250 - Early History of Elyria and Her People calf for the good job he had done. Within a week an officer of the Government appeared and arrested the fellow as a deserter, after which he was never heard of again. Metcalf's ambition to become a lawyer now seized him. It was discussed in the home in Pittsfield pro and con. The outcome was he was to go to Oberlin College and hoard himself, on such provisions as the farm afforded. For months he had hard work to concentrate his mind on his studies. Then his lack of education and schooling for three years made it a problem whether he could ever get his mind down to business. Boys much younger were able to far outstrip him in getting lessons. But his determination to win turned the tide in a few months, when he found himself. The next year he was able to secure a certificate to teach school. He taught in his own neighborhood and later in LaGrange. At the expiration of three years, at the age of twenty-four, he concluded to read law. He became a student in the office of Attorney C. W. Johnston, of Elyria. While reading he taught school now and then to supply the wherewith. In the fall of 1869, he was admitted to the bar. The question then arose where to open a law office. To him it seemed as though there was no opportunity North. That the place to go was South. He borrowed one hundred dollars from his father, filled a small trunk with his earthly possessions, and started. It was, of course, in the days of reconstruction. The Southerners who fought in the Southern ranks or were in sympathy with the rebellion to destroy the Union had no right to hold Federal offices. The liberated slaves did. The "Klu Klux" organizations were riding over the country, striking terror to the hearts of the colored people and Northerners who had gone South to make homes. Then the "carpetbaggers" were holding the offices. Money was a curiosity and the black man had no justice meted out to him. He soon discovered it was no place to grow up with the country, and he had better be getting back while the getting was good. His one hundred dollars had melted away, till it was a question whether he would have enough to land him at the LaGrange depot. By taking a steamboat to Cincinnati, he saved several dollars. He then discovered that if he carried his trunk from the steamboat landing to the "Big Four" depot, he would have just enough to pay his railroad fare home. He started with it on his Early History of Elyria and Her People - 251 back up the streets of Cincinnati. The urchins called out as he trudged along, "Shoot the trunk," and other words to attract the attention of the passer-by. Within a few days he was back in the C. W. Johnston law office without means, and in debt to his father to the sum of one hundred dollars. He secured a country school and earned the amount and paid the father. That paid, he was taken into partnership by Mr. Johnston, for a sum sufficient to pay his board and purchase clothing. He succeeded his partner as prosecuting attorney of the county. In the conduct of the office he began to show his narked ability. From that time, for the following fifteen years, his rise as a trial attorney, in spite of his bodily infirmities that were drawing his six-foot frame out of shape and wasting his body, became the talk and admiration of the whole county. About the time he was elected prosecutor he married a LaGrange girl, Miss Sarah Stroup, a school-teacher, a sister of the late Judge Lee Stroup. When about thirty-three, he was compelled to carry a cane; at thirty-five, crutch and cane; at thirty-seven, two crutches. Then came a wheel chair, as he could no longer walk but a few steps. Within two years he could not climb stairs and had to be carried up to his office and court room in a chair. For several years before his decease, at forty-three, he was not able to stand on his feet before a jury to argue his case, but sat on the edge of the trial table, leaning on his crutches. He had wasted away to a mere shadow of his former self. Wracked as his body was, and suffering as he did night and day from rheumatic pains, that ossified his knee joints and gnarled his hands and tipped his head forward, he never lost his courage or keenness of intellect. His power over juries was uncanny. He would take a few facts developed in the evidence, and build up an argument that astounded the listener old convinced the judgment. As he was being wheeled along in his chair, the friends were solicitous as to his welfare, and naturally would ask after his health. If one asked, "How is your constitution, George?" he would reply, "That has been gone a long time; am running it on the by-laws." An opposing attorney in a trial, feeling nettled by some remark Metcalf made, arose and cried out: "Metcalf, which side of this law suit are you on, anyway?" whereupon he replied, "There is but one side to it," in such a way that court and jury roared 252 - Early History of Elyria and Her People with laughter. The year previous to his decease, he dictated his life from childhood till he began to practice law to a stenographer, who put it in type. He had it bound at a book bindery. It is one of the most interesting autobiographies ever written. The friends who have read it express but one opinion concerning it, and that is, when they start reading there is no stopping place till the end is reached. There are 456 pages. People who suffer from rheumatism grasp at every suggestion they think might alleviate their pains. When asked what he had done to get rid of it, he would often go over the list of the remedies that had been suggested to him from time to time. Such as carrying a buckeye in your pocket, or a potato, nailing a horseshoe over the door, etc. The one he never tired telling about was given him by the philosopher of the city, heretofore written about, Albert Ely. It came about in this way. Mr. Ely had for several years been carrying a pair of crutches, which he did not use, but had them under his arms as he walked along the sidewalks as though he were using them, holding the ends about an inch from the walk. When asked why he carried them without using them, his answer was, he might need them; he wanted them ready. One evening Mr. Metcalf was sitting in his chair with his crutches handy by, when there was a rap at the door. Mrs. Metcalf opened it and found Albert Ely standing there with his crutches. She invited him in. When he was seated, he started the conversation by saying, "Mr. Metcalf, you have the rheumatism." "Yes, I certainly have." "Well," said Mr. Ely, "I have come in to tell you how to get rid of it, as the remedy cured me." "What is it?" asked Metcalf. He responded, "It is the principle of counter irritant." "What do you mean?" asked Metcalf. Ely thereupon stripped his pants leg and said, "You see, I wear no stockings in lieu thereof; I wear sawdust in my shoes," and sure enough, there was some in evidence. "You see," he said, "it sets up a counter irritation to the pain and drives it out." "Well," said Metcalf, "my trouble is not in my feet, it is mostly in my knee joints, where it would he hard to use sawdust." "Well, as for the knees, use coal oil, pour some on and touch a match to it, the fire will flash up for a moment and it will kill the pain." Metcalf said, "I am afraid the remedy would be worse than the disease." Early History of Elyria and Her People - 253 "Well I must be going," said Fly, "I thought I would tell you, now do as you are a mind to," as he disappeared in the darkness. His widow, a splendid Christian lady, resides in the residence in which he suffered and died, the second dwelling on the right over Washington Avenue bridge, known as Mrs. Fulton, the widow of Rev. Fulton, a Baptist minister, as she married again. George P. Metcalf stood for the best things in life. Was a kind husband, true friend, and upright citizen, who fought battles against pain that would have crushed most men, and never lost his cheer. He was beloved by a host of friends, most of whom have, like himself, passed over the river. I loved him as a brother. The last nine years of his life we were partners. I am glad to tell this generation, who knew him not, that such a brilliant soul lived and won against disease and poverty. He certainly meant much to the weal of the county. Though he has been gone in body thirty-eight years his great spirit goes marching on. The late Charles A. Metcalf, attorney, was his youngest brother. They were cousins of the noted humorous writer "M Quad," who made years ago the Detroit free Press famous by his stories of the "Lime Kiln Club," whose characters he created. Their mothers were sisters. His real name was Lewis. Charles A. Metcalf was an able attorney and useful citizen, and one of the organizers of the Anti-Saloon League. CHAPTER XL THERE was born on the 14th day of March, 1849, at Mt. Gilead, Ohio, a child destined to become internationally known, and one of the most conspicuous men in the World War whose life was spent from childhood till he gathered up his feet in death in Elyria. His name was William Graves Sharp, called by the people generally, "William G. Sharp." In his career is strikingly exemplified the oft-repeated saying that "America is a land of opportunity." His paternal father and grandfather were among the early newspaper men in central Ohio. The father died in his youth, leaving two infant sons, one of whom was the subject of this sketch. His grandparents on the mother's 254 - Early History of Elyria and Her People side, Mr. and Mrs. Graves, then took the boys to bring up. George and William, as they were known by the people of Elyria. The grandsire was a harness maker, who spent his life in the city following his trade in the various shops manufacturing the goods. To the rearing of these two children, he and his good wife gave their strength and earnings, each reaching a good old age, who in their declining years were tenderly cared for by William, who never forgot the debt of gratitude that was theirs, due from him. William G. Sharp, was from childhood, one of the most ambitious boys in Elyria. He early resolved to secure an education, come what might, and was possessed of an ambition to mark high in the affairs of men. To that end he spent no time in places of amusement, nor did he ever contract any bad habits. Dollars, he had none, save as he earned them here and there during his schooldays. He haunted the "Ely Library," in quest for the best hooks on travel, science, and the biographies of men who had made their way from poverty to success. During his school days he was seen coming out of the library with more books tinder his arm than any youth of his time who walked our streets. They were books filled with knowledge that brought success in after years. When he was through with high school he entered as a day laborer the naptha department of the "Topliff & Ely Bow Socket Works," to earn the wherewith to pay expenses through the law school of Michigan University. The old building still stands on the bank of Black River, just north of the New York Central depot, in which he labored unceasingly with blackened hands from the nature of the work till he had saved enough. which, by practicing the most rigid economy, he figured would take him through the institution. The morning he left for Michigan, Hon. George H. Ely, one of his employers, taking an interest in him, having watched his industry and habits of life, handed him a hundred dollars as a present and wished him success. He never forgot to tell of this incident of unsolicited kindness whenever Mr. Ely's name came up. He was as studious in the great school of law as he had ever been, and graduated with honors in the class of 1881. After doing a little newspaper work in Dakota, he returned to Elyria to spend his life, as a lawyer, where he opened a law office for a short time, when a desire to accumulate dollars faster than the exacting profession warranted, seized him to Early History of Elyria and Her People - 255 visit South America, "where it was said golden opportunities awaited Americans to make quick fortunes in the mining field. He turned the key on his office and sailed for that far-away country, only to find that it was torn by revolutions so badly that he was glad ere long to escape with his life. He then tried the Southland to get a footing in his profession, over which the armies of the rebellion had lately marched and laid waste, only to learn it was no place for a Northerner, and returned to Elyria, satisfied later he had been running away from the very things for which he had ambitions. Again his legal sign was hung out. While he had political aspirations he realized that in a Republican county like Lorain, with its two thousand majority over his party (for he was raised a Democrat), election to an office was out of the question. At this time there were troubles brewing within the ranks of the Republicans. The question as to who should be first in the kingdom of leadership was in the air. Then nearly all in the party had voted the ticket straight since Lincoln was elected, regardless of whether the nominees were sober or given to drink, but many were demanding sobriety, and the abolition of the saloon. The outcome of the quarrel was that after the writer of this book was nominated for prosecuting attorney in 1884, by the Republicans as an anti-saloon and anti-boss candidate, the defeated leaders of the opposition, who believed the other way, organized a bolt, and to make every bolster's ballot count two, voted for Sharp, whom the Democrats had nominated for the same office. The campaign lasted for months. The country was flooded with literature. The streets were strewn with it and the mails burdened by extra publications. The printing presses of the county were not able to meet the demands so that much of the work had to be done in Cleveland. It was known as the "Sharp and Webber" campaign. Great bitterness was engendered among neighbors. All the livery horses of the county were worn out, and many of the farm Bobbins, in distributing literature and canvassing the electorate. People forgot their business to take a hand pro or con. Newspapers came into circulation. Cartoons appeared. The leading men in Wellington were at the head of the great cheese industry, the greatest at the time in the United States, known as the "Horr-Warner & Co." They were for the Republican candidate 256 - Early History of Elyria and Her People as was Oberlin, while the old Republican war horses of Elyria were nearly all for the bolt. Lorain was then but a small village. One of the cartoons representing a great cheese, in which the Republican candidate and his Wellington supporters were pictured as skippers, and all who were not for Sharp, were dubbed the "Cheese Ring." The bolt succeeded, for when the ballots were counted out in November, Sharp had won. Three years later the writer was overwhelmingly nominated and elected for the same office. Sharp made a good prosecutor for the three years he held the position. he then became ambitious to accumulate wealth, to that end he joined his stepfather, who was engaged in making wood alcohol in the wilds of Michigan and Wisconsin. It was at the time when the great iron deposits of the Northwest were being opened up, and the wood alcohol industry was assuming large proportions. Sharp was one of the prime movers with others in utilizing the charcoal, a by product in making wood alcohol, in smelting pig iron out of the ore. Success attended his efforts, and as profits accumulated he became ambitious to do something in building up his town, and the result was he purchased the property then covered by some old wooden buildings located where the "Sharp Block" now stands, and erected the present structure bearing his name and now owned by his widow and occupied below by Conrad-Baisch Kroehle Co. furniture store. Later he erected two brick business blocks at Lorain, and the apartment on Washington Avenue, Elyria, known as the "Terrace." He became owner of stocks in industries in Tennessee and elsewhere. He organized iron and chemical plants in not only Michigan but Wisconsin and Canada as well. In 1908 he was nominated by his party for Congress, in this Fourteenth District, that was Republican by a large majority. The writer was then in Congress and a candidate for renomination, but because of his activities against the liquor interests was defeated for renomination and another Republican named in sympathy with the liquor interests, which aroused the temperance Republicans to bolt the nominee in such numbers by voting for Sharp, that he was elected by a good majority and took his seat. He was again nominated by his party after two years, and because the nominee of the Republicans was like the former one, Early History of Elyria and Her People - 257 in league with the liquor interests, the temperance Republicans again voted for Sharp and returned him by an increased majority. Sharp was ever true to his convictions. When the Democrats nominated a fiat money candidate for President against McKinley, he not only voted for McKinley, but took the stump against his party candidate. Then he was ever an anti-saloon worker, and its supporter, and lived his convictions on that subject. Because he did, thousands of Republicans turned to him when they saw fit to name a man for congressional honors who was looking to the saloon vote and influence to elect him. His diversion from business and congressional duties was astronomy, in which he took great delight, and on one occasion delivered before the congressional body, a lecture on the subject of the heavenly bodies that astonished the law-makers, and gave him the name of being the astronomer of that body. Early in the development of the flying machine, he became deeply interested, and made a strenuous effort to get Congress to make an appropriation to encourage its development, prophesying the time would come when it would be of great service to not only the industries of the world and commercial relations, but the government as well in mail service. Sharp had the spirit of the pioneer and ability to look ahead. His prophecies have been verified concerning navigation of the air. He turned his attention to travel after he had the means to gratify his ambitions in that direction, and visited nearly all the civilized countries. His seat in Congress while Wilson was President, brought about his appointment as Ambassador to France during the "World War." His responsibilities were great, but the Elyria high-school, boy rose to the occasion and met every emergency during the greatest war of all history. The strain was more than human flesh could bear. When the struggle was over he returned to Elyria with a shattered constitution that eventually ended his life at the untimely age of sixty-three, when he passed away at his beautiful residence on Washington Avenue, now occupied by his widow. No scandal ever touched his good name. He was a fine speaker and a great student of the best in literature. He had nearly completed his autobiography at his decease, which it is hoped will yet be published. He married in 1895 one of Elyria's finest young ladies, 258 - Early History of Elyria and Her People Hallie M. Clough, the daughter of the well-known Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Clough. She had much to do in bringing success to her husband. Her gracious ways and cultured mind made her a fitting person at the head of the great embassy, and in all positions her husband was called upon to fill. Five children were born to them, three sons and two daughters. So long as life shall be mine, I shall cherish his friendship as one of the bright spots along the way. He was a true husband, kind and indulgent father, and exemplary citizen, interested in all good works, and a firm believer in the Christian religion. I shall never forget an incident that showed faithfulness to his convictions. We had William Jennings Bryan here for a temperance address after Sharp returned from France. He invited six of his Democratic and six of his Republican friends over to meet Mr. Bryan at his residence. After dinner was over, as we were about to retire to the sitting room, he arose and, picking up his water glass, said, "We will now arise and drink a toast to our distinguished guest of honor, Mr. Bryan," whereupon all responded, and each sipped from his tumbler the liquid that cheers but does not inebriate. His funeral was one of the largest ever attended in Elyria. Many notables were present from Washington, Cleveland, and a multitude of old friends in the city and county came to pay their respects to his worth and memory. Before his grandparents passed away, he had built the largest mausoleum in our cemetery, to receive their bodies as well as his family. Therein lie their pulseless forms by his own, to await the resurrection when all must come forth, to answer for the deeds done in the body, to be judged by the One who is no respecter of persons. William G. Sharp was ever true to his city and county. Wherever he chanced to be, he was proud to say, "I hail from Elyria, Ohio." He was passionately fond of children, and never forgot to remember by frequent visits the elderly ladies who were his teachers in the public schools. His mother reached a mark far past eighty, and passed away in her Elyria home on Harrison Avenue recently. She was a bright lady, beloved