OHIO STATEWIDE FILES OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List *********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. *********************************************************************** OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 99 : Issue 721 Today's Topics: #1 SUMMIT COUNTY PART 3 [Gina Reasoner To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.2.0.58.19800113063701.0095e6c0@pop.prodigy.net> Subject: SUMMIT COUNTY PART 3 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF OHIO by Henry Howe, LL.D. SUMMIT COUNTY PART 3 AKRON in 1846. -The large and flourishing town of Akron, the county-seat, is on the Portage summit of the Ohio canal, at the junction of the Pennsylvania canal, 36 miles from Cleveland and 110 northeast of Columbus. The name of this town is derived from a Greek word signifying an elevation. Akron was laid out in 1825, where South Akron now is. In the fall of the same year, the Irish laborers on the Ohio canal put up about 100 cabins. South Akron grew rapidly for a few years; but in 1832 some buildings were put up half a mile farther north, and business in a short time centered here. In 1827 the Ohio canal was finished from Cleveland to this place. In 1841 Akron was made the county-seat of the new county of Summit. The same year the canal connecting Akron with Beaver, Pa., was opened, and a new impetus given to the town by these advantages. Akron contains 1 Episcopal, 1 Congregational, 1 Baptist, 1 Methodist, 1 Disciples, 1 Universalist, 1 German Lutheran, and 1 Catholic church, 20 mercantile stores, 10 grocery, 4 drug and 2 book stores, 4 woollen factories, 2 blast and 3 small furnaces, 1 carding machine manufactory, 5 flouring mills, 1 insurance company, 1 bank, 2 newspaper printing-offices, and a great variety of mechanical establishments. The mercantile business of this town is heavy and constantly increasing, and immense quantities of wheat are purchased. The water privileges here are good, and manufacturing will eventually be extensively carried on. In 1827 its population was about 600; in 1840 it was 1,664, since which it is estimated to have doubled. Two miles south of Akron is Summit lake, a beautiful sheet of water on the summit of the Ohio canal. Part of its waters find their way to the St. Lawrence, and part to the Gulf of Mexico. -Old Edition. A resident of Akron has given us some facts respecting the settlement of the country, and one or two anecdotes, which we annex. In 1811 Paul Williams, Amos and Minor Spicer came from New London, Conn., and settled in the vicinity of Akron, at which time there was no other white settlement between here and Sandusky. We give an anecdote of Minor Spicer, who is still living at Akron. In the late war, one night just before retiring, he heard some one call in front of his house, and went out and saw a large Indian with two rifles in his hand, and a deer quartered and hung across his horse. Spicer inquired what he wanted. The Indian replied in his own dialect, when the other told him he must speak English, or he would unhorse him. He finally gave them to understand that he wished to stay over night, a request that was reluctantly granted. His rifles were placed in a corner, his venison hung up, and his horse put into a large pig-stye, the only stable attached to the premises. The Indian cut out a piece of venison for Mrs. Spicer to cook for him, which she did in the usual way, with a liberal quantity of pepper and salt. He drew up to the table and eat but a mouthful or two. The family being ready to retire, he placed his scalping-knife and tomahawk in the corner with his rifles, and stretched himself upon the hearth before the fire. When he supposed the family were asleep, he raised himself slowly from his reclining position and sat upright on the hearth, looking stealthily over his shoulder to see if all was still. He then got upon his feet and stepped lightly across the floor to his implements of death. At this juncture the feelings of Spicer and his wife may be well imagined, for they were only feigning sleep and were intently watching. The Indian again stood for a moment, to see if he had awakened any one, then slowly drew from its scabbard the glittering scalping-knife. At this moment Spicer was about putting his hand upon his rifle, which stood by his bed, to shoot the Indian, but concluded to wait further demonstration, which was an entirely different one from what he had anticipated, for the Indian took hold and cut a piece of his venison, weighing about two pounds, and laying it on the live coals until it was warmed through, devoured it and went to sleep. Mrs. Spicer's cooking had not pleased him, being seasoned too high. The day before he and his father lost themselves in the woods, and after