(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) A CURIOUS DEFENSE - 775 and weapons, to the grand jurors unknown. The remaining four counts were the same as the above, except that the person murdered was to the grand jury unknown. On Monday, June 20, 1853, the accused was brought into court for arraignment, and entered a plea of not guilty, whereupon a motion was made by his counsel for a continuance of the case until the November term of court, which was granted. The trial commenced on Monday, December 26, 1853, before Judge Humphrey-tulle, and the following array of jurors: Robert G. Marshall, of Norton; Houston Sisler, of Franklin; Peter Weeks, of Copley; Wellington Johnson, of Northfield; William C. Oviatt, of Talimadge; Frederick Baldwin, of Hudson; James W. Wallace, of Northfield; Julius Humphrey, of Richfield; Talmon Beardsley, of Coventry; Isaac T. Welton, of Richfield; John C. Wallace, of Northfield, and Orrin P. Nichols, of Twinsburg. Judge Humphreyville assigned Messrs. Bliss and Wolcott to the defense, who were assisted in their labors by their respective law partners, Messrs. Pleasants and Otis, while Prosecuting Attorney Edgerton was assisted by Messrs. Upson and Bierce. THE THEORY OF THE PROSECUTION.—The statement of the case on the part of the prosecution, was made by Mr. Upson, setting forth the facts substantially as related above, only considerably more in detail, the theory of the prosecution being that on leaving the hotel at Cuyahoga Falls, Parks and Beatson started north on the wagon road leading to Hudson; that on reaching the intersecting road leading across the river, toward what is now known as Gaylord's Grove, they followed it to a point where it passes under the railroad, a short distance west of the river bridge; that they stopped to take a drink, and that while Beatson stood with head thrown back, in the act of drinking from a bottle, he was stabbed in the neck by Parks, the carotid artery being partially severed, and the blood spurting against the abutment stones as indicated, and saturating the ground where he fell, as he must have almost instantly done, after which the body of the murdered man was stripped, rifled, beheaded, dragged to the bridge and thrown into the river as stated. SINGULAR LINE OF DEFENSE.—Mr. Otis then, to the general surprise, made a statement on the part of the defense, giving an apparently candid and truthful history of the accused from the time of his landing in America, at the age of 26 years, to his return from England to Cleveland in March, 1853, substantially as above given, also in substance, following the statement of counsel for the prosecution until the pair left the hotel at Cuyahoga Falls on the night of the murder. At this point Mr. Otis stated that on emerging from the hotel, instead of starting up the wagon road towards Hudson, they crossed the river and started north upon the railroad track; that they fell into several cattle-guards, but that they crossed the railroad bridge, over the river, all right; that they proceeded but a few steps beyond the river bridge when they fell. Parks was much stunned, and when he came to he missed Beat-son, and went up on to the railroad embankment to search for him. cGetting no response to his calls he again went below, and on groping around, first placed his hand on Beaton's thigh; then feeling along up, found his head to be warm, soft and wet; felt his pulse and found that he was dead. 776 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. He then sat himself down to reflect; he knew that he would be suspected of murder, as his past character was bad; his only safety seemed to be in concealment; he dragged the body to the bridge and thought that if he removed the head it would be more difficult to identify it; he stripped it of its clothing, tied Beatson's coat by the sleeves around his own waist, and proceeded to sever the head from the body, taking Beatson's own knife for the purpose; that, meeting with resistance from the bone of the neck, he drove the knife through with a stone; he then threw the body in the river, and took the head with him below, where he also threw that in the river; the clothing being disposed of wherever he could get rid of it, avoiding people as he passed along. Mr. Otis said that counsel at first doubted Parks' story, the substance of which he had stated, but on examining the ground and the facts, they had become satisfied of its truth, the theory of the defense being that in falling through the bridge Beatson had plunged obliquely head-foremost against the jagged stone abutment, crushing his skull and saturating the, wall and ground with his blood. THE TESTIMONY—ARGUMENTS-CHARGE TO THE JURY, ETC.--On the conclusion of the statements, the jury were taken by Sheriff Seward to Cuyahoga Falls, to view the scene of the tragedy, accompanied by Mr. Upson for the State and Mr. Otis for the defendant. On returning to the court house, the trial was proceeded with, occupying just 14 days. Thirty-one witnesses were sworn and examined on behalf of the State, and sixteen on the part of the accused; the main effort of counsel for defense being to show not only a possibility, but a probability, that Beatson's death was caused by his falling through the bridge as claimed, and the lack of motive on the part of Parks for the murder of his friend, by assuming that Parks and his wife and her brothers had plenty of money, while Beatson possessed comparatively but little. The argument of the prosecution was opened by General Bierce, occupying about one hour and a half. Judge Bliss opened for the defense in a speech of nearly ten hours, Mr. Wolcott occupying about the same length of time, and Mr. Edgerton devoting about four hours to the closing argument. On Monday, January 9, 1854, at 2 o'clock P. M., Judge Humphreyville delivered his charge to the jury, which was, in every respect, a well-considered, fair and impartial presentation of the law in the case, and the rules of applying the testimony which had been adduced upon the trial, together with a very lucid dissertation on the nature and applicability of circumstantial evidence and a full and clear explanation as to what constitutes a reasonable doubt. VERDICT—MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL.—On the conclusion of Judge Humphreyville's charge, the jury retired to their room at 3:30 P. M., and at 8:30 they announced to the sheriff that they had agreed upon a verdict, and the court and counsel were sent for. About 9 o'clock their verdict of murder in the first degree was announced; the prisoner looking each juror square in the face as he pronounced the fatal word "guilty," without the relaxation of a single muscle, or the slightest tremor of nerve. The next day the prisoner was again brought into court, when Judge Bliss made a motion to have the verdict set aside, and the SENTENCE--STATEMENT OF PRISONER - 777 venue changed to another county where an impartial trial might be obtained. Prosecutor Edgerton declined to occupy the time of the court in opposing the motion, and Mr. Wolcott spoke forcibly and eloquently, for about an hour, in its support. The court, with a few cogent and clearly expressed reasons, overruled the motion, and at once proceeded to pronounce THE SENTENCE. " JAMES PARKS:—You have been indicted by the grand jury of this county for the murder of William Beatson; you have been tried by a traverse jury, before whom you have had the benefit of able counsel. They have brought to your "defense a laborious and searching examination of the evidence against you, as well as an earnest and careful presentation of everything that could be produced in your favor. The jury have listened patiently and attentively to the evidence, and the pleadings of your counsel, and have arrived at the conclusion that you are guilty. Have you anything to say why the sentence of the law should not be pronounced against you ?" Mr.. Parks responded in a firm voice:-"May it please your Honor, I have the best reason in the world why sentence should not be passed. I have, represented that through my counsel. I have nothing more to add; I have told, through them, the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." The Court:—"You have had a fair and impartial trial by an intelligent and unbiased jury. They have returned a verdict of guilty against you, and with that verdict the court is satisfied. You have wilfully and deliberately taken the life of a fellow being, and in so doing you have forfeited your own. The penalty of the law is death. It is a. painful duty to pronounce upon you the sentence of the law, but having given full consideration to every argument urged against it, I can find nothing to excuse me from the discharge of this duty. The sentence of the court is, therefore, that you be removed hence to the jail of this county, and there safely kept until the 26th day of May next, when you will be taken thence to the place of execution, where, between the hours of 9 o'clock in the forenoon, and 2 o'clock in the afternoon, you will be hanged by the neck until you are dead." PARKS MAKES A " STATEMENT."