Akron City (part 1 of 2)

Beacon Job Department

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the ofiBce of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C, January 17, 1887, by , SAMUEL A. IvANE. /

Source changes here: from Fifty Years and Over of Akron and Summit County [O.], by Lane, Samuel A. (Samuel Alanson), published 1892; 30 words in this source stream.

And Educational Progress, Biographies, Etc

; Entered, according to Act of Congress, / in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at / Washington, D. C, January 17, 1887, by / Samuel A. lane. /

Source changes here: from Centennial History of Summit County, Ohio and Representative Citizens, by Doyle, William B., B, published 1908; 22,569 words in this source stream.

Akron City

It is inaccurate to say that the Ohio Canal made Akron. The city as it stands today is the resultant of many causes. Many and different influences, and various men and measures, have co-operated toward the end now attained. The start was made long before the Ohio Canal was built. - Within the present limits of the city, settlements at two different points had been made, which antedate the canal by nearly two decades. In 1807 the first settlement had been made in Middlebury. In 1811 Miner Spicer had started "Spicertown." In the same year Paul Williams settled upon the lands immediately west of the Spicer settlement and adjoining the land of General Simon Perkins on the east. When the canal was opened in 1827 Middlebury was an important village. It had attracted many settlers from the East, principally from Connecticut, and boasted of half a dozen mills and factories, a dozen stores, three inns and about five hundred inhabitants. It certainly deserved a place on the maps of the time.

Let us search that we may find, if we can, the economic reasons for the existence of Akron. The sentence that begins this chapter contains the idea that is ordinarily advanced as the sole reason for the Akron of today. The unthinking man repeats: "The canal made Akron." The wTiter on Akron history records: "Dr. Eliakim G. Crosby made Akron."

The truth is, no one thing and no one man made Akron, but that all the men who have ever worked for Akron, from the earliest beginning until this centennial year of 1907, aided by certain natural advantages, "made" Akron. The term "men" is here used in the generic sense, and includes the army of noble women who planned, worked, and sacrificed, and made man's work worth the while. All the minds and all the hands; all the labor and all the capital; all the faith and all the hope - these have been working for one hundred years to produce the results we now behold.

If the canal did not make Akron, it was the largest single factor in the making. Where so many causes have been working together it is impossible to say that the result would not have been possible without any one of them. There is reason to believe, however, that without the early advantages of the first canal the great industries and the teeming population of the present would not have been Akron's.

Allusion ha." been made above to certain advantages which Nature provided for the future citJ^ A study of the economic reasons underlying the location of any city vnW assist us in determining what they are in the present case.

What induced the five hundred inhabitants of Middlebury in 1827 to locate there in the twenty years succeeding its founding? Leaving the Alleghenies behind, the boundless

And Representative Citizens

West was before them and they were free to settle here or there, as their judgment dictated? Then why Middlebury? To one who knows New England and Middlebury the answer is not hard to find. What turns the mills at Lowell, Lawrence, Holyoke and all the towns on the Merrimac and Connecticut and other rivers of New England? New England's manufacturing prestige is due to the overwhelming advantages its unsurpassed water-power gives it. It is a power, cheap and easily transmitted. New England even in the early part of the last century was full of dams and sluices and waterwheels. The man from Massachusetts and Connecticut was brought up with a knowledge of these things. They were a familiar part of his environment. He knew water-power when he saw it.

The early Middlebury men were from Massachusetts and Connecticut. It was the power in the fall of "the river there that attracted them. The early Middlebury factories, including the Cuyahoga furnace, a saw-mill and a large grist-mill, were all operated by the power derived from a dam thrown across the river at the point where the plant of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company now stands. Later other dams were built and the use of the power extended. All this was done prior to the building of the Ohio canal, or even before the preliminary steps were taken.

The Portage, or carry, between the Cuyahoga and the Tuscarawas rivers was not of sufficient importance to cause any extensive settlement along its length or to influence any that might be made in its vicinity. We, of today, are inclined to overestimate its importance. There is no reason to believe that it was ever extensively used. It was in no sense of the word a great pioneer highway, such as some of those that brought about the establishment of the large trading-posts of the early days. The latter were powerful factors in founding settlements that grew into cities later when the sway of the white man began. Travel over the Portage Path was little enough. The long carry of nine or ten miles, part of it up and down steep hills.

was enough to deter all travelers, but those pressed by the greatest necessity. War parties passed in numbers at tdmes, but trappers and traders went by other ways. There was far greater travel over the east and west highway, part of which is now called the Smith Road, and extensive settlements were made at various points along its course.

At the southern end of the Portage Path, however, there was built up in the years 1806 and 1825 one of the most promising of all the settlements in northern Ohio. This was not because of any advantage derived from travel over the Path, but because of the fact that here was the head of navigation on the Tuscarawas. The Indians and pioneers used the waterway as far as they could and then took various trails leading in other directions. The river was then of much greater volume than today and was capable of supporting an extensive traffic. Navigation was open from New Portage to the Muskingum and the Ohio, and extensive trading sprang into existence along these waterways.

The Path, then, was of little or no benefit to the region we know as Akron. Neither did this immediate locality have any waterpower. It was covered with thick forests of oak, ash, hickory, chestnut and maple. Splendid springs issued from the hillsides. Game was abundant. But the lake country only a few miles to the south offered much better hunting-grounds and richer fields in the fertile bottom lands along the creeks.

Early in the year 1825 a great and sudden activity was manifested all along the base of the high hill, which stretches north and south from the Cuyahoga River at old Portage to Summit Lake, and along the top of which runs the Portage Path. This narrow zone of activity met the Path at both these points, and about halfway between them it bent away to the east about a mile and a half. It followed the base of the hill closely and lay in the lowest part of the territory contiguous to these points.

these days of steam-shovels and earth-conveyors. The earth was excavated to a depth, in the center, of five or six feet and of a width averaging, perhaps, twenty-five feet. In the distance between the Summit Level and Old Portage the greatest engineering works of the whole project were made necessary. Between these two points there is a rise of nearly two hundred feet. This necessitated a series of locks and twenty-one of them were built, in massive style, of great sand-stone blocks and ponderous oak gates. By the side of each was built a sluice, or overflow, for the passage of the. water when the gates were closed. This work brought into this neighborhood a small army of engineers, contractors, diggers, drivers, stone-masons, carpenters, blacksmiths, and a subsidiary army to do the commissary work for these. Like all camps of the kind, this was followed by the slab-saloon and the grocery, and almost in a day a town arose. It required two years' time to complete these works and by the time they were finished the new town numbered half as many inhabitants as Middlebury, two miles to the east and now in the twentieth year of its existence.

Then commenced the great traffic over the Ohio Canal. If the Portage Path was not a highway, the canal certainly was. It is hard to realize now how important an avenue of commerce this great waterway was in the early days of Ohio. It is difficult to estimate accurately the great part it played in the development of the state. The danger to the student of these results will be to overstate them. The village at the mouth of the Cuyahoga had grown rapidly. Cleveland enjoyed an extensive commerce and the products of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and the East were being distributed thence throughout the West by lake carriage. Ship-building in the vicinity of Cleveland became an established industry. The Cuyahoga at this time was a much larger stream than it is at present and many lake vessels were built as far inland as Old Portage.

opened an easy way of communication with these. It removed the obstacles in the journey to Cleveland. When completed it formed the bast method of inland transpoi-tation then known, between Lake Erie and the Gulf of Mexico. Under favorable conditions loaded boats could navigate nearly as fast as a train behind George Stephenson's "Rocket." Travel by packet on the canal was not looked upon as a hardship, but welcomed as a great improvement over a journey by pioneer roads. Previous to the opening of the canail, the products of the community, which consisted mainly of flour, wool, hides, charcoal, potash, and dairy and farm products were taken to Cleveland and Pittsburgh by wagon. These were of the prairie-schooner type and oftentimes immense loads would be hauled by eight-horse teams hitched to them. On the return trip merchandise of various kinds was brought in. The owners of these wagon routes were important men in the community, and they were often intrusted with the execution of extensive commissions. No inconsiderable part of the buying and .-ellmg between Akron and the outside points was done through them. The most prominent among these early carriers were Patrick Christy, the grandfather of Will Christy, the electric railway magnate, and George Crouse, grandfather of the present Akron bu.sinessman, George W. Crouse, Jr.

In one respect Akron was the most important point on the Ohio Canal. Students of economic causes have learned that great natural obstacles to travel on important highways are the points most likely to attract settlement and become a nucleus for future development into village and cit^^ Thus a ford in a stream, a rapid or fall in a navigable river necessitating a portage, interrupts the journey, causes delay and becomes the natural stopping place for travelers. At Akron, the traveler by canal met the greatest obstacle in all his journey. Here was a series of twentyone locks through which his boat must pass before he could resume his journey. Four hours at the best would be consumed in the operation of locking, and delays were very frequent. The traveler could walk the entire distance between the extreme locks in onefourth the time hi^ boat took in going through. Here, then, was a splendid site for the merchant. Here was a steady stream of travel and commerce passing, for more than eight months of the year. Here that travel must halt for a large part of the day. Thus the way-faring man was forced into an acquaintance with Akron ; thus the fame of Akron was carried throughout Ohio and beyond.

