HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY - 271
CHAPTER V.*
EARLY CHRISTIANITY—PIONEER MINISTERS—ESTABLISHMENT OF SCHOOLS—EDUCATIONAL
STATISTICS—COUNTY NEWSPAPERS—THE PRESS OF TODAY—RAILROADS-
-THEIR INVENTION—BENEFIT TO THE COUNTY.
G0 ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature—was the command given over eighteen centuries ago by the Man of Nazareth. Nor was it intended alone for the salvation of those nations who, year after year, brought tribute to Caesar. With prophetic vision, the world's great Redeemer gazed on nations then unborn, and heard the cry of those who, in all ages, even at the "ends of the earth," groaned beneath the yoke of sin. Then, for the redemption. He gave to His disciples those commands which in later years have caused His people to widely spread God's glorious truth. When from Atlantic's coast, even from Plymouth Rock, the Star of Empire first renewed her journey westward. and the pioneers of a mighty race descended the western slopes of the Alleghanies. then in the van of the great armay, the heralds of salvation bore aloft the Cross of Calvary. In the broad valley of the Mississippi, destined to become the home of a greater nation than any Caesar ever ruled. the solitary settlers rejoiced to hear those early messengers proclaim the ' glad tidings of great joy," or wept at the story of Pilate, the crown of thorns, and the agonies of Golgotha and Calvary. The dark and gloomy forests were pierced by the light that shone from the Star of Bethlehem, and the hymns of praise to God were mingled with the music of the woodman's ax, for in those early days, it could well be said that
"The groves were God's first temples."
* Contributed by W. H. Perrin.
The introduction of Christianity into the wilderness of Ohio was coeval with the settlement of the territory. Pioneer preachers and ministers, sent out by missionary societies of the older settled States of the East, wandered to the Ohio Territory, when few human beings, other than Indians, were to be found within its limits. And what is now Summit County was, in this respect, equally blest with other portions of the Western country. With the pioneers themselves, came missionaries, many of whom devoted years of energy and faithful labor to the Indians, teaching them the way unto eternal life." A case of this kind is recorded of Rev. Mr. Badger, a missionary from Blanford, Mass., who is said to have been the first minister ever on the Reserve, and for years devoted his time equally to his white and red brethren. Gen. Bierce, in his history of Summit County, says : " Mr. Badger came out and examined his field of labor in 1800, and so well pleased was he with the prospect, that he returned, resigned his charge in Blanford, where he had labored fourteen years, and removed his family to the almost trackless wilderness. He divided his labors between the whites of the Reserve and the Indians of Sandusky and Maumee. He was not only a preacher of peace, but a man of war. He was in Harrison's army during the war of 1812, and at the siege of Fort Meigs. In 1835, he tired of increasing civilization, and removed to Wood County, Ohio, where he died in 1846." Rev. Mr. Badger established the first church, of which we have any record, in
272 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
Summit County, on the 4th of September, 1802, at the house of Mr. Hudson, in Hudson Township. The society consisted of thirteen persons, not one of whom but has been called to account for " the deeds done in the body." A full history of this pioneer church will be found in the chapter devoted to Hudson.
The pioneers of Summit County had been brought up under the rigid system of Puritanism, imbibed, as it were, from Plymouth Rock itself, and hence, when they came to "New Connecticut," as this region was then called, these religious principles were still held, and most scrupulously guarded. A writer upon this subject, whose ripe scholarship and vast experience entitles his opinion to some weight, says : " They brought to this new land a religious spirit that eagerly seized upon 'The Reserve,' as a means to propagate a theology that had hitherto flourished only within the rock-bound limits of New England. In their native land, hedged about by traditions that had commanded the unquestioning respect of parents and children for many generations ; opposition had been thrust out, and the people began to feel, like the Jews of old, that they were especially aided of God, and that they alone had kept the faith undefiled. But, hitherto, it had not been successfully transplanted, and, when the ' Western Reserve ' was placed in the control of those ' to the manor born,' a prominent thought in their minds was that now favorable circumstances were to aid in transplanting the Puritan faith to a spot peculiarly guarded, from which its influence, like the light, should dispel the the darkness, and make the Church of New England the church universal. Accepting the dogma of 'original sin,' they got beneath the denunciatory preaching of their native land, with a meekness that was satisfied, if, by the rigid rule of practice laid down, they might, peradventure, be saved. But under this quiet exterior, there was a true war-like spirit, and the mind of each member of the church, that had reached maturity of thought, was an arsenal of theological weapons. At church meetings, in the social circles, and on the street, the ponderous themes of election," foreordination," the perseverance of the saints,' and kindred subjects, were prominent topics, and wielded with a power and an address that vividly recalls the physical combat of mediaeval times. On coming to the new country, however, these characteristics experienced a change. The standing army had been mobilized, and each member was imbued with the enthusiasm of a crusader, but they found here an enemy, to subdue whom their arsenal held no adequate weapon. Their fulminations of the decrees were met with an appeal to commonsense philosophy ; dogmas were met with the demand for freedom of thought ; and the result here, as in many a physical conflict, was that the light-armed forces completely demoralized those strong only in their defensive armor, and forced them to accept, and, in the end, to champion, that freedom of thought that they had early learned to denounce as heresy."
The early religious history of "The Reserve " would make an interesting volume, and one of considerable magnitude, but our space will not admit of more than a passing glance in this chapter. The early missionaries and pioneer preachers, as we have said, came to the county with the early settlers themselves. Rev. David Bacon was one of these pioneer soldiers of the Cross, and the next minister in this section, perhaps, a Mr. Badger. He established a " Church of Christ." in Tallmadge, in 1809. This early temple of God consisted of ten members, five males and five females, and, " having no meeting-house, they met in . private houses and barns." Of the church, established by Mr. Bacon, Gen. Bierce says : " Imbued with the spirit of New England theology, Mr. Bacon conceived the project of transplanting it into the Western world. A religious colony was his favorite theory, in which all should believe alike and be bound to contribute to the support of the Gospel by a tax on the land, which should be tantamount to a mortgage on the property. * * * Mr. Bacon had previously purchased from Tallmadge & Starr 12,000 acres of land at $1.50 per acre. * * * This purchase gave him a controlling interest in the township. In all subsequent sales by him, he inserted a clause in the contract charging every one hundred acres of land sold, with a tax of $2 a year for the support of the Gospel—and none but believers in the Saybrook platform could have any land at any price, or on any condition except that of joining the church." Doubtless the reverend gentleman was looking forward to that good time coming, when "the lamb and the lion shall lie down together," and we shall all see alike and be alike and love
HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY - 273
each other like one great family. But the world was not old enough nor ripe enough for so grand and glorious a scheme, and hence Mr. Bacon was doomed to a bitter disappointment. Other individuals and companies holding lands, sold them "unincumbered by restrictions as to religious beliefs," and free of any tax for church or Gospel purposes. The liberality and freedom of these titles, compared to the entailed incumbrance of the Bacon system, soon broke up the latter and the "theory of an exclusive religious community failed." Members who, of their own freewill and accord, were willing to contribute to the support of the Gospel, protested against being driven into support of it, whether they were willing or not, and, as a natural consequence, a spirit of bitterness was engendered in the church "which brought forth anything but holiness." The feeling against Mr. Bacon became so strong that he was finally forced to resign his charge. This he did in the spring of 1812 ; also, " gave up his land contract and abandoned his Utopian scheme." He was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Woodruff, who, it seems, did not continue in the high esteem of the church for any length of time. His resignation was earnestly sought, and, when tendered, was eagerly accepted. The history of this church will be given more fully in another chapter.
A log meeting house was erected in Tallmadge in 1814, and in 1817 an edifice for church purposes was built in Hudson. Elder Newcomb was an early divine of Copley Township, and preached the first sermon in that division of the county. The first society organized there. however, was by Mr. Pettitt, a Congregational minister, in 1832. Religious meetings were held in Twinsburg in 1820. A Congregational Church was formed in that township in 1828, by Rev. Samuel Bissell. Thus the Gospel spread and churches were organized as the county became peopled by the whites, until now, side by side with the schoolhouse, we find in every section, those
"Steeple towers
And spires. whose silent fingers point to Heaven."
The cause of education received the early attention of the pioneers of Summit County, and among these Connecticut Yankees it found a congenial soil in which it flourished, and has brought forth fruit a hundred fold. In the early settlement of' this part of the State, there were a great many influences that worked against general education. Neighborhoods were thinly settled, money was scarce, and the people generally were poor. There were no schoolhouses, nor was there any public school fund to build schoolhouses, or even to pay teachers. All persons of either sex, who had physical strength enough to labor, were compelled to take their part in the work, the labor of the females being as heavy and important as that of the men ; and this strain upon their industry continued for years. Another drawback to education was a lack of teachers and of books. Taking all these facts together, it is a great source of wonder that the pioneers had any schools at all. But the early settlers, who came principally from New England, the seat of learning and the birthplace of liberal education, deserve the highest honors for their prompt and energetic efforts in the establishment of schools. Just as soon as the settlements would at all justify, schools were opened at each one, and any vacant cabin, stable, barn or other outhouse was used as a temple of learning. The schools were paid for by subscription, at the rate of about 50 or 75 cents a month per scholar. Although the people of Ohio and of Summit County displayed this early interest in the cause of education, yet, when the State Legislature passed a law in 1825, making education compulsory, it raised quite a tempest for a time. The taxpayers of the country at large very heartily indorsed the Legislature in passing the Canal Law, which voted away millions of money, but as heartily condemned it for passing a law compelling them to support " pauper schools," and the poorer classes. were loud in their condemnation, because the law made pauper scholars " of their children.
Those who remember the early school-laws of Ohio will remember the frequent changes made in them, and how crude and imperfect they were as compared to the present law. The early laws were changed every session of the Legislature, until they became a perfect chaos of amendments, provisions, etc., which none were wholly able to explain or understand. One district would act under one law, and an adjoining district under altogether a different one. But the adoption of a new Constitution gave the State a revised school law, said, at
274 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
the time of its adoption. to be the best and most perfect within the bounds of the Union. And from that day to the present, it has kept its place as the best and most liberal school law of any of the States.
The early schoolhouses. as a general thing. were of the poorest kind. In towns, they were dilapidated buildings, either frame or logs, and in the country they were invariably of logs. Usually but one style of architecture was used in building them. They were erected. not from a regular fund or by subscription. but by labor given. The neighbors would gather together at some place previously agreed upon. and with ax in hand the work was soon done. Logs were cut from sixteen to eighteen feet in length. and of these the walls were raised. Broad boards composed the roof. and a rude fireplace and clapboard door. a puncheon floor. and the cracks filled with " chinks." and these daubed over with mud completed the schoolhouse. with the exception of the windows and the furniture. These were as rude and as primitive as the house itself. The window was made by cutting out a log the full length of the building. and over the opening. in winter. paper, saturated with grease. served to admit the light. Just under this window. two or three stout pins were driven in the log in a slanting direction. on which a log puncheon was fastened. and this was the writing desk" of the whole school. For seats, they used benches made from small trees. cut in lengths of ten or twelve feet. split open. and in the round side two large holes were bored at each end, and in each a stout pin. fifteen inches. was driven. These pins formed the legs, and on rough and uneven floors, hardly ever more than three of these legs "touched bottom" at one and the same time. And the books ! They were as promiscuous as the house and furniture were rude. The New Testament was the most popular reader. " Introduction to the English Reader," " Sequel to the English Reader," and finally the reader itself, were in the collection of school-books of the time. The New England Primer was one of the primary books. The higher spellers were Dilworth's and then Webster's. Grammar was scarcely ever taught ; when it was, the textbooks used were Murray's and Kirkham's Grammars. But it is unnecessary to follow the description further. Those who have known only the perfect system of schools ofthe present can scarcely form an idea of the limited capacity of educational facilities in this favored region fifty to seventy years ago. There are doubtless, however. many still living in Summit County who. from personal experience. know something of pioneer schools and schoolhouses.
The first school taught in Summit County was by George Pease, in the fall and winter of 1801. The house in which it was taught stood on the southwest corner of Lot 56. of Hudson Township, and " near the center of what was then the public square." The next school in this settlement was taught in the same house by Miss Patty Filer. The first school was taught in Norton Township by Sarah Wyatt, in a little log cabin near John son's Corners. In 1809. a school was taught in Northampton by .Justus Remington. and in Richfield a Mr. Farnum was the pioneer pedagogue. In the winter of 1812. Reuben Upson wielded the birch and ferule in Springfield Township in a little house that stood near Cass Campground : Miss Lucy Foster performed the same office in Tallmadge Township in 1810. in a small log shanty that stood south of the center. Rachel Hammond. in 1811. taught the first school in Bath Township. in a house belonging to Aaron Miller. and Lois Ann Gear taught the first in Boston Township, in the summer of the same year ; in 1817, Joseph Mishler taught the first school in Franklin Township, in a log house that had been built for a church.
From these facts it will be seen that the pioneers of Summit County lost no time in establishing school's in the new country to which they had come. As we have said. there were no free schools then, but all schools were paid for by general subscription.
The county, in addition to its excellent system of common schools, has. at the present time, several colleges. academies and high schools in successful operation. These will be written up fully in the respective townships in which they are located. The educational history of each township will also be given, from the small beginnings already noticed, through its various changes and improvements, to its present perfect state.
The following statistics, from the report of the State Board of Education, will be found of general interest :
HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY - 275
MONEY RECEIVED WITHIN THE YEAR.