—The report of the trial was soon afterwards published in pamphlet form, to which was added a document of nearly twenty pages, written by Parks himself. He commenced by denying that, before leaving England, he had ever engaged in poaching, burglary, etc., or had ever been in prison there. He then relates, in detail, his crookedness and imprisonment in this country; his connection with a "strange woman" and his saloon-keeping in Cleveland; his visit to England, marriage to his cousin, return to America, substantially as stated by Mr. Otis. He then reiterates the story of the " accidental " death of Beatson at the railroad bridge, and of his ghastly work in arraying himself in Beatson's coat tied about his waist for an apron, and in cutting off the head with a knife taken from Beatson's pocket, and his disposition of the body, head, clothing, etc., attributing his proceedings to his fear that the true story of the death of Beatson would not be believed because of his (Parks') previous bad character; saying, in that connection: " If anybody thinks that it was not 778 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. hateful to my feelings, they are very much mistaken. I conceived that the necessity of the case was in a great degree excusable; as much so as it is to dispose of the dead in the various ways they do, in order to prevent them from injuring the living; and I shall here state, with all due respect to the feelings of others, that I think it does not matter what is done with a dead body, providing it does not injure the feelings of living friends. I did not do any crime whatever, and I can vindicate myself by the laws of heaven and of reason. The previous tyrannical conventionalism of society imposed the task on me; I never sought for it, and did not like it. 1 may have sinned. Nay, I have sinned, but I have suffered, have repented, but I could not be forgiven. When will society cease to hunt a man down for one error? After punishing him with a penalty ten times greater than his offense, they are not satisfied. How often is the law made the weapon of the vilest malignity and its penalties the most dire revenge !" WRIT OF ERROR ALLOWED—EXECUTION POSTPONED.—A bill of exceptions having been prepared, and duly signed by Judge Humphreyville, application was made to Judge Bartley, of the Supreme Court, for a writ of error, which was finally granted, and the case reserved for hearing in the Supreme Court. The granting of the writ and the postponement of the execution, created the most intense excitement throughout the county. Sheriff Seward had already had a gallows constructed, and was making other preparations for the execution, all of which were now indefinitely postponed. Yet, notwithstanding the fact that the postponement was widely published, and notwithstanding the hanging, when consummated, would be private, and within the walls of the jail, on the day set for the execution a large and excited crowd of people, men, women and children, assembled about the jail, it being estimated that there were at least 2,000 persons from outside of Akron, in attendance. At first, Parks was quite alarmed at the size and somewhat emphatic demonstrations of the crowd—fearing an uninvited visit of Judge Lynch, and expressed a desire to be locked up in his cell, but at length becoming reassured, as he explained, by the large number of "ladies" in the throng, he not only sought to gratify morbid curiosity, by exhibiting himself freely at the grated window, but also harangued the crowd, asserting his innocence, and pointing out the fearful wrong of hanging an innocent man. His speech, however, did not have a very mollifying effect upon the crowd, for many of them intimated, in no measured or stinted terms, that they would relish no better sport than to help "string him up," and so intense was the disappointment, and so firm was the belief that he was guilty of the horrible crime attributed to him, it only needed a bold and determined leader to have essayed the attempt, though the authorities were pretty well prepared against the consummation of such an effort. PLANNING TO ESCAPE FROM JAIL.-Among the prisoners confined in the jail, at this time, was a man named Case, whose brother, from Kent, was permitted to visit him. On his leaving the jail, the second time, Sheriff Seward noticing something peculiar in his manner, concluded to search him and was rewarded by finding concealed upon his person the pattern for a key to the jail locks then in use, and a couple of notes in Parks' NEW TRIAL—CHANGE OF VENUE - 779 handwriting, addressed to his brother-in-law, George Dickinson, of which the following are copies: DEAR BROTHER:—The bearer of this is a friend of mine. Help him to what he wants, a key and a saw--good saw. Be sure, if you do, old Copper Knob is safe. Tatersley, gunsmith, or some jeweler. I need not tell you this is of great importance. I need not tell you more; this man will tell you all. Yours Old Copper Knob The other note read: "The saw must not be more than three-quarters of an inch broad, and the back of it must not be any thicker than the edge. It should have a sort of a handle, as a bow cannot be used for want of room between the bars. The barrel of the key must run down as far as the shoulder, but about four threads at the nose of the key is all that is wanted. I send you an exact pattern of wood, only make a better shoulder, and a better, handle. The barrel is an exact fit, and impression made on the nose of the wodd is made with the screw that is inside the locks. The threads on the screw are not very fine. If we had some lead or zinc we might make a key." Hitherto, Sheriff Seward had shown his prisoner great lenity, granting him the range of the jail corridors during the day and only locking him in his cell at night. From this time on he deemed it advisable to keep him confined in his own cell, only letting him out for exercise for a short time each morning and evening. Parks became highly indignant at this further curtailment of his liberty, and manifested a disposition to make the sheriff and assistants as much trouble as possible. At length, one morning, after being given his customary exercise by the faithful turnkey, the late Chris. Metzler, Parks utterly refused to re-enter his cell, making such savage demonstrations as to frighten poor Chris. nearly out of his senses. Deputy Sheriff George W. Marriner, was called in to quell the insubordination, and ordered Mr. Parks into his cell, refusing to enter which, and making some hostile demonstrations towards Marriner, the latter suddenly planted his brawny fist between the eyes of the former and knocked him nearly the entire length of the corridor, then seized him by the collar and dragged him into the cell. From this time on, while he remained in the jail here, Parks was perfectly docile and amiable. WRIT OF ERROR SUSTAINED—NEW TRIAL GRANTED—The hearing of the Parks writ of error case was taken up out of the regular order, on the calendar of the Supreme court, and after being ably argued, pro and con, by counsel on either side, a decision was reached early in August, 1854. The writ was sustained and a new trial granted on the single ground that the verdict of the jury was informal. This remanded the case to the court of Common Pleas of Summit county, unless a change of venue should be granted by said court. At the November term of court a motion was made for a change of venue, on the ground that on account of the prejudice against the accused, he could not have a fair and impartial trial in Summit county, which motion was granted by Judge Humphreyville, who ordered the case to be transferred to Cuyahoga county, though Parks himself expressed a wish to be tried in Portage county. In accordance with this arrangement, on the 5th day of January, 1855, Parks was taken to Cleveland and transferred to the custody of Sheriff Spangler by Sheriff Seward. The case was set for trial in Judge Starkweather's court about the middle of January, but, at the request of defendant's counsel, 780 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. was postponed until February 15, 1855. When the case was called, on the day named, Mr. Otis announced that Messrs. Bliss and Wolcott, who had been assigned to the defense in Summit county, would be unable to further act in the premises, and Mr. Parks chose Hiram Griswold, Esq., and the court named Amos Coe, Esq., as his assistant, while A. G. Riddle, Esq., was called to the assistance of Prosecutor Edgerton. To give the new counsel for the defense time to familiarize themselves with the case, a further postponement was granted until the 6th day of March, at which time the trial was proceeded with. Prosecutor Edgerton made a statement of the case to the jury substantially the same as had been made by Mr. Upson on the former trial, and Mr. Griswold, for the accused, embodying the same line of defense as before, giving, in addition, ,as a reason for the two men going to Pittsburg, that "the purlieus of that city were much more favorable for the commission of crime than any portion of Summit county," and that Beatson, instead of Parks, insisted on footing it back to Hu son on the night of the alleged murder. The jury were escorted to Cuyahoga Falls, to view the sce of the murder, by Sheriff Spangler, accompanied by Messrs. Edgerton and Griswold. Most of the witnesses examined upon the first trial also testified in this, and while several new witnesses were introduced on both sides, but little new evidence bearing upon the case was elicited. The testimony closed on Monday, March 12, and the arguments of counsel occupied nearly three days. The Cleveland Herald, in its report of the trial, after a very glowing tribute to Mr. Griswold for his masterly defense, and his eloquent plea in the behalf of the accused, and his wife and child, and after giving a very full synopsis of Mr. Edgerton's closing argument, on behalf of the State, concluded as follows: Mr. Edgerton closed his remarks with a powerful and eloquent appeal to the jury, displaying the enormity of the offense, and the horrible facts connected therewith; characterized the case as without a parallel in the history of crimes in Ohio, and begged of the jury to lose sight of the husband and father, and see only before them their duty to the community and to a fellow man. Mr. Edgerton was solemn, eloquent and impassioned, and spoke with such feeling as showed that the responsibility of the case was resting heavily upon him. Mr. Edgerton has shown, through the ,whole trial, that a complete discharge of a stern duty towards the community was his aim; not the triumph in a mere law suit. CHARGE OF THE COURT—VERDICT OF THE JURY. Judge Starkweather's charge to the jury was stated by the Herald to have been delivered "in a style at once simple and eloquent," as he referred to the long and exciting trial; the responsibility resting upon the jury; the nature of the alleged crime and the statutes defining and punishing the same; his entire charge occupying about three-quarters of an hour. The jury retired at 3 o'clock P. M., and returned into the court with their verdict at 8 o'clock in the evening, again pronouncing James Parks, alias James Dickinson, "Guilty of Murder in the First Degree." ANOTHER MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL—SENTENCE, ETC.