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 9
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In 1840 the population of Portage County was 23,419, so that it was "pretty big boy". But in the next twenty years it grew very little, though new blood kept coming in. At the same time many Ohioans were attracted by cheaper lands further west, which kept the population level nearly stationary. The first Welshman reached Paris township in 1831 and from that time on there came other Welsh, particularly to Paris and Pal- myra, where coal mines interested the skilled miners from over the sea. Many, however, came to farm. A Welsh Baptist church was established in Paris in 1835. Into Ravenna, Kent and other places also came Belgians, expert glass workers who were needed in the new industries. The Irish im- migrants laborers had helped to con- struct the canal and the first railroad and many of these decided to remain. Their descendants are among leading citizens today. In this era the first important wave of German immi- grants came, fleeing their native land because of political oppression. A
When a new court house was needed in 1828, the building contract was awarded to Zenas Kent, Ravenna merchant. The cost was to be $7,000. Zenas lived up to the terms of the contract but later said that he lost money on the job.
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good number of these men fought in the Union army later on.
The serious depression of 1837 had left the entire county in low spirits. There was no system of government aid then to help put either business or individuals on their feet again and the only thing to do was to wait out the storm. Franklin Mills, now Kent, was in a particularly bad situation. It had become over-enthusiastic on silk making, being caught in the silk man- ufacture craze of the times. There the Franklin Land Co. sold many lots and the Franklin Silk Co. and subsidiaries sold stock, silkworms and mulberry trees needed in the business. But as was the case everywhere else, the pro- ject was a failure and the day of rosy expectation of silk making prosperity was followed by a painful night of loss and financial suffering.
MAKE GLASS AND CARRIAGES
New industries were alawys being brought into Franklin Mills, either by the Kent family or others. The Franklin Glass Works was established in 1849-50, but apparently did not do so well, and fifteen years another glass works by that name appeared. The Kent Cotton Mill Co. with a cap- ital stock issue of $150,000.00 was or- ganized in 1851, but no cotton was ever manufactured. Business languish- ed there and only the building of the A & G W Railroad eventually put life into the town. The Center Flour Mills came in 1850 and did a good business.
At Ravenna, things were going a little better. W. D. Clarke had es- tablished a carriage factory in 1831. Other small industries followed and
Covered Bridge, Windham. One of last survivors of its kind.
Ravenna was incorporated as a village in 1853. The Ravenna Carriage Co. came in 1855 and this was later Merts & Riddle and later still, the Riddle Coach & Hearse Co.
The Franklin Bank of Kent was established in 1849 by the Kent fam- ily, now Kent National.
All over the state the banking busi- ness had followed no particular pat- tern. There were private and state banks and federal banks. The Portage County Branch of the State Bank of Ohio was organized in Ravenna in 1847. R. D. Campbell was first presi- dent and H. D. Williams, first cashier. It became the First National Bank in 1863. Robinson, King & Co., private bankers, began business in Ravenna in 1857.
But Ravenna wasn't the metropolis. In 1840 and later, it was Randloph with a greater population.
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Public schools of a sort were get- ting a slow start, but there were still no high schools as we know them. Education of this variety was taken care of by "academies", started by pri- vate persons. Academies were started in Ravenna, Windham, Nelson, Brim- field, Aurora, Shalersville.
But the populace still wasn't social minded. Where in former days set- tlers were ready to help the poor and unfortunate, a new spirit arose, at least as to the public attitude. In 1841, Leonard Greely, said to be a relative of the great Horace Greely was order- ed to leave Freedom because he had "no visible means of support." Else- where newcomers without means, were viewed with suspicion and ord- ered to move on. In Streetsboro, a destitute old woman was put on the block and her services sold for 2 months for $12.00.
MASONIC LODGE OPPOSED
It was a time when orphanned boys and girls were "bound out" until they became of age. Children's homes did not come until later. Bound-out boys, in particular, were likely to run away, especially if not well treated. But par- ents also bound out their own children, often the case when money earned was needed at home. The small
earnings were additional income. It is said® that sometimes farmers with a number of grown daughters, would seek to have a boy bound out to him, in the hope that nature would take its course with a marriage in time. This did happen more than once.
