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466 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY CHAPTER XX CORPORATION OF MASSILLON CAPT. JAMES DUNCAN AND WIFE—THE Two PIONEER HOTELS—EARLY SCHOOLS—FIRST VILLAGE BANK—THE MERCHANTS BANK—FIRST MASSILLON CORPORATION—FIRST VILLAGE GOVERNMENT—ADVANCED TO CITYHOOD— THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS SYSTEM—GEN. W. B. HAZEN, A HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE— SUPERINTENDENT AND COLONEL ANDREWSHIGH SCHOOL BUILDINGS—FOUNDERS OF THE SYSTEM—PRESENT STATUS OF THE SYSTEM—RUIN OF THE FIRST WATERWORKS--THIRD AND PRESENT SYSTEM-THE FIRE DEPARTMENT—PRESENT MUNICIPALITY—CITY FINANCES—COMPARISON OF TAX RATES FOR 1914-TAX RECEIPTS — LIQUOR TAX RECEIPTS — THE MCCLYMONDS PUBLIC LIBRARY—THE MASSILLON CITY HOSPITAL —CAPT. JAMES ALLEN, JOURNALIST—THE INDEPENDENT FOUNDED. Every growing city owes a special debt of gratitude to someone who seems to have not only endowed it with vitality while he was in the body, but to have so vitalized the community that the initial impetus given it has only been accelerated with the passing of the years. The historian calls such an individual a founder ; sometimes a father ; although he is both a father and a mother, for he not only vitalizes the infant town, but during his lifetime it draws from his strength and he freely nourishes it and develops it from his very being. CAPT. JAMES DUNCAN AND WIFE That is the attitude which Massillon has always held toward the energetic, generous and ambitious Capt. James Duncan, whose good wife was also the mother of the place in that she named it after Jean Baptiste Massillon, a Catholic dignitary of France of noble character. He was archbishop and lecturer to King Louis XIV. How Captain Duncan, the Yankee merchant and trader, discovered the water-power of Sippo Creek and the high, rolling site of a future town, has already been described ; as well as the laying out of his town HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 467 in the winter of 1825-26; the letting of the canal contracts at his house in Kendal and those other early events which were worked into the solid foundation of Massillon. THE TWO PIONEER HOTELS A few notable facts, however, should be stated before proceeding to the corporate history of Massillon, which begins with the year 1838. One of the first lots purchased after the Village of Massillon was platted was bought by Capt. Mayhew Folger, who completed his hotel and opened it to the public in February, 1828. Jacob Miller probably commenced his tavern later, but opened for business before the captain, in the fall of 1827. Landlord Miller afterward became Judge Miller. Captain Folger commenced his service as Kendal's first postmaster in 1827, and was also the first collector of canal tolls. His son, William M. Folger, succeeded him in the postoffice. EARLY SCHOOLS It was in 1827 that the first school was opened in Massillon in one of Captain Duncan's buildings, corner of Mill and Charles streets. In 1832, with Messrs. Wales and Skinner, he purchased the real estate of the Kendal Community and laid out an addition to the village. The proprietors donated a square of two acres "for literary purposes," and a private school was opened and conducted for several years at that locality, but it was not until 1848 that the Union School was established there. FIRST VILLAGE BANK The next really important event which had a permanent effect upon the development of the young village was the birth of its first bank. That occurred in 1833, when the Bank of Massillon was chartered under state laws with a capital of $200,000. It was the second bank of discount and deposit in the county, the first having been the Farmers Bank of Canton, which had been chartered in 1816. Most of the stock of the Massillon bank was taken at home and by Troy (New York) investors. The bank went into operation on October 1, 1834, with the following officers: James Duncan, president ; J. D. W. Calder, cashier. The room where it transacted business was on the second floor of the Hogan & Harris Block on Main Street. The cashier represented the Troy, or foreign element, and did not harmonize with the president. Although 468 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY New York and Massachusetts stockholders obtained control of the stock within a few months and ousted the cashier, Mr. Duncan resigned the presidency. The Bank of Massillon went into the hands of a receiver, under a black cloud, in 1853. At one time F. E. Platt, of Owego, New York, was cashier of the bank ; he was an elder brother of the late United States senator from the Empire State, who himself was a clerk in the bank and also in the drug store of Joseph Watson & Company. THE MERCHANTS BANK The Merchants Bank followed close on the ruins of the Bank of Massillon, its organizers being Dr. Isaac Steese, a large landed proprietor and prominent farmer, as well as a widely known physician; H. B. Hurlbut and Salmon Hunt, the last named having been connected with the defunct Bank of Massillon. The new institution was organized under the general banking law of Ohio, with Doctor Steese as president and Mr. Hunt as cashier, and it occupied quarters on the east side of Erie Street south of Main. The bank remained in that locality until a change was made to the purchased premises on the south end of the Wellman Block. There the management closed out the Merchants Bank and in 1864, under