Balance on hand September 1, 1878....................$67,558 30
State Tax................................................................22,405 26
Irreducible School Fund .........................................1,688 58
Local Tax for School and Schoolhouse
Purposes ...........................................................84,371 49
Amount received on sale of bonds...........................1,040 20
From fines, licenses and other sources.....................3,130 77
Total receipts .....................................................$180,194 60
Amount paid teachers..............$70,226 10
Managing and superinten'g .........2,005 00
Sites and buildings.....................19,477 50
Interest on redemption of
bonds ......................................6,683 49
Fuel and other contingent
expenses ................................18,610 53
Total expenditures................................................$117,002 62
Balance on hand September 1, '79, ........................$63,191 98
Payment to Summit County....................................$19,362 00
Received from Summit County.................................22,003 28
Excess of Receipts from county.,...............................$2,641 28
Section 16 Fund...............................$ 588 70
Western Reserve Fund.....................1,115 52
Total ..........................................................................$1,704 22
Youths between six and twenty-one years—
White. males, 6,601 ; females, 6,241,,., 12,842
Colored, males, 51 : females, 55 ................106
Total ............................................................12,948
Number of Schoolhouses in County
Townships. primary 144: high, 1................ 145
Separate districts, primary, 17 : high. 7,.........24
Total...................................................................169
Total value of School Property
Townships, primary, $141,792; high,
$6,000 ..................................................$147.792
Separate district, primary, .......$157,500;
high. $38,80O.......................................$196,300
Total ..........................................................$344,092
Number of different teachers employed
Townships. primary, males, 125 ; fe-
..........males, 124 ; high, males, 2.........................251
Separate districts, primary, males, 3 ;
females, 68 ; high, males, 7 ; females,
13 ......................................................................91
Total .....................................................................342
Average wages paid teachers
Townships, primary, males, per month,............$35
primary, females, per month ..........................26
high, males......................................................62
high. females ..................................................00
Separate districts, primary, males.......................113
primary, females.........................................40
high, males ................................................90
high, females..............................................70
No, of different pupils enrolled within the year
Townships, primary, males, 3,092 ; fe-
males, 2,552; high, males, 28 ; fe-
male, 23 ............................................................5,665
Separate districts, primary, males, 1,
742 ; females, 1,743 ; high, males,
346 ; females, 430..............................................4,261
Total .......................................................................9,926
Average daily attendance
Townships, primary, males, 1,536 ; fe-
males, 1,231; high, males, 13 ; fe-
males, 11.......................................................2,791
Separate districts, primary, males, 1,-
326 ; females, 1,313 high, males,
210 ; females, 309............................................3,158
Total .....................................................................5,949
Per cent of average daily attendance of monthly enrollment—Townships,,75 ; separate districts, ,92,
Teachers employed in private schools
In townships, 5 ; separate districts 40 .....................45
Pupils enrolled in private schools
Separate districts, males, 205 ; females,
250.........................................................................455
No, of students in attendance at Buchtel College
Males. 104; females, 52. ........................................156
No, of students in attendance at Western Reserve
College
Males, 93 : females, 6.................................................99
The following is from David Ellet, County Examiner. to the State Board of Education : "The schools of this county are slowly and steadily improving in efficiency and usefulness, They will compare favorably with those of the adjoining counties. Many of our teachers desire to know more of teaching as a profession, and, as a result of this, avail themselves largely of the opportunities furnished in this direction by our county institutes. Our schools need more good teachers—teachers better qualified by education, by experience, and by devotion to their work. They want more good school officers. and more earnestness, more enthusiasm. a greater sense of responsibility in all who are connected with the schools. In some localities an improved state of opinion is needed among those who patronize the schools, a more intelligent acquaintance with their present condition, and a more enlarged appreciation of their capabilities." The above is sound doctrine, and should be well considered by those who are concerned in the cause of education.
A few extracts from the annual report of Hon. J, J. Burns, State Commissioner of Schools. appear to us so appropriate in this connection that we give place to them. He
276 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
says : " How shall we cause our pupils to make the largest possible attainments in these foundation branches, and also have them, when they leave school, thirsting for more knowledge, and possessing trained mental faculties so that they may acquire it ; the organ of these faculties to be contained in a healthy body, while mind and body are under the guidance of correct moral principles ? To avoid waste of time and labor is to be able to better do the work in hand, and to apply the savings to something beyond. A search for wastage is a highly practical thing, and economy here, a moral duty. I have often asserted that there is a wastage in having pupils spend time in learning to spell hundreds—yes, thousands—of words which they never have occasion to use outside of the spelling-class, while probably the dictionary, which should be in constant use, rests in pensive quietness on the teacher's desk, if, indeed, there is one in the room. The meaning of words and their pronunciation are of far more moment than their spelling. The best textbooks from which to learn these are the reader and dictionary ; and the best proofs of progress are correct oral reading and written compositions. Is there anything better than a common spelling-book exercise to cause pupils to think that we learn words for the sake of knowing how to spell them ? that we are seeking not kernels but shells ? In penmanship, we want more drill in writing from dictation, in having the pupils put their thoughts or recollections upon paper rapidly and neatly. Copying that beautiful line at the top of the page with care and patience is a good exercise, but some better gymnastic is required to fit the writer for hours of real work. In one way and another, language rightly claims a large share of the attention of the teacher. It is the grand characteristic which distinguishes man from the other animals, the most direct product of his inner consciousness.
"The child has begun the study of language before his school life commences. Learning to talk seems as natural as learning to laugh, or cry, or play. But so much of knowledge and of the world is hidden in books, that a key must be found to unlock these treasures, and that key is reading—the power to translate the written word ; to recognize it as the graphic symbol of an idea before in possession, so that the ability to reverse the process will follow, and printedwords become the source of ideas. As the pupil masters words and their meaning, he is getting into his possession the tools with which he may dig in books for further knowledge, make his own knowledge more useful to him as a social being, and secure a body for his thoughts, without which incarnation they are as little subject to control as the weird fancies of a dream. The art of silent reading deserves more attention in school—practice in grasping the meaning of a passage in the shortest possible time, and reproducing it with pen or tongue. But along with this, in its earlier stages, and a short time preceding it, is the oral reading exercise, wherein the reader must serve as eyes to the listeners, so that they may, through his voice, see the printed page. How much inspiration is there in this work when each listener has the page before his own eyes ? The translation of a written sentence into a spoken sentence is much more than the mere translation, in their right order, of the words of the written sentence ; and to do this well requires, besides the names of the written characters. culture of voice, training of eye, quickening of emotion. To serve as a medium through which others may know the printed page, catching its syllables upon the ear, is not low art. To breathe life into dead words. and send them into the depths of the moral and intellectual nature of the hearer, and that with power to convince, to arouse, to subdue, greater than if the hearer had been his own interpreter, is high art indeed. We cannot, however, afford the time, even if that were the only obstacle, to train all our school children to be readers in this artistic sense. We must content ourselves with the more modest aim, and remember that. after all, the prime object of the reading exercise in school is not to train the youth to shine as elocutionists, or serve as a mirror for others, but to impart to them the ability to get knowledge from books, and to keep alive a hunger for it, thus ' determinating the pupil to self-activity,' which Hamilton calls the ' primary principle of education.'
" Another language of great value is committing to memory—learning by heart well, phrases—choice selections, gems of thought and expression, culled from the best writings of the best writers. These should be judiciously selected, so as not to be too much beyond the easy comprehension of the pupil. They should,
HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY - 277
gent solution of ordinarily difficult problems in discount and certain other branches of applied arithmetic. Back and forth across this stretch the boy's mind must swing like a pendulum, repelled by what it cannot comprehend, and by what it has grown tired of. He marks time, when he could so readily oblique into some other study and march forward. Then, by and by, if these advanced parts of arithmetical science are needed, their acquisition would be easy. Meanwhile, the child may give increased attention to literature and be learning interesting and profitable lessons about this world into which he has come, and in what he came, and how to take care of it. While these priceless practical lessons are in progress, one can fancy that the arithmetic itself would enjoy the rest.
" In the time which can be saved, also a few short steps could be taken in some other branches now much neglected. The reason for and the practical mode of, doing many things which are to be done in real life by the citizen, the man of business, the manager of a household, might be taught in the schools. Something of the nature of the materials which we eat, drink and wear, and economy in the buying and using, would be excellent lessons. If He is a benefactor of mankind who causes two blades of grass to grow where one grew before, the language does not furnish a name for him or her who shall cause the laboring man to know how to make $1 produce the good results for which he must now expend two. No matter whether we regard the school as established primarily for the good of the children, or for the preservation of the State, we must admit that the most valuable result of all education, is the building of good characters. This, to speak definitely, is to instill correct principles, and train in right habits. Citizens with these constitute a State. Men and women with these are in possession of what best assures rational happiness, the end and aim of human life."
In his report of 1878, upon the subject of Compulsory Education—a subject which is now receiving considerable attention in many of the States—the State Commissioner says : Concerning the right of State or Government to pass and carry into effect what is known as Compulsory Laws, and require parents and guardians, even against their will, to send their children to school, there does not appear to be above all other requisites, be pure, healthful, inspiring. The teacher should add interest to the work by relating incidents in the life of the authors. We know with what tenacity the memory clings to the simple rhymes learned in childhood. If this work be continued as it should be, who can deny its lasting effects upon ' life? A refined taste and quickened intellect may be hoped for as the result of drinking in and assimilating beautiful thoughts in chaste, musical language—words of warning or of approval, flashed by the memory upon the judgment in the time of temptation, of resistance thereto. * * * *
* * * * *
" One very good result of increased attention to literature in the schools is the marked increase in the amount of wholesome reading—history, biography, travels, poetry, popular science and the lessened demand for dime novels and other low. fiction. Few questions are, in their bearing upon the future of our country, more important than this : What are the boys and girls reading? I would not, then, have less time spent in our schools upon language, but teachers may well look into the subject, and see whether that time is spent to the best advantage. The puplic regard arithmetic, par excellence. as the practical study. It is the practical educator's strong tower, and we have it taught in season and out. The nine digits seem to have taken the place of the heathen gods, and their demand for offerings knows no cessation. Measured by any definition of the practical, as a means either to fit one directly for bread-getting in the common business of life, or as a means of mental culture and discipline, a large part of arithmetic, as found in our books and taught from them, falls short. Instead of introducing, at an early stage, the science of geometry, we fritter away valuable time upon annuities and allegation, and progression ; and, as for interest, one would think that mankind in general made a living by shaving each other's notes. Children begin early to develop the idea of numbers. It concerns matters of their daily life. The elemental steps of writing and reading numbers, or the symbols of numbers, naturally follow, and, usually, are not difficult of acquirement. But there is such a gap between the conditions needed for the ready learning of these things, and the more mature judgment and that knowledge of business and the world, demanded in the instill
278 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
much diversity of opinion. Concerning the policy thereof, dependent upon so many known and unknown conditions, there is the widest diversity. I can write no history of the results of the act of March 20, 1877, for it does not seem to have any. A great good would be wrought if the wisdom of the General Assembly could devise some means which shall strengthen and supplement the powers of Boards of Education, and enable them to prevent truancy, even if only in cases where parents desire their children to attend school regularly, but parental authority is too weak to secure that end. The instances are not few in which parents would welcome aid in this matter. knowing that truancy is often the first step in a path leading through the dark mazes of idleness. vagabondage and crime.
"Whatever may be said of young children working in mills and factories, youthful idlers upon the streets of towns and cities should be gathered up by somebody and compelled to do something. If they learn nothing else, there will at least be this salutary lesson, that society is stronger than they, and without injuring them, will use its strength to protect itself. While we are establishing reform schools for those who have started in the way to their own ruin, and have donned the uniform of the enemies of civil society, it would be a heavenly importation to provide some way to rescue those who are yet lingering around the camp."
The Press of Summit County.*—We have been fortunate in finding the very " fountain head " of the copious flow of local literature—polite, political, miscellaneous and otherwise—with which the people of the territory now embraced in Summit County, have been blessed during the past sixty years. In August, 1825, Mr. Laurin Dewey, a young printer from Ravenna, afterward well-known as a prominent Whig politician in Northern Ohio, issued a prospectus for a paper to be published in the village of Middlebury, now the Sixth Ward of Akron, to be called the Ohio Canal Advocate. To aid him in this enterprise, a subscription paper was circulated among the people, of Middlebury, of which the following is a copy :
" We, the subscribers, being anxious for the prosperity of this section of the country, and the dissemination of useful information generally, do severally agree to pay the sums set op-
* Written by Samuel A. Lane.
posite our respective names, for the purpose of purchasing a printing press, types, etc., and for erecting a printing establishment in the village of Middlebury, under the direction of Mr. Laurin Dewey, who will edit and publish a weekly paper, devoted to the general interests of the country, advertising, etc., the columns to be enriched by foreign and domestic news. religious intelligence, poetry. etc.; the sums so by us paid to be considered in the nature of a loan, to be repaid whenever the editor shall consider himself able to do so."
The names of the signers of this document, with their several contributions to the purchasing fund. are as follows : Charles Sumner. M0 Erastus Torrey. $10: Henry Chittenden, $5 . Nathan Gillett. Jr.. $5 ; Rufus Hart, $3 : Edward Sumner. $10 : Samuel Newton. $10 , Charles W. Brown. $5 ; Benajah A. Allen. $3 Phineas Pettis. $5 : Elijah Mason. $5 : John McMillan. Jr.. $10 : Spencer & Morgan. $15 : Alexander C. Lawson, $2 ; William McGallard. $2 ; D. W. Williams. $5 ; Thomas C. Viall. $2 Jacob Kaufman, $5 ; Jesse Allen, $4 : Ithiel Mills, $3 ; Amos Spicer, $4 ; William Bell, $3 , Roswell Kent & Co., $5 ; Henry Squires. $5 Elisha Farnam, $5 ; Joseph W. Brown : $5 Horatio Howard. $5 ; Ambrose S. Cotter. $5 ; Henry Rhodes. $3 ; William Phelps. $2 ; William J. Hart. $3 : R. & S. McClure, $5 : Theophilus Potter, $2 ; Joshua Richards, $2 ; Bagley & Humphrey, $10 ; Leonard Chatfield. $2 ; David Jones. $2 ; Titus Chapman, $2 ; Julius A. Sumner. $3 ; Miner Spicer. $4 ; Alpheus Hart, $1 ; Paul Williams. $2 ; Guerdon Geer, $5. Total amount subscribed. $204. a sum scarcely adequate-to the purchase of a first-class printer's outfit in these latter days. Ozias Bowen, Esq.. then a resident of Middlebury (afterward a prominent citizen of Marion, and Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of that county), associated himself with Mr. Dewey in the enterprise, but before the paper was started, Mr. Dewey transferred his interest to Elijah Mason. Esq.
The Portage Journal.—The Ohio Canal suestion, meantime, having been substantially settled, and needing no further advocacy, Messrs. Bowen and Mason, before the first issue, changed the name of their paper to the Portage Journal. The first number was issued on the 28th day of September, 1825. Printing materials were not as readily obtainable then as now,
HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY - 279
and, as the utmost economy had to he exercised in making the " plant," the Cleveland Herald having just procured a new dress, the old types, rules, chases, stands, cases, etc.. purchased from that establishment, together with an old Ramage" press—the press of Benjamin Franklin—constituted the entire outfit of the Portage Journal, the whole concern being transported overland, from Cleveland to Middlebury, in a couple of two-horse wagons. The size of the paper was 19x24 inches. with four columns to the page, the terms of publication being " Two dollars per annum (exclusive of postage). if payment be made within the year, or two dollars and fifty cents if payment be delayed until the year expires. 'No paper will be discontinued until arrcarages are paid." In politics. the Journal appears to have been nearly neutral, with a very decided leaning toward the anti—Jackson. or Adams, party. The connection of Mr. Bowen ceased with No. 57. October 27. 1826. Mr. John McMillan. Jr. (father of Mr. George W. McMillan. of Northampton Township, to whom the writer is indebted for a portion of the material for this chapter). purchasing Mr. Bowen's interest, the new firm being McMillan & Mason. who changed the name of the paper to the Portage Journal and WeekIy Advertiser —a pretty long name for so small a paper. This arrangement continued just one year. Mr. Mason retiring with No. 109, his place being taken by Alvah Hand. Esq.. then practicing law in Middlebury. the new firm of McMillan & Hand, with Mr. Hand as editor. continuing its publication until January or February, 1829, when it was discontinued for want of adequate support. the materials of the office being sold to parties in Massillon. Mr. George W. McMillan. at present living among us, vigorous and hearty. and Hon. Hiram Bowen. afterward founder of the Beacon. and one term Summit County's Representative in the State Legislature. and still an active business man in the State of Kansas, were both employes in the pioneer printing office of Summit County—the Portage Journal.
