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508 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY CHAPTER XXIV VILLAGE OF NAVARRE THE CANAL AND CAPTAIN DUNCAN COME—NAVARRE COMING TO THE FORE -THREE VILLAGES ROLLED TOGETHER—FIRST VILLAGE OFFICERS— PRESENT CORPORATION—BUSINESS AND FINANCES—CHURCHES AND SOCIETIES—A PATRIOTIC VILLAGE—MILLER POST No. 270, G. A. R.CAPTAIN BENNETT AND THE MEMORIAL MONUMENT—MAJOR MCKINLEY 'S FIRST LAW SUIT. The seed of the Village of Navarre was planted in the little settlement of Bethlehem, established by two Philadelphia lawyers in 1806. Their aim was to found a Moravian colony similar to that which flourished so long at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Jonathan W. Condy, the stronger man of the two, built a sawmill on the stream east of the village and contracted for the erection of a grist mill ; but the latter was abandoned. He erected a storehouse on the northwest corner of Market and Second streets, which was occupied by James Klingle, and in that building was opened the first dry goods store in the village. But, in spite of the upbuilding of a few more stores and some residences, Mr. Condy's expectations were not realized, and the gentleman returned to Philadelphia. THE CANAL AND CAPTAIN DUNCAN COME Bethlehem affairs lay dormant until about the time the Ohio Canal was located, when Capt. James Duncan commenced to vitalize the region. He laid out Navarre, Nathan McGrew platted Rochester on the western side of the canal route, and, in the midst of this revival and creation of villages, Mr. Condy came on from Philadelphia to look after his interests at Bethlehem. While on one of his exploring trips near his town his horse was attacked by yellow jackets. The rider was thrown violently to the ground, broke his shoulder and suffered such serious internal injuries that he died in August, 1827. HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 509 NAVARRE COMING TO THE FORE The three villages of Bethlehem, Rochester and Navarre became lively centers of grain and general trade. After a few years of prosperity came the panic and reactions of 1837-40, and then a second and much longer period of good times. Gradually Navarre, under the masterly guidance of Captain Duncan, obtained the upper hand of its rivals. The first straw blown, which indicated the general direction of the wind, was noticed in 1843 when the name of the postoffice to which the united community resorted was changed from Bethlehem to Navarre, with George W. Sweringen as postmaster. Duncan's mill and store was advertising the place ; the approaches to Navarre were much easier than those to either Bethlehem or Rochester, which had a favorable effect upon shippers of wheat by way of the canal, and the captain made quite a strong point of the fact that his town was backed by the Massillon Rolling Mill Company, whose prospects were at that time fairly brilliant. THREE VILLAGES ROLLED TOGETHER The Allman Brothers moved their store from Bethlehem to Rochester and the Chapmans and others transferred their business to Navarre. Bethlehem went down in the scales considerably, and Rochester came up to be almost on a par with Navarre ; but the latter had, in the end, the better staying qualities, and on the 29th of August, 1871, a petition signed by over fifty qualified voters residing in the combined villages was presented to the commissioners of Stark County praying for the incorporation of Bethlehem, Rochester and Navarre, under the name of the last mentioned. The subject was laid upon the table until the September session, when the prayer of the petitioners was granted. FIRST VILLAGE OFFICERS In April, 1872, the first municipal election of the incorporated Village of Navarre was held and resulted in the choice of the following: Mayor, Jacob E. Mentzer ; clerk, Alfred J. Rider ; treasurer, Henry R. Bennet ; street commissioner, John A. Keplinger ; councilmen, Samuel Miller, Mathias Sisterhen, Peter Theobald, John Baltzer, Gotlieb Winter and William 0. Siffert. In 1871, before the consolidation, the Village of Navarre contracted with M. V. Leeper and A. W. Goshorn for the erection of a large brick union school building. It was completed during the summer of 1872, 510 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY cost about $11,000 and was afterward used by the incorporated Village of Navarre. PRESENT CORPORATION The village is a neat and well-ordered community of nearly 1,500 people on the Wheeling & Lake Erie line, as well as within the radius of the Northern Ohio Traction system. Navarre has a twenty-four hour electric service through the Massillon Electric and Gas Company. The local power house is located just north of town and through it the water (PICTURE) THE 1913 FLOOD AT NAVARRE supply from two artesian wells, completed in 1912, is