In the boyhood days of the writer of this chapter, that part of the town lying north of Federal street and west of Summit was known as "Dublin." This name was given to the locality when the locks were being built. As remarked above, it took two years to build them and a host of laboring men were busy in the work. Now, in the twenties the great tide of immigration from Italy and Germany and the other countries of the European continent had not started to flow toward our shores. The Chinese coolies did not arrive until the building of the Union Pacific railway. The oppression of the peasantry in Ireland, however, had driven a horde of her population to seek easier conditions. The first great immigration was from Ireland. The "Dago" and the "Hunkie" of the twenties and thirties was the Irishman. "Paddy" built the railroads and made the highways and dug canals. Thait is, he handled the pick and shovel and carried the hod. He was the carrier of water and the hewer of wood. Well, the men from the Shamrock Isle who came to Akron to work on the canal, built their cabins in the locality referred to and lived there during the time they were working on the locks. Whether they named the place themselves as a tender tribute to the "auld sod," which was still the focus of their fondest longings, or whether the place was facetiously dubbed by the bluer-blooded in-, habitants of Cascade or Middlebury, is unknown and immaterial. The present generation neither knows the name nor has any dealings with the ancient district of "Dublin." Today it might be more appropriately called "Naples," for the Irish have prospered and moved into better city quarters, while the Italian, a late comer, has taken the old houses and become the predominating influence in the locality. The territory has been conquered in succession by Ireland, Africa and Italy.

How much the canal did for the new town or rather towns, - for there were two of them, one, called Akron, centering at the corner of Main and Exchange streets and the other named Cascade and located near the corner of Market and Howard streets, - is seen from the growth of population that took place on this narrow strip of land along the canal and extending from Chestnut to Beech streets. At the end of the first decade this territory numbered more than one thousand people. In 1840, or fifteen years after the beginning of construction, the United States census showed a population of 1,381. It had left Middlebury far behind. Practically the whole of this number had moved in from other places. Akron was already known as one of the most promising towns in the northwest territory, and this report was attracting new settlers by the hundred, annually. Most of the men employed in building the locks remained here when the work was completed. So did the keepers of boarding-houses and taverns and the merchants who had been supplying the demand for groceries, clothing and such goods as the presence of so large a body of laboring men made necessary. These constituted a fine nucleus for the coming city. Thus, it was the canal, undoubtedly, that gave Akron its start.

For twenty-five years the canal, too, was the only means of communication Akron had with the outside world. When her citizens traveled they went by packet, between the verdant banks of the canal. Their products found the outside market and their merchandise was brought in to them by boats plying on that same canal. The canal was as of much relative importance in Akron life of the period as it was in Holland. Venice, itself, was not more dependent on, or prouder of, her waterways than Akron before 1852.

On the 4th day of July, 1852, the first railway train rolled into Akron. It came in from Hudson over the Akron branch of the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad. It marked the end of the old order of things. It closed an epoch. The steam-propelled train, running on level iron tracks, had worked a revolution in the world outside. All business had to be adjusted to meet the changed conditions. The world had moved on apace. Akron was practically where the thirties had left her. Communication by canal was now isolation. The railway came and growth began anew. Akron was nearing the time when she was to strike her real pace. The real making of the city, as we know it today, was still a thing of the future. The city grew as a few men prospered. When the sun of prosperity shone upon Ferdinand Schumacher, Arthur L. Conger, John F. Seiberling, Lewis Miller, David E. Hill, Henry Robinson, James B. Taplin, J. D. Cummins, the Aliens, the Howers, 0. C. Barber, and one or two others, then began the era of real progress. From that time on, Akron has had a steady and even growth.

The gi'owth has never been phenomenal. Its citizens have never experienced the excitement of a "boom." Real estate values have never taken a decided step upward. The contrary is true, that the price of real property has lagged behind. Of course, the increase in population and wealth has brought with it higher prices for land and buildings, but the increase in the latter has not been commensurate with the former. This fact will serve to indicate how gradual, normal, and healthy has been the growth of Akron. It was fortunate for the city that, when some of the industries founded by the above named men fell upon hard times and gave way under the stress of untoward circumstances, others, started subsequently, grew amazingly and more than filled the gap. It was like the springing of second-growth trees to replace the falling of century-old monarch?

of the forest. Of the above names, four of the men who bore them, and who had amassed great fortunes from their enterprises, went to their graves, broken in fortune. Three of the great businesses were closed up forever, and their names forgotten in the business world. In the joy of possessing the greater industries that have taken their places, few make room for the emotion of regret that ordinarily would have attended the departure of the older. Thus it has happened that Akron has been known successively as "The Oatmeal Town," "The Match Town," "The Place Where They Make Mowers and Reapei-s" "The Sewer-pipe Town," and lastly, "The Rubber City." When the magnitude of The Werner Company is considered, we can say with rea.son that it might well be called "The City of Graphic Arts." The renown of the latter publishing house on the American Continents would easily make it the one overshadowing feature of many of Akron's rival cities, were they fortunate enough to possess it.

Among the economic reasons for the remarkable growth of Akron, an important place inust be given to the extraordinary advantages derived from certain mineral deposits discovered in Summit County, early in its history. Even the most unreflective reader must be aware of the desirability of cheap fuel in a district devoted to manufacturing. Water-power was a good thing so far as it went; but that was limited, not only in the amount of the horse-power it could develop, but in the kinds of manufacturing which it could subserve. Thus, it was unavailable for the largest part of the operations of the potteries and for such work as operating the "driers" of the cereal mills.

Fortunately, Nature was prodigal of her gifts to the territory of which Summit County is a part. To the south and east of Akron lie gread beds of bituminous coal, some of it of superior quality. The "Turkey-foot Coal" is the same as that of the Massillon field, and on combu.stion is capable of producing as many heat imits. Steady mining for more than half a centurv has not exhausted these resources; it has not even determined their full extent. New mines are opened from time to time, and the out-put continues to furnish the major part of the Akron supply. A short haul of five, ten, or fifteen miles brings this splendid fuel iv the doors of Akron's big factories. Thus, this city has an advantage over her manufacturing rivals, who must add to the cost of production the expense of transporting fuel, sometimes for long distances.

The "burning" of sewer pipe, brick and earthenware requires large quantities of fuel. These were among the very earliest of the city's industries. Contemporaneous were the furnaces for reducing iron ore to metal. They, too, needed heat rather than power.

Coal was not the only fuel, for magnificent forests covered the entire country, and rich peat beds filled the swamps in many localities. Long after the coal is exhausted it will be possible to obtain excellent fuel by resorting to the peat deposits in Coventry, Copley and Springfield townships. Oil can also be obtained by refining the carboniferous shales which abound in various sections of the country.

Akron sewer-pipe is the standard for the world. Specifications often read: "Sewerpipe used must be equal to the best Akron." It cannot be doubted that the superior qualities of the finished product are due in large measure to the superexcellence of the raw material. Great beds of fine clay extend over the to^mships of Tallmadge, Springfield, Coventry and Green, while other townships posse,?s smaller deposits.

Reference has been made in previous pages of this history to the existence of iron-furnaces in Middlebury and Akron. None exist now, and have not for many years. Only the oldest inhabitants -uall remember them. The present generation a.sk in surprise, "Well, where in the world did they get the iron ore?" The answer, too, is surprising. It was obtained right at home. The furnaces were built here because the ferrous ores were here. They are still here, but are the so-called "boo;- iron." and the process of reduction is so expensive that they cannot compete with the richer ores mined in other parts of the country. Hence, when use was made of the great deposits in the Lake Superior district, the Akron furnaces went out of business, and now nothing remains of them but the .slag and cinder heaps which they left behind.

In Springfield and Green townships there exists a four-foot stratum of limestone, of fair quality. Limestone, very impure, also occurs scattered in other portions of the county. Below Cuyahoga Falls, it was quarried in the early days of the county, and burned for water-lime. It is said that quantities of this local lime were u.sed in the masonry of the Ohio Canal, at the time of its' construction.

Akron and Summit County have had the oil and gas fever from time to time. Many attempts have been made in the last forty years to find these minerals, with varying successs. Mr. Ferdinand Schumacher drilled a deep well, about twenty-five years ago on the site of the former Cascade Mill. His desire was to obtain gas sufficient to provide fuel for the operation of his mills. He was not successful, though gas in moderate quantities was obtained. Somewhat later J. F. Seiberling drilled several holes in Springfield Township near Brittain, but after drilling to a great depth the wells were abandoned on account of the poor showing. In Bath and Northampton, surface oil has been known to collect in wells, and farmers have often been excited over the indications of petroleum. In Peninsula, the largest flow of gas ever found in the country comes from a well drilled there, and in the year 1907 the flow was continuing unabated.

