(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) COMMENDABLE ACTION OF SON - 1025 court when the cases were called, though answers had been duly filed, no defense was made, and judgment was rendered by Judge Burke for the full amount of damages claimed. As was then quite largely practiced, a second trial was asked for and granted, thus carrying the matter over until a subsequent term. After the consignment of Mr. Graham to the penitentiary, however, and before the civil suits were reached, the son, Mr. Henry B. Graham, arranged for an amicable and equitable settlement of both suits, as will be seen from the following editorial from the pen of the present writer published in The Beacon of May 10, 18uu: "HIGHLY COMMENDABLE.—We learn that Henry B. Graham, upon whom has devolved the care of the family and the business affairs of his father, Mr. William Graham, since the occurrence of the unfortunate affair that at once deprived him of his liberty and two of his neighbors of their lives, has secured to the widows of Messrs. Kilpatrick and Filley the payment of $5,000 each, in annual installments of which $1,000 has already been paid. This evinces not only a high sense of honor on the part of young Graham, but a spirit of energy and determination, also, which will meet with the hearty commendation and sympathy of the entire community." THE PARDON QUESTION.—Within a very, few months after Mr. Graham's incarceration, the War being over and the asperities arising therefrom becoming very greatly softened, the friends of Mr. Graham began to agitate the question of applying to Governor Jacob D. Cox for his pardon, but no definite move was made in that direction until after the accession of Governor Rutherford B. Hayes, in 18u7. In a communication to The Beacon, under date of April 3, 1867 Mr. William Southmayd, of Stow, said: "The friends of Mr. William Graham are circulating a petition for his pardon, with what success I am not advised. * * * I think the move is considered premature by those looking upon his case with the most charitable eyes." In commenting upon this item, the writer editorially said: "We would not do anything to wound the feelings of the family or friends of the condemned man, or to prejudice his case with the executive, or public, and therefore withhold a resume of the evidence in the case given by Justice,' yet at the same time agreeing with our correspondents, that the movement for a pardon is at this time, in our judgment, premature." GOVERNOR HAYES DECLINES TO INTERVENE.—The petition, numerously signed, by men of both political parties, was earnestly urged upon the attention of Governor Hayes, by interested friends and able counsel, but the Governor, on fully acquainting himself with all the circumstances connected with the double homicide, declined to interfere, believing that if, in any event, executive clemency should intervene, the time had not yet arrived for its exercise. FINAL PARDON.—Mr. Graham thus remained in prison, until the accession to the Governorship of Hon. William Allen, in 1874, before whom the application was successfully renewed, a pardon being granted by Governor Allen on the 11th day of February, 1874. In his list of pardons, and the reasons thereof, subsequently reported to the legislature, Governor Allen said of this particular case: "Pardoned on the petition of 1,500 citizens of Summit county, on application of Hon. A. C. Voris, delegate to Constitutional Convention from Summit county; of Senator Goodhue from 65 1026 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. Summit District; of Lieutenant Governor Hart; of the prosecuting attorney; judges of Probate and Common Pleas Courts; of the treasurer, recorder, auditor and clerk of Summit county; of the mayor of Akron, and of leading bankers, professional and business men of Summit county. The crime was committed under extreme provocation, and during intense mental excitement while the victims were engaged in an unlawful act which Graham had reason to believe jeopardized his person and property. As he, had suffered incarceration for a period of nearly nine years, it seemed to me that the ends of justice were fully subserved in his case." SUBSEQUENT LIFE, DEATH, ETC.—Mr. Graham returned to his home, in Stow, on the evening of February 12, 1874, where he continued to live quietly and peaceably, until his sudden death from heart disease, on the 3rd day of August, 1883, at the age of 68 years, 3 months and 28 days. His surviving family are among the most respectable and influential families of Stow township, and of Summit county, and in no way lessened in the public esteem by the occurrence of the fearful tragedy in which the husband and father was so prominent an actor, in the most exciting period of our country's history. FAMILIES OF THE MURDERED MEN.—Homer Filley was born in the State of New York, and lacked about a month of being 40 years of age at the time of his death. In 1852, he was married to Miss Amanda Robstein, in Michigan, shortly afterwards settling near his mother, in Northampton, working in sawmill, at farming, etc., a year or two later at Munroe Falls, and doing similar work in that vicinity. Besides his widow, five children were left to mourn his tragic death: Eliza, 12; Alice, 8; Wallace H., 5; Ida, 3; and Loretta, 4 months; all of whom, except the youngest, are now living, and all married and comfortably settled in life: Eliza and Ida at Munroe Falls, Alice in Michigan and Wallace H. in Akron, an operative in the Knife Works; Mrs. Filley still occupying the comfortable homestead which had been provided for the family by her lamented husband, previous to his death. Hugh Kilpatrick was a native of Glasgow, Scotland, emigrating, when a boy, to Kingston, Canada. His parents dying when he was still quite young, he was reared to manhood by friends of his family. In 1847, he went to California, and on his return went to Patterson, N. J. Thence he came to Cuyahoga Falls, subsequently going to Munroe Falls, in both places working at his trade of paper-maker, for a time being a partner in the well-remembered firm of Howard, Peebles & Co. June 25, 1857, Mr. Kilpatrick was married to Miss Mary B. Gaylord (daughter of the late Isaac T. Gaylord, of Stow), who, after bearing him three children, died June 29, 18u4; Mr. K. marrying for his second wife, January 1, 18u5, Miss Charlotte L. Benedict, of Northampton. At the time of his death, Mr. Kilpatrick was 3u years, 10 months and 22 days of age; the names and ages of his children-being: Adelaide M., 5; Arthur G., 4; and Henry Theodore, 1; Arthur G. surviving his father but about three weeks. Adelaide M. is now the wife of Dr. Sylvanus Koontz, a prosperous physician of Roanoke, bid., and Henry Theodore is a resident of Morgan Park, near Chicago, Ill., engaged in the lucrative business of plumbing. Mr. Kilpatrick's widow, Charlotte L., was married to the late Parvin Eves, of Stow, June 15, 1866, but a little over a year later was again STOW'S PRESENT OFFICIAL STATUS - 1027 widowed, Mr. Eves being accidentally killed by the cars, at Cuyahoga Falls, August 19, 18u7. Mrs. Eves was again married, November 2u, 1872, to Mr. Amos B. Wait, with whom she is now living at Hilliard Station, Mich. STOW'S POPULATION, OFFICIAL ROSTER, ETC. The census of 1840 gave to Stow, including the populous corner included in the village of Cuyahoga Falls, and the then booming village of Munroe Falls, a population of 1,533; the census of 1880 giving her, exclusive of Cuyahoga Falls, 911; while the census of 1890 credits her with 936, so that it will be seen that while there may have been a slight shrinkage between 1840 and 1880, she has rather more than kept her own during the last decade. The present official roster of the township (1891) is as follows: Trustees, Charles Edward Hanson, Levi Swinehart, Charles N. Gaylord; clerk, William Nickerson; justices of the peace, Ira B. Fairchild, Henry B. Graham; constables, Fay G. Davis, Frederick Barnard; postmasters : Metz, Edward A. Seasons; Munroe Falls, C. Reid. CHAPTER XLIX. MUNROE FALLS--BOSTON CAPITALISTS PROJECT A GREAT MANUFACTURING CITY—ITS RISE, PROGRESS AND DECLINE—ITS PROTEGE, EDWARD P. WILLIS, CHARGED WITH AN INFAMOUS CRIME—TRIAL, CONVICTION AND SENTENCE —SECOND TRIAL AND CONVICTION—ESCAPE FROM JAIL AND SIX WEEK' HIDING IN HIS ATTORNEY'S CISTERN —FLIGHT TO ITALY—RETURN To AMERICA AS BUSINESS MANAGER FOR THE NOTORIOUS LOLA MONTEZ "COUNTESS OF LANSFELD — SUMMARY EJECTION FROM HER PRESENCE AND SERVICE—PREMATURE DEATH, ETC. A CITY THAT WAS, BUT IS NOT. ABOUT two miles northeasterly from the enterprising village of Cuyahoga Falls, near the south line of the township of Stow, is a small, but pleasant hamlet, known as Munroe Falls. It is located upon the Cuyahoga river, and 'exists by reason of the considerable water power afforded by the fall in the stream in that immediate vicinity. In the early thirties, manufacturing enterprises, at points where water power was attainable, had nearly reached their limit in New England, and eastern capitalists began to explore the then far west for eligible locations for investment of their surplus means, and the augmentation of their wealth and fame. Middlebury, Akron, and Cuyahoga Falls, had already secured considerable reputation as manufacturing centers, while at many other contiguous points, grist-mills, saw-mills and carding and fulling mills, or woolen factories, had been put in operation by local enterprise. THE BEGINNING.