Twinsburg Township (part 5 of 38)

REUBEN N. KRATZ, book-keeper, Akron ; was born in Milton Township, Wayne Co.. Ohio, July 2, 1845 ; at 18 he began teaching, having received a good high-school education at Smithville. Until 1870, he taught in Medina, Summit and Wayne Counties. In 1871, he went to Pentwater. Mich., where, for two years, he had charge of the Union schools. In 1873, he came to Akron, and, in August of the same year, was married to Miss Amanda Miller, daughter of Charles Miller, of Akron ; she bore him two sons ; one is deceased. He entered the employ of Mr. Miller, having charge of the shops and lumber yards ; finally, the firm was changed to Miller & Kratz. In 1877, he became a partner with Harvey F. Miller, continuing one year, followed by a year of teaching in the public school, since which time he has been book-keeper for D. W. Thomas. His mother was a native of Bucks Co., Penn., and his father, Jacob Kratz, was of German descent, also a native of Bucks Co., Penn., where he engaged in farming ; he came to Wajaie Co., Ohio, in 1838, and resided on a farm there until his death in 1872, leaving a family of five sons and one daughter, all now living, viz. : Samuel, a farmer in Wayne Count}' ; Maria, wife of J. C. Stiner, of same count}^ ;

City Of Akron

Reuben N. (subject) ; Henry E., of Bucyrus, Ohio ; Jacob L., farmer at Salt River, Mich., and Lee Gr., a student in the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Reuben N. Kratz is a member of the English Lutheran Church, and Superintendent of the Sabbath school.

J. A. KOHLER, lawyer, Akron, Ohio ; is a son of Henry Kohler, and was born Aug. 15, 1835, in Franklin Township, in this county. He received his education at the public schools of the neighborhood, and at 18, went to the Lodi Academy. In 1853, he came to Akron, where he apprenticed himself to one Sanford for four years, and then began the study of law with N. W. Groodhue, and was admitted to the bar in 1859 ; elected Prosecuting Attorney two terms, beginning in 1868 and continuing to 1872 ; practiced with Hon. Sidney Edgerton for a number of years, and since 1881, in firm of Kohler & Saddler. He was married in May, 186U, to Miss Frances Coburn, daughter of Dr. Coburn, of Akron. The}' have two children - Burt and George. Subject's grandfather came from Holland, and settled in Berks Co., Penn., at beginning of 19th century. He was born about 1788, and was a soldier in the war of 1812 ; he came to Franklin Township, this county, about 1836, where he lived until his death in 1843.

RICHARD H. KNIGHT, publisher of Akron City Times, Akron, Ohio ; is the second son in a family of seven children born to Jonathan and Deborah (Barber) Knight, Connecticut. The father was of English descent, but was born in Norwich, Conn., where he followed farming until 1832, when he came to Ohio and settled at Ridgeville, and resided there until his death. He had three sons and four daughters ; five children still living. Richard H. (subject) was born Nov. 11, 1813, in Litchfield Co., Conn., and came with his father's family to Ridgeville as above (in 1832) and followed farming and stone-cutting in Lorain Co. for fourteen years, and then moved to Dover, Cuyahoga Co., where he lived until 1873. He owned a farm there, on which was a stone quariy, and he worked in the various departments of stone-work at Elyria, and on the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati R. R. In 1873, he removed to Akron, and purchased the Akron Cif>/ Times, and has devoted himself to the business management of it since. He was married Dec. 31, 1837, to ]Miss Emma Beebe, of Ridgeville, Ohio. They have three children, viz.: Eber H., carpenter, at

Grand Rapids, Mich. ; Ellen, a teacher at Cu}-- ahoga Falls, Ohio, and Clarence R., editor of the x\kron Citi/ Times, who was born at Dover, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, Aug. 9, 1850. He (Clarence R.) entered Lombard University, at Galesburg, 111., at the age of 17 years, for four years, and in 1871-72 was in the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio. Came to Akron in 1872, and at the opening of Buchtel College, matriculated and finished the course in 1873; when in the December following he took charge of the editorial department of the Times, which position he has since retained.

ARZA KELLOGG, retired, Akron. The birthplace of our subject was in Addison Co., N. Y. His parents were David and Christiana (Traver) Kellogg. From the date of his birth, which was Feb. 11, 1799. he lived there for thirty-five years, attending school in his boyhood, and acquiring a thorough common-school education. When he attained his majority, he began to fight his own life-battles, and farmed at that place until 1834, when he discontinued the vocation, and, with a good team, started for Akron, which place he reached in September. For several years he engaged in teaming, but when, in 1848, the "gold fever " reached Akron, he grew discontented, and, in the spring of the following year, he, in company with fifteen others, driving thi'ee six-horse teams, traversed the overland route, arriving at Sacramento in August, which was five months from the time of his leaving Akron. There he engaged in the dairy and gardening business, within two miles of Sacramento, on the river, all the products selling for high prices ; this he followed with good success for four years, at the end of which time he returned to Akron. It was in the spring of 1854 that he bought his present place, on Maple street, the lot consisting of 5:^ acres. In 1856, he was employed as Sexton of the Akron Rural Cemeter3% which place he held for twelve years, since which time he has farmed land which he owned here. In 1874, he was appointed Superintendent of the Akron Cold Spring Co., and is one of its principal stockholders. In March, 1825, he married Miss Polly Marshall, of Starksboro, Vt., from which union one child was the issue, whom the}' named Julia 0., and who died at Akron in her 19th year. His wife, Polly, is a granddaughter of Rev. Joseph Marshall, a noted and eccentric clergyman of Starksboro, Vt.

SAMUEL A. LANE, Mayor of Akron, and whose portrait appears in this work, was born in Suffleld, Hartford Co., Conn., June 29, 1815. His father, Mr. Comfort Lane, commonly called b}' his townsmen " Judge Lane," beside cultivating a small farm, carried on quite an extensive carriage building establishment, his specialty being the old fashioned, ante-railroad, thorough-brace stage coach ; " Judge " Lane was also something of an inventor, and beside fabricating a number of labor-saving devices for facilitating his own business, was the inventor of a cotton-picking machine called the " Suffield cotton gin," that, when perfected, he expected, would rival if not entirely supersede the celebrated Whitne}' cotton gin, then and ever since mainly used by the cotton planters of the United States. The letters patent, on parchment, for this machine, bearing the autograph signatures of John Quincy Adams, Pi-esident, Henry Cla}', Secretary of State, and William Wirt. Attorne}- General, and the great seal of the United States, under date of March 24, 1825, are still in the possession of the subject of this sketch. Mr Lane, the father, d3'ing before successfull}' introducing his machine to the public, it was never utilized, and the expenses incurred in its invention, construction, patenting, etc., were of course a dead loss. The boyhood of "Lant," as he was familiarly called, was about equally divided between the district school, the farm, and the painting room of the, carriage-shop, it being the intention of his father to bring him up to the trade of a carriage painter - his next elder brother, Henry Leander, being designed by the provident father to be a wood- workman in the same line of business. The death of the father, however, Sept. 20, 1828, when Alanson was but 13 years old, thwarted this plan so far as he was concerned, though the brother, who had already been at work a year or so as an apprentice to the trade, was enabled to secure a situation in the then celebrated establishment of George & Henry Francis, in Hartford, and complete his trade. The condition of the deceased father's affairs was such, on settlement of the estate, that it became necessar}^ for the sons old enough to do so to win their own bi-ead. B}- working for the neighboring farmers in summer and doing chores for his board while attending school winters, Alanson was not only able to provide for himself but also to contribute something toward the replenishment of the famil}^ larder until the spring of 1831, when, by an arrangement made for him by his eldest brother. Comfort U. Lane, who had been for several years a clerk in the store of Owen & Hurlbut, extensive paper manufacturers in the village of South Lee, Berkshire Co., Mass., he entered the adjoining store of Mr. Billings Brown, quite an extensive mill owner in the same village - the distance from Suffield to South Lee being about fifty miles. Commencing with Mr. Brown May 1, 1831, being then not quite 16 years old, the relations of the merchant and his clerk were of the most friendly and confidential character for a year and a half, when Mr. Brown, b}- reason of his other more important interests, substantially abandoned his mercantile business, and, in the fall of 1832, 3'oung Lane's clerkship was transferred to the store of Mr. Austin Ha3'den, in the more important village of Pittsfield, in the same county. Here he remained until the spring of 1833, when, on visiting home (after an absence of just two years, during which time he had outgrown the knowledge of his-most intimate acquaintances), he entered into an arrangement with a Hartford book publisher to canvass Merrimack Co., in the State of New Hampshire, for Goodrich's History of the United States. Simultaneously with his arrival at Concord, the count}- seat of Merrimack Co. and the capital of the State, was the arrival of Gen. Andrew" Jackson, President of the LTnited States, who, with his Cabinet, was at that time making a grand triumphal tour through New England. The military and civic display on that occasion was probably greater than was ever witnessed in that State, either before or since, and though the embryo book agent was obliged to sleep for two consecutive nights in a stage coach in the stable yard of the hotel where he had intended to stop, he laughingly remarks that he has always felt gratified at the honors then and there paid to //«'?» and "Old Hickor}-." Though his father had been a stanch Democrat before him, the sight of the old hero and the "pomp and circumstance" of that occasion, probably had a tendency to confirm young Lane in his Democratic proclivities, and in making him, for many 3'ears after attaining his majority, an active member of the Democratic partj'. The display' over, the canvassing business was vigorously proceeded with, every family and business establishment in the cit}' and county being visited, and the work so satisfactorily done, that on his return to Hartford, thougli then but a little over 17 years old, he was detailed to do similar work in Georgia and South Carolina, with his headquarters at Augusta. Arriving at his destination in January, 1834, the principal towns in the river counties above that point, in both States, were canvassed during the winter, spring and early summer, and a good portion of the books delivered. A hitch in the receipt of books from the North occurring, in the latter part of the summer, young Lane entered the office of the Southern Spy, an anti-nullification or radical Union paper, as assistant editor and general helper, in the village of Washington, Wilkes Co., Ga., then and for many years afterward the home of the since notorious Southern politician and rebel General, " Bob " Toombs. At the close of the election campaign, in October, 18.34, in which the Unionists of Wilkes Co. were triumphant over the Nullifiers for the first time in several years, and having closed his canvassing matters, young Lane, with a view of resuming mercantile operations somewhere in the South, visited Mobile and New Orleans, in both of which cities, in January, 1835, he made a diligent effort to obtain a clerkship, but being a stranger, and there being at least twenty applicants to each vacancy, he was unsuccessful, and concluded to return North. Leaving New Orleans by steamer, and making short stops - at Louisville, Cincinnati and Columbus - he reached Cleveland about the 1st of March, whence he proceeded directly to Aurora, in Portage Co., where an aunt and other acquaintances from Connecticut resided. After a somewhat prolonged visit among his Aurora friends, and a short time spent at Ravenna, the county seat of Portage Co., he wended his way to the then new village of " Cascade," now the busiest portion of the city of Akron, taking up his abode at the "Pavillion House," kept b}' Mr. Charles B. Cobb, now residing on his magnificent farm just west of the city limits. This hotel stood on the northwest corner of Howard and Market streets, where the fine brick block of Dr. E. W. Howard and Edward Oviatt, Esq., now stands. Being now rather short in funds - in fact, substantially "dead broke " - our young adventurer was glad to avail himself of Mr. Cobb's offer to let him work for his board - clerking, tending bar, waiting on guests, etc. - until something more favorable should " turn up." This was on the 10th day of June, 1835, and nineteen days before he had attained his 20th birthday. Mercantile clerkships being less plenty than aspirants therefor, and no eligible situation presenting itself, our impecunious young friend continued to mix whisk}' toddies and perform the multifarious duties of a village hotel tapster for about two months, when he was offered and accepted a temporary situation in the shop of a house and sign painter by the name of Burt, as a sort of half-apprentice, halfjourneyman, at ver}' low wages, and to board in the family of his employer - the very first jobs assigned to him being some ornamental work be3'ond the skill and capacity of his employer and so-called instructor. Applying himself diligentl}' to the business in hand, with his natural taste for designing, lettering, etc., and his youthful experience in and about his father's carriage-shop, he was in three months the peer of his employer in all branches of the business carried on, and, in some, his superior. This arrangement continued until about the 1st of December, 1835, when work substantial!}^ closing down for the winter, our young " artist " returned to his old quarters at the Pavilion. Shortly afterward, however, he was offered and accepted the position of " pedagogue," in School District No. 7, Portage Township, about a mile and a half west of Akron, on the Medina road. Though not liberally educated, having graduated from the district school of his native town at the age of 15 years, and though several of his scholars were older than himself, and one or two in some branches greatly his superiors, he managed to get creditably through his term of three months, or at all events to draw, if not earn, the munificent salar}' which the Trustees had stipulated to pay him, to wit : %11 a month and hoard 'round. In tlie spring of 1836, yielding to his natural tastes in that direction, his dire necessities, and the encouragement of his friends, Mr. Lane, then not quite of age, rented a shop and started in business on his "own hook," as a full-fledged " house, sign and ornamental painter," soon attaining, and for many years maintaining, a fair standing in that profession.