In 1905-1906, the most ambitious attempt to search for oil that has been made in this district was undertaken. James and Mathew Lang organized the Interstate Oil Company, and secured much capital in Youngstown, Akron, and other cities, for the purpose of making a thorough test of this locality. Their theory was an ingenious one, and appeared plausible enough to any but e.xpert geologists. In explaining the theory it was said that oil was all about us. To the east and south wese the Pittsburg, Pai'lcersburg and Marietta fields ; on the west were the Lima and Findlay fields, while north of us, some oil had been found in Canada and the Islands of Lake Erie. The oil in all these places had been found in the stratum of rock known as the Trenton formation, and this dipped from all these points toward Akron. In other words, Akron is built over the center of a great basin, the bottom 'of which is formed of Trenton rock. Therefore, all that was necessary in order to reach the greatest supply of petroleum ever tapped, was to drill in the neighborhood of Akron until the Trenton formation was encountered. Geologists are of the opinion that this rock lies more than 4,000 feet below the surface of Summit County. These parties overlooked one thing, which is the weak point in their theory: The pressure of so tremendous a mass of the earth's crust would certainly force all oil and other liquids to ascend through the geological faults or porous strata, like the shales, to regions where that pressure was not so great. Is it not worthy of belief that this pressure has forced the oil from the central and lower parts of the basin to the rim of it, and that the surrounding fields have oil because it has been forced out of the territory of which Akron is the center? In the years last mentioned, several wells were drilled near Thomastown, and oil in paying quantities was found far above the Trenton rock. Drilling was then stopped, and the oil has been steadily pumped from these wells since, in moderate quantities. A well is now being drilled near the State Mill, in Coventry Township, and is said to be down 3,000 feet, with no indications of oil. It is extremely improbable that Akron will ever enjoy an oil "boom." Most geologists are of the opinion that oil and gas do not exist in Summit County in sufficient quantities to make a search for either very profitable. Nature has so plenteously enriched this region with other resources that no one must be heard to complain that one or two gifts "have been withheld.

Akron S Early Days

On the 6th day of December, 1825, there was duly recorded in the records of Portage County, Ohio, by the recorder thereof, a plat of a new village. It consisted of about 300 lots of land, and occupied the territory lying between the present i-ailroads, St. Bernard's Church, the Goodrich Rubber Plant and the Perkins School. The prime mover in this allotment was General Simon Perkins, of Warren, who owned considerable land in the county, a part of which was included in the amount platted. With him was associated Mr. Paul Williams, who owned the land adjoining Gen. Perkins' on the east. These men were the founders of Akron. The city cannot appropriately celebrate its first centennial until 1925, although 1907 completes the first century since the settlement of Middlebury, which is now a portion of it.

The survey for the Ohio canal had been made, and, by studying tlie altitudes of various places on its length, it was seen that the site of this new village occupied the very highest point. There is a Greek word, Akros, which translated means "high." At the suggestion of a lawyer fi-iend. General Perkins adopted the name "Akron" as a very appropriate one for his new town. She is the original Akron. She has been a prolific parent, for new "Akrons" are found in New York, Colorado, Indiana and many other states. The city does not occupy the highest land in the state, as is often erroneously asserted. The highest altitude in the city is about 1,100 feet above the level of the sea. The highest point in the state is in the town of Ontario, not far from Mansfield, where the elevation reached is 1,373 feet.

The first building built upon the new allotment occupied the corner where the Peoples Savings Bank is now located. It was built by Henry Clark, and was used by him for hotel purposes. Soon a store building was built on the lot diagonally opposite. When the work on the canal began, and dwellings and store buildings and shops and warehouses sprang into existence as though stim- moned by the wave of a magician, there was large demand for the lots, and many of them were sold in a few months. The enterprise was a splendid success, and the new town started under the happiest auspices. A shipyard was started inside the town limits at what was afterward called the Lower Basin, and on June 27th, 1827, the first canal boat built in Akron, and the first to regularly navigate the canal, and called the "Ohio," was launched.

So Akron grew until August 10th, 1833, on which day the territorial extent of the city was doubled by the filing of a new plat by which all the lands lying north of the town as far as the Little Cuyahoga River, and between what is now th^ railroads on the east and Walnut and Oak Streets on the west, were allotted. As in the former plat, streets, parks, and alleys were provided for, and a little city was carefully laid out on paper. This plat also gave the name of the town embraced by it as "Akron." This last allotted territory belonged mainly to Dr. Eliakim Crosby. He associated with him Judge Leicester King and General Simon Perkins, both of Warren. Dr. Crosby had settled in Middlebury in 1820, coming thence from Canada, although he had been born in Litchfield, Connecticut. He embarked in various ventures in Middlebury, operating at times the Cuyahoga furnaces, a lime kiln, a grist mill, saw mill, etc. He sold them all by 1831, and conceived a prospect larger than any of them. His plan was to carry the water of the Little Cuyahoga River by means of a hydraulic race, from Middlebury to a point on the Ohio Canal near Lock Five, near the foot of Mill Street. This would give a fall of water which could be used for power purposes from Lock Five to the northern limits of the town. Work on the race was commenced in 1831, and in the spring of 1833 the waters of the river were flowing through it, and giving the power the engineer of the enterprise, Colonel Sebried Dodge, estimated they would. This is the race -which now Rcms through the Old Forge, around the Rocky Bluff above and just to the south of Fountain Park, the present fair grounds, and, crossing Summit, Broadway and High Streets, is conveyed by a conduit under the center of Main Street and down Mill Street from the Central Savings Bank Corner to the "Old Stone Mill," at Lock Five. The mill was built in the year 1832-1833 to make use of the new power. On the maps the new race was called the "Cascade Mill Race." The old village had been called Akron for eight years and the people looked upon the addition as another and separate village. The name of the race they adopted, therefore, as the name of the town, and it was known as "Cascade" for many years thereafter, both at home and abroad. This name was later given to a newspaper, a hotel, and an important store; all named from the town of which they were a part. When the territory between the old and new village became better settled they were often referred to as North and South Akron, but gradually the distinction was obliterated. Today, by "South Akron" the citizen refers to tenitory lying south of Thornton Street, and extending to a point three miles from the center of North Akron.

The sixth Federal Census did not recognize Akron. It was the census of 1840. It gave Cleveland, 6,071 ; Steubenville, 4,247 ; Zanesville, 4,766; Chillicothe, 3.977. It gave the number of inhabitants in Summit County as 22,560. In 1850, the name of Akron appears for the first time, and the town is credited with 3,266 population. In 1860 this had grown to only 3,477. The new railways had been in operation only five or six years, and their influence was not yet firmly felt. The older part of the town was exceedingly jealous, in the early days, of the new upstart just north of it. Although they were both founded by General Simon Perkins, and had much in common, still, the rapid growth and many superior advantages of the northern section was quite sufficient to disturb the equanimity of the older community. The former possessed the "Stone Mill," and it was the largest manufactnring industry in any of the three towns. Here, also, was the new

"Cascade House"; the most modern and best of all the hotels in the vicinity. Here was the "Cascade Store," occupying the southwest corner of Main and Market Streets, founded by Jonathan F. Fenn and Charles W. Howai'd, and purchased in 1835 by Mr. Philander D. Hall, and many other advantages were enjoyed e.xclusively by the new village. Middlebury was also envious and jealous, and there was a three-cornered rivalry which at times approached to a feeling of bitterness. Finally, the contest settled down to a conflict between the two Akrons, and oftentimes the business rivalry took the form of a contest of force. The newspapers of the time frequently contained long articles of the most bitter recriminations. The two towns were separated by a narrow strip of land, perhaps 600 or 70(3 feet wide, extending from Quarry to Center Streets. This was owned by General Perkins, and was neutral ground. It was called the "gore," whether because of its shape, or the amount of blood it caused to be spilled, is not known. This strip belonged to neither of the villages and, lying exactly between them, was good compromise ground. Hence, when the church congregations of that day wished to build a place of worship, the partisans of the two sections fought each other to a standstill, and then decided to meet halfway and erect their temple on the neutral ground. In order to insure absolute fairness in the matter, the churches were faced toward the west. In this way the original Methodist, Baptist and Congregational churches were built. The latter occupied the site of the present Court House, while the Baptist was built on the corner of Quarry and High Streets. The reader will doubtless reflect by this time that the County Court House, built in 1841, occupies the site on this neutral ground. When the Baptist Church was built, it was proposed to make it face toward the south. This provoked a quarrel that foimd its way into the newspapers, and was waged with much feeling. Many of the members living in North Akron withdrew their church membership; some of the contributors to the building fund, who lived north of the "gore," refused to pay their subscriptions, and the church was nearly rent in twain on account of this sectional warfare. The original Congregational society was broken up and disbanded, and the Methodists engaged in an internecine struggle that caused each party to accuse the other, when, in 1841, their church building burned down, of having set it afire. Judging from the newspaper accounts, the fire was not incendiary at all.

