(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) CONVICTION—TRIAL—SENTENCE—PAROLE, ETC. - 875 between Tedrow and Brook, had placed the ax in the latter's hand, which he immediately used in the manner, and with the fatal result stated. In view of this supposition, Prosecuting Attorney Charles Baird filed an affidavit before Mayor Samuel A. Lane, charging both Thomas Brook and Seth M. Thomas, with the killing, and the latter was accordingly arrested by Marshal William H. Ragg and committed to jail to await the preliminary examination, which was set for Saturday, November 4, at 9 o'clock A. M. The preliminary trial lasted two days, a large number of witnesses being examined, resulting in the discharge of Seth M. Thomas and the holding of Thomas Brook to the Court of Common Pleas, for the crime of murder, the mayor, in announcing his decision, remarking: The history of this case is largely a repetition of the great majority of the homicides of the world, in that it is directly the result of the excessive Use of intoxicating liquors, the evidence developing the fact that not only was the victim—naturally as amiable as men in general—rendered quarrelsome thereby, but that several, if not all, the actors and witnesses of the fearful tragedy (except the ladies) were more or less under their baleful influence. TRIAL IN COMMON PLEAS.—At the January term of the Court of Common Pleas, 1883, Prosecuting Attorney Baird brought the matter before the grand jury; which, on a full and careful hearing of the evidence, returned a bill of indictment,- charging Thomas Brook with murder in the second degree. To this indictment Brook entered a plea of not guilty. Governor Sidney Edgerton being assigned by the court to assist Prosecutor Baird, on behalf of the State, and Hon. J. A. Kohler assisting General A. C. Voris. on the defense. VERDICT, SENTENCE, ETC.—The trial, including the arguments of counsel and charge of Judge Tibbals, occupied three full days, the jury, after a short deliberation, rendering their verdict as follows: "We, the jury, do not find the defendant, Thomas Brook, guilty of murder in the second degree, as charged in the indictment, but we PIP) find the said Thomas Brook guilty of manslaughter." General Voris immediately filed a motion for a new trial for several alleged reasons, the principal of which was that the verdict was not warranted by the evidence. This motion, after being I fully argued pro and con. by counsel, was overruled by Judge Tibbals, who immediately, in impressive language, especially animadverting on the folly and danger of indulging in intoxicating liquors, the use of which, as developed by the testimony, was rectly the cause of the crime under consideration—sentenced the defendant to twelve years imprisonment in the penitentiary. PAROLE, SUBSEQUENT LIFE, ETC.—Peaceable and quiet throughout, Brook was taken to Columbus on the 31st day of March, 1883, where he served the State faithfully, about three years, when he was released on parole by the prison managers, returning to his friends, near Cleveland, where he is now living a peaceable and industrious citizen; the young lady who so courageously attempted to avert the catastrophe, Miss Mary Ellen Thomas, having been married to Mr. Jacob Peach, on the 6th day of August, 1886, by justice Henry W. Howe, of Ira. CHAPTER XL. THE COUNTERFEITERS OF THE CUYAHOGA—" DAN" AND " JIM " BROWN— WONDERFUL LONGEVITY OF HENRY BROWN, THE FATHER—" JIM " STRUCK BY LIGHTNING—MERCHANT, HOTEL KEEPER, JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, ETC. - " FINANCIAL " OPERATIONS—MAMMOTH SCHEME—EXPEDITION TO CHINA COMES TO GRIEF—DEATH OF " DAN " BROWN IN PRISON—EXCITING TRIAL IN NEW ORLEANS — " JIM " ACQUITTED — A FAITHFUL WIFE — JIM'S " REPUTED EQUESTRIAN EXPLOITS—OTHER MAMMOTH SCHEMES— CONVICTION, SENTENCE, NEW TRIAL, ACQUITTAL—OTHER " PERSECUTIONS " - " UNCLE SAM " GRAPPLES WITH HIM — IN THE " PEN" AT LAST — HEROIC CONDUCT—FREE PARDON—FROM BAD TO WORSE—WIFE SEEKS A DIVORCE —IN MICHIGAN PENITENTIARY — SUBSEQUENT ARRESTS — ACCIDENTAL DEATH, ETC.—" DAN" JUNIOR AND HIS REMARKABLE CAREER—WONDERFUL ROMANCE OF CRIME. THE COUNTERFEITERS OF THE CUYAHOGA. A WORK of this character would most certainly be very incomplete without a pretty full history of the life and operations of our late fellow-citizen, James Brown, commonly known as "Jim" Brown, and incidentally something of his subordinates and lieutenants. And yet so much has been written and published by parties wholly unacquainted with Mr. Brown and his doings, and such extravagances of action and prowess have from time to time been attributed to him, that any one not personally cognizant of a good portion of his life and habits, and less familiar with the newspaper and official records of his time than the writer, would find it difficult to even approximate a truthful sketch of his remarkably wonderful career. Indeed, by reason of the natural delicacy of his surviving relatives—all of the most respectable character—it has been difficult to secure such data as would insure perfect accuracy as to some of the particulars of his early life, though it is believed that substantial, if not absolute, accuracy has been attained in regard to that portion of his operations, which has given to him world-wide renown as a " financier." WONDERFUL LONGEVITY.—Henry Brown, the father, was born in Ireland, in 1733, emigrating to America sometime previous to the Revolutionary War, and settling in New York City. On the breaking out of the war, between Great Britain and her colonies, Mr. Brown joined the patriot army, serving the entire seven years of the struggle. After the close of the war he settled in what is now Livingston county, N. Y., where he engaged in farming, and where he was soon afterwards married. Here his two sons, Daniel and James, were born, the former in 1788, and the latter in 1800. In 1802, the family removed to Ohio, settling upon a farm about one and-a-half miles below the present city of Youngstown. In the Fall of 1808, Mr. Brown traded his Youngstown farm with Judge Jared Kirtland, of that place, for 640 acres of wild land on PROSTRATED BY LIGHTNING - 877 the west side of the Cuyahoga river, a little below the present village of Boston. Here Mr. Brown continued to reside until his death, October 17, 1837, at the extraordinary age of 104 years. THE BROTHERS—" DAN" AND " Jim.”—Daniel Brown (father of our present well-known fellow-citizen, Hiram H. Brown), then 20 years old, remained one Winter with Judge Kirtland, attending school at Youngstown, the next Spring following the family to Boston, where for several years he worked upon his father's farm. He enlisted as a soldier, in the War of 1812, and at the close of the war was married to Miss Laura Wood, of Hudson. The younger brother, James, also grew to manhood upon his father's farm, and, so far as can be learned, was as faithful and industrious as farmers' sons in general, though reputed to have been extremely fond of the rude sports in vogue at that early day, and is said to have been remarkably athletic, and one of the very best, if not the champion wrestler of the neighborhood. In the Fall of 1819, he was married to Miss Lucy Mather, daughter of Watrous Mather, then living in Boston, but in later years a resident of Akron. Both of the brothers only had such educational advantages as the semi-occasional schools of that period afforded. Both were apt scholars, however, which, with their more than ordinary natural ability, placed them in the first rank for intelligence among the young men of Ohio, and both soon sought other employment than farming. In the middle twenties Daniel and his wife removed to Cincinnati and embarked in trade, afterwards, for some years, keeping a store at Lawrenceburg, Ind., though making frequent visits to his old home in Boston. Later he engaged in trading upon the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, between Pittsburg and New Orleans, interspersed with occasional trips to the Eastern States, over the mountains, with droves of horses; his last venture of that nature being with a drove of 90 horses, gathered up in this neighborhood, with which he started from Boston in February, 1831. PROSTRATED BY LIGHTNING.—After his marriage, in 1819, the younger brother, James, then not quite 20 years of age, built for himself a house upon a portion of his father's farm, on the west side of the river, a little below the present Boston bridge. Here, too, in 1825 or 1826, James built a two-story frame store-house, and, with one William G. Taylor, of Cleveland, embarked in trade, with a stock of $1,200 or $1,500 worth of general merchandise; also keeping a tavern in the same building. Some two or three years later, the remnant of this stock of goods was sold to his brother-in-law, the late William T. Mather, and Brown removed the building, bodily, across the bridge to the east side of the river, and handsomely refitted it as a hotel, which he afterwards presided over as landlord for several years. While sitting in his door one day when a terrible thunderstorm was approaching (but whether before or after his removal across the river, recollections differ) he was struck by lightning and nearly every particle of his clothing, even to his boots and stockings, was stripped from his person, literally torn into shreds. He was prostrated by the stroke, and for a considerable time remained insensible, but was finally restored to consciousness, and his usual health and vigor, with no permanent marks of the fearful visitation remaining upon his person. It was said that he was 878 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. wont to boast, in referring to this incident, that no live man could lay him upon his back as quick as the Almighty did. This tattered suit is still kept (or was a few years ago), as a memento of the dread visitation, by members of the family. PERSONAL APPEARANCE, ETC.