—At the point in question, under the name of "Florence," several small mills of this character had been erected by local operators, several years before anything had been done or thought of at Akron, and about contemporary with the first improvements of a similar nature at the upper, or old, village of Cuyahoga Falls, a mile or so above the present business center of that village. But early in March, 1836, Edmund Munroe, a wealthy merchant of Boston, Mass., bought from Guy Wolcott, George Lodge, Zebulon Stow, and other farmers of the neighborhood, several hundred acres of land, including the water-power, mills and other improvements thereon existing. About 200 acres of these lands were immediately platted, and a handsome map prepared and published of the proposed village, or prospective city of "Munroe Falls." A commodious store was erected, and stocked with a full assortment of general merchandise; old mills were rejuvenated, new mills projected and quite a number of dwelling houses were erected by Mr. Munroe, for the use of his agents and operatives, and by others to whom lots in the new city had been sold. So rapid was Its growth, and so great was the popular confidence in its success, that several of the prosperous farmers of the neighborhood, together with several other eastern gentlemen, proposed to share the glory, as well as the profits, with Mr. Munroe, by the organization of a joint stock company. Accordingly, on the INCORPORATORS-BANK, ETC. - 1029 3d clay of April, 1837, a charter was granted by the Legislature of Ohio, to Edmund Munroe, Isaac I. Bigelow, Oliver O. Brown, William H. Munroe, and their associates, until the year 1860, to be known by the name of the "Munroe Falls Manufacturing Company." By the terms of its charter, the company was authorized “to grow and manufacture silk and wool, and also to manufacture cotton, paper, flour, sugar, machinery, and tools of all descriptions which may be necessary in their manufacturing operations," and with an authorized capital stock of $500,000 in shares of $100.00 each. The working capital, to begin with, was fixed at $100,000, of lich amount, as appears by the original stock book now in the hands of the writer, $82,000, was subscribed, in sums ranging from $200.00 to $40,000, as follows: Edmund Munroe, $40,000; Isaac I. Bigelow, $4,000; Oliver 0. Brown, $4,500; William H. Munroe, $3,000; Owen Brown, $1,000; Henry Cogger, $1,000; Edmund S. Munroe, $10,000; Joseph Anderson, $2,000; Robinson Truesdale, $1,500; Joseph Hine, $1,000; Herman Peck, $300; Jacob Bollinger, Jr., $200; John B. Whedon, $500; Daniel Porter, $300; Parvin Eves, $500; William Armstrong, $500; James B. Angell, $500; Henry Harshbarger, $500; Hiram C. Carlton, $500; James Anderson, $400; Jonas D. Bigelow, $500; William Stow, $1,200; Samuel M. Coombs, $1,000; John Hall, 2d, $300; James Kent, $1,000; Ogden Wetmore, $1,000; Martin Bushnell, $300; Horace Bushnell, $300; William Hickox, $300; Owen B. King, $200; Lewis Dailey, $1,000; Ralph Smith, $1,000; Benjamin Sewall, $1,000; George D. Munroe, $1,000. It will thus be seen that the Munroes held a majority of the stock, and no doubt was entertained in regard to the final success of the corporation, and the rapid and prosperous growth of the new city. The entire plat, together with all buildings, machinery, goods, bills payable, crops, farm produce, teams, live stock, etc., belonging to Edmund Munroe, valued at $71,u31, was transferred to the company. By-laws were adopted—directors and officers were elected, and the entire machinery of the corporation was under full momentum early in the Summer of 1837. THE COMPANY STARTS A " BANK."- Elsewhere allusion has been made to the great panic of 1837, during which all the banks of the country suspended specie payment, and a very large number entirely collapsed, while dire financial distress, in commercial, manufacturing and agricultural operations, universally prevailed. In this emergency, like many other similar corporations, the Munroe Falls Manufacturing Company, to facilitate its own business operations, as well, perhaps, as to afford financial relief to its patrons and neighbors, issued neatly engraved and printed scrip, in denominations of 10, 25 and 50 cents, and one and two dollars, payable on demand, in current bank notes, when presented in stints of five dollars, or any multiple of that sum. For a year or two, these notes, with others of their class, circulated freely, and very greatly facilitated the company's mercantile and manufacturing operations, during which time, in addition to quite an extensive retail trade in general merchandise, was added a wholesale department. From this establishment, merchants from neighboring towns and villages were supplied, at about eastern jobbing prices, with prints and other cotton fabrics of New England manufacture. The company fairly held its own for three or four years, when, by reason of the continued business depression, and 1030 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. its inability to realize upon the almost unlimited credit which had been extended to its customers, it became financially embarrassed and finally bankrupt, large amounts of its "currency" in the hands of the people proving entirely worthless. ITS CHIEF CLERK COMES TO GRIEF.--Among the operatives and employes of the company, was a young Bostonian by the name of Edward P. Willis, who occupied the position of chief clerk in the store of the corporation. This young man was younger brother of the renowned poet, Nathaniel P. Willis. Young. Willis was of rather a gay order—somewhat of the modern dud( persuasion—and it was rumored that, leading rather a fast life it the city of Boston, his friends had sent him to Ohio, under tin auspices of the very respectable representatives Of that city, con nected with the company, in the hope of effecting his reformation Be this as it may, certain it is, that in 1844, he is thrown into prison, charged with an infamous crime. The cause of his appre hension may be thus readily stated: Being in attendance upon the commencement exercises of Western Reserve College, at Hud son, on the 8th day of August, 1844, young Willis was introduce to a young lady from Ravenna, by the name of Clara M. Bard, who, with her brother-in-law, Deputy Sheriff Edward P. Bassett, an her sister, Mrs. Cornelia Bassett, were also in attendance. In addition to the commencement and graduating exercises, in the day time, a musical entertainment was given in the college chapel ii the evening, to which entertainment Miss Bard was accompanied by Willis. Learning, during the evening, that it was the intention of the Ravenna party to spend the night with friends at Cuyahoga Falls, Willis proposed that if Miss Bard would accept a seat in hi buggy, he would go home by way of Cuyahoga Falls, which proposition was assented to, by both Miss Bard and her friends. Starting from Hudson together, Willis soon out-distanced the Bassett: though the latter arrived at their destination some time before th former did, occasioning the friends of the young lady considerable anxiety, and no little alarm. Nothing wrong, however, was suspected, until after the return of the party to Ravenna, the sex day, when Miss Bard was found to be in such a state of nervous prostration that her friends commenced an investigation of the cause, eliciting from her the story, that somewhere between Ilk son and Cuyahoga Falls her escort had turned off from the main road, into a dense piece of woods, where he had made a criminal assault upon her, and that in the desperate struggle which sh had made to prevent the accomplishment of his designs. she ha sustained serious bruises upon her back and limbs, as well as terrible strain upon her nervous system. ARREST AND, EXAMINATION.—On learning the true state of the case, the young lady's brother, Mr. Rodolphus Bard, of Ravenna, visited Cuyahoga Falls, on the 10th day of August, 1844, and filed an affidavit before Birdsey Booth; Esq., one of the justices of the peace for Tallmadge township, charging said Willis with assault with intent to ravish the said Clara M. Bard. A warrant was immediately placed in the hands of Constable Warren Lane, who at once proceeded to Munroe Falls and, taking the accused into custody, escorted him before Justice Booth, to answer to said charge. Pleading not guilty, on hearing the affidavit read, the examination was postponed until August 13, at 10 o'clock A. M., by TRIAL, CONVICTION, SENTENCE - 1031 reason of the illness of Miss Bard, and in default of bail for his appearance at that time Willis was committed to jail. On the day named Miss Bard and her mother, Anna M. Bard, and her brother-in-law, E. P. Bassett, were sworn and examined. The defendant, offering no testimony, he was held to bail in the sum of $5,000 for his appearance at the September term of the Court of Common Pleas to answer to said charge, in default of which he was remanded to jail. It may well be imagined that the excitement over the affair, both in Summit and Portage counties, was intense, which was considerably augmented by the fact that the young lady in giving her testimony had fainted entirely away, with the prospect, for a time, that the swoon might prove fatal. While the public sympathy in the two counties, was decidedly with Miss Bard, with corresponding indignation against her alleged assailant, the friends of the accused were also quite numerous and influential, not only providing him with able counsel and every available appliance for his defense, but also laboring to mollify the public feeling and to induce the aggrieved parties to modify their charges and condone the offense. BEFORE THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.