(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) 50 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY twice to that office. In 1862, President Lincoln appointed him assistant secretary of war. He served under his brother-in-law, Edwin M. Stanton, until within two months of his death. He died at his home in Akron, April 4, 1863. Rufus P. Spalding, a native of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, came to Akron in 1840, and in 1841 was elected Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives; in 1848 appointed justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio. At the expiration of his term he moved to Cleveland, and was afterward elected to Congress for three terms. One of the most distinguished names in Summit County history is that of William H. Upson. He was born in Franklin County, Ohio, in 1823, but came to Tallmadge with his parents in 1832. He has been a resident of the county, continuously, since that time. He came to Akron in 1846, a few months after his admission to the bar. He was prosecuting attorney 1848-1850; Ohio State Senator, 1853-1855; elected to Congress in 1869, and again in 1871; delegate to National Republican Convention in 1864, and voted to renominate Abraham Lincoln ; delegate-at-large from Ohio to the National Republican Convention in 1876; in 1883 was appointed justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio ; in 1884, elected judge of the Circuit Court, and re-elected in 1886 and 1890. In 1896 he retired from active practice and resumed his domestic quiet in Akron, where he still lives. In addition to those already mentioned, Summit County has had the following Representatives in Congress: George Bliss, 18521854 ; David R. Paige, 1882-1884; George W. Crouse, 1886-1888, and Charles Dick, 1898-1904. She has had Presidential electors as follows: Stephen H. Pitkin, 1868; John R. Buchtel, 1872; Nathaniel W. Goodhue, 1880, and Ulysses L. Marvin, 1884. This senatorial district has often called upon Summit County to represent the district in the Ohio Senate, as witness these names of Senators,: Simon Perkins, 18381840 ; Elisha N. Sill, 1840-1842; William Wetmore, Jr., 1844-1846; Lucian Swift, 18481850 ; William H. Upson, 1853-1855; George P. Ashmun, 1857-1859; Lucuis V. Bierce, 1861-1863; Newell D. Tibbals, 1865-1867; Henry McKinney, 1869-1871; N. W. Goodhue, 1873-1875; D. D. Beebe, 1877-1881; George W. Crouse, 1885-1887; J. Park Alexander, 1887-1891; George W. Sieber, 18971899 ; Nation 0. Mather, 1905-1907. Common Pleas Judges—Van R. Humphrey, 1840-1848; George Bliss, 1851-1852; Robert K. Du Bois, 1840-1845; Charles Sumner, 1840-1845; Hugh R. Caldwell, 1840- 1847 ; John B. Clark, 1845-1846; James R. Ford, 1845-1849; Sylvester H. Thompson, 1846-1852; John Hoy, 1847-1852 ; Samuel A. Wheeler, 1849-1850; Peter Voris, 18501852 ; James S. Carpenter, 1856-1861; Samuel W. McClure, 1870-1875; Newell D. Tibbals, 1875-1883; Ulysses L. Marvin, 1883; Edwin P. Green, 1883-1891; Alvin C. Voris, 1891-1895; Jacob A. Kohler, 1895-1905; Reuben M. Wanamaker, 1905 to date, and Dayton A. Doyle, 1906 to date. Probate Judges: Charles G. Ladd, 18511852 ; Roland 0. Hammond, 1852; Constant Bryan, 1852-1853; Noah M. Humphrey, 1854-1860; William M. Dodge, 1860-1861; A. H. Lewis, 1861; Stephen H. Pitkin, 1861- 1868; Ulysses L. Marvin, 1869-1875; Samuel C. Williamson, 1875-1881; Nathaniel W. Goodhue, 18814883; Charles R. Grant, 1883- 1891 ; Edward W. Stuart, 1891-1897 ; George M. Anderson, 1897-1903 ; William E. Pardee, 1903 to date. County Clerks: Rufus P. Spalding, 1840; Lucian Swift, 1840-1847; Lucius S. Peck, 1847-1851; Nelson B. Stone, 1851-1853; Edwin P. Green, 1854-1861; John A. Means, 1861-1864; Charles Rinehart, 1864-1870; John A. Means, 1870-1873; George W. Weeks, 1873-1879; Sumner Nash, 1879-1885; Othello W Hale, 1885-1891; Nathaniel P. Goodhue, 1891-1897; Edward A. Hershey, 1897-1903 ; Clint W. Kline, 1903 to date. County Treasurers: William O'Brien, 18401842 ; George Y. Wallace, 1842; Milton Arthur, 1842-1848 ; William H. Dewey, 1848- 1850 ; Frederick Wadsworth, 1850-1852; AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 53 Chester W. Rice, 1852-1854; Houston Sisler, 1854-1858; Sullivan S. Wilson, 1858-1863 ; George W. Crouse, 1863 ; Israel E. Carter, 1863-1867; Arthur L. Conger, 1867-1871; Schuyler R. Oviatt, 1871-1875 ; David R. Paige, 1875-1879; Henry C. Viele, 18791883; Arthur M. Cole, 1883-1887; James H. Seymour, 1887-1891; Emmon S. Oviatt, 18911895; R. L. Andrew, 1895-1897; Lucius C. Miles, 1897-1901; Homer Berger, 1901-1905; Fred E. Smith, 1905-1906; Ulysses Grant High, 1906; Isaac S. Myers, 1907 to date. County Auditors : Birdsey Booth, 1840- 1842; Theron A. Noble, 1842-1848 ; Na- thaniel W. Goodhue, 1847-1852; Henry Newberry, Jr., 1852-1854; Charles B. Bernard, 1854-1858; George W. Crouse, 1858-1863; Sanford M. Burnham, 1863-1871; Hosea Paul, Jr., 1871; Edward Buckingham, 18721881; Aaron Wagoner, 1881-1887; Charles Dick, 1887-1893; Charles Grether, 18931896; Louis E. Sisler, 1896-1904; Marcus D. Buckman, 1904 to date. County Recorders : Alexander Johnston, 1840-1843; Nahum Fay, 1843-1849; Jared Jennings, 1849-1852; Henry Purdy, 18521858; Phillip P. Bock, 1858-1864; J. Alexander Lantz, 1864-1870; Grenville Thorpe, 1870-1872; Henry C. Viele, 1872; George H. Payne, 1872-1878; Albert A. Bartlett, 18781884; Henry C. Searles, 1884-1890; Benjamin F. Clark, 1890-1896; Williston Ailing, 1896-1902; John Sowers, 1902 to date. County Sheriffs: Thomas Wilson, 18401844; Lewis M. James, 18444848; William L. Clarke, 1848-1852 ; Dudley Seward, 18521856; Samuel A. Lane, 1856-1861; Jacob Chisnell, 1861-1865 ; James Burlison, 18651869; Augustus Curtiss, 1869-1873; Levi J. McMurray, 1873-1877; Sam'l. A. Lane, 18771881; William McKinney, 1881-1885; William B. Gamble, 1885-1889; David R. Bunn, 1889-1893; William Williams, 1893-1897 ; Horace G. Griffith, 1897-1901; Jared Barker, 1901-1907; Dan P. Stine, 1907 to date. Prosecuting Attorneys : William M. Dodge, 1840-1842; George Kirkum, 1842-1844; William S. C. Otis, 1844-1846; Samuel W. McClure, 1846-1848; William H. Upson, 1848- 1850; Harvey Whedon, 1850-1852; Sidney Edgerton, 1852-1856; Henry McKinney, 1856-1860; Newell D. Tibbals, 1860-1864 ; Edwin P. Green, 1864; Edward Oviatt, 18641868 ; Jacob A. Kohler, 1868-1872; Henry C. Sanford, 1872-1874 ; James M. Poulson, 1874-1876; Edward W. Stuart, 1876-1880; Charles Paird, 1880-1884 ; John C. Means, 1884-1886; Edwin F. Voris, 1886; George W. Sieber, 1886-1893 ; Samuel G. Rogers, 1893- 1896; Reuben M. Wanamaker, 1893-1902; Henry M. Hagelbarger, 1902-1908. County Surveyors: Russell H. Ashmun, 1840-1843; Peter Voris, 1843-1846; Frederick Seward, 1846-1849; Dwight Newton, 18491852 ; Schuyler R. Oviatt, 1852-1855 ; Hosea Paul, 1855-1870; Robert S. Paul, 1870-1874 and 1877-1883 ; John W. Seward, 1874-1877; Charles E. Perkins, 1883-1893 ; Sherman 'Swigart, 1893-1896; Joseph A. Gehres, 18961908. Infirmary Superintendents :    Abraham Sichley, 1849-1855 ; William Chandler, 1855- 1861 ; Francis T. Husong, 1861-1868; George W. Glines, 1868-1878 ; George Feichter, 18781879 ; Julia F. Glines, 1879-1882 ; Willard F. Hamlin, 1882-1887 ; Sherman B. Stotler, 1887 to the present time. SUMMIT COUNTY OFFICERS, 1907. Judges of Circuit Court, Eighth Judicial Circuit of Ohio—Hon. Ulysses L. Marvin, Akron ; Hon. Louis H. Winch, Cleveland ; Hon. F. A. Henry, Cleveland. Judges of Common Pleas Court, SecondSub-division, Fouth Judicial District of Ohio—Hon. Geo. C. Hayden, Medina; Hon. C. G. Washburn, Elyria ; Hon. R. M. Wanamaker, Akron. Probate Judge—W. E. Pardee. Commissioners—Philip Wagoner, Akron ; Eber Hawkins, West Richfield ; L. H. Oviatt, Hudson ; Gus. Seiberling, Barberton (elect). Auditor—M. D. Buckman. Treasurer—Fred E. Smith. Clerk of Courts—Clint W. Kline. Sheriff—Daniel P. Stein. Recorder—John Sowers. 54 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY Prosecuting Attorney—H. M. Hagelbarger. Coroner—L. B. Humphrey. Infirmary Directors—W. E.Waters, Akron; Z. F. Chamberlain, Macedonia; J. M. Johnston, Fairlawn. Superintendent of Infirmary—S. B. Stottier. Jury Commissioners—W. H. Stoner, F. A. Green, P. G. Ewart, W. H. McBarnes. Surveyor—J. A. Gehres. County Detective—H. M. Watters. Stenographer—W. H. Collins. Trustees Children's Home—A. M. Armstrong, Akron; J. B. Senter, Northfield; F. M. Green, Akron; J. H. Brewster, Coventry; Mrs. R. E. Grubb, superintendent. Court House Commission—L. H. Oviatt, chairman; J. C. Frank, secretary; Philip Wagoner, Eber Hawkins, J. Park Alexander, R. F. Palmer, W. A. Morton. County School Examiners—M. S. Kirk, Akron; F. L. Lytle, Hudson ; W. M. Glasgow, Barberton. County and City Board of Elections—E. II. Bishop, Akron, chief deputy; F. E. Whittemore, Akron, clerk; R. C. Ellsworth, Richfield; F. C. Wilson, Akron ; L. C. Koplin, Akron; office, 520 and 522 Hamilton building. Summit County Soldiers' and Sailors' Relief Commission—J. C. Weber, John C. Reid, Cuyahoga Falls; A. P. Baldwin, secretary. CITY OFFICERS. Municipal Offices and Council Chamber, East Mill, corner Broadway; City Prison, 86 East Mill; Treasurer's Office, Court House; Infirmary Director's Office, 90 South Howard. Mayor—Charles W. Kempel. Solicitor—C. F. Beery. Auditor—W. A. Durand. Treasurer—Fred E. Smith. Engineer—J. W. Payne. Infirmary Director—Joseph Kendall. Superintendent of Streets—Edward Dunn, Jr. Superintendent of Market—John Wolf. Board of Public Service—W. J. Wildes, J. H. Burt, J. J. Mahoney; C. H. Watters, clerk. City Council—Meets first and third Monday evenings of each month: Ira A. Priest, president; Ray F. Hamlin, clerk ; Joseph Dangel, A. G. Ranck and J. R. Mell, councilmen at large. First Ward—J. M. Amundson; Second Ward—F. J. Gostlin ; Third Ward—M. S. Williams; Fourth Ward—J. W. Gauthier; Fifth Ward—John Beynon; Sixth Ward—L. D. Seward; Seventh Ward—S. R. Thomas; Board of Public Safety—C. C. Warner, E. C. Housel. Police Department—J. F. Durkin, chief ; Robert Guillet, captain; A. G. Greenlese, lieutenant. Fire Department—J. T. Mertz, chief ; F. F. Loomis, mechanical engineer. Fire Station No. 1 (Central)—Corner High and Church streets; H. M. Fritz, captain. Fire Station No. 2—Corner East Market and Exchange, East Akron; C. M. Smith, captain. Fire Station No. 3—South Maple, corner Crosby; Frank Rice, captain. Fire Station No. 4 South Main, corner Fair; C. E. Tryon, captain. Fire Station No. 5—East Buchtel avenue; John Cummins, captain. Fire Station No. 6—Wooster avenue ; C. S. Jost, captain. Fire Station No. 7—North Howard; N. P. Smith, captain. Board of Health—Meets first Friday of each month: Mayor C. W. Kempel, president; Dr. A. A. Kohler, health officer; M. W. Hoye, sanitary police and milk inspector; G. B. Courson, clerk; J. D. Chandler, G. W. Crouse, J. C. Weber, A. P. Woodring, Wm. E. Young. Library Board—Meets first Friday of each month at library, corner Market and High streets; J. C. Frank, T. J. Mumford, J. W. Kelley, W. T. Vaughan, G. D. Seward, Henry Kraft. Parks—Fountain Park (Summit County Agricultural Society's Fair Grounds), East North, near city limits. Grace Park, corner Prospect and Perkins; Hill Park, corner East AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 55 Market and Broad; Neptune Park, West Mar ket, corner Valley ; Perkins Park, south o. Maple at west city limits ; Perkins Square, cor tier Exchange and Bowery; Pleasant Park corner Thornton and Washington. Cemeteries—Akron Rural Cemetery, wes end Glendale avenue; German Catholic Cem etery, South Maple, adjoining Rural Cemetery; East Akron Cemetery, East Market Sixth Ward; St. Vincent de Paul Cemetery West Market, west of Balch; Mount Peace Cemetery, North Valley, north of Doyle ; C P. Hass, superintendent; Old Cemetery, Newton, near east city line. Board of Education—James T. Flower, Isaac C. Gibbons, Frank G. Marsh, Frank W. Rockwell, Frank G. Stipe, Edward W. Stewart, A. E. Kling. Board of Review—A. J. Weeks, 0. L. Sadler, John Cook. Trustees of Sinking Fund and Board of Tax Commissioners—C. I. Bruner, Harry Hamlen, Joseph Thomas, H. E. Andress. CHAPTER IV AKRON—THE COUNTY SEAT Introductory—Economic Causes and Growth of Akron—Its Settlement and History—Public Improvements—Akron an incorporated Town—City Government—Mercantile Akron—Fire and Police Departments—Riot of 1900—Aftermath, of the Riot. Akron, the City of Busy Hands! The place of rubber-making, of sewer-pipe and clay goods, of the printing of books, of the grinding of grains and the making of cereal foods! All these are done here on the largest scale seen in any one place on the American continents. You may add to them, large factories making linoleum, steam-engines and mining equipment, steam boilers, traction-engines, electric dynamos and motors, steam drilling machinery, twist drills and agricultural implements, belting, twine and cordage, varnishes and a host of small enterprises, making nearly everything needed by man or required for the gratifying of his luxurious tastes. Industrialism then is the one striking feature of Akron and Akron life. Her triumphs have been triumphs of her industries. Her dark days have been the results of stagnation of business. The influence of the shop permeates her whole sphere of activity. By far the larger part of her population is connected directly with the shop and it would be surprising if this interest in them were not deemed the paramount one generally, and the city's social, spiritual, educational and even mercantile interests, modified in no small degree by this all-pervading sentiment. Herein we may find ample excuse for the "talking shop," which the vistor notices at once. For the same reason we may sym pathize with the citizen who is willing to subordinate even his personal comfort to the prevailing spirit. Any agitation to abolish the smoke evil is sure to meet with the objection that smoke means turning wheels, and busy men and women, and streams of wages and prosperity. If a big factory wants a street vacated or opened, a bridge built or removed, a street paved, a sewer built, or an extension of the fire department, the Akron citizen has not, for a moment, a thought of objection. Nay, rather he digs into his pocket and brings forth the ready cash. Mind you, he meets every request of this kind with great personal gladness and joy. He is perfectly happy in doing something to benefit the "shops." If you want to kill any projected movement in Akron just hint that it will be deleterious to the factories, or that the manufacturers will find it necessary to oppose it. On the other hand the popular policy is one that will aid to develop manufacturing and business. With such a favorable atmosphere is it any wonder that Akron has grown to be one of the great manufacturing cities of the United States? Is not this the very best inducement outside capital can have to locate here? Akron has never paid a cent, or donated a foot of ground, or exempted any enterprise from taxation for a day, to secure the location of any kind of business. When they do come she AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 59 makes it easy for them to stay and to prosper. She welcomes them with open arms and shows a most benignant manner ever after. This has been the accepted policy for half a century. How well it has succeeded read in the history of Akron, marvel in the figures of the statistician, and behold in the multiplication of factories and enterprises. The history of Akron then is a record of business activity primarily. And it proves good reading—this record, beginning with the conception of an idea in the mind of a business man, covering struggles, ambitions and disappointments of early days and ending in triumph for sagacity, courage and honesty. Such is an oft-repeated story in Akron life. The triumph has many times brought with it a princely fortune. AKRON A CITY OF MANUFACTURES. These business successes have made the name of Akron well known in every corner of the earth. All her products are finished goods, ready for immediate use or consumption. She makes no raw materials. Many of her manufacturing rivals produce raw materials largely and they are sent away to other cities, where they are worked over and their identity lost. When they reach the consumer they bear the name of the last city which had a hand in the making of them. Akron-made goods never lose their identity. Their exportation is very large, and hence Akron labels, boxes and bales. may be found all over the earth. Akron travelers abroad are often surprised at the fame of their little city in the far-away corners of the world. Akron cereal goods are shipped to every country in Europe, mining machinery and agricultural machines to Africa and South America and rubber products to Japan and China. Smaller exportations of other products are as widespread. The story of Akron, then, is a story of manufacturing, and, if a very large part of this history is devoted to the city's industrial progress, it is accounted for by this fact. The great names in Akron history are the names of manufacturers—Perkins, Miller, Conger, Werner, Schumacher, Goodrich, Barber, Crouse„ Crosby, Cummins,. Seiberling, Buch- tel, Robinson, Their activities were the making of Akron. They furnished the true basis for the city's development. EDUCATION. Reader, do not get the impression that Akron people live and have lived for the making of things alone. Such is far from being the case. Manufacturing is not deified. The shops are not set up as idols: The manufacturers are not worshiped, and the all-essentials that are needed to make character and perfection of manhood are not slighted. No city in Ohio makes so large a per capita expenditure for the maintenance of public schools. Ohio is famous for the excellence of its schools, but no city in the state can boast of bettor schools than Akron,. or a healthier public sentiment back of them; or a greater pride in educational achievement.. The "Akron idea" of graded schools originated here and took its name from this city... Ohio's whole school system has for its basis the idea of the Akron Congregational clergyman, who started Akron's schools on the march forward six decades ago. This is the seat of Buchtel College, founded by, and taking its name from one of Akron's most prominent citizens, and one foremost in every good work. If a large part of this history is devoted to the story of the rise of Buchtel College it is because of the important place Buchtel College occupies in the heart of the Akron citizen. is proud of the position it has earned, he glories in the opportunity it offers for the higher education of his children, right at his very door, and he sympathizes with "The College". in 'her calamities and struggles and ambitions, The Catholic Church has provided many excellent parochial' schools for the training of youth of that communion. The law making attendance at school compulsory is rigorously enforced in Akron. 