The Ohio Observer.—The second place in which the newspaper found a " local habitation and a name " within the present limits of Summit County was Hudson. January 20, 1827. a religious paper called the Western Intelligencer, was started in Cleveland. edited by Harmon Kingsbury, J. G. and D. B. McLain, and Kingsbury, being the publishers. August 31, 1827, Rev. Randolph Stone became associate editor, and March 19, 1828. sole editor of the paper, with John G. McLain as publisher, which arrangement continued until the close of 1829, when the publication of the paper was suspended. In March. 1830, a new series was commenced in Hudson, with Warren Isham as editor and proprietor, who at that time changed the name to the Observer and Telegraph. December 30, 1830, Lewis Berry. a practical printer, became a partner with Mr. Isham in the concern. but in April, 1832, Mr. Isham again became sole proprietor of the paper. May 10, 1832, the name of Rev. James B. Walker appears joined with Mr. Isham, but was soon afterward dropped, the paper. about this time, taking the name of the Ohio Observer. February 26. 1834, R. M. Walker and S. J. Bradstreet became the editors and proprietors of the paper. December 11, 1834. Rev. James B. Walker. afterward Pastor of the Congregational Church in Akron. became sole editor and proprietor. the close of 1833—about which time the paper was temporarily crippled through the breaking of its press, by a few sturdy blows from a blacksmith's sledge. wielded by a prominent citizen of Hudson. whose moral character the paper had or was about to call in question —Rev. A. R. Clarke became its editor and proprietor. and transferred the paper to Cleveland. uniting it with the Cleveland Journal. Rev. O. P. Hoyt being associated with Mr. Clarke as editor. November 1. 1838. the paper was discontinued, but its publication resumed January 9, 1839. April 16, 1840. the paper was returned to Hudson, with Prof. E. P. Barrows as editor, the pecuniary responsibility for its publication being assumed by an association of gentlemen in Hudson and other portions of the Western Reserve. October 2. 1842. Prof. Henry N. Day became associated with Prof. Barrows as one of the editors. February 14, 1844, the office, press, types, fixtures. etc., were destroyed by fire. and, for a short time, the paper was printed at Cuyahoga Falls.
After the fire, the association having charge of the publication of the paper, paid up the balance of its indebtedness and withdrew from the concern. The paper then went into the hands of A. Upson & Co., who published it till January, 1848, at which date it was transferred to W. Skinner & Co.. who, in turn, transferred
280 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY .
it to Sawyer, Ingersoll & Co., in January, 1851, Messrs. Barrows and Day continuing to edit the paper until 1852, their services being performed gratuitously, being purely a "labor of love " for mankind in general, and the readers of the Observer in particular. J. S. Sawyer was the editor in 1852, and Rev. John C. Hart in 1853. January 11, 1854, the subscription-list of the Family Visitor was transferred to the Observer, which was continued one year longer, under the name of the Ohio Observer and Register, when, upon the failure of the publishers, the paper ceased to exist. The Observer, during its many vicissitudes, was always very ably edited. It was a religious, literary and political (nonpartisan) family newspaper, specially representing the interests of the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches, under the old plan of union, and, during the nearly thirty years of its existence. its influence for good among the people of the Western Reserve cannot well be overestimated.
The Family Visitor.—Hudson's second newspaper venture was the Family Visitor, commenced January 3, 1850, also in Cleveland, the names of Prof. J. P. Kirtland and 0. H. Knapp, appearing as editors. On May 2, 1850, Mr. Knapp's name was dropped, the paper at that time being published simultaneously in Cleveland and Hudson. In January, 1852, the paper was wholly transferred to Hudson, and, in the spring of that year, Prof. Matthew C. Read became its sole editor, continuing to act in that capacity with great acceptance of the patrons and readers of the ever-welcome Visitor until January 11, 1854, when its subscription list was transferred to the Observer and Register, as before stated. The plan of the publishers and editors of the Visitor was to furnish a family paper—scientific, literary, religious and agricultural—of a high moral tone, excluding everything in any respect objectionable. It had subscribers in every State in the Union, who deeply regretted its discontinuance. It was the first of quite a large class of hightoned papers, which have become successful ; but, being in advance of the times, had to be given up, because under the disaster-inviting credit system then prevailing among newspaper publishers, and their so-called "patrons," the proprietors could not afford to labor and to wait" for the future harvest which was surely coming.
The Hudson Enterprise.—This paper was established as an amateur sheet, in connection with a small job office, in May, 1875, by H. M. McDonald. It was a five-column folio, using " patent " outsides, the inside of the paper, only, filled with local and general news, advertising, etc., being printed in the office of publication. The Enterprise, which by this time had come to be an indispensable necessity in many of the households of the village and surrounding townships, was bought by Mr. J. H. Meek, in July, 1876, who in turn sold it to Col. Sullivan D. Harris, the former able editor of the Ohio Cultivator, in April, 1877. Col. Harris dying a few weeks after his purchase of the paper, it was bought by its present proprietor, Mr. C. G. Guilford, who changed it into a five-column quarto, the entire paper now being set up " and printed at home. The Enterprise, for a purely local journal, is all that its name implies, and is eminently worthy of the increasing prosperity it now enjoys.
College City Venture.—In July, 1856. Mr. E. F. Chittenden, an old compositor on the Visitor, established a small weekly paper at Hudson, under this title, calling to his assistance as editor, M. C. Read, Esq., but only a few numbers were issued, though while it did live, it was very ably conducted, indeed.
Hudson Gazette.—In November, 1857. Rev. Alexander Clark, afterward becoming a D. D. and man of note in the Methodist Episcopal Church. in Pennsylvania, now deceased, started a small paper at Hudson under the above title. It was devoted to " Commerce, Education. Agriculture, Arts and News," and was quite ably edited but continued in existence on a few weeks.
The Ohio Review.—The next point, in chronological order, to be illumined by the effulgence supposed to emanate from the printing press, was Cuyahoga Falls. Largely through the influence of Judge Joshua Stow—then the owner of a large proportion of the lands of the village—Horace Canfield and Timothy P. Spencer, a couple of enterprising young printers of Hartford, Conn., were induced to remove to Cuyahoga Fails and open a newspaper and job printing office in 1833. After many delays in getting together the necessary materials, the first number of the Ohio Review was issued by Messrs. Canfield & Spencer November 30, 1833. The paper was neatly printed and quite ably conducted. and, being neutral in politics. was well-
HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY - 281
liked by the people ; but its circulation being necessarily very limited, and the income of the establishment not proving sufficient to meet its current expenses, the Review, after an existence of something over one year, was temporarily discontinued December 12, 1834, Messrs. Canfield & Spencer removing to Cleveland, and from there, soon afterward, to Medina. The printing office, however, remaining at the Falls, the publication of the Review was soon afterward resumed by " An Association of Gentlemen "—names not given—with Mr. James Lowrey as printer. The exact date of its discontinuance we have been unable to ascertain ; but as Mr. Henry Wetmore has a number of the fourth volume, dated April 13, 1837, in his possession, and as an Akron contemporary of May 5, 1838, says : "There are four papers now published at Cuyahoga Falls, three of which are castigators, viz., the Renovator, the Young Buzzard and the Telescope," the three papers mentioned being ephemeral affairs, it is probable that the Review was still in existence at that date, and very likely continued for some years thereafter.
The Cuyahoga Falls Reporter.—In the year 1870, Mr. E. O. Knox, a practical printer, but with very little money and absolutely no journalistic experience, commenced the publication of a handsome nine-column weekly paper, under the title of the Cuyahoga Falls Reporter. Its outside pages are replete with choice literature, interesting miscellany, and carefully collated foreign and domestic news, its inside columns being devoted to local intelligence, advertising, etc. The Reporter is edited with ability, and, in point of newsy sprightliness, is far above the average weekly papers of the State. The Reporter, now well into the eleventh year of its existence, is steadily growing in public favor and circulation, and is exerting a powerful influence in promoting the industrial interests of the village, and in maintaining the proverbial reputation of Cuyahoga Falls for intelligence, morality and thrift.
The Akron Post was the first paper ever published in Akron proper. It was a five-column weekly sheet, Democratic in politics, and edited and published by Madison H. White, the materials having been imported from Medina. The press was of the " Ramage " persuasion—a wooden-framed affair, with stone bed, wooden platen and screw power, each form requiring Itwo separate " pulls," the distinctness of the impression depending altogether upon the muscle and avoirdupois of the pressman, the forms being inked with huge sheepskin balls, stuffed with cotton, even the glue-and-molasses hand-rollers not being used in this far-off country at that time. The first number of the Post was issued on the 23d day of March, 1836, and the last number on the 15th day of November of the same year, the duration of its life being a short two-thirds of a year only.
The Akron Journal, also Democratic, was the next candidate for the public favor of the good people of Akron. It was of about the same size and general character as the Post, but far more ably conducted, its editor and proprietor being our present venerable, well-preserved fellow-citizen, Judge Constant Bryan. The first number of the Journal—printed with the same press and types as its predecessor—was issued on the 1st day of December, 1836, and continued until the 15th day of June, 1837. the period of its existence being six months and two weeks only. The American Balance, devoted to the interests of the people of Akron, the State of Ohio and the United States in general, and of the Whig party in particular, was started by Horace K. Smith and Gideon G. Galloway on the 19th day of August, 1837. The materials were second-hand, mostly procured in Cleveland, the press being the same on which the Ohio Observer had formerly been printed, and which had been broken by an irate citizen of Hudson a year or so before, as previously related, a new bed having been made for it at the foundry and machineshop of Benjamin R. Manchester. then located on the east side of the Ohio Canal, at Lock 7, in North Akron. Mr. Smith, a man of education and a vigorous writer, was the editor of the Balance, while Mr. Galloway, being a practical printer, conducted the mechanical branch of the business. Early in 1838, Hiram Bowen, also a practical printer, as well as a sharp writer, purchased Mr. Galloway's interest in the Balance, and, with the care, labor and talent bestowed upon it, Messrs. Smith & Bowen ought to have made the American Balance a pecuniary success. But, as with its two Democratic predecessors, the fates were against them, the conspiring causes being, first, in the general stringency of the times, making it next to impossible for publishers anywhere in Ohio to get in
282 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
money enough from subscriptions. advertising, etc., to pay running expenses ; and second, because Akron, being a mere dependency of Portage County—though then of more commercial importance than its county seat—no official patronage could be brought to the support of any paper outside of Ravenna. while, at the same time, for the same reason. the circulation of the local paper was confined almost exclusively to the immediate vicinity of its publication. The Balance, therefore. after a precarious existence of just one year. was discontinued on the 9th day of August, 1838. though the job department of the office was still kept running by Messrs. Smith & Bowen.
The Akron Buzzard was next to play its part upon the local newspaper stage. The history of this curiously-named and somewhat notorious sheet may be briefly stated thus : Its projector was a young house and sign painter by the name of Samuel A. Lane—a Connecticut Yankee—whose shop was in a room adjoining the office of the discontinued Journal. Akron. at that time being a rapidly growing town. and having some eighteen or twenty locks of the great thoroughfare "—the Ohio Canal—within its corporate limits. had become a convenient stopping-place, and a favorite resort for divers and sundry vile characters, professional gamblers. counterfeiters. confidence men, etc.. whose depredations upon the public peace and the public morals. the civil authorities were scarcely able to cope with. To aid the officers of the law in ridding the community of these disreputable characters, a number of the young business men of the village informally constituted themselves into a Vigilance Committee for the purpose of obtaining and imparting information in regard to the operations of the gang. and "stirring up the animals" generally, through pointed public discussions, scathing newspaper articles, anonymous circulars, etc. Mr. Lane, having obtained something of a smattering of the Art Preservative," while acting as editor's assistant in the office of a Georgia newspaper a few months in 1834, conceived the idea that, by making it a specialty, he could more efficiently accomplish the object sought, than could be done through the other channels named alone. Accordingly, getting permission from Judge Bryan to use his types and press. Mr. Lane, in the intervals of his regular business, " unaided and alone," wroteout, set up, struck off and flung to the breeze the first number of the Akron Buzzard, on the 7th day of September, 1838. It was a three-column folio, of 12x17 inches. published semi-monthly at 75 cents a year. but doubled in size at the end of the first year, and the price raised to 81. From the favor with which the initial number was received. and not doubting its success, arrangements were made with Messrs. Smith & Bowen, for its regular semimonthly issue from the office of the American Balance. The editorial nom de querre, assumed by Mr. Lane was "Jedediah Brownbread. Esq.. and among his old acquaintances he is. to this day, more commonly saluted by the familiar sobriquet of .Jed '• than by his own proper name. The style of composition adopted by the editor was the proverbial Yankee dialect. of which the detestable styles of poor English. bad spelling and worse grammar, more recently used by ' Josh Billings." Artemis Ward." "Parson Nasby " and other socalled humorists, are fair samples. The character of the paper and its object were fully set forth in its "salutatory," which. translated into plain English. is as follows : The Buzzard will be a real jolly. nothing-to-do-with politics. anti-blackleg paper, devoted to news. popular tales, miscellany. anecdotes. satire. poetry, humor. the correction of the public morals, etc. It will strike at the vices of mankind, with an occasional brush at its follies. It will expose crime, whether committed by the great or the small. and applaud virtuous and noble actions, whether pertformed by the rich or the poor. It will encourage the honest man in well-doing, and make a transparency of the breast of the hypocrite. In short, it will be to society what the common buzzard is to our Southern cities, viz.: It will pounce upon, and by its influence, endeavor to reform or remove such loafers as are nuisances in the community, by holding them up to the gaze of a virtuous public." Though literally holding his life in his hand, being often greeted with " threatenings dire," laid in wait for by the " fraternity," and several times severely assaulted, the publisher of the Buzzard fearlessly stood his ground—meantime conducting his regular business of house and sign painting—for a year and a half, the paper being discontinued on the 25th of February, 1839, not for want of patronage, for it had more than a local circulation, but because its conductor was
HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY - 283
about to engage in another branch of business, and because it was believed that the paper had substantially accomplished its mission ; and in closing this item, the writer—the veritable " Jedediah Brownbread " himself—desires to express his firm conviction, that though its methods were not approved by all of even the better class of our people during the period of its publication, that Akron and Summit County are better today, morally, socially and pecuniarily, because of the publication of the Akron Buzzard of 1837, 1838 and 1839. than they otherwise would have been.