—At the September term, 1844, of the Court of Common Pleas, Hon. Eben Newton, of Canfield, Mahoning county, presided, assisted by associate judges Charles Sumner, of Middlebury, Hugh R. Caldwell, of Franklin township, and Robert K. DuBois, of Akron. The grand jury, after a most careful and searching investigation, returned a true bill of indictment against the accused in the following words: "That Edward P. Willis, on the 8th day of August, A. D., 1844, with force and arms, at Northampton, in the county of Summit aforesaid, in and upon one Clara M. Bard, a female in the peace of the State of Ohio, then and there being, did make an unlawful assault, and her the said Clara M. Bard, did then and there unlawfully beat, wound, and ill-treat, with intent then and there, unlawfully to ravish and carnally know, to the great damage of her, the said Clara M. Bard,. contrary to the form of the statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State of Ohio." On being arraigned, under the indictment, the defendant enters a plea of "not guilty," and, in the language of the law, "throws himself upon the country." A large number of witnesses were examined, the court room being crowded to its extremist capacity, with a most intensely interested audience, both men and women. The main interest, of course, centered in the testimony of the accusing witness, Miss Bard, who, by reason of the delicate position in which she was placed, and the embarrassing nature of the questions propounded, again, as before the magistrate, swooned during the extremely severe cross-examination, to which she was subjected by the defendant's counsel, though maintaining a straight-forward and consistent story, throughout. CONVICTION AND SENTENCE.—The testimony being all in, the case was ably argued by Rufus P. Spalding and S. W. McClure, who were assigned to assist William M. Dodge, prosecuting attorney, on the part of the State, and by L. V. Bierce and Van R. Humphrey on the part of defense. After an elaborate charge by Judge Newton, the case which had occupied the attention of the court for nearly a week, was given to the jury, which, after a few 1032 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. hours' consideration, returned " that the said Edward P. Willis is guilty in manner and form as he stands charged in said indictment." The defendant's counsel immediately moved for a new trial on the ground that one of the jurors had expressed an opinion against the prisoner, previous to the trial, which fact was unknown to the defendant or his counsel before the case was given to the jury; and also -because of error in the charge of the court to the jury. The court, after hearing arguments of counsel for and against, overruled the motion and immediately sentenced the prisoner to five years in the penitentiary. A bill of exceptions was presented by the defendant's counsel, which was signed by all the judges, except Judge Sumner, who declined to attach his signature to the bill because of the impeachable character of the witnesses who had testified in regard to juror having expressed an opinion previous to the trial. On this bill of exceptions, Hon. Reuben Wood, one of the judges of the Supreme Court, on the 7th day of October, 1844, granted a writ of error, and ordered a transcript of the writ to be certified to the Supreme Court for review. HEARING BEFORE SUPREME COURT.—Willis, notwithstanding his large array of influential friends, being unable to procure bail, continued to occupy a felon's cell in the county jail, awaiting the hearing of his case before the Supreme Court, which, under the old system of jurisprudence, being a circulating institution, did not get around to Summit county until the uth day of October, 1845, Judges Reuben Wood and Matthew Burchard presiding. On the case being reached, the alleged causes of error in the proceedings below were duly presented, and the case ably argued by counsel for both the defense and the State, a portion of which allegations were sustained by the court and the case remanded to the Court of Common Pleas for a new trial. At the November term of the Court of Common Pleas, 1845, the defendant was again brought to trial, commencing on Monday, November 24, and occupying the attention of the court during the balance of the week, the attendance being as large and the excitement even greater than on the former trial, the State being this time represented by William S. C. Otis, prosecuting attorney, and S. W. McClure, and the defense by L. V. Bierce and Van R. Humphrey, as before; Judge Humphrey's plea for the accused, being one of the most eloquent efforts ever made in Summit county and occupying over six hours. Under the charge of the court the case was given to the jury on Friday, November 28, who, after nearly twenty-four hours' deliberation, late on Saturday afternoon rendered a verdict of guilty, as charged in the indictment. Defendant's counsel again immediately moved for a new trial and change of venue, on the ground of misconduct on the part of several of the jurors, and of undue prejudice against the prisoner among the people of Summit county. The hearing of the motion was postponed until Friday, December 5, on the early morning, of which day the town and entire vicinity were 'thrown into the most intense excitement by the rapidly spreading report that "Willis has escaped from jail." Investigation disclosed the fact that, probably through outside aid, the outer doors of the jail, and three of the cell doors, had been unlocked by means of false keys, during the previous night, DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE - 1033 and that Willis and another prisoner, charged with forgery, had escaped—the third prisoner, William Buckmaster, of Bath, under a six years' sentence for incest, for some unexplained reason, failing to take advantage of the opportunity thus afforded him for securing his liberty. On the coming in of court, counsel for defense filed several affidavits, including those of three of the jurors who had tried the case, and counter-affidavits were also produced by Prosecuting Attorney Otis, all of which, owing to the escape of the prisoner, were submitted without argument, whereupon the motion for a new trial and change of venue was overruled and the case continued. A UNIQUE DOCUMENT.— In anticipation of his escape, and as a stupendous joke upon the officers of the law, Willis left behind him a formal "Declaration of Independence," which, in his own handwriting, is now in possession of the writer. It is a close imitation of the immortal Declaration of American Independence, after giving, as his motto, "If we fail, it can be no worse for us, hut we shall not fail," starting out with: " When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one person to dissolve the legal bonds which have been unjustly imposed upon him by others, and to assume among mankind the separate and equal station to which the laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle him, a decent respect to the feelings of others who may be interested, requires that he should declare the causes which impel him to the separation. Quoting almost verbatim the second section of the Declaration as to abuses, usurpations, etc., as applicable to the attitude of the public, and especially of the court officials, towards himself, he proceeds: "To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world: "They have unjustly entered our house at midnight, filled our room with men and called upon us, in the presence of this force, to go to a neighboring village. “When arrived and, on hearing the charge, demanding an immediate investigation, it was refused, and bail ordered to be given on penalty of being committed to prison. "On going, in custody of the officer, in pursuit of bail, a mob was raised and we were dragged back before the justice, who, under the threat and terror of the mob, increased the bail, first to more than three times and eventually to more than sixteen times the original amount. "Every effort was made to frighten the officer out of the discharge of his duty to our injury and the perversion of justice. "The charge consists mainly of an intent, of which no one, unless he have directly imparted to him the divine prerogative, can know, but ourself. "To prove this charge a witness is called to substantiate by oath a statement made by her in the heat of the moment to meet a wrongly supposed betrayal of her secret by us, and which statement is as untrue in its material points, as it is repugnant to every feeling in the breast of a human being. "All the testimony of the prosecuting witness is received in full force, and it is believed that she does not tell half the truth, while we, less interested, and of necessity knowing more about it, have our mouth sealed. "The position in which we are placed, that of antagonism to a woman, is an extremely unpleasant and embarrassing one in which chivalry forbids a proper defense, while the consequences of not making one are utter ruin. "Improper means were used to influence and excite the feelings of an innocent and unsuspecting jury, by an unseemly display of this well-trained and fascinating female, in a theatrical and effective tableau. A fainting scene was twice got up for effect in the progress of the testimony, leaving an impression on the minds of the jury that there was something kept back much too horrible to mention. 1034 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. "Finally, destruction without proper representation, and damnation on misrepresentation, are equally abhorrent to every rule of justice, and every Sense of right, and should be resisted to the utmost by every good citizen and every friend of his country. " We, therefore, in unjust confinement held—appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions—do, in our own name and authority, ‘olemnly publish and declare that we are, and of right ought to be, free and independent. "And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance in the protection of Divine Providence, we singly pledge our life, our fortune and our sacred honor." [Signed] EDWARD P WILLIS." A CURIOUS HIDING PLACE.—The county commissioners offered the meager reward of $100 for his arrest and return, and the officers made every possible effort to trace the fugitive, but without avail. Many rumors were afloat as to his having been seen at this and that point, both in the east and west, which, on being traced up, were found to be without foundation. The case was continued from term to term for over five years, when at the March term,. 1851, a none prosequi was entered by the court. This left Mr. Willis free to come forth from his hiding whenever he might choose to do so, and his counsel to tell what they might know concerning his escape and flight. GENERAL BIERCE'S STORY.