also brought to the doors of householders and business establishments. The waterworks furnish the chief protection against fire, although a chemical engine is available. The Navarre Union School, under the superintendency of E. E. Carrier, has an enrollment of about 300. The original building was erected in 1869, the annex being erected in 1902. The present village corporation consists of the following : H. W. Foster, president ; Edward Garver, clerk ; James M. Coil., Frank Futz and Albert Miller, trustees of public affairs. BUSINESS AND FINANCES Navarre is the center of a considerable rural trade, but is too near Massillon to grow rapidly, and has never made much progress as a HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 511 manufacturing point. Its oldest industry is the flouring mill, established in 1834 by Henry Graff. Isaac Hawk and J. A. Stitzel also operated it previous to 1869, while John C. Corl was proprietor from that year until 1902, since which Garver Brothers & Company, of Strasburg, Tusearawas County, have been its owners and operators. The Navarre Baking Company make creamery butter and ice cream, and, as the name implies, manufacture bakery goods. There is also a furniture factory conducted by Julius Hug, of the old pioneer family, and the village has the usual complement of shops and stores. Financial accommodations are obtained through the Navarre Deposit Banking Company, which was incorporated in May, 1895, with H. R. Bennett as its first president. D. A. Muskopp is now at the head of its affairs, and M. P. Zinsmaster, cashier. Its financial status is indicated by the following figures : Capital, $25,000 ; surplus, $8,000 ; deposits, $250,000. CHURCHES AND SOCIETIES The German Lutherans appear to have worshipped in a little log church erected in Bethlehem as early as 1810. The Allmans were prominent Methodists of the neighborhood and a class was formed at the house of Ebenezer Allman in 1815. At the present time, however, St. Clement Catholic, the United Brethren and St. Paul's Evangelical churches chiefly occupy the religious field. Father Bartemus is in charge of the Catholic society ; Rev. C. W. Birney is pastor of the United Brethren, and Rev. Jacob E. Digel ministers to St. Paul's. The last named, which was founded in 1871, has a membership of about 125, and Mr. Digel has served the congregation since 1895. His predecessors were Revs. II. Voegle, L. Ulmer, O. W. Schettler, C. Christiansen. Of the societies making their headquarters at Navarre may be mentioned the Knights of Pythias, the Junior Order of United American Mechanics and the Knights of St. John and the G. A. R. Post. The three are quite strong in numbers and the one is weakening, year by year, but with the decrease of its numbers there seems to be an ever strengthening bond of affection between those who survive and their relatives and friends of the younger generations. A PATRIOTIC VILLAGE Navarre was not only foremost in the rank of Stark County villages which enthusiastically and steadily supported the Union cause throughout the trials of the Civil war, but has maintained that spirit of patriotism 512 HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY until the present day. No characters identified with the locality through years of service and honorable conduct were better known than Capt. Samuel Miller and Capt. Henry R. Bennett. The former has a special memorial in Miller Post No. 270, G. A. R., and the latter in the Soldiers' Monument erected, through the faithful work of his son, William L. Bennett, in Union Lawn Cemetery, Navarre. It is through the courtesy of Mr. Bennett that the matter which follows and which concludes this sketch of the village is presented. MILLER POST No. 270, G. A. R. Miller Post No. 270, Grand Army of the Republic, was instituted in the old former Henline Brick Block, destroyed by fire in the winter of 1891, in Rochester Square, October 30, 1882, with the following charter members : George W. Henline, John Bailis, Jacob W. Bach, Monroe Slater, Daniel Biddle, Lawrence Dailey, David C. Barnett, Elias Shetler, Peter Gnau, Amariah Kleckner, Alfred J. Rider, Benjamin B. Luke, Leander B. Yant, Henry R. Bennett, Thomas C. Noonan, Albert Chamberlain, Anthony Chamberlain, Jacob Heinie, William A. Miller, Philip Sherhog, David Miller. The post was named after Capt. Samuel Miller, of Company A, One Hundred and Seventh, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, an organization raised in Navarre and consisting of boys and young men from this place, who gave gallant service with his company during the Civil war and died here several years after the close of the war and before the post was instituted. Other soldiers of the Civil war joined the post afterward and a number of years back had a good sized membership, but the grim