—Never having met the elder brother, " Dan," the writer cannot personally describe him, but he is represented as having been singularly good looking, and of extremely pleasing manners, and, for those times remarkable for sobriety and correct personal habits. " Jim," in his early prime, though not remarkably handsome of feature, possessed a pleasant countenance, which, with the mildness of his voice, and the geniality of his conversation, rendered him a most captivating companion. He was, in stature, about six feet and two inches, straight as an arrow, with rather a dark complexion, black or very dark brown hair, and black, deep-set penetrating eyes. Though not corpulent, his frame was well proportioned to his great height, giving him a personal presence that would attract attention in any company. And, considering the universal use of intoxicants in those early times, and his traffic therein as merchant and innkeeper, his own early habits in that regard were remarkably correct, while his business and social life was at that time of more than the average purity. THEIR " FINANCIAL " OPERATIONS.—Just when, and by whom, the two brothers were first initiated into the mystic art of illicit financiering, can now only be conjectured. But certain it is that, coincident with the opening of the Ohio canal in 1827, there was in existence an extensive organization for the manufacture of, and dealing in, counterfeit money along the entire length, with its headquarters in the Cuyahoga Valley, with the two Browns, as its leaders. Their principal coadjutors, in this vicinity, were William G. Taylor, of Cleveland, Abraham S. Holmes and Col. William Ashley, of Boston; William Latta, of Bath; Jonathan De Courcey and Thomas Johnson, of Norton; and Joshua King and Joel Keeler, of Portage; with quite a large army of subordinate officers and privates as detailed in an earlier chapter of this series. Let it be understood, here, that so far as known, neither of the brothers indulged in peddling or passing spurious money themselves; their province being to devise, plan, and direct; to select the institutions on which to'"experiment," and to distribute, in a wholesale way, the products of those experiments. A MAMMOTH SCHEME.—At the time about which we are now writing, the old United States Bank, at Philadelphia, was in full operation, its notes being, like our, present treasury notes or greenbacks, not only good in any part of the United States, but also current in every country on the globe with which this government then held commercial intercourse. About the year 1831, the leaders of the fraternity. above described had possessed themselves of some very excellent plates of the several issues of United States bank notes, and were preparing to flood the country with the spurious paper. At this time, the elder of the Brown brothers, "Dan," having returned to Pittsburg, from a successful trip over the mountains, with horses, with the view of resuming his trading operations on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, evolved from his fertile brain a scheme that should entirely eclipse any other financial project, A TRULY MAMMOTH SCHEME - 879 either legitimate or illegitimate, that up to that time had ever been devised. He accordingly wrote to his brother "Jim," and -their most confidential confederate, Taylor, to meet him in Pittsburg. On coming together, " Dan" unfolded his plan, which was, that instead of placing the spurious United States notes they were then preparing in the hands of their local agents:and confederates to be dribbled out at retail, in this country, they should make a wholesale operation of it in the far-off markets of the mercantile world. EXPEDITION TO CHINA, INDIA, ETC.—This scheme was fully Concurred in by not only the Brown brothers and Taylor, but by such other members of the fraternity as were let into the secret. Proceeding to New Orleans, in the Winter of 1831, '32, a large vessel was purchased and equipped for the expedition. It was the intention to sail directly for China, and from thence to visit the several commercial ports of India, and, with the spurious money, purchase a large cargo of teas, coffees, spices, silks and other merchandise, to be disposed of in the various ports of Europe and America. Several thousand dollars worth of export merchandise, suited to Oriental trade, was placed on board the vessel, with $1,500,000 of the spurious notes, together with material and the necessary apparatus for turning out $2,000,000 more. In addition to the owners, and the crew proper, for the management of the vessel, a number of artists, expert penman, etc., were included in the company as "passengers." Everything was in readiness for a start. Passports and the necessary clearance papers had been secured. The vessel had pulled out. from the dock and anchored in mid-river, just at night, to be in readiness to start upon her voyage with the out-going tide the next morning. There were no telegraphs begirting the globe, no railroads, no swift ocean steamers in those days, and once fairly at sea, the expedition would be safe from both detection and pursuit, and its final success assured beyond a peradventure. THE EXPEDITION COMES TO GRIEF.—As several months would elapse before they would again stand upon terra firma, or revel in the delights of city life, the two whilom mercantile partners, "Jim" Brown and "Bill" Taylor, went on shore in the evening to "paint the town red." New Orleans was at that time, as perhaps it still is, a pretty "gay" city—with its gambling houses, bagnios and drinking places, as public as its hotels, stores, etc. Though it does not appear that they became particularly inebriated, or offensively boisterous, in making their rounds, yet their extreme liberality in the dispensation of their wealth, in treating themselves and others, and certain extravagances of action and speech, attracted the attention of the police. Being thenceforth shadowed, when, late at night, they were seen to row off to their vessel, whose somewhat singular movements had already been observed by the authorities, they were followed by a squad of officers,, and a thorough search of the vessel instituted. Up to this time the true nature of the expedition had not been suspected, but, as piracy and smuggling were then largely in vogue, it was surmised that the parties and the vessel in question, might belong to one class or the other of the contraband operators named. The search, however, revealed the real character of the company, and their probable designs, and the entire number were 880 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. taken into custody, together with their perfected and unperfected "currency," material and counterfeiting paraphernalia. DEATH—CONVICTION—ACQUITTAL, ETC.—The three principals, only—the two Browns and Taylor—were held for trial. Taylor, through friends in Cleveland, secured bail, and he and one Henry Barrett, agreed, for a certain money indemnity and a deed of the farm owned by the Browns, in Boston, to go bail for them, also. The money was paid over and the deed executed, but the bail never was furnished. The trial was postponed, from time to time, until late in the Fall of 1832, Daniel Brown having in the meantime, on August 22, 1832, died in the New Orleans calaboose. General Lucius V. Bierce and Hon. Rufus P. Spalding, as attorneys, and some 18 or 20 residents of Portage and Cuyahoga counties, as witnesses. were in attendance. Mrs. Lucy Mather Brown, wife of James Brown—a finer woman than whom never existed—clung faithfully to her husband, in the spirit of the couplet: "I know not, I care not, if guilt's in thy heart, But I know that I love thee, whatever thou art." The silly tradition, however, that Mrs. Brown rode on horseback from Old Portage to New Orleans, to be present at her husband's trial, or that, obtaining access to her husband's cell, in the calaboose, she exchanged clothes with him, thus enabling him to escape, are simply sublimated bosh--there being, at that time, plenty of steamboats plying between Pittsburg and New Orleans, and escape from prison being no part of his line of defense. There is no authentic account of the actual proceedings in the case now available, the local papers of the time in this vicinity, now in possession of the writer, being singularly reticent on the subject. General Bierce, in his "historical reminiscences," says: "James Brown was used as a witness against Taylor, who was acquitted, and became a vagabond on the earth," while other accounts state that Taylor was convicted, and imprisoned on Brown's testimony. Mr. Hiram H. Brown's recollection (though not on the ground himself) is that Taylor arranged with the prosecutor to turn State's evidence against his uncle " Jim," and that his aunt Lucy had come on to Cleveland and obtained a large number of affidavits from well-known reputable citizens, tending to impeach Taylor's character for veracity, with which she was returning to New Orleans, and that Taylor, suspecting her object, being himself at large on bail, intercepted her at Baton Rouge, and, on board the steamer, attempted to wrest the papers from her by force and violence; that both Brown and Taylor were acquitted on the charge of counterfeiting, upon the technicality that it did not appear that they intended to utter their spurious money within the limits of the State of Louisiana or the United States, and that Taylor was convicted and sentenced to a long term of imprisonment for his savage assault upon Mrs. Brown, on the steamer, as above stated. Whichever, if either, of these theories is the correct one, certain it is that Brown immediately returned to his home in Boston, while Taylor never again appeared in Portage county, nor, as far as known, in Cleveland either; Brown, a year and a half later, commencing proceedings in the Court of Common Pleas of Portage WONDERFUL EQUESTRIAN EXPLOITS - 881 county, against Taylor and Barrett, non-residents of the State of Ohio, to have the deed given to them, as above stated, set aside, which was accordingly done. ELECTED JUSTICE OF THE PEACE.—Returning from his long detention in the Crescent City calaboose, to his hotel in Boston, Brown, notwithstanding the miscarriage of his Chinese scheme, was heartily congratulated by his old neighbors, and a good deal lionized wherever he was known. In April, 1834, he was elected justice of the peace for Boston township, which office he is said to have administered with marked fidelity during his three years' incumbency thereof, though, at the same time, well-known to be the very "head center" of the Cuyahoga Valley Syndicate for fabricating and expanding the currency. Brown became personally known to the writer in the Spring and Summer of 1835, first during his attendance at court, while the writer was temporarily sojourning at Ravenna, and afterwards in his frequent calls at Mr. C. B. Cobb's Pavilion House, where the writer boarded during his first two years' residence in Akron; and from thenceforth, his movements and operations will be written of from personal knowledge, newspaper reports and official records. TRADITIONARY EXPLOITS.