200 - Early History of Elyria and Her People education, after he had entered business for himself, he spent a year at this institution, where he became acquainted with her, while a student in one of her classes. He so much admired her intellectuality, modest demeanor and Christian character that he made bold ere long to tell her what was in his heart. In due time, having convinced her that he could make her happier by sharing his lot, and allow him to become her sole and life-long pupil, at better wages, she accepted the proposition and the two were made twain, one flesh on the 6th day of April, 1856. If it is true, that matches were made in heaven in those days, theirs should be counted among the number. General Robert E. Lee, at the head of the Confederate Army, surrendered April 9, 1865, thus ending the Civil War. In October, of that year, Mr. Metcalf, wife and their four children moved to Elyria, where they resided, brought up their family and lived until their pulseless forms were laid away in the new part of Elyria Cemetery. Residing at Toledo in 1871, the year the arbitration proceedings were had between England and the United States, described in the previous chapter, there resided one of the noted lawyers of America, Morrison R. Waite. He was sent by the United States to Geneva in that year as an attorney to represent this government in that controversy. There he made a national and international name as a lawyer by the service he rendered our government. He was counted the ablest attorney in their deliberations. Soon after the award in favor of our government was made and the fifteen and one-half millions in gold had reached the United States treasury, Mr. Metcalf secured a conference with Mr. Waite in which lie sought to secure his services in the prosecution of his claim and those lie had secured on a contingent basis, who had lost their ships through the pirate vessels. After listening to the facts as claimed by Mr. Metcalf, who was ready to pay him a large retainer, he said, "Mr. Metcalf, I am afraid I could not in honor accept your retainer, and act for you, as the people and my government might think I was making profit out of any prestige I may have gained at the Geneva arbitration in assisting in securing he award. I can see no legal reason for refusing to act for youbut, to` avoid the very appearance of dishonor perhaps I should not. However, I will think it over and let you know in a day or two." Early History of Elyria and Her People - 201 Not long thereafter he wrote Mr. Metcalf that on reflection he had concluded he could not accept the retainer and lie would have to look elsewhere for counsel. As an instance of high honor, it should be an example to the profession. Did it pay the distinguishedcitizenn? Three years later President Grant named himChief justicee of the Supreme Court of the nation, the greatestjudiciall position on the face of the earth. Mr. Metcalf sought to secure a hearing before the Congressional "Ways and Means Committee" of the House, but without avail. As stated, in the previous chapter, the real battle was between two classes of claimants. Those who had suffered loss of vessels, through the pirates and the insurance companies, who claimed they should be reimbursed because of the losses they had to pay for vessels destroyed by the same outlaws. The position of Mr. Metcalf was that the vessel owners to the extent they did not secure enough from the insurance companies, if they were insured, to make their losses good, they should be reimbursed out of the award fund. That the insurance companies were not entitled to any portion of the fund, as they raised the premiums because of war risks, and this should bar them from being participants. The noted, William M. Everetts, as stated heretofore, represented the insurance companies. He, of course, brought to bear his great prestige and influence with members of Congress. If there was a lawyer in America in his day who could make the worse seem the better cause and by the most subtle sophistry beguile men from the truth and lead them astray, it was William M. Everetts. So powerful was his influence in the United States Senate, that ere long he secured the passage of a bill in that body in favor of the contesting insurance companies, which had it been sanctioned by the lower House and signed by the President, would have consumed practically the entire award of fifteen and one-half millions. The battle was now on in good earnest, Mr. Metcalf endeavored to get a hearing before the Ways and Means Committee time and again without avail. Year after year, he refuted the claims and arguments of Everett's, by way of letters, pamphlets and dialogues he had printed in copious quantities, and mailed to the members of both the Senate and House. Year after year he pleaded for a 202 - Early History of Elyria and Her People hearing before the committee with the hope that he might ultimately have an opportunity to prove the justice of his position. Each session of Congress many new members, of course, appeared in both branches, which made it difficult, as he had to go all over the same ground with them he had already covered with others. When he opened headquarters in Washington, he took Mrs. Metcalf with him to act as his clerk. While there they lived in plain, but respectable quarters, as had been their mode of life, and ever was thereafter. She wrote a very neat, legible hand, which he utilized in preparing his documents and letters. The insurance companies, with unlimited means, maintained a powerful lobby in Washington, pulling every string possible, while he had no men counted high and mighty, to look after his interests. He depended solely on the justice of his claims. In his first argument in pamphlet form, he started with the following question: "Does anything deprive Congress of the right to do right? If not, the question before you is, `What is right?' " "If we have suffered wrong from which our government was under obligation to use due diligence to protect us, and our government for a consideration of value to itself, (meaning the award received) had condoned that wrong, (meaning with England) and thereby deprived us of our remedy against the wrongdoer (meaning England), is it not right that we should be indemnified by our government?" The literature by way of argument he published from time to time, during the twelve years' battle, is interesting in the extreme. His logic is unanswerable. His reasoning like unto Socrates. Nearly twelve years had elapsed, after he opened headquarters in Washington, when he chanced to meet Major Congressman William McKinley, who had recently become a national character, because of being chairman of the "Ways and Means Committee." After the usual salutations, Mr.- McKinley said to him, "Mr. Metcalf, how long have you beer( here looking after your claims?" When he replied, "Nearly twelve years, asking a hearing before the committee and have always been denied." "Well," replied Mr. McKinley, "you are a resident of my state. You come up to my room tonight at the hotel as I want to know Early History of Elyria and Her People - 203 more about just what you claim." Said Mr. Metcalf, "I was there on the moment of the hour named." The conference ended with the assurance that he should have a right to be heard before his committee. As they parted, McKinley said, "The insurance c3 panics should have the same right." Mr. Metcalf eplied, "Certainly, let everybody who thinks he is entitled to any portion of the award fund be heard"' Then came the first opportunity Mr. Metcalf had secured to be heard in person before a committee. It was a great day, for the humble layman from Elyria unlearned in the law, but he was equal to the occasion. Many arguments were made by lawyers on behalf of other claimants, having lost vessels by the pirates. In behalf of the insurance companies, the great Everetts talked before the committee for three hours, answering Mr. Metcalf's reasoning. Mr. Metcalf had five minutes only in which to reply to him. The committee took the evidence and arguments under consideration, and after some deliberation, held with Mr. Metcalf in his contention. The eastern papers stated that it was admitted on all sides that "E. W. Metcalf of Elyria, Ohio, made by far the ablest argument before the committee." It was reasoning the committee could not ignore and do justice. The bill was reported to the floor of the House, recommending its passage. It passed by a good majority. In the Senate, strange as it may seem, Senator Edmonds made an argument in favor of the bill, which was but a repetition of Mr. Metcalf's reasoning before the House and Senate committees, although he had told Mr. Metcalf, as it will be recalled, when he asked him his opinion twelve years before, that there was no law or precedent for paying such a claim, and he would spend his time in vain about Congress trying to get relief. It passed the Senate, was signed by the President and became a law. The insurance companies went down to defeat. This brought into Mr. Metcalf's hands a large sum of money, for his clients, and to pay him for the destruction of his ship. He then went up and down the New England coast and distributed the share going to his clients. His good wife said she thought it one of the happiest times in his life when he was able to make glad the hearts of so many who had lost nearly all in the destruction of the vessels in which they were interested. If they were in sore need of means he kept out nothing for himself. 204 - Early History of Elyria and Her People When Mr. Metcalf came to Ohio he invested largely in cheap frontier lands in the west, which rose in value, making it possible for him to sell them from time to time to meet his Washington expenses and support his family. His twelve years' contest in Washington brought him ample means which, with the profits in real estate, enabled him to turn his attention to carry out the work he had long anticipated; in securing legislation to make Ohio, like the State of Maine had ever been, saloonless. About this time Howard H. Russel came from Kansas City, where he had been preaching, to Oberlin and Elyria; to consult with friends of temperance, looking to the organization of a league of some sort to abolish the saloons, in which all persons, regardless of their party affiliations or church creeds, could unite. The outcome of the matter was, the organization known as, "The Anti-Saloon League." It was formed soon thereafter in Oberlin with a few Oberlin and Elyria friends of the cause. Mr. Metcalf was one of the prime movers. The second public meeting of the league, after the organization, took place in the old Elyria Opera House, when speeches were made and plans laid for the future. This league was the parent of all "Anti-Saloon Leagues" organized in every state in the Union. Mr. Metcalf was, of course, very active, especially in raising funds. Mr. Russel was sent to Columbus to secure legislation, where "Anti-Saloon" headquarters were opened and never closed till victory came in the state. Into this movement he threw himself, with as much enthusiasm as he prosecuted his claims in Congress. Sore discouragements arose ere long, by persecutions from the liquor interests and professional politicians.. The lack of funds to keep Russel going, meeting printing bills, and hiring assistants, discouraged many. Mr. Metcalf said, "The saloon must go in the state and ultimately the nation." No person ever heard him utter a faltering word as the battle progressed. He employed several stenographers at his residence on Washington Avenue, that stood on the spot now occupied by the brick residence of T, T. Robinson. It was a plain Gothic wood structure, one of the first dwellingss to be erected on the avenue. In this old hone arguments for local option and prohibition were put on paper by the score, by Mr. Metcalf, ready for the printer. The expenses of the typists were met by him, for many months. Early History of Elyria and Her People - 205 As the years passed in the contest Mr. Metcalf spent much time soliciting subscriptions to meet costs piling up at Columbus. I very much question whether the league would have survived the struggle had it not been for the efforts of Mr. Metcalf and his financial aid„; for he made up the deficits when there was no other way,out, and never tired of pushing the work. His indefatigable 'industry, in the prosecution of the movement, was the subject of comment on all sides. The most important thing in the beginning, was the drafting of a County Local Option Bill to offer to the legislature. He drew the one that ultimately became the law, known as the "Haskell Local Option Bill," as it was introduced by the Honorable J. T. Haskell of Wellington, then a member of the Legislature, one of the bravest and noblest citizens Lorain County ever produced, still living, in possession of his powers, beloved by all who know him, and honored over the state for the able part he played in securing the passage of the bill. He made a speech in its favor that will be remembered so long as there is a being whose privilege it was to have heard it. The time Mr. Metcalf spent in getting this bill in legal shape will never be known. It stood the test of the Supreme Court, and was copied by most of the states of the Union later, that adopted prohibition by local option. Having been active in the State of Maine in the temperance cause, before coming here, he sent for copies of their prohibition laws there, and corresponded with many other state authorities over the country, asking for copies of their temperance laws. Out of all the information he completed his draft of the bill, then submitted the same to Judge W. W. Boynton of Cleveland, Judge Wildman of Norwalk, and the writer, the Antisaloon Judiciary Committee. The number of thousands of dollars he put into the contest will never be known, as he was a firm believer in the Biblical doctrine, that we should not make our gifts to be seen of men. His motto was "Serve God and do good." This he ever and anon repeated