by all who knew her and tenderly looked after by her illustrious son while life was his. His brother George was an attorney, practiced but little, and was for a time engaged in manufacturing in Michigan, where he was sent to the Michigan Senate. Early History of Elyria and Her People - 259 He spent the last years of life in Cleveland and died a few years ago. When they were boys here they were called by their school associates, "Big Jib and Little Jib," as they were constantly together, and looked alike, save William was larger and taller. CHAPTER XLI LORAIN COUNTY was organized in 1822. At the expiration of seventy-five years, it still remained in the rural list of the eighty-eight. Lorain was a lake port where coal was shipped up the Great Lakes, brought in by the then C. L. & W. Ry., the place where iron ore was dumped to be sent to Pittsburgh and other steel centers down the road. Then there was a small swing bridge, turned by a father and son, ever and anon, as a craft chanced to enter the harbor. The marts of trade consisted of a small grocery and a little notion store located at what we call the "Loop." On the corner now occupied by the office block, as you turn onto the great bridge, then stood a wooden hotel, kept alive largely by the sailors who patronized it, owned and run by Conrad Reed, a pioneer, who succeeded in gathering in enough shekels from the public, as the years came and went, to keep the county treasurer from selling him out for back taxes on his "Black River bottom swamp lands" and a strip along the bank, that it was regarded as a joke to own. He believed in the future of Lorain's natural harbor, but like Abraham of old, died before the "Promised Land" was reached. Country fish mongers farther south appeared in the spring for the early catch, to peddle among their neighbors, while an occasional steam tug or scow was being launched by the old pioneer boat builder, H. D. Root across the stream from the now great American Ship Building Co. plant. Hope revived among the faithful when the brass works came, that Lorain was yet destined to come into her own. There the prospects ended after the boom and the works ceased to operate. The only public means of getting about was by a "dinky" one-horse car with its tinkling bell, that made uncertain trips up and down Broadway over a track that was at times lost in the mud. All the territory now occupied by the great Steel Plant, 260 - Early History of Elyria and Her People Thew Shovel Works, foundry, lumber yards, and various industries, and thousands of fine homes, with miles of pavement and marts of trade, called "South Lorain," was then covered with underbrush and second-growth trees, haunts for jack rabbits. Elyria was yet a village, with unpaved streets, depending upon the filthy waters of Black River to supply her few industries. Our young men as they came to man's estate, finding little here to furnish employment, were drifting to the larger centers for work, when rumor had it that Tom L. Johnson, of Cleveland, a capitalist, had with other men of means purchased hundreds of acres of the Sheffield cut-over and useless farming land bordering the west bank of the river, were going to lay out a city, build a steel mill, and connect Elyria with the enterprise by an electric trolley line. It seemed too good to be true, but ere long an army of men, numbering a thousand, appeared with teams, axes, grub hoes, and steam shovels, to lay the foundations following the blueprints of the engineers. The blowing out of stumps on the right of way to Elyria for the trolley tracks commenced in good earnest and continued unabated. Soon the cars were running when a demand for houses and lots in Elyria multiplied and the city began to grow, and has since trebled in population, making it possible for her inhabitants to spend millions in securing sewers, pavements, lights, and a never-ending water supply for not only multiplied industries, but domestic purposes and that of the purest kind. That was the beginning of Elyria's prosperity in the industrial world, since which industries have multiplied, until we have about thirty-five thriving manufacturing plants, nearly all of which have had a steady growth, giving employment with the Lorain Steel Plant and Thew Shovel Works to thousands, resulting in the building of hundreds of beautiful homes and the erection of the best office and bank buildings of any city of its size in America, which with our churches and hospitals, library, a Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A. make the city the pride of all the surrounding country. Our natural park is second to none in Northern Ohio, and is being improved to make glad the hearts of all comers, an unalloyed joy to the youth of the city and county. I have given this brief background of our wonderful development to better pay homage to a great man, who gave his talents and energy Early History of Elyria and Her People - 261 so many years to the development of the now world-wide noted "Tube Mills" that have meant so much to us. His name was Max M. Suppes. From the beginning, his guiding hand was in everything, from the laying of the foundations for the ponderous machinery to the finished product and the sales end. The organization was made up of A. J. Moxham, president; Tom L. Johnson, vice-president; Max M. Suppes, general manager; P. M. Boyd, secretary; and W. A. Donaldson, treasurer. The first steel blown in the mill was April 1, 1895, thirty-four years ago. Dark days overtook the institution. In the beginning only twelve hundred men were employed. The only one of the five promoters named who never forsook the ship was Max Suppes. When the foundations were being laid and the buildings going up, he was in his saddle from early morning till the shades of night came on. He seemed to be everywhere. He was a perfect dynamo of energy. In fact, he appeared to be the whole thing. This remarkable man was born in Johnstown, Pa., on the 18th of February, 1856, seventy-three years ago. His father was a pioneer merchant who helped lay the foundations of Johnstown in 1840. He secured his education in the public schools, then entered the employment of the "Cambria Iron Co." of that city in the machine shop department, determined he would become an expert mechanic and master the business and later conduct an institution of his own. He needed no time clock to check the hours he spent in the works. He was not a clock-watcher. He was that kind of a character the thinker had in mind when he wrote, "The heights by great men gained and kept, were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night." His evenings were spent in studying books bearing on inventions to see what improvements could be made in steel production. Mechanical drawing was prosecuted with renewed zeal. While he was yet a youth he was counted as the head in his department. His wages were saved, and ere long he became proprietor of a well-equipped machine shop in his native city that proved a success. "The Rensselaer Iron Works," at Troy, N. Y.. were in sore need of a master mechanic who understood the business from the foundations up. In casting about for the right man, young Max Suppes was the one, who, in the judgment of men who knew him, towered above them all. He was induced to 18 262 - Early History of Elyria and Her People dispose of his business, and ere long his great abilities and skill took him to the superintendency. While connected with the works he invented an automatic rail-mill roller for producing "T" rails that revolutionized the industry. At the end of ten years he severed his connection with the Troy works and returned to Johnstown to join Tom L. Johnson and A. J. Moxham and act as master mechanic and manager of the rolling mill department of the "Johnson Steel Rail Co.," that was later moved to Lorain, and was the beginning of the present works. The blast furnaces at Lorain and the great ore docks connected with the plant, were all built under the supervision of Mr. Suppes. He was the inventor of many safety devices and improvements in producing steel products. Later he had charge of the construction of the buildings and machinery when the tube mills were added, that have developed into the largest tube mill known. Many of his devices are being used in the steel mills of the world. Max M. Suppes was a great commoner. He never forgot the human touch. Thousands had been under him as superintendent, many of them for twenty-five years, some of whom he knew as a boy with himself in Johnstown, who followed him to Lorain. He was "too big to be little and too good to be mean." They all loved him from the least to the greatest. Such was the devotion of men who came under his management, that there were never any strikes at the mills, though several outsiders made the attempt. Several years ago, there occurred an incident that proved his strength of character and belief in the doctrine, that we should be brothers toward each other, regardless of our station in life. Some clerk in the office department, who resided in Elyria, took it upon himself to circulate a petition in the office among those residing in Elyria, petitioning Mr. Suppes to use his influence with the street-car officials to give them a special car to reach Elyria, in which the mill workers residing here could not ride. The paper received quite an array of signatures. A committee was sent to Mr. Suppes' office to present it. The promoter made his speech, on handing it to the man at the head of the great plant, who adjusted his glasses, and, after reading it, replied, "Gentlemen, I deem it an honor to ride in the same car with any man who has done an honest day's work in any department of this plant." He Early History of Elyria and Her People - 263 thereupon tore it to shreds and threw it into the waste basket and returned to his desk as they marched out, wiser than when they came. Realizing the advantages a Young Men's Christian Association would be to Lorain for the families of the employees, it was through his efforts that the building went up in which night classes are taught, fitting the youths and those of older years, who desire to improve their minds for better things. He was very active in securing recreation grounds for the men and THE EAST BRIDGE STREET BRIDGE This bridge enjoys the distinction of being the ])oldest structure in the world. It has a span of 150 feet with a rise of only 22 feet. Its skew-backs are hewn out of solid rock provided by nature children. He was ever ready to assist in any enterprise in Elyria or Lorain, calculated to bring a better condition in any field of endeavor. He was a stockholder in banks in both cities and other factories in the two places. His residence was on Fast Bridge Street, Elyria, till his untimely death, March 27, 1916, at the age of sixty. Out of respect to his memory and the high regard in which he was held, the county commissioners closed the offices, the judge adjourned court, and the stores and factories of the two cities shut down during the funeral hour. The responsibilities he carried in the conduct of a business employing at that time seven thousand men, and the strains he had been under in the previous years, no doubt hastened his 264 - Early History of Elyria and Her People death. If ever a man gave to the limit, his nerve and fiber to make a great industry go, it was Max Suppes. If he ever took a vacation it never got into print. With him it was home and the great mills. His noble wife for some years before her decease was a helpless invalid from rheumatism. His tender solicitude for her, and kind ministrations to make her more comfortable, showed the great heart he possessed. His hand was ever open to assist the needy and speak words of comfort to all who came to him with their troubles. Six children were born to them, four of which grew to manhood and womanhood. Their daughter, Florence, a cultured lady, beloved by all who knew her, a graduate of Wellesley College, is the wife of Earl W. Brown, of Elyria, who after graduating from Yale College in 1903, obtained employment with the National Tube Co., where he has risen to hold the important position of superintendent of the ore-receiving docks and coke plant. He is held in the highest regard in Elyria by all who know him. The son, Max, Jr., after graduating from Yale University, was for a time employed at the National Tube Co., but is now vice-president and treasurer of the large "Fox Furnace Co.," of Elyria. He married Florence Wick of the city, a graduate of the "Dow School for Women," in New York. The daughter, Clara Suppes, is also a graduate of the "Dow School," mentioned. She married Scott Gillmore of this city, whose father was the late Attorney Gillmore. He graduated from the scientific school of Yale College, and holds the position of managing advertiser of the Colson Co. of the city. The son, Chester Suppes, graduated from the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale College. He is engaged in experimental gas testing at the Tube Mills. He married Mary G. Sholes, of Geneva, N. Y., an estimable young lady held in high esteem. Every member of the Max Suppes family, whether of his blood or related by marriage, are people of high character, holding positions of trust and confidence in the industrial world, possessed of college educations, and making good in the world's work. Back of this family of children was the poor boy, who not only had a purpose in life, when he began his career in Johnstown, but held steadily to the end, thereby giving employment to uncounted thousands by which they have been able to rear their families and build homes. Max Suppes' advent into our Early History of Elyria and Her People - 265 community, with his great abilities to organize and successfully conduct the great industry, can hardly be appreciated as it should. His life is another striking example of what a boy in America may make of himself by adhering to right principles. The plant he fostered and brought to success has grown to now give employment to more than ten thousand people. All hail to his memory. His monument is to be found in the great factory that moves on like a mighty river, sending its product into the farthest corners of the universe, and the opportunity for the multitudes to secure homes and bring up their families. When he was a boy in Johnstown, he had an associate of marked ability, who did not choose the road of sobriety. They began with like opportunities. Max spent his evenings in study, while his friend finally chose the haunts of the dissipated, against the advice and protest of friends. The time came when the misguided companion of Max Suppes youth, was an employee in the Lorain works, with a life of dissipation back of him. When he died at Lorain, he and the boys purchased the coffin in which he was buried and paid the funeral expenses. Unhonored and unsung he passed out. Young men, which example are you following? CHAPTER XLII ELEVATED far above the surrounding factories immediately north of the New York Central passenger depot, in Elyria, stands a great water tank, on which thousands of passersby on trains and the whole city and visitors as well for lo many years, have read in great white letters the words, "FAY STOCKING FACTORY." Just why men went to the expense of erecting it and sending an artist up there to paint those conspicuous words is an interesting story. In 1848, eighty-one years ago, there was born on a farm in Clarksfield, Huron County, an ambitious lad named W. L. Fay, to whom tilling the soil did not appeal as a life's work. Believing that his way out, and into a more congenial business, lay in securing an education, he was diligent in the little red schoolhouse in prosecuting his studies. His objective was Oberlin College where he matriculated as a student and remained till he had learned how to study. While there he was at times 266 - Early History of Elyria and Her People forced to teach country schools to secure the wherewith to remain in the institution. Having secured a good mathematical education and diligently studied the languages and delved into science, he resolved to become a student of Blackstone. To that end he entered the law office of John C. Hale, of Elyria, who later became Common Pleas judge, and finally removed to Cleveland. His studious habits and natural legal mind secured his admission to the bar, in due time, when he opened an office in Elyria in 1870, fifty-nine years ago. Not being disposed to contest matters for litigants, he resolved on an office practice, and the organization of corporations for manufacturing purposes. He had a penchant for mechanics and enjoyed the study of patent laws, in which he became the acknowledged attorney in that field in the county. He was the inventor and patentee of the "Fay Sulky Scraper," manufactured here for some years, that was supplanted a few years later by the relentless steam shovel. He next invented the noted "Fairy Tricycle," for ladies, children, and cripples. He was instrumental in erecting a factory in Elyria, to turn out the product. In his ads he assured all cripples the world over, that if they would send photographs of themselves and describe their crippled condition and what limb of the body was still in commission he could build a tricycle for them in which they could propel themselves along. After he built up a large and profitable business that sent its product all over the world he then sold his plant, for a large figure for those times, and entered the building and grindstone field, with quarries and mills at Grafton. Out of the tricycle industry he started has grown the great Colson factory with its distributing houses in all the large centers. For his second wife, he married the daughter of a minister, who was brought up, as all clergymen's daughters had to be in those days, to practice strict habits of economy. Six children were born of this marriage, every one of whom was as hard on clothing as all restless children naturally are. It occurred to the mother one day as she noticed they needed new underwear, that there was a great waste in discarding the upper portion of stockings of the grown-ups when only the feet wore out, as the portion covered the limbs on discarded stockings remained intact. At this point is the beginning of our story; Early History of Elyria and Her People - 267 the mother conceived the idea of using the upper part of her own hosiery after cutting off the worn feet, to fasten to the children's short stockings, making the combination answer for underwear. It was so successful that she called her neighbors' attention to the same. Then came a demand by those who followed the experiment for a child's stocking that reached to the waist. Mr. and Mrs. Fay secured a patent on the idea, and ere long he organized a company to manufacture the same, securing knitting machines to that end. It was advertised in the magazines as "The Fay Stocking," and from that day till the present, it has been in demand all over America. This accounts for the large factory that runs night and day on the river bank, while the mothers passing through on trains read the big sign and say: "Look, there is the place where they make the `FAY STOCKING' I have used in bringing up the children." The father of the invention, because of his marked organizing abilities and inventions, giving employment to thousands and his stand for temperance and the best in Elyria, became one of the moving spirits for many years. He passed away not long since at his residence on Washington Avenue, where his widow, a cultured lady given to good works, resides, with two unmarried daughters. One daughter married Dr. Jaster, of Elyria. One a prominent banker in Roanoke, Va. One Milton Wilcox, a fine young man, holding a good position in the Tube Mills. One unmarried daughter is employed in the office of the private secretary to the president of Baldwin-Wallace College, and one is teaching in an institution near Warren, Ohio. The two sons are business men. All of the children were college trained. Surely the ambitious, dreaming farm boy in Fairfield, Ohio, left his impress on the community life in Elyria by the industries he founded. His integrity and morals were never questioned. Every dwelling on Washington Avenue, save six, was originally built and owned by a man born and raised on a farm, somewhere in United States. The ambitious lad in the country, laboring in the field far from the marts of the city or large town, has dreams the town boy knows not of. The boy born and reared in the congested center, sees daily all classes and conditions about him by reason of which he does not feel that awe of people and things making up town life, experienced by the country Early History of Elyria and Her People - 269 youth. No greater truth was ever uttered than that "distance lends enchantment to the view." Sixty-five years ago there was born on an ancestral farm in Wayne County, that was settled by his grandfather in 1826, one hundred and three years ago, David Troxel, whose restless nature and inventive mind, with burning ambition to enter the great business world, remained faithful to the parents in the conduct of the farm, till he attained his majority, when he became a clerk in a country store. There he had opportunity to listen to the talks of traveling men, "knights of the grip," who ever and anon visited the place, giving