In Septembei-, 1837, while successfully pursuing his chosen avocation as a painter, availing himself of the slight knowledge of the printing business and journalism acquired in the office of the Southern Spy, and taking an active interest in the reformatory measures then being inaugurated for ridding the village of certain professional gamblers and other disreputable characters, Mr. Lane commenced, and for a year and half maintained, the publication of a small semi-monthly paper, under the unique title of the Akron Buzzard, a more extended history of which will be found under the head of the " Press of Summit County," Mr. L., however, continuing his painting business without interruption. November, 11, 1838, Mr. Lane then 23 years old, was married to Miss Paulina Potter, of Castleton, Ontario Co., N. Y., the fostersister of Mr. Paris Tallman, now living in happy retirement from active business, at No. 803 East Market street. A few days later, Mr. Henry L. Lane, the carriage builder heretofore spoken of, arrived in Akron from Connecticut, with the view of establishing himself in business here, and at the earnest solicitation of the brother, and to alla}^ the fears of his young wife for his personal safet}^, by reason of his fearlessly exposing the disreputable characters and practices of the village, combined with other causes, in March, 1839, the Buzzard was discontinued, and a copartnership was formed between the two brothers, under the firm name of H. L. & S. A. Lane, for the purpose of carrying on a general carriage making and painting business. Shops were erected on the site now occupied by the brick blacksmith-shop of James A. Moody, on South Main street. Though quite limited in means, everything in those days having to be done on the " truck and dicker " principle, a fair business was being done, when, on the 20th day of July, 1841, the elder brother, Henry L. Lane, suddenly died, about two months, only, after his marriage to Miss Sarah Hovey, of Granville, Ohio. The surviving junior partner continued the business, though to great disadvantage, by reason of his non-acquaintance with the main branches thereof, until the close of that year, when he associated with himself an old graduate of his father's establishment, lately arrived from Connecticut, Mr. Jonathan Remington, the father of Mr. 0. H. Remington, the jeweler now doing business on Howard street. The new firm of Lane & Remington continued in operation about two years, when the concern was sold to other parties. Too close application to his own branch of the business (painting) having by this time very materially impaired Mr. Lane's health, and having meantime also become deeply interested in the success of the Washingtonian Temperance Reform, then agitating the country, in the spring of 1844, Mr. Lane again embarked in the newspaper business, in connection with Mr. William T. Coggeshall, as detailed elsewhere, reviving the Buzzard as a temperance organ, but soon changing its name to the Cascade Roarer, which was continued with a fair degree of success for something over two years, Mr. Lane leaving to his partner the general conduct of the office, and devoting most of his own time to lecturing, canvassing for subscribers to the paper, correspondence, etc. One novel feature adopted by Mr. Lane, as a lecturer, was to take the other side, i. e., traveling in connection with another lecturer, and discussing the question pro and con, Mr. Lane using the same arguments in favor of drinking, selling, etc., usually urged by drinkers and venders, and by carrying them out to their legitimate results, with the introduction of ludicrous illustrations to show that the use of intoxicating liquors, instead of shortening, prolongs life ; instead of poverty, brings riches ; instead of sorrow, happiness, etc., often producing a greater impression upon the minds of those addicted to their cups, and those engaged in the traffic, than the most eloquent straightforward lecturing could possibly do, the " discussions," unlike the regulation temperance lecture, calling out the very classes sought to be reformed and benefited. On the discontinuance of the Cascade Roarer, in the fall of 1846. Mr Lane continued to occupy the lecture field, for the most part, until the fall of 1847, when, with improved health, he again embarked in the painting business, assiduously devoting himself thereto until the spring of 1850, so closely, in fact, that during the previous j-ear a serious relapse of his old malady - a sort of paralysis of the stomach, or an aggravated form of dyspepsia - had substantially unfitted him for that or any other active business. With the view of bettering his physical as well as his financial condition, with some 200 other Summit Co. men, he started overland for California on the 14th day of March, 1850, and though many of his friends believed that, in the pi'ecarious condition of his health, he would never live to reach the Pacific Coast ; and though the journey was very hazardous and fatiguing, he not only got safely through, but heavier by thirt3'-two pounds than when he left Akron, and six pounds heavier than ever before in his life ; a condition of things - thanks to the pure air, vigorous exercise and coarse food of the plains and mountains, and the salubrious climate of California - more than maintained during his entii-e two years sojourn upon the Pacific Coast. Arriving at Placerville, the first town entered in California, August 4, ] 850, after a day or two spent among the mines, and a stop of one day at Sacramento, Mr. Lane proceeded immediately to San Francisco, where he remained during his stay in California, making his rooms the general headquarters of Summit Co. gold-seekers visiting the city, whether en route for home or on their wa}' to the mines via the Isthmus route ; also acting as the regular semi-monthly correspondent of both the Beacon and the Democratic Standard, in keeping the " loved ones at home " posted as to the movements of their friends in the mines and other portions of California - a service very greatly appreciated by the people of Akron and Summit Co.