60 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY There has been a public library, open to all citizens, from the earliest days of the community. Lyceum entertainments, lecture courses and the very best concerts have had their part in the popular education of the people. Successes in education have made the names of Jennings, Bryan, Leggett, Findley, Fraunfelter, Rood and McAllister honored ones in the city's history. THE CHURCHES. The churches occupy a relatively more important place in Akron life than is true of most municipal communities. In view of the overwhelming importance of the manufacturing interests it is hard to believe that this is so. Close study of conditions, however, demonstrates its truth. Every important Christian denomination is represented by a live and thriving church organization. Akron is one of the' important church centers for at least two of the denominations—the Methodists and the Universalists. The "Akron Plan," in church architecture has been an important factor in the former, and the church life, of which Buchtel College is the center, in the latter. The history of the Methodist Church in America will be incomplete without a record of Chautauqua and Lewis Miller. Many ministers and priests have won large successes in their labors in Akron, and her citizens will always remember with earnest reverence -such men as Carlos Smith, Monroe, Burton, Day, Young, Canter, Scanlon and Mahar. There is a roll of honor among laymen, also. The leaders of the past in the manufacturing world have also been leaders in church and charitable work. Take the names of the captains of industry first above given ; there is only one of them who has not had a very prominent part in the work of some Akron church. That list might be extended almost indefinitely. THE PROFESSIONS. Akron's reputation as a manufacturing and business center has attracted a host of professional men. Most of them have been capable practitioners and have made useful and respected citizens. Of the doctors who have gone, many like Crosby, Bowen, Coburn, Bartges, McEbright and Jacobs, not only held high positions in their profession, but did much for the material advancement of Akron's various interests. At the present time all schools of medicine are represented here by exceedingly accomplished physicians. From its ranks of lawyers Akron has sent forth men who have taken high places in public life, both in the service of the state and the nation. Memory recalls readily the names of Bierce, Bliss, King, McClure, Edgerton, Spalding, Sanders, Cartter, Alger, Wolcott, McKinney and Upson. The present junior senator from Ohio is a member of the Summit County Bar. Very few counties in Ohio are able to bring forward better lawyers than those who make up the local bar. Business, both manufacturing and mercantile, brought the lawyers. Large interests, great producing and distributing, big deals and intricate enterprises demanded competent hands for their legal protection and direction. In the early days there were great enterprises exploited here, such as the canals, the Crosby projects, etc. They were directed by strong men, who demanded strong men as legal advisers. The association of such men attracted the ablest of the young lawyers then commencing practice. The high standard then established has been maintained until the present day. The great Akron companies entrust their legal matters entirely to members of the local bar. It is a rare thing for outside counsel to be called into a local case. On the other hand, Akron lawyers are frequently called into other counties of the state for legal advice and services. In the last decade Akron has begun to attract attention in a new respect. The city AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 61 lies in the midst of nearly twenty small lakes, most of them possessing great natural beauty. The city itself is most attractively located on more hills than ancient Rome possessed, and with magnificent views down and across the Cuyahoga Valley. These things have been gradually becoming known and it began to be whispered about that there was good fishing in the Akron lakes and good camping sites on their shores. Thus the summer invasion began. Great improvements have been made, those at Silver Lake alone costing $100,000. Summit Lake has a beautiful new casino which will seat 3,000 people. Many beautiful cottages have been built at Turkey-Foot Lake and Springfield Lake. During the season the attractions of Akron as a summer resort bring thousands of people to the city. Merchants find their trade correspondingly larger and there is no dull season known to our mercantile circles. The local summers are never excessively hot. There will be, perhaps, two or three periods of hot weather when the thermometer will reach 87, or, in extreme cases, 90 degrees. These periods are of very short duration, seldom lasting more than four or five days, and the rest of the summer consists of delightful days, with the air clear, and the sky blue, and the thermometer ranging from 70 to 80 degrees. The high altitude of the city, the higher portions being nearly 1,100 feet above the sea level, and the proximity to Lake Erie combine to lower the temperature in summer and to make the city a healthy and delightful place in which to live. Many beautiful residences and private parks attest the prosperity of Akron's citizens. All the important streets are paved with brick, stone or asphalt. Beautiful and well kept public parks are situated in all parts of the city. Here is one of the finest Music Halls in the state and one well adapted for large conventions, music festivals and other important public occasions. Here, also, are three fine theaters, one of them—the beautiful Colonial Theater—presenting the best attractions to be seen on the American stage. The Y. M. C. A. has been reorganized and is enjoying a new home, costing about $100,000. The Akron City Hospital is now completely established in a new six-story building and making use of an equipment that cost $150,000. It will compare favorably with any hospital in America. The Y. W. C. A. has moved into a fine new home on High street, where it possesses every possible requisite for the successful prosecution of its admirable work. No more praiseworthy work is being done in Akron than that of the Y. W. C. A. Two beautiful new ward school buildings have just been erected and the High School nearly doubled in capacity by a splendid new building adjoining the old building on the west. The old court house built in 1840 has been supplanted by a superb structure of stone crowning the old court-house hill, and costing about $300,000. Many fine new business blocks were erected in 1906. The additions made to the store of The M. O'Neil Company in 1907 make it the largest store in Ohio and one of the great department stores of the United States. Akron always takes time to rejoice in its fire department. It is housed in seven modern buildings in different parts of the city, and furnished with the latest appliances and equipment for extinguishing fires. The personnel of the department is very high and the citizens have absolute confidence in its efficiency. The city has equal faith in its custodians of the law. The police force is a capable one and is guided by trustworthy hands. Life and property, therefore, enjoy here as large a measure of protection as the best American municipalities afford. The city supports three enterprising and successful newspapers. They are clean, able, and fearlessly edited, and reflect great credit upon the community which reads and supports them. Akron's retail stores are a satisfaction to her people. The stocks of goods are as complete and timely as those of the best city stores and the prices are considerably lower than in most cities of Akron's size. The old 62 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY tendency to run to Cleveland to do purchasing is a thing of the past. If there ever was any necessity for such a course it no longer exists. When the public learned that the same quality of goods could be purchased in Akron at prices equal to the lowest anywhere, shopping in Cleveland became a mere affectation and accordingly has not been fashionable for a considerable time. Akron's growth in population has been at the rate of 5 per cent per annum in late years. Accordingly the year 1908 will find nearly 60,000 people dwelling within her borders. Such is a rapid pen-picture of Akron as it exists in 1907. In the following pages will be found an accurate account of the rounding of the city, the purposes its founders had in mind, its early struggles, its pioneer citizens, its growth in many diverse ways, its disasters and misfortunes and its complete triumph in the year of its greatest prosperity, 1907. The reader will also find reliable historical statements concerning Summit County, its townships, its villages and all the various activities of Summit County citizens since the beginning. ECONOMIC CAUSES AND GROWTH OF AKRON. It is inaccurate to say that the Ohio Canal made Akron. The city as it stands today is the resultant of many causes. Many and different influences, and various men and measures, have co-operated toward the end now attained. The start was made long before the Ohio Canal was built. Within the present limits of the city, settlements at two different points had been made, which antedate the canal by nearly two decades. In 1807 the first settlement had been made in Middlebury. In 1811 Miner Spicer had started "Spicertown." In the same year Paul Williams settled upon the lands immediately west of the Spicer settlement and adjoining the land of General Simon Perkins on the east. When the canal was opened in 1827 Middlebury was an important village. It had attracted many settlers from the East, principally from Connecticut, and boasted of half a dozen mills and factories, a dozen stores, three inns and about five hundred inhabitants. It certainly deserved a place on the maps of the time. Let us search that we may find, if we can, the economic reasons for the existence of Akron. The sentence that begins this chapter contains the idea that is ordinarily advanced as the sole reason for the Akron of today. The unthinking man repeats: "The canal made Akron." The writer on Akron history records: "Dr. Eliakim G. Crosby made Akron." The truth is, no one thing and no one man made Akron, but that all the men who have ever worked for Akron, from the earliest beginning until this centennial year of 1907, aided by certain natural advantages, "made" Akron. The term "men" is here used in the generic sense, and includes the army of noble women who planned, worked, and sacrificed, and made man's work worth the while. All the minds and all the hands; all the labor and all the capital ; all the faith and all the hope—these have been working for one hundred years to produce the results we now behold. If the canal did not make Akron, it was the largest single factor in the making. Where so many causes have been working together it is impossible to say that the result would not have been possible without any one of them. There is reason to believe, however, that