where he found the friends discouraged in the battle. If any man in Elyria lived up to the Divine injunction, "live humbly, righteously, and godly in this present world," it was E. W. Metcalf. No ostentation or pretense was ever in either him or his noble companion. Their benevolences were many, and distributed among the 206 - Early History of Elyria and Her People needy with their own hands as they went about doing good. As an example of his humility, and to prevent any display at his own funeral, he made this provision in his will, dated December 21, 1891, which is on file in the Probate Court of this county. It reads: '`For an example to others, I request that my funeral should be conducted without ostentation, with the least possible expense. That not more than twenty dollars shall be expended for my casket." Another provision of the will reads: "I regard the possession of property as a sacred trust, involving duties and responsibilities, never to be used merely for selfish purposes, but to be held for such uses as Providence shall indicate to accomplish the greatest good." By another provision he turned it all over to his three sons, as trustees to the family, to administer the same in accordance with the foregoing belief. That they have lived up to the confidence reposed in them, no person acquainted with the family will question. CHAPTER XXXIII OUR previous chapter told of the successful outcome of the efforts of Mr. E. W. Metcalf in his twelve winters in Washington, appealing to Congress for compensation for the loss of his and other vessels through pirate ships, built in English ports, that destroyed many merchant vessels out of which United States was awarded by arbitration at Geneva the sum of fifteen and one-half millions. He was the first loser of all those who had their ships sent to the bottom of the sea to advance the doctrine, or theory that won for all vessel owners, compensation. In his preparation and investigations preparatory to the presentation of the claims he represented, he gathered a large number of books and documents, referring to the whole subject of the treaties with England, bearing on the Geneva award. The theory Mr. Metcalf advocated from the beginning of the controversy was: "That, the forty-nine marine insurance companies who claimed most of the award ofmillionss, were entitled to nothing unless they could show actual loss above war premiums received." This theory, as stated, was finally adopted by Congress, thus making it possible to pay from the award all actual losses caused by all the Confederate pirate cruisers Early History of Elyria and Her People - 207 for which the losers, whether Mr. Metcalf represented them or not, had received no indemnity. The outcome of the contest in Washington by Mr. Metcalf was far-reaching in its results for many people. It is an example of indefatigable industry and determination, ontending for justice against great odds, worthy ofemulationm by any young man in the legal profession or out, who aspires to succeed in any field of endeavor. There was another legal battle fought out by Mr. Metcalf in the face of the opinions of so-called able attorneys, that was of great service to many poor, as it involved the title to a large tract of land located in Marathon County, Washington, on which emigrants had settled. It came about in this way. He had purchased for himself a large portion of the land that another party later insisted he owned. This claim caused great commotion among the emigrants whose farms were involved, who held title by the same kind of deeds. Soon the disputer of Mr. Metcalf's title began an ejectment suit to oust him. The very question involved, if decided against him, would make the titles of the emigrants worthless. Our National Constitution provides that when a person is a nonresident of a State in which suit against him is brought, he may, oil application to the court in which the suit is pending, have the same removed for trial to the United States Court of the district in which the suit was filed, which he did. The trial resulted in a decision against Mr. Metcalf. The grounds on which he asked his attorneys to contend for his rights they utterly ignored. They were discharged. He then called on United States Senator John C. Spooner, in Washington, with the view of retaining him to prosecute his case to the United States Supreme Court, but was told by him that his time was all taken up in his duties in the Senate. Mr. Metcalf requested him to suggest the name of an able attorney. The Senator reflected a moment, then said, The ablest lawyer I know is my father out in Wisconsin, but he is out of practice, and has a broken heart over the death of my mother. If you could get him interested in your matter, he could do you more good, in my judgment, than any lawyer I know, but I am afraid you cannot get him to act." Said Mr. Metcalf, "I will see your father." He then took a train for Wisconsin, called on Attorney Spooner. He found him in the condition the son had represented. He had hard 208 - Early History of Elyria and Her People work to get him to listen to his troubles. But F. W. Metcalf was a man who could not be turned down when he thought he was in the right. Before the interview ended, he had the noted jurist not only interested but deeply so. After he heard Mr. Metcalf's reasoning, he was so deeply impressed by his abilities and clear manner of statement, and the apparent justice of his position, and the effect such a decision, if left to stand, would have on all the poor people occupying lands involved, that he forgot his troubles, and ere they parted was deeply enthused, and told Mr. Metcalf he believed he was on the right track if he could win at all. Said he would act for him, and give his best thought to the subject and then let him know his conclusion. Thereupon Mr. Metcalf said, "When you have formed your opinion, whether it shall be for me or against me, I want you to come to my home in Elyria and tell me in person." This Mr. Spooner promised to do by a certain date. Before many days the Metcalf doorbell rang; Mr. Metcalf chanced to respond to the call, when lo, there stood Mr. Spooner, the old jurist, with a smile on his countenance, which, "When I saw it," said Mr. Metcalf, "encouraged me to believe he had come to my way of thinking, and so it proved to be." In due time, on the theory advocated by Mr. Metcalf in which his discharged lawyers would not agree with him or argue in the lower court, where he was defeated, Attorney Spooner won the case in the Supreme Court of the United States. The emigrants were made happy who reaped the benefit of the decision without expense to them. In this fact, Mr. Metcalf was made to rejoice that he had been able in his own suit, without expense to the struggling foreigners of saving their farms. To the credit of Mr. Metcalf, there stands still another very important case, that reached the United States Supreme Court, in which he was defeated in the lower courts, involving the sum of $35,641.99. The history of the case is interesting; it involved questions of law of great benefit to the whole nation. It happened in this way. Many year, ago there was a boom incorporated city in Wisconsin, christened by the promoters "Watertown." It turned out to be rightly named, as it proved to be like so many private corporation stocks, mostly water. Debts were contracted galore, and bonds issued with no available assets to meet them when pay day came. Early History of Elyria and Her People - 209 One of the victims, in I866, sued the ambitious city to recover what he had put into it, and secured a judgment, which, with its interest, amounted then to ,$10,207.86. The town was then bankrupt, so far as having any available means to satisfy the same. In some land deal of Mr. Metcalf's in Wisconsin, this judgment came into his rids. More than ten years had then elapsed since the judgment was entered in court. He began to make inquiry of the Watertown authorities why it was not paid, and was told that others had sued the town on like claims and got judgments and later undertook to make the town pay but failed, as there was nothing out of which to pay them. That the town refused to make any levies, looking to their payment. That when anyone having a judgment, had commenced suit to enforce payment, he had been beaten on one ground or another. When Mr. Metcalf came to be the owner of the judgment the town had become a prosperous place, amply able to pay its debts. He reasoned "It was an honest obligation, why should not the city pay it?" He began suit and the town plead the statute of limitations, the court held against him. From this decision he prosecuted error to the Supreme Court of the United States. Here he was at first defeated, but by a divided court, which entitled him to have a rehearing, that ended in his reversing the lower court giving him a judgment with its interest, making a total of $26,809.23. Then arose a question of more interest which had to be litigated, and resulted in his favor also, making the final amount paid Mr. Metcalf on the judgment $35,641.99. To get up the proper papers for carrying on the suit and prosecuting the case, he employed a young attorney just commencing practice in Milwaukee, by the name of Charles Monroe. He is a son of Prof. James Monroe, of Oberlin, who represented this district in Congress in the days of James A. Garfield. He was a graduate of Oberlin College, read law in the C. W. Johnston's law office in Elyria, and on admission to the bar settled in Milwaukee, where he now resides. I began my sketch of the life and character of F. W. Metcalf by classing him among the able men of America, and by counting him a great lawyer, although he was never admitted to the bar. Was I justified in my assersion? The facts stated show that everything for which he contended came to pass. The three battles in Congress 14 210 - Early History of Elyria and Her People and the Supreme Court were decided in his favor. The law for prohibition has resulted as he prophesied it would, and is now written in the National Constitution, to remain so long as the government shall stand. Not only did he accomplish his purposes in these matters, but he and his noble companion raised and gave to society and the world a family of whose record, any parents or community in which they were raised, may be justly proud. There are five of them, three sons and two daughters. Let me call the roll. Rev. Irving W. Metcalf, of Oberlin, a well-known prominent man of the county and high-class citizen, was raised in Flynn, graduated from Oberlin College and its Theological Seminary. Held important pastorates in Cleveland and Columbus in Congregational Churches, was trustee of Oberlin College for twenty-five years. He has been and is a very busy man, given to benevolence, and entrusted by many with settling large estates. He married Henry F. Mussey's daughter, Flora B., a graduate of Wellesley College. They have two children, a daughter Edith, graduate of Oberlin College and Wellesley, a teacher, and Harold, a graduate of Oberlin College and the Western Reserve Law School; is practicing in Cleveland. The next child of Mr. and Mrs. E. W. Metcalf is Mrs. Lucy Upton, a graduate of Oberlin College, married Rev. A. G. Upton, a Congregational minister who preached for the Windermere and Wakeman Churches, and also in Syracuse, N. Y., and was superintendent of home missions in that State. Then became librarian of Colorado College. He passed away some years ago. Their daughter married Professor Brehaut, a graduate of Harvard College, now professor in Colorado College. The third child of Mr. and Mrs. E. W. Metcalf is Edith. She also graduated from Oberlin College and Wellesley. She never married. For a few years she did library work, but for the past thirty years has devoted her life and means her father left her to philanthropic work among the very poor children in the city of Chicago. There she built a commodious home where she has maintained, at her own expense, a free kindergarten, caring for the poor children's education, morals, and spiritual welfare. She purchased and owns the old farm home in Royalston, Mass., where her father and her uncle, I. S. Metcalf (already written about), were born. It contains eighty-five stony acres. On an adjoining twenty-five Early History of Elyria and Her People - 211 acres she has set out forest trees, grown from seeds of her own planting, that are from twelve to fifteen feet in height. A more humble, quiet, unpretending person never lived than she. Hundreds rise up in the world to call her blessed, for the lift she gave them when they were numbered among the poorest of the poor, for the instruction) she gave them, and the characters they possess, she created within them. The fourth child is Prof. Wilmot V. Metcalf, of Oberlin. He was Professor of Physics in Whitman College, State of Washington; Carlton College, Minnesota; and Fisk University. He took post-graduate work in Johns Hopkins University and Leipzig, Germany. He and his noble wife have two children, son and daughter. Rachel is the wife of Prof. Walter N. Hess, of Hamilton College. Both are graduates of Oberlin College, and she the mother is also a graduate of Wellesley, where she taught Greek for ten years. He, the son, is now connected with the Bureau of Standards in Washington employed by the Government. The fifth child of Mr. and Mrs. E. W. Metcalf is Prof. Maynard Metcalf, a graduate of Oberlin College, now professor in research work at Johns Hopkins University, from which institution he holds a Ph.D. degree, and also holds a degree from the University of Wurtzburg, Germany. He was the head of the Zoology Department of Goucher College, Baltimore. Has served on the National Research Commission, and is the author of textbooks in his field of research, used in many schools and colleges. His wife, a fine lady of culture, is a graduate of Oberlin College. Their daughter, Mrs. Beetham, of Boston, is also a graduate of Oberlin College. If the greatest product of any city is to be found in