—Mr. Griswold immediately moved for a new trial, for six alleged reasons of error and informality, which motion, after argument in its support (Mr. Edgerton declining to speak in opposition), was promptly overruled by Judge Starkweather, who immediately A BLASPHEMOUS TIRADE - 781 proceeded to sentence the prisoner. Asking him the usual question as to whether he had anything to say why the sentence of law, for the crime of which he had been convicted, should not be pronounced, Parks pulled a large roll of manuscript out of his pocket and commenced to read. After he had read nearly three hours the judge interrupted him, and, in very appropriate and impressive terms, sentenced him to be hung on the first Friday in June, 1855. His faithful counsel again applied to the Supreme Court for the allowance of a writ of error, on several purely technical grounds, which application, on full hearing, was denied, and preparations were accordingly made by Sheriff Seward, of Summit, and Sheriff Spangler, of Cuyahoga, for carrying out the sentence. ATTEMPTS AT ESCAPE, SUICIDE, ETC.—Besides making a desperate attempt to escape, by means of keys and a revolver, smuggled into the jail by his wife or other friends, he also made two nearly successful attempts at suicide—one by poison, on the Saturday evening previous to the day set for his execution, and another by cutting his throat on the night preceding his execution, both of which were prevented by his wary custodians. A MOST BLASPHEMOUS LETTER.—The day previous to his execution, and before his last desperate attempt to take his own lifer he penned a bitterly ribald and blasphemous tirade, from which the following is an extract: When I meet Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven, he will congratulate me, for my case is parallel with his, with only a little exception. There were only two false witnesses against him, and there were some twenty that were false witnesses against me. But I attribute that to the alteration of the statute and the increase in population since Christ's time; for when he was tried they hunted the whole kingdom and could find but two, but they had to hunt over a very small portion of the kingdom and found plenty who were ready to testify against me. The reason why my case is parallel with Christ's is this: They have parted my garments as they did his, for they have already given away my boots to some person, I know not who, and I suppose to-morrow upon my vestments they will cast lots, and then they will sit down and watch my body and perhaps steal me. They set up over his head his accusation, written : "This is Jesus, the king of the Jews;" but I suppose they will set up over my head my accusation, written : "This is James Parks, the murderer," It may be true of Christ, but it is a lie concerning me. THE EXECUTION—DYING SPEECH, ETC.—At ten minutes before 12 o'clock, on Friday June 1, 1855, Sheriff Seward and Marshal Jabez Fitch, escorted the malefactor to the scaffold in the corridor of the Cleveland jail—the same gallows which had been constructed for his execution here—in addition to the various "statements" previously furnished to the press, by permission of Sheriff Spangler, making the following speech: Well, gentlemen, there are but comparatively few present; and my words will be few. If I wished to say more I have not the strength to do so. I see among you some of my jurors. I have no reflection upon your verdict; you did your duty. I should have been glad to have spared the people the horror of an execution. My attempt to do so yesterday, by ending my life by my own hands, was not for my benefit, but for those I leave behind. I had hoped to prevent my child and relations from the reproach which this will tiring upon them. I knew that I was not a murderer, and had a right to dispose of my existence as much as the laws and society had to do so. That William Beatson fell and killed himself, is true. I am no murderer in any way. I might say so much, commend myself to God and stop. But, gentlemen, the trial by jury is not yet perfected. Human approaches to truth are but difficult and uncertain. I regret that the bent of my mind and the scope 782 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. of my understanding are misunderstood, I never dreamed of murder. My conscience would never have dared to conceive of it. That I murdered Beatson for his money is absurd. He was a poor man, with less money than myself. I had no malignity towards him, and feel none towards any human being. Continuing for some time in laudation of his wife, and commending her and their child to the kind consideration of the public, and expressing the hope that the intelligence of his ignominous death might be mercifully kept from his aged paren in England,. he took a short rest, during which time a purse o nearly $50 was contributed by the spectators for the benefit of his wife and child. Resuming his remarks, after speaking in warm praise of Sheriff Seward, Sheriff Spangler and the other officers who had had him in their care, and the several attorneys who had defended him, concluded his speech as follows: We cannot recall the past. Would to God that I could do so. But I know no such thing as fear. I am misunderstood; have had little or no education; have tried to learn much by resorting to books that good men search; am familiar with the scriptures, and believe that we shall only arrive at that perfection which man's heart strives after in the next world. I thank you for your kindness to my wife. I have no clergyman present. I had expected Dr. Perry, but my request to him I must have sealed up with a package of papers I gave to my wife yesterday. I was educated in the belief of the Church of England, like my forefathers. I leave the world at peace with all mankind, without censure upon any one. I again assure all that I am no murderer in any respect, by thought or deed. With these words I prepare to meet my God. At precisely 1 o'clock, his arms and feet were pinioned; the rope was adjusted about his neck and he took his stand upon the drop. He then requested to be permitted to give the signal himself, which was granted by 'Sheriff Spangler, and A handkerchief was placed in his hand for that purpose. The cap was drawn down over his face; a moment or two of silence followed, when with the distinctly uttered words, "I die an innocent man," he dropped the handkerchief, the trap instantly fell, the body dropping about six feet, resulting in the complete dislocation of the neck and instant death, not a struggle or tremor of limb or muscle being visible. MRS. PARKS SUES PROSECUTING ATTORNEY EDGERTON. — It will be remembered that a considerable sum of money, mostly in gold coin, was found upon the person of Mrs. Parks and her brothers, when they were arrested at Utica, which was supposed to have been taken by Parks from the body of his victim. The major part of this- money was claimed by Mrs. Parks to be her individual property, while the balance was claimed by her two brothers, the small sum of about $50, only, being admitted, by Parks, to have been taken from the body of Beatson, while he was engaged in the bloody work of preparing it for concealment. There was consider. able conflicting testimony as to the amount of money possessed by Beatson, and some evidence tending to show that what lie did possess was the property of one William Gee, then deceased, obtained by fraud or forgery, from a bank in Buffalo. Ascertaining as nearly as possible the amount belonging to the two brothers of Mrs. Parks, Mr. Edgerton paid it over to them, and retained the balance, as the property of the heirs of William Beatson, or William Gee, as the proof should thereafter determine, covering the same into the county treasury. 11,0.1 MR. EDGERTON TRIUMPHANT - 783 Some time after the execution of Parks, his wife under the mme of Betsy Dickinson, instituted proceedings in the Court of Common Pleas of Cuyahoga county against Mr. Edgerton, for the recovery of the money, her attorneys watching their opportunity to get service upon him in that county. The case was closely contested in the Common Pleas, and finally carried to the District Court of that county, where it came to a final hearing, to a jury, in September, 1861, a verdict, under instructions from the court, being rendered for the defendant, and as neither the heirs of William Beatson or William Gee, have ever appeared to claim the same. the money in question has inured to the benefit of the people of Summit county, as a partial reimbursement for the large expense incurred in apprehending, convicting and executing the perpetrator of one of the most diabolical murders ever committed within her borders. CHAPTER XXXVI. FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP-CURIOUS LEGAL QUESTION-LOCATION, EARLY RESOURCES, ETC.