Originally, it manufactured "sad irons" and toys but in more recent years has branched out into other lines of light hardware and castings.
In the '90's, Stockwell, Bragg & Co. had a plant for the manufacture of nuts and bolts.
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About 1830, Ravenna began to be the Ohio center of the strange Anti- Masonic movement that sprang into existence. One of the early newspap- ers, The Ohio Star, was started mainly in support of the movement. Darius Lyman, lawyer and politician, was a leader. As a consequence of the feel- ing stirred up, Unity Lodge, F. & A.M., "went underground" in 1832. The books and other property of the lodge were removed and stored, and not until 1852 was its work resumed. Darius Lyman was Whig candidate for governor of Ohio in 1832, and though he carried Portage County, was defeated in the state. For a time Ravenna was considered the head- quarters of the Ohio Anti-Mason movement.
HANGINGS ARE PUBLIC
Because of conditions then exist- ing, and the public nature of punish- ment, all murders and executions were subjects of great excitement. Condemned murderers were hanged locally for all to see.
One of the first murder victims in the county's history was a peddler named Epaphras Matthews in 1816. A German transient named Henry Aungst was charged with the crime and found guilty on Nov. 30, 1816, was hanged on a scaffold erected at Sycamore and Spruce streets. A crowd of about 1800 saw it, including wo- men and children. Another case of notoriety was the hanging of David McKisson, charged with the murder of his sister-in-law. The crime occurr- ed in 1836 and McKisson was hanged Feb. 9, 1837, before several thousand spectators.
A third hanging occurred April 26, 1865. The victim was Jack Cooper, convicted of slaying John Roden- baugh near Pippin Lake the previous
Where the White Hospital Started in 1894
Original White Hospital, East Main St., Ravenna
year. This event, too, attracted an enormous crowd.
Public hangings were made a pub- lic holiday and sometimes bands play- ed. Often children were permitted to watch on the theory that such spec- tacles were deterrent to transgressions later.
BLINKY MORGAN CASE
Probably the most important crim- inal event in Portage County in many respects was the "Blinky Morgan" case of 1887-88. It was of interest not only here, but in several other states as well. Leading up to the case was a large fur robbery, the victim being a Cleveland store, the work of an or- ganized band of thieves. One mem- ber of the gang, McMunn, was ar- rested in Pittsburgh and was being brought to Cleveland by Detective Hulligan and Capt. Hoehn of the Cleveland police, coming on the C & P night train. When the train stopped at Ravenna, three members of the gang, including Morgan, got on and freed McMunn. Hulligan was beaten to death with a coupling pin. Capt. Hoehn was shot, but survived. All the gang escaped but Morgan and others were later arrested at Alpena, Mich.,
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and brought here for trial.
The Cleveland Police Department threw all its power into the prosecu- tion and Morgan was represented by a famous criminal lawyer. The trial at Ravenna attracted widespread at- tention but Morgan was finally con- victed of the murder of Hulligan af- ter a bitter contest. Portage county police feared the "gang" would try to rescue its leader and the jail was heavily guarded at all times. Morgan was sentenced to be hanged and was taken to Columbus for execution. He was hanged there in 1888.
Other members of the gang were also tried. Two were convicted. but got new trials. Another went free. McMunn was not caught. Morgan was well educated and was supposed to be the "black sheep" of a well-to-do family. Prosecution of the case cost the county $30,000.00 for a crime in which it had no direct interest in the first place. E. W. Maxson was prose- cuting attorney then, but he was given special assistance. The murder, the trial, the execution and the events connected with the case were subjects of talk and speculation for many years after they had passed into his- tory.
The county first saw a local news- paper in 1825, when J. B. Butler came to Ravenna and issued the Western Courier and Western Public Advertiser. It later went out of busi- ness. Before it died, another paper had starter, The Ohio Star, published by Lewis Rice. Since that time the paper has been published regularly, under different names and owners and is today the Evening Record.
HALL IMPORTANT PUBLISHER
Lyman Hall was long an important man in journalism here. He owned the Star and in 1843, started the
Western Cabinet & Family Visitor. Other early papers issued were the Independent Press, the Hickory Flail and Fusion Thresher and the Portage County Republican.
There were also the Portage County Whig (1848) and the Portage County Democrat, the Signal, and the Port- age County Sentinel, which later be- came the Democratic Press. It was long directed by Samuel D. Harris.
About 1885, the Republican and Democratic Press occupied the field together with the exception of the Courier which was printed for a time as a daily newspaper. With this ex- ception all newspapers had been weekly issues. About 1912, the Re- publican became a semi-weekly and later a tri-weekly. It became a daily in 1927, as the Record. The Portage County Democrat was absorbed by the Evening Record in 1928, which re- mains today the only newspaper in Ravenna.
The earliest newspaper supporting the Democratic party was the Watch- man, first issued in 1835, soon fol- lowed by the Buckeye Democratic and Plain Dealer.
A more detailed account of the newspapers appears in another chapter.
Religious services were held in Ra- venna first in what today would be considered an informal manner. Oc- casionally people met to worship by themselves and at other times men like Shadrach Bostwick, Rev. Henry Shewell, Rev. Caleb Pitkin, Timothy Bigalow, or Nathan Darrow would preach in homes or in the court house. The noted Rev. Joseph Badger, mis- sionary, appeared in Ravenna at var- ious times. In 1816, Dr. Isaac Swift and Daniel Dawley began conducting services, using the Episcopalian serv-
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