recovering his parent, under a log, with his blanket, he had wandered until he saw Spicer's light. James Brown, or, as he was commonly called, "Jim Brown," was one of the early settlers in the north part of the county. He was known throughout the country as the head of a notorious band of counterfeiters. Few men have pursued the business so long without being convicted. Aside from this he was to a certain extent respected, for he had the externals of a gentleman in his conversation and address, and had many friends. He was a fine-looking man, over six feet in height, with a keen penetrating eye. He even held the office of justice of the peace when last arrested. He had often been tried before, and as often escaped.Once he was sentenced to the penitentiary from Medina, and the sheriff had nearly reached Columbus, when he was overtaken with a writ of error and set at liberty. It is said that large numbers of young men have been drawn into his schemes from time to time, and thereby found their way to the penitentiary. many anecdotes are related of him. He and a brother and one Taylor once supplied themselves with counterfeit paper and proceeded to new Orleans, where they purchased a ship with it and set sail for China, intending to make large purchases there with counterfeit notes on the Untied States bank. A discovery, however, was made, and they were apprehended before they had got out of the river, and brought back for trial, but he escaped by turning State's evidence. He escaped so often that it was said he could not be convicted. However, in 1846, he was taken the last time, tried at Columbus, and sentenced to the penitentiary for ten years. When first arrested he said, "Well, boys, now the United States have taken hold of me, I may get floored; but I could have worried out a county." AKRON, county-seat of Summit, about one hundred and ten miles northeast of Columbus, about thirty miles south of Cleveland, is an important manufacturing city, sewer pipe and stoneware being noted interests. It is the seat of BUCHTEL COLLEGE. its railroads are: N.Y., P. & O.; C.A. & C.; Valley; and P. & W. It is also on the Ohio canal. County Officers, 1888: Auditor, Charles W. F. Dick; Clerk, Othello W. Hale; Commissioners, King J. Ellet, Washington G. Johnston, Charles C. Hine; Coroner, Albert H. Sargent; Infirmary Directors, Stephen D. Miller, Joseph Moore, Eli Smith; Probate Judge, Charles R. Grant; Prosecuting Attorney, George W. Sieber; Recorder, Henry C. Searles; Sheriff, David R. Bunn; Surveyor, Charles E. Perkins; Treasurer, James H. Seymour. City Officers, 1888: Louis D. Seward, Mayor; Dayton A. Doyle, Solicitor; Newton Ford, Clerk; Arthur M. Cole, Treasurer; Simon M. Stone, Marshall; W.D. Chapman, Civil Engineer, Henry Acker, Street Commissioner; B.F. Manderbach, Chief Fire Department. Newspapers: Beacon, Republican, Beacon Publishing Co., editors and publishers; Telegram, Independent, F.S. Pixley, editor; Germania, German Independent, Germania Publishing Company, editors and publishers; City Times, Democratic, F.S. Pixley, editor; Freie Presse, German, Freie Presse Publishing Company; American Farm News, Aultman, Miller & Co., publishers; Ohio Educational Monthly and National Teacher, educational, Samuel Findlay, editor. Churches: 1 Baptist, 1 Congregational, 2 Christian, 1 Hebrew, 1 Evangelical, 2 Methodist, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Universalist, 1 German Lutheran, 1 German Reformed, 1 Reformed, 2 Catholic, 1 Episcopal, 1 Lutheran, 1 United Bretheran, 1 African Methodist Episcopal. Banks: Bank of Akron, George W. Crouse, president, George T. Perkins, cashier; Citizens' Savings and Loan Association, E. Steinbacher, president, W.B. Raymond, cashier; City National, T.W. Cornell, president, W. McFarlin, cashier; Second National, George D. Bates, president, A.N. Sanford, cashier. MANUFACTURES AND EMPLOYEES. -Aultman, Miller & Co., harvesting machinery, 605 hands; J.F. Seiberling & Co., harvesting machinery, 256; The J.C. McNeil Co., steam boilers, etc., 32; Akron Twine and Cordage Co., twine and cordage, 60; Taplin, Rice & Co., stoves and general machine work, 16; F. Schumacher Milling Co., flour, etc., 276; Citizens' Electric Light Co., 6; D.W. Thomas, planing mill, 24; The Hower Co., oat products, 20; Allen & Co., flour and feed, 17; J. Park Alexander, fire-brick, 20; W.B. Doyle & Co., planing mill, 10; Baker, McMillen & Co., wood-turning, etc., 98; A.A. Bartlett, planing mill, 13; Dempsey Machine Co., general machine work, 12; D.E.H. Merrill & co., stoneware, 49; Enterprise Manufacturing Co., hardware specialties, 35; The Hardware Manufacturing Co., hardware specialties, 17; The Thomas Phillips Co., flour sacks, 50; Christian Voght, carriages and wagons, 10; The B.F. Goodrich Co., 