But, the contest up to the time of the Post- Office War, was mild by comparison with what happened during that memorable affair, and the year or two next succeeding. Then was reached the climax. Up until December, 1837, the post-office had been located in South Akron. It was established in 1826, the year after the founding, by President John Quincy Adams. He appointed a young lawyer named Wolsey Wells as the first postmaster. Mr. Wells built a large house on West Exchange Street, on the corner of Water Street, and in it conducted the operations of the postal service and collected the tolls on the Ohio Canal, for he was both postmaster and toll collector, and, when he had time, attended to the duties of justice of the peace, in addition. It probably required the revenues from the combined offices to support the one incumbent, and even then his salary was doubtless only a modest one.

In 1883, Mr. WelLs moved away from Akron and President Jackson appointed Lewis Humiston, who was then keeping the Clark Tavern, on the corner of Main and Exchange Streets, as his successor in the post-office. He built a small building in the rear of the hotel on the north side of Exchange Street, just east of Main, and established the post-office in it. Early in 1837 Mr. Humiston resigned owing to his removal from Akron and the war was on.

There was a large number of applicants for appointment to the vacancy. The contest finally settled down to a struggle between Constant Bryan and Harvey H. Johnson. They were both lawyers and both residents of the north village. The former was after- ward elected probate judge of the county, and was the father of Major Frederick C. Bryan. The contest grew so acrimonious that the government threatened to abolish the office unless the community would announce its decision at an early date and arrive at it in a peaceable manner. The South Akron candidates then withdrew and, with their respective adherents, gave their support to Mr. Johnson in return for his promise, it was alleged, that the site of the post-office should remain in South Akron. This action gave Johnson the support of a large majority of the voters of the two villages, and accordingly he received the appointment.

He took possession of the office in June, 1837, and all South Akron rejoiced with him. They felt that they were sharers of his good fortune. Had they not retained one of the greatest factors in the upbuilding of their section of the city? The new postmaster was received with open arms as a new neighbor. They of the North End were inwardly displeased. Mr. Johnson was one of them, but, by maintaining his office in the South End he was giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Their displeasure soon manifested itself outwardly and the columns of the newspapers bore evidence of their state of feeling. Mr. Johnson's "treason" was .strongly denounced, and every possible argument for the removal of the post-office to the growing North Akron was set forth. Surely the South Akronites could not object to its removal to the neutral ground, called the "Gore"! The churches had compromised on this strip, and here was the logical and reasonable site for all their common activities, the location of which might be in dispute.

South Akron could see nothing to arbitrate. They could not see that it was "logical" to give up so desirable an acquisition as the postoffice. For them, to go to the post-office was merely to go around the corner or across the street, while the north citizens must trudge a mile or more in snow, mud and burning summer heat to get their mail and buy their .'tamps. It is to be feared that the South Enders taunted them as they pas.«ed and immoderately rejoiced in their own good fortune. Human nature is the same in all ages.

So the summer and autumn passed and South Akron had settled down to the full enjoyment of the post-office as their own property. The reader can imagine then, the surprise, the absolute consternation, which seized South Akron, one morning in December, 1837, when it looked for its beloved possession and could not find it. It searched for its post-office everywhere within its four corners; it rubbed its eyes and searched again. There was no mistaking the fact that somebody had done something with the post-office. At length the information was brought in that it had gone north during the night. It had not even stopped on the compromise ground. It was not to be a neutral thing, it was not to be possessed in common with the enemy. It had gone over to the enemy. It was resting and operating smoothly in the Buckley Building, on the corner of Howard and Mill streets. The North Enders were taking but a step or two to reach it, while they of the South End were trudging a mile in the snow to buy their stamps, and a weary mile back, nursing their wrath and planning satisfaction.

If newspaper articles are a means of satisfaction in such a contingency, they had it in full. "We can well believe that the North Enders enjoyed the storm while their cra'^tfallen rivals thundered their vituperation and insinuation in the local press. The postmaster was denounced as a "traitor" and a "viper." The ugliest charges, l)acked up by affidavits, were printed in the newspaper. Mr. Johnson replied by other articles and made use of many personalities calculated to drive his assailants to cover. Finally the editor of the paper refused to extend further the courtesy of his columns for the purpose of continuing the wordy war, and the contestants took to pamphleteering. Sixteen-page pamphlets were used to give vent to the feeling of outrage on the part of the South .\kron citizens, and their leading men assisted in preparing them and lent their names to the cause. It speaks well for the self-restraint of the com-

The injured feeling on the part of the South Enders soon passed away. The North End, from that time on, rapidly surpassed it in population, wealth and influence. Many of the citizens of the south village moved their business and residences to the North End. The spirit of partisanship or rivalry soon disappeared, never to be renewed. The postoffice was moved many times thereafter without a note of protest from anybody. Dr. Dana D. Evans, the successor of Mr. Johnson, moved it twice, each time further north. The first move was into the Stone Block, on the east side of Howard street near Market; the second was to the large stone "Good Block," on the corner of Market and Maiden Lane.

In 1849, postmaster Frank Adams moved it back to the east side of South Howard street, where Remington's jewelry store is now located. In 1853, his successor, Edward W. Perrin, moved it a few doors further north to a room in the Matthews Block, where it remained until July 1st, 1870, when the new postmaster, James B. Storer, just appointed by President Grant, moved it south to the corner room in the Msisonic Temple on the corner of Howard and Mill streets. The lease on the room in the Masonic Temple expired before the new government building was ready for occupancy, and the post-office took temporary quarters in the old office of The American Cereal Company, on the south-east corner of Mill and Broadway, which had been vacated when that company moved its general offices to Chicago. Here it remained until the completion of the government building, on the corner of Market and High Streets, where, in all probability, it will remain so long as Akron people will have need of postal services. The separate post-office of Middlebury has been discontinued and a branch of the Akron office installed in its place, yet there was no objection to the move on the part of anyone. At the present time there is no rivalrv between anv of the manv sections of the city, but, everywhere, the visitor sees evidence of a new spirit, a universal desire to pull together for the good of Akron.

Akron An Incorporated Town

The real history of Akron as a municipal corporation commences on the 12th day of March, 1836, for it was on that day that the legislature of the State of Ohio duly passed a resolution granting to the two villages. South and North Akron, a town charter, in accordance with their joint request, as contained in a petition they presented to the General Assembly in 1835. In addition to the land contained in the original town plats of General Perkins, Paul AVdlliams, Dr. Crosby and Leicester King, this act of the legislature added to the municipal territory more than three square miles just east of and contiguous to the said plats. The east corporate line under this grant of municipal rights extended a trifle east of the present Spicer Street and from about Hamilton Avenue across Fir, Market and North Main and Howard Streets to the Little Cuyahoga River.

The incoiporating act provided a complete scheme of government for the new municipality, including officers, elections, forms of taxation, legislation, boards of education, etc. It provided for the election of a mayor, a recorder and five trustees. It prescribed that the first town election should be held on the second Tuesday in June, 1836. The territory out of which Akron was formed wataken from both Coventry and Portage townships. For the purpose of the first election, the usual polling place of Portage Township was to be used - the old Clark Tavern, on the corner of Main and Exchange Street*.

In 1836, the North End contained more electors than the South End, and, in the caucuses of both the Whig and Democrat parties, it captured the nominations. In the election following, political lines were obliterated, as they always should be in municipal elections, and the results showed that the voters split on sectional lines of cleavage in- stecad. The Whigs nominated Seth Iredell for mayor. He was a Quaker who had come from Pennsylvania about the time of the completion of the canal, and had been intimately connected with the affairs of the norlh town since the beginning. Their candidate for recorder was Charles W. Howard, a son-in-law of Dr. Crosby's, who, of course, was strongly identified with the interests of North Akron. The nominees of the Democrats for m.ayor and recorder were Dr. Eliakim Crosby and Constant Bryan, respectively, one the founder of North Akron and the other one of its most prominent citizens.

It was rather poor politics to localize the nominations in this way, but the North Enders had the power, and the temptation to u.se it to the utmost was too strong to be withstood. The South Enders showed their feelings by voting against the man who was most responsible for the existence of the North End, and all others who were intimately connected with him. The total vote cast in the ensuing election was one hundred and sixtysix, and the strong interest in the election. produced by the warfare of the sections, doubtless drew out a full vote. The votes were soon counted and it was ascertained that Mr. Iredell had been elected by a majority of sixteen, while Mr. Bryan w-as elected by a majority of twelve.

For Trustees

By the terms of the charter, all the above officials were to constitute the Town Council and possess within themselves all the executive, administrative, legislative and appointive functions. The charter provided for a marshall, treasurer, engineer, solicitor, all to be appointed by the Town Council, and for such police and fire officers as it might deem expedient.

When the council organized, it was learned that Mr. Mitchell had declined to act as trustee and Justus Gale, a Whig, was chosen to fill the vacancy. After sei-ving a few months Mr. Commins also rasigned as trustee and the council appointed William K. May as his successor.