The Pestalozzian.—This was a small, neatly printed monthly quarto, edited and published by Horace K. Smith and S. L. Sawtell, the initial number of which appeared on the 14th day of April, 1838. It was devoted to education, science; literature, etc., and though ably conducted —both of the editors being men of talent and culture—being in advance of the times, it was not duly appreciated, and succumbed to the inevitable on the 30th day of September, 1838, after a nonpaying existence of less than half a year.
The Ohian and New Era —During a portion of the year 1838. Mr. Jonathan F. Fenn. one of Akron's earliest merchants and manufacturers, published a small folio sheet, devoted to free banking. Though conducted with considerable ability. and though a financial organ, it was not a financial success, and had an existence of a few months only.
The Glad Tidings and Ladies' Universalist Magazine.—This was a neatly printed eight-page paper, published in Akron during the years 1838, 1839 and 1840. It was edited and published by Revs. S. A. Davis, N. Doolittle and J. Whitney. It was a spirited exponent of the doctrine of universal salvation, and was very ably edited indeed. With the close of 1840, the paper was removed to Cincinnati, where. under the name of the Star in the West, it has for the past forty years " fought a good fight " in the interests of the denomination, by whom its pioneer 81e-leader, the Glad Tidings, was originally founded in Akron, being discontinued only a few months ago, for reasons to the writer unknown.
The Summit Beacon.—This paper, the legitimate successor of the American Balance, was started on the 11th day of April. 1839, by Hiram Bowen, Esq., on a pledge of adequate support from the business men of Akron, and leading members of the Whig party within the limits of the prospective new county then about to be erected. Like most of the weekly papers of that early day, the Beacon had a hard struggle for existence for several years, but finally, as the official organ of the new county, and through the pluck and energy of its founder, its success became assured, and though its office of publication and total contents have three times been consumed by fire, the paper, for the fall forty-two years of its existence, has never missed an issue, though sometimes temporarily diminished in size while recovering from its several disasters, and now sturdily stands, where it has ever stood, in the front rank of the weekly papers of Ohio. In or about the year 1845, Mr. Bowen sold the paper to Laurin Dewey, Esq. (formerly editor of the Ohio Star, at Ravenna, and Sheriff of Portage County ; afterward Warden of the Ohio Penitentiary, and more recently a prominent politician and a member of the Legislature of Iowa, now deceased), and his brother-in-law, Mr. Richard S. Elkins, then a member of the book and drug firm of Beebe & Elkins, and afterward Postmaster of Akron for eight years, under the administration of Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, Mr. E. now residing on a farm near Ravenna. in the adjoining county of Portage. On the 9th day of June. 1848, the office was destroyed by fire. but immediately reestablished, and later in that year, Messrs. Dewey & Elkins sold the paper to John Teesdale, Esq., formerly editor of the Ohio State Journal, and since the State Printer for Iowa. Mr. Teesdale soon afterward formed a partnership with Messrs. Beebe & Elkins, uniting the printing with the book and drug business. under the firm name of Elkins, Teesdale & Co., Mr. Teesdale being the sole editor of the paper. He was a graceful, but incisive writer, and under his management, the Beacon. becoming with the change of parties in 1854-55, the organ of the Republican party, attained a high degree of popularity. Mr. Teesdale sold his interest to his copartners, Messrs. Beebe & Elkins, February 27, 1856, continuing, however, to act as editor until May 1, of that year, when James S. Carpenter, Esq., became sole editor of the paper. Under the able editorial management of Mr. Carpenter, the high reputation of the Beacon, as voicing the advanced sentiment of the Republican party of
284 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
the Western Reserve, was fully maintained. On his accession to the bench of the Court of Common Pleas of Summit, Medina and Lorain Counties, Judge Carpenter, on the 22d day of October, 1856, vacated the editorial chair in favor of Hon. Asahel H. Lewis, a former State Senator for Summit and Portage Counties, a thorough scholar and a pungent writer, the name of Mr. R. S. Elkins, one of the publishers, also at this time appearing as associate editor. On the 29th day of September, 1856, the office, together with the book and drug store of its proprietors, was again destroyed by fire, but, Phoenix-like. it once more speedily arose from its ashes in a far more attractive form than ever before. The editorial connection of Mr. Lewis with the Beacon continued until January 10, 1861, when he was superseded by Mr. Samuel A. Lane, then just retiring from four years of service as Sheriff of Summit County. Mr. Lane, during the war, did the sole editorial work of the paper, giving especial attention to army correspondence, and of both city and county local news, the weekly circulation increasing during four years of the war, from 1,300 or 1,400 to about 2.500 copies. In January, 1865. Mr. Lane, who had hitherto been working on a salary. bought of Messrs. Beebe & Elkins, a one-third interest in the Beacon, another third being bought by Mr. Horace G. Canfield, a practical printer and foreman of the office, the firm name being changed to Elkins, Lane & Co. Two years later. January. 1867, the remaining one-third interest of Beebe & Elkins was purchased by Albertus L. Paine and Denis J. Long, former apprentices in the office, the Summit County Journal (noticed elsewhere) published by them being merged in the Beacon, the firm name adopted being Lane, Canfield & Co. Mr. Lane continued to act as sole editor of the paper until the winter of 1868 -69, when Mr. Thomas C. Raynolds, an Akron boy, freshly graduated from Michigan University, but with decided journalistic proclivities, was employed as assistant editor and local reporter. In 1867, the strictly advance pay system was adopted and rigidly enforced, a feat that but few of. the weekly papers of the country had at that time dared to attempt, a feature highly advantageous to both the publishers of the paper and its subscribers.
The Akron Daily Beacon.—In the meantime, Akron had grown from a village of 3,000 inhabitants in 1860, to a city of 10,000 in 1869, with an augmented commercial and manufacturing business to match, creating a demand for something faster than a weekly paper; and on the 6th day of December. 1869, the first number of the Akron Daily Beacon. a seven-column folio, was issued, Mr. Lane, as chief, and Mr. Raynolds, as assistant, doing the entire editorial and reportorial work. Though quite a large advertising patronage was at once accorded to the daily by the liberal-minded business men of Akron, its average daily circulation the first year was only about. six hundred. Gradually, however, the people have come to appreciate its worth as a gatherer and disseminator of local as well as fresh general news, and its average daily circulation is now (April. 1881) a little over 2,200. In June. 1870, Mr. Raynolds severed his connection with the paper. Carson Lake. then a compositor in the office, taking his place, and for several weeks during the summer and fall of that year, during the illness and absence of Mr. Lane from the office, performing the entire editorial and reportorial work upon the paper. In December. 1871, the establishment was transferred to the Beacon Publishing Company. Messrs. Canfield and Paine retiring. Messrs. Lane and Long holding their respective one-third and one-sixth shares, as stock in the new corporation, Mr. Lane being elected business manager, and Mr. Long continuing to act as superintendent of the news department, Mr Raynolds being recalled and placed in charge of the editorial department of the paper, in which capacity. with the exception of one year's interregnum, he has ever since acted, with Mr. Wilson M. Day as his able and faithful associate. In the meantime, the business of the concern had assumed such large proportions, that the four-story 22x60-foot building then occupied was found to be too straitened for the purposes of the company, and in March, 1872, the owner of the building commenced work upon a 60 foot addition in the rear. Before the walls were completed, however, the entire concern was again destroyed by fire on the 27th day of April, 1872. Temporary quarters were procured, and new material ordered by telegraph and express, so that on the fourth day after the fire its regular issue on its own new type was resumed, a smaller sheet being furnished to its subscribers during the intervening three days, , through the courtesy of the publishers of the Akron City Times. The burned building was
HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY - 285
re-erected on the enlarged plan, considerably improved, being 22x117 feet, three-stories high, exclusive of the basement on Howard street, and five stories on Canal street, with stone front, large plate-glass windows, with steam elevator running from the basement to the upper floor, and steam heating apparatus throughout the entire building, the enlarged structure being fitted up with strictly first-class fixtures, machinery and materials from top to bottom. By reason of the heavy Ions occasioned by the the fire (fully one-half of its $25,000 capital stock) and the closely following financial and commercial revulsion of 1873, the affairs of the company became so seriously embarrassed that, in January, 1875, the entire stock was sacrificed, and the concern, with its machinery, news and job printing materials, bookbinding apparatus. stationery stock, goodwill, etc., was transferred to Messrs Thomas C. Raynolds, Frank J. Staral and John H. Auble. in consideration of their assuming and paying its liabilities, enough of the old stock-holders nominally retaining sufficient stock to keep the corporate organization of the company intact. About two years later, Mr. Auble withdrew, leaving Messrs. Raynolds and Staral sole proprietors, under whose auspices the Beacon establishment, in all its departments, is at this writing (April, 1881) enjoying a high degree of prosperity. It would be interesting to minutely trace its growth from a few fonts of second-hand type, a patched-up, medium-sized hand press, with a single journeyman printer, and the proverbial printer's " devil," as its entire operative force. to its present magnificent appointments, but space will not permit. Suffice it to say that, besides its full complement of news, job, and bookbinding materials, its machinery, run by a finely-built eight-horse power steam engine, consists of one mammoth four-roller Potter cylinder job press, with 32x50-inch bed ; one two-roller Potter cylinder job and news press, with 31x46-inch bed ; one two-roller Potter job press, with 21x27-inch bed ; one No. 1 improved Campbell jobber ; one quarto Imperial jobber, and one eighth-medium Gordon card and circular press ; two large paper cutters, besides a large-sized Wells hand press, proof presses, card cutters, etc. ; the total operative force of the establishment at this writing being forty-six, though at some seasons of the year from fifteen to twenty more hands areneeded in the job and binding departments. The Beacon, therefore, may well be considered one of the permanent institutions of' Summit County. and taken all in all, is one of the most complete establishments of its kind in the State.
The American Democrat.—On the 10th day of August, 1842, Mr. Horace Canfield issued, in Akron, the first number of the American Democrat. With some slight changes of name, the paper—being at one time under the editorial control of Lyman W. Hall, Esq., of Ravenna, for one year, as a Free-Soil paper—finally settling down into the Democratic Standard, was continued under that name until the death of Mr. Canfield, December 29, 1853, and for a short time thereafter by his two sons, Thomas and Horace G. Canfield. The office was afterward sold to Mr. H. P. Abel, and the paper re-established, Mr. Abel, in the spring of 1855, also issuing a small daily. The venture, however, was non-successful, Mr. Abel being obliged, soon after, to discontinue both daily and weekly. In the winter of 1855-56, the office was purchased by Mr. W. D. Bien, and the paper re-established under the name of the Summit Democrat, afterward, in the winter of 1859-60, passing into the hands of Mr. J. Hays Webb, who continued its publication here until just before the Presidential election of 1860, when the office was removed to Canton, where, under the name of the True Democrat, it was run until the spring of 1861. Mr. Webb, on returning to Akron, changed its name to the Summit Union, continuing its publication here until the close of the Vallandigham-Brough Gubernatorial campaign, in the fall of 1863, when the paper was discontinued and the office taken to Ravenna.
The Cascade Roarer.—After a peaceful slumber of five years, the Akron Buzzard was revived as a Temperance paper, March 15, 1844, by its former proprietor, Mr. Samuel A. Lane, and Mr. William T. Coggeshall, afterward the author of a number of finely-written and intensely interesting literary works ; State Librarian under Govs. Chase and Dennison, from 1856 to 1862 ; and Minister to Ecuador, South America, in 1866, dying of consumption at Quito, in the summer of' 1857. The name of the paper was changed to the Cascade Roarer a five-column weekly—which had a successful run of about two years, when Mr. Lane disposed of' his interest to Mr. James Drew, the new firm, in the in-
286 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
terest of Labor as well as Temperance reform, changing the title of the paper to the Teetotal Mechanic. Its publication here was continued until September 24, 1846, when it was removed to Cleveland and merged in the Ohio Temperance Artisan, which. after a few months' sickly existence, was finally discontinued.
The Summit County Journal.—In September. 1865. Messrs. Albertus L. Paine and Denis J. Long, two practical printers. who had learned their trade in the office of the Summit County Beacon. on their discharge from the army, in which they had faithfully served during the war. started a new Republican weekly paper under the above title, with Judge James S. Carpenter as its editor. The Journal was neatly printed, ably edited. and reasonably successful. but. on the accession of Messrs. Paine and Long to a one-third ownership in the Beacon, the Journal was discontinued, and the subscription-list. goodwill, etc., merged with those of the Beacon. in January, 1867.
The Akron City Times.—On the 20th day of January, 1867, Mr. J. C. Loveland started a new Democratic paper in Akron. a nine-column weekly, entitled the Akron City Tines. Mr. Loveland's administration not proving very satisfactory, to either the party upon whom he mainly depended for support or the people of Summit County, the office was transferred to Mr. George C. Crain. in August. 1867. On the 28th day of April, 1868, Mr. Crain was succeeded by R. S. Bean & Co., who in turn transferred the concern to S. L. Everett & Son, in October of the same year. On the death of the senior Mr. Everett, some two or three years later, the entire management of the paper devolved upon the son, Sebastian L. Everett—more generally known by the familiar sobriquet of " Don "—who successfully continued its publication until 1873, when it was transferred to its present genial proprietor, Mr. Richard H. Knight, under whose management, with his son, Mr. Clarence R. Knight, as editor, it is enjoying a high degree of prosperity, and has evidently become one of the fixed and permanent institutions of the city and county, being printed on a cylinder power press, run by steam, and having a well-stocked and liberally patronized job printing office attached.
The Akron Germania.—This is an independent weekly paper, published, as its name implies, in the interests of the German-speaking portion of our population. It was founded in the fall of 1868, by Mr. H. Gentz, Prof. C. F. Kolbe succeeding to the proprietorship early in the following year. September, 1872, the paper was transferred to the Akron Paper and Printing Company, and early in 1873, was transferred to the Germania Company, with Mr. Stephen Ginther as business manager, and Mr. Paul E. Werner as editor. In October. 1875, Mr. Werner bought and continued to edit the same until 1878, when other duties claiming his entire attention, Mr. Louis Seybold was employed as editor, which position he still ably and efficiently maintains. The paper is now owned by the Germania Printing Company, formed in November. 1880. with Mr. Paul E. Werner as business manager, and commanding a good healthy circulation and a liberal advertising patronage. The business and mechanical departments of the Germania Printing Company are most complete. and. besides having a full supply of the newest styles of job and limey type and other material, it has six power-presses run by steam in constant operation. viz.: a Cottrell & Babcock cylinder, with 33x46-inch bed: a Cottrell & Babcock. air spring, with 25x38-inch bed ; a Potter Pony ; a quarter and an eighth medium Liberty jobbers. and a " Model" card press. There is also a book bindery connected with the establishment, which, in all its departments. is at this date (April, 1881), in a highly prosperous condition, with a regular operative force of twenty-five hands, and occasionally demands from ten to fifteen additional.