—After the safety of his client had been thus secured, through the dismissal of the suit. General Bierce took seeming delight in rehearsing the story of his escape, concealment and flight. Disclaiming any personal knowledge a to the procurement or manipulation of the false keys, or even tha an escape was contemplated, the General said that sometime during the night, he was awakened from sleep by a succession of light taps upon his bedroom window; that on going to the window to ascertain the cause, he found a muffled figure standing there, which in a timid, frightened and whispered voice disclosed itself to be his twice convicted client. Sending him around to the other side of the house, he cautiously let him in; and there, in the darkness, formed a plan for his concealment, which was no less a scheme than to immure him in an unused cistern in his back yard, until the excitement should blow over. Quietly gathering up one or two buffalo robes, which he happened to have in the house, together with sundry articles of bedding, clothing, etc., and depositing them in the cistern, by the aid of a short ladder, conveniently at hand, the ci-devant Boston dude was as completely entombed from the world as though physically dead and funereally interred. Food and other creature comforts were regularly supplied at night, for about six weeks, when, on a particularly tempestuous night, about the middle of January, 184u, in a well-contrived disguise, the fugitive emerged from his living sepulcher, received from his faithful attorney a well-filled purse, mounted a thoroughly- caparisoned, fleet-footed horse found standing in an adjoining alley, and, "solitary and alone," rode forth into the darkness and the storm. FINDS A REFUGE IN SUNNY ITALY.—Rumors from time to time reached the public ear that Willis was sojourning in Florence, Italy, but nothing definite was learned by the general public as to his whereabouts, and no efforts were made by the authorities to secure his extradition, if, indeed, there was any extradition treaty in existence for that grade of offense between the two countries, at RETURN TO AMERICA—DEATH, ETC. - 1035 that time. Thus matters stood until after a nolle had been entered in the case, as above stated, when, in the Autumn of 1851, he accompanied the notorious Lola Montez to New York, as her confidential adviser, and managing agent. The older portion of our readers will readily recall the remarkable career of this remarkable woman, both in Europe and America, and her erratic history need not be repeated here, excepting to say that during her stay in New York, where she appeared upon the stage of the Broadway theater in a piece entitled "Lola Montez in Bavaria," she quarreled with her gay and festive confidential agent and adviser and summarily ejected him from her apartments at the Astor House, and ignominiously kicked him down stairs. THE END OF EDWARD P. WILLIS.—After his break with his erratic mistress, Willis was for a time given a subordinate position in the office of the Home Journal (formerly the New York Mirror, of which his distinguished brother, Nathaniel P. Willis, the poet and popular prose writer, was one of the editors and publishers), his death occurring in Boston a few years later, but at what particular date, or from what particular cause, the writer is not advised. Thus ends the sad story of a young man of excellent parentage and of good native ability, who by taking the downward path, became as dishonorably infamous, in Summit and Portage counties, forty-five years ago, as, by taking the upward track, his elder brother became honorably famous throughout all the civilized nations of the earth. Young man ! which of the two brothers will you emulate—the famous or the infamous ? CHAPTER L. TALLMADGE TOWNSHIP—ORIGIN, EARLY SETTLEMENT, ETC.—A UTOPIAN PROJECT—UNIQUE ADJUSTMENT OF LOTS AND ROADS—AN OCTUPLE GUIDE BOARD—NAME, ORGANIZATION, ETC.—PET SCHEME OF FOUNDER THWARTED —CHURCH AND EDUCATIONAL MATTERS—PIONEER DEAF AND DUMB        1 SCHOOL IN OHIO—CURIOUS CHURCH PRIZE CURIOUSLY WON—FIRST "STRIKE" ON RECORD--PIONEER MINING OPERATIONS—EARLY LOCAL RAILROAD—BLAST FURNACE PROJECT—EXTENSIVE CARRIAGE SHOPS, SEWER PIPE WORKS, ETC.—CLEAN CRIMINAL RECORD—SPLENDID MILITARY SHOWING—BRILLIANT CIVIL RECORD, ETC. TALLMADGE TOWNSHIP. ONE of the most reliable and painstaking local historians of Summit county was the late Charles C. Bronson, of Tallmadge. Emigrating to that township from Connecticut, with his parents, in 1819, then a boy of 15 years, he resided upon the farm which he then helped to clear, until his death, April 11, 1886, a period of 7u years, and possessing a remarkably retentive memory, as well as being a minute observer and recorder of passing events, whatever has emanated from his pen may be received with the fullest confidence as being thoroughly correct. In attempting, therefore, the preparation of a brief historical sketch of Tallmadge, I have availed myself of the writings of my late friend, aided by those of the late Captain Amos Seward, Colonel Charles Whittlesey, Hon. E. N. Sill and Gen. Lucius V. Bierce, and the recollections of Messrs. Daniel Hine, Andrew Fenn, Ira P. Sperry, Daniel A. Upson, George Allison and other surviving residents of the township. ORIGIN, EARLY SETTLEMENT, ETC.—The survey of the Western Reserve lands, east of the Cuyahoga river and Portage Path, was completed, by Wareham Shepard and Amzi Atwater, for the Connecticut Land Company, late in the Fall of 1797, Tallmadge, then unnamed, being designated as Town 2, Range 10. In the 24th draft, at Hartford, Conn., in January, 1798, the township fell to Jonathan Brace and Enoch Perkins, of Hartford, Roger Newberry, of Windsor, Elijah White, of Bolton, Conn., Justin Ely, of West Springfield, Azariah Rockwell, Abner and Roswell Root, and Oliver P. Dickinson, of Pittsfield, and Stephen W. Jones, of Stockbridge, Mass.; the total number of acres within the township, thus drawn, being 15,225. The first five parties named constituted what was known as the "Brace Company," the last five forming the "Rockwell Company." Subsequently, in October, 1799, Jones sold his share to Ephraim Starr, of Goshen, and Stanley Griswold, of New Milford, Conn., Starr purchasing Griswold's interest the following year. The remaining members of the Rockwell Company, Nov. 9, 1799, -transferred their interest to Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge, of Litchfield, Conn. This made the Brace Company and Messrs. Tallmadge and Starr, tenants in common of the entire township, A TRULY PURITANICAL SCHEME - 1037 by a subsequent arrangement the Brace Company taking the entire west half of the township, Mr. Starr three sections east of the center line, from the north line of the township southward, and Colonel Tallmadge the balance of the township. A PROJECTED UTOPIA.—In 180u, Rev. David Bacon, of Woodstock, Conn., who with true, Puritanic piety and devotion had, tinder the auspices of the Connecticut Missionary Society, given about five years to missionary work among the Indians near Detroit, made a contract with Messrs. Tallmadge and Starr and the Brace Company, for the purchase of a portion, and to act as their agent for the sale of the residue of their lands in the yet unsettled and unnamed township. Being an earnest believer in, and preacher of, the Christian religion, Mr. Bacon conceived the idea of founding, in the wilds of Ohio, a community that should be in full sympathy with his own unswerving orthodox religious notions—a sort of Ecclesiastical Utopia—to be conducted upon, and governed by, a strictly moral and spiritual code of ethics. Hence, Mr. Bacon's first work, before any settlements whatever were made, was to re-survey and re-arrange the lots and the roads of the township, so as to bring every portion thereof, as nearly as possible, upon a direct road leading to the contemplated sanctuary. The lands of the township had already been laid out, by Gen. Simon Perkins, of Warren, as agent of the Connecticut Land Company, into twenty-five sections of one mile square, each, with east and west and north and south roads, crossing at right angles.. The survey ordered by Mr. Bacon, divided the township into sixteen great lots of one and a-fourth miles square, not only divided by north and south, and east and west roads, but also subdividing one-half of the lots with diagonal roads from the northeast to the southwest, and from the northwest to the southeast corners, the other half of the lots also cornering upon said diagonal roads, all, like the east and west and north and south roads, leading directly to the center of the town. At the center a commodious public square, of seven and one-half acres, was laid out by Mr. Bacon, on which, and around which, was to be planted the church, the school-house, the store, the tavern, and the various mechanics' shops and private residences that were to form the future business emporium of the township, and as they have existed for the past three-fourths of a century. PUZZLING AS WELL AS CONVENIENT.