The grant of municipal powers from the state provided that town officials should hold office only one year. These just elected had but got well acquainted with their respective duties and had settled down to a reasonable enjoyment of the honors so hardly won, when the time for their exit from the stage of publie affairs arrived. Whether they were dissatisfied with their offices or the people with their officials, the truth remains that not one of them remained in his office for a second term'. Akron has earned for herself a reputation for fickleness in this r&spect that endures to the present day.

At the second election, held in 1837, John C. Singleton, Jr., wa.s elected mayor, William E. Wright, recorder, and William K. May, William T. Mather, Dave D. Evans, Jesse Allen and Eben Blodgett, trustees. When the new council met it elected Moses Cleveland, marshal, and Horace K. Smith, treasurer. The new mayor was a young man of twenty-seven years. His predecessor was nearly sixty-three. Mayor Singleton came of a wealthy family, living at Streetsboro, Portage County. He had graduated at Western Eeserve College, at Hudson, with the class of 1835, and was esteemed later as a very brilliant man. He made some very unfortunate business ventures upon coming to Akron after his graduation, and his inexperience in the law prevented his securing many or profitable clients, so he was better known in Akron for his debts and his poverty than for any especial abilities, at the time of his candidacy.

In June, 1839, General Lucius V. Bierce, a most remarkable man in many ways, was elected as mayor. He had just returned from the ill-fated "Patriot" expedition into Canada. In 1838, it was believed by many American citizens that Canada was ready for revolution. A Canadian editor, William Lyon Mackenzie, was the originator of the movement. On the American side, all the territory bordering on the Great Lakes, became interested in it. In the beginning it took the form of a fraternal order with the accompanying ritual, secrecy, oaths, etc. "Hunters Lodges," as they were called, were established in many places. A prosperous lodge was formed in Akron. The object of the order was to assist Canada in throwing off the yoke of Great Britain.

On the burning of the filibustering schooner "Caroline" by the Canadian authorities in December, 1837, great excitement prevailed in Akron and public meetings were held by all the prominent citizens and resolutions adopted demanding the prompt interference of the President of the United States. General Bierce was a brigadier-general of Ohio militia. He had always been a student of military matters and had early inter&sted himself in the State Guard. The Canadian movement found him ready to begin hostilities at the drop of a hat. A convention of "Patriots" was called at Buffalo. General Bierce attended and so impressed the other delegates with his military knowledge that he was chosen as military commander-in-chief of the whole movement. The movement never reached any serious proportions. Judging from its size, the character of the men behind it, and the preparations made for carrying it out, it never got beyond the stage of boys' play.

An attack of two hundred men was made in Canada in the St. Lawrence River district, and repelled without appreciable difBculty, and the leader of it hanged. Mackenzie was driven from Canada. December 4, 1838, General Bierce at the head of 137 men, made the second and last incursion into Canada. It started from Detroit and got as far as A\"indsor, just across the river. Fifty British -soldiers were guarding the barracks here. The "Patriot Army," as the commander-in-chief delighted to call his squad, .succeeded in setting fire to the baiTacks and also in burniing a non-belligerent little steamer, "The Thames," lying at the wharf. They were soon attacked by 400 Canadian soldiers, and, of the 137 who crossed the river, only thirty returned. The rest were either killed or taken prisoners.

This was the last of the effort to "free" Canada. It was a most inglorious affair. It is difficult to see now how anyone could possibly draw any credit from it, except, perhaps, the Canadian soldiers and the American federal authorities, who promptly and energetically did all they could to break up these filibustering expeditions and lo maintain our ordinary status with the British government as a power with whom we were on friendly terms. General Bierce, it is alleged by many, did not acquit himself with extraordinary valor. He has been critici.'^ed for being among the first to cross in the little canoe to the American side after the disastrous sequel. Be that as it may, he returned to Akron with .splendid stories of his exploits and speedily became a hero in the eyes of his fellow citizens. It was something to have an Akron man put in command of the "combined Patriot forces," if they did number only one hundred and thirty-seven. Anyhow, the next year General Bierce stood for mayor and was triumphantly elected. His military renown stood him in such good stead that he was elected mayor again in 1841-1844-1849-1867- 1868, and was made president of the Board of Education at its first organization, in 1847. Other well-known men who have held the office of mayor are George W. McNeil. William T. Allen, George D. Bates, Sr., James ]\Iathews and Samuel A. Lane.

powers granted by it, the legislature made a classification of municipalities according to population. In it Akron was classified as a village and henceforth was known as the "Incorporated Village of Akron." The population then was little more than three thousand.

December 14, 1864, recorder Henry W. Ingersoll, acting under instructions from the council, took a local enumeration and found the population living within the corporate limits of Akron to be 5,066. According to the mimicipal classification this entitled Akron to be advanced to the grade of "city of the second class." On the 25th day of Decembei-, 1864, the Village Council passed a resolution that the necessary steps for advancement be taken and petitioned the State authorities to that end. This was done on the 21st day of January, 1865. John Brough was then Governor of Ohio. On that date the "City of Akron" had its inception. Heretofore there had been no wards or precincts. Under the enabling act, the Council immediately met and laid out the city into three wards and took the steps for holding the first city election on the first Monday in the coming April. Hitherto the village elections had been held in June.

April 3, 1865, the first city election was held and James Mathews was chosen as the first mayor of the new city. The first council, elected at the same time, was thus constituted : First Ward - Charles W. Bonstedt, elected for one year; George W. Crouse, elected for two years. Second Ward - John E. Bell, one year; Henry W. Howe, two years. Third Ward - J. Park Alexander, one year; Lewis Miller, two years. This council organized by electing Mr. Miller as president and Jeremiah A. Long as clerk.

One of the important acts of this council was adding additional territory lying immediately east of the city. A small strip lying between the two municipalities of Akron and Middlebury was thickly settled and desired the benefits of city government and improvements. Their petition was acted upon favorably by the city and the countv commissioners, and, on September 6, 1865, the second territorial addition was made to Akron. This strip was bounded roughly as follows: On the west by the east corporation line of Akron, running about the present location of Spicer and Fir streets; on the south by Exchange Street, running on the same courses as it does today; on the east by the west line of the village of Middlebury, which extended as far west as the present junction of East Market Street and Buchtel Avenue.

Early in 1870 there commenced an agitation in favor of the annexation of Middlebury. The two municipalities touched each other and to all intents and purposes were as one. In Akron the sentiment was unanimous in favor of consolidation and in Middlebury a strong feeling in that direction began to set in. At length, public sentiment there ripened to such a degree that the Middlebury Village Council passed an ordinance submitting the question of annexation to Akron to a vote of the village electors. This ordinance was passed August 24, 1871. The Akron City Council passed a similar ordinance on the 5th day of February, 1872. It was agreed and provided that the question should be voted upon at the regular spring election to be held in 1872.

It was held on the first Monday in April, and the annexationists were triumphant in both municipalities. In Akron only .-ix votes were cast against the project; in Middlebury only twenty-six. The total vote in favor of annexation was 1,182, of which Middlebury gave 140. The Akron Council then chose, as members of the joint commission to arrange the details of annexation, th6 following citizens : William T. Allen, George W. Crouse and David L. King. The Middle^; bury Council selected the following representative Middlebury men as its commissioners : Frank Adams, George F. Kent and Dr. Mendal Jewett. -

This joint commission met at once and quickly agreed upon all the terms incidental to the process- of annexation, such as arrang; ing for equitable distribution of the publjc debts, taxation, assessments, etc. Their agreement was incorporated into an ordinance which was passed by the Akron Council on April 24, 1872, and by Middlebury April 19, 1872. By this Act, the city of Akron increased its population about one-fifth and added to its domains a large extent of territory which possessed great resources.

Middlebury had been known for its waterpower and its clay-beds especially. It also brought into the city a substantial, sturdy citizenship which was bound to make its influence felt in muTiicipal advancement. By the ordinance of March 9, 1871, the Akron City Council had redistricted the city and created two new wards in addition to the original three, rather they had made five new ones of the original three, and, when Middlebury was annexed, it was provided by ordinance of May 27, 1872, that it should form the Sixth AVard of the city. As such it continued until 1900, when the annexation of much territory on the south, the west and the north, made another redistricting necessary. It then became the Second Ward of the city. In 1904, the ward numbers were changed again and the old number of Sixth was given to the district of Middlebury. In the year 1907 it is known as the "Old Sixth" ward of the city of Akron.

On October 28th of the same year (1872) a small district lying south of East Exchange was made a part of the city of Akron. Ten years later, a large district lying to the northeast was annexed. This new territory wa's in Tallmadge and Portage townships and had been known for years as "The Old Forge." It had received the name from the wroughtiron industry established there in 1817 by Asaph Whittlesey, of Tallmadge. Aaron Norton and William Laird, of Middlebury. It is known today as the "Old Forge" district. The ordinance for this annexation passed the council of February 18, 1882, and by council action taken on March 1, 1886, it was made a part of the Sixth Ward.