her citizens raised within her borders and sent out into the world, should not Elyria feel a commendable pride in the two families, the children of I. S. and F. W. Metcalf, who were born on a farm in Massachusetts? Left fatherless when children, dependent upon a widowed mother, who raised them on a farm in Maine. Everyone of these great families, save one, and he a splendid citizen and successful business man in Kansas, are graduates of colleges, their companions by marriage all graduates of collegiate institutions. Their grandchildren, securing college educations as they grow up. All busy in the world's work, each standing for the highest ideals in morals and many of them 212 - Early History of Elyria and Her People teachers in colleges or practicing professions. All benevolent and true patriots. For the great results attained, we must look back to that wonderful mother, who fought without complaint, in spite of her poverty, the battle of, life in that far-off pioneer State. where she instilled into the minds of these two great sons from childhood the teachings of the One who spake as man never spoke. It was line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little there a little. They were taught that it cost more to be had than to be good. That they roust be useful in life, and kind to the unfortunate, and never neglect the church. They were taught that the liquor traffic was a great evil to be hated. The seed thus sown in the hearts and minds of these brothers, brought forth the harvest for the common good as evidenced by these families. Near the southeast part of the new part of the Elyria Cemetery lie the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. E. W. Metcalf. The spot is marked by a granite rough boulder, taken from the farm on which the brothers were born at Royalston, Mass., to which is fastened a bronze plate telling the dates of births and deaths. Just below are the words, "Trust in the Lord and do good." The motto he quoted many times as the years multiplied. CHAPTER XXXIV THE subject of this sketch, Martin Webster Pond, was a Connecticut Yankee, horn, in the "Nutmeg State," in 1814, one hundred and fifteen years ago. There flowed in his veins, on his mother's side of the house, the blood of the noted lexicographer, Noah Webster, the author of "Webster's Unabridged Dictionary." At the age of nine, he came to Elyria with a married sister, Mrs. Lydia Pond Adams, to reside, and here spent his long, useful, and active life as a pioneer, becoming one of the most prominent men of the town, reaching the age of eighty-three before he was gathered to his fathers. He was in youth, poor in purse, but rich in character, with a burning ambition to count for something in the world's work. His education was secured in the Elyria schools. The town had been founded but eight years when he reached here. At sixteen, he entered the Early History of Elyria and Her People - 213 employ of his brother-in-law, Ezra S. Adams, as an apprentice, where he learned the trade of making saddles and harnesses. At twenty-one, with the trade learned, he worked at a like business for two years, in the cities of Cleveland, Detroit, and Wheeling, then returned fro Elyria and conducted the business with B. F. Robbins, W Berman Morse, and William Doolittle, as partners till 1852, wen the lure to dig gold with his own hands out of the California mountains seized him. The success of the "Forty-niners," three years previous, after gold was first discovered in California in the stream at "Suter's Mill," in that then far-away State, started fabulous stories that were being told in stores, blacksmith and shoeshops, newspapers and firesides, that unsettled the minds of thousands all over the country. Young Pond was among the rest. He had married at twenty-one, Eliza J. Sayles, of Maysville, Chautauqua Co., New York, and had several children, all of whom he left in his quest for gold. If he reached his "Eldorado" by way of the plains, "great American Desert" and Rocky Mountains, it was to encounter savage Indians, outlaws, and hunger. If by the isthmus there was no carnal to convey him to the Pacific in a floating palace with every whim gratified as now, while passing through the wonder cut. Bidding good-bye to family and friends, he turned his footsteps southward for Panama, where he was laid prostrate from fever, delaying his journey three weeks. M. W. Pond was a man who having once put his hands to the plow never looked back. Feeble as he was, he wended his way through the jungle and took ship on the Pacific for San Francisco. He was two months and five days in reaching his destination. There he endured the hardships of the miner's life, for one year, only to learn the sore disappointments through which thousands had passed, then made his way back by the same route, to discover he had run away from the very thing he supposed was to be found easily in the hills and mountains of California. His bitter experience taught him the truth, hard for us mortals to understand that our opportunities are where we are nineteen times out of twenty; we are like the farmer in Pennsylvania before coal oil was discovered in that State, who lost all interest in the old home farm and sold it for comparatively a song to go to Canada to bore for oil, where the hole in which he sank his money turned out to be a duster, while the purchaser of his neglected acres, 15 214 - Early History of Elyria and Her People in watering his horses in a spring on the old place, noticed a scum that he had to push back, before the animals would drink, a thing the seller had done for lo, many years. The newcomer sent some of it to a chemist in Philadelphia for analysis, who put it through his test tubes and reported back ''It is coal oil." That was the beginning of the great industry in the "Keystone State." The oil pumped out of the hills of the forsaken farm by the owner brought him great wealth. The same scum had been for twenty years regarded by the first owner as a great nuisance. The young saddle and harness maker again entered upon his forsaken occupation with a zest that promised success, convinced that if he could not count for something here in the world's work his life would prove a failure. At the end of five years fire destroyed his building, in which he had conducted a prosperous trade. Nothing daunting, he at once caused to rise, Phoenix like, out of the ashes of his disaster a much finer structure, in which he continued business' which renewed energy. It. occurred to him one day that he was following a beaten path in the conduct of his affairs, and noticing there was no harness pad being made that was satisfactory to the trade, he set about it to overcome the defects. It resulted in so improving the article that he was granted a patent. Out of this invention such an income began to flow his way that it encouraged him to study for further things lacking in harnesses. The result was, he soon brought forth the first successful tug buckle in the harness industry. So profitable did his new invention prove to be, that he gave most of his time to its introduction, till 1870, when he retired from the saddle and harness business, one of the wealthy men of the place. Soon thereafter he invented a truss for the unfortunate, that brought great relief to large numbers. On the north side of Broad Street still stands the Pond Block" across from the bank building with the name inscribed, thereon the property of his cultured daughter, Lizzie Pond Bowen, who, with her widowed daughter, Mrs. Garfield, reside in the old "Pond Homestead" on the east side of West Avenue at the corner of Fifth Street, a charming old place with its inviting, well-kept lawn and beautiful trees. Mr. Pond was a striking figure. Stood nearly six feet in height. Wore full whiskers, save a mustache, in keeping with the times, and was ever becomingly dressed. He was a man of culture. Read the hest in books, and possessed a character above reproach.   Early History of Elyria and Her People - 215 His eighty-third birthday, in 1897, was made an event by his numerous friends with whom he had lived his life in Elyria. The following account of the same appeared in the local newspaper:   "Our venerable citizens Mr. M. W. Pond, of West Avenue, reached the eighty-third milestone of life's journey on Friday last. During the afternoon a large party of friends and old acquaintances called to pay their respects and offer congratulations, and the afternoon was most enjoyably spent in discussing old times. It was a most remarkable gathering of septuagenarians and octogenarians, a large number of these being included in the company. Mrs. S. H. Bowen and Miss Helen Bowen, daughter and granddaughter of Mr. Pond, assisted by Mrs. Searles, served luncheon during the afternoon. Among those who called were Messrs Frank Rockwood, Levi Dickinson, H. E. Mussey, G. D. Hayward, H. M. Parker, S. A. Cary, W. H. Park, W. F. Wooster, R. W. Pomroy, Edwin Hall, M. A. Elder, Dr. O. T. Maynard, F. S. Reefy, J. W. Hulburt, Jerome Manville, J. C. Hill, John H. Boynton, John Hannan, John T. Houghton, A. H. Smith, Dr. C. F. Cushing, Levi Morse, M. D. Galpin, S. B. Wolcott, I. S. Metcalf, Dr. W. F. McLean. Dr. Charles H. Cushing, and Mr. Frank Rockwood, who was the oldest visitor, being eighty-eight years of age. Mr. Pond received his guests in his well-knowncordial and hearty manner, and all were glad to again give him friendly greeting and enjoy a few hours of social intercourse in his company."   Of the twenty-eight named above not one is left to recount the event. They were all able strong characters, whose names had been for many years, household words. As the guests appeared in a body, Mr. Pond quoted, "Shall old acquaintance be forgot." He did it in so impressive a manner. as to deeply affect the company. Mrs. Pond had passed away at seventy, May 31, 1887. She was a cultured lady, beloved by all who chanced to know her, an exemplary mother, and true wife. Five sons and one daughter were born of this marriage. The daughter, Mrs. Bowen named, is, as stated, residing in the old home. The sons have all passed away, leaving no descendants. The daughter married December 5, 1877, Samuel H. Bowen, the son of a prominent family in Newport, N. Y. He was twelve years a business man in Elyria, and twenty-one in Cleveland.   216 - Early History of Elyria and Her People   He departed this life February 17, 1917. To this marriage were born two children: Helen, the widow of the late John M. Garfield, of Cleveland, of the law firm of Tolls, Hogsett & Gin. To this marriage were born three grandsons: John, Scott, and Samuel. Scott Bowen after leaving college became a newspaper reporter on the Cleveland Leader. Then engaged in advertising. When the call came in the World War for college boys to enlist in aviation, he was among the first. He received his technical training for the same in Austin, Texas, and then was sent to San Diego, California, for flying, then was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned to Langley Field, Hampton Roads, Virginia, as teacher of new devices in aviation. After the Armistice was signed, he moved to New York where he is engaged as advertising agent for a publishing house. He married Maude Clement, of Rutland, Vt. They have three small sons of promise: Scott, Frederick, and Roger.   The Bowen house, mentioned on West Avenue, was built ninety-nine years ago, and became the home of Mr. and Mrs. Pond in 1840. Five generations have found a home under its hospitable roof, a very uncommon thing in Elyria. Mr. and Mrs. Pond ever stood for the best in church and state matters. They were exemplayy in their lives, benevolent and kind to the unfortunate. They left a good name, which has ever been and ever will be a legacy to their descendants. Of the numerous characters whose lives I have recounted in this series of articles, gone to their reward, pioneers in building up and shaping the character of Elyria's citizenship, everyone came from either the Pine Tree State of Maine, the Granitee State" of New Hampshire, the "Green Mountain State" of Vermont, the "Bay State" of Massachusetts, the "Empire state" of New   Early History of Elyria and Her People - 217   York, or the "Nutmeg State" of Connecticut. Not one was from a slave commonwealth. All arrived soon after the "Western Reserve" was formed. They and their good wives stood for the best things, looking to the common weal. To this number, 1 will now add the name of Thomas Lathrop Nelson, known to the public in Lorain County for forty-six years as "T. L. Nelson." He was born in LymeGraffton County), New Hampshire, January 11, 1823, one 1 dred and six years ago. His father passed away, leaving the wife and small children destitute.   Necessity required him to make his home with his grandfather, Gilbert, in Vermont, where he had but poor school advantages. Being ambitious for knowledge, he eagerly devoured such books as came within his reach and attended an academy a few months. At nineteen, he became a dry-goods clerk in his native town. At twenty-one, he turned his footsteps toward Oberlin, where he had an uncle, by marriage, "Deacon" Peter Turner. He landed with one dollar in his pocket and a small bundle of clothing, ambitious to attend college, but adversity for the time, drove him to seek employment elsewhere, as jobs in the village were scarce and dollars few. Mansfield, Richland County, was reported as a place of opportunity for those who wanted employment. Not having the wherewith to pay stage fare, and the highway being free, he walked the fifty miles, only to find jobs as hard to get in the embryo city as in the college village, for he tramped for days and went hungry before he found a position, then he clerked in a dry-goods store for six months, then resolved to make Elyria his home. Here, at twenty-two, he entered as a clerk in the firm of "Baldwin and Laundon," and later became partner, creating the firm of "Baldwin, Laundon & Nelson." This company opened a large store in Wellington. It continued for fifteen years, when he withdrew and helped organize the first savings bank in the county, the present "Savings Deposit Bank and Trust Co.," now located on East Broad Street, and was made its president, a position he held for nineteen years, and until his last sickness incapacitated him. The bank was a success from the start, and for fifty-seven years has held the confidence of the people. It was opened in humble quarters in the Ely block, and is now housed in its own home in one of the most beautiful bank buildings in the State. Mr. Nelson was an ideal president, as he was pos-   218 - Early History of Elyria and Her People   BROAD STREET IN THE EARLY FIFTIES.   