An astonishing development of ear- ly Ohio was the development of the Anti-Masonic party. Ravenna was the headquarters of this party. The Ohio Star, which was founded in 1830, was an Anti-Masonic and Anti-Catholic paper, and its editor was Darius Ly- man. In 1832 Lyman, ran for governor on the Anti-Masonic ticket, and al- most made it, too, being beaten by Robert Lucas. So much feeling had been stirred up by the Anti-Masons that Unity Lodge No. 12, F. & A. M. of Ravenna, was forced to suspend op- erations and go "underground". Gen. L. V. Bierce was then secretary of the lodge and he took charge of the char- ter and other property and these were not restored until 1852, under a new dispensation.
Up to the middle of the century schools had been on the hit or miss basis. If enough citizens of a com- munity wanted schools, they had them but there was no uniformity of opera- tion and little, if any, system. When the legislature in 1849 passed a law
Woe To The Weakling Cradler
A "cradling bee' of a hundred years ago must have been a sight to see. In this a force of neighbor folks assembled with "cradles" to harvest the ripe wheat. A leader would start along the side of a field, with other reapers following him at safe distances. Sometimes they swung their cradles to music and there usually was much song and joking. When a round was made, there was whiskey, water and perhaps a bite to eat, with a period of rest. But if one reaper could not stand the pace and had to give up, he was an object of scorn and rough joking, for his "hide had been hung on the fence."
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setting up a "system" of schools, things began to look up. After that the towns and townships were re- quired to have schools. People were taxed for them and compulsory at- tendance came. In Garrettsville a pub- lic meeting was held and the new law "ratified." Other towns had no pub- lic demonstration but were openly pleased. Later laws helped to streng- then the system but it was really the beginning of a uniform public school system in the county.
ST. JOSEPHS ESTABLISHED
In all of this time newcomers were still coming in as individuals or in groups. In the south part of the coun- ty men and women of German descent kept arriving from other counties and states. In 1829 St. Josephs Catholic church congregation had been form- ed near the Randolph-Suffield line. It was the first Catholic church in the county and in time the community became known as St. Josephs, as it re- mains today. The church was not reg- ularly organized until 1865.
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In these decades, things which in- fluenced life in Portage County, other than the canals and railroads, were the mechanical aids for farming. Fore- most and most helpful, was the horse drawn reaper for cutting grain, which later developed into the self binder. Threshing outfits appeared. Better plows were made and used. New cheese making processes were de- veloped and buggies were in general use. Kerosene lamps replaced the tal- low candle and villages began to make use of street lights in a rough way. A portable lantern was considered a
necessity whether in town or country. Life was gradually being made easier. Instead of dirt paths, people in towns started to use saw dust, or gravel and finally turned to plank or board walks even in the business district. Brick or stone walks came later.
DISEASES RAMPANT
Trained physicians began to make their appearance. New methods and medicines were taken up and old ones discarded. Many people still clung to their superstitions about illness and its cause, yet these died hard. Many still insisted on wearing a stocking around their necks for sore throat, or wearing a bag of asafedita around the throat to ward off various ailments. It was a common belief that many dis- eases were unavoidable, including dip- theria, scarlet fever, measles and smallpox. Most important, however, in this era was that people did dis- cover that the terrible amount of in- fant mortality could be reduced and that children's lives might be prec- ious, after all. Strangely enough, old observers say there was less cancer then than now, partly explained by the shorter life span. Because of poor roads, doctors rode horseback to see their patients, with medicine and equipment in the saddlebag. Major operations, of course, were rare, and even minor ones were dreaded. Doc- tor's fees for country calls were first 25 cents, then 50 cents and finally one dollar. The use of whiskey continued among people in general, though with lessening amount. The use of whiskey and hard cider at barn raisings is cred- ited with numerous deaths through-
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out the county as accidents took place, so old writers insisted. Ravenna was also visited by Thompsonianism sy- stem of "sweat doctors" but when several deaths were attributed to it, the system faded out of sight. There was violent agitation over it.
Wages for common labor com- menced to move upward. Where em- ployers once had paid 50 to 75 cents per day, they now had to pay $1.00 and more skilled laborers received more, but working hours were still twelve hours a day, six days a week. At that time, they considered the owner of a farm, with a number of boys able to work, in the best position of all. Town people and owners of stores, were considered fortunate be- cause they handled more money than others.