By an ordinance dated March 15, 1886, the council took the necessary steps to bring about the annexation of part of Coventry Township, on the south, and part of Portage

Township, on the west and north. When this action was completed, the south corporation line had been extended to about South Street, on the south, and to a line running north and south and crossing Beck and Byers Avenues and Market Street, on the west. By this action nearly 700 acres of land, well populated, was added to the city. These additions, made during the decade, lent much interest to the census of 1890, and the citizens awaited impatiently the announcement of the results of the count. The total of 27,601 was very gratifying and every true Akronian felt that from that time onward the world would be compelled to take notice of the existence of the city of Akron.

In 1899-1900, by action of the City Council and the county commissioners, the city of Akron took additional territory from both Coventry and Portage Townships. The city had outgrown its old limits. In South Akron a district extending beyond the railroads, at Falor's and Wingerter's crossings, was thickly populated. The desirable residence features of North Hill had attracted many new residents there. On the west both Perkins Hill and West Hill now contained the costliest and mo.st fashionable residences in the city. Many of these had been built outside the old corporation line. This territory on the south, west and north was all annexed to the city at this time. The new city limits now extended beyond Falor's Crossing and Summit Lake on the south, passed through the Count}' Farm, where the Tnfirmary is located, and intersected North Portage Path, near the Country Club, on the west ; added a populous district on Merriman road, and intersected Cuyahoga Falls Avenue on the north. The annexation was made in time to have the additional population included in the census of 1900 as a part of the enumeration for Akron. The official count that year showed that Akron had a population of 42,728. The growth since 1900 has been steady, and at the present time the population is close to 60,000.

Mercantile Akron

As early as 1843 Horace Greeley said, in the Neiv York Tribune after a visit to Akron : "This place, with a population of 2,500, has five woolen factories, an extensive blast furnace, a machine shop, a card manufactory, nine dry-goods stores, and about as man\ other stores; two weekly newspapers, four lai'ge flouring mills,- a court house, four churches and two more being erected."

For the purposes of this chapter Mr. Greeley's reference to the dry-goods stores is alone of importance. Now, as then, the Akron mercantile concerns devoted entirely, or in part, to the sale of dry-goods outnumber those dealing in any other one line of life's so-called necessities.

Up to 1825, the mercantile life of the town - as was true of all else savoring of a settled community - was centered in Middlebury, which in the year mentioned had some ten or twelve stores and was the trading center of a considerable portion of northern Ohio.

The canal was important in Akron's beginning. It brought the first con.siderable number of customers for prospective merchants. It is recorded that soon after work was begun upon the canal, a man named Benedict erected a two-story frame store at the southwest corner of Main and Exchange streets. Mr. Benedict was probably the pioneer merchant of Akron proper. The business which he established was continued for many years under the name of the "Mammoth Store," and carried such a variety of goods suitable, of course, to the multitude of needs of a more or less primitive population, that it may rightly be termed Akron's first department store.

Mechanics and laborers poured into the infant city. Manufacturers located conveniently near; farmers clustered about the outskirts, and Benedict's "Mammoth Store" soon had many rival seekers for the trade of the active and progressive population of Akron in the twenties.

was formed, the first store building was one erected by the late Seth Iredell in 1832, at the southwest corner of Market and Howard streets, on the site now occupied by Greenwood Brothers.

In 1832 Jonathan F. Fenn and Charles W. Howard established themselves in Mr. Iredell's block with a varied line of merchandise, but after three somewhat stormy years these early and disappointed "merchant princes" gave up the struggle. In 1835 Philander D. Hall acquired a lease of the property and entered into the conduct of the business founded by Messrs. Fenn and Howard. He was much more successful than they had been, and proceeded, with his brother, to build a business and a fortune. The business was discontinued only on the death of the brothers, a few years ago. Such were the beginnings of the "general store" or "department store" business in Akron. It has grown as Akron has grown. Hundreds of mercantile establishments founded and conducted on a small basis have made the names of their thrifty proprietors household words in the localities where they affixed themselves. Many such businesses through the judicious investment of profits, created comfortable fortunes.

But good fortune in Akron has not been more nearly universal than elsewhere. For instance, no more pathetic and at the same time no more remarkable figure has been identified with Akron's mercantile life than that of the venerable Joseph E. Wesener, still among the living, though past eighty years of age. Born in Pennsylvania in 1827, Mr. Wesener came to Akron from Canton in 1846, and as a youth of twenty gained a practical insight into mercantile affairs by clerking in Akron stores for four years. Then he entered into partnership with the late Allen Hubbard. Two fires were encountered (but survived) in a few years, but Mr. Wesener pushed on, sometimes alone, and again with various partnei-s, dealing in wool, conducting dry-goods stores, .speculating where legitimate opportunity presented itself, and for a third of a century continuing to do a phenomenally successful business in Akron. He was at one time rated as Akron's wealthiest citizen. Then came reverses. One, venture after another proved unsuccessful. Disaster after disaster visited itself upon him; his properties were swept away, and this venerable "captain of industry," his wealth vanished, his fame enfeebled by the relentless wear of the years, is ending his days in dire poverty.

The following are some of those who have had an active part in Akron's commercial life since 1840, arranged so far as possible, in chronological order: Frank J. Kolb, 1840; Major Erhard Steinbacher, druggist and grocer, 1851 ; Jacob Koch, clothier, beginning as a clerk for Koch & Levi in 1854 ; John Cook, grocer, 1855 (afterward succeeded by his sons) ; Cornelius A. Brouse, 1859 ; C. W. Bonstedt, John B. Houghton, John Wolf, 1862; George C. Berry, 1866. Others who have made their names in Akron's mercantile affairs were Brouse & Co., O'Neil & Dyas (now conducted by Michael O'Neil as The M. O'Neil & Co.), who first conceived the idea of a modern department store for Akron, an idea which has been worked out to huge success under the present management; Murray & Watt (later the Boston Store, which was discontinued within the present year) ; Myers & Polsky (still conducted successfully by A. Polsky and his two sons) ; Wendel Mangold, Dague Brothers (whose business was recently purchased by the C. H. Yeager Co.) ; Burke C. Herrick, 0. H. Remington, J. B. Storer, Dwight A. Hibbard, George J. Neiberg, C. M. Hibbard, William J. Frank, D.H.McBride and E. C. McBride, George S. Dales, Alfred M. Barber, Levi Kryder,"C. M., F- L. and J. H. Kryder; Augustus Jabaut, John CWeber, William Gray, John Kreuder, James N. Baldwin. George A. Bisbee, Charles W. F. Dick, David K. and Albert T. Paige, George Viall, Burdette L. Dodge. George W. Weeks, Albert T. Kingsbury, Louis Loeb, Fred Kuhlke, Shepard B. Lafferty, Nicholas Laskaris, Antonio Masino. J. M. Laffer, S. K. Black. John D. Rampanelli. Henry A. Akers, Emil Ganmeter, Charles A. Pouchot, John S. Herrold, George A. Kempel. Oliver A. Sorrick, Josiah J. Harter, A. C. Rohrbacher, John Gross, James T. Diehm, William Durr, J. W. Little, R. M. Pillmore, and a host of others.

As will be noticed, many of the names which were familiar to commercial Akron a generation or more ago are familiar now. Business conditions have changed somewhat, it is true. The city has acquired metropolitan qualities, and the people metropolitan requirements. The business details that made a concern popular and successful a generation ago might easily be shown to be valueless now. And such merchants of that other Akron as are still in business were obliged to be progressive. And they were. There are many new names in the mercantile roster for 1907. Each of them indicates the city's added greatness.

The double line of business houses which formerly extended for a block on Howard street and for a short distance on Market street, has been found too small to do the city's mercantile business. Main street has been changed from a rough and rubbishstrewn canal bank to a first class business thoroughfare of which, in its mercantile aspect, any city might be proud.

Fire And Police Departments Akron Fire Department

Up to the year 1839, Akron had no fire department of any kind, the inhabitants being notified by one calling to another or in the ringing of the church bells. But in December, 1839, an ordinance was passed providing for a volunteer fire department. From this arose the "North Akron Fire Company," formed January 28, 1840, with its twentysix members. And to the people, certificates of membership were issued. February 10, 1846, eight more were added and the numeral one was added, thus making them No. 1. The equipment of this company was gotten by private subscription, it consisting of a rotary Iiand engine costing $600, with the subscribers paying $25.00 each toward the en- gine. This company bought also for itself fifty feet of hose and finally, in 1841, was ofifered a small building for headquarters on Mill Street.