the national banking law, the First National Bank of Massillon came into existence. But the local history of banking belongs to a later period than we are now covering, the aim being to leave the subject temporarily which had a beginning in the founding of the Bank of Massillon in 1833. We now approach the corporate history of Massillon. FIRST MASSILLON CORPORATION In 1838, when Hon. Matthew Johnson was a member of the House of Representatives of the State Legislature an act of incorporation for the Town of Massillon was passed and an organization was effected under its provisions which lasted until 1845. In that year, as a result of numerous petitions presented to the Legislature, the act was repealed, and Massillon was not again known as a municipal corporation until 1853 ; then, under the provisions of the general act regulating towns and cities it was again incorporated. FIRST VILLAGE GOVERNMENT At the first election held on the 28th of May, 1853, the following village officers were chosen : Samuel Pease, mayor ; G. W. Williams, HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 469 recorder ; Hiram Wellman, Isaac H. Brown, Thomas McCullough, Valentine S. Buckius and Warren C. Richards, trustees. Three days afterward they were sworn into office before Squire Robert H. Folger as the first Village Council. ADVANCED TO CITYHOOD That organization continued until March 17, 1868, when it was advanced to a city of the second class. The new municipality was then divided into four wards. and at the election in April of that year the (PICTURE) THE MASSILLON POSTOFFICE following were named as the first city officers : Mayor, Bennett B. Warner ; marshal, Milo Alden ; solicitor, Louis K. Campbell ; Council- George L. Russell and Charles London, First Ward ; Jacob Herring and Francis Willenburg, Second Wm. d ; Adam Mong and Otis G. Madison, Third Ward ; Louis Gies and George Bollinger, Fourth Ward. David W. Huntsman was chosen clerk by the City Council. THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM The Public School system of Massillon reverts to the year 1847, when it was neither village nor city, but under township government. At that time Dr. William Bowen, Arvine Wales and Charles London, school directors, decided that a Union school was a necessity, fixed upon the plan for a building, and on the 21st of February, 1848, the General Vol. II-6 470 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY Assembly passed an act to incorporate "School District No. 1, Perry township." Under that act the board of directors organized by electing Mr. London president, Mr. Wales treasurer and Doctor Bowen secretary ; Philander Dawley, who at that time was superintendent of the Charity School at Kendal, George Miller and Kent Jarvis, examiners for the district. GEN. W. B. HAZEN, A HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE The teachers employed for the year were Lorin Andrews, superintendent and principal ; Betsey M. Cowles, Jane M. Becket, Charles R. Shreve, Mary A. Russell and Sarah J. Hoxworth. In 1849 the corps of teachers was increased by the addition of Sarah C. Pearce and Frederick Loeffler, teachers of music and German. In that year, also, the first catalogue was published, and among the pupils in the High School is found the name of W. B. Hazen, Hiram, Portage County, afterward so distinguished as chief of the Signal Service, U. S. Army. He left Massillon in 1850 and during the same year was appointed to the United States Military Academy. SUPERINTENDENT AND COLONEL ANDREWS Superintendent Andrews resigned in 1852 to accept the presidency of Kenyon College, remaining in that position until the outbreak of the War of the Rebellion, when he resigned, entered the army, was appointed colonel of the Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry and died in the service. HIGH SCHOOL BUILDINGS The Union School of Massillon was opened in a plain substantial brick building, erected on the lot donated by Messrs. Duncan, Wales and Skinner by the board already mentioned. The building stood for thirty years, and in 1879 was replaced by a $48,000 structure, pronounced at the time one of the "grandest" in Ohio. This, in turn, answered its purposes well until the present fine high school, measured by the standards of today, was completed in 1914. FOUNDERS OF THE SYSTEM Among those to whom Massillon is most indebted for the development of her public schools in the earlier period of their growth were Arvine Wales and Arvine C. Wales, Dr. William Bowen, Charles London, HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 471 George Harsh, Kent Jarvis, S. A. Conrad, James H. Justus, Warren C. Richards, Frank L. Baldwin and William B. Humberger, as members of the Board of Education, Prof. Lorin Andrews, Hon. Thomas W. Harvey (afterward state school commissioner), Prof. Joseph Kimball, Prof. E. A. Jones, and Prof. C. L. Cronebaugh, as superintendents. The schools have been fortunate in their superintendents from first to last— the last being L. E. York. PRESENT STATUS OF THE SYSTEM Besides the Washington High School there are nine public schools— the Longfellow, Lincoln, Lorin Andrews, Emerson, Whittier, Franklin, (PICTURE) FRANKLIN SCHOOL, MASSILLON Harvey, Horace Mann and Vinedale. The total enrollment in all grades amounts to 2,546, of which the high school number is 447. Nearly , ninety teachers are employed in the system. It may be added that the high school attendance has