The Akron Daily Argus.—In March, 1874, the Akron Daily Argue was commenced by H. G. Canfield & Co., with Elder John F. Rowe as editor, a semiweekly edition also being issued by the same firm. It was an independent paper and ably edited. The paper passing into possession of the Argils Printing Company, subsequently formed, was, in September. 1874, by a majority vote of the stockholders, changed into a Democratic paper under the editorial management of Sebastian L. Everett—" Don " —formerly of the City Times. March 20, 1875, the concern passed into the hands of Elder John F. Rowe, former editor, and his brother, Frank M. Rowe, a practical printer, who under the firm name of Rowe Brothers, again changed its character from a political to an independent paper. It was continued by Rowe Brothers
HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY - 287
until December 25, 1876, when the establishment was purchased by Mr. Carson Lake, under whose business and editorial management it was continued as a Democratic paper until July 1, 1879, at which date the office and fixtures were bought by Messrs. Paul E. Werner and B. F. Nelson, by whom the Argus was discontinued.
The Sunday Gazette.—This is a six-column quarto, devoted to the general and local news of the week, literature, miscellany, religious intelligence. etc. It was started in December, 1878, by Mr. Paul E. Werner, as publisher, and Prof. Carl F. Kolbe as editor. It was consolidated with the Weekly and Daily Tribune, on the establishment of those papers, July 26, 1879, the name being changed to Sunday Tribune, but, after two or three issues, again changed to Sunday Gazette, which name it still bears. On the dissolution of the firm of Werner & Nelson, and the discontinuance of the Tribune. on the 2d day of February, 1880, the Gazette was continued by Mr. Paul E. Werner, in connection with the Germania, until September 25, 1880, when it was sold to Mr. Carson Lake, under whose management it is rapidly increasing in circulation and popularity.
The Akron Commercial.—This is a nine column monthly, devoted largely, as its name imports. to advertising and commercial matters, but furnishing with each issue a large amount of interesting miscellany, with a monthly spicy editorial melange of local and general gossip. It is published and edited by Josiah Jackson Wright (commonly and for short called Jack Wright" formerly for many years the efficient City Marshal of Akron. It was commenced in the spring of 1874, and is still vigorous and hearty, and apparently one of the fixed newspaporial stars of Akron and of Summit County.
The Akron Daily Tribte.—This paper, a seven-column folio, was started on the 26th day of July, 1879, by Paul E. Werner and Benjamin F. Nelson, who also issued a weekly edition in connection therewith. It was Democratic in politics, and ably conducted, under the editorial management of Mr. Nelson, but, by reason of having another longer-established Democratic organ, the City Times, and the firmly planted Daily Beacon, to compete with, and from other causes, the enterprise was found to be unremunerative, and both the Daily and Weekly Tribune were discontinued on the 2d day of February, 1880.
The Advance.—A daily paper under the above title, as an organ of the National Greenback Labor party, was started in Cleveland June 6, 1877, by Robert Schilling, a weekly edition also being issued. In May, 1880, the daily was discontinued, and the weekly was transferred to Salem, Columbiana County, an Akron edition also being published, and mailed direct from the office in Salem to its subscribers in Akron. August 4, 1880, Mr. John P. Burns assumed the business and editorial control of the Advance, and January 1, 1881, removed the office to Akron. It is a five-column quarto, edited with ability ; bids fair to become one of the permanent periodicals of Summit County.
A large number of other periodicals have 1 from time to time been published in Akron during the half-century we have passed over, that we have no space to notice in detail, even if we could recall them all to mind. Among them were the Rose of the Valley, a literary monthly, by Allison & Marriner ; Akron Offering, by Callista Cummings ; the True Kindred, by a Mrs. Sanford ; the Flail, a Democratic campaign paper. by L. L. Howard, in 1840 ; the Flower of the West, by Allison & Rumrix, in 1840 ; the Free-Soil Platform, a campaign paper in 1848, 1)y Hiram Bowen ; the Sentinel of Liberty, a campaign paper, in 1855, by an association of Young Republicans ; " the Wide Awake. a Republican campaign paper, in 1860, by D. C. Carr, S. A. Lane and others ; the Summitonian, a literary monthly, by H. G. Canfield & Co., in 1873 ; the Beacon Magazine, a literary monthly, in 1873, by the Beacon Publishing Co., as a premium to subscribers to the Weekly Beacon ; and others remembered by name only. such as the Casket, the Sockdolager, the Whip, the School-Mistress, the Sunny Side, the Church Journal, etc.
It will thus be seen that Summit County, if not the very center of the newspaper universe, has been untiring in its efforts to become such. There is no room and no need for comments, except, perhaps, to add that while comparatively few of these ventures have proved remunerative to those who have made them, their influence for good upon the community admits of not a doubt. For where would Summit County have been today but for its newspapers, in advertising to the world its manifold advantages ; in their advocacy of canals, railroads and other public improvements ; in their
288 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
encouragement to manufactures, and in the innumerable ways in which the liberal use of printer's ink benefits both individuals and communities.
Railroads.*—The railway—wholly unknown to the commercial world three-fourths of a century ago—has become the greatest single factor in the development of the material and social progress, not only of the United States and of the other civilized nations of the earth, but its inestimable blessings are being rapidly extended into the hitherto semi-civilized and barbarous portions of the globe. Though some rude tramways had previously been used in the mining regions of England, the first attempt at railroad building in the United States was in 1807—a line of a few hundred yards in length—for transporting gravel from the top of Beacon Hill down into Charles street, in the city of Boston, the rails being entirely of wood, and the propelling power the momentum of the loaded cars, which, in descending, by means of a rope attachment, pulled the empty cars up, a double track, of course, being necessary to the proper working of the road. As late as 1827, the then longest railroad in the United States was from the Mauch Chunk coal mines to the Lehigh River, in Pennsylvania, a distance of nine miles. The loaded cars were run from the mines to the river by their own gravity, and, on being emptied, were drawn back to the mines by mules. From this time on, the American people became deeply interested in railroad enterprises, and, from 1827 to 1830, several short lines, run by horsepower, were constructed, the first locomotive, propelled by steam, to turn a wheel upon the American continent, being a clumsy, uncouth importation from England, called the Stourbridge Lion," landed in New York in 1829. So slow, however, was the development, that in the winter of 1833-34, it was the privilege of the writer, then a mere boy, to ride over the then longest railroad in the world, running from Charleston, S. C., to Augusta, Ga., a distance of 130 miles, only ; the first hundred miles west from Charleston being performed by steampower, the last thirty miles by negro-power, owing to a sharp incline that the modern engine driver would laugh at, the supposition being that a stationary engine, with the proper hoisting apparatus only, could overcome so heavy a grade. The first locomotive ever built in
* Written by Samuel A. Lane.
America, called the " Best Friend," was used upon this road during its construction. It was built at the " West Point Foundry Shops," in New York, and forwarded to Charleston by ship Niagara, in October, 1830. The first trial trip was made on a small portion of the road out of Charleston, November 2. 1830, running, according to the report of the excursion in the Charleston Courier, as " on the wings of the wind, at the varied speed of fifteen to twenty miles an hour ; annihilating time and space, and, like the renowned John Gilpin, ' leaving all the world behind.' " The " Best Friend " was daily in service, transporting workmen and materials used in the construction of the road, until the, 17th day of June, 1831, when it became disabled by a singular accident, and the road was without a locomotive for several months. Of this disaster to the "Best Friend." the Charleston Courier of June 18. 1831, gave the following account : The locomotive. ' Best Friend.' started yesterday morning to meet the lumber cars at the forks of the road. and while turning on the revolving platform, the steam was suffered to accumulate by the negligence of the fireman, a negro, who, pressing on the safety-valve, prevented the surplus steam from escaping, by which means the boiler burst at the bottom, was forced inward. and injured Mr. Darrell. the engineer, and two negroes. The one had his thigh broken, and the other received a severe cut in the face, and a slight one in the flesh part of the breast. Mr. Darrell was scalded from the shoulder-blade down his back. The boiler was thrown to the distance of twenty-five feet. * * * The accident occurred in consequence of the negro holding down the safety-valve, while Mr. Darrell was assisting to arrange the lumber cars." It will seem strange, to the trained railroad operator of the present day, that such an accident, from such a cause, could have been possible ; but it must be remembered that the engineer, himself almost wholly unskilled in locomotive driving, had to perform all the functions of conductor, brakeman, etc., in addition to his own proper duties, his only help being such as above indicated, common unskilled laborers, unable to distinguish between the lever of a safety-valve and the crank of a grindstone. But without further tracing the growth of' the railroad system of the United States, now forming a perfect network of iron and steel in every portion of the country, on
HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY - 289
which daily and nightly and continuously run thousands of locomotives, and tens of thousands of freight and passenger cars, loaded with thousands of tons of the products of the country, with valuable merchandise from every part of the world, and with tens of thousands of precious human beings, dashing with lightning speed from city to city, and from State to State, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Lakes to the Gulf, representing a capital of at least $5,000,000,000, we will proceed at once to the subject matter of this chapter—" The Railroads of Summit County." The earliest freight and passenger railroad project, to include any portion of the territory now embraced in Summit County in its route, was the
Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad.—A charter was granted for this road by the Legislature of Ohio. on the 14th day of March, 1836. Work upon the road not being commenced within the three years designated in the law, the charter became dormant, and remained so for six years, when, by an act passed March 11, 1845 just nine years after the granting of the original charter—the project was revived and the charter amended. The promoters of the enterprise, though the times were hard and money scarce. prosecuted the work as rapidly as similar enterprises were then built, though very slowly in comparison with more modern railroad operations, the road not being completed on the Cleveland end as far as Hudson, even, until the latter part of the winter of 1851-52. The road enters Summit County on the east. near the southeast corner of the township of Hudson. and running in a northwesterly direction, passes through the village of Hudson, a small portion of the southwest corner of Twinsburg, and through the village of Macedonia, in the eastern portion of Northfield Township, and thence through Bedford and Newburg, in Cuyahoga County, to Cleveland. From the very beginning, the Cleveland & Pittsburgh has been under an able and efficient management, and has never experienced any of those reverses and drawbacks so common to railroad corporations in their earlier days, and so disastrous and unprofitable to the original stockholders and builders.
Akron & Canton Railroad.—The second railroad enterprise to engage the attention of the people of Summit County, was the Akron & Canton Railroad, incorporated by act of the Legislature February 21, 1845. Its capital stock was $200,000, to be divided into shares of $25 each ; but, by the provisions of the charter, it was not to commence operations till $100,000 was subscribed, the company being prohibited from contracting debts or liabilities to an amount greater than the stock subscribed and held by responsible parties and remaining unexpended, together with its means on hand and that which might reasonably be expected to accrue within three years from the time of the making of the contract. The company was also authorized to extend its road to some point on the Ohio River, if deemed advisable, and to increase its capital to an amount sufficient for that object. This charter, both liberal and illiberal in its provisions, was, through the stringency of the times and the indifference of the people along the route, permitted to lapse before anything definite was accomplished, and the Akron & Canton Railroad, proper, was never built except on paper.
Akron Branch Railroad.—The approaching completion of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh road through one corner of Summit County, its nearest approach to the county seat being some fifteen miles, aroused our people to the importance of having more direct and rapid communication with the outer world than canals and mud roads afforded. Accordingly, a number of the enterprising citizens of Akron, Hudson and Cuyahoga Falls—one of the most active among them being Col. Simon Perkins. of Akron—took the matter in hand, and, in conjunction with the officers of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad, obtained an amendment to its charter, by an act passed February 19, 1851, authorizing the construction, under said charter, of a branch railroad from some convenient point on the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad, in Hudson, Summit County, through Cuyahoga Falls and Akron to Wooster, or some other point on the Ohio & Pennsylvania Railroad, between Massillon and Wooster, and to connect with the said Ohio & Pennsylvania Railroad, or any other railroad running in the direction of Columbus," and increasing the capital stock of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Company $1,000.000.
The bill also stipulated that the subscribers to the stock of this branch road might form a separate organization under the name of " The Akron Branch of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad Company, entitled to all the privileges
290 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
and subject to all the restrictions and liabilities granted or imposed by the original charter and amendments thereto."
In the meantime, a railroad had been chartered to run from Cleveland to Zanesville. by the way of Medina, Wooster, Millersburg, etc. This, our people at once saw, or thought, would, if completed, leave Summit County " out in the cold." at least, for many years, for railroad enterprises were not then as readily promoted as in later years. A delegation of the " Branch," headed by Col. Perkins. accordingly visited Wooster to endeavor to get them to make a diversion of their road from that point via Doylestown, Wadsworth, Akron and Cuyahoga Falls to Hudson. instead of going direct through to Cleveland. as contemplated. To these overtures, however, the Woosterites turned a deaf ear, and " The Cleveland. Wooster & Zanesville Railroad" was never built. The failure of the Akron Branch to thus pool " its interests with the Wooster project was truly a godsend to the people of Summit County, as the present more convenient railroad system of the county most clearly demonstrates.
The organization of " The Akron Branch Railroad" was effected March 11. 1851. with Simon Perkins, Milton W. Henry and John W. McMillen. of Akron ; Horace A. Miller. of Cuyahoga Falls; James Butler and Henry N. Day. of Hudson, and John Carey, of Millersburg, as Directors. Simon Perkins was elected President ; Henry N. Day, Secretary. and John W. McMillen. Treasurer. George Robinson was appointed Chief Engineer, and Isaiah Linton, Assistant Engineer, by whom the original survey and estimates from Hudson to Akron were made. Messrs. Robinson and Linton subsequently withdrawing from the road, their places were filled by W. H. Grant, of the Hudson River Railroad, as Chief Engineer. and M. W. Kellogg, as Assistant. The contracts were awarded June 20, 1851, and the work commenced immediately thereafter.
As the project was one which it was believed would largely benefit every property owner in the county, in addition to the amount raised along the line of the road by voluntary stock subscriptions, a special law was passed by the Legislature on the 24th day of March, 1851, authorizing and requiring the County Commissioners, with the consent of the legal voters of the county, to subscribe to the capital stock of said company " any sum not exceeding $100,000. and to borrow the necessary amount o1 money for the payment of such stock subscription. bonds for the amount so subscribed to be issued in sums of not less than $100 each, hearing interest a rate not exceeding 7 per cent. payable annually, or semi-annually, redeemable at such time as may be deemed expedient," etc. This proposition was voted on at the special election for the adoption of the New Constitution of Ohio, June 21. 1851. the vote " for subscription " and against subscription." in the several townships of the county. being as follows :
......................................,,For ..................Against
...................................Subscription......Subscription
Bath .................................78.....................102
Boston ..............................40......................94
Copley.............................160......................56
Coventry .........................104 .....................58
Cuyahoga Falls................275......................12
Franklin ............................95....................170
Green ................................69....................177
Hudson ...........................258......................20
Middlebury........................56......................72
Northfield...........................33...................165
Northampton ......................93.....................57
Norton ..............................175.....................40
Portage .............................737.....................03
Richfield.............................48......................70
Springfield .........................89....................167
Stow....................................88......................72
Tallmadge ..........................31....................114
Twinsburg ..........................03....................156
Total vote.......................2,432..................1,605
Majority for subscription. 827.