"Niagara Fire Engine No. 2" was started December 20, 1845, and its membership numbered thirty-seven. A hook and ladder company w^as formed in 1847, with the energetic name of "Tornado Fire Company No. 3." Various other companies were formed from time to time, but all volunteer. It was not until May, 1858, that there was a paid department, and then it was two dollars per year for each member. The Niagara Company was equipped with a new engine purchased by the town, with headquarters, finally, in the small brick building still standing on Federal Street. The West Side had its independent company, called the "West Killers." Later there was a German hook and ladder company called "Washington No. 3." Still another organization was known as the "Mechanics Hook and Ladder Company."

At the present time the fire equipment in Akron is as good as any in the country. It will be recalled that one of the fruitfiil sources of improvement in this line has been the steady increasing factor of fire insurance. Other things being equal, the city with the best fire department obtains the lowest rate. To see that fire rules are strictly observed, to keep buildings free from inflammable material, insurance agents and fire department cooperate. The estimating a rate on a given dwelling, the construction and exposure are considered, and for any building used for other than residence purposes there is a separate rate. Maps of every street are made and, in short, fire protection has changed from a matter of convenience and local pride to a purely business proposition.

This being true, it has a marked reaction on the fire department. Fire cisterns are located over the business centers of the city and a superbly equipped and finely organized body of men is at the se^\^ce of the city. Civil sen'- ice rules prevail strictly and almost military discipline is enforced. Every night there is drill and so perfect is the discipline that the equipment can get away in eleven seconds from the first sounding of the alarm. Each man is allowed one day off out of five and fourteen days vacation in a year.

Particularly should Akron feel proud of its fire and police alarm system. In the year 1873 there was only one box in the city and that was located in the engine house. But about 1880 Engineer Loomis began the present system. At first it was a key for each box with the key at the nearest house. Now, of course, the alarm is turned in as soon as the door is thrown open.

This entire equipment was put in by Engineer Loomis at a cost of three thousand dollars, whereas, if put in by regular methods, it would have cost twelve thousand dollars. To look after the details of this intricate system, the mechanical engineer, an expert lineman and three operators give their entire time.

The engine-houses in Akron are seven in number. No. 1 is the Central, where is located the headquarters of the alarm system. Here also are two separate and distinct companies, an engine company and a truck company. Here also, as at all the engine-houses, may be seen the fire district system. The result of this is that in case of a fire aff'ecting a certain district, the blaze L« attended to by the fire company in that district. This leaves that engine-house without an equipment. To meet this situation the engine companies move up according to a regular schedule.

Engine-house No. 2 is located in East Akron and is in charge of Captain Smith. In addition to the gymnasium and dining room the house has a beautiful fountain presented to it by the late D. E. Hill. Probably of this fire company more than any other is it true that there is a distinct local pride in it. For the site of the engine-house is that of the town hall of the historic town of Middlebury, and local pride is still strong.

Station No. 3 is located on the West Side. Here is the home of Assistant Fire Chief Rice and here is one of the new engine-houses. Being in a community of wealth many pleasant social features are seen in connection with the regular routine of duty.

Station No. 4 is located in the South End, with Captain Tryon at its head. In addition to the splendid equipment there is also a branch of the public library.

Station No. 5 is another new station on Buchtel avenue. Here is the official home of Chief Mertz, and also one of the finest stations in the city.

Station No. 6 is located on Wooster avenue and is in command of Captain Dorner. This station has a larger territory than any other house in the city.

Station No. 7 is the latest addition and is on North Hill, with Captain N. P. Smith in charge. Here the equipment is a combined hose and chemical wagon.

Akron Police Department

The police depai'tment of the county naturally centers about Akron and that department has steadily increased from its first marshal. Marshal Wright, to the present complex organization. William Mason was the last Marshal of Akron, and with the loss of that official succeeded the period of the Police Chief with the fir.st incumbent, H. H. Harrison. He was so appointed in 1897, and under him were twenty-seven officers. In 1900 the positions of captain and lieutenant were created. At the present time, in addition to the officers, are three detectives, a police surgeon, clerk, prison-keeper and photographer.

The police alarm system is similar in operation to that of the fire department. Each officer must ring np hourly when on duty. And every box is marked telephone, fire, patrol, riot, so that his signal indicates the state of his beat.

The patrol - an automobile - for a long time was the only one of its kind in the world. That, too, was built by Engineer Loomis. The old one has just worn out and a new one is to be installed in a very short time.

No history of the police would be complete without a passing mention of the riot of 1900. From that riot dates the reorganized police. At that time an emergency arose which showed all too plainly the lack of organization and the inability to meet the demands of that catastrophe. Since then, riot guns have been a part of the regular equipment of the police, riot calls have been among their expectations, and there has grown up the feeling that the police are a distinct and separate organization somewhat apart from the good old days when Akron was a village.

The detective bureau in operation at city hall operates along metropolitan lines and is a vital part of that complicated and intricate machinery by which one is detected. By these men a close watch is kept on all strangers and there are few new arrivals that are not watched and inspected. Besides this, by means of exchanged photographs, measurements and other devices, fugitives from justice are apprehended and the difficulties of escape are increased. Through the department very efficient work has been done and in one case, at least, public notice has been taken of this branch. John E. Washer, for a long time prison-keeper, established a record ns an able detective, and is now serving the president of the country as a personal bodyguard.

Other prominent local characters connected with the detective service have been Edward Dunn, now on the pension list; James Burlison, an old-time detective, and our first marshal, and Captain "Jack" Wright.

At the present time there is established a well regulated pension system for both the fire and police department. The working of this branch of the service as.?ures the members of these departments of an a.«sured income at the expiration of a given length of service. From it results a steadv class of men watchful to maintain the credit of their respective bodies.

In times past the bane of both fire and police departments has been political influence. To minimize this the legislature has placed the members iinder civil service rules, and now promotions are made on the basis of fitness, physical and mental. When a vacancy occurs a regulai' examination is held and the candidates are mai'ked as at school.

Besides this, both bodies of men are placed under the direction of the Board of Public Safety, a board appointed by the Mayor of Akron. The net results of this system are of comparative freedom from "pull." Still the counter results of an assured position and the difficulty of a trial involving incompetency are factors in the other direction. It is true, also, in a measure that Akron gets as good a force as its people demand.

Outside Fire And Police Departments

Outside of Akron the fire and police departments exist, but in a modified form. Barberton has a regular police department and a paid fire depai-tment has been recently organized. A water-works system prevails there, and an unusual degree of efficiency is manifest in both organizations.

Cuyahoga Falls still relies on the village marshal and has the nucleus of an efficient fire department. The other villages of the county rely for police protection on their marshals and constables and on volunteer department. Harry S. Quine.

Wednesday, the 22d day of August, in the year 1900, was a day of rejoicing in America. The wires under the Pacific had throbbed with a message of joy for all Christendom. Pekin had fallen - the capital city of China. The Imperial Court had departed in hasty flight to the interior. The American troops were the heroes of the allied armies. They had attacked and repulsed the Yellow Horde laying siege to the British Legation, where the American minister and his family and other good citizens had taken refuge when the Boxers arose. America rejoiced that her sons and daughters had successfully escaped from the perils of the 4,000 shells that fell into that legation ; from the famine and sickness of the long siege, and especially from the ferocity and torture and barbarism of the legions of Chinese savages. Akron is a representative American conmmnity. Her people were just as glad as any on account of the glory which had come upon the American armies.

In the evening of that day a large part of the beauty and wealth and culture of the city had met on the beautiful grounds of the Perkins homestead where a lawn party was being held for the benefit of a splendid charity. Sounds of mirth and music filled the air and countless lights and colors made it a brilliant scene. It is a common sight in any center of culture and fashion.

Out in Lakeside Park the beautiful summer night had drawn a large company of spectators to the Casino, and they were enjoying to the full the delights oif the theater.

But the night in Akron had not been given over to pleasure alone. What strange contrasts human living presents sometimes ! The darkest night Akron had ever seen had fallen with the coming of dusk that night. The perfect picture of Hell, that was to be beheld before the coming of dawn again, was then in the making. The Antithesis of joy and light and love and good-will was gaining followers in other parts of the city and they were preparing for the crowning of Hate, and Revenge, and Lust for Blood.

If little Christina Maas had not been playing by the road-side, near the home of her parents on Perkins Hill, on Monday evening, August 21, 1900, in all probability Akron would have been spared her deepest shame. Not that the innocent child, in her sweet play, was the cau.se of what followed, but that she was destined to form a link in the chain of circumstances, without which completed action could not be had. She was the little, sixvear-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Maas. As she played by the roadside in the early evening with her girl friends, a negro drove by. He called to her. She did not fear him. He persuaded the older children to leave and promised little Christina a gift of candy. He asked her to get into his buggy and she responded in her childish confidence and natural faith in mankind and all. He assisted her as she climbed in. He whipped up the horse and drove down the country road. The negro was Louis Peck. He was a stranger in Akron. He had been here but a short time, having come from Patterson, New Jersey. His reputation there was very bad and the authorities wanted him there for a long list of crimes he had committed. (Since coming to Akron he and his wife had been working in a restaurant. He was about forty years of age and black and unprepossessing. After his arrest, he confessed freely all he did that evening, after he drove into the country and until he left the little girl crying and injured by the lonely roadside with night coming on.