without the early advantages of the first canal the great industries and the teeming population of the present would not have been Akron's. Allusion has been made above to certain advantages which Nature provided for the future city. A study of the economic reasons underlying the location of any city will assist us in determining what they are in the present case. What induced the five hundred inhabitants of Middlebury in 1827 to locate there in the twenty years succeeding its founding? Leaving the Alleghenies behind, the boundless AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 63 West was before them and they were free to settle here or there, as their judgment dictated? Then why Middlebury? To one who knows New England and Middlebury the answer is not hard to find. What turns the mills at Lowell, Lawrence, Holyoke and all the towns on the Merrimac and Connecticut and other rivers of New England? New England's manufacturing prestige is due to the overwhelming advantages its unsurpassed water-power gives it. It is a power, cheap and easily transmitted. New England even in the early part of the last century was full of dams and sluices and waterwheels. The man from Massachusetts and Connecticut was brought up with a knowledge of these things. They were a familiar part of his environment. He knew water-power when he saw it. The early Middlebury men were from Massachusetts and Connecticut. It was the power in the fall of the river there that attracted them. The early Middlebury factories, including the Cuyahoga furnace, a saw-mill and a large grist-mill, were all operated by the power derived from a dam thrown across the river at the point where the plant of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company now stands. Later other dams were built and the use of the power extended. All this was done prior to the building of the Ohio canal, or even before the preliminary steps were taken. The Portage, or carry, between the Cuyahoga and the Tuscarawas rivers was not of sufficient importance to cause any extensive settlement along its length or to influence any that might be made in its vicinity. We, of today, are inclined to overestimate its importance. There is no reason to believe that it was ever extensively used. It was in no sense of the word a great pioneer highway, such as some of those that brought about the establishment of the large trading-posts of the early days. The latter were powerful factors in founding settlements that grew into cities later when the sway of the white man began. Travel over the Portage Path was little enough. The long carry of nine or ten miles, part of it up and down steep hills, was enough to deter all travelers, but those pressed by the greatest necessity. War parties passed in numbers at times, but trappers and traders went by other ways. There was far greater travel over the east and west highway, part of which is now called the Smith Road, and extensive settlements were made at various points along its course. At the southern end of the Portage Path, however, there was built up in the years 1806 and 1825 one of the most promising of all the settlements in northern Ohio. This was not because of any advantage derived from travel over the Path, but because of the fact that here was the head of navigation on the Tuscarawas. The Indians and pioneers used the waterway as far as they could and then took various trails leading in other directions. The river was then of much greater volume than today and was capable of supporting an extensive traffic. Navigation was open from New Portage to the Muskingum and the Ohio, and extensive trading sprang into existence along these waterways. The Path, then, was of little or no benefit to the region we know as Akron. Neither did this immediate locality have any waterpower. It was covered with thick forests of oak, ash, hickory, chestnut and maple. Splendid springs issued from the hillsides. Game was abundant. But the lake country only a few miles to the south offered much better hunting-grounds and richer fields in the fertile bottom lands along the creeks. Early in the year 1825 a great and sudden activity was manifested all along the base of the high hill, which stretches north and south from the Cuyahoga River at old Portage to Summit Lake, and along the top of which runs the Portage Path. This narrow zone of activity met the Path at both these points, and about halfway between them it bent away to the east about a mile and a half. It followed the base of the hill closely and lay in the lowest part of the territory contiguous to these points. This activity was the work of excavation for the Ohio Canal. The ditching alone would be a work of some magnitude even for 64 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY these days of steam-shovels and earth-conveyors. The earth was excavated to a depth, in the center, of five or six feet and of a width averaging, perhaps, twenty-five feet. In the distance between the Summit Level and Old Portage the greatest engineering works of the whole project were made necessary. Between these two points there is a rise of nearly two hundred -feet. This necessitated a series of locks and twenty-one of them were built, in massive style, of great sand-stone blocks and ponderous oak gates. By the side of each was built a sluice, or overflow, for the passage of the water when the gates were closed. This work brought into this. neighborhood a small army of engineers, contractors, diggers, drivers, stone-masons, carpenters, black- smiths, and a subsidiary army to do the commissary work for these. Like all camps of the kind, this was followed by the slab-saloon and the grocery, and almost in a day a town arose. It required two years' time to complete these works and by the time they were finished the new town numbered half as many inhabitants as Middlebury, two miles to the east and now in the twentieth year of its existence. Then commenced the great traffic over the Ohio Canal. If the Portage Path was not a highway, the canal certainly was. It is hard to realize now how important an avenue of commerce this great waterway was in the early days of Ohio. It is difficult to estimate accurately the great part it played in the development of the state. The danger to the student of these results will be to overstate them. The village at the mouth of the Cuyahoga had grown rapidly. Cleveland enjoyed an extensive commerce and the products of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and the East were being distributed thence throughout the West by lake carriage. Ship-building in the vicinity of Cleveland became an established industry. The Cuyahoga at this time was a much larger stream than it is at present and many lake vessels were built as far inland as Old Portage. South of Akron were many village community of older settlement. The canal opened an easy way of communication with these. It removed the obstacles in the journey to Cleveland. When completed it formed the best method of inland transportation then known, between Lake Erie and the Gulf of Mexico. Under favorable conditions loaded boats could navigate nearly as fast as a train behind George Stephenson's "Rocket." Travel by packet on the canal was not looked upon as a hardship, but welcomed as a great improvement over a journey by pioneer roads. Previous to the opening of the canal, the products of the community, which consisted mainly of flour, wool, hides, charcoal, potash, and dairy and farm products were taken to Cleveland and Pittsburgh by wagon. These were of the prairie-schooner type and oftentimes immense loads would be hauled by eight-horse teams hitched to them. On the return trip merchandise of various kinds was brought in. The owners of these wagon routes were important men in the community, and they were often intrusted with the execution of extensive commissions. No inconsiderable part of the buying and selling between Akron and the outside points was done through them. The most prominent among these early carriers were Patrick Christy, the grandfather of Will Christy, the electric railway magnate, and George Crouse, grandfather of the present Akron businessman, George W. Crouse, Jr. In one respect Akron was the most important point on the Ohio Canal. Students of economic causes have learned that great natural obstacles to travel on important highways are the points most likely to attract settlement and become a nucleus for future development into village and city. Thus a ford in a stream, a rapid or fall in a navigable river necessitating a portage, interrupts the journey, causes delay and becomes the natural stopping place for travelers. At Akron, the traveler by canal met the greatest obstacle in all his journey. Here was a series of twenty-one locks through which his boat must pass before he could resume his journey. Four hours at the best would be consumed in the operation of locking, and delays were very AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 65 frequent. The traveler could walk the entire distance between the extreme locks in one-fourth the time his boat took in going through. Here, then, was a splendid site for the merchant. Here was a steady stream of travel and commerce passing, for more than eight months of the year. Here that travel must halt for a large part of the day. Thus the way-faring man was forced into an acquaintance with Akron; thus the fame of Akron was carried throughout Ohio and beyond. In the boyhood days of the writer of this chapter, that part of the town lying north of Federal street and west of Summit was known as "Dublin." This name was given to the locality when the locks were being built. As remarked above, it took two years to build them and a host of laboring men were busy in the work. Now, in the twenties the great tide of immigration from Italy and Germany and the other countries of the European continent had not started to flow toward our shores. The Chinese coolies did not arrive until the building of the Union Pacific railway. The oppression of