—There are innumerable traditions extant regarding his wonderful powers of endurance and his extraordinary escapes from his pursuers, after the consummation of some clever feat in the line of his "profession;" one, that having negotiated a forged draft with a New England Bank, he had, by riding day and night, through a pre-arranged relay of horses, ridden to Ohio so quickly, that, on being taken to New England for trial, a perfect alibi was established, the court deciding that, with the fastest mode of travel then known, no living man could have performed the journey in the time intervening between the perpetration of the crime there, and his thoroughly proved presence in Ohio. At another time he is reported to have perpetrated a similar "joke" upon parties near Pittsburg, and on his own powerful steed, "Old John," ridden in a single night to his home in the-Cuyahoga Valley, and, being seen by the neighbors chopping fire-wood at his own door, at daylight the next morning, his defense of an alibi was successfully maintained. Still another exploit is attributed to him to the effect that once, while traveling through Canada, on the same horse, distributing the "queer" among his trusted agents there, the authorities "got on" to his game and gave chase, whereupon, though near the breaking up period, he fearlessly dashed across the lower end of Lake Erie, near Buffalo, upon the ice, thus placing himself beyond the-jurisdiction of Her Majesty's minions of the law. Whatever the pro--portion of fiction and reality these legends contain, each reader must judge for himself, as the writer has neither positive nor collateral evidence to adduce in support of their authenticity. But of what follows substantial accuracy may be relied upon. CHANGES HIS BASE.—In the Winter of 1837, '38, having disposed of his hotel property, in Boston, to Mr. Henry Wadhams, Brown moved his family to Akron, at first occupying a house on Howard street, about where the Arcade block now stands. At this time he also bought the hotel property on West Exchange street, called the Summit House, a portion of which building is still standing upon the south end of the same lot. Though he did not run the 56 882 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. house himself, it was for several years general headquarters for himself and his "friends." Early in 1839, Brown built for himself a family residence, on the southwest corner of State and Bowery streets, some two or three years later transferring the property to William S. C. Otis. Esq,; the house, while unoccupied, being destroyed by an incendiary fire, April 12, 1843; loss $1,000 with no insurance. In the early forties the family moved on to the 300 acre farm now owned and occupied by the heirs of the late James R. Brown, Esq., in Northampton township, the title thereof then being in Daniel M. Brown, eldest son of the subject of this sketch. HIS "PERSECUTIONS" BEGIN.—Notwithstanding their efforts to ameliorate the monetary stringency existing at that time-1837, '38—largely through the influence of a little paper published by the writer, called the Buzzard, an active campaign was inaugurated by the law officers of Portage, Medina and Cuyahoga counties, against the blacklegs, counterfeiters and thieves, then infesting this vicinity; the more active, in what is now Summit county, being Prosecuting Attorney L. V. Bierce, Sheriff George Y. Wallace, Justice Jacob Brown, Marshal Ithiel Mills, Constable Warren H. Smith, of Akron, and Justice James W. Weld and Constables Alonzo Culver and John E. Hurlbut, of Richfield. Hitherto, since the collapse of his 'Chinese enterprise, Brown, in the varying vicissitudes of the gang, had managed to keep out of the clutches of the law himself, but now immunity and impunity both receive a sudden check. ANOTHER MAMMOTH SCHEME.—In February, 1838, "Jim" was arrested in Akron; charged with being concerned in an adroit forgery by which the plates of the bank of Lexington, Kentucky were obtained froth the Union Bank in New York, and from which a large number of bills had been printed, the fraud fortunately being discovered before they had been delivered to the gang; and also for being implicated in extensive forgeries of mortgages on real estate in Buffalo, it likewise transpiring that Brown was about starting the Farmer's and Merchant's Bank at Burlington, Wisconsin (then a territory), confessing to Marshal Mills that he had some $200,000 of the bills in his possession not yet filled out; there being found in the trunk of a confederate, here, a large amount of money ready for circulation, purporting to be on the "Exporting, Mining and Manufacturing Company," at Jackson, Ill., together with several thousand dollars of the Buffalo mortgages above spoken of. On the first named charge " Jim" Brown was taken before Justice Jacob Brown, who, to give the complainants time to procure testimony from New York, postponed the hearing until March 17, the accused entering into bonds in the sum of $6,000 for his appearance at that time. For some unexplained reason the New York witnesses were not forthcoming, and Brown was discharged, his connection with the other matters not being sufficiently apparent to base a prosecution on. AGAIN ARRESTED, TRIED AND CONVICTED.—Among others arrested by the officers at this period, March, 1838, was one Jona than DeCourcey, a tavern keeper at Johnson's Corners, in Norton township, and one of Brown's most trusted lieutenants. Finding himself fairly in the toils, DeCourcey sought immunity FIRST START TOWARDS THE "PEN." - 883 by turning informer against his principal. Brown was accordingly arrested by Constable Hurlbut, of Richfield, and examined before Justice James W. Weld, of the same township, in the Court House at Medina, on the 10th day of April, a large number of witnesses being in attendance. The charge was having $10 and $50 counterfeit bills on the bank of Rochester, N. Y., in his possession with intent to pass the same, and of having offered to sell De Courcey $6,000 thereof. He was held to bail in the sum of $10,000, and at the June term of the Court of Common Pleas for Medina county, was duly indicted for the offense. The trial was postponed until the October term, Brown's $10,000 bonds being renewed, with Alonzo Dee, William T. Mather and William King, as sureties; De Courcey also being indicted and held to bail in the sum of $3,000, with Abel Dickinson as surety, for making and counterfeiting a Mexican dollar. Both cases were again postponed until the March term of the court, 1839. TRAITOROUS DECOURCEY.—As the day for the trial approached, an effort was made by Brown and his friends to get rid of DeCourcey, and his damaging testimony. He was offered $400 in money, a well-secured note for $200, and a gold watch, with the promise of indemnity for his bail, to " absquatulate" to Texas. This proposition the old sinner pretended to accept, but after getting possession of the money, watch and note, and just on the eve of starting for Texas, under the escort of one of Brown's trusted henchmen, William Hicks, of Canal Fulton, he managed to give the officers the wink, and both DeCourcey and his escort were overhauled and brought back to Medina and lodged in jail in time for trial; Brown also being taken into custody on a Bench warrant, and lodged in jail. CONVICTED AND STARTED FOR THE " PEN."—The trial of Brown finally came off early in March, 1839, and though the most eminent counsel of the time were employed in his defense, and though every effort was made to break down the testimony of DeCourcey, and the collateral evidence by which he 'was supported, the jury after a very brief deliberation, brought in a verdict of guilty, and he was immediately sentenced to the penitentiary for the period of seven years. AN EXTRAORDINARY RIDE.—The sentence was pronounced about the middle of the afternoon. In anticipation of the result, a bill of exceptions hhd been prepared, with which William T. Mather, the brother-in-law of Brown, immediately started on horseback for Rocky River, near Cleveland, to secure the allowance of a writ of error, and a stay of proceedings, from Supreme Judge, Reuben Wood. The writer happened, on the same afternoon, to be riding in the same primitive manner, from Brunswick to Medina, meeting Mather midway, about an hour before sunset. The clay roads of that vicinity were then almost impassable, making traveling very slow, and on my suggesting that, as they would probably start Brown towards Columbus early in the morning, he could hardly make it, he replied that he had relays of horses provided, and would be sure to get back to Medina before daylight the next morning. I rode into Medina just as the sun was setting. A few minutes later, from the hotel window, I saw a stage coach stop in front of 884 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY the county jail. Falling in with the crowd, which immediately began to gather in front of the jail, but a few brief moments elapsed before the colossal form of Brown was seen to emerge from the building, with his hands and feet thoroughly ironed. He was assisted into the coach by the officers, and, with the sheriff and two assistants, immediately started for Columbus. Simultaneous with the starting of the coach, another swift messenger, on a fleet horse, was started towards Cleveland, to admonish Mather of the action of the authorities, and, if possible, accelerate his speed. MATHER TOO MUCH FOR THEM.—Notwithstanding their hot haste, the officers were destined never to reach Columbus with their distinguished prisoner. Mather, having secured Judge Wood's signature to his document, at once started upon the back track, reaching Medina about one o'clock in the morning. After a brief rest and a partaking of refreshments, mounting a fresh horse he started toward Columbus, overtaking the stage just as it was pulling out of Loudonville, a little after daylight the next morning—an equestrian feat nearly, if not quite equal to those attributed to old "Jim" himself, as above related. NEW TRIAL—FINAL ACQUITTAL.