In accordance with the authority thus given them, the County Commissioners. Messrs. Edwin Wetmore, of Stow. James W. Weld, of Richfield, and Hiram Weston. of Middlebury, proceeded, " For and in the name of Summit County," to subscribe for .$100,000 of the stock of said railroad,-issuing therefor 100 bonds of $1,000 each, payable to the order of John V. McMillen, in fifteen years, with thirty interest coupons attached. at the rate of 7 per. cent. payable semiannually. The Commissioners, at the same time, in accordance with the provisions of the act authorizing such stock subscription, added to the rate of taxation an amount sufficient not only to meet the interest as it should fall due, but to also gradually create a sinking fund for the final payment of the bonds themselves.
The aid thus furnished, together with the prompt payment of individual stock subscrip-
HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY. - 291
tions along the line, enabled the Board of Directors to push the work forward so vigorously that, on the 1st day of January, 1852—less than ten months after the organization of the company, and only about six months after the contracts were awarded—the completion of the road to that village was celebrated by the people of Cuyahoga Falls, its completion to Akron, five miles further, being celebrated on the 4th of July of the same year. The work south from Akron was also pushed vigorously forward. and the line speedily completed to Millersburg, in Holmes County, thus forming a connection with the Ohio & Pennsylvania (now the Pittsburgh. Fort Wayne & Chicago) Railroad at Orrville, in Wayne County, and giving us an outlet in the direction of Columbus. Cincinnati, and the Western and Southern States.
Although so heavy a vote was polled against the subscription to the stock of this road by the county. and though there was very much grumbling by a portion of the taxpayers of the county from year to year, while the interest was being paid and the fund provided for the payment of the bonds themselves. all now admit that it was the best investment of money ever made by the property-owners of Summit County, there not being a single foot of land within the limits of the county that was not enhanced in value from ten to twenty fold the amount of special tax thus paid upon it, while an impetus was given to the trade. Manufactures and agricultural operations of the county that could have been attained in no other way.
The Cleveland, 'Zanesville, Cincinnati Railroad.—With the view of extending the road south from Millersburg to Zanesville. to form a connection with Cincinnati via the Cincinnati, Wilmington & Zanesville Railroad. application was made to the Court of Common Pleas of Summit County, at the March term, 1853, for a change of name to the " Cleveland, Zanesville & Cincinnati Railroad," which was accordingly done. Embarrassments subsequently falling upon the road, the contemplated extension was indefinitely postponed. On the 22d day of August, 1861, suit was brought, in the Common Pleas Court of Summit County, by the creditors of the road. for foreclosure of mortgage and sale of the road. Col. Simon Perkins being appointed Receiver by the court, to run the road pending litigation. By decree ofcourt, the road and its franchises were sold by the Receiver at public auction at the door of the court house, in Akron, on the 2d day of November, 1864, George W. Cass and John J. Marvin, of Pittsburgh, being the purchasers, Col. Simon Perkins being appointed Superintendent of the road by the new owners. On the 1st day of July, 1865, George W. Cass and John J. Marvin, by deed, conveyed the road and property pertaining thereto to the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway Company. July 1, 1869, the road passed, with the lease of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway, into the hands of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. November 4, 1869. the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway Company sold and transferred, by deed, to the Pittsburgh, Mount Vernon, Columbus & London Railroad Company, the entire Cleveland, Zanesville & Cincinnati Railroad, extending from Hudson, in Summit County, to the coal mines southwest of Millersburg, in Holmes County—a distance of sixty-five miles—with all its rolling stock, machinery and fixtures, for the consideration of 22,000 shares of fully paidup capital stock of said Pittsburgh, Mount Vernon, Columbus & London Railroad Company, the par value of the same being $1.100,000. December 1, 1869, Gen. Goshorn A. Jones, of Mount Vernon, was appointed Superintendent of the road, Col. Simon Perkins retiring. On the 20th day of December. 1869, by a decree of the Court of Common Pleas of Knox County. the name of the Pittsburgh, Mount Vernon, Columbus & London Railroad Company was changed to Cleveland. Mount Vernon & Delaware Railroad Company. Under the new management, measures were immediately taken, and vigorously prosecuted, to build the road through to its final destination, Delaware, but soon so far modified as to make Columbus, instead of Delaware, the southern terminus. The road was completed and the first passenger train from Hudson to Mount Vernon was run June 25, 1872, and, on the 23d day of November, 1873, the road was opened through to Columbus, regular trains commencing at that day and continuing to the present. Various causes having combined to prevent the road, though doing a fair business, from meeting its liabilities, the owners of the first mortgage bonds of' the road, at the September term, 1880, of the Court of Common
292 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
Pleas of Summit County, commenced a suit for foreclosure and sale, Gen. G. A. Jones, by order of court, being appointed and qualified as Receiver September 27, 1880. At the present writing (April, 1881), there are strong hopes that the Receiver may be able to relieve the road of its embarrassments, the court having already ordered the building of about three miles of additional track to Fox Lake Coal Mines, the purchase of four new locomotives, four new passenger coaches and six miles of steel rails. The officers of the road,. at the time of its transfer to the present company, were as follows : Directors, R. C. Hurd, Charles Cooper, S. Israel, Mount Vernon ; M. White, of Gambier ; Harpster, of Millersburg ; William M. Orr, of Orrville ; and Thomas D. Messier, of Pittsburgh, Penn.; President, R. C. Hurd ; Secretary, J. S. Davis ; Treasurer, J. D. Thompson; Auditor. E. Mize; Superintendent, G. A. Jones ; Master Machinist, J. W. Holloway. Present officers of the road are as follows : Directors, Thomas D. Messier and William Shaw, of Pittsburgh ; George B. Roberts, of Philadelphia ; Hon. J. R. Swan, of Columbus ; S. Israel and Charles Cooper, of Mount Vernon ; William M. Orr, of Orrville ; I. Harpster, of Millersburg; M. White, of Gambier ; President, Thomas D. Messier; Superintendent, G. A. Jones ; Auditor, E. Mize ; Treasurer, J. D. Thompson ; Secretary, J. S. Davis ; Master Machinist, J. W. Holloway ; General Freight and Ticket Agent, J. A. Tilton ; Messrs. Mize, Thompson, Holloway and Tilton also acting in their respective positions, under the appointment of Receiver Jones ; Messrs. Mize and Holloway , having been connected with the road nearly, if not quite, from its first completion as the " Akron Branch."
The Massillon Branch.—As an adjunct to the Cleveland, Columbus & Delaware road, the Massillon & Cleveland Railroad (commonly called the Massillon Branch) was built by the Massillon & Cleveland Railroad Company, and runs from Clinton, in Summit County, to Massillon, in Stark County, a distance of some eight or ten miles, only. This road was leased to the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway Company June 22, 1869 ; lease assigned by that company to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company July 1, 1869 ; and by that company and the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway Company lease assigned to the Pittsburgh, Mount Vernon, Columbus & London Railway Company (now Cleveland, Mount Vernon & Delaware Railroad Company), November 4, 1869. The road is owned by the Massillon & Cleveland Railroad Company, and is now (1881) operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, operating the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway. Both the Cleveland, Mount Vernon & Delaware, and the " Massillon Branch " run through some of the most prolific coal regions of the State, large shipments of coal and other minerals daily passing over their tracks.
Other Early Railroad Projects.—About the the time the Cleveland & Pittsburgh and the Akron Branch were being projected and built, three other lines, centering in Hudson, were chartered and a commendable degree of progress made in their construction, viz.: The "Clinton Line," the "Clinton Line Extension," and the " Hudson & Painesville." As early as 1830, Col. De Witt Clinton, Jr., then of the United States Topographical Engineers. reconnoitered and recommended the construction of a railway from the Atlantic to Council Bluff's. on the Missouri River, on a route that would bring the territory now embraced in Summit County upon its line. To this end, a number of charters had been secured, companies organized and work commenced in the States of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, from 1840 to 1853, the several links, when completed, to be consolidated into one " grand continental line," to be designated "The American Central Railway," with the further plan in view of ultimately continuing the line through to the Pacific Coast.
The Clinton Line Railroad.—As one of the links of this great through line, in 1852, the " Clinton Line Railroad Company " was chartered and organized, so named in honor of the originator and promoter of the Erie Canal, the greatest topographical and civil engineering project of his time, De Witt Clinton. The most active and liberal promoters of this road were citizens of Hudson, with Prof. Henry N. Day as its President. The line extended from Hudson east to the Pennsylvania State line, a distance of fitly-five miles, running through Portage and Trumbull Counties, and connecting at the State line, in the Township of Kinsman, with the Venango Railroad, then under contract and in process of construction. The Pitts-
HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY - 293
burgh & Erie, also, had the project in contemplation of building a branch road to connect with the Clinton line at Kinsman, thus giving the Clinton line the choice of two very desirable routes to the Atlantic seaboard.
The Clinton Line Extension 1853, the Clinton Line Extension Railroad, from Hudson west to Tiffin, in Seneca County, was organized, with Prof. Henry N. Day, also, as its President, and Hon. Van R. Humphrey, of Hudson, as one of its directors. The distance from Hudson to Tiffin, by the line of this road, is about 94 miles. The Clinton Line Extension was to connect at Tiffin with the Tiffin & Fort Wayne Railroad, organized the same year, which road, in turn, was to connect at Fort Wayne with the Fort Wayne & Mississippi Railroad, organized in 1853, which road was, through short intermediate links, to connect with the Philadelphia, Fort Wayne & Platte River Air Line Railroad, chartered in 1853, under the laws of .the State of Iowa, and extending from New Boston, on the Mississippi River, to Council Bluffs, on the Missouri River. At a convention of the officers of the several roads which were to form this great through line, held at Fort Wayne in December, 1855, President Day reported of the Clinton Line and the Clinton Line Extension as follows : " On the Clinton Line, forty per cent of the grading, masonry and bridging has been done ; contracts have recently been closed for the completion of the roadbed not already under contract, and also for the superstructure and equipment of the road. to be finished in about a year. The company, about a month since, commenced an effort to increase the local cash subscription to its capital stock, which has been carried far enough to assure the entire success of the effort within a very few weeks. The estimated cost of the road, under the prices of the contracts, inclusive of equipments, station buildings, fencing, telegraph, interest and discounts, is $1,700,000.
" The Clinton Line Extension Company commenced work on the heavier sections of the road (contiguous to the Cuyahoga River in Summit County), with a view to the completion of the entire road at the same time ; after expending about $70,000 on the eastern division, they were induced by the financial embarrassments of the time to confine their operations to the western division—from Tiffin about forty-one miles to New London, on the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad—this division being of easier construction, and completing, in connection with other lines, a very promising line of itself to Cleveland. Contracts have recently been made for the completion of the entire road for operation—the western division in about one year, the eastern in a year afterward. The cost of the road is estimated, on the basis of the contract prices, at $3,200,000, inclusive of equipments, station buildings, fencing, telegraph, interest and discounts."
The "effort to increase the local cash subscription to its capital stock" did not prove as successful as President Day anticipated, and other embarrassments falling upon the organizations, work was entirely suspended upon both lines early in 1856 and never resumed ; the two promising enterprises falling through for want of the necessary funds to carry them forward to completion, bringing also disaster and financial embarrassment to many of the citizens of Hudson, and very seriously affecting, for the time being, the prosperity of the village itself.
The Hudson & Painesville Railroad.—In 1853, also, the Hudson & Painesville Railroad Company was chartered and organized, with Hon. Van It. Humphrey as its President. This road was intended to be a direct continuation of the Cleveland, Zanesville & Cincinnati Rail road to Lake Erie. To this enterprise, also, the people of Hudson, in common with those of Painesville and intermediate towns, subscribed liberally. Though a large portion of the grad
ing and other work was completed, or nearly so, in the general financial stringency which caused the suspension of work upon the Clinton Line, and Clinton Line Extension, and collapsed the railroad enterprises of the country generally, the Hudson & Painesville had to succumb to the inevitable, and go into liquidation. This route, however, is still regarded with favor by many, and it is not improbable that within a few years, the " Hudson & Painesville Railroad" may become a fixed, if not profitable fact.
The Atlantic & Great Wes'ern Railway.—To Hon. Marvin Kent, of the enterprising village of Kent (ten known as Franklin Mills), in the neighboring county of Portage, is mainly, if not solely, due the credit of projecting the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad, which has, for several years past, so largely engaged the attention of the railway, financial and legal magnates of both Europe and America. As early as 1850,
294 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
Mr. Kent, then, though comparatively a young man, quite an extensive mill owner and manufacturer of that village, moved thereto, perhaps by the fact that the management of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh road, then in process of construction, in getting from Ravenna to Hudson, had run its track some two and a half miles north of the village, conceived the idea of forming a direct through broad-gauge line from New York to St. Louis, a distance of nearly 1,200 miles, by connections with the New York & Erie, at Salamanca, and, through the Dayton & Hamilton, with the Ohio & Mississippi, at Cincinnati. Having carefully traced upon the map the route to be traversed, and duly considered the feasibility of the project, Mr. Kent set himself quietly but vigorously at work to perfect his plans for the accomplishment of his object. In order not to arouse the jealousy and opposition of competing lines, great caution and secrecy had to be observed, and considerable strategy employed. Confiding his plans to a few confidential advisers only, with a bill drafted by his own hand, Mr. Kent proceeded to Columbus, in the winter of 1850-51, where he secured the hearty co-operation of Hon. Milton Sutliff, State Senator from the Trumbull District, and Chairman of Committee on Railroads, through whose influence the modest bill, for the charter of a seemingly local road, under the modest title of the " Coal Hill Railroad "—quietly changed, previous to its final passage, to the still modest title of the " Franklin & Warren Railroad "—as written by Mr. Kent, was passed March 10, 1851, as follows :
AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE FRANKLIN & WARREN RAILROAD COMPANY.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio : That Thomas Earl, Zenas Kent, O. L. Drake, A. V. Herr, Cyrus Prentiss and Marvin Kent, of the county of Portage ; Simon Perkins, Lucius V. Bierce, Harvey B. Spelman and Daniel Upson, of Summit County, and Charles Smith, Frederick Kinsman, Jacob Perkins. C. G. Sutliff and Rufus P. Hawley, of the county of Trumbull, and their associates, successors and assigns, be, and they are hereby created a body corporate and politic, by the name and style of the Franklin & Warren Railroad Company, with perpetual succession ; and by that name and style shall be entitled to have and enjoy, and are hereby invested with all the rights, privileges and franchises, and be subject to all the restrictions of the act entitled "An Act Regulating Railroad Companies," passed February 11, 1848, and the act amendatory thereto, except so far as the same may be modified or changed by this act.