COUNTERFEITERS BUSY
Mail service, which had started in 1807 with bi-weekly mails to Ra- venna, Deerfield, Mantua, Franklin Mills and other places, had improved so that now there was a postoffice in every township in the county, and some had more than one. Where the recipient of a letter once had to pay a stiff rate of postage when he got his letter, the postage was now paid in advance, and stamps used. But "cash money" was still scarce and more than one man was tempted to try "home made money." Counterfeiters were able to get away with many things they could not today when an efficient secret service is maintained.
Early Portage County had a noted pair of expert counterfeiters in the Brown brothers of Peninsula, then in the county.
Covered bridges were still the stan- dard models, but in Franklin Mills a pontoon bridge had been used and a number of swinging, or suspension bridges had been thrown over the river for use as shortcuts to and from work.
Manufacturing had slowly increas- ed but because only a few men were employed in a shop there was not much competition for labor.
New countries, where land is cheap, are always good hunting grounds for those who found new colonies of ideal communities, or for some par- ticular belief. Robert Owen, the Scotch idealist, in early county history came here with the intention of founding one of his colonies near Ra- venna. He collected quite a following for his proposed "Auxiliary Owen Community", but when he asked the state legislature for a charter, the body refused to grant it. Thereupon Owen went to Indiana and founded his colony at New Harmony. For many years it attracted attention there and was pointed out as a really ideal community, but finally it also faded away. But one of the communis- tic societies did set up a community just outside this county at Phalanx, East of Windham in Trumbull county in 1844, but it flourished only a few years before dissolution.
In 1828 a man named Pomeroy came to Garrettsville and started a combination mill of unusual nature. It carded wool, sawed wood, ground wheat, with a whiskey still on the side. In this way the diversified wants of the customers were well served.
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In this period native American songs commenced to replace the old ones brought from over the seas. Young Stephen Foster developed into quite a writer, with his, "Camptown Races," "Old Kentucky Home", "Oh, Susanna", "Old Zip Coon" and others. Newly printed music advertised in 1855 included "Good News From Home", "Wilt Thou Be Mine," "Poor Old Slave," "Mischievous Alice," "I'm a Poor Old Bachelor," "Murmuring Sea," "Nelly Gordon," and "Midnight Moon."
COUNTY'S GROWTH SLOW
In general it could be said that the era of 1840 to 1860 represented a period of passage into maturity. The people of the county found their own strength. They began to feel conscious that they were capable of doing better things. There was a groping to find the way. Better school facilities were acquired at last and Portage County was quick to make use of their new powers in improving the educational system. There was a growing activity in business. People were building new homes and "modernizing" them. They were trying to make up their collec- tive minds on various political and economic issues that were always a- rising, but they were probably of no more unanimity then than in any oth- er period. The only sure thing was that they were strongly anti-slavery. The population of the county in 1860 was 24,208 - less than a thousand more than it had been in 1840.
Uncle Tom's Cabin shows started to appear. There was one in Kent in 1856.
Spelling bees began to be popular, but girls still drove oxen when neces- sary and at picnics they ran foot races. A boy and a girl going to a country dance likely as not rode horseback- the boy in the saddle and the girl be- hind him sitting sidewise with her arms around her beau.
Wild fruit of all kinds was plenti- ful, including plums and grapes. Fruits were at first dried, not canned, for future use.
The love of books was strong but books were few. Windham had the county's first library, organized in 1824 with 100 volumes but other li- braries came steadily.
COAL MINING DEVELOPS
An overall glance at Portage Coun- ty conditions would show that in this era a new source of revenue had been found in the coal deposits discovered in Palmyra, Deerfield and Atwater. At this time the coal had already been mined in a small way though not un· til later were they developed into big business. Then, too, dairying and cheese making had been taken up on the farms because of the reputation for Portage products built up in the South and in the cities. Maple syrup and sugar was found to have a ready sale and came to be a profitable source of income. Lumber was being taken from the still abundant forests. In the south part of the county the production of staple crops of wheat and other grains was the main farm interest, with cattle raising an auxili- ary source. In other words the coun- ty's agricultural output was pretty well diversified. This, together with
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the income from small shops and fac- tories, and road and railroad building, combined to bring to Portage county at least a comfortbale living.