—The discomfited sheriff and his assistants, could do nothing less than to "about face," and wend their way back to Medina, where they arrived at just about the same hour of leaving the evening before ; the writer meeting and "greeting" them about midway between Medina and Seville. The proceedings in error were argued before the Supreme Court, in Cleveland, August 7, 1839, and a new trial granted. At the September term of Medina Common Pleas, the case was again called for trial, but the main witness for the State—the slippery DeCourceywas found to be non est, having finally been " spirited away," resultiing in a continuance of the case, until the March term, 1840, when it was nollied. The case against DeCourcey had been continued from term to term until his non-appearance at the September term of the court, as aforesaid, when his bail was declared forfeited, and, so far as the writer is advised, Jonathan DeCourcey has never again been seen in Ohio, and has, in all probability, long since gone to his final account. [Dr. A. E. Ewing relates the following ancedote in connection with Brown's Medina trial: Constables Culver and Hurlbut had but one horse between them, on which to return to Richfield, which was the property of dulver, and who generously proposed to " ride and tie,' telling Hurlbut to ride on until he got tired, then hitch the horse by the side of the road for him to take his turn at riding when he came up. Hurlbut, being fond of practical jokes, failed to get tired, until he reached Richfield, leaving the owner of the horse to foot it the entire distance, some fifteen miles.] A SIMILAR EXPERIENCE IN PORTAGE COUNTY.—In June, 1838, Marshal Mills arrested, near Buffalo, a resident of Akron by the name of Willard W. Stevens, for passing or dealing in counterfeit money, and lodged him in jail at Ravenna. After getting behind the bars, Stevens turned informer against his principal, "Jim" Brown, directing where a quantity of spurious money, purchased by him from Brown, could be found in the cellar of the house then occupied by his family, on Howard street, in Akron. Finding the money as indicated, Mills, under a warrant issued upon the affidavit IN THE GRIP OF " UNCLE SAM." - 885 of Stevens, arrested Brown, who was held to bail by Justice Jacob Brown in the sum of $9,000 to answer to the charge before the Court of Common Pleas, Stevens, meantime, in view of his valuable service to the State, being released from jail on his own recognizance to appear as a witness in the case. An indictment was duly found, and the day for the trial fixed. A jury was impaneled and the witnesses were called, all of whom responded but Mr. Willard W. Stevens. The main witness for the State had "mysteriously" disappeared and the memories of those who were to corroborate him had mysteriously failed, thus leaving the overconfiding officers again in the lurch, and scoring another triumph for the greatest "financier" of his time, " Jim Brown. Stevens never again returned to Summit county, but spent several years in. Georgia, afterwards rejoining his family in Western New York, where the writer met him, the industrious tiller of a farm, in 1846, and who is now, at about the age of 84 years, a respectable citizen of one of Western counties of Ohio. IN CUYAHOGA COUNTY, ALSO.—Contemporaneous with the cases above written of, Brown was arrested by the officers of Cuyahoga County, upon a similar charge, and held to bail in the sum of $1,000, slipping tVrough the meshes of the law in about the same manner as in the two instances above named, thus demonstrating the great danger of public officers and courts of justice relying upon confederates in crime, for evidence to convict their fellows. UNCLE SAM GRAPPLES WITH HIM.—His immediate active coadjutors—Ashley, Latta, De Courcey, etc., and a large number of lesser lights, having been driven from the neighborhood, out of the business, or into the penitentiary, " Old Jim," as he was then familiarly called, remained comparatively quiescent for a number of years, being elected Justice of the Peace for the township of Northampton in October, 1845; though events to be hereinafter narrated will abundantly demonstrate that for a considerable period, he continued to maintain his high standing as chief of the Bureau of Bogus Banking, in the West, if not of America. Though he was observed to have many mysterious visitors, both at his Northampton home and in his local haunts, no further overt act, either by himself or those under him, had attracted the attention of the authorities, until the summer of 1846, when he was again arrested for counterfeiting United States coin. In the meantime the new county of Summit had been erected and organized, and at the date mentioned the late William S. C. Otis was prosecuting attorney, while the late Judge Samuel W. McClure, then living at. Cuyahoga Falls, was a United States commissioner for Summit county. Otis was energetic and persevering in pursuit of crime, and McClure was prompt and decisive as a magistrate and judge. The examination was held at the Court House, occupying, several days, with a large crowd of spectators constantly in attendance. The prosecution was fought inch by inch by Judge Rufus P. Spalding, attorney for the defense. But the evidence was so conclusive that Commissioner McClure held Brown to bail in the sum of $20,000, to answer to the United States District Court for Ohio, at Columbus. [A day or two before his arrest on this charge, a civil suit was tried before him, as a magistrate, in which McClure was one of 886 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. the attorneys, and on which he had reserved his decision. After his arrest, and before his examination, as above, McClure called at the jail to ascertain the result of said civil suit, whereupon Brown pronounced judgment in favor of McClure's client and quietly expressed the hope that the forthcoming examination before Commissioner McClure might be equally favorable to him.] COMMITTED TO THE FRANKLIN COUNTY JAIL.----BROWN'S earlier hold upon the confidence of responsible parties having become lessened by lapse of time and change of circumstances, he was unable to procure so large an amount of bail, and was accordingly committed to the jail of Franklin County, at Columbus. Subsequently, however, on the application of Judge Spalding, one of the judges of the U. S. District Court reduced the bail to $5,000, which was secured, and the distinguished defendant was released from custody. The trial commenced at Columbus, on Saturday, August 1, 1846, Justice John McLean, of the United States Court, presiding, assisted by Judge Humphrey H. Leavitt of the U. S. District Court of Ohio. The indictment charged Brown with " making and uttering and assisting to make and utter counterfeit gold and silver coin, and counterfeit notes in the similitude of bank notes." Hon. Thomas W. Bartley, U. S. District Attorney for Ohio, and William S. C. Otis, Prosecuting Attorney for Summit County, conducted the case on the part of the Government, and Hon. Noah. M. Swayne (afterwards one of the Judges of „the U. S. Supreme Court) and Hon. Rufus P. Spalding represented the defense. The trial lasted six days and was most exciting throughout, the Court, towards the end, on an intimation that if the trial should be likely to go against him the defendant would abscond, issuing a Bench warrant, ordering. Brown into custody. A large number of witnesses were in attendance, the main effort of the defense being to impeach the testimony of the witnesses for the prosecution, which was largely in the nature of State's evidence, by implicated parties, to clear themselves from similar accusations. The principal witness was the son of a highly respectable farmer in a neighboring town, who had been inveigled into the business by the blandishments of Brown, and to whom Brown had from time to time sold counterfeit money in exchange for a horse, yoke of oxen, etc., at the rate of, 20 cents on the dollar for paper money and 33 1-3 for coin, the latter mostly quarter eagles. Sheriff Lewis M. Janes testified that on the same day that Brown was arrested by Deputy United States Marshal Ithiel Mills, he (Janes) searched Brown's house, in Northampton, where, he found, under the garret floor, and in the boxing of the cornice, several parts of a copper-plate press; in a barrel in the garret a large number of zinc and copper cups, parts of two galvanic batteries; in a trunk in the store-room, a large quantity of bank-note paper, one ream entire and unbroken, and in the secretary sundry letters and other evidence of crookedness. IN THE PENITENTIARY AT LAST.-The trial, including the arguments of counsel and the charge of Judge McLean, occupied six full days, the court-room being crowded throughout. Notwithstanding the powerful defense and able and eloquent arguments of his counsel, Messrs. Swayne and Spalding, the jury disposed of the case in just two hours, returning a verdict of IN THE PENITENTIARY AT LAST - 887 guilty of uttering counterfeit United States coin, as charged in the indictment, and Brown was immediately sentenced by Judge McLean to ten years' penal servitude in the Ohio Penitentiary, in which institution he was duly installed on the 10th day of August, 1846. This was his first actual imprisonment, under sentence, during more than a quarter of a kentury of continuous crime, owing to the skill of himself and the gang in suborning and spiriting away witnesses. Indeed, he seemed to have had, from the beginning, a sort of premonition of the final result, often remarking to his friends, between his arrest and his conviction, that while he had always been successful in dodging the pains and penalties of State law, and could generally manage to worry out a county, he was fearful that " Uncle Sam " would prove too much for him. DASTARDLY ACT OF RETALIATION.—On the night of Sunday, August 16, 1846, just one week after the conviction of Brown, as above narrated, the large barn of the father of the principal witness against him (the old gentleman also having been an important witness in the case), was destroyed by an incendiary fire, with its contents, hay, oats, wheat, two horses and other property, together with several stacks of wheat upon the outside, the loss being from $1,000 to $1,200, with no insurance. Though there was no tangible proof to that effect, it was generally believed that the barn was fired by some member of the gang in retaliation for what was regarded as an act of treachery against the chief officer of the fraternity, by one of his subordinates, and well illustrates the risks that testifying against the, gang involved in those early times. HIS DEMEANOR IN PRISON.