sessed of such a charming personality and bore such a high Christian character, that he drew people there to entrust their savings in his hands. He was called by the directors and employees, the "Sunshine of the Bank." While his day and generation was in the saloon period, he never flinched in his efforts to have the same abolished. He was always present at temperance meetings, ready to talk and act for the doing away of the liquor traffic.   His personal habits were perfect. No youth was ever led astray by his precepts or example. He was not only a member of the Congregational Church, but lived his Christianity, and was ever ready to testify to the faith that was in him. He was kind to the poor and never oppressed the widow or fatherless. For thirty-one years he was a member of the school board and eighteen of that time its president. For twenty-five years he was on the Board of Trustees of Oberlin College, in which time the institution was in the great battle for the abolition of slavery, an institution he abhorred as he did the legalized saloon. He was in person one of the most courtly, striking figures in the county   Early History of Elyria and Her People - 219   His home was the place now owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Alexander T. Hill, the first house north of the residence of Mrs. David Troxel, on Washington Avenue. He was a lover of horses, for carriage purposes. He delighted in driving his own team. This was before the clays of the automobile. He never sought political office, but without asking, was made mayor of the city. He was thrice married His first wife was the daughter of Judge Churchill, of New Hapshiree, by whom lie had one child, a daughter, who married Rev. E. P. Butler, of Mass. His second wife was Mary L. Moody, by whom he had three daughters. One is thewife off Hon. A. L. Garford, a lady of culture. To them were born two daughters, one the wife of James Thomas. She is a musician and talented as a writer. Her husband is a classical graduate, whose rare gift with his pen is well known. No man in our city stands higher than "Jim" Thomas. The other daughter is married and resides in Los Angeles. Mr. Nelson's third wife was Miss Fanny Sanford. Mrs. Alexander Hill is her niece. Mr. Nelson was gathered to his fathers at the age of sixty-eight, leaving behind him a good name, that will never cease to be honored by the lips of those who knew him. He entered the town a young man unknown, with no dollars, possessed of a high purpose to make for himself a name among men, for sobriety and integrity, believing that by adherence to correct principles he would succeed, From that purpose he never wavered. Any young man who to-day will follow this example, has a better opportunity than had T. L. Nelson, to mark high in some honorable calling.   CHAPTER XXXV   UNTIL great wagon and buggy factories began turning out vehicles by machinery, they had been made, "'time whereof the memory of man runneth not to the contrary," piece by piece in the little wagon shops by the wayside, scattered over the country, and then "ironed off," as the saying was, by the village blacksmith. This primitive method of building wagons and buggies led many young men, mechanically inclined, desirous of learning a trade, to become wagon makers. Among the number in Lorain County was John W. Topliff. For many   220 - Early History of Elyria and Her People   years and, until about 1871, he owned and operated a wagon shop, located on the south side of West Broad Street, on the spot now occupied by the "Odd Fellows' Block." His residence was then, and had been for many years, the brick dwelling still standing on the northeast corner at the intersection of Fifth Street and West Avenue. He had a brother, Isaac Topliff, then residing in Adrian, Mich., who was conducting a like business in that place. About that year, 1871, Isaac telegraphed his brother John that his shop had burned, leaving him penniless, asking him to come to Adrian. As any good brother should, he responded. When he arrived, Isaac brought out at his residence a model of what he called a "Tubular Bow Socket" for carriages, and said to John, "This is my hope for the future. I want to go to Elyria and have you go in with me and manufacture it. I have been working on this device for a long time. I believe there is a chance to make a lot of money out of it.   "Large factories are springing up making carriages by machinery, there will be a great demand for them. "To this generation an explanation is necessary. Until this bow socket was placed on the market, all the bows that held up the top were of wood, covered with leather. If a bow not broken it made an expensive thing to replace it. The Topliff bow is iron, hollow and japanned, and can be easily replaced. The result of the conference ended in Isaac and family coming to Elyria. Hon. George H. Ely was then a young man, a recent graduate from Yale College, anxious to engage in manufacturing business of some character. The result of the whole matter was that the three entered into a contract, by which Isaac was to get his idea covered by patents, and John and Mr. Ely were to manufacture the article, under the name of "Topliff & Ely Co.," and Isaac, the inventor, was to go on the road selling the manufactured produce. Each was to have one third of the net profits, if any resulted. The company then erected the brick buildings, still standing on the bank of Black River, now abandoned for factory purposes, located just south of the "Highgate Plant." The power for driving the machinery was a water wheel. A dam was made at that point across the river, long since washed away. Later steam power was installed, and more buildings erected and the brick chimney now in evidence, with the words, "Long Wear Rubber Co." painted thereon a few years ago, when an attempt was made   Early History of Elyria and Her People - 221 by many citizens to manufacture rubber goods in the buildings. While the Topliff & Ely Co. had a hard struggle to convince the carriage makers of the country that their "Tubular Bow Socket" was the one that should be used, the time came when they were, and wealth began to pour into their coffers at the rate of about thirty-five thousand dollars a year to each one. The industry cane at a time when the town was in sore need of something to give employment to men. By reason of this opportunity ,any people were able to purchase homes. The industry continued for about twenty years, within which time John Topliff erected the mansion, still standing on the west side of East Bridge next to the river, now owned and occupied by a religious society.   He also erected the "Topliff Hotel," now called the "Newell," and had his face cut in the keystone where it is still visible. This building stands on the spot on which was located a brick hotel in which, after it was abandoned for that purpose, was used for some years to house the first Y. M. C. A. in the city. Out of the "Tubular Bow Socket" business, Mr. Ely was able to erect the most beautiful and costly mansion ever built in Lorain County, the structure on West Avenue, called ''The Taft Home for the Aged." The name is in honor of an elderly couple residing in Lorain, who made a contribution of forty thousand dollars toward the same home. Where is the person who will come to the front and do likewise for the new structure, just erected, and have it bear his or her name, and live forever in the hearts of the unfortunate as well as the public?   Isaac Topliff made his home after a time in Cleveland, where he had another factory of like character erected. The oldest daughter of John Topliff married the late Walter E. Brooks, who for some years was a hardware merchant in Elyria and later was connected with the "Topliff & Ely Co.," and later manufactured other articles in the buildings, until they ceased to be used for factory purposes. There are none of the Topliff families left in the city. John and Isaac have long since gone the way of all the earth. The automobile came along and drove the carriages off the streets and highways, and with their disappearance went the "Tubular Bow Socket" industry.   Probably no man in Lorain County in his time was so universally known as the late John W. Lersch, the merchant. His   222 - Early History of Elyria and Her People   life is another interesting story of American opportunity, worthy of emulation by every young man ambitious to succeed in the business world. He was born in Germany, July 25, 1841, eighty-eight years ago. On his tenth birthday, his parents boarded a sailing vessel for New York. For forty days they endured the storms and inconveniences incident to crossing the deep in that early period of ocean travel. No "Goddess of Liberty Enlightening the World" then lifted her torch to greet the emigrant. No skyscrapers were in evidence. No bridges spanned the rivers surrounding the city. No tunnels or tubes for transportation under the earth. No electric cars or lights. Little did the ten-year-old lad, not able to speak a word of the American language, dream the time would come when his name as a man of affairs would appear in the commercial reports of the great .Eastern cities and to be known by the wholesale houses as worthy of any credit he might ask. Nor did he suspect that ere many years he would annually, and often semi-annually,visits the great cities, to pay out fortunes for dry goods, as head of one of the largest country stores in Northern Ohio. So soon as the customs officers and emigration officials had ended inspection of the Lersch family, they made their way by the modes of travel in that time to Cleveland, then a good-sized village. For six months this was their home, when they moved to Mansfield, where they resided for one year, then to North Dover, where the father purchased a small farm about thirty miles east of Elyria. Farmer Lersch did most of his trading for the family in Elyria. On one of his trips his son John, then twelve years of age, with the mother, accompanied him. There was then a mercantile firm doing a large general business known as "Mussey & Co.," of which Henry E. Mussey, whose life story has already been told, was its head. The father had occasion to make a purchase at this store. One of the clerks of the firm was Peter Bishop, who was struck by the lad's bright eyes and apparent interest in all that was going on as he waited on the father. Whatever the article being purchased was, it had to be measured. The price was two dollars and sixty-three and one-half cents per bushel. Bishop turned to the boy and asked him how much so many bushels would come to at that price. Without hesitancy the answer came. Bishop thinking perhaps the boy had chanced to guess hee correct answer, put   Early History of Elyria and Her People - 223   the question, "Are you sure?" Hhesitateded, whereupon the mother said, as he looked at her for assurance, '`Tell him if you really know." He again answered, '`Yes, my answer is correct." Whereupon Bishop turned to one of the partners, a Mr. Gallup, and said, "Here is a boy we want."   HENRY E. MUSSEY   Pioneer merchant. Banker. Opened and operated for many years the large "Hussey Stone Quarry." Interested in all that was for the city's good, and was on the School Board for forty years   The matter was then talked over with the parents and by the head of the firm and resulted in making a contract, by which the boy was to enter the company's employment on a thirty days' trial. It was a great event in the life of the farm boy. The thirty days soon passed. He was the first one in the   224 - Early History of Elyria and Her People   morning to show up for business, and remained in the evening, so long as there was anything for him to do. His conduct was so satisfactory that at the expiration of the thirty days' trial, papers were drawn with the parents consent, by which he was to work for three years, for the sum of forty dollars the first year and his board, the second year he was to have fifty dollars and board, and the third the compensation was to be seventy-five and board. Should he remain a fourth year, the pay was to be one hundred and severity-five and hoard. He remained the four years, when the company sold out to a new firm called "Baldwin, Laundon and Nelson." He continued with this firm, having his wages increased from year to year, till 1872, when the firm sold to a new firm called "Baldwin and Co.," of which he was the junior member. By this time he had been so frugal of his wages that he was able to purchase a worth-while interest in the business. This relation continued for eight years, when in 1880, he was able to purchase the business and building, and then with his sons organized the firm of "Lersch & Co.," which has continued for fifty-nine years. Soon after Mr. Lersch became the head of the business, he conceived the idea of forming a syndicate of dry-goods stores in Northern Ohio, by which they were to pool their cash, and deal directly with the manufacturers of the goods they handled, so far as it was possible, thus saving paying the profits of the middle man. The three firms of Frier & Schuele, of Cleveland; B. C. Tabor & Co., of Norwalk, and his own, constituted the same. This was found to be very profitable.   