Social ideas and practices were un- dergoing a change, too. Previous to 1840 the poor and the unfortunate were "farmed out" to the highest bid- der. This system led to abuses in the care of the unfortunates. The county commissioners decided to put the mat- ter up to the people and at an election these people voted in favor of a coun- ty farm where the poor could be handled collectively. A site was ob- tained in Shalersville township on the Gen. McIntosh farm of 162 acres, where the county infirmary has re- mained ever since.
LEADERS ARE NUMEROUS
By 1840, manufacturing, though still on a small scale, was well estab- lished. Among the activities were a few glass factories, which were to be important in the county for a good many years. Machine shops were com- ing in and flour was being made by new and better processes. Knowledge that the canal would soon be in oper- ation was a stimulant-too much so in Franklin Mills which underwent an unrestricted boom because of a prom- ised silk industry which never mater- ialized. The Panic of 1837 hit and oc- casioned much distress. But Ravenna got its first bank in 1847 and Franklin Mills had one soon afterward which helped to steady all activities.
In a purely raw state of civilization, one man's influence was not much greater than another's. So it was in Portage County. But as population in-
creased, towns organized and busi- ness and industry starting, there soon emerged leaders and men of influence in shaping affairs of the county. A- mong the first of course, were Benja- min Tappan, Heman Oviatt, Zenas Kent, Seth Day and Isaac Swift in Ra- venna; the Haymakers, Joshua Wood- ard, the Cacklers, the Rockwells, Ladds, George DePeyster and William Price in Kent; Amzi Atwater in Man- tua; the Sheldons, Hurds and Gen. Eggleston in Aurora; Capt. John Campbell, Edinburg; the Days and Divers in Deerfield; Ephriam Root in Rootsown; Col. John Garrett, Nelson; Tildens, Youngs and Masons in Hi- ram; John Whittlesey in Atwater; Bela Hubbard in Randolph; Samuel Hale in Suffield; and of course others here and there. But these were soon to be replaced by new men.
In 1836, the Western Courier (news- paper) advertised that "butter, cheese pork, lard, tallow, sugar, wheat, corn, leather, full cloth, cotton shirting, sheet- ing, firewood and various other articles for family use will be received for sub- scription debts for this paper if deliver- ed soon." Also, "Cash Wanted."
A nostrum called Napoleon Fomenta- tion was advertised in the Western Courier Feb. 26, 1835. It was said to be good for "hydrophobia, snake bites, cancers, scrofulous humors, piles, King's Evil, inflamed breast and fleur albus." There was a testimonial by a man who said it had healed his injured "ancle."
In 1840, Western Reserve College at Hudson (later Western Reserve Univer- sity) advertised its scale for table board at 75 cents, $1.00, $1.25 and $1.57-1/2 per week.
CHAPTER VI
County's Greatest Travail
The Civil War period could well comprise a chapter in itself for any county history in Ohio, or any other American state for that matter. People of later generations, especially of to- day, do not fully understand the ter- rific impact of this war on the popu- lace. Later wars meant great loss and grief, but lacked the emotional sweep and impact of the Civil War.
In this war more than 2,000 Port- age men and boys went into the arm- ed forces out of a population of 24,- 208 in 1860. Over 300 of these gave their lives for the Union. Ohio fur- nished more men for the Union army than any other state, of which were some larger. Portage furnished its share. Historians point out that one able bodied Ohio man in every three, went to the army and this was no doubt true for Portage. The late Rev. M. J. Slutz of Kent, himself a veteran of Gettysburg, used to say that the Civil War was fought by boys-lads of 16, 17, and 18, who rushed to the colors in patriotic ardor with little knowledge of what lay ahead. Many of those boys ran away from home to join the colors. But boys were not enough. Men of family had to go, too. In Windham Township, 117 men and boys enlisted out of a population of 813.