—This arrangement of the roads produced eight corners at the center, and six corners midway between the center and each of the four corners of the township, designated by the inhabitants as the northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest six corners respectively. This multiplicity of "corners" has often been very puzzling to strangers —not always well posted on the points of the compass though the local authorities have been exceptionally careful to keep a good supply of guide-boards at the several points designated. After the country became settled up, with thriving communities and villages on every hand, and before the public square had been fenced in and planted to the beautiful shade trees by which it is now adorned, an eight-fingered guide-board was placed near the center of the square, with an atm pointing towards each of the 1038 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. eight diverging roads. with the proper legend inscribed on each side thereof. This octuple guide-board, with sixteen to twenty different directions upon it, was a great source of curiosity and study to travelers passing through the town, often eliciting many facetious remarks and much boisterous merriment. It is related that one day the people living about the square were attracted by loud and repeated peals of laughter and on looking out of their doors and windows discovered a stranger rolling upon the ground, near the guide-board, indulging in the most extravagant contortions and paroxysms of laughter. He was soon surrounded by quite a crowd, who, from his hilarious antics and prolonged and vigorous guffaws, thought the stranger must have been taken suddenly crazy. After awhile, in response to their anxious inquiries, he raised himself on end and replied: "I've often heard (ha! ha! ha!) of the (ho! ho! ho!) center of creation (hi!.hi! hi!) but I never expected to (he! he! he!) see it—and now (ha! ha! ha!) I've got there!" At each of the six corners named, a school house was established at an early day, thus giving the inhabitants of every portion of the township easy access to the school as well as to the sanctuary, other school houses being erected from time to time in convenient localities as the necessities of the people required. TALLMADGE'S FIRST SErrLER.—Previous to the arrangement between Mr. Bacon and the principal proprietor of the township, as above stated, a few lots had been sold to private parties, Mr. Jotham Blakeslee, of Kent, Connecticut, having, in 1805, purchased from Ephraim Starr a portion of lot six, tract fourteen, of the Perkins survey, on the middle south line of the township. Mr. Blakeslee soon afterwards removed from Connecticut to Ravenna, though a few years later permanently locating in Tallmadge. There is some diversity of opinion as to who was the first actual settler in the township. The generally accepted belief has been that it was Mr. Bacon himself, Hon. E. N. Sill, Dr. Leonard Bacon and other speakers at the semi-centennial celebration, June 24, 1857, taking that ground. Mr. Bronson, however, gives the precedence to Mr. George Boosinger, who with his father had settled in Ravenna in 1801. Mr. Bronson states, that Boosinger, having bought seventy-five acres of Mr. Blakeslee's land, in March, 1807, accompanied by Mr. Blakeslee, and some eight or ten other Ravenna neighbors, came over to Tallmadge, and in a single day cut the logs and built a 1u x20 foot cabin, covering it with long split shingles, and laying a floor of split and hewed puncheons, the door being constructed of the same material, with wooden hinges, latch, etc. Into this cabin, the latter part of March, or fore part of April, Boosinger moved his family, though a few weeks later Mrs. B. returned to Ravenna for a brief period, while there giving birth to twins—boy and girl—the boy dying shortly after her return to her new home in Tallmadge. The same Spring (1807) Mr. Bacon, who had been temporarily sojourning in Hudson, hired a newly arrived Vermonter, by the name of Justin E. Frink, to clear a piece of ground for a garden, and on which to build a house. The ground selected was about a mile west of Boosinger's cabin, near the south line of the township. Of the removal of the family, on the completion of the regulation log cabin, the late Dr. Leonard Bacon (son of Rev. David NAME, ORGANIZATION, ETC. - 1039 Bacon, born at Detroit, February 19, 1802) in his semi-centennial address said: "I well remember, among the dim and early reminiscences of early childhood, the pleasant day in the month of July, if I mistake not, when the family made its removal from the center of Hudson to the new log house that had been prepared for it, in the township which had no other designation than No. 2, Range 10." I think, therefore, it may be accepted as a fixed fact that George Boosinger was the first actual settler in the township, and that, too, without detracting in the slightest degree from the honor due to Mr. liacon, as the founder of the township, and the forerunner of its sterling population. Boosinger sold his property in 1836 and removed to Illinois, where he died in 18u2. OTHER PIONEER SETTLERS.—Up to February, 1808, there were in the township nine.persons only—Boosinger, wife and child; Mr. and Mrs. Bacon and their three children? and Justin E. Frink. Early in 1808, came Ephraim Clark, Jr., of Southington, Conn., with his newly married wife, a Miss Sperry, of Mesopotamia, Ohio, in which vicinity he had lived about nine years. The next settler is supposed to have been Jonathan Sprague, also in 1808, followed the same year, by Nathaniel Chapman, his father, Titus Chapman, William Neal, George Kilbourne, and Charles Chittenden, the latter moving into Springfield some two or three years later. In rapid succession came Aaron Norton, Dr. Amos C. Wright, Moses Bradford, Thomas Dunlap, Eli Hill, Edmund Strong, Cap' fain John Wright, John Wright, Jr., Jotham Blakeslee, Alpha Wright, Conrad Boosinger, Elizur Wright, David Preston, John S. Preston, Drake Fellows, Samuel McCoy, Deacon Salmon Sackett, John Caruthers, Luther Chamberlain, Deacon Nathaniel Gillett, Hosea Wilcox, Reuben Upson, Jesse Neal, followed still later by the Treats, the Fenns, the Hines, the Carters, the Stones, the Sperrys, the Upsons, the Barnes', the Wolcotts, the Pecks, the Lymans, the Motrises, the Hinmans, the Ashmuns, the Sewards, the Upsons, the Pierces, the Roots, the Bronsons, the Betteses, the Battersons, etc. The majority of the early residents of Tallmadge, were from Connecticut, with a slight sprinkling from other. New England States, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia, and in the beginning was almost exclusively a Yankee town, though many other nationalities are at the present time represented in its population. It will be impossible, within the limits of this chapter, to follow the individual fortunes of the pioneer settlers of Tallmadge township, all of whom, almost without an exception—though not all indorsing the peculiar notions of its founder—making first-class citizens, each cheerfully bearing his or her share of the labors and responsibilities of shaping the destinies of the township and in supporting the material, moral and religious institutions of the county, State and nation. NAME, ORGANIZATION, ETC.—Originally, Tallmadge, like all the townships of the western Reserve, was five miles square, bounded on the north by Stow, east by Brimfield (Portage county), south by Springfield, and west by Portage. On the erection of the township of Cuyahoga Falls, in 1851, out of the four contiguous corners of Tallmadge, Stow, Northampton and Portage, about 1,000 acres, embracing all of tract one, and about one-fifth of tract five, were 1040 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. contributed by Tallmadge, while, in like manner, in 1858, lots three and five, and part of lots four and six, containing about 300 acres were attached to the new township of Middlebury, then erected; and now constitute a part of the Sixth Ward of Akron. As supposed by Mr. Bronson, some time in June, 1808, the settlers of the township met at the house of Mr. Bacon, to determine upon a name, the only designation, up to that time being Town 2, Range 10. Mr. Bacon suggested that in honor to Col. Tallmadge, the largest individual proprietary land owner of the township, it should be named after him, which was unanimously assented to As stated in another chapter, Tallmadge, though at first rather a dependency of Hudson, was under township organization with Springfield, Coventry, Suffield and Randolph, under the general name of Randolph, and after separate organizations had been provided for the others, affiliated with Springfield until November 11, 1812, when it was duly organized under its own proper name The first town clerk was Elizur Wright, and the first justice of the peace, Nathaniel Chapman; other officers not remembered. The first death in the township was the twin boy of the Boosingers, heretofore alluded to, in 1807; the first birth was a daughter, Clarissa, to Mr. and Mrs. Charles Chittenden, in 1808, which child, grown to womanhood, married Mr. Isaac Newton, son of Middlebury's well-known hotel keeper of fifty years ago, Mr. Samuel Newton, and brother of Mrs. Elizabeth R. Johnston, still living in Akron. Mrs. Newton (who was a sister of the late Mrs. Huldah Bowen, widow of the late Dr. Bowen, of Akron), is still living in Dakota, her husband having died some five or six Years ago. The first male child born in Tallmadge, October 5 1808, was the present well-preserved octogenarian, Dr. Amos Wright; the first marriage being Sally Chapman, daughter of. Deacon Nathaniel Chapman to John Collins, January 7, 1809; the first adult death in the township being that of Mr. Titus Chapman,. November 18, 1808. TOPOGRAPHY, POPULATION, ETC.