glowing accounts of the opportunities of the "far West." Bidding adieu to kith and kin in 1889, he resolved to visit Denver, Colorado. Before starting he took an inventory of his mental equipment and wisely concluded that he needed a better business education than was his, so entered an Ohio commercial school where he fitted himself as a bookkeeper. On reaching Denver he secured a position as such in a hardware store. Not long thereafter he engaged in the business on his own account, which he followed for nine years. About this time the country had gone crazy over bicycles, everyone of which had to have a saddle. The owners and riders of the new fad, he noticed, were making more complaints about the hard seats of the new means of locomotion than any other part. Believing he could improve the situation, he worked out and had patented the noted "Troxel Saddle," that can be found in every dealer's store where such goods are sold. The history of its development is one of those stories of an American youth rising from obscurity to affluence and power, all delight to read. Believing Ohio was a more inviting locality in which to manufacture his article, he chose Elyria as the place in which to build up an industry. With him when he landed money was a scarce article. For a little time he employed others to make his saddle. Finding it not in accordance with his judgment, he rented a small space in the then "Ely Power Block," now a part of the Troxel Building, where he struggled for a footing in the markets. Discouragements for a time overtook him, but his native persistency and abilities carried him through the manifold difficulties until success came in great abundance. Orders multiplied so rapidly that incorporation was necessary, resulting in the organization of the noted Troxel Manu- 270 - Early History of Elyria and Her. People facturing Co. While the rage for the bicycle was in vogue for years till the auto largely succeeded it, ninety per cent of the saddles in the trade of United States were made by this company. The building was finally purchased and greatly enlarged till it stands to-day one of the most important industries in the city. The "Troxel Building," with its offices and elevator service, is one of our best structures. As wealth poured into his coffers, he began to erect apartment houses. One is the Colonial, on Third Street, and one, the large pretentious one on Middle Avenue. He also purchased the Terrace on Washington Avenue. He became the owner of the Ely mansion on West Avenue, now the "Taft Home for the Aged." He was ever philanthropically disposed. In selling the property to the Methodists for a home for the aged, he made a contribution in the sum of ten thousand dollars in the transfer to assist in the great work. He was twice mayor of the city. The bicycle seat he invented in Denver, Colorado, through his abilities to manufacture and market it, has given employment to thousands, and the busy Troxel factory of to-day, sending its products of various kinds to the ends of the earth, keeping employed a large number, stands to his credit in the industrial world. As other factories and enterprises came along, needing assistance in the city, his hand was ever ready to spend dollars to help. He possessed a striking personality, and ever remained a commoner, in keeping with the spirit of the ideal American. He was fortunate indeed in his marriage in 1897, to Miss Ida Brandt, in Ashland County, whose virtues are those of one who has ever stood for the highest ideals. Domestic in her habits of life, looking well to her household. He passed away at his residence on Washington Avenue in the zenith of his powers. They have one child, Kathryn, now in college. Mrs. Troxel is given to hospitality and benevolences. She has recently contributed largely to the maintenance of the home for the aged, mentioned, in furnishing rooms and means. As we see the employees from day to day pouring into and coming out of the great Troxel Building, located next to the New York Central tracks, back of the business houses on Broad Street, where they find employment, and we read the name on the elevated water tank, visible for miles with the words: "Troxel Manufacturing Co.," let us remember it would not have been Early History of Elyria and Her People - 271 had the unknown farm boy in Wayne County not dreamed dreams and made them come true. The good Book tells us that "without a vision the people perish." All hail to those who have them in any field of legitimate endeavor. In 1807 there was born among the granite hills of New Hampshire a child, his fond parents named Baxter Clough, whose native abilities and indomitable will to succeed had much to do in helping build up Elyria. In 1852, seventy years ago, he landed in Amherst Township, where he opened a stone quarry and began manufacturing grindstones in a primitive way, that developed into a large business. With such vigor did he push the enterprise that he was able to construct docks on Lake Erie and build a railroad from his industry to the same to utilize water navigation. Remnants of the dock and evidences of the right of way are still visible. A great demand for building blocks sprang up, that necessitated the water route. He opened quarries in Columbia Township, this county, and Independence, Cuyahoga country. He married a girl of his native State and had a family of eight children. His seventh child was named Henry H. Clough, born in 1846, the subject of this sketch. Like his father, he was a man of great determination, possessed of marked business ability, venturing in enterprises with a zeal that never abated while life lasted. He was possessed of a large body and moved about with energy. On the death of his father, in 1872, he, with his brother J. B. Clough, assumed command and soon thereafter moved to Elyria where he spent his business life. He was made president of the Clough Stone Co. In fitting himself for life's work, he added to his education, received in Amherst, a course of study in Oberlin College. Along with the stone industry he became interested in various other enterprises, one was a large factory in Redkey, Indiana, that manufactured fruit jars, of which he was secretary and treasurer. He became president of two banks, one in Bowling Green, Ohio, and one in DeLand, Florida. His last venture was in promoting and building a suburban electric railroad in Wisconsin, of which he was president. In 1868, he married Miss Margaret Barney, of Black River 272 - Early History of Elyria and Her People Township, an estimable and refined lady, by whom he had six children, one the highly esteemed and cultured lady, the widow of our former ambassador to France, Hon. W. G. Sharp. She resides in the Sharp home on Washington Avenue. One is Martha B., now a teacher of art in Cleveland schools. One son resides in the old Clough homestead in Amherst. The other two sons are business men in other States. About forty-five years ago Mr. and Mrs. Clough built the stone mansion, located on Grace Court, in which they reared their family. Every child has been a credit to the ancestor. Because of the enterprises set on, foot by the father and son in the industrial world, in opening up the hidden treasures of stone, overlooked by the multitude, villages sprang up and thousands have been given a chance to support their families and build homes who, for lack of ability to conduct a business of their own, were given a chance in the world. Mrs. Clough is still with us, tenderly cared for by her daughters. Her life has been given to good works, in the church and out. Her noble parents spent their last days in their home on the court above named. She is a sister of Mrs. Hale, a well-known resident here, active in the Baptist Church and in all things for the common weal. The name Clough will remain an honored one so long as there survives a person who knew them. CHAPTER XLIII OVER in "Sleepy Hollow," in Medina County, on Rocky River, about a mile and a half south of "Hard Scrabble," is the village of Valley City. In the year 1850, seventy-nine years ago, was born on a farm, hard by, a boy, his parents named William Heldmyer. His pioneer playmates nicknamed him "Billy," who was destined to mark high in the business life of Elyria and Lorain County for lo, many years. As a child he rode in ox carts, wore a coon-skin cap made by his good mother, attended the district school summers, barefooted, saw the farmers reaping their grain among the stumps with a sickle, as their only means of gathering the crop and knew the days when the mowing machine was but a dream. His father died when he was six, leaving the widow destitute. Early History of Elyria and Her People - 273 Young as he was, he realized it was his duty to assist what he could in keeping the wolf from the door. She daily taught him lessons of strictest economy, and brought him up to keep his word and be diligent and kind to everybody. These early lessons laid the foundation of his later success. At the age of twelve he was following the plow and cultivating corn for the farmers. After two years of such experience during the days in which he was building castles in the air, he saw the city folks drive past in liveries and glistening turn-outs. He resolved to become a merchant in some far-off town, able to emulate the high and mighty, and drive his own shiny carriage down the highways of the township of his birth, proud of the fact he could show the boys who taunted him over his poor clothes and poverty, that he had amounted to something. At fourteen he hung the scythe on an apple tree, the hoe in the woodshed, and turned his footsteps toward Cleveland, then regarded as a place of some pretentions. Ambitious to see more than one city before making a choice of location in which to spend his life, he worked in several, until his seventeenth year, when he located in Elyria and found employment for thirteen years with the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad, as a carpenter. During this period he practiced the most rigid economies anticipating entering the hardware business. Seeing an opportunity to form a partnership in that field, he began his mercantile life at thirty. Prosperity from the beginning followed in his wake. The same rigid saving and care that nothing should go to waste taught him by his mother, continued. He possessed a personality that drew men to him. Ere many moons had waxed and waned, he had purchased the stock of two other stores, carrying his line of goods, that were struggling to meet their obligations. Soon he owned the building in which he commenced business. His name as a square dealer began to he talked about over the county. He seemed to know what the farmers needed and how much the trade demanded. His stock multiplied. Everything the customers were likely to call for was kept. He had a wonderful memory and was possessed of an ability to judge men for their true worth, that enabled him to know to whom to extend credit. He was a born commoner. He did not pretend to look after the books, nor did he wear starched linen or study to not soil his hands. He was 274 - Early History of Elyria and Her People behind the counter, upstairs and down in the basement, waiting on his customers, making friends by taking an interest in their affairs. If on inquiry into the condition of things at the customer's home, he was of opinion that the article wanted was what he should not have for his own good, he told him so, though he lost a sale. He was not only "Billy" to the boys in Valley City; he was "Billy" to everybody who knew him in Lorain County. When natters came up among neighbors what was best to do in building or purchasing seed or implements of husbandry, the argument would end when someone suggested, ''Let's ask 'Billy' Heldmyer," Ere many years had elapsed he dominated the hardware business of Elyria, and at his decease was the principal owner of the Heldmyer Hardware Co. and The Elyria Hardware Store and buildings and was a large stockholder and a director in the Krantz Hardware Store at Lorain. As means came to be his, he purchased several old landmarks on Broad Street and in place thereof erected the four-story Elyria block, now owned by his descendents. He also became a third owner in the Beebe Hotel, now the "Elyria," and president of the company that owned it, and was one of the BEEBE HOUSE, BUILT IN 1847 And a glimpse of the park with its fence and hitching posts Early History of Elyria and Her People - 275 organizers of the Elyria Savings and Trust Co., in which he was not only a large stockholder but later became its president. It began in a small room and grew to its present large proportions rapidly, housed in one of the finest office blocks in Ohio. The brick mansion on Middle Avenue, now owned and occupied by Attorney H. C. Johnson, was built by him for a home. From time to time, in bank meetings, when the character and reliability of customers came up for discussion and loans were asked, he was the one to whom all turned for the final say, as he seemed to possess an unerring judgment, so keen an observer was he of men, and their doings. He organized the Elyria Building Co. His integrity was never questioned. He spoke ill of no one, and was kind and considerate. He had the pleasure of making a happy home for his mother for many years. In 1874, he married Mary Beese, of Elyria, by whom he had three daughters and one son. Florence J. married Albert M. Hannaford, the successful merchant, at the head of the Elyria Hardware Co. They are active in all the worth-while movements to help along in our community life. One married James Tyler, of Los Angeles, California. They are both splendid citizens, doing their part in the world's work. Alice C. married Willard Taylor, head of the Heldmyer Hardware Co. Both are fine citizens. The son, Harry, is a clerk in the store. From a poor, barefooted father-orphaned lad of six summers, over in Valley City to the leading hardware merchant in the county, bank president, and the builder and owner of the Elyria block, without assistance, but wholly through his native abilities and habits of economy, shows what youth may accomplish in the business world who has a purpose in life and never surrenders. Young men desiring to succeed in the mercantile world would do well to study his methods. The large conspicuous sign, "PARSCH LUMBER CO.," so long seen and read by all men, has long been in the city. It came about in this way. In 1833, there was born across the deep, on the River Rhine, a child named Christopher Parsch, who became a citizen of Elyria in 1857, where he landed seventy-two years ago with a set of carpenters' tools at the age of twenty-four, a stranger in a strange land. He was possessed of a strong body, and a disposition to make the best of things, come what 276 - Early History of Elyria and Her People might. Ere long he was a contractor and builder, to whom no day was too long or night too dark, to keep things moving. Without means, he obligated himself to pay for property now occupied by that widely known corporation. The wheels have never ceased to turn since the founder started them in an old building on the river bank. The panic of '73, the worst this country ever experienced, lasting eight years, did not down him, though it looked many times as though the sheriff would sell him out. When pressed by creditors, he would say, 'Be patient, be patient, and you will get every dollar; it will do you no good to sue me." There was a candor in his face and determination in his manner that convinced the claimants that in the end all would be well. Then he lived absolutely within his means. Many succumbed to the depression, all about him, but that German thrift and the rigid economies taught him as a child, turned the tide. He lived to raise a fine family, owing no man. At seventy-two he passed away, possessed of a good name and untarnished integrity. He married Catherine Herbert, by whom he had nine children. The business passed into the hands of his well-known sons who have built it up to its present large proportions. The children were all fine citizens, active in the building up of the city. It was a long and steep trail for the German lad to travel from the banks of the Rhine, in poverty, to the banks of Black River, where he fought out his battle to success. Had he been born on the banks of Black River and gone to live his life on the Rhine he would have spent them in poverty. All hail to my country, the land of opportunity; let no man raise his hand against her. For many years there walked the streets of the city a noble lady known to all as "Aunt Mary" Collins, whose life and character had much to do in cheering every person along the way who chanced to know her. She had a smile that never wore off and a determination not to succumb to misfortunes, that remained with her till her tragic death at the age of eighty-six, when she was burned to death in setting fire to some rubbish. She was a childless widow for many years and for twenty-five had not been able to hear the note of a bird, the songs of the singer, or the sermon of the minister, yet she was always in her seat in the church and Sunday school with her smile, listening Early History of Elyria and Her People - 277 as best she could, with her eyes. She was highly gifted with her pen. Schooling she had but little, as her lot in her youth was that of a hard-working factory girl in the city of Cleveland when hours were long and wages small. Her faith in the Bible remained unshaken. Whether in the field of prose or poetry, her pen was versatile. She picked up the art of typewriting after she had reached threescore years and ten. She left manuscripts of her writings that should be published. There are ample to make a volume; every one of merit. She possessed great humility. As an example of her power of observation and ability to tell entertainingly what she saw, I give below a copy of a competitive article she wrote after she was seventy. It came about this way. The well-known firm of "William Taylor and Son," drygoods merchants in Cleveland, in 1920, offered a prize of one hundred dollars for the best write-up of the city in the year 1870, "The Golden Jubilee" of the founding of the store. She won the prize. The judges were: W. R. Rose, of the Plain Dealer; John W. Raper, of the Cleveland Press; and Victor Slayton, of the Cleveland News. "By MARY E. COLLINS" "In 1870 I lived in Cleveland, on the corner of York and Monroe Streets, on the `West Side,' walking to and from my work in the Atwater Building, at the head of Superior and Water Street hill, taking the short cut through the Flats on Columbus Street where huge piles of lumber towered high in the air, past which I would hurry lest they suddenly decide to come down. At the head of Water Street was the stand for express wagons, while on Bank Street stood a long line of hacks waiting for a call. "Superior, Water, and Ontario were the business center. E. I. Baldwin, the then leading drygoods firm, with clothing, jewelry, drug, and other stores, also the principal hotels were located there. But very soon objections developed and unrest took place, as one by one they moved to Euclid Avenue for wider fields. "'Hotel Weddell' is now occupied by a skyscraper and other buildings have been remodeled or leveled to make room for better improvements. Union Depot, Savings Bank, and 19 278 - Early History of Elyria and Her People the Old Stone Church remain. The police station was on Long Street. A one-horse covered rig, called the `Black Maria,' and driven by 'Little Christy' hauled the prisoners wherever they went. It was quite easy to get a free ride. "At 6.00 P. M. Engine House No. 1 would sound an alarm, when people rushed to St. Clair Street to watch the evening fire drill, when horses displayed equal intelligence with men in the maneuvers. In Academy Lane, rear of the Weddell House, was a place of so-called amusement, named the 'Varieties.' Was of low type, and for `men only.' Ryders Hall was used for concerts, traveling shows, and other events. On Bank Street was the far-famed Academy of Music, with John Elsler and daughter Effie, equally famous and loved by all pleasure-seekers. All gave way for the Opera House at the corner of Euclid and Sheriff Streets. On the Courthouse roof was a high pole with a brass ball that always fell at noon, giving the correct time direct from Washington. The Webb C. Ball's Jewelry Store, corner Superior and Seneca Streets, had a connecting wire that regulated their clocks, and pedestrians would stop at the window and verify their time-pieces. "The first Sunday paper, a. small folder of high moral standard, was printed on Frankfort Street, and later was absorbed by the Cleveland Herald. The Public Square was a favorite resort where old folks and children were safe from traffic. To my mind, this, with the removal of Erie Street Cemetery, are among the saddest changes in Cleveland to-day. I cannot give the date, but remember the extension of Superior beyond Erie at its then boundary line. The May property, then used as pasture ground, lay directly across the way, and the heirs were stubborn. Neither can I say how it was finally accomplished, whether by purchase, arbitration, or confiscation, but it went through as things generally do when Cleveland goes after them. The German citizens entered a bitter protest against Lorain Street Railway extension. 