On reaching San Francisco, a few days were spent in " prospecting," and finding nothing better suited to his tastes or his finances, Mr. Lane, having thoroughly regained his health and 3'outhful vigor, then being 35 j-ears of age, again embarked in the painting business, renting a small second floor room for a shop, and earning with his own hand over and above his board and expenses, about $200 per month. At that time, Mr. James G. Dow, a former Akron merchant, one of the " Forty-niners," was engaged in the retail auction business, which was netting him about $3,000 per month. In October, Mr. Dow disposed of his stock of goods, with the view of spending the winter with his family in Massachusetts. Before leaving, Mr. Dow advised Mr. Lane and Mr. Charles G. Caldwell, also a " Forty-niner," and an Akron boy, then operating a small " ranch " - growing milk, butter, eggs, etc. - at Sacramento, to embark in the auction business, in which he had done so well, offering to lease to them for six months a building owned b}- him, on the corner of Jackson and Montgomery streets, for which he was then receiving $800 per month in rents, for $600 per month, $350 of which was to be paid monthly in advance to the land-owner, the remaining $250 to remain in their hands until his return in the spring. The plan appearing perfectly feasible, Mr. Lane added his little " pile " of about $600 to the Mr. Caldwell's cash surplus of about $1,400. the firm of Lane & Caldwell borrowing $1,000 from a mutual friend, and with a cash capital of a little over $3,000, " sailed in," Mr. Dow aiding them in the purchase of their goods and in getting started. The " grand opening " took place Dec. 1 , 1 850, and for a time gave promise of abundant success. Within three weeks, however, and almost before Mr. Dow had got outside the harbor, one of those sudden and disastrous commercial revulsions then peculiar to the Pacific Coast - a regular panic and stagnation in almost every branch of trade - occurred, in consequence of which not only was it almost impossible to sell anything, at any price, but affecting the wholesale trade to such an extent that they could go into the market and duplicate the ver}' goods the}' had in stock at less than one-half the prices they had paid for them. This condition of things continued for several months, the result being, that though thev struggled hard, and held on in hopes of better times, they sunk every dollar invested (though managing finally to refund their borrowed money), besides coming out, at the end of the six months, nearly $1,500 in debt to their generoushearted landlord ; the building, however, having been destroyed in the big fire of Ma}- 4, 1851, about one month before the expiration of the lease. Before this, however, Mr. Lane had returned to his paint-pots and brushes, and Mr. Caldwell to his cows and chickens, which, in the mean time, had been in chai-ge of Mr. William H. White, also an Akronian, and now the head miller in the Allen Mills of Akron. On his return, about the 1st of June, 1851, Mr. Dow, after listening to the lugubi'ious story of the broken-down merchants, philosophically remarked : " Well, boys, you've had a pretty rough time of it, but it's all in a life-time ; and there's one consolation about it, the more you have of it the shorter'll be the life-time. But," he continued, " I'll not be hard on you, boys, for I know how it feels to be a ' busted- up community' myself and if you'll make me up 50 cents on the dollar. 111 call it square." This offer was of course gladly accepted, each contributing his equal share, Mr. Lane at this time earning at his trade about $300 per month, net. Soon after this, Mr. Dow and IMr. Charles W. Tappan, a lately-arrived Akronian, embarked in the same business which had proved so disastrous to Messrs. Lane & Caldwell, in which, the panic being over, they made money very rapidly, their net pi-ofits averaging over $150 per day for a year or more thereafter. Mr. Lane continued to wield the brush with varied success all the time, however, earning good wages, until about the middle of September, 1851, when he entered the service of Messrs. Dow & Tappan, as an auctioneer, on a salary of $275 per month. About the 1st of November, the firm established a branch store on the same street, with Mr. Lane and a young Massachusetts Yankee by the name of Humphre}' Sawyer, as salesman. Dec. 1, Messrs. Lane and Sawyer, and Hallett Kilbourn, another Akron boy, (now a well-known operator in Washington City), each bought a one-fourth interest in the " branch," Messrs. Dow & Tappan retaining the other one-fourth, Mr. Dow doing the purchasing, and the junior partners running the " chebang." Feb. 1, 1852, Mr. Kilbourne withdrew, Messrs. Lane & Sawyer, then, with the old firm of Dow & Tappan, becoming each one-third owners. March 1, Messrs. Lane & Sawyer bought of Dow & Tappan the remaining onethird interest, thus becoming the sole owners of the concern, Mr. Dow still doing their purchasing on a small commission. The plan was to buy at auction from wholesale houses, by catalogue, goods that would I'etail readily, such as clothing, boots and shoes, hats, blankets, watches, jewelry, revolvers, notions, etc., and sell them either at auction or private sale, always, of course, aiming to obtain a good liberal margin over and above the original cost of the goods, but very often selling them at less than one-half the original cost of production. Business slowing up somewhat during the months of March and April, Mr. Sawyer became disheartened, and insisted on closing the concern out, which was accordingly done on the 1st day of June, 1852, Mr. Lane not having sufficient capital to purchase his partner's interest and run it alone. Dividing their goods, Mr. Sawyer immediately disposed of his share at a loss, through a wholesale auction house, while Mr. Lane packed and stored his share to await the " logic of events." While " waiting and watching" for something else to "turn up," Mr. Lane something more than paid his current expenses by doing occasional jobs of lettering for an established house and sign painting firm, until the latter part of August, when, yielding to a strong desire to see his wife and children, from whom he had then been absent about two years and a half, and the rather urgent solicitations of several Akron boys just in from the mines, en route for home, he sold his goods at a slight margin above cost, closed up his affairs, and on the 1st day of September, 1852, on the new and stanch steamer "Winfield Scott," set sail for Panama, by no means rich, but still with quite a fair showing for his thirty months' time and labor, considering the utter failure of the first half thereof; and with what was far better than gold, good health.

In the spring of 1853, Mr. Lane invested his California savings in a clothing and merchant tailoring establishment in Akron, which business he conducted with reasonable success until the spring of 1855, when ever}' dollar was swept away by fire. In the fall of 1853, the Temperance Reform party of Summit Co. put Mr. Lane forward as an Independent candidate for Representative to the State Legislature, in competition with the regular nominees of the Whig Democratic and Free-Soil parties. Afterward, an arrangement was made between the friends of Mr. Lane and the Whig and Free-Soil leaders, by which all three candidates should submit their claims to a union mass convention, which was accordingly done, the contest being between Mr. Lane and Dr. Porter G. Somers, of Cuyahoga Falls. Union Hall was completely packed, and the vote was taken by passing around the hat, with no check whatever as to the number of ballots cast, or the right of any person to vote. The count resulted in a small majority' for the Doctor, who was triumphantly elected over the pro-slavery, pro-whisky. Democratic candidate; though it was more than suspected at the time that the honest sentiment of that mass convention was defeated by partisan " strategy'," and that Mr. Lane should have been, by right, declared its nominee. In January, 1854, Mr. Lane was appointed by the Town Council of Akron to fill the vacancy in the Board of Education of the incorporated village, occasioned by the death of Mr. Horace Canfield. On the re-organization of the board in the following April, Mr. Lane was elected Treasurer of the Board, holding the position until the expiration of his term in 1856. In the fall of 1855, Mr. Lane having been thrown out of business by the fire above spoken of, and having naturally allied himself with the newly organized Republican party, presented himself before the Republican County Nominating Convention as a candidate for State Representative ; but the honors were fairl}' won by that then stanch Republican, Dr. Mendall Jewett, of Mogadore, now an equally stanch Prohibitionist of the Sixth Ward in Akron. On the accession of Salmon P. Chase to the Grubernatorial Chair of Ohio, in January, 1856, Mr. Lane, backed by a majority of the business men of Akron, both Republicans and Democrats, applied for the position of Canal Collector for the port of Akron ; but his genial and rotund friend, Nathaniel W. Goodhue, Esq., carried too many political guns for him, and won the prize for himself Thus far, though doing his best to establish and maintain Reformatory and Republican principles, Mr. Lane's political aspirations had proved such utter failures that, though still working both on the rostrum and with the pen and the paint-brush, in the fabrication of pai'ty banners and mottoes, he had concluded to make no further efforts in the office line, when, in the fall of 1856, during the celebrated Fremont-Buchanan campaign, the Republicans in different parts of Summit Co. spontaneousl}' fixed upon him as their candidate for Sheriff, and in their Nominating Convention nominated him for that position on the first ballot, by the ver}' handsome majority of 17 over all competitors, some six or seven in number. Though bitterly opposed, on account of his radical temperance proclivities, he was triumphantly elected, and in 1858, was renominated by acclamation, and re-elected by a greatly increased majorit}'. On the expiration of his second term, Januarj^ 1, 1861, Mr. Lane became the editor-in-chief of the Summit County Beacon, then, as now, the sole Republican organ of Summit Co. Some three months after assuming his editorial duties, he was appointed by Gov. William Dennison, without solicitation on his part, or on the part of his friends. Probate Judge of Summit Co., to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Judge William M. Dodge. The honor, however, was respectfully' declined, his editorial duties not permitting him to fill both positions, and as the appointment was only until the ensuing October election, about three months, and as he had but just retired from the office of Sheriff, he did not feel like asking the people for another county office so soon. Mr. Lane continued to devote the best energies of his mind and body to the building-up of the Weekly Beacon^ and its later adjunct, the Akron Daily Beacon, as detailed elsewhere in this volume, for nearly fifteen years, meantime becoming the one-third owner thereof, when, from causes entirely beyond his control, he was obliged to retire therefrom in the fall of 1875, without a dollar. At this crisis in his affairs, he again, in the fall of 1876, asked the people of Summit Count}- for his old position of Sheriff, which, notwithstanding the objections urged against him that he was too old (being then 61 years of age); that he had already held the office two terms, and that he was too radical in his temperance and other reform notions, was generously given to him b}' a handsome majority of the voters of the count}' ; as was also another term, by a still larger majority at the October elections in 1878. Notwithstanding his " advanced " age, his administration of the office was so successful and satisfactory to the people, that still another term would undoubtedly have been tendered to him, but for the constitutional provision that no incumbent of that office shall serve more than four years in any consecutive six years. Transferring his office to his successor, William Mc- Kinney, Esq., on the 3d day of January, 1881, Mr. Lane continued to make himself generally useful about the court house, as Mr. McKinney's Chief Deputy, some three months, when, on the 1st day of April, 1881, the Republican Convention of the City of Akron placed him in nomination for Mayor, by the very decisive vote of 36 to 12. At the election, April 5, almost superhuman efforts were made to compass his defeat, not only by his old-time bitter enemy. Democracy, but by the entire " bummer " and '' hoodlum " element of the city, and though in no way seeking or working for the office himself. Republicanism and Law and Order prin«3iples so far prevailed as to secure the election of Mr. Lane by a small majority, to be the Mayor of the city of Akron for the period of two years.