-UNFORTUNATE VILLAGE PROJECTS-BUSINESS EMPORIUMS- THREE VILLAGES IN ONE-PIONEER SETTLERS AND INCIDENTS-ORGANIZATION OF TOWNSHIP-FRANKLIN'S INDUSTRIES- MILITARY SERVICES-THE SAU TER-SHEETES TRAGEDY-OSTER-KERNAN HOMICIDE-HONORABLE CIVIL RECORD, ETC. FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. WE are now about to extend our researches and observations beyond the "sacred precincts" of the renowned Western Reserve, or "Cheesedom " as the rest of the State have been wont to call us, and to descend into "Dutchdom," as Stark, Wayne, and other Pennsylvania and German settled counties were formerly designated by the dwellers upon said Western Reserve. CURIOUS LEGAL QUESTION. —Like Coventry, Franklin township is formed of two distinct parts, from two separate surveys; that portion lying east of the Tuscarawas river having been ceded by the Indians to the United States in 1785, and surveyed by Ebenezer Buckingham in 1800, while the title to that portion west of the river remained in the Indians until 1805, the survey being made by Joseph Harwell in 1807. And, in this connection, arises the somewhat complex legal question as to the ownership of the Tuscarawas and Cuyahoga rivers, the Indians having, by the two separate treaties named, ceded to the government the lands east and west of those rivers, but not the rivers themselves. Suppose the lineal descendants of the chief, or chiefs, who executed said treaties, should come forward and claim said streams, would the Ohio law of prescription, or adverse possession of over twenty-one years, hold good, and if so to whom, the United States government itself, the State of Ohio, or the individual owners of the abutting lands upon either side of the streams in question? WHERE AND HOW LOCATED.—Franklin is designated on the records as Township 2, Range 10, and though somewhat broken in portions by hills, rivers, creeks, lakes and marshes, is one of the best farming townships in the county, besides being largely underlaid by beds of the most excellent quality of bituminous caal. This township, and its eastern neighbor, Green, are each nearly six miles square, while it will be remembered that the townships of the Reserve are uniformly five miles square, only. Hence, there is a breaking of joints in the north and south lines between the two townships originally connected with Stark county, and their neighbors upon the north, Franklin abutting on both Norton and Coventry, with Green upon the east, Lawrence, Stark county, upon the south, and Chippewa, Wayne county, upon the west. FRANKLIN'S WATER-COURSES, LAKES, ETC. —This township is traversed its entire length, diagonally from north to south, by the Tuscarawas river, being joined near the southwest corner by the FRANKLIN'S BUSINESS EMPORIUMS - 785 Chippewa' river (formerly Indian Creek); the Ohio Canal also following the general course of the Tuscarawas through the township. There are also quite a number of smaller streams, in various portions of the township, which, with Mud Lake, in the southeast, covering about 50 acres, and Turkey Foot Lake, in the northeast corner, covering, with its numerous lagoons, sloughs and marshes, nearly 1,000 acres, gives to the township a most abundant water supply—Turkey Foot now forming a portion of the great chain of contiguous reservoirs that replenish the Ohio canal for navigation purposes, in the dry season of the year. FRANKLIN'S RESOURCES.-In an early day, the marshes adjacent to Turkey Foot Lake, and the several water courses of the township, bore immense quantities of cranberries, which, being gathered by the inhabitants, in the proper season, were, through local merchants, shipped overland to Pittsburg, Philadelphia, New York, etc., thus providing many a luxury to the pioneer settlers of the neighborhood. But that industry no longer exists in Summit county, not even to the extent of supplying the home market. There are, also, in different portions of the township, quite extensive beds of a pretty fair quality of peat, which, by reason of the plentifulness of coal, cannot be now profitably worked; the quite large deposits of bog iron-ore, formerly worked to a limited extent in the early blast-furnace days of Middlebury and Akron, being entirely overshadowed by the iron mines of Lake Superior and the great West. A VILLAGE THAT WAS, BUT IS NOT.-When first ceded to the United States, one Richard Carter, a well-to-do and enterprising Quaker, of Wheeling, purchased a tract of land at the junction of the Tuscarawas and Chippewa rivers, in the southwestern corner of the township, employing John Harris, Esq., and David McClure, of Canton, to survey and lay out a village at that point, the work being completed in the latter part of 1806, and in honor of its proprietor, the prospective village was named " Cartersville." Though perhaps some slight advance towards settlement was made, its liability to inundation by every considerable rise of water in the streams named, led to an early abandonment of the project, and the carefully platted lands of Cartersville were relegated to the use of the pioneer hunter and husbandman. A STILL MORE UNFORTUNATE VENTURE.—About 1816, one David Harvey laid out a town on the banks of the Chippewa, a short distance northwesterly from the site of the abandoned village of Cartersville, above referred to. Harvey named his village " Savannah," and for a few years it had quite a boom, attaining to a population of some 60 or 70 souls, with mechanics, merchants, doctors, etc., Clinton being laid out about the same time by William Harvey, a son of David: In locating the Ohio canal, however, Savannah was left out in the cold," while that great commercial waterway passed directly through Clinton. This gave such an impetus to the latter village, with a corresponding depression to the former, that by the time the canal was completed, in 1827, Savannah had largely merged itself in its more favored rival, and there is now neither stick nor stone to mark the spot where Savannah once stood. FRANKLIN'S BUSINESS EMPORIUM.—The opening of navigation upon the canal, in 1827, as before intimated, very greatly stimulated the growth and business importance of Clinton. A number of 50 786 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. stores were opened and stocked with goods suited to the times hotels were established, mechanics' shops erected, schools and churches organized, with preachers, doctors, lawyers, speculators and all the paraphernalia of a prosperous and enterprising village. In fact, Clinton almost immediately became the market town for a large area of country, including not only contiguous towns east and west, in Stark and Wayne counties, but extended into Medina and Richland counties. Three or four large warehouses, capable of storing nearly 100,000 bushels each of grain, were erected, and scores of teams laden with wheat, corn, wool and other farm products, were daily seen upon her streets, while large numbers of canal boats were almost constantly loading at her docks. Large quantities of coal from the Chippewa, and other mines of the vicinage, were yearly shipped from this point, the operatives in which added very materially to the business importance, though not always to the peace and order of the village. THREE VILLAGES IN ONE.-The original village of Clinton was laid out upon the west side of the river, by William Harvey, about 1816, as already stated, additions to which were soon afterwards made by Samuel Rossitter, William Christmas and James W. Lathrop. The opening of the canal, in 1827, however, necessitated the building of warehouses upon that thoroughfare, and the concentration of business upon the east side of the river. Hence, about 1835, Gorham Chapin laid out a village on the southwest corner of section 29, the plat of which, under the name of " Oradeen," was duly recorded in Stark County, while, in 1837, William and Francis Pumroy laid out the village of " Pumroy" on the northwest corner of section 35, immediately south of, and adjoining Oradeen, both of which adjoined Clinton on the east. Many lots in both of the new villages were sold and deeded, under the names designated, and though the three villages have long been known to the public by the general name of Clinton, the names of Oradeen and Pumroy are still carried upon the records and tax duplicates of Summit county. PAST AND PRESENT STATUS.—In the early days, in addition to its importance, as a grain and produce center, Clinton was, for many years, a veritable mercantile port of delivery, merchants for many miles, both east and west, consigning their eastern purchases of goods to the commission houses at this point. But from about 1845, owing to the growing importance of other business centers—Akron, Massillon, Canal Fulton, etc.—Clinton remained about stationary for several years, and finally, with the advent of railroad communication with near-by localities, in the early fifties, rapidly lost its prestige as a grain and produce shipping point, and though for a number of year holding its coal-shipping and mining trade, it has since been gradually declining in business importance, though still fully holding its own in point of population, and still enjoying the local every-day trade from quite a section of rich farming territory on either side, besides such business as the old canal and contiguous railroads naturally bring to it. THE VILLAGE OF MANCHESTER.