'Why,' they said, 'it will be the ruination of our women and children. The women will forget how to walk and the children will never learn.' "Taxpayers put up a fight against the Viaduct or High Level which is now completely overshadowed by the Elevated Bridge and subway. Euclid Avenue was used as a speedway by the owners of fast horses who often brought along their best Early History of Elyria and Her People - 279 girls in winter sleighing. The scene was very gay. Euclid Avenue was also famous for its `Bob and Nabob' side. One had houses close to the walk, the other had door yards wide and both were lined on `Gala days' with crowds of every grade, to watch the circus come to town, or the Easter Day parade, and its business corner with buildings high and low, once proclaimed an ancient signboard, 'We are Young, but Watch us Grow.' Watch us grow has been the slogan held aloft that all might see, while Father Time has done his bit in helping make their dreams come true. "I leave the big things for others to write up, only the lesser ones came under my observation, when a working woman, with the rest of the laboring classes. I gave my time from 7.00 A. M. to 6.00 P. M., a ten-hour working day." CHAPTER XLIV SINCE the days of Moses the lawgiver and founder of courts, men versed in legal rules laid down by their governments, by which they were to know the rights of person and property, have been the ones to whom the people turned for counsel and leadership. Moses had a wise father-in-law, according to the Scriptures. His name was Jethro, a resident of Midian, with whom he had left his wife and two sons to be cared for, while he was on his mission, leading the "Children of Israel" out of "Egyptian bondage" toward the "Promised Land." While still camping at the foot of Mt. Sinai, after the great leader had received the "Ten Commandments midst the thunderings and lightning" of the mountain, Jethro, anxious to see for himself what progress his son-in-law had made in governing his people, made a visit to the encampment, taking with him his daughter, Moses' wife, and her two sons. Finding him spending his time from the rising till the setting of the sun, listening to the'troubles and quarrels of the discontents, he said to him, "Moses, you are wearing out your life; I suggest that you provide from among all the people, able men, such as fear God; men of truth, hating coveteousness, to be rulers of thousands; rulers of hundreds; rulers of fifties and rulers of tens, and let them judge the people at all seasons, and it shall be that every 280 - Early History of Elyria and Her People great matter shall be brought unto you, but the very small matters, they shall judge, so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee." Moses listened to the recommendation, and found it worked exceedingly well. This was the beginning of the lower and upper courts, continuing till this day. It logically followed that advocates would spring up, versed in the laws to represent the people. The earliest known great lawyer, versed in the "Statutes of Moses" to whom the people gladly listened, was Gamaliel of Jerusalem, to whom the Apostle Paul attributed his learning, in these words when in the hands of the mob in that city, "I was brought up in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers." All the principles of the laws of every civilized country rests upon the Mosaic laws. I have given this historic background of courts better to understand the beginning of our jurisprudence in America, and what I shall say about the members of the Lorain County bar, whose lives area part of our common heritage. We have had thirty-one Presidents of the United States, every one of whom was a lawyer, save seven, and barring Presidents Harding and Hoover, they all reached the "White House" through their military records. When George Washington came to the Presidency there were but four cabinet positions: Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of War, and Attorney-General. To three of these cabinet positions Washington appointed lawyers. They were Thomas Jefferson, named Secretary of State; Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of Treasury; and Edward Randolph, Attorney-General. He named Gen. Henry Knox as Secretary of War. Patrick Henry, who fired the Colonies by his immortal speech, was a laywer. Thomas Jefferson wrote the "Declaration of Independence." Daniel Webster replied to Haynes. The Gettysburg speech came from the lips of a lawyer. Every Congress and legislature of the States have been dominated by attorneys to whom the members have almost universally looked for leadership. We shall not have to search very far for the cause why attorneys have ruled the nation. Their work from the start is Early History of Elyria and Her People - 281 subjected to the most severe test, for everything a lawyer does, in his profession, has to be in writing or spoken in open court, where any flaw in his papers or wrong contention in his speech or argument is challenged by lawyers and judge, who perchance have spent years at the bar, schooled in the books and rules of practice. The same individual, if he came to the city or town as a minister, would be received with open arms by his parishioners, with a salary agreed upon, knowing no person would dare rise up in the audience while he was delivering his sermon and object out loud to his interpretation of the Scriptures, for if he did he would be bodily thrown out of the building and face a magistrate the next day for disturbing a religious meeting. In the court room, as a lawyer, he would encounter multiplied objections to his questions and arguments, requiring ability to think quickly and to be able to meet at once his opponent. No salary is fixed for him when he hangs out his shingle. Years are required to make for himself a place at the bar, and that by meeting trained minds in the profession of long experience. If he chose the medical profession, emergency cases soon bring him patients, but in this field he has it his own way, as those who call him to administer to their perishing bodies, take without criticism medicine according to his directions, with no doctor on the other side of the sickbed to object or challenge his diagnosis or prescribed remedies. Nothing brings out the best in man like being called upon to defend his position at every step; this accounts for the fact that the world looks to the legal profession for guidance in the affairs of government, State and national. All corporations of any magnitude employ their lawyers by the year, to guide them in their legal matters. In the days when Abraham Lincoln was riding over the Illinois prairies, practicing law, following the judges in their rounds holding court, he made some anti-slavery speeches in Connecticut, and the State of New York and Massachusetts. At one of his meetings, Erastus Corning, superintendent of the New York Central Railway, was present. He was so impressed by his abilities that he had an interview with him at the close of his address, in which he said, "I have been authorized by the board of directors of our road to employ an attorney to represent the corporation, with headquarters in New York. I 282 - Early History of Elyria and Her People believe you are the lawyer we need. We will pay you a salary of ten thousand dollars a year, will you accept it?" Lincoln responded: "hen thousand dollars a year, that is a lot of money; I am afraid it would spoil me and my family. I hardly think I can accept such a position." The railroad magnate was surprised at his answer and, thinking he intended it as a joke, pressed the proposition, but could get no assurance. Lincoln said he would have to think it over, but was of opinion he could not accept. So solicitous was Corning for his services, that a little later he sent a man out to Springfield, but in vain, as Lincoln would not go. Coming now to members of the Lorain County bar, known to a few still living, the life of Judge Stevenson Burke, the first resident of the county, who occupied our Common Pleas bench. He was born in the State of New York on November 26, 1826, of Irish parents, one hundred and three years ago. His people moved to Ridgeville when he was eight years of age, where he grew up in a log hut, performing the farm duties of a pioneer lad, attending such primitive schools as the times afforded. He was the only one of a family of boys and girls, disposed toward hooks. From his early youth he was possessed of a burning ambition to secure an education and follow the law. He was able by closest economy to attend a select school and spend a few months in Delaware College. At twenty-two he was admitted to the bar after a course of study in the office of the then leading lawyer in the county, H. D. Clark. He was at once made a nominal partner of his preceptor who had a large trial practice. This gave the young man an opportunity to learn the art of conducting a law suit. He was so aggressive in his objections as the trial proceeded and insistent on being heard in argument to the judge over his contention as to what the law was, that his pugnacious disposition and refusal to be squelched by the court without being given an opportunity to argue at length that he was severely criticized by the other members of the bar, among themselves, until one ventured to dub him "Clark's fool." None was so bold as to let the fighter hear his words of detraction. They wondered why Clark allowed him to take the lead, he seemed to be assuming at the trial table without rebuke. He chanced on one occasion to overhear one of their Early History of Elyria and Her People - 283 members speak of him as "Clark's fool." The old barrister, of many legal battles, came to the rescue of his young partner by saying: "You fellows may call Burke a `fool' if you will, but let me tell you that one of these days you will have to reckon with him. He is one of the most indefatigable workers I ever knew; he burns up all my candles. He is always in the office when I arrive in the morning, and is there when I leave." Such was his rise, that when he was thirty-six, he had one side or the other of all cases worth while and was then elected to the bench by the urgency of those who characterized him as "Clark's fool" twelve years before. The judicial district was then made up of Lorain, Medina, and Summit Counties, in all three of which he cared for the business. During his second term he resigned and entered a firm of the leading attorneys in Cleveland. His reputation had preceded him and ere long he was counted the ablest corporation attorney in the city. The demands for his abilities were so great and from clients of large means that he severed his partnership connection and opened an office by himself. He was soon employed by the New York Vanderbilts to look after some Western interests that brought him very large fees because of his successful handling of them. He then began to take a deep interest in the development of railroads. They had been greatly embarrassed by the panic of 1873. During his professional life in the city, he became a heavy stockholder and president of the five following railroads, which he rescued from their embarrassments: Cleveland and Mahoning Valley Railway Co.; The Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis Railway; and the Columbus Hocking Valley and Toledo Railway Co.; The Central Ontario Railway Co.; and of the Toledo and Ohio Central Kanawa and Michigan Railroad. He was also a stockholder and director and counsel for many other large corporations, several involving copper mines in Canada. When he passed away at eighty he was regarded as the greatest corporation lawyer in Ohio, if not in the Union. He left an estate of three millions. His habits were of the cleanest. From his youth he was a sworn enemy of the liquor traffic. A life-sized oil painting of the judge hangs on the walls of the Common Pleas Court Room No. 1. 284 - Early History of Elyria and Her People Another distinguished lawyer who grew up in Lorain County was Judge W. W. Boynton. His birthplace was on a farm in Russia Township, north of Oberlin, January 27, 1833, ninety-six years ago. From his childhood he was a student of books and soon became a teacher in the conduct of select schools of such efficiency that students went long distances to be benefitted by his instruction. He was educated in the common schools, and by self-instruction. He served as prosecuting attorney two terms. Was named by the governor to fill the unexpired term made by the resignation of Judge Burke. He served out the term and was re-elected and served two years, when in the fall of 1876 he was elected to the Supreme bench of the State, where he served with distinction until he resigned during his second term and opened a law office in Cleveland. While a resident of Elyria, he helped organize the Savings Bank. Built the house, now the dwelling of J. A. Brandt, on Washington Avenue. He married Miss Betsey A. Terrell, of Ridgeville, who passed away not long since in Florida near the age of ninety. They had no children. He was recognized at once at the Cleveland bar as the ablest lawyer in that city. His business was largely assisting other attorneys, who came to him with their clients for help. He built a fine residence on Euclid Avenue. Retired from the bench when seventy and came to Ridgeville to reside, where he erected the brick residence on Cleveland Street, now known as "Alber Villa." When asked why he and Mrs. Boynton left Euclid Avenue for Ridgeville, he replied: "Sentiment. We purchased the old home Mrs. Boynton's people built in which she was born and where I courted her, as we thought we should be happier there than any place on earth. Next to the old pioneer dwelling we built our new one on a part of the ancestral land. Then 'I had looked forward to the time when we should move back to Lorain County and I would have time to visit the friends of my boyhood in Russia and Amherst Townships, a thing I had dreamed about all my professional life. After we returned here I drove over the old roads and among the scenes of my childhood, hunting for the friends of my youth, and found all but three in the cemetery, and the living ones were so infirm, and we had been apart so long, I found little interest in talking to them. It was a great disappointment to me." Early History of Elyria and Her People - 285 After residing in the Ridgeville home for a time he purchased the place now owned by Chas. Fell, on Washington Avenue, where he passed away a few years later at the age of eighty-three, in possession of his faculties. He led a clean life and took a deep interest in `Memorial Hospital" and ever hated the liquor traffic. His picture hangs in our Common Pleas Court Room No 1. He was prosecuting attorney of the county in the year 1857, when the heretofore written about, noted, "Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Case" took place, in which so many Oberlin and Wellington citizens were indicted in the Federal Court in Cleveland for violating the "Fugitive Slave Law," in rescuing from a hotel in Wellington a runaway slave and sending him on to Canada. He, with the Lorain County officials, were antislavery advocates, and it was through the young prosecutor's advice that the kidnapers of the slave were indicted by a Lorain County grand jury and were about to be sent to the penitentiary when they took alarm after getting two Oberlin men convicted, and asked that they be allowed to return South to their homes. They agreed to have all the indictments in the Federal Court nolled, including those of the convicted ones, if they could be saved. This was accepted and there ended the noted case that had shaken the country from center to circumference. CHAPTER XLV OUR last chapter gave an account of the lives of the first two Common Pleas judges of Lorain County, Judge Stevenson Burke and Judge W. W. Boynton, who rose to State distinction in the profession, both of whom were raised on farms in the county. One of their contemporaries was Judge John C. Hale, who was born on a farm midst the granite hills of New Hampshire in 1834, ninety-five years ago. He worked his way through Dartmouth College. Came to Cleveland where he taught school and read law. Was admitted to the bar in I861, settled in Elyria where, by his industry and abilities he was elected at the expiration of two years, prosecuting attorney, succeeding Judge Boynton, and held the position three terms. In the fall of 1876, when Judge Boynton was elected to the Supreme Court, Judge Hale was elected his successor, and held the position one term 286 - Early History of Elyria and Her People and part of a second, when he moved to Cleveland and joined Judge Boynton, whose business had grown beyond his strength to look after the same. The firm soon took into partnership Norton Horr, a Weilington boy, son of the noted business man, C. W. Horr, making the firm of Boynton, Hale and Horr. Judge Hale's residence in Elyria was the dwelling now owned and occupied by Frank E. Hill and family, on Washington Avenue. He was married, but had no children. The new firm in Cleveland had a large business till Judge Hale was elected to the Circuit bench of this district. He lived to reach ninety, in possession of his mentality, highly esteemed by the profession. His name was above reproach, and his habits the best. When he was on our Common Pleas bench, he was arraigning prisoners to receive their pleas of guilty or not guilty. Among them were several charged with violating the liquor laws. As the criminal docket was being called, including old cases now and then, the prosecutor would say to the judge: "Your Honor, that case may be nolled." One of the indicted saloonkeepers was in the room listening, awaiting his turn to enter his plea. He was a tall, rawboned, ignorant Irish character who thought he knew a thing or two, and how to escape trial. When his name was called, Judge Hale said, "Is the gentleman in the room," whereupon he arose and came forward; when asked by the judge whether he plead guilty or not guilty of selling intoxicating liquors to minors, he said, "Your Honor, that case may be nolled." The crowd broke out in a laugh that shook the windows, Judge Hale, in spite of his attempt to keep sober, joined in with the rest. The sheriff pounded with his gavel in vain, to restore order, till all had exploded to the limit, when Judge Hale said, "I hardly think so." Judge Hale had the highest ideals of life and was held in esteem by Cleveland citizens and bar. One of the most amusing incidents in our Common Pleas Court took place in the days of the saloon. In the old hotel in Ridgeville was a bar, where the thirsty congregated. Among them was one of the citizens of the township. The law made it an offense to sell intoxicants to a person while in a state of intoxication. The proof introduced by the State showed that the proprietor was back of the bar, and while the fellow was in a state of intoxication, sold him liquor. When the State rested an Irishman was called to the stand, who, in testifying said, he was Early History of Elyria and Her People - 287 there and that the man was not intoxicated. On cross examination the prosecuting attorney said, "Do you say, sir, that he was not intoxicated?" "Naw, sir, he was not drunk." "Did he not stagger and reel just before the liquor was handed him?" "Yes, nobody denies that, what be ye talkin' abut, why don't ye ask a sincible question; of course, he staggered and railed." "Well, sir," thundered the prosecutor, "if a man is not drunk when he staggers and reels, when do you consider him drunk?" "Do you want me tist?" ''Yes," answered the prosecutor, "what is it?" "Well, sir, when a man goes to the pump to 'lite his pipe,' I call him drunk." In 1823, one hundred and six years ago, there was born in the State of New York a child named Charles W. Johnston, destined to have a conspicuous part in the civic life of Elyria for many years. He grew up on a farm in LaGrange, where he was educated in the public schools, and on reaching manhood, became a student in Western Reserve Medical College, in Cleveland, from which he graduated, and practiced in his home township for six years. While he was looking after his patients, he acted also as justice of the peace. During a trial, there came into his office a bully in the community under the influence of intoxicants, who began to make a disturbance. Being asked to desist, he became abusive, and proposed to fight the magistrate. He evidently did not realize there coursed pure Scotch blood in the veins of the justice, the fighting kind, as C. W.'Johnston was a direct descendent of a noted Scotch klan of Johnstons that contended for human rights among the hills and mountains of that far-away country for several generations. They possessed the courage of Robert Bruce, of Scottish fame. Well, without going into too much detail, ere the audience attending court was aware, the great double-fisted disturber of the peace had seized the administrator of justice, but before they had time to take a hand in defense of the court, he had so thoroughly whipped the offender that he cried out that he was being killed. It became necessary to pull off the justice to save the bully. It was for the big fellow a bloody affair, that cost him time and means to get healed. To seek revenge, he came to Elyria