SEC. 2. The capital stock of this company may he any amount not exceeding two millions of dollars. and said company shall have power to construct a railroad from the village of Franklin, in the county of Portage, to Warren, in the county of Trumbull. and from thence to the east line of Ohio. and may continue the same from its place of beginning, in a westerly or southwesterly direction, to connect with any other rallroad within this State. which the di rectors of said company may deem advisable.
SEC. 3. That said company shall be, and is hereby authorized to connect with any other railroad company. and to consolidate its capital stock with the capital stock of such company, upon terms to be agreed upon between the said companies, and to have and use the name and style of such other company. and constitute a part of the same : and any other company may, in like manner, connect with. and become a part of, the company hereby incorporated.
SEC. 4. Said company shall have power to mortgage. or in any other way create a lien in favor of' any person or persons or company. for materials. labor. or other thing necessary for said road : and said company shall be authorized to sell its own or other corporate bonds at such rate of discount as they may deem proper to further the objects of sail company. and said bonds may bear such rate of interest as said company may deem advisable. and said bonds may be sold in or out of the State. which sales shall be valid.
SEC. 5. Said company may. and they are hereby authorized to, commence and complete any part o said railroad from the place of beginning to any point on the route which the interests of said e'en patty may require. and to employ and use said part constructed. and to demand and receive suitable rates of toll for the transportation of persons and property thereon. according to the provisions of the charter of said company. as fully as if the entire work were completed and in operation : and as soon as twenty thousand dollars shall have been subscribed to the stock of said company. the persons named in the first section, or any five of them, shall call a meeting of the stockholders for the election of directors for the government of said company.
SEC. 6. That the track of the railroad hereby authorized to be constructed. may be made of such width as may be necessary to conform to the width of any railroad with which it may connect.
JOHN F. MORSE.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
CHARLES C. CONVERS.
Speaker of the Senate.
March 10. 1851
This remarkably liberal charter having been cured, Mr. Kent immediately addressed himself to the task of working up an interest in the project, and procuring subscriptions to the capital stock of the road. His progress was at first very slow, Mr. Kent himself finally subscribing the entire $20,000 named in the charter as a prerequisite to its organization, and pledging himself to a number of other gentle-
296 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
siderable progress was made all along the line in 1853 and 1854 ; but, like most contemporaneous railroad enterprises, it was beset with such serious financial embarrassments that work was practically suspended in 1855, though, not entirely stopped until 1858. Meanwhile, however, the organization was kept intact, and its plucky President. and the faithful few who manfully stood by him, in both Portage and Summit Counties, relaxed not one jot or tittle of their zeal, their persevering efforts being rewarded by the enlistment of James McHenry, Esq., of London, and other capitalists in London. Paris and Madrid, in the enterprise, Mr. McHenry contracting in March, 1861, to complete the entire line from Salamanca, N. Y., to Dayton. Ohio, the original contractor, Mr. Henry Doolittle, having in the meantime deceased. Though the contract stipulated that work should be resumed in June, 1861, owing to the breaking-out of the civil war in the United States, and the complications with foreign nations. temporarily resulting therefrom, no great progress was made until the spring of 1862. The work was done under the immediate personal supervision of Chief Engineer, Thomas W. Kennard. of London, England, and was pushed through so energetically that the palace car of Engineer Kennard. with the officers and Directors of the road, drove into Akron on the 17th day of April, 1863, to the great delight of our entire populace.
Of this event. the Beacon of April 23, 1863, says : " As we stated in our last issue that this grand enterprise was to be completed to this place during the last week. without fail, we are now happy to state that the track was completed to within a few rods of the Cleveland, Zanesville & Cincinnati Company's depot, on Saturday evening last. On Friday afternoon. according to announcement, Chief Engineer Kennard arrived within the limits of the corporation, direct from New York, with his magnificent passenger car and engine, accompanied by several gentlemen from Warren, Ravenna and other points along the road. Their advent into town was greeted by the liveliest enthusiasm of our people, expressed through the soul-stirring music of our most excellent band, and by a general visit to the ' pioneer train ' and the track-laying operations just around the bend."
Owing to the enhanced coat of labor and materials—incident to the war—the capital stockof' the company was found even with the large amount of bonds it was authorized to issue, to be altogether inadequate to the finishing and furnishing of the road, and on the 5th day of November, 1863, at a stock-holders' meeting called for that purpose, it was voted to increase the stock from $4,000,000 to $6,000,000. Under the vigorous management of Engineer Kennard, the road was pushed through to Dayton. and its completion to that. its Western terminal point. was duly celebrated on the 21st day of June, 1864, in the presence of a large company of railroad magnates of both the East and the West. From the long and full report of the proceedings, published in the Dayton Journal of June 22. 1864. we give the following interesting items : "President Kent announced the object of the meeting. and T. W. Kennard, Chief Engineer ; William Reynolds. President of the New York & Pennsylvania Divisions ; H. F. Sweeter, General Superintendent, and Mr. Kent. proceeded to lay the last rails. The ceremony of spiking was introduced with considerable merriment. Mr. Kennard driving the first spike in the last rail at four sturdy blows. Others followed in succession, one only—an Irish track-layer—excelling Mr. Kennard. by making the drive with one less blow, besides President Kent, who, in driving the last spike; with a nervy grasp. struck straight—one, two, three, and the welkin rang with applause. The work was well done—and the last rail of the Atlantic & Great Western Railway was laid. the last spike driven to the head."
Thus, after many delays, trials and tribulations, was completed one of the finest lines of railway in the United States, and one which, though financially disastrous to a majority of its earliest promoters and supporters, has been of incalculable benefit to the entire section of country through which it passes—especially to the people of Summit County and its wide-awake capital city. Space will not permit a detailed history of this road from the time of its completion, in 1864, to the present time. Suffice it to say, that, by reason of unforeseen complications—largely, no doubt, growing out of the several branches built, purchased, leased, etc., as tributaries and extensions, together with the franchises, fixtures, property and liabilities connected therewith—though always doing a heavy freight and passenger business, such embarrassments were experienced that on the 7th
HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY - 297
day of April, 1869, suit, in foreclosure of the consolidated mortgage, was begun in the Summit County Court of Common Pleas, at which time Jay Gould and William Archibald 0. Daugherty, of New York, were appointed Receivers. It afterward transpiring that those gentlemen were either ineligible by reason of their location, or were unsatisfactory to other parties in interest, their resignation was filed on the 26th day of November, 1869, and Hon. Reuben Hitchcock, of Painesville, Lake County, Ohio, was appointed Receiver of the road. The affairs of the road were most admirably managed by Judge Hitchcock, until the 26th day of July, 1871, when it was sold by the Receiver, acting as Special Master Commissioner, under a decree of the court, at the door of the court house, in Akron, to Gen. George B. McClellan,. Senator Allen G. Thurman and William Butler Duncan, Esq., as Trustees for certain creditors of the company, the purchasers organizing under the name and style of the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad Company. as distinguished from its predecessor, the Atlantic & Great Western Railway Company. The price paid for the road was as follows : Ohio Division, subject to the lien of the first mortgage thereon (about $2,400,000) including the lease of its Mahoning Branch, sold for $4,435,500 ; Pennsylvania Division. with its various branches, $600.000; New York Division, $655.000 ; total, $5,690,000. The new company did not, however, long enjoy smooth sailing, new suits, with almost infinite complications, being commenced, also in the Court of Common Pleas, of Summit County, on the 18th day of December, 1874, the President of the road, Mr. John H. Devereux, being appointed Receiver. The litigation in this second suit extended over a period of more than five years, and was probably the most complicated and closely contested railroad suit ever tried and determined in the United States, many millions of dollars being involved, and the most eminent legal talent of both Europe and America being employed by the various parties in interest. In these two suits, at different stages in the proceedings, arguments were made before Judges Washington W. Boynton, Samuel W. McClure and Newell D. Tibbals, by Hon. Samuel J. Tilden and W. W. McFarland, Esq., of New York ; Hon. Morrison R. Waite (late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States) ; Hon. Stanley Mathews and Hon. George HoadIey, of Cincinnati ; Hon. Rufus P. Ranney, Hon. Stephenson Burke and James M. Adams, Esq., of Cleveland, and other distinguished attorneys from abroad, important interests being represented in the two suits by Hon. William H. Upson, Tibbals & McKinney, Oviatt & Allen, and other members of the Summit County bar.
On the final determination of the matters in issue, the road was again sold by Receiver Devereux, acting as Special Master Commissioner, at the door of the court house in Akron, on the 6th day of January, 1880, for $6,000,000, to S. A. Strang and R. G. Rolsten, as trustees for a new organization, composed principally of the foreign bondholders of the road, the name and style of the new organzation being " The New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad Company." Since the transfer of the road to its new management, the track of the road has been reduced from six feet to the standard gauge of four feet eight and one-half inches. the rolling stock, of course, having been correspondingly changed. The old complications and embarrassments of the road having been thus cleared away, and the financial and commercial embarrassments of the country having also disappeared, it is to be hoped that this road, notwithstanding the heavy liabilities assumed by the new company on becoming the purchasers thereof, may, in common with all other lines of railway passing through Summit County, enjoy long years of uninterrupted prosperity. We have not the data at hand to give the names of all the citizens of Summit County who have held official relations with this road, but, in the published reports before us, we find among the names of the different boards of directors the names of Daniel Upson, of Tallmadge, and Jacob Allen, Lucius V. Bierce, John H. Chamberlin and William H. Upson, of Akron. July 1, 1863, Mr. Upson was appointed attorney for the road, at a meeting of the directors, at which time the company executed to him a deed, in trust, of the Ohio division of the road, for the purpose of securing a loan of $4,000,000, with which to finish and equip the road. Mr. Upson's relations to the road as its attorney, at that time, existed only about a year and a half ; but he was again appointed in 1873, and has ever since acted in that capacity, and still holds that relation to
298 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
the new organization, the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad Company.
The Baltimore & Ohio Extension.—In the spring of 1870, a proposition was made to extend the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and its intermediate connection, the Pittsburgh & Connellsville Railroad. westward from Pittsburgh to Chicago, and to make Akron, in Summit County, a point upon the line on certain conditions, which are fully set forth in the subscription books opened in Akron in the summer of that year, as follows :
Whereas. the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Cornpany, and the Pittsburgh & Connellsville Railroad Company propose to construct a railroad from Pittsburgh. Penn.. westward through Akron. Summit County. Ohio. and to secure the location of said road through Akron. it is necessary for the cltizens of Akron to subscribe to the stock of such proposed railroad company, the sum of $300.000. and, for certain persons, on behalf of the subscribers. prior to the incorporation of said proposed company. to pledge to said Baltimore & Ohio and Pittsburgh & Connellsville Companies said sum of 300,000. to aid them in locating and constructing said proposed railroad through Akron. aforesaid. Therefore, we. the subscribers, on the succeeding pages of this book. for the purpose of authorizing David L. King, Lewis Miller and Charles Brown, to pledge and guarantee to said Baltimore & Ohio and Plttsburgh & Connellsville Railroad Companies. said sum of $300.000. and to save them harmless, by reason of said pledge and guarantee, and for the further purpose and consideration of securing the location of said proposed railroad through Akron for our mutual benefit, we do agree with said David L. King, Lewis Miller and Charles Brown. and with each other, to subscribe to the stock of said company, when organized, under whatever name the same may be Incorporated. and to pay the several amounts by us here respectively subscribed, on the succeeding pages of this book, to such company or persons as may be legally authorized to receive the same, payable 10 per cent when said railroad is located through Akron. and the stock-books of said proposed railroad are legally opened, and the balance in monthly installments of 5 per cent each, as the work progresses in Summit County. And we authorize said King, Miller and Brown, to pledge to said Baltimore & Ohio and Pittsburgh & Connellsville Railroad Companies, or either of them, said sum of $300,000 for the purpose aforesaid, and to the extent of our respective subscriptions we severally agree to save them harmless from the payment of said sum; And we hereby authorize the corporators of said proposed company, when duly incorporated, under whatsoever name, when said road is located through Akron, to transfer to the stock-books of said company, when opened, our respective subscriptions here made, and agree that they shall have the same force and effect as if said company was now incorporated, and said amountsrespectively signed and entered by us in said stock books, after they were formally opened by the corporators of said company for that purpose.
Through public meetings and personal solicitation on the part of Messrs. King, Miller Brown and others, the full amount, $300,000 with a sufficient margin to cover contingencies was speedily subscribed by the enterprising citizens of Akron, all classes, from the larges manufacturer, merchant, banker, etc., to the humblest mechanic and laboring man, con tributing to the guarantee fund in proportion to his several ability. Then came long days o; waiting, expectation and suspense, until, finally in the spring of 1871, for reasons never satisfactorily explained to its Akron promoters, the project was indefinitely postponed, leaving the subscribers to the above document free to transfer their subscriptions to such new railroad projects as they might deem advisable.
The Valley Railway.—To David L. King, Esq.. are the people of Summit County more largely indebted for the inception. prosecution and completion of the Valley Railway. running diagonally through our county, from northwest to southeast, than to any other man. As early as 1869, largely through the instrumentality of Mr. King, a charter was obtained for the Akron & Canton Railway, which afterward developed into the larger and more important enterprise, the Valley Railway, duly incorporated on the 21st day of August, 1871, the incorporators being Henry Chisholm, Nathan P. Payne, James Farmer, Warwick Price and S. A. Fuller, of Cleveland, and David L. King, of Akron. The authorized capital stock of the company was $3,000.000, the road to run from Cleveland, in Cuyahoga County, via Akron, in Summit County, Canton, in Stark County, through Tuscarawas and Carroll Counties to Bowerston, in Harrison County, on the Pan Handle Railroad. The first first great movement for the promotion of the enterprise was made at a meeting held at the Academy of Music, in Akron, on the 4th day of January, 1872. Representatives from Cleveland, Canton, Wheeling and intermediate points on the contemplated route were in attendance, together with a very large number of business men of Akron and other towns in Summit County. The meeting was presided over by James A. Saxton, Esq., of Canton, with Mr. R. H. Cochran, of Wheeling, as Secretary, and Hon. Stephen H. Pitkin, of Akron, as Assistant Secre-
HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY - 299
retary. David L. King, Esq., of Akron, briefly stated the objects of the meeting, saying that the project of a road down the valley of the Cuyahoga, from Akron to Cleveland, and south from Akron to Canton and Wheeling, was no new project. Such a road, Mr. King said, would develop large quantities of coal and other minerals south of Akron, and a locomotive, after drawing an ordinary train to Akron, could by reason of continuous down grade, draw as many loaded cars from Akron to Cleveland, as the same locomotive could draw empty cars back. Mr. King concluded his remarks by moving the appointment of committeemen at different points on the route to aid in raising the necessary stock. Committeemen for Summit County were appointed as follows : Northfield, Lucian Bliss ; Boston, Frederick Wood, Frederick B. Wadhams, John Douds ; Richfield. Orson M. Oviatt, William C. Weld ; Bath, William Barker, Andrew Hale ; Northampton, James R. Brown, William Hardy. John C. Johnston ; Portage, S. W. Miller ; Akron. Jacob H. Wise ; Middlebury. Thomas H. Peckham ; Coventry. Alexander Brewster ; Springfield. Cyrus Yerrick, Robert V. Sawyer. Frank W. Myers : Green. Alexander Johnston. Speeches were made by Messrs. Newell D. Tibbals. Alvin C. Voris, Charles Brown. Stephen H. Pitkin. Lewis Miller, David L. King and others. of Akron : James Farmer, of Cleveland ; R. H. Cochran of Wheeling ; James A. Saxton and Josiah Hartzell, of Canton, and William McNeil. of Peninsula. The importance and feasibility of the road was conceded by all, the discussion being mainly over the question of gauge. estimates being presented showing the comparative cost of both the standard, four feet eight and one-half inches, and the narrow, three feet tracks. At the conelusion of the discussion, the following resolution was unanimously adopted :
Resolved, That it be the sense of this meeting t hat all our efforts be devoted to raising stock for the ordinary four-foot eight and one-half inch gauge.