doubled within the past four years, and that domestic economy and manual training were installed in its course during 1914. Three years ago, also, the board of education founded a lyceum course, which has been self-sustaining almost from the first. RUIN OF THE FIRST WATERWORKS The birth of Massillon's extensive iron industries is also connected with the installation of the original waterworks. and both enterprises 472 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY fell in ruins together. In 1832 the Massillon Iron Company was formed by James Duncan, Joseph G. Hogan, Herman B. Harris and Jesse Rhodes, and in the following year a furnace was erected and put in operation on the west bank of Sippo Creek south of Main Street. Castings of all kinds were made, from tea kettles to stoves, but the enterprise suspended in 1838, although Messrs. Hart & Brown drew a foundry and a machine shop out of the wreckage which they conducted for ten years afterward. Captain Duncan and H. Wheeler, Jr., also obtained a charter for the Massillon Rolling Mill Company, but the results of the panic of 1837 so crippled this enterprise that it started weak as an infant and never fully recovered. The proprietors of the Rolling Mills had several objects in view besides establishing their industry as a business proposition. Their plans and how they were wrecked are thus described by Robert H. Folger, son of old Capt. Mayhew Folger ; in 1813 his father brought him to the site of Kendal as an infant less than two years of age, and there, as boy, youth, man, lawyer and good citizen, the writer of the extract passed the remainder of his long life. Says Mr. Folger : "For the purpose of supplying the village with pure water and creating a water power of immense value to the proprietors, the Massillon Rolling Mill Company purchased all the land immediately adjoining Sippo Lake, about three miles northeast of the village, and, by means of a dam across the outlet of the lake, created a reservoir of water covering about 1,100 acres, fed from the lake and some small springs and which was as fine a body of water as is usually found. In addition to the purposes sought to be accomplished by the rolling mill company, the State became a party to the enterprise for the purpose of using the water for the Ohio Canal, which is near ninety feet below the surface of the lake. The plan proved to be a success in every respect, and could the reservoir have been permitted to remain, the benefit the city would have derived can hardly be estimated. "Almost as soon as it was built and filled, and before it was possible for any evil effects to have arisen from the accumulation of so large a body of water, a hue and cry was raised against it because of alleged malaria arising therefrom, and thereby prejudicing the health of the neighborhood. Threats of its destruction were made, but as they could not be traced to any reliable source, and considering the effect upon the city, involving property and life, as the whole lower part of the city would be swept away, no one supposed that the neighborhood either of the city or reservoir contained any person who would be guilty of such an outrage. "On the night of the 22d of February, 1848, which had been selected HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 473 because of its being the anniversary of the birthday of Washington, and the opening of the Tremont House, then much the largest hotel in this section of the State south of Cleveland, arrangements were made for a dance in the spacious dining-hall of the hotel. Parties were present from all the prominent places in the neighborhood, including Akron, Wooster, Canton and Cleveland, and the occasion was, as it was intended to be, one of the grandest festivals that Massillon had ever witnessed. The rolling mill company, who were the owners of the hotel, had spared neither pains nor money in its construction or appointments for the purposes for which it was erected, and taking its name from the Tremont House, of Boston, Massachusetts, it was intended by the proprietors that the Tremont of Massillon should be to that city what the Tremont of Boston was to the 'Hub of the universe,' hence its opening was signalized by extraordinary efforts on the part of all concerned. "While the dance was at its height and all present were in the full tide of enjoyment, 'the sound of revelry' was hushed, and ' whispering with white lips' took its place ; the roaring and hissing of the torrent up the valley told but too truly that the reservoir waters were coming. The dam had been blown up with powder, and suddenly the whole body of water was put in motion, having a fall of ninety feet before it reached the level of Main street, in Massillon. The effect of a breast-work of six to eight feet of water moving down the little channel of Sippo Creek can hardly be imagined. It had been known for a long time that the 22d of February had been selected for the grand opening of the hotel, and that occasion was undoubtedly selected by the miscreants who blew up the dam as one in which not only property in the city could be destroyed, but a destruction of human life could and would be effected, to the greatest possible extent, and why no lives were lost is a question that cannot be answered. The designs of the conspirators were completely foiled in that respect. "The loss of property was simply immense. The solid gravel street between the south end of the stone block and the north front of the hotel, which stands on the southeast corner of Tremont and Erie, as far east as the corner of Tremont and East streets, was swept away. Reaching Erie street, it swept that away also, taking with it the large and well- built three story brick warehouse, owned by the Rolling Mill Company, occupied by J. L. Reynolds, as a wholesale grocery store. Of this building 'not one stone was left upon another,' nor was one dollar of the stock saved. The flood swept through the street to the canal, and through both banks of the canal, and up and down the canal, with a resistless force, filling the basement of all the warehouses, crushing in the doors on the canal side, and floating out everything that would float. 