14; Weary, Snyder, Wilcox Manufacturing Co., planing mill and box factory, 25; Webster, Camp & Lane Machinery Co., hoisting machinery, etc., 135; The Akron Belting co., leather belting, 25; Werner Printing and Manufacturing Co., lithographing, printing, etc., 140; The Beacon Publishing Co., printing and book-binding, 36; Akron Contracting and Cabinet Co., builders' supplies, etc., 25; Smith Brothers, druggists' supplies, etc., 24; The Akron Iron Co. bar iron, etc., 41; C.A. Hankey, planing mill, 15; The Diamond Match Co., matches, 664; Whitman & Barns Manufacturing Co., knives and sickles, 286; Miller Match and Chain Co., matches and chains, 138; J.C. Ewart & Co., roofing tile, etc., 70; The Selle Gear Co., spring wagons and truck gears, 46; The Buckeye Sewer-pipe Co., sewer-pipe, 40; The U.S. Stoneware Co., stoneware, 40; The Akron Sewer-pipe Co., sewer-pipe, 90; The Hill Sewer-pipe Co., sewer-pipe, 45; Whitmore Robinson & Co., stoneware, etc., 129; The Seiberling Milling Co., flour and feed, 23; The Akron Fire-brick Co., fire-brick, 8; T.C. Budd, machine and foundry work, 7; Akron Steam Forge Co., iron and steel forging; 23; F. Horix, lager beer, 12; Robinson Brothers & Co., sewer-pipe, 70; Weeks Brothers, stoneware, 31; Viall & Markell, stoneware, 25; Cook, Fairbanks & Co., stoneware, 23; Akron Stoneware Co., stoneware, 43; F.W. Rockwell & Co., stoneware, 20; The Ohio Stoneware Co., stoneware, 32. -State Report, 1888. Population in 1880, 16,512. School census, 1888, 7,707; Elias Fraunfelter, school superintendent. Capital invested in industrial establishments, $7,202,000. Value of annual product, $7,487,369. -Ohio Labor Statistics, 1887. Census, 1890, 27,702. AKRON'S SEWER-PIPE INDUSTRY is famed throughout the whole country. The sewer-pipe has been in use in many cities for years and only gains added reputation by the test of time. It is manufactured in large quantities by skilled labor and powerful machinery. It is thoroughly vitrified and impervious to acids, gases or steam. The glaze being formed from the action of the vapors of salt upon the clay at a high temperature is not liable to scale or cut off by sewer gas, as is sometimes the case when a slip glaze of foreign substances is applied to the clay. Of the clay beds which supply the material for Akron's sewer-pipe Dr. Orton says: "The potters' clays of Springfield township, Summit county, are among the best natural beds of stoneware clay in the State. The clay deposits are from six to ten feet thick, overlain by shales and a hard sand-rock, and underlain by shales and occasionally by an inch or two of coal. The clays are of several grades of excellence; the poorest, or 'chunk' clay, which is commonly rejected, is found on the top of the bed. The beds are found close to the surface in the largest part of the territory. They are mined by long pits or trenches by which the whole area worked is taken clean and the refuse is piled back. In one or two instances the clays are mined by drifting, which gives a much cleaner product than the customary way. The district in which these clays are found is small, all the workings being at one place, viz., North Springfield, Summit county, where there are twelve or fifteen banks. They supply all the Mogadore, Tallmadge, Cuyahoga Falls and Akron stoneware potteries, which make at least twice as much stoneware as any other district in Ohio." Akron has another industry -the MATCH INDUSTRY -which is almost as widely known as its famous sewer-pipe. One-fifth of the entire match product of the Untied States is made by one concern in Akron. The Barber Match Company was established in 1847 by George Barber, and became by consolidation a branch of the Diamond Match Company in 1881. The Akron branch of this concern use annually in the manufacture of matches 3,000,000 feet of white pine limber, 70 tons of brimstone, 17,000 lbs. of phosphorus, 33,600 lbs chlorate of potash, 30,000 lbs. of glue and 50,000 lbs. of parafine wax. The work is largely done by improved machinery. On the location of the canal at Akron the town of Middlebury began to lose its prestige, and its citizens decided that it must get increased water-power to hold its own against the young rival. -continued in part 4 ______________________________ ------------------------------ X-Message: #2 Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 13:18:31 -0400 From: Gina Reasoner To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.2.0.58.19991012130724.0095be30@pop.prodigy.net> Subject: GEORGE WOLCOTT - SUMMIT COUNTY Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed 1882 HISTORY OF LA GRANGE COUNTY INDIANA F.A. Battey & Co., 1882 GEORGE WOLCOTT, deceased, was born in Torrington, Conn., July 26, 1806, and was one of a family of twelve children. When sixteen years old