—The face of the township is generally gently rolling, though a mile or so west of the center is quite an abrupt eminence, known as Coal Hill, while there are also pretty steep hills and bluffs overlooking the valley of the Little Cuyahoga river, near the southwest corner. A point on Coal Hill, on the farm of Mr. Daniel Hine, a short distance south of his residence, is u3u feet above the surface of Lake Erie, and the highest ground in Summit county, excepting a portion of the township of Richfield. In 1840 the population of Tallmadge was 2,134, the census of 1880 giving her a total of 1,455, and that of 1890 giving her 1,145 inhabitants, only. This apparent large falling off is due to the fact that, 'during the intervening fifty years, she had been despoiled of the two most populous corners of her territory, at Cuyahoga Falls and Middlebury (now Akron) the probability being that she has not only not retrograded, like some of the other townships of the county, but that the number of inhabitants within the present limits of the township, is considerably greater than that of the same territory in 1840. The soil is generally a light loam, but with the most excellent tillage given to it by its industrious and intelligent occupants, extremely fertile and productive, the original forests, generally DISAPPOINTMENTS, REVERSES, ETC. - 1041 oak and chestnut, embracing also quite a sprinkling of ash, elm hickory, black-walnut, cucumber, beech, maple, etc. The drainage of the north and northwestern portion, is into the Big Cuyahoga river, which skirts the northern border, penetrating the township at one point only, by a sharp bend on the old Adna Sperry farm, and crossing that portion of the northwest corner now embraced in the township of Cuyahoga Falls. On the south and southwest, the drainage is into the Little Cuyahoga, which, traversing the extreme north part of Springfield, and the Sixth Ward of Akron, cuts across the southwest corner of the township near the Old Forge. Several small creeks and rivulets traverse different parts of the township, the most important of which is Camp Brook in the southwest portion, emptying into the Little Cuyahoga. Water power for manufacturing purposes, was therefore not very abundant one or two water-propelled saw-mills, only, finding a short-lived existence, excepting such milling and manufacturing operations as may have existed within the original limits of the township, at Cuyahoga Falls, upon the Big Cuyahoga, and at Middlebury and Old Forge upon the Little Cuyahoga. UTOPIAN VISIONS NOT FULLY REALIZED. Although the early efforts of its truly pious and devoted founder, David Bacon, peopled the township with an exceptionally worthy class of inhabitants, and though the adjustment of lots, oads, etc., was most admirable, the good man failed to realize the fruition of his scheme in an ecclesiastical point of view. It had been his desire to conform the entire township to the support of the church to which he himself belonged. To this end he caused to be inserted in the contracts and deeds of conveyance a clause binding each 100 acres sold to the annual payment of $2 for the support of the "Gospel Ministry of. the Calvinistic Faith of the Congregational Order forever," and also, in said deeds reserving the right and power to distrain for said annuity in case the same should be in arrears. In addition to this, the Congregational society, when organized in 1809, adopted a voluntary schedule of taxation for its support, fixing the valuation of property, as a basis therefor, as follows: Timber land, $4 per acre; girdled and underbrushed land, $10; cleared land, $15; horses, three years old or over, $30; oxen, four years old or over, $20; steers and cows, $15; buildings to be valued by listers. The first plan, though lived up to for several years, by a portion of the land-owners, finally proved a failure, several persons, who, though good and pious men, but not subscribing to the Calvinistic faith, refusing to pay the stipulated annuity. Mr. Edmund Strong being a leading recusant, in 1811 was sued by Mr. Bacon for the amount levied on his land, as a test of the legality of such contracts. The late Peter Hitchcock, afterwards a member of Congress and judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, acted as attorney for Mr. Strong, the case being decided in his favor. Thus ended the perpetual land tax scheme devised by Mr. Bacon, for the support of the gospel in Tallmadge, though the maintenance of the gospel, and the Congregational Church there, was by no means a failure. How long the other scheme adopted by the society, of taxation on valuation, continued, the writer is 66 1042 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. not advised; but that, too, finally gave way to the more modern, if not more equitable, mode of ministerial support and churcl: usage. REV. DAVID BACON, — the founder of Tallmadge township, as herein written, was born at Woodstock, Connecticut, in 1871, being baptized September 15, of that year. Piously reared and educated, he was ordained a minister by the missionary society of Connecticut, December 31, 1800, and assigned to duty among the western Indians, with headquarters at Detroit, having already, the previous autumn, made a preliminary survey of the field, performing the journey either way mostly on foot. His salary, paying his own expenses, was fixed at one hundred and ten cents per day. On his second journey, in January, 1801, he was accompanied by his young wife, having meantime, December 24, 1800, been married to Miss Alice Parks, of Lebanon, Connecticut, then but 17 years of age, the first part of the journey by sleigh, and the balance on horseback. Here the devoted couple, amid great discouragements and privations,labored faithfully some four years, their first son, the since celebrated Dr. Leonard Bacon, having been born there, February 14, 1802. Want of adequate support by the parent society, and other untoward circumstances,fi nal ly compelled the abandonment of their cherished enterprise, and late in the Fall of 1804, they regretfully turned their steps eastward. The balance of their story is told in the history of Tallmadge, of which township Mr. Bacon was the founder and pioneer, Mr. Bacon died at Hartford, Connecticut, August 27, 1817, in the 46th year of his age, Mrs. Bacon dying at New Haven, Connecticut, in 1850. Dr. Leonard Bacon, the son, after a long and useful life, as minister, educator and philanthropist, died at New Haven, December 24, 1881—the grandson, Rev. Leonard Woolsey Bacon, D. D., being now pastor of the Second Congregational Church, at Norwich, Connecticut. MR. BACON SHAKES THE DUST OF TALLMADGE FROM HIS FEET. —Realizing the failure of his pet scheme and deploring the unexpected opposition to his general plans, both temporal and spiritual, not only from the " outsiders" who had found lodgment in the township, but from some of the members of the church which he had founded, and also having become somewhat financially embarrassed, Mr. Bacon, early in 1812, returned with his family to Connecticut, selecting for the text of his farewell sermon the ninth verse of the third chapter of Paul's Second Epistle to Timothy: "But they shall proceed no farther; for their folly shall be made manifest unto all men, as theirs was also," his remarks being very pointed, and somewhat bitter towards those who had opposed, and possibly thwarted, his cherished plans. Mr. Bacon died at Hartford, Conn., August 27, 1817, at the early age of 46 years, his son, Rev. Dr. Leonard Bacon, noted for his learning, piety, philanthropy and patriotism, five years of whose boyhood were spent in Tallmadge, dying at New Haven, Conn., December 24, 1881, at the age of 79 years, 10 months and 5 days. Through the courtesy of Rev. Leonard W. Bacon, D. D., of Norwich, Conn., EDUCATIONAL MATTERS - 1043 grandson of Rev. David Bacon, we are enabled to present to the readers of this work the accompanying most excellent portrait of the earnest and self-sacrificing founder of this, in all respects, model township—reliable Old Tallmadge. Though the planting of the church was the first and paramount duty performed by the pioneer settlers of Tallmadge, the .cause of education was by no means neglected. The first school, in a small log house built for the purpose at the south four-.corners, was kept by Miss Lucy Foster, afterwards Mrs. Alpha Wright, mother of Mrs. Homer S. Carter, the late Mrs. Sidney Edgerton, and Clement and Benjamin D. Wright. Other similar .,schools were opened in convenient localities, as the population increased, but who taught them is not now remembered. ALPHA WRIGHT, — born at Winsted, Connecticut, December 26, 1788 ; removed with parents to Ashtabula county, Ohio, in 1802, and to Tallmadge, in 1808, being among the earliest settlers of that township ; December 12, 1811, was married to Miss Lucy Foster, a native of Hanver, New Hampshire, who taught the first school in Tallmadge, in a log house, erected in 1810; in the War ‘of 1812 was a member of Captain Rial McArthur's rifle company, April 18, 1814, being promoted from sergeant to ensign ; in 1827, with others, organized a school for the instruction •of deaf mutes (the first in Ohio), the Legislature, in 1828, appropriating 1100.00 for its support, the pupils being transferred to the State Asylum on its establishment at Columbus, in 1829. A great reader and a deep thinker, Mr. Wright was a leader in all religious, educational and moral enterprises, and especially in the largely prevailing anti-slavery sentiment of his township ; a fine singer and ready speaker, was the life and soul of religious and social gatherings, and his home the seat of an enlightened and generous hospitality. Mr. and Mrs. Wright were the parents of twelve children — Philo, born October 2, 1812, died December S, 1844; Rev. William Wheeler, born May 12, 1814, now deceased ; Lucy Ann, now widow of Rev. Luther Shaw, in Tallmadge ; Clement, died in infancy ; Abigail, now Mrs. Rev. Loomis Chandler, of Holly, Michigan ; Clement, for 40 years a merchant, and for thirty-seven years treasurer and many years postmaster of Tallmadge ; Amelia, deceased ; Martha and Mary, Martha, wife of Mr. Homer S. Carter, of Tallmadge; Mary, late wife of Hon. Sidney Edgerton ; Benjamin Demming, now secretary Akron Underwriters' Association, still residing in Tallmadge ; Handel, deceased ; Charles Storrs, deceased. Mr. Wright died March 1, 1856, at the age of 67 years, 2 months and 5 days, Mrs. Wright dying September 30, 1875, aged 85 years. The first school house at the center was a two-story, 2ux3u frame, upon the ground where the Congregational Church now stands, commenced in 1814, but not completed until the following year. The lower story was used for the district school, and the upper story as an academy, and for religious meetings and other public purposes. "Tallmadge Academy" was incorporated, by act of Legislature, February 27, 181u, Rev. Simeon Woodruff and Elizur Wright being among the earliest