474 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY Such packages as were too heavy to float were swept into the river, and went down with the current. The south end of Tremont Block, better known as the 'stone block,' a three-story building of cut stone, built in the very best manner by Francis Worthorst, was swept out as though it had been a cot house, and to this fact may be attributed the safety of the hotel. Before reaching the hotel, the current took a northerly course, striking the end of the stone block, and while it retained sufficient force to wash away the earth from the cellar walls of the hotel, it had not force enough to disturb the wall. As the water fell, the cellar wall was exposed from the lowest foundation stone to the brick work. A critical and careful examination by experts showed the walls to be uninjured. The entire lower part of the city, south and west, was completely submerged, and what the loss was has never been completely ascertained. Among the greatest losers were the heavy wholesale grocery firm of J. Watson & Company ; Fenner & McMillen, wholesale groceries and dry goods; the Rolling Mill Company, the damage to which consisted in injury to real estate, loose property carried off by the flood and damage to buildings." SECOND WATERWORKS Another attempt was made to supply the people with water through a public system of distribution when the city was incorporated in 1853, and a crude waterworks were actually constructed and put in operation, chiefly through the agency of Hiram B. Wellman, a member of the council. THIRD AND PRESENT SYSTEM The system now in operation, however, dates from the incorporation of the Massillon Water Supply Company in 1886. The power house and the reservoir in the Fourth Ward were both completed in the following year. The first well was drilled in 1889 and five more wells were sunk three years later ; others have been added from time to time until now there are twelve, eleven of which are in use. Power House No. 2 was built in 1893, on North West Street near the wells, in the northwestern part of the city, and is about one mile from the public square. The reservoir mentioned is used for fire emergency, railroads, industrial plants and street sprinkling. It also came into good service during the flood of 1904, when the people drew their supply from it for five or six days. In this connection it may be added that Mayor Arthur N. Kaley, present head of the municipality, has made it the nucleus of a HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 475 free bathing place. And that was in line with his free employment bureau and other rather unique features of his administration. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT Both as a means of supply and protection, the Massillon Waterworks are considered ample. The fire department, of which Andrew H. Burkle is chief, has a central engine house and two branches—one for the West Side and another for the East. Steps are well under way to motorize all the fire apparatus belonging to the city. Forty-five alarm boxes are scattered over the city. PRESENT MUNICIPALITY The executive department of the City of Massillon is composed of Arthur N. Kaley, mayor ; Reuben J. Krisher, city auditor ; Thomas C. (PICTURE) CITY HALL, MASSILLON Davis, city solicitor, and Charles H. Gise, city treasurer. T. Harvey Seaman is president of the city council ; Harry O. Curley, vice president; and John J. Donahue, clerk. The mayor is president of the board of control ; H. W. Elsass, director of the public service department, and Howard McC. Yost, city civil engineer. Jerome F. Shepley is director of the public safety department. 476 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY The chief of police is Edward M. Ertle, and under him are a captain, lieutenant and seven other members of the force. Mayor Kaley is also president of the board of health, the health officer being Dr. T. Clarke Miller. The board of education consists of George W. Kinne, president; Charles G. King, vice president ; William Fielberth, clerk-treasurer ; Dr. Joel D. Holston and E. G. Pocock, members ; Prof. L. E. York, superintendent of public schools. CITY FINANCES From the last report of the city auditor it is learned that the municipal receipts for the current year amounted to $11,216.05 and the disbursements to $10,052.15 ; that a balance of $3,225.58 had been carried over from the preceding year, leaving a balance at the beginning of 1915, of $4,389.48. The following tables, from the same source, are self-explanatory : COMPARISON OF TAX RATES FOR 1914

TAX RECEIPTS FOR THE LAST TEN YEARS

LIQUOR TAX RECEIPTS FOR THE LAST NINE YEARS

HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 477