In thus presenting the merest outlines of the varied and somewhat eventful history of Mr. Lane, compiled mainly from data furnished by himself, we have, at his request, omitted a large number of interesting, thrilling, as well as ludicrous reminiscences of his life - his youthful exploits as a " Gay Lothario " among the girls, and otherwise ; his rich experiences as clerk and book agent ; his getting lost in tlie woods and spending a night among the untamed Creels: Indians in Alabama ; his frequent personal rencontres with blacklegs and other desperate characters, while publishing the Buzzard and Cascade Roarer; the numberless egg-peltings and other indignities received while preaching the gospel of temperance ; the hazards and hardships of his overland journey to California ; scenes, tragical and comical, including the excitements of the vigilance committee period, in San Francisco ; his " hair breadth 'scapes by land and sea," from shipwreck and pestilence upon the journey home ; the successful system of criminal detection pursued by himself and others, while filling the office of Sheriff from 1856 to 1861 ; his man}- encounters with both male and female desperadoes in and about the jail during his eight years of official service ; his experiences with the fire-fiend by which he was twice reduced from compai'ative affluence to substantial beggary ; his struggles with poverty, with disease and with domestic afflictions ; all possess an interest of no ordinary type, but which Mr. Lane thinks would occup}' more space in this volume than their importance to the public would justify. But a few words more regarding the family matters of Mr. Lane should not be omitted. With the wife of his youth, Mr. Lane lived harmoniousl}' and happil}- for almost a third of a century, her death occurring on the 2d day of July, 1871. To them were born eight children, four of whom, three sons and one daughter, were taken from them by death, in infanc}' and early childhood. Of the survivors, the eldest, Julius Sherman Lane, now in the 40th year of his age, is an honored citizen of Akron, a machinist by trade, and is one of the proprietors and the superintendent of one of Akron's most successful manufacturing establishments - The Webster, Camp & Lane Machine Company. The next son, Frederick Alanson Lane, now in his 32d year, is an engineer and pressman ; at present, after about ten years' acceptable service in the extensive newspaper and job press rooms of the Beacon Publishing Company, in Akron, is in charge of the presses and machiner}' of the Ohio Farmer in the city of Cleveland. The third son, Arthur Malcolm Lane, now 25 years old, is under the training of his elder brother, both a practical machinist and an experienced draughtsman, and, after about three years' service in the draughting room of the celebrated Baldwin Locomotive Works, in Philadelphia, is now filling a similar position in the Rhode Island Locomotive Works, in the city of Providence. The youngest, a daughter, Carrie Maria Lane, now 23 years of age, was married, Sept. 11. 1878, to Mr. Albert J. Pitkin, also a graduate from the works of the Webster, Camp & Lane Machine Company, in Akron, who, after four 3'ears experience in the draughting rooms of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, at Philadelphia, is now the superintendent of the draughting department of the Rhode Island Locomotive Works, above alluded to, at Providence. And now, in summing up this brief sketch of his famil}', Mr. Lane bids us say that each and all of his living children are in every respect the superior of their paternal ancestor, a circumstance which he attributes entirely to the careful early training bestowed upon them by their sainted mother. Nov. 11, 1872, Mr. Lane married, for his second wife, Mrs. Emeline Manning, a sister of the former Mrs. Lane, with whom he has since lived in perfect harmony and happiness. Thus, in the 66th year of his life, though not rich in this world's goods, Mr. Lane is comfortably situated, and, in the companionship of his most excellent wife, the society of his children and grandchildren, and surrounded by kind friends and neighbors, he is happy in the thought that during his nearly half a century's residence among them, he has so largely attained and retained the respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens of the city of Akron and of Summit Co.

CARSON LAKE was born March 17, 1852, at Fredonia, N. Y., being descended on his fathers side from stock of Gen. Warren, of Bunker Hill fame, and on his mother's side from the family which numbered among its branches the noted scout Kit Carson, and the Hills of Southern fame. He was the sole survivor of a family of six children. His father died when he was quite young, and in 1861, his mother going into the hospitals of Alexandria, Va., he spent some two years amid the thrilling surroundings of Washington and Alexandria at that period, a portion of the time serving as a Government messenger. Returning North, after some time in the Akron schools, he was sent for a year to the well-known Academy at Madison, Ohio, and then entered the office of the Weekly Beacon as an apprentice. His first newspaper work was done about this time as local correspondent for the Cleveland Herald. He was finally promoted to the position of reporter, after the starting of the Daily Beacon. For some months, although not yet 18 years of age, during an unsettled condition of the office affairs, he had entire editorial charge of the paper. Resigning to enter college, he was for a year a student at Dennison University, Granville, Ohio, and a year at Buchtel College, leaving the latter just before graduating, to accept a position on the Tri- Weekly and Weekly Times, which was resigned a year later, the Tri- Weekly having suspended, and the Times changed hands, to accept the position of managing editor of the Toledo Democrat and Herald, the organ of northwestern Ohio Democracy. He occupied this position for a year and a half, when he was for a year business manager of the Toledo Daily Commercial. In December, 1876, he purchased the Akron Daily and Semi- Weekly Argus, which he sold in Jul}', 1879, to Messrs. Weiner & Nelson, in order to accept the position of corresponding secretary of the Democratic State Executive Committee. This position kept him in Columbus for a year, during which time he was managing editor of the Times and Statesman, and State correspondent of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. In September, 1878, he became editor and manager for the Gazette Co. of the Sunday Gazette. In 1878, he was appointed an aide on the staff of Gov. Bishop, with rank of Colonel, but resigned the following year. He has a wide acquaintance throughout the State, and has several times been prominently mentioned in connection with State offices. He has, however, never desired such mention. Being warmly attached to Gen. Ewing's cause, it is probable he would have been given a prominent position, had that gentleman been elected Governor. He was married in 1873 to Olie E. Heifer, by whom he has four children.

DENNIS J. LONG, Agent Union Express Company, Akron ; was born in Alban}', N. Y., Nov. 28, 1844, where he lived until he was 15 years of age, when he came to Akron with his brother, J. A. Long. In 1859, he became an apprentice in the Beacon office, where he served about four years. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company H, 104th 0. V. I., serving the first two years as private soldier. In February, 1864, he was appointed to a clerkship in the office of Gen. Schofield, where he remained in the Department of Ohio until the close of the war. June 28, 1865, he was mustered out at Greensboro, N. C. On his return, with A. L. Paine, he started a new weekly paper entitled, the Summit County Journal, in 1865, with Judge Carpenter as editor ; this they conducted with good success two years, when Mr. Long sold out his interest and bought a one-third interest in the Beacon, being connected with that paper as stockholder and proprietor until 1875, when he became book-keeper in the office of the Akron Iron Company-, continuing for two years. March 1, 1877, he was appointed agent of the Union Express Company ; he is now agent of the Union, American and Adams Express Companies. In May, 1870, he was married to Miss Eliza A. Potter, of Akron.

CHARLES LIEBMAN, Akron; was born at Dayton, Ohio, June 30, 1854 ; when very young, his family removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, that he might have better opportunities for studying music. His father, Rev. L. Liebman, was a Rabbi at Dayton, Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland ; also twelve years at Youngstown, Ohio. At each of these places the subject of this sketch studied music, for which he had early formed a great love. From 1874 to 1876, he attended the New England Conservatory of Music, at Boston, Mass., studying the piano and violin. In 1876, he went to New York Cit}' where he was under Prof Mills and other noted teachers. In 1877, he became director of the Youngstown Maennerchor, where he remained two years ; in June, 1879, he came to Akron, and, at the solicitation of the Akron Harmonic Society, he became the leader, also engaged in teaching piano, organ, violin and theory ; he is a director of the society. Oct. 26, 1877, he married Miss Emma Ritter, of Youngstown, Ohio.

REV. W. LOTHMAN, Akron; oldest son of Ernest Lothman, was born in the village of Buer, situated in the southreu part of the Kingdom of Hanover, Jan. 31, 1845. He was but 2\ years old when his parents came to Cleveland, Ohio, where his mother still lives, and where his father was in the employ of Morgan, Root & Co., having charge of their grocery until his death in 1861. The subject of this sketch attended the Cleveland Public Schools until he was confirmed in 1858, when he entered Concordia College at Fort Wayne, Ind., and graduated from the gymnasium of that school iu 1862. He then entered the Concordia University at St. Louis, Mo., from which he graduated in June, 1866, when he entered the ministry, serving the German Lutheran Church at Elyria and the St. Paul's Church at Liverpool, Medina Co., on alternate Sabbaths for six years, during which period, the membership of the Elyria Church largely increased, a new building was erected and a school established. In 1872. he received a call from Zion's Lutheran Church of Akron, and became its Pastor in August, having since continued. On June 20, 1867, he married Miss Betty Hu.smann, daughter of Rev. F. W. Husmann, Pastor of the German Lutheran Church of Euclid, Ohio. She bore him five children, and all are living.