he removed with his parents, Guy and Abigail (Allyn) Wolcott, to Summit County, Ohio. His father dying in August of that year, he had charge of the home farm unitl 1828, when he went to Wadsworth and engaged in farming until 1832. August 6, 1828, he married Miss Margaret Hine, of Tallmadge, Ohio, and for a time was engaged in saw-milling and the manufacture of fanning-mills at Wadsworth. In 1836, he sold his possessions here, and in March, 1837, he located on the southern line of Johnson Township, where he commenced reclaiming the then unbroken forest. One of the first industries started by Mr. Wolcott was a mill fed by a race half a mile long, which he dug himself. By this excellent management, it was not long before a little settlement sprang up around him, which took the name of Wolcottville, in his honor, now a thriving village of 500 inhabitants. He built mills, shops, stores, houses, etc. He erected the Wolcottville Seminary, hired teachers, and through his endeavors made Wolcottville what it now is. He was peculiar in disposition, but was a friend to the poor and needy, and at an early day did much to relieve those suffering from fever and ague, then so prevalent. In politics he was a Whig, but afterward a Republican. He died March 31, 1857, but his widow is yet living, at the advanced age of seventy-eight, in Wolcottville. They were the parents of six children -Ann L., Abby A., Rowena R., Almira J. (deceased), Elton R., Marshall F. and Amelia M. (deceased). Mrs. Wolcott is living a retired life on her property near the village; she owns seventy-four acres of good land and is one of the highly esteemed old settlers of Johnson Township. ______________________________ ------------------------------ X-Message: #3 Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 13:27:55 -0400 From: Gina Reasoner To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.2.0.58.19991012132048.0095c380@pop.prodigy.net> Subject: WILLIAM DUNBAR - SUMMIT COUNTY Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed 1882 HISTORY OF LA GRANGE COUNTY INDIANA F.A. Battey & Co., 1882 WILLIAM DUNBAR is a native of Summit County, Ohio, born in 1829, May 7. In Milford Township, on the 7th of September, 1838, Mary Perkins was born. She was the daughter of Jacob and Sarah A. (Phipps) Perkins, natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio, and of German and English descent. She was married to Mr. Dunbar, April 12, 1857. He is the son of David and Mary (Rhodenbaugh) Dunbar, both natives of Pennsylvania, and of Irish and English descent. David Dunbar, at the time of his death, was living at the home of his son William; the former first came to this county in the spring of 1853, and the subject came in the fall of the same year, remaining near Wolcottville until in March, 1862, when he located on the farm of 200 acres, entered by John B. Clark; he now owns 280 acres, and is worth probably $15,500. His dwelling-house was erected at a cost of about $3,000. From the clear, running spring on Mr. Dunbar's farm, the township received ts name, and 'twas here the first town-meeting was held. Mr. and Mrs. Dunbar are parents of two children, Jacob and William A. ______________________________ ------------------------------ X-Message: #4 Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 12:52:21 -0400 From: Gina Reasoner To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.2.0.58.19991012124245.00959210@pop.prodigy.net> Subject: JOSEPH ROYER - SUMMIT COUNTY Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed 1882 HISTORY OF LA GRANGE COUNTY INDIANA F.A. Battey & Co., 1882 JOSEPH ROYER, son of Jacob and Mary (MIchael) Royer, is a native of Summit County, Ohio, where his birth occurred November 11, 1838. His parents were natives of Pennsylvania. His father, soon after he was married, moved to Summit county, Ohio, where he bought a farm and resided until about 1858, then removed to Uniontown, Stark co., Ohio, where his wife died in July, 1861. He died at the same place in 1879, having, however, married a second time. At the age of eighteen Joseph Royer learned carpentering; previous to this had worked on his father's farm. He followed his trade several years in Ohio, and continued it in Johnson Township, this county, after moving there in 1861. In 1865, he bought 80 acres of unimproved land and worked at clearing in addition to carpentering. In 1873, he sold out and rented a farm near Wolcottville, remaining until August, 1874, when he came to his present location, having purchased it the preceding spring. Mr. Royer was married May 12, 1864, to Elizabeth P. Eshleman, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Erford) Eshleman, natives of Pennsylvania. She was born January 2, 1845, in Summit county, Ohio, and is one of eight