teachers. The academy building was destroyed by fire on the night of January 12, 1820. A. new building was erected, exclusively for an academy, upon the 1044 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. corner of the square and the southwest diagonal road, where the store of Mr. Clement Wright now stands, which building wa,- afterwards removed to the place where it still stands, southeast 01 the N. Y., P. & O. depot, a separate district school house having been erected at the corner of the square and the southeast diagonal road. DR. AMOS WRIGHT,—born October 8, 1808, the first white boy baby born in Tallmadge, his parents, Dr. Amos Wright, Sr., and Lydia (Kinney) Wright, natives of Connecticut, having settled in Tallmadge that year, after a residence of six years in Vernon, Trumbull county ; educated at Tallmadge Academy till 14, and working on farm till 19 years of age, then read medicine with his father two years, in 1831 and 1832, attending lectures in Yale College ; in 1833, opened drug store in Tallmadge, continuing one year ; then practiced medicine in Trumbull county two years, returning to Tallmadge in 1836, where he has been in continuous practice ever since, fifty-five years. March 31, 1831, Dr. Wright was married to Miss Clemente C. Fenn, of Tallmadge, having duly and appropriately celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on March 31, 1891. Nine children have been born to them—Stella, Ellen M., Julia I., Darwin E., now living, and H. M., Sarah E. and Alice, deceased. The doctor, at 83, is still hale and hearty, and can interestingly rehearse the many thrilling pioneer incidents with which' his still unimpaired memory is filled. The third academy building was erected on the ground now occupied by the Baldwin carriage. shop, corner of the square and the north center road, this building also subsequently being burned. A town hall being built upon the south side of the public square about this time, an upper story was added, by voluntary donations, to be used for academical purposes (of which Hon. Sidney Edgerton, in the early forties, was principal) and was so used until that institution was superseded by the present graded school system, embracing a district a mile and a quarter square, when a nice four-room union school building was erected, a short distance north of the public square, the High School department graduating a goodly number of thoroughly educated pupils every year. In addition to the above, Mr. Ephraim T. Sturtevant, having bought the second academy building, and removed it to the place where it now stands, east of the depot, sometime in the middle thirties, for several years taught a select classical school, with very great acceptance to his pupils and patrons. PIONEER DEAF AND DUMB SCHOOL.—In the middle twenties, among the children of the township, of school age, there were three deaf mutes, all daughters of Mr. Justus Bradley, and the question of providing them with an education was discussed. There was at the same time residing in Middlebury a young deaf mute by the name of Colonel Smith, who had been educated at the Deaf and Dumb School in Hartford, Conn. An arrangement TALLMADGE'S CHURCH HISTORY - 1045 was therefore made with Mr. Smith to undertake the education of the three children in question, and such other mutes as might desire to avail themselves of his instruction. This school was opened May 1st, 1827, in a room at the house of Mr. Alpha Wright, one mile south of the center, on the farm now owned by Mr. Cornelius A. Johnson. This was, undoubtedly, the first deaf and dumb school in the State, if not the first west of the Allegheny Mountains. In 1829 the deaf and dumb asylum was opened at Columbus, Smith's pupils being sent thither, and the Tallmadge school discontinued. PUBLIC LIBRARY.—In connection with educational matters, it is worthy of note, that a public library was established, in 1813, on the joint stock plan, supported by sales of shares, fines, assessments, donations, etc., which has maintained an unbroken existence of over three-fourths of a century, and contains at the present time some 800 volumes. CHURCH AND SPIRITUAL MATTERS.—Though the cherished plan of its founder was to make the township purely and exclusively Congregational, in religious sentiment and government, the effort was, as before intimated, a failure, not only believers in other forms of faith, but many non-believers, even to downright infidelity, finding a lodgment within the township; the overwhelming sentiment, however, remaining uncompromisingly orthodox with Congregationalism in the lead. The first sermon in the township was preached by Mr. Bacon,. in his own house, where, and in the houses of other settlers, as they were built, Sabbath and other occasional services were held for several years. The first church organization was effected in Mr. Bacon's cabin, January 22, 1809, Rev. Jonathan Leslie acting as moderator. George Kilbourn and his wife, Almira; Ephraim Clark, Jr., and his wife, Amelia; Alice Bacon; Amos C. Wright and his wife, Lydia; Hepzibah Chapman and Justin E. Frink being duly constituted a Church of Christ, the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper being then and there for the first time administered in the township, with the ordinance of baptism upon four children: Juliana and Alice, daughters of Mr. Bacon; Amos, son of Dr. Amos C. Wright, and Eliza, daughter of George Kilbourn. The first regular pastor to the church was Rev. Simeon Woodruff, a native of Litchfield, Conn., who was installed, in the barn of Ephraim Clark, May 18, 1813, closing his labors with the church September 19, 1823. Successive pastors to the present time: Rev. John Keys, September 9, 1824, to April 1u, 1832; Rev. Jedediah E. Parmelee, acting pastor, January 18, 1833, to April 14, 1840; Rev. William Magill, 1840 to 1843; Rev. Carlos Smith, acting pastor, 1847 to 1862; Rev. Seth W. Segur, 1862 to 1871; Rev. Charles Cutler, 1871 to 1875; Rev. Wm. B. Marsh, acting pastor, 1875 to 1885; Rev. A. E. Thompson, September, 1887 to September 1889; Rev. S. D. Gammell, December 1889 to present time, December, 1891. Present membership, 295; scholars in Sunday school, 298, with an average attendance of 190; benevolent contributions in the past year: by Sunday school, $135; by church, including one $500 legacy, $1,002. SENSIBLE CHURCH DISCIPLINE.—As showing the thorough church discipline maintained in the early days, as well as the .sound horse-sense of its members, Mr. Daniel Hine relates the 1046 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. following: The old Revolutionary hero, Captain Nathaniel Bettes, was summoned before the church to answer to the charge of hunting on Sunday. The charge being read, and the statements of his accusers duly listened to, the Captain arose in his defense. "Brethren," said he, " I started for meeting on Sunday morning, and had gone but a short distance when I saw a nice fat buck standing right in my pathway. Being rather short of provisions, I asked the Lord if I might shoot that deer, and the Lord said yes.' So I went back to the house, got my rifle, killed the deer, took it home and dressed it, and then continued on to meeting. Brethren, did I do right or wrong in obeying the voice of the Lord? " The vote is said to have been unanimous that the Captain did just exactly right. THE FIRST CHURCH EDIFICE.—The first and only house of worship of the Congregational Society of Tallmadge, stands upon the north side of the public square, on the same site occupied by the original Academy building, and was erected in 1822. It is 44 x 5u feet in size, surmounted in front by a handsome belfry and tower 100 feet high, supported by massive columns, and was at the first a handsome structure, though sundry modern improvements, both outside and in, have from time to time been made thereon. It was the fifth steeple church built upon the Western Reserve, and as it was then the very best, it will still, though nearly three score and ten years of age, compare favorably, in point of architecture and ornamentation, with the majority of the rural church, structures of the present time. THE METHODIST DENOMINATION.—Under the ministrations of Rev. Billings O. Plympton, then preaching on the Canton Circuit of the Methodist Episcopal church, a society of that denomination was organized in Tallmadge about 1825, the first class, consisting of Jotham Blakeslee, Milo Stone, Sarah B. Stone (wife of Milo), Mrs. Martha Stephens, Shubel H. Lowrey and Anna P. Lowrey, his wife, with Jotham Blakeslee, as leader. The meetings of the society were held in the school houses and private residences of the neighborhood until 1832, when a plain house of worship, costing about $1500, was erected some 200 rods from the public square, on the northeast diagonal road. This modest structure served the purposes of the gradually increasing congregation until 1874, when a larger and more attractive edifice was erected on the south side of the public square, at a cost of about $8,000. The old structure, after its dismantlement as a church, was moved to near the northeast corner of the square and the east and west center road and for several years used as a carriage shop, and is now doing duty as a stable for horses used in hauling clay to the contiguous sewer pipe works of the Messrs. Sperry. A CURIOUS PRIZE, CURIOUSLY WON.