He married Miss Parmela Boynton, daughter of Joshua Boynton, head of one of the prominent families of Elyria. She was a teacher in our school and one of the finest ladies in the city. William Maddock says, "He attended, as a child, when she was teaching in the little brick schoolhouse, still standing on Chestnut Street, just north of the Stevens homestead." She lately passed away at her home on Washington Avenue, at the age of eighty-six. He reached the age of seventy-eight. The following children were born to them: Carl Robert; Louise, now Mrs. Goby; Charlotte, now Mrs. Cherry; Walter, Arthur, and Harwood. Arthur has passed away. The others are all splendid citizens, actively engaged in the world's work. Robert was twice sent to the Ohio legislature. For attention to business,   Early History of Elyria and Her People - 225   allowing nothing to interfere with its prosecution, counting the period of time covered, John W. Lersch never had a superior in the county. He was a great commoner, and knew how to touch the hearts of his customers and hold their trade. No man ever questioned his integrity, nor was there ground for so doing. People, especially farmers in the many years, brought their families to the store to trade, and ever found in him a friend who knee how to welcome them from the parents to the smallest child. ee was not only interested in their welfare, but he so lived toward them that they knew he was, and counted him their frend.. He seemed to be everywhere in the store. If he was not in sight when the old customers came, they made inquiry after his whereabouts.   He possessed a striking personality. Was never cross but under all circumstances seemed to be master of himself. He was one of the best generally informed men in the city, and had accumulated a splendid literary library in which he found great delight. His ideal among great men was Abraham Lincoln, of whom he never tired talking. His habits of life were perfect. No young man was ever .led astray by his example or conversation. He was interested in every good cause and ready to contribute toward its success. For forty years he lost only four days in not being at the store, in which time he was sick. He never took but one vacation, a trip to the Fatherland and Europe in 1882. He could always be found at the store or home. His business ambition was, as he often expressed it, to give the people the best goods for the least money possible, and live and save something for old age and leave a good name. He certainly accomplished his purpose. His genial face and words of wisdom will remain so long as there lives one whose privilege it was to have known him. When his father and mother grew feeble and needed care, he and Mrs. Lersch took them under their own roof and treated them kindly till they went to their reward full of years. John W. Lersch lived up to the doctrine he preached. He always regarded T. W. Laundon, one of the old firm, in his early years as the one to whom he owed much, and often said he regarded him as one of the best merchants he ever knew. Laundon retired from business with ample means, long before the allotted time of man, and took things easily in his commodious home on the southwest corner of Third Street   226 - Early History of Elyria and Her People   and West Avenue, now occupied and owned by A. G. Bean, the well-known manufacturer. His daughter married Blake Johnson, of Cleveland, now deceased, one of the able attorneys of that bar, who was born and raised west of Elyria. T. W. Laundon of the well-known firm of Warden & Laundon, surveyors and civil engineers, is a grandson of the old merchant.   CHAPTER XXXVI   AMONG the outstanding characters and useful men who had much to do in building up the city of Elyria in her formative period, shaping her morals, looking after her schools and religious welfare and carrying on her business, was Edwin Chauncey Griswold, better known as E. C. Griswold. He was born in Farmington, Conn., May 18, 1827, one hundred and two years ago. He graduated from Wesleyan University of that State, and then entered the service"of the "People's Steamship Co." on the Hudson River, where he remained four years, then worked for "The Methodist Book Concern," in New York City, till he came to Elyria, in 1854, when twenty-seven, and opened the first book store in the village in the building now occupied by Oscar Hasersodt's Jewelry Store, which he conducted with success for twenty-four years, until 1877, when he disposed of the sane and turned his attention to organizing companies of various kinds; among them was "Lakeside," west of Sandusky, for the furtherance of the "Chautauqua" cause. He became its president, and was for years the prime mover in taking it through the formative period to final success. 'There would not have been any "Lakeside" had it not been for E. C. Griswold. Who is able to measure the good that has come to the world through the hundreds of thousands who have attended the summer sessions of "Lakeside" and listened to the lectures, songs, and teachers of national reputations who have been called there to instruct great audiences? The breadth and depth of many things can be ascertained by the yard stick and plumet, but not the influence for good of such an institution. He served many years on the school board and as township official, and for a long time was a member of the Board of Trustees of Baldwin University. He was one of the pillars of the Elyria Methodist   Early History of Elyria and Her People - 227   Church and ever a staunch advocate of temperance. He was a strong abolitionist. Voted for Lincoln, and was very active in supporting, with the leading men of the community, prosecution of the Civil War, to save the Union. He married Miss Anne Sweetland, of Hartford, Conn., by whom he had four children; two daughters and two sons. All were college trained and splendid citizens. All have passed away. The daughter, Ella, married the noted scholar, Rev. Lucius C. Smith. Immediately following the marriage at the Griswold home on the east side of Middle Avenue, between Sixth and Seventh Streets, they went to South America as teachers and missionaries, where he, by reason of his marked ability learned the Spanish language in a few weeks. Edwin Chauncy Griswold, a grandson of E. C. Griswold, married a daughter of Rev. Endley, of Elyria.   The part Elyria citizens played in the noted "Oberlin-Wellington slave-rescue case" that shook the nation from ocean to ocean, and from the saltless seas on the north to the Gulf of Mexico, has been told in a previous chapter. The rescue took place in the fall of 1858. Arrests and indictments followed in the United States Court at Cleveland against twenty-four Oberlin people, and thirteen of the Wellington citizens. The trials lasted till the 6th of July the following year, 1859, less than two years before Fort Sumter was fired upon. The acquittal it will be remembered came about by the prompt action of the Lorain County officials, and the influence of the best citizens of Elyria, among them E. C. Griswold. When Lincoln entered the White House, several Southern States had already gone out of the Union. At that time Elyria had only about thirty-five hundred inhabitants. While she was short on numbers she was one-hundred-per-cent patriotic, as on April the 18th, six days after Fort Sumter was fired upon, the following agreement, four feet in length, was signed by one hundred and nineteen Elyria citizens.   Nearly every person of whom was relative of someone still living here. The heading reads as follows: "Elyria, April 18, 1861. We, the undersigned, hereby agree to pay the sum set opposite our names, for the purpose of paying expenses of the military organization of Elyria and such other purposes as the occasion may require. Said money to be paid in such suns and at such tines as the finance committee shall direct. Signed :   228 - Early History of Elyria and Her People   S. Burke, $500; H. E. Mussey, $500; C. A. Ely, $1,000; R. G. Horr, $200; George G. Washburn, $200; T. L. Nelson, $200; W. F. Wooster, $300; E. H. Bronson, $300; M. S. Hitchcock, $125; H. C. Emmons, $100; H. E. Fisher, $200; C. H. Doolittle, $200; N. E. Burr, $200; D. S. Wright, $50; S. B. Wolcott, $100; J. N. Boynton, $200; John Lersch, $25; C. C. Northrup, $25; Abner Groat, $50; O. Bowen, $50; N. B. Gates, $100; Clayton Johnson, $50; F. A. Wilbur, $50; J. H. Faxon, $50; A. G. Hollister, $50; M. Gallup, $50; E. McLaugher, $50; C. B. Clark, $25; L. D. Griswold, $50; H. B. Weast, $50; J. Houghton, $25; John V. Coon, $200; E. C. Griswold, $50; L. Beeze, $10; H. Brush, $100; F. Dickenson, $50; John Kelly, $50; M. Spitzenberg, $50; T. W. Laundon, $300; Sylvanous Earle, $15; D. Redfield, $50; H. C. Starr, $300; G. R. Starr, $I00; I. S. Cole, $100; Thomas H. Linnell, $25; A. C. Fisk, $25; Wm. Marlett, $10; C. C. West, $25; A. C. Penfield, $50; R. W. Pomeroy, $25; J. R. Finn, $25; Thomas French, $25; A. A. Bliss, $50; C. W. Johnston, $10; M. W. Pond, $50; H. M. Redington, $10; J. C. Potter, $5; Heman Ely, $500; J. Manville, $50; A. Wooster, $50; J. W. Hulbert, $25; R. C. DeWitt, $20; J. W. Elliott, $10; W. C. Catlin, $5; W. W. Laundon, $10; W. W. Boynton, $50; J. Boynton, $50; W. Morse, $30; S. G. Badwell, $10; Elmer Adams, $15; A. G. Starr, $50; A. C. Boyatts, $50; J. Myers, $20; L. G. Byington, $50; H. Beebe, $25; E. DeWitt, $50; D. C. Baldwin, $50; L. L. Jenkins, $20; Festus Cooley, $300; John M. Vincent, $200; Richard Day, $100; Aaron Higgins, $5; I. S. Metcalf, $200; N. H. Manter, $25; Berry Upton, $5; F. S. Carter, $75; B. F. Starr, $100; J. Strong, $100; Isaac Raymond, $25; P. W. Sampsell, $50; A. Beebe, $250; A. Braman, $100; A. H. Bullock, $25; Arthur Lane, $10; R. B. Bullock, $50; W. O. Cahoon, $50; James Reive, $25; J. W. Rockwell, $10; Freeman Parmley, $5; G. W. Cotton, $50; Abram Tuttle, $10; John Booth, $10; William Patterson, $25; Hiram Hall, $50; Clark Eldred, $30; S. W. Parmley, $25; H. J. Brooks & Co., $50; William Clark, $50; Willard Lial, $50; J. Smith, $5; S. W. Baldwin, $500; P. Bliss, $100; S. Boynton, $50; Wm. Phelps, $25; John Childs, $50; Joseph H. Paddock, $50; L. A. Sheldon, $300; Thomas Childs, $10."   All of the above-named signers have gone to that undiscovered country we see only by faith. The heading of the peti-   Early History of Elyria and Her People - 229   tion is in the handwriting of Attorney Stevenson Burke, who one year later became the first Common Pleas judge in Lorain County, and later moved to Cleveland. He was born in the State of New York, in 1826, and was raised in Eaton Township on a farm in a hut. Attended the Elyria schools, then for a time went to Delaware College. Read law with H. D. Clark of this bar. During his second term on the bench he resigned, and spent the rest of his life practicing in Cleveland. There he rose to great distinction as a corporation lawyer and railroad magnate. He was regarded when eighty as the ablest lawyer in that tine in Ohio. His picture hangs in Elyria court room. He had been president of four railroads, one the Big Four, and left an estate of three millions. When he commenced practicing in Elyria, his preceptor made him a partner. He had something of an impediment in his speech which he never fully overcame. He was so aggressive at the trial table when he began that some of the members of the bar dubbed him "Clark's Fool." The old and able attorney overheard the remark and rebuked the slanderers by saying, ,"Call him fool if you please, I tell you the day will come when you fellows will have to reckon with him, for he is always in the office when I reach there in the morning, and there when I leave. He burns up all my candles."   One of the best-known bankers in Northern Ohio for many years was J. C. Hill, so long president of the Elyria Savings and Deposit Bank, of this city, already written about. He was born in Berlin Heights, Erie County, ninety-two years ago. Graduated from Antioch College, Ohio, when the noted educator Horace Mann was its president. Read law in Cleveland where he met John C. Hale, who later became Common Pleas judge of this county. When they were admitted to the bar they came to Elyria in I861 and formed the firm of Hale and Hill. The first six months they took in the sum of five dollars as fees. At the expiration of three years, Hill forsook Blackstone and the life of contention at the bar, and entered into a partnership with William Braman in purchasing live stock, a business they followed with marked success. He then engaged in the nursery business, in which he built up a large trade. There being no bank in the county paying interest, he, with others, as heretofore written, started in 1872 the savings bank. He was its   16   230 - Early History of Elyria and Her People   cashier from the beginning and remained such till the death of its president, Mr. T. L. Nelson, when he was appointed to fill his place, and held the position till eighty, when sickness disqualified him. In addition to banking he was always ready to assist in the building up of factories in the city, venturing liberally with his dollars. For years he was a member of the school board and most of that time its president. When Judge Hale moved to Cleveland, in 1883, he purchased his residence on Washington Avenue, now occupied by his grandson and family, Frank Hill. While in college Mr. Hill met Etta M. Wilson, a student in the institution, and married her. To them were born five children; four sons and one daughter. The sons are all dead. The daughter, Mrs. Edith Mortimer, was educated in our high schools and in a seminary in the city of Washington. The oldest son, Frank, graduated from Oberlin College.   The grandson in the old homestead married Miss Van Housen at Elyria, a lady of character and refinement. They have three promising children. He is an active business man in the affairs of life and a good citizen.   