J. A. LONG, Secretary and Treasurer of Akron Iron Co., Akron ; is a son of John and Margaret (Reilley) Long, and was born April 10^ 1837, at Albany, N. Y., where he lived until 18 years of age, when he left school and took the position of clerk in a lumber yard. In 1855, he came to Akron, Ohio, and became teacher in the public schools of Summit Co. for eleven terms, and working during vacation at various eraplo3'ments. In 1864, he became book-keeper for Aultman, Miller & Co., remaining with them for five years, when he was appointed Secretary and Treasurer of the Akron Iron Co., which position he still holds. Since his connection with the establishment, its business has inci'eased threefold. He was married, Nov. 10, 1859, to Miss Mary A. Falor, daughter of Geo. A. Falor, one of the pioneers of Coventry Township. Twelve children have been born of this marriage, seven of whom are living - Ludie B., Celia R., Bennie A., John H., George A., Mary A. and Lloyd G. Mr. L. is Republican in politics ; is a member of the Central Committee. Was first City Clerk, and held the office from 1865 to 1867, and Councilman from 1867 to 1869.

FRANK F. LOOMIS, an engineer in fire department, Akron ; is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Taylor) Loomis ; was born in Akron April 2, 1854, where he attended public schools until his father died, when he lived with an uncle at Wadsworth for some time. In 1869, he went into a potterj', working in it for one year; then learned the blacksmith's trade, and, in 1870, he became a minute man in Steamer No. 1, and served as fireman and blacksmith in the city fire department. At the death of James

H. Stanford, he was made engineer of steamer in January, 1881. He was married, July 10, 1879, to Miss Barbara Grad, of Akron. His father was born in Medina Co., and lived there till he was 14, and then went to Lake Co. When grown, he came to Akron, and became captain of a canal-boat for the Navigation Co. He followed this business until the war broke out, when he enlisted in the 29th 0. V. I., and after a hard campaign with the Army of the Cumberland, he caught cold from fording a river, and died at Cumberland, Md., in January, 1862. Subject is the oldest son ; one brother, Charles H., is a farmer, near Sears, Mich. Mother still lives in Akron.

DR. THOMAS M. LEIGHT, physician, Akron ; was born on his father's farm in Perr}' Township, Snyder Co., Penn. (then included in Union Co.), on the 8th of August, 1827, and resided in the vicinity until 1857. He was married, Feb. 8, 1853, to Miss Bella R. Bobst, of Milton, Penn. They have no children. He commenced the study of medicine in the office of Drs. Wilson & Bibighouse, of Selin's Grove, then Union Co., Penn. (now Snyder Co.) He read with them some four or five years, and then began practice at McKee's Falls, in Snyder Co., where he remained about nine years, during which time he attended lectures at Philadelphia (Jefferson Medical College); also the University of Pennsylvania, attending a month or two each year, graduating at the Jefferson Medical College in July, 1857. From McKee's Half-Falls, he removed to Mifflin, Juniata Co., Penn., where he practiced in partnership with Dr. E. D. Crawford about seven years, during which time they served as surgeons of the Pennsylvania R. R. Co. He then came to Akron, Ohio, where he has since practiced. He is a member of the Summit County Medical Society, of which he is now (1881) Vice President, and is also a member of the Union Medical Society of Northeastern Ohio.

HON. SAMUEL W. McCLURE, son of Jairus McClure and Amma Hobbs, was born Nov. 8, 1812, at Alstead, Cheshire Co., N. H. His parents, when he was about 3 years old, returned to the place of their nativit}^ Brookfield, Worcester Co., Mass., with their children, two in number, consisting of the subject of this sketch and an elder sister. There they remained until he was about 7 years old, when they emigrated to Western New York, ultimately settling in Monroe County, near what is now the city of Rochester. There they remained until the spring of 1828, when they removed to Medina, Medina Co., Ohio, where both died - the father in 1865, in the 89th year of his age, and the mother several years earlier, at the age of 71. His parents were of Scotch ancestrj-, though, on the paternal side, the}' had lived in the North of Ireland for two generations or more before emigrating to the United States, or rather to the British colonies of America, for such the}' then were. The mother, inheriting the fervent religious sentiments of her Scotch ancestry, intended to devote her son to the Christian ministr}^ and molded his youthful efforts and education in that direction ; and, she was so far gratified that she saw him enter into full membership with the Congregational Church at the age of 15. With the ministry in view, he pursued his academical studies while he lived in New York, and until he was near 16 years old. At the age of 18, he commenced teaching in the public schools of Medina County during two or three years ensuing, when he entered Allegheny College, Meadville, Penn., and where he prosecuted his collegiate studies with great zeal, embracing in them other branches as well as the prescribed course. At about the expiration of three 3'ears, he retired from the institution and took private instruction for nearly one year of Rev. Lee, who was then Pastor of the church to which he belonged. He was in advance of his class when he left college. In 1837, he opened a select school in Medina, taught the same two terms, and at the same time entered the law office of Canfield & Camp as a student, with the view of entering the legal profession. In 1838, he went to Ashland, then in Richland County, and organized a select school there, which was afterward called the Ashland Academy when transferred to a new building erected b}' the citizens expi'essly for its accommodation. In this school he was employed less than two years, successfully managing the same, and also prosecuting his legal studies, a portion of the time in the office of Silas Robbins, Esq., and the residue in the office of the late Northern District Judge, Hon. Charles S. Sherman. During a part of the above time, he also edited the Ashland Phoenix, a non-partisan paper, and made of it a first-class literary and racy paper for his readers. In 1840, he returned to Medina, and took charge of the editorial department of the Medina Constitutionalist, its former editor, then James S. Carpenter, Esq., having been elected to the State Senate for the Medina district. All through the exciting campaign which resulted in the election of William H. Harrison to the Presidency, both through the columns of his paper and upon the stump, he advocated, with much success, the cause of the Whig party, whose candidate Harrison was. Soon after his return to Medina County, he formed a law partnership with Senator Carpenter, and in the organization of the new county of Summit, Grant B. Turner, of Cuyahoga Falls, was added to the firm - Carpenter and McClure residing in Medina County, and Turner in Summit. In January, 1842, he married Miss Matilda E. Deming, of Ashland, and, in the spring of the same 3'ear, settled in Cuyahoga Falls, where he continued to live until 1865, when he removed to Akron, where he now resides. Grant B. Turner did not remain long in the practice of the law, and, retiring from the firm, it was left as originally formed, until 1850, when it was dissolved. He was elected Prosecuting Attorne}' of his county in 1847, but the next year, and before his term as Prosecutor had expired, he was nominated and elected to a seat in the Ohio Legislature, which office he held for one term only. From 1850 to 1864, he had associated with him, as law partner, the Hon. Henry McKinney, late State Senator from Summit and Portage District, and now Common Pleas Judge of the Cleveland subdivision.

In 1865, he associated with himself as law partner, Edward Oviatt, Esq., and that firm continued until the spring of 1871, when he was elected to the Common Pleas Bench, for the subdivision composed of Summit, Medina and Lorain Counties, serving in that capacitj' five 3'ears ; and, not desiring a re-election, he retired to private life, and measurably fx'om the practice of his profession. Possessed of an ample fortune, it was not necessary for him to endure the drudgery and fatigue of active practice. Still he is largely called upon for counsel in important business matters and suits, and occasionally engages in the trial of causes, especially in the District Court. In the mean time, he has visited Europe with his younger daughter ; and with his wife and same daughter he visited California, making thorough tours

He had by his marriage two daughters : Julia E., who became the wife of Mr. Henry G. Mathews, with whom she lived fourteen years, and died in Februar}', 1881 ; and Ida M., who continues to live in her father's family. Judge McClure possessed elements of strength which gave him extraordinary power as a lawyer. He was an incessant and tireless worker, intensely enthusiastic in whatever he undertook to accomplish ; had great courage, and was wonderfully quick in his perceptions. These qualities, combined as they were with a remarkable grasp for business atfairs, rendered him n most dangerous adversary, and, for many years, made him one of the very foremost lawyers of the State. Probably no law3'er in Ohio tried more causes during the twenty-five years of his life between 1846 and 1871, than he, or was more successful. He more than made the cause of his client his own. With all his zeal, however, he never forgot the courtesy due from one gentleman to another ; and while dealing the hardest kind of blows, in an\^ given professional contest, he always left opposing counsel feeling kindly toward him personally, and to young men especially he was considerate and encouraging. Naturally he possessed a very quick, fiery temper, which required for its control constant watchfulness and a strong will, and this, as a general rule, he succeederl well in accomplishing, under all the varjang changes of practice at the bar. For ready wit, vigorous thought and thrilling eloquence, he had no superior among his associates at the bar. He was always systematic, logical and ready in his public addresses ; a fact somewhat surprising, since, at the commencement of his career, he dared not venture an attempt at speaking extemporaneously, and until he was 30 years old he had always carefully to write and commit to memory all his public addresses, being too timid and nervous to trust himself before an audience without such preparation.

He never was a politician, in the popular acceptation of the term, though he always took an earnest interest in public aflfairs, and occasionally took an ctive part in political contests ; not so much from a partisan standpoint as from his thorough convictions of what, in the given contest, was the better public policy ; that is, what was right. From his first appearance before the public until the close of the war of the rebellion, he was a most earnest anti-slavery man, and took a resolute and pronounced position against the system of slavery and its aggressions ; and on all proper occasions sought to educate public sentiment in harmony with his own convictions. He was, as already stated, elected to represent Summit County in the General Assembly, in 1848, and as a Whig, and was a candidate for re-election in the fall of 1849, but was beaten by the united votes of the Democrats and Free-Soilers, by a majority of less than one hundred, while the balance of the ticket was beaten by about four hundred votes. He occupied a more flattering position in the Legislature, being universally recognized as one of its ablest and most useful members. His nomination for legislative position both times was much against his wishes, and he only consented to accept as a matter of public duty, on account of the peculiar attitude of the two leading political parties upon the slavery question, that then being the all absorbing question with the electors of Northern Ohio.