the peasantry in Ireland, however, had driven a horde of her population to seek easier conditions. The first great immigration was from Ireland. The "Dago" and the "Hunkie" of the twenties and thirties was the Irishman. "Paddy" built the railroads and made the highways and dug canals. That is, he handled the pick and shovel and carried the hod. He was the carrier of water and the hewer of wood. Well, the men from the Shamrock Isle who came to Akron to work on the canal, built their cabins in the locality referred to and lived there during the time they were working on the locks. Whether they named the place themselves as a tender tribute to the "mild sod," which was still the focus of their fondest longings, or whether the place was facetiously dubbed by the bluer-blooded inhabitants of Cascade or Middlebury, is unknown and immaterial. The present generation neither knows the name nor has any dealings with the ancient district of "Dublin." Today it might be more appropriately called' "Naples," for the Irish- have prospered and moved into better city quarters, while the Italian, a late comer, has taken the old houses and become the predominating influence in the locality. The territory has been conquered in succession by Ireland, Africa and Italy. How much the canal did for the new town or rather towns,—for there were two of them, one, called Akron, centering at the corner of Main and Exchange streets and the other named Cascade and located near the corner of Market and Howard streets,—is seen from the growth of population that took place on this narrow strip of land along the canal and extending from Chestnut to Beech streets. At the end of the first decade this territory numbered more than one thousand people. In 1840, or fifteen years after the beginning of construction, the United States census showed a population of 1,381. It had left Middlebury far behind. Practically the whole of this number had moved in from other places. Akron was already known as one of the most promising towns in the northwest territory, and this report was attracting new settlers by the hundred, annually. Most of the men employed in building the locks remained here when the work was completed. So did the keepers of boarding-houses and taverns and the merchants who had been supplying the demand for groceries, clothing and such goods as the presence of so large a body of laboring men made necessary. These constituted a fine nucleus for the coming city. Thus, it was the canal, undoubtedly, that gave Akron its start. For twenty-five years the canal, too, was the only means of communication Akron had with the outside world. When her citizens traveled' they went by packet: between the verdant banks of the canal. Their products found the outside market and their merchandise was brought in to them by boats plying on that. same canal. The canal was as of much relative importance in Akron life of the period as it. was in Holland. Venice, itself, was not more dependent on, or prouder' of, her waterways than Akron before 1852. 66 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY The masters of canal boats were duly respected and, in the public estimation, occupied desirable places. On the 4th day of July, 1852, the first railway train rolled into Akron. It came in from Hudson over the Akron branch of the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad. It marked the end of the old order of things. It closed an epoch. The steam-propelled train, running on level iron tracks, had worked a revolution in the world outside. All business had to be adjusted to meet the changed conditions. The world had moved on apace. Akron was practically where the thirties had left her. Communication by canal was now isolation. The railway came and growth began anew. Akron was nearing the time when she was to strike her real pace. The real making of the city, as we know it today, was still a thing of the future. The city grew as a few men prospered. When the sun of prosperity shone upon Ferdinand Schumacher, Arthur L. Conger, John F. Seiberling, Lewis Miller, David E. Hill, Henry Robinson, James B. Taplin, J. D. Cummins, the Allens, the Howers, 0. C. Barber, and one or two others, then began the era of real progress. From that time on, Akron has had a steady and even growth. The growth has never been phenomenal. Its citizens have never experienced the excitement of a"boom." Real estate values have never taken a decided step upward. The contrary is true, that the price of real property has lagged behind. Of course, the increase in population and wealth has brought with it higher prices for land and buildings, but the increase in the latter has not been commensurate with the former. This fact will serve to indicate how gradual, normal, and healthy has been the growth of Akron. It was fortunate for the city that, when some of the industries founded by the above named men fell upon hard times and gave way under the stress of untoward circumstances, others, started subsequently, grew amazingly and more than filled the gap. It was like the springing of second-growth trees to replace the falling of century-old monarchs of the forest. Of the above names, four of the men who bore them, and who had amassed great fortunes from their enterprises, went to their graves, broken in fortune. Three of the great businesses were closed up forever, and their names forgotten in the business world. In the joy of possessing the greater industries that have taken their places, few make room for the emotion of regret that ordinarily would have attended the departure of the older. Thus it has happened that Akron has been known successively as "The Oatmeal Town," "The Match Town," "The Place Where They Make Mowers and Reapers" "The Sewer-pipe Town," and lastly, "The Rubber City." When the magnitude of The Werner Company is considered, we can say with reason that it might well be called "The City of Graphic Arts." The renown of the latter publishing house on the American Continents would easily make it the one overshadowing feature of many of Akron's rival cities, were they fortunate enough to possess it. Among the economic reasons for the remarkable growth of Akron, an important place must. be given to the extraordinary advantages derived from certain mineral deposits discovered in Summit County, early in its history. Even the most unreflective reader must be aware of the desirability of cheap fuel in a district devoted to manufacturing. Water-power was a good thing so far as it went; but that was limited, not only in the amount of the horse-power it could develop, but in the kinds of manufacturing which it could subserve. Thus, it was unavailable for the largest part of the operations of the potteries and for such work as operating the "driers" of the cereal mills. Fortunately, Nature was prodigal of her gifts to the territory of which Summit County is a part. To the south and east of Akron lie gread beds of bituminous coal, some of it of superior quality. The "Turkey-foot. Coal" is the same as that of the Massillon field, and on combustion is capable of producing as many heat units. Steady mining for more than half a century has not exhausted these AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 67 resources; it has not even determined their full extent. New mines are opened from time to time, and the out-put continues to furnish the major part of the Akron supply. A short haul of five, ten, or fifteen miles brings this splendid fuel to the doors of Akron's big factories. Thus, this city has an advantage over her manufacturing rivals, who must add to the cost of production the expense of transporting fuel, sometimes for long distances. The "burning" of -sewer pipe, brick and earthenware requires large quantities of fuel. These were among the very earliest of the city's industries. Contemporaneous were the furnaces for reducing iron ore to metal. They, too, needed heat rather than power. Coal was not the only fuel, for magnificent forests covered the entire country, and rich peat beds filled the swamps in many localities. Long after the coal is exhausted it will be possible to obtain excellent fuel by resorting to the peat deposits in Coventry, Copley and Springfield townships. Oil can also be obtained by refining the carboniferous shales which abound in various sections of the country. Akron sewer-pipe is the standard for the world. Specifications often read: "Sewer-pipe used must be equal to the best Akron." It cannot be doubted that the superior qualities of the finished product are due in large measure to the superexcellence of the raw material. Great beds of fine clay extend over the townships of Tallmadge, Springfield, Coventry and Green, while other townships possess smaller deposits. Reference has been made in previous pages of this history to the existence of iron-furnaces in Middlebury and Akron. None exist now, and have not for many years. Only the oldest inhabitants will remember them. The present generation ask in surprise, "Well, where in the world did they get the iron ore?" The answer, too, is surprising. It was obtained right at home. The furnaces were built here because the ferrous ores were here. They are still here, but are the so-called "bog-iron," and the process of reduction is so ex- pensive that they cannot compete with the richer ores mined in other parts of the country. Hence, when use was made of the great deposits in the Lake Superior district, the Akron furnaces went out of business, and now nothing remains of them but the slag and cinder heaps which they left behind. In Springfield and Green townships there exists a four-foot stratum of limestone, of fair quality. Limestone, very impure, also occurs scattered in other portions of the county. Below Cuyahoga Falls, it was quarried in the early days of the county, and burned for water-lime. It is said that quantities of this local lime were used in the masonry of the Ohio Canal, at the time of its construction. Akron and Summit County have had the oil and gas fever from time