—About the year of 1815--a year or more before Clinton was platted—Mahlon and Adam C. Stewart laid out a village about three miles northeasterly from the village of Clinton, which they named Manchester, though when sufficiently advanced to be accorded postal facilities, there being another FRANKLIN'S PIONEER SETTLERS - 787 Manchester somewhere in the State, the postoffice was named Nimisilla, probably from the river or creek of that name, a short distance south of the village. Mr. Adam Clarke Stewart was the the father of Mrs. George W. Manly, of Canton, and Mrs. Henry E. Canfield and Mr. Orlando Stewart, of Akron, Mr. Stewart's first wife being the first person buried in the Manchester grave yard, which was located on the farm of the two brothers. ADAM CLARKE STEWART, — A I born in Frederick county, Maryland, November 27, 1794, in early life removing to Ohio, where, in connection with his brother, Mahlon Stewart, he founded the village of Manchester, in Franklin township, as elsewhere stated, in 1815. Having buried his wife in Manchester, as stated, in 1819 or 1820, removed to Richmond, Jefferson county, Ohio, where, in 1824, he was married to Miss Sarah Beebout, who bore him eight children, five of whom are still living—Hudson Stewart, now residing in Richmond ; Orlando Stewart, of Akron ; Mrs. George W. Manly, formerly of Akron,' now of Canton ; Mrs. J. R. Hague, of Columbus, and Mrs. Henry E. Canfield, of Akron. Mr. Stewart was a cabinet maker by trade, which business, together with that of undertaking, he carried on in Richmond for about forty years, also officiating life, his death occurring December as justice of the peace during the 25, 1870, at the age of 76 years and 28 last twenty-five or thirty years of his days. Manchester, being an inland town, with no transportation facilities other than the old-time six-horse Pennsylvania wagon, has never been blessed or cursed with "booms," but has kept on the even tenor of its way, except as affected by the general business vicissitudes of the world, during the three-quarters of a century of its existence. With its two or three stores, its single hotel, its full complement of mechanics, its skillful physicians, its faithful preachers and teachers, Manchester has proved an indispensable adjunct to the prosperity of the staid and thrifty farming community by which it is surrounded. Though Manchester and Clinton are each some distance from the geographical center of the township, the elections, both general and local, have, until very recently, alternated between the two villages. Now, however, the township is divided into two separate election precincts, with voting places at Manchester and Clinton respectively, being much more convenient, generally, than the former arrangement, though still extremely unhandy for the voters in the northernmost sections of the township. The first person to have really settled within the limits of the township, is supposed to have been Christopher Johnson, who located upon lot 14, in the eastern part of the township, in the Spring of 1814. It is not known where Johnson came from, but from the fact that he was designated by other early settlers as " Yankee Johnson," it is probable that he was of New England origin. The same Spring, and but a few days later, came Thomas Johnson, 788 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. from Westmoreland county, Pa., who settled on lot 27, near Manchester, and about the same time William Halliwell, from Steubenville, who settled on lot 28, near Clinton. Johnson, a few years later, removed to Norton, where he built a tavern, store and several mills, and founded the village of Johnson's Corners. Mr. Halliwell, in 1833, removed to the southwestern portion of Richfield, where he lived for many years, a highly respectable and prosperous farmer. Jacob Burgner, from east of the Alleghanies settled in Jackson township in 1812, and in April, 1814, removed to Franklin township; and is believed, by his descendants, to have been the first actual settler in the township. Other settlers soo afterwards began to flock in, among them Mr. Jacob Hollinger Jacob Sours, Jacob Balmer, George Rex, Michael Bradenburg, Job Snyder, John Hicks and others not now remembered, followed ra idly by the Vanderhoofs, Himelrights, Marshes, Davises, Swai goods, Ludwicks, Clays, Spidels, Waltenbergers, McMurray Wholfs, Rightleys, Scotts, Wises, Browns, Chapins, Hooks, Grove Rossitters, Greenloes, Stumps, Wagoners, Teeples, Blilers, Hoy Wirts, Hamms, Bears, Rowes, Troups, Sorricks, Wiltrouts, Ste arts, Harveys, Flickingers, and others whose names are not no recalled. BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, DEATHS, ETC.--The first birth in the to ship was John Johnson, son of Christopher Johnson, in 1814; th first marriage was that of John Hicks to Catherine Flickinger, 1815; the first death being that of Mrs. Jacob Balmer, in the Su mer of 1815, from the bite of a rattlesnake. ORGANIZATION OF TOWNSHIP.—So rapid was the settlement the township, that in 1817, a school was established at Mancheste with Joseph Mishler, from Lancaster, Pa., as teacher, Mr. Nish ler afterwards settling in Springfield. In April, of the same yea (1817), by proclamation of the commissioners of Stark county, township organization was effected, the first board of trustee elected being Mahlon Stewart, Jacob Hollinger and Michael Bradenburg, with David Harvey and Jacob Balmer as justices of th peace. The first store in the township was kept by Jacob Balmer in Manchester; the first tavernkeeper being a Pennsylvanian b the name of John Schneider, while the first local dispenser o " pills and potions" in the township was Dr. Levi Brooks, afte wards, for many years, a resident of Oberlin, Lorain county. FRANKLIN'S INDUSTRIES.-In the early days there were a number of saw-mills and grist-mills in various portions of the township, which cannot be well mentioned here, though all most us fully served their "day and generation," in bringing old Franklin forward to her present highly prosperous status among her sist townships of Summit county; the most important among them probably, being the grist-mill of George Rex, at the outlet of Turke Foot Lake, erected about the year 1817, the power of which was destroyed by the construction of the reservoirs in 1840. Nearly thirty-five years ago, Harvey Maranville, Esq., with the promise of pecuniary assistance from others, erected a four-story building, in. the Oradeen portion of Clinton, for milling purposes, but failing to receive the promised aid, the property was transferred to the late Alexander M. Russell, by whom it was used as a store and warehouse, until the death of that gentleman in 1875. A few years age it was purchased by a company, composed principally of Akron FRANKLIN'S MILITARY PROWESS - 789 capitalists, under the corporate name of the Franklin Milling Company, and fitted it up with first-class machinery for the manufacture of flour, and is still devoted to that use, Messrs. C. F. Broseke & Son succeeding to the business in December, 1887. Among the pioneer " industries " of the township were several distilleries, for the transmutation of corn and other cereals into whisky; but as the fact began to dawn upon the minds of the people that the product of those establishments was a prolific source of poverty and disorder, the business began to wane, and long years ago became totally extinct. Would it were so throughout the entire world! From quite an early day the mining of coal has been quite extensive in several portions of the township, but at the present time little, if any, more than supplies the local demand is being mined. It is thought, however, by those thoroughly posted upon the subject, that there are still quite extensive veins of coal underlying the broad wheat fields of the township, that are only awaiting better facilities for transportation, to secure their profitable development. GORGE WAGONER, — born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania November 22, 1790; September 6, 1812, was married to Miss Sallie Rhodes, two weeks later starting with hi bride for Ohio, settling in Lawrence township, Stark county. March 12, 1821, Mrs. Wagoner died, having borne him six children, four of whom survived her. June 17, 1821, Mr. Wagoner was again married to Miss Rebecca Souers, soon afterwards removing to a farm one and a half miles north of Manchester, in what is now Summit county. Ten children were the fruit of this last marriage, and on the celebration of their golden anniversary, June 17, 1871, there were living twelve children, fifty-three grandchildren and fifteen great-grandchildren. Mr. Wagoner was among the most substantial and intelligent citizens of Franklin township, during his long life taking an active interest in public affairs, both local and general, in politics being a stanch Republican, and in every tense an upright christian gentleman. Mr. Wagoner, after an illness of three days, of heart disease, died April 23, 1873. aged 82 years, 5 months and 1 day. Mrs. Wagoner died March 2, 1886, aged 83 years, 3 months and 15 days. Among their surviving children are Messrs. John J. and Aaron Wagoner. well-known business men of Akron, Mr. Philip Wagoner, one of the most enterprising farmers of Franklin township, and Henry L. Wagoner, postmaLINE.-Frankliny. IN THE MILITARY LINE.—Franklin has a very creditable military history. Being originally mainly settled by immigrants from patriotic old Pennsylvania, it is not improbable that quite a number of ex-Revolutionary heroes were among her more aged early inhabitants, and though the War of 1812 had substantially closed before settlement fairly begun, it is known that several participants in that struggle settled here, though their names cannot now be ascertained. In the Mexican War of 1846-1848, Franklin was represented by Matthias Weaver and several others whose names cannot now be given. And in the War of Rebellion, Franklin was 790 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. equally patriotic with the average of her sister townships of Summit county, as the following roster, compiled through courtesy of Mr. Joseph M. Kleckner, and from the assessors' returns for 1863 '64 and '65 will abundantly show: FRANKLIN UNION ARMY SOLDIERS.