Among the men who have had much to do in moulding public opinion in Elyria and the county was Frederick S. Reefy, known for nearly a half century as "Professor Reefy." His birthplace was Switzerland. While he was a babe his parents came to reside on a farm in Wayne County this State. From his youth he was a diligent student of books and men. His ambition in early life was to be a successful teacher. This he began early to follow, anticipating having an institution of his own. To that end he moved to Roanoke, in northern Indiana, where he organized the "Roanoke Educational Society," by which he was able to found the "Roanoke Seminary," of which he was the head, and it became one of the finest and most popular schools in the State. In it he contended for manual labor and kindergarten work. His health failed at the end of eight years. Later, health being restored, he organized a graded school at Bluffton, which he superintended, till he moved to Elyria, in 1872, and became editor and proprietor of the Constitution, a Democratic organ, published in a small building located in the rear of the brick block, now occupied on Cheapside as a jewelry store. It later was rechristened "Elyria Democrat." The county being strongly Republican, it puzzled people how he could make the   Early History of Elyria and Her People - 231   income meet expenses. The query was, "If it is all a Republican paper can do to make both ends meet, how can a Democratic sheet survive?" Only the rigid economies the professor knew how to practice, learned from German parents and in his own struggles for an education, made it possible to keep the paper alive.   He had a large family to support, but fortunately he had no bad habits and brought his offpsring up to work and save. They were all on the ways and means committee. He never failed to have his paper out on time. With his own hands for years he led the way, not only in writing the editorials and the important events about town and in the county, but with his children set most of the type, anEd did the hard things necessary to make the publication a success. Little outside help was hired as possible. He was a great admirer of Benjamin Franklin and his wise sayings. Among them was "A penny saved is a penny earned." He never indulged in billings gate or personalities. He lived in a time when to advocate the abolition of the saloon, or to challenge the liquor traffic was not only unpopular but often dangerous. Regardless of public opinion on the subject, he never showed the white feather, but with a courage born of conviction, that the traffic was an evil and an evil only, he took his pen in hand, when occasion demanded, and told the truth concerning it. When public meetings were called to fight the enemy, he was on hand ready to express his views, in language that was understood, as lie was possessed of no mean ability as a speaker. He led the way in advocating a new water system for the city by going to Lake Erie (with our intake). At once strong opposition arose by denunciatory editorials in a Republican paper. Nothing daunting, he followed up the argument with reasoning that turned the tide. Having a newspaper, his efforts without doubt brought success. He built finally the two-story block to house his paper next to the Elyria Hotel. As we contemplate what would have been the result had the city relied upon Black River for its water supply, we marvel that any person should have thought going to the inexhaustible fountain for water, which, when filtered, makes the inhabitants nearly immune to typhoid fever, so prevalent when the old system was in vogue, when wells had to supply the drink, and the river water was too filthy for a bath. Where would have been our multiplied fac-   232 - Early History of Elyria and Her People   tories had the voice and pen of Professor Reefy not been listened to?   He was the most interested person for years and until his death, at seventy-seven, in calling attention to the wonders of "Cascade Park." He spent many hours yearly studying its rock formation, and wrote ever and anon, interesting articles about its beauty and birds. Advocated for years the construction of drives and paths through the same, so the people, young and old, could more fully enjoy its charming spots. There should be a tablet to his memory placed against one of the great boulders paying him homage. When Grover Cleveland entered the White House, not many moons waxed and waned before he   CASCADE PARK   A portion of picnic grounds, showing table rock and cliff overhanging Indian camping grounds   Early History of Elyria and Her People - 233   named the professor postmaster for Elyria, just reward for his party fidelity and courage to stand for temperance when the Republican paper was silent on the great question. Every Republican rose up to say, "If we must have a Democratic postmaster, the professor is the man"; in so high regard was he held regardless of party. About as many Republicans took his paper as Democrats. He discharged his duties well. His noble and cultured companion, now eighty-seven, is still with us, residing with her daughters at the old homestead. They had five children; foughters and one son. Rollin T. Reefy who, with his wife, Blanche Reefy, a cultured lady, so long a resident"' f:ko;lyElyria, beloved by all who knew her, reside in St. Petersburg, Fla. The daughter, Alice, is a very successful physician in New York City, and has been for twelve years. Ada is the well-known music teacher. Alta and Eva care for the mother, and are very active in the things making for the betterment of the city. Rollin has ever been exemplary in his character and successful in his business undertakings. Professor Reefy and his family have striven and lived for the best. All hail to the memory of the grand old man who fought a good fight and was true to the flag. His cultured brain is made manifest in his family.   CHAPTER XXXVII   ONE of the strong and interesting characters whose business life was spent in Elyria and long since gone to his reward, was Moses Herner •Levagood. If the name our doting parents bestow upon us has anything to do in shaping our lives, then a boy named by his sire "Moses" should possess leadership. The origin of his second and surname remain a mystery, as neither can be found in dictionaries or encyclopedias. He was the first and last man whoever resided in the city bearing the name "Levagood." His natural modesty was such that he never spoke or wrote of himself as "Moses," but signed his name, and was known by everybody as "H. M. Levagood." While he was born under the British flag in Wilmot, Ontario, Canada, February 2, 1845, yet when he swore allegiance to the Stars and Stripes it s from the heart, as well as the head, as from then henceforth he was a real American. From hisouth he was a   234 - Early History of Elyria and Her People   lover of good books and believed in a clean life. At eighteen, having received a good literary education in the town of his birth, he made his way to a business college in Detroit, from which he graduated with honors. He readily found positions at bookkeeping, but being ambitious to enter the industrial world where he could load up with responsibilities as proprietor, he entered the service of an automatic machine factory, located in the city of Cleveland, which was soon moved in 1874 to Elyria and located in a then pretentious four-story brick structure erected for it, still the main one of the present great plant, and was christened "The Western Automatic Machine and Screw Co." Young Levagood was then but twenty-nine, a stockholder and its bookkeeper, also a director.   The panic of 1873 had commenced the year before and was beginning to be felt all over the country. Because of it the new industry, in which many Elyria people had invested, with the hope of not only benefitting themselves personally, but the whole community as well, went down in the common ruin. Young Levagood found himself penniless. The time had come to test his abilities and metal, when the wheels no longer turned. Orders ceased to come in warranting operation and the creditors demanded payment. He rose to the occasion and resolved that come what might, he would stand by the proposition till the storm blew over. He reasoned, '`There is the building and there are the machines. In time there will be a demand for the goods. Times will surely improve." It was simply a matter of weathering the storm when the ship would right again. Every morning he was in the office the same as though the institution was a going concern. Some orders came, ever and anon, but there was no money to pay the help to fill them. Angry stockholders pounded on the office door and were admitted, where they met a cheerful smile and advice that the only thing to do was to stay by the guns. That factories in all lines over the country were in trouble. All letters were answered as they came in, assuring the houses they would be "killing the goose that laid the golden egg" if they were too savage. In short, Levagood's good nature, optimism, and staying on the job from day to day, was for the time being what saved the institution being scrapped and turned over to the moles and bats. The writer, who came here two years later, heard him say he had no money, that he was buying his groceries on credit and wearing patched clothes, determined to save the institution.   When some of the irate creditors demanded that he vacate and turn over the books, he locked them up and refused to yield. This situation lasted for months. At this time there was a young man in Hartford, Conn., by the name of Richard DeWitt Perry, who for some years had been learning from the ground up, in the Hartford Machine Screw Co., how to manufacture automatic machines. He had become so proficient in the mechanical end of the business as to be counted an expert in that line. He also gave evidence of executive ability. The heaviest creditors of the Elyria factory resided in Hartford. The outcome of the master was young Perry, at the age of twenty-six, was sent here to take charge of the institution as manager in connection with Levagood. It being the largest factory at the time in the town of any character, his coming as manager attracted general attention. His youth in the minds of the wise ones, was against him. They shook their heads. "What, send such a young fellow as this, a mere boy to manage the works? It is a mistake." Like young Levagood, he was there from early morning till the moon came up and away into the night, if necessary, studying the problem. It was soon discovered that the machines should be replaced by later ones to produce the best goods. This was done. The old ones had turned out much poor material that came back.   The second year after Perry came the late Willis W. Fay, a young attorney who had just commenced practicing with his brother, W. L. Fay, tired of Blackstone and litigation, walked over to see Levagood and Perry, with the view of going on the road to sell their product. He put the matter to them in this way: "I propose that you send me out on the road to sell your goods. If I find I cannot make it go you will owe me nothing, save my expenses in making the trial. You are anxious for orders. I believe I can get them if you will let me have my way of securing them." His proposition was accepted. Grip in hand with samples, order book, and change enough in his pocket to get there and back and not go hungry, he purchased a ticket for Chicago, the then best market for their product. On reaching the city he called on the purchasing agent of the largest house using such goods, who abruptly turned him down without   236 - Early History of Elyria and Her People   so much as permitting him to show his samples. Said they had placed an order before with the Elyria concern that turned out badly. "But," said Fay, "we have in new and the latest and finest machines that make the best kind of goods; give me an order, as you say you are in need of screws." "No, could not think of it." Fay had now reached his test. Should he go home and call it a failure? There came to him as he sat in a hotel lobby in the great city, a piece he remembered when a lad was in his school reader, "If at first you do not succeed, then try, try again." Rising from his meditations, encouraged by the wise saying, he canvassed every place where such goods as he had in his grip were handled. He secured a few small orders, enough to meet his expenses. Whenever a rebuff came, he quoted again and again to himself what the wise man said. On his next trip to Chicago he was passing the great building where he was turned down so abruptly, and cogitated for a time whether to go in. It resulted in his making a resolve then and there that brought success ever after. It was this: "I shall call on every customer who turns me .down till I have made a friend out of him, and if my factory makes the best goods possible it will bring me in time, orders." With this idea born on the sidewalk, he boldly entered the office and said, "I was in the city selling my goods and felt I could not leave without calling on so fine a fellow as you are, just to say how are you." He never mentioned goods. Was asked to be seated.   Fay was a past master in meeting people wherever he went, for he was a gentleman and had a personality that drew men toward him. As he rose to leave, the purchasing agent said, "Fay, call again, I like to talk with you." He called many times on his Chicago trips. He made it a point to do so at a time when he could invite the fellow out to lunch or to attend some entertainment. The time came, he expected would come, when the friend said, as he arose to go, "Say, Fay, do not be in a hurry, stay a while longer." He replied, "I must be looking up customers; I have not been able to find one in you." The purchasing agent replied, "Say, Fay, I guess I haven't treated you just right; I believe I will venture a small order." Thereupon he asked how much his company would make certain screws for. Fay made the price so low he knew there would be a loss of a few dollars. He said, "Send the goods and I will see   Early History of Elyria and Her People - 237 what kind you are making down there." Fay wrote to the company with his order to fill it just as he had agreed he would, regardless of loss.   