—His incarceration was a heavy blow to his pride and manhood, and though he outwardly maintained his usual serenity and dignity, his spirits were evidently severely crushed thereby. Yet by his correct deportment, as well as by his commanding presence, he soon won the confidence, and even the respect, of both the officers of the prison, and of his fellow-convicts, for the writer, only a few months after his first incarceration, on visiting the prison, found him already installed as "file leader" of the foremost platoon, in the lock-step march of the convicts between the shops and the dining hall, cells, etc., and a magnificent leader he made, too. It was, indeed, a sorrowful sight, even to the writer who had labored so hard, in connection with the officers of justice, and subjected himself to such imminent risks of personal injury, in his efforts (through his paper) to break up the gang, to see even this "chief of sinners," in such a humiliating position. A PARDON FAIRLY WON.—It was not long, however, before Mr. Brown was taken from the ranks, and from the shops, and assigned to lighter and more congenial duties, and finally given special charge of the prison hospital. While thus serving, the cholera broke out in the prison, making fearful havoc among the inmates. In this emergency, Brown was ever cool-headed and calm, and by his example, encouragement and unfaltering attention to the sick, undoubtedly carried many a poor fellow through, who would otherwise have succumbed to the fell destroyer. This heroism and devotion was so highly appreciated by the officers of the prison, that they heartily seconded the efforts that were soon afterwards inaugurated by his friends, under the 888 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. leadership of his ever-faithful and only daughter, Laura M. Brown (the late Mrs. Prof. Bronson) for his pardon, which was granted by President Zachary Taylor, just four months and a half after his inauguration, the pardon reaching Columbus, and Brown being set at liberty, on the 22nd day of July, 1849; two years, eleven months and twelve days from the date of his incarceration. FROM BAD TO WORSE.—The free pardon from President Taylor, and the restoration of Brown to liberty and citizenship, was not followed by that reform of his associations and habits that his family and friends had anticipated. His prestige, as the greatest " financier" of the age, had gone from him, and his scepter, as the great captain of the gang, had departed. He now, more than ever, began to consort with both men and women of the baser sort, and to indulge to excess in strong drinks and other degrading habits, while correspondingly lowering himself in his chosen profession. MRS. BROWN SEEKS A DIVORCE.—To such an ,extent did his evil habits, and his consequent immoral conduct, prevail, that the wife of his youth and early manhood—she, who had, for so many long years, faithfully clung to him, in both "evil and good report;" she, who; while personal purity and, conjugal loyalty remained, was ever ready to fly to his side, whenever he was in trouble, was finally compelled to appeal to the court for a decree of separation. Her petition was filed in the Court of Common Pleas, of Summit county, April 16, 1851. After setting forth the date of their marriage, and of her faithful performance of all her wifely duties, she says; "Your petitioner further represents that during the last ten years, and longer, the said James Brown hath been unmindful of, and hath wholly refused to discharge, the duties and obligations resting on him as the husband of your petitioner; that during all that time he hath entirely neglected to provide food or clothing, or the bare necessaries of life for your petitioner, and that but for the care and protection of her children, who supported her, your petitioner would have been in a state of utter destitution. Your petitioner further represents, that the said James Brown hath been an habitual drunkard for the last three years and more. Your petitioner further represents, that on or about, the 8th day of October, 1850, the said' James Brown, by threats of personal violence, and by putting your petitioner in extreme fear of her life, drove her from his house in the night time, and compelled her to seek refuge and protection from a neighbor, since which time she hath not lived or cohabited with him, etc." The case was heard before President Judge, George Bliss, and Associate Judges, Sylvester H. Thompson, John by and Peter Voris, at the December term, 1851, the prayer of the petitioner being granted, and a decree of divorce entered accordingly; there being thenceforth absolutely no intercourse between Brown and his family during the remainder of his life. IN THE MICHIGAN PENITENTIARY.—From this time on his course was rapidly downward, his habits of dissipation not only increasing, but rendering him less cautious in the handling of the "goods" in which he dealt. In February, 1855, Brown, with several of his pupils and confederates, were arrested by Marshal Dryden, of Columbus, and taken to that city, for manufacturing and handling spurious coin, but finally released without prosecution; though a BROWN AGAIN UNDER ARREST - 889 few years later (March, 1859) a large quantity of bogus quarters were plowed tip in the garden formerly occupied by the family with whom Brown for several years resided.. In the Winter of 1859-60,*Brown visited a former pupil of his in this county, Elihu Chilson, then a resident of Kent county, Mich. Here, either through his own imprudence, or Chilson's treachery, the officials of that county got " onto" his operations, and "run him in." He was indicted, tried and convicted "for having in his possession, with intent to pass, a counterfeit bill," and sentenced to three years' imprisonment in the penitentiary of that state. He was received at the prison March 17, 1860, and served his full term. A PROPOSED LITERARY VENTuRE.—While he was thus incarcerated, the writer and the late Sherman Blocker opened negotiations with Mr. Brown for the publication of his auto-biography, in book form, the profits to be equally divided between the three. Mr. Blocker visited him in prison, and supposed that the arrangements had been fully consummated, the warden offering him every facility for the prosecution of the work, when he got ready to commence operations. Returning home to make the necessary preparations, Mr. Blocker soon afterwards received a letter from Brown, demanding, as a pre-requisite to performance, on his part, that we should first secure his pardon from the penitentiary. This, of course, we could not undertake to do, and the project fell through. STILL THE "VICTIM OF PERSECUTION."—Returning to Ohio, after his discharge from the Michigan penitentiary, Brown was almost immediately again placed under surveillance by the minions of the law, being on the the 23rd day of May, 1863, arrested in Cleveland by a deputy U. S. Marshal, for having altered treasury notes in his possession, with the purpose of passing them. Nothing of the kind being found upon his person, and other evidence promised failing to materialize, after being kept in jail a few days, he was released from custody. LARGE FIND OF POSTAL AND OTHER CURRENCY.--About the middle of February, 1865, some school children found an old oyster can in a stack of hay, near the " Yellow Creek" headquarters of the gang, in which were packed from $3,000 to $4,000 of counterfeit scrip and bank notes, but the ownership of said wealth was never fully ascertained, though the conjecture was that, as Brown had recently returned from the east, it belonged to him. Though the boys who found the scrip in question, supposing it to be good, ^ and acting under the too prevalent impression that whatever a person finds belongs to him) had divided it up among themselves, and their comrades. Mr. William Hardy, township trustee, and Justice James R. Brown, succeeded in recovering the most of it, and handing it over to the proper authorities. SHERIFF BURLISON TAKES A HAND IN.—June 17, 1865, Sheriff Burlison arrested, in Akron, a man by the name of Leonard Hill, with a large amount of spurious money in his possession. Becoming satisfied that Hill had got his funds from that distinguished "financier," Brown was taken into custody also, together with one Thaddeus Nighman, of Canton, the entire haul of postal scrip, treasury notes and miscellaneous bank bills, being between $10,000 and $12,000. A few days later, as a part of the same gang, Burlison arrested a man named Hunter, at Apple Creek, and three men named Daugherty, Rapp and Eshelbaum, at West Salem, while 890 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. Marshal Bill's deputies gathered in some eight or ten others who had been spotted by Burlison, at Crestline and Cardington, together with a press, plates, burglars' tool, etc. These were all transferred to the jail in Cleveland. The most, if not all, were held to bail to answer to the U. S. District Court, and, on giving bond, Brown was released from custody. BEFORE A HIGHER TRIBUNAL.—On returning from Cleveland —whither he had been to look after his case--upon a coal boat, on Saturday evening, December 9th, 1865, while passing through the Peninsula lock, in attempting to walk from the stern to the bow, either by the unsteadiness of his step, or by a sudden jar, he was precipitated from the running board to the bottom of the boat, breaking his shoulder and fracturing his skull. He was conveyed, in an insensible condition, to his boarding place, near Yellow Creek Basin, where he died on Sunday evening, December 10th, 1865, at the age of 67 years and 5 months. The remains of the deceased were, by his neighbors and associates, taken to the cemetery, at the village of Boston, where, without any special ceremony, they were laid beside those of his honored parents, whose memory he had so signally disgraced. Thus miserably ended the ignoble life of one of the most extensive and accomplished criminals of the Nineteenth Century,—a man who, by both nature and education, was well qualified to shine in the counsels of the nation, but who, by his blandishments, and wrongly directed talents and energy, did more to corrupt the youth of the Western country who were, brought within the scope of his baleful influence, than any score of his compeers in crime, as shrewd and dextrous, in the management of men and money, as many of them in reality were. Of course, so brief a sketch as this, though more comprehensive than any hitherto written, is utterly inadequate to a full and perfect biography of " Jim" Brown and the mischief he has wrought. Though pleasant in manner, sympathetic and benevolent in his impulses, and liberal to a fault, in cases of suffering and want, the fact still remains that he led hundreds of young men to ruin, disgrace, imprisonment and, possibly, death thereby bringing hundreds of families to grief and despair; his own household not even being exempt, as evidenced by what has been written, and by what is yet to follow. MR. BROWN'S FAMILY.