—Jacob J. Adams, Jacob Aue (died in service), Harvey Aue, Samuel Aue (died in service), George W. Burns, Solomon J. Bucher, Joseph Bucher, John Bucher (died in service), O. E. Brownell, Samuel Butler, L. F. Becker, H. G Becker, John H. Bliler, Abram Baughman (died in service), Lewis Brenner, George Barkheimer, Israel Beck, Franklin Bennett, Willam F. Bechel, 0. M. Brown, Thomas G. Boake; William Beard, (died in service), Patrick Costello, Samuel Cole, Jefferson Clay, John Cormany, D. S. Copp, Alexander Campbell, Richard Cleary, N. Gilbert Clark, Jeremiah Diehl, William Diehl, Isaac Daily, Amos Dailey, William Demming, John D. Dickerhoof, Henry Emrich, Joseph Earnsberger, David Endiger, Jacob Fraze, Alpheus Grubb (died in service), Simon Grubb (killed in battle), John Harbaugh, Jacob D. Hollinger, Jr., David Hollinger, George Haneline, Solomon Haneline, Jacob Hoover, John Holler, David Hose, Isaac Hose, Levi D. Hollinger, David Harbaugh, John Hoy, Augustus Hill (died in service), Robert Hilton, N. M. Hoover (killed in battle), J. J. Hanshaw (killed in battle), John Hugh, James Hayes (died in service), John Henry, Fred Intermele (died at home), Theodore Jones, Andrew Keck, George Kleckner (killed in battle), Stephen Kissinger (died in service), John S. Killinger, George A. Kellogg (wounded at Town Creek, N. C., February 20, 1865), Simon Keck, Henry Koehler, John Koehler, Doras Lockwood (lost on Sultana), Samuel Ludwick, L. Loutzenhouser, George Leobold, Ephraim Marsh, Christopher C. Marsh, George A. Miller, Henry C. Miller, Samuel Marsh, John Marsh, Frank Maranville, George B. Myers, Adam Musser (died in service), David Marsh, Levi McMurray, Charles Myers, A. R. Marsh, William McCormish, J. H. Oberlin, Jefferson Palmer, Willia Pierce (died in service), Thaddeus Pierce, Alexander Peling, Asa Phillips, Willoughby Rinehart, Peter Rinehart, Eli Roudebus Darius P. Rinehart, William Sorrick, John H. Spigelmyer, Eli Stoudt (died in service), John Stoudt, J. Saeman, John Sullivan, John Smith (killed in battle), William Sense, Peter Shibe, Jeremiah Sullivan, Philip Stadler, Lawrence Shondle, Winfield Shaffer, Henry Strohl, Addison Strong (died in service), Daniel Swaisgood, Benj. Swope, David Smith, David Shanebrook, George Slusser, Samuel Simmons, William Traxler, Joseph Traxler, Aaron Teeple, Isaac Teeple (killed in battle), George Teeple, Samuel Teeters, William Tagg, Samuel P. Wolf, Henry Wolf, Freeman Whittlesey, Robert Wilkins (killed in battle), William Wolf, Joe Weil, Willia Whittlesey, David Welty, Alfred Wolf, John Wolf, J. F. Whittlese Aaron Wagoner, Isaac Wells, Silas Williams, Isaac Winklema John Wilson, Samuel Young (killed in battle). FRANKLIN'S CRIMINAL RECORD. For a township so largely peopled by staid, sober, industrious and intelligent inhabitants, Franklin has been cursed with a large amount of turbulence and disorder, during the past 40 or 50 years It is but just to the good people of the township, however, to say that a very large proportion of the disorder indicated has come from the comparatively transient population brought to the vicinity FRANKLIN'S HOMICIDES - 791 by the canal and mines, and it is safe to say that all of it resulted from the traffic in, and the excessive use of, intoxicating liquors. Passing by the almost innumerable brutal assaults and bloody affrays, that, in days of yore, so often disgraced Clinton, and several of the mining settlements of the township, we will here give the particulars of the two following cases, only, both of which resulted fatally: THE SAUTER-SHEETES TRAGEDY.—On the night of June 26, 1856, occurred, within the bounds of Franklin township, one of those oft recurring fatal tragedies incident to indulgence in intoxicating drinks. The parties involved were Germans, named, respectively, Plauseus Sauter and Oswald Sheetes, living near, and operatives in, the Chippewa coal mines, a short distance west of Clinton. On the day in question there had been a gathering in the village, for the purpose of organizing a military company, preparatory to celebrating the approaching Fourth of July. Liquors were freely indulged in during the afternoon and evening, and a portion of the party became considerably intoxicated and quarrelome. Between 10 and 11 o'clock at night, Sheetes, with a companion named Hertz, started for home. Near Chippewa bridge, about a mile from Clinton, Sheetes and Hertz sat down by the side of the road to rest. Sauter soon afterwards coming up, carrying a gun, Sheetes, between whom and Sauter there had previously been some ill-feeling, commenced taunting the latter, calling him a coward, and asking him why he was walking around at that time of night carrying a gun. Sauter ordering Sheetes to keep off, and intimating that it would be unsafe to approach him, passed on, Sheetes continuing his taunts of cowardice, telling him that he durst not shoot; that he had no heart; that his threats were all in his belly, etc. In the midst of this drunken bravado, Sauter aimlessly fired off his gun, the charge of shot entering the abdomen of Sheetes, from the effects of which he died the day following; the wounded man walking some distance to the nearest farm house, after receiving the fatal wound. THE HOMICIDE DEFIANT.-Sauter reloaded his gun, shut himself up in his house, and resisted all attempts to arrest him, until morning, when, the effects of the liquor having passed off, he became entirely submissive; expressed great sorrow for what had taken place; declaring that though he distinctly remembered discharging his gun, he had no recollection of the occurrences of the evening. He was duly examined before Justice David Stump, who committed him to jail, without bail, to answer to the Court of Common Pleas, then in session, on the charge of murder. The May term of the Common Pleas being then in session, and the regular grand jury having been discharged, the court, on the application of Prosecuting Attorney Sidney Edgerton, ordered Sheriff Dudley Seward to summon a special grand jury, who returned a bill of indictment, against Sauter, charging him with murder in the first degree. To this indictment Sauter entered a plea of not guilty. On further investigation, Prosecutor Edgerton, becoming satisfied that the killing of Sheetes was neither premeditated nor intended, accepted the plea tendered by the defendant, upon the advice of his attorneys, Messrs. Goodhue and McClure, of guilty of manslaughter. 792 - AKRON AND SUMNIT COUNTY. SENTENCE, PARDON, ETC.—On this plea Judge Samuel Humphreyville sentenced the defendant to ten years' imprisonment in the State Penitentiary, whither he was accordingly taken by Sheriff Seward, July 16, 1856, his age then being 31 years. Sauter was pardoned by Governor Chase, October 14, 1859, after a service of three years, two months and twenty-one days, and, so far as the writer is advised, thereafter conducted himself as a peaceable and law-abiding citizen. THE OSTER-KERNAN HOMICIDE.—Henry Oster was the keeper of a grocery store and saloon, in the village of Clinton, for several years, in the late fifties and early sixties, having among his customers a somewhat bibulous denizen of the place by the name of Martin Kernan. Mr. Oster having deceased early in 1864, his son, Charles Oster, had the settling up of his affairs, and had several times attempted to collect a small account against Kernan for groceries and whisky, chiefly the latter, but without success. On the 29th day of April, 1864, young Oster, seeing Kernan passing the field where he was working, stepped to the fence and again dunned him for the amount of his indebtedness, and not getting a very satisfactory response, told Kernan that he would give him until the 25th day of May to settle the matter, and if the bill was not paid by that time he would give him a thrashing. To this Kernan replied, in substance, that if he thought he could thrash him, he could try it then, whereupon Oster jumped over the fence and made an attack upon Kernan, knocking him down twice, and severely kicking him several times, from the effects of which he died in about half an hour. A post-mortem examination disclosed the fact that three of Kernan's ribs were broken, and his spleen badly lacerated, which was undoubtedly the cause of death; though the liver was found to be very greatly enlarged. Sheriff Jacob Chisnell happening to be at Clinton at the time, arrested Oster and brought him to Akron and lodged him in jail. On Friday, May 1, Oster was examined before Lewis M. Janes, Esq., of Akron, and held to bail in the sum of $1,000 to answer to the Court of Common Pleas, on the charge of manslaughter. The May term of court being then in session, with Judge Stephenson Burke upon the bench, and Edwin P. Green, Esq., acting as prosecuting attorney during the absence of the regular prosecutor, N. D. Tibbals, in the 100 day service in defense of Washington, the grand jury returned a bill of indictment charging the defendant with murder in the second degree. Nathaniel W. Goodhue, Esq., and Samuel W. McClure appeared for the defendant, who entered a plea of not guilty, as charged in the indictment, but on the advice of his counsel, tendered a plea of guilty of manslaughter, which plea was duly accepted by Prosecutor Green. Thereupon Judge Burke, after hearing evidence from several of the large array of witnesses that had been summoned to testify to the previous good character of the