Judge McClure's industry and painstaking preparation of his cases when a practitioner, made him exceedingly restive when he was on the bench, at the heedless and dilatory modes of lawyers who came into court unprepared to tr}' their causes ; and, occasionally, provoked him into sharp reminders, that the public interests before him should not be sacrificed to the indolence of attorneys, and occasionally caused the summar}' disposition of their cases. But, as his modes and motives became understood and appreciated, the lawyers ascertained that their true interests were best subserved by willing co-operation with the court. He disposed of his judicial business with great dispatch, and to the general satisfaction of the bar. His sense of justice and fair pla}', always acute, led him first to find where justice lay, and then, he was almost sure to find some rule of law by which justice could be upheld. His great experience as a lawyer made him a ver}' able tryer of causes, and his general knowledge of the law and the practice of the courts, made him a very first-class Judge, when exercising the jurisdiction of an appellate court, sitting as he did, during his entire term, mainly in Cleveland and Toledo.

of his strict stand-up to his convictions, especially to cope with a band of counterfeiters, who, for years, had been preying upon the coin and currency of the country, headed by the notorious Jim Brown. While acting as such Commissioner, a singular incident occurred, in which he was a prominent actor, and it illustrates a peculiar social condition in the community where it occurred. Brown, for years, had defied the State authorities in his raids upon the currency, and thus far had been singularly successful in eluding the vigilance of the General Government. Though notoriously recognized as the leader of these law-breakers, he was elected and served term after term as Justice of the Peace of Northampton Township ; and, to his credit it may be said, that he performed the duties of the office well. Complaint had been made before Commissioner McClure, and he had issued his warrant for the apprehension of Brown upon a charge of counterfeiting, and, while this warrant was out, standing in the hands of the Sheriff and unexecuted, Judge McClure appeared before Brown for one of two parties litigant. The trial being concluded, the Justice took the case under advisement, but was arrested and lodged in jail before he decided the case. He then rendered his judgment in favor of McClure's client, remarking, as he did so, that he hoped the Commissioner would take a similar favorable view of his case, and in his favor, whenever the same came up for hearing. Judge McClui-e did so, by holding Brown under $20,000 bond for his appearance before the United States Court at Columbus, which, however, was afterward reduced to $5,000 by the Federal Judge.

There is no telling how much the pulpit lost by the making of so able a lawyer. There is no question, however, that he would have won distinction as a divine. But his logical and independent cast of mind, on reaching full maturity, led him to distrust, and, in fact, to despise dogmatism, and to demand demonstration ; or, at least, that every pi'oposition and doctrine should challenge the approval of right, reason and common sense before his continued assent could be secured for the toleration of any given tenet, theory or system, whether in ethics, philosophy or religion. Consequently, at an early period of his life he abandoned, or, rather, never fully fell into the ways that had been with the very best motives marked out for him. He may be classed with those who are popularl}' known as Free-thinkers or Liberalists : who believe in being good, and doing good for goodness' sake, irrespective of religious creeds, beliefs or sanctions, for they are legion ; who advocate a greater degree of religious influence in the world than even sectarians, but it is the religion of humanity - the only genuine human ideal. It consists in loving human beings and other deserving objects, such as we know and can benefit, and not in loving a God or gods about whom we know nothing, and who, if they exist at all, are infinitely beyond the reach of the adoration of mortals.

LEWIS MILLER, manufacturer and inventor, Akron, the youngest of three sons of John and Elizabeth (York) Miller, was born in Greentown, Lake Township, Stark Co., Ohio, Aug. 24, 1829. His parents were respectable and industrious people. His father, a cabinetmaker, house-builder and farmer, originally came from Marj^land, removing to the West in 1812. He was a man of sterling integrity, and universally esteemed, holding a prominent position in his community. Lewis, the subject of this article, spent his boyhood on a farm, until about 17, attending school in one of the oldtime schoolhouses built of logs, having slab benches, etc. In 1846, he learned the plastering trade, serving two years with a man named Wm. Essig ; he worked at this trade for five years, also attending acadamies in Illinois during winter seasons and teaching in Stark Co., Ohio, two terms, in that time having moved to Plainfield, 111, near Chicago, in the meanwhile. In 1851, he returned to Greentown, where he connected himself as a partner with the manufacturing firm of Ball, Aultman & Co. (afterward of Canton) and by patience, determination and energ}', soon mastered the machinist's trade, serving for but 50 cents per day at first while learning. In the fall of 1851, the company with $6,000 capital in all, removed to Canton. The partners were six in number, viz : E. Ball, C. Aultman, David Fouser, Lewis Miller, Geo. Cook and Jacob Miller. They first manufactured threshing machines, stoves and plows, and old Obed Ilussey reapers, and did repairing. They had no competition in reapers except one shop on the Ohio River. During 1849, our subject worked on the old "Hussey" reaper, and ever since that time he has been experi- meriting on reapers, every season, in harvest field. His remarkable aptitude for the machinist's trade, manifested itself so plainh', that, in a short time after his apprenticeship he was advanced to the superintendency of the works, and while in this position he invented the world-renowned "Buckeye Mower and Reaper" - known in the market as the double-hinged floating-bar - a distinctive feature from which all two-wheeled floating-bar machines are patterned. To this great and valuable invention he afterward added others of scarcely less utility, chief among which is his table rake (a self-rake), which he invented in 1865, and which attained a wonderful popularity, within a few years. With the manufacture of the "Buckeye" the business of the Canton house became so largely increased that, in 1863, it was found necessary to establish a branch concern at Akron, under the incorporated name of Aultraan, Miller & Co., and in the following year he removed to Akron to take charge of the works here, since which time he has been superintendent and had full charge of the same. In this position he has lived to see the once insignificant shop expanded into wider halls, wherein is executed a business which, of its kind, is one of the most extensive in the country, which grand success is due, no doubt, to each partner giving all his time and attention to active work, wearing, so to speak, when the business was first commenced at Canton, the work apron himself, instead of hiring other men to do it. No dividends were declared until 1 866. They attained success thi'ough hard labor, and some disappointments. On May 5, 1855, while they were all filled with machines ready for market, their entire establishment burned to the ground, with a loss of $50,000, there being only $7,000 insurance. It was in June, 1856, that the first patents were granted for the "Buckeye," and at various times over one hundred patents were granted to the firm, one of which was for "Miller's Binder," which machine is the result of Mr. Miller's study. The business has increased from six threshers and ten or twelve reapers per year, to twelve hundred threshers and about twenty thousand reapers and mowers per year, or one complete machine to every four and one-half minutes during working hours. They began building the traction engine in 1877, the capacity now being five hundred engines per year. At the present time, he is President of the Canton manufactory, and of the Akron Iron Co.; also Superintendent of the Akron manufactory, and member of Board of Directors of the Weary, Snyder Manufacturing Co., of Akron. He is a Director of the Bank of Akron, and a stockholder in the First National Bank of Canton. He is a member of the Board of Education and was twice President of the same. He has taken a deep interest in politics, and worked in the Republican party, being an anti-slavery man, he is now connected with the National party. He became a member of theM. E. Church in 1843, has held all positions in the church, and been Sunday School Superintendent for twenty -eight 3'ears. He was three times a lay delegate to the General Conference of the church, and has been honored from time to time with other prominent positions of trust. He was President of the Ohio Sundaj^ School Association ; and of the Chautauqua Association, having been the originator of the Chautauqua scheme, and, as coworker with Dr. J. H. Vincent, has infused new life into the methods of Sabbath school work, always the President. In educational matters he has taken a great interest, especially so in the case of Mt. Union College. He is President of Mt. Union College Board of Trustees, and is a Trustee of the Ohio Wesleyan University, and of Allegheny College. On Sept. 16, 1853, he married Mary D. Alexander, of Plainfield, 111., who bore him eleven children, ten of whom are living, and are viz., Jennie, Ira M., Edward B., Robert A., Lewis A., Mina, Mamie, Grace, John V. and Theodore W. Eva died when 16.

JOHN McGregor, Secretary and Treasurer of the Akron Steam Forge Company ; he was born in Columbiana County, near Wellsville, June 14, 1836 ; his parents, John and Margaret (McBean) McGregor, are natives of Scotland ; they emigrated to America in 1828, and settled in Columbiana County, where they now reside. The subject of this sketch was raised on his father's farm, and, in 1861, entered Jefferson College at Cannonsburg. Penn., from which institution he graduated in 1863, standing sixth in a class of thirt3'-nine ; he then entered Ohio Law College, at Cleveland, Ohio, where he remained one year. In 1864, he entered upon the practice of his profession at Akron, continuing at this for seven years, during which time he was elected City Solicitor, filling this position two years, from 1869 to 1871 ; he then purchased an interest in the Akron Steam Forge Works, and when the establishment was re-organized in 1872, under the control of a joint-stock company, he was elected Secretary and Treasurer of the association, which position he has faithfully filled ever since. Mr. McGrregor is, at the present time, Treasurer of Portage Township ; he was first chosen for this office in 1877, and has been reelected each succeeding spring since then. He was married Nov. 11, 1868, to Miss Hattie E. Folger, daughter of William M. and Julia A. (Hayden) Folger ; they are the parents of three children - Julia F., John and Mary.