to time. Many attempts have been made in the last forty years to find these minerals, with varying success. Mr. Ferdinand Schumacher drilled a deep well, about twenty-five years ago on the site of the former Cascade Mill. His desire was to obtain gas sufficient to provide fuel for the operation of his mills. He was not successful, though gas in moderate quantities was obtained. Somewhat later J. F. Seiberling drilled several holes in Springfield Township near Brittain, but after drilling to a great depth the wells were abandoned on account of the poor showing. In Bath and Northampton, surface oil has been known to collect in wells, and farmers have often been excited over the indications of petroleum. In Peninsula, the largest flow of gas ever found in the country comes from a well drilled there, and in the year 1907 the flow was continuing unabated. In 1905-1906, the most ambitious attempt to search for oil that has been made in this district was undertaken. James and Mathew Lang organized the Interstate Oil Company, and secured much capital in Youngstown, Akron, and other cities, for the purpose of making a thorough test of this locality. Their theory was an ingenious one, and appeared plausible enough to any but expert geologists. In explaining the theory it was said that oil was all about us. To the east 68 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY and south were the Pittsburg, Parkersburg and Marietta fields; on the west were the Lima and Findlay fields, while north of us, some oil had been found in Canada and the Islands of Lake Erie. The oil in all these places had been found in the stratum of rock known as the Trenton formation, and this dipped from all these points toward Akron. In other words, Akron is built over the center of a great basin, the bottom of which is formed of Trenton rock. Therefore, all that was nec- essary in order to reach the greatest supply of petroleum ever tapped, was to drill in the neighborhood of Akron until the Trenton formation was encountered. Geologists are of the opinion that this rock lies more than 4,000 feet below the surface of Summit County. The parties overlooked one thing, which is the weak point in their theory: The pressure of so tremendous a mass of the earth's crust would certainly force all oil and other liquids to ascend through the geological faults or porous strata, like the shales, to regions where that pressure was not so great. Is it not worthy of belief that this pressure has forced the oil from the central and lower parts of the basin to the rim of it, and that the surrounding fields have oil because it has been forced out of the territory of which Akron is the center? In the years last mentioned, several wells were drilled near Thomastown, and oil in paying quantities was found far above the Trenton rock. Drilling was then stopped, and the oil has been steadily pumped from these wells since, in moderate quantities. A well is now being drilled near the State Mill, in Coventry Township, and is said to be down 3,000 feet, with no indications of oil. It is extremely improbable that Akron will ever enjoy an oil "boom." Most geologists are of the opinion that oil and gas do not exist in Summit County in sufficient quantities to make a search for either very profitable. Nature has so plenteously enriched this region with other resources that no one must be heard to complain that one or two gifts have been withheld. AKRON'S EARLY DAYS. On the 6th day. of December, 1825, there was duly recorded in the records of Portage County, Ohio, by the recorder thereof, a plat of a new village. It consisted of about 300 lots of land, and occupied the territory lying between the present railroads, St. Bernard's Church, the Goodrich Rubber Plant and the Perkins School. The prime mover in this allotment was General Simon Perkins, of Warren, who owned considerable land in the county, a part of which was included in the amount platted. With him was associated Mr. Paul Williams, who owned the land adjoining Gen. Perkins' on the east. These men were the founders of Akron. The city cannot appropriately celebrate its first centennial until 1925, although 1907 completes the first century since the settlement of Middlebury, which is now a portion of it. The survey for the Ohio canal had been made, and, by studying the altitudes of various places on its length, it was seen that the site of this new village occupied the very highest point. There is a Greek word, Akros, which translated means "high." At the suggestion of a lawyer friend, General Perkins adopted the name "Akron" as a very appropriate one for his new town. She is the 'original Akron. She has been a prolific parent, for new "Akrons" are found in New York, Colorado, Indiana and many other states. The city does not occupy the highest land in the state, as is often erroneously asserted. The highest altitude in the city is about 1,100 feet above the level of the sea. The highest point in the state is in the town of Ontario, not far from Mansfield, where the elevation reached is 1,373 feet. The first building built upon the new allotment occupied the corner where the Peoples Savings Bank is now located. It was built by Henry Clark, and was used by him for hotel purposes. Soon a store building was built on the lot diagonally opposite. When the work on the canal began, and dwellings and store buildings and shops and warehouses sprang into existence as though sum- AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 69 moned by the wave of a magician, there was large demand for the lots, and many of them were sold in a few months. The enterprise was a splendid success, and the new town started under the happiest auspices. A shipyard was started inside the town limits at what was afterward called the Lower Basin, and on June 27th, 1827, the first canal boat built in Akron, and the first to regularly navigate the canal, and called the "Ohio," was launched. So Akron grew until August 10th, 1833, on which day the territorial extent of the city was doubled by the filing of a new plat by which all the lands lying north of the town as far as the Little Cuyahoga River, and between what is now the railroads on the east and Walnut and Oak Streets on the west, were allotted. As in the former plat, streets, parks, and alleys were provided for, and a little city was carefully laid out on paper. This plat also gave the name of the town embraced by it as "Akron." This last allotted territory belonged mainly to Dr. Eliakim Crosby. He associated with him Judge Leicester King and General Simon Perkins, both of Warren. Dr. Crosby had settled in Middlebury in 1820, coming thence from Canada, although he had been born in Litchfield, Connecticut. He embarked in various ventures in Middlebury, operating at times the Cuyahoga furnaces, a lime kiln, a grist mill, saw mill, etc. He sold them all by 1831, and conceived a prospect larger than any of them. His plan was to carry the water of the Little Cuyahoga River by means of a hydraulic race, from Middlebury to a point on the Ohio Canal near Lock Five, near the foot of Mill Street. This would give a fall of water which could be used for power purposes from Lock Five to the northern limits of the town. Work on the race was commenced in 1831, and in the spring of 1833 the waters of the river were flowing through it, and giving the power the engineer of the enterprise, Colonel Sebried Dodge, estimated they would.' This is the race which now flows through the Old Forge, around the Rocky Bluff above and just to the south of Fountain Park, the present fair grounds, and, crossing Summit, Broadway and High Streets, is conveyed by a conduit under the center of Main Street and down Mill Street from the Central Savings Bank Corner to the "Old Stone Mill," at Lock Five. The mill was built in the year 1832-1833 to make use of the new power. On the maps the new race was called the "Cascade Mill Race." The old village had been called Akron for eight years and the people looked upon the addition as another and separate village. The name of the race they adopted, therefore, as the name of the town, and it was known as "Cascade" for many years thereafter, 'both at home and abroad. This name was later given to a newspaper, a hotel, and an important store; all named from the town of which they were a part. When the territory between the old and new village became better settled they were often referred to as North and South Akron, but gradually the distinction was Obliterated. Today, by "South Akron" the citizen 'refers to territory lying south of Thornton Street, and extending to a point three miles from the center of North Akron. The sixth Federal Census did not recognize Akron. It was the census of 1840. It gave Cleveland, 6,071; Steubenville, 4,247; Zanesville, 4,766; Chillicothe, 3,977. It gave the number of inhabitants in Summit County as 22,560. In 1850, the name of Akron appears for the first time, and the town is credited with 3,266 population. In 1860 this had grown to only 3,477. The new railways had been in operation only five or six years, and their influence was not yet firmly felt. The older part of the town was exceedingly jealous, in the early days, of the new upstart just north of it. Although they were both founded by General Simon Perkins, and had much in common, still, the rapid growth and many superior advantages of the northern section was quite sufficient to disturb the equanimity of the older community. The former possessed the "Stone Mill," and it was the largest manufacturing industry in any of the three towns. Here, also, was the new 70 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY "Cascade House"; the most modern and best of all the hotels in the vicinity. Here was the "Cascade Store," occupying the southwest corner of Main and Market Streets, founded by Jonathan F. Fenn and Charles W. Howard, and purchased in 1835 by Mr. Philander D. Hall, and many other advantages were enjoyed exclusively by the new village. Middlebury was also envious and jealous, and