and had a firm of attorneys commence a suit against the doctor for civil damages. This necessitated making a defense which the justice did by engaging Sheldon and Vincent to defend 288 - Early History of Elyria and Her People him. He had felt for some time that he was not happy in the medical profession. Legal matters appealed to him. Here was an opportunity to look into Blackstone, which he seized and began to study the rules that governed his case. He became so deeply interested that he resolved to abandon the medical for the legal profession. The suit against him came off, exciting a great deal of interest, and was attended by a court room full of people. Several days were consumed in the contest, resulting in his complete vindication. If he had any hesitancy about becoming a lawyer before the verdict, that settled the matter. He then gave all his time to fitting himself for the bar, as a student in the office of his attorneys. In due time, lie was admitted and at thirty-six opened an office in Elyria. His preceptors were able young men. The Civil Tsar soon came on, into which Sheldon as captain of a company threw himself with great energy and was made colonel, and later brigadier-general. After the war he was appointed governor of New Mexico. Later in life he was named receiver of one of the great Southwestern railways. Was elected to Congress from Louisiana, where he served for three terms, and was one of the electors from that State in the famous political upheaval over the noted "Hayes-Tilden" controversy. He closed his life publishing a Republican paper in California, where he reached a good old age. Some of his kith and kin still reside in LaGrange. He was born about one hundred years ago in the State of New York, and was brought to LaGrange by his parents when three years old. He was in Garfield's regiment. He was a striking-looking person, nearly six feet with broad shoulders, and was an able stumper in the old days of reconstruction, and discussion of the tariff. John M. Vincent, his partner, mentioned, was born in the State of Massachusetts, came to Elyria when an infant. Was prosecuting attorney and an able advocate, but soon lost his health and died at the age of thirty-five. His namesake and only child is a professor in Johns Hopkins University. Returning now to the life of C. W. Johnston. He began a course of study that remained unabated until his summons came, at nearly eighty-five, up to which time he was as regularly in his office as in youth. He was prosecuting attorney two terms. Built a fine residence on East Avenue, now made over into the Christian Science Church. He owned, at the time of his decease, a place Early History of Elyria and Her People - 289 at Avon Point, the spot that projects far into the lake. For many years, he possessed in connection with the place, a large vineyard. While he was in his prime as a practitioner, there was a lawyer known as the wit of the bar, who had come to bear a bad reputation in the county, for having sown to the flesh in all worldly matters. He seemed to take pride in the reputation he bore, strange as it may seem. Mr. Johnston had built up a character as far above the witty lawyer, as the heavens are above the earth. Probably as witty a sally as was ever pulled off in our court room came from the lips of the lawyer with the multitude of sins. It was on this wise: Johnston was engaged in a jury trial. The attorney on the other side was his enemy, who delighted in saying cuttings things. Judge W. W. Boynton was on the bench. The wit sat about ten feet away listening to the procedure, but not engaged in the trial. The enemy of Johnston said something that might be construed as derogatory to his character and reputation, which brought him to his feet in a rage, in which he proclaimed in stentorian voice, that his good character and reputation had been assailed, that was more to him than the wealth of the world. He called upon the judge to rebuke the slandering attorney and save his reputation. So earnestly did he appeal and with such feeling, that all present sympathized with him. At that point the wit said, "Mr. Johnston, Mr. Johnston, I will tell you what I will do, if you are going to feel so bad about the matter, I will trade my reputation for yours." The sheriff split his gavel pounding for order, all to no avail. Not till the listeners were exhausted did the hilarity cease. Judge Boynton, sedate as he was, by nature lost all control over himself. The scene was never before and never has since been equaled, for mirth, in our court room. This story has lived more than a half century. Mr. Johnston married Mary F. Fisher, with whom lie lived in happy relation, to a good old age. She was one of the best beloved ladies in Elyria, and a devoted member of the Baptist Church. Three children were born to them, as follows: Mary C., a graduate of Granville College, the wife of Attorney J. H. Leonard, a Massachusetts boy and a graduate of Oberlin College and partner of her father. He was a direct descendant of one of the Pilgrims who came over in the "Mayflower." Martha L., the wife of W. C. Barnhart, who is a 290 - Early History of Elyria and Her People graduate of Oberlin College, and the secretary and treasurer of the elevated railway in Kansas City; and Carleton F. Johnston, a splendid citizen, a resident of Elyria in the railway mail service of the Government, and has been for many years. He is married and has one daughter who is married. The Leonards, now deceased, had a son Charles who died while in the aviation service of the government on his way home from China. He left a wife and children who reside in the West. The whole family were and are cultured and splendid citizens. C. W. Johnston ever stood for the best. He never forgot his own. He had a good brother Drew, who, in his young manhood, long before there was a transcontinental railway, started over the plains with a prairie schooner and team, hauling goods to the Rockies. He was not heard from for over forty years and was supposed to have been killed by the Indians, when a telegram came to Mr. Johnston from an out-of-the-way place in Missouri, stating if he wanted to see his brother alive, to come, that he was in destitute circumstances. He took the next train, found him being tenderly cared for in the cabin of poor people. The brother told him he had resolved he would never return until he could come back with a competence, but that luck had been against him and he was reduced to penury. C. W. paid the kind people liberally for the care they had given him, and brought him to Elyria, where he and Mrs. Johnston placed him in the best bed and tenderly cared for him for months, till the end came. Another brother lost his health in the prime of life and passed away, leaving a son about twelve years of age, destitute. He and Mrs. Johnston took him into their own home and sent him through the high schools. He was the same age of their own son, named. They were treated on an equality. The nephew passed the examinations that took him into Annapolis, from which he graduated with honors. He spent his life in the government service, becoming one of the experts in his line. He died in the zenith of his powers. He was a great reader from his youth. While in the uncle's home, he was seen reading a dime novel about the "Wild and Woolly West." His uncle said, "My boy, what are you reading?" He handed him the book. "Well, you should not read such books, they will do you more harm than good. How many such story books have you." He said a. whole box full. "Bring them down, I want to Early History of Elyria and Her People - 291 examine them." He did so, when the uncle said, "How much money have you paid out for these?" "Five dollars." "Well, you cannot read them any more, they should be burned up. Here are five dollars." The boy took the money. "Now," said the uncle, "the money is yours and the hooks mine, is that right?" "Yes," said the nephew. "Then I have a right to do with them what I please," and he began to tear them in pieces and feed them into the grate fire. "Uncle, what makes you do that?" "For your own good; you cannot read any more such books while you live here." The flames turned them all into ashes, while the good uncle, one by one, fed them into the flames as he told the aspiring boy what he should read. C. W. Johnston always bore a good name and was one of the kindest of fathers and a most affectionate husband. He left the world far better for his life. His picture hangs in the law library in the courthouse. His son and daughter alone survive of this once prominent family. No more highly esteemed gentleman walks the streets of the city than "Carl Johnston." CHAPTER XLVI NINETY-THREE years ago there was born in a log house on a farm in LaGrange, this county, to Nathan P. Johnson and his good wife, pioneers, who three years before came from the State of New York, a son named Eleazar G. Johnson, destined to become a man of marked ability, possessed of leadership and great ambitions. His father was a strong man and a noble character. He was representative in his day and generation, first as a member of the House, then the Ohio Senate. The son was known from boyhood, till his earthly race was run, by all classes wherever he was spoken to or of as "E. G." In the district schools of LaGrange, supplemented by instruction from the father and three or four terms in the winter months at Oberlin, he obtained hiseducation. Before attaining majority he was teaching country school in connection with farm labor. At the age of twenty-one was elected justice of the peace, a position he held for ten years, within which period he was admitted to the bar, and at thirty was made auditor of the county, to which position he was elected the third terns, 292 - Early History of Elyria and Her People At twenty-five, in 1861, he answered Lincoln's call for seventy-five thousand volunteers to crush the rebellion, was made captain, and later colonel. When the re-enlistment came he, responded, but was rejected because of poor health. He did not open a law office in Elyria till he was through with the duties of county auditor, when about forty. Realizing that, with a large family to support, and lack of experience in the profession, he had undertaken a hard task, he burned every bridge to retreat, resolved to win, if indefatigable industry in the books would bring results. Probably no member of our bar in his day and generation spent the number of hours he did in his office, day and night, examining authorities, briefing cases, and meeting people. He was at the head of the Republican party for many years, and editor of a newspaper for a long period. He was a dominant force politically for many years. It was during the days of caucuses and delegate conventions, when yearly they came together at the county seat to make the tickets, pass resolutions, and adopt platforms. The period when nominating speeches were made and keynote orators orated. Such was his influence for years, that nearly every candidate for a county office, whose cause he espoused, was nominated. The primary ballot plan has destroyed the old order of things in ticket-making, and robbed any one man of such leadership power. Johnson built up a large lucrative practice until he was acknowledged leader of the bar. He was gifted with his pen. His descriptive articles, that ever and anon appeared, were read with interest. The following is a sample, written for the home paper while on a trip to the old country, describing his visit to the "Leaning tower of Pisa" in Italy: "After breakfast we started for the `leaning tower.' It was but a short walk, and yet it seemed a mile, so greatly had our expectations been excited. It did not seem possible we were to set our eyes upon that famous column. I remember hearing my mother describe it, as we sat around the fireplace in the long winter evenings in the log house in LaGrange, which long ago has crumbled into dust. Oh how times and circumstances do change. As she described it and told the story of its history, I thought life would be a failure, unless my eyes could behold it, so I resolved that some day I would go and see it and come hack and tell her of my journey. Here I am at the tower, but where Early History of Elyria and Her People - 293 is she and where is the happy circle then complete, and those happy days that then seemed eternal' Memory holds them—all else is gone." His conscience story about himself is the best one on record. Here it is: "Till I was about fifty years old, my body was very slim and thin. I had a cadaverous look that I felt boded no good. I discovered one day a hard lump in the pit of my stomach that alarmed me. None of the Elyria doctors seemed to have any idea what it was, so I called on our old LaGrange family physician, Dr. Underhill, who had known me from my youth up. He was a large powerful man, with patriarchal whiskers, and great good sense. After feeling of my anatomy, on both sides, he said, with his finger on the lump I had discovered in the pit of my stomach, 'E. G., that is your backbone, you better take a trip over the briney deep, as you should have more flesh.' So I sailed for Europe. About a year after my return I had so fleshed up that I weighed 225. Meeting an old friend, who had not seen me since I touched the scales at less than 135, he seemed astonished at my corpulence, and made bold to ask me how it came about. I said it is right you should know the facts. "After recounting how I came to go to the old country, I said, on my return trip, after we had been sailing about an hour, while I was seated on the deck watching the rolling waves, suddenly I felt the qualms of nausea and made for the rail, where it seemed as though my stomach turned inside out. I looked to see what I had gotten rid of and discovered the breakfast I ate that morning in Liverpool. Resuming my seat, soon worse sickness overtook me, making it difficult to reach the rail. When all was over, I looked again, and lo, there floated the supper I ate in Paris the night before. Weak, I reached my deck chair, exhausted, believing my troubles were over, when once again pains seized me, far worse than before; then I felt the end had come. By superhuman effort, I again seized the faithful rail when, after paroxysms of pain there escaped something from my stomach. I then saw through my blinding tears, floating on the water a little thing that was black and seemed to have tentacles like a star fish. I asked a gentleman standing near, who looked like a doctor, if lie was. He said 'Yes.' I said, 'What is that I just threw up?' He adjusted his glasses and said, 'Man, that is your conscience.' 20 294 - Early History of Elyria and Her People "Since I got rid of that I have been putting on flesh. It does not goad me any more. The old friend looked at me strangely as though he doubted my word." His residence was the brick mansion on Middle Avenue, now owned and occupied by his son, Hal C. Johnson. He was a political friend in his time of Senator Hanna, Senator Foraker, and in fact most of the prominent politicians of the State. He raised a large family of bright children. Some are dead. The only one left in the city is Hal C. Johnston, mentioned, one of the prominent lawyers at the bar. The oldest son was a lawyer. He passed away years ago. One called "Port" resides in the West, and one called "Tom," as he was known here while practicing, lives in the South. The surviving daughters are scattered over the country. The mother was a LaGrange Gott, a noble woman, given to good works. She has been gone for lo, these many years. E. G.'s picture hangs in Court Room No. 1. There was born eighty-six years ago in the State of New York, on a farm, a member of the Lorain County bar, whose life was a conspicuous part of the history of Elyria and vicinity for fifty-six years. He was the late judge David J. Nye. By the members of the bar when he began practice, he was called the "Tall Sycamore of the Cattaraugus," owing to his height: of several inches more than six feet, and because he was raised in Cattaraugus County, New York. In stature, from the time he hung out his shingle, all had to look up to him. His education was secured through his own efforts—farming and teaching. He worked his way through Oberlin College. In his student days, the institution was sorely in need of dollars and was occupying the first buildings erected on the campus, all of which have disappeared. Part of the time while there, to keep the wolf from the door, he swept out the buildings and rang the college bell. His last school-teaching was in the village of Milan, as superintendent of schools, the birthplace of Thomas Edison. He read law while teaching, and was admitted to the bar in Elyria, in I872. He took Horace Greeley's advice, "Go West, young man," and landed in the torn of Emporia, Kansas, when that country was called the "Wild and Woolly A few months satisfied him that the land of great distances and few people poor in purse, where wolves howled, was no place Early History of Elyria and Her People - 295 to practice law. Back to Elyria he came and opened an office in the Ely block. It remained his business place until he was elected to the Common Pleas bench, eighteen years later. Before this honor was conferred, he had been a member of the city council, school examiner on the board of education, and prosecuting attorney. After he served on the bench for two terms, lie was sent as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention at Columbus. In all the positions held, he served with ability and fidelity. His residence was the Gothic dwelling now owned and occupied by his son, Horace Nye and family, located on Washington Avenue. He married in 1880, Miss Luna Fisher, of Cleveland, an estimable lady, by whom he had two sons of ability and character. Horace and David, both were graduates of Oberlin College, and admitted to the bar. David died in young manhood, leaving a widow. Horace married the daughter of the late Dr. McClure. He is trust officer in the Elyria Savings and Trust Co. The judge reached the ripe old age of eighty-five, in full possession of his faculties, interested as ever in the affairs of life until he was gathered to his fathers. Until within a few weeks of his decease he was at his office transacting business and investigating legal propositions. When you take the "Indian Hollow Road" in going to Grafton, just before reaching the old Miller stone quarry and the Baltimore and Ohio R. R. crossing on the highway, there stands on the west side an old stone two-story house built in pioneer times by the father of a large family out of the nearby jutting rocks on the bank of Black River. One of the sons was the well-known lawyer, Iral A. Webster, a member of the Lorain County bar from young manhood till his decease, at nearly seventy. He was one of the most industrious citizens in all the surrounding country. While practicing law was his profession, in which he was a diligent student, and possessed a fine library, he was very active in other fields of endeavor. He helped develop a stone quarry near his boyhood home. He was the proprietor of a hardware and farm implement store he conducted through others in Elyria. He was also one of the moving spirits in the running of a factory in Elyria manufacturing shears. He dealt extensively in farm lands and was engaged in agriculture. He built the home on Washington 296 - Early History of Elyria and Her People Avenue, now occupied by his widow. He organized the first building and loan company ever started in the county, located at Oberlin, where he began practicing law. While he was loaded with responsibilities in the professional and business world, he was never too busy to go about the county making temperance addresses. He hated the liquor traffic, and everything calculated to destroy body or soul. He was kind in disposition, and ever kept his credit good. He married Miss Rob, of Olmsted, by whom he had two children : Dr. Albert Webster, who was cut down in the prime of life while a citizen of Lorain, where he had a large practice. He, the doctor, left a daughter, Charlotte Webster, a graduate of Oberlin College, and now a teacher of geology in an Eastern college, in which field she has won honors. The daughter was Angie Webster, a talented noble young lady, who was ever in great demand as a singer at funerals and in churches. The city mourned when she was taken away in her young womanhood, as she was beloved by all with whom she came in contact. The old stone house and its farm were the birthplace of Mr. Webster. George P. Metcalf, the attorney, a sketch of whose life I have given in a previous chapter, had a brother, Chas. A. Metcalf, twelve years younger than himself, an attorney at our bar for many years. He was like his brother, born in Liverpool, Medina County. His boyhood was nearly all spent in Pittsfield, this county. He was, as a youth, one of the most timid of beings in the township, easily embarrassed. After gaining what knowledge he could at the country school, he attended Oberlin College several terms. He was so confused and embarrassed the first time he entered the recitation room he fell full length on the floor. Those students who assumed because of his awkward ways, he must lack mental equipment, soon were compelled to reverse their judgment, when it came to getting lessons and