—Of Mr. Brown's family, the following may properly be said in conclusion.: The eldest son, Daniel N., died in Northampton, January 21, 1851, aged 31 years and 8 months. The devoted but divorced wife, Lucy Mather Brown, died in Akron August 21, 1884, aged 84 years and 6 months. Their only daughter, Laura M., a very accomplished lady, and talented artist, and who so faithfully remained steadfast to the erring father, so long as any hope of his reformation remained, was, in the early fifties, married to Mr. John Frankenstein, of the city of Springfield, a portrait and landscape painter of considerable celebrity in Southern Ohio. Mr. Frankenstein's habits and conduct proving uncongenial and offensive, she returned to Summit county a few years later, and in 1859 obtained a decree of divorce from him, She soon afterwards married Prof. C. P. Bronson, of New York, eminent as a teacher of, and lecturer upon, physiology, elocution, etc., with whom she happily lived until his death, April 25, 1868, "LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON." - 891 at the age of 64 years and 5 months, his remains being brought to Akron for interment. Mrs. .Bronson also died in New York, September 25, 1885, at the age of 61, her remains now reposing beside those of her husband in Glendale Cemetery. The early impression—somewhat prevalent even to this day-that Laura did the filling in of her father's counterfeit money, though she wrote a most beautiful hand, had no foundation whatever, her abhorrence of the business being outspoken and unequivocal. The younger son, James R. Brown, Esq., always a thoroughly upright, intelligent and courteous gentleman, lived upon his large and well cultivated farm, in the township of Northampton, until his death, March 20, 1889, his family still remaining upon the old homestead. "DAN" BROWN NUMBER TWO. As a proper companion-piece for, and a fitting sequel to, the career of the greatest illicit "financier" of his time, " Jim" Brown, herein above narrated, a brief sketch of the exploits of his eldest son, Daniel M. Brown, will right here be in order. "Dan" was, in many respects, entirely unlike his father, being of fair complexion, with light blue or gray eyes and light brown hair, and though nearly or quite six feet in height, somewhat effeminate and extremely gentle in his appearance and manner. But, notwithstanding his gentle ways, and in spite of the better counsels of his intelligent and faithful mother and only sister, he seemed to take spontaneously to the evil courses of his father, except in the matter of excessive drink—though it is said that that father, while luring the cherished sons of other fathers to their ruin, earnestly sought to have him engage in some more honorable calling. "TREADING IN THE FOOTSTEPS."—Just how early "pan" commenced to dabble in contraband money, is not now ascertainable. As early, however, as February, 1838, the following, under the above heading, was copied from the Cleveland Advertiser into one of the local papers of Akron: "A young man by the name of Brown, a son of the notorious James Brown, of Akron, was brought from Elyria, yesterday, to our jail. He was taken up as a counterfeiter, some $20,000 in counterfeit money having been found on or about his person. There was also a man with him passing by the name of Rathbun, with several aliases. Why they were brought to this county we do not know, unless it is that the facility with which Brown frees himself from his irons has somewhat alarmed the officers of our neighboring county. It is said that he sawed his irons apart three times while he was in Elyria. Train up a child in the way he goes." LORAIN OFFICERS OUTWITTED.—Young Brown, at this time, was under 18 years of age, and yet, young as he was, he was altogether too old for the Lorain county officials. It seems that he and his companion were arrested in the saddle, somewhere in Medina county, and, under guard, taken immediately to Elyria. Before being searched, however, he was permitted to go into the hotel stable and rub down his horse, and instruct his hostler as to its care while he was in custody. On finally being searched, no counterfeit money, or other evidence of crookedness, was found on his person. But there was found, among the straw bedding of his horse's stall, a large amount of counterfeit money. For lack of conclusive evidence, however, that he put it there, or had ever 892 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. had it in his possession, though held to bail by the examining magistrate, and committed to jail as above stated, no bill was found against him by the Grand Jury, and " Dan," in this, his initial wrestle with the law, was discharged from custody. His companion, Rathbun, was indicted, escaped from jail, was recaptured, his case continued for several terms, and finally released from custody without being brought to trial. His SUBSEQUENT CAREER.—Perhaps for the reason that the course he was pursuing was disapproved of by his father, as it was most certainly distressing to his mother and the rest of the family, young Brown kept entirely aloof from his native hills and valleys, in his crooked operations, for a number of years devoting himself to "business" in the Maumee and Black Swamp country, in northwestern Ohio, and in southern Michigan, northern Indiana, and other portions of the then Great West. Yet "Dan" often visited his old haunts, and doubtless regarded this as his home, the 300-acre farm ever since occupied by the family having been purchased by him in the early forties, and he being united in marriage to his cousin, Minerva A. Darrow, of this county, in 1845. SOME OF HIS WESTERN OPERATIONS.—While undoubtedly continuing to deal more or less extensively in paper "money," his attention seems to have been early turned more especially towards promoting the "resumption of specie payments"—by the production of bogus coin of such an excellent quality as to almost defy detection. In 1842, George C. Bates, Esq., now of Denver, Colorado, was United States District Attorney for the State of Michigan. Through a deputy in Oakland county, in the southeast portion of the State, Mr. Bates learned that finely executed dollars, halves and quarters, were being largely circulated all over that region of the country, and planned a trip to the neighborhood to reconnoiter. AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY.—Before starting, however, his attention was called to a suspicious cask, or puncheon, filled with some heavy substance, which, by its tendency to change its center of gravity, when being handled, had attracted the notice of the parties in Detroit with whom it had been left for shipment to 4' Daniel West," at Portsmouth, the southern terminus of the Ohio canal, via steamer .to Cleveland. Calling to his aid a deputy U. S. Marshal, Mr. Bates proceeded to open the huge cask, and found therin a splendidly constructed screw press for cutting, stamping and milling coin, with its immense levers and weights, together with a full paraphernalia of coiners' tools, of most perfect finish, and quite a large supply of plate metal ready for the mint, a quantity of unfinished coins, etc. Carefully replacing this apparatus and material, Mr. Bat permitted it to be shipped to its destination, as per consignment, at the same time sending a Deputy Marshal along, incog., to apprehend the man, or men, who should call to get it. AGAIN TOO SHARP FOR 'EM.—But though as vigilant, probably, as the average U. S. official, Mr. " Daniel West," was altogether too sharp for the Michigan Deputy Marshal, for, almost under his very nose, while passing from the steamer into a warehouse, in Cleveland, to be transferred to a " through" boat for Portsmouth, the .puncheon, with its precious contents, mysteriously disappeared, and the discomfited Michigander was compelled to return to ALTOGETHER TOO SHARP FOR 'EM - 893 Detroit with the humiliating confession to the District Attorney, that he had been outwitted by wily Dan, or some of his satellites. OAKLAND COUNTY DISCLOSURES.—The District Attorney then visited the neighborhood where he had been informed so large a product of this mill was in circulation. 'Taking his wife and the young son of U. S. Marshal Howard, of Detroit, with him, as a blind, Mr. Bates, in the disguise of a hunter, traveled over the entire region named, and soon found that some $40,000 or $50,000 of the bogus coin had been manufactured by Dan Brown and his accomplices, most of whom were ignorant but honest farmers, who had, by Dan, been inveigled into the business under the pretense that, as it could not be distinguished from the genuine, it was no crime, or even sin, to pass it. Nine of these men were arrested and taken to Detroit, and the United States Court being then in session, they were indicted, tried and sentenced to the penitentiary. Two of these deluded farmers soon died of grief in prison, and a few years later several of them were pardoned by the President on the recommendation of the District Attorney. MORE " SHARP" OFFICERS OUTWITTED.