defendant, sentenced him to two years' imprisonment in the penitentiary of the State, and to pay the costs that had accrued in the case, amounting to $140.69. Young Oster was but 17 years of age, as appears by the prison records, at the time of his incarceration, by Sheriff Chisnell, on the 15th day of June, 1864. He proved obedient and faithful in his FRANKLIN'S CIVIL SERVICE RECORD - 793 service to the State, securing a discount from his two years' term of three months and eight days for good behavior, being released from confinement on the 7th day of March, 1866, thenceforth, as the writer learns, comporting himself in all respects as a peaceable and upright citizen. HONORABLE CIVIL RECORD. In the civil annals of Summit county, Franklin holds a highly honorable position, as the following roster will demonstrate: DR. HUGH R. CALDWELL, a successful physician, and enterprisg business man of Franklin township, residing about one mile north of Clinton, was appointed, by the Legislature, one of the first associate judges of the Court of Common Pleas, on the organzation of Summit county, in 1840, serving for the full term of even years, with great ability and good judgment, though unforunately, at times, considerably addicted to the use of intoxicating liquors. HON, JOHN HOY, a resident of Manchester, was elected one of the first commissioners of the new county, in April, 1840, re-elected for the fractional term of two years in October of the same year, and again elected in October, 1842, for the full term of three years, giving to the position five years and seven months continuous and faithful service, and on the expiration of Judge Caldwell's term, in 1847, was appointed to the exalted position of associate judge, which he filled with credit to himself and his constituents until the taking effect of the new Constitution of the State in 1852. [A fine portrait, with brief biographical sketch, of Judge Hoy, will be found on page 98 of this volume.] HOUSTON SISLER, ESQ., of Manchester, was elected to the highly responsible position of county treasurer, in October, 1854, and re-elected in 1856, filling the office to the general satisfaction for the constitutional period of four years. HARVEY MARANVILLE, ESQ., a resident of Clinton from 1833 until his removal to Akron, in 1861, served for five consecutive terms as justice of the peace of Franklin township, and in 1862 was appointed, by the treasury department, government inspector of liquors and oils for the 18th Congressional District, and afterwards commissioned as general gauger of the district; serving in that capacity until the winding up of that branch of the revenue service, here, in all about 15 years; by his skill and diligence saving to the treasury many thousands of dollars, that a less scrupulous officer would have permitted to stick to the fingers of the gentlemanly operators whose products he had to pass upon, CHARLES RINEHART, ESQ., of Clinton, was elected clerk of courts for Summit county, on the union ticket, 1863, and re-elected, on the Republican ticket, in 1866, filling the office six years, very acceptably indeed. DR. WILLIAM SISLER, of Manchester, was elected as representative to the State Legislature in 1867, serving through the sessions of 1867, '68 and 1868, '69; Dr. Sisler also filling the important office of county commissioner for two consecutive terms, from 1875 to 1881, and also was one of the trustees of the Children's Home for two years. 794 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. HON. JACOB A. KOHLER, a native of Franklin township, but a resident of Akron since 1853, was elected prosecuting attorney in 1868 and re-elected in 1870, ably discharging the duties of that office for two consecutive terms; served as representative to the State Legislature in the sessions of 1883, '84 and 1884, '85, two years, and as attorney general of the State of Ohio from January, 1886, to January, 1888. LIEUTENANT LEVI J. MCMURRAY, residing near Clinton, was elected sheriff in October, 1872, and re-elected in 1874, holding the office the constitutional term of four yearS, though from failing health unable to give his personal attention to official business the last year or more of his incumbency. DR. WILLIAM SISLER,—born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, September 12,1819; came to Manchester in 1840; teaching and farming three years ; in 1843 began the study of medicine, commencing to practice in Manchester in 1846 and continuing, in partnership with his brother, until 1873. During the War, at the call of Governor Tod, served in hospitals, after the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. In Fall of 1867 was elected representative to the State Legislature, serving two years ; on removing to Akron, in 1873, in con nection with Mr. John F. Hoy, opened a drug store, continuing until 1879; in October, 1875, was elected county commissioner and re-elected in 1878, serving six years ; in 1887 .was appointed trustee of Children's Home, serving two years. July 23, 1846, Dr. Sisler was married to Miss Lorohama R. Hoy, daughter of Hon. John Hoy, of Manchester, one of the first commissioners of Summit county, and associate judge from 1845 to 1852. Of the six children born to Dr. and Mrs. Sisler, three only are now living— Mary A., now Mrs. W. H. Diehl Emma I., now Mrs. George J. Nieberg, and Henry B., now a successful far mer of Northampton township. LIEUTENANT AARON WAGONER, born and reared upon his father's farm, in Franklin township, took up his residence in Akron, at the close of the war, whence he was elected county auditor, in October, 1880, and re-elected in 1883, intelligently, faithfully and courteously discharging the intricate duties of that office until his resignation thereof on the 1st day of April, 1887, to accept the cashiership of the City National Bank, of Akron, and is now (1891) cashier and one of the proprietors of the Akron Savings Bank, established in 1888. DAVID C. MILLER, residing near Manchester, was elected county commissioner in October, 1881, and re-elected in 1884, assiduously performing the laborious, and often perplexing, duties of the office until his death, which occurred on the 8th day of November, 1886. FRANKLIN'S POPULATION. Unlike most of the out-lying townships of Summit county, notwithstanding the decadence in business of its villages, through FRANKLIN'S PRESENT OFFICIAL ROSTER - 795 the advent of railroads, and the concentration of business in the larger towns and cities, Franklin has, from the beginning, gradually gained in population-the census of 1840 placing the number of inhabitants at 1,436, and that of 1890 at 1,957—showing a gain of 521 in the intervening fifty years. PRESENT OFFICIAL ROSTER.- Trustees, Jeremiah Dice, Hiram Stump, Philip Serfass; clerk, Harry Miller; treasurer, Levi M. Kauffman; justices of the peace, Cyrus Warley, Andrew Donnenwirth; constables, A. Roudebush, Ephraim Stump; postmasters, John Sisler, Nimisilla; Frank Maranville, Clinton. CHAPTER XXXVII. GREEN TOWNSHIP—WHEN AND BY WHOM SETTLED—A FALSE PREDICTIONS INDIAN TRADITIONS—ORGANIZATION, EARLY OFFICERS, ETC.—TO TOPOGRAPHY, RESOURCES, BUSINESS CENTERS, ETC.—LONG AND HONORABLE MERCANTILE CAREER—GREENSBURG'S GREAT BOOM— EDUCATIONAL MATTERS GROSS SLANDER REFUTED, ETC.—ELECTORAL AND POLITICAL STATUS- CRIMINAL AFFAIRS—HORRIBLE DEATH OF MICHAEL MYERS—THE STRIPE R [PE COOPER HOMICIDE—THE SEMLER-KEPLER TRAGEDY—FINE MILITA ORD—GREEN IN PUBLIC AND OFFICIAL LIFE, ETC. GREEN TOWNSHIP. LIKE its neighbor upon the west, Green was a portion of what was originally designated as "Congress Lands," so called from the fact that they were surveyed and sold by government agents, instead of having been transferred in bulk to private companies, as were the lands north of the 41st parallel-the far-famed Western Reserve-to the Connecticut Land Company, Green being known upon the county records as township 12, range 9. A FALSE PREDICTION.-In the discussion preliminary to the erection of Summit county, it was held that the people of the two townships to be taken from Stark county, being largely Pennsylvania Germans, could never be brought to fraternize with the " blue-bellied" Yankees, by whom the Reserve townships had mainly been settled, Senator Hostetter, from the Stark district, declaring, in a speech against the bill in the Legislature, that "you might as well undertake to make a Dutch plow-horse and a broad-horned Yankee ox work evenly in the harness, *is to expect the inhabitants of the two sections to harmonize and pull evenly together in county affairs." In fact, the majority of the people, of both Green and Franklin, were undoubtedly averse to the change, though the most of them would be considerably nearer the county-seat under the new than under the old arrangement. Many and curious were the reasons against the change, one of the most potent being that of the old lady who is alleged to have said that she did not want to live where it was so unhealthy as the Reserve was represented to be. But, notwithstanding the opposition, the change took place, and since April, 1840, Green and Franklin townships have been contented members of the proud and prosperous county of Summit, sharing both its honors and its responsibilities, except that in the enabling act there was a proviso that those two townships should be exempt from taxation for public buildings for the period of fifty years, which restriction ceased March 3, 1890. EARLY SETTLEMENT.