there was a three-cornered rivalry which at times approached to a feeling of bitterness. Finally, the contest settled down to a conflict between the two Akrons, and oftentimes the business rivalry took the form of a contest of force. The newspapers of the time frequently contained long articles of the most bitter recriminations. The two towns were separated by a narrow strip of land, perhaps 600 or 700 feet wide, extending from Quarry to Center Streets. This was owned by General Perkins, and was neutral ground. It was called the "gore," whether because of its shape, or the amount of blood it caused to be spilled, is not known. This strip belonged to neither of the villages and, lying exactly between them, was good compromise ground. Hence, when the church congregations of that day wished to build a place of worship, the partisans of the two sections fought each other to a standstill, and then decided to meet halfway and erect their temple on the neutral ground. In order to insure absolute fairness in the matter, the churches were faced toward the west. In this way the original Methodist, Baptist and Congregational churches were built. The latter occupied the site of the present Court House, while the Baptist was built on the corner of Quarry and High Streets. The reader will doubtless reflect by this time that the County Court House, built in 1841, occupies the site on this neutral ground. When the Baptist Church was built, it was proposed to make it face toward the south. This provoked a quarrel that found its way into the newspapers, and was waged with much feeling. Many of the members living in North Akron withdrew their church membership; some of the contributors to the building fund, who lived north of the "gore," refused to pay their subscriptions, and the church was nearly rent in twain on account of this sectional warfare. The original Congregational society was broken up and disbanded, and the Methodists engaged in an internecine struggle that caused each party to accuse the other, when, in 1841, their church building burned down, of having set it afire. Judging from the newspaper accounts, the fire was not incendiary at all. But, the contest up to the time of the Post-Office War, was mild by comparison with what happened during that memorable affair, and the year or two next succeeding. Then was reached the climax. Up until December, 1837, the post-office had been located in South Akron. It was established in 1826, the year after the founding, by President John Quincy Adams. He appointed a young lawyer named Wolsey Wells as the first postmaster. Mr. Wells built a large house on West Exchange Street, on the corner of Water Street, and in it conducted the operations of the postal service and collected the tolls on the Ohio Canal, for he was both postmaster and toll collector, and, when he had time, attended to the duties of justice of the peace, in addition. It probably required the revenues from the combined offices to support the one incumbent, and even then his salary was doubtless only a modest one. In 1883, Mr. Wells moved away from Akron and President Jackson appointed Lewis Humiston, who was then keeping the Clark Tavern, on the corner of Main and Exchange Streets, as his successor in the post-office. He built a small building in the rear of the hotel on the north side of Exchange Street, just east of Main, and established the post-office in it. Early in 1837 Mr. Humiston resigned owing to his removal from Akron and the war was on. There was a large number of applicants for appointment to the vacancy. The contest finally settled down to a struggle between Constant Bryan and Harvey H. Johnson. They were both lawyers and both residents of the north village. The former was after- AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 71 ward elected probate judge of the county, and was the father of Major Frederick C. Bryan. The contest grew so acrimonious that the government threatened to abolish the office unless the community would announce its decision at an early date and arrive at it in a peaceable manner. The South Akron candidates then withdrew and, with their respective adherents, gave their support to Mr. Johnson in return for his promise, it was alleged, that the site of the post-office should remain in South Akron. This action gave Johnson the support of a large majority of the voters of the two villages, and accordingly he received the appointment. He took possession of the office in June, 1837, and all South Akron rejoiced with him. They felt that they were sharers of his good fortune. Had they not retained one of the greatest factors in the upbuilding of their section of the city? The new postmaster was received with open arms as a new neighbor. They of the North End were inwardly displeased. Mr. Johnson was one of them, but, by maintaining his office in the South End he was giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Their displeasure soon manifested itself outwardly and the columns of the newspapers bore evidence of their state of feeling. Mr. Johnson's "treason" was strongly denounced, and every possible argument for the removal of the post-office to the growing North Akron was set forth. Surely the South Akronites could not object to its removal to the neutral ground, called the "Gore" ! The churches had compromised on this strip, and here was the logical and reasonable site for all their common activities, the location of which might be in dispute. South Akron could see nothing to arbitrate. They could not see that it was "logical" to give up so desirable an acquisition as the post-office. For them, to go to the post-office was merely to go around the corner or across the street, while the north citizens must trudge a mile or more in snow,, mud and burning summer heat to get their mail and buy their stamps. It is to be feared that the South Enders taunted them as they passed and im moderately rejoiced in their own good for- tune. Human nature is the same in all ages. So the summer and autumn passed and South Akron had settled down to the full enjoyment of the post-office as their own property. The reader can imagine then, the surprise, the absolute consternation, which seized South Akron, one morning in December. 1837, when it looked for its beloved possession and could not find it. It searched for its post-office everywhere within its four corners; it rubbed its eyes and searched again. There was no mistaking the fact that somebody had done something with the post-office. At length the information was brought in that it had gone north during the night. It had not even stopped on the compromise ground. It was not to be a neutral thing. It was not to be possessed in common with the enemy. It had gone over to the enemy. It was resting and operating smoothly in the Buckley Building, on the corner of Howard and Mill streets. The North Enders were taking but a Step or two to reach it, while they of the South End were trudging a mile in the snow to buy their stamps, and a weary mile back, nursing their wrath and planning satisfaction. If newspaper articles are a means of satisfaction in such a contingency, they had it in full. We can well believe that the North Enders enjoyed the storm while their crestfallen rivals thundered their vituperation and insinuation in the local press. The postmaster was denounced as a "traitor" and a "viper." The ugliest charges, backed up by affidavits, were printed in the newspaper. Mr. Johnson replied by other articles and made use of many personalities calculated to drive his assailants to cover. Finally the editor of the paper refused to extend further the courtesy of his columns for the purpose of continuing the wordy war, and the contestants took to pamphleteeri ng. Sixteen-page pamphlets were used to give vent to the feeling of outrage on the part of the South Akron citizens, and their leading men assisted in preparing them and lent their names to the cause. It speaks well for the self-restraint of the com- 72 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY munity that the warfare was confined to the newspapers and that no violence of any kind was done or attempted. The injured feeling on the part of the South Enders soon passed away. The North End, from that time on, rapidly surpassed it in population, wealth and influence. Many of the citizens of the south village moved their business and residences to the North End. The spirit of partisanship or rivalry soon disappeared, never to be renewed. The post-office was moved many times thereafter without a note of protest from anybody. Dr. Dana D. Evans, the successor of Mr. Johnson, moved it twice, each time further north. The first move was into the Stone Block, on the east side of Howard street near Market; the second was to the large stone "Good Block," on the corner of Market and Maiden Lane. In 1849, postmaster Frank Adams moved it back to the east side of South Howard street, where Remington's jewelry store is now located. In 1853, his successor, Edward W. Perrin, moved it a few doors further north to a room in the Matthews Block, where it remained until July 1st, 1870, when the new postmaster, James B. Storer, just appointed by President Grant, moved it south to the corner room in the Masonic Temple on the corner of Howard and Mill streets. The lease on the room in the Masonic Temple expired before the new government building was ready for occupancy, and the post-office took temporary quarters in the old office of The American Cereal Company, on the south-east corner of Mill and Broadway, which had been vacated when that company moved its general offices to Chicago. Here it remained until the completion of the government building, on the corner of Market and High Streets, where, in all probability, it will remain so long as Akron people will have need of postal services. The separate post-office of Middlebury has been discontinued and a branch of the Akron office installed in its place, yet there was no objection to the move on the part of anyone. At the