reaper death has since claimed all but five of the charter members and most who joined after its institution, until now, summer of 1915, only the following are left : James D. Allman, post commander ; Leander B. Yant, adjutant ; James M. Corl, quartermaster ; Simon A. Corl, chaplain ; Lawrence J. Dailey, Sr., P. P. C. ; Anthony Chamberlain, Benjamin B. Luke, David Ricksecker, David D. Barnett, William 0. Siffert, Isaac Kauffman, Andrew Harmon, Belden Airhart, Daniel J. Wolf, John Weidman. The post elected Aaron Roderick and William L. Bennett honorary members in the fall of 1910. These members maintain the organization, give relief to distressed soldiers, soldiers' widows and orphans, bury with their ritualistic ceremony their comrades who are called by death, and with the assistance of the sons and daughters of veterans, conduct appropriate and impressive services during each Memorial Day season in the month of May, and close it on the 30th of that month with a parade, fitting exercises HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 513 and the decoration of all soldiers' graves with choice flowers in the cemeteries of Navarre and adjacent country districts. The organization has wielded a patriotic influence over the community ever since its institution, has done much good for the village and nation in various ways, and it is sad to witness its fast depleting ranks. CAPTAIN BENNETT AND THE MEMORIAL MONUMENT Capt. Henry R. Bennett was born at Navarre, October 19, 1836, and from the age of seventeen up to the time of his death, October 13, 1905, (PICTURE) SOLDIERS MONUMENT AT UNION LAWN CEMETERY was actively engaged in business in the town, excepting a period during the Civil war when he left his business and home and went into the army with his company to serve for the Union up to the time of his death ; the last twenty years of his life his son, William L. Bennett, was associated with him in the grain and warehouse business. He was a 514 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY successful business man and did much for the upbuilding of Navarre. The Bennett burial plot being established in the Massillon Cemetery, four miles north of Navarre, in the year 1854, when Captain Bennett's father was buried, Captain Bennett was buried there also with the other deceased members of the family, where a family monument and markers are erected. His son, William L., conceived the idea after his death that, having been born at Navarre, organizing a company of soldiers therein to serve for the Union during the Civil war, most of his activities and his entire life being spent there, that he should have a fitting monument to his memory in his home town. So this soldiers' monument was erected to his memory and to that of his Navarre comrades of the Civil war, the entire work and expense being borne by his son. THE MONUMENT UNVEILED The Soldiers' Monument in Union Lawn Cemetery was unveiled and dedicated on Memorial Day, 1910, by the Grand Army of the Republic and the Junior Order United American Mechanics. The graves of the soldier dead and of departed members of the Junior Order United American Mechanics buried in the cemeteries at Navarre were decorated in the morning with flags and choice flowers. Henry Clay Council, No. 298, joined with Miller Post No. 270, G. A. R., in the observance and the ceremonies of the day. The afternoon was devoted to the unveiling of the monument erected in Union Lawn Cemetery by William L. Bennett to the memory of his late father, Capt. Henry R. Bennett, and the Union Civil war soldiers of Navarre, and although the weather turned from bright sunshine in the morning to a cool and damp atmosphere in the afternoon, about 4,000 people gathered in the cemetery around the monument to witness the unveiling and dedicatory ceremonies. A fine and interesting procession consisting of several bands, drum corps, Grand Army veterans, Junior Order United American Mechanics, Sons and Daughters of Veterans, Ladies of the G. A. R., Daughters of America, school children, military and numerous civic societies paraded the principal streets of the town and marched to the cemetery, where the ceremonies were commenced promptly at 2 P. M. by "America" being played by the Mount Pleasant Band. William H. Stahl, president of the day, followed with an opening address, and introduced Mr. Bennett, who made an interesting and affecting presentation address. Bugler Frank Eschman then sounded the assembly call and Miller Post No. 270 rendered the G. A. R. ritualistic dedicatory service, and while the Navarre Citizens' Band played and the Daughters of Veterans sang the "Star Spangled Banner" Ivy M. Bennett HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 515 Gross, only daughter of the late Captain Bennett, raised the large American flag by pulling a rope