On his next trip to Chicago he called on the new customer, who was delighted to tell him that the goods were excellent. A large order followed, and still larger as the years passed away. By this policy of manufacturing friends, So) to speak, Fay secured orders galore, and made a host of friends scattered over the country who never forsook him. The results of the efforts of this trio of young men, who gave their best to building up the Elyria institution, commencing fifty years ago, are the sent two automatic plants, "The Western Automatic Machine Screw Co." and "The Perry-Fay Automatic Screw Co.," in which factories thousands have found employment to support their families and build homes. These three men have ever been high-class citizens, standing for the best in the city. They were all poor boys, who laid the foundation of their careers by sacrifice, ever willing to do the hard things necessary to success without which no boy can accomplish.   Mr. Perry remains still active and at the head of the one he and Mr. Fay years ago founded and built up after selling out their interest in the first. To come back to the life of Mr. Levagood, he has left an impression on this community for good works that will never die.   His residence was on the west side and still stands. He was the leading citizen in that part of the city at the date of his death. He was twice mayor. During his administration the Lake Erie Waterworks were built. He was very active in the contest securing the same. He was deeply interested in several lodges, organized to look after the widow and fatherless. Was an outstanding member of the church and an enemy of the liquor traffic. His picture hangs among the ex-mayors of the city in the City Hall. Mrs. Levagood was a lady of refinement and intelligence. Their home was one of hospitality. No finer families have lived in Elyria in the last forty years than those of Levagood, Perry, and Fay, whether parents or children. All have been educated and all are believers in Christianity, and live their pretensions. Mr. Levagood was a member of the school board and vice-president and director in the savings bank. He was a commoner, given to benevolence. No   238 - Early History of Elyria and Her People   young man was ever led astray by these men by precept or example. The first of said automatic factories, made possible by said three men, has been giving employment to the laboring man, longer by far, than any other institution in the city. One of the evidences of opportunity it has so afforded is to be found in the chance it gave Carl Dunton. the dwarf, only three feet in height, who recently passed away at the Memorial Hospital. For more than fifty years he had been, because of his diminutive size, a conspicuous figure on the streets. He was given an opportunity to operate a machine for many years. Out of his wages he not only supported his widowed mother, but because of his correct habits of life and ability to save, left an estate of eight thousand dollars. His mother passed away not long since. His comfortable home was located on the north side of West Broad Street. He is a striking example of what even an unfortunate by birth may accomplish in this country, in spite of his handicap. No cleaner citizen lived in Elyria than Carl Dunton. For practicing economy, minding his own business, and habits of industry, we all may with profit emulate his example. Then he was a man of intelligence, and stood boldly against the liquor traffic. His kind treatment of his aged mother will ever remain a monument to his credit. If all lived the correct life of Carl Dunton., no police would be necessary, and a criminal court would be unknown. The city of Elyria is better because of his life.   For forty years the name of John W. Hart was a household word in Elyria and surrounding country. Less than thirty years ago his large pretentious residence stood on the knoll at the bend on the west side of East Avenue with ample grounds. He had a dynamic personality. Everything about him had to move or get run over. He employed men making it possible for them to support their families during the eight years of the panic of 1873, when others hung to their dollars. He was rightly named for when jobless they came to him with the story that their children were without bread, he could not turn them down, though he knew that it meant financial loss. He owned and operated a planing mill, located on the south side of East Broad Street, on the southwest corner of that street and the alley. He also owned several hundred acres of land in Grafton Township, just west of the stone quarry, north of the village, on which   Early History of Elyria and Her People - 239   he had horses and cattle. He opened a quarry also and was a contractor and builder. He began life a penniless boy in a livery stable in Grafton, which lie later owned. He was for a long time on the city council. His name appeared on every subscription paper for the benefit of the city and benevolences. For constant driving power, he was a study. Mrs. Hart was a lady beloved by all with whom she was acquainted, for her manifold kindnesses. Mrs. Tucker, a cultured lady, the wife of our ex-mayor, Chas. Tucker, is their daughter. They had a son, that went west, who possessed many of the characteristics of his sire.   CHAPTER XXXVIII   FOR many years, the name "Bela Rawson" was familiar to the inhabitants, not only of Elyria, but the surrounding country as well. He was among the pioneers who developed the "West Side" of our city, as an employer of men, in the conduct of the foundry that was operated on Lodi Street. His ancestors were American Revolutionists. The earliest known was Edward Rawson, born in England on the 16th of April, 1615, five years before the landing of the "Pilgrims." He married at the age of twenty-one, a relative of the Archbishop of Canterbury, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and then sailed with his bride to Newbury, Mass. Here he became one of the outstanding men of the colony. The oldest encyclopedias in our libraries have this to say about him: "Edward Rawson, born in England, settled in Newbury, Mass., in 1836. Represented the town in the General Court for several years, was clerk of that body, and secretary of the Massachusetts Colony. He published The General Laws Concerning the Inhabitants of Massachusetts." He had a large part in laying the foundations of the town, was a fine penman, a man of marked ability, and highly respected. He had a family of twelve children. He was ever a zealous Christian. His family Bible, over two hundred years old, is in possession of a Massachusetts relative. He was deeply interested in education. His son, Grindel Rawson, graduated from Harvard College. Was a classmate and friend of the noted Colonial historical character, "Cotton Mather." He was a minister of repute.   240 - Early History of Elyria and Her People   Later Cotton Mather said of him, after his decease, "We generally esteemed him a truly pious man and a very prudent one, and every way qualified for a friend that might be delighted in."   Like his illustrious ancestor, he had a family of twelve children. One was Edmund Rawson, named after his grandfather. He was a tiller of the soil in Umbridge, Mass. Married Elizabeth Howard. He, like his ancestors, was deeply religious. Was many years deacon of the church. He had three sons; Edmund, his namesake, married Martha Allen. They had five children. One was also named Edward. He was a Revolutionary soldier, and fought among the immortals at "Bunker Hill." He settled at Montague, Mass., ran a hotel, and owned a large tract of land. Later he moved to Wilma, New York State, where he died in 1823, leaving a family of six children. One was named Bela Rawson, who married Polo Coro, by whom he had seven children. One son, the subject of this sketch, was named after his father. Bela Rawson was horn in Watertown, N. Y., June 18, 1824, one hundred and five years ago. When a child his parents moved into the wilderness of Pittsfield, this county. The journey was made all the way from the State of New York by oxen and a covered wagon. In 1846, at twenty-two, he married Harriett Nichols, of Elyria, whose parents were born in Connecticut, and whose ancestors were Puritans. They were married the same year Elyria was founded in 1817. Their Puritanical bringing up remained to the end with Ashael Nichols and wife. Sunday commenced Saturday evening, after which no work, save that of absolute necessity was done till Sunday evening. They reached Elyria in a covered wagon. They purchased for ninety-two dollars the lot, the founder of the town Heman Ely owned, on the northwest corner of Lodi and West River, where they built quite a pretentious Colonial house. He was a stone mason and took contracts for stone structures. Ten children were born to them; six boys and four girls.   Coming back to the subject of our sketch, Bela Rawson, at twenty-five, left his young wife in his lure for gold and joined the "Forty-niners." For three years he endured the hardships in crossing the plains and hunting for the precious metal in the bowels of that far-away State, only to meet with disappointment, as he returned nearly as empty-handed as when he left. He then purchased sixty acres of heavy timberland in   Early History of Elyria and Her People - 241 Pittsfield, erected a log house in which he resided for twelve years, then moved to Elyria and purchased the foundry on Lodi Street, mentioned, that his brother had conducted, and here spent the remainder of his life manufacturing plows and agricultural implements. He not only professed Christianity, but lived it in his daily walk and conversation. He was a Methodist, and his household was a place where prayer was wont to be made. He never used tobacco and hated liquor. He remembered the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. He saw to it that his sons all learned a trade. Samuel, who became a noted telephone man, was a tinner; Arthur learned the moulders' trade; Orry that of a baker, and Bird became a candy maker. Here they spent their lives. One daughter married the late Frank Root, of Pittsfield, one of the cultured prominent men of the county: She still lives on the fine country home farm in the township. Her daughter, a refined lady, an only child, married H. L. Worcester, of Elyria, a well-known contractor and builder, and one of our best citizens. They have a promising family growing up. Another daughter is Mrs. Frances Bath, a beloved character. She is on the board and has been for years of the "Home for the Aged," is a D. A. R., and ever a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She married John W. Bath, of the city, the son of pioneers, Giles Bath and wife, who were among the best citizens of the city, standing for the common weal. John W. Bath was one of the fire inspectors for the State for many years, till made postmaster by President Roosevest, a position he held with much credit for two terms, when he entered the employ of the National Tube Co., as salesman of road material.   They had two daughters. One, Marjorie, married William Adams, now holding an important position as State man for the Logan Gas Co. They reside in Columbus. They have two daughters. The other, Jean, married Lawrence Webber, attorney of Elyria, who has been city solicitor and prosecuting attorney. They have two daughters. From the earliest-named ancestor of the Rawson family, in Colonial days, three hundred years ago to the present time, not one has disgraced the name, but on the contrary, all have been patriots and lived lives of honor and usefulness, and had much to do in building up our civic life,   242 - Early History of Elyria and Her People   It would probably be a fruitless search in America to find a town of five thousand inhabitants in which somebody named "Jones" does not reside. People bearing this designation, in numbers, are like the sands of the sea. But numerous as they are, nevertheless, it is an honorable name, according to the historian, as the standard encyclopedias tell of twenty who have achieved distinction, the most illustrious of whom was John Paul Jones, the greatest noted sea fighter on record. It will be recalled that President Roosevelt sent a convoy of battleships to Paris, where he had been buried one hundred and forty years, to bring his remains here. The return trip was accompanied by a like fleet of French vessels. His sacred dust now lies buried in Annapolis, marked by the most pretentious monument ever erected to the honor and memory of a naval officer on our soil. One of Elyria's early citizens was Robert I. Jones, born in Utica, N. Y., October 13, 1825, one hundred and four years ago. Came to Elyria in 1855, when thirty years of age, and established a bakery on the spot now occupied by the Parsch planing mill. In 1861 he listened to the siren voice and closed the bakery to search for gold in the region of "Pike's Peak." This delusion lasted nine months, when he concluded he could find more of the precious metal in conducting a bakery on Cheapside, in the little town of Elyria, than hunting for it in the Rockies. The First Savings and Loan Co. now occupies the spot on which, for many years, he successfully served the public to the staff of life. His hand-made crackers were for years in great demand, not only at retail, but wholesale, as well. "Jones Bakery" was a household name for many miles, and for many years, until he disposed of the same to open a wholesale and retail grocery on East Broad Street on the spot now occupied by the Niesner Bros. Five Cents to a Dollar Store. At threescore years and ten he was gathered to his fathers. He was born with a smile that never wore off, which remained a benediction during the forty years he spent in the business life of Elyria. No customer ever entered his mart of business that did not bring away with his purchase something that money can't buy, a feeling that it was good to be there. He was never known to talk pessimism, but Lincoln-like, was ever ready with a story that made the heart glad and drove the clouds away. He was short in stature, given slightly to corpulence, possessed of eyes one would never   Early History of Elyria and Her People - 243   forget. His counterpart, in build and looks, are to be seen in his grandson, our enterprising citizen given to good works, Dr. Agate, who certainly inherited the ancestral face and burning eyes. Robert I. Jones was a man of honor and high character, whose word was never questioned, and whose hand was ever ready to assist in the alleviation of distress.   