present time there is no rivalry between any of the many sections of the city, but, everywhere, the visitor sees evidence of a new spirit, a universal desire to pull together for the good of Akron. AKRON AN INCORPORATED TOWN. The real history of Akron as a municipal corporation commences on the 12th day of March, 1836, for it was on that day that the legislature of the State of Ohio duly passed a resolution granting to the two villages, South and North Akron, a town charter, in accordance with their joint request, as contained in a petition they presented to the General Assembly in 1835. In addition to the land contained in the original town plats of General Perkins, Paul Williams, Dr. Crosby and Leicester King, this act of the legislature added to the municipal territory more than three square miles just east of and contiguous to the said plats. The east corporate line under this grant of municipal rights extended a trifle east of the present Spicer Street and from about Hamilton Avenue across Fir, Market and North Main and Howard Streets to the Little Cuyahoga. River. The incorporating act provided a complete scheme of government for the new municipality, including officers, elections, forms of taxation, legislation, boards of education, etc. It provided for the election of a mayor, a recorder and five trustees. It prescribed that the first town election should be held on the second Tuesday in June, 1836. The territory out of which Akron was formed was taken from both Coventry and Portage townships. For the purpose of the first election, the usual polling place of Portage Township was to be used—the old Clark Tavern, on the corner of Main and Exchange. Streets. In 1836, the North End contained more electors than the South End, and, in the caucuses of both the Whig and Democrat parties, it captured the nominations. In the election following, political lines were obliterated, as they always should be in municipal elections, and the results showed that the voters split on sectional lines of cleavage in- AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 73 stead. The Whigs nominated Seth Iredell for mayor. He was a Quaker who had come from Pennsylvania about the time of the completion of the canal, and had been intimately connected with the affairs of the north town since the beginning. Their candidate for recorder was Charles W. Howard, a son-in-law of Dr. Crosby's, who, of course, was strongly identified with the interests of North Akron. The nominees of the Democrats for mayor and recorder were Dr. Eliakim Crosby and Constant Bryan, respectively, one the founder of North Akron and the other one of its most prominent citizens. It was rather poor politics to localize the nominations in this way, but the North Enders had the power, and the temptation to use it to the utmost was too strong to be withstood. The South Enders showed their feelings by voting against the man who was most responsible for the existence of the North End, and all others who were intimately connected with him. The total vote cast in the ensuing election was one hundred and sixty-six, and the strong interest in the election, produced by the warfare of the sections, doubtless drew out a full vote. The votes were soon counted and it was ascertained that Mr. Iredell had been elected by a majority of sixteen, while Mr. Bryan was elected by a majority of twelve. The vote was as follows : FOR MAYOR. Seth Iredell, Whig - 91 Elilakim Crosby, Democrat - 75 FOR RECORDER Constant Bryan, Democrat - 87 Charles W. Howard, Whig - 75 FOR TRUSTEES. Erastus Torrey, Whig - 153 Jedediah D. Commins, Democrat - 143 Noah M. Green, Whig - 124 William B. Mitchell, Democrat - 114 William E. Wright, Whig - 88 By the terms of the charter, all the above officials were to constitute the Town Council and possess within themselves all the executive, administrative, legislative and appointive functions. The charter provided for a marshall, treasurer, engineer,' solicitor, all to be appointed by the Town Council, and for such police and fire officers as it might deem expedient. When the council organized, it was learned that Mr. Mitchell had declined to act as trustee and Justus Gale, a Whig, was chosen to fill the vacancy. After serving a few months Mr. Commins also resigned as trustee and the council appointed William K. May as his successor. The grant of municipal powers from the state provided that town officials should hold office only one year. These just elected had but got well acquainted with their respective duties and had settled down to a reasonable enjoyment of the honors so hardly won, when the time for their exit from the stage of public affairs arrived. Whether they were dissatisfied with their offices or the people with their officials, the truth remains that not one of them remained in his office for a second term. Akron has earned for herself a reputation for fickleness in this respect that endures to the present day. At the second election, held in 1837, John C. Singleton, Jr., was elected mayor, William E. Wright, recorder, and William K. May, William T. Mather, Dave D. Evans, Jesse Allen and Eben Blodgett, trustees. When the new council met it elected Moses Cleveland, marshal, and Horace K. Smith, treasurer. The new mayor was a young man of twenty-seven years. His predecessor wt's nearly sixty-three. Mayor Singleton came of a wealthy family, living at Streetsboro, Portage County. He had graduated at Western Reserve College, at Hudson, with the class of 1835, and was esteemed later as a very brilliant man. He made some very unfortunate business ventures upon coming to Akron after his graduation, and his inexperience in the law prevented his securing many or profitable clients, so he was better known in Akron for his debts and his poverty than for any especial abilities, at the time of his candidacy. The fame he won by his first term brought him a re-election over such a strong candidate 74 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY as William M. Dodge, who was afterward elected probate judge of the county. In June, 1839, General Lucius V. Bierce, a most remarkable man in many ways, was elected as mayor. He had just returned from the ill-fated "Patriot" expedition into Canada. In 1838, it was believed by many American citizens that Canada was ready for revolution. A Canadian editor, William Lyon Mackenzie, was the originator of the movement. On the American side, all the territory bordering on the Great Lakes, became interested in it. In the beginning it took the form of a fraternal order with the accompanying ritual, secrecy, oaths, etc. "Hunters Lodges," as they were called, were established in many places. A prosperous lodge was formed in Akron. The object of the order was to assist Canada in throwing off the yoke of Great Britain. On the burning of the filibustering schooner "Caroline" by the Canadian authorities in December, 1837, great excitement prevailed in Akron and public meetings were held by all the prominent citizens and resolutions adopted demanding the prompt interference of the President of the United States. General Bierce was a brigadier-general of Ohio militia. He had always been a student of military matters and had early interested himself in the State Guard. The Canadian movement found him ready to begin hostilities at the drop of a hat. A convention of "Patriots" was called at Buffalo. General Bierce attended and so impressed the other delegates with his military knowledge that he was chosen as military commander-in-chief of the whole movement. The movement never reached any serious proportions. Judging from its size, the character of the men behind it, and the preparations made for carrying it out, it never got beyond the stage of boys' play. An attack of two hundred men was made in Canada in the St. Lawrence River district, and repelled without appreciable difficulty, and the leader of it hanged. Mackenzie was driven from Canada. December 4, 1838, General Bierce at the head of 137 men, made the second and last incursion into Canada. It started from Detroit and got as far es Windsor, just across the river. Fifty British soldiers were guarding the barracks here. The "Patriot Army," as the commander-in-chief delighted to call his squad, succeeded in setting fire to the barracks and also in burning a non-belligerent little steamer, "The Thames," lying at the wharf. They were soon attacked by 400 Canadian soldiers, and, of the 137 who crossed the river, only thirty returned. The rest were either killed or taken prisoners. The captured were transported to Van Dieman's land. This was the last of the effort to "free" Canada. It was a most inglorious affair. It is difficult to see now how anyone could possibly draw any credit from it, except, perhaps, the Canadian soldiers and the American federal authorities, who promptly and energetically did all they could to break up these filibustering expeditions and to maintain our ordinary status with the British government as a power with whom we were on friendly terms. General Bierce, it is alleged by many, did not acquit himself with extraordinary valor. He has been criticised for being among the first to cross in the little canoe to the American side after the disastrous sequel. Be that as it may, he returned to Akron with splendid stories of his exploits and speedily became a hero in the eyes of his fellow citizens. It was something to have an Akron man put in command of the "combined Patriot forces," if they did number only one hundred and thirty-seven. Anyhow, the next year General Bierce stood for mayor and was triumphantly elected. His military renown stood him in such good stead that he was elected mayor again in 1841-1844-1849-18671868, and was made president of the Board of Education at its first organization, in 1847. Other well-known men who have held the office of mayor are George W. McNeil, William T. Allen, George D. Bates, Sr., James Mathews and Samuel A. Lane. In 1851, the people of the State of Ohio adopted a new constitution. Acting under