and unveiled the monument. As the Stars and Stripes floated to the breeze above the structure, Amanda Bennett, Captain Bennett's widow, placed a beautiful wreath at the bronze tablet bearing the soldiers' names, and a vase of choice flowers at the foot of the monument. The Standard Male Voice Quartette then sang "The Boys Who Wore the Blue are Turning Gray," after which Capt. George Billow, of Akron, Ohio, an officer and member of the One Hundred and Seventh, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, delivered an impressive dedicatory oration. The Beach City Band furnished further music for the occasion and the ceremonies closed with the benediction by G. A. R. Chaplain Simon A. Corl. Taps by the bugler and a volley of three shots over the monument by a detachment from the Eighth Regiment, Ohio National Guards. The monument occupies a pretty spot in the cemetery, is composed of light Barre (Vermont) granite, measures seven feet at the base and stands ten feet high. The face of the memorial bears this inscription : "In memory of Capt. Henry R. Bennett, born Oct. 9, 1836, and died Oct. 13, 1905, at Navarre, Ohio. Capt. Co. D, 45th O. N. G., 1st Lieut. Co. H, 162nd O. V. I., U. S. A., Civil war. And Dedicated to all Union Civil war soldiers of Navarre, Ohio. Unveiled May 30, 1910." A bronze tablet four feet square is let into the back of the monument and contains the names of 232 soldiers of Navarre who served in the Union army during the Civil war, with the company and regiment to which they were credited. The introductory inscription reads : "Soldiers and Patriots of Navarre, Ohio, who served for the Union during U. S. A. Civil War, 1861-65." MAJOR MCKINLEY 'S FIRST LAW SUIT By William L. Bennett At the northeast corner of Market and Canal streets, in the Village of Navarre, stands a brick store building 2 1/2 stories high, 50 by 50 feet in size, built back in the '40s, but still a well preserved structure, in which President William McKinley tried his first law suit and won it. It was in the spring of 1868, or not long after McKinley, who had taken up the study of law after being mustered out of the army with the rank of major at the close of the Civil war, began the practice of his chosen profession at Canton. John Lew, for twenty-four years a justice of the peace at Navarre, was the trial judge. Squire Loew owned the building and conducted a grocery store in a part of it and used a large room on PICTURE OF BUILDING IN WHICH SUIT WAS TRIED HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 517 the first floor on the south side for his court room, where the case was heard. The litigation was between a landlord and tenant over the possession of a number of tons of hay. Philip Sheets was the tenant and John P. Rostetter the owner of the farm tilled by Sheets east of Navarre. When Sheets prepared to move Rostetter went before Justice Loew and attached the hay and some farm implements, claiming that Sheets was indebted to him. Sheets filed a counter claim against Rostetter. When the case came up for trial Rostetter employed the late William A. Lynch, then prosecuting attorney of Stark County. Sheets engaged McKinley. The trial lasted three days and over seventy witnesses were examined, farmers for miles around being called as character witnesses to combat and impeach the testimony of other witnesses. Squire Loew said it was the liveliest trial he had in his court during his quarter of a century career as a justice of the peace. He said both McKinley and Lynch were splendid young fellows then, but he never dreamed that one of them was destined to become President. Each day they would drive to Navarre from Canton, a distance of twelve miles, and return together. During the trial, though, both cast their friendship aside and scrapped over the testimony, and the squire was kept busy sustaining and overruling objections. Both made excellent pleas to the jury of six men. The records of the trial have been destroyed and Squire Loew can only recall four of those who served on the jury. They were Capt. Henry R. Bennett, Dr. M. V. Leeper and Messrs. John F. Grossklaus and John Westrich. Mr. Leeper is the only one of the four now living, and he resides in Albany County, Oregon. During the recess and before and after court sessions both McKinley and Lynch talked politics with the farmers. McKinley made lots of friends, and when he ran for county prosecutor against Lynch in 1869 they helped him. He defeated Lynch for re-election, but two years later the two ran again for the same office and Lynch defeated him. Squire Loew, now aged eighty-five, still resides at Navarre and still owns the historic building, but retired from his many years of business activity in the village in the spring of 1914. He rents the building for a residence and grocery store. Vol. II-9 |