He had hired the horse and buggy from a Main street liveryman. After driving back into town he abandoned them and they were found soon after by the police. It was by means of the horse and buggy that the officers were enabled to learn the identity of the perpetrator of this outrage. As soon as the police department was informed of the crime every policeman on duty was notified and instructed to be on the lookout for such a negro as Peck. Every place in the city likely to harbor him was searched and the railway tracks were watched with sharp sight, but Peck succeeded in escaping from the city. He had lost no time in beginning his flight. Not a trace of him could be secured. On Tuesday the officers patrolled the railway tracks, rather expecting that Peck was still in the city, in hiding, and would try to make his escape. A number of them were scattered along the tracks on Tuesdav night.

Shortly after midnight a freight train rolled into the Union depot from the east. Officer Duffy was patrolling the tracks in that vicinity and, as the train pased him, standing in the dark, a negro jumped from one of the cars almost into his arms . Officer Duffy arrested the man. It was Peck. He was taken at once in the patrol wagon to the city prison.

The prison-keeper was awakened and spent the rest of the night talking with Peck about the crime. By adroit leading and skillful questioning Mr. Washer succeeded at last in getting Peck to make a full confession. R. W. Wanamaker, the prosecuting attorney, was summoned, a stenographer secured, and Peck's statement was taken down verbatim.

At 9 o'clock he was arraigned before the mayor, W. E. Young, in the mayor's court. He pleaded guilty to a charge of rape and was bound over by the mayor to the Common Pleas Court to await the action of the Grand Jury at the coming September term. His bond was placed at $5,000, and he was committed to the prison because of his inability to furnish bail in that amount.

Greatly exaggerated stories of his confession and of the criminal act were circulated throughout the city. The appearance of the evening papers (especially one, very imprudently printed in red ink) and the cries of the newsboys selling them, stirred up a feeling of resentment. Excitement was slowly kindling. Many heedless remarks were made by persons whose words usually carry weight. An Akron professional gentleman was on his way home at 5 o'clock that bright Wednesday afternoon. He stopped in a store and listened to a recital of the outrage by the merchant. Said the professional man in the hearing of a little company, "I'll be one of a hundred to go over and take him out of the jail and hang him." Not a man in the company protested. No one deemed the sentiment extravagant or the speech incendiary. There was an echo in their own breasts. Every man felt a personal interest in having so great a wrong redressed and in having it done at once. Many such intemperate remarks were made that afternoon as the story spread.

As earlv in the day as noon, threats were made to the authorities that the negro would be lynched. The executive departments of the city government heard the mutterings of the coming storm all afternoon. The county officers heard it also. None of them can be heard to say now that they were taken by surprise. They were totally impreparcd when the hour of trial came, but they were not taken unawares. They had full warning more than ten hours before the storm broke in all its fury. They paid this much attention to the threats and warnings they had received - they ordered Sheriff Frank G. Kelly to take the prisoner to Cleveland during Wednesday afternoon for safe keeping. Another colored man named William (alias "Bug") Howard had been locked up in the prison awaiting commitment to the county jail as he, too, had been bound over to the Common Pleas Court on a charge of shooting a white man in the leg. It was deemed best to take Howard along, as a mob might easily mistake the identity of the negro they sought, or might be so incensed at the whole black race, that they would not hesitate to hang another than the one sought. These two black men were soon secure behind the gray walls of the Cleveland prison. The Akron authorities were congratulating themselves on so successful an issue of their wise planSi When a mob appeared they would laugh at them and enjoy their discomfiture when told the quarry had flown. They know more about mobs and mob nature now.

Crow'ds began to collect at the intersection of Main and Howard streets a short time aft?r 6 o'clock. Knots of men stood about the prison talking over the affair. Some were already discussing the advisability of trying to make an example of the prisoner. Considerable sentiment in favor of such action had been aroused during the day in several of the big city factories. Some of these men were present and made up their minds that, if an opportunity offered, they would make good what they had said they would do.

As it began to grow dark and to become difficult to distinguish objects across the street, the crowd, much augmented, closed in about the old brick building which Akron people had known for many years as "The City Building." They began to call for Peck and to hoot and jeer the police officers who were within. The chief of police had become alarmed and had summoned everv available man for duty at headquarters.

Much parleying took place between city officials and the members of the crowd. They tried to push into the building through the Main street doors, but the officers prevented them. There was still much daylight remaining when the first attack on the building was made. A shower of stones and bricks broke the windows and bombarded the stout doors. Then a ladder was brought out and quickly manned. This was used as a battering-ram on the north doors, which lead into the Mayor's Court. The stones and bricks continued to fly. The doors were rapidly giving way beneath the repeated blows of the improvised ram. Then one of the front windows was raised and a policeman emptied his revolver over the heads of the assailing party. This was a foolish move. There was no ammunition in the city building beside what was already in the chambers of the policemen's revolvers and part of a box which was in possession of the prison-keeper. The scarcity of ammunition was a cause of much alarm to the policemen in the building. They had sent outside to secure more, but were unsuccessful.

Across the street were a large number of .spectators w^atching the efforts of the men in their attack upon the building. Among them were a few carriages and buggies. In the one of the latter sat John M. Da\'idson, with his wife and four-year-old daughter, Rhoda. They had been out looking at some work Mr. Davidson had taken the contract for and were returning home by the way of Main street. They had started to go up the Quarry street hill and were told that the Fire Department was coming down. They turned back on to Main Street and other buggies crowded around them so that they were forced to remain.

Mrs. Davidson was looking at the policeman in the window. She saw him shoot his revolver directly at them. She heard bullets fly about their heads. Her little daughter said, "Oh, mamma," and her head fell forward on her mother's knee with the blood flowang from a mortal wound in her head. Glen Wade, a boy of ten years, was also standing among the spectators on the opposite side of Main street and he received one of the bullets fi"oni this same policeman's reckless - yes, criminal shooting. He was instantly killed. Hundreds of shots were fired afterward, and charges and charges of dynamite exploded, and two large buildings were burned to the ground, yet these two innocent children were the only persons who lost their lives by reason of the riot. The injuries received by other parties that night were mostly of a minor character.

The party within the walls was increased by this time so that it consisted of Mayor Young, the four city commissioners, Chief of Police HarrLson and seven or eight policemen.

A hurried conference was held and it was decided to allow the crowd to appoint a committee to enter and inspect the jail to make sure that Peck was not in it. The mob selected a comimittee of six, headed by a member of the City Council, who was one of the loude.st and most strenuous of all the seekers for the blood of this negro.

When the doors were opened to admit the committee, the crowd poured in after them. It was impossible to stem that impetuous rush. They filled the building and searched every nook and corner of it. The cells of the prison were opened, but the mob found no negro within the building. Even Mr. Washer's private apartments were invaded and the garments of himself and wife torn from the closets where they hung, to see if any one was concealed by them. Their cellar was ransacked, and every spot which could possibly contain or shelter a man was searched. The disappointment of the mob was plain. Some one shouted that Peck was in the county jail. The entire crowd started for the jail. Deputy- Sheriff Simon Stone was on duty. Sheriff Kelly was absent for some unexplained cause. His continued absence through all the stirring events of that night and until the hour of danger had passed caused much comment.

which was torn down on the completion of the new jail. Standing on the old stone steps at the front entrance, he made them a short address, telling them that Peck had been taken to Cleveland that afternoon and that he had never been brought to the county jail. He offered to allow a committee chosen by themselves to make a search. This was done and the same committee searched the jail thoroughly and reported that no negro could be found. The crowd moved over to the old Court House, battered in the wooden doors, and trooped into every room in the building except the office of the treasurer.

They hastened back to the City Building and filled the space in front of it. They were still shouting and calling for Peck, and occasionally a stone or a brick would fly through the windows on both the Main street and Viaduct sides of the building. When the mayor appeared at a window in the rooms of the board of health and motioned for silence, the crowd listened to him with comparatively good attention. He told them that Sheriff Kelley had taken Peck to Cleveland that afternoon and that there was no use hunting longer for him. Some one insisting that this was not so, the mayor offered to bet $20 that Peck was not in Akron. He urged them to disperse and let the law take its course in bringing Peck to a full punishment for his crime.

Of course, this did not satisfy them. It was a mistake to suppose that it would. They were not there for oratory. They had come on a serious business. They sought vengeance. Nothing but blood would satisfy them. It was a maddened, blood-thirsty pack of wolves, and to advise, and to temporize, and to try to compromise with such was entirely unreasonable and a waste of efi'ort. It was the temporizing policy of the authorities up to this time which had helped bring the mob up to its present pitch. The attack was renewed with increased vigor. It was no longer a crowd of men confronting the officers ; it was a furious mob. Many of them carried pistols in their hands and a few shots were fired ait the building. Occasionally a policeman would come to the window and discharge five or six shots toward the sidewalk.