—There is considerable diversity in the traditions of the township, and the recollections of the older portion of the inhabitants, as to who was, in reality, the first white settler in the township. John Kepler, from Center county, Pa., is, however, conceded to have been the first purchaser of government land in the township, section 17, upon which he settled in the Fall INDIAN EXPERIENCES, ETC. - 797 of 1809, though the Dixons, the Triplets, Basil Viers, John Cruzen, David Hartman, and perhaps others, with their families, had undoubtedly temporarily located, as squatters, upon section 16, earlier the same year, or perhaps even sooner than that, it being claimed by some, that John Cruzen came as early as 1807. But it is not the province of this work to undertake to fully trace the pioneer history of the township, with biographical sketches of its early inhabitants, as that has already been quite extensively treated of by previous writers. It is, therefore, sufficient, for the purposes of this work, to say, that the majority of the early settlers, as well as those who came later, were sterling men and women, who heroically endured the hardships and privations of pioneer life, and honestly earned, by faithful toil, frugality and sobriety, the solid prosperity and comforts which they and their descendants now enjoy. ABRAHAM W. JOHNSTON,—born in Center county, Pennsylvania, October 25, 1810; moved with parents to Green township in 1814; educational advantages limited, but, by close personal application, became a thoroughly well informed country gentleman ; in early life learned trade of weaver, at which he worked in Greentown nine years ; then purchased the old family homestead; one mile east of Greensburg, where he resided till his death, August 25, 1877, at the age of 66 years, 10 months and 2 days. Mr. Johnston was married May 25, 1835, to Miss Catharine Moore, born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, February 27, 1814, who still survives. They were the parents of five children—Washington G., born February 18, 1836, now county commissioner; Cornelius, born March 4, 1839, died in early childhood ; Mary E., born January 9, 1842, married January 4, 1866, to S. H. Hunsberger, now of Ottawa, Illinois ; Maggie J., born April 4, 1849, now living with her mother ; Isabella, born June 16, 1852, married October 28, 1878, to Corbin Dillman, now of Joliet, Illinois, the three daughters being educated at Greensburg Seminary, and the son at Oberlin and Mount Union Colleges. Though a thorough Republican, Mr. Johnston filled many positions of trust and honor by the votes of his Democratic neighbors. INDIAN EXPERIENCES.—Although the Indian title to the lands embraced in Green township had been extinguished nearly a quarter of a century before, (1785), quite a number of the red-skinned sons of the forest still lingered when the whites first came; but they entirely disappeared on the breaking out of the War of 1812. But as brief as their stay among their pale-faced successors was, there are many traditions still extant of deadly encounters between the two races, the alleged exploits of Liverton Dixon, a son of Thomas Dixon, among Green's earliest settlers, being still listened to by open-mouthed and wonder-eyed Young America, around the family base-burner, with thrilling interest and solemn awe. TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION.—Green, like Franklin on the west, is six miles square, its other neighbors being Coventry and Springfield, 798 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. on the north; Lake, Stark county, on the east and Jackson, also in Stark, on the south. It was originally organized in connection with Lake and Jackson, and that portion of Franklin lying east of the Tuscarawas river, July 6, 1811, with Peter Dicker-hoof, of Lake, Christian Balmer, of Jackson, and John Yerrick, of Green, as trustees; Samuel Spitler, of Lake, as clerk; George Knoddle, as treasurer; William Ball, as assessor; and Simon Harsh and John Kepler, as constables. At the October election, the same year, sixteen votes were polled, while at the presidential election, a year later (1812), nine ballots only were cast. The first justice for the territory named, was Peter I)ickerhoof, elected in 1811; the second being John Wise, elected in 1812. A distinct organization for Green was effected April 7, 1815, with a poll of seventeen votes. Joshua Richards, William Ball and George McCormick were chosen trustees; Robert Lawson, clerk; Daniel Wise, treasurer; David Hartman and Thomas Parker, constables. From this time on settlement was steady, so that upon the erection and organization of Summit county, in 1840, the township had a population of 1,536, with a gradual increase to the present time, the census of 1880 placing the number of inhabitants at 1,827, and that of 1890 at 1,911. Twenty per cent. gain in fifty years may seem like a very small ratio of increase, but when it is remembered that several of the strictly rural towns of the county, as well as other portions of the State, have actually fallen off in population, during that period, the showing for Green is very creditable indeed. TOPOGRAPHY, RESOURCES, ETC.—Though somewhat rolling, and in portions quite broken, Green township is one of the most productive and thrifty agricultural townships of Summit county, its great specialty being wheat, though equally well adapted to every other variety of cereals and field products, fruits, etc. In the northwest corner of the township lies a portion of Turkey Foot Lake, and a small section of the Tuscarawas reservoir, with three or four other small bodies of water, and numerous creeks and runs in various localities, by which the township is quite liberally watered for agricultural purposes, besides affording a number of sites for grist and saw-mills, and other mechanical enterprises which have from to time existed in the township—the Tritt flouring mill, in the southwestern portion, having been a well-known landmark, since its erection in 1827, to the present time, though several times remodeled during that period. In the matter of travel and transportation, being altogether inland, Green has had to depend upon its well-fed and well-trained farm horses, until the completion of the Valley Railway along its eastern border, in 1880, which with Greentown Station iri the southeast, and Myersville Station in the northeast, is proving a very great convenience to the people, both as a means of travel and for the shipment of their produce and manufactures; the extensive elevator of the American Cereal Company, at the former station, being especially convenient to contiguous farmers in marketing their wheat and other cereals. Unlike most of the Reserve townships of Summit county, Green has no village at its exact geographical center. A mile and a half to the southeast, however, is the village of Greensburg, laid out in 1828 by David Bair, upon the lands of Abraham Wilhelm. Previous to the laying A GOOD MERCANTILE RECORD - 799 out of the village, Wilhelm kept a tavern, a short distance to the southward, which was the " Stage House," or stopping place for the old-fashioned four-horse stage-coach, which in that early day used to make tri-weekly trips between Middlebury and Massillon. A natural concomitant of the early tavern—a distillery—was also run for several years by one of the Wilhelms, and after its dismantlement, as a fabricator of " blue ruin," was converted into a chair and bedstead factory by a man named Moulton. The growth of the village was slow, containing only about a dozen frame houses as late as 1845. The first store was established in the early thirties by John Shick, on the southwest corner of the principal street of the new village, the same gentleman also about the same time, erecting a hotel upon the northeast corner, on the same site of the hotel now (1891) owned by Mrs. Lydia Thornton, and kept by Levi Mix, both the original building and its immediate successor having been destroyed by fire. WASHINGTON G. JOHNSTON,—son of Abraham W. and Catharine (Moore) Johnston, was born in Green township, February 18, 1836 ; educated at Greensburg Academy and Oberlin and Mount Union Colleges ; at 20 entered store of his uncle, Cornelius Johnston, in Akron, clerking two Nears; then, in connection with his cousin, Cornelius A. Johnston, opened Johnston's shaft coal mine, in Franklin township, working same for four or five years, also, during that time manufacturing oil in Akron about a year and a half ; then removed to Rochester, New York, and for some four years engaged in the manufacture of boots and shoes ; then returned to Summit county, after the death of his father purchased the homestead, 153 acres, which he has since successfully farmed. October 1, 1863, Mr. Johnston was married to Miss Anna Irvin, adopted daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Irvin, of Akron. They have ve children — James Irvin, born August 13, 1864; Katharine, born March 19, 1870 ; Grace May, born June 29. 1871; Martha Irvin, born June 6, 1874, and George Abraham, born January 26, 1882. October, 1888, Mr. John ston was elected county commissioner, which responsible position, as president of the board, he is now ably filling. A LONG AND PROSPEROUS CAREER.—After one or two changes of proprietors, the store above alluded to, in 1838, passed into the hands of Mr. John. Berger, who, at the age of fourteen years, emigrated with his father's family from Lancaster county, Pa., to Ohio, in 1822, having meantime served a four years' apprenticeship at the mercantile business with Hart & McMillen, in Middlebury. For over half a century the Berger store has been the leading, and most of the time, the only store in the village, always doing a conservative but reasonably profitable business. Some twenty years ago Mr. Berger retired, transferring the business to his son, Captain D. F. Berger, who in turn, having removed to Akron, has turned the business over to his son, Sheridan G. Berger.