Subscription books were opened at Cleveland, Akron. Canton and intermediate points on the 15th day of January. 1872, and a vigorous campaign opened " all along the line," for raising the necessary funds to build the road. Cleveland parties were pledged to raise $500,000, the quota assigned to Akron and Canton being $150,000 each, with such additional amounts as could be raised at intermediate points in theseveral counties interested. Meetings were held, speeches were made and subscriptions were obtained with commendable celerity, so that by the 20th of March, $60,000 of Akron's quota had been subscribed. Canton was the first to announce that her full share was raised, Akron coming in soon afterward with a similar good report. Cleveland, however, was backward. trusting to the plan of raising the requisite amount, under the Kesel law, by a tax upon the city. The proposition, however, was voted down, precious time being thus wasted, though the amount pledged was subsequently raised by voluntary subscriptions to the capital stock of the company through the vigorous efforts of her soliciting committees. Other localities also subscribed more or less liberally, so that the total amount subscribed in each of the three counties was as follows : Cuyahoga, $508.230 ; Summit, $191,700 ; Stark. $149,750. The first stockholders' meeting was held April 24. 1872. at which James Farmer, Ambrose B. Stone and Nathan P. Payne, of Cleveland ; David L. King and John F. Seiberling, of Akron, and James A. Saxton and George Cook, of Canton. were elected Directors. At a subsequent meeting of the Directors the same day. James Farmer was elected President; David L. King, Vice President. and Warwick Price, Secretary and Treasurer. At a meeting of the Directors. held May 10, 1872 ; Plymouth H. Dudley. then Akron's most efficient City Engineer, was appointed Chief Engineer for the new road. Two routes from Akron to Cleveland were surveyed. one directly down the valley of the Cuyahoga River. the other "overland." through Bath. Richfield. Brecksville, etc., liberal subscriptions being pledged along the latter route, should the location be determined in their favor. The valley route was finally adopted. and the contract for building the entire line from Cleveland to Bowerstown was awarded to Messrs. Nicholas E. Vansickle and Arthur L. Conger, of Akron, on the 3d day of February, 1873.
At a meeting of the stockholders. April 16, 1873, David L. King and John F. Seiberling were chosen as Summit County's representatives in the Board of Directors. Mr. King being continued as Vice President and Mr. Dudley as Chief Engineer, Stillman Witt, of Cleveland. being elected President. Ground was broken in Springfield Township, Summit County, early in March, 1873. The contractors immediately
300 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
went vigorously to work, the result of the first four months' operations being thus tersely stated by Engineer Dudley, in his report of the progress of construction made to the Directors on the 15th day of August, 1873, as follows : " On the line between Cleveland and Canton, a distance of fifty-seven miles, the graduation was commenced last March ; but on account of the wet weather in April and May, and other causes. has not proceeded as fast as could be desired. All the bridges are under contract, and part of them up. I am, however, pleased to say that nearly two-thirds of the distance from Cleveland to Canton is graded, and, should the weather continue favorable, I see no reason to prevent the completion of the remainder, ready to commence laying track in October. This would give you the use of the road most of the coming winter, which would be an advantage you no doubt fully appreciate."
The Engineer's anticipations, however, were not realized, and the winter of 1873–74 set in without witnessing the laying of the track or the completion of the grading, bridging, etc. On the 24th day of April, 1874, Hon. Reuben Hitchcock, of Painesville, Lake County, was elected President, Mr. King being continued as Vice President and Mr. Dudley as Engineer. Owing to differences of opinion between the Directors and the contractors, Messrs. Vansickle and Conger, the contract was canceled and the work suspended on the 16th day of May, 1874. President Hitchcock, on account of failing health, having tendered his resignation, David L. King, of Akron, was elected President on the 25th day of September, 1874, with James Farmer, of Cleveland, as Vice President. The general stagnation of business, and I especially of all new railroad enterprises, growing out of the panic of September, 1873, with the failure of Jay Cooke & Co., having rendered the immediate resumption of work impossible, the Directors, as a condition precedent ! to Mr. King's acceptance of the Presidency, individually assumed the entire liabilities of the company, which, owing to inability to collect stock subscriptions, amounted to over $150,000 —a burden from which the devoted Directors were not relieved until April, 1879. But, by the selfsacrificing assumption of this responsibility, the life of the company was saved through the long period of financial distress the country was then experiencing. Failing,through the stringency of the times, to secure aid in this country to complete the road, at tin earnest solicitation of the board, Mr. King sailed for England, on the 6th day of February 1875, to present the advantages of the investment to the capitalists of London. After weeks o: patient effort, struggle and disappointment, he finally succeeded in securing a proposition for the sale of the company's bonds on highly advantageous terms, and a time was fixed for the execution of the contract. On the morning of the day agreed upon for closing the matter up the publication, in the London papers, of the report of a committee of the House of Commons, discrediting the value of American securities in general, and railroad securities in particular. together with a cable dispatch received from New York, published in the same papers. that the Wabash & Western Railroad (a very large amount of the bonds of this road being held in London) had passed into the hands of a Receiver, presented so discouraging a prospect for the placing of American securities of any kind. as to cause the withdrawal of the proposition and the non-execution of the contract. By the advice of the parties with whom he had been in negotiation, Mr. King returned home without having accomplished the object of his mission, to "await the logic of events," as it was considered damaging to future sales, on the return of prosperity at home, to urge the bonds of the company further upon the attention of English capitalists at that time. The merits of the line were. from time to time, brought by President King before the capitalists of Cleveland and the East, and a succession of struggles to keep the enterprise alive were continued for three weary years longer, happily resulting in placing the bonds on highly favorable terms at home with Cleveland and New York capitalists, the capital stock having in the meantime (April 13, 1876) been increased from $3,000,000 to $6.500,000. On the 7th day of August, 1878, the work on the line between Cleveland and Canton was resumed by the new contractors, Messrs. Walsh and Moynahan, the first rail upon the line being laid and the first spike driven by President King, at Akron. at a point near the .Old Forge," at 12 o'clock, M., on the 26th day of October, 1878, track-laying being immediately proceeded with from this point both ways, and also commenced in Cleveland a few days there-
HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY - 301
after. The operations of the new contractors not proving satisfactory to the company, the contract with them was annulled on the 25th day of January, 1879, and the work again temporarily suspended. Subsequently, a new Contract was made with Messrs. Strong and Cary, and work resumed on the 3d day of June, 1879. The road was finally completed through from Cleveland to Canton, in the winter of 1879-80. The first continuous train from Cleveland to Canton, with the officers, Directors, and other friends and promoters of the road on board, started from Cleveland at 9:30 A. M., January 28, 1880. Making short stops at the several stations on the route, the train arrived at Canton about 1 o'clock, P. M. Starting from Canton on the return trip at 3 o'clock, P. M., the run from Canton to Akron, twenty-two miles, was made in thirty-eight minutes, the entire trip from Canton to Cleveland, fifty-seven miles, being made in two hours—a remarkable run, considering the newness of the road, and evincing a very excellent degree of work in the laying of the track and the ballasting of the roadbed. The first regular trains commenced running February 2, 1880, and have continued uninterruptedly to the present time, with constantly increasing freight and passenger traffic, and though, by reason of the partial occupation of the ground by other similar enterprises and prospective connections, the extension of the road beyond Canton has been indefinitely postponed, the Valley Railway may well be considered a successful venture for its promoters, and a very valuable acquisition to the travel and transportation facilities of the people all along the line, as well as a material addition to the enterprise and prosperity of the city of Akron, and of Summit County generally.
Officers of the road from the beginning to the present date (April 1, 1881), as follows : President—James Farmer, from April 24, 1872, to April 5. 1873 ; Stillman Witt, from April 15, 1873, to April 24, 1874; Reuben Hitchcock, April 24, 1874, to September 25, 1874 ; David L. King. September 24, 1874, to April 16, 1879 ; J. H. Wade, April 16, 1879, to date. Vice President—David L. King, from April 24, 1872, to September 25, 1874 ; James Farmer, September 25, 1874, to April 16, 1879 ; S. T. Everett, from April 16, 1879, to date. Treasurer and Secretary—Warwick Price, from April 24,1872, to April 15, 1873. Treasurer—S. T. Everett, from April 20, 1873, to date. Secretary—S. T. Everett, from April 20, 1873, to May 13, 1873. Secretary and Auditor—L. D. Clarke, from May 13, 1873, to April 17, 1878 ; William B. Porter, from April 17 to date. Superintendent—Sam Briggs, from November 1, 1879, to date. Present Board of Directors—J. H. Wade, H. B. Payne, John Tod, W. J. Boardman and L. M. Coe, of Cleveland ; David L. King, of Akron ; L. V. Bockius, of Canton ; and H. M. Flagler, of New York.
The Tuscarawas Valley Railroad.—This road, a comparatively new enterprise, running from Lake Erie, at Black River, in Lorain County, to Bridgeport, opposite Wheeling, W. Va., on the Ohio River, via Grafton, in Lorain County ; Medina and Seville, in Medina County ; Clinton, in Summit County ; Massillon, in Stark County ; New Philadelphia and Urichville, in Tuscarawas County ; passes through about three-fourths of a mile of the township of Franklin, in Summit County, having a station at its junction with the Cleveland, Mount Vernon & Columbus road, called Warwick, a short distance south of the village of Clinton. This road is 157+ miles in length, and is one of the principal coal roads of the State, and beneficial to the people of Summit County in reaching sundry points between Akron and Wheeling, and in the shipment of coal and other articles to points west of Cleveland on the lakes.
The Connotton Valley Railway.—The latest accession to the railroad system of Summit County is the Connotton Valley Railway. It is strictly a narrow-gauge road (three feet) and though intended more especially for the transportation of coal, its complement of rolling-stock embraces an adequate supply of box freight cars, and elegantly finished and furnished passenger coaches. The southern terminus of the road is at Bowerstown, on the Pan Handle road, in Harrison County, and its northern terminus, the city of Cleveland. The line passes through Carrollton, in Carroll County ; Canton in Stark County ; Mogadore, in Summit and Portage Counties ; Kent and Streetsboro, in Portage County; Twinsburg, in Summit County, and Bedford and Newburg in Cuyahoga County. The capital stock of the company is $3,000,000, the funds being furnished mainly by Boston capitalists, though a majority of the directors
302 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.
and officers are residents of Ohio. The present officers of the road are as follows : William J. Rotch, of New Bedford, Mass., President ; Samuel Allen, of Del Roy, Carroll County, Vice President; A. B. Proal, of Canton, Stark County, Secretary and Treasurer ; W. N. Moffett, formerly of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, Superintendent, and Robert Leamouth, formerly of the Pan Handle road, Roadmaster. The machine and repair shops, and the general offices of the company, are located at Canton. The entire length of the road is 118 miles, sixty-two miles of which is now (April, 1881) in running order, being completed as far north as Mogadore, and as far south as Del Roy, in Carroll County, and it is expected that cars will be running over the entire line by July of the present year. This road passes through from sixteen to twenty miles of valuable coal fields. fine beds of iron ore, potters' clay, building-stone, etc., besides having on its line some of the most enterprising manufacturing cities and villages in Northern Ohio.. At Mogadore, the road passes on the Portage County side of the village, but strikes into Summit County for a short distance, in circling around a hill just north of the village, thence bearing northeasterly to reach the village of Kent. and thence, in a northerly and northwesterly direction, again strikes into Summit County on the east line of Twinsburg Township, running diagonally across the township, and passing the village about one-fourth of a mile east of the public square. The Connotton Valley will prove especially valuable to the people of Mogadore, in furnishing them an inlet for the large quantities of coal which they consume yearly, and an outlet for the immense quantities of stoneware which they yearly manufacture, which has hitherto required a haul of eight miles, over (at times) the very muddiest kind of mud roads, to the nearest railroad shipping-point, Akron. The road will also give the people of Twinsburg facilities, not hitherto enjoyed, in reaching a market with their dairy products,
and the invaluable building stone so abundant in that township, and in obtaining their needed supplies from Cleveland and other portions of the outside world.
The Pittsburgh, Youngstown & Chicago Railroad.—This road was projected early in 1881, by Chauncey H. Andrews, Esq., and other wealthy men of Youngstown, with other outside backing. The company fully organized March 18, 1881, with Mr. Andrews as President, when $1,500,000 of' the $2,000.000 authorized capital was reported to be subscribed. The plan is to build the road from Pittsburgh. through Youngstown and Akron, direct to Chicago, the line, as surveyed, to enter Summit County at Mogadore, and, passing down the valley of the Little Cuyahoga River. entering Akron via the Sixth Ward upon the east. and Wolf Ledge Valley in the south part of the city. Though not yet actually commenced, there is at this writing (April 1. 1881). great confidence in railroad and business circles that this road will soon he put under contract and speedily constructed. Other important railroad projects. to pass through Summit County when built, are being talked up, but for the time being held in abeyance. Without our railroads. where would Akron. nay. where would Summit County have been today ? Not a manufacturing establishment, other than our waterpower mills, limited to some halfdozen in number—with diminished usefulness at that, by reason of a lack of speedy transportation facilities—would exist among us. and, instead of a city of 17.000 population. Akron would have been the mere village of 2,000 inhabitants that it was thirty years ago, if, indeed, it had not retrograded in. the meantime for want of proper communication with the outside world. So, too, with the county at large—farming lands, instead of being worth from $75 to $300 per acre, as they now are, would have remained. like those of the other non-railroad penetrating counties of the State, at from $25 to $60 per acre.