reasoning over problems. Ere long he was out teaching successful schools. He read law in his brother's office and for forty years faithfully and diligently practiced his profession. His habits were ever correct. He was an outstanding layman of the Baptists in Northern Ohio, and one of the original organizers of the first Anti-Saloon League formed in Oberlin. For two terms he was mayor of Oberlin, filling the position with great credit, the place in which he made his blunder in trying to enter college. Early History of Elyria and Her People - 297 He was ever a lover of harmless sports, and was for years the acknowledged best quoit pitcher in Lorain County. Every man, woman, and child in Pittsfield, where he grew up, swore by him to the day of his death. Whatever he did was done with all his might. He had a superior legal wind. When he had once investigated a legal proposition and reached a conclusion, it was found that his opinion was almost invariably right. His wife was a beautiful character. They had four children, two sons and two daughters. The sons are both college graduates and as fine citizens as Ohio ever produced. Chas. is at the head of the Y. M. C. A. in Lancaster, this State, and George is an accountant for a large business in Cleveland. One daughter, a fine lady, is the wife of one of our best citizens, Walter Davis. They reside on East Avenue in the Metcalf homestead. The other daughter is a 'trained nurse in the city, a lady of high standing and character-. Chas. Metcalf, the father, had a host of friends in the county. He accumulated a fine property, and left a good name. He was the author of poems worthy of preservation. His grandchildren are full of promise. His life goes to show that a bashful country boy may rise to leave his mark high in the affairs of his countrymen, by strict adherence to the principles that make ever for the common weal. The good seed C. A. Metcalf sowed while here will go on bearing fruit for the best things till time shall be no more. A few months before his death, at nearly seventy, he visited. the "Holy Land.' It proved too strenuous for his failing health, and no doubt hastened his death. CHAPTER XLVII AMONG the earliest white settlers to enter the unbroken forests of Lorain County were Chas. Smith and family, descendents of the Puritans, who came from Massachusetts in 1814, and settled in Little Beaver Creek, in a log house, about four miles west of Elyria. Neither this township or Amherst had then been organized or named, nor was there an inhabitant in Elyria. They came all the way from the Berkshire Hills, Mass., with an ox team, and covered wagon. It took them and those who accompanied them in like conveyances, five days to cut a road 298 - Early History of Elyria and Her People from the spot occupied now by the city of Flynn, to the place of their destination only four miles away. The distance is now covered over the same route in individual palaces daily by hundreds in fifteen minutes, every rod a joy ride. Marvel of marvels, wonder of wonders, are the devices for creature comfort in this generation. From a trackless forest, traveling less than a mile a day, cutting their own road, drawn by patient oxen, in a. lumbering wagon, to great powered machines, the astonishment ofkings and rulers of the earth, an American invention by which distance is annihilated and travel an unalloyed joy, is too marvelous for comprehension. The pioneer was the grandfather of Judge Laertes B. Smith, who was born in South Amherst ninety-nine years ago. This pioneer grandparent was a tailor by trade and served the settlers in that. capacity. He was an ardent Methodist, exhorter, in whom his neighbors believed. Many of the class meetings were held in his log house. To accommodate travelers he opened the first tavern in the vicinity. Young Smith learned the harness-makers' trade which he followed five years and the hardware business five more, when an ambition seized him at twenty-eight to enter the legal profession. Because of his disposition to save, he had enough of this world's goods to tide him through a period of reading. He entered the office of Vincent and Sheldon, was admitted at thirty, and made one of the firm. The Civil War took Sheldon into the service, when he formed a partnership with W. W. Boynton, who later became Common Pleas judge, and then Supreme, as heretofore stated. In 1871, he was made Probate judge, a position he held for many years when he was succeeded by Judge Hinman. He was possessed of a dry humor and ready wit that never forsook him. While Probate judge some attorney with a large bump of curiosity happening to be in the courthouse when the judge was leaving for home, and observing a young couple come out of the office as he was locking the door, said, "Judge, what did those young people want in your office?" as he saw them disappear down the hall. He replied, as only he knew how, "I just gave them their first divorce papers. The second ones they will probably employ you to get." While a group of county officials were having a chat to- Early History of Elyria and Her People - 299 gether, the judge among the rest, at the noon hour, One of them named John, hearing somebody give an account in detail of something a hot-headed fellow had done, in a moment of anger toward another, said, with eyes aflame, in a high-keyed voice: "That fellow ought to be strung up, and I would like to be one to help do it." Whereupon the judge said: "Now, John, you would not do any such thing, you know you are not that kind of a man." "Well," said John, "he ought to be horsewhipped, anyway." "Horsewhipped, what are you saying, John, you could not be hired to do such a cruel thing as that." "Well, then, he should be shut up in jail a few days to teach him a lesson.'' "Say, John, if you had the power to jail him, you know you would not do it, you are not that cruel." John looked worsted, and after some study, said: 'Well, I think he ought to be reprimanded, anyway; I won't take that back." Thereupon the crowd joined in a hearty laugh over the comedown. The judge did not marry till he was forty-one, when he was united with Miss Margaret Smyth, of Ontario, New York, to whom was born Fannie, who was the wife of one of our foremost citizens, the banker, Samuel Squires, gifted as a speaker and given to good works. Her death was deeply mourned by a great circle of friends and the town generally, as she was ever unselfish going about doing good. One is the wife of A. B. Taylor, the well-known banker. She is beloved by everybody. The third daughter is the wife of F. T. Horan, a manufacturer, of the city. Mrs. Horan is like her sisters, held in high regard by all. The well-known newspaper man Bud Smith is a son of the Judge and Mrs. Smith. The widow of the judge is still with us, residing in the old homestead on the corner of Middle Avenue and Seventh Street, nearing the ninety mark in full possession of her faculties, going about doing good, held in highest esteem by all who know her. She is a woman of strong convictions with the strength of character to stand by them. The judge was an exemplary citizen, ever kind to the poor and considerate in all his judgments. He accumulated quite an estate by his frugality, ever living within his means. The framed marriage certificates issued by him in his long tenure as Probate judge may be found on many walls throughout the country. His picture hangs in the Probate Court room. 300 - Early History of Elyria and Her People The successor of Judge Smith in the office was Judge Edgar H. Hinman, born in Ohio eighty-three years ago, on a farm in Portage County. He was educated in the public schools and Oberlin College. Was a soldier in the Civil War and graduated from Ann Arbor Law College. Thinking the place to locate was St. Joseph, Mo., he turned his footsteps westward where he was made deputy clerk for the Supreme Court of that new State. One year satisfied him that his real opportunity was in Ohio, when he returned and opened a law office in North Amherst. He was not long in securing the confidence of the people. Such was the faith they had in him for integrity and judgment, that his office became the place to which all classes went with their troubles for counsel. He was a peacemaker and was soon made mayor. It was the period in which the town was in the making. Foreigners had flocked there to work in the various quarries opening up. The saloons were numerous and troubles many, but he did not hesitate to enforce the laws regardless of who the offender might be. Out of those days of trouble has emerged one of the thriftiest, most enterprising, and attractive little cities in Ohio, standing for the best. Before many moons had waxed and waned, the good name of Edgar Hinman as a fearless and just mayor had gone over the county, resulting in his nomination and election as Probate judge. So satisfactory was his administration that he was kept in the office for many years until he lost his health. He married Ada M. Faxon, of Brownhelm, now deceased, one of the best beloved ladies by all classes, young and old, who ever resided in the, city. To them were born four children, one a son, who died in infancy; Harold F., a bright young man was cut down in early manhood; Scott Hinman, a traveling salesman, residing here, and Lucille, the daughter, a lifelong resident of the city, one of the best beloved ladies, a talented musician and teacher of piano music. She has been under noted teachers in Germany, and stands among the foremost in her field of endeavor. One of the able members of the bar was Henry Boynton, a cousin of Judge Boynton, and a son of John H. Boynton, one of the influential characters of the county for many years, having held the position of sheriff and treasurer and for many years leader of the Republican forces. Henry was twice mayor of the Early History of Elyria and Fier People - 301 city, a position he held with honor and credit. He possessed a fine legal mind and was a wide reader of the best literature. He was a striking personage because of his great size and commanding figure. He married the daughter of Dr. Townsand, one of the strong men in his day in Lorain County, who had much to do in the founding of the Ohio State University, in which he was for years one of the professors. She was a noble character. Three sons were born to this marriage. The eldest, Arthur, has become an important man in the steel industry and is connected with a mill in the West. Percy took to newspaper work, lecturing, and writing on sociological subjects. He wields an able pen, and reasons on his feet like a Greek philosopher. He is a splendid citizen. Was for a time on our local paper, but now resides in one of the cities. The youngest, S. H. Boynton, has his residence on Lake Avenue, is married. Has a bright family, full of promise, and stands for the best things in his community. He is connected with one of the industries as an employee. About sixty years ago there was born in LaGrange, to Silas Stroup and wife, a son they named "Lee," and "Lee" he remained till his untimely death a few years ago. He was ambitious from his early youth to become a lawyer. His education was secured at the public schools and in Baldwin University. He read law in the writer's office and shortly after his admission to the bar, was made the first elected city solicitor Elyria ever had, as there was no such office till then, the city not having the requisite population. e held the position two terms and later was twice elected prosecuting attorney, a position he held with marked success. Later he was elected judge of the Common Pleas Court, and after serving for a few months of his second term resigned to re-enter practice. He was gifted as a trial attorney, and possessed fine abilities as a public speaker. He built the brick residence on Washington Avenue, north of the home of T. T. Robinson. He married Winnie Finch, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Finch, of Medina, Ohio. She was a sister of the writer's first wife. They had born to them two sons. One died when a small boy, the other is Thad Stroup, an attorney in Cleveland. He is a gifted young man, married to a splendid lady. They have one child. Mrs. Stroup, the widow, resides in Lakewood. 302 - Early History of Elyria and Her People She is a cultured lady, highly gifted with her needle in creating beautiful and artistic things. Before the Civil War there came to Elyria from the Birkshire Hills of Massachusetts, a lawyer by the name of Nathan L. Johnson, who soon became known as "N. L. Johnson," and by it he was ever after called, till time with him was no more. He was a unique personage, patterning after no one, possessed of the most positive convictions. He was a scholarly lawyer, a graduate of Williams College. He was of the old school, having been trained in the New England ideas of practice, some years before he moved West. Was a Democrat in politics of the Jeffersonian, Jacksonian type, who believed that the government in the hands of the Republican Party would surely go on the rocks. He arrived in partisan days when no quarter was asked or given. Because of his denunciation of those politically not of his faith, Republicans in need of counsel, generally steered clear of his office. The result was he never had a large clientage. Socially, when politics were left out of the conversation, he was an interesting gentleman to meet. He had no use for the saloon and believed in the best of morals. His residence was for many years, and until he ceased to practice law, on the spot now occupied by the Masonic Temple. He married an Eastern lady of culture. He was a student of the best literature and a kinder husband and more indulgent father could not be found. Four children were born to the goodly couple, three sons and a daughter. The latter is a missionary in India, and has been all her natural life. One son, something of an invalid, lives in the East. The other sons were both graduates of the same college from which their father received his diploma. They were lawyers. Each began practice in Elyria with the father. Curtis, the elder, soon moved to Toledo to spend his life, where he became Common Pleas judge for two terms, filling the position with great credit. He never married. Not long ago he was killed in an automobile accident. Ben remained in Elyria, caring for the father till he passed away. The mother has been gone for many years. The tender regard and kind treatment the sons accorded the father in his declining years, will ever remain a pleasant recollection of the writer. The true character of the father is best shown in an incident that came under my observation when Curtis was in Early History of Elyria and Her People - 303 his junior year in college. The mother had been an invalid for some years, and the family expenses had grown. He asked me if I would be so kind as to stop on my way home at his residence and take the acknowledgment of a mortgage. I assured him I would gladly do so. It turned out to be a second one on the home, all they possessed of earthly means. She read the instrument and remarked: "This is two hundred more than we talked." He replied, "That is true, but come to think it over, Curtis will need it as next year he will be a senior. You know Curtis will never see us suffer, he is a good son." She thereupon affixed her signature. After the father's decease Ben moved to Toledo and became a partner with his brother. He married and has several children now grown. A few weeks ago he passed away in the prime of life. He was one of the ablest attorneys of the Toledo bar. The only persons that have thus far been written up in these articles have been those who have passed away, save as a descendant has been incidentally mentioned. I shall leave it to another in the future to take his pen in hand to write sketches of those who shall hereafter go to that undiscovered country. CHAPTER XLVIII THERE is no other city in United States situated as Elyria is, at the confluence of rivers where can be found two such waterfalls, one on each stream, equidistant above the point where they junction together. When there is a normal flow and the sun is at the right angle, there may be seen a rainbow at each. The beauty spots of groves, placid pools, and rippling waters on both branches, starting at the upper end of Lorain harbor, and continuing for twenty-five or more miles, can only be enjoyed to the full by walking the banks, as only here and there are they visible from the bridges spanning the same. The great shale banks above Lorain harbor are noted in the geological world, for not only their great height, but especially for the wonderful fossil specimens of extinct life, that have been dug out of the sides, large numbers of which are to be found in the museums of college collections. Then such ledges of rock formations are in evidence in Cascade Park, jutting from the bluffs 306 - Early History of Elyria and Her People and banks, adorned by a wealth of trees and foliage, making with the falling waters a picture never to be forgotten. Any person who has been too busy chasing dollars or the will-o'-the-wisp pleasures in this vicinity and has failed to visit the "Great Cave" at the West Falls, and not followed the streams for miles in May or in the leafy month of June, has missed real spring joy. Whether you go north or south, following the banks of either stream at that time of year, beauty in all her glory awaits you without money or price, and will fill your souls with thankfulness and give to life a new and better meaning. People have lived and died within two miles of these nature charms, who never had interest enough in them to make the effort to behold their grandeur. These very people will drive hundreds of miles to visit Niagara Falls to see the same water that passes over our own cataracts, thus exemplifying the saying that distance lends enchantment to the view. We are too close to our own to appreciate what we have. Some years ago after the grounds were deeded to the city by the Elys, the authorities thinking to make them more attractive, a landscape gardener was called in. They fortunately employed a gentleman from New York, noted in that field of endeavor, thinking he would advise some very drastic interference with what nature had done. He spent hours looking over the field and, like a great man that he was, not looking for dollars, to their surprise, said, "Keep your hands off, men would spoil it. Any city will give millions to have what you possess. Make your drives and paths passible but go no farther." That advice has been strictly adhered to until the park has become a joy forever to all classes and is noted far and near. The added grounds on the north where games are played and where the beautiful swimming pool is located in which thousands of children each summer learn to swim and grow strong in their exuberance of unalloyed joy, showed wisdom on the part of the Park Commission. There is another thing of which the city may well take commendable pride, and that is her stone and cement arch bridges, spanning the two branches. There are eleven of them, counting the two New York Central ones. Probably no other city of its size on earth has so great a number of such monumental structures. The original ones built by the pioneers were rude wooden affairs. They were re- Early History of Elyria and Her People - 307 WINTER SCENE-WEST FALLS placed by fine steel spans. Then as the traffic became heaver and greater, one by one, they were removed, giving place to the present structures. Only one of the eleven ever gave way. The first stone one on Washington Avenue in the great flood that overwhelmed the city of Dayton, it went down because the foundations in the center of the stream sustaining the two arches was not laid deep enough. Fortunately all occupying it, watching the swirling waters, escaped but by a close margin. In its place the present great one arch cement span was erected. Engineers say there is but one other structure in the world having a longer reach for its height than the one spanning the east branch just south of the New York Central that has recently been widened out. These structures, placed end on end, would he longer than the noted viaduct spanning the Cuyahoga in Cleveland. Everyone will be standing carrying the millions over sly when generions unborn shane the wrth. 308 - Early History of Elyria and Her People Who a few years ago dreamed of an elevated steam railroad through the city, costing millions, absolutely doing away with all risk at the main crossings. To this improvement add the new depot, the interior of which is the limit of human skill, and the pride and joy of all. Such a structure makes those who enter it feel that it should ever be "hands off. I must not deface such a place of beauty and refinement." If there are as attractive and well-kept grounds in connection with the waterworks of any city in America, small or great, as those on the bank of the lake belonging to our city, let the acceptor of the challenge step forward and speak. True, we paid for the conduits that conduct the water to Elyria and the plant, between two and three millions, but what of it; the investment has paid a hundredfold in health and prosperity. When the State authorities said, You have become a manufacturing city of note and are growing rapidly, you must keep it. sanitary," and