OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - Know your Ohio: Tidbits of Ohio -- Part 40 ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES(tm) NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information is included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgenwebarchives.org ************************************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374 April 30, 2005 ************************************************************************** Historical Collections of Ohio And Then They Went West Know Your Ohio by Darlene E. Kelley Tid Bits -- part 40 notes by S. Kelly ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Iron Production in Ohio Iron Production during the early days occurred on " plantations." These were relatively isolated communities established on land owned by an iron company. Usually. all of the items necessary to produce iron is limestone, timber, coal, an iron ore and they were readily available. Once the workers exhausted their supply of these materials, the furnace would close and move to new ground with an ample supply of resources. Most of these furnaces produced pig iron, which then be constructed into machinery, building supplies, and kitchen items. A few workers established iron forges, which produced a higher quality of iron than furnaces. Initially, most iron furnaces in Ohio were located in the northeastern section of the state. One of the first iron manufacturing establishments in Ohio was the Hopewell Furnace. Established in 1804, Hopewell Furnace was located near Youngstown. At the same time that the Hopewell Furnace operated, Daniel Eaton built an iron furnace at Poland, Ohio, where he was able to produce nearly two tons of iron each day. James Heaton developed one of the first iron forges in the state, near modern day Niles. While iron production originated in the northeastern corner of Ohio, during the first half of the nineteenth century, southern Ohioans dominated the industry. The most productive area was centered near Hanging Rock, along the Ohio River. By 1860, southern Ohioans had established sixty nine iron furnaces, producing more than 100,000 tons of iron annually, across Gallia, Hocking, Jackson, Lawrence, Scioto, and Vinton Counties. The manufacturers sent much of the iron up and down the Ohio River to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, allowing southern Ohioans to prosper. It was in these two cities where most of the iron produced in southern Ohio was fashioned into finished products such as household utensils and tools. The iron producers relied on charcol to fuel their furnaces. As the availability of charcoal and iron ore declined following the American Civil War, the economic prosperity of southern Ohio also quickly deteriorated, The northwestern part of Ohio emerged as the primary region for iron production in the state during the second half of the century. During 1840, the northeastern iron producers replaced charcoal furnaces with coal ones. This produced iron of a cleaner and finer quality. It is for certain that iron production and coal mining allowed Ohio to emerge as one of the most prosperous states by the late nineteenth century. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Cleveland Advertiser and the Plain Dealer. The Cleveland Advertiser, from its first issue January 6, 1831, spelled Cleveland without the superfluous " a," antedating the older Herald in that innovation by more than a year. It was established as a Whig weekly by Henry Bolles and Madison Kelley, who ran it until 1833, when money problems became a issue. It was turned over to W. Woodward, who converted it into a Democratic organ. On January 8, 1835 the Advertiser was bought by Horace Canfield and Timothy P. Spencer, who moved it above the post office on Superior Ave, where Irad Kelley was its Post Master. In 1836 they followed the Herald's lead by publishing a daily edition, although the weekly kept its identity as the Cleveland Weekly Advertiser. Canfield meanwhile dropped out of partnership, but Spencer was joined by A.H. Curtis, who became active editor of both the weekly and the daily. After the demise of the daily in 1838, Spencer appeared as sole proprietor of the weekly Advertiser until 1841, when it was published by Calvin Hall. Still a Democratic paper, its last issue was that of December 17, 1841. It was then purchased by two brothers, Admiral Nelson and Joseph Wm. Gray, who used its facilities to inauguate a new Democratic weekly, called the Plain Dealer on January 7, 1842. The Plain Dealer became an evening daily on April 7, 1845, its name was probably inspired by a former Jacksonian paper published in New York. Among its early staff members was Charles Farrar Browne, who created the character " Artemus Ward." In the years leading up to the Civil War, the Plain Dealer was the local Democratic organ in a Republican city and region. From the firing on Ft. Sumter until his death on May 26, 1862, Gray held the Plain Dealer to the Democratic policies outlined by its political mentor, Stephen A. Douglas. The newspaper was then taken over by the administrator of his estate, John S. Stephenson, who turned it into a virulent Copperhead organ that condemned Lincoln and supported the Ohio gubernatorial campaign of the arch-Copperhead Clement L Vallandigham in 1863. Because of the unpopularity of these stands, Stephenson was removed as Gray's administrator, and the Plain Dealer suspended publication for several weeks beginning March 8, 1865. It was resumed on April 25, 1865, under the