CHARLES MERRIMAN, Akron ; youngest child of Jesse and Rhoda (Fox) Merriman ; was born July 1, 1800, in Berkshire Co., Mass., where he lived on a farm. When he was 10 years of age his mother died, leaving two sons besides our subject, and one daughter, viz.: Andrews, a physician, who settled in Madison, Lake Co., Ohio, in 1816, and practiced in that place forty-nine years and ten months ; Clarissa, oldest of the children, who married Justin Cole, now one of the pioneers of Lake Co., and Alvin, who was a tanner by trade, going to Parkersburg, W. Va., in about 1840, where he lived a few years, then went to Centralia, Southern Illinois, and lastly to Bloomington, 111., where he died. Mr. Merriman received, in his boyhood, a good common school education. Soon after his mother's death the other children married, and left home, but he remained and farmed there until 1835, taking care of his father, who was quite aged, and who afterward came here, and died in his 89th year. In 1834, accompanied by his father, he came, by canal and lakes, to visit friends in Lake Co., and in March, 1835, bought 272 acres of wild land in Portage Township, on the canal, two and a half miles from Akron, for which he paid $1,200. On May 5 they started, with a team, to Madison, Ohio, completing the trip in fifteen days ; they remained, improving some property there, until August, when they came on to their wild land. There they lived in a small cooper-shop with Charles Webster and famil}' for two weeks. They could only with great difficult}' obtain lumber ; he built a house of round logs hewn down inside, and having unplaned boards for the floor, living there for seven years, when he built a large frame house, in which he lived until 1869, when he moved to Akron. He owned 125 acres in Lorain County, which he exchanged for 95 acres near New Portage. He was a successful stock farmer, and a natural mechanic, putting up his own buildings. On Dec. 1, 1824, he married Miss Harriet Allis, of Dalton, Mass., who bore him four children, viz., Rhoda F. (who died in her seventh ^ear, and was buried at Dalton), Charles Rector (now a physician of Akron, Ohio), Wells E. (a machinist of Akron, being a pattern-maker), and Louisa E. (who died in her second year). In politics he is a Republican, and has held several offices of trust in that party ; he was formerly a Whig. He and his wife are members of the Congregational Church, he having joined it at the age of 17.

ANDREWS MAY, retired, Akron. The parents of the subject of this article were Dexter and Sarah (Andrews) May. He was born at Royalston, Hampshire, Co., Mass., on Aug. 6, 1792. When 6 years old his parents moved to Concord, Vt., where the}' lived about six years, then moved to Montpelier ; when he was 12 years old, he went to district school, and continued to attend about three months per year, until 16 years of age, when he learned painting, and helped to paint the first State House ever constructed in Vermont. Finding that the poisonous preparation of lead used in paint was not conducive to his health, he abandoned the trade, and commenced the carpentering, millwrighting and joiner trades, which he followed in Vermont until 1816. On July 1, 1818, he came to Ohio, sending his tools by wagon, having been employed for four years previous at Champlain, N. Y., by William H. Price in building mills. In the spring of 1812, he volunteered in the service, and three companies were drilled three months, and assigned to the command of Gren. Dearborn. The regiment to which our subject belonged, all volunteered to the expedition against Montreal, but were ordered back to Swanton Falls, in winter quarters to guard the frontier against the encroachments of Gen. Mayo with 1,000 hostile Indians. These three companies remained until spring, when they were mustered out. Subject again participated in the battle of Plattsburg ; he rode on horseback through the neighborhood, rallying the men, who marched in good spirits to the battle. His employer, William H. Price, bought a tract of land at Kent, of 700 acres (Kent was called- Franklin Mills post office).

Subject then built a large flouring-mill at Kent, supposed to be, at that time (1818), the largest in the State. Remaining in that vicinity, he built a large house for Judge Whitmore, in Stow, in 1820 and 1821. This place is now called Cuj-ahoga Falls. In 1821, he went to Thornd^'ke, and there went into partnership with Israel Thornd3'ke ; started a nail factor}^, bringing good machiner}' from Massachusetts, grind stone from Nova Scotia, and nail plate from Albany, N. Y., the freightage on all of which being over $6 per hundred. Although they made excellent nails, they failed to collect their pay for goods, and were, therefore, obliged to abandon the business. In 1823, he went into the plow business, employing Dr. L. Croby, of Middlebur}', to mold over two hundred cast plows. The}' were called " Jethro Woods, No. 4." This was befoi-e the canal was put through, and he had five counties to work in, viz. : Portage, Medina, Cuyahoga, Wayne and Stark, and being obliged to travel on horseback to collect bills, he could not make it successful, even failing to collect enough to pay traveling expenses. At Franklin, he established a cupola furnace, using charcoal to cast plows. This he continued some four years, when he let it drop because of some infringements on the patent, which Wood did not litigate. In Dec. 31, 1824, he married Miss Ann L. Uttey, of Hartford, Conn., which marriage was blessed with five children, two of whom, Horace U. and Horace IT. second, died, the former at Akron in his sixth year, and the latter (his namesake), at Akron in his 22d year. Those living are Albert D., of Yosemite Valley, Cal. ; Helen M., at home, and Frank H., fruit dealer at Chicago, 111. After leaving the plow business, he farmed in Franklin about one year, sending sixtj- barrels of flour to New York, this was in 1833. In about 1834, he built a house for Ithiel Mills, of Akron, which is still standing. In 1835, he moved to Akron, and in that year built the " Summit House," which is also standing. This place becoming then so unhealthy, he moved to Wadsworth, Ohio, where he lived five years employed in building. He returned in 1840 to Akron, and, having a carriage then, he drove in that year to all the meetings with the Democrats. After moving here he engaged in teaming and building until about 1875, when he was atliicted with paralysis. In belief, he is a Universalist, but belongs to no society, and is

GEN. GKORGE W. McNEIL, miller, Akron, son of Samuel and Martha (Coakley) McNeil ; was born Sept. 16, 1813. in Montgomery Co., N. Y. At the age of 1 0, with his father's family, he moved to a spot near Syracuse, N. Y. His father was a boat-builder, and George began to assist him when a boy, continuing to do so until 1837, when he came to Massillon, Ohio, where, in the fall and winter of the same year, he worked at carpentering and boatbuilding. In the spring of 1838, he entered the employ of Beach & Co., in the stone mills at Akron, acting as clerk, which position he retained until 1840, in the fall of which year he was made captain of the canal-boat " Cornelia," of Akron, which he ran to Cleveland, Buffalo and Albany, a distance of 900 miles, it being the longest run of an}- boat previous to that time. In the spring of 1841, he and Nicholas Rector put a run of stone in the old Center Mills, conducting it about one 3'ear, when they sold out, purchased the site for and built the City Mills, of which they sold a part interest to Philo Chamberlain, in 1843. Subject remained in that mill until 1874, when he took charge of the manufacturing department of the firm of Chamberlain & Co., which firm purchased the ^Etna Mills, in 1862, both mills continuing under the control of Chamberlain, up to 1880. In July, 1874, Mr. McNeil withdrew from the company, and engaged in the manufacture of grain-cleaning machinery, which occupation he followed until 1878, five years previous to which date he invented the " Mc- Neil Grain Scourer," which is still manufactured by G. W. McNeil & Sons, of this place. In December, 1877, the firm of McNeil & Baldwin was formed, and they rented the ^Etna Mills of Chamberlain & Co! In 1879-80, they repaired it, and arranged for the new process of making flour. He was elected Brigadier General of the Eighteenth Division Ohio Militia in 1858-59. In 1858, he was elected on the People's Ticket Mayor of Akron. He was raised in the Whig school, and became a Prohibitionist in 1872. For twelve years, he has been connected with the Sons of Temperance as a prominent worker. Nov. 4, 1842, he married Miss Eleanor C. Martin, of Akron, who bore him one daughter and two sons, viz., Em-

REV. THOMAS E. MOxNROE, minister, Akron. Rev. Thomas E. Monroe, the able Pastor of the First Congregational Church of Akron, Ohio, is of Scotch descent, and one of four children of Job and Phebe (Collins) Monroe, being born at Plainfield, Conn., on April 28, 1829. His father was born in Massachusetts, and, in his early manhood, studied law ; but, his health failing, he engaged in farming. In the war of 1812, he was Captain. He died in Oberlin, Ohio, in 1872, being in his 87th year. His three sons and one daughter, excepting the subject of these lines, are Abel, a banker of Woonsocket, R. I. ; Prof. James Monroe, of Oberlin College, and Mary, who is deceased. The subject spent his youth on a farm, attending to farm duties, and receiving such an education as the New England schools afforded, including Latin. At 17, he began teaching in the public schools of Rhode Island, continuing for three years, when he entered a preparatory school at Providence, R. I. The year following, he entered Oberlin College, taking a classical course, in which he graduated in 1856 ; and, in two years after, graduated in a theological course. In the summer of 1859, he was ordained by the Cleveland Conference a minister of the Gospel. For one year, he was located at Amherst, Lorain Co., Ohio, becoming Pastor of the First Congregational Church of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, in 1860, which place he filled until 1873, in the meantime having increased the membership from 150 to 437. During his stay with that people, they built a church costing $38,000. On April 1, 1873, he came to Akron, and became Pastor of its First Congregational Church, which position he holds, having now 650 members, exclusive of 122 absent ones, being an increase of 504 over the membership when he took charge of it. In June, 1859, he married IMiss Mary Bernard, of Philadelphia, who bore him one child.