—" Dan" Brown was also indicted by the same Grand Jury, but, previous to this, finding that the atmosphere of Michigan was too " sultry" for either comfort or safety, after shipping his machinery, as above stated, he had taken some $40,000 of his product to other , markets, out of which, at wholesale rates, it is supposed that he realized from $15,000 to $20,000. The District Attorney now turned his attention to tracing the whereabouts of Dan Brown, alias "Dan West." Learning, through an intercepted letter, passing through the Detroit postoffice, that 'his man would be at a certain hotel in St. Louis, on Christmas eve, Mr. Bates sent his deputy marshal and a detective thither, armed with the necessary documents, to secure his arrest. and return to Michigan. On their arrival at the hotel in question, the sharp detectives not only entered their own names and places of residence on the hotel register, but, seeing the name of "Daniel West" on the same page, they innocently inq4red of the supposed clerk, standing behind the counter, if Mr. West was in, saying that they would like to speak with him. Now it so happened that the office clerk had temporarily stepped out, and the party of whom the inquiry had been made, was the veritable " Dan West," otherwise Dan Brown, himself. Coolly and politely saying to the newcomers that he would call Mr. West, Mr. Brown passed out through the kitchen, and a few minutes later was on. board a Mississippi steamer, en route for Little Rock, Arkansas, a point often visited by him about those days. A CURIOUS STORY.—The main features of Young Brown's Michigan and St. Louis exploits, as above related, were compiled from a letter from ex-District Attorney Bates, published in the Cleveland Leader, in November, 1885. Mr. Bates then goes on to relate that, having retired from the office of District Attorney, and at liberty to defend Dan, if he chose to employ him, Brown sent his sister, a very beautiful and accomplished girl, to retain him to end the trouble in which her brother was then placed; offering him $800 in gold and her watch and chain; telling him that her father, old James Brown was in the penitentiary; that Dan was married and his wife was in delicate health; that her mother was old, and that if he could and would end the prosecution against 894 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. her brother, she would give him the money and watch, amounting to about $1,000. Bates declined to accept a retainer, without first having an in- terview with " Dan," somewhere in Ohio, when, after showing him all the evidence against him, taken before the Grand Jury, if he concluded to take the risk, and go to trial, he (Bates) would then take the $1,000 and do his best to clear him from the indictment, and if successful he was to be paid $1,000 more. It was finally arranged, through correspondence, that Mr. Bates should go to Maumee, where parties would meet him and take him to the trysting place, where, for the first time, he was to meet the wily young counterfeiter, face to face. INTERESTING INTERVIEW.-Mr. Bates goes on to state that, reaching Maumee about daylight, he was taken by the party sent to meet him, to a dismantled old brick stage house, about six miles out, on the Perrysburg pike, the house being kept by a repulsive old woman, and all of its appointments of the most dilapidated character, except the single room ,occupied by Brown, which was both elegant and luxurious. The interview itself we will let Mr. ex-District Attorney Bates relate in his own graphic, though perhaps somewhat exaggerated, language, as follows: " Brown received me with the grace of a prince. He apologized for bringing me there alone, by saying that I had hunted him so closely, pursued him so vigorously, that he feared I might still entrap him into custody, at which I at once told him that if that was his opinion of me I would instantly leave him and walk back to Maumee ; that so long as I was attorney for the United States I would pursue any criminal unto death, but that now I was ready, if he saw fit, after reading all the evidence, to take his retainer and defend him, if I could, through the courts. "He made a pitcher of punch and offered it to me, but I declined to drink until he first did so, to which he replied with elegant grace ; Bates, gentlemen of our profession never drink. It won't do. Had not my father and his counsel been drunk at Columbus, at his trial, he would never have been convicted of passing a half-eagle gold coin, for we never pass spurious money. We are wholesale counterfeit coiners and only sell to retail dealers, who buy from us well-knowing that the coin is spurious.' "So I drank the punch from a silver goblet out of a solid silver pitcher, and went to work all that winter's day. I went over the evidence again and again, pointed out the danger of that lady witness, his old sweetheart, then living in Detroit, and now a religious old grandmother there. I told him that if United States District Attorney Norvell did not find her, I would guarantee his acquittal, but if she came into court he was a convict beyond hope. Finally he decided that the risk was too great, and that he would not venture it, but offered to pay me a large sum of money to retain me in the future, which I declined, saying : 'Pay me for my team in coming here ; that is all I can or will take, for it may happen that I shall be United States District Attorney again ; and if so, I shall again go for you, and try and send you where those poor idiots whom you seduced are now, but I will not touch a dollar of your money.' HIS OPERATIONS IN CALIFORNIA - 895 "We parted then and there, but before' parting he took out his ivory flute and played the Last Rose of Summer' with an exquisite taste that I have never heard equaled except once, in San Francisco, when Ole Bull, Max Strakosch and Patti's eldest sister, Mrs. Thorn, united in its execution, after dinner at Felix Argenti's, in 1854." Mr. Bates then goes on to say that his successor, as district attorney, having died in 1848, he was reappointed to that office, and soon afterwards commenced hunting for Dan, with the view of pushing the prosecution against him, under the indictment previously found, but that he managed to elude him, and finally, in 1850, went to California. MR. BATES CORROBORATED.—On the trial of James Brown, the father, in the United States District Court for Ohio, at Columbus, in August, 1846, as detailed in the foregoing pages, United States Deputy Marshal Thomas McKinstry, of Cleveland, was a witness in behalf of the prosecution. Marshal McKinstry testified that having heard that there had, been a large bogus machine brought to Cleveland and afterwards removed from there, and being anxious to capture it, he had an interview with Brown upon the subject. "Brown told me," said the Marshal, "that his son Daniel had got into difficulty in Michigan, and if I would do so and so to aid him, he would do so and so to aid me in getting the machine. I exacted from him an earnest that he would do as he proposed, and he gave me a counterfeit gold piece to show what could be done." BRILLIANT CALIFORNIA SCHEME.—As many of the readers of these chapters will remember, the writer was one among the vast army of gold seekers that crossed the plains and mountains to California in 1850. With the two or three hundred other Summit county people who sought the golden shores, that year, was William T. Mather, a former well-known and highly respected business man of Akron. Mr. Mather was a brother of the late Mrs. Lucy M. Brown, wife of " Jim" Brown, heretofore written of, and consequently own uncle to the younger "Dan" Brown. Mr. Mather engaged in business in Sacramento City, where, and in San Francisco, the writer had the pleasure of meeting him several times during the summer and fall of 1850, and the winter of 1850, '51. About the middle of November, 1850, Mr. Mather, then just recovering from a severe fit of sickness, in Sacramento, came down to the Bay City, to escape from the pestilential atmosphere of cholera-stricken Sacramento, in which some half dozen Akronians had just succumbed to the terrible scourge within as many days. While conversing with Mr. Mather one day, he said : "Lane, who do you suppose I saw the other day, at Sacramento, on his way home to Ohio ?" "Give it up !" I replied ; "there are so many fellows flitting homeward just now, it would be difficult to guess." "Well," said he, it was that hopeful nephew of mine, Dan Brown." "Dan Brown !" I exclaimed "I didn't know he was in this country." "0, yes," said Mather, " he roughed it across the plains with the crowd, last spring." "What's he been doing ?" I inquired. "You tell !" responded Mather. "When I put that question to Dan, he kinder laughed, and said, '0, I've been speculating a little."' "How much of a 'pile' has he got ?" I inquired. "Well, he wouldn't tell me much about it, but I kinder guess he'll get home with 896 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. $75,000, or $80,000—that is, if he lives to get home, for he's in mighty poor health ; consumption I guess." " Why didn't you tell him to hunt me up ? I might have given him some assistance in getting off," said I. "Oh," laughingly replied Mather, "I thought it might revive unpleasant memories between you. You used to give him and old Jim fits in the Buzzard, you know." GREAT EXCITEMENT IN THE " DIGGINS."—Up to this time there had been no paper money of any description whatever, in circulation in California—gold and silver coin, or gold dust and nuggets, at so much per grain or ounce, being the only mediums of financial and commercial traffic and exchange. Up to this time, too, it was expensive sending money home to friends in the States, by express, or through the banks, and both burdensome and extremely hazardous, for the fortunate miner to undertake to carry his gold dust home, or from place to place in the mines, upon his person. In the States, following the disastrous panic of 1837, a system of State Safety Fund Banks had been established, in which the inhabitants of those States had the utmost confidence. Among the very stanchest of these institutions was the old State Bank of Missouri. What wonder is it then, that, when a gentlemanly appearing traveling broker appeared among the miners, with bright, new and crisp $50 and $100 bills on their favorite home bank, the hundreds and thousands of " Pukes," as the emigrants from Missouri had been nick-named, then in the mines, should eagerly jump at them, even paying a small premium in gold dust at current rates ? A very brief period served to work up so large a demand for these notes, that the "Agent" of the bank, as he represented himself to be, found no difficulty in working off large blocks of his "currency," not only among the miners themselves but also among the local brokers of the interior, the execution of the bills being so perfect as to defy detection from any but the most skillful experts, a distinction to which but few of the brokers of that country could at that time properly lay claim. It was believed that from $80,000 to $100,000 of the spurious money was thus exchanged for coin or dust. The very nature of the supply and demand was such that for many weeks none of the crisp paper "money" found its way to the large cities, or entered into general traffic, and thus for a long time escaped detection. But when the fraud was finally discovered, it may well be imagined there was consternation in the camps of both digger and broker, in the mining regions. Indignation meetings were held, and committees were appointed and detectives employed to ferret out and bring the wily offender to justice, through the then popular tribunal of Judge Lynch. IDENTITY, PURSUIT, ETC.