ordered us to construct a sewer of capacity, sufficient to conduct the filth of the city for years to come, to a point of two miles north for treatment and disposition, like law-abiding citizens, we claim to be, we went to the ballot box and obeyed the injunction, so that soon the unsightly condition of the streams in low water will be a thing of the past. There is not a rod of wooden sidewalk in the city and has not been for years; nearly every foot of ours is sawed stone from the quarries of our own county. The trees lining our streets and avenues are the talk of the strangers within our gates. On the west branch of the river are four stone dams, on which there is fine skating in the winter and the best of boating in the summer. There should be motor and rowboats in abundance to enjoy the thrill of riding on the water and seeing the wonderful trees that line the banks. Nearly all of the most attractive spots can be reached by this means of transportation. A motorboat organization is bound to come, so soon as the sanitary sewer to cleanse the river gets in operation. On the east branch are two fine stone dams, one at the east falls and one at the "white mill" a mile farther up. Speaking of the east branch, it will be remembered that in an early chapter an account was given of the log saw mill, erected by Mr. Ely, the founder, in 1817, the first industry of the place. An account was also given of Mr. Ely purchasing from some gentleman in Grafton Township a two- Early History of Elyria and Her People - 309 horse wagon that could not be delivered to him for the lack of any road, and was sent here on a raft down the east branch of the river. I have since learned through one of our best citizens, Ashley J. Rawson, on Sixth Street, who was horn and raised in Grafton Township, that the noted vehicle was built by his grandfather, Grindall Rawson, who, with his brother, Johnathan Rawson, came from their home in Rochester, New York, then a small place, to Grafton woods, in October, 1816. They passed through Cleveland where they were offered one hundred and sixty acres on Euclid Avenue for twenty dollars per acre. The sand did not appeal to them so they headed toward the clay lands of Grafton and purchased together six hundred acres from the "Connecticut Land Co.'' Ashley's grandfather, Grindall, was a wagon-maker, and built the first wagon and cooper shop erected in this part of the county. The Ely wagon was the first one built by him in Grafton and the first sold in Elyria. He engaged some man to construct the raft on which he sent it to Elyria where it was unloaded at the point where East Broad Street bridge stands. These ancestors of Ashley Rawson cut their way out of Grafton Woods. Grindall Rawson was single when lie came, but chancing to meet one of the six fair daughters of David Ashley, named Maria, then residing at the place we now call Belden, in the township, he convinced her that the happy thing to do was to change her name for his and occupy the log house he had erected on his three hundred acres. They were married on the 5th day of November, 1818, one hundred and ten years ago last fall, the first couple to plight their troth in Grafton Township. Her father was the first postmaster. To this couple was born the father of Ashley Rawson, who in his day was one of the best of citizens, given to good works in the county, whose word and character were far above par. He reached a good old age, and was laid by the side of his ancestors in the little cemetery of the township he helped develop. Ashley Rawson, of Elyria, in his early manhood, was a schoolteacher, and now has in his possession a certificate to teach, signed by I. S. Metcalf, as examiner, given him in August, 1870, at an examination held in a schoolhouse then standing where the Lincoln Building is now located. Ashley was for some years an able and honored member of the city council. He may well 21 310 - Early History of Elyria and Her People be proud of his ancestry. His upright and useful life shows him worthy of them. Grafton Township having as early settlers as Elyria, it was regarded for years as a sort of part of it. There now resides in the township Isaac Root, a son of a pioneer, whose infirmities have for some time kept him housed in his farm home on the ancestral acres. While he is full of years and his body of rheumatism, his mind and heart are those of youth, as he is deeply interested in life, and all that makes for the common good. His father was a strong character like himself, with a mind of his own. He was an ardent Methodist, one of the pillars of the Belden Church in the early days. It chanced many years ago, in 1.840, that there was the worst drouth ever known to the inhabitants of that township. No rain fell from the last. of April till the first of October. Not only wells and cisterns went dry but the streams ceased to run and long trips were made necessary for water. The crops dried up and the earth was so parched that animals had to be sold at a great sacrifice for the lack of feed. Somebody in the little church called a prayer meeting to pray for rain. It was being held nightly with good attendance. Brother Root had not shown up. One of the faithful residing up the road beyond the Root place on his way to a meeting called and asked him why he did not attend and pray for rain. His answer was:` It won't do any good so long as the wind is in the north." He was the owner of a large farm and knew how to make the soil produce. He was what they called a "good provider." No needy person was ever turned away empty. He had a way all his own of punishing light-fingered neighbors who saw fit to carry off his property without leave. He possessed a large corn crib filled with cars. Discovering in the back of the same a hole and some corn gone, he concluded it was the work of squirrels and set a steel trap just inside the aperture for the unknown culprit. The next morning as he passed the building on his way to the big barn he noticed one of his neighbors with his hand through the opening caught in the trap unable to extricate himself owing to the small size of the opening. On making the discovery he said, "Well neighbor, what are you doing here so early in the morning?" "I am caught in a trap," he replied. "How did that happen?" asked Mr. Root. '`I was trying to steal some of your Early Elyria History of and Her People - 311 corn and did not know the trap was there." "Stealing my corn, were you? Why did you do that? Have I ever refused you corn or anything else when you came to me in need?" "No," said the criminal. "Then why did you go to stealing from me? If I let you go do you promise me you will come around to the front as I want to talk to you?" He promised. Then the good man entered the building and released him when he walked around to the front. Mr. Root said, "You must be hungry over at your house to be out nights stealing. Here is a sack of meal, take it home but never try to steal any more. When you are needy, come here and I will help you out. Stealing is awful." He walked away with his gift, thanking his benefactor and promising to never do so again. On another occasion lie missed a fatted calf and began to look about when he discovered its hide hanging on the fence of a neighbor not far away, who had an unsavory reputation for taking what did not belong to him. He said, "What made you steal my animal?" The culprit denied the accusation. "No need of that; I know you have the hide on the fence. Now confess," and he did, and offered to pay for the animal. "No, I do not want any pay, the thing that hurts me is that you should steal from me. Have I ever refused you anything to eat when you came and asked me?" "No," he replied. "Well, hereafter when you are needy at your house, come and tell me and I will help you, but quit your stealing is all I ask." He was a rare specimen and held in high regard in all the surrounding country. Isaac Root has raised a family of exemplary citizens and ever stood for the right. All hail to the memory of the old pioneers who came into the solid woods of Grafton Township and wrought mightily in their day and generation. The courthouse of any county is the one place to which all classes sooner or later find their way, for there are the books of all land titles and incumbrances. The place where taxes are paid and all troubles aired where they cannot agree. The place where crime is punished. The place where the widow and orphan find out about their rights. The building to which lovers resort for the right to be made one, and where domestic difficulties are heard and divorces granted. The present Flyria Courthouse was built ready for occupancy fifty years ago. When it was given out that the cornerstone was to be laid by Masons, 22 312 - Early History of Elyria and Her People according to the ceremony of that order, many Oberlin citizens entered a written protest, which was along with many other documents deposited in the tin box the authorities placed in the stone. CHAPTER XLIX OF ALL the characters that have been a part of the citizenship of the city of Elyria, from the beginning, probably John J. Shipherd, the founder of Oberlin colony and College, judged by results attained, stands at the head. He was the first outstanding leader in the nation for pure democracy, in constructive work, that challenged the existing order of things, not only in the whole nation but the world at large. Some mention has been made of him in a previous article. I shall devote this one in giving a brief history of this great and remarkable character. He was born in West Granville, N. V., on the 28th day of March, 1802, one hundred and twenty-eight years ago, of Christian parents. Early in life he was zealous of good works, disposed to spend his day and generation, in the ministry. To that end, he devoted his spare time to study, and especially in searching the Scriptures to learn the will of his Maker. He believed, never doubting, that Providence was guiding him in his deliberations, and would, if he trusted the Creator implicitly, and sought Him in prayer asking the way in which he should go, all would be well, regardless of what the world might think of his undertakings or the persecutions he might encounter. That if he followed the impulses given him through supplications he would be guided into all truth, in his endeavors. He possessed the faith of John Brown, John Bunyan, and the Pilgrim fathers. While still at home, he had secured an academic education in the schools of that character then in vogue, and was to enter college within a few days, when by inadvertence he took poison for medicine, because of a headache, which cost him a long fit of sickness, in which for weeks his life was despaired of. From that sickness he never recovered his health. It left him with an impaired stomach, had throat, and nearly blind. While he could see to read, by getting the print very olose to his eyes, his handicaps ever remained sore afflictions. For a time he despaired of ever entering the ministry, because Early History of Elyria and Her People - 313 of his misfortunes and endeavored to carry on manufacturing business. On reaching his majority, he married one of the noblest daughters of the Empire State, who had implicit faith in his divine revelations, and followed his lead without a murmur, rejoicing in his work, regardless of persecutions. Notwithstanding his enfeebled condition and failure to secure a college education, his heart was in the work of bringing about a better condition in the church and society. After entering the business world, he soon realized that the number preaching the gospel compared to the multitude seeking the wealth of the world, was small. That the harvest was great, but the laborers were few, in stemming the tide of wickedness. He became convinced that it was his duty to devote his life to the cause of preaching the gospel. To that end, he entered the study of an educated minister, to fit himself for the work. In due time he preached for a church for one year in Vermont, then engaged in Sunday-school work, a movement that was not very popular in those days. He traveled over the State organizing schools for several years. He then concluded his real life's work was to be in the Mississippi Valley, the territory west of the Allegheny Mountains. He secured an appointment from the "American Home Missionary Society" and turned his course by horse and buggy Westward, with his wife and several small children, not knowing his point of destination for work. They landed in Cleveland. He was then twenty-eight. There he chanced to meet Rev. D. W. Lathrop, the recently resigned pastor of the Elyria Presbyterian Church, who recommended him to the organization and he commenced his labors at once in October. He served the church for nearly two years, in which time he had large additions, and also held revival meetings in the surrounding country. His evangelistic ideals did not comport with the ways of many of his flock; by them he was severely criticized. Outsiders denounced him for his anti-slavery and anti-saloon doctrines. Then he was for educating together in colleges the girls and boys, a thing not tolerated. While preaching, he thought over the condition of the whole nation, and came to the conclusion that the church people were drifting rapidly toward the ways of the world, losing their spirituality and partaking of the sins of the ungodly. He was now thirty years of age, and was 314 - Early History of Elyria and Her People convinced that he should resign his pastorate and engage in a movement by which the tide of wickedness could be stayed, through an organization of Christians, consecrated to his ideas of what the church should stand for. Like a dutiful son, he wrote his parents what was in his heart, a letter dated August 6, 1832, of which the following is a copy: "Dear father and mother: I have been deeply impressed of late with the certainty that the world will never be converted till it receives from the church a better example, more gospel laborers, and more money. We do not now keep pace with the increase of population in our own country. Something must be done or millions will never cheer our benighted world. The church must be restored to gospel simplicity and devotion. As a means, which I hope God will bless to the accomplishment of some part of this work, I propose through his assistance, to plant a colony somewhere in this region, whose chief aim shall be to glorify God, and do good to men to the utmost extent of their ability. They are to simplify food, dress, etc., to be industrious and economical, and to give all over their current or annual expense for the spread of the gospel. They are to hoard up nothing for old age or for their children, but to mutually covenant that they will provide for the widow, orphan, and all needy, as for themselves and families. They are to establish schools of the first order, from the infant school up to an academic school, which shall afford a thorough education in English and the useful languages; and, if Providence favors it, at length instruction in theology —I mean practical theology. "They are to connect workshops and farms with the institution, and so simplify diet and dress, that by four hours' labor per day young men will defray their entire expenses and young women working at spinning wheels and looms will defray their expenses and all will thus save money, and what is more, promote muscular, mental, and moral vigor. In these schools all the children of the colony are to be educated, whether destined to professional or manual labor; for those designed to be mechanics will learn their trades while in a course of study. These schools will also educate school-teachers for our desolate valley, and many ministers for our dying world; also instruct the children and youth of the surrounding population. Early History of Elyria and Her People - 315 "To do this, we want twenty-five or more good families, and two thousand dollars outfit for our schools. "Dear parents, shall I try? I do feel that such an establishment would not only do much itself, but exert a mighty influence upon the churches, and lead them along in the path of gospel self-denial. I have given you a brief and imperfect sketch but you will discern its bearings. In all this Brother Stewart, formerly assistant missionary to the Choctaws, is with me." A month later he wrote his mother as follows: "My confidence in the utility of our colonizing plan is strengthened by prayer, meditation, and conference with the intelligent and pious; yet I feel that it is a mighty work, difficult of accomplishment. But when anyone goes about a good work, Satan will roll mountains in his way. Believing that all he rolls in our way can be surmounted through the grace of God, and that I can do more for his honor and the good of souls in this valley of dry bones, by gathering such a colony and planting it with its literary and religious institutions in this region, I am inclined, Providence favoring, to resign my charge and spend the winter in the East for the purpose." He resigned his pastorate on the 29th of October that year, 1832, ninety-seven years ago. The territory where Oberlin now stands was then an unbroken wilderness, as well as were thousands of acres surrounding the same. So soon as it was noised about that he was looking for a spot on which to plant his colony and college, Mr. Ely, the founder of the city, offered him the land then called the "Point," now Washington Avenue. It was a dense woods, no bridge had been constructed to reach the same. He was asked to locate in Brownhelm and also in Sheffield, but these localities did not appeal to him, as they were too close to settlements. He believed the colony should be located far enough away from any community of people, so as to not be influenced by them. Russia Township in the south edge of which Oberlin is located, and the surrounding townships, belonged to Street & Hughes, Eastern men residing in New Haven, Conn., where they had a land office. This virgin territory he concluded the most desirable locality to work out his ideas. In the early part of November, a few days after his resignation, he and Stewart secured saddle horses, and wended their 316 - Early History of Elyria and Her People way in a southwesterly direction, taking about the course now occupied by the southern branch of the New York Central Railroad which was an unbroken forest all the way to the spot where they stuck the stakes for a college building. At the end of their journey of eight miles they hitched their horses and knelt down under the historic elm, still standing at the southeast corner of the campus, now surrounded by an iron picket fence, and had another season of prayer. The founding of Oberlin College was not because of a sudden impulse on the part of John J. Shipherd. For months he had it under prayerful consideration. In the spring of that year he had received a letter from his friend, Philo Stewart in the State of New York, asking him if he thought there was a chance in the "West" for him to do some religious work. He assured him there was such an opportunity. He came. Shipherd then told him he had been spending much time in prayer over founding a colony and college somewhere in this region, and asked him to join in the enterprise. From that time they talked over the matter daily, and spent many nights in prayer. While on their knees in the early morning hours, asking for guidance, in the north bedroom upstairs in a dwelling then located on the northeast corner of East Avenue and Second Street, on the spot occupied by a filling station, Shipherd suddenly said, "Brother Stewart, let us arise and build. It is God's will, it has been revealed to me." They arose and proceeded below, where Mrs. Shipherd was busy about the morning meal. He said to her, "Mother, the child is born, what shall we name it?" They cogitated for a time over various names, when Shipherd spoke up and said, "It should be called Oberlin, after John Frederick Oberlin," a great character who had died six years previous, after spending his life as a reformer and missionary in the mountainous region of Alsace, France, where he created a civilization out of a barbarous people. Hence, Oberlin was named before it was located. As they arose from their knees under the elm, there appeared a pioneer with his gun who told them that shortly before they came a bear and her cubs came down out of the tree. This was in the days when Indians still roamed the Lorain County forests, and wild game was in abundance. They proceeded about one hundred and seventy feet in a southwesterly direction Early History of Elyria and Her People - 317 from the tree and stuck the stakes for the college building. As they were about to return to Elyria, Shipherd said, "Brother Stewart, next fall this building will be up and students gathered under its roof." No money was in sight for the enterprise, nor had they secured the right to occupy the premises from the land owners. Stewart, having his doubts, said nothing. Back to Elyria they picked their way through unbroken forests. Within a few days Shipherd said, "Stewart, you remain here while I go Last to secure the property, including enough means to put up the building, and find the requisite families of the right people to organize our colony." Before he took his departure he drew up what he designated at its head "THE OBERLIN COVENANT," which read, "Lamenting the degeneracy of the church and the deplorable condition of our perishing world, and ardently desirous of bringing both under the entire influence of the blessed gospel of peace; and viewing with peculiar interest the influence which the valley of the Mississippi must exert over our nation and the nations of the earth; and having as we trust, in answer to devout supplications, been guided by the counsel of the Lord, the undersigned covenant together, under the name of the Oberlin Colony, subject to the following regulations, which may be amended by concurrence of two thirds of the colonists: "1. Providence permitting, we engage as soon as practicable to remove to Oberlin Colony, in Russia, Lorain County, Ohio, and there to fix our residence, for the express purpose of glorifying God in doing good to men to the extent of our ability. 