—Though all good and pious men, the early settlers in Tallmadge, as was then the custom everywhere, regarded the use of spirituous liquors as indispensable articles of domestic economy, and as particularly conducive to social good cheer and public enterprise. Hence the whisky bottle was wont to " adorn" every family side-board and to pass freely at all raisings, huskings, trainings and other public and festive gatherings. In the construction of the Congregational church, the timber for the frame was contributed by the land owners of the township FIRST RECORDED LABOR STRIKE - 1047 generally, whether members of the church or not. The contractors for building the church were Sebbens Saxton, Lemuel Porter, Wylys Fenn and Joseph Richardson, with Reuben Beach as superintendent of construction. Having previously selected and blazed the trees that were to be cut by the several contributors, with the length designated thereon, the 24th day of December, 1821, was appointed as the day for hauling in the logs, and as an incentive to prompt action, Superintendent Beach offered a gallon of whisky as a prize to the man who should be first upon the ground with his stick of timber. Gen. Bierce, in his "Reminiscences," published in 1854, says that one Daniel Beach, while preparing none himself, hitched his oxen on to the stick that had been got in readiness by his neighbor, Mr. Justus Barnes, before that gentleman was astir, drew it upon the ground just as daylight was appearing, and got the whisky, while Hon. E. N. Sill, in his semi-centennial address, in 1857, says: "Before 1 o'clock in the morning, timber had been brought upon the site from each of the eight roads coming into the public square, Amadeus N. Sperry winning the honors of the occasion." Mr. Bronson is silent upon the subject. STRONG TEMPERANCE SENTIMENT.—Early, however, the good people of the township began to take an interest in temperance matters, and for the past fifty years Tallmadge—always 'remarkable for sobriety and good order—has been in the very van of temperance reform, though it is even now hinted that an occasional occupant of her "sacred soil" is still rather too ardently attached to the ruddy juice of the luscious apple so abundantly grown in every portion of the township. THE FIRST " STRIKE" ON RECORD.—Though in no sense agrarian or anarchical in sentiment, Tallmadge may justly claim the honor. if honor it be, of inaugurating the strike system now so common the world over. It was not a strike for an increase of wages, for everybody—mechanic and farm laborer alike—was then satisfied to work for from fifty to seventy-five cents per day. It was not a strike for shorter hours, for then everybody expected to work from sun to sun, and, in the Winter season, two or three hours by candle light. It was not a strike for cash payments, for nobody expected cash in payment for anything, for there was very little money afloat in those days, the " truck and dicker" system heretofore described, being everywhere in vogue. But it was a strike for wool! "A curious cause for a strike," says the modern reader, but not so curious to those familiar with early times and circumstances by which the first settlers of the western country were surrounded. The subscriptions for the building of the church, aggregating $3,500, were payable in labor, lumber, wheat and other farm produce, in installments of one, two and three years, wheat being the only commodity convertible into cash at all, and that only selling at about twenty-five cents per bushel—a little money, of course, being needed for the purchase of nails, hardware, glass, paints, etc., for the new edifice. But clothing for the workmen and their families was also an absolute necessity, and wool was needed for its fabrication. The local demand for wool being greater than the local supply, made it a decidedly cash article, non-purchasable with ordinary farm produce, and therefore impossible of procurement by the workmen 1048 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. in exchange for the commodities in which they were paid. Hence the suspension of work upon the church, until the needed supply of wool should be forthcoming. The building committee, consisting of Capt. Amos Seward, Asaph Whittlesey, Richard Fenn, Reuben Beach, Peck Fenn, Lemuel Porter and Aaron Hine, called a meeting to consider the matter, and, regarding the demand of the men reasonable and just, by an extraordinary effort, raised the quantity of wool required—he strike was declared off and the sanctuary duly finished. ALSO ANTI-SLAVERY TO THE CORE.—The cause of the freedom of the down-trodden slave obtained an early hearing, and the most hearty co-operation in Tallmadge, the anti-slavery sentiment being stronger and more unanimous there than perhaps in any other township on the Western Reserve, excepting, possibly, the neighboring township of Hudson. Many are the traditions still extant among the people, in regard to the assistance given to fugitives from slavery, while timorously journeying through the pretended, to the real land of freedom— Canada—in spite of the threatened pains and penalties of the infamous Fugitive Slave Law: and as Mr. Bronson well remarks, the man who would betray a fleeing slave, or inform on his succorer, " would have found Tallmadge rather a warm climate to live in." And when, because of this sympathy, and because of the growing determination in the free North that the encroachments of slavery should cease, the oligarchy impiously struck at the, life of the Nation, Tallmadge buckled on her armor and fought bravely in its defense, as will be seen by the full roster of her volunteer soldiery herewith given. COAL AND MINING INTERESTS.-For what might properly be called a purely agricultural town, Tallmadge has also achieved marked success as a mining and manufacturing town. As early as 1808 or 1809, Mr. Jotham Blakeslee, working at his trade as a blacksmith, found coal on the land of Col. Meacham, in the southeast part of the township, which he used on his forge, and in 1810 procured coal from a vein found on the land of Deacon Elizur Wright, one mile west of the Center, a tradition running to the effect that this vein was discovered by means of small pieces of coal being brought to the surface by a woodchuck in digging his burrow. Other veins were soon afterwards discovered along the east side of what has since come to be known as "Coal Hill," and worked to some extent by Asaph Whittlesey and Samuel Newton, who, in connection with Messrs. Laird and Norton, of Middlebury Furnace fame, built and operated a forge for the manufacture of bar iron, at what is now known as the "Old Forge," about 1817. Timber was so abundant in those days that there was very little demand for coal, as fuel, or for manufacturing purposes, and for a decade and a half, but little was mined. About 1825, Mr. Henry Newberry, the owner of 1,000 acres of land in the northwest corner of Tallmadge, discovered and opened a vein of coal near the northwest six-corners, and about 1828 tried the experiment of shipping it to Cleveland by hauling it in wagons to Lock 16, on the Ohio Canal. It did not, however, prove a very profitable venture, though, according to Col. Whittlesey, the canal receipts at Cleveland for four years, and before shipments from Massillon and other points south of Akron, commenced (1833), being as follows: 1829, 108 tons; 1830, 178 tons; 1831, 294 tons; 1832, 431 tons. TALLMADGE'S INDUSTRIAL STATUS - 1049 About the year 1832, Dr. Daniel Upson, of Worthington, Franklin county, O., where he had been several times honored with a seat in the Legislature, removed to Tallmadge, purchasing quite a property and engaging in farming. His attention being called to the coal indications alluded to, the Doctor, soon, by purchase and lease, secured control of a large portion of Coal Hill, a mile or more west of the Center, from which were mined, from 1833 to 1840, considerable quantities of coal for the Akron, Cuyahoga Falls and home market. DR. DANIEL UPSON, — born in Southington, Connecticut, March 18, 1786 ; youth spent on farm, and in securing an education; taught school several years, meantime studying medicine ; on completion of studies, located in Hartford, Trumbull county, Ohio ; in 1818, removed to Worthington, Franklin county, during his fourteen years residence there, serving several terms in the State Legislature ; in 1832, removed to Tallmadge, relinquishing his practice and engaging extensively in farming and coal mining, being the pioneer in the development of that industry in Northern Ohio ; in 1836, '37, served as State senator for. Portage county, later taking an active part in securing the erection of the new county of Summit ; May 19, 1814, was married to Miss Polly Wright, daughter of Deacon Elizur Wright, of Tallmadge, who bore him six children—Dr. Francis Wright Upson, now deceased ; Julius B., died in infancy ; Julia Elmore Upson, wife of Prof. Elias Loomis, of Yale College, died in 1854; Daniel A. Upson, now occupying the old homestead ; William H. Upson, now Judge of Circuit, for the past forty-five years a resident of Akron ; and James W., now living in Cleveland. Dr. Upson, while teaching school and studying medicine, witnessed the trial trip of Robert Fulton's first steamboat on the Hudson river, in 1807, and lived to see steam universally applied, both to river and ocean navigation, and world-wide land travel and machinery propulsion. Dr. Upson died June 21, 1863, aged 77 years, 3 months and 3 days, Mrs. Upson dying July 30, 1872, aged 87 years and 4 days. EARLY RAILROAD ENTERPRISE.—In 1838, in anticipation of the completion of the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal, a charter was obtained from the Legislature incorporating the "Tallmadge Coal Company," the stock of which was principally owned by Daniel Upson, Francis H. Wright and Charles Whittlesey. This company constructed a tramway from their mines to the canal, near what was known as the "Nine Locks," a distance of about two miles. The track was composed of large logs, faced on one side, laid lengthwise, on which four-inch scantling were firmly pinned for the trucks to run upon. The cars used had a capacity of about three tons each, a train of three or four cars being drawn by two and three horses from the mines to the chutes upon the canal. Tallmadge coal was nearly, if not quite, the first coal used upon the Lake Erie steamers, the company in question furnishing the Northern Transportation Company with over 3,000 tons in 1841. Changes in the firm were made from time to time, D. Upson