—The vigilantes found little difficulty in fixing the identity of the adroit operator, and tracing him toe San Francisco, and on board the Panama steamer. But he had a month or more the start of them, and there were no railroads or telegraphs there in those days, by which a fleeing criminal could be headed off before reaching his destination. They could only bide their time, and await the sailing of one of the semi-monthly steamers which left San Francisco for Panama about the first of January, 1851. DEATH CLOSES HIS CAREER - 897 HOME IN. TIME TO DIE.—In the meantime the fleeing fugitive reached New York in a greatly enfeebled condition. Here, in response to a telegram, he is met by friends who aid him to reach the family homestead in Northampton, alive. The inroads of his insidious malady (scurvy) and the fatigue of the long and tedious journey, however, had so told upon him, that it was evident to both himself and friends, his tenure of physical life was very short, and a few brief hours might bring the end. Legal as well as medical counsel was hastily summoned and his temporal affairs speedily adjusted. The 300 acre homestead was deeded to his brother, James R. Brown, December 27, 1850, (tile consideration named in the deed being $3,000); his money —whether in large or small amounts, and whether honestly or dishonestly acquired—was distributed according to his wishes, among his friends and relatives by his own hand. Having thus closed his earthly affairs, on the 21st day of January, 1851, at the age of 31 years and 8 months, he peacefully closed his eyes upon earthly scenes, and passed into the presence of the Great Judge, whose justice he could not question, and whose decrees he could not evade. He was quietly buried upon the home farm in Northampton, and a neat marble monument erected over his grave, his remains being subsequently removed to Akron Rural Cemetery and laid beside those of his wife, who died June 27th, 1874, aged 48 years, 11 months and 27 days. DISAPPOINTED DETECTIVE.-The California committee, above spoken of, on their arrival in New York, found no difficulty in tracing their man to that city, and from thence to Ohio. Reaching Cleveland, inquiry revealed the fact that the man they were searching for, was dead. This statement the committee discredited, believing it to be a ruse to throw the officers of justice off the track. Arriving in Akron, they were referred to the attorney, Hon. Rufus P. Spalding, who had aided in closing up his business affairs, and the physian, Dr. Alpheus Kilbourn, who had attended him in his last hours,. both of whom assured them that flip man they were in pursuit of was in reality dead. The committee were still incredulous, and one the number, an experienced California detective, was delegated to visit the family homestead and solicit permission to disinter the body; his statement being that his father, in one of the Southern or Western States, had become surety for "Daniel West," in the sum of $3,000 from the payinent of which proof of West's death would relieve him. Permission for the disinterment was readily given, and the removal of the lid of the casket instantly convinced the pursuing party that the cadaverous remains therein reposing were indeed those of "Dan West," the well known alias of Daniel M. Brown. Thus passed away one of the most expert and, for his years, one of the most successful counterfeiters in America. In conclusion it is but just to say that while the surviving relatives naturally feel extremely sensitive in regard to any mention, either public or private, of the subjects of this chapter, they are all held in the highest esteem by their neighbors and acquaintances, and should not, and will not, in any degree whatsoever, be held accountable for the wrongful actions of their talented but misguided ancestors. 57 CHAPTER XLI. NORTHFIELD TOWNSHIP—EARLY SETTLEMENT—MILITARY AND CIVIL STATUS-MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF RUPERT CHARLESWORTH- RUNORS FOUL PLAY—ARREST OF DORSEY W. VIERS, AFTER NEARLY FIVE YEARS, FOR THE CRIME OF MURDER—PROTRACTED TRIAL AND NARROW ESC APE FROM CONVICTION—LONG AND TIRELESS SEARCH FOR THE MISSING MAN-SUCCESS AT LAST—RETURN OF CHARLESWORTH AFTER NEARLY FIFTEEN YEARS—LARGE PUBLIC MEETING—CHARLESWORTH FULLY IDENTIFIED-VIERS TRIUMPHANTLY VINDICATED — A GENUINE "ROMANCE IN REAL LIFE." NORTHFIELD'S BEGINNING. It is not the province of this work to enter into a full detail of the origin and early settlement of the several townships of the county, or to give full personal descriptions of all the pioneer residents thereof, or of all their battlings with privations, hardships, Indians and wild beasts. This has already been quite-thoroughly done by others, and its reproduction, here, would not only make the work undertaken by the writer too voluminous, bit also involve an unwarrantable appropriation of the researches am labors of others. Though regarded, by its original Connecticut proprietors, as one of the very best townships upon the Western Reserve, Northfield, for reasons not necessary to enumerate here, was not fully opened to settlement as early as some of the contiguous townships now embraced within the limits of Summit county. For the purposes of this work, it is sufficient to note the fact that North-field's first settler was Mr. Isaac Bacon, from Massachusetts, who with his family located on lot 63, about a mile and a half northwest of the Center, in April, 1807; the next accession being the family of his brother-in-law, Jeremiah Cranmer, in June, 1810. NAME, ORGANIZATION, ETC.—At an informal meeting of all the male inhabitants of the township, assembled for the purpose of aiding a new-comer to erect a cabin, the question of naming the township was raised, and various names Were suggested, but none seemed to meet with general favor until Jeremiah Cranmer mentioned that of Northfield ( probably from a town of that name in his native State), which was finally adopted by the company and Northfield it has been to the present day, and appropriately so, as being on the extreme north side of Portage county, then, and of Summit county, now. THE FIRST ELECTION.—Though perhaps one or more justices of the peace had previously been appointed for the township by the governor, the first actual organization, as far as can now be ascertained, was on the 24th day of May, 1819. On that day an election seems to have been held at the cabin of William Cranny, John Britt acting as Moderator, Jeremiah. Cranmer and John Duncan as Judges, and Orrin Wilcox as Clerk. The officers elected were : Trustees, George Wallace, Jeremiah Cranmer and EARLY SETTLEMENT, POPULATION, ETC. - 899 John Duncan ; Clerk, Henry Wood ; Overseers of the Poor, William Cranny and William- T. Mather ; Fence Viewers, Robert Wallace nnii Maurice Cranmer ; Constables, Edward Coyne and Abraham Cranmer ; Treasurer, Watrous Mather ; Road Supervisors, John Duncan, Abel Havens, Daniel Robertson and Abner Hunt. JAMES W. WALLACE, — son of George and Harriet (Menough) Wallace, born at Youngstown, Ohio, November 27, 1803, soon removed with parents to Geauga county, thence, in 1810, to Cleveland, and engaged in hotel-keeping. In 1814, the father built saw, grist and woolen mills at the Falls of Brandywine Creek, in Northfield, also placing quite a large stock of goods there in charge of the 13-year-old boy, James, these and other operations engaged in by the family, giving to Brandywine more than a local repute as a business center for many years. In 1825, James, with his brother George Y. (ten years later sheriff of Portage county, and in 1842, treasurer of Summit county, by appointment, for nearly a year), besides taking entire charge of the business at Brandywine, built several miles of canal and aqueduct near Massillon and Roscoe ; when canal opened, boated two years; was then five years with Giddings, Baldwin, Pease & Co., afterwards Andrews, Baldwin & Co., as purchasing agent in Winter, and in charge of boats in Summer ; then two years agent for Boston Land Company ; then, in 1838, returned to Brandywine, in addition to manufacturing, largely engaging in farming. In 1871, Mr. Wallace removed to "Maple Mound," near Macedonia, where he resided until his death, September 24, 1887, at the age of 83 years, 9 months and 27 days, Mrs. Wallace having died March 15, 1885, aged 67 years. The children are—George, who died in Pomeroy, Iowa, August 26, 1880; Hiram Hanchett and Mary Emeline (Mrs. Lorin Bliss), Northfield Center ; Warner W., Danville, Kentucky ; Joseph, died young ; Leonard Case, near Macedonia, and Marjorie Stanhope, now wife of Henry P. R. Hamilton, of St. Paul, Minnesota. RAPID SETTLEMENT.—For the next ten or twelve years new accessions to the population were almost continuous, so that by 1830 the township was pretty well settled and improved, including quite a hamlet at the center, a brisk manufacturing village at the Falls of Brandywine Creek, in the south part of the township, and quite extensive lumbering operations a mile or so further up that stream, at Little York. By 1840 the township had almost reached its maximum of population, the census of that year showing the number of inhabitants in the township to be 1,031, while the census of 1880 accorded to it a population of 1,076, and that of 1890 a population of 940 souls, only ; a falling off of 91 in fifty years, though this is even better than some of the townships of the county have done during that period. The causes for this seeming declension may largely be found in the changed and improved methods of doing business—the introduction of labor-saving machinery requiring a less number of hands upon the farm and a correspondingly greater number in