DEEP FEELING AROUSED
For this condition they could hard-
ly be blamed, because for many years previous to the war's start, they lived in an emotional period, when appeals were being made to "stand firm" to destroy slavery, uphold the right and support the constitution. The '50's had been a period of discussion and growing resentment, but most of it was on the emotional scale, though perhaps it had to be that way. On July 4, 1855, a great mass meeting was held in Ravenna by "people opposed to the Kansas-Nebraska iniquity" and there were 15,000 people present- more than half of the county popula- tion. Prizes were offered for the larg- est township delegation. Bands and uniformed men marched. There was tremendous enthusiasm. Speakers were Ben Wade, Salmon P. Chase, and J. A. Briggs. The brilliant Chase, then aiming at the presidency, but after serving as governor, became sec- retary of the treasury and later Su- preme Court justice. Wade, an anti- slavery firebrand, stirred the meeting with his oratory. Later, as president of the U. S. Senate, he came within one vote of being president when Johnson was impeached. Though these orators tore at their heart strings, people loved it and were keyed up for action. Though leaders and orators continu- ally roused them still more, the fierce anti-slavery sentiment was of spon- taneous origin, or inherited from the New England forebears.
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POINTING OUT BLAME
This meeting, large as it was, was only one of a continuing series. Peo- ple avidly followed the career of John Brown and were for him despite his bloody history. In the '50's, there was political turmoil and new politi- cal line-ups were sought. The Whigs had faded away. The secret American, or Know Nothing Party, had been quite active in Portage County, and still was making its weight felt. Out of the turmoil, the Republican party emerged. Republicans sought to pin upon the Democrats the responsibility of keeping slavery alive. The Portage Democrat of April 11, 1855, reports outcome of spring elections as fol- lows:
Atwater - Slave Democrats have carried Palmyra by a light vote. No test.
Brimfield - The Slave Democracy succeeded by a very light vote, greatly reduced. The People's Ticket won in Franklin, Nelson, Edinburg, Freedom, and Windham.
Actually it was not as simple as
that. A circular put out the same year called for:
Citizens Anti-Tax, Anti-Know Nothing Meeting
"The citizens of Ravenna opposed to local township and corporation taxes and secret, midnight caucuses, are re- quested to meet in the court house, on Friday evening next at 7 o'clock for the purpose of nominating candidates for township and corporation offices." This referred, of course, to the Know No- things, or "Sag Nichts."
Stories of the operations of the Un- derground Railroad, were told and even printed in the papers. The Port- age Democrat of April 18, 1855, prints the following from the Ashtabula Sentinel, with the strong implication that it had a Portage County angle:
PASSENGERS OF THE U.G.R.R.
"The agent of the U.G.R.R. in Ash- tabula informs us that three very likely passengers left that depot Friday last with a very fair prospect of getting through in a few hours. They had left the Southwest part of Kentucky some two months ago and had spent all their time working their way to that point. They proceeded by their own efforts, through Kentucky and Indiana and did
Art In Tree Slashing
In clearing their land of trees, pioneers soon discovered by experience the best methods of doing this job. The work gave rise to a class of skilled workmen called "tree slashers." The slasher with a job to do first noted the wind, surveyed the trees, then mentally laid off a small tract of forest for his operations. He then started on the far lee side of the tract, by cutting or notching the tree trunks with his axe. Usually the trees were cut half through or more. The slasher then progressed backwards, toward the windward side, chopping or notching all trees until he came to the last one on the other side. All trees were slanted to fall a little toward the center. The last tree was then cut through so that it fell against the next one and all trees went down, like a row of dominos, with a thunderous roar. A good slasher cut fell an acre of big trees in a day. The fallen trees were allowed to lie where they fell for two or three years, then set fire and burned, which was also an art by itself.
Another method was to "ring" trees so that they died. Later their dead, dried trunks were set on fire.
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Collection of early Ravenna-made glassware, property of H. M. Lyon
not fall in with agents of the U.G. until they reached Ohio, after which they were regularly forwarded. At Ashtabula, they were helped with provisions, clothes and money as they needed. They say they had made a previous attempt to escape but were retaken and put in jail, to be sold to a drover, when the daugh- ter of one of them managed to get them out and furnished them with $10.00 with which to make their escape."
REPUBLICANS TAKE OVER
Sad and pathetic stories of slavery and escapes were printed regularly and never failed to stir the feelings of readers. The great majority of Portage people, of course, were anti-slavery. They were dead set against the in- stitution. Historians point out that in 1834, there was a riot in Aurora over slavery, but even there, sentiment had gradually changed. Yet there was plenty of opposition, or rather dis-in-
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