2. "We will hold and manage our estates personally, but pledge as perfect a community of interest as though we held a community of property. "3. We will hold in possession no more property than we believe we can profitably manage for God as his faithful stewards. "4. We will by industry, economy, and Christian self-denial, obtain as we can, above our necessary personal or family expenses, and faithfully appropriate the same for the spread of the gospel. "5. That we may have time and health for the Lord's service, we will eat only plain and wholesome food, renouncing all bad habits, and especially the smoking and chewing of tobacco, unless it is necessary medicine, and deny ourselves all strong and 318 - Early History of Elyria and Her People unnecessary drinks, even tea and coffee, as far as practicable, and everything expensive, what is simply calculated to gratify the palate. "6. That we may add to our time and health, money for the service of the Lord, we will renounce all worldly, expensive, and unwholesome fashions of dress, particularly tight dressing and ornamental attire. "7. And yet more to increase our means of serving Him who bought us with his blood, we will observe plainness and durability in the construction of our houses, furniture, carriages, and all that appertains to us. "8. We will strive continually to show that we as the body of Christ are members one of another; and will, while living, provide for the widows, orphans, and families of the sick and needy, as for ourselves. "9. We will take special pains to educate all our children thoroughly and to train them up in body, intellect, and heart, for the service of the Lord. "10. We will feel that the interests of Oberlin Institute are identified with us, and do what we can to extend its influence to our fallen race. "11. We will make special efforts to sustain the institution of the gospel at home among our neighbors. "12. We will strive to maintain personal piety, to provoke each other to love and good works, to live together in all things as brethren, and to glorify God in our bodies and spirits which are his. "In testimony of our fixed purpose thus to do in reliance on divine grace, we hereunto affix our names." With the above document in his pocket, and the stakes stuck for the institution, he started East on horseback to secure land, friends, and colonists. CHAPTER L THE previous chapter closed, giving an account of John J. Shipherd, the founder of Oberlin College and colony, starting East in November, I832, on horseback, with his "COVENANT" for the believers in his program to sign, not knowing whether he could find any willing to make the sacrifice. As stated, he had Early History of Elyria and Her People - 319 already stuck the stakes in the wilds of Russia Township for the college building, before knowing whether the landowners in New Haven, Conn., would come to his terms on the price. Within a few days after selecting the spot for his enterprise, he was on his way. His widow, who survived him many years, has left a written account of his journey, which reads as follows: "He had his horse saddled at nine o'clock in the morning, but was unable to proceed before three in the afternoon. The adversary assailed him and presented every possible thing to discourage him; he prayed and agonized for light, but the tempter continued. He finally started, but had to return; he had forgotten something, and we had to have a second parting. The third time he had to turn back, but I was not aware of it. He finally proceeded on his way a few miles, until he came to a piece of woods where he dismounted, fell upon his knees, and acknowledged to the Lord, that he had no desire for the work if it was not his will, and that he could not proceed until he had, `Thus saith the Lord.' He arose from his knees with his heart full of praise and remounted his horse with these words, `With Jesus at home.' "This assurance followed him through all his years of traveling without a cloud crossing his mind. For nearly two weeks he wended his lonely way, fording streams and suffering on horsebaok from the cold, as it was the middle of November, when he reached the land office in New Haven. He made his home with friends while in the town. The morning following his arrival he visited the land office of Street & Hughes, and laid his plans before them, in which be asked for a gift of five hundred acres, surrounding the staked-out location for the building, and five thousand acres at a dollar and a half an acre, with which to erect buildings and pay the expenses of starting the institution. His proposition was flatly refused. They were willing to give the five hundred acres, but insisted on three dollars per acre for the five thousand. He assured them that a town would spring up about the college to enhance the value of their lands in all the surrounding townships. To those hard-headed business men, he appeared as a dreamer of unpractical schemes. He spent no time in trying to persuade them his way but repaired to an upper chamber in the home of a Christian old lady where he began a system of praying. 320 - Early History of Elyria and Her People "Each morning he visited the land office to see whether there had been a change of heart. This continued a week, when, as he came down out of his chamber in the morning he said to the good lady, 'Sister, they are going to sign the contract today. It has been revealed to me.' She said his face shone as he uttered the words. He made his way to the land office when one of the proprietors said, 'Good morning, Mr. Shipherd, we have had a meeting since you were here yesterday, and concluded to accept your proposition.' Papers were then executed after which he began calling on Christian families with whom he was acquainted, here and there in Connecticut, Vermont, and Massachusetts, in the territory in which he had preached and founded his Sunday schools, asking them to sign his 'Covenant' with its twelve articles quoted in the previous chapter, urging them to leave their homes of comfort and plenty, and move into huts in the Russia woods to assist in the great work of stemming the tide of wickedness, sweeping over the nation. He made it a point to get enough young men graduates of Eastern colleges, connected with academies or select schools, to look after the teaching force of his proposed institution. He also secured as many colonists and students as possible to sign the 'Covenant.' "Such was his faith in the project and convincing pourer, that he was able to secure a sufficient number to join the enterprise and contribute the requisite funds to found the colony and open the school the following November." He did not return to Elyria till September, nearly a year after he saddled his horse for the East. As he procured means it was forwarded to Stewart, who was in charge of the work in the woods, where he had erected a log saw mill, having been able to secure a steam engine in Cleveland, then a village, that was taken to Oberlin by oxen. This mill furnished the lumber out of which the building went up, a three-story structure, located on the ground staked out. In the spring following Shipherd's visit Fast, families began to arrive in Oberlin, where they erected houses for themselves. The first student quarters for the boys were made of slabs cut from the logs in the mill. No new settlers ever began in a more primitive way than the first arrivals in Oberlin. They were there from conviction, that it was their duty as Christians to suffer inconveniences in creature comforts, and persecution Early History of Elyria and Her People - 321 as well. They possessed the spirit of the Pilgrim fathers, some of whom were direct descendants of that immortal company. This remarkable man of faith filled them with his spirit, and gave them his vision. The woodsman's ax was soon heard in all directions, clearing the campus and surrounding lots and farms and erecting their log habitations. The written "Covenant" was religiously lived up to by the signers. Stewart was possessed of an inventive turn of mind. He saw the trouble Mrs. Shipherd had in baking her bread in a stove that required turning the loaf several times, as at that date the principle of drawing heat completely around the oven had not been discovered. He set about it and out of sheet iron constructed one that did. This was the beginning of the cook-stove industry, out of which later Philon Stewart made fortunes and gave them away for humanity. His works were located in Troy, New York. It was known as the "Stewart Stove." Hence, Elyria has the distinction of being the birthplace of not only Oberlin College but the first successful cook stove ever invented. He conceived the idea in the same dwelling in which the college was horn. The noted structure still remains, standing on the northwest corner of East Avenue and Eighth Street, occupied by people who know nothing of its history. I have had pictures taken of it that will later be turned over to the institution. Rev. Chauncy M. Pond, a graduate of the college, and a student in the days of slavery, when Oberlin's name was a hissing and a byword, over the Southland and many places in the North, came to my office about ten years ago, and said, "I understand you know where the building is located in which Oberlin College was born. I am nearly through with my earthly career, and should like very much to visit it before I pass away, I graduated from the college a long time ago. Will you be so kind as to show me where it is?" I assured him I should be delighted to do so. Mr. Pond was at that time nearly blind and in very poor health. On making the object of our visit known to the lady who came to the door, she assured us we could come in. We made our way to the little bedroom above where in 1832, Shipherd and Stewart, on their knees prayed for hours and sometimes nearly all night to learn the will of their Maker. 322 - Early History of Elyria and Her People The old minister and Sunday-school worker, a product of the blind boys' college, after looking about the room for a time, said, "Let us pray." He thereupon uttered one of the most touching supplications to which I ever listened. He thanked God he was permitted to stand in the room in which Oberlin College was born before lie should leave the earth. He recounted the achievements of the man of faith, how the things for which John J. Shipherd contended, with the world against him, had come to pass. As he stood there with closed eyes, that were nearly sightless from age and disease, the little children of the household gathered about him looking and listening, wondering what it was all about; he placed his fatherly hands on their heads and blessed them, telling them he hoped they would grow up to be as good as Mr. Shipherd. As we took our leave he said, "I thank God I have been permitted before I die to visit the dwelling in which the founder of my alma mater, Oberlin College, on his knees, caught the vision of the institution." Easterners were not the only ones who joined the colony. The first to show his faith by his works was Peter P. Pease, of Brownhelm, who erected a log house for himself and family. This was the beginning of the settlement. It was located at the southeast corner of the campus near the historic elm that has the iron picket fence around it. He moved in April 10, 1833, the spring following the locating of the spot for the college building. He was not only the first Oberlin colonist, he was also on the first board of trustees of the institution. So soon as the log steam saw mill was in operation in the spring of 1833, the first college building was erected on the south side of College Street, where now stands one of the business blocks. It had three stories. In it for the time being all the students and teachers were housed. It was used not only for all college classes, but also for the church services and Sunday school. The school opened on the third day of December, 1833, just as its founder said it would, the fall before when the stakes were stuck in the woods. The building was called "Oberlin Hall." On his Eastern trip, he had not only secured land, but fifteen thousand dollars in subscriptions and money. When the school opened there were eleven families on the ground and forty-four students, fifteen of whom were girls. Early History of Elyria and Her People - 323 Half of the student body was from the East and the other half from the surrounding country. In the spring term there were one hundred and one in attendance, thirty-eight of whom were ladies. As the news spread that a college had been founded, open to both sexes and stood against slavery and the liquor traffic, the people far and near who had convictions in keeping with the Oberlin idea, with children desirous of a college education, sent them there in such numbers, that it was a problem how to accommodate them. At the close of the second year of the colony and college wonderful progress had been made in the movement. John J. Shipherd following his previous order of life, then began to fast and pray, asking the Author of all good for guidance. Toward fall he believed it was the will of the Lord that he should make another trip East, for the good of the enterprise. He so announced to the friends in the work and told them the Spirit said ''You must go by the way of Cincinnati," then the so-called "Queen City of the West." "Why by Cincinnati?" they asked. "That will take you several hundred miles out of your nearest course." "Yes," lie replied, "but the Spirit says go by way of Cincinnati, I know not why, but must obey the impulse." He was soon on his journey horseback across the State. There were no railroads, no telegraphs, but bad roads much of the way. Contemplate the picture of this character, then but thirty-three. Nearly blind, no health, following an impulse, for what lie knew not, but like Abraham of old, in faith, never doubting, wended his way, believing that it was the Lord's will that the end of the journey would reveal to him the mission. He was so exhausted when he reached the city, he had to spend a whole day in bed. Lane Seminary had then been running on "Walnut Hills" for two years. The president of the theological institution was none other personage than Dr. Lyman Beecher, the father of Henry Ward Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author later of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Shipherd knew no person in the city. He soon learned why lie was divinely directed to "go by way of Cincinnati." The students during the past winter in Lane Seminary had debated in their literary society the "Slavery Question." Much 324 - Early History of Elyria and Her People feeling had been aroused because of it in the student body as many of the theological students were from the South, and some from the North, there was a division. To head off further argument, the trustees of the college had lately held a meeting and passed a resolution that there should be no more debates by the students of the troublesome question. The anti-slavery students had already commenced organizing Sunday and night schools for the colored in the city, as a result of the discussions. On learning of the act of the trustees all the students that hated slavery, which constituted three fourths of the body, left the seminary. Rev. Asa Mahan, of the city, was one of the trustees. He resigned because of the act of the board. Shipherd found this condition of things and held a conference with Mr. Mahan who, after hearing what was being done in Oberlin, suggested that he and the rebelling students, and as many of the colored boys and girls they were teaching as could go, should with himself join the Oberlin colony and enter college. Mr. Shipherd agreed that it was the thing to do; said he could then see why the Lord sent him to Cincinnati. He wrote a letter at once to the trustees of Oberlin College telling what he found, urging the acceptance of the colored students as well as the white. He then went directly across the State to the East. There he received an answer to his letter, telling him the board was divided on the question of admitting colored students, stating they were all against slavery, but felt that it would be a mistake to educate the whites and blacks together. Mr. Shipherd had already gone to New York City and had an interview with the most noted and eloquent preacher in America, then ministering to the largest audience in this country, Rev. Charles G. Finney, a pronounced abolitionist, and convinced him it was his duty to resign his pastorate, go to Oberlin, and join the colony. He agreed to do so, provided there should be no distinctions in receiving students on account of race or color. One of his church members was Arthur Tappan, who later gave the money to erect Tappan Hall, the first brick college building, four stories high. Professor Morgan, a great scholar, was discharged from Lane Seminary because he stood with the anti-slavery students. Shipherd at once answered the letter telling the trustees that he had ten thousand dollars subscribed on condition that the Early History of Elyria and Her People - 325 colored students were accepted. I quote from his letter as follows: "You know, dear brothers and sisters, that it would be hard for me to leave that institution, which I planted in much fasting; and prayer and tribulation, sustained for a time by only one brother, and then for months by only two brethren, and for which I prayed without ceasing, laboring day and night, and watering it with my sweat and tears, as I have it in my heart to live and die with you. It would be heartbreaking to leave you for another field of labor; but I ponder the subject well with prayer and believe that if the injured brother of color, and consequently Brothers Finney, Mahan, Morgan, with eight professorships and ten thousand dollars, must be rejected, I must join them, because by so doing I can labor more effectually for a lost world and the glory of God—and believe me, dear brethren and sisters, for this reason only." This letter brought the great question to a climax. A trustee meeting was called at once. Rev. Keep, of Cleveland, was chairman of the board. The discussion lasted for hours. The women held a prayer meeting while the argument by the men was going on. When the roll was called on the resolution whether to admit the colored students, it was a tie. Rev. Keel) cast the deciding ballot admitting them. Had the colored students been rejected, that would have shortly been the end of Oberlin College. Her glory rests in her fight for pure and unadulterated democracy, making no distinctions because of sex, race, or color, and declaring herself a sworn enemy of the liquor traffic: and the institution of slavery. Soon the great preacher resigned his pastorate and moved to Oberlin, taking with him a tent that seated three thousand, and spread it over the stumps, as none had rotted out. From that time for more than thirty years, this most powerful pulpit orator in America, then forty-three years of age, thundered against the institution of slavery, the liquor traffic and injustice toward woman, and denounced the sins of the nation, as only he was able to picture them. The Fugitive Slave Law was assailed and the Supreme Court of the United States for upholding it. Mahan was made the first president of the college and Professor Morgan professor, and because of his great learning, gave 326 - Early History of Elyria and Her People much prestige to the college. Till slavery was abolished the college for its battle against slavery was denounced from the saltless seas on the North, to the gulf on the South, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The first Anti-Saloon League was organized in an Oberlin College building, the parent of all other leagues in all the States of the nation, which brought condemnation of the believers in the saloon against Oberlin and the college. After eight years' service in the interests of Oberlin, John J. Shipherd took a company of the colonists and went into the woods of Michigan and founded the college of Olivet, a splendid institution built on the sane principles. There he died at forty-three and is buried, leaving his widow and six sons, whom the mother after returning to Oberlin, kept together and educated. She was a marvelous wife and mother, entitled to like credit as her husband for the outcome of the great moral battles. Everything for which John J. Shipherd stood in the beginning has come to pass.