children. Mr. and Mrs. Royer have had three children, Elmer E., Mary L. and Emma M. Mr. Royer is a Republican, and himself and family are all members of the Evangelical Church. ______________________________ ------------------------------ X-Message: #5 Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 13:41:50 -0400 From: Gina Reasoner To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.2.0.58.19991012133325.0095b100@pop.prodigy.net> Subject: HENRY J. ULMER - SUMMIT COUNTY Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed 1882 HISTORY OF LA GRANGE COUNTY INDIANA F.A. Battey & Co., 1882 HENRY J. ULMER, son of George T. and Julia A. Ulmer, was born in Summit County, Ohio, December 31, 1829. His parents came to Indiana in November, 1836, and located on eighty acres of Government land in Allen Township. He is a native of Maine, and is now living in Kansas at the age of seventy-four or seventy-five. His wife, who was a native of Connecticut, died in this county. Henry Ulmer lived on his father's farm until twenty-five years of age, when he was married to Miss Sarah W. Cowley, daughter of Stpehen M. and Catharine Cowley, December 7, 1854. The ensuing year, Mr. Ulmer was engaged in running a saw-mill in this county, then removed to Pretty Prairie, lived on rented property one and a half years, then removed to Lima and resided about seven years. During four years of this time Mr. Ulmer carried the mails from Lima to Albion once a week and devoted the remaining time to farming, and for eleven seasons ran a threshing machine with his father; he purchased eighty acres of property adjoining Lima. He next went to Ligonier, and worked in his father's grist-mill one and a half years, farmed two years, then, with his father and another partner, engaged in the mercantile business. In 1870, they were burned out, with considerable loss, and our subject then came to his present farm of eighty acres, where he has been quite successful. His wife, who was a native of New York and a member of the Free-Will Baptists, died in October, 1879. There are three children -George C., Kittie A. and Bertha. ______________________________ ------------------------------ X-Message: #6 Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 13:05:42 -0400 From: Gina Reasoner To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-Id: <4.2.0.58.19991012125343.0095faa0@pop.prodigy.net> Subject: MICHAEL WESTLER - SUMMIT COUNTY Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed 1882 HISTORY OF LA GRANGE COUNTY INDIANA F.A. Battey & Co., 1882 MICHAEL WESTLER, lumber dealer. The Westler family came from Maryland to Ohio at an early day, where the subject of this sketch was born, in Green Township, Summit County, July 30, 1827. John and Elizabeth (Blatner) Westler were his parents, and their occupation was farming. Michael Westler lived with his parents on the farm until fourteen years old, when his father died. From that time until 1847, he worked at farming, went to school, and in the fall of that year commenced the study of dentistry. In October, 1848, he went West and bought a farm of 104 acres on Section 29, Johnson Township, La Grange County, paying for it $2.50 per acre. He boarded at a neighbor's and began improving his place. He was often called upon to work at dentistry. When he first bought the land there was no clearing on it. After building him a log cabin; he, on the 5th of April, 1853, married Sarah Ann Stroman, and to them were born -Francis M., Ida M., Charles J., deceaseed, Elmer E. and Etta R. R. Mr. Westler has been married three times. By his second wife there was born one son -William M., who died when about seven months old. He married his present wife (Naomi Wilcox) November 3, 1875. She bore him one daughter -Ottley E. In February, 1865, Mr. Westler enlisted in Company F, One Hundred and Fifty-second Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was discharged August 31, 1865. In about 1869, he sold a part of his farm, moved to Wolcottville, and engaged in milling. For a time he had an interest in a saw-mill, but at present is engaged in the lumber trade and the agricultural implement business. He is a Republican, and has held various township offices. He is a member of the I.O.O.F. of Wolcottville, and the La Grange Encampment. He has represented the lodge at the Grand Lodge, and has held all the offices of both lodges except that of Secretary. Mr. Westler is an honest gentleman in every respect. During the war he was a decided loyalist, and during the trouble with black-legs from 1856 to 1858, he was one of the first to become identified with the Regulators. -------------------------------- End of OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest V99 Issue #721 *******************************************