JAMES MATHEWS, insurance, Akron, is a son of James and Jane (Archer) Mathews, and was born April 23, 1803, in Washington Co., N. Y. When he was 8 years of age, his parents moved to Crown Point, and, a few 3'ears later, to Vermont. He was brought up on a farm, and, at the age of 22 years, commenced learning the cabinet-making business and painting, giving special attention to ornamental painting. His health failing, he discontinued the business, and was appointed Constable of Orange Co., Vt., and was thus employed until 1839, when he came to Akron, Ohio. He first commenced the manufacturing of grain shovels, and then engaged in building ; and, in 1840, in working on Perkins & Co.'s Woolen Factor}', now used as a mill. He next embarked in the grocery business, which he continued until 1845, when he built the Mathews residence, corner of East Market and Broadway, which was the second brick building in that part of the city. In the spring of 1849, he went into the insurance business, as agent of five of the leading companies, viz., ^Etna, Phoenix, Springfield, Home of New York, and Hartfoi'd, continuing fii'e insurance, until, in 1873, when he gave it over to his son, Henry G. In January, 1857, he became agent of the Mutual Life of New York, and has retained it ever since, a period of twenty-four years. He is now the oldest agent of that company in the State, and has the best ratio of business, and has insured to the amount of over $12,000,000. He was married in Januaiy, 1833, at Wells River, Vt, to Miss Agnes Grant, of that place. Three children were born of that marriage - George H. (died in December, 1872, in his 33d year) ; Henry, of Akron, and Charles H., book-keeper of Booth's Theater, New York. His wife died in April,

1870. Mr. Mathews was a Jackson Democrat ; but, after the campaign of Gen. Cass, in 1848, he became a Whig ; and, upon the organization of the Republican party, adopted its principles. In 1865, he was elected Mayor of the city of Akron for two years by a unanimous vote, and during his term of ofiSce made man}' needed impi'ovements in streets, etc. He was a member of the first Board of Education of Akron, which was elected in 1847. He was a second time married, on the 23d of November, 1871, to Mrs. Isabella Tayler, widow of the late James D. Tayler, and a daughter of Alonzo Howard, one of the pioneer merchants of Middlebury, where she was born. Mr. M. built the Mathews Block on Howard street, in 1850, and rebuilt it in

1871. He is a writer of considerable merit ; is of Scotch descent, and has a warm admiration for the ballads and verses of Scotia's immortal bard. During the residence in Vermont, he was thrown among the Scotch people of Caledonia Co., where he acquired a taste and aptness for the Scotch dialect, which he speaks " Hke a native " - if occasion requires it. He was a member of the Town Council in 1842-43, and is now the only survivor of those bodies.

CHARLES MILLER, manufacturer, Akron; was born in Upper Nazareth Township, Northampton Co., Penn., Nov. 29, 1815 (a more complete history of whose family appears under the head of Norton Township). The first nineteen years of his life were spent on the farm and in receiving a verj^ meager education ; the following spring, he went to learn the carpenter and joiner's trade with one Charles Glass, hiring for two years, which he served with the exception of about three months ; his salary was board, washing and mending, with a few tools at the expiration of his apprenticeship ; the cause of his not serving the full time was on account of a hard master, and being compelled to do a great deal of work after night. During the time of his apprenticeship, he was engaged on the Beaver Meadow & Hazleton Branch Railroad, from Beaver Meadow to Mauch Chunk, which was at that time one the first railroads in the State. In the spring of 1838, he came to Guilford Township, Medina Co., where he followed his trade until late in the fall, when he returned to Pennsylvania, and worked at White Haven, which was at the head of the Lehigh Canal; later he returned to Northampton Co., remaining there until in 1843, when he again came to Ohio, stopping for a time in Wayne Co. He worked at his trade and engaged in farming until in 1857, when he entered into a partnership with Abraham Krotz in the sale of farming implements for C. M. Russell & Co., of Massillon, in which they continued two years; the partner appropriating the money obtained from sales and dying on his way home from Illinois where they had been operating, left Mr. Miller in almost destitute circumstances when the indebtedness was paid up. In 1861, after John F. Seiberling began the manufacture of the Excelsior, at Doylestown, Mr. Miller acted as general agent, operating in a large territory and selling, himself, nearly half of the machines manufactured by that company. In 1863, he purchased a quarter interest in the Seiberling patents, and subsequently was compelled to expend hundreds of dollars in the purchase of other prior inventions to make their patents valid. In 1865, he having prior to that time formed a partnership of several of Akron's prominent business men and purchased the ground for the manufacture of the Excelsior Mower and Reaper, they built the works of that company on Broad street in the city of Akron. John F. Seiberling afterward became connected with the firm which stood until in 1875, when they made an assignment, at which time Mr. Miller was the owner of $65,500 in stock, besides having loaned the firm several thousand dollars, which has been almost a total loss. In 1879, he, in connection with his sons, purchased the chain works of a Mr. Matherson, at Cuyahoga Falls, and moved the same to Akron, having purchased the Schevere works where they are now extensively engaged in the manufacture of all kinds of chains and running from sixty to eighty men. He was married in February, 1843, to Hannah Bechtel, daughter of Abraham Bechtel ; b}- this marriage there have been four sons and three daughters - Emma Elizabeth, Henry D., Amanda Ann, Harvey F., Levin J., S. Samuel, Cora 0.; four are married and residents of Akron - Emma E., now Mrs. Frank Reifsnider, he a traveling salesman for the rubber works in Cleveland ; Henry, married to Miss Minnie Sigley ; Amanda, now wife of Mr. Kratz, superintendent at the Thomas Planing Mill ; Harvey, married to Miss Mary Hayes. Levin J. is engaged in business in the West. Mr. Miller has been a man of great energ}^ and business ability, and the manner in which he has adjusted the great losses which he has suffered has made him many warm friends in his declining age.

JUDGE ULYSSES L. MARVIN, lawyer, Akron ; is a son of Ulysses and Elizabeth (Bradley) Marvin, and was born March 14, 1839, in Stow Township, this count}^, where his youth was spent until the age of 15, when he began painting with his father during the summer. His education was received, in addition to the public schools, in Twinsburg Institute, and Franklin Institute, at Kent, teaching in the meantime from the time he was 16 years of age. In 1858, he entered the law office of H. R. Foster, at Hudson, and the next spring came to Akron and completed his studies with Hon. Sidney Edgerton, and was admitted to the bar May 2, 1860. In 1861, he became Principal of the Union School of Kent, where he married Miss Dorena, only daughter of Hon. David Rockwell, of that place, Nov. 27, 1861. In

August, 1862, he enlisted as a private in the the 115th 0. V. I., and served as a clerk in the office of Judge Advocate, at Cincinnati, until August, 1863, when he was commissioned as 1st Lieutenant in the 5th U. S. Colored Infantry, and as a part of the 18th Army Corps pai'ticipated in the Peninsular campaign of 1864. In the attack on Petersburg and that campaign, he commanded the skirmish line at the Burnside mine explosion. During the siege of Richmond, he was promoted to Captain, and was wounded while leading his company at New Market Heights, Sept. 29, 1864, which disabled him for two months, when he returned to his command and was assigned to duty as Adjutant General on Gren. Shurtliff's staff, was sent to Ft. Fisher, then to Raleigh, N. C, and was at the surrender. He was brevetted Major at the close of the war for gallant and meritorious service, and made Judge Advocate on the staff of Gen. Paine, serving as such until mustered out of the service in October, 1865. He then returned to Kent and opened a law office, and two years later removed to Akron, forming a partnership with J. J. Hall for eighteen months. In the fall of 1869, he was elected Probate Judge, serving until February, 1876 ; since then he has been in practice of law first as the firm of Foster, Marvin & Grant, now the firm of Marvin, Grant & Foote.

EDWIN H. MERRILL, of E. H. Merrill & Co., manufacturers of stoneware, Akron, is a son of Abijah and Abigail (Scott) Merrill, and was born Feb. 9, 1808, in Painesville, Ohio, where he went to school in winter, and began his trade of potter with his father when but a boy, growing up with the business. In 1830, when he was 22 years old, he came to Springfield Township, working successively for Fisk and for Purdy, when he bought out Fisk. (The pottery and sewer-pipe business is one of the most extensive of Akron and Summit County, and receives full notice in the chapter devoted to the industries of the city.) After he bought out Fisk, his father's family came on (about 1835), and they began the manufacture of beer bottles, b}' machinery invented by subject, and upon which he had secured a patent. They remained in Springfield until 1847, and had in the meantime began the manufactory of tobacco pipes b}- machinery. They then moved to Middlebury, and made priucipall}' beer bottles, tobacco and water pipes - making 300,000 bottles per year. They also invented a machine for making stone pumps, which they manufactured for a time. In 1854, they (Merrill Brothers), invented a machine for making sewer-pipe, and began their manufacture, under firm of Merrill, Powers & Co., the brothers owning one-half interest. They did well until 1857, when the panic came, and their principal buj-ers of Chicago could not sell, and having a large amount on hand, were forced to sell at reduced prices. About the same time, subject bought his brother's interest in the bottle factory, which he continued until 1860, when it was destroyed by fire, with total loss. He then came to his present place, 404 South Main street, and purchased the building now in use, where he has done a good business. The firm was Merrill & Sons, and they employed a force of some thirty men and boys. He was married, in 1838, to Miss Emily Gleason, of Bedford, Ohio. They have two sous and one daughter living. Henry E. is a member of the firm ; William G. is in the pottery business in Virginia ; Grace, now Mrs. F. W. Butler, who is a member of the present firm. In Februar}', 1880, William G. reretired from the firm of Merrill & Sons, and F. W. Butler became a partner, and the firm was changed to E. H. Merrill & Co.