editorship of Wm. W. Armstrong. Joseph William Gray was born in Bridgeport, Vt to Urel and Betsey ( Case ) Gray, emigrating with his brother Admiral Nelson Gray, [ my personal friend and mentor- S. Kelly ( This is where the Kelly's changed name spelling to Kelley ) ], to Cleveland in 1836. After teaching in local schools, Gray read law under Henry B. Payne and Hiram V. Willson and was admitted to the bar, in partnership with his brother. They both at this time purchased the Cleveland Advertiser, a faltering Democratic weekly, in December 1841, resurrecting it on January 7, 1842 as the Cleveland Plain Dealer with A.N. Gray as business manager. It became shortly a daily newspaper in 1845, when he left the Plain Dealer solely in his brother's charge. Gray was personally involved in Democratic politics. Appointed Cleveland Postmaster by President Franklin Pierce in 1853, he was dismissed by President Jas. Buchanan in 1858 for editorially supporting Illinois senator Stephen A. Douglas. Gray lost the 1858 Congressional election in the normally Republican district to Edward Wade. He went to both the Charleston and Baltimore conventions in 1860 as a delegate pledged to Douglas, maintaining his support of Douglas even through defeat, endorsing the senator's pledge of Union loyalty after the South's secession in 1861. For 20 years, Gray kept his Democratic paper alive in the heart of a Whig, later Republican stronghold. He married Catherine Foster in 1845 and had a daughter, Josephine, and 2 sons, Eugene and Lewis. He died after a short illness at home and was buried in the Erie Street Cemetery. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Cleveland Academy The Cleveland Academy was created in 1821, when the trustees of the Village of Cleveland raised $200 for the construction of a new and larger school. The new 2-story brick schoolhouse, completed in 1822 was located on the north side of St. Clair Ave. On June 26, 1822, the academy was opened under the direction of Rev.Wm. McLean as headmaster. Other instructors included John Cogswell, who followed McLean, and Harvey Rice, who served as instructor and principal until 1826. Curriculum at the academy consisted of reading, spelling, writing, geography, Greek, Latin, and mathematics. Students ranging in age from 8 to 21, were charged a tuition of $4.00 by the trustees for each term of 12 weeks. The academy was operated as a private primary school until 1830, when competition from other private institutions in Cleveland prompted its sale by the trustees. Following the incorporation of Clveland in May 1836, the Board of Managers repurchased the academy property and rented space in the building to small classes and businesses. On May 5, 1847, Charles Bradburn, school manager for Cleveland, recommended to the city council that the academy, now in disrepair, be torn down and be used for new schools. It was demolished in the winter of 1849, and in its place the city built a new $6,000 school and the W.St Clair Street School. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Central High School Central High School was the first Public high school in Clevealand. It was established on July 13, 1846. It was the first such school west of the Alleghennies to provide free secondary education at public expense. Its founding was controversial because of the prevailing belief that education beyond the elementary level was a private responsibility, opponents of Central High alleging that operation of the school out of public funds was illegal under Ohio statutes. These issues were resolved by the state legislation in 1848, that made provisions for Central High School's funding. The major proponents of Central High were Geo. Hoadley, Charles Bradburn, and Geo. Willey, and its first principal was Andrew Freese. Early Central students included such eminent people as John Severence, John D. Rockefeller, Marcus A. Hanna, Samuel Mather, and Langston Hughes. The early curriculum of Central High included courses in English, mathamatics, natural science, bookkeeping, rhetoric, and philosophy. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Cleveland Lyceum The Cleveland Lyceum was an early cultural organization for young men and a forum for the exchange of literature and ideas. The lyceum was incorporated by Sherlock J. Andrews, John W. Allen, Irad Kelley, John Barr, Leonard Case, Edward Baldwin, Richard Hussey, James Conger, and Thomas Kelley. It was founded in March, 1833 as part of a national movement originating in Connecticut in 1826, encouraging adult self-improvement through lectures, debates, museums, libraries, and educational associations. The Cleveland Lyceum offered a reading room, for members only, and public debates and lectures. In 1836 members debated the questions " Would it be a good policy for our Government to admit Texas into the Union?" and " Ought the Right of Suffrage be extended to Females?" In 1838 the lyceum addressed the necessity of corporal punishment in the training of children. A lecture series, using outside and local talent, was an annual event. By 1837 the lyceum had a membership of 110. In 1838 an attempt was made to unite the Cleveland Library Co., the Cleveland Reading Room Assn., and the Young Men's Literary Assn. The attempt failed, but despite economic hard times for other library undertakings, the lyceum lingered until about 1843, when it closed. Its library was divided among members, many who joined other, simular organizations. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Tid Bits to be continued in part 41.