His noble wife reached nearly the age of ninety. They had two children, our well-known townsman, "Jude" Jones and Mrs. Agate, the doctor's mother, who resides on East Avenue. Mrs. Agate's other two sons are Harold Agate, the merchant-tailor; and Robert, the automobile man. All are good citizens, an honor to their ancestors. We need more such spirits like Robert I. Jones to cheer us on our way.   One of the earliest pioneers in Lorain County was John Day, who entered the Sheffield woods in 1816, the year before Elyria   244 - Early History of Elyria and Her People   was founded. Among his descendants was Sumner B. Day, who for thirty years was one of the most active and prominent business men of the city. His earliest-known ancestor was Robert Day, one of the founders of Hartford, Conn., who came from England. Sumner B. Day, the subject of this sketch, was the seventh generation in line from the first ancestor named. He was born on a farm in Sheffield in 1842. At the age of forty-three he moved to Elyria; he was the owner of several hundred acres of land, on much of which the Tube Mill Plant is now located. He also owned for many years previous, what was known all over the county as Day's water mill, in Sheffield, in which he turned out lumber from the heavily timbered forest he owned. It was the first dam on Black River above navigation. This made the stream just below the dam the finest fishing ground in the county, as the lake fish, endeavoring to go upstream, in consequence of the dam, could not pass, and gathered in great numbers just below. When the old busy mill was finally abandoned for the lack of timber, the water wheel that had charmed for years so many who watched its revolutions, rusted in its bearings, and piece by piece, in time, fell into the pit below, till the last vestige of old faithful succumbed to the tooth of time and decay, leaving only a memory of its splash and foam in the minds of those who fell under its spell.   The primitive dam that had, since pioneer days stayed the rushing water, fell into neglect, with no hand to stay the disintegration, and piece by piece the relentless waters tore out its ribs, till there was nothing left to tell its story save a fragment of the overgrown race. The happy fisherman who watched his bobber disappear in the deep pool, has gone to his reward, while a few rods away rise the smokestacks of one of the mighty industries of the earth, belching forth her ceaseless flame, turning iron from the bowels of the earth into millions of tons of steel, giving employment to unnumbered multitudes as the years come and go. Sumner Day, as he was known, saw when he came to Elyria, the unoccupied vacant territory, now covered by fine homes, bounded on the north by West Second Street and on the east by West Avenue, on the south by West Third Street, and on the west by the banks of Black River. It was the land occupied at one time by the fair grounds and circuses.   Early History of Elyria and Her People - 245   For years it has been a common where children played and cows were tethered. It remained for Sumner Day to see its possibilities, for he purchased the same at pretty nearly his own figure, platted it, and put the same on the market. "It won't sell," said the pessimist, but it did, at a handsome profit. This was the beginning of other allotments by the Sheffield pioneer boy.   Other men then took courage and had their faith strengthened in the future growth of the city, when they saw before their own eyes, what they did not believe would come to pass. They came to believe that whatever Sumner Day put his hand to would succeed. This man from the lumber woods, farm, and running a pioneer water mill, surprised the wiseacres in his ventures. He helped organize the Lorain County Bank & Trust Co., was its vice-president, and then its president. He was the prime mover in building the electric line from here to Grafton and its president. He helped organize the Elyria Lumber and Coal Co., of which Charles Crehore is now the head; was also a director in the Perry-Fay Co.; was trustee on the board of the Lorain County Children's Home. He had large timber interests in Kentucky and other places. Men had implicit confidence in his judgment and integrity. He could have conducted a system of railroads, with marked success, or any large enterprise. He married Miss Sue Maria Knox, of Russell, N. Y. To them two children were born; Lee Day, of Bradentown, Fla., who has made a great success in handling real estate and raising citrus fruits. He was elected last fall to the legislature of that State, against a Democrat, the first Republican who ever made the goal in the history of the county. He is married and has a fine promising family. He was a member of our bar for several years, but abandoned the profession for a business career. He is, and ever has been, an exemplary citizen, a close student of the problems of the government, and is a thinker of marked ability. The sister married Asaph Jones, our former worthy mayor, so well known in Lorain County, whose residence is in Bradentown, Fla., where he has become an outstanding citizen, a credit to any community, and has a splendid family. Among all the generations of the Days not one has disgraced the name.   17   246 - Early History of Elyria and Her People   CHAPTER XXXIX   ON THE 2d day of January, 1844, eighty-five years ago, there was born two and one-half miles east of Belden, this county, just across the township line between Grafton and Liverpool, Medina County, one of the most gifted men who ever spent his life in Elyria, by the name of George P. Metcalf, whose abilities as a trial lawyer have never been surpassed at the Lorain County bar, though he passed from the earth at the untimely age of forty-three. Those whose privilege it was to have heard hint in the conduct of a trial, still delight in recounting his talents and battles against the relentless disease of rheumatism, that wasted away and distorted his six-foot athletic body, in spite   HON. GEORGE P. METCALF   Was a soldier in the battles of Lookout Mountain and Gettysburg. Was a brilliant trial attorney. Stood at the head of the bar in spite of his infirmities that brought hint for years to crutches and a wheel chair. He passed away at the age of forty-three, mourned by thousands   Early History of Elyria and Her People - 247 of which he never surrendered till the inevitable came. He was a pioneer farm boy. His father and mother began life in a hut on the spot on which the house in which he was born stood. They were farmers, who, with the help of their five sons and three daughters, made the wilderness blossom as the rose. His early schooling was three months in the winter, such as the country schoolhouse afforded. Nine months of the year were given to hard work, incident to that period, till he was seventeen when the Civil War broke out, that stirred the blood of the American youth all over the loyal North. At this time he had never been twenty miles from home and had not ridden on a railway train. Early and late, since he was old enough to bring in wood for the household, his life had been one of ceaseless toil. his noble parents were Baptists, who never failed on Sunday morning to have the farm team hitched td the old carryall, with the ten members of the household loaded in, to be at the Sunday school and church in Columbia Township, this county, eight miles away.   In recounting the events of his childhood in after life, he said we children called the old vehicle "the Ark of the Covenant." President Lincoln had issued the call for seventy-five thousand men to put down the rebellion. He had dreamed as all farm boys did in those days of sometime becoming a man of affairs in a far-off town. He wanted to be a trial lawyer, although he had never seen an attorney. Four miles north from the Liverpool home, for two winters, there had been held in the evening a debating society free for all comers. This gathering had for him such a charm that he never failed each week to be one of the number, regardless of the labor of the day, and the fact that he had to walk there and back. No organizations throughout America have conduced so much toward giving the participant a chance to discover his latent powers of speaking ability as the debating societies held in the little schoolhouses of the pioneers. This is the testimony of nearly all the men who came to he known as public speakers, whether lawyers or ministers. Till he was seventeen, the farm, little schoolhouse, church, and debating society had constituted his world. Now and then the monotony of farm life was broken in upon by a runaway slave seeking shelter, food, and protection under his parents' roof, as they were Abolitionists, and their home one   248 - Early History of Elyria and Her People   of the many "underground railway stations." When George was but seventeen, a man of no principle came to him as he was starting to school, and asked him if he did not want to enlist. He assured him he did, providing his parents would give their consent, as he was not old enough. He said you sign this paper and I will see them and get their signatures. If they will not agree to your going it will not hold you. With that understanding, having implicit confidence in the man, he signed the document.   He not only did not go near the parents, but told the boy shortly thereafter he would have to go to Fremont where the regiment was quartered, when he would be released. He obeyed, only to find he had been deceived, and was told by the scalawag after he arrived, if he ran away he would be arrested. He disappeared that night for home. Some weeks after he was working with his father in the woods, when three men showed up and charged him with desertion and arrested him. He assured them he was not guilty and told the story of the deception. They were rough-looking fellows, with whiskey on their breath and tobacco in their whiskers. His father went along with them to Grafton Station, where they were to take the train for camp. On the way he began to figure how to escape his tormentors, the self-appointed officials as they were. He borrowed eight dollars from his father. The train did not leave for Cleveland for several hours. The father returned home and the trio took their prisoner into a nearby saloon to regale themselves. When the train came in the evening it was dark. The three were somewhat intoxicated. Metcalf noticing their inattention to him, boarded a coach in the dark while they were not looking, just before the same stopped. After it came to a full stop they looked for their prisoner; he could not be found. Thinking he had escaped in the darkness, they began to hunt about. The train started and left them. His native keenness at once helped him out. Anticipating they would telegraph ahead to have him arrested, thinking perhaps he boarded the same, he feigned asleep when the conductor came through for tickets, and when aroused he said he boarded the train at LaGrange and paid his fare from that point. His surmises came true; he heard the station agent at Berea ask if a young man got on the train at Grafton. The conductor replied, "No," said "one did at LaGrange, but not Grafton,"     Early History of Elyria and Her People - 249 Before reaching Cleveland he concluded to go to the State of New York, where he knew his father's relatives resided, and he had cousins named Metcalf. Before reaching his destination, he resolved he would change his name, to avoid detection, and let them into the secret and have them call him by his new name.   When he reached the little village among the hills where the Metcalfs did their trading, he asked the merchant if he had seen any of the Metcalfs about there that day, as he was looking for a ride out to their farm, when the vendor of goods said, "Is your name Metcalf?" This made the roots of his curly hair creep, as he then thought his tormentors had sent word ahead, but when the good man said, "You look like them," his pounding heart assumed its normal beat. He soon discovered a cousin in the town, when they made their way to the farm. Here he worked till August of that year, after he had reached his eighteenth birthday, when the call came from President Lincoln for three hundred thousand more men. On reading it he resolved to enlist, and did, with one of the cousins on the 22d day of August, 1862, in Co. D. 136 N. Y. V. I., and marched away to the front. There he remained till the close of the war, a period of substantially three years. He did not see home for two years, when sickness overtook him and he was granted a furlough, to go to his Ohio home. While he was gone, his people had sold their farm in Liverpool and purchased one in Pittsfield, this county. He was not able to return till the fall of that year. During the two years' service, he had been in the battles at Chattanooga, Tenn., and Gettysburg, the greatest fought in the Civil War. While he was at home, his regiment marched with Sherman from Atlanta to the sea. With the war ended, he found himself of age without an education and impaired health. While on his furlough he was one day in a store at Liverpool, now called Valley City, when a "Copperhead" of the community, who had been in the service a few months, claiming to have been discharged, began to say bitter things about Lincoln and the whole Union Army, whereupon his loyal blood boiled, and he knocked him down. Arrest followed. He was fined $7.50 for assault and battery. As he was wondering where he could find the money the loyal villagers raised the amount to pay the fine and costs, and satisfied the demands of the magistrate, and thanked Met-